#and would’ve could’ve should’ve but that’s too real so shhh

[ivystitches]

you don’t understand there are some songs that taylor swift writes for me personally everyone just doesn’t get them like i do

[strawberrysoup]

Pocketful of Posies || Chapter 6

You’d been hiding for years and years now; from your family, from society, from alphas and packs. Suppressants were dangerous but effective and necessary for an omega who refused to be owned—but no suppressants were strong enough to fool the nose of a super soldier, who together with his pack would stop at nothing to bind you to them forever.

pairings: dark!Avengers x reader

word length: 2.9K

chapters: 6/?

warnings: A/B/O dynamics, power imbalances, noncon and dubcon sexual situations, loss of autonomy, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat — this is a dark!fic, read at your own risk. more detailed content warnings are included at the end of the chapter to avoid spoilers, click through the read more, CTRL + F “content warnings”.

notes: slightly shorter than my usual, but i needed to get some stuff fixed up. if ya’ll like my stories please consider donating to my ko-fi— a bitch is poor lmao

Steve swept you up in his arms and turned to deposit you on the landing upstairs, evidently trusting the others to keep you contained for a moment. There was an audible scuffle going on in the den, Bucky would be heard growling from outside—snapping at someone who made the mistake of asking how he’d gotten out there so fast? Tony was growling at Peter who looked seconds away from begging for forgiveness.

“You guys made it safe, I’m happy to see you Nat,” Steve drew the redhaired woman into his arms and sighed in relief, but you couldn’t tell if it was a question or a statement; honestly you were having trouble thinking, your brain clouded with the sudden onset of absolute and uncontrolled panic.

The moment the black-haired man had been pulled away by the delta currently stomping back up the stairs, clarity had returned to you like a slap in the face. The golden fog that obscured your vision immediately dissipated and just as quickly you’d been overwhelmed with gut wrenching fear. You didn’t actually remember kicking Steve in the face or making a break for the stairs, but evidently you had and you cursed your hindbrain for running towards the stairs—you should’ve jumped straight out the window; you had a better chance at out running Bucky and whoever else was down there than the two alpha primes and their surrounding packmates.

Before you could even take a step towards the still wide-open window, the black-haired man appeared with a green flash and wrapped around you tightly. “Shhh , pet, no. No windows for you, darling, come now—back to your nest.”

In a moment of truly unusual harmony, your consciousness and hindbrain agreed that the bed was the last place you wanted to be. That wasn’t your bed, the omega hissed tearfully, you’d never made a nest—that wasn’t yours. It could barely be called a nest, even. There hadn’t been any careful consideration regarding the placement of the pillows and blankets, there were no articles of clothing or soft items that had been scavenged or stolen to elicit a feeling of safety or comfort. Worst of all was the way it smelled. Obviously, it didn’t reek, the mix of individual scents wasn’t a bad conglomeration, but your hindbrain whined at the unfamiliarity. This wasn’t your pack’s scent.

The cohesion was jarring, and you groaned. Regardless of the reasoning, your hindbrain was aware that you didn’t get to have a pack and that reminder always hurt. It desperately desired one, but an omega’s primary objective was survival.

After all, you in all of your fully conscious state knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that you would never have a pack—it wasn’t a matter of wanting or not wanting at this point in your life. You were too old to be regressed into the type of omega that packs wanted, your body too badly reliant on the chemical reactions produced by suppressants after fifteen years to stop taking them. At your age, to be found by a pack meant death.

They would get sick of trying to fix you. You’d die from quitting the suppressants cold turkey. They’d beat you for disobedience until your body gave up. You were nearly thirty and that was ancient for an unbound omega and you couldn’t teach an old dog new tricks. Especially an old dog who was bound and determined not to be taught.

“LOKI!” Bucky bellowed as he stomped past Steve and the redhead on the stairs, looking three shades past furious.

The man holding you let go very quickly after that, spinning you away and moving to intercept the furious delta with an equally unpleasant expression. Why couldn’t you have just fucking kept it together upon meeting Bruce—that blood in the water, shark nosed asshole, if you had reigned in your panic there was no way he could’ve scented you through your suppressants. Steve was a different story, but if you’d been quick and calm you probably could’ve made it.

You scanned the room quickly; Bruce was on the bed, checking on Wanda. Bucky and Loki were on the floor fighting, half entangled with Peter and Sam who were doing their best to put their own fight aside to keep the deltas from killing each other. Steve was still halfway down the stairs with the other redhead, talking to her quietly. Tony was—

“Okay, princess, okay,” Tony was wrapped tightly around you from behind, carefully keeping your head braced between his chin and shoulder when you tried to thrash. “This isn’t fair to you, you’re way too fragile for this right now. Put your head here, breathe with me.”

“Please let me go,” you didn’t realize you were crying until you spoke, words coming out in sobs. “I don’t want to die like this, please—”

“You are not going to die, little love,” Thor sounded so sad from where he came to stand in front of you. “I’m not going to bond you, not while you’re so upset. But the results of the tests Bruce ran showed that you are in danger. I cannot allow that and no matter how angry you are with us, we will not let you suffer needlessly.”

“I’m not suffering! I swear, I swear I’m not suffering I’m, I’m happy! I’m happy living my life the way I have been. Please, let me have the choice, I want to be alone, it makes me happy!”

Trying to explain to a literal God why you deserved personal agency was an exhausting business, especially when said God was as condescending as Thor. His indulgent and sad smile was nearly enough to tip you over the edge, but there really wasn’t a point in getting angry—he obviously couldn’t even fathom the concept that what he was doing was wrong. It’s not like you could do anything anyway, you weren’t built for violence but for running away. Every bone in your body vibrated with rage; the injustice was overwhelming.

For fifteen whole years you’d been just fine. You would’ve continued to be just fine, if it weren’t for some super nosed freaks crossing your path. What were the odds of the only people in the world who could scent you from beneath more than a decade’s worth of suppressant use would have a cabin in Quebec that you happened to clean—and run into said people because they happened to show up early; an incredibly unusual situation.

It made you think about Mrs. Hunt. She’d only called to give you a heads up because of the last time, when the homeowner had tried to assault you even while he’d thought that you were a beta . You wondered how long it would take her to realize something was wrong; it was getting late and you’d yet to return her cart despite telling her you’d be there shortly.

The real question would be whether she tried to help or not once she discovered your presentation. She could try to help, try to stick them with omega theft, but they could claim civic duty like Peter had earlier. Besides, that was contingent upon her wanting to help you considering you’d lied to her for so many years.

“You’re so distressed, won’t you let me purr for you?”

“Don’t! Don’t you dare take away—”

“Little love, please—”

“Don’t call me that. You don’t even know me,” you spat, turning to address the room at large. “What kind of fucking superheros are you? Let go of me! Let me go!”

Tony sighed and hefted you up into his arms, one wrapped around your torso while the other hooked under your knees and pinned you carefully across his body. You struggled uselessly against his strong hold; he wasn’t as strong as Thor or Steve, but his bicep was massive next to your head and you could feel his muscles through his clothes as he walked to the bed.

“We can’t, princess,” he murmured into the side of your head as he lowered both of you to the bed, sitting propped against a mass of pillows in the corner. “We’ll never find an unbound omega in your age range again. Plenty of omegas have been offered to us, but they’re all practically children. You’re our last chance—”

“There are plenty! You said plenty! Pick the oldest who wants to be in this fucking shit show and leave me alone!” Everyone tensed when the tone in your voice approached a shriek.

“We’re not taking an omega who’s not even legal to drink—”

“That alpha is like eighteen!” You tried to gesture to Peter, who gaped at you like you’d wounded him, but your arms were still pinned tightly to your sides.

“Peter is twenty-four, actually,” Tony spoke with mirth when Peter jumped onto the bed and crawled until he was pressed against Tony’s side and your back. “And before you ask, Wanda is twenty-six.”

“We’re so lucky to have found you,” the alpha half purred, pressing his nose into the back of your neck. “We’ll make you happy, happier than you are now.”

“It’s gonna be a rough start,” Bruce laid down in the nest a few feet away, welcoming the woman you recognized as the Black Widow into his arms when she slithered into the bed. “We have to balance your hormones, or you will die. You wouldn’t have lasted another year on those suppressants.”

“Death would be a reprieve,” you hissed shortly, freezing when the tone of the room immediately changed.

All attention was suddenly on you, Bruce still making direct eye contact with those sad puppy eyes, “I know that feeling, sweetheart—”

“We will do it another way then,” Thor interrupted, sending Bruce a quieting but loving look. “I said I would not bond you while you are in distress anda I will never break a promise to you. Open your mouth, this will be quick.”

Steve seemed to sigh in response and followed to stand next to the other prime, “I lost my chance. You’ll help her?”

Thor leveled the shorter blond with a careful look before nodding, both showing signs of deference and affection and respect that you did not care for. The rattle of a belt prompted Tony to turn you, setting you carefully between his legs while continuing to hold down your arms with what could appear to be an affectionate bear hug. He even linked his fingers with yours, squeezing gently as you tried to squirm.

“No. No, no no no, that’s disgusting, I won’t—”

“Shhh , I’ll do all the work little love, all you need to do is swallow.”

He was jerking his cock carefully, a flick of his wrist near the head catching your eye. That was a dangerous weapon, the same way you’d come to learn Steve’s was and you had no intention of letting it anywhere near your mouth. You clamped your lips shut, teeth grinding.

“Stubborn,” Peter snorted a laugh and you would’ve snapped at him had his hand not dove between your thighs, fingers gliding through the slick lips of your cunt until he found your clit.

You had to stop yourself from screeching, the head of Thor’s cock directly in front of your face. “Very. Come on now, open up.”

The fingers pinching your nose shut came as a shock, you’d crushed your eyes shut out without realizing it and they snapped open when your face was assaulted. Steve was kneeling on the bed, carefully cutting of your air supply with one hand and stroking your head with the other.

“Come on, precious, you’ve gotta breathe,” he stated softly, smiling when you were forced to pull your lips back to gasp for breath—until he realized your teeth were still locked together. “Really ‘mega?”

The next thing you knew his thumb was shoving against your molars, literally prying your jaw open. There was no way to fight it without hurting yourself, especially once he wedged his thick thumb between your top and bottom teeth. You barely had a second to anticipate the horror before an unnecessarily large cock found it’s way between your lips.

You tried to shriek, your brain finally catching up to the whole series of events, but it was no use. His scent was overwhelming and his dick stretched your lips, your jaw forced completely open. Thor groaned, a triggering noise as he very carefully pressed forward until your mouth was completely full and he was settled against you tongue.

“Suck for me, little love, just a little,” he grunted, just barely working his member between your lips while his huge hand stroked the rest.

It took a surprisingly small amount of time for a massive load of cum to shoot into your mouth. It was thick, and the way that Thor growled immediately made your pupils blow wide like you’d done a line of coke.  

Your body went lax immediately and you swallowed on instinct when a hand gently rubbed your throat. The fuzz in your brain was the result of arousal, a brutal orgasm that rocked your body at the sound in combination with your body’s sheer delight at the taste of alpha cum. Somewhere you realized that was disgusting but the haze in your brain made you more focused on the hand between your thighs rather than the indignity.

“Man, this shit ain’t fair,” Sam complained, panting from the exertion of trying to prevent Loki and Bucky from killing each other. “They get to cuddle and we—Hey!  Quit that, man!”

“All of you stop fighting,” Steve’s alpha order was brutal and effective.

The sounds of scuffling from behind Thor stopped immediately and there were huffs and snarls and low grumbles but the nest started shifting all around you. You were dropped back to lay against Tony’s chest, having inadvertently swallowed the entirety of the god’s massive load.

“She’s so cute,” Wanda cooed from somewhere to your left.

“We’ll need to go over what we’re doing from here,” Steve sighed once everyone had settled, still watching your dazed expression with a small smile. “But let’s just… nest for a bit, okay?”

