#he's also hellbent on a murderous rage

[yanderes-galore]

Can I request ragnvaldr hc from f&h?

Sure! Honestly the last main Funger 1 character I have to do after this is probably Enki if he's requested. Not fully proofread, there may be mistakes.

Yandere! Ragnvaldr Concept

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Trauma, Dark themes, Death/Mass Murder, Violence, Threats, Blood, Gore, Jealousy, Possessive/Protective behavior, Forced relationship, Fear and Hunger content.

Ragnvaldr was born with the soul of the tormented, he's destined to struggle in his life... which is what made him what he is.

I feel his obsession counts as one of those struggles.

He's incredibly strong and has an iron will.

He was forced to come back to his home to see his entire tribe and village dead by The Knights of The Midnight Sun.

This included his wife and child.

He enters the Dungeons of Fear and Hunger to find Le'garde and exact revenge.

In fact, his only goal is revenge.

Yet while try to pursue his goal, he finds you.

You are pleasant distraction... a sight for sore eyes in a place such as the dungeons.

Ragnvaldr tries not to distract himself too much with you, he has a goal.

But you still manage to tag along... at first just following from behind.

When he confronts you and asks what you're planning, you say you want to help his quest.

You don't want to be alone here.

For some reason, Ragnvaldr takes pity on you and allows you to follow along with him.

Perhaps you reminded him of the family he used to have.

Ragnvaldr, despite his appearance, is capable of being kind.

When you follow along on his quest he teaches you important skills.

While he's capable of taking on threats, you stick by to heal him and keep him going with whatever supplies you find.

You try not to ask much about his motivations but you can tell he's hellbent on something.

I feel out of the entire main cast for Funger 1, Ragnvaldr is the most terrifying as a yandere due to his physical prowess.

I feel Cahara is bad due to his touchy and persistent nature, D'arce is bad due to her delusional behavior, Enki may be bad psychologically, but Ragnvaldr is bad since he is so strong.

You've seen how he can tear through threats in this place.

Especially if you see how he treats Le'garde when he gets his hands on him.

You look away when Ragnvaldr deals with Le'garde, if the fool is even alive when you get there.

It's not the worst thing you've seen.

Ragnvaldr probably uses you as a way to cope with the loss of his family.

That can be by seeing you as a close companion or perhaps even another romantic partner.

Ragnvaldr seems like he's be possessive but also protective.

He won't admit it but he dreads the thought of losing you.

As a result he works hard to keep you beside him.

If you seem upset or are losing sanity, he'll be by your side to hold you.

He probably dislikes you taking in other people to the group, like Cahara, D'arce, or Enki.

However, he holds his rage back.

Oh... but imagine Ragnvaldr during his S Ending as a yandere.

You watch as this man slaughters every paranormal creature in his path, all to soothe his bloodlust and protect you.

Seeing Ragnvaldr covered in blood becomes the norm for you.

He probably would even target party members, driven completely by the thought that they could take you.

At the peak of his obsession there's a good chance Ragnvaldr is covered in blood, giving you a stare that's both of adoration and something else entirely.

You originally followed him for protection... but now you fear he's a monster like the rest of the creatures in this dungeon.

But there's nothing much you can do when he pulls you into his bare chest, the blood smearing on your clothes and face.

He holds your face with bloody hands, he vows he won't ever hurt you or let anything hurt you.

Really... what can hurt you anymore?

Ragnvaldr would/already has slaughtered everything and everyone you come across.

All that's left is the blood on you and him.

He looks at you with such... obsession.

You could almost mistake it for care.

Now you're nearly completely alone, except for the Outlander in front of you.

He'll even drag you out of the dungeons with him, covered in blood, the both of you affected by the horrors you've seen.

You would call it bad...

But honestly, nothing compares to the horrors you've seen in there.

Not even the blood and gore Ragnvaldr leaves behind as he swears to care for you.

"Now nothing can hurt you... I won't let it. Every creature and person who dares to touch you will die by my hands... painfully.... Nothing will come between you and me, not even the gods."

[s0apmactav1sh]

Part 4 of 4

The finale of King!Price x Devoted!Knight Reader.

Cw: angst. Pure angst.

It shouldnt be this painful. You knew death, he was both your comrade and enemy at the same time. The person who shadowed you constantly, who was merciful to the souls of other soldiers. Some said you carried on like death didnt exist. Like you were immortal, as a mockery to the one god you didnt have the will to overpower. And yet when you needed him most he was no where to be found. No dark hood and cloak in your surrounding vision just the mass murder of the enemy line you foolishly ran into.

"Where are you..?"

Its a pitiful mumble as you try moving but the spear thats embedded into your chest keeping you down doesnt make it easy. You had made a mockery of death when you took it upon yourself to rid the enemys of there leader who came to start war on your kingdom. You denied the orders of your king in a fit of your own rage and while you had killed the man who was so hellbent on bringing chaos to a peaceful land, you had been impaled by a spear.

Were you even worthy to be rewarded by the gods to allow you into their sanctuary or were you another fool who would be sucked down into the depths to join the king of the underworld? Only time would tell and it didnt seem that you had much with the way your head was beginning to spin and splotches of black began crowding your vision. Voices and sounds were all to distant no matter where the were coming from. Between the yells of orders and the sounds of those taking there last breaths you were among the many who would suffer the judgement of the gods.

King!Price who finds you in sea of bodies no longer breathing but his scattered mind tells him otherwise. You cant be dead, your his loyal knight the only way you would die would be at the hands of him when he tells you to die. Even though he can feel how cold you are he still demands you be picked up and brough back to the medical wing in the castle and 'healed' none of the other knights had seen their king as distraut as he was now. So worried over another dead.

