#and even if i finish them will i be brave enough to publish them here or ao3? probably not

[izzy-b-hands]

Attempting to organise the our flag characters into levels for that complete cast challenge thing bc surely attempting this challenge on hard mode with a huge cast will help my writer's block/s

and checking imdb for all of it and just....there's a guy on here for a character named Dax, and it went uncredited and i'm just sat here like. Whomst in the fuck was Dax and where was he. How in the fuck am I gonna write for this guy and the huge list of other extras when I can't even place the fucking scene some of them were in. Like, some like Abshir I remember of course but others im just. fuckin' patrick looking under his rock like 'whomst the fuck are y'all????' I know I probably saw y'all but had no idea this is who you were meant to be playing and-

I make good decisions lmao

[steddieunderdogfics]

This week’s writer spotlight feature is: @estrellami-1! Most of their works are on tumblr, but they have three on Archive of Our Own in the Stranger Things fandom. You can find all of their tumblr works here.

@finntheehumaneater recommends the following works by @estrellami-1:

If I Should Stay

(Push Away the) Lonely Times

Soft Touch Baby

I’m nominating them because they are just a delight to talk to, and such a creative writer. Honestly, the way they describe things is beautiful and I can see it so clearly in my head. Any character they write is written to PERFECTION. They’re one of my favorite tumblr mutuals…ever :) - finnthehumaneater

Below the cut, @estrellami-1 answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!

Why do you write Steddie?

Short, funny answer? Hyperfixation. Longer answer… it just works in a way I don’t see many pairings work. Maybe I’ve just got blinders on, I don’t know, but nothing about their canonical personalities have to change in order for them to be together.

What’s your favorite trope to READ?

This is like asking who my favorite kid is… I like SO many, it honestly might be easier to ask what I don’t like! I tend to like the softer things, though; hurt/comfort (emphasis on the comfort), found family, fluff, things like that. I’m a sucker for anything soft and slow, which @ghosttotheparty does an AMAZING job at.

What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?

Again, anything soft and sweet! I tend to read what I write and vice versa… though I’m also an avid smut reader, and I’ve only felt brave enough to try writing it more recently. I think writing smut isn’t really my thing, but I am glad to have tried, just to say I’ve done it. But hey, never say never; it could happen one day!

What’s your favorite Steddie fic?

I can’t possibly pick just one!! @pukner has some AMAZING things, specifically the two series off-script and always burning, world keeps turning. I’m also obsessed with anything by @ghosttotheparty, as stated earlier, and anything by the amazing @steddieas-shegoes.

Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet?

Honestly, probably 70% of what I write never sees the light of day. Not for lack of want, but because I lose inspiration halfway through. So with that being said, I think I’ve written all the tropes I’d like to; I just haven’t published all of them. Fingers crossed, though; I still have all those docs, and I do go back to them sometimes, so hopefully inspiration will strike again!

What is your writing process like?

In all honesty, I don’t really have one. I tend to start at the beginning and let the characters take over, which means even I am surprised by some of the things I write! One such example is the relationship between Steve and El in If I Should Stay. I never thought they’d get that close, but here we are!

Do you have any writing quirks?

Unless it’s considered a quirk to write alone in my room at night, in complete darkness, with only my phone screen for light… then no. I don’t think so. Although I have definitely noticed I make the faces the characters do, to make sure I’m describing the right thing! 😂

Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule?

Since most things I write never get posted… I honestly don’t know! Probably on a schedule, considering I’m not finished writing If I Should Stay yet, but I’m not super picky; nothing else I post is on any sort of schedule, though that may be just because I mainly post one-shots.

Which fic are you most proud of?

Honestly, it’s a tie between If I Should Stay and Falling. If I Should Stay because I never expected to stick with it this long—I’m working on part 61 right now—and I’m exploring a lot of things I haven’t before. Falling because to this day, nothing I’ve done has come out like that. It was effortless in a way I never expected it to be, in a way I’ve never experienced before, and I think the results speak for themselves; it’s one of my most-liked fics, clocking in at just over 4k notes on Tumblr and 6.6k hits on ao3, most of which happened in the first week of it being posted!

How did you get the idea for (Push Away The) Lonely Times?

In all honesty… I don’t remember. Probably a combination of “what if Steve had Good Parents” and “what if Steve and Eddie were childhood friends” Tumblr posts!

When writing If I Should Stay, what was something you didn’t expect?

Like I said earlier, Steve and El’s relationship was a surprise. As was Alli, actually; I had no plans for a sister, but then I saw a “Steve has younger-brother-to-a-sister-energy” Tumblr post, said, “you right,” and proceeded to write her into that very next part.

What inspired Soft Touch Baby?

I swear I’ve got the worst memory… I honestly don’t remember. It was one of my firsts, and at that point in time I hadn’t even seen the show yet, so I wasn’t super confident in the fic, but damn if I didn’t have the balls! Looking back on it now, it isn’t my favorite, but I think it’s important to know where you came from, if only to see that it’s not all in vain, that even I can see how much better I’ve gotten.

What was your favorite part to write from (Push Away The) Lonely Times?

Probably the entirety of parts 3 and 4. I love Jim and Hopper’s banter, and I love Jim’s internal monologue in 4 as he’s taking care of Steve. I love exploring characterizations like this!!

How do/did you feel writing Soft Touch Baby?

As I said earlier, I don’t love it now, but I do like it for the starting block it is. I do remember, though, while I was writing it, I was feeling so smug; I thought I was writing the equivalent of the goddamn Mona Lisa. Laughable, really, which is another reason I don’t delete/orphan it. It helps keep me humble, to an extent.

What was the most difficult part of writing If I Should Stay?

Honestly? Posting the first part. I thought it was a throwaway thing, something that came a dime a dozen, something that everyone and their mother had already written. I posted it far too late at night (or was it far too early in the morning?) because I decided I didn’t give a shit, and woke up to an overwhelmingly positive response. To this day, I’m blown away by the attention it got! My taglists hit 100 people in just 4 days!

Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics?

Honestly, pretty much the entirely of Falling, and to a lesser extent, Because of You. In the former, it’s the whole Apollo/Dionysus banter, the way Eddie says Steve’s eyes are hazel and his hair has gold, the way he calls Steve sunshine boy, and the not to me, not if it’s you line. In the latter, it’s Steve saying, “…Because I trust you. I feel safe with you. I believe you’ll take care of me, because you’ve already proven you will.” I imagined him almost upset when saying this; louder than normal, very emotional, just trying to get Eddie to understand. It’s a very raw line, Steve’s being very open, and in the context of the fic, it’s kinda groundbreaking for him, and Eddie knows it.

Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote?

I think I’ve shared something about most of the ones I’m excited about… all of this will be after I finish writing If I Should Stay, but I have a fae!Steve fic that I’m working on, one where Steve goes deaf (very heartbreaking and emotional and real and so, so much love and family), and I’ve got a lavender prom idea I’m working on, in which Steve and Robin are Platonic soulmates, Steve has an unfortunate crush on Eddie, and Robin’s got an equally unfortunate crush on Vickie. It’s a No Upside-Down AU in which Steve decides to host the first(?) lavender prom at his house. It’s not called a lavender prom, obviously, but I do have something of an idea for a nod to the name. Here’s a snippet, if you want, because I actually am really excited about this one:

  Robin dramatically drapes herself over the foot of Steve’s bed and sighs. Dramatically. He quirks a brow, but otherwise doesn’t react, just keeps trying to focus on the same page he’s been trying to read for what feels like the past ten minutes.      She sighs dramatically again. Somehow it’s even louder than before.      He drops the book and looks heavenward for a moment. “What’s wrong?”      “Prom’s coming up.”      Steve’s nose wrinkles. It’s all anyone’s been talking about. “I know.”      “I’ll have to dance with a guy.”      “You don’t have to.”      “There are rumors, Steven. Rumors,” she hisses, rolling over to stare at him.      “Okay, so dance with a guy.”      “And what happens if he tries to make a move?”       “You reject him? Politely?”      “Steve.” She says his name like he’s an idiot. He’s used to it. “The entire reason for a girl to dance with a guy is because she likes him. I’ll be back at square one.”      Steve sighs, thinking. Truthfully, he isn’t really looking forward to prom, either. After his fall from the social totem pole, he puts a lot less stock in what people think of him, but even he has some societal norms to adhere to still. Societal norms like dancing with a girl when there’s a certain guy who’s been circling his mind instead.      “Okay,” he says, thinking. “Do you know anyone else who has the same problem?”      “Besides you? I can think of a couple of people.” The way she looks at him makes him think they’re thinking of the same person, and he’s suddenly struck once again with gratitude that she’s his friend.      “If you talk to him, I’ll talk to Vickie.”      “I will kiss you. Very platonically. On the forehead.”      He laughs. “Okay. I’m thinking, what if I host something here, the same night as prom?”      “I’m thinking there are a few people who would be really grateful.”      They share a smile with each other before Robin grabs the book. “Okay, where are you, I’ll read, you listen.”      “I love you,” he tells her seriously, moving to lay next to her and look at the page she’s looking at. He points to a section and she nods, tracing her finger down the lines as she reads.

Outside of these questions, Is there anything YOU would like to add?

A VERY big thank you to whoever nominated me!! And a great big thank-you-I-love-you to anyone who’s stuck with me and my writing thus far. I appreciate each and every one of you! ❤️ And, if you’re someone who’s waiting on me to answer an ask, I swear I haven’t forgotten! I’ll get to them all… eventually!

Thank you to our author, @estrellami-1, and our nominator, @finntheehumaneater! See more of @finntheehumaneater’s works featured on our page throughout the day!

Writer’s Spotlight is every Wednesday! Want to nominate an author? You can nominate them here!

[thekingwhereitallends]

MitsuSara One Shot: Tsukuyomi x Amaterasu

Summary:Sarada crosses Mitsuki's path and aims to stop him from embracing darkness.

Main Pairing:Mitsuki x Sarada Uchiha

Genre:Fantasy,Sci-fi,Angst

*This is a fanfiction i finished and published on ao3 for valentine's day but since i doubt you clicked on the link to read the first chapter back then two months ago in christmas, i thought of uploading this banger here.

Don't be afraid of commenting. Likes and reblogs are appreciated.*

"The artwork is a christmas gift for me drawn by @scarletofspring . Do not steal/repost/use it without permission!*

Date:Nov.27th 2042

Primordial World

On the endless planet that exists in centre of the boundless creation, There is a boy praying for gods to lend him a power surpassed by no mortal, but those who know this boy are not certain if he is planning to be a savior or bringer of apocalypse. Mitsuki often wonders if he could really fight off the forces of darkness or not.

"Right on time." Mitsuki says an instant after finishing his prayer. Mitsuki looks back over his shouder to meet a person he cherishes more than any other. "I hoped it's Sumire who follows the traces and reaches me. But of course you will be the one who seeks me out."

"Mitsuki..." Sarada stands around 20 meters away from her friend, staring at her friend with crimson eyes that aim to penetrate the heart of the person in front of them in search of answers but fail miserably as the bearer of those eyes is hesitant.

"Been a while,Sarada." Mitsuki turns back. "I missed you dearly." Mitsuki wears a smile but Sarada can clearly feel the sadness that has shook her soulmate to the core.

Sarada wishes to pull Mitsuki in for a warm hug above all else, to weep bloody tears together with him and finally find solace in each other's arms. However, between Mitsuki and her there is an imperceptible barrier that prevents Sarada from reaching for Mitsuki.

Sarada can sense Mitsuki's dangerous thoughts but she knows Mitsuki will never lie to her.

"I felt a void with your absence for so long as well." Sarada looks away,but why?

"Once a person achives great chakra control, they are able to perform astonishing feats. For instance children will surpass adults, the shinobis will become highly resistant to genjutsu and the ninjas would last much longer than their peers with average chakra control. They can also do this..." Mitsuki snaps his fingers, Sarada finsa herself in a peaceful environment with Mitsuki. The seemingly endless dimension that constantly changes colors.

"The ability to enter Astral Plane. Over two thousand years ago, Hagoromo and Hamura Otsutsuki were became the very first individuals to learn perfect understanding on mechanism of chakra which allowed them to evolve in extremely short amounts of time. By the age of 18, they were already 7th dimensional entities with limitless potential who kept ascending until they transcended the boundless creation. They left immeasurable avatars of themselves in each universe, to teach ninshu to all societies. The people learnt to enter this plane and by spending time together, came to settle all the matters and that resulted in global peace in so many worlds. Many of those worlds are free from evil and corrupted, and many other abandoned their beliefs." Mitsuki continues.

Mitsuki approaches Sarada, touching her chest where the heart is located with his index finger. "I don't even need to touch you here if my wish is to reach your heart. I can read all your emotions like an open book if i will it. But let me ask you one thing..." Mitsuki takes Sarada's hand in her's and places it on his chest. "Are you brave enough to put aside all those fears and do what you must do?"

Sarada closes her eyes to concentrate. Mitsuki realizes Sarada is ready to embrace her true feeling therefore he makes it easier for Sarada to read his emotions.

'Sorrow,Grief,Regret,Despair,Relief...and Jealousy...' Sarada thinks, resting her forehead on Mitsuki's chest, shivering as she can feel Mitsuki's feelings to a great degree. "Why?"

"I'm not the only person whose memories had been lost." Mitsuki speaks,which takea Sarada by surprise. "Let me show you what you have forgotten." Mitsuki's right hand finds it's way up to Sarada's left arm, lifting Sarada's chin up with his left hand's forefinger. "There..." Mitsuki points at his right side.

"That's..." Sarada watches a little girl wearing white buttoned shirt, red tie, red skirt and black sandals approaching a healing chamber filled with water, in a room drowned in dim dark blue light. Inside the chamber, there is a naked boy. The girl covers her eyes.

"Why don't you have anything on?" The little girl with red glasses cries as she covers the slight blush on her face.

Sarada's expression turns into an annoyed one as he witnesses that particular scene, dropping her shoulder. "Did you bring me here to piss me off?" Sarada gives Mitsuki a side-eye, which is funny to Mitsuki who chuckles seeing Sarada like this. "Yeah,that was intentional. Showing me my embarassing younger self."

"Just keep watching." Mitsuki utters, patting Sarada on top of her head. Sarada turns her attention to the tiny version of herself.

The little Sarada lowers her hands to see the boy out of sheer curiosity. "Woah..." Little Sarada murmurs, mesmerized by the sight of Little Mitsuki inside the water tank. His pale skin shining, captivating Sarada. 'He reminds me of Sai-san with this snow white look of his. But that white hair...gosh, i wanna fondle with his silky white hair so bad.'

Sarada and Mitsuki each raise an eyebrow when looking at each other. Sarada frowns, Mitsuki smirks.

"Please don't tell me i wasn't the only one who heard those words?" Sarada frets, which has Mitsuki roll in the aisles. Sarada too cracks up the instant she sees Mitsuki being greatly amused

"I always wondered if someone ever liked to play with my hair. That's one of reasons why i let it grow this long because i surmised you would be attracted to me. It seems the old you would've loved to bury her face in my hair." Mitsuki bubbles as he gently punches Sarada on the arm.

"Come on,you look fine as heck!" Sarada insists. "Honestly, i was searching to find the shampoo you use but i could never find it. I bet it is especially made for you, right?" Sarada continues, pinching Mitsuki on arm as she is laughing.