The word nest triggered something in your half alpha-cum stoned brained and you looked around the den with a displeased expression. It was a terrible nest; all of the pillows and blankets were in weird heaps and the scent was so wrong. You didn’t really want to nest here, your hindbrain grumbled in agreement, but you’d fix the damn thing. You whined and wriggled until Steve gave Tony the go ahead to stop fully restraining you.

The bed was incredibly soft, which was an upside and crawling across it was like sinking your knees into clouds as you collected the soft heaps of blankets and pillows as you went. You wanted everything off so you could start from scratch, brain muddled by the wrongness of the current layout. You wanted to wash the sheets, the pillow cases, the blankets, all of it. The scent wasn’t right.

“Help her.” It was a quiet request from the Black Widow, who’d also started shifting around to remove the items. “She doesn’t like it like this.”

It was easier to get everything pushed away and in neat piles with the packs’ help, everyone immediately moving to help organize the pillows. You only snapped at the blond beta—Hawkeye, your memory supplied— once for putting a soft blanket on the pile with the not soft blankets. He immediately gave an apologetic burr to which your hindbrain purred back instinctually; evidently a good reaction.

“Why does she like Clint? They haven’t even spoken.”

“She doesn’t like him, she snarled at him!”

“She hasn’t purred at anyone else!”

“Shut up, fuckin’ idiot.”

The noise you made was one of discontent and disdain, the arguing deltas immediately quieting. You didn’t argue with the chirping growl that meant displeased omega, not in a real pack where the goal was to keep omegas pleased and docile. Somewhere your brain reminded you that this wasn’t your pack but the alpha hormones filling your blood and confusing you and yet somehow all you could focus on was whining and pushing at pack members to get them out of the way as your rearranged; clicking your teeth grumpily when you were handed a blanket instead of a pillow or vice versa.

You found yourself being corralled back into the corner, where Natasha and Wanda immediately wrapped themselves around you. Thor had found Bruce and settled beside and settled near your feet where you’d built an intricate nest wall of pillows and blankets. Two of the deltas, Tony and Loki seemed to be glaring at each other—even as Tony laid himself completely on top of the other and they both relaxed into comfortable holds.

It was interesting, watching the pack dynamics as they moved between each other. Clint wrapped around Natasha from behind the same way Carol found her way behind Wanda. Peter had weaseled his way into curling against Loki’s side while tossing a leg over the man’s hip, subsequently laying it over the backs of Tony’s thighs. Sam, Bucky and Steve all found their way into a neat grouping on the bed closest to the stairs, piled as close to the subsequent piles of superheros as possible.

There was some sort of pattern beginning to form in the back of your brain but you were still too confused, too sucked into your own omega hindbrain by the overwhelming introduction of alpha hormone to your system. Instead of following the thought through to the end, you found yourself warm and comfortable and full and falling asleep tucked between the groupings of presentations as if it wasn’t totally, 100% against your will.

 content warnings: forced cum eating, chemical manipulation, dead dove: do not eat

[aaaa-mpersand]

OCtober Day 6: Luxury

Thank you @oc-growth-and-development for the prompt, as always. This is three bros, two of them roasting Pacific Rim to hell and back. I’m a big fan of this movie I swear. This is a continuation of the Exy AU, following Finley (from OCtober Day 2: Mercy). He’s in a new team, and he doesn’t need friends, they disappoint him. Very Regrettably for Finley, the friends don’t agree. Fluff with some mild angst at the end. We stan found family. Kaspar and Finley are my characters, Mantis/Margot is @statistical-improbabilities character. I also named dropped @statistical-improbabilities Mya and @carry-on-my-wayward-brain Dusk.

“This is absurd,” Finley said, watching the robot on screen slam a cargo boat into the monster’s face with a deafening crunch. 

They were sitting on the floor of Kaspar’s room, rough carpet under their legs, Mantis’ laptop in front of them as an action movie flashed on screen. Finley watched the big robot slap the godzilla-like thing repeatedly in the face, only for the creature to grab them by the tail and rip their boat-made-baseball-bat into half. He vaguely wondered, not for the first time that night, how he’d even gotten here. 

“I don’t know about that,” Kaspar said, a tub of ice cream in his lap as he put another spoonful of it into his mouth, never taking his eyes off the screen. “It looks pretty realistic to me.” “Please,” Mantis said next to him. Or Margot. She’d introduced herself as the former, but Kaspar used the latter almost exclusively. Finley had simply avoided calling her by name. “I’ve seen Green Lantern movies with better CGI effects.” “Touche,” he said, but didn’t sound the least bit insulted. He ate another scoop of ice cream. With a certain degree of fear, disgust, and strange admiration, Finley saw he was almost done with the tub. “Shhh, guys, the next part is my favorite fight scene.”

Mantis fell silent, so Finley turned back to the screen. The monster was now playing hide and seek with the robot. How anything as tall as a skyscraper managed to hide, even in a metropolitan like Tokyo, was beyond Finley’s comprehension, but he’d never been to Tokyo, so he stayed silent. 

A flashy action shot of the monster, oh so surprisingly, ambushing the protagonists. He let the lights flash from the screen as he thought about what had gotten him here. After spending hours on schoolwork in Mantis’ room, he’d been dragged along to dinner with the two of them. Kaspar suggested they all go to his room to relax before he and Finley went to the gym to do extra practice that night.

Finley hadn’t been pleased. 

“Come on, Finley, a little fun never hurt anyone,” Kaspar had said. When Finley had stared back, wholly unconvinced, Kaspar merely smiled fondly and rolled his eyes, as if he’d seen that same look hundreds of times before. “I’ll stay an extra hour to help you on overhead drills.”

“Dusk or Mya are going to get there first,” he muttered, but followed anyway.

Finley watched the monster beat its previously unnoticeable wings and lift the robot into the sky. Tension was supposedly rocketing as fast as that 500 ton beast could fly, which was apparently a thousand miles a second. He was owed a lot of overhead drills for this.

When the protagonists looked like they were about to die, all hope lost, the solution was found in a dramatic twist. The robot fell unceremoniously to the ground from an altitude of 50,000 miles above sea level. Everyone was unscathed. 

Kaspar paused the movie.

“Thoughts?” he asked, a smile playing on his ice-cream coated lips as he glanced over at Finley.

“If this movie wanted any shred of my respect, they should’ve both died right there,” Finley said. Despite the fact that he knew Kaspar had a good temper and couldn’t kill a fly, he glanced over to watch his reaction.

“Exactly what I’ve been saying,” Mantis said. Finley blinked in surprise “At the very least, the whole Jaeger should’ve fallen apart. It was way too big to have gotten out of that with just scratches.”

“Yeah, but then it wouldn’t have been as cool,” Kaspar said, leaning back lazily. He seemed completely undisturbed by the fact that both Finley and Mantis had been insulting what he had introduced as his ‘favorite movie of all time’ for the last hour. Mantis, who had evidently watched it a few times already, had said something sarcastic, but sat down to watch it all the same. 

In the last 57 minutes, she’d pointed out the main male lead’s horrible haircut, roasted his fashion sense, and cut into three major worldbuilding flaws. Finley joined her cringing, covering his eyes like a vampire in sunlight, when the female lead accidentally walked into the male lead’s room while he was shirtless. “Proper physics is cool,” Mantis said. She reached for the bowl of popcorn, and popped a few in her mouth, before washing it down with an energy drink. Finley didn’t want to know what that tasted like. “This whole thing doesn’t make any sense,” he said, irritably. 

“What about it doesn’t make sense?” Kaspar asked. Finley glanced at him. He seemed relaxed. Happy, even, with a content smile on his face. “Everything. Why are giant robots the best weapon in this scenario? They’re going to be rebuilding that place for years with the footprints it left on the roads, let alone the infrastructure damage. Second of all, how do the kaiju keep following the scientist guy around?” “Because he mind-melded with them,” Kaspar said, “The Kaiju are a hive mind.”

Finley snorted. “Why the fuck would anyone mind-meld with a hive mind race of monsters?” 

Kaspar shrugged. He tapped his spoon against his chin for a moment, thinking. “Science?” He said, almost to himself, and turned to Mantis questioningly. Finley pulled a look so skeptical he could’ve made Newton doubt whether gravity was real. Mantis, however, thought only for a moment before she nodded, “Science.”

“This is stupid,” he huffed. “To quote,” Mantis pointed out, matter-of-factly, “it’s either the most awesome dumb movie ever made–” 

“–Or the dumbest awesome movie ever made,” Kaspar said, almost gleefully, as he pressed the play button. Finley sighed.

He stayed for the rest of the movie.

---

He waited for Kaspar outside the dorms while the other man was grabbing his things to go to the court to practice. It was late by now, the sky ink black save for the few stars visible through all the light pollution. Cold wind made the chilly temperatures just that much colder. Finley waited under a street light, his things all ready, a change of clothes, water bottle, and a pair of gloves in his gym bag. With a sigh, he unzipped it, pulled out the gloves. They were black and maroon––ravens colors––and the only pair he had. 

He wrapped his arms around himself. Though years of playing exy had even him lean muscle, he was still scrawny, and not the biggest fan of the cold. Glancing at the door of the dorms, he waited. The two hours he spent watching a dumb action movie indoors would’ve been a luxury unheard of in the Ravens. Siobhan had never been a fan of movies, anyway, so there would’ve been no one for him to watch it with. For that, he was almost grateful; the movie hadn’t gotten better in the second half. 

Still, the image stayed in his mind. Kaspar and Mantis, exchanging quips and inside jokes. Mantis didn’t glance over for his reaction when she criticized the protagonist’s haircut to hell and back. When she had run out of her energy drink, Kaspar had promptly pulled another one out and passed it over to her. 

He tried to picture himself and Siobhan in those shoes. Finley didn’t have a favorite drink, and what Siobhan said was never a joke. 

But they had stood next to each other for so long. A menace on the court, the two of them. An impenetrable defense and an unstoppable offense. It had never been perfect. Admittedly, nothing in The Ravens had been, but still, he sometimes tried to find Siobhan’s triumphant grin on the faces of his new teammates. Her iron will in Kaspar’s eyes when he swung his racquet.

He sighed, staring up at the night sky. In another life, perhaps, though he doubted that concept was anything more than an impossible wish. “Hey, sorry that took awhile,” Kaspar said, stepping out of the dorms. He had obviously rushed, his shoelaces untied, and the horrible orange color of his hoodie clashing with the gold and red of his Trojans track pants. 

Finley merely huffed, and stalked down the path without him.

