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teganberry · 4 years

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Atlantis AU - Character Designs

This was waaaaaay too much fun! I guess there’s something about Kingdom Hearts characters that translates really well into the aesthetic of Atlantis. Story setup and character bio’s are below the cut!

In the year 1920 world renowned archaeologist Professor A. Wise discovers a book known as The Shepherd’s Journal, which he believes may hold the location of the Lost City of Atlantis. With the help of his two best students, Professor Wise makes sort work of decoding the ancient Atlantean language, unlocking the book’s long held secrets. He presents his findings to the famous adventure Yen Sid in hopes of receiving financial backing from him for an expedition to the Lost City. While Yen Sid himself is now much too old to venture out on such an arduous journey, he enthusiastically agrees to financially support the venture. All that remained was for Professor Wise to assemble the talented crew required to see the expedition through.

Kairi: Kairi is a University student studying history and linguistics. She is one of Professor Wise’s top students and helped him in the decoding The Shepherd’s Journal. When presented with the opportunity to join him on the Atlantis expedition she excitedly agrees the moment he asks her. On the outside Kairi appears to have a very positive outlook on life and a rather happy go lucky attitude. However, this persona is a mask Kairi uses to hide a deep pain she has carried all her life. Born out of wedlock to the disgrace of both her parents, Kairi has always been seen as an outcast in her family. Her wish to be educated at a University far away was only agreed to by her wealthy family so they may finally be rid of her for good. With the exception of her friend Roxas, Kairi feels she has never been truly loved by anyone. That all begins to change, however, when upon reaching the city of Atlantis she meet’s a mysterious Atlantean man with the most charming smile she’s ever seen.

Roxas: Roxas attends the same University as Kairi, studying history and archaeology. He and Kairi met in their first history class together and became fast friends. Upon learning of Kairi’s family and troubled past Roxas promised that he could be her new family, and that they would always be friends no matter what. He was the second student who helped Professor Wise decode The Shepherd’s Journal. Unlike Kairi, however, Roxas was less eager on the idea of actually travelling to the Lost City, fearing the journey there would be fraught with danger. Kairi comforts him and tells him that so long as he won’t regret it some day, then he shouldn’t force himself to go on the journey. After thinking on her words and knowing deep down that not seeing Atlantis would haunt him for the rest of his life, Roxas agrees to join the expedition. After all, who knows what sort of other worldly treasure he may find? Or perhaps whom he may find.

Terra: A commander who served in the first World War, Terra is recruited for the expedition along with a number of other ex-soldiers for their military know how and leadership skills. While cool and stoic on the outside, on the inside Terra has become a troubled man, scared by the horrors he faced during the War. Having seen hell with his own eyes, he is now desperate to see “the other world” wherever it may be.

Xion: Adoptive sister of Axel and mechanical engineering wiz kid! Xion, along with her older brother, were both personally recommended by Yen Sid for the expedition. There’s no engine she can’t fix. Xion makes no secret of the fact that she and her brother are only in this for the money so they can keep financially supporting their family. But despite that mentality she has a kind heart, and finds herself easily making friends with Kairi and Roxas.

Axel: Like his sister, explosive expert Axel is in this for the money, plain and simple. He was also recommended by Yen Sid, and has well over a decade of experience with explosives. Axel likes to make friends with everyone, whether they like it or not. Roxas and Kairi were doomed to be his new best friends from the start.

Sora: Growing up Sora always appreciated how lucky he was. Despite having no parents and no royal title to speak of he was somehow accepted as a ward of the Atlantean Emperor. He grew up within the palace walls and became best friends with the Prince. He had to be the luckiest orphan around! Sora thought that he had everything he could ever want, that was until he came across a mysterious girl with impossibly red hair on the outskirts of the city, who claimed to have come from the world above. Sora knew from the moment he met her that he was a goner. He just hoped the Prince wouldn’t be too mad…and why are all the rumours that Sora may actually posses Royal blood after all suddenly re-emerging?

Riku: The Prince and heir to the thrown of Atlantis. Riku understands his duty well, but that doesn’t mean he always sticks to the rules. Much the the distain of his head guard, more often then not Riku can be found sneaking out of the Palace with Sora to go hunting, or explore more of their mysterious home. The boys both know that once Riku becomes Emperor their time together will no longer be free. They swear to one another that until that day comes they will spend every moment they can together. It is during one of his many expeditions with Sora that they come across the party of explorers from the world above. Riku notices that Sora seems instantly taken by the girl with strange red hair, and even he must admit that there is something about her...

Aqua: The Prince’s head guard and and attempted voice of reason, Aqua is a woman who will do anything to protect her Prince even if that means protecting him from himself. While she does her best to maintain a stern exterior appropriate for her position in society, on the inside she has an incredibly warm and loving heart. She will just as soon scold Riku, Sora and Ven for their inappropriate actions, as she will offer them heartfelt advice and comfort whenever they need it. When the Explorers first appear Aqua does not trust them. While some of the newcomers seem friendly enough, others among the group appear to have darker motivations. And then there’s the tall man in the group, with brown hair and a haunted look in his eyes. There’s something about him Aqua can’t seem to figure out, but she determined to find the answer. For the sake of the Prince’s safety of course…

Namine: There was once a time in Namine’s life when everything was normal. Her days would pass and nothing strange or out of the ordinary would happen. She could read and draw to her heart’s content. Then one day, through no fault of her own, she somehow got mixed up in one the the Prince’s crazy adventures and by the end of the madness had seemingly become friends with the Prince and his best friend, Sora. Ever since then Namine’s life has become one ridiculous adventure after another, so it wasn’t really much of a surprise when Sora came crashing through her front door one day exclaiming that strange people from the world above had somehow appeared in Atlantis. What did take her by surprise was when she finally laid eyes on the Explorers she found that she couldn’t seem to take her eyes off one of them in particular. A young man with blond hair and a lyrical voice she just can’t get out of her head.

Ven: When Ven first signed up to be trained as a Royal Guard he had expected a tough training process that would teach him to be both strong and disciplined. What he had not expected was for the Prince and Sora to take such a strong liking to him that they would insist he join them on their expeditions at every opportunity. Caught between his duty of obeying the Prince’s request but also to follow Aqua’s commands, Ven often finds himself receiving an earful from the head guard. But once the lectures are done Aqua always admits that, while Ven shouldn’t leave his post, at least the Prince had taken some form of protection with him. When the Explorers arrive Ven is initially excited, but like Aqua he quickly becomes suspicious. There’s just something in particular about the Explorer with messy jet black black hair that sends an involuntary shiver down Ven’s spine.

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snowflake-of-destruction · 4 years

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Imagine Roxas’s reaction to seeing Axel shirtless when he started getting buff for the first time

Enjoy the distraction of the evening and Roxas and Sora bonding, and be warned of language and reference to adult situations.

"Can I complain to you about Riku for a second?" Sora asked. It was perhaps not the ideal time to start a new conversation as Roxas was in the process of landing the gummi ship in a clear spot of grass in the courtyard outside the entrance to the keyblade academy at the Land of Departure, but that was how Sora was, keeping things in and then letting them explode forth at times that often seemed odd to others, but were simply the breaking point to him.

"No, I require at least ten minutes of complaining about Riku every week,"Roxas deadpanned, guiding the ship down between two others already parked. "You know the time table. Three minutes without air. Three days without food. Seven days without busting Riku's silver dusted balls."

"Gold," Sora chirped, unbuckling his restraints and going for the door.

"I'm going to regret this," Roxas sighed, half to himself as he followed suit, "But...what?"

"Gold medal," Sora grinned. "Everything in that area is nothing less than first place."

"Strongly disagree." Roxas screwed up his face in exaggerated disgust.

"You have no way of..." Sora complained as they started up to the castle.

"Please, can we get to the complaining?" Roxas cut him off.

"It's official even. The council of judges, me and Data Sora judging pictures saved on my gummi phone, awarded him the blue ribbon. I tied it..."

"I will give you all the munny in my munny bag not to finish that sentence." It was pretty clear to Roxas that Sora was torturing him on purpose for crimes of his past lives. Sometimes he still hated his other.

"Then I suppose you don't want to hear about the ribbon cutting ceremony either? Or, well, it was more of a ribbon untying ceremony. I'm not usually good at tongue tricks like the cherry thing so I was kind of proud of myself that I managed to..."

The pattern of hasty interruption of an oblivious or happily malicious Sora continued. "For the love of sea salt ice cream, Sora, I'm begging you to stop before I hurl."

"What were you talking about before?" Sora blanked and grasped at straws of stray thought. "Tortillas?"

"What? Why would you think that?"

"It was taco night when I came up with the ribbon ceremony."

"You were going to tell me how much Riku was annoying you."

The enlightened glow of remembrance entered Sora's eyes, but the spark of happiness at conquering his brain only lasted a moment before Sora was collapsing against the doors of the castle academy, playing up the drama of whining, "Riku is driving me crazy!"

"That's more like it! Tell me all about it." Roxas was perhaps a bit overzealous in his support, judging by the look Sora shot him, so he tried a more nonchalant and less gleeful tone, "You'll feel better."

"He keeps looking at me like I'm going to disappear in front of his eyes. He's woken me up in the middle of the night to make sure I'm still breathing. He keeps tripping me up in battle because he's started diving between me and the Heartless, like all of a sudden I can't take care of myself. I know why it's happening, and I know he means well, but I'm not sure how much longer I can take it. Do you have that problem with Axel?"

Now, he and Axel had to work through some anxiety about being separated again. It had taken a lot of long talks, time, and trust exercises, to work through them, but now Roxas could help Sora with Riku's issues from the point of view of someone who had been there before and gotten out. Or he could just make a joke. "Well, I'm afraid he'll get caught in a strong wind one night and snap in half, but I'm trying to keep myself rational. I mean I can stick unwound hangers in his clothes to try and create a brace from something more substantial than his limbs, and I can put a bell on him so I don't lose track of him when he turns sideways, but after we take all the precautions we can, all I can do is tell him to be careful lifting his keyblade so it doesn't break his arm, and look at the positive. He and Jack Skellington wear the same size jacket and being able to trade clothes with the King of Halloween is pretty cool."

"What are you talking about?"

Roxas steeled himself to be drawn into a serious talk anyway, taking a spot leaning against the doors alongside Sora and putting a hand on his shoulder, dearly hoping someone didn't open the door from the other side and send them sprawling. "Listen, I picked a ridiculous example, but the same principle applies. Take measures to keep each other safe--simple ones that don't stop you from being able to do your job-- talk about what his fears are, and then just try to find silver linings and agree to live your lives. You guys are going to be okay."

"Oh yeah, I know that," Sora dismissed, shaking off his hand. "I was just letting off steam. Riku's actually being really sweet. I just need to make him realize what he's doing before he finds a way to sacrifice himself again to keep me safe. What you said about Axel doesn't make sense though. He's ripped."

"He's a twig," Roxas countered with a scoff. "He's got the muscle mass of the jelly creature from Monstropolis, and looks like it the time it let me suck it into a large straw to make Boo laugh. I love him but he's a scarecrow. My stickman scarecrow, and I love him, but let's be realistic."

The light of dawning realization lit Sora's eyes once more, and Roxas found it a bit unnerving. He was definitely missing something. "...Haven't you visited Axel since he started training with Terra?"

"No, this is my first visit, to see Terra confer the master title on him." Master ceremonies had become a big thing now, a little pomp and circumstance to make it seem more important, Roxas guessed. Riku had missed out. Too bad for him. "He was on a journey of the soul as well as the body...Whatever that means. Terra didn't want me distracting him."

"That's what makes it more fun. When I went to retake my mark of mastery at Yensid's tower...Wait a second, Terra ordered you to do something and you just listened?" Sora's pursed lips and glaring eyes spoke more of tantrum throwing toddler than betrayed friend.

"He's a master," Roxas answered simply, though it wasn't respect for orders of a master that held him back. He could have been a master too, if he wanted, if he felt like he needed the validation of being recognized by the others and wanted to jump through hoops set up by Yensid or Aqua or even worse options. He had been named master of the keyblade by the Organization, that was enough. He and Axel had agreed they would help guard the worlds but they wouldn't play into the ranking game. Axel had changed his mind, and Roxas respected that, but he felt no compulsion to join him.

"You never listen when Riku tells you to do something. He's a master too."

"Master, my ass."

"No, master of my..."

"Why do you have to be like this?" Roxas groaned, sliding to the ground.

"Don't get pissy just because you haven't gotten laid in months."

"I didn't visit because Axel told me not to. We've been doing the long distance thing. We've done it before for stretches, like when he and Isa were working on their first book,"Roxas answered Sora's original question, loudly, to change the subject.

"But you've talked on the gummi phone?"

"Every night."

"With video?"

"Is this going back to a weird place you never leave?"

"I live in the gutter now!" Sora confirmed happily, before going back to neutral. "No, it's a serious question. Have you gotten a good look at Axel recently?"

"Same loveable bozo sleeping in a fuzzy zip up adult onesie that makes him look like a Meow Wow he's always been. "

"You haven't seen him out of the onesie?" At Roxas's exasperated look, Sora defended himself once more. "Legitimate question."

"Some nights I don't even see him take down the hood. He has a voice for Meowaxel."

"And you were griping about the ribbon ceremony. Your sex story is much weirder."

"We don't have phone sex," Roxas's pining despair outweighed his distaste for discussing this kind of thing with Sora who was a dog that never let go of a bone without making a joke about boning. "We have an agreement. He almost crashed a gummi ship once."

"You...while he was driving?" Sora looked impressed and Roxas felt a rare flash of shame.

"New idea?" He pushed through and said the words as if they were a crack of his own.

"Great idea!" Sora's face split into a wide grin and Roxas apologized to Riku internally, the only way he ever did so. Sora grabbed his former Nobody's arm and dragged him to his feet. "Come on. We're going to spy on Axel sparring with Terra. They have a routine. Terra wouldn't deviate from it even knowing people are arriving for the ceremony tonight."

"I am always down to see my baby light someone on fire," Roxas followed Sora down the hill, pliable and, frankly, excited to see Axel as soon as possible.

"Baby? Blech." Sora pulled a face that lasted maybe half a second and rang false while it did, thrilled and supportive as always to see Roxas showing a soft spot, but attempting to play some of Roxas's own attitude back at him.

"Your pet names for Riku are worse...and you should not prove it by listing them." Roxas tacked on the latter part hastily, leaving no room for Sora to start his reign of terror anew.

" There are several riffs on Dream Eater that would make you wish you were as smart as me," Sora huffed, "But that's not what we're here for." He held Roxas back for a second with a thrown out arm, and glanced around the last bend in the hill. Roxas could hear sounds of exertion. Satisfied with what he saw, Sora withdrew the restraining arm in favor of waving his hands like a cheap magician as he ordered Roxas to, "Feast your eyes!"

Roxas ignored Sora's theatrics and stepped around him, only to stop short when he ended up following the other man's order despite himself. His eyes were feasting and there was an entire buffet in the form of Axel, stripped to the waist and hair up in a messy bun with damp loose tendrils stuck to the back of his neck, twisting away to avoid a strike by Terra (in his weird black spandex shirt like always, showing off for who the hell knew or cared) and using the momentum to whirl the rest of the circle and carry out his own blow, the flex and spring back of newly defined muscles Roxas had missed the development of covered by freckled skin that didn't quite make the definition of tan but had been cultivated into a tone more golden than ghost pale translucent on display. The first dish was broad shoulders that had always been there, but no longer existed just to make clothes hang smoothly like they did on a clothes hanger now that they were attached to the freshly carved meat station--arms that bulged and Roxas was going to declare illegal to ever hide under bunched neon fleece or a thick black coat again. He'd call Axel's new abs the salad bar because he wanted to charge like a bull and then start grazing, but they could also be the drink station because there was definitely a six pack there much more appealing than the beer Hayner had developed a fondness for, and Roxas was remarkably thirsty looking at them. Axel's waist was still comparatively small (Dorito. Delicious. More buffets should include snack food on the side. Jokes weren't over. The man was a snack.) but then there was perhaps the most shocking addition of all had popped into existence below it.

"Bite the buns and have a popsicles for dessert," Roxas whispered under his breath, awed, unable to even be embarrassed by half consciously daydreaming out loud because his eyes had continued their journey and found out there was now meat on the stork (too long to be chicken) drumsticks Axel walked around on.

"Think he's safe from the wind now?" Sora taunted.

"Time for you to leave." Roxas shook himself out of his daze to return fully to the present.

"What?"

"Run up to the castle," Roxas gave the same order in new phrasing as he walked on ahead and waved to Terra, yelling, "Time to leave."

The scene that ensued was bordering on comical as Terra froze, caught off guard and was smacked full in the face with head turning force by the flat of Axel's keyblade, an act that was accompanied by an apologetic, "Oh shit!" and widened eyes that spoke to Axel trying to cut his actions short but being unable to stop the blow, just lessen it. Terra stumbled and Axel reached out to steady him, but then appeared to change his mind or become irrevocably distracted halfway through as Roxas's presence sank in fully. His keyblade disappeared in a shower of sparks, Terra fell, and the lovers ran to be reunited.

Roxas found himself lifted off the ground like he weighed nothing and his soul left his body, leaving him not responsible for the happily sighed word that he used to greet Axel, "Arms."

#akuroku #soriku #snippets #fanfiction #Anonymous

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cynthiaandsamus · 3 years

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Custom Toonami Block Week 77 Rundown!

Code Geass: So since Shirley’s dead, Lelouch has a similar thought to Cornelia and blames the power of Geass itself instead of her actual murderer. So instead of using the Geass Order like he planned he decides to say fuck it and burn it all to the ground, completing his Darth Vader transformation by not only killing the men, but the women AND THE CHILDREN AND THE SCIENTISTS (Science is the fourth gender, look it up, it’s in Dr. Stone). But yeah half of this episode is just murdering scientist who granted were making child supersoldiers but also don’t have any weapons, like they have zero security no wonder Cornelia was able to walk right up to V.V. And the Black Knights are pissed about killing civilians but I feel like once the horde of children starts making them shoot each other they should get the picture. Rolo murders all his friends, C.C. murders all her former supports, Dietard puts a ninja hit out on Ohgi and Viletta also wants to kill Ohgi, poor Ohgi the dude has like nothing going for him and just ended up in this fucked up chess game and he’s just some dude that fell in love when he saw Viletta naked (didn’t we all) but anyway V.V. pilots Jeremiah’s Pumpkin Battleship and before Lelouch can make Rolo kamikaze himself for killing Shirley, Cornelia wipes him out anyway in probably her most badass moment in the series, using the Pumpkin Battleship’s Byakugan Blindspot to bring it down. V.V. is dead like five times over but Charles comes out to drag Lelouch into the Spear of Longinus so he can do Human Instrumentality or whatever.

Inuyasha: Naraku’s kidnapped Rin so Sesshomaru will kill Inuyasha for him and Sesshomaru hates two things more than anything: being implied he likes humans, and being told what to do, so he tells Naraku to fuck off and goes to fuck him up. This being one of Naraku’s plans of course Sesshomaru doesn’t actually have a choice in this and the battle is a farce so he can spread bits of himself all over and absorb Sesshomaru like Super Buu did to Mystic Gohan. However Inuyasha’s new powerup lets him throw a wrench in that by breaking his barrier and Kagura has to pretend to fight him even though she just wants the doggy brothers to fuck Naraku up. Also Kohaku and Rin have a cute little interaction while he’s holding her captive and Kohaku sees Sango again which triggers his selective amnesia shit. Like you get the feeling Kagura probably would’ve been a better guard for Rin but Naraku only has so many named demons and Kanna isn’t allowed to do anything so might as well throw Kohaku in there to get bonus mental damage to Sango which only works out if you know they’re going to split up like that. But again, this is one of Naraku’s plans so it’s like 50% torture, 50% just trolling people to fuck with their heads.

Yu Yu Hakusho: Younger Toguro faked his death and ambushes Yusuke’s date with Keiko because the plot just doesn’t want this relationship to happen. Toguro pulls up on a motorcycle which is just kind of weird to see and he takes Yusuke somewhere, idk if they walked or if Yusuke got on the back of the motorcycle but Toguro either tossing his motorcycle away to go walk to a car park with Yusuke or Yusuke holding onto Toguro’s waist while they ride are equally hilarious images. Anyway Toguro demolishes the parking garage while still breaking all the rocks that are about to crush Yusuke just to literally flex on him how much stronger he was than when they fought. It’s weird because Toguro seems to kinda be mad about having to fake a loss but also respect Yusuke as a fighter which is strange since Kuwabara was the one that put in the effort for that fake win. That doesn’t matter though cause it’s DARK TOURNAMENT TIME BABY! One of the most iconic anime arcs ever is about to begin and it’s kinda funny they yadda yadda over a two month training arc like there’s like three minutes of Kuwabara training with Hiei and Kurama (where Kurama is the bad cop ironically enough) and Yusuke training with Genkai again before it’s like “Okay let’s just get to the tournament” like I don’t think I’ve ever seen an anime where they announce the tournament and then go sign up for it in the same episode, usually they milk that shit to really sell the preparation but they go with “Here’s a few scene and Yusuke’s a lot stronger now, take our word for it” which is a funny way to start one of the most epic tournament arcs ever.

Fate Zero: This is an episode I’ve heard a lot about, Iskandar, Saber and Gilgamesh fuck around drinking, the whole thing kinda reads like a fanfiction or a Ghost in the Shell episode since 75% of it is just talking. Gilgamesh is basically like “Yo, see that shit? All that shit is my shit, even if I don’t know what it is, it’s mine, so fuck off.” Iskandar’s like “What could the man who once conquered the whole world want? To conquer the whole world TWICE!” and Saber’s like “Hey my whole country got destroyed cause I was thrown into a role I was grossly underqualified for so, maybe not that?” and this pisses Iskandar off because her regret and martyrdom isolates and enfeebles her, he sees the downfall of nations as inevitable and leadership as something to form a community that emulates their leader, not to isolate the ruler as some lone pillar. Also Kirei’s Assassins jump them and Iskandar uses Unlimited Dude Works to stomp them all. Basically it’s the whole Ling/Bradley discussion from FMA but with more nuance, rulers have to benefit their people but they can’t be so dragged down by it that it destroys everyone involved once that pillar collapses. So Iskandar’s like “Yeah you have a really toxic way of looking at things Saber, I’m out. Stop beating yourself up about what’s already happened.” And Gilgamesh is like “No, let her keep beating herself up, this fun, I’m having fun.” So Saber has the admiration of the villain and the disdain of the hero which is an odd situation to be in.

Konosuba: So this one is an OVA or something I think so we don’t get closure on the whole “Kazuma is going to jail for horny and non-horny crimes alike” subplot but we do get a cute little story about Kazuma slowly getting murdered while basically doing the Higurashi Punishment Games on everyone. Ironically he’s not pervy enough for Darkness or Aqua because he’s just a voyeur for Darkness and Aqua he apparently has no sexual attraction to whatsoever. It’s kind of interesting because a few times one or two of them heavily imply they’d just straight up take his virginity if it’d help and he doesn’t go for it, I don’t know if that’s better or worse than what he actually does but once again the ‘principled scumbag’ archetype comes into play and it’s always fun to see what Kazuma will or won’t do, it tends to be just enough that we’re willing to see him punished but not enough to make us hate him, it’s a surprisingly good balance. Anyway, Darkness is boobs, Kazuma may be a lolicon for Megumin, Yunyun and Wiz are also boobs, Aqua is boner repellant and Kazuma dies anyway because the real wish was the friends we made along the way but real friends are the ones that murder you when you’re a scumbag… or something. On to Season 2 next week!

Sailor Moon Crystal: I’m kind of loving the Evil Tuxedo Mask aesthetic, like the bishie face with the red eyes and the suit is really cool-looking. Anyway Tuxedo Mask is evil now and seduces Usagi all over again with the power of evil and video games. There’s probably a message here about girls falling for toxic boys but that’s the subtext over a lot of Sailor Moon that there’s lots of bullshit out to get teen girls and they shouldn’t waste their energy on it. Usagi’s kind of having an existential crisis over evil Tuxedo Mask and Luna’s feeling bad about calling him evil before and now that he actually is evil she doesn’t know what to do. Anyway he finds Zordon’s Tower by hypnotizing Makoto and we do the full transformation scene and speech for four of the scouts so you really know they were stretching the plot with this one. Usagi gets over herself but it’s too late, Evil Mask has the crystal and summons Queen Beryl by… flapping his cape, guess calling her was that easy, man you’d think they coulda just stomped these guys a long time ago but oh well.