"I asked my parent to make me a super nutrient shampoo with the sweetest scent and after a few days, they came up with the proper formula. That's the whole story." Mitsuki responds. "Now now, don't let all distract you."

"Right." Sarada said.

"What are you looking for,Sarada?" Sasuke says, jumpscaring his little daughter.

"Gah...you know i am unable to sense your presence and keep doing this over and over again." Little Sarada yells, pouting as she folds her arms.

Little Mitsuki opens his eyes, gaining Little Sarada's attention as a result. Staring at Sasuke with his amber eyes, Mitsuki's gaze is devoid of any positive emotion but also not showing any sign of negative thoughts. 'Sasuke...san...'

"It seems this kid could do what you fail to do." Sasuke teases his daughter.

"You mean he woke up because he could sense your aura?" Little Sarada asks her father.

"Yes." Sasuke responds.

"Is he Orochimaru-san's son?" Little Sarada asks her father as he lifts her from the ground to hold her in his arm.

"That's right." Sasuke answered.

"Why is he inside this water tank?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

"How long has he been inside there?"

"Ever since he was born. He can only stay outside of the healing chamber for less than a day and then spends the next couple of days inside it."

"That is awful."

"But it's good for his own sake."

"..."

Sasuke watches her daughter as she reaches for the glass to touch it. Little Mitsuki does the same, pressing his hand against the part of glass where Sarada's hand is touching it.

'What is your name?' Little Mitsuki thinks? interested in the girl who apparently does feel for him.

"When you were born,you too became sick. Your body couldn't handle the powerful chakra you inherited from me. Sakura and I decided to bring you to Orochimaru, who saved your life. You were here, inside the healing chamber. After four months, this boy was born therefore you had a company on your right." Sasuke tells her daughter what he remembers about Mitsuki's birth.

"And?" Sarada turns to Sasuke, with eager eyes waiting for Sasuke to finish his story.

"The kid carries a power matched by none of those in his generation...in your generation. It doesn't mean that you don't have the potential to reach his level, just that he's now a few steps ahead of you and your friends."

"But why has he inherited such absurd level of power?"

"Well,i'm not sure if i can answer this question. It's up to him to decide what to do with this unfathomable might of his. It could be a blessing for the people he comes to love and himself, or a curse that will only bring pain and suffering for everyone he knows. If you are lucky enough, he may end up befriending you."

"Hm..." Little Sarada starts to ponder.

"What do you think,Sarada?" Sasuke asks his daughter in a gentle tune.

'Sarada,huh?' Mitsuki thinks, grateful that he doesn't have to wait for a long time to find the girl's name and that he had learnt some speechreading in the past. 'Why do i care?' He was surprised at himself for being intrigurd after seeing the girl infront of him.

"I think i'd like to spend some time with him. He gives me the vibes of a cool boy. That's my first impression of him, mind you that no other boy seems like him to me."

'She thinks i am cool.' Mitsuki thinks, the words that just came out of Sarada's mouth relieves him.

"Don't you want to know his name?" Sasuke asks his daughter.

"You refused to reveal his indentity, how bold of you to ask me this question." Little Sarada replies, poking on Sasuke's forehead repeatedly which makes Sasuke chuckle. "No,thanks. I will ask the boy the next time i see him outside of the healing chamber. You keep in touch with Orochimaru-san, and then bring me here to see if the boy is as good as he seems or not."

"Fair enough." Sasuke responds. "Shall we leave?"

"Yeah." Little Sarada said as she wrapped her arms around her father's arms who started to walk away from Little Mitsuki's healing chamber. She waves hand at Mitsuki as she begins to carve the lonely boy's image into her mind. 'We will meet again,i promise.' Sarada thinks and the closes her eyes with a sad expression on her face.

"December 29th 2031. A couple of days later..." Mitsuki swings his sword and the thought vanishes to be replaced with another one.

"Ready?Fight!" Karin shouts, declaring the start of Mitsuki's and Sarada's sparing match against each other. The kids charg at each other, five hundred of times faster than speed of light.

Suigetsu is sitting in a corner chewing his fingernails, terrified of of what might happen to Sarada. 'If Mitsuki accidentally messes Sarada up, Sasuke will surely fuck Orochimaru up and we all may be fucked amidst that scary battle which looks more like a massacre to me now that i think of it...'

"Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk..." Karin is utterly disappointed to see Suigetsu in that condition until she figures what her husband may be thinking at that moment. 'Oh shit!' Karin freaks out.

Yoruza, Suigetsu's and Karin's red haired, pale skinned daughter with violet eyes is sitting close to her father, resting her chind on the palm of her hand. "Dad,get out of this drama king mood of your's and be the badass man you usually are."

Seina Shakudo; Orochimaru's red-haired of fair complexion with beautiful aquamarine eyes companion is standing on The Lord of Darkness' rightt side, drinking her her cup of tea. Not really amused by the sight of children fighting each other.

And then there is Jugo who finds all that is happening to be peak of entertainment. Birds taking seats on his shoulders, chilling with the peace-loving and kind-hearted beast. "You all better stop being so dense and enjoy these moments."

"I admire your spirit,Jugo. But as a mother who has not clue how this boy has been trained to fight, it's only natural for me to be perturbed." Sakura says.

"After the conversations i've had with my dear child, i deduced that someone has had an impact on his mindset. I'm afraid it will cost my son the inevitable victory. And i have no one to blame..." Orochimaru stops talking as they sees Little Sarada on top of Little Mitsuki "But Sasuke-kun." Sasuke's daughter punches Orochimaru's son in the face.

"OUCH!" Little Sarada lets out a groan. "What are you made of?!?"

"I...uh..." Little Mitsuki panicks as he sees his rival broke her hand and wrist because of him. "Sorry..."

"I told you that you all have a screw loose." Log yells at everyone else.

Sarada is left jawdropped agyrt seeing how her younger self was humiliated. "That was embarassing."

"Fastforward to the important part." Mitsuki says.

"It's okay. It was expected, you know. My mother healed my hand. Everything is fine now." Little Sarada telss Little Mitsuki as she putsbher hand on his shoulder.

"I promised your father i will never hurt you. That i will always protect you from anything that threatens your safety." Little Mitsuki says, his head buried between legs.

"Look,i don't plan on becoming a damsel in distress. I appreciate your concern but you don't have to feel guilty for what happened to me. I should've trained much harder and become stronger than everyone else, including you." Sarada asserts.

"Why?" Little Mitsuki asks

"Because my dream is to become the greatest hokage of all time, silly." Little Sarada said and booped Little Mitsuki's nose, the latter blinks after she did that to him.

"You sound incredibly passionate..." Little Mitsuki sighed.

"What's your dream?"

"Me?"

"Yes. You. Who else do you think is supposed to answer this question?"

"I don't have any dreams."

"Come on, don't be ridiculous. That life you're living is so boring if you have no purpose."

"I have been told that my birth was the will of gods. I guess you will have to be waiting till i find the answer you're eager to hear now."

"That's not what i wished for but i suppose it's still cool to know you too are going to have your own adventures. Why aren't you excited?"

"Perhaps the reason for that is i have yet to have a dream of my own.

"Oh...that...actually makes sense."

"Yeah..."

Little Sarada wrapped her arms around Little Mitsuki's arms and leaned onto his shoulder.

"I almost forgot... What is your name?"

"Mitsuki."

"I am Sarada."

"I know."

"I thought you were a cool guy."

"Did i disappoint you?

"Yes."

"Sorry."

"You may be even cooler than my papa."

"What?"

"I should be hating on you but i can't. I am angry at myself for that."

"Hmph..."

And then Mitsuki and Sarada come back to primordial world.

"Ada rewrote the history to alter my memories. Because of Kawaki, i was rubbed of so many precious memories but there was one constant in my life that didn't fade away:You." Mitsuki utters as he is unbuttoning his black and dark blue trenchcoat. "My brother made me think that Boruto is my sun. Boruto,son of Naruto Uzumaki who saved the shinobi world. Beacon of hope, child of prophecy, he has been given multiple aliases. Log thought that Boruto was the right person to guide me for he would never fall to darkness. Ada altered almost everyone's memories and in my mind, Kawaki was the person Boruto was supposed to be. Kawaki messed up, which made me question the nature of reality and i came to realize a subtle truth."

Mitsuki transports his trenchcoat into a dimension in which Mitsuki stored his weapons and tools using the summoning tag wrapped around his left wrist under the separate arm sleeves.

Showing off his shredded upper half, It's the first time to see Mitsuki with six tomoe marks on his chest. Mitsuki also wears a crescent moon necklace made of moonstone and silver that Sarada gifted him on his 13th birthday.

"The bond Boruto and I formed was never as strong as i believed it was. He was indeed a bright child who encouraged me at times and i considered him a dear friend of mine's, but he was living in his own world. He often didn't exist in my life. Boruto was never the sun to my moon because i never really idolized him, always made sure he learnt from his mistakes." Mitsuki asserts.

"But there you were. Perhaps i was drawn to you because of the genes i inherited from my parent Orochimaru who was always obsessed with Uchiha. But ever since we met and were put in the same team, i looked up to you and unconsciously followed your footsteps. You were the one who was guiding me all along. You were there for me when nobody else was. You loved to hang out with me not just to know me better but also to help me become independent. You wanted to be by my side because you found peace when we were together. Think about it..." Mitsuki continues.

Sarada shut her eyes, trying to make a sense out of all that came out of Mitsuki's words. Sarada never hated symbolism and metaphors,but rather that she believed Mitsuki was obsessed with them to no end. She hypothetized that the reason for that could be the loose sense of identity or lack of a defined purpose in life. However, after what she heard a few moments earlier,it seemed to her that Mitsuki had finally realized what his goal is.

"It doesn't matter if i truly am your sun or not. I'll make sure to become one to save you from the limitless void you are trapped in. That's my promise,Mikki." Sarada asserts,with a bright smile on her face.

"That's what i was talking about." Mitsuki shuts his eyes,wearing a half-smile.

"One thing that bothered me in this last four years was that everything was about Boruto and Kawaki. You distanced yourself from me and no matter how much i tried,i could not really figure out if you chose one of those idiots over me. Not that it makes much of a difference now. Had you not chosen separation,you wouldn't be here prepared to beat me into a pulp if that's what it takes to bring me back to the village." Mitsuki glowers.

"You know that's not true! Boruto is there fighting for his life and doesn't really have anyone out there to back him up if bunch of bastards decide to hunt him down!" Sarada insists.

"Boruto was far more powerful than you when he left and he had Sasuke-san on his side! You were only risking your life and almost got yourself killed because of Kawaki! There was no sane for you to do what you did in all those years! You should've had faith in Boruto and valued your life because without you,all hope will he lost!" Mitsuki yells at Sarada.

"What are saying..?"

"The cloud of optimism has blinded your judgement. You may be able to reason with so many people,but there will come a day you will not be capable of empathizing with someone. Either because they are irredeemable or that they don't wish to be saved...You can't save everyone,Sarada. It doesn't worth to risk your life in doing so,because it's upon Boruto as the man who is slowly beginning to truly understand Kawaki's pain."

"I highly doubt that you plan to spare Kawaki."

"Kawaki is much too dangerous to be left alive. I have to get rid of him before he manages to fully masters his powers. He is unhinged and unpredictable,i won't allow him to take the lives of my loved ones or any other living being."

"Mitsuki..."

"What did Ada do to deserve such a horrific death?"

Tears falling from his cheeks,Mitsuki covers his eyes. "Neither Code nor I could save her. I could only just to see how she lost the single ray of hope she had kept in her heart for all her life."

"It's never too late. We may be able to fix it all."

"Only if you follow my lead this time around."

"What is your goal?"

"My goal...is to achive true peace. Not just for humans but all living beings. That includes Otsutsukis as well. This is an ambitious goal. A revolution on multiversal scale."

"Are you out of your right mind? Humans, Otsutsukis and Tenkajoyos have antagonized each other for billions of years! There is no way you can put an end to this conflict so easily! There will be an interdimensional war like no other and countless lives will be lost!"

"What if the one who wishes to settle all the matters shares the same blood with the three species?"

"No way..."

"A hybrid with royal blood of three supreme species flowing in his veins shall be given the authority to rule over the creation itself. But before that,a sacrifice must be made."

"That's why you came here,huh?"

"You always wished to know about my heritage. You asked me if i had a mother or if it was my parent Orochimaru themself who gave birth to me and that i am not really a clone? You came up with so many theories and to be honest,they were weird but interesting nontheless."

Mitsuki summons his 2 meters long sword. Muramasa sword which is in it's sheath that is decorated with jewels and a kanji sentence "Seikyo no Kishin" written on it which translates to "Demon Death God".

"Everything you know about the nature of my birth is true, although it's half of all you should be aware of. I am a synthetic human whose genetics were modified to be perfect in order to carry the power of gods. I am a partial of clone of Toneri Otsutsuki,therefore i descend from Hamura and Mirina Otsutsuki. For your information,Mirina Otsutsuki was a princess but considered to be an abomination for mere fact that she was daughter of Otsutsuki King and Dragon Queen. Two thousand years ago she came to our universe in order to reclaim Kaguya's chakra but fell in love with Hamura who guided her to the path of righteousness and became one with her. The source of Mirina's power is from an ancient god that Tenkajoyo clan worshipped. He is called Ryujin,and in the last two eons ever since Hamura and Mirina,no one was ever able to draw power from that god. I am the first person since my paternal ancestors to muster the true might of both Otsutsuki and Tenkajoyo clans as a human being."

"You said paternal? Does that mean you have a biological mother?"

"Yes. Sometime before the birth of Boruto, my father Toneri became ill for a short period of time. Hinata-hime learnt about it and rushed to his side,and healed his wounds. My Father kept Hinata-hime's chakra inside himself for it was his share of the woman he unconditionaly loved, which partially transforming his genes just like your father whose life was saved by Karin-san and that became one of main two reasons you are wearing glasees."

"..."

"Listen to me, back then i always told you that i will always support your dream to become hokage but i learnt to see the whole picture. You should never be a hokage."

"Mitsuki,i know where you are coming from but i genuinely believe i can change the shinobi system!"

"Just like Naruto-san did,right?" Mitsuki mocks Sarada.

"What?" Sarada is caught off guard.

"This shinobi system is founded by a man driven by fears and ready to terminate whole bloodlines if that's all it takes to protect his nation. Let me tell you the story of a boy whose dream was to become the most powerful ninja of all time,to be a hokage who puts an end to all the war and conflict. Do you know what led to Uchiha Downfall?"

"My uncle Itachi slaughtered his clan because he was tired of shedding blood and sweat for them. He left the village and turned into a rogue ninja who shortly afterwards joined Akatsuki."

"It seems your father didn't tell you the truth. It was the government who ordered Itachi to eradicate Uchiha off the face of earth. Fourty years ago, it was masked man who summoned kyuubi and because of that person, thousands of civillians and shinobis were killed. Danzo speculated Uchiha clan were responsible for the tragedy,but he didn't know it was an outsider who did that. Obito was a chunin of the village,who was said to have given his life to save his friend Kakashi. He was saved by a mysterious man and became his shadow. Obito was Madara's puppet who aimed to destroy the village. The Uchiha inside were deemed guilty and were oppressed and ostracized,while Obito manipulated your grandfather's subordinates for his own benefit. Uchiha plotted a coup d'etat to overthrow Konoha government for treating them fairly,and there was Itachi who was a conflicted double spy forced to make the toughest decision one could possible make. Itachi did what he did to prevent a world war and deaths of millions of innocent children."