[sambart93]

2018.08.21-22 Sengoku Night Blood, SenBura Stage [Review]

Official Site here Official Twitter here Press Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Video Coverage 1, 2 DVD PreOrder here and here and here

CAST and CHARACTERS

ODA CLAN Kubota Hidetoshi as Oda Nobunaga Matsumoto Hinata as Akechi Mitsuhide Yokoda Ryugi as Mori Ranmaru Hagio Keishi as Niwa Nagahide Kishimoto Takuya as Shibata Katsuie

UESUGI CLAN Maeyama Takahisa as Uesugi Kenshin Jinnai Sho as Naoe Kanetsugu Aramaki Yoshihiko as Uesugi Kagekatsu

TOYOTOMI CLAN Akazawa Tomoru as Toyotomi Hideyoshi Sadamoto Fuuma as Takenaka Hanbei TAKA as Kuroda Kanbei Yamamoto Ikkei as Maeda Toshiie

Mizukoshi Ayumi as Yuzuki Fujiwara Natsumi as Imari (voice only) Sasaki Yoshihide as Ishida Mitsunari (voice only)

Ensemble: Ando Keisuke, Izumi Shintaro, Ichinose Yoshihito, Terada Yohei, Matsumoto Naoya, Shinozaki Atsushi

NON-SPOILER REVIEW

Overall: This was not as bad as I was expecting (Pre-Thoughts under the cut) but it wasn’t that much good to be honest. The story was pretty boring (it’s a carbon copy of the anime, I was hoping they’d spice something up) but the characters (in terms of personality) were different to what they are in the anime/game; the songs were cringey - especially where they placed them - and honestly were totally unnecessary -- keeping it as a straight stage would’ve been best. The action choreography was very boring, very repetitive, and none of them have unique fighting styles at all; except MakiChan who was obviously given the ‘OK’ to incorporate the choreography he’s learnt from TouStage into this stage. Some parts of this story just DRAGGED OUT while other parts of the story, that should’ve been longer, were short as fuck. The balance, and what they chose to extend, and what they chose to skim over were just all poor choices. The comedy in this IS good; huge kudos to KishiTaku, Ikkei, Tomorun and Taka for the comedic moments because they were very funny and got huge laughs from me and from almost all the audience every time. But the comedy is stretched out with no real rhythm; the entire middle section is just serious whereas the beginning and end is comedy; would’ve been better if they had spread it out more evenly rather than at either end. The costumes looked GREAT! I do give huge kudos to the stylist team because those outfits were very detailed and very well made, I really enjoyed spending time looking over them all. There ARE chunks of this stage that I did enjoy: Kagekatsu’s entrance, Shibata&Niwa’s banter, the higawaris, Tomorun as Toyotomi was perfect etc., but there was so much more that annoyed me or that I wish was different or that I wish had been added that my overall feeling for this stage is meh. And I just felt sorry for the actress in all honesty. I watched her during the curtain call everytime and she just didn't seem happy. When everyone was walking off stage, being stupidly and waving in the crowd, she just kept this small smile on her face with her hands behind her back and walked off quietly; she obviously knows the fans outrage but I wanted her to join in somewhat too. She was already there, she might as well enjoy it. I did feel bad for her. To be honest, the best part of this whole stage? The curtain call! The curtain call was absolutely hilarious! I watched 3 times so I got curtain calls from Sadamoto, Kubota, Hagio, MakiChan, MaeChan and Jinnai-kun. And their curtain call speeches were absolutely hilarious and so much fun! The three from Uesugi clan; Mae, Maki and Jinnai were absolutely hysterical! They were sooooo funny in curtain call!  There was no point giving them individual curtain calls because they all ended up talking together and messing around and doing some skits with each other; they were so funny! Absolutely hilarious! But it is technically really sad that the best part about this stage was the damn curtain call and when they were all able to be themselves again...  Rating: 4/10. If we include the curtain calls then 5/10 because they really were worth the 2 hour struggle.

SPOILER REVIEW

I had enough time, shhh we're ignoring the fact of how far behind I am on my OTHER reviews, to write down some PRE-thoughts and predictions and stuff. I like remembering what I was thinking and feeling beforehand too... So for the stuff this month (ie. in August), each one has this written.

Pre-Thoughts: I am so worried about this play! I was SUPER excited at first but then they announced it was going to be a MUSICAL and not just a stage... THAT'S a terrible choice in my opinion. I think this would be a lot stronger as a normal stage. Next worry I have, in particular, is Sadamoto Fuma and Yokoda Ryugi. Not because of the actors themselves, but because both of them are playing characters I ABSOLUTELY love and adore in the game and I really, really don't want them to fuck it up... Then we have Hagio who, from my previous things I've seen him in, I just don't understand his acting, I just don't like him. So that's another I'm not hopeful about. Then we have MaeChan and Jinnai... while I trust them as actors... for some reason I'm worried about them playing Uesugie and Naoe... especially because Uesugi is really popular and important and is a fan favourite, and Naoe... I just have a connection to him because he's a character in Honoo no Mirage so I already have MakiChan and Hiramaki Jin as my Naoe. Then my finally worry is the damn story... the only COMPLETE clan in this stage is Oda-gumi, so that means it'll be Oda-history-central. So does that mean we're getting ANOTHER stage about Honoouji no Hen? TouStage already covered Oda's history. We already have Hakuouki and TouMyu for historical musicals. So WHY is SenBura a musical and focusing on Oda?! Finally, the other story worry is... they announced the female character’s actress the Sunday two weeks before the damn show started... hmmmm.... ALSO the damn Arasuji-Synopsis hasn't even been put up yet! It STARTS in two weeks! ARGH!!! So yes I am completely filled with worry BUT that isn't going to stop me going and watching it three times...

*

Real spoilers start now...

If you’ve seen the anime or played the game then you know the story so I won’t bother writing it out. Also we’ll be sign coded: ☆ for neutral or positives and ★ for negative comments.

General Comments:

★ The amount of empty seats at each show. Especially in the front rows just made me sad. The first show, the entire third balcony was empty. The second show, the third floor was half empty. And I think again for the third show, I went to, the entire 3 balcony was empty. There was almost no one for touji every time. And think their only sold out show was the first Sunday night show and that's it. Just hurts. And I always had at least 2 seats on one side of me all to myself; I had a 9th and 10th first floor seat. When I was on the 3rd balcony, I had the ENTIRE row to myself. Just hurts my heart...

★ The story is a carbon copy of the anime/game story which really bummed me out. I kind of wanted some of it to be different, especially with how great all the guys (personality wise) are in this, I wanted some more. I especially wanted more historical aspects and their relationships between each other to be more detailed and in-depth.

★ There isn’t so much of a plot.... I really felt like ‘why is she here?’ because even the romance plot-line was non-existent besides the one or two scenes she has with Toyotomi and the only reason Toyotomi has this plot line is because Tomoru is one of the lesser actors so fans won't get as pissy about it if it’s him with the plotline -- you can obviously tell who the bigger stars are by the way their stories are written and their relationship with Yuzuki (very much non-existent so the fans of theirs don't get pissy) and the fact that only THEY got SOLO SONGS. And even with her in, they don’t really explain WHY she is there. The mention Meguhime ONCE and that's all! And then we spend the rest of the play looking for her stupid phone -- why would she need it?! Why does she need it here?! It ain't gonna work! So why look for it?! Ugh... And they don't explain her at all. They very quickly go 'oh we know you have magical blood but none of us will use it as a weapon of war' and that's it! So why is she there?! Just ughhh.... you could've very easily taken her out of it and just kept it between the boys and their stories and their dynamic. She really was unnecessary. There’s literally nothing about her that is explained that’s linked to the main plot and there isn’t really a plot at all. But I guess that matches the games plot... sorry, I stopped reading the stories after the first Uesugi chapter xD

★ But going ALL against that, I feel like almost all their personalities in this are different to what they’re like in the game - or at least how I’ve imagined it. And this caused problems for me. But this also goes back to my non-spoiler comment of 'they spent more time on stuff that wasn't important and didn't flesh out the parts that would've been good' and one of these parts is the boys' personalities and histories and relationships etc. I wanted ALL that! I wanted more! AND the very short time we do spent with, say, Niwa...Hanbee...Kuroda...Ranmaru... I felt like ALL their personalities were SO different to what we've become accustomed to in the game. Especially Hanbei and Ranmaru. I LOVE these two in the game! Hanbei is CRAZY as shit in the game! He's so damn creepy and he's so risky and loves putting Yuzuki in danger, but in this stage? He is literally her BFF and just acts like a child. WHAT? That's not Hanbei! And with Ranmaru?! Where's his creepy as voice?! Where's his constant threaten to steal Yuzuki's blood in this?! There was none of it! Give me my creepy boys back! So yeah, safe to say I didn't like Fuuma or Yokoda as my favourite boys. BUT again, I blame this on the script, and the fact they didn’t want to piss fans off. If they had spent more time, especially with the Ranmaru x Hanbee fighting scene, then maybe we could've seen their personalities more, we could've heard their voices more, they would've had more time to show me the characters that I love. But no -___- Oh and MakiChan's character?! He changed him COMPLETELY! First of all his voice was no where near as soft and he very quickly changes all because of Yuzuki! Which pissed me off! Kagekatsu is supposed to be this shy, quiet, timid, I'm worried about what my father will do and what he thinks, type of guy but in the stage, MakiChan basically goes to Yuzuki straight away, he opens up STRAIGHT away, he goes against his father STRAIGHT away, he goes to save her rather than his father STRAIGHT AWAY. It really rubbed me the wrong way. Again, if we had spent MORE time with the transition of this character then maybe it would've been more justified but he literally changes within a day.

Sigh... let's get some good in here...

☆ KishiTaku, Ikkei and Tomorun were the funniest! They were absolutely hilarious! Their parts during the higawaris were genius and even when it was scripted comedy their timing and their performance of those comedic moments were spot on and perfect and had me laughing hard (and most of the audience) every time! They were so good as the comedic ones and I wish they had been given more time to be funny. TAKA and Hagio had a very funny moments too! They both were good but were a little bit inconsistent compared to the three above, but that could just be down to their personality/their acting style/their stage experience.

☆ TAKA looked very pretty as Kanbei and he did a really good job as Kanbei too!

☆ The costumes looked much better and more fitted in person than it does in the visuals and everything. Their costumes were so gorgeous and so detailed! I spent just as much time looking and googling all over their costumes as I did watching the play. They were seriously well made and looked so gorgeous!

☆ I realised afterwards just how many damn PuriStage actors there are in this! We have KishiTaku, Hinata and Ayumi -- okay maybe not so many but when I realised, it made me think that maybe the casting director had been to PuriStage and dediced to take a few from there. But PuriStage was a big project so maybe it's just a coincidence xD

Okay back to a few more bad points...

★ I wish...I really wish... I REALLY wish... I really, REALLY wish they hadn’t put the songs in this. They felt so unnecessary. And the parts where they did put them in felt so awkward and out of place and just didn't fit in my opinion. And the dances in them were so cringey too. Everything to do with the songs were cringey. They really were not needed. And the favouritism in the songs too! Only MakiChan, MaeChan and Ikkei got solo songs. Why? Because they're the most popular actors? Because they sold you the most tickets? Because they're getting the biggest salary? Because (2 of them) they did the game as well as the stage? Just what was the stupid logic against giving them solo songs? Their characters aren't even that important -- as in they aren't the main characters! Why give Oda a group song, then Maki and Mae solo songs, then a Toyotomi group song and finally an Ikkei solo song? Seriously, what was the fucking point besides 'cos their fans are the ones that'll be coming the most' such bullshit. And the songs... just why put them in.... and oh god the dancing during the songs.. especially Jinnai's dance during MaeChan's song... that was weird as fuck. I cringed so much in my seat.

★ There’s not enough comedy spread evenly. There's comedy with Oda Clan and Toyotomi clan but smack in the middle where we have this huge Uesugi plot line, there is no comedy and it really drags the story and the stage. Spreading the comedy out more evenly would've been best.

★ The fighting choreography wasn’t good. None of them were unique. They literally all had the same exact style, except for MakiChan who obviously was allowed to use his TouStage skills. It was bland, uninteresting, you couldn't tell any uniqueness between any of them, it was all very repetitive skills. Maybe I've just been spoiled by the magnificence that is TouStage's choreography but... even Shinobi no Saga (review still to come), every single character had a unique way of fighting and you could easily see the difference between them all! And that's supposed to be from a production company that's way below Marv and Kadokawa's level and even they managed! I seriously tried to find something different about each of their fighting styles but it was all the same...

★ The final point is me being nitpicky but I really hated how they did ‘Oda’s Castle’ and ‘Later that Night’ and ‘The Night Day’ signs in the background. I understand it’s because ‘ooohh just like the game!’ but it just felt condescending and pointless to me. We KNOW we’re at Oda’s castle, and it really doesn’t matter how much time passes or whether it’s the same night or not; it really does not matter for this story.

Back to the final few neutrals/positives!

☆ I noticed MakiChan is still favouring his left leg when he runs and fights and spins and stuff but it’s understandable. We don't want him going completely back onto his right leg and fucking it up again.

☆ I really, really enjoyed that for a lot of the play there is a lack of music and it's just the characters talking. I noticed it straight away and at first it was odd but I grew to love it very quickly.

☆ Imari is cute as all hell okay. I will fight anymore who thinks any different. And I absolutely love HOW they animated him and the different situations they put him in in this!