But you werent just another dead to him. You were the man he loved, the man he cared for even when you couldnt you were his everything and more and his delusions that you were still alive kept that well fed. The medical wing wasnt empty but it wasnt full, injured knights hadnt all been brough back from the field of battle and yet you were being prioritized even though you were clearly lifeless just by the way you were hanging limply in the arms of the king as he placed you down onto a bed.

No one else was able to touch you other than him as he took off your helmet and revealed your pale face, eyes wide with fear and unmoving. He knew it deep down you were gone no longer his lover, no longer there to be the one to care for him. No you were the husk of what your soul used to be.

Death welcomes all of the souls he travels the path to the afterlife with expect for you. He had been hunting you down like a predator. With each dangerous situation you put yourself in and managed to get out of he was always there waiting for the day he could come and snatch your soul. And finally after years of waiting he had done it. He had taken the soul that had mock and avoided him for so long yet know you were his and it wasnt the gods that would decide your faith no, death had chosen you to be his sucessor. The next death would be you.

Your funeral was morbid. No one showed other than the king and other knights. It made sense with how little you talked of a spouse or a family around them that they would find out you didnt have either. But Price knew. He knew of your guilt that ate away at you even while being his strongest knight, he knew of the weight that was heavy on your shoulders keeping you from properly enjoying your existance on the planet. But he also knew you died alone and truly petrified over the dreadful life you had ending. Your grave was there to display your honor but there would be no one to ever vist because you never had anyone.

Of course over the years your memory faded from Prices mind although he desperately tried clinging to it. He found it difficult to live without you as his devoted knight until someone came a replaced you. Completely erasing you from the pages within. But you were never truly gone, you watched yourself be forgotten about. Hovered near price as he remained king and led the souls of the dead to their rightful places in the afterlife.

Fin.

-

Its done. The ending of King Price x Knight Reader. I didnt know how else to end it so I decided with angst and yeah im happy with it :) i am broke so i cant pay for anyones therapy but i can give you a happy owl to make it better

[glamrockraybot]

(NOT A "<character> is a robot" POST)

Honestly my favourite current theory for fnaf is that the mimic (who is probably not burntrap but may be glitchtrap) is intending to recreate the events of the William Afton Era™️ to a T, as it was built to mimic by....someone? I mean someone had to build it right.

Anyway I'm gonna lightly explain my reasoning for each of these even though I'm sure most of you have already made these connections before

I mean, we all heard the Vanessa theories already yeah? Not even mentioning her visual similarities to Elizabeth, I think either her or Michael could fit. Both of them were loyal to their father at some point (I don't know why else Michael would go into the Sister location bunker) and they both played significant roles in the story. I think if this was the case I'd wager Vanessa was *supposed* to be Elizabeth, but after breaking free she became more like Michael and hellbent on destroying the glitchtrap virus for good (maybe with a little bit of fire). I could understand arguments for Glamrock Freddy being Michael (even aside from him *literally* being Michael) but I didn't include any of the glamrocks because they serve a narrative purpose already as animatronics.

Gregory is. Obvious. I mean with how similar they look its already sort of suspicious, though Gregory is a little bit more of a fighter than CC. They at the very least share a connection with bear robots. I could see an argument for Gregory being Michael (God is Michael just every character?) But for visual similarities alone I picked CC.

Cassie was theorized from day one to be Cassidy or Charlie or both. I personally learn more towards Charlie but because of Something in hw2 I may be more willing to accept her as the vengeful spirit. I know Charlie doesn't always equal green but Cassie does have specks of green throughout her design, and she seems to be a very kind and caring friend (maybe too kind). Roxy being protective over her near the end is, well, a loose connection to the security puppet but I thought I'd bring it up.

For cassidy I can see this since if Gregory is CC, obviously cassidy and him would most likely talk and maybe be friends. In the picture that is from the logbook which might be cassidy they share a similar hair style. Not identical but, similar. Though I miss Cassie's curly hair </3

Mimic is probably the most obvious connection. William is like. The only human murderer from the original story, so you know, if the mimic is trying to kill people it's safe to say they are probably mimicking him. Though clearly they are not above mimicking other people (Gregory) in order to do this, sort of like what I imagine the funtimes did. I don't necessarily think they are acting like they did in the books where they are just carrying out an order to disassemble mechs, because if they were WHYyyy the need to lure people down there? Hey man I don't think that person you tricked into climbing down here is an endoskeleton I think that's a fucking person. This seems much more malicious, something that would make sense if they based their actions off of a killer from the 80s.

Also I guess Cassie's dad is worth a mention, who may be a parallel with Henry Emily or even Charlie herself. I'm leaning more towards Henry but I could see a case for it. I guess he can always be Michael. Because as much as I like fan interpretations of him he's sort of. Just Like. There. You know to be a foil to his dad.

Anyway I hope this was interesting, or rage inducing. And no I don't like the idea of them being robots of the character ❤️

[yandere-daze]

Waa congrats on 3k daze! i've been here since 1400 (or maybe even before that. I can't quite recall) and it's really heartwarming to see my favourite writer grow so much ♡ For the event, can i please ask for the tower, the hierophant & temperance from the tarot prompts for mika? :)

Whoa, it seems like you´ve been around for quite a long time then! A lot of time has passed since the 1.4k followers event so it´s kind of impressive to hear that someone has been reading my stuff for that long, thank you for sticking around!☺️ And your favorite writer? Omg you´re flattering me and it´s working😳

And of course I´m always happy to write for Mika <3 I guess you can consider this a late birthday gift? Since I haven´t actually written any of the other stuff I´ve been meaning to write about him yet silnfls

gn reader

tw yandere, obsession, delusion, violence, allusion to murder, possessiveness, stalking, taking pictures of the reader (mentioned), worshipping the reader, implied kidnapping as a throw-away line

The Tower - If this yandere saw their darling in danger, how would they respond/react? 