Sarada freezes.

Mitsuki has been staring at the ground and now turns his gaze to Sarada.

She is on the verge of crying.

"There is no need for me to tell you what our Tsubasa-sensei and Boruto went through. As long as this shinobi system exists, there will be child soldiers who have to make sacrifices. Races to be eradicated. Nations start wars because of difference in religious views, pillaging other territories for money, invading other regions to gain more influence, killing people out hatred or for revenge. Many do it just to enjoy seeing their victims perish. This cycle of suffering shall not end until someone stands up in the face of injustice and cruelty to fight back. I shall be the one who crushes the corrupted systems of all worlds. You have no place in such world. I won't allow you to serve a system founded on blood of countless innocent lives."

"What is the difference between you and Kawaki?

"I will not commit genocide. Kawaki's mindset is hypocritical in essence as he is ready to kill whoever stands in his way while be pretends he is only trying to save the village."

"But what if you die fighting for your ideals?"

"You and I are the same regarding that matter. I am not a suicidal maniac,but if my sacrifice is all it takes to turn my ideals into a reality then i will gladly give my life knowing everyone will be happy and safe."

"You know that i am not gonna let you do that,right?"

"Then join me,Sarada. Together,we can do anything. There is no need for you to oppose me."

"I can't do that unless i betray my ideals."

"I see..."

Mitsuki draws out Muramasa out from it's sheath. The scarlet-colored sword starts to shine,thirsting for blood. "It's said that Muramasa is a cursed sword that corrupts the wielder as the time passes,slowly turning them into ruthless murderers. But if the one is mentally strong enough,they are able to resist the temptations and use this weapon for justice. This is a weapon that bypasses indestructible defenses and targets the soul to erase the impurities. Before ascension, i have to get rid of the unnecessary thoughts and emotions to become a perfect vessel to host the powers of gods."

"Are you sure that's what truly wish for?" Sarada says as she activates her mangekyou sharingan.

"Those who wish to hurt you...I shall crush their dreams...no one has the right to take you away from me..." Mitsuki says as he stabs himself in the heart In order to break the seal that prevents him from reaching his fullest potential.

"Mitsuki!" Shouts Sarada as she leaps toward Mitsuki.

A torrent of water wraps itself around Mitsuki's body,the drops of water burn through Sarada's flesh,forcing her to jump back as she figures the water is not harming her friend.

"Curse the fate for this unforgivable plot!" Mitsuki utters,and the torrent of water pulls him inside the endless ocean of primordial world.

Sarada summons her Crimson Red Perfect Susanoo and reaches for Mitsuki only to stop in middle of air as she hears a warning in the back of her mind.

"That rivers of abhorrence, concealment, woe, lamentation and fire enter that ocean. If someone like you jumps into that,the best case scenario is they will be erased from the timeline instantly. Direct contact with that ocean in this place will be your doom." Says Katsuyu.

"What is Mitsuki planning to do,Katsuyu-san?" Sarada asks her mentor.

"I remember my grandfather telling me story of a mythological spear that was used to create worlds. Based on what i witnessed here,it seems the tale was a legend based on the weapon Hamura Otsutsuki created eons ego and buried it deep inside the cosmic ocean. It's said that the weapon can turn one into an omnipotent entity. If a person with dangerous ideology finds it,they shall gain the ability to shatter the very fabric of reality itself on a really vast scale. Ameno Sakahoko is the name of that spear."

"Are you implying that Mitsuki is destined to claim ameno sakahoko for himself?"

"Indeed. He is now bonding with the ocean and ameno sakahoko will become part of his identity, thus no one shall be able to steal it from him even if he dies. But even someone as talented as him should train three years to gain full control over such weapon."

Sarada senses a danger coming and flies backward.

An impact from the deepest pits of cosmic sends shockwaves that shake the entire planet, Mitsuki awakens and flies toward the sky, charging toward Sarada, breaks through her susanoo, wraps his arms arounds around Sarada's body.

In less than an attosecond, Mitsuki crosses three hundred sextillion kilometers to protect Sarada from running out of lifespan and falling to madness due to being so close to the ocean.

Mitsuki let's go out of Sarada and as he is falling on his knees, Sarada finds herself in another dimension. Not the universe they belong to. That seems to be a creation of ancient sages to her.

This was the plan to get out of the primordial world because it's environment puts devastating toll on Sarada's body due to unique laws of physics and metaphysics.

"Mitsuki..." Sarada says as he reaches for her friend.

As soon as Mitsuki's hands touch the ground, he enters his dragon sage mode. His new body adapting as he is summoning the strength of mayhem. The aura he releases so intense it could effortlessly shatter the fabric of reality. It only leaves a crater on the ground, rupturing the planet that is thirty times larger than earth.

'Mitsuki's chakra pool is comparable to Prime Juubi level in terms of potency. He is not joking around...' Sarada raises on her feet, levitating in air as the byakugou seal spread over her body and summons a body sized perfect susanoo.

Black clouds forming in the sky, bolts of lightning striking the ground as Mitsuki stands on his feet. Now looking more like a feral beast than a human being. Locking gazes with Sarada with determination.

"Time to settle this..." Says Mitsuki, as the heavenly jeweled spear appears in his left hand. "Sarada."

"If you say so..." Sarada summons Ameno Murakumo as well,prepared to go all out.

"I will never leave you alone. Not again." Sarada asserts.

Sarada leaps toward Mitsuki and targets his left shoulder, Mitsuki stands still,raises his left arm to block Sarada's sword attack and at the mean time waving hand signs. Sarada notices that and right when she thinks of flying away, a hand grabs her collar which shocks her. 'Shadow clone..!' Mitsuki's shadow clone slams her into the ground and drags her for thousands of kilometers till Sarada turns the tides and punches Mitsuki, a brawl starts in midst of air and the fighters exchange blows till Sarada's fist and Mitsuki's leg connect. Sarada uses her feet to slow down and finally stop her from moving any further. Mitsuki's shadow clone uses his claws to achive the same and charges at Sarada similar to a hungry predator.

Sarada weaves seals using her left hand to create four shadow clones of her own. Her clones corner Mitsuki's clone while she turns back to react on time to block a punch from Mitsuki, who flips on Sarada's shoulder and kicks her on the back and jumps up to the sky. Sarada turns around and figures Mitsuki's waving hand signs again. 'Dammit...he is too fast...'

'Water style:great water dragon jutsu!' A sea of water taking form of a dragon and roaring as it attacks Sarada. Sarada leaps backward and waves tiger hand sign. 'Fire style:majestic destroyer flame jutsu!' The two jutsus of opposing elements collide and cause steam to cover a vast area.

'Summoning art:shadow snake assault jutsu!' Serpents start raising from under the ground to grab Sarada by her feet. Sarada flies away and slashes through several hundreds of them. 'Lightning style:Chidori senbon!' Sarada shoots a rain of blades down on the snakes and then targets Mitsuki's using the same jutsu.

'Not bad...' not bothering to dodge, Mitsuki's clone allows chidori senbons to hit him and Sarada witnesses how all of them shatter and turn to dust. Mitsuki's clone smirks and creates a bow made of purple lightning with his left hand and with his right hand creates a purple arrow,aims at Sarada before she gets to chance to charge toward him and prevent him from using this technique. 'Lightning style:rain of death!' The arrow flies at an incredible speed and Sarada is left with no chance but to flee and hide behind the planets nearby. Mitsuki's uses shadow clone jutsu to turn that arrow into twenty thousand unstoppable blades that penetrate stars and planets, causing a series or catasthropic events in the solar system.

Sarada stops moving in midair, shields her body with her susanoo's wings and releases a massive shockwave that obliterates all the incoming purple lightning blades along with the solar system Mitsuki and her were in.

'Yasaka no magatama!' Sarada summons eight extremely dense crimson tomoes, and fires them at Mitsuki's clone.

The dragon sage substitutes himself with his clone after dealing with Sarada's shadow clones, catching the uchiha prodigy by surprise.

Mitsuki swings ameno sakahoko seven times and one by one, the yasaka no magatama disappear and that leaves one. Mitsuki slices through the fabric of space infront of himself, opens a portal infront of himself and bridges it to another spot in space behind Sarada's back, the last tomoe connects with Sarada's body and leaves a massive explosion, sending her toward Mitsuki.

Mitsuki charges at Sarada and delivers a roundhouse on her chest just to see her turn into a large murder of crows. 'Itachi-san must be proud of her.' The crows start engorging then their eyes turn red, and they blow up at the exact same time.

Mitsuki flies toward Sarada at a blinding speed but Sarada is able to react on time and catch his hands before he can land a hit on her. "You can't gain the upper hand on me using distractions,Sarada."

"About that..." Sarada leans back a bit, gathering a chunk of chakra in her head then headbutts Mitsuki on his forehead, cracking his horn as a result and knocks him back, forcing him to retreat and get a few meters away from Sarada.

"Tch." Mitsuki grunts, his horn is healed instantly. "Not bad." Mitsuki admits.

"You used hand signs three times before casting those jutsus. I was paying attention to see if i can find slightest distortion in flow of your chakra. It appears that you no longer need to wave hand signs at all." Sarada deduces based on what she witnessed earlier in the fight.

Mitsuki smirks. "Show me why Sasuke-san is so proud of you."

An explosion.

An instant later, Sarada sees an ocean of water beneath her feet, several hundred kilometers away from Mitsuki and her.

Just as Sarada's intuition warns her to move away, a gigantic serpent made of water grabs her and tries to bite and penetrate her thick susanoo armor just for the watet serpent to break it's fangs. The serpent slams Sarada into the ocean.

Mitsuki raises his right arm and starts spinning ameno sakahoko above his head right as his water serpent catches Sarada. In the empty void, Mitsuki generates an astronomical dragon made of purple lightning that dwarfs the sun in Mitsuki's and Sarada's timeline. "It's gonna sting, Sarada."

Not allowing Sarada the chance to break free from hold of water serpent, Mitsuki's dragon roars and dives into the ocean. The temperature is so high that all the water gets vaporized shortly upon impact. The absurd electric current that reaches twelve orders of magnitudes passes through Sarada's body.

Mitsuki watches as Sarada heals from the mere flesh wounds, showing no sign of fatigue or dizziness. Mitsuki can sense that Sarada is only annoyed, glaring at him with her cursed crimson eyes that are beacon of hope.

The anger fuels Sarada's motivation and makes her chakra more potent than before. Sarada claps her hands and summons an asteriod with density of trillion kilograms per meter and around the same size as the moon. The asteroid hits Mitsuki on the back and Sarada flies upward and charges toward Mitsuki to punch him in the chest so hard that he is sent flying backward and the asteriod gets obliterated.

Mitsuki enters a blue star and starts to manipulate it's core, absorbing all elements except for iron. Boosting the speed of chemical process and breaking the balance between radiation and gravity inside the core of the blue star, Mitsuki forcefully causes a supernova explosion that lays waste to the entire solar system.

A feat impossible for normal shinobis. In fact, one has to possess extraordinary imagination prowess and genius intelligence along with chakra reserves on par with kurama.

Mitsuki then concentrates all the mass in surrounding space into a single spot, creating a singularity with infinite density, giving birth to a black hole using his incredible mental prowess and chakra control. The black hole quickly grows bigger than the planet they landed on after leaving the primordial world. Mitsuki kicks the black hole and shoots it at Sarada.

'Dammit...' Sarada takes a deep breath, draws ameno murakumo from it's sheath and coats it with golden lightning. She swings it and sends a barrage of lightning bolts inside of the black hole.

The particle-antiparticle pairs inside the black are pulled outside of it as Sarada commands it. Sarada prevents the destruction of those pairs, therefore black hole starts to shrink and loses mass rapidly. An event that would usually takes gogols of years to happen, occurs in matter of seconds. The bearers of chakra and those who can mold nature energy in their body are able to bend the laws of physics, and that way a bolt of lightning can be shot faster than light. For instance, Hagoromo was able to travel infinite distance in a mere instant using no space-time jutsu, relying only on sheer speed gained after rigorous training and perfecting his chakra control in his teenage days.

Evaporation of black hole. The tremendous dark sphere dies in a blaze of glory, and it's destruction serves no purpose other than releasing all the energy it absorbed just moments earlier.

It appears that not even the cosmic radiations have any sort of effect on Mitsuki and Sarada. If ordinary ninjas with limited knowledge on the capacity of potential of carrier of chakra were to witness clash of dragon sage and uchiha prodigy, they would think they are looking at two invincible gods who will fight to the end of eternity.

However, Mitsuki and Sarada are fully aware of each other's capacity. The battle's only just getting started.

Mitsuki tilts his head to crack his neck, shrugging his shoulders as ameno sakahoko disappears.

Sarada pulls out her susanoo's twin katana from the sheaths on her back and sets them on fire. Not any ordinary fire but holy fire that is summoned from heaven itself. Sarada is the first uchiha who gained possession of this divine blessing unlike her predecessors who could only wield inferno flames.

"Just as i expected." Mitsuki grins, and makes his own twin katanas with ice style. "You truly are different from the rest of the uchiha."

"Come!" Sarada declares.

Mitsuki and Sarada let out their battle cry that shake the sky, charging toward each other.

The swords connect and release a shockwave that crush the universe to oblivion. They start exchanging strikes as they move and cross different corners of the cosmos.

After three minutes, Mitsuki manages to lock one of Sarada's flame swords with his ice swords. Sarada aims to pierce Mitsuki's abdomen. Mitsuki absorbs the holy fire.

'What?' Sarada is surprised to see that.

'Of course he can do that.' Lady Katsuyu says in spiritual plane shared between her and Sarada.

'What is that supposed to mean?!?'

'You see, the otsutsuki may not be safe from your holy fire, neither are the tanjoyoko. Mitsuki breaks the rule because he not only bathed in ocean of primordial world, but also awakened his divine genes passed down to him by Hamura Otsutsuki who is the supreme ruler of not just primordial world but also heavens too.'

'You mean he's...like what...fireproof now?'

'I guess that'll be a correct way to describe his current state.'

'Amazing..! Do you know anything else about the abilities he may have gained after using cheat code?'

'Luckily for you, he didn't have enough time to obtain invulnerable body. He can't summon water from primordial water nor can he open a portal to that place.'

'That means i have to beat him or i'll look like a total fraud if i lose and...'

'...'

'Forget it.'

"Too dull!" Mitsuki murmurs and then starts kicking Sarada on the chest, first right foot then left foot then right foot again. Mitsuki finishes the combo by doing a side flip kick and moves toward Sarada for another combo.

Mitsuki delivers a raising uppercut on Sarada's jaw with his left fist and hits her with another side flip kick.

Mitsuki turns his katanas into a warhammer and smashes it into Sarada's chest, sends her flying to other side of universe. Sarada crashes into the barrier that separates this universe from the void of multiverse.

The left side of Sarada's jacket is torn apart after the attack, and six of her lower ribs broken. Sarada takes her jacket off and throws it away. Mitsuki flies toward him and the moment he sees Sarada's necklace, he freezes in midair.

"You didn't think that i forgot about this,did you?" Sarada grunts as she heals her broken ribs, with a sad expression on her face.

"I always preferred to believe that it was the most precious gift you have ever received from anyone." Mitsuki responds, a glum smile appears on his face.