☆ Related to the costumes but, the wigs in this also are very well done! They looked very well made and they flopped around properly and looked really good!

*

Now for specific parts; I’ll split this into the order in which the story flows:

1. Yuzuki going from her world to the introduction of SenBura’s world:

☆ The show opens with her. The introduction of her is very quick and they establish her transportation to the SenBura world very quickly too which was nice. Within the first 2 or 3 minutes we go into Senbura’s world and we get thrown right into a fight scene where all the members are individually introduced.

☆ I like how quick the opening is.

☆ I like how they introduce each character. They each come in and then they pause as their name and title pops up on the screen behind, and a spotlight is on them. A very quick and efficient way of introducing everyone.

☆ The yakuma/bad guys/creatures’ first entrance is really good and the stunts they do here is great! One of them does a back flip and such.

★ The Yakuma picks Yuzuki up but then immediately puts her back down. Why?? You successfully captured her at that point? I really don't understand, besides plot-armour, why they grabbed her and then put her back down...

2. With Oda Clan:

Yuzuki is very quickly snatched by Oda while Toyotomi and Uesugi bicker as to who should take her. So she goes to Oda's castle first.

☆ I really, really, really loved KishiTaku's comedy in this. He was so funny and so perfect as Shibata! He had so many good moments! A few to mention is just after Yuzuki gets comfortable there and Shibata decides to bring Niwa and Yuzuki along to go boar hunting with them, but before they leave, he wants to get some stuff so he's like 'You should come (with us on the trip). But wait here (while I get the goods)' but she doesn't understand if he just changed his mind about her joining and she goes 'well which one?' and his reply 'どっち？どっちでも 笑 // Which one? Both! *laughs*' and it was very well timed and delivered.

☆ So they go boar hunting but they spot Imari who they think is a regular tanuki, so Shibata declares 'change of plans! We chase the tanuki instead!' so they run on and off stage about 3 times chasing Imari (it's very funny) and eventually get more tired every time. It gets to sunset and they're exhausted with no boar or tanuki in hand. But they completely forget to check that Yuzuki stayed with them so Shibata turns around, sees her and goes 'yup... いるな / she's there!' and continues chasing the tanuki xD I really love the Tanuki chase scene so much. It’s very funny seeing them getting more and more out of breath as they keep going past.

☆ After chasing the boar, Shibata tries to hug Niwa but Niwa is like 'don't touch me! You're covered in sweat' but Shibata continues to try and hug him and jokes 'well from now on you can be... not Nagahide, but Asehide! (ase means 'sweat')'.

☆ Later, Shibata and Niwa manage to get the boar and bring back it's meat but they start arguing over who actually got it. 'I was the one who suggested we go' 'But I was the one who captured it!' 'But I was the one who brought the meat here!' And when they argue amongst themselves, Yuzuki laughs and says something like 'you both did well! That's so cool!' and they turn to her and immediately their faces soften and they go 'な！！！な〜〜 // I did it, RIGHT!! *Yuzuki talks* ...riiiight' all happily. It was very funny.

☆ Akechi gets injured and has to rest at one point and so all the boys want him to feel better. Ranmaru is on his way with food for Akechi when Yuzuki spots him and he gets all embarrased and lies who the food is for. Then Shibata and Niwa come back with the meat and try to give it to Akechi and Ranmaru is like 'at least cook it before you give it to him!', and then Niwa takes out these Obako leaves (= the English is 'Plantago asiatica'.) and tries to give them to Akechi but Ranmaru slaps them out of his hands and they fall to the floor. Immediately Niwa gets all quiet and depressed and is like '....洗ったのに / I even washed them.... I washed them.... even though I washed them...' and Ranmaru feels very upset so picks them up, cleans them and puts them in the rice porridge for Akechi. It was a very cute moment! The next moment was great too! So they're all in Akechi's room and they get super upclose to him as he goes to eat the rice porridge, in anticipation of what he thinks about it, but they get too close and so Akechi feels uncomfortable and stops, then tries again, then stops again, and tries again. Finally he does eat it and says it's good and they all smile and are relieved. It was cute. Also, because Akechi is okay and is enjoying the rice porridge, Shibata starts crying and Niwa looks up to the sky to try and stop himself crying.

☆ Shibata cries about two or three times while we're in this first section and it was adorable and really cute.

★ I was a little sad to find out just how much of the comedy was scripted. I really wanted the AseHide to be higawari, and I really wanted the 'どっち？どっちでも 笑 // Which one? Both!' to be higawari and/or ad-lib too but it wasn't. So I was a little disappointed, BUT kudos to KishiTaku who made it feel so natural every time and the timing was always so good!

★ The Oda group song is right at the end of their story arc and it just felt really sudden and out of place. It's not a bad song but the placing is really awkward and the dancing is pretty cringey. I think for the group songs they just used the anime clan ones, but the solo songs seem original for the play.

★ I wish we had been allowed penlights and audience participation because penlights would've been perfect for this Oda group song.

★ As predicted in my pre-thoughts, I didn't warm up to Yokoda's Ranmaru. First, his voice is too low, in comparison to the characters visuals and the seiyuu's voice in the game, and he just wasn't creepy enough and he didn't seem as innocent.

★ Oda just 10000% reminded me of Hakuouki's Hijikata in this. I know both of them were similar in real like; both are pretty disliked, both are stern, both are strict, but I didn't like how Kubota's Oda just reminded me of Hakuouki's Hijikata completely (FYI I HATE Hakuouki's Hijikata).

★ Hagio did well in some parts, like he got a giggle out of me from the Obako scene (his delivery was inconsistent for it though. The second show I saw, he did the best delivery of this scene), and I liked Nagahide and Shibata arguing at each other, but for the most part he was very.... forgettable. Outside of those two scenes, I don't remember him in this stage at all. He's just so forgettable to me. And one of these scenes, he's only good in it because he's got KishiTaku to work with who's really good at these angry but comedic scenes; he had someone to work with so it wasn't even with his own acting skills that I enjoyed those scenes. And Niwa is very much the same as every other character I've ever seen him play so he wasn't memorable to me in this. I know he has a LOT of fans so, 

DEAR HAGIO FANS: is there a stage of his you recommend I see? What was his best performance? I'm open to changing my mind!

★ At the end of this story arc, they end up fighting the Yakuma again and this is when Toyotomi shows up again to fight Oda, and Kagekatsu saves her while they fight amongst themselves. During this battle scene, I wanted more Ranmaru x Hanbei fighting so I could get a better opinion on the actors and their performance. But in this scene, they just clash swords and then run off stage, so all their fighting is done OFF STAGE. Which really annoyed me! Why not spend more time showing me the boys fighting and their dynamics? I don't need to see Yuzuki getting saved; you can do that off stage! Show me the boys fighting each other, give me interesting dialogue between them, show me their rivalry! ESPECIALLY show me a long fight between Ranmaru and Hanbei because they're my two favourite characters!!!! Ugh...

3. With Uesugi Clan:

So during the last battle, Kagekatsu shows up, almost like a spy because he's all covered up, and saves Yuzuki from the battle field and takes her to Uesugi's castle. Here Kenshin explains that Oda wants to use her blood as a weapon, but here they swear never to use it for such use and that she should just relax here for the time being, especially because she got injured during that battle so it'll take some time to heal.

☆ Kagekatsu gets attacked during that Oda-arc-ending battle pretty badly by the Yakuma and he ends up on the floor in a lot of pain, but being close to Yuzuki, who's leg was cut open, he can sense her blood and I really liked how here we had Kagekatsu's heartbeat as the main sound and every time his heart beat, Maki would jolt to the sound, it was very well done. I really liked this small moment.

☆ Also during this battle, Kagekatsu first comes on stage with a hood on, so as to hide his face, but when the Yakuma attack, his hood naturally falls down and it's really nice. In the third show actually, the hood even fell of his shoulders but he caught it very smoothly and just kept it in his hand as he pulls Yuzuki away from the battle.

☆ Again, staying with this battle at the end of Oda's arc, you can tell MakiChan got to choose and do his own choreography, because it was far advanced compared to everyone else's, and it at least looked unique compared to everyone else too. It's really obvious that it's his choreography from TouStage.

☆ I really, really liked the practise/keiko scene between Kagekatsu and Naoe. It was a small scene but I really appreciated and enjoyed it.

☆ Prior to MaeChan’s solo, there is a scene between him and Naoe where they talk about Kagekatsu and how he has changed as well as how Kenshin plans to keep Uesugi's clan alive and Naoe is like ‘I will protect you no matter what, I will always be by your side’. I really liked this scene between them.

☆ So we have MakiChan's solo... I'm on the fence about this one. It IS a good song and you can tell he was really putting his all into the song, and he's not necessarily a bad singer. BUT again, it just feels out of place to randomly have a song put here and there.

☆ At the end of this arc we have a battle between Uesugi and Toyotomi, Toyotomi's clan essentially ambushes Kagekatsu and Naoe so they can steal Yuzuki. Once Yuzuki has been taken, Kagekatsu and Naoe are to the front-right of the stage with a single spotlight on them and you just know that on the DVD/BR that is going to be a great two shot on it! Also you can clearly see the chemistry between MakiChan and Jinnai in this!

★ I feel MakiChan’s Kagekatsu was much different in this compared to him in the anime and game itself. It felt like he very quickly changed from being this shy and timid and worried character to suddenly defying his father and being stong and outspoken. It was all a bit strange and sudden. And it was even weirder when at the end he goes to save Yuzuki rather than his father which is also strange because he would never abandon his father, especially when you see how he is in the game.

★ MaeChan's solo song. It was awkwardly placed, it's not a good song and oh god the worse part is Jinnai in this song. Jinnai's dancing during MaeChan’s solo is weird. Weird as all hell. I hate the projection mapping visuals in this song too.

★ It was strange that MakiChan and MaeChan got solo songs in this rather than an group Uesugi song... Favouritism much?

★ This middle section arc with Uesugi has no comedy in it so while it is intersting to an extent, it felt like it dragged towards the end of this arc. Even though, I think, it's the smallest arc out of the 3 clans, it drags compared to the other two arcs because they have stupidity and silliness in them.

4. With Toyotomi Clan:

So Toyotomi ambush Naoe and Kagekatsu while they are in the forest looking for Yuzuki's phone (apparently a main plot of this stage, ugh. Why would you need your phone?! You cannot use it here! Dumbass.)

☆During the ambush, Ikkei came on stage with a kimono wrapped around his body and head and he was pretending to be a girl and stealing Yuzuki xD 

☆ Obviously Yuzuki is pissed when she's first taken to Toyotomi so she pushes him away and Toyotomi is just like  'chinmoku // you won't respond'. I really like the end of this scene when Toyotomi goes 'Ki ga Kawatta == I've changed my mind' and everyone think he's pissed because Yuzuki pushes him away but instead he's like 'let's go find your SumaBo'.

☆ I love how they call it a SumaBo instead of a SumaHo (for Smartphone). And after she's explained it they're like 'So you press it and then... do this. So thiiisss then thiiis / こうでおう〜' which got a lot of good laughs.

☆ The higawaris were gold in this! I'll try and break it down by each performance. The set-up for the higawari is that they get a letter and a stone from Ishida Mitsunari and he says it looks like something every time so then they have to improvise and each time a different member was chosen too. Tuesday Night: The rock was balancable so Ikkei tried to balance it on his purlicue but he kept dropping it and we all died of laughter. Wednesday Afternoon: The rock was omanjuu so Kanbei tried to eat it, but it didn't work so then he tried to cut it with his sword. And Ikkei was at the other side of the stage yelling 'Mada Kanbei Ikeru! // It's still alive Kanbei!' so Kanbei kept trying to break it.  Wednesday Night: The rock was a yakizakana (fried fish) and Sadamoto had to do the improve for it this time so he put the rock down and pretend to fry it and cover it in salt and everything. It was pretty funny.