Durarara!!: We leave off where Shizuo just crushed someone with a car door, good times. Celty takes the knife they had, believing it to be Saika but is so superstitious about it she doesn’t even see it’s a crappy Pampered Chef knife that’s like two years old max. Then Haruna, the reporter’s daughter reveals not only did she have a weird relationship with the teacher hitting on Anri but she’s also controlling all the Saika zombies around the city because to swords cutting people is loving them like how sharks bite things to see what they are. She sics her army on Anri and Shizuo separately and goes after her teacher who was just coming to sexually harass Anri again so… yay? Anyway Shizuo says fuck you to being in a polyamorous relationship with hundreds of sword zombies and Anri reveals that Haruna’s Saika isn’t the real Saika because HER Saika is the real Saika, we got katana school girls here folks, it really is an anime after all.

#ooc #Toonami #Custom Toonami Block #Code Geass #Inuyasha #Yu Yu Hakusho #Fate Zero #Konosuba #Sailor Moon Crystal #Durarara!!

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medea10 · 3 years

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My Review of Rent-A-Girlfriend

How did I get into this anime? Let’s just say due to a few websites I frequent around decided to be little whore-ish, I became curious by this particular title. Let’s just say they were mentioning this one at least every other day prior to the premier. So out of natural curiosity and knowing nothing of what I’m getting into, I decided to add another Friday anime to my watch list. I guess Fridays are my busy day for watching anime!

Kazuya Kinoshita is a 20 year old college student. Life seems to be going well for him until his girlfriend decides to dump him.

Not even 30 seconds into this anime and this sad-sack gets dumped!

SERIOUSLY! 18 SECONDS! NEW FRIGGIN’ RECORD!!!

So after Kazuya gets dumped, he ends up on a website and before you know it, he’s made arrangements to go on a date with a rented girlfriend! Yes, these are very much a thing. You can go to a website and pay a woman to go on a date with you. Apparently, Japan has a lot of these services and it does get a little ewwie with it so I’m gonna move on with the synopsis.

The girl he ends up going out with is named Chizuru Ichinose. The first date seemed to be going well, but Kazuya felt off by this girl. He just thought Chizuru was just playing with her clients hearts, plus he’s still a little heart-broken from his previous girlfriend, so he gives her a bad review. So when they go on their second date, Chizuru’s cutesy, sweet act is replaced with someone who is tempermental and sassy.

Just then, Kazuya gets word his grandmother collapsed!

I know it’s weird in the synopsis, but just go with it!

With word of his grandmother in the hospital, Kazuya ends up taking Chizuru to the hospital with him. Turns out Kazuya’s family jumped to the obvious conclusion that this girl is his girlfriend and they went nuts. Mostly at the fact that their son actually got a cute girlfriend! Add another layer of WTF to this cake, Chizuru’s grandmother is in this exact, same hospital as Kazuya’s grandmother. And both ladies are over the moon that these two are dating (even though that’s far from the truth). Chizuru hasn’t even told her family that she’s working at Rent-a-Waifu! Well, let’s just break things off and let the family down easy.

Oh, look! They both go to the same university. Oh look! They’re also next door neighbors. I smell shenanigans!

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: At this moment, the only one streaming this series is Crunchyroll. A few weeks into the premier, Crunchyroll started airing a dub. As for the sub, this is my first time really listening to the main lead’s seiyuu, Shun Horie. But the rest of the cast has a nice mixture of memorable voices like Aoi Yuuki, Rie Takahashi, Sora Amamiya, Gakuto Kajiwara…oh fuck!

DAMMIT ASTA, STOP HAUNTING MY EAR-DRUMS!

As for the dub, Crunchyroll is currently publishing an episode once a week. The dub is just okay in my opinion, really nothing to write home about. The only thing I can say is that Aleks Le did a fairly-decent job voicing Kazuya. After voicing Zenitsu last year, he’s got a knack for voicing wimpy twats. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Kazuya is played by Shun Horie

*Chizuru is played by Sora Amamiya (known for Toka on Tokyo Ghoul, Aqua on Konosuba, Miia on Monster Musume, Akame on Akame ga Kill, Elizabeth on Seven Deadly Sins, and Yachiyo on Magia Record)

*Mami is played by Aoi Yuuki (known for Iris on Pokemon BW, Madoka on Madoka Magica, Kayo on ERASED, Yuuki on SAO II, Tatsumaki on One Punch Man, Tamaki on Fire Force, and Kinako on Inazuma Eleven GO)

*Ruka is played by Nao Touyama (known for Chitoge on Nisekoi, Koga on Bunny Girl Senpai, Nii on Blue Exorcist, Akira on Kono Oto Tomare, Momo onAi Tenchi Muyo

ENGLISH CAST: *Kazuya is played by Aleks Le (known for Zenitsu on Demon Slayer and Ake on Shield Hero)

*Chizuru is played by Lizzie Freeman (known for Cardinal on SAO: Alicization, Iwanaga on In/Spectre, Trish on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Pt. 5, and Felicia on Magia Record)

*Mami is played by Laura Stahl (known for Ray on The Promised Neverland)

*Ruka is played by Sarah Williams (known for Sayaka on Madoka Magica, Felix on Re:Zero, Nonon on Kill la Kill, Mirai on Boruto, Lisbeth on SAO, and Puck on Berserk 2016)

DISLIKED CHARACTER: And now, a poem…

Roses are red Mami’s a cunt…

That’s the poem.

SHIPPING: I can honestly say I didn’t expect the Rent-a-Girlfriend and the Ex-Bitch to meet each other in the second episode. Even after going on a few dates with Chizuru, Kazuya still finds himself “beating his meat” to the thought of his ex, Mami. Only for the girls to beat your meat to change places just a few episodes later!

Oh yes, it’s that kind of series! Kazuya jacks off quite a bit.

Kazuya x Chizuru: At times it feels like Kazuya is really falling for Chizuru for who she really is and not the façade she puts up as a rental girlfriend. But I guess the number of awkward setups and situations these two have been thrown in throughout the series can do that to Kazuya. I mean, how else do you expect Kazuya jacking it off to Chizuru when he’s trying to think of his ex?! Yeah, he’s lied to his family, Chizuru’s grandmother, and all of his friends about this relationship and this relationship is as fake as a three-dollar bill. But there are a few genuine moments that show these two care for each other. Kazuya was ballsy enough to jump off a moving boat to save Chizuru when she fell overboard. And Kazuya felt concerned when Chizuru was thinking about leaving the rental girlfriend profession. Though that could be Kazuya being a pathetic sack of shit and wanting to continue this farce relationship and paying a girl for some attention! It’s so hard to say something kind about Kazuya wanting this relationship to work. But for what it’s worth, I like the farce ship better than the next thing I’m going to speak about.

Kazuya x Mami: I don’t like this bitch and I hate this ship. From the get-go you go in hating this succubus. And when we see her again in episode 2, bitches be bitches! Getting drunk in a public setting and making fun of Kazuya not being man enough for her (in the sexual sense). Then, we get Mami trying to go home with Kazuya when Chizuru is gone. But we don’t stop there, she’s trying at every opportunity to make Kazuya drop everything and fall in love with her again. She’s the one that dumped him, but can’t stand seeing Kazuya with anyone else (no matter the awkward circumstances). It’s clear that Mami has severe jealousy issues. I mean, Chizuru is prettier and nicer than Mami. Meanwhile, Mami is a manipulative scum-wad with the charm of a poisonous snake.

Kazuya x Ruka: Ruka was a rental girlfriend from a different agency and was on a double date with Kazuya, Chizuru, and Kazuya’s idiot friend that sounds like Asta. But due to several misunderstandings between Kazuya and Ruka, turns out Kazuya is the only man to get her heart rate up. So Ruka cuts ties with the idiot friend who hired her and has set sights on Kazuya. And she will fight for her man no matter what. She’s even ballsy enough to interrupt Kazuya’s family celebration of New Years by coming in like an asteroid to fuck things up. At this point in the series, Kazuya’s grandmother is dead-set on him marrying Chizuru. Any other girl is shit compared to her! But Ruka will continue to do her thing. Even applying to the same job that Kazuya works at!

Kazuya x Sumi! You expect me to say something about this? They had one bleeping date! And she’s barely seen outside of the opening and ending themes. If there’s more interactions in season two, holla back at me because this ain’t happening. Although, I’ll support the fuck out of this ship over Kazuya x Mami!

BIG SIMPIN’: So being an older millennial (or X-ennial as I’m currently classified under), I am not hip to the lingo of these youngins. Because of Kazuya, the internet uproared by calling him a phrase known as a “simp”. Well, I don’t want to seem like some out-of-touch boomer. So I’m just going to look up this “simp” term and see if this is legitimate. Let’s see what the Slang-tionary says.

“Simp is a slang insult for men who are seen as too attentive and submissive to women, especially out of a failed hope of winning some entitled sexual attention or activity from them.”

Okay. I think it’s time for the rap interlude of this review.

I don't know what you heard about him But a bitch will get every dollar out of him No cherry-poppin’ as you can see That he’s a motherfucking S-I-M-P

ENDING: Being a rental girlfriend isn’t something Chizuru wants to do, but this gives her practice in what she really wants to do, which is become an actor. And as of recently, Chizuru has been thinking about quitting the rental girlfriend agency. So what would happen if Chizuru quit being a rental girlfriend? That’s a question for another day and another season!

So only a few people have learned about Kazuya and Chizuru’s relationship being the most complicated farce in anime history. Halfway into the series with Ruka’s introduction, she caught on about Chizuru being a rental girlfriend. And because of that incident, Kazuya decided to come clean to his idiot friend, Shun. When Shun hired Ruka to be his rental girlfriend, dude was on top of the world. But when Ruka exposed what he did in front of Kazuya, Shun got severely depressed. Kazuya decides to pay for Chizuru to take Shun out on a date. That’s when Shun finds out that Kazuya hired Chizuru after Mami dumped him.

You know what? I have to spring this up! How long did you think Kazuya was going to hide the rental girlfriend thing to his friends? He’s friends with a bunch of stinkin’ virgins. Lonely, stinkin’ virgins! Plus, if Chizuru is rated #1 on a Google search for top rental girlfriends (as it was established in episode 10), I’m surprised no one else caught on, including the grandmothers. Kazuya’s grandmother is constantly playing on her smart phone. Shun is on the internet all the time. I’m surprised there isn’t an annoying pop-up ad in Japanese Google that would flash at them at any point saying, “Meet legal Japanese chicks in your area” redirecting them to the rental girlfriend website. Followed by giving you a gnarly computer virus!

Well, we’re 10 episodes in a 12 episode series. Why not finally introduce the fourth girl that we’ve been seeing in the opening and ending themes all season?! Chizuru asked Kazuya for a favor to go out with the new rental girlfriend at the agency to help boost her confidence. Enter, Sumi! The best way to describe this silent, moe-blob is a less busty version of Mikuru Asahina. Kazuya and Sumi’s date went over somewhat okay. Kazuya saved Sumi from a bunch of thugs. And while Sumi was silent throughout the entire date, she managed to squeak out a thank you at the end. So not a bad date, right?

Unfortunately, during the date, Mami saw them and trailed them. And it went down just as you would imagine! Mami confronts Kazuya, Kazuya comes up with some bullshit lie to Mami, Sumi is still silent, and Mami is up to no good after she leaves.

Because Mami learned Sumi’s full name, she went to the internet to find a profile or something on a social network. That’s when Mami learned that not only Sumi was a rental girlfriend, but Chizuru as well. It’s not so bad that Shun knows about Chizuru, but if Mami finds out, game over. Game over, Kazuya! So what happens next?

Mami catfished Chizuru by calling her out for a date using the rental girlfriend website! Then they go to the karaoke bar Kazuya works at for their “date”.

GAME OVER KAZUYA! GAME OVER! You lost all 5 lives. Please return to world 1 and may God have mercy on your simpin’ ass!

Kazuya watched their date from a distance (and this time he didn’t get caught eavesdropping like the last time he followed Chizuru). And after a cute mention of the singers to the opening and ending theme to the series, Mami and Chizuru end their date with an exchanging of words. All this proved is that Mami is still a jealous bitch with a dead look in her eyes and Chizuru likes Kazuya. We think! Either Chizuru meant what she said to Mami or she’s a really good actress. When Chizuru came back to the apartment complex, Kazuya met her outside and thanked her for what she said to Mami followed by a confession.

Ah yes, a confession of love! As the credits roll, we see flashbacks of the past 12 episodes and end the series on a cute note and a possible opening to an OVA and we can end from…

Oh wait, there’s more!

Kazuya says he wants Chizuru to continue being his rental girlfriend. Because he knows she’s planning on quitting the rental girlfriend business! So he smooths that over! Both played this off with a wary poker face, but behind closed doors, they are sweating bullets.

OH, and season two has been green-lit. Fabulous!

This anime was addicting to watch. I don’t know if it was as addicting as Uzaki-chan. Then again, I picked to watch Rent-a-Girlfriend over Uzaki-chan. But this was an addicting train-wreck! Watching this dumbass try to fool his family and friends that he really was able to get a cute girlfriend for a full year! How the hell could anyone fall for that mess? People still watched this dumpster fire of a relationship right, so why bitch about the stupidity of Simpy McSimperson over here? I am glad we’re getting a second season because we really didn’t get a chance to see much of Sumi. I know she’s no contender when you put her next to the great Chizuru, but good golly, give this girl some screentime aside from the one episode she got. They made her seem like she was going to be a big player in this anime, but only getting a bit role. I also want to see if Mami is going to redeem herself from the cunt we saw since 18 seconds into the series. I seriously doubt it, but it just gives me more reason to cuss at the computer, calling her every horrible name in the book. And as for Ruka…there’s nothing to say. She’s just gonna be second best no matter what the fuck happens.

As addicting as this anime was, I can’t ignore how many times I had to facepalm at every, stupid action done by Kazuya. I mean, several times per episode, butt-for-brains does something stupid that makes us say, “Dude, WTF” or “Bruh”. Lying to your family, lying to your friends, giving a bad review to your rental girlfriend for giving you great service, jacking it to your ex when you’re clearly hot for Chizuru, following a guy around because he spends the day with Chizuru, and it just goes on and on! You want to root for this twerp in hopes he gets the girl of his dreams in the end, but at the same time, you’re like, “This guy is a total dink.”

Oh, let’s see what season two has to offer…whenever that comes.

In the meantime, if you’d like to check out Rent-A-Girlfriend, Crunchyroll has all 12 episodes available in both sub and dub.

#anime review #rent a girlfriend #kanojo okarishimasu #kazuya kinoshita #chizuru ichinose #mami nanami #ruka sarashina #sumi sakurasawa

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rovewritesit · 4 years

Text

Angel Of My Dreams (Chapter 2) John Deacon x Reader Series

Series Summary: After reluctantly joining a band with your childhood best friends, you are thrust into oncoming stardom with no sea legs and an overwhelming sense of anxiety. But you just might find your way, thanks to some seasoned pros by your side. And the interest of one particular bassist.

This series is a work of fiction, and is loosely inspired by real people and events. Absolutely no offense is meant to actual Queen or their families.

PART 1 - PART 3 - PART 4

Pairing: John Deacon x Reader

Chapter Warnings: Cursing, duh. Feelings of anxiety.

Chapter Notes: A wild Deacy appears! Reader was supposed to meet him in this chapter but it got a bit long. I may have awkwardly stuffed in some backstory as well, but I wanted to get through it before we start having more interactions with the members of Queen. I’m a hoe for Hot Space and Cool Cat is such a vibe so I had to throw it in here. If you haven’t heard the original demo with Bowie you should take a listen. The music video concept was sparked loosely by Mitski’s “Happy” video (it’s gory af, be forewarned). I’m aware that the MTV of the 80s definitely would’ve banned anything like that, but it’ll come back around in the plot later on.

Songs Mentioned:

Heart of the Night - Juice Newton

More Than A Feeling - Boston

My Best Friend’s Girl - The Cars

Song/Title Inspiration: Angel - Fleetwood Mac

Taglist: @yourlocalmusicalprostitute

- - - - - - -

February 1982 - Orpheum Theater, Boston

It’s noisy in the cramped green room backstage at the Orpheum Theater in Boston. Gone were the days of grand arenas while tagging along with Hall and Oates. Now only around 2,000 bodies lined the seats out in the house, but you still feel that familiar bubble of nerves as Dawn busies herself around your hair.

Dawn, your best friend from your two short years at NYU, had agreed to tag along for the short tour to help with your “look.” Not that you ever really had a problem with your usual jeans and t-shirts, but this rock type of glam proved to be a different beast, and Dawn certainly had an eye for style. Her voluminous hair always streaked blonde and crimped to perfection. She’d tried to convince you many times to do something chemical with yours but you held firm to your virgin hair, causing your pre-show routine to run well into an hour and a half to get the desired popular style. You smile up at her as she curls part of your bangs away from your face, truly grateful to have another woman around.

“Babes, please stop moving your head. I’ve had to do the same piece 3 times already.” She tuts at you. “And Eds, I’ve asked you how many times to watch your elbows, jesus christ.”

Eddie tries to cram in even tighter against the wall, keeping to the five tiny spots you’d all wrangled against the mirror. “Ay, I’m trying over here. It takes some effort to get all this together.” He smirks, running his fingers through his already perfectly coiffed hair. A shame really, that it would be utterly destroyed within 15 minutes of being on stage.

“Have we picked a city song for tonight yet? I want to go over it in my head a few times before we go on.” Lawrence calls out, trying to tug on a pair of pants that look a size or two too small for him.

The Limbs had taken to playing one song per show by a famous local artist from the city they were in. Since they only had the one album out, it was a chance to get the audience singing and moving together; to change up the pace. A modified tip from a certain mustached rock legend that the band had started to implement.

“I thought we decided on More Than A Feeling?” Eddie says as he tears his eyes away from his own reflection.

“That’ll be what they expect. I think Bun sounds better on My Best Friend’s Girl,” Rich says simply. He’s attempting some form of stretching routine in the back corner of the room, his extremities bumping up against the walls.

“So Y/N’s taking this one?” Steve asks, lounging across a small loveseat against the wall, his legs dangling off of it delicately. He looks up from whatever song he’s been working on.

“You heard what the label said. They want Y/N more center stage, so to speak, for marketing reasons.” Rich tries folding his body into some sort of pretzel shape. A light “oof,” escapes his lips as he falls backward slightly.

“Ah yes, we need to give the public what they want,” you huff, wanting to roll your eyes if not for Dawn covering your head in a cloud of Aqua Net.

Eddie starts pacing, or at least tries to, “I just don’t get why they’re trying to make her into some Debbie Harry.” He scoffs, “Like that’s ever gonna happen.”

Dawn glares at him. It was a bit of a low blow, but Eddie was still getting used to sharing the spotlight with you, with him singing lead on almost every other song.

You were still struggling to find your presence on stage and were more than happy to take a back seat to the boys for the most part. And while some of the band’s other singles were gaining traction, none were close to catching up to Heart of the Night, which was now getting steady airplay and record sales thanks to the absurd music video that hit TV screens everywhere a few weeks back.

“That’s true, Y/N’s much more of a Linda Ronstadt type if we’re throwing out names,” Lawrence grunts out. Finally able to close the button on his skin-tight pants.

A cold laugh erupts from Eddie. “Exactly. It’s the Eighties now if you haven’t noticed. It’s all about edgy sex appeal, and let’s be honest, even Steve has a better chance of-”

“Enough!” Dawn’s voice sliced through the air, the daggers thrown from her eyes flying towards him. She leans down to your level to examine her masterpiece. “You look as sexy as a goddamn playboy bunny, hun. No pun intended.” Her voice softens as she pinches your cheeks.

The room goes mostly quiet for the next few minutes as the local opening band starts to close out their set with their last two songs. Only Rich’s deep breathing, fitting in time to the beat.

You chew your cherry painted lips, mulling over Eddie’s words. You knew full well that you weren’t exactly the frontwoman the label or the public dreamed of. Hell, you weren’t even supposed to be a frontwoman at all. When you’d finally given in to Rich’s insistent pestering to come have some fun with the boys, you’d been at NYU for two years. You loved your film classes but felt the hole that was left from the absence of playing any type of music. In high school, you’d all show up to a party with a variety of instruments in your grasps. It almost always resulted in a crowd gathering around to listen, joining in with your voices, clicking their beer bottles in time with the beat. It was when you had felt most carefree, and you had ached for that feeling again.

But playing locally turned into recording an album, for which you wrote a song for some dream of a man that only existed in your thoughts. Next thing you knew you were scooped up by Columbia Records, missing classes to attend photoshoots or album release parties. People were listening to your voice, your song, and wanting more. You dropped out of college to the dismay of your parents but were immediately enveloped in your friends' glee, finally reaching the precipice of something they’d only dreamed of. You hated the thought of letting them down in any way but you couldn’t shake the feeling that it was all a fluke, that you had nothing else to give. Destined to fade out as a one-hit-wonder and a disappointment to your best friends in the world. The weight hit your shoulders as you slumped in your seat.

None of this was supposed to happen, you tell yourself. It never happens like this.

You’re broken out of your daze when there’s a rap at the door and a muffled “5 minutes” from the stage manager behind it. You all stand, waiting for Rich to spread his wings and engulf you in your usual pre-show pow wow. You slide Dawn in next to you in the now group of 6, needing someone steady as an anchor.

“If you’d please, Reverend.” Steve probes, cheekily.

“We’re gathered here today” Rich begins and Dawn giggles. “To bring immense joy to those 2,000 idiots out there, who so willingly sold out our show for us. They deserve a performance played to 200,000, so that’s what we’re going to give them. In the name of our fathers, John, George, Paul, and Ringo. Let’s go give em’ hell.”

“Amen!” you all shout and disband.

As you follow the boys into the dingy hallway leading to the stage, Eddie catches your wrist. He looks at you through his long lashes with an uncharacteristically shy smile that almost never sees the light of day.

“I’m sorry for being a prick, Bun. I shouldn’t have said all that,” he mutters as you continue to walk, not wanting to miss your cue.

“No worries, Eds. You were right though. I’m definitely no Debbie,” you force a chuckle at yourself while a roadie slips your guitar strap onto your shoulders.

“It’s not alright. And no, you’re not,” he says catching your downturned eyes. “You’re Y/N fucking L/N, and you’re just gettin’ started, baby. All you gotta do is take a little bit of the love we all have for you and give some to yourself once in a while, alright?” A grin forms, showing his adorably asymmetrical teeth as he reaches out a hand to ruffle your painstakingly perfected hair. “That’s better. Now let's get out there so you can show the world exactly what kind of frontwoman you are. And don’t be scared to show them a hint of Bunny while you’re at it.” You move your guitar out of the way to pull him in for a close hug. You hear Steve start banging his snare and pull Eddie on to the stage with you, feeling a bit lighter than you had been minutes ago.

You approach your mic and take a look out at the packed, hazy theater.

“Well hello, Bawston!’ Your accent rings out to the faceless figures before you. “Aren’t you all looking fuckin’ fabulous tonight!”

- - - - - - -

March 1982 - Musicland Studios, Munich

“No, I didn’t say it’s bad, just that it sounds tinny,” Brian argues, crossing his spidery arms over his chest as he leans against the doorframe.

“And it’s as if you’ve shoehorned Bowie in there just to mumble in the background incoherently. A waste, really.” Roger tacks on from beside him.

John sighs and leans his head against the back of the couch in the studio. “Just because it’s not your precious red special or your own magic fingers at work, doesn’t mean it’s tinny,” he counters calmly. Trying his best to keep the annoyance from seeping into his voice, knowing that Brian already had anger stemming from John’s earlier composition for the album.

It was the first time this week that all four men were in the studio together. Finishing up Hot Space was proving to be a strain on all of them and the growing rift had caused the men to nearly finish their songs separately instead of in their usual group dynamic. John’s experimentation into different styles, such as funk and disco, had not been willingly received thus far.

“Well, I sound rather fabulous, if I do say so myself. I’m very proud of us, Deacy.” Freddie states, getting up from his own place on the couch and stretching.

“It’s not that, Fred. It just doesn’t sound like us.” Brian sighs, already sensing the escalation of a row coming along.

“Oh please. Not this again...” Freddie huffs.

“That’s because it’s not us. It’s me and Freddie.” John cuts in with a roll of his eyes, landing them on Mack, their producer, who just shrugs and trains his gaze back to the board.

“That’s for sure.” Roger murmurs out. Now it’s John’s turn to cross his arms as he levels their pointed gazes. He’d worked with Fred for days putting together “Cool Cat,” hoping that the additional vocals from David Bowie would be a selling point for the other two.

With a clap of his hands, Freddie moves about the room. “Why don’t we take a quick break and then give it another listen?” Roger groans. Freddie pats his shoulder as he makes his way over to a radio beside Mack.