"Like the necklace you are wearing,huh?"

"Yeah..."

Date:Mar.28th 2039

Over fourteen months has passed since the day Kawaki sealed Naruto and Hinata inside Isshiki's timeless dimension. So many people are still unable to cope with the fact that their lord seventh and byakugan princess were killed in their own village, at the hands of the boy they adopted and cherished as if he was their flesh and blood. That is what the leaf village believe to be the reality, for majority of them that is the case.

The streets have not been so unwelcoming and gelid for those who mourn the death of their beloved heroes.

And then there are certain individuals whose hearts are filled with sorrow and regret for different reasons. Those who remember what truly happened, those who can see the true enemy.

'For how long am i supposed to pretend that i don't want to knock Kawaki's teeth out? I don't even know if dad is doing well? I hope that idiot Boruto isn't annoying dad with his foolish antics. Gah, i hate worrying about that heedless gremlin of all people while i should be keeping an eye on the sassy emo boy.' Sarada thinks as she walks down her path to home with hands in her jacket's pockets, looking down, not paying attention to her surroundings.

A boy wearing dark out fit approaches Sarada that brings her out of her thoughts with his cold but stable aura. Sarada is not a sensor but there is one presence she's quite familiar with. Each and every single fiber in Sarada's body are sensitive to the chakra that belongs to the person she spends the most of her free time of duty period: Mitsuki.

To Sarada, it seemed like Mitsuki was gonna walk past her but he stands on her right side and stays still, not saying anything nor looking at her at all.

"Your ears." The first words that come out of Mitsuki's mouth.

"Oh, the earring holes... My mother asked me if i wanted to pierce my ears and wear earrings, i thought it wasn't a bad idea." Sarada says. "Sharp eyes."

"I assume Sakura-san's already have something for you as she came up with this idea days before you celebrate your birthday." Mitsuki speculates. 'Sasuke-san is the one who gifts you a pair of earrings, i suppose...' Mitsuki thinks, refuses to say that to Sarada as that will only upset her.

"I guess you are right." Sarada replies. "That dark purple nail polish looks good on your hands."

"You can thank my parent later if you ever met them again."

"Orochimaru-san really is a classy one. You sure have inherited that fashion sense from your mysterious parent."

"I wish that means you are one of few who don't hate my parent."

"There's no reason for me to be scared of the current Orochimaru-san. I'm just wary of them because...well...they seem to be overly secretive and tight-lipped."

"Hmph. Is that so?" Mitsuki asks, then wears a mischevious grin.

"In their defense, they probably act this way to appear charming in people's eyes." Sarada replies, raises her hands in air and shrugs her shoulders.

"Just like me, right?" Mitsuki asks as he puts his left hand on his hip and leaning a bit to the left side

"Yes." Sarada says, smiling.

"Ada is waiting for me. I wished they would give us a break, but crime never sleeps."

"Do you two weirdos get along with each other?"

"If it continues like this, i guarantee you will eventually be jealous of Ada."

"Don't you dare replacing me with that ticklish damsel, Mikki."

"Now that you mention it, i don't see Sumire around. You two are always supposed to be stuck. Strange to see you here walking around all by yourself without your new bestfriend."

"..."

"..."

Sarada scratches back of her head, unable to come up with a cool comeback. Mitsuki pats her on shoulder and starts to walk away.

"See you around." Mitsuki waves hand.

"Take care." Sarada says loudly.

 

Date:Mar.31th 2039

Sarada's birthday party was oddly pleasant for everyone excluding Ada who was uncomfortable in public, and Mitsuki who has began to get annoyed by loud noises.

Sarada picked up and put all the gifts she received in her bedroom with help of Mitsuki decided to be the last person leaving.

Sarada and Mitsuki come out of the room, seeing Sakura who has finished cleaning the house.

Sakura has her back pressed against the wall and staring at the teenagers, arms folded infront of her chest.

"Sakura-san, may i borrow your daughter for a couple of minutes?" Mitsuki asks Sakura who raises an eyebrow.

"Where are your manners, Mitsuki?!" Sarada asks Mitsuki and grabs his wrist, her eyes twitching.

"...Please."

"That feeling of objectification has not faded away, you know."

"That was a figure of speech, Sarada."

"You better watch your tongue the next time."

"I'll try."

"That's not enough."

"Deal with it."

"You-"

"Oi!" Sakura lets her voice be heard.

"Yes, ma'am." Mitsuki and Sarada say that at the same time.

"You better hurry up, or you'll have to feel the wrath of strongest kunoichi in konoha."

"Gotcha!" Mitsuki wraps his arm around Sarada and teleports away.

"Silly kids..." Sakura sighs.

Mitsuki's destination is hokage rock and he lands on top of Minato's head.

"I admit that you are hella fast." Sarada says as she turns to Mitsuki.

"Save that for later. Close your eyes."

"You better not be planning to steal my first kiss, Mikki." Sarada says, pouting.

"Haha, we laughed mad loud for a bit." Mitsuki responds in a mocking tone. "I'm barely thirteen, uchiha-san." Mitsuki pokes Sarada on forehead.

"Ouch." Sarada rubs her forehead. "That was me being sarcastic."

"And that poke was to show you i have class." Mitsuki takes Sarada's hands in his own hands and covers her eyes with the palms of her hands. "No peeking."

"Let's see what you've got for me." Sarada says, a shade of sarcasm apparent in her warm and loud voice.

"You are allowed to open your eyes now."

"Uh-oh..." Sarada slowly lowers her hands and gradually and hesitantly opens her eyes, her heart pounding so hard she feels like it will explode. She is embarassed at herself for being unbelievably excited. 'Future hokage? Puff, jokes on me. I am nothing but a baby.'

"So?" Mitsuki asks, now with a gentle tone.

"Just like what Tsubasa-sensei is used to say: Magnificent!" Sarada responds as she reaches for the marvelous treasure in Mitsuki's hands.

Mitsuki's gift is a necklace. Thin gold chains with a eight-pointed star shaped symbol made of sunstone in red color. It is certainly not the most expensive gift Sarada has received, but probably her favorite after the earrings she is wearing that are created by her father.

Mitsuki goes behind Sarada and clips the necklace around Sarada's bare neck. Sarada shakes uncontrolably at touch of the metal but soon a phenomena catches her onyx eyes.

After Mitsuki finished putting the necklace on Sarada's neck, the star shaped gem starts shining bright. It really does fascinate Sarada.

"Let me guess,you made this cutie yourself." Sarada assumes.

"Yes." Mitsuki says, smiling.

"Did you use yin-yang release method or..."

"I mastered the craft. It took me two days but it seem it did worth it."

"You kidding? I fricking love it so much."

"You're welcome."

"Oh...you used this symbolism again..."

"..."

"Don't get me wrong, i know my mangekyou sharingan has the same shape as this symbol, but still....i...i just...i dunno."

"No,you are right. Your eyes inspired me. Nothing more, nothing less."

There comes a suffocating silence. The wind blows Mitsuki's hair, hiding his golden eyes from Sarada.

Sarada runs her fingers through Mitsuki's hair and slides it to side so she could see his beautiful face. Sarada caresses Mitsuki's cheek, wrapping one arm around his neck and one around his waist, pulls him into a hug, embracing his cold body in her toned arms.

"Thank you...for everything." Sarada says as she holds Mitsuki tighter.

Mitsuki doesn't move, just rests her chin on Sarada's shoulder.

Date:Present Time-Nov.27th 2042

Mitsuki remembers some moments from the past he cherishes, losing focus on the battle, allowing Sarada to gain the opportunity to wave hand signs needed to cast shadow clone jutsu.

Ten shadow clones surround a distracted Mitsuki and jump on him and start beating him up for mere seconds until Mitsuki uses substituition jutsu and gets in iajutsu stance after summoning ameno sakahoko.

"Eliminate all!" Mitsuki disappears from Sarada's sight.

Nearing infinite speed, Mitsuki flies around the universe and slashes through Sarada's shadow clones in a omnidirectional series of attacks, slicing through space itself and disregards their durability, watching Sarada's shadow clones vanish one by one in matter of an instant.

Sarada summons her perfect susanoo again along with gunbai before Mutsuki could cast Wind Style: Great Wind Whirlwind jutsu, expelling the chakra she kneaded in her body into holy fire and uses the chakra of Mitsuki's own attack to cast Fire Style: Great Fire Whirlwind jutsu, creating three enormous whirlwinds that knock Mitsuki back.

Sarada appears behind Mitsuki, strengthening the force of her punches by casting Earth Style: Ultra Added-Weight Rock jutsu and concentrating tremendous amount of chakra that she has been storing in byakugou seal in the last two years, into them and strikes Mitsuki in stomach so hard he crashes through the barrier of universe that shatters.

Mitsuki has no time to recover as his back hits the barrier of another universe.

"Channaro!" Sarada begins to deliver a remorseless and devastating flurry of punches as she shouts angirly at the friend who does not regret leaving her. Sarada screams because she can't forgive herself for hurting Mitsuki, for all there is that she can do is to try beating some sense into her beloved companion. Sarada has to convince Mitsuki what he is doing is wrong, because if she fails to do that, there is a strong chance he will die.

Sarada is afraid of that possiblity and she will do whatever it takes to prevent that from happening.

"GIVE UP!" Sarada yells at Mitsuki, striking him with the palms of her hands, sends him flying until he freezes in midair, gasping for a few moments and starts coughing blood, covering his mouth with his hands as he transforms back to the first stage of dragon king sage mode.

The hanging crescent moon necklace brings back Sarada to three years ago...

 

Date:Jul.25 2039

It's early in the morning, everyone is asleep while the sensory division are watching over the village. Nothing can be heard but the dawn chorus of birds.

'Is there something wrong?' Kohan asks Mitsuki telepathically using mind body transmission technique and chakra transmission communication device that expands the range of yamanaka clan's hiden jutsu and allows the sensory division to make contact with those who are fifteen kilometers away from the leaf village.

'No. Everyone's sleeping.' Mitsuki responds, standing in Ada's bedroom, barely a couple of feets distance between them.

'The night shift is over. You may leave now. I will make contact with Sarada and Sumire.'

'Yes, sir.' Mitsuki approaches Ada who has wrapped arms around a pillow, and puts a blanket over her. Mitsuki caresses Ada's cheek with back of his fingers.

Mitsuki is assigned to this mission not to befriend Ada and Daemon literally but to pretend that he loves to spend time with them and genuinely likes them.

Perhaps Mitsuki isn't of the kind who considers not hurting feelings of the people as he is logic-driven and blunt, that doesn't indicate he lacks empathy for certain individuals who share similar experiences with him.

Ada is a conflicted person and her thirst for love is something Mitsuki relates to. Mitsuki often thinks that he is alone in the world, and he can see that Ada is dealing with the very same irritating sense of melancholy.

Ada is skeptical but also optimistic at the same time. She claims that keeping silence is a wise move but when she is with Mitsuki, she becomes chatty and can go on and on for hours. Ada says she hates fighting but won't bat an eye if someone were to be killed for opposing her.

Mitsuki perceives Ada as a paradoxical existence who reminds him of not just himself but also Tsubasa Emiya, his genius mentor.

Mitsuki was able to bond with Ada because he truly believed that she deserves to be given a chance. He wishes happiness for Ada and considers her to be his companion.

At first, Mitsuki was yet another "cool guy" for Ada but shortly after she started to fraternize with him, Mitsuki grew on Ada. Ada tends to refer to Mitsuki as her Darkest Knight, and prefers keeping company with him than anyone else in konoha as he understands her the best and is always frank without being rude.

Mitsuki walks out of the bedroom, mentally stressed.

Mitsuki comes out of the house and spots Sarada who has her hands behind, Mitsuki knows that she is hiding something from him that will only just confuse him.

"You like to keep me waiting. I don't." Sarada approaches Mitsuki with firm steps and an awkwardly fierce look on her face.

Sarada stands close to Mitsuki, her chest almost touching his, gazing into his eyes.

"Okay..." Mitsuki murmurs.

Sarada is glad that Mitsuki can read her mind and save her the trouble of explaining herself and what she wants to say most of the time. And now Mitsuki shuts his eyes, without even being told to do so.

Sarada gently puts on a necklace on Mitsuki's neck and then pokes on his forehead.

"Here you go." Sarada says with enthusiasm, grinning.

Mitsuki lowers his head to look at the necklace Sarada gifted him.

Thin silver chain and a crescent moon shaped symbol made of moonstone that is glowing.

"I saw it coming and it still baffles me." Mitsuki says, looking at Sarada with a curious expression on his face.

"At first, i was really not interested in that sun and moon symbolism you are so obsessed with. But after my birthday, i don't really mind it." Sarada asserts, Mitsuki raises an eyebrow hearing that. "Because you are the moon. Don't waste your time on Boruto and Kawaki, you are my moon."

Mitsuki is left speechless, drowned in a sea of thoughts and doubts. Mitsuki hates when he can't find a proper answer.

Sarada leans forward and marks Mitsuki's left cheek with a gentle kiss.

Mitsuki presses his forehead against Sarada's with his eyes closed. Sarada interlocks fingers with Mitsuki's to comfort him. From time to time, Mitsuki forgets just how desperate he is for the warmth in Sarada's touch.

"Happy Birthday, Mikki."

"Yeah."

"You love it, right?"

"Absolutely."

 

Present Time

Mitsuki stares at his bloody hand in disbelief.

"You are pound-for-pound the single strongest person i have ever fought." Mitsuki admits and then covers his face with his left hand, his body still trembling because of the damage inflicted onto him.

"Hehehehehe..." Mitsuki starts laughing in a hair-raising manner, shaking Sarada to the core. "HAHAHAHAHAHAH"

Mitsuki's laughter is no longer sweet or genuine. It is sinister, twisted. He has finally snapped.

"THIS ENTIRE TIME YOU COULD'VE MOPPED THE FLOOR WITH SO MANY BASTARDS BUT YOU CHOSE TO WAIT JUST TO GO ALL OUT AGAINST ME?!?" Mitsuki shouts at Sarada, making her break into sweats.

'The ritual is now showing it's side effects.' Katsuyu says in the mental plane.

'Since Mitsuki couldn't fully rewrite his DNA, his mind is unable to withstand the pressure of the incomplete power of primordial ocean bestowed upon him. Is that what you were gonna say, Katsuyu-san?' Sarada says, clenching her fists.

'You have to put an end to this fight. Mitsuki is unhinged, far too dangerous than he has ever been.'

'Are you done?'

'Yes.'

'Good.'

Sarada returns back from mental plane and sets her eyes on Mitsuki.

"I will save you, Mitsuki." Sarada insists.

"I don't want you to save me, Sarada." Mitsuki asserts.

Sarada forms a rasengan in her right hand, and makes it bigger than planet earth itself.

Mitsuki gathers chakra in his left hand and transforms it into stream of black electricity.

Sarada attacks with her ultra big-ball rasengan, Mitsuki quickly flies towards it and tries to deflect the planetary sphere using his dark chidori as he lets out a cry of rage.

Mitsuki releases an electric discharge from his left hand, cancelling Sarada's rasengan as a result.

Mitsuki spots Sarada who shots an arrow after amplifying it's speed with wind style, using a red bow that is her perfect susanoo's special weapon, it travels so fast space around it is distorted. Mitsuki summons muramasa sword and cuts the arrow in half, and the two halves of arrow melt away instantly.

