#finally a manga that doesn't destroy my hopes and dreams

[beanghostprincess]

*holds you by shoulders*

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT 1082 I WAS SURE IT WAS SHIPPY THING AND NOW I NEED TO KNOW

*starts sobbing while slowly falling to my knees*

…….please

I SAW THIS YESTERDAY NIGHT WHEN I WAS ABOUT TO FALL ASLEEP AND I JUST WOKE UP EARLY TO REPLY BECAUSE I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR AGES FOR THIS QUESTION I AM GOING TO KISS YOU ANON-

I do love and adore the shippy part of 1082 because I am a very intense Shuggy shipper and I had been waiting to read their break-up for sooo long. But it's not exactly what made the chapter life-changing for me, tbh.

Buggy's speech is... Is incredibly beautiful and encouraging. It explains so much about his character, the dynamic he has with Cross Guild, and why he's so resentful toward Shanks. Throughout the manga, we've seen him in serious moments, yes, but usually, Buggy is pretty much used for comedy relief more than anything. This is one of the first times we've seen Buggy realize the position he has now and say "Fuck it. Already on the verge of dead for these two, might as well do something with this shitty situation because for once, I have the opportunity to be brave and be more than what people think of me". There's literally nothing stopping him right now, and he prefers to risk his life enraging Crocodile and Mihawk than letting this opportunity of showing who he truly is slide.

And tbh, we haven't seen them ever since (I am starving please-) but I am really hopeful his speech somehow makes Crocodile and Mihawk have a little tiny itty bitty of respect for him at least. Because out of the three? Buggy is the one who deserves the title of pirate more.

Mihawk and Crocodile don't have dreams or ambitions and see pirating as a business. Even when Crocodile did have ambitions (remember when the silly rubber guy destroyed all of his dreams that was a funny arc haha) his whole personality has always been more of a mafioso than anything. Mihawk is a simple man and is bored with life being at the top of the top, he clearly wants something interesting to happen but doesn't see any use in looking for it himself. They care about their commodities and wealth. But out of the three, Buggy is the one who had to give up on his dream and now he has the opportunity to fulfill it.

"How can you call yourselves pirates with schemes like that?! You're doing it all backwards!! [...] Way back when... What did you guys want to be?! [...] I wanna be king of the pirates!! Wealth? Power? Why stop there when we can have it all?!"

This is something a real pirate would say. He talks like Roger here, I am going to curl up and cry don't look at me-

What I like about One Piece is the constant use of themes like dreams and freedom etc, etc... That's something we all know. But you wouldn't expect it coming from Buggy, of all people. And I think I'm pretty fond of him being brave and finally acting upon what he truly wants to do. What makes it great is that you have this comedy relief character standing up for his dream in front of clearly two other antagonists that have control over him in, well, strength and everything. But Buggy has something they don't and it's so, so much ambition and a dream that could be considered childish but it's the representation of freedom and doing things because you want to follow your heart. This is kind of why I always say Luffy would be more fond of Buggy if he knew the whole story and would probably support him a lot--

What I like the most about this chapter is both Buggy's character development through a speech + flashback and Mihawk and Crocodile being completely stunned by it because they weren't expecting this to happen from Buggy of all people. I know I sound like a broken record but I really, really, want them to respect Buggy a little bit more after this. Also, Buggy doesn't do this only to announce he's going to follow his dream now that he's on equal footing with Shanks. He does it because the other two mention needing overwhelming power over the rest. Buggy isn't stupid and knows how manipulating people works. The thing that makes pirates work harder isn't money, it's a dream. And there's nothing a pirate desires more than the One Piece, so that's kind of why he announces it publicly. First, to establish power, and second, so that way Mihawk and Crocodile don't get rid of him because seriously, Buggy is a better boss than these two because their followers appreciate him and don't feel forced to follow him.

Not to mention that the whole thing also shows more of Buggy's relationship with Roger and how left out he felt because people thought highly of Shanks instead of him. But Buggy, even if he was jealous, was willing to follow Shanks despite his feelings because he accepted being less worthy of respect than him. Shanks shone brightly and Buggy decided that, even if he wanted to be seen like that too, he'd give up on his dream and support Shanks instead because at least they'd do this together, just the way they did everything back at the time.

But then Shanks hesitates, and I think that's Buggy's last straw because he sees giving up going for the One Piece as something disrespectful to their captain (dad) and thinks it's unfair that Shanks is so respected by everyone even though the one wanting to follow their captain's steps right away is him. It's honestly frustrating. And then you understand better why Buggy is angry at Shanks-- Yeah, he made him eat the devil fruit and lost the map because of him (not really but whatever), but the way I see it that's just a metaphor for the real reason why Buggy is so resentful. Shanks' existence, even if it was not on purpose, made Buggy feel so powerless he gave up on his dream. And eating a devil fruit means the sea hates you and you can't have any independence in the pirate world, and losing the map is kind of like losing the only thing that guides you. He left Buggy with nothing and let him carry the burden of a lost dream.

This is funny because Shanks did absolutely nothing wrong and everything is a product of jealousy and miscommunication, but I understand why Buggy blames Shanks and this chapter makes it clearer and explains it perfectly.

Basically, it's such an amazing chapter for Buggy's character and it's definitely my favorite for him specifically. Although the flashback does wonders for my Shuggy heart.

Also, adding more points for the revolutionary plot in the end and Sabo showing up because I adore him <3

[givemeonebreath]

Sir Nobody

(Notes before beginning: *Spoilers for A Link to the Past and related manga, and Oracle of Seasons and Ages manga. *Reminder that manga reads right to left.)

I've said before that I don't subscribe to the fancanon that Legend is Zelda's brother, because the point of Legend - or, indeed, any Link - is that they come from humble origins.

But that's not entirely true.

In A Link to the Past, Link is the last in a bloodline of knights that Agahnim seeks to destroy.

But he didnt know that.

In Shotaro Ishinomori's A Link to the Past comic, after Link's parents (both knights) disappeared into the Dark World, his uncle deliberately kept him from royal politics, and Link believed his parents to have simply died. He gets called into the role of the Legendary Hero, completely baffled, wondering why the hell some ordinary kid can suddenly telepathically communicate with the princess.

It's much the same in the Akira Himekawa manga. Link has lived a docile life being an apple farmer, raised by his uncle, believing his parents died when he was a baby. His uncle suggests that when Link was younger he had dreams of being a swordsmith, and Link fobs him off thusly -

(Also, he cooks!)

Later, when shit starts to hit the fan, it's evident that Link was totally invested in his orchard, and the future he'd seen for himself was that of a provider.

He was thrust on his journey with just as much bewilderment as most of the other Links.

Here is also a good place to compare the wording of his uncle's final dialogue in the Japanese vs English releases of the game. English gives us, "Save the princess. Zelda is your...", which of course gave rise to the theory that Zelda "is your... sister." The original, though, is "Protect Princess Zelda. You are, the princess's..." which leads more naturally into something like, "... final/only hope", or even more bluntly, "knight". And, the use of save is quite vague, whereas protect has stronger connotations with the specific duty of a knight.

Ultimately, he decides it doesn't matter where or who he came from, the only self that matters is the one right now.

In the Oracle of Seasons manga, Link is born with the triforce on his hand; his family knows he's destined for great things.

And he does know, in this case, that he comes from a long line of knights. But he doesn't want to be one. He wants adventure, not glory. (Also fits the characterisation of Legend not wanting a leadership role.)

Like, when Impa notices his hand -

And actually, the only reason he ended up on an adventure is because his grandma convinced him to take the knights' trial in Castletown, where he was then transported to Holodrum.

Maybe this advice stuck with him.

So we all know Zelda lore is a cobbled together mess, right. Link's Awakening came after A Link to the Past, so it was said that Link was on the boat in the first place travelling away from Hyrule to "continue his training" after defeating Agahnim in ALttP.

Then the Oracle games came out, and they (according to Hyrule Historia, at least) are set between the previous Hero of Legend games. By all accounts, it seems his Seasons and Ages journeys weren't all that voluntary; he didn't travel to Holodrum and Labrynna so much as he was magically sent there. And he was on his boat trying to sail back to Hyrule from those places when the events of Link's Awakening happened. Or... sailing to yet another new land to continue his training, if you read the Zelda Encyclopedia.

Everything, all over the place.

(This is to say nothing of Sir Raven's influence on Link actually wanting to become a knight in the Oracle of Ages manga.)

My point is, no matter how you want to interpret the Hero of Legend, I still think he meant it when he described himself as a "nobody". At the very least, he wants everyone (and himself) to believe he is. I also think there's interesting potential in the fact that he's mistrustful, disdainful of knights after having them turned against him, and maybe because of this he doesn't want to telegraph that he comes from a long line of them.

[narhinafan]

Boruto flopping does makes sense tbh sp basically copied every scenes of sns and narusaku which is parallels with biased hope for shipping and nothing else! None of the characters got development rather than creating unneccassary fillers arcs and anime canons.

Sarada is a uchiha yet she is freaking embarrasing the entire time. Jealous of boruto and wanna be hokage just for fame and no other reason behind it🤦‍♀️ Naruto 24/7 yelling I'm gonna become hokage" have his reason and past which make sense but her dream is freakin fame clout chaser and mitsuki is being used as sai which is totally sad and sumire is not even in anime the half time and manga her presence matter more than sarada right now and if borusumi endgame then there gonna be protest like she didn't appear once shit💀 Sp is ruining the show!

The worse fact I totally hate about sarada is that she had no flashback or sad backstory just got bland normal ass who is my daddy finding arc? And even boruto story got changed in prophecy arc& love it that he is not just brat who wants his dad attention, finally a main goal but kawaki,sumire,mitsuki are the character they should focus more because of their sad past and all we are getting her salad getting her sharingans!