Okay so if you somehow got put into a dangerous situation, there´s no way Mika is going to be unaware of it because he´s always by your side, whether that´s him just tagging along no matter where you go and being generally clingy, or him stalking you from a safe distance away to “make sure you´re safe”.

And well, either way, he´s very glad that he made that decision to stay close to you ( and totally not for his own interests) because his beloved darling actually is in danger now, right in front of him!

Of course, Mika´s first reaction is one of shock and panic but that quickly turns into a blind rage after he has fully assessed the situation.

You´re right in front of him, calling out for help while someone else is endangering you.

And Mika just can´t have that. No one is allowed to touch his darling and he sees it as his duty to save and protect you.

So how does he deal with this tense and difficult situation? Violence.

Charges in screaming, probably yelling death threats and demanding for you be let go while he jumps at the attacker´s throat, fully intent on just killing them if you weren´t there to ground him a bit.

He doesn´t want you to see him as a violent person because that wouldn´t make for a good romantic partner so Mika hesitantly refrains from actually killing this person right in front of you and instead just beats them into a bloody pulp until he´s sure that they´re never ever going to try and put you in danger again.

Immediately afterward makes sure that you´re safe and checks up on any wounds you may have suffered while offering you words of comfort ( and candy from one of his pockets). Don´t worry, he´s going to take great care of you while you recover from that horrifying situation, he´s going to serve you in any way he can!

Of course only after searching out your attacker once more on his own and actually finishing the job now. They didn´t think they could get away with putting his darling in danger, did they?

The Hierophant - Could this yandere´s darling fool them easily? Or be manipulated by them? 

Oh, it´s almost too easy in fact! Mika is an obsessed and worshipping yandere that puts his darling onto the highest of pedestals, you´re basically a deity to him.

He´s absolutely hellbent on pleasing you in any way he can, so it´s very easy to get him to do things for you. Mika will bend over backward just to hear your praise.

On that note, yes, praising him will get you pretty far and it will keep him satisfied for quite some time before he starts demanding more attention and affection from you.

He sees himself absolutely beneath you and so anything you say goes. In his eyes, it´s all to show you what a good boyfriend he could be for you by doing things for you all the time.

There´s also the fact that Mika is a very delusional yandere so as long as what you say or do fits with his ideal fantasy of you being a loving couple destined to be with each other for all eternity, he´ll believe it.

He´ll believe almost anything you say with a smile on his face because you could never be wrong.

He also just sometimes.... outright ignores things that would go against the delusions he had built himself about your relationship. All the times you accidentally let a hateful comment toward him slip? Oh, he simply didn´t hear you correctly!

The only thing that might be your downfall is Mika´s rampant jealousy though. If he has even a hint of suspicion that you might like someone else more ( even if it´s completely unfounded), he´s going to be quite a bit warier when you try to manipulate him.

The same counts for when you´ve done it too many times or have, in his eyes, “betrayed his trust”. Like trying to escape from him by making him take off your shackles.

Temperance - What made this person yandere for their darling? 

Most of all, I feel the cause of Mika turning into a yandere is a combination of his childhood and his linked self-esteem issues.

As we know, Mika was given up by his birth parents into an orphanage and he had wondered for many years if they simply found him hideous. Always wondering about why they didn´t want him.

Mika is also very touch-starved and has said that he just craves love, it doesn´t matter how much it hurts him, how painful it is.

So when he meets you, someone that is so kind to him and willing to give him the attention and love he never really got? Well, he´s smitten and quickly starts to idolize you.

Mika is experiencing a feeling he has never felt for anyone else before and he soon grows obsessed with it, wanting to keep feeling all warm and fuzzy when you look his way or give him a compliment. Wanting to finally feel alive.

And while their relationship has grown and gotten a lot healthier in recent times, Shu´s past treatment of Mika also probably had an impact on him turning out this way.

He tries to accept that he´s no longer a doll, he´s a human with his own thoughts and feelings.

And yet. And yet he still wants to be controlled by you, he wants to have a purpose by serving you and making sure that you´ll always be happy ( with him at your side of course!)

Watching you every single day and taking photos of you when you aren´t looking just makes him even more enamored with you.

Mika is convinced you´re the most wonderful and divine person that has ever walked this earth, your beauty and benevolence second to none.

And he almost thinks he doesn´t deserve you.

But maybe just this once, he wants to be selfish too

[dramioneasks]

Hi! Do you guys know any fics with a heavy “female rage” theme? Like Hermione finally snaps after being taken for granted for so long and goes down a slightly unhinged path? (Doesn’t necessarily have to be dark Hermione, and I’ve checked the revenge tag but not sure which ones match this request). Thanks!

The Odd Ones Out by decaffienatedhologrampanda - not rated, one-shot - Hermione Granger, alone, betrayed, bitter. Draco Malfoy, incensed, resentful, enraged. Together, they go back in time as Hermione Rose Evans and Draco Scorpius Black, hellbent on kill- savagely murdering all those who have wronged them in their past lives.

Lady of the Lake - Colubrina - M, 50 chapters, Words: 169,523 - Hermione and Draco team up after the war to overthrow the Order and take over wizarding Britain. They have plans and they’ll get power, but the cost of victory may be higher than they expected and more than they can bear.

The Dark Ones by floresinfer - M, 15 chapters - Hermione never thought that her life will turn out like this. She’s broken inside, hurting and suffering by herself but the anger-no, pure rage that she feels towards her ‘friends’ keeps her going, fueling her constantly. She also can’t explain the sudden changes that keep happening to her and it seems not only to her. She’s changed and everyone can see it, feel it. She’s darker than ever. Draco changed too. He’s quieter, smarter and more observant… also obsessed with Hermione.