Mitsuki cuts his forearm open with muramasa sword before it starts to thirst for Sarada's blood, boosting his physical prowess and strengthening his chakra by boiling the energy flowing within him, Mitsuki transports back muramasa sword to the spiritual plane and charges at Sarada.

Sarada tries to defend herself from Mitsuki's punch with her bow, but the dragon sage's claw breaks it apart. Mitsuki punches Sarada on abdomen, then on face, then uppercuts her and at last delivers a knee kick.

"What is it that motivates you? Is it the urge to prove that you are not powerless and can save everyone around you? Or the overwhelming guilt you feel because Ada was killed and i went rogue?" Mitsuki yells at Sarada as he is grabbing her arms.

"Cut it out!" Sarada shouts at Mitsuki as she digs her fingernails into his neck and shoulder.

"Why are you so obsessed with Boruto and Kawaki?!"

"WHY ARE YOU SO OBSESSED WITH ME?!?"

Mitsuki grits his teeth upon hearing that question and lets go of Sarada.

"Back then, you were worrying about Boruto the whole time, always told me that Hinata-san asked you to look after her reckless son. Kawaki came, and your desire to mimic seventh hokage became a reason for you to befriend Kawaki. You know that he regrets nothing at all, and you still wish to believe that there is still good in him." Mitsuki says, with a devastated look on his face.

"You said it yourself the best. If i lose my grasp on hope, i'll be nothing but a shell of my true self. Kawaki can pretend that he is all tough and merciless, but deep down he is the same broken child desperate for slightest bit of parental affection. His ideals are twisted but with Boruto's help, he can change for the good." Sarada claims, her lips curle into a smile , wearing a saddened expression.

"Ridiculous."

"You are so difficult."

Mitsuki and Sarada fly away in opposite directions without turning their back on each other.

Mitsuki and Sarada puff steam breaths, the first being of ice and the latter of fire.

"Who would've thought we would use those two techniques on each other?" Mitsuki says, releases tremendous amount of dark energy that takes form of an endless cold steam reaching thermodynamic temperature to absolute zero.

"You did, didn't you?" Sarada asks Mitsuki, as she expells gigantic amount of light energy that spreads around the space behind her, transforms into holy fire reaching the planck temperature.

 

Date:Sep.11th 2040

Ada is in the hall, sitting on the nine seater, drinking apricot banana smoothie through a straw.

"Here, have a sip." Ada offers Mitsuki to take a small mouthful of her drink.

"You don't have OCD?" Mitsuki asks Ada.

"I'll make an exception this time around." Ada says, outstretches her right arm and rests it on top of the sofa's frame.

Mitsuki leans in, tucks his hair behind his ear and puts his lips on the red straw, drinks a sip of the smoothie.

"Very appetizing." Mitsuki confesses, licking his lips.

"I might open my juice bar one day. Who knows maybe you will be there to lend me a hand in work." Ada says, giggling.

"If only thery was no tension in this world..." Mitsuki says, sighing.

Mitsuki outstretches his left arm and rests it on the top of sofa's frame.

Mitsuki and Ada put on one leg over the other at the same time, sitting crosslegged.

"That's what happens when you are together." Daemon says loudly as he jumps on the sofa and sits next to Ada. "You should never be left alone all by yourselves."

Then appears a man infront of the teens, jumpscaring Daemon.

"You-" Daemon is cut off as another one pops up out of nowhere.

"Your progress is awe-inspiring, Houki." Tsubasa says. "Keep it up and you will surpass some of your predecessors."

"That is only possible because of you, Tsubasa-sensei. You have my sincerest gratitude." Houki says.

"Hello everyone." Tsubasa says, patting Houki on his back.

Daemon disappears, sticks to the roof and leaps toward Tsubasa to hit him just to phase through his body.

"Are you a wizard or something?" Daemon asks Mitsuki, frowning.

"I am a sage of six paths." Tsubasa replies to the kneeling boy. "Ada."

"Handsome." Ada responds to Tsubasa.

"Keep this mini goblin away from me." Tsubasa asks Ada.

"Come here, Daemon." Ada tells her little brother who turns to Ada and then looks back at Tsubasa.

"I'll get my hands on you one day, pretty boy." Daemon says.

"You can't even achive that goal in your dreams. There is no shinobi on earth who stands slightest chance of victory against Tsubasa-sensei. Likes of Kakashi-senpai have stated that Tsubasa-sensei might be the single most powerful being in existence. You can consider him our failsafe asset." Houki states as he sits on other edge of the sofa.

"BS! There ain't no way this edgelord can defeat me!" Daemon shouts.

"You can brag about it all you want. I can't care less about spoiled brats with an ego the size of the universe." Tsubasa says.

Someone throws arms around Tsubasa's waist from back and hugs him tightly.

"I missed you dearly, sensei." Sarada says.

"You have grown stronger." Tsubasa says, knowing well that Sarada always hugs him to lighten his mood.

Sarada unwraps her arms around Tsubasa and goes to sit next to Mitsuki.

"You sit here hand in glove with Ada. My god, Mitsuki..." Sarada whispers in Mitsuki's ear, Ada hears her and nods her head.

"I hope all is well, Tsubasa-senpai." Sumire says as she gets past Tsubasa and sits beside Sarada.

Tsubasa spots a frozen Himawari behind him. Himawari's cheeks glistening with blush, gazing at Tsubasa with heart eyes.

Tsubasa approaches Himawari, lifts her up and puts her on sofa next to Houki while everyone are analyzing his each and every single movement.

"Hima." Tsubasa says, snapping fingers infront of Himawari's face.

"Are you an angel? If not then why are you so pretty?" Himawari asks Tsubasa, who turns to Houki and both roll their eyes and facepalm themselves.

"Whatever." Tsubasa says, patting Himawari on top of her head. "Sumire asked me to come here to share a piece of knowledge with you. My gosh i hate being a teacher to death. So boring." Tsubasa continues with his tongue in cheek.

"Then why on earth you waste your time mentoring these goons for two years?" Daemon asks Tsubasa who frowns after hearing her.

"Tragically, i have been cursed with this sense of responsiblity that pushes me to do what annoys me to death." Tsubasa responds. "Not like you would understand what it means. Anyway, it's history class time! Let's talk about ancient times."

"Aw man, you want to babble on and one and give me irks.

"And ancient gods."

"For real?!?"

"No for fake."

"That doesn't sound too bad, you know." Daemon says, his cheeks blooming.

"In the seventh century and after the death of Hagoromo Otsutsuki, the cosmos became battleground of two demi-gods. They were the sage of six paths' sons: Indra and Ashura Otsutsuki. Indra was an outstanding prodigy among his peers, never surpassed by his descendants nor successors. Indra was an individualist who believed he could bring justice and order through force, and never relied on people. Hagoromo saw that and thought that Indra is not worthy to be the next leader of ninshu. Therefore on his deathbed, Hagoromo passed on his powers to Ashura, the younger son who wasn't particulary talented reached enlightenment. Overwhelmed by rage and hatred, Indra rebelled and waged war on followers of Ninshu all by himself."

"Indra was a real one for that. That is peak badassery." Daemon says, everyone turn to him and look at him with mixed feelings of disappointment and shock. "What?" Daemon folds his arms. "You can't change my mind."

"He battled Ashura for years but he failed to taste victory. Indra grew tired and decided to retreat. Indra sought to awaken his father's dojutsu, the rinnegan. But how?" Tsubasa continues, approaching Ada and bending over, waiting for an answer from her.

"He needed to mix both yin and yang chakra inside his body. After an indefinite period of time, knowing that Indra was a bearer of mangekyou sharingan, his eyes would evolve and transform into a single or a pair of rinnegan." Ada states.

"Bravo." Tsubasa pats Ada on shoulder. "You better take your taijutsu training seriously. You have untapped potential."

"If you say so." Ada says.

"Indra had absorbed a small portion of Ashura's chakra, and spent months on deep meditating, multiplying that chakra and then mixed it with his own chakra. After that, he could manifest fantasy and created a perfect avatar of himself, transplanting that avatar's mangekyou sharingan, activating eternal mangekyou sharingan as a result." Tsubasa goes on.

"That is cruel." Himawari says.

"Maybe. Who are we to judge?" Houki says.

"Indra finally attained a pair of nine tomoe rinnegan. Ashura had forseen that, thus he perfected his mastery over six paths sage mode, pushing himself to reach Indra's level." Tsubasa continues.

"We are lucky that things went down they way they did." Sumire says.

"I think not." Mitsuki responds.

"Tsk tsk tsk tsk." Sarada utters.

"Indra is not just ancestor of Uchiha, Emiya and Chinoike but also the creator of all forms of ninjutsu. He was a super genius and casually invented complex techniques and experimented on the environment to gain a proper understanding of reality. That is when he created a pocket dimension. Indra wanted to see what happens if space reaches it's boiling point. Indra released the inferno flames inside the pocket dimension and increased it's thermodynamic temperature until the interesting stuff appeared in a certain point." Tsubasa says.

"Planck temperature." Ada says.

"That's my girl." Tsubasa says, making Ada feel proud of herself and sees her cheeks redden. "Planck sized black holes started to form and flooded the cosmos with radiation and particles, triggered a big bang event."

"He was a nerd." Daemon pouts.

"Is there a problem?" Mitsuki turns to Daemon.

"Eh... in this case, i guess he is just way cool for me to slander him." Daemon says.

"Originally, there were two sages of six paths. Hamura was the co-inventor of six paths sage mode who landed on moon and decided to live there. He married a hybrid otsutsuki named Mirina Otsutsuki who bore him a daughter: Meigetsu Otsutsuki. A demi-goddess whose talents were said to surpass even that of the legendary Indra Otsutsuki, Mirina invented a fearsome technique that inspired Indra centuries later." Tsubasa explains.

"Sensei, you should tell me more about Meigetsu Otsutsuki." Sarada says.

"I will." Tsubasa says. "Mirina aimed to find the lowest possible negative thermodynamic temperature, thus she used her ice release and reached absolute zero temperature. The disorder disappeared at that point, all motion stopped which means time could no longer flow, and matters were obliterated on a subatomic level."

"What were the names of those jutsus?" Himawari asks Tsubasa.

"The first was called Genesis and the latter... Nemesis." Tsubasa answers Himawari.

 

Present Time

'I need more!' Sarada shouts.

'Roger that!' Katsuyu says.

In mere moments, Katsuyu channels immeasurable amount of nature energy into Sarada's body, enough to match Mitsuki's rather unparalled energy pool.

'I owe you one.' Sarada says.

'Don't mention it.' Katsuyu responds.

Mitsuki's dark energy enters nigh-infinite number of universes, crushing everything to oblivion.

Sarada's light energy also melts everything to other side, giving birth to infinite planck sized black holes.

Mitsuki concentrates all the concentrated energy he absorbed from the destroyed timelines and suppreses it into a form of blue moon.

Sarada does the exact same thing but instead of creating a moon, she manifests a star that is around twenty four times bigger than the lunar sphere Mitsuki made.

"You are the only one who can rival me, Sarada." Mitsuki asserts.

"I didn't want it to be this way." Sarada utters.

"It's over now."

"Forgive me, Mitsuki."

'Demonic Arts:Ice Style:Nemesis!'

'Divine Arts:Fire Style:Genesis!'

The warriors scream as they shoot the astronomical spheres at each other, pushing their bodies to their limits.

Mitsuki figures that Sarada's technique is overpowering his own, and chooses not to evade this attack from point blank range, embracing destruction to repent for the injuries he inflicted on Sarada during this fight.

Boom!

Mitsuki floating in space, knocked out of his sage mode, surrounding by newborn planets.

One instant, Mitsuki's body glows and the other it doesn't. Mitsuki has not accepted defeat, not yet.

Sarada watches as Mitsuki is regaining his consciousness, bloody tears coming out of her right eye after overusing the ameno uzume ability of her mangekyou sharingan which allows her to summon holy fire.

"You just won't stay down." Sarada mutters.

And a bloody tear falls from her left eye.

This is what kept Sarada safe from big bang's harm.

Amano Iwato.

Sarada transported her body to her personal domain before the explosion was triggered.

Sarada replaces the surrounding space with her dimension.

Chains are created from naught and bind Mitsuki to a torri gate.

"Impossible...how could i...lose..." Mitsuki drops his head out of shame.

 

Date:Feb.14th 2042

"He didn't came, right?" Mitsuki asks the girl who is sitting on bed, burying her face in the pillow she is hugging.

"I hate to say it, but it seems like Kawaki's heart is made of stone." Ada , throwing the pillow away and jumps out of the bed.

"How many times did i tell you Kawaki doesn't deserve your love, Ada?" Mitsuki utters, rubbing Ada's arms.

"This damn attraction won't let go of me." Ada murmurs, putting his hand on Mitsuki's chest.

"You cling to this bond because you think Kawaki feels lonely in this world just like you, yes?"

"There's a single dim ray of hope in my life, and it's the slim chance that Kawaki will love me back. I can still wait but i don't know exactly when i'll grow sick of this." Ada wraps her arms around Mitsuki, who runs his fingers through Ada's hair.

"You're risking everything."

"Even if that's true, You'll be there for me, my darkest knight."

Mitsuki says nothing just kisses Ada on top of her head and wraps his arm around her shoulders, hugging her tightly.

"You can count on me."

 

Date:Present Time

"I lied...again...and again...i failed..." Mitsuki mutters as cold tear stream down his face.

Sorrow, regret, humiliation, powerlessness, hate and rage.

Overwhelmed with negative emotions, Mitsuki snaps as he begins to absorb nature energy from Sarada's dimension.

"No..!" Sarada mutters as Mitsuki regains the strength he lost.

Mitsuki lets out a deafening roar that finds way to gates of heaven and hell, showing he is not bound by the laws of Sarada's domain.

Mitsuki generates enormous amount of lightning from himself, flooding Sarada's space-time, shattering the fabric of reality.

Mitsuki escapes Sarada's dimension, spots his opponent hyperventilating and severly fatigued, her body couldn't withstand the absurd level of energy it received, could barely even move or mold chakra.

Mitsuki flies toward Sarada who throws a weak punch, easilly grabs her hand and pokes her on forehead.

"Forgive me." Mitsuki says as Sarada loses her unconsciousness.

Mitsuki casted a special seal on Sarada which traps her conciousness in realm of dragon king for a short period of them.

Mitsuki's plan was to weaken Sarada to such an extent she will be unable to resist or break out of the realm quickly.

Mitsuki spent most of his remaining chakra to perform this technique. He summons ameno sakahoko to open a portal and passes through it just to fall on ground with Sarada's in his arms.

Mitsuki looks at Sarada's necklace that emits a dim light, and holds Sarada tighter.

Mitsuki stands up with Sarada in his arms and lays her next to another dear friend of his...

Code.

"I assure you, the victory will be our's." Mitsuki asserts.

[madrabit]

Hi! ❤️ I'm here for FanFic Ask Game: F, G and X please :3

Heho 🩷✨️

Thank you for the ask, I had to really dig deep with this one 😂

If anyone else wants to ask me something about my fics, feel free to look at this list!

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

Ohhhhh, that is a tough question, I tend to like the dialogue I write, but it's not always my main focus, and I'm also not necessarily the funniest person, so... also, I couldn't decide, so you can have a sad dialogue, sth spicey and maybe an honourable mention or sth😂

for clarity, I've taken out a few parts of non dialogue for readability. If you want to read the whole thing, feel free to click the links!