Can't wait to see how they gonna change and destroy prophecy arc to make her speech like hinata in front of kawaki and just her yelling crying and all characters got nothing but less panels and cut scenes as compared to manga😅 and also don't forget sp forcing kawasumi☠ and I'm already saying this that even her 3 tomoe arc gonna be centered and the reason of awakening will be boruto☠

Yeah like some of the canon anime only arcs are really good cause they have a proper story behind them and planned out cause the author of the manga was heavily involved. Later though you can clearly tell the difference between the fillers and proper eps, what makes it worse is cause they are fillers the story gets pulled down so much cause they are so bias that they do things that make no sense.

Sarada does have a reason to be Hokage it is cause of Naruto helping her family during Gaiden, but feels like she doesn't properly get what it means. She just found someone to look up and is copying Naruto there are several times were she doesn't show the usual will of fire and team spirit, but does a 108 after hearing Naruto's opinion. Like with Kawaki she hated him at first, but after seeing Naruto she switched to being all supportive cause she is the future Hokage.

Yeah Mitsuki got some spotlight in the filler arc, but still doesn't feel he is meeting his full potential when he is clearly one of the best next gen characters. Same with Sumire like she was shown to be match for veteran adult ninja, but she gets majorly nerfed later in the anime. Like skill wise she should be above Sarada with only Boruto and Mitsuki being equal in their ages group. Since Sumire was trained by a former root and lived to exact revenge on the village till recently. Even with Nue being weakened she should be able to do so much more, but she's been weakened to match the level of the rest of the genin.

Yeah SP forcing Kawaki and Sumire is just ruining the feeling the manga gave. Like Sumire showed actual concern when she overheard that Boruto almost died, but they removed to have it seem as she was visiting not that she was only there due to being Amado's assistant.

[curryram]

Friend: is that a straight couple Me: Friend: what’s the catch

[reginaldqueribundus]

Things about One Piece that crack me tf up

not one single character has worn an eyepatch in over 20 years of this 1,000+ chapter pirate manga

there's like… laser guns and cyborgs and CCTV but everyone's still using sailboats to get around (with square sails no less)

there are canonically three different kinds of furries

Luffy hangs around all day with the only person in the world who knows where the Death Star is, but he doesn't give a shit

Eiichiro Oda has spent more than half of his life so far writing and drawing One Piece. at age 22 he created his first ever manga series and it became the bestselling comic book in history and when it finally ends he can probably just retire

Oda planned One Piece would last about five years. This was in 1997

Oda just casually confirming his universe has SECRET ANCIENT MOON CIVILIZATIONS with ROBOT ARMIES and FUCKING SPACE PIRATES, and possibly ACTUAL ALIENS… in a fucking chapter cover story. And then never mentioning it again for 14 actual real-world years

eat a devil fruit. is it the one that makes you a godlike indestructible force of nature, or the one that makes you a rubber band who can't swim? welp

Sengoku is one of the most serious characters in the whole series, he runs the military, but he has a giant stupid afro and a pet goat that follows him everywhere and he can turn into a giant buddha with an even bigger afro

Chopper was just vibing as an animal and then one day he ate a weird fruit and woke up with self-awareness and hopes and dreams and anxiety and now he has a medical degree? the reindeer, he walks like a man

Dr. Hiliruk is basically one of those hippie moms who tries to cure measles with essential oils and shit but he's also one of the most heroic characters in the entire series

it's one of the goofiest wackiest manga out there but when you look closely the setting is actually a morally grey hellworld mostly run by a corrupt government built on secrets and lies which only exists to support cartoonishly evil aristocrats who live on a mountain beating slaves all day, and the rest is either lawless wastelands or controlled by 10 foot tall invincible psychopaths who could easily take over the rest of the world if they didn't all hate each other

the Celestial Dragons commit horrific atrocities every 0.001 seconds but they all dress like fucking idiots and have Dr. Seuss haircuts

there's a guy named Dragon who has dedicated his life to destroying them

Luffy meets people and goes "you're my friend now" and they have like no choice in the matter

Luffy: I'm not a hero! also Luffy: I will not rest until I crush this cruel tyrant who is taking food away from little kids

his grandpa is a world-famous war hero and his dad is trying to overthrow the entire government but Luffy doesn't even care

characters will show up and be like "I'm an 800-year-old time traveler from a lost period of history" and the story is like "that's neat. time for fifty pages of men crying"

Buggy the stupid fucking circus clown with blue hair and a flying penis, who spent his formative years with the literal greatest pirate in the entire world and yet somehow completely sucks shit, has more screen time than the main character's mentor and beloved elder brother combined. love it.

now that Jinbe has joined the crew Robin finally has another person with more than one brain cell to talk to

Brook became a global rockstar while being a skeleton and his fans just rolled with it

the Marines show up at his concert and accuse him of being a random pirate from 50 years ago and he's like "yes I am that pirate and I'm quitting the music gig to go back to being a pirate, also I work for the guy at the top of your shit list!"

[blushing-titan]

My thoughts on ch. 139

Some of you may be familiar with my previous writings - I usually try to stay as collected as possible, but today's post will be different. Ever since the chapter came out, I've been reblogging a lot of rants and memes about it. Those of you who follow my blog (thank you so much, really happy to have you here! ❤) know that I didn't really enjoy this ending. I want to elaborate more on that in this post - my only advice is to buckle up, because today we may get a bit heated (I apologize in advance for the sassy approach - I usually try to stray away from that, but guess today's post is more of a stream of conciousness/rant) :'D

1. Ymir

Starting up with one of the most controversial things about this chapter. Up to this point, I felt really bad for Ymir. Her life was terrible - she was a young girl, who was enslaved and abused by king Shitz Fritz. After she was forced to run away from his hounds, she acquired the power of titans and used it to help the king's cause. For that, she was awarded with the king's seed (🤢), and eventually became a mother of three girls. Through her entire life, she was treated as a slave and a lesser-being by the king - she also died while protecting him, and her daughters were forced to eat her remains after that (🤢🤢).

It felt so tragic to see her 2000 years later, still walking blindly in the paths. It wasn't enough that she was hurt so badly when she was still alive - she remained enslaved to the abusive king even after she died. I was rooting for her to finally be freed from this nightmare - hence I was so happy when ch. 122 came out and we got this scene:

I was genuinely emotional when I saw her reaction. Finally, someone expressed some authentic care for her and tried to snap her out of this blind state. She would finally think about what she wants and try to free herself from the paths because, as Eren said, she was never a slave or a goddess - just a regular person. It's just like she finally let out all the pain that she's been suppressing for all these years.

Yeah...except, as it turns out, her awakening here changes nothing. She doesn't come to any conclusions, like, perhaps, that she doesn’t want to let herself be hurt and mistreated any longer...or that she should fight for herself, try to change her fate - because, after all, her life belongs to her - not anyone else.

Nothing like this happens. Why? Because, as it turns out, she's in love with king Fritz and needs to be proven by Mikasa that she can break this bond first.

....

💀💀💀💀

Excuse me, but...what?

Okay, first and foremost...am I supposed to believe that, during these 2000 years, no one else has gone against their unhealthy affection to someone toxic and unworthy of their love? No one? 🤡 Come on, we even saw that happen in the manga. What about Historia, who thought that her own mother hitting her was a sign of love? Who wanted to believe that her father was good, despite wanting to turn her into a titan? Where was Ymir when Historia stood up for herself against her father's wishes? Or when she flew up to him and delivered the final blow against him?

On top of that...what a disappointing conclusion to Ymir's story. I hoped that she would take her fate into her own hands, and - for example - be reborn and experience life as a free person, surrounded by people who actually care about her. Free herself from paths and destroy it - not because someone shows her that she can indeed detach herself from it, but simply because she wants to.

Instead, 80% of the world population is gone, because she needed to see that Mikasa is able to "free" herself from Eren in order to do the same.

🤡🤡🤡

2. Abandoned plotlines and plot-holes

Mikasa being a Hizuru princess? Never heard of that. Hallucigenia's fate? Who cares. Eren directing Dina's titan in Carla's direction in order to save Berthold? Nah, who would want any more info on that - guess he just couldn't direct her anywhere else. The Ackerman's headaches? Pfff. The fact that Mikasa shouldn't be affected by the memory altering, but somehow still is in the ending? "I guess she just forgot that she should be immune to this". Why was Historia's pregnancy implied as relevant if it wasn't in the end? So many precious panels wasted on that, when they could be used to help solve some other "unanswered questions" instead. Ehhh...🤷

3. Blatant character assassination

There, I'm saying it once again. I have no idea what happened in this chapter but the characters are off. What about Eren - the one who has always believed that freedom was his birthright, and has been fighting and moving forward for his goals? Yeah, turns out he has no idea why he was doing all of that. 

Remember Kenny's quote - everyone is a slave to something? I thought that this implication was pretty poetic in context of Eren's character. Through all his life, he sought freedom, but ironically, he was a slave to that dream...

...turns out it may have been a bit too poetic for this story because Eren is a slave to destiny. Literally - he's going on auto-pilot in order to reach that one moment in which Mikasa beheads him, so Ymir can watch and understand that she can do the same.

Nice joke...except not. Here go our main character's motivations 🗑

He casually commits unjustifiable crimes against humanity - not because he wants to be free or because he found the world beyond the walls disappointing, (...as we were led to believe). He did that because he doesn't know why - and then, he cries that he doesn't want Mikasa to ever find another guy.

:'))

Turns out Eren was somehow always in love with her too...? Yeah, weird way of showing it. Or should I say - not showing it at all.

If you read my previous writings, you know that I'm not very fond of Eremika. The way I interpreted it while reading the story: it was unhealthy, suffocating and one-sided. I hoped for Mikasa to move on and start thinking about herself for once.