Twisted by CourtingInsanity - T, one-shot - Hermione Granger knows Draco Malfoy is responsible for the death of her Mother and Grandmother, and even though she hasn’t seen him in years, she will stop at nothing to enact her revenge.

Then We Found Us by CindyBarnard - M, 3 chapters - Hermione had a life plan, and it was going exactly according to schedule, thank you very much. If only her husband hadn’t decided he did not like her plan… Which led to her finding out exactly what he had done… Maybe she would never have known his secret then, living in blissful ignorance. But she did find out… Dark Hermione. HG/DM

Shattered Trust - Betrayal By: cleotheo - M, 10 chapters - A mindless threat from Voldemort during a fight with Harry leads the Order down a dark path which will shatter lives, ruin friendships and tear families apart. Among those most affected by their rash actions are Harry’s best friend, Hermione Granger and her secret boyfriend, Draco Malfoy. Part one of a four part story. (1 of 4)

From the Other Side by Shananigans10 - M, 34 chapters - Hermione’s safe at Grimmauld Place until a changing Order makes her question everything she’s ever been told about the, so called, darkest wizard of their time. Dark!Hermione(somewhat), OOC Characters, Non-con, Anti!Harry(somewhat), Anti!Ron, Anti!Order, EWE?, Only compatible up to GoF. Powerful!Hermione, Powerful!Draco, Torture, Angst, Dramione

The Inner Peace by Ms.Nom de Plume - M, 25 chapters - How do you cope when your family changes, your friends betray you, and you are pushed into a struggle for your very life?.

The Ice Heart by jamies_lady - T, one-shot -  When Lucius Malfoy goes searching for Hermione Granger he finds more than he expected.

Rest and Revenge By: Lemons are Fun - M, 8 chapters - When Hermione discovers her memories have been removed, how will the witch cope? Follow Hermione as she remembers who she is and just who the most important people in her life are. AU - which should be obvious based on the pairing. There are significant changes to what happened in books six and seven.

-Lisa

[2x4plank]

Episode Three is dreadful...in a positive way.

The meat of the chapter is the Duck situation. It was incredibly depressing to watch the happy, talkative kid decline despite attempts to restore him. And then Katjaa... I don't know where the idea that she "betrayed" Kenny by ending things came from (outside of what Kenny says in episode four or five). She was back there in the train, holding onto her dying son while he was up there trying not to have to come to terms with it. She was practically battling that ALONE and being tough about it. And I honestly didn't feel completely mad at Kenny for that either. He knew what he would have to do from the beginning and was wracked with guilt (partially selfish) and fear--that combined with his general hot-headed attitude caused him to be idle. But it wasn't for lack of care. So I was mostly mad about it, but not completely. He also is still out of pocket; I began to believe that Kenny was never in pocket. Why do I like this dude! No parent should have to shoot their own child, so of course I was letting Lee step up to the plate--but of course it wasn't easy for him either! Just a short while ago, he was playing detective with that kid, and though Duck was an "annoyance", he was a very lovable one who should've been able to grow up safely.

Now, the Lily situation. For me, it was Lily v. Carley and when I saw it coming, it was already in motion. The timing during this episode was just stellar. When everyone is distracted by the walker, you see what Lily is about to do, but there's nothing you can do about it. It's not like you shouldn't be able to predict what's coming. Lily has been sitting in that motel room stewing with rage at her situation while still being tasked with managing things for the most part. She is never given proper time to grieve an extremely traumatic murder and her slumped down position is not a sign of good things to come. Carley pressed her buttons after Lily pressed hers. Lily was hellbent on figuring out who betrayed them. A particular quote that comes to mind is when you tell her to let it go and she's like, "YOU KNOW I CAN'T DO THAT!"

Now does that mean what she did was right? Oh, absolutely not. It was a senseless murder of an innocent person. Even Lily knows that--you can see it in her expression after the deed is done. Of course I'm going to leave her behind, because despite the comparison Lily tries to draw between Larry and Carley's murder, I firmly believe that Larry's murder was...the best choice. And on the brightside, when I restrained her, blood didn't get on her face! Lily should keep that in mind after we tag-teamed crushing her dad's head: her face was clean!

On a more positive note, I love how Lee teaches Clemenetine how to shoot and cuts her hair. I think that's another thing kind of missing from TLOU--the active practice with Ellie. However, it's not like Ellie doesn't participate in gameplay which is a bonus. And ideally, neither a fourteen-year-old nor eight-year-old would have to use a gun at all. The apocalypse is a bit different though!

And then there's Ben. I won't say he gave it away by how stressed he was when Lily accused him--it's easy to get anxious even when you're not guilty. I was just kind of hoping to forget the whole bandit situation. So that really good moment where you're walking back through the train and all of a sudden he's like, "I did it." And I was first and foremost concerned with him shutting up. At what point, what else is there to do? Just be quiet and live with it so you don't make anything any worse. Write some poetry or something--I don't know! I think it's okay for him to tell Lee because Lee is very rational and patient. But later on, ugh...

Chuck kinda weird. That's all I gotta say about him, but he's not bad.

[lunarsands]

ALSMP Fanfic: Hellbent Ch 3

Characters: Scott Major, MythicalSausage

Tags: Canon divergent, We’re way off the canon origin list now, featuring derivatives such as werewolf!Scott, guardian!Sausage, enderian!Scott, vampire!Sausage, wither!Scott, merling!Sausage, floran!Scott and including the return of blazeborn!Myth and gravital!Smajor

WARNINGS: Blood, Violence, Injury, Body Horror, Character Death, So Much Death that I’ll be here for days listing warnings for them all. We got water, we got fire, we got neuro-toxins, we got stabbing. Nothing is portrayed in graphic detail, but consider yourself warned! No Fluff Only Murder

 Summary: The cycle that started with a hungry vampire and an imprisoned angel comes full circle.