"I'm sorry I didn't come with you", he continued when the other two didn't say anything, "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said no."

So first, I have this snippet of You're the only one who can:

"I'm sorry for not being able to be honest", he pressed out, getting closer to the bed.

"For not being brave enough..."

"I didn't want this...", he said, his knees finally hitting the mattress, "I didn't want to make you feel like this..."

"I love you, both of you. So much. I didn't want to make you feel like I don't want you, don't need you, because I do. I need you so much that it scares me..."

"I don't want to have to hide you anymore", Jan said lowly, pressing their foreheads together.

This might be more of a monologue since it's mostly Bojan talking, but I honestly really like this, as well as Jan's reply. I liked writing it. It made me tear up, and I think it's showing a lot of the emotional chaos Bojan is going through in that fic and how much he still loves his boyfriends and how much he needs to show them, even though he doesn't wanna go public yet. It's cute and idk, I don't really like going on about my writing that much 😂😂

The other snip of dialogue I have is from chapter two of At your beck and call (I wanna ride):

"Isn't he perfect like that, Janči? Such a good boy for us", Nace says lowly.

"Yeah, he is", Jan presses out through his teeth.

"You know what would make him even more perfect? How he would look even better?" "He'd be even hotter dripping with both our come, fucked out, sloppy and wet, a good little boy, just for us."

It's the first fic North and I collabed on and it's still one of my favs. This is pure filth and Nace "Mr. Cum Kink" Jordan is running his mouth to get what he wants. Idk what possessed me here, but it felt right having Nace dirty talk like that, cause I think he'd be good at it ngl

Now to some honourable mentions 😂

I really like most of the dialogue I wrote in Intertwined.

Especially the little dialogue in the second chapter between Jan and Kris, where Jan was in front of the door waiting for Kris to buzz open the door for him because he didn't want to get out his key.

Or in chapter four (the big sad as I like to call it) when Bojan met Nace who was on a walk with Oli and they had their little back and forth about whether or not the band would've just taken any bassist as long as they got a dog that then shifted into Bojan talking about Igor being a good kitty.

I also have some dialogue from fics that are not yet published or where the next chapter isn't up yet, so if you want to know more about those, feel free to ask me 😊

G: Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

I wish I could just write my scenes out of order, that would make my process much easier and probably faster, but since I'm constantly coming up with things on the go and don't really like having to decide early what I still have to write, I don't really like doing things out of order. This sadly leads me to sometimes being stuck tho, so that's why writing always takes a while for me.

What I do, however, is going back and putting in more details. While I need to write things from start to finish, I love editing and love putting in little touches. I really hate having a blank page, so I hate having to come up with the first sentence of a fic or the beginning. I stall and don't know what to do, so I'm feeling unsure and awkward. The same thing applies if I have a blank page in front of me. That's why I sometimes pre write my dialogue in one go for a scene, just so I have words I can jump between and don't have the dread of the great nothing holding me back.

Also because sometimes dialogue comes easier to me, so I like writing it down and coming up with replies on the go is much easier than anything else.

X: A character you enjoy making suffer.

Oh god... eh... I don't like making my blorbos suffer, I don't enjoy them being sad and I'm not a fan of unnecessary hurt... with what I'm writing in Intertwined, you might be convinced otherwise tho and somtimes I'm not too entirely convinced myself, ngl. But if by suffering, we mean crying, I do absolutely enjoy having Bojan cry (but mostly in a begging, shaking, sobbing way, less the actual real tears because he's sad), so yeah 😂😂😂

[recklesslycaffeinated]

hey i was wanting to write a fan fic but i haven't done one in years (it was BAD) i was wondering if you could give me a tip or two (I've also never posted anything on ao3 before just a heads up)

Confession time - this question is more than year old now.

I hang my head in shame.

The problem is, even after over 180,000 words written across three fanfics, I still feel like I'm not... qualified? To give any good advice. At least, nothing you wouldn't pick up from reading a metric ton of fanfic on A03 like I did before starting.

That being said, I'm feeling really, really guilty for not answering @arsonunderthedisco's question for so long, so here we go.

First of all, no fanfic is BAD.

I'm not sure what you thought was bad about it - but I've written more than a dozen fanfics which are just for me and they're delightful messy insert fanfics which I adore.

That being said, you'll be amazed at the readership of A03. So long as you tag your story correctly, you'll find your people. I did!

Writing

If you're talking about spelling/grammar/structure, welcome to the club. As any of my readers will tell you, my Dyslexic ass lets more than a few horrendous typos go out. I've started using Speechify to catch some of these mistakes and I 10/10 recommend it.

Conflict

Figure out the overarching, key conflict of your story you want to resolve by the end. That can be for all the characters or some of the characters. E.g. Nurse isn't brave enough to admit she loves the boys and truly commit to what that means. She has to either admit she loves them and dive in, accepting her life will never be normal, or walk away.

Each chapter set up a smaller goal or a desire of the character and by the end of the chapter, resolve or advance it. Bonus points if you can leave every chapter on a minor cliffhanger. E.g. Nurse wants to go to the funeral to pay respects to Sig and deal with her guilt. She does that (yay!), but gets into a row with Sans and now she has new guilt (boo).

Structure

Always have an outline. Even if you're a gardener who likes to let their characters dictate the story, HAVE AN OUTLINE. Or else you'll never know when the story you're trying to tell is finished.

That's why I broke up the boney brigade saga into different stories - I knew where I wanted the Nurse to be by the end of each section and it made more sense to turn them into two stories so it 'feels' complete.

Have fun!

If you're having fun writing it, your readers will know and be along for the write. Don't write drunk. Don't publish chapters when stressed. Don't write sad. Write sad things, but don't write sad. At least, don't send it out while sad before doing a re-edit.

Hope any of that helps and sorry it's taken me so damn long!

[maradovan]

maradovan forewords

TODAY IS FINALLY THE DAY that rwchnaissance 2024 begins!!!! I'm so excited to be back with all of you again!

I wanted to make a post with my initial thoughts before rereading the series and catch y'all up to date with where I'm at with the series since it ended, so here's what I've got to say:

First of all:

Putting a disclaimer that I'm going to be reading the American version of UP for the first time for this readathon, so I'm not sure what the differences are but if there are any discrepancies in my reaction posts that's likely why

I think there's a very high chance I will be posting spoilers for future books and plot points, so if this is your first time reading and you want to avoid those, please block the tag #rwch spoilers. I'll have any posts with spoilers tagged under that, but the rest will be visible to you!

Also worth mentioning that this is my first time rereading ANY of the Rosewood books since book 5 came out (which I will elaborate on in the next point). Even though I've read most of these books so many times I've lost track, it's been a good while so I'm excited to see which details I've forgotten about and which have stuck in my mind!!

Now for the @maradovan lore update: When Princess Ever After came out, I was at a point of a lot of uncertainty and changes and overall discontent with what my life was like. I was really struggling with crippling loneliness my first year of college (university to the majority non-usamericans reading this), aka when PEA was published. Not to sound too dramatic but the release of the last Rosewood book honestly felt like the last good thing that I was certain would happen for a long time. I really clung to it emotionally while reading PEA but the end of the Rosewood era was kinda devastating for me lol, I think moreso than I even realized at the time. I was so sad about it that it felt like too much to linger with it after the series was finished.

Ever since then I'm in a much better place in my life!! I transfered from my old university to a smaller private one (that, serendipitously, is much more reminiscent of rosewood hall in my humble opinion ;)) and I've really found my place there!! This fandom showed me that there were places in this world that I do belong in, if I'm brave enough to go out and find them. I don't know if I ever could've sought out bigger and better things if I hadn't known there were people like you out there. I can never thank you enough for giving me that 💜❤️💛

While I haven't been to Rosewood in a long while, the friends I made there have stayed with me after all this time. You're my true friends, no matter how far apart we might seem. Thank you for being at my side for now a third of my life(??!!) I really can't wait to relive this with all of you :)

Happy reading 😙

[bosskie]

Molluck Model - Sculpting Phase

Yeah, I feel like I'm ready to show you this Molluck sculpt now since it's like 99.9 % done but I might still adjust some minor details; I'm just unsure about some stuff...

But yes, first, here's some comparison pictures with the older sculpt I also finished this year:

Yeah, a significant improvement, mainly thanks to learning a better sculpting technique... But that older sculpt helped me a lot here since it helped me with getting the body's basic shape right. Oh, and yes, I used heavily all the possible OWI's reference material for this... (I gotta say that I actually bought that Soulstorm Collector's Oddition edition just to get the artbook easily (but also for that Molluck print...) and I wished that it has proper reference photos for Molluck and it did! That book has helped me a lot with drawing Molluck... We literally cannot even see his fullbody in the game but all the other Gluks'... So, I really love that I can see his fullbody in the book, though yes, I can confess that I wish that it had 'the another version' too but that's why I did these sculpts! If OWI won't show the new Molluck as naked, I'll do it! Oh, yes, there do are two pictures of that naked model too but just to his shoulders. It's enough though since that model do is based on the New 'n' Tasty one and his body probably ain't altered.)

There ain't really clear (enough) references for Glukkon anatomy, at least in my opinion, so it's a lil challenge to get Molluck's anatomy right. So, I also added some own details and mixed stuff, like those hands I keep mentioning... I'm just weak for those hands, okay... He has the most beautiful hands I know. Though, the whole Gluk is the most beautiful thing I know... I could just like compliment every part of his body but I'm not gonna do it but 'tell Molluck'...

But, here's some more shots:

I coloured this sculpt just for showing it since I will probably colour him in another way later on. Frankly, I have no idea how the model is gonna turn out since I'm gonna do completely new stuff next... But I'm at least glad to have a better new Molluck model to play with! Oh, and yes, I did new eyes for him but I still need to figure out better way to create them... That glow just creates a lil challenge and therefore it can look exaggerated here too... And he has that expression just for fun!

Oh, and yes, I did promise to show some comparison stuff with human body too, so here you go:

My man and me. (Y) I'm actually surprised that Molluck ain't as tall as I imagined him to be compared to me... Oh, and I'm not even tall, just about Abe's height. (Edit: I realized that I did the scaling incorrectly first, but it's fixed now.) Maybe those height charts ain't totally accurate but this is as accurate as it can be. Molluck is 7 ft / 213.36 cm tall but as you can see, the size of his body parts is quite varied... He has huge head and hands and his arms are very tall (or long, but it's his arms that make him so tall!)... But his torso is close to human's in size but his legs are small... Frankly, it took me some time to be able to enjoy his 'sizes' since I don't really enjoy being the smaller one but his 'sizes' compensate that too. Now, I have no problem with this and I really love him being big and small at the same time! Like, man, this Gluk just makes me go crazy... The hottest thing ever... Yeah, I'm quite happy to be with Molluck and it just gets better and better!

Yeah, uh, what a sexy beast Molluck is... It feels so odd to show stuff like this but I wanna be brave and do it anyway. I know that I could have taken the colours away from the human model but I let them be since it felt too 'soulless' without colours. I bet that someone might wonder what model it is, so I can say that it's just one model I have from doing adult animations for a mod (never published or even finished)... And yeah, those colours suck due to topology stuff and the way I coloured it but it's enough for now for me. Gotta model myself one day too... I'm glad that I can at least live with Molluck in a virtual world!

Oh, and I wanna just say again that I found Molluck attractive only after I started loving him. I can see his certain ugliness but it only makes him so beautiful for me... And even I know what he has done in his life, I still love him so much. He just seems like my Gluk and the reason why I started to love him was that I saw myself in him, I could identify with him. I just don't care about his crimes and he lives in a brutal world, he barely could do anything else than follow what the Magog Cartel wants. I also mean that I don't get anything special from his crimes, unlike one person I saw on Twitter back then... (The person listed all their paraphilias related to their Molluck lust on their bio...) The main thing is just that he feel so 'me' and right for me. I have never felt the same with any other character, there has always been something that has't felt right. Molluck just feels friendly, despite of the image he has in public... I can understand him, like his anger issues, and I only just wish all the best for him... I just truly love this Gluk and that's why it feels like I just keep loving him more and more.

And kinda related to this, I must admit that sometimes, I wonder how people can have multiple fictional others or 'blorbos' or whatever you call those characters like that (I know the differences here but it's not the point.). I had recently a moment when I had two characters I was into (if you know, you know) but my relationship with Molluck only got stronger and I started to feel bad for him... (I also realized that I was 'looking for' Molluck in that other character since he was similar, so it was about Molluck after all too.) So, I can be 'like IRL' with this, meaning that like he was actually my spouse/partner (in a closed relationship). So, I just am with Molluck in my way since I just cannot have multiple fo's... My relationship with Molluck is just this strong and he feels 'alive' to me but I still know that he ain't real. So yeah, it feels like 'cheating' if I was with another character too.

Oh, and yes, I also gotta say that even his 'unsual' body proportions can be challenging, it doesn't prevent us from hugging, kissing or anything related to giving and sharing love! I just really enjoy his body, as it is. I mean, it would feel like he lost something if I drew him having 'a normal humanoid body' or how you should call that... It's just such a big part of him for me but also gives him certain adorability. I just cannot help it... I want this Gluk so badly but it also makes me learn things and get better at stuff! Like, yes, I'm doing that Molluck model mainly for my own Molluck fantasies but I also wanna use it to other stuff too.

But yeah, I know that you should start from simple stuff but I have always done what I have wanted in art, so... I'm unsure about the next steps since I have never done them but luckily there are plenty of tutorials out there and I also got some e-books for Blender stuff (that's where I learned doing eyes and that colouring for example). Yes, this is my first 3D character model thing I'm doing. I just wanna have a Molluck model this badly...

I could talk so much about Molluck... I just love this Gluk with my whole heart... 🫀 Yeah, I think that I should stop writing for now and get back to thinking Molluck (in bed since I should go to sleep now)! 💞✨

[astrodances]

This fic started with the idea I've had for a while of Raine giving Eda wrist kisses after she got her sigil, and it just evolved into this whole scene which I basically wrote all of last night. 🥺🥹

(And yay!! Managed to write, finish, and post something in 2023!! And yay for my first (published) TOH fic!)

Happy, healthy, lovely New Year to everyone, and thank you for reading, leaving kudos, and commenting! 🥳💜

_____

A Brave Face

It stings. Titan, it stings and it burns and it hurts it hurts it hurts-

Steve utters an “I’m sorry” laced with so much regret to an unhearing Eda, hiding the offending sigil glove as he backs away from her unseeing eyes, still tightly wound shut against the reality of what just happened.

Raine’s quick to take over, ushering Eda to the stern of the Bard Coven airship (in this moment, they want to curse every string they ever plucked, every note ever played under the coven’s banner). Everyone else pointedly stays near the bow, giving them the space they need. Lilith stays near the edge of the group, closest to the middle, on standby in case a sisterly shoulder is called for.

Eda’s breaths are heavy, shaky in the silence they wrap themselves in. The wind, free and cold at this altitude, flows by to tickle their hair and clothing, but otherwise, she stays braced against the pain, clutching her branded arm to her chest.

“Eda...?” Raine prods gently. “Eda? Hey, can you hear me?” Every syllable is softer than a whisper (they should know), and one hand stays on Eda’s shoulder to help ground her to the present, their thumb rubbing comforting circles.