☆ Toyotomi gets drunk one night and ends up running out of the castle. Eventually he comes back, claiming he's found Yuzuki's SumaBo and when she opens the box, inside is a まつぼくり/Matsubokuri/Pine Cone. At first she's like 'what is this?' and Toyotomi replies 'well you said it was something with lots of buttons and you press it and then you put it to your ear. Well, that's it!' and she's like 'this isn't it'. So in horror Toyotomi slowly turns to Kanbei for confidence and Kanbei just nods so Toyotomi turns back to Yuzuki, 'no, this is a Sumabo!'. But she replies 'but... what can I do with this?' and again he turns to Kanbei, but this time Kanbei turns away from Toyotomi's stare. There's a moment of silence before Toyotomi yells out in anger, picks up the pine cone and throws it off stage. Kanbei goes running for it and when he comes back (at least in the second show,) he jumps down the stairs and lands perfectly in front of Yuzuki and gives it back to her. The comedic timing in this scene is very well done and had me giggling everything time. During the Wednesday afternoon show when I saw this, part of Taka's outfit actually broke off and fell next to Toyotomi, and Tomorun picked it up so confused which got everyone laughing. It was almost like he was thinking 'why you giving me this?!' xD and then Tomorun smoothly gave it back to TAKA who was also confused, so he hadn't realised it'd come off xD

☆ Drunk Tomorun/Toyotomi was great!! He really knew how to act, and he would stumble about and the boys would try and keep him upright and such.

☆ TAKA's Kanbei was actually very good too! He looked very pretty too!

☆ There are scenes where MakiChan and Tomorun both fall to the ground and I thought both of them did very well at it. It looked realistic enough.

☆ Also Tomorun is really great with the big jumps he had to do.

☆ One thing I've always loved about Tomorun's acting is how fluidly he can switch between temperaments. There's some scenes in this where he goes from really happy and then suddenly gets really dark; or the other way around, and I love it when he switches between two. It really worked well for Toyotomi's character!

☆ There is actually a proposal scene from Toyotomi in this arc and it was really sweet; It's when they're going through the streets of his town and I really enjoyed it. It was super cute that he was like 'after this war, please be my wife.' and she replies 'are you proposing to me?' and, with a nice detail, he replies 'what's a propose?'.

★ For the Toyotomi group song, I really wish there had been audience participation for it because of how fun it is! The boys clearly were singing about and making it look like they were celebrating and having a party while singing, so it would've been nice if the audience had been allowed to clap and cheer along with them.

★ There is one part of this play that really irked me. So there is a scene where Hanbei explains, to make her feel welcome, that he'll make whatever she wants to eat, so she replies 'Pasta'. Naturally the boys don't know what pasta is, given the time period, so they ask her what it is and she replies 'oh that's difficult to explain'. Now the first time around, this didn't bother me, BUT upon my second and third viewing, my brain immediately thought 'hold up bitch, they fucking know what noodles are! Why not just explain that pasta is HARD, straight noodles?! Stupid idiot.' Seriously, noodles were brought to Japan from China about 800AD in the Heian Period, which is WAY before the Sengoku period! It really, really, really, really, really has gotten to me that she was too dumb to liken pasta to noodles!! THEY HAD NOODLES!!!! JUST EXPLAIN PASTA IS LIKE NOODLES!!! Can you tell how much this little skip-over in the script and the fact she didn't even both explaining what pasta is, has gotten to me?! Is Yuzuki supposed to be this stupid, ignorant 21st century adult who never paid attention to history class? Because I'm pretty sure IN THE GAME she realises who she's with and she realises 'oh I can't say what'll happen to them in case I change history' or was I making that part of the game up for myself? ALSO the freaking production company is MARV; they KNOW their audience knows and likes history, they KNOW this audience has seen Hakouki, TouStage, TouMyu, so WHY skip over this nice little tidbit of history that would've been a nice little addition to the script. But NOOOO she was too lazy to even bother to explain WHAT PASTA IS!!! I need to go breathe somewhere...

★Linking to this argument. There are two times in fact where she says '説明は難しい = this is difficult to explain' rather than actually explaining. That is SLOPPY, POOR writing. You could've easily just explained away the pasta thing. The other scene where she sloppily says this is when she's with them and she says 'Oh this place is much like my own world, yet it's different too' and they asks her 'why?' and she just replies '説明は難しい = this is difficult to explain'. But to me this is again just sloppy writing! You could've easily had her say 'oh the sakura trees and the architecture is the same but where I'm from we have these huge buildings and giant lights that stay on all night' or something like that. It just sparks laziness to me that the script writer couldn't be bothered to have her say even this much. Did they just want her to be dumb as fuck or something? Just *sigh*...

****Or maybe it's just me; maybe people usually just go to enjoy and to be entertained and don't think so logically about things. Maybe it's just me and my personality; I really love looking into such details, I really love thinking over such things; this is why my reviews will always have a negative to them. I don't go just to be entertained: I want to be entertained, but I also want to be made to think, I enjoy thinking things over. So yes, this really got to me! I can’t even think of pasta the same way anymore...

★ At the end of this scene, Toyotomi clan finds out that Uesugi have gone missing and that Oda have been ambushed by the Yakuma. It's at this moment that the boys are like 'lets take over their castles while they're gone!' but Yuzuki is against it and starts yelling that they should go and help them. Now I understand she had good intentions, but my god, her screaming and yelling is the worst ugh. It was really difficult to understand what she was saying because it just wasn't clear when she was yelling and screaming.

5. Final Battle:

So the final battle is when Toyotomi is finally convinced he should help Uesugi clan, who have gone missing, and Oda clan who are ambushed by the yakuma, and there is a giant yakuma roaming the land.

☆ There was slow-motion during Ikkei's solo as they were battling which I thought was really cool!

★ But why Ikkei got a solo song (besides favouritism and fan-service) I have no idea, because he isn't exactly a main character. But it wasn't a bad song.

☆ I really, really liked the duo fight scene with Kenshin and Naoe in this final battle.

★ But the choreography in this final scene was very obviously the same for everyone else and repetitive.

☆ Towards the end when Toyotomi swoops in and save Naoe and Kagekatsu, Kagekatsu tries to help Toyotomi out but he's like 'go to your father! Go and help him!' and Tomorun's final 'Ikeeeee / LEAVE NOW!' to Kagekatsu was so cool and so great!

★ I hated the synced fight-dancing from the rest of the cast during Ikkei’s solo song. At first they were fighting the yakuma but the second half of the song, they all just faced forward and did a fighting-dance thing and I hated it. I wanted to see them actually fight. Why not during this point do solo fighting scenes and switch in and out between them? Seriously, this stage is just LAZY.

☆ I loved when Oda demands he uses Yuzuki's blood so he can get his strength back and fight the final boss, and Toyotomi is just begging Yuzuki not to. But Toyo's also on the ground very weak so he drags himself over to her and when he tries to grab her hand, she's just far enough away that he misses and flops down onto the floor. I super loved this hand grab moment! You could see and feel the desperation in Tomorun's eye and voice. It was VERY well done. Also when he's like 'please don't make me take your blood (so I can fight too)' and you can tell he really doesn't want to and he’s on the ground yelling ‘fucks sake / kuso!!!’ because he’s too weak to help and save Yuzuki without her blood’s assistance. It was great acting on Tomorun's part.

★ There is NO henshin! They (3 of them) take her blood but none of them change their forms! I wanted to see their henshins!!

6. Ending Scenes:

☆ The ending was satisfactory because it ends with them all swearing they'll never use her blood as a weapon or for their own gain. They also swear that they won't get angry if she doesn't choose them. But it perfectly ends with her not explicitly choosing any of them, and suddenly it goes into the final song with all the boys singing as she walks off stage. It was the best choice for the ending they could've made without pissing any of the audience off.

Curtain Call Goodness

NOW FOR THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE PLAY! THE CURTAIN CALLS!!!

☆ TUESDAY NIGHT: Curtain Call Speeches from Oda/Kobuta and Naoe/Jinnai. Kubota talked about how much he sweats in his costume and that he's managed to lose 5 kilos so far just from all the sweating and he said he hopes to lose 5 more before the end of the run. Jinnai talked about how he and MaeChan have been working together and have been debuted for 8 years now and have worked together on a lot of projects and that it was his first time with MakiChan but he was enjoying it and having so much fun. To this point MakiChan replied and continued the conversation and talking about how fun their dressing room is with the three of them. It was very clear and very obvious how much Jinnai and MakiChan get along. It was very obvious how well all three of them get along which made me very happy! And at one point MakiChan burst out ‘Why am I talking during your speech?!’ and Jinnai hit him on the shoulder xD They also talked about they love playing the game 'UesugiGokkou' in the dressing room so they did an example of it for us all: It is/was Maki and Jinnai pretending to argue with MaeChan trying to get in the middle and being the mediator but the both end up hitting him on either side of his arms. It is/was very funny!

☆ WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON: MakiChan/Kagekatsu curtain call greeting (sorry, I don't remember who else..) and when Tomorun said 'Kagekatsu!' Jinnai replied instead and everyone burst out laughing. As MakiChan spoke about his usual 'this is super fun, I love working with MaeChan again. We work together a lot actually. And it's so fun in the dressing room. I hope we can finish this run without any injuries' but then Jinnai suddenly complained 'your sword keeps hitting me every time you move!' so then MakiChan started doing it on purpose xD

☆ WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Fuuma and MaeChan's curtain call (I am so bloody lucky I got all three of theirs!). As MaeChan was talking and thanking people, MakiChan and jinnai slowly went around the back of MaeChan, and then came up in front so they were blocking his view of the audience, and then they started aruging between the two of them who Kenshin prides better/more. So then Maechan tried to break it up but of course, at the same time on either side of him, they hit him on the shoulders. MaeChan said they had been practsiing all day for this moment xD and Tomorun was like ‘we ALL do it you know! It's not just your group who does this in the dressing room!’ xD Fuuma's speech was just about how he had to do the rock higawari today and he hoped everyone could understand what he was doing and if it was fun. We all applauded so he understood we enjoyed it and understood it.

Seriously, the curtain call was the best part and so funny and it was so great being able to see just how well Mae, Maki and Jinnai get along ^_^ it made me very happy in my heart xD

*

And there we go! There’s a lot of negative but I think I gave enough positives so that people who aren’t as logical or critical as me will enjoy this stage. There is a lot to like about this stage.

[chalabrun]

the case for nyx & noctis (theory)

Alrighty, so as I’ve peddled through the material, I have a theory: that Nyx and Noctis are much closer than what was insinuated in-game. Granted, while we never really see mention of Nyx beyond a few easter eggs, there’s little proofs I’ve picked up on I think allude to them being closer than what we initially believe. 

Regardless of whether you like the idea of Nyx and Noctis being bros in arms, Nyx being a big brother figure, or you were among the bewildered shippers who fell into Nyxnoct hell like I did big time shhh but have no real substance for them knowing each other beyond the mutually superficial belief it’s their status as XV’s protagonists that unites them, here’s something I hope might open your eyes and make you see otherwise.

As usual, due to length I’m going to split this up into parts as it’s going to get wordy:

Parting Ways: The only canon Nyx & Noctis interaction we have (and why it’s substantial)

The prologue: "Drautos, he’s in your hands!”

Did they train together?

Nyx is never mentioned in-game (but why it doesn’t invalidate him)

FFXV: Comrades (the PC, Libertus and Noctis)

Lastly...

Parting Ways: The only canon Nyx & Noctis interaction we have (and why it’s substantial) 

If you’re wondering what Parting Ways is, it’s a background script detailing the Chocobros and their interactions with others as they’re getting ready to leave Insomnia and embark on their road trip across Lucis before they finally leave for Altissia where he gets engaged and weds Luna, and the rest is history. However, you’re probably wondering: what was their interaction? Parting Ways is, admittedly, not common fandom knowledge. I, personally, didn’t know about it until very recently. 

In the notable section I’m speaking about, Nyx picks Noctis up in the Star of Lucis and ferries him from the Citadel to his apartment so he can begin packing with the others. At first glance, this doesn’t look like anything much. Libertus even bemoans how it’s like they’re expected be to baby-sitters now. Except, this has much more leverage than it appears.