John rubs his tired eyes before pushing himself off the couch, eager for a break from the energy in the stale room. “I’m grabbing a coffee,” not offering one to the others as he brushes past Brian on his way out, quickly retreating down the hallway as fast as his legs will carry him.

The remaining three startle a bit as Freddie flips on the radio, Lo & The Limbs hit single pours from it, louder than expected.

“Oh! Oh, yes! Simply marvelous,” he exclaims, jumping up and down lightly. Roger and Brian raise their eyebrows in silent questioning. “This is the band of rascals I was telling you about the other week. They must’ve just broken out here.”

“The yanks you met while in the States?” Roger questions, turning his attention to the song, eager to judge any brimming competition.

“Yes, yes, the wild young lady who swears like the devil and her band of merry giant trees.”

“We have one of those!” Rog nods in Brian’s direction, voice muffled by a cigarette now dangling from his lips.

“Hm, Brain’s more of a willowy spruce, if you will. These ones are giant redwoods. You know American’s. And they have these thick New York accents. I could barely understand a word they were saying at first. What a riot they were.” he remembers fondly.

“I feel as if I’ve heard this before, but I can’t place it.” Brian ponders, almost to himself.

John appears in the doorway, blowing lightly on a steaming mug.

“Probably from that shocking video of theirs, darling,” Freddie waves his hands about. “Oh, you must’ve seen it. They’re all dressed up like they're in Grease or something, and this square of a girl is pinning after the bad boy. But he’s with this slutty little thing. And oh, I can’t recall the details, but in the end, she ends up murdering the slut!” He slaps the table for effect. “But for some odd reason the boy is okay with it all and they run off into the night together, covered in blood.”

“Sounds… spooky?” Roger shrugs. John stifles a chuckle.

“It’s dramatic! And sexy. And obviously working for them.” The wheels already turning in his head.

John tunes out their chatter and trains his ears to said song, which is about halfway through. The instrumentals seem a bit basic for his taste. The soft strum of an acoustic guitar, a slightly heavier electric over it, with a simple bass line. A female voice flits in.

Cool city moon lays its touch on the room,

Your eyes reach to me

It has a rasp to it. Akin to Stevie Nicks, he thinks.

Two shadows fall saying nothing at all,

We know what we need

No, not quite. It’s entirely it's own if he’s being honest. He can feel the soul pulsating through words and the power that’s beneath it. One that could probably fit with any genre it should choose. His interest peaked.

In the release, two prisoners are free from the darkness

One more escape surviving the heartache and madness

The raw emotion erupting from the speakers and the lyrics start to paint a picture in his mind, scrambling to fill in the faceless voice.

In the heart of the night

The chorus starts and picks up steam quickly. Male voices begin to fill in on background vocals, blending together seamlessly.

We run like bandits

Two hungry hearts under the gun

Her voice cracks a bit, in a charming way. It must be radiant when heard live.

In the heart of the night

When we find each other

Were stealing love on the run

In the heart of the night,

Heart of the night

A small smile plays on John’s lips as the song fades out. They’re good, he muses to himself, a bit intrigued by the song and Fred’s colorful description of the accompanying video.

“A great voice indeed. They’ve got a strong sound going.” Brian chirps up.

“That’s her first swing at writing, too. Wish it had been that bloody easy for us.”

“Is she a looker, Fred?” Roger wags his brows.

“Oh please, they’re practically babies! Although that drummer of theirs is certainly something to write home about… Even with the head of hair he has. A bit like a mushroom. A cute one.” Freddie ponders, stroking his full mustache.

John reaches up and pats the tight curls atop his own head, wondering how it would look if he ceased from trimming his current short perm.

“I do hope they catch on here. What fun that would be.” John readily nods along without realizing it.

Freddie switches off the radio and turns back to the other three men. “Alright back to it then. Queue it up, Mac,” placing a hand on the man’s shoulder and raising his eyebrows. “Shall we?”

- - - - - - -

March 1982 - Columbia Records, New York City

“Why are the undersides of my knees sweaty? I’m not a back of the knee sweat kind of guy, alright?” Lawrence fidgets, adjusting his collar for the fourth time in two minutes.

You casually gulp down your third glass of water while staring at the wood-paneled walls of the office. Attempting to avoid the gazes of a number of gold discs lining the walls, the echoes of your musical idols. They seem to be laughing at you.

Steve partakes in his trademark bouncing routine, the chair underneath him squeaking in a violent rhythm. “Do you think it’s the video? It has to be the video or we wouldn’t be in this office. I knew we shouldn’t have taken that big of a risk right out of the gate.”

“You gotta be kidding me. You basically doused yourself in the blood when Eddie pitched it!” Rich cuts in, his usual calm demeanor nowhere to be found.

“What! It was your idea for the--”

The door behind where the group is gathered swings open and in strides a stocky man with a full beard and tinted aviator sunglasses still covering his eyes.

“What are we all standing around for? Sit, sit, sit, c’mon.” His gruff Brooklyn accent ringing out as he moves to sit behind a large mahogany desk.

The Limbs scramble to fit on the couch across from him, with you ending up perched on the armrest, gripping Rich’s bicep for support.

The man, Walter Yetnikoff, CEO and Chairman of Columbia Records, grunts as he eases into a leather chair, finally removing his glasses, revealing surprisingly kind eyes, “Jeez louise, look at you kids. You look as if a nun just caught you all playing with each other’s junk. What’s with the faces?”

“Mr. Yetnikoff, we’d like to sincerely apologize for the backlash that has come from our video. We should’ve known better than that. We could’ve toned it down… a lot.” Eddie rushes out. He wipes his hand over his too-snug tailored pants, probably leftover from days of youth choir.

Walter barks out a laugh. “I’ll admit I was a little shocked to find out that’s what you needed a high school gym for, but relax a little, will ya? You’re not here to be scolded. If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t have fought so hard to get it airtime.”

The Limbs visibly relax- a tad, but their eyes all stay wide.

“Well aren’t ya gonna ask why you’re all here then?”

“W-why are we here?” Rich asks quietly. “Sir.” He adds.

“It seems that the slight PR crisis of a video you made has made its way across the pond,” Walter smirks.

“You mean…” Steve trails off in a voice two octaves higher than usual.

“You kids better like air travel because there’s gonna be a lot of it in your near future. The hit has broken into the London airwaves and they’re not as god fearing as viewers here seem to be. We’re sending you over there next week now that you’ve wrapped up the tour.”

“Holy shit!” Lawrence yells. You feel yourself falling back off your perch as your large friends all jump to their feet. Rich’s gangly arm luckily catches you and pulls you immediately into a suffocating hug. “You did this, Bunny!” He screams in your ear. “You did this!”

“Alright, alright, you can all go celebrate and drink your faces off in a second,” Walter calls out over the group who immediately shut their mouths. “We have a few details to iron out but I’m hoping to send you over there for a full press tour. Photoshoots, interviews, talk show appearances. The works, you got it.”

Steve lets out a squeal of delight, his voice not yet returning to its usual bass.

“You.” He points a stubby finger in your direction. “I’m waiting to hear back about a last-minute cancelation on some game show out there. We’re gonna try to get you in. You know your shit?”

“W-what kind of shit, sir?” You ask from the bear hug that Rich still holds you in.

He holds up his hands, gesturing to the gold discs that surround him. “Music, my dear.”

All you can do is nod, not wanting to think about what that even entails.

“That’s what I like to see. Now get outta here so you can all combust somewhere outside of my office. We’ll call you in a few days. Get those bags ready, you hear me?” He waves you all off.

Before you have a chance to say anything, the boys are sweeping you out of the room. And off to the start of whatever comes next, you guess.

#queen fic #queen fanfiction #queen fanfic #john deacon #john deacon fic #john deacon imagine #john deacon x reader #john deacon series #deaky fic #deaky x reader #deacy fic #deacy x reader #angelofmydreams

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the-dumb-smart-friend · 3 years

Text

I spent way too long on this so please give it attention

So my one friend and I have been working on the same rp for ~2 1/2 years, and right now we’ve been on a big break because of the whole quarantine thing, and inconsistent scheduling.

LET ME TELL YOU,

So many characters have changed so much in my mind over the break that I’m going to need to look through my logs of the characters before the break. I have plans for the story that can have it continue for multiple years into the future.

I have so much planned character development and minor conflict planned, not to mention the scandalous temptation of corruption arcs. My friend’s main character has literally murdered/hurt/threatened one of my characters on many occasions, and now they’re going to have to work together in order to save both their friends, family, lovers, and the entire concept of a continuous timeline before the winter solstice.

Meanwhile, the main villain has gone from pretty much an unstoppable god mary sue character to a touch starved twink with bad intentions and an attack dog evil scientist.

Every single character believes that what they’re doing is good, even if they know deep down that what they’re doing will have awful consequences.

And I’m not even done. I finally made a concrete reason to the timelines constantly looping, and the whole revival problem, as before I just had a loose idea. The two main gods that have been hinted at to be evil and really powerful and awful and stuff (despite one helping out the protagonists and the other being neutral/evil leaning) actually worked together thousands of years ago to do this really powerful spell thing so that every time this select group of really powerful people died (along with everyone that knew them, it was often one big catastrophic event), they would all be revived in the most recent year, over and over again until they found out how to break the “curse”.

The timelines will loop over and over again until the characters all find out how to stop it, which is to somehow keep magic (one of the key building blocks that’s holding life and the world as we know it together) from completely disappearing and dying out.

So the god of magic power was like “Dudes I’m gonna die if we don’t do something to keep magic from dying out.” and all the other high ranking gods were like “Bro no, last time we intervened with something on the mortal plane, we killed all the dinosaurs.” so then the magic god was all like “Fine, but you guys are all pricks.”.

So the he asked his sister (the goddess of time, memory, and significant events/holidays) to help out, and so they created the time loop idea. They cast a really old, really forbidden, semi-DIY’d spell with all their power, but because of the great crime they committed, the more powerful gods cast them out, and took all of their memories, condemning them to the surface for the rest of time.

oooh, looks like you’re interested, nice.

Also I’m on new meds, so sorry if this is confusing.

(TW for death, mentions of gore w/o graphic descriptions, mentions of kidnapping, hints at abuse, dissociation, cursing/verbal aggression, grief)

So the two ex-gods gave themselves new names, and decided to wander around, trying to find out who they were. The two had some moral conflicts and decided to part ways. Time Goddess, who now gave herself the name Raestress (pronounced Rye-stress) eventually stumbled upon one of the mortals that she and her brother cursed for the rest of time, and decided to stick with said mortal for a while, and by that, I mean kinda stalking said mortal.

Because Raestress wasn’t the one to come up with the time loop idea, and was the one that told the other gods, she was allowed to keep some of her powers, however she had absolutely no clue how to use them.

This next pert gets a little fuzzy, and I still need to iron out the details of it, but it ends with Raestress sacrificing both her life and all her power to the mortal, but because of her punishment from the other gods, was cursed to stay as a sort of ghost or spirit that follows the mortal (Remi) she just helped, only able to talk though/to her.

The sacrifice of Raestress’ powers to Remi led to Remi being able to remember all the past timelines she’s lived through, and all the other people that were chosen to live and die over and over again, and decides that she needs to be the one to bring them all together.

Back to modern day, Remi has amnesia for unknown reasons, and makes a bunch of new friends in this little north island town she lives in. One day, a random new math teacher shows up at her highschool, then one of her friends goes missing, then her friend’s sister goes missing and is later found dead, completely torn to pieces. Then she and some friends are about to take a little walk through the forest, when one of her friends is shot with a crossbow, and dies. Sure, they’ve gotten plenty of threats before, but they all just thought it was just some kids trying to pull a prank, but now Alice is dead.

The group try to compose themselves as they wait for the police to arrive, looking up through the trees as to where the crossbow could’ve been fired from, but everything is completely obscured by a swishing sea of branches and leaves. Remi looks up through the leaves, watching them spin and swirl, growing darker as her body seems to float back and fourth in an invisible ocean.

Her vision goes completely black for a moment, but she then sees herself, standing still and looking down at her friends, who have gone from hysterics to almost silent. The world seemed to have washed itself in a shade of periwinkle, swaying like the ocean, any sounds coming out as muffled and distant. Remi watched as her body began to shudder, shoulders bouncing up and down. She watched as her body laughed completely out of her control, quickly pushed against a tree and drowned out by muffled yelling and screaming from one of her friends, Aqua.

The others tried to hold Aqua back, but despite her small frame, she could fight like a 6′ brickhouse. Remi couldn’t do anything. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t explain, or shout “That isn’t me! I’m right here!”. All she could do is watch as her body’s eyes shifted from bottle green to a sharp, brassy yellow, somehow untouched by the blueish haze that blanketed the rest of the world.

Still, her body laughed, going on and on about something that Remi couldn’t hear, no matter how much she strained to.

The rest of the day seemed to continue in a blur. the police arrived, taking all the standard procedures, but it was hard to pay attention to anything but Alice’s body being carried away in a bag. Nobody really knew what happened.

Remi was still trapped outside of her body by the time they got home that night. Whatever or whoever was controlling her was managing to get under everyone’s skin without completely shattering the illusion of Remi still being in complete control. Guess those are the consequences of being known as the one who laughs at horror movies.

As soon as they both stepped inside, Aqua had thrown Remi against a wall, holding her by the collar of her shirt.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” she screamed, voice breaking before she could finish her sentence.

Remi’s body chuckled with squinted eyes, playfully glaring down at Aqua, boring into her skull.

“I should be asking you the same thing, sweetheart.”

Finally at that moment did the rest of the group realize that whoever was piloting Remi’s body definitely wasn’t her, because whatever spoke was using a voice that didn’t match in the slightest.

It’s voice sounded like it could’ve been either a young man or an older woman, familiar and welcoming yet cold and sharp as ice, sharp enough to cut through whatever was muffling the voices from wherever Remi was stuck.

Aqua dropped whoever this person was, taking shaky steps backward, clearly trying to say something, but no sound came out.

This strange person took a step forward, bowing and swishing their arm with a flourish.

“Though I can’t explain everything now, I’m sure that your dear friend Remi will.” They purred, staring through the veil and directly into Remi’s eyes.

“Who are you?” Aqua shuddered, invisible hands trailing cold fingers up her spine.

“A nobody, a somebody. A friend, an enemy. Nobody really knows when or where I’ll come or go, but if you were to call me anything, feel free to call me Crow.”

Something about that name just didn’t sit right, it seemed to send an imaginary bullet through Remi’s head, swimming through her thoughts and flipping every switch in her brain. Something, somewhere, was screaming at her, remember, remember. The already strange world started to get stranger, dark figures appearing all around Remi, reaching out and covering her eyes, ears, mouth, nose, everything until all she could sense was a dark void.

Crow smiled, kneeling down to meet Aqua’s new level on the floor.

“Right now, I’m serving as nothing more than a distraction, and maybe just a little something to get this story going” they said,

Aqua again tried to respond, but her voice had seemed to just disappear at the most crucial moments.

“I do hope we meet again.” Crow ruffled Aqua’s hair just as all the lights flickered out, leaving complete silence and confusion, after all, what was there to say?

Minutes passed, though nobody was keeping count. Nobody moved, and instead just stood wherever they were, trying desperately to process all of today.

When the lights finally flickered back on, Remi was passed out on the floor, but after everything that just happened, it took everyone a while to notice. Nobody said anything.

Will had carried Remi upstairs to her room, hoping that maybe staying by her side could make a nice distraction. Aqua had stayed sitting on the floor, back to back with the couch, head in her hands. Everyone decided to keep to themselves for the rest of the night.

By the next morning, Remi still hadn’t woken up. Sure, not quite unusual, but right now what everyone needed was an explanation, or one of her sarcastic jokes at the very least. It was at noon when everyone had started to worry.

It had reached 5PM when she finally jolted awake, catching her breath and running her hands through her hair.

“I remember...” She whispered,

“I remember everything.” She said again, quickly standing up and rummaging through her desk, despite Will telling her to take it easy.

“My notebooks, they’re all gone!”

“Remi, please,” Will tried to step forward and calm her down, but she pressed on.

“Don’t call me that.” She demanded, mumbling something afterward, “Just call me Rei.”

Alrighty so I might finish this at some point, idk, but the explanation/TL;DR is pretty much that BBEG had tried to kill Aqua, the main thing holding him back from achieving his goal, but Alice had jumped in the way and sacrificed herself.

Rei was then pushed out of her own body by a mysterious deity known only as Crow, who by the way is not Raestress, I just didn’t know how to quickly explain everything. Both Crow and Raestress had somehow managed to together give Rei back all her memories of the past timelines, but because of Crow’s distraction, the BBEG was able to steal all of Rei’s logs of strange dreams and little songs, all of which can be pieced together into an encrypted spell that has the ability to bring back the dead, a spell that has long since been completely banned and erased from the world.

When Rei was trapped outside of her body, she was actually pushed out into limbo/the spirit world, and all the dark figures were different versions of her from her past, though that was never really specified in the original story either, I just left it up to debate.

There is still very little known about Crow, but we know that they’re a sort of grim reaper character, have a past with Rei, and that they’re working for the BBEG for some unspecified reason.

The reason Rei doesn’t like being called Remi is because the letter M is considered evil and bad luck to her and others that are enemies of/know the atrocities or the BBEG and his family. Also because she prefers to distance herself from her past with Crow as much as possible.

Will, who was mentioned at the end, is actually Rei’s girlfriend.

Aqua is my friend’s main character, who is kinda really hotheaded, and is later tricked into killing one of my characters.

BBEG and his siblings are all children of the god of magic that was mentioned earlier.

If anything is confusing, or if you want more of the story, let me know, and I’ll try to add more.

#rp #writing #original rp #original character #oc roleplay #oc #oc story #original story

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crackimagines · 4 years

Text

Going Dark (FE: Three Houses Full Fic)

Overlord AU Masterlist

Other Au’s Listed Here!

---

With Ainz being transported to Fodlan unable to find out how the world works, he takes it upon himself to find out and prepare his followers and House Isekai for what’s to come.

Ainz dons his persona, the Dark Warrior Momon, once more to investigate Fodlan with his trusted companion Nabe.

Prologue

[Oath of Loyalty to the Supreme Being - Overlord]

Ainz sat down at a table the Pleiades had set up for him, big enough for the denizens of the Great Tomb of Nazarick to sit at. He was at the head of the table while his Floor Guardians took both sides of the table while the Pleiades stood to the side.

(Sebas) “Lord Ainz, everyone is now here. Shall we begin the emergency meeting?”

(Ainz) “Yes. Now, let us discuss the information we have gathered thus far on Fodlan.

(Albedo) “Then I will begin my findings first.”

She cleared her throat as her wings flapped gently.

(Albedo) “In terms of the people and technology, they appear to be slightly behind the world we were at before. While their number of magic casters appear to be higher, the levels of spells and power they wield seem to be lower than expected. This information was all gathered at the Monastery.”

(Cocytus) “AFTER CLOSELY STUDYING THE KNIGHTS OF SEIROS, THEIR RELICS AND FIGHTING CAPABILITIES APPEAR TO BE ON PAR WITH THOSE OF OUR OLD WORLD. THE RELIC WEAPONS ARE NOT TO BE UNDERESTIMATED, BUT I AM UNABLE TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE A THREAT TO US IN PARTICULAR. HOWEVER, THE LOW LEVEL MOBS AND UNDEAD WE SPAWNED NEAR THE MONASTERY TO SEE HOW POWERFUL THEY ARE, THE KNIGHTS OF SEIROS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO TAKE THEM DOWN EASILY. THIS INFORMATION WAS GATHERED AT THE MONASTERY.”

(Demiurge) “The politics of this world appear to be a bit more stable, with the Church of Seiros leading everyone. The Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and the Leicester Alliance appear to be pleased with the Church, but something about Edelgard’s actions and words seem to say otherwise. At least regarding the Adrestian Empire. I will need more time to fully assess her intentions, along with Rhea. This information was gathered at the Monastery as well.”

Ainz took a moment to process all the information given to him. Truth be told, he could not care less about the politics of this world. It wasn’t the one the tomb was in, so he just wanted to return as quickly as possible.

The issue that bothered him the most was the unknown power difference in Fodlan.

In his world, he was practically a god to everyone, and most of his followers couldn’t even be harmed by their most powerful weapons. He and the others of Nazarick were mostly level 100, while the strongest in that world appeared to be around 40-50.

Now, he had no idea if he was underpowered or not.

Ainz looked at his own hands and then back to the Floor Guardians.

(Ainz) “Aura, Mare, do you feel any limitations in your spellcasting?”

They were quiet for a moment before they nodded.

(Aura) “Y-Yes actually, Lord Ainz. Something hasn’t been feeling right ever since we got here, and I think that’s the issue!”

Everyone turned to the twins with wide eyes.

[”What’s wrong, Lord Momonga?” - Overlord]

(Mare) “U-U-Um...I don’t feel like I’ve completely been stripped of power but...something IS missing.”

Everyone else in the room started to examine themselves and realized that some of their abilities did feel dampened.

This made Ainz even more tense, though his skeletal face didn’t show it.

He had no idea what they would be up against in this world, and from the looks of what assignments House Isekai was assigned, this world wouldn’t stay peaceful for long.

The fact people like Class VII with their advanced guns and technology struggled against some of the people here, and Persona users were having trouble with what should be inferior foes was almost enough to make him shudder.

He had no doubt that his group were in the upper tier of power in the House, there would be no telling what kind of curveballs could be thrown at them, especially since he didn’t know how magic worked in this world.

In his world, it worked like an MMO. Now, it was a complete unknown.

Ainz couldn’t afford to be careless here.

(Ainz) “It appears we need to gather information from beyond the Monastery in order to fully understand the situation we’re in. I want everyone to take no chances. There’s no telling if Fodlan possesses enemies more dangerous than our old ones. From what I can gather, we have been limited in our skills and spells. Not completely gone, but that must mean precautions must be taken more than ever.”

Ainz stood up from the table.

(Ainz) “I want everyone to be travelling in pairs when gathering information. You are not to be permitted to travel outside the Monastery unless you have my blessings. Narberal Gamma!”

(Naberal) “My lord.”

(Ainz) “Prepare your adventurer gear and be ready to leave with me.”

(Albedo) “Lord Ainz, are you-”

(Ainz) “I intend to go as Momon in this world, yes.”

(Sebas) “My lord, with all due respect, it would be much better to send the Pleiades out in reconnaissance. The risk of going out is terribly great-”

(Ainz) “That is precisely why I am going out myself. I need to understand firsthand how this world works, otherwise we may commit a grave error in the long run. We have no idea how long we will be here, and when we will return. I understand and appreciate your concern, Sebas. That goes for the rest of you.”

Ainz was about to announce the meeting’s end before noticing Yuri’s expression.

The other Pleiades noticed it too, and Lupisregina tapped her on the shoulder.

(Lupisregina) “Sis?”

(Yuri) “...”

Yuri quietly motioned towards the door with her head.

Everyone understood immediately. There was someone listening in.

They drew out their weapons and prepared their magic silently as CZ2128 and Narberal quickly headed to the side of the walls.

CZ pulled out an assault rifle while Narberal pulled out a staff.

The two battle maids looked at Ainz for the signal.

(Ainz) “Very well, this meeting is adjourned.”

Narberal kicked the door down as CZ aimed her rifle down at the hallway, finger on the trigger

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

(CZ) “Identify yourselves or die in the name of Ainz Ooal-”

(Aqua) “AQUAAAAA!”

(Kazuma) “KAZUMA! KAZUMA! IT’S KAZUMA, DON’T FUCKING SHOOT!”

[My Dear Personage - Overlord]

Everyone’s faced turned from tense to completely disappointed and annoyed.

(Shalltear) “What are those idiots doing down here?!”

Ainz walked out to meet them.

(Ainz) “Explain yourselves, now.”

(Kazuma) “W-WE WERE JUST WONDERING WHY YOU ALL WERE DOWN HERE!”

(Aqua) “Y-YEAH! ALL OF US SAW YOU GOING DOWN SO WE WERE CURIOUS! IT WAS EVERYONE ELSE’S IDEA TOO!”

(Ainz) “...Everyone else?”

Minako, Minato, Yu, Akira, Doomguy, Rean, and Megumi popped their heads around the corner.

(Yu) “Uh...hi.”

(Akira) “I mean, I’m a Phantom Thief. Eavesdropping’s my thing.”

(Minako) “I’m just nosy.”

(Minato) “S-Sorry.”

(Rean) “We were just concerned is all! Well, at least me and Megunee were.”

(Megumi) “H-Hi, Ainz...!”

Doomguy shrugged.