Eyes still closed, Eda’s willpower catches in her throat, and she sniffs in warning before the tears begin to flow as freely as the wind. She shakes her head, not at Raine’s question, but at everything she’s feeling. Against the ability to speak. At the unfairness of it all.

Raine immediately covers Eda in an embrace, angling her away from everyone to give her more privacy. Mindful of her arm, they cradle her head and bring her close to them. Her mane of hair absorbs most of the vibrations she emits with each audible sob, each one deepening the grimace across their face and crushing their heart more and more.

“I’ve got you. I’ve got you...” they say, refusing to lie with any false platitudes or even mention the sigil right now. Still, they hope their words and their presence are enough to soothe her, to just let her know that she isn’t alone.

Eda merely snuggles further into the crook of Raine’s neck, letting-needing-them to support her as she lets her guard down.

They let a few more long moments pass, giving Eda time to let the brunt of the storm pass. Raine, meanwhile, begins to regulate their breathing, and finally says, “Try to focus on my voice, okay? I’m gonna count you through a breathing exercise.”

Without waiting for an answer, they begin, demonstrating as they go.

“In, two, three, four...”

Eda shudders against them as they hold for a moment.

“...and out, two, three, four.”

In less-dire circumstances, Eda would make a joke here about Raine being a walking time-signature or something to that effect, and Titan, Raine wishes it were so. They’d take any form of teasing right now just to see a shadow of a smile grace her face.

“In, two, three, four...”

“Out, two, three, four...”

They keep the rhythm, not caring how long they have to stand there breathing and counting to get through, imbuing as much calm as they can into the other witch. Other airships go by, quiet murmurs make their way from the front of their own, but Raine’s focus remains undeterred.

Eventually, after several minutes, Eda stills, her own breathing still strong but steadier. Raine pulls themself back just enough to see her face and catches her wincing.

“Are you okay?” they ask. They know the answer is no, but it’s instinctual.

Her eyes are still closed and she’s still holding the outside of her arm, but for the first time since before the branding, Eda speaks. “It hurts, Raine,” she hisses.

“What do you mean?”

“The si- my wrist, it hurts. Like it’s burning.”

She offers her arm out partway, and Raine takes the invitation to hold onto her hand, gently coaxing her wrist into view. They try to reign in a gasp at the sight of Edalyn Clawthorne with a sigil - it’s still hard to believe this happened at all. 

Sigils usually don’t hurt for this long though, if at all; Raine’s tingled for maybe half a minute. And the eclipse hasn’t started yet.

“Maybe it’s because of the curse?” they speculate, fingers itching to run over the branded skin.

“Maybe,” Eda whispers.

There’s something so broken in the way she says that one word that causes Raine to whip their head back up to her, only for them to furrow their brow in utter despair. They feel like they’ve been sucker-punched in the gut.

Eda’s finally opened her eyes, still wet and gleaming with tears, and Raine can see just how vulnerable she is through them.

They’ve never seen her this vulnerable. Not when they first approached her in that corner at the I.F.W.O.T., or when they caught her alone at the lunch table on their first day at Hexside. Not when she first told them about her curse, or even when she begged them to protect her kids.

The Day of Unity, saving the world, everything else fades away. For the moment, those things don’t exist.

Raine can see what she’s mourning -- thirty-plus years of freedom, of playing by her own rules, of being the “Wild Witch of Bonesborough,” of standing up for what’s right and winning the good fight for herself.

Tonight, she lost. She lost the battle, the final blow there on her wrist, and she deserves to honor and mourn that sacrifice.

The Head of the Titan is still a ways off. They have time.

Raine trails their gaze back down to her wrist, this time intentionally tracing their thumb over the sigil before they raise Eda’s arm up and start planting the most tender kisses they can manage across it. They hear Eda choke back another quivering sob.

“I want...you to know...” they begin between kisses, “...that you...are...the bravest...person...I know.”

Once they’re sure they’ve covered every inch of skin and sigil with love and affection, Raine looks up again and gives a kiss to Eda’s nose, her forehead, and finally to her lips. It surprises them both, if they’re being honest--there’s an unspoken agreement between them that they’ll discuss their relationship after the Day of Unity, to avoid distractions, naturally (though they both know there’s very little to actually discuss at this point)--but Raine sees it if nothing else, at the very least, than as admiration and a promise, the same promise they made to Luz.

“T-there. Does that help a little?” Raine asks. They’re both blushing messes now and Eda is crying waterfalls, but the question does make her laugh despite herself, and Raine will gladly count that as a victory.

Eda nods a couple times, then leans her forehead against theirs. “Yeah, y-yeah it does, Rainestorm. Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

They stay close together for a few moments more, Raine now holding Eda’s hand to their chest, sharing the rhythm of their heart.

Eventually, they guide Eda to sit on the floor of the airship with them to rest and let them wipe her tears away and just talk and think. They share worries; they share hopes.

And when Eda starts to let herself acknowledge the sigil more, turning it this way and that in the sunlight, Raine holds her a little tighter and hums their rhapsody-requiem into her hair.

Eda lost a battle to help win a war, and Raine will do anything, anything, to support her and honor that.

Anything for the bravest witch of all time.

[love-mariiii]

Was It (I) Ever Good Enough

Okay, so this is the first time I am brave enough to publish something. It's a lestappen fic, cuz i love them, it's kinda sad though and also not very long. I wrote this while listening to billie's new album. If any commas are in a weird place don't mind it please, me and commas dont have a good relationship. Also this isn't finished, but I might try and finish it if any of you like it.

Max didn’t think it would come to this. That after everything, this is where he would end up. On his bedroom floor, drunk, regretting every decision he’s ever made, but maybe he should have seen it coming. Charles never was one for commitment when it came to relationships, so why did Max think that it would be any different with him? 

To Max, they were everything. When he thought about them, he could see a future, somewhere in Tuscany, happily married, spending the rest of their days in peace with no distractions from the outside world. He should’ve known that it wasn’t like that for Charles. The start of their relationship was way too messy. But Max’s judgment was so clouded by the fact that Charles liked him back, that all those years of pining weren’t for nothing, that he didn’t even notice it. 

Now he’s drowning his sorrows in alcohol, praying that when he wakes up tomorrow it was just a nightmare. That when he wakes up tomorrow Charles will still be here, next to him. He knows that won’t be the case, he knows that he’ll wake up to an empty bed, an empty house, feeling hollow, asking himself where it all went wrong.

[winterandwords]

💻 Big website update, things to read, and Spin Cylinder coming soon!

I'm very tired and very excited, so hopefully this all makes sense and doesn't come out like the aggressively caffeinated gibberish that's buzzing around in my head right now.

The TL;DR is I updated winterandwords.com and instead of having downloadable versions of my stories, they can now be read on the site itself, complete with convenient index pages. I'll be posting future stories chapter by chapter, and you can subscribe there to get notified of new things as they happen (more about that in a minute).

The ML;RA (much longer; read anyway) is I realised I was not enjoying the way I've been sharing my stories. I don't like making Book Product. I don't like finishing a book, throwing it out into the world one time and then pretty much ignoring it forever. I don't like anything about packaging a story into a PDF or an EPUB and putting it up for download. It's not that it's difficult. It's that it isn't fun and honestly I'm trying to prioritise fun a lot more than I have been.

When I'm coming to the end of a story and catch myself dragging my feet, I know I need to change what happens next. I write primarily for my own enjoyment and I have no interest in conventional publishing methods, whether traditional or mainstream self-publishing, or Doing A Sales.

It's super important to me that I get to enjoy every part of the writing and story-sharing process, so if something is giving me the ick, it's time to do it differently.

I've always loved the idea of serialised fiction, posting chapter by chapter and getting to yell at you all every time there's a new bit to read. I've spent forever investigating and trying out different platforms, but none of them hit the spot.

Today I had a Why the fuck didn't I think of this before? moment and realised I can do exactly the thing I want on my own website that I already have and pay for.

The exciting bit is November Breaks and Bridge From Ashes are up on winterandwords.com already and Spin Cylinder is coming soon! Yes, really. SOON. I'm planning to get stuck into final edits now-ish and start posting chapters ASAP.

The other exciting bit is that you can subscribe to get notifications of new stories and chapters by email. I'll post info and links here too, but things get lost very easily on the fast-paced hellsite, even with tag lists (which I really need to get around to setting up).

So if you want to subscribe to the yummy wordstuff, head to winterandwords.com and do the thing.

As ever, if you'd like to support my writing with money, you can do that by making a donation via Ko-fi. There's never any expectation of donations, but please know that I appreciate them so much when you're generous enough to send them.

Before I build a dam across the stream of consciousness, I want to say a huge THANK YOU to all my friends here for being so incredibly enthusiastic about my writing. You're the reason I'm brave enough to include "with characters to go feral over" when I'm talking about my stories online. You're awesome and I adore the hell out of you 💜

[tanjir0se]

Hello!! I saw in the tags of a post that youd like more asks, which made me brave enough to send one

Would u mind rambling a bit about your rengiyuu fic(s)? I get excited when I hear that you're working on them but I don't know if you've published any/ any chapters yet?

I hope you're having a nice day!! 🌻

hI THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING AND I AM SO SORRY _(:3 」∠)_

So it AAALLL started with my overlong post-Entertainment District Coping fic I wrote the majority of between episodes 10 and 11 of Entertainment District, trying to find a way for Tanj and the bois to survive the. yknow. Gigantic Poison Explosion.

I wrote Giyuu and Shinobu heading there with an antidote, and Giyuu having to dig around through the rubble to find Tanjiro, half dead. In that I draw comparisons between his relationship with Tanjiro and his relationship with the now-deceased Kyojuro, very different but all leading into the same conclusion: He can't stand to lose anyone else who is as special and just sunshine incarnate as Kyo was. It's told interspersed between Giyuu trying to find/save Tanjiro and my headcanon for Giyuu and Kyo's first meeting, in which Giyuu became a Hashira AFTER Kyo and Kyo was his mentor throughout. Never finished or published it because most of it didn't make sense in canon after Ep 11 came out.

Then I moved onto my Demon!Rengoku bullshit. In this fic that takes place any time post Entertainment District, Rengoku has been posthumously turned into a demon by Douma in an attempt to get close to/kill Tanjiro. Waking up with no memory, no awareness that he's a demon, and nowhere else to go, Kyo wanders to Giyuu's house. Giyuu tries to just end him right then and there but can't work up the nerve, even when Kyo attacks him. Haven't gotten too far, but the gist is that he and Kyo have to team up (with Akaza?? [obviously he'd be fucking PISSED that Douma managed to turn Kyo when he couldn't, so maybe some enemy of my enemy is my friend?]) to figure out who turned him and how to turn him back. Probably my spiciest fic? Demons sexy what can I say. I think I'm pretty good at writing smut but I can literally never work up the nerve so. yknow.

I ALSO have a much more fluffy fic based on the idea of Giyuu being injured in battle, waking up in the butterfly mansion with Kyo having thought he died. Kyo tries to confess that he's realized his love for him but panics last minute and ends up saying he's realized Giyuu never met his brother. Giyuu accepts and they end up on a date that neither really realizes is a date except poor Senjuro, who now kind of has to play matchmaker! Very fluffy and silly and a good break from the darker fics I had been working on.

Annnnd another less overtly Rengiyuu fic as part of my Modern AU in which Giyuu (Kyo's roommate[and they were ROOMMATES]) and Sanemi (over at their apartment because he was bored) find themselves embroiled in the Rengoku family drama after Senjuro and Kyo appear at their apartment, Kyo with a black eye from their father. Explores Giyuu and Sanemi's shared past (dead siblings), Sanemi's relationship with his own father, and my personal thoughts for how Shinjuro and Kyojuro's relationship would have played out A.) If Kyo never died and B.) in a modern setting.

That was interrupted by As the World Caves In (read it here!) and will likely be interrupted by some Everybody Lives AU Secret Relationship bullshit in the future.

*Takes a huge deep breath*

So yeah anyway i loooove being Normal! For real though thank you for asking, I will die on this Ship and will always welcome the opportunity to ramble incoherently about it !!

[kureis-writing-hell]

Where the Sand Blows

After finishing the golden slumber quest in genshin I decided it needs a bit more flavor and added gay spice. And some tragedy considering the end of that quest.

Tirzad is back at the ruin where everything ended and reflects about the last few months. It's only him, the sand, and a mad man that keeps the place somehow safe.

Jebrael x Tirzad undertones hehe.

Well, people at the Aaru village did say that there was a Keeper living at the ruins nowadays. Surprisingly, and suspiciously, but he really was there, alive, having a little camp. In the middle of nowhere. In a place that Tirzad remembered as the most dangerous, traumatizing, full of monsters and thugs place in Sumeru. And he was there, a lonely, old man. Alone. And out of his mind, if the villagers were right.

No, they probably were. They have been dealing with people like that for years now. They could recognize a lost mind with closed eyes and standing so far away that the person was no bigger than a grain of sand, probably. At least, that was how Tirzad understood it.

Well, the presence of the old man was still, somehow, a blessing. He really did scare all the monsters and the Eremites away from the ruins. Which made it easier to find an expedition team that was willing to travel there with Tirzad. Which saved the scholar so much energy and nerves before even setting out. Which, again, was a blessing. Coming back here was already unnerving as it was.

After Akasha was shut down and the people of Sumeru got their dreams back, Tirzad did not dream happily. When he wasn't so exhausted that he fell into the bed to have a dreamless rest, he experienced the worst nightmares from his first trip to the desert. The danger, the frustration. The heat. And, most importantly, the frantic escape that ended with one of his guards gone from this world.

He blamed himself. All those months, he blamed himself quietly even though he knew he couldn't do anything back then to save Jebrael. Or help his daughter. Or even turn this situation for better for himself.

Which, as the regular folk said, sucked ass hard.

That's why he was glad that at least the monsters were gone from the area. This way, he could (bravely!) wander off from the loud company he got for himself to be alone. They were a good bunch of workers, but it was impossible to focus around them, and in the camp that they set in the front of the entrance to the ruins. Tirzad needed all the focus he could get. He was trying to get more knowledge about King Deshret and the Golden Slumber and everything connected to this case. He needed to. After publishing his first paper, it became an obsession, for sure.

No, it had nothing to do with the unwillingness to get closer to any of those people again. Not at all.

In the chaos of his first expedition, he missed so much knowledge left in the aged walls. Runes, old pergamins, hieroglyphics, and more. Now, he had all the time to copy them, decipher them, and try to analyze them.

Which, again, led him to send his thanks to the old man inhabiting the ruins.

Because Tirzad was still… reasonable. He didn't try to get closer to the man. If he really was out of his mind, then he could even take Tirzad for an enemy. He could carry a sickness, too. Tirzad was not risking it. And, thankfully, the man seemed to share the sentiment. He only kept observing Tirzad from afar when the scholar had his trips around the ruins. Nothing more.

The stranger was always covered in tattered clothes. He looked like a mummy. Tirzad was glad he didn't want to approach him. The simple sight of that stranger observing him was enough to give the scholar more nightmares.

Which didn't go away when they arrived at the ruins. Tirzad did hope they would, that coming back to this place would serve him a closure or at least speak to his consciousness. But it didn't. It seemed that being there only worsened his sleeping condition. Which did not help him focus on his study.