In what world would a mere Kingsglaive be allowed this level of clearance? Regardless of this being a fantasy game or not, even games such as these acknowledge a hierarchy of some sort, especially where royalty is concerned. Even if Noctis would rather have people treat him otherwise, he’s still the Crown Prince. As crown prince, no ordinary person can be entrusted with the task of being chauffeur to royalty. Why might this be?

I think, knowing the nature of Regis’ character and the charge he gave Nyx in a life or death situation, that the king trusts Nyx on a deeply personal level. Despite his many flaws, considering how this was before the turmoil of the invasion, it was under rather peaceful circumstances. Knowing Regis, it’s extremely likely that Noctis and Nyx have known each other. Considering Nyx himself said Regis took him in like one of his own twelve years ago, and sees him as a father figure, this could allude to IC closeness between the two. To an extent that Regis would entrust the task of driving his son on such short notice to Nyx, which would’ve made sense for a Crownsguard to do, but a Glaive? Unthinkable.

Remember: the Crownsguard is the personal guardsmen of the royal family. The Kingsglaive are not. They’re something like a mercenary/soldier unit, but not fit to do something of the likes the should’ve been designated to someone like Ignis or Gladio.

Well, unless Nyx actually knew Noctis beyond this one occurrence. That there was a bond of trust that existed beyond king and glaive. That Noctis himself trusted Nyx enough to be around him, let alone driving his car (Drautos makes a note of this in Kingsglaive).

Remember, Nyx joined the Kingsglaive at the time it was founded twelve years ago; at around the time Tenebrae fell and Noctis was disabled by a Maralith attack. For Regis to think Nyx could get along with his heavily traumatized son doesn’t sound too inane, I think. For them to have fostered a friendship, even.

However, their relationship could stem beyond even that. Though, more on that, later.

The prologue: "Drautos, he’s in your hands!” 

Alright, this probably seems extremely insubstantial. It’s just Noctis casually waving his father off one final time, passing the responsibility of his father on to one of his generals. There’s really nothing more to it, right?

Well, kind of. In Kingsglaive, prior to his flagrant betrayal, Drautos is seen with Nyx in Noctis’ car. This suggests another degree of connectivity between Noctis and the Kingsglaive, and by extension, the idea that Noctis likely bore some degree of familiarity with the Kingsglaive beyond them copping use of one of his cars when it was convenient. Granted, it might not look to be much more than that, but remember the above: using the prince’s personal possession, likely a car that was recognizable (that was a “gift” from Audi in the real world for Noct’s 20th birthday), means it would’ve just been more than Regis’ leniency, but likely Noctis’ own familiarity with the Kingsglaive and being alright with them using his personal possessions before.

Again, it might be reading into this too deeply, but remember: the Kingsglaive is the equivalent of Lucis’ standing army, while the Crownsguard is the personal guard. The KG being temporarily reassigned to guard Insomnia during the peace treaty signing isn’t enough to evoke this level of trust. It had to have come from somewhere, that thing likely being Noctis having known not only Drautos, but Nyx as well.

Specifically Nyx, though that comes next.

Omen: Noctis & Nyx’s kukris 

What’s like the strongest piece of evidence to my theory is in the Omen trailer. From what we know, it is confirmed that the kukris Noctis is seen using are, in fact, Nyx’s. So, that begs the questions: how did he attain them? Omen, at its root, is simply what would’ve happened if Noctis had left the Crown City on his own. Where the novella of parting ways would’ve been altered. Likely, it might’ve been stripped of the Chocobros’ involvement outside of good-byes, but it’s significant because it makes me wonder where Noctis got Nyx’s kukris at all.

Which leaves me with two theories: Nyx either entrusted his beloved weapons to Noctis--which would make sense since he’d be embarking on his own--or, which would be supported by the fact that Kingsglaive’s production began around 2013...when the transition trailer for Versus to be converted into XV was released that same year. Again, why is this significant? This trailer shows gameplay of Noctis in Insomnia, presumably when the invasion is taking place. Earlier Versus trailers continue to support this as Noctis, in his earliest scenes with Stella, show him in Insomnia as well some footage of he and team-members in the same treaty room where it was to be ratified. 

This gives credence to the idea that Nyx and Noctis could’ve met during the invasion, fought together, and saw Nyx give his kukris to Noctis.

Again, the old script changing is a moot point. Where Nyx is concerned, there have been leaks released of a Stella model in Kingsglaive, as well as some concept art and fully-rendered scene.

It takes years for pure CGI to be rendered, even for something as short as the Omen trailer likely took awhile. That a studio outside of Square’s own production was in charge of this likely meant Omen’s production and release fell within the timeline of an older version of the script; an older version where Nyx and Noctis fought side-by-side. 

Again, consider this render:

Sure, it might just be for the sake of promotion between both of XV’s protagonists, but this is clearly staged after the invasion of Insomnia. Noctis is wielding one of Nyx’s kukris. Considering it’s confirmed officially the ones in Omen are Nyx’s, again--the likelihood of Omen Noctis having encountered Nyx before or after the invasion and being the inheritor of his iconic kukris seems extremely likely to me.

And what would’ve been required beforehand? Why, for them to have known each other, of course. 

Did they train together?

I honestly believe so. Why? Remember: none of the other Chocobros can warp. This ability is unique to line of Lucis and the Kingsglaive, and they’re the only ones we see doing it. The only time we see them do so is a special Chain Link when they embattle the Adamantoise, but otherwise, only Ignis is seen doing so when he puts on the Ring of the Lucii that grants him access to the king’s magic (he even says so when donning it Verse 2 with Ardyn; how he might not be of royal blood, but if a Glaive (Nyx) can--why can’t he? Which alludes to the idea that Ignis can’t warp and like otherwise).

Also, consider these gifs:

This...

...compared to this:

Or even this tactic--

...compared to this:

It’s evident in XV how the Chocobros all have fairly good synergy when fighting one another, what with them having those link strikes and moves that all meld pretty well with each other. 

However, I think Noctis having know-how on how to use Nyx’s kukris and emulate his fighting style is inherent, even outside of Omen. Why? When you find Nyx’s kukris in Chapter 14, Noctis already knows how to use them. This isn’t simply a case of his diverse familiarity with a wide range of weapons, but possibly because he’s familiar with them. He trained with all those weapons, so--what if he trained with Nyx’s, too? With the glaive himself? Remember, Omen was merely canon divergent from the time of his departure on. For him to have trained with Nyx before makes perfect sense.

Let’s recap with this:

None of the Chocobros but Noctis can warp outside of unique and limited circumstances.

Therefore, he had to receive his warping training from someone, and given his familiarity with Drautos (who isn’t shown being able to warp in KG) and Nyx, this likely fell to Nyx (also considering Drautos’ duties as both Captain and General Glauca, he likely was too busy to).

Nyx demonstrates many times in KG where Regis places implicit trust not only with the fate of Insomnia, Luna, but even his own son in something as mundane as being driven back to his apartment to pack up. It’s mundane, but given how close Regis was with Nyx, entrusting his son’s training to him makes sense, also.

In short, I think Noctis having received training from Nyx makes the most sense from what I’ve gathered so far.

Nyx is never mentioned in-game (but why it doesn’t invalidate him)

This is much shorter, but you have to wonder: how can this be if Nyx is never mentioned in-game? Thing is, this doesn’t really mean much. Because someone else tremendously important in-game doesn’t mention Nyx, either.

Think of the only person in KG who lived on after Nyx’s sacrifice, who was by his side the entire time, who also was a major character in-game.

Lunafreya Nox Fleuret. 

As shown here, even though she never once mentions Nyx even by name, she still wore the hair clip he gave her by proxy of Crowe. Meaning? He still had a monumental place in her heart, that she wore it right until she died, and even in the afterlife beyond. So, for Nyx to have had a similarly lasting impression on him isn’t unthinkable. 

More proof?

Remember this? From left to right, the corpses are Iedolas, Regis, Luna....and Nyx. 

Thing is, why Nyx? Ardyn specifically conjured this with the intention of rattling Noctis. In the wiki, on Nyx’s page it says Nyx’s hanging cadaver was meant to discourage Noctis. Why discourage? 

Now, I could understand if Ardyn had a personal fascination with Nyx. However, unlike Luna or Regis, Ardyn never met Nyx in person. He witnessed the destruction of Insomnia, likely heard tale or even saw some of Nyx’s heroism after he donned the ring. So, a personal fascination could make sense in that context. 

However, these corpses weren’t chosen for Ardyn’s gratification. They were specifically selected to taunt Noctis. This was an illusion sustained on Ardyn’s magic, after all. Why would he keep them manifested for ten years except on the night of the fateful battle to encourage despair?

Remember: Iedolas was the figurehead of Niflheim, likely a target of Noctis’ hatred. Ardyn hanging him likely could be symbolic of the futility of facing himself, as an all-powerful enemy brought down by Ardyn’s whim would rattle even the most lionhearted hero.

Regis and Luna are no-brainers. Regardless of how you feel about Regis’ actions or Noctluna in general, Noctis loved them implicitly. Regis was his father, and Luna was his fiance. He says he loves them in a monologue and flashbacks before he deals that final blow and the Lucii spear him through.

However...Nyx. The wiki says he was strung up there, too, to discourage Noctis. Again, Iedolas, Regis, and Luna make sense. But for Nyx to be up there, too, can mean only one thing:

That Noctis was close to Nyx in some way, shape, or form. Close in a way the game never reveals, but close nonetheless. 

FFXV: Comrades (Libertus and Noctis)

Let’s consider Comrades here, too. Love it or hate it, Comrades is still a part of canon. Now, I believe it’s AU, yes, but like Verse 2 of Episode Ignis it’s still a canon divergence. 

Now, the scene I want to draw the most attention to is actually the epilogue. 

The interaction I think is the most substantial to this post, in particular, is that of Libertus and Noctis’ interaction. While it may have been brief, what with Noctis exchanging only a few words, it was monumental for Libertus to have been there--to go so far as someone branded a traitor and fight alongside the PC to redeem themselves.

How so? Remember, Libertus was among those glaives who betrayed Regis. I think it’s credible to think, that while Lib’s redemption didn’t happen within KG proper, it was there that it begun--the second he rammed Glauca with that SUV. When he helped Nyx and Luna in fighting him, in getting Luna to safety while Nyx fought in that final battle. 

So, for Libertus’ loyalty to have carried that far, feels like direct parallelism between Noctis and Nyx: how their actions changed hearts and mind, and how their sacrifices enabled the world to be saved. As without Nyx, without Noctis, many more people would’ve died. I think Libertus was aware of this, knowing the parallels between Nyx and Noctis and where their actions led them for the sake of the greater good.

It’s even apparent in that secret scene at Hammerhead where Noct and the bros reflect on the glaives’ sacrifice--redeemed traitors or no--and how this likely extended to Nyx’s, as well. For Libertus’ sacrifice, his being there to an awakening Noctis, likely would’ve never happened if not for Nyx. 

Lastly...

Do you see the chair Nyx is seated on here? Feel like you’ve seen it before? Look again:

It’s almost identical to the one Noctis sits in here, which brings me to my last, final parallel between them.

That’s because they’re both sitting on a nearly identical throne.

Nyx and Noctis were both kings for a night.

Like how Ignis was able to repeat what Regis had told him as a boy about standing tall, so too did Noctis share the same sentiment of not wanting to have people sacrifice their lives for his sake (in Nyx saying to Regis, “Is this the way of our king? Sacrificing Lucian sons to save his own?” Noctis said something to the same effect in the Lucii’s tomb to Cor).