Right, what about Mikasa? Has she finally moved on? Is she content with her life? Are her dreams coming true? What's her daily life after all this? Sadly, I don't have the answers. The thing we are shown instead, is how she's sitting next to Eren's grave and, once again, thanking him for wraping the scarf around her. The only thing that implies that she may be somehow still seeing other people is one bubble of text. After all 139 chapters of hoping for her character developement, that's it.

Keep in mind that all other characters are shown together - with their spouses, families and friends - yet Mikasa is still separated and alone. That's right - after she disappears with Eren's head, she's not shown with anyone else until the end of the manga.

While we're on the topic of others, too...do I have to talk about the scenes in which everyone shows some level of gratitude to Eren...for wiping 80% humanity for them? Because I have no words for this.

One last note: I found the humor to be slightly out of place, too. Seriously, after all these terrible events, with so many unanswered questions and character developement of these two...Reiner is still weirdly simping for (now married) Historia and Jean is called a horse face :') Idk, but it feels somehow surreal after everything that's happened.

4. Conclusion

What else can I say...the final chapter disappointed me and I'm pretty sad about it. I'm happy for the people who liked it, but also can't help but feel like it was very far from perfect. I've been following SnK ever since 2013 and it's a bittersweet moment for me. The series had a lot of amazing moments that I'll definitely remember forever. Meanwhile, I would like to read some of the author's thoughts about the way he chose to end the story - perhaps it would clear some confusion (...although I can't help the fact that my first opinion is already formed).

Thank you very much for reading my thoughts - as always, it means a lot to me! ❤ The images used in this post are obviously not mine!

[kureis-writing-hell]

Chisaki Kai Redemption Program AU, Part 1

I wanted to gather stuff about Chisaki's RED project (redemption au) I made till now. There's a lot and it's late so don't mind me if I miss some stuff tehe. It's just a bunch of headcanons!

Nao is my oc, his counselor and my subtle self insert that I shamelessly ship with Kai. This list though is focusing on how Chisaki reacts to the redemption project and is shipping free.

You can find the stories here

• Chisaki joins the RED project on his own, hoping it could help him get out of Tartarus.

• He expects it to be a naive project with "friendship is magic" attitude, instead he gets an ironic counselor who quickly starts calling him out on his shit.

• They meet every two days for two hours.

• It takes a long time for Chisaki to actually start opening up and even then he tries to calculate every word. His main goal is to just get out of Tartarus and see Pops.

• Chisaki understands his past actions. The only thing he doesn't want to address is Eri.

• (In his eyes Eri is the embodiment of his own insecurities and fears. She reminds him too much of himself and his childhood. He hates it.)

• He starts spacing out and losing track of time. If not for the visits of Nao he would lose it totally.

• Chisaki starts having panick attacks, especially first few months. Some of them are violent to the point he needs to be pacified.

• He doesn't get much sleep. His dreams usually contains Shigaraki, Pops or Eri and they're negative every time.

• Nao is not at all professional. He's more of a friend than a counselor to Chisaki but thanks to that Kai starts to trust him enough to talk.

• Still, their discussions are pretty basic. Kai doesn't talk much so Nao fills the void most of the time. When they talk it's usually basic stuff like books, movies and games.

• Once they actually got to talk about Shie Hassaikai. It was the first time that Kai was the one to talk almost whole 2 hours. At the end Kai admitted he feels guilty for destroying his family.

• Normally the RED project counselors have to follow a lot of rules when dealing with villains. But Nao managed to make a bet with the warden. Thanks to that he can bring Chisaki one prosthetic.

• It's old and uncomfortable and doesn't clench hard enough to hold small objects but it obviously lifts Chisaki's mood.

• Chisaki and Nao often discuss the hero society. It's the only topic Kai wants to come back to on his own.

• It's also the topic they argue about the most. Kai, knowing Nao's past and quirk, can't understand why he doesn't hate heroes and quirks in general.

• One of those argues leads to Kai slipping about how he always hated his own quirk. He knew it's powerful and useful but couldn't ever imagine how to use it for "good".

• Asked, he finally speaks about Eri too. Her quirk was even more deadly than his. He was so disgusted about it he never even saw a child in her.

• Nao realize the disgust Chisaki so often speaks about is more a feeling of fear. He points it out but Kai doesn't agree.

• When he thinks about it deeply Chisaki know it's true. He never admits it to Nao though.

• (Manga spoiler) A month before the Tartarus break out Nao gets hospitalized. He falls into coma after fighting a villain.

• (Manga spoiler) Chisaki refuse working with a different counselor. He doesn't change his mind and regress during the month before the break out.

[ice-cream-writes-stuff]

¤~°Ghost Marriage: Lovely Bride To Be?! Part 2°~¤

Previously... 

"Your right. You will become my bride and then become a princess."

"Huh?"

(Y/N) could feel her skin turn cold after what Elias said. "Your joking right?" (Y/N) blurted out with fear creeping into her soul. Elias just kept smiling as he placed his cup down on the counter and goes closer to (Y/N). Taking the bear mug from her paleling hands. The Ghost Groom placed it next to the other mug. Elias almost translucent hands holds (Y/N)'s gently.

"No. We will be married twomrrow, my dear princess!" Elias said sweetly like honey. (Y/N) could feel herself grow faint as she falls into the Ghost grooms hold. Then the last thing she could see was her mugs before sleep consumed her body.

Present Time...

"*Yawn~*" Grim found himself awake as he stretches his body. He looks at where (Y/N) was supposed to be. But she wasn't there at all. "Weird.. Did (Y/N) awoke earlier than the Great Grim? She must be down stairs making tuna for breakfast!"

Grim cheers loudly, hopping out of the bed and starts heading down the stairs.

"Tuna~ Tuna~!" Grim sang as he reached the the hallway to the kitchen. He then heard a yell and stopped singing. "You, Trespasser! Stop right there!"

"Huh!?" Grim found himself being surrounded by three ghosts. "Oh it's just the usual ghosts. Or not.. They're wearing something different?" Grim asks himself with confusion.

"This mansion is the prince's and his brides reception hall. It's off limits four outsiders!" One of the odd ghosts yells. "Prince? Bride?? Reception hall??" Grim was growing even more confused than ever before. "I don't get it, but it's my dorm. The outsiders are you guys!" Grim says in retaliation.

"What a proud sentence. Before youngsters like you were born. We decided this place was going to belong to our country!" The leader stated pridefully.

"If you don't want to get out, then we'll drive you away by force! Get out before your beaten up by us!"

"Ffnga!!" Grim cries out in shock as the ghosts rush towards him. Not having a enough time to use his fire breath. Grim flees, rushing towards the exit of the Rambschakle dorm. Yet the ghosts kept chasing after him until he got outside the  gate.

"*Huff, huff!*" Grim pants out of breath. Grim looks behind him to see the ghost guards nowhere in sight. Yet the gate was locked shut to let anyone in the dorm. "Those ghosts took away me and (Y/N)'s dorm. What the hell is happening right now!" Grim growls out after regaining his breath.

Grim heads over to the main campus to talk with the principal about this ghost problem. Once he made it to his office and explained what happened. Mr. Crowley responds with. "Since no one was using the Ramshackle dorm. It became guest house last year before you two arrived."

The headmaster mutters under his breath. "It's that season of the year again.."

"Huh? What do you mean by "season"?" Grim asks confusingly. Mr. Crowley gave a calm smile. "The one who drove you l off is the family of Ghost Groom." The headmaster says simply. "A Ghost Groom? I don't know if that's something we should admire or be scared of..." Grim thought of the Ghost Groom

"Even if you say so. He's still a princes of a destroyed country from a long time ago. The princes always dreamed of getting married to his "dear princess". Sadly before he could fulfil his wish, his life ended right then and there. Even though he became a ghost. He still is looking for his ideal prince..."

"When that season of the year had come. They will search all over Twisted Wonderland to find the perfect bride." Mr. Crowley explained. "It seems like they had chosen Ramshackle dorm as a place to stay when they accomplish their mission. I'm glad they chose one of NRC building for such a occasion!" Mr. Crowley states with pride.

"It's not time for you to be proud! Just drive those troublesome ghosts away!" Grim says furiously. "It would be trouble if we drove them away... *Cough!* Don't you feel sorry for them? Just let them be."

"Why?!" Grim questions angrily. "Because the prince will be looking for a princess that doesn't even exist in our school."

" "A princess that doesn't even exist"? What do you mean by that?"

"Well...The Ghost Groom ideal princess is... Someone who is (Your Height). Someone with smooth looking skin. Someone with kind eyes. A charming smile, a sweet voice that holds determination. Someone with cuticles and soft (h/l) hair. And lips that you would want to kiss unconditionally.~  Those are the terms the ghost groom is looking for."

The headmaster started to laugh. "He is trying to find someone super beautiful and kind. Someone like that doesn't exist, he would have to search everywhere for his ideal princess. Especially at a all boys academy!" The headmaster said, trying to stifle his giggles.

"Wouldn't you agree (Y/N)?" The headmaster says as he waits for the female to answer. But not a single peep was heard. "Huh? Wasn't (Y/N) with you Grim??" Mr. Crowley said with a eyebrow raised in confusion. "No? She wasn't even in the Ramshackle dorm when the ghosts attacked..."

Before the two could ponder over the fact that where the female was. Ortho rushes into the principles office. "Young Shroud, what is the matter?" "Ghosts are taking over the school and kidnapped (Y/N)!!!!"

"Ehh?! Kidnapped?!!" The two idiots yell in sync. Ortho nods his head in agreement. "Yes! Look at this video! It’s last night’s video from the school’s cctv!" Crowley gaped in shocked. "Hey! Please don’t hack the school’s security system!"

Ortho shakes his head and whispers. "Shh, be quiet! I’ll play the video." The younger Shroud pulls out Idias tablet and types in something. Soon Ortho shows the video to the two. The video slowly starts to play.