Tirzad was sitting under one of the statues of the guards, hiding in its shadow. Logically, he knew he should come back to the camp for midday to hide from the sun, drink water, and eat something, but he couldn't make himself move a muscle. He was looking at the seemingly hollow, large space that went far, far under his feet, and kept recalling how magnificent it looked when all the ruins showed itself to his eyes the first time. He doubted he would ever see that again. The ruins of Khaj-Nisut were most likely swallowed by Samail's madness, or at least that was Tirzad's theory. He really, really wanted to try and bring them back again, but without the Traveler's skill, it was futile. So he sat there. Drowning himself in his thoughts.

The ache he was experiencing in his chest was somehow therapeutic, or he liked to think so.

He wondered if, maybe, Jebrael was still in there. Fighting an endless fight with Samail to keep Jeht, Tirzad, and everyone else in this world safe from the spreading madness of the other man. It was a romantic thought, one that honestly never sneaked into Tirzad's mind, spoiling it with hope. Logically, he knew Jebrael was dead. He went into the Golden Slumber on his own. His body was gone. He wasn't coming back, so Tirzad could keep blaming himself and dreaming horrible nightmares.

The scholar groaned and rubbed his face, trying to get rid of the self-loathing thoughts. It wasn't like him. He was a coward and a quitter (not anymore!), but he was never a crybaby about it. He wasn't ever sentimental. All that should matter to him right now was his study and figuring out the truth behind King Deshret's rule.

"Sand storm."

A scratchy voice ripped into Tirzad's brain, making him jump on the sand. He turned around, with his heart pondering in his chest, expecting to see an Eremite that somehow got their way into the ruins. Ready to run for his life, he looked behind himself and saw the Keeper.

He stood hunched close enough for Tirzad to hear him, but far away so that the unspoken rule of not approaching each other wasn't broken. There was a staff in his hand that he most likely used to wander around the ruins easily, considering his fragile silhouette. Tirzad could see a beard escaping the rugs, but that was it. His whole face, just as the body, was covered. Tirzad couldn't even see his eyes, hidden in the shadow of the cloth. He doubted he could see them even if the Keeper stood right in front of him.

"What?" Tirzad responded, not too polite, frantically wiping his wet eyes.

"Sand storm coming. It can be violent here. Go back." His voice sounded like he hadn't used it a long, long time. Considering the man was mad and living as a hermit, Tirzad wasn't surprised.

"The sky is pristine!" Taken by surprise, the scholar pointed at the sky angrily. No one was supposed to interrupt him when he was doing his… his research!

"It will come soon. Go back."

Tirzad got red on his face immediately, anger rising in his chest. He knew it was useless to argue with a mad man. He knew it could be dangerous. But he wasn't going to listen to a Keeper!

"I'm not leaving yet, I have enough work as it is!"

The scholar got up, faced the Keeper and turned away, stomping in an unknown direction.

The Keeper looked after him for a moment, before turning away in an opposite way and leaving to find a shelter.

.

The storm, of course, came.

It came unexpectedly, suddenly, and scared the shit out of Tirzad. The sky got red within seconds and the wind began blowing so hard he feared he would be blown away. It kept throwing sharp sand into his face, making it unable to look up for more than a few seconds. He knew there was a ruin somewhere close, he was looking at it mere minutes ago, but right now he didn’t even have an idea which direction it was. Stepping carefully, to not slip on the sand under his feet, he was trying to get there. Unsuccessfully.

And then, it got black. The world got swallowed by darkness so black Tirzad couldn’t even see the tip of his nose anymore. The wind kept blowing around, making haunting sounds in the ruins akin to screams and wails. He stood there, in the middle of that overwhelming darkness, and felt his heart slowly getting swallowed by it too.

To say he was terrified was an underestimation. His legs started shaking so badly that he feared to make another step. He couldn’t breath, the sand getting into every crook of his body. His body, that felt like a gelatin, like it was made out of slime. And all he could think about was not to get into the shelter, it wasn’t the horrible outcome of being covered under the sand and suffocating to death. It was the escape from Khaj-Nisut, the darkness chasing them, Samail’s madness trying to eat them alive and…

And there was a voice, coming through the darkness. Seeping into Tirzad’s head like the last rope of hope. Like someone, again, came to rescue him, like he was saved.

“I’ll protect you!”

As if his body moved on its own, Tirzad turned towards the source of voice. Or was it really? Maybe the wind was playing with his mind, or maybe he went mad after all? A cozy, warm place at the Aaru Village didn’t seem so horrible at this point.

“Come on! Move!”

Move. It was easy to say, but his legs felt ten times heavier than usual. It was easier to just fall down and die under the sand. At last he would join the man that died because of him. It would be so easy. Not only now. It would end his lifetime of suffering just like that.

“Are you mad?!”

A bunch of tattered clothes suddenly showed up in his face, jumping out of the darkness like a ghost. Tirzad screamed, tried to make a step back but his legs were really stuck, covered by sand almost up to his knees. The Keeper grabbed his arm in a vice-like grip, way, way stronger than someone old should be able to muster, and pulled him out of the coffin of the desert. Then, without a word, the man threw him over his shoulder as if Tirzad weighed nothing and ran towards the ruins.

The wind pushed them both inside. The man lost his balance, threw Tirzad on the rocks inside and hit the floor himself. Tirzad felt his glasses crack, coughed out a bunch of dust and started getting sand out of his eyes and nose. He cursed the man under his nose, annoyed by his aching bones, but quickly stopped. His brain was overheating. He couldn’t believe what just happened.

The Keeper got himself up and stepped closer to the scholar. Tirzad looked up at him, glasses half broken and sand still in places where it shouldn’t be. The wind kept howling outside and it felt like it was the end of the world.

Yet, Tirzad looked at the man before him and couldn’t believe his imagination. The Keeper helped him stand up and Tirzad still couldn’t take his eyes off of him. Then, the man pointed at a small camp he set up inside of the ruin, a cozy looking fire and bed.

“I have water,” he hummed with that broken, unused voice, gesticulating with his hand.

And that was when Tirzad launched himself at the Keeper. The man, surprised, stepped back and tried to keep his distance, while Tirzad followed him quickly, trying to grab for his face. Trying to throw the old clothes off. He didn’t speak up. He looked at the man with wide eyes, his hat was gone, his hair was all over the place. He must’ve looked mad at least, but he didn’t care.

When the Keeper hit the wall with his back he finally straightened, showing his whole height. He was for sure a desert dweller. There was no mistake in that. Tirzad jumped at him, slapped at the huge hands that were trying to push him away and finally got a hold on the clothes covering the other man’s face. And he didn’t intend on letting them go.

Pulling, he slowed down, his heart hammering against his ribcage. He knew his brain was playing tricks on him. He knew the hope was futile, and the disappointment would really throw him into madness. But he couldn’t stop now.

The Keeper let him do his thing finally, giving up any struggle. The clothes slowly revealed his face.

Dark hair, leaning towards a strong blue, messy and dirty after months in the desert. Confused, but analyzing, hooded eyes, that Tirzad honestly saw only once before. Nose and lips that he knew, that were the most annoying, unnerving lips he ever met. A scar on the right cheek, not covered by the unkept beard that was left to grow on its own.

Tirzad must have looked pathetic. Mad and pathetic. His wide eyes, full of hope, got wet within seconds. He half smiled, half grimaced, because while he recognized the face before him, it looked terrible. Collapsed and lost. Nothing like he could remember. But it was still, still the same face, the face of a man that was dead to everyone for the past months. A man that haunted Tirzad’s dreams up to this day.

“Jebrael…?” sighed the scholar. It was a fragile word, fragile breath even. Full of fear of losing the only good dream Tirzad had since the Akasha allowed him to dream.

The other man frowned, looking down on him. His eyes did not spark, but were obviously analyzing this whole situation. The man that wore Jebrael’s face tilted his head slightly, finally putting his hands over Tirzad’s shaking ones that were stuck in one position, gripping on the old clothes like losing them would also mean losing his own sanity.

“Who’s… Jebrael?”

[otp-holic]

What a year

This is one of those post I write for my future self, so feel free to skip it if you want.

But it's been a year since I started writing what would become I was alone, I took a ride (I didn't know what I would find there)

A year ago, I was embarked on my unofficial Nano Goal of writing 1ks a day trying to recover the love of writing after a pretty lousy experience while writing my 6ks of Fic Exchange fic.

I had three different projects going on, and for the first few days of November I was more focused on one shots and another idea for a long one.

And, I don't exactly know why, on November 5th my head took a turn, and decided to start putting words on an idea I had thought about for ages but that had always looked too big and too difficult to attempts.

I love reading movie AUs but when trying to write them, I always struggle with the "ingredients" (too close to the source material, does the character make sense in this universe, how many call backs are too many...), so I had never dared. It looked like an impossible task.

But I did started, shyly at first, and combining it with the other projects... until a couple weeks later this was all I could think about.

I had all the fun in the world with those first drafts where I mixed English and Spanish, jumped from one scene to another... a month that turned into three months, that left me with around 60ks worth of words that I thought made up the whole story. Very roughly written, and in need of SO MUCH work, but a story.

I wasn't gonna publish it, ever. Just left it as it was for me to enjoy, but thanks to some people, but especially @thewinterwelded I decided to take the leap. I would have never ever keep on writing if I hadn't.

A year later, I'm here (not using Writing Analytics anymore, so i just went back to my excel), and those 60ks have taken a life of its own:

It's quite a lot, if you think about it, not only in wordcount (i write mostly in dialogued scenes, so it's always long), but in achievements.

I've been brave enough to take the leap and publish it with it many mistakes, I've kept on with it even when I was down, I've learned how to manage expectations, to write for my shake.

I'm almost done writing (this time for real), editing the final act to publish, and even though it's far from perfect, that impossible task is close to being possible.

I will probably reflect much more about it when I finish publishing (hopefully before the year is over), but I wanted to have this post because I love anniversaries, and I really want to have the reminder for those rainy days.

Thank you so much to everyone who is being a part of this ride (pun intended), because you definitely make me feel less alone and not giving up despite its many imperfections.

[authortobenamedlater]

I have a huge post in my drafts about this I can never quite get around to finishing so here is the shorter version.

We’ve all seen the posts about “stop abandoning fandoms so quickly” and I’d like to put forth a theory about WHY we abandon them so quickly.

Fans have taken a “love-‘em-and-leave-‘em” attitude because there’s so little canon to love anymore, so we leave. It’s hard to build and sustain a fan base when seasons are 8-12 episodes long with a year or even two between them. It’s like starting a fire with a match and kindling and tending it for hours vs. lighting a match and pouring kerosene on your wood every 30 minutes and not touching it in between.

As an example, at least half of my Halo TV fanhood revolves around stuff I created myself. Not that I had any problem doing it *guilty look at 20 fanfics published and who knows how many WIPs* but that’s not sustainable. Nine episodes and over a year for nine (I assume) more episodes doesn’t a fandom make. One fan off her rocker writing more fics than should be legal doesn’t a fandom make.

(Please spare me any comments about how bad the Halo show sucks. Brave my Halo tags and you’ll find my answer to just about anything you would say.)

Some shows can pull it off. The Mandalorian can in part because it’s That Good, and largely because it’s part of an already huge franchise with a devoted fan base. Same for Strange New Worlds. But you can’t really attract and grow a fan base when you barely give them an appetizer’s worth of source material and make them wait an eternity for more bread crumbs. I know budget plays a big role in this and many shows are so special-effects heavy that a 22-episode season would be prohibitively expensive. That doesn’t change the consequences on the fan side.

So no, we don’t “abandon” fandoms because we can’t stop and smell the roses and we always want the next new thing. Fandoms now abandon us because they can’t give us enough canon to even build a fan base. Maybe some of this is due to the “TikTok-ification” of fandom, but I’d argue the fault lies more with the people who make the shows than the fans.

[kuyajermsss]

News vs Snowflakes

(DISCLAIMER: Views and opinions are all mine)

So there has been a discussion whether not to post or post a story re Philippines ending its 12-year streak on semifinals at the Miss Universe pageant.

Why?

It’s because some people are clamoring about ‘insensitivity’

Now for context, Celeste Cortesi, the Philippines’ representative at Miss Universe 2022, failed to land a spot on the Top 16. Surprisingly shocking for some fans out there, knowing how Philippines dominated world beauty pageants and ‘slaying’ every single one of them. No wonder it was such a big deal for us to lose esp that we are being globally recognized for such competitions.

While it’s sad to hear this defeat, I think a little bit of truth wouldn’t hurt them, would they? Regardless of anyone’s emotional attachment, the PH streak really ended here (apologies for Celeste) take it or leave it.

This reminds me of that time where online media was called out during Carlos Yulo’s loss at Tokyo 2020 Olympics. It appears that using negative head is too offensive, and that these news publishers should steer away from it, instead make stories sound bright and proud despite finishing off weak.

It made me realize how the line is becoming thin between being objective and subjective. With this progressive times, it has become a challenge for many to discern what’s morally acceptable yet sensible norm, and what’s not.

Are they brave enough to write the truth even if it will lead to possible pushbacks?

I believe that news should assess where it stands.

Just my two cents.

[ackackh]

14, 18, 22 and/or dealer's choice, if you're up to it!

I think, based on timing, this was meant for the writer’s ask. However! If you meant this for the one I just posted that’s like, random questions, just tell me and I’ll answer those as well!

14. Where do you get your inspiration?

Well, in the immortal words of George Luz, I have no idea! But, uh, no, I guess I get my inspiration from primarily visual art and nature. I have a million images saved to my phone of paintings or even just visual edits of scenes and whatnot, mostly that illicit a specific emotion or feeling. Lots and lots of portraits that make me wonder about the subject, y’know? Plus music! The amount of times I’ve heard a random line from The Mountain Goats and been like, oh that’s so (insert character), truly embarrassing. And I will not stop.

18. If you keep them, share a deleted sentence or paragraph from a published fic

Oh, god this is where I’m like 😖 because I usually delete it because I don’t think it’s good! But here, I’ll be brave. I literally don’t remember writing this bit from God Is a Bluegill

Colbert collects them and Ray is tossed on the bed where his head begins to still and he watches Fick speak to Ms. Godfrey low and sweet-like as she assures her safety. When he finishes he whips his gaze back to Ray and his party, presses his mouth into a stern line, asking, “How did you know about the money?”

Sloppy all over, Ray replies, “In the jailhouse, I heard your plan.”

“Jailhouse? That was you in there, huh?”

“Me ’n Walt over there,” Ray gestures, “Pleasant is just a strong companion.”

22. Do you ever worry about public reaction to what you’re writing? How do you get past that?

YES. Pretty much all artists I know are their own worst critics, including yours truly. I’m nervous just posting that little deleted bit up there! But the only way for me to get past it is to go, fuck it, and publish it anyway. It’s worth understanding that you’ll always be evolving and getting better, your tastes will change and sometimes you’ll look back at something you’ve written and be like, what moron would make that? But then sometimes you’ll look back at your former self and their work like a parent. Like, damn that kid was talented, and you can see the bits and pieces in your old works that contributed to what you grew into. IDK I guess I’m just saying that if you’re your own worst critic (and you definitely are, we all are) and you like your stuff well enough, then someone out there will probably love it.

OKAY I’ve officially had too much caffeine today! I’m sorry for turning this into a monster of a post. I’m sorry for apologizing, too! Peace and love on planet earth 🌎 I hope you have a great day, my dude!