HOW DID WE NOT NOTICE ANY OF THEM?!

(Narberal) “You insects DARE TO EAVESDROP ON LORD AINZ?! I WILL CUT YOU DOWN WHERE YOU STAND IF LORD AINZ PERMI-”

(Ainz) “H-HEY HEY HEY! CALM DOWN!”

Ainz frantically waved his hands to calm her down, and which he turned back to Kazuma.

(Ainz) “AND WHAT THE HELL KAZUMA?! WHY’D YOU-”

Before Ainz could panic any further, he felt his emotions suddenly calm down as a blue glow emitted around him.

(Ainz) “...ahem...It was only House Isekai that followed us here, correct?”

(Megumi) “Y-Yes. Everyone else is unaware that you’re even gone!”

Ainz sighed internally and shook his head.

(Ainz) “You’re lucky that I was here to stop them. If you did that while I was absent, I’m fairly positive you all would have died. Regardless, how much did you hear?”

(Aqua) “Well um...the entire thing.”

(Yu) “W-Well, just so that we didn’t get your heart rate up for nothing, since we’ve been here a little longer, we can provide specifics on what we’ve seen!”

(Minako) “Oh yeah, that’s right! We’ve been doing a field study or two outside!”

(Megumi) “Doomguy, Sara, and I have been working with the church.”

(Ainz) “...Well, I suppose you will be of use then. We speak not a word of our information to the church, or any of the other houses. Understood?”

Everyone nodded.

Ainz at first suspected that some of House Isekai might tell the others, but when he thought about it a bit more, who in their right mind would want to betray House Isekai?

All of them were in the same boat as the others.

If they made enemies of anyone, then there’s a good chance they won’t be coming back alive to their world. Cooperation is absolutely vital for everyone here.

Still, couldn’t hurt to be careful.

(Ainz) “Demiurge.”

(Demiurge) “My lord?”

(Ainz) “Collect the information House Isekai has gathered and see if we can find anything of use. Even mundane details might help us in the long run. Everyone else, as of this moment, House Isekai is under my protection. That does not extend to the Golden Deer, Blue Lions, or Black Eagles.”

(Everyone) “Yes, Lord Ainz!”

Naberal walked behind him as the House representatives went into the room to discuss with Demiurge.

(Ainz) “Now, Naberal. Let’s get going, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

[Overlord Opening]

---

Side Story:

The Raven-Black Warrior

[First, Let’s Gather Information - Overlord]

The first thing that the people of Garreg Mach’s town noticed that day was how bright the sun was shining. It was a blinding but comforting light.

The second thing they noticed was the man and woman that they had never seen before.

She wore a simple brown cloak, but she was the most beautiful woman they had ever seen.

He was just as captivating, for an entirely different reason. He was extremely tall and wore armor as black as night, complemented with a golden trim that accented his body.

The two swords he had on his back were bigger than the woman who was accompanying him.

No one knew their names but everyone was too afraid to ask, letting them go on their way.

Guards took notice of them and kept a close eye if they attempted anything, they were the most suspicious people in the past few months alone.

(Nabe) “It appears that adventurers don’t appear to be part of this world. Everyone is staring at us.”

(Momon) “Well that’s how it was back then, but you seem to be right. They seem to be less in awe and more on guard. Not that I blame them.”

In his old world, Ainz and Narberal posed as adventurers, Momon and Nabe, looking for quests and worked their way up from the bottom to the top for their heroism and the way they blew through quests.

It seems like the MMO aspects were completely alien in Fodlan, judging by the way everyone looked at them with fear.

When they found their way into the Inn, the same reaction was made by everyone inside.

There wasn’t anything noteworthy inside the inn, not the people or the decor.

He went to the counter and took a seat. There was a woman in knight’s armor next to him, but Ainz didn’t pay any mind to her. She was most likely a guard on break or something. The innkeeper turned around and jumped at the towering man in armor before her.

(Innkeeper) “M-May I help you?”

(Momon) “How much for the night?”

(Innkeeper) “Uh...100 gold.”

Ainz reached inside his belt and pulled out a small pouch. Looking inside, it was only 50 gold.

(Momon) “...I only have 50.”

(Innkeeper) “Then I’m sorry. We cannot allow you to stay.”

Nabe’s face scrunched up, insulted that her highness should even have to pay for a room. Already knowing how she is in this situation, Ainz raised his hand.

(Momon) “Then that’s fine. I’ll just take a drink. Ale’s fine.”

The innkeeper nodded and went to get the drink as requested.”

(Female Knight) “Psh, all that fancy armor and you can’t even get a room. Money well spent.”

The two turned to the woman who finished chugging down her mug.

(Momon “Hm?”

Upon closer inspection,the woman had messy blond hair, and the knight’s uniform seemed to be of higher craft.

It was then Ainz noticed her sword. It was some jagged and uneven yellow sword. His thoughts were interrupted from Narberal’s reply.

(Nabe) “Watch your tongue.”

(Momon) “Nabe-”

(Female Knight) “Ah, yeah no that’s my bad. Didn’t mean any offense!”

The knight turned towards Ainz and smiled.

(Female Knight) “Just saying that if you spent the money to get that bad boy made, I don’t blame ya one bit! Not to mention those swords too. Jeez, you aren’t compensating for anything, are ya?”

Ainz laughed.

(Momon) “I could ask you the same thing. That blade of yours isn’t just for show, is it?”

(Female Knight) “What, you mean Thunderbrand? Hah, I bet it could kick your butt in a fight!”

Nabe frowned and was clearly getting annoyed at her gloating.

Ainz was starting to take a bit of liking to this woman. It reminded him of a player who was bragging about their gear and how hard they worked for it, daring anyone to take them on in PVP.

Thankfully, he was in a situation where testing his abilities was necessary.

(Momon) “That’s a bet I’d be willing to take.”

(Female Knight) “You’re on! It’s been a while since I’ve fought someone who looks like they can back up their talk!”

The ale was brought to Ainz. He grabbed the mug and motioned it towards the female knight.

(Momon) “Name’s Momon.”

The female knight hit Momon’s cup with hers and nodded.

(Female Knight) “Momon, eh? That’s a strange name. I’m-”

The door burst open, a blue haired woman dressed in dark green running in.

(Blue Woman) “Catherine!”

(Catherine) “Bah, hang on. Shamir, what’s going on?”

Shamir walked up to Catherine and cut in front of Ainz and Narberal.

(Shamir) “We’ve located the enemy camp, but there’s far more than we expected.”

(Catherine) “Who’s going with us?”

(Shamir) “Us, Jeralt, Alois and a few recruits. The rest of the knights are still investigating the Death Knight.”

Catherine finished the rest of her drink in a single gulp and turned to Ainz.

(Catherine) “Shame, looks like our duel’s gonna have to wait!”

Right as she was about to get up, Ainz spoke up.

(Ainz) “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to accept some help?”

(Shamir) “You a merc?”

(Ainz) “Adventurer. We’re new to the country and my friend and I are here looking for work.”

(Catherine) “Huh. Talk about convenient.”

(Shamir) “Might not get paid, that alright with you?”

Momon got up and nodded.

(Momon) “Fine by me. Let’s get going.”

Wasting no time, the four of them headed out of the inn and towards the outskirts of town.

Later...

[Non-Player Character - Overlord]

As they walked down the road, Narberal continued to frown at Catherine and Shamir.

(Momon) sigh “Nabe, is this about-”

(Nabe) “Yes it is, Loooorrrr-...ahem, Momon.”

(Momon) “We’ve been over this. Do not hold it against people if they treat me the way they do.”

(Nabe) sigh “It’s something I can never fully be comfortable with-”

(Momon) “Nabe, I brought you with me because you’ve been with me the longest out in the field. I appreciate your concern but-”

Momon stopped talking when he noticed that Catherine was slowing down a bit to walk side by side with them.

(Catherine) “So, where do you two come from?”

(Momon) “Ah, we come from the Alliance.”

(Catherine) “Any house? Heard your lady friend call you a lord.”

Ainz internally sighed while Nabe’s face flinched.

(Momon) “That’s something we’d rather not discuss.”

(Catherine) “Ah, I understand that. Wouldn’t wanna deal with nobles all the time myself when I can just go where I please. That freedom is nice.”

(Momon) “So what exactly are we fighting?”

(Shamir) “Bandits. Some monsters and demonic beasts started attacking nearby villages, but we managed to put them down pretty easily. Now we just have to deal with the bandits raiding the survivors. They think nothing can stop them since the knights are busy with other tasks.”

(Momon) “And who do you all work for?”

(Catherine) “Lady Rhea and the Church of Seiros. Specifically, we’re the Knights of Seiros, a division of elite warriors meant to enforce her will.”

(Momon) “Has there been any other cases of monsters near the Monastery?”

(Catherine) “Well there’s...actually, now that I think about it, I don’t think so.

Ainz and Narberal took a mental note of that. The Church appears to be keeping quiet about the residents of Nazarick being in House Isekai, and they don’t appear to be suspicious of the fact that they were the ones who made the monsters appear.

But what was a demonic beast?

Before he could ask, they met up with the rest of the knights.

(Jeralt) “Finally you made it. The bandits are about to make their move.”

(Alois) “Now, let’s...Huh? Who’s this?”

(Catherine) “Momon and...Don’t think I ever caught your name, missy.”

(Nabe) “...I am Nabe.”

(Shamir) “We’ll see if he and his friend are useful or not.”

(Jeralt) “Name’s Jeralt. Captain of the Knights of Seiros.”

(Alois) “Alois, Jeralt’s second in command!”

Upon first glance, they all appeared to be seasoned veterans. Even though their tone was mostly casual and informal, the way they held themselves and their weapons showed that they knew what they were doing.

(Momon) “It is a pleasure to meet you all.”

Everyone turned to Narberal who didn’t say anything at first.

With a slight nudge, Narberal turned to them.

(Nabe) “Let’s get this over with.”

Ainz shook his head.

(Momon) “Come on, at least say hello.”

(Alois) “Hah, I see your daughter is a bit shy!”

Narberal’s calm face exploded into a panic.

“DAUGHTER?! THERE IS NO ONE THAT COULD BE LORD MOMON’S CHILD, AND EVEN IF HE WEDDED, I COULDN’T-”

“H-HEY! Watch what you’re saying!”

“...Ah...”

“...”

Alois burst out laughing while everyone else sighed.

(Alois) “Ah, so you aren’t related! Apologies, the way you two talked made me think otherwise!”

(Momon) “Pay it no mind, but please do not try to fluster her like that.”

Jeralt hit Alois in the back of the head.

(Alois) “AH!”

(Jeralt) “You haven’t even seen the man’s face, what made you think that they’re family to begin with?”

Well, it’s not like Alois was completely off the mark.

Ever since the rest of his guild members disappeared, Ainz did view all of Nazarick’s beings as his children. Narberal, the Pleiades, and even the Floor Guardians were his sons and daughters.

Highly dysfunctional and psychopathic sons and daughters, but that nevertheless.

(Catherine) “We’re almost right on top of their camp. We should get moving, already.”

(Jeralt) “Agreed. Let’s go.”

As the knights made their way, Naberal turned to Ainz.

Her face was still blushing, and it looked like as if she were ready to cry or punch something. Most likely both.

(Momon) sigh “Don’t worry about it, okay Nabe?”

(Nabe) “Y-Yes, Momon...”

----

[As Swift As Wind - Fire Emblem: Three Houses]

UNIT SELECTION:

Begin the battle?

>[Yes] No

Victory Conditions: Rout the enemy

Defeat Conditions: "Momon” or “Nabe” falls in battle.

----

[Psychological Warfare - Overlord]

The group hid behind several trees as they looked at the massive bandit camp. They had kidnapped a large amount of people, as well as their belongings.

(Momon) “Bandits...”

(Alois) “Those dastards think they can do what they want when we’re not around! We’ll show them!”

(Catherine) “I’m not going to stand by and let innocents get herded around like cattle!”

(Shamir) “Get your heads clear. We have to think of a plan, there’s far too many of them for us.”

Ainz and Narberal didn’t really care about the villagers, if they were to tell the truth.

Ainz only joined in because it’d be a good way to find out the strength of those around here.

Even though he wasn’t using any spells and his real power, he would at least see how dangerous bandits and soldiers of this world are.

Monsters like goblins or monsters in general did not seem commonplace in this world at all, which meant there was no good way to gauge how lethal everyone is, or what their levels and experience is. RPG elements seemed absent much to his dismay.

Even if these were bandits, which are normally low level mobs, he would pay dearly if he underestimated them.

That being said, there were no other plans he could think of to accurately assess how dangerous they all were, so there’s just one thing to do now.

Brute force his way in, just like Momon would.

(Momon) “...I have an idea.”

(Jeralt) “What’d that be?”

(Momon) “They’re expecting the Knights of Seiros. They aren’t expecting someone like Nabe and I. While I distract them, you can free the villagers.”

(Alois) “No offense, but I doubt you and your big swords there could cleave through all of them.”

(Momon) “Hah, I accept your challenge!”

Ainz motioned Nabe to follow and started to walk into sight.

(Catherine) “What are you doing?!”

(Momon) “Stick to the plan.”

(Bandit) “HEY, WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!”

The bandits attention focused on the two walking up towards the camp, alerting the rest of them and making them draw their weapons.

Ainz pulled out his twin greatswords as Nabe pulled out a broadsword.

(Momon) “Raiding towns as monsters are already attacking them? How low...”

(Bandit) “We’re doin ‘em a favor! Either live under us or die by the monsters and church! Now, I’m asking again real nice, WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!”

(Momon) “My name is Momon. And this is Nabe. You all would do well to remember these names.”

(Bandit) “Psh, what? You gonna “deliver justice” to us evildoers or some shit? And what’s with that getup! You’re trying a bit too hard don’t you think?”

Narberal gripped her sword tightly, wanting to kill all of them for insulting her lord.

Ainz’s head tilted to her to where only she could hear.

(Momon) “Steady your hand a bit longer. I promise you will be able to kill them to your heart’s content.”

Narberal nodded and tried to keep calm.

She then noticed that the group had finally managed to get around the bandits and cut them free.

(Nabe) “Momon-”

(Momon) “Focus on the bandits, not the villagers.”

(Bandit) “You better get out of here if you know what’s good for you...Then again, your armor looks REALLY expensive. And those swords ya got too...!”

The last of the villagers finally ran away with the recruits as their escorts.

Catherine nodded.

(Momon) “Hoho, you’re more than welcome to come and get it!”

(Bandit) “HAH, GET ‘EM BOYS!”

(Momon) “Nabe.”

[Clash - Overlord]

Nabe grinned for a moment before raising her finger to them.

“Lightning.”

A line of electricity shot out, piercing through three bandits’ chests and killing them instantly.

(Bandit) “What the hell?!”

(Bandit 2) “MAGE! TAKE HER DO-”

Three more bandits were cleaved in half as Ainz’s sword went flying through the air and stabbed the ground, shooting debris out from the impact.

One of the bandits who survived looked into the air and realized Ainz had flipped into the air, and tossed his other sword down.

When he landed, Ainz grabbed both of his swords and spun in a massive circle, cutting anyone down who was too close.

(Bandit) “FUCK! WHAT THE-”

An arrow went through his head, shot by Shamir who emerged from the trees.

Catherine and Alois charged in with their weapons cutting everyone in their way down.

Another group of bandits tried to make a run for it before being run over by Jeralt’s horse.

Narberal caught up with Ainz and cut another bandit down swiftly.

(Momon) So, looks like bandits are still weak as ever...

He turned his attention towards how Catherine and Alois were fighting. They were killing the bandits left and right, not even breaking a sweat.

Shamir’s deadly efficiency made sure every shot that was fired hit the bandit right between the eyes.

(Nabe) “MOMON!”

Ainz knew a bandit was coming from behind to slash at him. He would’ve already taken care of it, but he wanted to see just how strong these weapons were.

When the sword made contact, it bounced off and didn’t even leave a scratch.

Truth be told, he was more than a little disappointed.

The bandit slowly backed away as Ainz turned towards him.

(Momon) “Do you want to try again?”

(Bandit) “AAAH!”

Right as he turned around, he was impaled through the stomach from Narberal’s sword, which she violently kicked him off.

(Nabe) “Disgusting insect...”

Ainz then examined Narberal’s state, to see if she was struggling either.

In terms of level, Narberal was around level 60, and just meant to serve as a distraction in the tombs of Nazarick.

However there was just only a few patches of dirt and blood that got on her. She hadn’t even sustained an injury or broke a sweat.

(Momon) “Good grief, I suppose it was my mistake to expect more from bandits.”

(Nabe) “Your compassion for these humans are too great, Momon. They do not deserve it!”

(Momon) “Perhaps. Finish this up, Nabe.”

(Nabe) “Understood.”

Casting another lightning spell from her finger, she shot at a group that was heading towards Catherine and Alois, and fried them.

Their smoking bodies fell to the ground and finally there was silence.

(Catherine) “Alright, think we’re in the clear! That was some fancy moves, Momon!”

(Jeralt) “Gotta admit, you’re skilled.”

(Alois) “I’ve never seen anyone move like that! You’re incredible!”

(Shamir) “Hm. Not bad.”

Narberal smiled for the first time this entire trip.

(Nabe) “Of course he’s incredible.”

(Momon) “Now, now. Let’s not get too cocky. We should go find the villa-”

GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Everyone immediately turned and ran towards the source of the sound. When they finally got back on the roads, the villagers encountered a massive demonic beast.

(Jeralt) “Damn it, I thought we got rid of all of them!”

(Alois) “EVERYONE, GET BEHIND US!”

(Momon) Ah, there we go. Knew a quest would have SOME final boss if the mobs were too easy.

Getting into stance, the villagers all got behind the Knights as the beast slowly walked up.

It was some form of a giant wolf, with the fangs almost as large as a man.

Ainz and Narberal tried to buff themselves with passive skills but where shocked when nothing they said was activating it.

(Nabe) “M-My magic...!”

(Momon) “I see, so this world took our buffs away. Meaning-”

Although his face couldn’t smile anymore, he’d have the widest one at this very moment.

[NPC Battle - Overlord]

(Momon) “WE JUST GOT TO FIGHT IT THE OLD FASHIONED WAY!”

Ainz and Narberal charged first, followed by Catherine and Jeralt. Shamir and Alois stayed back to ensure that the civilians would be safe, letting Shamir fire off arrows.

The wolf swiped its paws at Ainz, barely blocking in time with his dual greatswords. The arrows seemed to bounce off the demonic beast when it made contact.

(Shamir) “Damn it!”

It pushed him back, almost making him lose balance with the force behind it.

Retaliating, Ainz swung his sword at the hide of the wolf, but it was reflected off.

Narberal casted another lightning attack and fired it head on.

The demonic beast was damaged, although not by much.

It tried swinging at Narberal next, but Catherine parried its claws in time, using Thunderbrand to cut parts of the claws off, making it roar in pain.

Wasting no time, Narberal quickly put distance between her and the beast.

Jeralt’s horse ran by and he threw a javelin into that arm, making it roar even louder.

The demonic beast spun around, using its tail to knock everyone back.

Ainz was caught in the attack and flew backwards. When he got up, he started laughing.

(Ainz) “I FORGOT WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO FEEL PAIN!”

While it wasn’t nearly as powerful as he was expecting the name “demonic-beast” to be, it still posed a bit of a threat if he was way too careless.

However, it’s been so long since anything had actually managed to hurt him. Even though his specialty wasn’t swordfighting, it got his adrenaline going once more.

It was a feeling a player finding an enemy in a video game that could actually pose as a fun boss battle.

Narberal had a mixed expression on her face. A half scowl and smile. She was happy he was enjoying himself, but at the same time it was her duty to protect him.

Ainz went into the fray once more, trading blows with the surprisingly agile demonic beast.

The two traded and dodged their attacks, seemingly being at equal skill.

Catherine and Jeralt got back up and saw Ainz single-handedly taking it on.

(Catherine) “Jeez, what is he?!”

(Jeralt) “I don’t believe it!”

Finally landing a score that struck home, one of Ainz’s greatswords got stuck into the uninjured arm of the demonic beast, making it howl out.

(Momon) “Catherine!”

Catherine managed to shake off her awe and swiped at the tail of the demonic beast, cutting it cleanly off.

Jeralt used his lance to stab the beast in the leg, making the lance come out the other side and ensuring it can’t move.

Shamir finally got into a good position in the trees and let an arrow loose, the arrow going into its eye.

Alois used his axe to lop off the lower jaw of the demonic beast when it was staggered, finally leaving Narberal an opening.

(Nabe) “Dragon lightning!”

An even brighter line of electricity shot out of her fingers, but it quickly transformed into the shape of a dragon as it charged straight into the demonic beast, making its entire body shake.

Once it stopped, Ainz hopped into the air and dug his swords straight into its neck.

Letting go and quickly grabbing the hilts with opposite hands, he pulled them back out in a way to decapitate the beast, and let its headless body flop onto the ground.

[Non-Player Character - Overlord]

With one final sigh, Ainz swung the blood off his blade and sheathed them on his back.

Narberal quietly sheathed her sword on her belt and stood alongside him.

(Alois) “Now THAT was even more amazing!”

(Catherine) “Show off.”

(Shamir) “Like you’re one to talk.”

(Jeralt) “That’s enough already. Let’s get these villagers home.”

Everyone nodded and made sure all the villagers were safely home. The recruits offered to protect them as they reported back to Garreg Mach until an actual guard detachment came.

When they finally arrived back in Garreg Mach’s town, Catherine turned to the two adventurers.

(Catherine) “You’re not busy tonight, are you?”

(Momon) “I do not believe we are.”

(Catherine) “Then, how would you like to work with us? Bet you all would help out the Knights of Seiros greatly.”

(Shamir) “Hah. That’s high praise coming from her.”

(Momon) “It depends. May I speak to the leader...who is that by the way?”

(Alois) “Wow, you must really be out of the loop! The leader of the Church of Seiros is Archbishop Rhea. I’m sure she isn’t busy at the moment!”

(Momon) “Then let’s go find her. We’ll make our decision from there.”

Catherine and Alois went to speak with Rhea in private. After a few silent moments, a knight opened the door to the Hearing Chamber.

(Knight) “Her lordship wishes to see you now.”

[Gazing At Sirius - Fire Emblem: Three Houses]

Ainz nodded, and both he and Narberal went inside and found her standing in the middle.

He had seen her a couple times when every single person had their weapon pointed at them, but it didn’t seem that they knew who they were.

Knowing that she basically ruled all over Fodlan, Ainz did what his followers normally did upon seeing him.

Ainz got on knee, with his arm over it and other arm over his chest.

Narberal had a face as if someone had insulted her creator AND Ainz at the same time, but quickly did the same. It bothered her to no end, but she was going to have to suck it up.

(Rhea) “There is no need for such actions. Please, rise.”

Doing so, she smiled.

(Rhea) “I heard that you decided to help out the Knights of Seiros, even without the promise of pay?”

(Momon) “I may be an adventurer, but I would never turn away from those in need.”

(Rhea) “Such a kind heart you have, mister Momon. You have my respect and admiration. However, I cannot permit you into the Knights of Seiros with just this action alone.”

(Momon) “...I understand, my lady.”

(Rhea) “That being said, with your combat prowess impressing two of my highest in command, Catherine and Alois, I will permit this, if you choose to accept. You will fight alongside the Knights of Seiros asa mercenary. But with enough time, you may enlist in the ranks of the Knights.”

(Momon) “I accept this with the highest honor, my lady.”

(Rhea) “And what about you?”

Narberal was about ready to spit in Rhea’s face, the idea of pledging allegiance to someone else other than Ainz repulsed her to no end. But knowing the reprimand and cataclysmic setback that insult would have, she nodded.

(Nabe) “I accept this with the highest honor...my lady.”

(Rhea) “You have my gratitude. Please, rest within the Monastery. We have quarters waiting for you. Your assignments will begin soon.”

Bowing, they both left towards their quarters.

Their beds were set across from each other, but they had no real need of that. They could use the teleportation rings to go back to House Isekai’s dorms.

But for the time being, they would stay here and learn firsthand how the Knights of Seiros acts.

He was satisfied that they managed to infiltrate a bit more subtly into the Church of Seiros. It was a lot better than attempting to be a student. Done that once, no need to do that again.

Ainz felt like he didn’t need to worry about the Floor Guardian’s relations with the classmates of House Isekai as much due to prior experience with Kazuma and his group.

That being said he was quite curious about the others. Class VII, the Phantom Thieves, the Doom Slayer, all of it was quite perplexing.

Just what kind of mess was he getting into this time?

However, he decided to not jump down that rabbit hole tonight.