Wielding the power of the Ring, summoning the Old Wall, Nyx did what no non-Lucian king has done before--maybe not originally since its first designation. For Nyx to have summoned the old wall alongside the magic and powers he wielded--compared to Glauca’s magitek-enhanced own--is spellbinding. In doing this, Nyx became a king for a night. He achieved the highest respect from Regis, who saw him as a worthy inheritor of the Lucii’s power second only to Noctis, the True King. Compared those previously, even Ignis wasn’t able to summon this much power, even if he was able to stop Ardyn in his tracks and facilitate Noctis surviving (if you go by Verse 2), Nyx gave himself selflessly. He perished by the dawn’s first light.

In exactly the same way Noctis does. 

Both men wore the ring for selfless reasons, and gave their lives so the people of Eos could live to see the dawn breaking. Between them, the weight of their sacrifices is unquantifiable. What they did for Lucis cannot hope to be replicated after, that much I am certain as even canon shows.

And it is for this reason that I believe Noctis and Nyx knew each other, and why their connection cannot be overlooked by anyone.

[simplyrochellemari]

Louder Than Your Demons ~Dean Winchester~

Summary: A prompt that I got from a quote by this blog. The quote is ‘I will love you louder than your demons’ 

Warnings: This is largely based off the reader being raped or sexually assaulted before meeting the Winchester boys. It is present throughout the piece and I would strongly advise not to read if you are in anyway put off or triggered by this. 

Pairings: Dean x Reader (largely maybe a bit of Platonic!Sam x Reader) 

Author’s Note: 

Hey guys and gals! 

Sorry I haven’t posted in so long. I’m officially graduating in two school days and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve partially made it- now just for the final exams. But anyway- I hope you guys like this and please tell me if you would like a follow up on this? 

You sunk down onto the worn out motel bed. The creak echoing through the empty room. Your head pounded and your body ached. Emotional and physical pain merging into one, raging, enormous, monster. 

One of the boys was bound to come after you. It would probably be Sam. He is always the one that has to do damage control, especially with you, purely because Dean can sometimes struggle to express himself. The hard-headed eldest Winchester has tried to ‘console’ you before but had ended up in a violent outburst from both of you. From there on out- Sam did the talking. 

The case had been a sickening, difficult and triggering case- especially for you. You were sure it wasn’t anything supernatural from the start but the boys, in particular Dean, was adamant about it and for his sake you agreed and followed along. You truly just wanted to spent the time trying to figure out how to get Dean out of the damn crossroads deal but you knew deep down inside how the demons choreographed this deal. 

There was no loop hole and you knew you were going to need a miracle from heaven to save Dean from this shit storm. That although didn’t mean you were going to give up. 

You had been travelling with the boys ever since their dad went missing and they helped you rid of the Bloody Mary curse in your own town. You were a solo hunter wandering aimlessly and they wanted your help, the more people they could get to fight the darkness in this world, the better. 

The travelling was only supposed to be for a few weeks, but, luckily it didn’t stop. You didn’t know who they were as you were a pretty amateur hunter yourself but damn were you lucky to end up on their doorstep. You had helped them with everything from cases, to grief, to dating advice and of course classic bar fights. You although hadn’t allowed them to help you. 

Through everything you had been survived with the boys. It was Dean making the deal with the crossroads demon that angered you the most. You had almost murdered Dean yourself when Sam suddenly sprung up from the bed he had been laying dead in for 2 days. You wanted very badly to hurt the man you secretly loved but all you did when you saw him was cry. 

You broke down into tears and crumbled right front of him. You couldn’t stomach the thought of loosing him. And in that moment he reassured you everything would be okay- but you knew it never would. Much like you vowed never to fall in love with anyone, and yet you did. 

The case you had just finished ended up being anything but the supernatural and you had to carefully recompose yourself throughout the few days you were working for the sake of the boys. The man you had tracked down was actually a pedophile that kidnapped teenagers to use for his own sick minded agenda. 

The boys both knew you were highly sensitive in regards to cases- real life cases- like this but they never questioned why. And you were glad that they didn’t. They respected the little bit of privacy that you had and didn’t want to overstep. 

The construction of this whole case reminded you of the man who did those things to you and succeeded in going far enough to violate everything you knew about yourself. But you weren’t saved by Sam or Dean. 

You pulled yourself up from the bed and lazily dragged your body over to the bathroom, to try and clear your mind from the heavy thoughts coursing through it.  The recurring memories from that God awful night was streaming back- oozing through the cracks of your broken mind. 

Throughout the week you had tried your best to cover everything up, replace it with a smile and move forward, but you felt yourself grow silent from all the mental and physical strain. 

A brief knock and open from the door confirmed your prediction. You had booked two motel rooms for the night and you were supposed to be rooming with one of the brothers. 

“Y/N” the deep voice echoed through the tiny room and your brain instantly connected the beautiful forest green eyes and playful smirk to the deep and soothing voice. 

“In here” your voice came as you rinsed your face with cold water attempting to clear the nasty memories that snaked their way into your mind. You departed and found Dean staring intently at his shoes, sitting down on the bed. 

“Dean?” you questioned and his head lifted as you sank down next to him extending your hand to his shoulder. 

“You know sweetheart you make my life very difficult sometimes you know.” he declared and you scoffed, trying to decipher what he meant. 

“Okay, Dean ‘Let’s go make a deal with the Devil’ Winchester.” you sarcastically replied slipping off the bed, your muscles screaming at you as you attempted to make your way to the makeshift kitchenette but his voice forced you to a halt. 

“Okay is that what this is all about? You being-” he started struggling for words, “All quiet and not yourself?”

You stared at the eldest brother as confusion swept across his face. 

“What’s going on? I know it was a bad case, trust me. I should’ve listened to you” he reassured, 

“But It wasn’t your fault. We did save so many girls from that bastard Y/N” 

“Dean, please, stop. I know we did, but I don’t want to talk about it” you started but he quickly interrupted. 

“I know you don’t like cases like this and I know I shouldn’t have pushed it. I’m sorry. We should’ve handed it over to the police as soon as we realised it wasn’t anything supernatural” he apologised sincerely. 

Your mind flooding with the images of the man capturing the girls, using them to his advantage. 

“Dean, it’s okay. Let’s just forget about and try to move on” you tried but you heard him ascend from the bed as a creak echoed through the room. 

“Y/N, let me help you.” he voiced in desperation. 

“Dean, I’m fine. It was just a crap case. Leave it. Please” you muttered as tears started tugging at the bag of your eyes, you desperately trying to emphasise your plea. 

His green eyes fumed as he gripped your shoulders tightly. You flinched at the sudden movement, and this sent a wave of pain across Dean’s face as his grip immediately loosened, gently cupping your shoulder. 

“Talk to me.” he whispered, “God please Y/N just talk to me.” 

“About what Dean?” you questioned, biting away the tears. 

“Tell me what is going on. I want to help you Y/N.” he breathed, 

“I love you. Please let me in.” he desperately stated. 

Your mind raced and your heartbeat quickened as he let the words fall from his mouth. Dean loved you? 

“I love you too Dean” you whispered as tears started rolling down your cheeks. His hand gently cupped your cheek. 

“I know. Sammy gave me a little hint.” he smirked, carefully pulling you over to the bed. You exhaled as you both sank down onto the bed. 

“Why the hell do you think we are sharing a room Y/N?” he teased and you chuckled. 

“After this I might kill Sam.” you breathed heavily as a heavy chuckle escaped from Dean. His eyes laughed as you felt the silence settle in the room. 

“Just talk to me first sweetheart.” he ushered and you nodded. 

“You Winchesters really are persistent” you chuckled, wiping away a few strays as Dean’s hand squeezed yours. 

“You’ll thank me later” he whispered and you nodded. You knew he was right- you’ll feel better after you talk to him about it. 

“Well obviously I hate cases like this. Not only because of those sick bastards but I, I can’t- I struggle to handle things like this because-” you started but you bit your lip violently as more tears threatened to roll down your cheeks. Dean reassuringly squeezed your hand. 

“It reminds me that no one was there to save me.” 

Dean’s facial expression morphed into shock as his grip on your hand tightened. You found his green orbs, that darkened in fear and guilt. His body went numb just as much as yours did.

“The man that did that to me walked away with a god dammed smile on his face after he ripped something away from me that I never would’ve given him. He was my first, but he didn’t care about me. I asked him to stop but-” 

You stopped not being able to finish that sickening sentence. 

“Son of a bitch” Dean hissed under his breath. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you Dean- I-I” you continued but tears pooled down your cheeks as a sob tore through your body. 

“I’ve got you Y/N. I’m not going to let anyone ever do that to you. I swear I’ll protect you with my life.” he reassured as his arms wrapped around you tightly. 

“I see that man in strangers walking on the street Dean. His hands on my body- I can’t un-feel it and cases like this- God Dean- cases like this- remind me of it all. I can’t-” 

“Hey shhh, it’s okay. No one will ever hurt you, or touch you like that again. If anyone so much as thinks of that I will take care of it.” Dean stated in a determined tone of voice. He was clawing onto your t-shirt, trying to pull you closer to him. 

“I will take care of you sweetheart.” 

“Dean I’m sorry- I didn’t mean to be such a wuss about this.” you defended pulling out of his grip and he shook his head. 

“Don’t even start with that Y/N.  I can’t believe you didn’t tell me- or at least Sammy, sooner.” he breathed, running a hand across his face. “We could’ve helped you.” 

“Dean that is exactly why I didn’t tell you. You and Sam have so much to worry and- and all these- these-” you stuttered as you struggled for the right word, “All these demons of mine was screaming louder and louder telling me to not burden you.” 

Dean cupped your face with both of his hands, 

“No matter how loud they get. No matter how lost you feel, Y/N Y/L/N,” he stated his voice deep, 

“I will love you louder than your demons.” 

Your forehead leaned against Dean’s as his breath fanned your face, sending a shiver down your spine as the tears dried against your cheek. 

“You really know how to woo people Winchester” you teased, he chuckled. 

“I’ve only ever tried to woo one person and finally all of it has paid off.” he smirked, pulling you down with him. 

You laughed slightly as his hand traced up your ribs, but when you both fell silent you listened to his breathing chest fall and rise. 

“How are we going to get you out of this deal Dean?” you breathed, he tensed. 

“I don’t know, but with two brains like you and Sam we are bound to figure something out.” he stated and you gripped onto his shirt. 

“I promise your not going to hell Dean.” your voice wavered and he squeezed you tightly. 