Scott and Sausage – now going by Smajor and Myth – have broken the cosmic respawn system with their continuous murder of each other, and more than ten lives later they are still at it. Even an encounter with peaceful versions of themselves in a limbo dimension doesn't deter them for long, but Myth at long last gains the upper hand. He has a choice: end the feud, or… Well, that’s it, that’s his only choice. But he’ll do it one way or another…

 Sequel to Bloodfall, Witherrise, Fatemirrored, and Heavensent, with references to (and later picking up after) the crossover Mirror Mirror Break Our Fall.

(Also available on Ao3!)

[ Chapter One ] [ Chapter Two ]

[Special Note: Happy Anniversary to the fic that started at all! If anyone had told me a year ago that deciding to dip back into writing with a dark one shot would lead to me writing twenty more fics, I wouldn’t have believed them. I also didn’t expect it to help me meet a new friend who would become my partner in creative crimes, who contributed to the proliferation of fics and even more project ideas! I put a shout out to them often, but I am ever so grateful to @cynthrey  for making that first tumblr comment which ended up spawning a whole other AU and several collaborations!]

---

Chapter Three

[A/N: Friendly reminder to read Mirror Mirror Break Our Fall for some things in this chapter to make more sense – such as why there is now mention of a Sausage and a Scott who aren’t these two.]

---

Hours – or days – later, Myth emerged from the portal with an unconscious Smajor slung over his shoulder. He was mindful of the mad gravital waking up, although he couldn’t help wondering if the trick his peaceful-minded counterpart had done with combined gravity and lightning manipulation might have fixed whatever circuit was broken in Smajor’s head. It had stabilized his soul, whatever that even meant.

Myth then thought about what his own soul had looked like when Sausage used his wither ability to temporarily reveal it. Myth was surprised it had even been in one piece, and as he made his way down from the palace roof, he thought about how the blue color in the center matched with Sausage’s.

He hadn’t let on that, in that shared moment, he had glimpsed Sausage’s soul, glowing brightly at the center of the amalgamation of gravital, thunderborn, wither, and angel powers. He had felt Sausage’s wellspring of courage and protective nature, and his love for his far kinder version of Smajor. In turn, his own tide of pain and trauma had swept into Sausage, revealing the lengths Myth had gone to in retaliation. He wasn’t surprised all of that had terrified Sausage. He had no idea what happened to him after he broke the connection by yanking his own hand away. His concern had then been with picking up Smajor to return to their world.

Myth supposed he wished them well in whatever their world turned out to be. He still wouldn’t hold delusions that Smajor might no longer be a raging psychopath when he woke up.

After he reached one of the better-lit areas, he headed for the nearest batch of hanging soul lanterns. Aside from the huffing that he could do little about, he took care to be silent, although not so much with concern for handling Smajor gently. He set him down so he could hover upward and melt the top of the chain off the piece connecting to the brick, then he unhooked the lantern and placed both on the ground. He did this to three others, then used his heated touch again to melt the ends of the chains together, creating a length long enough to wrap around Smajor a few times, pinning his arms to his sides.

He tried to work quietly but the chain inevitably clinked against itself, setting off a sculk sensor. He melted the last two ends together and considered the job done. He just wanted to get out of there by that point. He threw Smajor over his shoulder again, causing another clank and a sensor alert. He waited for the light to return then drifted along to where he had entered the city. He would move faster once he was out of range and quiet wouldn’t be as necessary.

He didn’t account for passing a hidden batch of sensors with a shrieker in the middle of them, nor that he might let out a particularly loud huff that they could pick up on. But the wave of darkness swept through, followed by the ground right in front of him crumbling as a Warden emerged. Myth hastily dodged around it, then threw down a quick volley of fireballs, with both the bright light and the heat making the creature shy away and yet roar in anger.

The noise shocked Smajor awake, but he quickly realized his situation and remained still, letting Myth carry him out of the city and up toward the surface, calculating his options the entire way. He was aware that something about himself felt different, but he couldn’t pinpoint it. He was still a gravital, and that was the important part.

Natural daylight soon took over from Myth lighting the way with his own glow, the sun shining through lines of stalagmites that cluttered the inside of the cave opening. Smajor shifted a little, pretending to have just regained consciousness. “Ohhh… my head hurts… Where are we? This isn’t the limbo maze…”

“We’re home. They let us live. Surprisingly, given everything you did. Not that I was any better.”

“Can you put me down, please? I think I’ve gotten, er, toasted from being against your shoulder like this.”

“’Please,’ he says! I don’t care what my double did to your soul, I’m not trusting you for a second.”

“That’s fine. You don’t have to. But if you want to kill me, just get it over with instead of burning me a little at a time.”

“Hmph.” Myth halted and looked for a spot without any puddles in the dripstone pockets, fully suspecting Smajor would kick the water at him if he got the chance. He dropped him next to a tall column. “You’re not that easy to carry around, anyway. And you don’t look very toasted to me. You would have known it and woken up sooner if I had been purposely burning you. So, what do I do with you now? Are you still feeling like you need to go on a murderous rampage? If so, I can easily melt that dripstone and make you part of it.”

“Doesn’t saying that only encourage me to say no? Why would I admit to still wanting to kill you if—” Smajor abruptly threw his entire body to the side, the fingers of both hands curled.

Crack went a stalactite. Crack went the back of Myth’s skull. He dropped facedown onto the cave floor. Smajor twisted back around and nudged at him with one foot. The blazeborn didn’t move. Smajor breathed a sigh of relief. “I didn’t know if that would work. I need to remember gesturing can actually be kept to a minimum. Now to figure out how to get out of these…”

He wriggled his arms, trying to see if he could get the chains loose. He paused, then focused on lightening the gravity of just the chains. He was pleased to find he could lift them, so in theory he could raise them right up off himself. He just needed to extricate his wrists from one of the loops to actually get them off. He wasn’t terribly concerned about Myth reviving any time soon. That was a lot of brain matter to reconstruct. He went about wriggling and tugging until he slipped his hands free of the most restraining loop out of the lot.