There was more pressing matters to attend to.

That being Narberal.

(Momon) “Naberal Gamma.”

Hearing his voice say her name in that angry of a tone sent shivers throughout her entire body.

And it was also the fact he used her real name.

(Narberal) “U-Uh...-”

[First Wife War - Overlord]

BAP!

(Narberal) “L-Lord Ainz?!”

(Ainz) “What was THAT back there with Rhea?”

(Narberal) “I-I’m afraid I don’t understand?”

(Ainz) “Narberal Gamma, you are aware of the face you made when I knelt, correct?”

---

(Ainz) “We are extremely lucky that Rhea did not mention that! Or that anyone else was in the room!”

(Narberal) “I-I apologize with all my being, Lord Ainz!”

She immediately got on her knees and was about to shout even more, but Ainz stopped her.

(Ainz) “Enough. I know you’d be willing to slit your own neck to apologize.”

(Narberal) “...Do you wa-”

(Ainz) “No, I do NOT want you to do that!” sigh

Ainz facepalmed, and then attempted to rub his temple, A. forgetting that he doesn’t have one anymore, and B. he was wearing a helmet.

(Ainz) “Refrain from making that face. Remember, we are BLENDING in.”

(Narberal) “I...I understand.”

(Ainz) “We should be safe in the Monastery. Wash yourself up and relax for a little bit before returning here. I need to make a call to Albedo.”

(Narberal) “Yes, Lord Ainz...”

Ainz could tell Nazarick’s stay in Fodlan was going to be a very long one...

[Crazy Scary Holy Fantasy - Overlord]

Crazy Scary Holy Fantasy Akumu no arisama Do what, do what, do what you want to! Akui no souzou shitai

#fire emblem three houses imagines #fire emblem three houses headcanons #fe3h imagines #Overlord #Overlord AU #church of seiros #knights of seiros #ainz ooal gown #narberal gamma #jeralt reus eisner #Archbishop Rhea #alois rangeld #Catherine Fe #cassandra charon #shamir nevrant

28 notes · View notes

thekingmickey · 4 years

Note

gotta do everything myself around here smh (lol). "open up" Mickey >:P

@eclipseyeger

Mickey's ears shot straight up along with the fur across his back. He hasn't even thought of his broth... his friend in many many years. Not because of any hostility or ill feelings... but because... well...

"Oswald... was my imaginary friend," He began to speak slowly, "At least- that's how I knew him." He motioned the inquiring person to follow towards a park bench. Then he folded his arms, closed his eyes, and continued.

"Gosh... I couldn't have been older than five or six maybe. Somethin' like that... whelp... my fath- the king had this idea. I'll never understand it- He figured that there wouldn't be an heir to his throne. He wanted his kids to marry into two different kingdoms, ya see, and for some... some reason he thought to separate us. So that if one kingdom fought against another... there wouldn't be any hesitation to overtake the throne. If- if one of us had- had to execute the other-"

He gritted his teeth as the memories started to flood back. Not long after Mickey became King he went back to his father’s old study. Growing up, he was never supposed to enter that room... and after the man died it was difficult to. The only way he was justifying it was because he wanted to find some family heirlooms he wanted to take with him back to Minnie's world... instead he found his father's old diary- and they were filled with the most vile things a father could ever write about his family’s future.

Things like... how he wanted to use his sons to overthrow all of the surrounding kingdoms by force. The details of this plan that was already set in motion during most of his childhood made Mickey sick to his stomach. Not only did it confirm the young King’s fears that his father had been taken by the darkness for most of his life... but it raised questions about other aspects of his life. Questions Mickey never dared to ask... like did his mother really leave them?

He suddenly took a deep breath, realizing he was lost in thought. Of course, he couldn’t help but zone into this quiet spiral whenever this topic got brought up. It would probably help if he searched for the truth.... it would probably help with his own troubles accepting darkness as a positive force... but... he couldn’t. It was bad enough that he learned about his brother... in the worst way imaginable.

"His idea..." He mumbled slowly, "it never came to be. I'm glad it didn't. But... well, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm not one for stories like this, ya see. A-Anyway... Oswald was probably eight years old when we were separated. I was too young so when he suddenly disappeared, I guess I thought of him as an imaginary friend. I even thought he had some sort of cool power where he could transform himself into anything' he wanted. Like he could take off his tail and turn it into a pirate's hat- can you imagine?"

He chuckled at that thought, "Heh- I used to imagine he was able to do all sorts of things. He was always the coolest, smartest, most ornery fella a five year old could imagine. I used to get in so much trouble and tell the nanny that 'Ozzie made me do it.' She musta thought I was nuts."

He lingered onto those memories. The good ones. Where he and his imaginary friend would play in the garden when he should have been studying. Or sneaking into his father’s war room so that he could watch his dad be the strong hero he wanted to be when he grew up.

But he knew that if he went through those memories, it would only make the next part of the story more difficult to tell. He wasn’t sure why he was telling this story to begin with. Maybe it was nice to have someone ask about his “imaginary friend” ... maybe he didn’t want to have his life go by without somebody else knowing the truth... but for whatever reason that was kept locked deep in the king’s chest, he continued.

“I didn’t meet him again until many many years later... not that I knew it at the time... it was shortly after my banishment. Th- that’s a whole ‘nother story altogether, so I’ll keep it short for now... let’s just say I grew wise to the old king’s ways. How his policies were harmin’ the people... and I confronted him about it... next thing I knew... I was thrown out. I was no longer considered part of the royal family and... it was no longer safe for me to stay in his kingdom. So I ran. Ran as far as I could... until I found a kingdom that accepted me. Well- they didn’t know who I was... and I didn’t want to risk it. But somehow I managed by meetin’ these two fellas who let me stay with ‘em. They later on became two of my closest pals... Goofy and Donald. They was trainin’ to be musketeers for this kingdom’s princess. And next thing I knew- I had a job workin’ with ‘im. That’s where I met...”

His breath hitched, knowing what was coming.

“...That’s where I met a fella named Theo. A fellow recruit that was also aimin’ to be a musketeer. He always wore this scarf- it was red and tattered. Not regulation... but he always fought tooth and nail to keep the thing on at all times. That’s how I noticed him at first. I noticed how he did whatever he wanted without any worries or care. I was envious of that...”

“He was leagues above me and the other newbies, but he took us in his care immediately. He always stepped in to make sure that we were doin’ well with our training... he always dropped by every morning to have a cup of coffee before drills began... and whenever I slipped up and made mistakes that would have fired any other recruit... he always stood up for me.”

A lump formed in his throat as it became more difficult to speak. He didn’t want to cry... not now. Not after how far he has come since those days. It somehow felt like he was disrespecting the memories that way... and he was not about to do that now.

“Well... there came a time when I wanted... to tell him the truth about my past. That I felt like I was abandoning the people I was supposedly born to protect. I wanted to return home. And I wanted to- to make things right. In any way necessary...”

He grew silent. It didn’t seem like it was needed to spell out what he was intending to do at the time. His father was gutting the kingdom of its people and... here the prince was- galavanting around with friends and flirtin’ with princesses. And while he was happy to be surrounded by friends that loved him... he knew it wasn’t right for him to live a carefree life when his people were suffering. And there was only one way that Mickey could think of to save his kingdom...

“Theo was with me all the way- you can imagine that shocked me. All things considered, even speaking to him about this plan I had could have cost me my job. It could have started an all out war between the two kingdoms. It was a stupid- stupid idea-”

It was then when the mouse couldn’t hold back his tears anymore. His next words were soft... almost monotone. Almost as if he was still trying to distance himself from the events that played back all too clearly in his head.

“And he came with me anyway. I- I’ve should have seen it then... but somehow I just... didn’t put two and two together. We... it had to have been a weekend. We rode our horses until we reached the outskirts of the kingdom. The plan was that we’d meet up with the towns folk and stay there until we had enough manpower to storm the castle. It was supposed ta be an easy plan... while Theo lead the people through the gates and distracted the royal army... I was to sneak into my father’s room.”

“But- somethin’ went wrong. It was foolish I suppose... Gosh, I- I honestly believed that the townsfolk would all be supportive of my return. It’s so silly now, but back then... it never crossed my mind that someone would warn the king in advance of my plans. And by the time I found out that we were betrayed... I was running away from some guards. Past the courtyard... and out of the corner of my eye I... I saw Theo.”

The King paused to catch his breath. His hands were shaking as the image flashed so vividly- the old oak tree... the spear... and the perpetually frozen look of absolute terror upon Theo’s face. It was something he would never forget. No matter how many times he repressed it. No matter how many times he tried to bring back memories of his dear friend’s smile... it always morphed into that same disfigured look of a life taken far too soon.

“I tried to go to him- I- He was my friend... he wasn’t supposed to... He had to come with me- That was our plan. H- He had a girl back home. I couldn’t just...”

The mouse felt the words escaping his lips faster than he could think them. He gripped his tail- trying to ground himself... why on earth was he compelled to recall this? Hadn’t he suffered enough after nearly losing Aqua and Ansem? Why was he forcing himself to relive this? These questions pounded against his skull, but as the image of his fallen friend became move vivid- all the mouse could do was go on.

“I... fought through the guards and rushed to his side. They tried to pull me away but I somehow grabbed something from his hand and through some sort of miracle I got away... but I ran without him. There was nothing I could have done... Somehow, by some sort of luck I was able to escape the city. I... still don’t know how many of the townsfolk survived... but all I knew was that... I... ”

He grew suddenly quiet, as if all of the energy was drained out of him. It was too much. It was absolutely too much to continue this story. He knew he was cutting things off short. He knew that the inquisitor wouldn’t be happy without knowing how he eventually got back to the throne- but he didn’t care. It was too much.

But he knew he couldn’t just end it there... he had to do something that showed this person how he found out. How he found out that Theo... had a lot of reasons to look out for him.

So, without a word, he reached deep into his pocket and pulled out a small locket. It didn’t take much for the inquisitor to realize that this was the same object taken from Theo that day. Mickey handed it to them and silently pointed at a small latch that kept the locket shut.

And when the latch was pressed...

One could see a small inscription that read, “Michael Elias and Me”

And behind a small slate of dusty glass, the inquisitor could make out a faded picture of two children. The younger one was a small mouse... and the older one... was a rabbit wearing a red scarf.

#king mickey #mickey mouse #oswald #oswald the lucky rabbit #kingdom hearts #kh #kingdom hearts 3 #disney #kingdom hearts 2 #kingdom hearts drabble

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samsonet · 4 years

Text

don't need a rainbow here (my world is black and white)

Piers shouldn't be with these Rainbow Rocket weirdos.

There has been a terrible mistake.

One minute, Piers was celebrating his sister’s victory at the champion cup, and the next, he’s... He doesn’t know. There was a light, and he was falling, and —

and then he ended up here.

He sits up, rubbing his eyes. He doesn’t seem to be restrained, which is good. He’s not in a hospital, either, which is… probably good? Or it would be, if he had any idea what this place actually was.

It’s dark. There are red lights from the floor, the walls. It’s eerily quiet. Piers is reminded of one of the most boring clubs he’s ever been to — but at least this place smells alright. Small mercies.

“You’re awake.”

Oh, no.

Piers whips toward the voice, one hand going automatically to his belt for Obstagoon’s pokeball — but it’s not there. Of course. They must’ve taken his team while he was unconscious.

Well, if these bastards think he’ll be helpless without his Pokémon, they’re wrong. Piers may be scrawny and sick-looking, but he’s a dark-type specialist. He knows how to fight without brute force.

During this time, the other person in the room does not move to restrain him. In fact, all he does is give a quiet laugh.

Piers examines him. The other man is short, but he has an aura that fills the room. He’s wearing a suit with an R on the chest. He doesn’t seem like a corporate type — and Piers has seen more than his fair share of those — but rather like… a gang boss or something.

“Sorry if you were expecting a ransom,” Piers coughs out. “The league doesn’t care about the Spikemuth gym leader. They’ll tell you to keep me.”

But he’s not just the Spikemuth gym leader anymore, is he? He’s the champion’s brother. He knows Marnie would give anything to get him back safely.

“I must apologize. It seems we’ve started with a misunderstanding. You may call me Giovanni. And your name is…?”

Giovanni speaks with an accent similar to Kabu’s. Is he from one of the eastern regions? Stranger and stranger.

“...Piers.”

“Mr. Piers. I represent a coalition of certain people with… dark hearts, shall we say. We are working together for the time being. I believe you will fit in well with us.”

Piers blinks. What, is this an invitation to some interregional society of dark-type specialists? Which… would make a disturbing amount of sense with the kidnapping and all, but damn, what a stereotype.

“Yeah, mate, thanks but no thanks,” he says, standing up. “I don’t know how much ya heard from the news, but I can’t drop everything to join yer club. Nothing personal.”

Giovanni chuckles. “Come with me.”

Piers goes, partly because he’s curious, partly because it’s not like he can do anything else. He follows the man down a dark hallway, then through what seems to be a lobby, and then outside.

Outside is too hot. The sun is too bright. And the land… is not land.

It’s ocean, as far as the eye can see. In the distance, a flock of Wingull circle an island. Piers rubs his eyes, not quite believing what he’s seeing.

“As you may have noticed,” Giovanni says, “we are not in Galar at the moment.”

From there, Piers is more willing to listen. Giovanni gives him a tour, speaking vaguely about life in Kanto and the group’s current situation in Alola.

At the end, Piers is introduced to one young woman as something like his personal assistant.

“She speaks Galarian,” Giovanni explains. “Most of the other grunts don’t, so if you need something, come to her.”

She refuses to give him her name, making excuses about how the grunts weren’t supposed to use them, but she does allow him to call her J.

J’s alright. She reminds him of his gym trainers, in her earnestness and weirdness. She only comes when he calls for her. Otherwise, Piers is left to do as he pleases.

Right now he’s fine just staying in his room, occasionally going out to raid their kitchen or get fresh air.

At least his Pokemon are alright. Giovanni gives them back a few hours after showing Piers the ocean. Most of his team seems to notice no difference between this place and Spikemuth, but Obstagoon does. It’s simply not meant for such a warm climate.

Piers brings this up to J, and she agrees to set his room’s temperature to something more normal for Galar.

He trains. He sleeps. He keeps up his vocal exercises. It’s fine.

What Piers learns, over the course of a week, is this:

The multiverse exists, and he has traveled through it. Somehow, and nobody will explain how, Giovanni summoned Piers from the own world and has trapped him in this one.

In this world, Leon is still the champion. The date is a few years before Piers sent Marnie on her gym challenge, so it seems he has time traveled as well.

He’s not the only guest here, either. Around the building, there are others — but not dark-type specialists.

No, these people are gang leaders.

Piers sees them in passing, recognizing them and quickly making his escapes. There’s Ghetsis, the Unovan cult leader who attacked the league and came this close to destroying their government. There’s Archie and Maxie, the eco-terrorists who didn’t seem to understand that the earth needed both land and water. There’s Cyrus, who… Piers can’t even start with him.

Of course, just because these men were all would-be villains in his world, it didn’t mean they were the same in their home universes.

He asks J what their stories are.

“Oh. Uh, Maxie’s a real passionate sorta guy, even though he doesn’t look like it. He tried to summon this Pokémon in Hoenn, I don’t remember the name of it, wanted to use it to shrink the oceans, make more land.”

The rest of her stories pretty much follow what Piers read in the news, but for one key detail: back in their home universes, all the men had succeeded.

“You mean that guy Archie drowned the world? Nobody stopped him?”

“I’m sure Team Aqua survived?” J offers.

Piers stares in open-mouthed amazement. When he finds his words again, he asks, “And your boss doesn’t mind having these people here?”

“No? He likes them, I think? They all fit the same pattern, you know. Guy with vision leads a band of outlaws to fulfill his goal… and the second they do, Rainbow Rocket picks ‘em up and brings ‘em here. Isn’t that what happened with you?”

“What happened to me? I’m not like them—” But as soon as he says it, he has to reconsider. The description she’s given is so vague, it could very well apply to him. If wanting his sister to be champion counted as a vision, then he did, technically, have a vision. Team Yell was, technically, a band of outlaws.

He purses his lips, not liking the conclusion he’s drawn.

J says, hesitantly, “I don’t know what you did back home. Whatever it was, I won’t judge ya. After all, you gotta be here for a reason, right?”

Piers thinks about that as he steps into the kitchen at 11:30 that night. He can’t begin to guess why he would be in this world, but he at least knows what his goal is at the moment.

It’s stereotypically Galarian of him, he knows, crawling out of bed for a spot of tea. That’s fine; it’s not like there’s anyone around to see him.

Then the door opens.

“...Piers?”

Even with one word, there is no mistaking the voice.

Chairman Rose stands in the doorway, frozen as though in shock. He’s wearing one of those grey suits he likes so much, though the shirt is wrinkled and the tie missing. He’d probably fallen asleep at his desk.

He doesn’t look like he fits here, in a group of dangerous men. Piers has to admit that he himself matches the aesthetic of the place; Rose does not.

Rose says, “What did you do?”

Piers says, “Why don’t I make us tea an’ we can talk about it.”

The chairman seems to agree to that, even getting out the teacups while Piers boils the water. This never would have happened in his home world, and yet it’s the most familiar interaction he’s had since he arrived.

When they’re sitting at the kitchen table with their tea, Piers begins: “In my world, I’m the leader of a group called Team Yell. My sister Marnie is the champion.”

“Oh?”

“We didn’t cheat.” He’s defensive, he knows, but it’s not like he and Rose had a trusting relationship before all of this. “She won fair and square, on her own talents.”

“I wasn’t saying otherwise.”

“An’ what about you, then? What did you do that got you thrown here — besides being a billionaire, I mean.”

In Piers’ world, using that tone of voice on that word would make the chairman bristle. Here, Rose looks more mournful than offended.

“Who did your Marnie fight for the championship title?”

“Leon…? Why, is somebody else champion in your world?”

“His brother Hop is champion now, but he battled Leon for the title. Or... he would have. I was impatient. I moved too quickly.”

Rose shifts in his seat, pulling out a pokeball. No, not just any ball — a master ball. The Pokémon inside looks like none Piers has ever seen: almost wormlike, spiny, glowing with a dim red light.

“You asked what I did to deserve being here,” Rose murmurs. “I’ll tell you. I forced Leon to fight a Pokémon more powerful than anything Galar had ever seen. He died bringing it to me.”

...Arceus.

It takes Piers only a moment to process this information and then decide he doesn’t want to hear any more of it.

Rose looks like he’s about to start on one of his rambling speeches, so Piers quickly holds up a hand. “I don’t want to hear it. Let’s talk about somethin’ else.”

“Something else, as in…”

“Your first battle. Your latest charity project. Whatever.”

To his credit, Rose is skilled at conversation. He easily transitions to discussions of his university days, the music theory class he’d taken as an elective. It surprises Piers how much he knows… and yet he can’t say that the discussion isn’t interesting.

It’s the first time Piers has spoken to the league chairman without worrying about Spikemuth. It will not be the last.

Archie speaks just enough Galarian to make Piers feel like an idiot.

It’s not like he’s never thought about human influence on the environment — he lives in a smoke-filled city, after all — but to hear Archie talk of pollution and the Pokémon affected by it, Piers has to admit that awakening an ancient Pokémon isn’t the worst solution out there.

Archie doesn’t seem to know that Maxie is alive and well and in the castle. Piers doesn’t tell him.

One day J brings him a composition book and a small electric keyboard.

“Since you write music,” she says sheepishly. “Sorry I couldn’t get you a guitar or something. I went with the next best thing.”

She leaves him alone, and he writes down some lyrics for a new song.

It’s about a fictional lost romance, but the imagery is all about being trapped in paradise, about missing the gloom of his hometown.

Galar is going to love it. If he ever gets back, anyway.

He’d asked about his present universe counterpart once and received a tablet that was somehow connected to the internet. His other self is doing well, both as a gym leader and a musician. Piers thinks about reaching out, but in the end decides not to. He wouldn’t believe this story if someone tried telling it to him; his counterpart is likely no different.

Days pass.

Maxie speaks just enough Galarian to make Piers feel like an idiot.

It’s not like he’s never thought about land as a resource — Galar is technically an island, after all — but to hear Maxie speak of erosion and human life, Piers has to admit that the idea of awakening an ancient Pokémon could be reasonable.

Maxie doesn’t seem to know that Archie is here, too. Piers doesn’t tell him.

He runs into Cyrus one morning at breakfast.

Cyrus asks, “Are you the one I hear singing in Galarian?”

He looks dead inside as always, which, Piers thinks, is a mood.

“Tha’s me, yeah. M’ name’s Piers.”

“Your music is very… spirited,” Cyrus says.

“Thanks?”

“I would prefer not to hear it.”

“Ah.”

Piers spends a lot of time talking to Rose. It’s not what he would have expected or wanted, but Rose is the only other Galarian around.

Still, he’s isn’t bad company when the league isn’t involved. He’s fond of art and architecture and all those stereotypical rich people things, but he’s also well-versed in popular culture.

(“I didn’t take you for an Avengers fan.”

“Admittedly it was not something I sought out for myself. My son Bede—”

“Wait, you adopted Bede?”

“Of course. Didn’t my counterpart do the same?”)

That’s why, when his throat aches from practice and there’s nothing else to do, Piers goes looking for him.

Rose is in one of the conference rooms. He’s usually there; he’s said before that it’s comfortably familiar to him. It’s the man he’s talking to who grabs Piers’ attention, though.

Rose says, “Piers, allow me to introduce you to Lysandre. He is a friend in my world, and his counterpart is just as elegant and driven.”

Lysandre looks down at him, magnanimous and regal. It should make sense that he and Rose know each other. They’re rich philanthropists, captains of industry; even with their different regions, it makes sense they would know each other.

And yet.

Rose, for all his billionaire capitalist near-dystopian command of the region, did not come from money. At one point he was poor. At one point he worked in the mines, dirty work.

Lysandre is an aristocrat. Lysandre is one of those smarmy bastards who believes that a person’s value depends entirely on whether they’re productive. People like him say that Spikemuth is poor because they don’t try hard enough.

When Team Flare began their attempt at apocalypse, the power spots went wild. Piers spent the day helping in Hammerlocke and trying not to worry about little Marnie all alone in their flat.

It was only later that Piers learned something like the full story, from Galarian translations of Professor Sycamore’s explanations.

He didn’t like what he read.

“I’ve heard of you,” Piers says. “Yer the one who wanted to kill all the Pokemon, right?”

Rose frowns. “I assure you, no one loves Pokemon like Lysandre—”

“It had to be done,” Lysandre says.

His voice is deeper than Piers’ or Rose’s, and his words hang heavily in the air.

“Lysandre… what…”

“My apologies, Elijah. Where there is a scarce resource, there will be conflict. With conflict comes suffering. Pokemon are destined to be used by humans; the only way to prevent it was to remove them.” He sighs a world-weary sigh, then looks to Piers. “I cannot confirm if I was successful in my world, but that was my intention.”

Rose pales. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to — I must —”

He doesn’t finish the sentence. In a moment he’s rushing out the door, unsteady on his feet. Piers follows him. He finds him leaning against the wall, clutching his chest and sweating.

“Are you okay?” Shit, he’s not having a heart attack, is he?

“I'm fine. Physically,” Rose says. “It’s just — my Lysandre wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t talk like that.”

“Mhm.”

“I hate this place,” Rose says. “I hate everyone in it — except you.”

“Mhm.”

Piers walks down the hall to find his path blocked by that man in the snuggie.

“Mr. Piers, was it?” Ghetsis asks. “A pleasure to meet you. My name is—”

“I know who you are. Not interested.”

“Come now, what harm could I possibly do to you here? You lose nothing by listening for a few minutes.”

“If you’re going to give me that ‘humans and Pokemon should be separated’ bull, save your breath. Galar watched your stunt at the league. We know you don’t even believe it yourself.”

He tries to force his way past, but Ghetsis remains firm. He’s like Lysandre, much taller than any normal person has any right to be. He stands unmoving, but the smile on his face grows bigger and more unnerving by the second.

(Piers misses Raihan.)

“Of course not,” Ghetsis says. “I wouldn’t insult your intelligence like that. After all, a dark-type specialist like yourself is no doubt familiar with strategy. Especially in your league.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ghetsis chuckles. “You say you’ve seen my ‘stunt,’ as it were. I’ve seen yours, too. The league lets your town rot on purpose, and the only salvation they offer is for you to leave it? I know I would be angry, were I in your position.”

Deep breaths. He’s a manipulator; don’t let him get to you.

“And your champion — I’ve never seen someone so undeserving of what they were given—”

It’s only after Piers throws the punch that he realizes Ghetsis probably meant Leon and not Marnie.