“I’ll hold you to that Y/L/N” 

[teamkaiforever]

Little Witch

(requested by anon) Kai Parker x Reader word count : 3 011 summary : Reader (a witch) and Kai work together on a spell and Kai is in love with the reader but he doesn’t understand his feelings. *gif by christopherwooddaily ______________________________ The sun was shining brightly , sun rays dancing between the trees in the woods and the sky was blue with white fluffy clouds here and there. Birds were chirping and a couple of times Y/N saw a rabbit hop by. She was headed for the Quary to meet with Kai to work on a spell and they had agreed to meet out of the way so none of her friends would find out they were working together and also so no one gets hurt. At least thats what Kai had told her. The truth was a little different. Kai had wanted to have a private moment to talk with her without any chance of them getting interrupted. He wanted to spend the day alone with her and maybe figure out for sure what those emotions he got around her meant. As he neared the woods , he saw her car parked at the far end of the small clearing and listened to figure out where she was. Then he heard it - Y/N was humming some song as she walked towards the Quary , crunching dried leafs as she did. Kai ran in vampire speed for a few seconds , stopping and slowing down when he saw her a few hundred meters ahead of him , semi dancing instead of walking as she continued humming the same song. “Hey. Wait for me.” he called out after her. Y/N turned around seeing Kai running towards her.  How hadn’t she heard the footsteps before ?  She couldn’t help but smile seeing Kai. He was wearing a blue denim jacket , jeans and dark blue t-shirt. His blue eyes had a mischievous spark in them and his smile took her breath away for the millionth time since they had met. “Run faster.” she teased until Kai flashed right in front of her. “Y/N , I am a vampire. You do know I am running slower so I don’t scare you right ?” he laughed. Kai reached his hands towards her messenger back. “Here , give me this. I’ll carry it for you. It looks heavy.” Y/N blinked a few times confused all of the sudden. Not because she didn’t trust Kai or anything , but because he was being extra nice. Never before he had offered to carry her bag for her. “Don’t you trust me ?” “If I didn’t trust you , we wouldn’t be here. All alone in the woods.” she smiled , handing him the bag. “Careful tho .. There is vervain in there.” “Vervain ? Why ? You are a witch.” said Kai , swinging her bag across his shoulders and continued walking with Y/N by his side. “A very powerful one I might add. You can easily drop a vampire with one look. What do you need vervain for ?” Y/N laughed nervously , tucking in a strand of hair behind her ear. Kai was always curious about everything she does. Sometimes it was a little annoying but it was also one of the many things she loved about him. He was like a little kid around her , far from the dangerous sociopath her friends saw him as. “I know , but it works as a surprise. Also I don’t like vampires knowing I am a witch.” she explained. “They always go looking for favours later…  Making threats if they don’t get what they want.” Kai laughed under his breath. He hadn’t had many dealings with vampires as a witch before he had turned into a hybrid but from what he had - he knew Y/N had a point.   “Look at you , thinking ahead and being all smart.” he teased seeing the corners of her mouth twitch at his comment. They walked in silence for a few minutes , the only sounds coming from the leafs crunching under their feet as they made their way to the Quary. Kai kept stealing glances at  her -  looking at her curls dance around her shoulders as she walked , the sunshine reflecting off them. Y/N was wearing ripped in the knees black skinny jeans , a black and white plaid shirt and a white top. The corners of his mouth twitched thinking how without even realising she somehow always took his breath away. If they had met before he had been sent to the Prison World , he probably would’ve spent 18 years thinking about her. Wishing he had done something. “Wait.” she said quietly , stretching her hand in front of him , making him stop. “Shhh…” Kai was confused as to what had happened , what she could’ve possibly heard or seen that he had missed with his vampire senses. Y/N pulled out her phone , opening the camera app. Kai followed her gaze seeing a deer less than a hundred meters away. She took a few pictures before the wild animal noticed them and ran away. Kai noticed the disappointed look on her face before her gaze dropped to the ground. “I can chase after it if you want to see it up close.” he offered. “No. Don’t want to scare it any more than we already had with our presence.” she smiled. “I still took a few nice pictures. Wanna see ?” “Um yeah sure.” Kai leaned in to look at Y/N’s phone screen from behind her shoulder , not really looking at the pictures but thinking about how nice it feels to have her this close to him. Her hair smelled like wild strawberries. Probably her shampoo. he thought. Kai cleared his throat and a small smile spread on his face seeing the pictures. “Wow those came out really good.” “You think ?” “Yeah.” Y/N felt her heart racing , having Kai stand this close to her.  It made her feel both excited and nervous at the same time. She could feel his breath on her cheek and his chest pressing lightly against her back. She wished he’d wrap his strong arms around her and never let her go. “Hmm…” “What?” “Smiillee..!” she said leaning in closer to him and taking a selfie of them together - Y/N sticking out her tongue while Kai was looking at her. There was something different about his eyes. Kai was a little surprised at first. Somehow he had missed Y/N open  the camera app and switching to front. He had been too distracted by her leaning closer towards him. “No , no , no … that’s not how you do that sweetheart.” he snatched her phone smiling , moving her hair away from her neck , his fingers glazing across her skin sending waves of electricity through her body.  Kai snapped a picture of them together with her looking shocked as if he is about to bite her, purple black veins showing under his eyes and his fangs hovering over her neck. “Now that’s a nice selfie.” he laughed. “Love it.” she laughed too. “Alright , break over. We have to keep going. There are like 5 miles until the Quary and -” Kai wrapped his hands around her and in vampire speed ran towards the Quary. Y/N felt every fibre in her body waking up the moment Kai’s arms had wrapped around her , pulling her towards him so tightly. It felt so nice being in his arms , even if it was for a few seconds. “Or .. you can do that.” she laughed turning around to face him. “Wow. That was amazing !” Kai took a step away from her clearing his throat. A moment ago he hadn’t been thinking , wrapping his hands around her and now the feeling of holding her tight was drowning his thoughts. Kai wanted to hold her in his arms every day and never ever spend a second away from her. Y/N’s eyes sparkled a little differently in that moment and he wondered why. She ran her fingers roughly through her hair , looking around , taking a step towards the edge and glancing down. “Whoa we are so high up…” she gulped starting to slip off the edge. Kai was fast enough to catch her. He felt his heart stop at the though of her falling to her death and him not being able to do anything to stop it. He held her close to him , one hand around her waist the other on her back. Their eyes met and Y/N felt her heart racing faster than ever , not because she had almost fallen but because of the way Kai was holding her and gazing into her eyes. He was leaning in towards her and she could feel his breath on her face intoxicating her , turning her legs into jelly. If Kai let go off her in that moment , she’d definitely slip again and fall to her death. Her eyes darted between his smoky blue eyes and his rosey lips. Kai took a few steps away from the edge before letting go of her. “Careful sweetheart.” he said clearing his throat. “If you wanted me to hold you in my arms you should’ve just asked. No need to almost-fall to your death for that to happen.” Kai winked at her and Y/N laughed nervously at his comment. Heights made her feel dizzy and that had been the real reason she had slipped. Tho Kai catching her and holding her in his arms , almost kissing her had made her head spin way more. “Thank you .. for not letting me fall to my death.” she said still feeling a little out of breath. What is happening to me? wondered Kai. A second ago he had almost kissed her and now he couldn’t stop thinking about it , wishing he had. Being around her while having all those emotions running through him was driving him nuts , specially the part where he wanted to be with her , kiss her and hold her in his arms forever. Y/N reached for her bag , pulling out her family’s grimoar. She opened it in her hands while Kai left her bag on the ground and leaned in behind her looking at the spell. It wasn’t the most complex one but they had to be careful. “Where is our test subject?” he asked curious. “I hope you are not planing on practicing  on yourself like a mad scientist .. That’s not why I am here right ? To keep you from dying?” “Isn’t it ?” she teased. “That’s not funny.” “Don’t worry. Our test subject is …” she looked up noticing a starling in the sky. “… just flying by.” Y/N winked at Kai who stared at her in confusion before following her gaze. She stretched her hand , caging the bird in the air. “Cool.” said Kai amazed , watching her pull her hand back bringing the bird to them. “Now what ?” “Open your hands.” In a moment the bird landed in Kai’s palms and he held onto it , preventing it from flying away. The little starling chirped nervously , trying to find a way out of his hands. Y/N closed her eyes hovering her palm over the bird , muttering a spell to stop the bird’s heart. “We will bring you back little one. Promise.” she said softly , touching the birds head with her finger. Kai watched her in amazement - the way she closed her eyes in concentration , her hand hovering barely an centimetre over his. There it was again that strange desire to kiss her. Less than a minute later , the bird stopped fighting and he let it down on the ground. “OK , so if we do the resuscitation spell right , this little bird here will wake up.” “That’s pretty advanced you know.” said Kai amazed. Y/N was still very young to do spells like that. “Even older witches had trouble with resuscitation spells. Are you sure you want to do this ? If things go awry ,you might end up dead …” “No. I won’t.” said Y/N with a note of confidence in her voice , looking up at him. “You won’t let that happen.” Kai smiled. “That’s true little witch.” he teased. “HEY !  I am only half a year younger than you … sort of.” she said punching him playfully in the shoulder , making him laugh. Y/N held out her hands waiting for Kai to take them. He felt a little nervous , realising his palms had gotten a little sweaty just like every time he was around her. “You have really nice palms.” “Um t-thanks.” Kai took her hands feeling a spark of electricity flow between them as he did. Y/N looked up from their hands held together to his eyes. He looked nervous and kept starring at her , studying her face. They began the spell and Kai couldn’t stop thinking about what he’d do if something bad happened to her and he is unable to stop it. He didn’t think he’d survive that. All those emotions he felt towards Y/N had gotten magnified and confused the hell out of him. Specially the ones he had felt the past hour around her. Y/N let go off his hands kneeling down next to the little bird on the ground. “Wake up pretty feathers.” she said softly. “Come on…” Kai knelt down next to her patting her on the back. “He’s gone.” “We can bring him back.” she said smiling , getting up. “Lets try again.” “Oh-kay.” said Kai taking her hands again. Both of them were powerful witches but he still didn’t think they could bring the bird back. Those kinds of spells required a lot, specially concentration which he seemed to lack severely at the moment. They tried and tried again and again with no result. Y/N wasn’t giving up , she wasn’t even frustrated  , all she radiated was hope and confidence. Kai found himself drawn to her even more because of it. Usually being around someone so positive would annoy him but instead of being annoyed he felt even more confused as to why he wanted to be around her even more. Kai had to tell her , maybe this way all the confusion and frustration would go away. “Y/N?” said Kai , suddenly making her look up. “Can I tell you something ?” “Yeah , of course.” Kai laughed nervously. “Um .. I don’t know how to say this.” he said rubbing his forehead with his thumb and index finger. “There are all these emotions I feel .. and I never even knew there were so many emotions to be had in the first place… Around you I get this warm and fuzzy feeling in my stomach which spreads through my body …  and back there , when you almost fell - I felt as if I might die if something happens to you. Then when I caught you , my heart … did this weird flip , I don’t even know how to explain it.” Kai’s eyes were fixed on her , he took a step to the left then a few to the right , walking around but his eyes never moving away from her as he talked. Y/N could barely catch up with everything he was saying. “And I can’t stop thinking about you. It’s annoying really but in a way I like how you are in my head constantly. I am thinking about you even when I don’t want to be thinking about you. Dreaming about you every night… and my palms get all sweaty when you are around me.” he said smiling nervously. “I can’t concentrate on anything else besides wanting to hold you in my arms forever and -” Kai stopped talking seeing Y/N’s eyes had widened to the point where they were about to jump out of their sockets. Her mouth opened and closed as she struggled to find the words to say. Kai’s confession had taken her by surprise , a surprise so big she forgot completely how to function. Her heart was racing , threatening to leap out of her chest at any moment and her breathing had turned so shallow it wasn’t even there. “Y/N ? Are you - are you okay ?” He waved his hand in front of her face trying to get her attention. At first nothing happened then she blinked fast a couple of times returning to reality. “Yeah… yeah I’m fine.” she cleared her throat. “Wh-what were you g-going to say before I -” “I … ahh … Feelings are .. hard.” Feelings .. ? Kai has feelings for me ? thought Y/N , her mind spinning like crazy and she smiled nervously at him. Kai was looking at her with a mix of confusion , hope and desire in his eyes. He was waiting for her to say something but she seemed to have forgotten the entire english language. Not that words would do her any good. Y/N was much better at doing than saying things so she jumped into his arms , her hands cupping his face as she kissed him. Kai was taken by surprise and for a second he didn’t know what to do. Her hands moved towards his neck , burring her fingers in his hair feeling Kai’s arms pulling her closer to him at the same time. Kai kissed her back , not letting her pull away from his lips. The warm fuzzy feeling he always got around her , spreading through his body with a force like never before. He scooped her up as she hooked her hands around his neck. Kai slowly backed her against one of the trees near by ,his lips hungrily attacking hers the entire time. Kai didn’t want to pull away but he was worried he might suffocate her. “Now I know for sure.” he whispered smiling , his fingers brushing against her cheek. Her eyes sparkled and Y/N was out of breath , her eyes darting between his lips and his eyes. All this time everything had been right in front of his eyes and somehow he had missed it. Kai could hear her heart beating so fast all beats blurred into one , her cheeks were flushed and she was smiling ear to ear. “I love you.” he said softly pressing his lips against hers again. “I love you too.” she smiled , looking behind Kai’s back seeing the bird fly away. He followed her gaze , laughing nervously. “Weird… It appears we are getting the entire day to ourselves now."  ____________________________ MASTERLIST March / April 2017 MASTERLIST MAY 2017 MASTERLIST JUNE 2017