That even lent to loosening the chains some more, except he had to wait for the shooting pain running along his fingers and wrists caused by turning them at odd angles to subside. Eh, well, he had time. He could probably even start picking his way around the stalagmites to get out of there. And yet it was so tempting to wait for Myth to revive so he could gloat about how any efforts by the soft-hearted Sausage had been pointless, and how pathetic it was that their other versions tried to inspire some kind of hope in Myth.

A sudden burst of silvery light drew his attention back to where he had left the blazeborn. The light was surrounding Myth’s body. “Alright, that’s new,” Smajor muttered. Transformations were always on the shimmery side, not blindingly bright. He squinted as the light expanded into shapes extending from Myth’s back. What in the world was he turning into?

The light faded away to reveal six silvery-white wings. As Myth drew a breath, the wings heaved and spread out, the larger middle pair having an intimidating span. The upper pair directly behind his shoulders was much smaller and the lower pair at his waist were probably a third the size of the middle ones, but the effect was enough to keep Smajor frozen in place. His knees felt weak as Myth pushed himself up. He appeared to have grown taller. The pristine wings were in drastic contrast to his torn and burnt clothes, but he raised his head high. A glowing white halo interspersed with a half dozen spikes blazed into existence behind his head.

“Th-That’s not fair,” Smajor stammered. He dropped into an unsteady crouch, then gave up and fell into a sideways sitting position.

Myth fluttered the smaller wings to test how it felt to move them, then swept the middle pair out several times, stirring up dirt and bits of rock debris which pelted Smajor. He folded all of them in against his back then rolled his shoulders to loosen muscles that had once been familiar with the appendages. “Well, I guess making peace with our doubles after all of that counted as redemption for me.”

He smirked down at Smajor. “You know what? Now I think I’m invincible.” He held up one hand and pulled a flaming sword out of thin air. Continuing to smirk, he pointed the tip at Smajor, who could only stare back with dread in return. Holy fire erupted forth from the sword, engulfing him and quickly ending his time as a gravital.

Myth lowered the blade and waited. At long last, the advantage he needed had come to him. No more trying to make plans. No more stalemates. And no more running – at least on his part. Depending on what Smajor turned into over the next few hours, he might be able to escape. But Myth wouldn’t be very far behind.

Barely a moment after the former gravital drew a breath, Myth pointed the sword at him again. He didn’t bother to wonder what he had become, aside from something humanoid. Smajor barely took more than three breaths before he was struck with holy fire again.

And again.

And again.

It was only when his body morphed and enlarged into the form of a wyvern that Myth had to relent, hopping back and opening his wings for balance as Smajor flailed his own leathery wings and found the awareness to use this distraction as a means of escape. He crashed his way through the stalagmites until he had enough clearance to properly flap them, taking off away from the cave.

Myth returned the sword into thin air and prepared to take flight, smiling confidently. Now it was Smajor’s turn to not get a moment’s peace.

~*~

Being able to fly gave Smajor half a chance.

Although, half of zero was still zero.

A poisonous breath attack proved futile, since holy fire worked just fine to burn up the particles before they reached Myth. The seraph was too agile in the air for Smajor to successfully fly around him and come at him from another angle. He even tried leading Myth toward other dangers – but, of course, they were things Myth had already once thought of using against Smajor, so each attempt failed.

Finally, Myth decided he had given his target enough time and called down a twisting column of holy fire that pulled the wyvern into it. A smaller, humanoid body was thrown out of it a short time later. Myth followed the trajectory toward a desert but decided to let plain old gravity handle that one.

When Smajor revived again at the end of his impact trail, he still had all the scrapes his previous body had obtained in the rough landing. As he struggled to get to his feet, he mentally grasped at whatever powers he might now have that could be defensive. All he felt was a craving for sugar.

Somehow he doubted playing at being helpless would work on Myth this time, and now he truly was helpless. He tried anyway, when he heard the seraph’s wings rustle as he landed, giving the most pathetic look he could manage. He didn’t really need to put on an act; he genuinely was afraid.

Myth only smirked. He drew and pointed the flaming sword. Like cotton candy exposed to fire, Smajor’s body melted away. The sand beneath where he had been was turned to glass from the heat of the merciless flames. Well, Myth would just do as his nemesis had in these cases, and find him again when his soul was shoved into a new vessel to continue the cycle.

.

With each smiting a new tally mark automatically burned itself into Myth’s arm guard. When the total hit fifty, something began to change, although Myth himself didn’t notice. He was too busy having the time of his life avenging himself. He didn’t feel the need to get creative; the onslaught of holy fire, which taught Smajor over and over that he could do nothing to stop it, was the perfect weapon. It was the retribution he had brought down on his own head so long ago.

Myth was a little bitter that it hadn’t come sooner.

Currently he stalked Smajor through a forest, where he was scurrying around in the underbrush as a small porcupine. No matter what creature he turned into, Myth would not stay his hand out of pity. He was now on a self-declared holy mission and he wouldn’t stop until the day Smajor no longer revived.

He pushed aside the cluster of tall ferns he had last seen the porcupine run under -only to see two of them. He debated for a moment, then reached for the one on the left. The other one began to tremble, then it turned its back toward him and released a spray of quills. Myth covered his face with his top pair of wings, deflecting most of them. He shook off the ones that did find purchase in his feathers. “Nice try. Regular animals don’t fear angels.”