Well, it’s no problem either way; Piers’ fist hits him square in the nose, making a satisfying sound as it connects. It seems Ghetsis is frailer than he looks. He stumbles back with a groan, giving Piers the chance to walk past him.

“Don’t talk to me again,” he calls over his shoulder.

Ghetsis only glares.

One day Piers opens a door to find a gigantic black Jellicent-woman hybrid on the other side.

“Ah,” J says when he stops screaming long enough to tell her what happened. “I see you’ve met the Motherbeast.”

He doesn’t dare ask what the story behind that is.

It says something that the emergency lights here are blue.

J rushes to him, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him down the hall.

“What’s happening?”

“We’re moving from our shielded position to a VLFS. The structure is currently occupied, so it’s not as smooth as we’d like. But don’t worry about it, Giovanni has a plan.”

A plan. Isn’t that reassuring.

There are grunts running everywhere. Piers catches glimpses of people in white and gold — the current occupants? They’re fighting against the Rockets.

Piers should help them. He’s a gym leader, and gym leaders are supposed to help people, right? Innocent bystanders vs invading criminals. It should be an easy choice. Piers should turn around — right — now — and…

...and he doesn’t.

He goes back to his room like a child, pretending he doesn’t see what’s going on around him. Let this region’s champion handle it, if there is one.

By the end of the hour, the lights are back to red.

Rainbow Rocket’s occupation of Aether Paradise lasts for an hour before someone comes tearing through the grunts.

Piers considers going out to meet them, but he holds back. He doesn’t feel like getting into a fight.

Still, his curiosity grows. A few minutes in and he’s walking out.

In the main room, a man holds two grunts at arms’ length. He’s tall, somewhere between Ghetsis and Lysandre in height. He’s wearing a baggy hoodie with a skull design on the back. He’s not a suited corporate type at all.

Piers decides he likes him.

“‘Ey, you two.” He pokes both of the grunts on their backs, nudging them away. “I’ll take care of this guy, a’right? Now scram.”

The grunts obey.

The man doesn’t seem grateful, but that’s reasonable: he didn’t look like he needed rescuing, really. He circles Piers, cracking his knuckles.

“So you’re with these guys, are you? Where’d ya put the prez?”

“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.” He holds up a hand, trying to ward off a potential fistfight. “‘M here ‘cause I train dark types an’ someone thought that makes a bad guy. M’ name’s Piers.”

The man puts his hands in his pockets, circling Piers. There’s something dark in his eyes; Piers sees it in the mirror every day.

At last the man says, “I’m Guzma, the boss of Team Skull. I like your shoes.”

His shoes, with the skulls on the heels. Punk recognizes punk.

Piers wonders if they’ve met before. He could have sworn, sometime during his stay here, that he’s heard the name.

Maybe Guzma’s counterpart is running around the castle somewhere.

“Who’s the prez you mentioned?”

“The prez. You know, the lady who owns this place? Lusamine. Tall white lady, hair like a cocoon down to her ankles?”

The Motherbeast. Or her counterpart, more likely.

“Haven’t seen her, sorry.”

“Hmph.” Guzma stomps to the wall and slumps against it. “Well, at least our champion’s here. She’ll beat you all down before long.”

Their champion. Piers pictures a muscular woman in her mid-twenties, a white cape flowing behind her.

“There she is! Hey, Moon! You find that Giovanni yet?”

In rushes a girl — no, two girls — both younger than Marnie. The dark-haired one looks up at Guzma and shakes her head.

“There’s one more room, Mr. Guzma,” her blonde partner says.

“Then go for it. Me an’ Piers here’ll make sure nobody goes after ya.”

The girls rush off. Guzma follows them with his eyes, and when they’re out of sight, he slumps back again.

“They’re good kids, Moon and Lillie. Didn’t have the best home lives, but they’re still holdin’ on… you gotta admire that, right?”

Giovanni calls the whole thing off. Apparently the others in this Rainbow Rocket gang got sent back to their universes by this scientist working for Aether. That simultaneously encourages Piers and pisses him off, because if this was possible all this time, someone should’ve offered him a ride home.

Better late than never, he supposes.

Colress has him and Rose in the same room, “because your universes have a similar frequency, so I can send you both home at once.”

Rose nods. “So, Piers, it seems this is where we say goodbye.”

“Yeah.” A chuckle. “Can’t say I’m looking forward to fighting with you about power spots and stadiums again.”

A wry smile. “Well… I’d give a farewell speech, but I believe you wouldn’t care for it. So let me say this instead: I am thankful to have had you here.”

“You, too.”

“And if I may ask you a favor…” Rose takes Piers by the shoulder, pulling him close. He whispers in his ear: “If your Rose is anything like me, he does genuinely care for Leon. Tell him to act like it, while he has the chance.”

Piers’ face feels warm. His chest tightens, and he feels dizzy… and then he falls.

He falls, and he lands on his face, and Arceus is that Marnie’s voice.

“Where were you?” Her voice has that pitch she gets when she’s about to cry, and Piers hurries to hug her. They’re sitting in… Wyndon Stadium? There’s Marnie’s Liepard, and on the other side of the pitch, a kid in a challenger uniform and their Kommo-o.

“How long was I gone?”

“Six. Freaking. Months. I went looking for you! But nobody had any idea where you could’ve gone… Where were you?”

He pats her back. “I… got lost. It’s a long story. ‘M sorry for leaving you, Mar. I promise I’ll never do that to ya again.”

When Champion Moon visits Galar for the World Tournament, she is introduced to their gym leaders.

She gives Piers a thoughtful look, but never says why.

#piers pokemon #rainbow rocket #DNARHMWIBAW

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ends-of-the-wayward-storm · 4 years

Text

The Big Four--Through Moonlight--Book 1

Chapter 12--From the Air to Beneath the Ground

_______

Summary

Why something decided to bring so many different people together from so many different places was beyond them. But it had to be for good reason. And that reason just happens to be an elusive enemy who is searching for a powerful artifact, one with an unfathomable amount of knowledge.

There was definitely one thing in question, however—was this enemy the real deal, or something else?

(AO3 version) (First chapter)

[This chapter is also a bit longer than usual, but the next chapter’s just about my usual length.]

_______

Everything abruptly became darker, greener, and much more humid around Rapunzel. Screeching filled her ears as several people she didn’t know ran around and . . . looked to be fighting giant vultures made of tree bark.

“Rapunzel!” Eugene who was quickly followed by Cassandra hurried after her. “What in the name of—”

“Duck!” Cassandra yanked Rapunzel and Eugene down as a tree vulture failed to nab them. A much larger one locked onto them, and its hiss earned the attention of the trio.

“That is just about the biggest bird I have ever seen!”

Those voices. . . . Régine looked to where the outburst had come from and saw three very familiar people. “Rapunzel?!”

The blonde started. “Wait. Was that—?” Rapunzel quickly skimmed the area and found a black-haired princess rushing toward them. “Régine?!”

“What?!” Varian shouted just as Régine stole the big vulture’s attention. He looked to where she was and managed to spot one of his friends. “Rapunzel!”

“Varian?!” the newcomers said in disbelief.

“How did you even get here?! Wherever here is!” Eugene said.

“We’ll explain later!” Varian said. “Wait, where’s the jar?!”

Jar? Wait a minute. “I got it!” Rapunzel announced.

“Whatever you do, don’t lose it!” Hiccup said. A cry brought the Coronans’ attention to Régine slamming into a wall and falling limp onto the ground.

“Régine!” Charles and Chane shouted.

“Cass, get to Régine! Eugene and I’ll draw the vulture’s attention,” Rapunzel said.

“On it,” Cassandra said.

“Pascal, I need you keep an eye on the jar.”

The chameleon nodded, and Rapunzel set the jar down for him before untying her hair.

Anna attempted to swing at one of the tree vultures’ ankles with her new ice sword. “This is really frustrating!”

Hiccup and Toothless barrel rolled away from a rake. “Keep going! We got this!” The Viking then spotted Varian quickly working on something. “How’s it goin’ down there?”

“Almost done! I just need a few more minutes!” Varian replied from behind a partial dome of ice shielding him from most of the vultures.

Eugene rolled out of the way of a wing slap from the larger vulture. “Really wish I had a frying pan on me!”

Rapunzel pulled harder as the vulture viciously fought against her. “Come on come on!”

The vulture screeched lividly as it vainly tried to make its way toward Cassandra retreating with Régine, and Charles and Chane valiantly forced the vulture away from them. Rapunzel yanked even harder, and her hair managed to make a dent in the vulture’s chest.

Hiccup briefly skimmed over the area. Anna and Kristoff could only do so much from the ground, and Sven was doing his best in backing them up. Elsa was powerful but even she was beginning to tire. Poor Angus was cowering in a corner, and Merida would eventually run out of arrows which wouldn’t be good. Régine was out for the count and Chane and Charles were doing what they could. To top that off, the last people to be summoned (or so he assumed) had just been thrown into this mess. (And one of them apparently had just about the longest hair he’s ever seen.)

“Varian!” Hiccup urged.

“Just one more minute!” Varian said.

Merida loosed and arrow, landing a direct hit at the heart of a vulture. But when she reached for another arrow, she grabbed air. “Varian!”

He flinched as he hastily finished up his last concoction. “Got it! Ready when you are, Hiccup!”

In a heartbeat Toothless landed beside Varian, and Hiccup looked to the sizable collection of concoctions.

“Wow. That’s really impressive,” Hiccup complimented.

“Thank you,” Varian said with a smirk.

“All right. Slow burn, bud.”

Varian held two concoctions up to Toothless’s mouth, and the dragon's plasma instantly turned them from green to a sort of aqua. Slowly, the concoctions began to brighten, and Ruddiger took cover in a corner. “Heads up!” Varian chucked them at the closest vulture and ducked back behind his dome. A pained shriek filled the air, and the vulture was disintegrated instantly. “Yes! It worked!”

“Yes! Let’s keep ‘em comin’!”

Another pained screech, this time louder, erupted from the larger tree vulture. Charles yanked his sword out from its chest, and the creature dropped onto its side. Rapunzel’s hair slackened, and shock appeared on her face as rot began to cover the vulture like a disease. And within a minute, its form fell apart.

The vultures screeched and shrieked in agony, forcing everyone to cover their ears. But their cries quickly shifted to rage as they vehemently darted toward everyone.

“Quick! Toothless! Keep lighting them!” Varian urged.

The dragon did as told, and Varian threw one explosive after the other at the vultures. Elsa meanwhile kept firing at the vultures, but she could feel herself tiring out.

If only we still had Régine, she thought. Oh I hope she’s all right.

“Elsa look out!” Kristoff warned.

But it was too late. A vulture knocked Elsa back, sending her toward the dark water below. Above her Anna held an expression of horror as she watched her sister fall, but her view was abruptly blocked by Hiccup and Toothless swooping in just in the nick of time.

“Th-thank you,” Elsa stammered, trying to push her shock aside.

Cassandra managed to scrape the tail feathers of a vulture with her sword. The vultures seemed like they were multiplying, and the scales were tipping out of their favor. If they kept this up, they would be overrun. “We have to fall back!”

“Fall back where?!” Chane asked.

“The ruins!” Merida said, swinging her sword. “Hurry!”

Everyone fled for the ruins while attempting to keep the vultures at bay. Chane, Rapunzel, Cassandra, and Eugene began to push against the doors with all their might. Slowly but surely, the doors began to open. Toothless quickly pitched in, and in no time everyone was able to get through the doors. Elsa placed a wall of ice to keep the vultures at bay before hurrying after everyone else. Hastily the doors were closed, leaving the vultures to angrily protest in vain.

“Everyone accounted for?” Hiccup asked. The large group muttered replies, and they took a moment to breathe. Charles gently set Régine down, and the group glanced to them.

“Is she okay?” Varian asked.

“Nothing appears to be broken. . . .” Charles said. His eyebrows furrowed. “. . . I should’ve stayed closer to her. It’s my duty to protect her.”

“You protect her well enough,” Chane assured. If anything I feel just as responsible, maybe more than you. “. . . I’m sure she’ll be just fine.”

A couple moments went by before Régine furrowed her eyebrows with a groan. Immediately Chane dropped to his knees beside her. “What happened?”

“That vulture knocked you back,” Eugene said. “You all right?”

“I’ll be fine. Thank you.” She winced as she sat up. “I don’t know why that bird didn’t burn to a crisp when I used my magic. Those tree monsters burned easily.”

“It was probably tougher than it looked,” Kristoff guessed. “All of those things were.”

“I’m glad you’re safe, Princess,” Charles said. “. . . Forgive me for not keeping a more careful watch over you.”

“It’s fine, Charles,” Régine said. “I know you always try your best.”

“Those little explosive thingies were really great, by the way,” Anna said. “How did you make them so fast?”

“Well, I’m glad you asked,” Varian said. “First I used—”

“I hate to break this up but does someone mind explaining what’s going on and where we are?” Cassandra said.

“Oh. Right.” Varian explained to his friends the situation pretty well. But now that he was actually saying it out loud, it sounded insane. True, but insane.

After everything had been said, the trio of Coronans (and Pascal) was . . . at a loss for words, for one.

“Doesn’t that sound just a little far-fetched?” Eugene said after a few moments.

“A little?” Cassandra said.

“It’s the truth, I’m afraid,” Chane said.

Régine studied Rapunzel. “Your hair’s not brown anymore. Or short.”

“It’s a long story,” Rapunzel said, glancing to the side.

“Wait. You’ve met before?” Varian asked.

“They met when Princess Rapunzel came to our kingdom,” Charles explained.

“Oh.”

Our kingdom. . . . Suddenly something dawned on Rapunzel. “Ohmigosh! My dad’s going to freak when he finds out we’re gone.”

“My dad’s probably already freaking out,” Hiccup said.

“Is . . . my dad freaking out?” Varian asked.

“A little,” Rapunzel said. “He’s really worried.”

“Mine most likely thinks I’ve run off again,” Régine said. “And my mother. . . .”

“Mai dad’s probably searchin’ the entire kingdom now,” Merida said. Anna and Elsa glanced to each other.

“I guess everyone’s dads are worried,” Anna summed up with a trace of sadness.

“. . . Kai and Gerda are probably worried,” Elsa said. “Oh, and Olaf. . . .”

“Well the faster we find that book the faster we can all get home,” Chane said.

“Back you beasts!” a man’s voice snapped. Unanimously the group looked to the doors.

“Is someone still out there?” Anna asked.

“Oh no. . . .” Merida groaned, pulling her face down with her hands.

“What?”

“Mai dad.”

“Wait your dad is out there?”

“More importantly how did he even find us?” Kristoff asked.

Instead of answering, Merida pulled at the doors. Toothless pitched in as well, but Hiccup pulled him back.

“Hold on a second, bud. I think you might need to stay in here,” the Viking said. “I don’t think her dad’s going to like you all that much.” Toothless uttered a sort of sympathetic noise before backing down.

The doors were open again, and Rapunzel peeked out only to see an icy wall.

“Dad!” Merida yelled.

“Merida! Are you all right, lass?” Fergus yelled back.

“Ahm fine!”

Shortly after that a vulture was taken down by him. “Where’s that boy?!”

Hiccup flinched. “Aaaand maybe I should stay in here, too.” Nothing like the king of your enemies angrily searching for you.

“I’ll explain later!” Merida was about to charge out when Elsa spoke up.

“Wait. You need arrows.” With a quick wave of her fingers Elsa filled Merida’s quiver with icy arrows.

“Uh thanks.” I think ah better make some more later.

A large explosion suddenly went off, making Varian wince. “Well. There go my explosives.”

Pascal left the jar with Hiccup, and everyone with the exception of Hiccup, Toothless, and Angus went back out. The instant Elsa removed the ice wall Régine hurled her fire at the vultures. Another wall was placed to keep the vultures from getting into the ruins, and Elsa went to catch up to Anna, Kristoff, and Sven.

“How are they doing that?” a man asked, looking in awe at Elsa and Régine.

“Ah don’t care as long as they get rid o’ these things!” another said.

Merida notched an arrow, and she could already feel a difference in it. “This better work.” The arrow flew nearly exactly like her wooden ones, and it struck just as true. “Huh. Not bad. . . .”

Rapunzel wrapped her hair around a vulture’s ankle and flung it into a nearby vulture, stunning them. A brief but angry growl told her Régine was close by, and she stole a quick glance at Régine incinerating both vultures.

“I never thought hair could be used as a weapon,” Régine said.

“You’d be surprised how much you can do with seventy feet of it.”

Soon the vultures were overwhelmed, forcing the surviving ones to retreat into the sky. Fergus’s men cheered, and they followed their king as he reunited with his daughter.

“Merida! Ma wee darlin’!” He picked her up in a massive hug. “Oh your mother an’ I have been worried sick!”

“Ahm fine, Dad. Really,” Merida said. “But . . . ah can’t come home yet.”

“What?”

She stepped back. “. . . Ah don’t know how ta explain without makin’ it seem like ah’ve gone mad.” And so to the best of her ability, she explained.

Her father and his men listened intently with growing disbelief. But Fergus had seen nonsense prove itself to be true. After all his wife and three sons turned into bears because of a spell.

Once Merida had finished, Fergus and his men were ultimately at a loss for words.

“An’. . . all o’ you are involved in this?” he managed to ask.

“We are,” Elsa answered.

“Does that mean you all can’t go home, either?” a man asked.

“Not until we find that book,” Varian replied.

“And that ‘boy’? He’s involved in this as well,” Merida said. “. . . He's someone ah can trust.” Hiccup and Toothless exchanged glances.

“Where is he, then?” Fergus asked.

Elsa looked to Merida, who nodded. The ice wall disappeared, and everyone’s attention went to the ruins. Again Hiccup and Toothless exchanged looks.

“Stay here, bud,” Hiccup said, and he walked out into the open. “I uh, I’d like to apologize for making you worry and ultimately think the worst. Things kind of . . . happened pretty quickly.”

“So ah’ve been told,” Fergus said. It was strange how much he reminded Hiccup of his own father. They both had that stern look, and they were both pretty big. And they both cared about their kids. “Merida says she trusts you, lad.”

“I uh, I heard.”

“And . . . if she trusts you . . . then ah suppose ah shouldn’t have reason to worry.” A knowing grin grew across his face. “Besides, you wouldn’t stand a chance against her in combat.”

Fergus’s men laughed in agreement, and Hiccup refrained from frowning. However the king’s grin vanished as he set his gaze back onto Merida.

“Do you know how long you’ll be gone for?”

“. . . No,” Merida replied. “But I’ll try not to be long. I swear it.”

Fergus enveloped her in another hug. “Be safe, lass.”

“Ah will, Dad.”

With one final but gentle squeeze, Fergus let go. “Wait ‘til your mother hears this. She won’t believe a single word.”

“Ahm sure she will.”

The king mounted his horse. “Oh! Ah think you might be needin’ these.” He handed her the arrows he had salvaged.

Merida smiled, and she returned her arrows to her quiver.

“Back to the castle, then!” Fergus spurred his horse on, and his men and deerhounds followed. “Ah look forward ta hearin’ the tales you’ll bring o’ this!”

His daughter laughed, and the group watched Fergus and his men depart.

“Well! That couldn’t have gone better,” Hiccup said, relieved.

“At least he’s not hunting us down anymore.”

Toothless nosed Hiccup, who rubbed his dragon’s head affectionately.

“Let’s try to get a move on, then,” Chane said. While the others headed back into the ruins, Merida, Hiccup, and Toothless drifted behind the group.

“I thought your dad was going to send me off to the dungeon,” Hiccup said.

“Ah wouldn’t have let him,” Merida said. “Ah trust you, even if you are a Viking.”

“Well you’re not too bad yourself.”

Toothless hummed contently, and he gave both of them a grin.

Back with the others, Rapunzel was running her hand across the wall in thought. Another adventure had begun, and it had taken her very far from home and to a whole new world. She was excited, of course, but she was also a little nervous. Well not really nervous. Just worried about her dad worrying about her being missing and the fact that there was probably no way to let him and her mom know that she was just fine.

Something caught her eye on the wall. It was subtle even with Régine’s fire giving them light, and it looked like some sort of writing. It was only a few symbols, but one of them seemed partially hidden. Upon brushing the dirt aside, she found more symbols.

“Hey guys? I think I found something,” Rapunzel said. Régine held her hand up and made her fire brighter as everyone tried to gather around.

“Looks like some sort of writing,” Anna said. Merida nudged her way through, and she squinted at the wall.

“Can you read it?” Cassandra asked.

Merida brushed off any extra dirt. “ ‘Earth be moved. . . . Earth be changed. . . . Grant us passage . . . through walls aged.’ ”

The group flinched as the ruins rumbled. The writing glowed grass green, and part of the wall descended into the ground, revealing a dimly lit passage of stone and rock.

“Well. That was eerily convenient,” Eugene said.

“How far do you think it goes?” Rapunzel asked.

“Could be pretty deep,” Kristoff said. “Might be home to a few things.”

“Hopefully those things are regular animals and not those monsters,” Hiccup commented.

“Is it even the right way?” Régine asked.

Charles, who had picked up the jar, held it toward the passage. The moonbeam flickered more, and if he didn’t know any better he’d suspect that it seemed nervous. “This is the way.”

Angus nickered uneasily, and Toothless skeptically peered into it.

“You’ll be fine, Angus,” Merida said.

The horse shook his head, and Sven nudged Angus. The reindeer made a sort of soft noise of encouragement, and Angus whinnied briefly. Sven smiled in reassurance, leading Kristoff to clap him on the back.

“He’s got your back. Trust me,” Kristoff said, and Angus cautiously peeked inside again.

“Well, here goes nothing,” Anna said, and she stepped inside.

Cassandra managed to make two torches for Régine to light before handing one to Eugene. Everyone carefully filed into the passage, and once the last person was through, it closed behind them.

“No turning back,” Elsa said, a little uneasy.

The group continued on in silence, their footsteps echoing throughout the passage. Stalagmites big and small stretched up toward the top, while smaller stalactites hung from above. And luckily the passage was tall enough for Angus.

“So,” Anna started, making a couple people jump, “I think we should probably introduce ourselves. I’m Anna, this is my sister Elsa, that’s Kristoff, the reindeer’s Sven, oh that big horse is um . . . uh. . . .”

“Angus,” Merida finished.

“Right. There we go. Oh that was Merida that just spoke. The dragon’s Toothless, aaand the guy next to him is Hiccup. Oh! And then there’s Varian. Oh and his raccoon.” Anna paused. “Am I missing some people?”

“Those people would be Régine, Charles, and um . . . whoever that other guy is,” Eugene said. “Don’t think we’ve met before.”

“It’s Chane. And I’m sure Régine and Charles are familiar with your friends.”

“Eugene Fitzherbert. The grumpy one is Cassandra and the amazing one is Rapunzel.” At the remark Cassandra rolled her eyes.

“And Pascal’s here, too,” Rapunzel said, and the chameleon saluted.

“Wow. This is a lot of people,” Anna commented.

“Well these enemies are supposed to be dangerous,” Régine said.

“I’m sure we’ll be able to handle it,” Elsa said. Something grabbed the animals’ attention, prompting the party to stop.

“Now what?” Chane sighed.

“Wait.” Régine took a couple steps forward. “Listen.”

The party fell silent as they strained their ears, and they could just barely hear something up ahead.

“There’s water down here,” Kristoff said.

“Might be a river,” Hiccup suggested.

The group followed the sound, keeping alert for any sign of that girl’s creatures. As they went, the passage became wider and taller, and everyone was able to spread out a bit. The water grew louder and louder with every step, until they eventually reached a waterfall feeding into a small lake.

Somehow the ruins looked to be in much better condition underground. The gray stone blended smoothly with the rock of the cave, as if the ruins were built in harmony with it. Cassandra and Rapunzel shared a look. Although it was a far cry from the hidden lagoon they had once come across, the clear water seemed to glitter in the sunlight like the gems they had found.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Régine said.

“Ah wonder who built these ruins,” Merida said. The group made their way over to the lake, and Angus sniffed the water before taking a few sips, Sven joining him a few moments later.

“We should probably get some rest before we keep going,” Elsa said.

“And maybe we should figure out a plan for when we run into the maker of those creatures,” Chane added.

_______

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utterlyhopeful-fics · 5 years

Text

Broken Edges- Part 6

I’M BACKK 😘🥳

The wait is over and Part 7 will be posted tomorrow afternoon! (I can GUARANTEE a fight..or two.) Feedback is always appreciated. As always, I hope y’all enjoy the next chapter. Let me know if you’d like to added to the tag list!