"*Bzzt... Bzz..*"

The video showed Idia walking about the campus. A slight skip in his step as he walked. "I’ve ordered my favorite manga’s newest print... Along with the spacial mini colored papers. But why is it not delivered by the release date!?" Idia sighs, "it’s a disgrace as an otaku to not get it on the first date.There’s nobody around too, let’s hurry and go to the shop..."

"...ound you..." A unknown voice whispers.

Idia goes quiet, "Eh? Just now... Did I hear someone’s voice?" The unknown voice speaks again. "I finally... found you..." Soon two figures rush past Idia. Though mainly it was a male ghost carrying a, what seemed to be a unconscious (Y/N).

"MY PRINCESS!!!!!!!!" The male ghosts shouts into the air with glee. Not noticing poor Idia who was spooked. "GYAA———!!!!!" He screamed in fear as the ghost flys past him. Then the video ends.

"*Bzzt! Bzzzzzz———*"

The three people in the room went silent. "... this ghost is..." Grim tries to say, but his words turned quiet. Mr. Crowley "Yes... Such a thing... Has happened." Mr. Crowley takes a deep breath. "It seems like the ghost groom has finally found his ideal bride!"

Grim was stares at the Headmaster with fear. "The ideal bride is... (Y/N)!? She’s not at all a princess! She may be kind, nice and stuff. But that's just in her nature! (Y/N)'s always determined because we deal with problems that you or other students give us! And you call her tired grin a charming smile?" Grim states truthfully.

Mr. Crowley starts to mumble a bit. "Huh..?" "(Your Height), kind eyes, sweet voice, charming smile... or not. (h/l) hair.. I think it’s fits the ideal of the ghost prince." Mr. Crowley tells himself quietly.

Ortho (who had heard Mr. Crowley) also agreed with the Headmaster. "Yup. Based on my brothers taste and other students. (Y/N) is cool from every angle. Damn you ghost, what a precise eyes you have!"

"I can’t really agree..." Grim sighs out.

"Anyway, it seems like we have a trouble." Mr Crowley remarks as he placed a gloved finger under his chin. "If (Y/N)'s chosen to be the ghost’s bride, then that means..." "It’s a problem—-!! The three heard a student screamed loudly.

" "It sure is noisy outside!" Mr. Crowley tells himself as he, Ortho and Grim rush outside the office. Standing in the middle of the interior hallway. "What is this riot!" Mr. Crowley yells out.

Ace, who was in hall. Runs up to the three with Deuce beside him. "Headmaster... ah, and also Grim! There’s a problem!" "There are so many ghosts that we haven't seen before. They appeared out of nowhere!" Deuce adds on, "they are taking over the cafeteria and are saying something like. "This will be the ceremony hall of the wedding"! We resisted them, but no matter how much we take them down. The ghosts keep reviving!"

"STOP YOUR STEP!!"

At the end of the hall, Senior Vanrouge and Sebek were conversing with the ghosts knights. "They became angery just because of a mere joke I made about them. Such a bunch of narrow minded ghosts." Lilia jests with ignorance in his tone.

"Ugh, the guys from Diasomnia! Why did you bring these ghosts here?!" Ace yells out in fear. "You naive ghosts who dare to snarl at Lilia. I'll get tid of you guys!" Sebek said with very little amusement.

To be continued...

(Okay! Part 2 is out! I hope you guys liked this and part 1. Notes and reblogs are appreciated (with credit)! Also, if anyone wants to chat or ask questions, hit me up! I wanna here some chapter five theories too.)

[moonsofmars-writes]

The seed of a promise

Fandom: 七つの大罪 - 鈴木央 | Nanatsu no Taizai | The Seven Deadly Sins - Suzuki Nakaba (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationships: Diane & Fairy King Harlequin Characters: Fairy King Harlequin, Diane, Ludociel, Gerheade, Helbram, Elaine Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, War, Death, Blood and Injury, Nothing is graphic, Minor Character Death, Non-Graphic Violence, Hopeful Ending, Pre-Relationship

Summary: In a world where the Holy War didn’t end with Elizabeth and Meliodas, where Mael never became Estarossa, a final battle has just been fought.

The Holy War is finally over.

As the victors gather and the vanquished are chased and finished, the young Fairy King tries to find a way to prevent yet another tragedy - and ends up finding an ally in an unexpected place.

Notes: I've been wondering for a while what would have happened if Gowther's plan hadn't worked and Demons and Goddesses had kept fighting and this is what I managed to come up with! Since it's me, King and Diane are also here - with a whole lot of drama.

Please, enjoy!

There is blood on his hands and his clothes, on his wings and his hair. It makes his jacket heavy and his skin unpleasantly slick. Harlequin can’t bring himself to care right now.

The battle is over, yet he keeps flying over the field, eyes darting from a corpse to the other, studying the survivors as they make their way through the craters and bodies that cover the ground. Most of them walk silently, looking around as if they just woke up from a dream; others are frantic and turn their heads left and right, calling out names and getting no answer.

Harlequin doesn’t call but still searches. The knot in his stomach starts loosening only when he finally catches a glimpse of Elaine on the ground, standing among some human soldiers, alive and apparently unarmed. He is too distant to see her expression when she looks up at him, but he can read her heart as she can read his and what he reads is relief and exhaustion and grief. Later, when they’ll be home, they’ll find each other to whisper words of loss and comfort, or maybe they’ll just rest together, shoulder to shoulder and hand in hand, as they did when they were younger. Right now, they both have other matters to take care of.

Minutes later, Helbram waves at him, a tired grin on his face. He is floating over the remains of a burned tree surrounded by a group of Fairies, to whom he soon returns to give orders. Harlequin doesn’t approach them and heads forward, feeling relieved that his best friend is fine. He knows he can leave this part to him; after all, Helbram has been his first in command for years. He knows perfectly how to handle the aftermath of a battle.

Gerheade is the next. His advisor looks tired, there is a cut on her cheek and bruises on her left arm, but the purple blood staining her dress isn’t hers. “We are still not sure about the number,” she says after a quick bow. They have done this countless times before, and she knows exactly what he wants to know. “For now, the reports indicate that more than five hundred have fallen. The wounded we have found are being taken care of by the Goddesses. I’ll personally check how many won’t be able to fly back on their own.”

Harlequin nods, clasping his hands behind his back. More than five hundred have died today. He expected a high number, considering that they have battled for hours; he still feels sick. More than five hundred Fairies won’t return to the Fairy King’s Forest alive, five hundred people who trusted him, followed him, and he failed to protect. Deep down, he knows it could have gone worse. If they had lost this battle, he doubts many would have left the field alive, and their home would have been next. Had they lost here, his entire Clan would have eventually been wiped away by the enemy.

Still. Five hundred. He swallows hard and sighs, “Give the order to gather the bodies. We are taking them home.”

Gerheade frowns, a question on her lips, but she holds it back when she meets his eyes. “As you wish, my king.” They have never collected such a large amount of bodies from the battlefield, and it will take hours to find them all and bring them back to the Fairy King’s Forest. It doesn’t matter. He couldn’t protect them, but this doesn’t mean he will abandon them. They deserve this, at least.

His next task is a little more bothersome but necessary. Tomorrow morning there will be an official meeting for the leaders of Stigma, but he doesn’t want to leave before checking on the Goddesses.

Read on AO3

As he flies, Harlequin’s gaze turns to the east. That’s where the Demons came from, where the Demon King opened a portal from the Demon Realm to bring most of his army to Britannia. He is fairly sure that the portal collapsed when the Demon King died, destroyed by the hand of the Supreme Deity; still, many Demons flew in that direction when they realized the battle was lost as if in a last attempt to save their life. That’s where the Goddesses warriors have followed them, too.

In the distance, Harlequin can see figures battling in the air, he can see smoke rising from the ground and flashes of light against the darkening blue of the sky. Inside, he feels nothing but exhaustion. Driven by the euphoria following their victory, some Fairies have tried to chase after the Demons too, yelling menaces and obscenities. He stopped them, of course. He has no rule over the other Clans, but he does over his people and he decided that today, no other Fairy will die and no other Fairy will kill.

Briefly, he wonders if there are still Giants standing with the Demons. So many kept fighting until the very end, even after their leader Matrona was killed, but it’s hard to believe that not even one gave up to fear and tried to save themselves at last. As he stares at the fight that still consumes in the distance, Harlequin feels as his bowels have turned into stone. Even if they had tried to escape, they are probably being killed right now. And all of that, because the Giant Clan chose to side with the Demons.

The thought leaves a bitter taste in his mouth, so he decides to push it away and focus on his task. There is nothing he can do for the Giants right now. And at least, even though he knows he is being selfish, he is relieved he doesn’t sense her power over there. Perhaps it’s because she is already dead, but right now, Harlequin allows himself to hope.

He finds Ludociel hovering high in the sky, giving orders to a small group of Goddesses. “Ah, Fairy King,” he welcomes him with his usual smile, gesturing at his soldiers to go. Some bow and fly away, others stay close, hands tight around their weapons, watching carefully their surroundings. Ludociel’s guards. Stigma’s victory has been overwhelming today, but they are obviously not going to let their guard down anytime soon.

Ludociel pays no attention to them as he turns towards Harlequin. There are stains of dirt and dry blood on his feathers, yet his cape is immaculate, so white it hurts his eyes; he probably changed it as soon as the battle was over. “I see your army is preparing to retreat.”

“My people need rest,” Harlequin says, eyes wandering over the few Goddesses around them, over their tattered clothes and bruised skin. “As does yours.”

“We will get to it,” Ludociel dismisses the problem with a wave of his hand. “As soon as our enemies are gone for good.”