Smajor squeaked and tried to run. Myth caught him by one hind leg and lifted him up. Smajor’s other limbs scrabbled at the air, then he stopped as he got a full, upside-down view of Myth. “H-Hey. What’s happening to your wings?”

“Don’t try to distract me.”

“N-No, I’m serious! It’s not fair if you get to level up just from killing me so many times in a row!”

Myth snorted. “Stop talking nonsense. Better yet, I’ll make you stop.” Sword now in hand, he went for a good old-fashioned stabbing. Afterward he placed Smajor’s body in the middle of some prickly berry bushes to have a little surprise when he revived.

It was as he was walking away looking for a clear space to take off, planning to wait up in a tree, that he noticed a trail of gleaming blood coming from where he had been standing. He knew Smajor couldn’t possibly have wounded him with some silly little quills. He raised an arm to check. Perhaps a barb had made it to the skin of his middle wings and he merely hadn’t felt it. It would still be a trivial thing…

That was when he saw his feathers were in the process of turning crimson, the red coloring flowing outward from the roots. His lower pair had already fully changed, and from the tips of his primaries was where the spatters on the ground had come from.

The light coming off his halo shifted from white to a dark scarlet.

Memory stirred of a life before he had come to this accursed world. He knew what this meant. He had been deemed as having become a fallen angel. Rage boiled up inside and he gripped the hilt of the sword so tightly his fingers ached. He screamed skyward, “What, was there a limit to how many times I could take revenge?! You can’t stop me now! I DON’T CARE! I’ll kill him as many times as it takes! I’ll become fallen a hundred times over! I WILL NOT LET THIS GO UNTIL I SAY IT ENDS!!”

~*~

After that he no longer had access to holy fire, but he continued with his fixation regardless. He still had all the other power a seraph possessed whether or not the heavens answered his call. He would be his own source, then, fueled by his thirst for revenge that couldn’t be slaked. When Smajor turned into a fire-breathing dragon three times his size and took the battle to the air again, Myth drew the sword now kept in a regular scabbard, dodging the streams of flame until Smajor had to stop to draw in a fresh breath, stoking his internal furnace.

Then Myth swooped around and pointed the sword at him. Dark red flames erupted out along his arms and traveled up the blade, increasing in intensity and size as they leapt forth toward the dragon. Smajor released what fire he could in the moment. The two blasts of deep red and bright orange clashed in the sky, striking awe into anyone below.

Myth’s outrage boiled up again. He could have easily taken care of this very big challenge if he could call down extra fire. The dark flames around his arms churned and grew as he practically forced his own spirit into powering them. The resulting wave overwhelmed Smajor’s brighter fire and surged over the dragon. He roared in agony, then his wings collapsed inward. He plummeted down.

Myth similarly fell as the dark flames tapered off, flickering away from his arms and the sword, leaving him feeling unexpectedly weak. He snapped his wings open to catch an updraft before he dropped too far, although he had to settle for gliding when he couldn’t find the strength to flap them.

The sound of Smajor hitting the ground reverberated over the land. Myth circled over the area, working to catch his breath. All right, that had been a tough one. And maybe it wasn’t so great that unnatural dark red flames were now spreading to the trees that had been knocked over by the impact. Myth swooped downward to see if he could draw them into him. Maybe it could get him some strength back.

While he was busy with that, he almost missed when the dragon’s body shimmered and shrank into a figure with blue-black skin and luminous turquoise eyes, who quickly fled by loping away on overly-long arms. Myth grasped the last of the flames and extinguished them with a clench of his fist, then he gave chase.

He arrived in time to see Smajor clamber into the mouth of a cave; the newly created sculkborn looked back once, issuing a strained, breathy cry in warning before he disappeared.

Underground was not a place for angels, but that was not something that would stop Myth now. He folded his wings down, the middle pair forming a bloody cloak over his shoulders, and made his way through the cave’s series of downward sloping tunnels. He had to pull his wings in tighter in some spots. In others, he knocked the stone loose to get through. Smajor’s form remained ahead of him, easily navigating crevasses and gaps over ravines despite his oddly proportioned body.

Myth halted when patches of sculk vein began to appear. This cave system probably didn’t lead to the same city as before, but his memory brought him back to the last time he had been in the Deep Dark. As he walked forward, slower now, he replayed the events in his mind. Baiting Smajor, leading him down to the depths of the earth, leading him across the city, hoping for a Warden to come up under him and attack him, but having a backup plan. The portal. Not knowing, himself, what lay beyond it, but willing to risk it.

He recalled the face of his double from another world, still going by the name Sausage – and how he had kept looking at Myth with pained sympathy.

The crimson-winged seraph stopped again and frowned. Sausage would probably want to fix Myth’s soul, if he could see what it had become now. He had no way of viewing it, himself, but he imagined it was dripping with blood just like his wings.

“No. You keep going. I’ll rescue Scott alone. You – You’ve earned an escape.”

That smile. Sympathy, again, and so full of optimism as if he had just given Myth some kind of freedom. A tantalizing offer of hope.

“There’s no room for redemption here, if that’s what you’re thinking. It’s been too long, and I’ve been through far too much pain already that I can’t ever dare to hope it will be different on the next round. I don’t know if this can be fixed…”

Myth reached to grasp a handful of his feathers. He had gotten his wings back, yet look what he had done to them…

Some things couldn’t be fixed, but they could be made worse. He knew there was even further that he could fall.

He drew in a breath and continued through the deepslate tunnel. Full patches of sculk appeared, and a few minutes later his very footsteps set off a sensor. No shrieker responded. He remained wary as he leaned to look out over the city laid out a few meters below the tunnel’s exit. He didn’t immediately see any movement. Smajor could have already hidden away somewhere, anyway, with the way he blended in.