Steve Rogers x Reader/Bruce Banner x Reader/Frank Castle x Reader

Word Count: 3.1k

Warnings: language, general angsty angst, fluffy Bruce

Catch up HERE

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(The Next Morning)

Stirring from an inherent sleep, Y/N sensed a firm hardness pressed against her right cheek. She continued to further nuzzle herself deeper into its solemn comfort, calmness overtaking her sanity. Time seemed to transpire differently when locked in a technological jail cell. Her left leg was partially thrown over Frank’s as they lay entangled in one another as if they were any ordinary couple waking up on a late Saturday morning.

Her lids remained darkened as a small moan escaped her lips accompanied by a tender stretch of her achy bones. Frank instinctively pulled her closer reluctant to let go. He couldn’t help but think he would definitely die a happy man if he got to hear that cute noise every damn day. His hand lightly gripped her chin tilting it upwards as they found each other. Fleeting, momentary peace.

Their noses on the cusp of brushing, their slightly chapped lips just mere inches away, Frank’s breath tickled a trail along her skin. It was a transcendent moment for the pair as they internally debated on who would dare make the first move. Y/N’s gaze traveled towards his lips as she unknowingly licked hers wandering what he tasted like. Would it be a searing kiss made out of desperation or a slow lustful kiss to savor? Whichever one it was, Y/N couldn’t deny she craved his touch.

He cupped her jaw moving closer to his targeted destination. It was then she felt a fire spread in her belly causing her heart to ramp up speed. After seconds of contemplation, Frank leaned the rest of the way in delivering an earth-shattering kiss upon Y/N’s forgiving lips. Her hands perched at the base of his neck slightly tugging at the thick black hair that had grown out over the past couple months. He moaned in response deepening their kiss as Frank situated himself on top of Y/N, pushing his hips against hers, creating a delightful electricity between them. Now this is something Y/N could get used to.

Y/N wanted more, desired to be closer to Frank. Frank made her feel alive, like she wasn’t the broken woman Steve forced her to be. He pushed her to be her own true character, igniting the spirit Steve only wanted to extinguish. It felt brilliantly powerful to be noticed and appreciated, and Y/N was addicted. Without thinking, Y/N wrapped her legs around Frank’s hips pulling him in like a second layer of skin. God, this man drove her wild. But somewhere deeply enrooted in Y/N was cause for concern.

She pushed the lingering thought as far away as humanly possible not wanting to think about him during her time with Frank. There was only one other man in their universe that made her feel complete, acknowledged, and understood; Bruce Banner. But she never got the courage to tell him instead burying her feelings in a secluded spot locked securely away.

But that was a story for another day. She wasn’t sure what the future held for her at this point. What she did know was that she needed to make the best of what she was given; Frank. So, Y/N squeezed her eyes tighter hoping to shake any thought of Bruce away, unwilling to let it encroach on this exact moment, but that was always easier said than done.

Y/N pulled away from his kiss finding Frank’s predatory glance. The military forced him to be a man of control but around her he found it next to impossible to resist the brazen woman he’d grown to care for. With their husky pants intermingled; Frank risked to speak first.

“Tell me to stop and I will. But—you have to do it. I can’t think clearly with you sometimes.”

Before her mind even had a chance to form a coherent thought, her lips were responding; “Don’t, I want this. I want you, Castle.”

“Thank fucking God.”

She pulled him down again reigniting their enthusiasm, unable to wipe the smile that appeared during their kiss. But reality creepily slipped back into her conscious just as an alarm blared through the tiny space; its echo uncomfortably surrounded them thickening the available air. Frank shot up first putting a protective arm over Y/N as her fingers gripped his forearm in return. This was new.

A sudden buzz notified them that the door had been unlocked as an unseen figure stalked closer inwards. Y/N heard the peculiar tone before actually seeing him. His heavy German accent mingled with his well-spoken English. Who was this guy?

“So happy to finally meet your acquaintance Ms. Y/N. I’ve heard wonderful things about you. My father spoke very highly of you. My sincerest greetings.”

Another maniac with an accent. Awesome.

Frank’s eyes bounced between Y/N and the dangerous man who just made his grand entrance. A look of apprehension betrayed his brown orbs.

“Uh, hate to break up the compulsive obsession but who the hell are ya?”

“My name is Helmut Zemo. My father, Baron was the sole creator of everything that we now stand for. Don’t you think he’d quite proud, hmm?”

Zemo actually had the audacity to bow as if she were royalty. She was certainly no queen especially to such an anarchist bunch of crazies, but she had no other choice than to intently listen to the stranger in front of them. After all, they were Hydra’s current lab rats searching for an impossible end to their demented game.

“God, you really are a cocky son of a bitch.”

A shrewd smirk slithered across his lips; “Tsk tsk, Mr. Castle. They weren’t wrong about your…spirit?”

Frank and Y/N hazardously got off the bed, Frank keeping a towering determined stance. How did she never notice how tall Frank was until now? With Frank looming over her, she moved to his side mimicking his posture before speaking.

“What the fuck do you want with us, Zemo? Do enlighten us.”

He snickered unable to contain the laughter tickling his throat; “Oh my my, you really are a feisty girl. We have great plans for you…. for the both of you. I would like your compliance but it is by no means required. Vrstehst du?” (Do you understand?)

“ты мудак.” (You’re an asshole.)

Frank whipped his head in Y/N’s direction; “Wait, you speak…Russian?”

“I’ll fill you in later Castle.” She squeezed his hand hoping to relay any sort of comfort.

Zemo’s shrewd voice reverberated; “That’s not all she does Mr. Punisher. That’s barely the tip of said iceberg for our beautiful girl. You are in for a treat my friend.”

Frank’s New York accent shined through in his times of nervousness bringing him back to the brave boy roaming the crooked streets; “Let’s get one thing straight out of the gate. We are NOT amigos so don’t play coy with me dipshit. That ain’t no plan of ours. What the hell is your endgame?”

Zemo loved baiting people especially those within his control; with no route of escapement. He thrived off the fear accumulating under the surface of their skin, the tremble of their tone, but his favorite, oh his favorite was when he forced the light to leave their eyes all hope being abandoned. This will be fun he thought.

“You two seem to be getting along swimmingly. I’ve been reviewing your records and we seem to have contrived the perfect genetic match. A phenomenal super goddess and ex-Marine forced vigilante. The perfect sob story if you ask me.”

Frank surveyed his odds of bulldozing his way out of this hellhole but upon counting the bodies surrounding him immediately recognized he was outnumbered. He needed Y/N in a place where they could utilize her powers, but that didn’t seem very plausible.

“Genetic match? What the fuck are you talking about, Zemo?”

“You’ll realize soon enough All in good time.” Guiding his eagle eye towards the hidden camera, Zemo simply smiled. He started his trek towards the door leaving his patients bewildered behind him with his hands clasped behind his back, his spine straight, and shoulders pointed. Authority my ass.

“Initiate Phase 1.”

Once again, the door bolted shut locking Y/N and Frank back into their designated room without any sign of answer coming their way. With the glass barrier back between them panic caressed through the stagnant air. Reeling from the minimal information given to them, Y/N was stunned into temporary silence. Frank’s attention was on the woman in front of him; “Fuck, Y/N. Where the fucking hell are your Avenger friends?”

(Avengers Tower)

If someone were to ask Bruce Banner his favorite spot on planet Earth, he would gladly pick his lab until the end of time. Beakers and test tubes couldn’t talk back. For once in his forsaken days, he got to be in control, fully in charge if only for the briefest of moments. Procedures and mechanisms released him of his anxiety, overall calming his heart rate from escalating to the point of disaster.

The newspapers got it all wrong about his pent-up aggression towards mankind. They forgot he was human himself. Though some found it easier to treat him as a science experiment, others decided on kindness and friendship. Y/N was one the fortunate few that didn’t manage to piss him off. Given her cruel upbringing, Tony prepared the team for the worst possible outcome, a deranged mutant finally freed from her own hell.

He remembered the way her blonde hair caught the sunshine on a perfect spring day when he watched her lost within her latest read, her clear aqua blue eyes meeting his as an equal, and how he felt electricity run threw his joints the first time his skin briskly touched hers. Nothing but a greeting yet somehow, he knew she was going to be phenomenal. Y/N adjusted to the high-tech superhero gig faster than he expected learning compassion and self-care since becoming her own woman. She never bothered with romance, or her appearance….at least that’s what he convinced himself of. It began with long nights chatting until dawn, two friends passing time with more than enjoyable conversation.

The Stark library was her clandestine fascination, Y/N worshiped divulging into a book lost in articulate words seemingly drawing her further from her own twisted reality. It was effortless to be around her and Bruce was addicted to her quiet and comforting nature. Not many people brought ease upon him. The couch was their second escape as it became routine to sneak away, propping her feet atop his thighs, stopping her glasses from slipping down the bridge of her slender nose as he pretended to not get distracted by her graceful actions.

Y/N had this habit of biting just the edge of her lip when a story truly piqued her interest, her limbs tightening with anticipation as she unknowingly squeezed his triceps unable to tear herself away from the worn pages.

Countless nights were spent hidden away from the troubles of their world. Some sleepless and others occupied by gentle naps. One in particular stuck out more than others…

(Flashback)

13 days. 13 agonizing days since he last saw Y/N, hugged her, and simply conversed with someone similar to his own IQ. Nick Fury had selected Cap and Y/N for an undercover mission in Russia. Incognito as a loving husband and wife on their honeymoon while trying to confiscate (insert cool piece of tech). In the past couple of weeks, Banner felt her pulling away, getting a little more out of reach every time, and he loathed it. Little moments at first; less time in the library, nightly talks dwindling, but the worst part was the body language Y/N aimed at Steve.

Sly smiles here and there, a touch of the palm when no one was supposed to be looking, and Roger’s stupidly irritating smile that made Y/N blush every time he looked her way. Bruce was an idiot, it was just easier to remain oblivious, unaware of the changing atmosphere at the Tower.

Steve and Y/N had just landed the quinjet as Friday notified Stark and Banner of their successful arrival. They were all giggles and soft whispers upon approaching the dock like they had a secret only they knew about. Bruce side-eyed the lovebirds through the glass not wanting to show his true colors or annoyance. It was then that Steve drew Y/N into his chest pressing a passionate kiss upon her lips before looking around, noticing the room bare of any witnesses, or so they thought.

He saw the foolish smile and glimmering light shine from Y/N’s ocean eyes before huffing and heading towards his hideout. Bruce knew she wasn’t coming tonight. It seems Y/N would have other nightly plans he’d rather not think of or else the Hulk was sure to make a scene.

So, he numbly headed towards the elevator before clicking the 5th floor button clueless to the doors slamming shut. Bruce instinctively opened the library door and settled into a chair across from the couch. He wouldn’t dare sit there. It held far too many memories of what-ifs, almosts, and could’ve beens. If only he had the balls to tell her how he truly felt. Oh well.

It was half past twelve when Bruce was deterred by the low chime of the door informing him someone else had entered the room. Odd, he supposed. He thought he would get his sanctuary for another blissful night. As he gawked at the unknown presence, he immediately noticed who the intruder was; Y/N. His book snapped shut forgetting about marking his page as his feet found footing on the plush carpet. She hadn’t seen him yet. The door shut behind Y/N as her back rested against the wood frame before quietly sighing.

Her appearance was disheveled, her blonde tendrils thrown into a sloppy bun as she wore an over-sized t-shirt that certainly didn’t belong to her. Steve’s. Her lips plump as if she had just left her lover’s bed in hopes of seeking him out, or so he wished. He stayed seated not wanting to draw additional attention to his strange behavior.

“Y/N- you’re…back.”

“Bruce, just the guy I was looking for.” She coyly smiled genuinely happy to see him.

“Ohhh, is that so? I figured you’d have other things to catch up on. It’s good to see you Y/N, really.”

Y/N walked over to their sofa before propping her elbows along the edge, resting her jaw in her palm. Her memories didn’t serve him justice. He was kind, handsome, and beyond attentive to her intellectual needs.

“I missed you. Steve isn’t big on reading…or talking much for that matter. It’s nice to see a simulating face.”

“Psh, I’m sure you managed just fine without me. You always do.” He tried to hide the disappointment seeping into his voice. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her away. Above all, Bruce reminded himself that he was her friend first regardless of his growing feelings.

“You made it back in one piece. I assume the mission went well?”

She chuckled, her fingers fidgeting in her lap unable to sit still; something was bothering her.

“Indeed. Steve is uh, quite the charmer. Almost too believable if I do say so myself.”

Bruce stood up suddenly catching Y/N off guard as he made his way back to the shelf to return his latest adventure. Out of his peripheral vision, Y/N began moving his direction closing the gap between them. With his back faced away from Y/N, he felt a small hand reach for his shoulder in a soothing manner. Y/N stood behind him as the silence lingered on. Before he could grasp what was happening, her arms encircled his waist as Y/N hid her face between his shoulder blades. Her touch brought calmness to his anxious mind; his muscles instantly relaxing as his own hand guided on top of her resting on his stomach.

She mumbled a modest “Hi.” before burrowing back into him. Bruce couldn’t conceal the blush that crept into his cheeks. He was merely glad she wasn’t able to see his reaction. No other words needed to be spoken, it was pure and simple. He steered her hands upwards as he kissed the indention by her thumb, directing her hands over his chest finally resting upon his beating heart. It was unspoken, mutual admiration both parties thrived off of. Y/N and Bruce just didn’t quite fully understand the significance of their unexpressed connection.

But that was the past, now he had the atrocious opportunity of living in the present with no Y/N in sight.

(Present Day-Avengers Tower)

“Meeting dismissed. We are staying on alert until Y/N is found and brought back safely. I suggest you all be ready to go. Rogers and Banner, stay behind.”

Fury’s tone mixed with Tony’s eyes shooting daggers initiated an uncontrollable eye roll from the Hulk. This outta be good. As everyone else made their way towards the door, Steve huffed unsure of what was about to go down knowing it wasn’t good news.

Natasha was the last of the bunch remaining. Her hand grasped the knob in hopes of hightailing it out of the stuffy office before hearing Tony’s callous voice; “Ah ah, Romanoff. You seriously didn’t think you’d get off that easy, now did you?”

“I don’t see how this has any ties to me. I don’t know what—”

“What I’m talking about? Of course, you do my dear, you’re not that dull. Or did sleeping with Cap disable your inability to decipher between respectful decency?”

Nausea caught in Steve’s throat as his eyes met Natasha’s. Fuck. Bruce lounged in his chair with a satisfied smirk; Steve had the sudden urge to punch him but withheld…at least temporarily.

Tony and Fury resembled two very pissed off individuals; each leader trying to top the other. Silence encapsulated the room, everyone stared at one another unsure of how to proceed with the events in place. So, Director Fury stepped up first; “Can anyone tell what the hell is going on with the lot of you? Wait a minute, don’t answer that. I already know some of you have already lost your damn minds.”

“Language.”

“Language my ass, Rogers. Since you so kindly volunteered to share first, please do so.”

His breath staggered, his jugular beginning to pound under his skin, sweat beaded across his dewy forehead. Sink or swim time.

--------

Tags: @kaithezaftig @awesomefanficlover@marvelfansworld@sergeantjbuckybarnes @hista-girl @calwitch @silent-loucidity@flightofthefantasies @lovely-geek @shannon124 @hulksmashin-bannerpackin@siren-queen03 @heyiamthatbitch @girls-inred @kielemarie @donner5822 @sophiria @iluvsumbucky@xstevenat @artemis-lana @bla-369 @itsallyscorner @jay-the-mothafuckin-gay @artemis-lana

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aliceslantern · 4 years

Text

Heartlines, a Kingdom Hearts fanfic, chapter 1

Twelve years ago, Xemnas betrayed the royal court of Radiant Garden to his father, Xehanort. Prince Ienzo flees to another city and begins university in the aftermath, hoping the anonymity will protect him from eager eyes with ill intent. The darkness spilling across the country, as well as an individual from his past, cut short Ienzo's new beginning and bring new conflicts to light. Strained between the desires of his magic and his heart, Ienzo's choice will change him forever.

Modern Fantasy AU, Soulmates, Zemyx. Updates Fridays until it's done.

Read it on FF.net/on AO3

---

“Ienzo, get away from the window. At least until you get that goo out of your hair. You look frightful.”

Ienzo scowled. “Yes, yes. Sue me for wanting to see sunshine for the first time in weeks.” He checked his timer; ten more minutes. “You’re certain this will work?”

“It did on my slides. Though admittedly that is meaningless nowadays.” He sighed, and kept cramming his books into boxes. “Have you at the very least packed?”

Ienzo gestured to the two suitcases at the door. “What else is there to do?”

“...Quite. Well.” Even ruffled a hand through his hair. “I suppose that is that, yes? Though I admit I’m looking forward to the fresh air.”

“...To think there’d be a time I’d wish I could frolic through the hills.” He rolled his eyes. His right was aching again, and without the curtain of his hair it felt very naked.

“Will you be… alright, tonight?” Even asked. He pursed his lips.

“Alright enough.”

“...Thankfully Aqua’s given us a good head start.” He sighed. “I’m hoping… after all this we’ll finally shake them. The papers should be foolproof. No traces.”

“I suppose it could be worse.”

Even rested a hand on Ienzo’s shoulder. “You deserve a taste of normalcy, at least.”

Ienzo said nothing. He was apprehensive about “normalcy”. What if a taste just made him want the unattainable? No point living above his current means. “...Quite. Well. I should try and wash this out.”

The basement apartment was small, and for the past month or so it felt like they’d been living on top of one another. It was what they’d been able to find, given the… circumstances, but honestly Ienzo was ready to leave it behind for good. He needed breathing room, away from these walls which were always damp and smelled perpetually like mildew and fried onion, away from the strange pink mold which grew on the tiles of the bathroom no matter how diligently either of them scrubbed.

The water never got quite hot, and as he scrubbed at his scalp and eyebrows it just became cooler and cooler, until finally the water ran clear. He towel-dried his hair, shivering a little, and turned towards the mirror.

“...Shit.” Ienzo sighed heavily. His hair was still, without a doubt, the strange violet-silver he’d been born with, the most visible sign of his magic abilities, his aura. It wasn’t even tinted in the slightest.

“...That does not sound good,” Even said, from the other room. (Another thing about this apartment; its paper thin walls.)

Ienzo opened the door and gave him a droll stare. Even pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Oh, child. Save frying open your hair follicles, I don’t think there’s anything else to be done. We’ve already tortured your scalp enough.”

Ienzo scowled at his reflection. “Do you truly think people will be looking for these signs where we’re going?”

Even considered. He held up strands of Ienzo’s tired, damp hair. “Perhaps not,” he said. “Many college students do torrid things to their hair.”

Ienzo considered his face one last time. He was glad to have his eye covered again. “I suppose that is true.”

They continued gathering their meager possessions in almost silence. Ienzo took one last look at the glorified walk-in closet he’d called a bedroom. He remembered other days, better days, when he’d had windows, bookshelves, days when he’d sit with Father in that rocking chair listening to those stories--

Ienzo took a quick breath. No good dwelling on any of this. In the kitchenette, he could see the sun setting… it was growing dark. The ache in his eye was worse now. He blinked, hard.

“Ienzo?”

“Right. Yes. Coming.”

---

The stars in the night sky were unusually bright. He could barely see through the pain in his eye, blind as it was. The illusion didn’t have to last long. A few hours and they’d be away from all this nonsense. He stuffed his hair under the beanie, hurriedly penciled on some eyebrows--at least makeup worked. If he were braver he’d just shave himself bald.

Even wrinkled his nose. “You look like a ne'er do well. Come on, then.”

Aqua, one of the resistance coordinators, would arrange for the pitiful remains of their things to be shipped. A black car waited for them outside, with taxi plates. Anyone would think they were going on vacation.

Even lowered his voice. “I’m told the driver knows. No need to waste your energy just yet.”

Ienzo supposed he should’ve felt anxious; but it was hard to feel anything other than the growing pain. Why? “Good.”

They loaded their bags and got in the car. It smelled like cologne, a rich, woody scent that was not at all obnoxious.

“The train station,” Even said. “Please.”

The driver didn’t say anything. Ienzo couldn’t even see their face; all he could tell was that the person was large, muscular, built. But… he fielded out with his magic timidly. Why was this person… familiar? And why was this familiarity not off-putting?

“As if Ansem would truly allow you the risk of long-haul public transport,” the deep voice said, and Ienzo’s heart leapt into his throat--

Even gasped a little. “Aeleus,” he said. “It is you… after all this time--”

“It is… good to see the two of you,” he continued. “Ienzo… you’re quite the young man now, aren’t you? I barely recognized you.”

Ienzo couldn’t quite swallow the emotion welling within him. “I’m twenty now,” he said. “But… where have you been, for--”

“I’ll explain everything,” Aeleus said. “Let’s keep things quiet, at least until we’re out of town.”

Ienzo leaned back in his seat. Aeleus . He hadn’t even known the man was still alive, let alone expected to see him ever again. He smiled despite himself.

“So Ansem is…” Even began timidly. “He’s still--”

“Yes. He sends his… regards.”

Even took a quick breath. Though it felt childish to do so, Ienzo reached across to give the man’s hand a quick squeeze. “The two of you arranged all this.”

“Forgive me for not sending word sooner.”

Even settled more comfortably. “And here I thought we’d be given over to a complete stranger.”

“For Ienzo? Never.”

---

They were all silent for a time, as the night grew darker. Ienzo wanted to ask Aeleus a thousand questions--where the man had been, what he’d been doing, how he was, how the others were. Moreover… what he thought of Ienzo now, how he looked. Being grown was the least of the changes. He hadn’t fully let himself miss any of them now--better to grieve, instead.

The city gave way to hesitant countryside, opening up into wide, empty fields. Ienzo breathed a sigh of relief, even as the pain in his eye crescendoed.

“Child,” Even began. “Are you alright?”

“My… eye is hurting,” he admitted. “I thought it would stop.”

“...What do you sense?”

Ienzo took a breath. He cast his magic out around them. He was aware he was basically setting a beacon for those that may be listening; but they were far enough out of the city that prying eyes were unlikely. “I sense nothing ,” he admitted. “Out of the ordinary, anyway.” Creatures at the side of the road, their energies, an ambient current of magic from the earth itself.

“That is… strange,” Even said. “Unless--”

“It’s a new moon,” Aeleus said. “Doesn’t that affect it?”

“Not like this,” Ienzo said. “Not usually. Usually only when there’s--” The pain spiked, and he cried out.

“Ienzo,” Even gasped. “Oh--”

Aeleus pulled over.

“Stupid,” Ienzo hissed. “They were using a jammer.”

“What?”

“Who?” Aeleus asked.

“The being that’s been following us.”

Sure enough, at the other side of the road they could see it, flickering, white, a large and graceful wolf. “How could he, during a new moon?” Even asked.

“It’s why I was thrown off. I thought it was merely interference." Ienzo swallowed the fear.

“What are we waiting for?” Even asked. “Aeleus, go.”

“If we go he’ll make chase, and find out everything,” the man said. He undid his seatbelt and pulled something from under the passenger seat. “Let me speak to the bastard.”

“No,” Ienzo said.

Aeleus took careful steps across the road, the headlights and the wolf the only thing illuminating the encounter. The wolf shifted, its light fading, into a man, one Ienzo had hoped to never see again.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Even said. “His power never works while--”

Ienzo reached out with his own, following Aeleus’s energy to hear the conversation. I’m sorry, friend, he thought. I know this is rude.

“Long live the king,” the voice said smoothly.

“What is it you want, Saïx?” Aeleus asked.

“I know she’s there.”

Ienzo could feel Even’s nails digging into his wrist.

“Whatever mutation gave you this ability is sorely mistaken,” Aeleus said. “These are merely refugees. I am allowed to transport them. I have the proper paperwork.”

“Then why does your car reek of royal magic?”

He shrugged. “You tell me. I just carry out the orders.”

“Aeleus, I know magic was never a specialty of yours, but I know you’re not an idiot.” Saïx turned and took a few steps towards the car. Ienzo winced. “You’re certainly hiding something . Else the spell would not have taken effect.”

“You’re free to talk to them. I’m sure you’ll find nothing amiss.”

Ienzo took a deep breath. He wished Aeleus had given him more warning. Shaping an illusion when he was in this much pain was bound to be a challenge. He chose random faces for himself and Even, random voices, though he was also acutely aware this man could smell when he was using magic--

He’d just have to be quick. Ienzo pulled the dagger out of his boot and slid it into the pocket of his hoodie. Saïx took long, languid steps towards them. He knocked on the window. Ienzo rolled it down, so slowly, bracing, already pulling for the spell--

“Don’t,” Even hissed.

“He already knows,” Ienzo said.