There is something in his tone that makes Harlequin’s hands twitch. “Most of the Demon warriors have died today,” he says slowly, “The Demon King is gone. All his Commandments are gone.” He took some of them down himself. Even the Demon King’s son fell, overpowered by the magic of the Archangels. “Isn’t it enough?”

Ludociel hums. “The most of the work is done, undoubtedly. However, we can’t know for sure how many Demons are left in the Demon Realm unless we don’t verify.” His voice is sweet as honey, it clashes unpleasantly with the cold implication of his sentence.

“We both know that the ones left in the Demon Realm are mostly civilians, Ludociel. Will you slaughter them too? Even the ones who cannot fight? Even their children?”

There is a moment of pause, as Ludociel studies him, tilting his head, his expression unchanged. “We will do what’s necessary,” he finally says. “We don’t want anything like this to happen again, don’t we?”

It takes an effort not to react to the veiled threat in his words, but Harlequin knows this game well; he won’t offer Ludociel anything, especially not a sign of weakness. “What about the Giants?” He asks instead.

Ludociel paints regret in his expression like a skilful painter. “They will be taken care of too. They are traitors, and as such they will be considered.” He slightly shakes his head, “Such a shame, don’t you think?”

This time, Harlequin doesn't hold back. “I don’t think it’s wise to pursue them more. They have lost many lives today, and they lost their chief. They will not be a threat anytime soon.”

“Ah, still nostalgic of the times they were our allies, young king?”

“I just believe,” he answers coldly, “that the relationships among our Clans will run more smoothly if they’ll see us show mercy. The Giants they left behind today are but their youngsters and mothers with children - they knew this battle was decisive. Are you truly planning to exterminate them all?”

“What I’m planning to do is to find them and ensure that we won’t get another unpleasant surprise. Stigma will decide about their fate.” The Archangel shakes his head again, and this time a faint smile appears on his lips. “You are too young to remember clearly about their treason, I’m afraid. We won’t show their warriors more mercy than what they showed us, and about the others … there is time, now. The humans will want to have their say too.”

There is no point in discussing this now. Harlequin feels the gaze of the other Goddesses on him, the resolution radiating from Ludociel’s heart, and suddenly, he feels incredibly exhausted. “Very well,” is what he forces out of his mouth, “We will speak about this tomorrow.”

“Indeed,” Ludociel hums before looking away, as to imply that Harlequin is dismissed. Perhaps it’s the exhaustion, both physical and emotional, but this time his arrogance doesn’t touch the Fairy King. He leaves without another word and flies down, towards the scarred ground.

Giant, Fairy, Demon and Goddesses’ magic destroyed this plain. Rocky spurs rise wrapped in vines among still fuming craters, and wherever his eyes can reach hundreds, thousands of bodies are scattered. Harlequin would want to look away, for once. He is so tired of death.

And that’s exactly why he forces himself to keep looking. He is tired of death, and he won’t let anyone else die in this war if he can help it. He already looked before, but now he has to make sure that her body isn’t among the fallen. Could have she fled? It hurts to realize that he can’t be sure she didn’t. The person he needs right now, the person who could help him prevent another bloodshed, inhabits his memories as the ghost of a gentle child who offered him friendship when life was easier and Fairies and Giants were allies. Even though he has seen her later, again and again, on too many battlefields, the first image that comes to his mind when he thinks of her is from their past.

Eyes shining in the light of dusk, a finger raised to make a vow.

“We will be friends forever! Like Drole and Gloxinia!”

Warmth tinges his cheeks with red as he raises his finger too.

“We will. I promise!”

He is rewarded with a bright smile that outshines the sun itself.

The smile on Harlequin’s face is now bitter. It didn’t last long, their promise - the promise of two kids from two different clans that thought that war could never harm them. After all, Gloxinia used to tell him that the Fairies and the Giants had been close for centuries, that their bond would have never faded. He also used to smile and tell him not to worry about him when he left for a battle because he was the king of the Fairies and he would have always come back to his people.

Gloxinia had been wrong about many things.

They had died together, he and Drole, the king of Giants, during a battle so dreadful that Fairies and Goddesses still refused to talk about it. They had died and they had left their Clans in chaos, one lost without a guide and the other thrown in the hands of a young Fairy with too little knowledge of the world outside his forest. As new Fairy King, Harlequin had chosen to remain loyal to the Stigma and the Fairies had followed him, while the Giants had forged a new alliance, one with the monster who was able to defeat their king in combat. The Demon King himself. It was usual for the Giants to follow the strongest, but this didn’t make their betrayal less hurtful.

Harlequin had come to terms with it years before, but he had been unable to forget about his promise to the young Giant girl who had been his best friend when their Clans were allies and he was nothing more than a simple Fairy Gloxinia had taken under his wing. When he saw her again, after years of training and clashes, she was a warrior under the direct command of Matrona, and she danced ballets of death and destruction.

He could never bring himself to face her. He focused on other enemies, turning his back on her, hoping that she would do the same. Even though they had been enemies way longer than they had been friends, he couldn’t help but fear the day he would have found her dead body on the battlefield. She was a tie to a past he missed terribly, a tie he simply didn’t want to cut because once gone, it would have been lost forever.

Until now, she survived, and there is a part of him that refuses to give up just yet. It takes effort to use his magic after he used so much for the battle, but he grits his teeth and flies faster, trying to detect any sign of her power. Even a crumble would be enough, to at least tell him that she lives.

Long minutes later, as he flies over a small crater that seems to brim with corpses, he halts in mid-air; it wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t known what to look for, but there is a presence - distant, feeble, like a spark among ashes. Harlequin turns his head towards the wood that skirts the battlefield at North. It hasn’t been spared by the battle, not completely, but many trees are still standing. It wouldn’t be a bad place to hide.

After ensuring that no one is watching him, Harlequin flies lower, swerving among the debris, and fastly approaches the wood, following the trace of magic. It becomes stronger as he enters the tree lines, and with it, his heart pounds faster and his bowels knot. That’s when the traces of blood appear, with the obvious signs of someone passing among these branches, breaking the frail wood. From there, it’s not hard to find her.

When he finally sees her, she is lying with her back against a tree, the broken handle of a war hammer in her hand. Her eyes are on him as soon as he emerges from the branches, studying him from under dirty brown hair. Her expression hardens, but she stays still, waiting for him to reach her.

It’s not that bad, he thinks as he examines her injuries while slowly flying towards her. Her left leg seems to be broken and her face is scratched and swollen, and fresh blood soaks her clothes coming from dozens of cuts on her arms and shoulders, but she is a Giant and he saw Giants survive way worse than this. The thought doesn’t stop his heart from sinking in his gut. He can’t leave her like this.

He halts mere feet from her, distant enough not to make her feel threatened - or so he hopes - but close enough to speak with her. But as her violet eyes bury into his soul, he finds himself at a loss of words. Here is the child who used to play tag with him, who smiled when he gave her flowers and danced with him in the bright days of summer. Here is the child who told him she loathed violence so much she would have rather abandoned her own Clan than fight this war. The child who would have wanted to use her dance to build, rather than to destroy. He would have liked to live in a world where her wish had come true.

“Have you come to finish me?”

Her voice, weak but firm, feels cold as ice on his skin. His expression doesn’t change, though - he has been practising his self-control for too long to let it slip, how deep her words wound him.

Not once in the past years, when they saw each other on the battlefield, she has shown a sign of recognizing her childhood friend, and still now that they are finally facing each other, her expression is a mask of stone and mistrust. Has she really forgotten about him? Does she truly believe he would go after her just to kill her?

“I haven’t,” he hurries to answer as he lifts his hand; when the green light of Pollen Garden surrounds her, the Giant hisses and pulls back, pressing her back against the trunk, then freezes and watches with wide eyes as the luminescent pollen rains over her, closing her wounds and welding her bones. When she returns her gaze on him, it’s filled with wonder and confusion.

“The Goddesses are chasing the warriors who fled the battlefield,” Harlequin says, “but they won’t attack the Giants who didn’t participate, not today.” With another movement of his hand, his Spirit Spear disappears. “You should be able to come back to your home before them. Matrona is dead, but you were her second in command. They will follow you, and you have to take them away. Leave Megadozer and hide somewhere until the Goddesses and the Humans’ bloodthirst has quenched. This war lasted far too long and too many have been hurt. Even though I don’t think they all are willing to harm civilians, the situation could easily escalate, and I doubt that I … that anyone would be able to stop it.”

Her eyes darken but she nods. She knows as well they won’t make it easy for the Giants. Slowly, she stands, until her face is at the same level as his, her stare fixed on him. There’s a part of Harlequin that is tempted to use his heart reading powers to know what she is thinking now, but as usual, he suppresses it. Heart reading is as natural as breathing for him and helped him so many times, but it can be a double-edged sword. Besides, they aren’t fighting - it would be rude .

“Why are you doing this?”

He should expect her next question, but it still floors him, leaving him silent and still as he thinks about the right words to use.

“The Giants betrayed you,” she insists. “We killed so many among the Fairies. And yet you are here, helping me, giving me the chance to help my people. I want to know why.”

He hesitates another moment before speaking, staring back into her eyes. “I have never wanted to see the Giants annihilated, and I’m tired of slaughters. Our Clans hurt each other enough and you don’t pose a threat for us anymore. I hope that under your guidance, the Giants will follow a new path, one that will allow them to coexist with the other Clans again, once the wounds this war left will start to heal.”

“My guidance? Have you seen me?” He is taken aback by the bitterness in her voice. “There is so much blood on my hands. I’m no more than a murder, Fairy King. What makes you think that I will make the Giant follow the path of peace?”

“Because you never wanted this.” The words slip from his mouth before he can stop them, and they are met by shock flourishing on her face. With a sigh, Harlequin continues, folding his hands in front of him not to move them nervously. “You don’t take pleasure from fighting and killing, nor you have reasons to continue this war. We all have done what we had to, Diane, and we all will answer to the consequences by ourselves. But I believe that now that you have the chance to do what’s right, you will take it.”