“Isn’t it a bit late, for a drive?” Saïx asked. “Enough with the smoke and mirrors, Princess.”

Ienzo screamed and forced the spell out as hard as he could, knocking Saïx some ten yards up the street. He leapt out of the car and readied another spell, but he was already on his feet, again a glowing wolf, one running at him almost faster than he could perceive. Ienzo took a deep breath, knotting his hands, shaping the magic into blades, but they all just glanced off of the wolf’s fur like they were nothing.

What had they done to him?

The wolf smashed through his magic shield and pinned him to the cold asphalt, its teeth inches from his throat--Ienzo tried to kick up a leg, to lob a spell into its ribcage, but the next thing he knew Aeleus was yanking it back by the throat with the handle of his tomahawk. Ienzo grasped at his dagger and lunged for the creature’s face--he was barely able to get in more than a superficial slash or two before it vanished into nothing, a light bouncing along the horizon in the opposite direction. The pain in his eye faded.

“Why the hell did you do that?” Even yelled.

“He already knew,” Ienzo said. “He smelled me.” He turned to Aeleus. “Are you alright?”

He sighed. “Got in a few good scratches, but nothing major.” He dabbed at his bleeding forearm. Ienzo reached for it and whispered a spell; the wound closed instantly. “I was more worried about you.”

“You’re lucky neither of you got killed,” Even hissed, grasping Ienzo’s shoulders and appraising him. “I don’t know what that lunatic did to invoke lycanthropic magic without a moon--” He exhaled. “It seems like all of our precautions were for nothing.”

“He still doesn’t know where we were headed,” Aeleus said. “Just that we’re alive, and we’re going somewhere. As long as we approach this with caution… we may be fine.”

“I hope for Ienzo’s sake you’re right.”

Aeleus sighed. “It looks like we might have to go with Plan B.”

“I’d hoped that wouldn’t be the case, but…” Even smoothed back his hair. “Yes. You are right.”

“Best to go sooner than later,” Aeleus said. “Off we go, little one.” He looked at him more closely. “I never got to see you… after…”

Ienzo dropped his eyes. There was less pleasure in this now. “It took months, with magic,” he said softly.

Aeleus gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. “It suits you. No.” Ienzo realized in the scuffle his hat had fallen off, leaving his hair free and, thanks to the magic use, slightly luminous. “It is who you always were, isn’t it?”

Ienzo nodded, blinking back the tears.

There was a moment where they all tried to gather themselves. “Yes, yes,” Even said. “Enough with the drama. We haven’t got all night.”

They got back in the car and drove off.

#heartlines #ienzo #even (kingdom hearts)#aeleus #saix #fanfic #zemyx (eventually)#au

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lilyhoshikawa · 5 years

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Henlo I saw you mention something about uuhhhhh passionate Aoi Zaizen rant, could I get one of those please

I’m so upset. I’m so angry. I have so many emotions. SO many times they did this girl dirty, so many times!!

This was widely talked abt right after it happened but I just got done rewatching the blue angel vs specter duel and I am filled with a renewed anger the likes of which has never been known. The absolute atrocity of that duel’s ending

Just to clarify, everything in that duel supported Aoi winning. It was the natural progression of her character arc, from her initial weakness allowing specter to brainwash her into Hanoi’s weapon, she eventually grew out of her days of simply being an idol to seek the attention her brother didn’t give her, something the Vrains writers consistently frame as inherently selfish and not a completely natural reaction for a teenager in her situation to have. But regardless, she’s a “selfish” idol seeking attention, she ends up being used by bad people, she gets saved by Playmaker, she learns more about him, fights by his side and decides she wants to start fighting for a cause. She defeats Vaira in the ultimate moment symbolizing her character growth. She’s no longer just an idol being fawned over by her fans, she is a hero who protects Link Vrains

Cue specter duel. The start is fine. This shitty, arrogant dickwad who already hurt Aoi goads her into a duel. He’s a jackass to her all the way through. But as the duel progresses, she learns about him- like her, he was lonely, struggling with no friends and no one to give him warmth and attention. Like her, he simply needs to be set on the right path. Suddenly her anger toward him shifts to empathy as she declares she is fighting to save him, which he mocks of course. She ends up in the typical Yugioh hero predicament of “how do I get out of this”, and pulls out a new ace monster that FINALLY causes specter to act SURPRISED for once in the duel, for once not somehow just predicting all her strategies. She turns the duel around and strikes the killing blow.

Only… that doesn’t happen. Specter pulls some bullshit, turns it around, and wins, making sure to burn up the book that symbolized Aoi’s decision to fight in the first place. And to rub it in even MORE, he calls her “the pathetic girl who couldn’t become a blue angel”, declaring he will “take everything from her”.

And then, suddenly… the context of all of that changes. The mockery specter has been giving her the whole duel goes from becoming the typical villainous arrogance to a much more cruel situation, the person already determined by the writers to win the duel taking all the time he has to rub in how superior he is to the girl who actually bothered to grow as a person. It’s as if specter is some self-insert of a misogynistic male anime fan who knows no girl can stand against him no matter how much better written she is, because he has the power of writers’ bias on his side.

Aoi is slammed into a building and lands face-first on the ground completely decimated. The next couple shots feature specter standing over her grinning and smirking as he makes comments about how pathetic and weak she is. She is clearly unconscious and can’t hear them. This is for the audience.

So alright, I hear you saying, maybe that’s just meant as a “kick the dog” moment; show us how evil specter really is and why it’s the wrong idea to try to sympathize with him. Aoi tried that and she couldn’t do it, so it means some people are beyond saving. Now I’d still have a problem with throwing Aoi under the bus to make that point, but whatever, narratively it’s sound reasoning. Only what’s the next thing that happens? He duels Playmaker, and we learn he’s a Lost Incident victim. We hear his backstory and are shown him as a sad child, motivating us to sympathize with him.

It doesn’t stop there. Specter doesn’t mock Playmaker like he did Blue Angel, naturally, because Playmaker is cool and respectable. So what does he do instead? Mocks Aoi some more! He draws constant reference to how Aoi fell for his various strategies. Now he does later start mocking Playmaker, and I get that, but that leads into another point: it’s not because Playmaker is “weak” but because he’s “too heroic”. Yusaku is able to quickly disarm Specter’s deck and is ready to finish him off before he pulls out his hostage, Akira, who ALSO gets to die a reasonable death. Everyone who dies in the Tower of Hanoi arc, with the exception of Aoi and perhaps Ema (another girl, funny that) are treated with respect as they die. Yusaku easily beats the person who gave Aoi so much trouble.

Revolver, right before his duel with Go, notes Aoi’s fate, saying “my subordinate, Specter, defeated her”. His subordinate. Not even the main bad guy. She doesn’t get the level of respect of Go, the guy who would go on to become an antagonist while she remained (on paper anyway) one of the main trio.

Nobody watched Aoi’s duel with Specter, no one commented on her courage or bravery or how hard she fought or cried when she was defeated, not like with Go. She didn’t get to reveal some big strategy of a major villain and disappear giving Playmaker one last cool remark. No, she got completely outsmarted and knocked unconscious on her face so that a man could stand over her body and insult her.

In season 2 it is obvious no one knows what to do with Aoi. She’s thrown in 800 directions to serve whatever role she’s needed for, most often losing for some reason or another. She keeps having these moments of determination and character growth where she makes a “big decision” and resolves to fight, but it never really works out for her, no matter the cause. Whenever they need someone to lose, she’s there. The Blue Angel avatar, based on her childhood hero, which represents her desire to bring people together? Gone, tossed away, replaced by Ghost Girl’s Apprentice. Now that that’s done though, now we need her for something else, you see, we’ve got a Girl Ignis and we don’t wanna write another girl, we already overdid ourselves writing the two we do have. Let’s just use Aoi instead and shoehorn in a relationship with a barely existent character who just happens to be part of her backstory as her oldest and most important friend, a thing that may contradict her entire character’s driving motivation from season one, but hey, fuck season one.

In season 3 she is glued to her brother’s side. She does less than nothing. She is fodder to be defeated by Ai and nothing more. They don’t want to bother giving her a duel of her own (if they did I’m sure she’d lose to Roboppi and not even Ai himself) so she duels with Akira. Akira sucks shit and his deck is trash so Aoi, with her Marincess deck, carries him. Akira is praised for being strong and cool. Aoi loses to Ai due to an incredibly situational counter. I’m so tired.

Every character Ai kills is treated with some respect by him. He mourns the loss of Go, who murdered one of the Ignis he’s fighting to avenge. Meanwhile? He repeatedly mocks Aoi during the duel. She starts out fighting Ai with all her might, but eventually comes to realize his sadness and loneliness after losing his Ignis friends. She tries to empathize with him, telling him she can relate, because she too lost Aqua. Ai gets angry that she thinks her loneliness is the same as his. When she announces her desire to protect her brother, Ai begins repeatedly mocking her using this. He ignores Akira entirely, zeroing in completely on Aoi and continuously mocking her about her chances of winning, acting superior, knowing he’ll be able to take her bother from her, take everything from her, and leave her all alone.

Say… does this sound familiar to anyone?

Ai erases Akira but “spares” Aoi, standing over her as she lays collapsed and soaked on the floor, mocking her by telling her how she now has to live with herself after failing to save her brother.

No, seriously… is this familiar to anyone?

It’s almost as though… aggressive, patronizing misogyny is built intrinsically into Aoi’s character, and she’s used as a vessel for toxic and abusive ideas about men who are “hurting” and how “soft, immature” women who profess to understand them or have empathy for them are naive idiots deserving to be beaten and mocked

Misogyny isn’t just a part of Aoi’s arc, it is built into the very philosophy that drives her treatment in the show. And it makes me really sick trying to engage with Vrains after having this realization

#rambles #long post #yugioh vrains #aoi zaizen #ask to tag #alexis red dragon

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cynthiaandsamus · 3 years

Text

Custom Toonami Block Week 70 Rundown

Code Geass: So Lelouch is gonna go join Nunally’s ‘let’s all hold hands and get along’ area but literally no one wants to go after Euphy murdered everyone last time. You’d think there’d be at least one dumbass like “Maybe it won’t be a massacre.” But yeah Zero’s like “Oh well I just happen to have a million people I can give to the zone if you exile me and let me go scott free” and everyone’s like “that’s a super shitty thing to do but okay” so then Zero tells Suzaku that culture is stored in the titty and all the one million people do their I am Spartacus thing and wear Zero’s costume which had to be a logistical nightmare, like Zero’s outfit already is pretty expensive with the fancy clothes and the helmet and shit and some of them are randomly customized even though that defeats the purpose like how do you do this on a terrorist budget in a few days without anyone in the government finding out. Like “we received an order for a million pounds of the thing used in Zero’s helmet on the black market” seems like it’d stand out. But yeah, the million Zeros get away, partially because of the “dogs playing basketball” rule that they’re all Zero because their culture of being Zero is stored in their titty which wouldn’t hold up in court but also because if they just kill a million people who’re just trying to leave that’d be bad for the government, not that they’re not used to genocide and being hated as Imperialists but Suzaku specifically doesn’t want that on his and Nunally’s hands while they’re trying to actually do shit for Japan for once. Feel like there’s probably a good cause for peaceful detainment and not letting them just walk out but it’s not like they’d find Lelouch or whoever the supposed second Zero was anyway even if they strip-searched everyone since he was never there and if it isn’t Lelouch the only thing that makes him Zero sight-wise is the mask.

Inuyasha: So yeah we get the conclusion of Shiori’s story for Inuyasha and I just can’t help thinking about how nice it is that she went on to help a lot of other half-demons in Yashahime because of an act of kindness that Inuyasha showed her right here, really good ripple effect shit. But yeah Shiori gets pissed that her grandpa killed her dad and Kekkaishi YEETs him and his followers out of the barrier so Inuyasha can backlash wave the lot of them. We still got fifteen minutes left though so even after Inuyasha says he’s not going to murder a little girl for a powerup that’ll get power crept in a few seasons, Shiori offers him the blood coral crystal to break to give him the powerup instead as thanks for not fucking murdering her. We can’t have the climax of the episode just be Inuyasha smacking a crystal ball though so Taigokumaru’s spirit yeets itself out of the crystal and fights with Inuyasha and attacks Shiori but her dad makes a barrier to bounce him off of so Inuyasha can kill him a second time and get the Red Tessaiga. There’s some navelgazing about how life as a half demon is rough but how Inuyasha thinks that hardship will be good for Shiori and he’s rooting for her in his own way and in Yashahime we see he’s right and all in all that’s pretty nice. Anyway next time we have the Panther Demon filler arc which is honestly probably one of my favorite filler arcs in Inuyasha so that’ll be fun.

Yu Yu Hakusho: Yusuke continues his fight with Suzaku and Suzaku splits himself into seven, which this doesn’t seem to be the Multi-Form or Shadow Clones deal where it divides his energy, each one seems as strong as the original so that’s just kind of broken. Keiko pulls a bait and switch on the zombies which neither Suzaku nor Yusuke see coming despite watching the whole thing on Spirit TV, guess Suzaku had the camera point at the door instead of on Keiko for some reason even though the point is to make Yusuke watch her die. Anyway Yusuke flashes back to Genkai telling him he’s a little bitch that always doubts himself and splits his energy across multiple plans instead of having the confidence to go for something with everything he has and make it work instead of holding back in case it doesn’t. This and remembering his mom crying over his death and all the relationships he’s formed makes him go Super Saiyan in what I can only describe as a Fully Body Shotgun which I don’t think ever comes up again. He knocks down all the Suzakus but it’s just time to start the real fight since Yusuke’s lifted his limiter again like he does in every fight.

Fate Zero: So the clusterfuck in the middle of Saber and Lancer’s battle continues to grow as Iskandar just fucking dares everyone to come at him and five of the seven servants actually do. Gilgamesh is all like “Ugh, why do I have to do this shit, breathing sucks, I’m a king, someone breathe for me.” And tries to murder everyone with spears and shit but turns out Berserker is Darth Vader this time around and uses the force to steal his stolen weapons until Rin’s dad is all like “Dude you’re showing the whole world our fucking moveset, get the fuck out of there. Which given that Gilgamesh is an archer which are supposed to be independent and he’s a fucking snobby asshole, even with a Command Seal I’m surprised that worked. Also Waver’s racist teacher is all “hah wow, I was supposed to have Rider and the token teenager character stole it from me” and Iskandar’s like “I like this kid that’s ride or die with me even though he cries all the time way more than someone who doesn’t even step onto the battlefield you stuck up prick” and then Lancer and Berserker double-team Saber (giggity) and Lancer’s not happy about it because he was fighting Saber first and doesn’t wanna just jump her with Darth Vader but more Command Seals are thrown around until Iskander runs over Darth Vader with his fucking Lightning Chariot and that’s kind of shitty because Racist Teacher man wasted a Command Seal to have Lancer attack Saber for like five seconds before making him retreat. Bug Dude is also kinda freaked out that Berserker just kinda went for Saber meaning she must be pretty pissed at Saber about something anyway so basically everyone runs away and nothing is really accomplished, we didn’t even really need Kiritsugu’s sniper shit or Assassins’s Ninja Bullshit for this everyone’s just had enough and goes home. Also Caster is a creepy yandere simp for Saber but really who isn’t in this series.

Konosuba: So Aqua’s ready to sit in a lake for a few hours to make some money but for the first time in her live her divine booty is not enough to solve this problem. She gets traumatized by getting attacked by demon alligators and Kazuma and co. are honestly uncharacteristically worried about her and ready to try and help her. Meanwhile generic isekai protagonist has a crush on Aqua despite already having his own harem of bland girls and wants to steal Aqua back but basically the whole group is so totally anti-White Knight they can see right through his shit and turn him down. Kazuma beats him up in the most Kazuma way possible and steals his magic sword, proving that not only is he not doing anything to defeat the devil king but he’s actively sabotaging those that are. Aqua fucking decks the guy and blackmails him so she’s rich now and Kazuma’s rich from selling his OP Isekai Cheat Sword. Also the Dullahan dude is back for revenge about bombing his castle and Kazuma’s like “Wait were we still doing that? Thought we stopped, oh well everyone in this world’s problems are our fault somehow so it sounds about right.”

Sailor Moon Crystal: So this time we get Makoto’s story who’s probably my favorite thus far because her job is punching shit and making sure Usagi doesn’t die from the hundreds of things ready to hit her on a daily basis. I have sort of found a redeeming trait for Usaig in that she’s willing to reach out to anyone and everyone, like she’s not what I would call traditionally ‘nice’ but she is friendly and that ability to pull disparate people together does kind of make more sense for why she’d be the leader rather than the other girls who have useful but more specific talents. But yeah continuing with the trend of things teen girls like trying to destroy the world, haunted bridal shop that also reveals Makoto’s tragic backstory of being a more believable version of Tall Girl. Makoto transforms and beats up the Bride lady with a combination of Zenbonzakura Kageyoshi and Azula’s lightning bending, no fair that she gets two powers but I guess she is the tough one so it make sense. Now we’ve basically got the whole crew except for the one that we already know is active but hasn’t joined the group yet so we’ll see how this goes.

Durarara!!: So Mikado’s in deep shit after stealing the girl away that half the town is looking for, all because he has it hammered into his head that whenever a girl asks for his help he has to give it. There’s a bit of discussion about the nature of the Dollars that I’m sure won’t be important later but both Izaya and Celty show up outside Mikado’s school and he’s kind of in an awkward position since there’s nowhere he can really go but home and lead them to the girl. So he decides to find out about them, or at least Celty, Izaya’s just kinda along for the ride. He gets Celty’s backstory and agrees to take her to the other girl only to get jumped by Yagiri thugs and pull out some Death Note animation internet shit that has even Izaya stunned, Mikado about to actually become the main character of this anime for a bit.

#ooc #Toonami #Custom Toonami Block #Code Geass #Inuyasha #Yu Yu Hakusho #Fate Zero #Konosuba #Sailor Moon Crystal #Durarara!!

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masterfuldoodler · 5 years

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Who’s your favorite character from kingdom hearts? No real reason I’m asking this, just curious.

O_O

Oh man did you ask me that?? Oho oh... man I can't chooooose... I like them all for different reasons...

I really really Sora...but Riku is great too...and Terra... Ugh oh man. Roxas too... Ummmmmm. Oh, oh this is hard...

Sora is the best boi. He's so young, and yet has gone through so much and in the end never turned. His compassion drives him forward and his fierce protection for his friends. His care for those he loves and are close to him is part of what defines him and the choices he makes. He would literally throw his life away for those a cares for. In a heartbeat. He's a little stupid, not the brightest crayon in the knife block, (yes I mixed them all like that on purpose) but he's a loveable idiot. A dork. A sassy boy. His optimistic nature and natural light shines on others and lights the gloom in their hearts, he shares his light, his heart, his happiness. So much darkness and trials have been thrown at him, and yes he struggled, yes he might have stumbled, but he never gave in. (I dunno where I'm actually going with this, but okay let's keep going.) He's stood, and he's fought, and he's guided people back, and all because he cares. Think of all Sora has seen, and gone through. And yet he hasn't let him harden his heart and become bitter or removed. He's still a kid. He makes light-hearted jokes and goofs off. He can be serious when is necessary, but even though he's been in the realm of darkness and killed creatures of pure hate he still goes and plays with Winnie the Pooh. From the very beginning he was pushed into this and had no idea what was happening, and was told very little, but he went ahead and walked the path before him, not because he was strong enough or deserved it, but because he knew it was right. He knew he wasn't strong, he never thought he was and admitted he was weak, but it didn't stop him. He wields the strongest weapon of all, through his friends. He has literally been foiling darkness and saving the light since he was born. There was a broken heart, and dying light, and he saved it. The moment he did so his path was chosen and he became a warrior of light. He saved a life. A baby, saved that life. And would save, many more. He is a hero.

Roxas is a fighter. He's been fighting all his life. Fighting for his friends, fighting for his heart, fighting for the right to live. His whole life people told him what they wanted him to be. No one wanted Roxas to have his heart back (save Xion and Axel and Naminé) in fact, some of them wanted the exact opposite. They manipulated him and told him he wanted what they wanted him to want so they could have what they wanted. And when they didn't want Roxas to live, they simple told him he needed to die. Everything he cared about has been taken from him. His friends, his past, his heart, his life. He wanted his friends and him to be together, all he wanted was to go a pleasant place and hang out with his friends. Is that too much to ask?? Well yeah, when you're nobody and you never were supposed to exist. And so he has been fighting for that right. All he's fighting for is to live. He's alive, he's breathing, he does in fact have the right to stay so. And in the end he gives up everything he has for someone he does not know. Roxas didn't know who Sora was and what he did. He was just a person who use to be alive, and since he was born like a normal person, he has a bigger right to live then himself. And he actually does, give over his life for him. He's not selfish, he's just clinging to all he has and doesn't have anything else. He has a strong heart, and a strong sense of right. And if he was given a life to live he could be a great hero. I like Roxas because he's such a mix of a strong person, a warrior, and a clueless kid who's really just a nice young man.

Riku is a great friend. What he wants is to protect his friends. He cares about them, and wants them to be safe. He's a trusting person who'll see good in everyone, even if it's not there. Because he wants to trust them. He wants strength. Not for strength it's self, but to help his friends. He fell into darkness because he had no one to show him the truth. He was hurt by someone he trusted. All along it had been his role to keep an eye out for his friends, be the leader to keep em safe. And then Sora just goes and gets this keyblade and becomes 'independent'. That left Riku out of a job and he felt kicked out. Well fine, if Sora doesn't want/need him anymore he'll help Kairi. In the end he realizes his mistake and pulls himself out. Puts himself between Kairi and her enemy, holds back the darkness controlling him, and keeps her safe. In his lowest moment he did exactly what he had been wanting to do this whole time. I can't go through his whole story but in the whole thing it's a story of fighting for control. He has strength, he just doesn't know how to control it, and when he can find the light he needs, he can find the strength to protect his friends. He's a guardian, learning how to guard. I love his story arch and what he learns. He's a caring person who's being tough and 'the older one in charge'. I guess what I like is the role he fills and his story.

Terra; he's a nice young gentleman, and like Riku wishes to have the power to protect his friends. He is just a nice guy, misguided because of his desire to trust people. Through his story he's struggling with his inner darkness, but given nothing to fight it with. So left to himself, with his anger to control and a manipulate genius whispering in his ear can we blame him? In the end though he breaks. He's been played and manipulated right into this place and all that anger and darkness he doesn't know how to handle he can't suppress back. Xehanort takes him. But does that stop him? Terra may trust too easy, and he may have more darkness then normal. But that doesn't make him evil, and he will not let someone use him like that. His heart and will are strong, even though he doesn't hold the title he is a Keyblade Master. Xehanort had to tear Terra into pieces and actually run away before he could get full control of Terra. Terra didn't lay down and let him take him, he wasn't lost, he's still a guardian of the light. It's a depressing tale, he fought and lost. But what I like is how kind he is, everything he did he thought was to protect his friends. Never was he greedy or power hungry, he only cared for the safety of his friends and the light. But if Lingering Will could find himself back into the fight he would take on Xemnas again and win back his body and reclaim his heart. Fix what mistakes he had made, and fulfill his promise to Aqua and Ven.

Vanitas has such a pathetic story. It's lonely and depressing. Broken and thrown away, every flaw and everything he hates is all he is. All he can feel is hate and disgust and anything negative. Void of happiness, but he can feel that missing hole. Longing to be a real whole person, with light his own. Given a destiny to be used by another, his purpose to life someone else's gain. Lied to and used. His life is not his own. Xehanort has only used him to get Terra where he needed him, Aqua too, and to eventually become the X-blade for him. How will becoming a weapon of ultimate power fill his inner longing? It's such a sad story, because he's so lost. There's no light to cling to, no future for him, no one who'd care if he faded into darkness. And yet his other self has everything. Poor Vanitas. It's no wonder he hates him. And in the end, the only goal he had, what he lived to get to, was taken from him. Ven killed both of them and now he is completely lost. He resigns himself to his fate, for what else did he have? It's the story of a lost soul longing for love, and never getting it.

So to answer your question: I can't choose. I like them all for different things. And there are others I like too, but I don't have as many points for why. And I don't want ramble about Gula right now, this ask has taken a long time ;-;. So there's my thoughts about these characters and why I like them. Probably not the only reasons either. I'm not sure how understandable this all is because when I just type what I'm thinking....my rambling gets weird....

Also I don't know what you mean by not real??? So I kinda skipped that. :') Thanks for the ask!! This was really fun!

#text #kh #kingdom hearts #thanks for the ask!#ask #sora #riku #roxas #vanitas #terra #characters #rambling #august rambles

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