She gasps at the mention of her name and watches him in awe. He expects her to question him now, to yell at him to get out of her head, as they all do when they think he is reading their hearts. But again, she surprises him. “You … you remember me,” she whispers, covering her mouth with a hand. “Don’t you, Harlequin?”

Breath stops in his throat. “I - of course I do, how could have I forgotten? You were my best friend.” He swallows, his hands clenching around each other. “I thought you didn’t remember me.”

“I thought you didn’t remember me!” She shakes her head, “I spent years stuck in Megadozer, training for the war, hoping that when they’d let me out, I could at least see you again. But the first time I met you on the battlefield, you didn’t even look at me. You never even tried to talk to me.”

“I kept my distance because I didn’t want us to be forced to fight. I couldn’t have brought myself to hurt you,” he admits.

“I couldn’t have either, I wouldn’t have. I thought you didn’t recognize me - or you simply didn’t remember me.”

“I’m sorry,” he mutters, “You didn’t say anything either. I thought it had simply been too long since we were friends. Besides, I ... changed quite a bit, since then.”

Diane raises a brown, examining him. “You’ll have to do way more than growing a pair of wings for me not to recognize you.”

Harlequin can’t stop an astounded laugh, “Is that so?”

“Absolutely,” she snorts. “Though … I didn’t expect the hair.” For the first time since forever, he sees her lips curve into a smile. It’s surprising, how much he missed it. “No,” she continues, shaking her head, “I was afraid of what would have happened if I had confronted you. It’s not just your appearance, your entire attitude changed since we were kids. I thought that even if I had reminded you about our friendship, I couldn’t be sure about your reaction. You could have not cared about it anyway.”

“Diane, I’m so sorry. If I had known, I …” Truth to be told, he isn’t sure what he would have done. Reconnected with her? While they were on the opposite sides of a war? There was no way it would have worked smoothly.

“I’m sorry too,” she says softly, “I’ve missed you.”

A shiver travels through his body. “And I, you.” There is so much he would want to ask, so much he would want to tell her. She is Diane, his best friend, yet she has changed so much and he thinks he would want to know better the person she became. But there is no time. The sun is going to set soon. “If you want to go home, you should go now,” he says quietly, “Before someone finds us.”

She heaves a sigh and nods, looking down. “I know,” she says as sadness obscures the light in her eyes. “They’ll be waiting for news.”

As are the Fairies he left in the safety of the Fairy King’s Forest. Harlequin will have to do the same himself, later; he will have to look at his people and tell them about the losses they suffered today. There have been so many battles in this bloody war, but this part never got easier. “I’m sorry,” he says again, even though he isn’t sure what he is apologizing for. “If things were different, I’d want you to come with me. I would be able to keep you safe in the Fairy Realm, not even the Supreme Deity can come there without my permission. But …”

“I can’t leave the others behind,” Diane finishes, shaking her head. “I’ll find a way to keep everyone safe. Thank you, Harlequin. I don’t know how I can ever repay you for this.”

“I do.”

Her stunned expression would be funny if it wasn’t for the way her body tenses and her hand clenches around the remains of her hammer. A few minutes of reconciliation can’t cancel years of war, he bitterly thinks as he hurries to explain, “I want things to change between our Clans. I know it will be difficult and things will probably never be like they were before, but I want us to stop fighting and to be on good terms, at least. And I hope you can help me with this.”

It takes her some moments to answer. “I’d like that, too,” she admits. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to change their minds. Giants are raised to be warriors, and fighting for our honour is supposed to be our reason to live. Some will want revenge. But … I’ll try to - I'll find a way. I won’t let them throw their lives away like this and I won’t let them stain their hands with blood”. Something new shines in her eyes when she looks at him, “I promise.”

“Thank you,” he answers, letting a relieved smile curve his lips. “And I promise you that I’ll do the same. No harm will come to you from my people, as long as I breathe.”

This is so different from the promise they made each other so long ago - for once, they do not seal it with their pinkies - yet he can’t help but feel a little bit nostalgic; there is something in Diane’s expression that makes him believe she feels it too. There is no time to evoke images of a past long gone, though, and so she nods and moves away, her walk as swift as before the battle.

Before she disappears between the trees, she turns around one last time to look at him. It’s hard to read the mix of emotion in her eyes, but despite the curiosity, Harlequin avoids reading her heart. He smiles, instead. And she smiles back, just for a moment.

Then, she is gone.

When Harlequin comes back to the battlefield, his Fairies have been gathered and are working on finding a way to bring the bodies of their fallen back home. Humans are going back to their settlement, and in the distance, he sees a few Goddesses preparing to return to the Celestial Realm. The air is still filled with anguish and mourning, but something else smoulders in the hearts of the survivors, a sense of excitement that Harlequin knows will rise to the surface tonight, when celebrations will be held all around Britannia. If just for a few hours, people will try to forget about what the future holds for them, to finally allow themselves to live free of the shadow of the war.

As he lands among the Fairies, as he solemnly nods to their tired bows, Harlequin wonders when he will be able to do the same. For others, the war is over, but he knows his allies too well to think the peace after this war will be easy. If Diane manages to hide her people away, Ludociel won’t be happy, nor will the human kings. They will want answers and will search the entire country for them.

But there is something that makes the morrow look a little bit easier; it’s the promise of a different future, the seed of an agreement he just planted alongside with a Giant girl.

So Harlequin holds his head up and breathes in deeply, feeling like part of the weight on his shoulders has been finally lifted; then, he gets ready to lead his people home.

[ratretro]

I was watching the latest episode and it got me thinking about Endeavor's dream. Back when I read it on the manga I didn't think much of it besides Endeavor feeling guilty buuuuuut....

Now that we know so much, I see it differently because ya know who else isn't on that dream? Touya.

I know what you're thinking...

Well, back then he didn't know he was still alive.

What I'm trying to say it's... what if that dream means that Endeavor and Dabi are gonna die fighting each other in the final battle and that's the only way the Todoroki family can be happy/at peace? Like I know that a lot of people like to see Touya as the victim but at the end of it all he is a villain who doesn't care about his family anymore. We know he has resented Shoto since day one and he has hurt his family and out of all the Todoroki siblings he's the one that it's more like Endeavor in a way.

What if the only way the Todorokis are gonna be happy it's when the "black sheeps" of the family die?

Just a crazy thought that just came to my mind.

I think it's really important to keep in mind that Endeavor didn't know Touya was alive during his dream. In Endeavor's mind, he had already permanently failed Touya, and his focus for atonement needs to be on those alive. That's how Endeavor is; he's always incredibly focused on the now and the future, not so much the past. It shows in his "hero style" as well. Be fast enough to save everyone now AND in the future. He tells it to the others too, "One thing at a time."

Now, it's possible that it's foreshadowing the death of Endeavor and Touya, but I'm not so sure that's the only way the family can be happy/at peace. In fact, I think losing two family members in such a heartbreaking way wouldn't inspire either of those feelings in a family that's just trying to heal and move forward.

More under the cut

Personally, I think Touya being seen as a villain and being seen as a victim can coexist. Touya houses so much anger. Anger at being neglected, abused, rejected, replaced. Which is valid. Touya IS a victim. Touya experienced abuse all through his childhood, and through that, he moved into a life of crime as a villain. Does that make it okay? No. But he's not any less a victim because he ended up a villain.

I'm also not sure it's fair to say Touya doesn't care about his family anymore. His father and Shouto? Oh yeah, absolutely, he hates them. His mother and the other two Todoroki siblings? Who knows. He really only attacked Shouto and Endeavor directly, and he spouted a bunch of shit, but if I remember right he never came face to face with the other three family members. I could be wrong, though. I wasn't entirely focused on the Todoroki family drama during the war arc, there was A LOT to unpack there lol

Now, Shouto didn't do anything to Touya on a personal level to earn his hatred, all of that stems directly from Endeavor. I'd be inclined to say Touya wanting to kill Shouto literally has nothing to do with Shouto himself and everything to do with the impact on Endeavor. For Touya, right now, everything he's doing is with the express goal of fucking with Endeavor in any way he can. Reveal his identity and how many people he's killed to the nation? Destroying Endeavor's career. Kill Shouto? Destroy Endeavor's 'precious' pet project, which he spent years neglecting and abusing his family for.

The thing about Hori's characterizations for even side characters is there is no "at the end of it all". Yes, Touya is a villain, but that isn't his entire being. He's an adult still stuck in the turmoil and pain of his past and instead of trying to heal it, he's trying to force the people who hurt him to experience it with him. The people he sees as the problem are Endeavor and Shouto. Shouto, because Endeavor focused so much on creating the perfect child and Endeavor for the obvious reasons. Shouto is a placeholder, though. You could switch Shouto's place with Fuyumi or Natsuo, and Touya's anger would shift to that sibling.

I don't think the issues for the Todoroki family would be fixed if Touya and Endeavor died (also that'd be a real shit message to victims of abuse and domestic violence). Their situation is far too complicated, and I think there's still a chance for Touya to start his own healing process as well. This ask simplifies the Todoroki family issues so it was tough to write this in a way that I felt made sense, but I hope you understood what I was trying to explain Anon.

[buggyrpt]

i am so much happier now that im dead. technically missing. soon to be presumed dead. gone. and my lazy lying cheating oblivious husband will go to prison for my murder. nick dunne took my pride and my dignity and my hope and my money. he took and took from me until i no longer existed. thats murder. let the punishment fit the crime. to stage a convincing murder you need discipline. you befriend a local idiot. harvest the details of her humdrum life and cram her with stories about your husbands violent temper. secretly create some money problems. credit cards, perhaps online gambling. with the help of the unwitting bump up your life insurance. purchase getaway car. craigslist. generic. cheap. pay cash. you need to package yourself so that people will truly mourn your loss. and america loves pregnant women. as if it's so hard to spread your legs. you know whats hard? faking a pregnancy. first train your toilet. invite pregnant idiot into your home and ply her with lemonade. steal pregnant idiot's urine. viola. a pregnancy is now part of your legal medical record. happy anniversary. wait for your clueless husband to start his day. off he goes. and the clock is ticking. meticulously stage your crime scene. with just enough mistakes to raise the specter of doubt. you need to bleed. a lot. a lot a lot. a head wound kind of bleed. a crime scene kind of bleed. you need to clean. poorly. like he would. clean and bleed. bleed and clean. and leave a little something behind. a fire in july? and because you're you you don't stop there. you need a diary. minimum 300 entries on the nick and amy story. start with the fairy tale early days. those are true and crucial. you want nick and amy to be likeable. after that you invent. the spending the abuse the fear the threat of violence. and nick thought he was the writer. burn it just the right amount. make sure the cops will find it. finally honor tradition with a very special treasure hunt. and if i get everything right the world will hate nick for killing his beautiful pregnant wife. and after all the outrage when im ready i'll go out on the water with a pocketful of pills and a handful of stones. and when they find my body they'll know. nick dunne dumped his beloved like garbage. and she floated down past all the other abused unwanted inconvenient women. then nick will die too. nick and amy will be gone. but then we never really existed. nick loved a girl i was pretending to be. cool girl. men always use that dont they? as their defining compliment. she's a cool girl. cool girl is hot cool girl is game cool girl is fun. cool girl never gets angry at her man. she only smiles in a chagrinned loving manner and then presents her mouth for fucking. she likes what he likes. so evidently hes a vinyl hipster who loves fetish manga. if he likes girls gone wild shes a mall babe who talks football and endures buffalo wings at hooters. when i met nick dunne knew he wanted cool girl. and for him i'll admit i was willing to try. i wax stripped my pussy raw. i drank canned beer and watched adam sandler movies. i ate cold pizza and remained a size 2. i blew him. semi regularly. i lived in the moment. i was fucking game. i cant say i didnt enjoy some of it. nick teased out of me things i didnt know existed. a lightness a humor an ease. but i made him smarter. sharper. i inspired him to rise to my level. i forged the man of my dreams. we were happy pretending to be other people. we were the happiest couple i knew. and whats the point of being together if you're not the happiest. but nick got lazy. he became someone i did not agree to marry. he actually expected me to love him unconditionally. then he dragged me. penniless. to the navel of this great country. and found himself a newer younger bouncier cool girl. you think id let him destroy me and end up happier than ever? no fucking way. he doesn't get to win. my cute charming salt of the earth missouri guy. he needed to learn. grown ups work for things. grown ups pay. grown ups suffer consequences.

[doorbloggr]

Sunday 28/11/21 - Media Recommendations #22

Contents:

Manga: Candy Flurry

Song: Rock DJ

I've been trying to keep on top of writing stuff, but even though i haven't gotten deep into any particularly meaty videogame or anime experiences, I still have been consuming media. So for today's recommendations, I wanna recommend a couple smaller things that I've newly enjoyed recently.

Candy Flurry (Ame no Furu)

Ippon Takegushi

One of my friends is a regular manga reader, and he and I both keep up most of our reading through a magazine/website called Shonen Jump. Mostly action manga, but also a smattering of slice of life and comedy. New series coming to the magazine are highly dependent on fan feedback and votes apparently, so if a series with promise just doesn't appeal to enough of the readerbase, they will unfortunately be cancelled.

Candy Flurry was a short action/comedy series that was unfortunately cancelled before it could reach stardom. Its sort of a Willy Wonka meets JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and I promise you that makes sense with context.

A candy company called Toy Toy distributed 100 special super rare candies that ended up endowing the consumer with special candy powers. One of these candy users, who weilded Lollipops, went rogue and destroyed a large portion of central Tokyo. This led to a fear and hatred of candy and candy users, and a task force of anti-candy user combatants.

Tsumugi, the main character, is a candy user in secret, and wishes for a world where candy didn't have the stigma it currently does. Each of the 100 candy users granted powers through the Toy Toy Candy have a unique candy, and no two candy overlap. So there's only 1 vanilla ice cream user, only 1 bubble gum user, and only 1 lollipop user. The problem is that Tsumugi is a lollipop user. And she didn't destroy Tokyo.

It's a very exciting concept for a shonen series, and the action is very over the top and showy. The manga also has a fun sense of comedy, and every fight features witty banter between characters. All the main characters and villains are interesting and quirky, and its just a fun time.

But unfortunately, as I mentioned above, the series ended prematurely at 19 chapters. You can tell by chapter 12ish that although the story had the potential to go on for 100 or more chapters, but they were starting to rush towards a conclusion. I wish the series went a lot longer, but what there is to read is fantastic. I hope the author, Ippon Takegushi, writes more because I love his style. It's not a long read, so I 100% recommend you take an afternoon to read Candy Flurry.

Rock DJ

Robbie Williams

Rock DJ is a Funky Pop song by Robbie Williams. It's a very high energy and catchy song that has a fantastic rhythm and cadence. The song is a story of courtship, of a dance prone guy trying to impress a DJ.

The instruments works really well together, a very good use of funky piano that you really don't get to hear enough of these days paired with gentle strings. The instruments sort of build up verse by verse until there's a crescendo of percussion, strings and brass, and then electric guitar right at the end. Not to mention Robbie Williams has an impressive vocal range that reaches just the right highs to sell the funk.

Now when I usually share music in my media recommendations, I'll often link the official music video in the post, but with Rock DJ, there's a special case. (Trigger Warning: Gore)

The music video for Rock DJ is a bizarre fever dream that will definitely freak some people out. Rob does his little dance in a fun little roller disco, trying to show off for his titular DJ, stripping down to his underwear, but it quickly evolves into a bizarre horror. A nude Robbie removes his skin, still dancing as a gross bloody muscle man. Eventually, he tears off more flesh until he's just a dancing skeleton, and then the DJ finally dances with him.

If you're intrigued, I'll say maybe give it a watch, but it's very disturbing. But I will recommend having a listen to the song, which is fantastic.

(Watch the video at your own discretion)

[erencares]

Analysis of the character of Eren Jaeger.

Lately we heard a lot about Eren and his actions in the last few chapters. I wanted to talk a little about his character in general and his development, but mainly about his motivations and why he’s not a bad person.

Many people consider Eren a stupid kid who screams all the time.

"I will kill all the titans!"

These are the words of a simple child who had not yet understood the great truth in the world around him.

However, from these words and from the scenes of the first season we can understand that Eren always fights. We all know how determined he is: he wants revenge for what has been done to him and his people.

But Eren fights against who,?

In Season 1, we see Eren cheering at the scouts and then attacking those who insult them right after. This is because Eren cares a lot about them, for him they represent hope. We then understand why he enlisted with them.

So we can say that Eren fights against anyone who gets in the way of what he hopes to achieve, which is freedom.

Eren, in a nutshell, believes in an ideal of freedom for all and fights for it, he wants to believe in hope.

But when he discovers that there is actually much more in the world than he originally thought, he slowly begins to understand that his ideal of "freedom" was just an illusion.

"Beyond the sea, there is the enemy, everything is the same as what I saw in my father's memories, if we kill the enemies on the other side, will we finally be free?"

In reality Eren has always been the same person. He hasn't changed, but there's a big difference between 15-year-old Eren and 19-year-old Eren.

15 years old Eren dreamed of freedom while 19-year-old Eren was forced to face reality.

Eren, in the fourth season, realizes that he has to follow his motives until the end. He has no choice, as he has seen his father's memories of him, something terrible that he would never have imagined, something he cannot change.

He is not fighting for himself, but for the ideals with which he started this story. Eren fights for the freedom of the Eldians, just as he started.

Many people misunderstand Eren's character and consider him the usual boring protagonist. But Eren, after all, is a tragic character because he is a victim of this cruel world.

There was no other choice. By now the future was decided, Eren tried to avoid it by spending 4 years looking for some other solution in Liberio, but he never found it. Eren is in pain and we can understand it when in the manga he went to a random guy on the street, apologized and started to cry. He knew that he would kill him and destroy Liberio.

"It wasn't like the world I saw in Armin's book"

Eren has created so many illusions about the outside world, and facing this reality is never easy for anyone, not even Eren. Again, he's not bad. He is not a cold and emotionless person. He is just a boy who dreams of living as a free man, but he was forced to take this horrible path to succeed.

Chapter 131 shows exactly his point of view. He makes us readers understand that he has feelings. He doesn't want the rumbling, he doesn't want genocide, he doesn't want any of that. But he can't do anything about it. I recommend reading this chapter carefully if you are the one who says “Eren doesn't care about his friends and he's a bad person”

[luvborne]

I'm so much happier now that i'm dead. Technically missing. Soon to be presumed dead. Gone. And my lazy, lying, shitting oblivious husband will go to prison for my murder. Nick dunne took my pride and my dignity and my hope and my money. He took and took from me until i no longer existed. That's murder. Let the punishment fit the crime. To fake a convincing murder you have to have discipline. You befriend a local idiot. Harvest the details of her hundrum life and cram her with stories about your husband's violent temper. Secretly create some money troubles: credit cards, perhaps online gambling. With the help of the unwitting, bump up your life insurance. Purchase getaway car. Craigslist. Generic. Cheap. Pay cash. You need to package yourself so that people will truly mourn your loss. And america loves pregnant women. As if it's so hard to spread your legs. You know what's hard? Faking a pregnancy. First, drain your toilet. Invite pregnant idiot into your home and ply her with lemonade. Steal pregnant idiot's urine. Voilà! A pregnany is now part of your legal medical record. Happy anniversary. Wait for your clueless husband to start his day. Off he goes, and the clock is ticking. Meticulously stage your crime scene with just enough mistakes to raise the specter of doubt. You need to bleed. A lot. A lot, a lot. The head wound kind of bleed. A crime scene kind of bleed. You need to clean; poorly, like he would. Clean and bleed, bleed and clean. And leave a little something behind: a fire in july? And because you're you, you don't stop there. You need a diary. Minimum three hundred entries on the nick and amy story. Start with the fairy-tale early days: those are true, and they're crucial. You want nick and amy to be likable. After that, you invent. The spending, the abuse, the fear, the threat of violence. And nick thought he was the writer... burn it, just the right amount. Make sure the cops will find it. Finally, honor tradition with a very special treasure hunt. And if i get everything right, the world will hate nick for killing his beautiful, pregnant wife. And after all the outrage, when I'm ready, I'll go out on the water with a handful of pills and a pocket full of stones. And when they find my body, they'll know: nick dunne dumped his beloved like garbage, and she floated past all the other abused, unwanted, inconvenient women. Then nick will die too. Nick and amy will be gone, but then we never really existed. Nick loved a girl i was pretending to be. "Cool girl". Men always use that, don't they? As their defining compliment: "She's a cool girl". Cool girl is hot. Cool girl is game. Cool girl is fun. Cool girl never gets angry at her man. She only smiles in a chagrined, loving manner, and then presents her mouth for fucking. She likes what he likes, so evidently he's a vinyl hipster who loves fetish manga. If he likes girls gone wild, she's a mall babe who talks for football and endures buffalo wings at hooters. When I met nick dunne i knew he wanted "cool girl". And for him, i'll admit: I was willing to try. I wax-stripped my pussy raw. I drank canned beer watching adam sandler movies. I ate cold pizza and remained a size two. I blew him, semi-regularly. I lived in the moment. I was fucking game. I can't say i didn't enjoy some of it. Nick teased out in me things i didn't know existed. A lightness, a humor, an ease. But i made him smarter. Sharper. I inspired him to rise to my level. I forged the man of my dreams. We were happy pretending to be other people. We were the happiest couple we knew. And what's the point of being together if you're not the happiest? But nick got lazy. He became someone i did not agree to marry. He actually expected me to love him unconditionally. Then he dragged me, penniless, to the navel of this great country and found himself a newer, younger, bouncier cool girl. You think i'd let him destroy me and end up happier than ever? No fucking way. He doesn't get to win. My cute, charming, salt-of-the-earth missouri guy. He needed to learn. Grown-ups work for things. Grown-ups pay

[lesbiansisyphus]

I'm so much happier now that I'm dead. Technically missing. Soon to be presumed dead. Gone. And my lazy lying shitting oblivious husband will go to prison for my murder. Nick Dunne took my pride and my dignity and my hope and my money. He took and took from me until I no longer existed. That's murder. Let the punishment fit the crime. To fake a convincing murder you have to have discipline. You befriend a local idiot. Harvest the details of her hundrum life and cram her with stories about your husband's violent temper. Secretly create some money troubles: credit cards, perhaps online gambling. With the help of the unwitting, bump up your life insurance. Purchase getaway car. Craigslist. Generic. Cheap. Pay cash. You need to package yourself so that people will truly mourn your loss. And America loves pregnant women. As if it's so hard to spread your legs. You know what's hard? Faking a pregnancy. First, drain your toilet. Invite pregnant idiot into your home and ply her with lemonade. Steal pregnant idiot's urine. Voilà! A pregnany is now part of your legal medical record. Happy Aniversary. Wait for your clueless husband to start his day. Off he goes... and the clock is ticking. Meticulously stage your crime scene with just enough mistakes to raise the specter of doubt. You need to bleed. A lot. A lot, a lot. The head wound kind of bleed. A crime scene kind of bleed. You need to clean; poorly, like he would. Clean and bleed, bleed and clean. And leave a Little something behind: a fire in July? And because you're you, you don't stop there. You need a diary. Mínimum three hundred entries on the Nick and Amy story. Start with the fairy-tale early days: those are true, and they're crucial. You want Nick and Amy to be likable. After that, you invent. The spending, the abuse, the fear, the threat of violence. And Nick thought he was the writer... burn it, just the right amount. Make sure the cops will find it. Finally, honor tradition with a very special treasure hunt. And if I get everything right, the world will hate Nick for killing his beautiful, pregnant wife. And after all the outrage, when I'm ready, I'll go out on the water with a handful of pills and a pocket full of stones. And when they find my body, they'll know: Nick Dunne dumped his beloved like garbage, and she floated past all the other abused, unwanted, inconvenient women. Then Nick will die too. Nick and Amy will be gone, but then we never really existed. Nick loved a girl I was pretending to be. "Cool girl". Men always use that, don't they? As their defining compliment: "She's a cool girl". Cool girl is hot. Cool girl is game. Cool girl is fun. Cool girl never gets angry at her man. She only smiles in a chagrined, loving manner. And then presents her mouth for fucking. She likes what he likes, so evidently he's a vinyl hipster who loves fetish Manga. If he likes girls gone wild, she's a mall babe who talks for football and endures buffalo wings at Hooters. When I met Nick Dunne I knew he wanted "Cool girl". And for him, I'll admit: I was willing to try. I wax-strippe my pussy raw. I drank canned beer watching Adam Sandler movies. I ate cold pizza and remained a size two. I blew him, semi-regularly. I lived in the moment. I was fucking game. I can't say I didn't enjoy some of it. Nick teased out in me things I didn't know existed. A lightness, a humor, an ease. But I made him smarter. Sharper. I inspired him to rise to my level. I forged the man of my dreams. We were happy pretending to be other people. We were the happiest couple we knew. And what's the point of being together if you're not the happiest? But Nick got lazy. He became someone I did not agree to marry. He actually expected me to love him unconditionally. Then he dragged me, penniless, to the navel of this great country and found himself a newer, younger, bouncier cool girl. You think I'd let him destroy me and end up happier than ever? No fucking way. He doesn't get to win. My cute, charming, salt-of-the-earth Missouri guy. He needed to learn. Grown-ups work for things. Grown-ups pay. Grown-

[holyonmain]

what she says: i'm fine

what she means: I am so much happier now that I'm dead. Technically missing. Soon to be presumed dead. Gone. And my lazy lying shitting oblivious husband will go to prison for my murder. Nick Dunne took my pride and my dignity and my hope and my money. He took and took from me until I no longer existed. That's murder. Let the punishment fit the crime. To fake a convincing murder you have to have discipline. You befriend a local idiot. Harvest the details of her hundrum life and cram her with stories about your husband's violent temper. Secretly create some money troubles: credit cards, perhaps online gambling. With the help of the unwitting, bump up your life insurance. Purchase getaway car. Craigslist. Generic. Cheap. Pay cash. You need to package yourself so that people will truly mourn your loss. And America loves pregnant women. As if it's so hard to spread your legs. You know what's hard? Faking a pregnancy. First, drain your toilet. Invite pregnant idiot into your home and ply her with lemonade. Steal pregnant idiot's urine. Voilà! A pregnany is now part of your legal medical record. Happy Aniversary. Wait for your clueless husband to start his day. Off he goes... and the clock is ticking. Meticulously stage your crime scene with just enough mistakes to raise the specter of doubt. You need to bleed. A lot. A lot, a lot. The head wound kind of bleed. A crime scene kind of bleed. You need to clean; poorly, like he would. Clean and bleed, bleed and clean. And leave a Little something behind: a fire in July? And because you're you, you don't stop there. You need a diary. Mínimum three hundred entries on the Nick and Amy story. Start with the fairy-tale early days: those are true, and they're crucial. You want Nick and Amy to be likable. After that, you invent. The spending, the abuse, the fear, the threat of violence. And Nick thought he was the writer... burn it, just the right amount. Make sure the cops will find it. Finally, honor tradition with a very special treasure hunt. And if I get everything right, the world will hate Nick for killing his beautiful, pregnant wife. And after all the outrage, when I'm ready, I'll go out on the water with a handful of pills and a pocket full of stones. And when they find my body, they'll know: Nick Dunne dumped his beloved like garbage, and she floated past all the other abused, unwanted, inconvenient women. Then Nick will die too. Nick and Amy will be gone, but then we never really existed. Nick loved a girl I was pretending to be. "Cool girl". Men always use that, don't they? As their defining compliment: "She's a cool girl". Cool girl is hot. Cool girl is game. Cool girl is fun. Cool girl never gets angry at her man. She only smiles in a chagrined, loving manner. And then presents her mouth for fucking. She likes what he likes, so evidently he's a vinyl hipster who loves fetish Manga. If he likes girls gone wild, she's a mall babe who talks for football and endures buffalo wings at Hooters. When I met Nick Dunne I knew he wanted "Cool girl". And for him, I'll admit: I was willing to try. I wax-strippe my pussy raw. I drank canned beer watching Adam Sandler movies. I ate cold pizza and remained a size two. I blew him, semi-regularly. I lived in the moment. I was fucking game. I can't say I didn't enjoy some of it. Nick teased out in me things I didn't know existed. A lightness, a humor, an ease. But I made him smarter. Sharper. I inspired him to rise to my level. I forged the man of my dreams. We were happy pretending to be other people. We were the happiest couple we knew. And what's the point of being together if you're not the happiest? But Nick got lazy. He became someone I did not agree to marry. He actually expected me to love him unconditionally. Then he dragged me, penniless, to the navel of this great country and found himself a newer, younger, bouncier cool girl. You think I'd let him destroy me and end up happier than ever? No fucking way. He doesn't get to win. My cute, charming, salt-of-the-earth Missouri guy. He needed to learn. Grown-ups work for things. Grown-ups pay. Grown-ups suffer consequences.