Myth was also aware that he could sneak as much as he wanted to, but Smajor could set off the shriekers with a simple call. He was a little surprised he hadn’t done so already to have a Warden greet Myth at the door.

He spread his wings and launched himself forward, beating his wings to get a little closer to the city’s ceiling. Predictably, sensors went off all over the place, but fortunately the cascade of shriekers counted as one warning. Gliding close to towers didn’t register to the sensors, but once he started losing altitude, he had to beat his wings again, setting off the sensors in the new part of the city he was scouting over. More shriekers responded, and a second wave of darkness passed through the area.

He knew he couldn’t scare Smajor by causing a Warden to emerge, but he figured he could make him nervous by triggering alarms in different parts of the city. He wouldn’t know where Myth was, either, since even his halo was dimmed by the darkness.

The seraph alighted on top of the portal frame to have one last look around before he would go set off the sensors again. He caught a sound below him that was part rattle, part whimper. He peered downward. There was Smajor, prying away at a gemstone in the corner of the frame. Myth raised an eyebrow in amusement. What in the world was he up to? Would the gemstone grant him additional power, like slaying an Elder Guardian had for Myth so many deaths ago? Wouldn’t that mean Smajor would need to slay a Warden?

Well, it didn’t really matter what he was trying to do. Myth stepped off the edge and dropped straight down, landing with barely a rustle of his feathers. He loomed over Smajor and grabbed one of his wrists while he was distracted by his desperation. “Found you,” Myth whispered in his ear.

“N-No,” Smajor said in a breathy voice. “H-How did you not…" He swung his other hand at Myth’s face, the sharp piece of stone he had been using to pry at the gemstone slicing the ends off a few feathers as Myth jerked his head out of the way.

Shifting his feet caused a scraping sound from other shards of rock on the ground, reaching the sensors and in turn the shriekers. Myth kept his gaze on Smajor as the darkness once more swept through; turquoise eyes glowed and shifted back and forth. The brick making up the street below crackled and a Warden emerged, sniffing at the air. Its heartbeat wasn’t as fast as Smajor’s was right then; he cursed.

“Even you can’t control where they pop up, huh? I take it you were counting on it being up here.”

Smajor let himself hang from his captured wrist, still holding the piece of stone in his other hand. “Well, get it over with already. I’m surprised you let me last this long. Or do you intend to find out what I’m doing?”

“If you’re feeling chatty, go ahead. I was strolling down memory lane about the last time we were in one of these cities.”

“Hm. Yeah. It does bring back memories.” Smajor listlessly tossed the piece of stone aside, hitting a sensor, even though he knew he couldn’t intimidate Myth with that threat. He waited until the light returned. “I was hoping to trick you into standing in line with this thing and get a Warden to push you in. Since you apparently know the way out, I was going to try to break it so you couldn’t come back.”

“Ohh, that is a good idea.” Myth beat his wings, lifting off the ground and swinging Smajor just slightly as if preparing to toss him in. He imagined it was more terrifying to see nothing but the faint glow of the gemstones getting closer on the upswing as the sound of his wings triggered another wave of darkness. A second Warden emerged somewhere nearby, but still not on the roof now below them.

“You wouldn’t!” Smajor yelped. “I’ll – I’ll just follow the trail of destruction I left last time! And if I can’t get back here, I’ll go take out my own revenge on those other versions of us! I can get just as much satisfaction out of killing some other you, and that one was pretty soft!”

Myth didn’t respond. The beating of his wings continued to set off sensors below.

Smajor watched the light wash over a stony expression, disappearing in the darkness then appearing again, unmoved by the attempted threat. His arm was starting to ache. “W-Who knows, I might even end up in a place with a version of you that never died, and I might put him through everything I did to you!”

Myth swung him again, but released his wrist on the backswing, sending him flying up past the edge of the roof. He was lucky enough to land on a carpeted part of a bridge below… except Myth was right on him a second later. “An eternal labyrinth might be too generous for you. I have a better idea.” He drew his sword and put an end to Smajor once again.

~*~

Sixty.

Seventy.

Eighty.

Ninety.

One hundred.

…One hundred and ­three.

That was a weird place to stop, but Smajor was certain he had counted the tally marks on Myth’s arm guard correctly. He had woken up in a cell made of a mix of regular and crying obsidian with a blueish light source hidden away somewhere in the ceiling. It had a reenforced iron door that had a line of bars in the middle at eye level. Well, his current eye level. He felt tired, and a check under his ragged shirt showed a thick network of scars over his heart. Clearly the regeneration hadn’t kept up after a while.

There was a bed, and a bucket of water, and for some reason the arm guard had been sitting in the middle of the floor. He wasn’t sure what Myth was trying to prove, unless he just wanted to let Smajor know he would be back to complete the last set of marks. He didn’t remember any of his lives after the sculkborn one.

And now he felt utterly ordinary. There was no trace of any ethereal energies within him, no senses for manipulating the various substances making up the world around him.

Maybe Myth had left him alive long enough to experience this new type of hell: helpless and trapped in a box that he had no hope of wearing down, even if he used the arm guard as a tool. Infuriated, he gave a cry and threw it at the door, producing a loud clang.

He thought he heard a chuckle from outside. He leapt to the door, grasping the bars and trying to get a look. There were mostly shadows beyond the cell, with a bit of sculk visible to the side. “Myth! Get over here where I can see you, you coward! Nether blast you, when I get out of here—!!”

One of the shadows shifted – but it wasn’t a shadow at all. It was a pair of black wings, and as Myth swung around with a soul lantern in hand to light the way, Smajor could see he had sculk vein running over the right side of his face, as well as down his arm and across his top wing on that side. His halo appeared inverted, glowing black from the inside. “You’re not getting out. Enough is enough.”

“W-Why do you look like that? What have you done to me?! Why – Why are none of my powers working?!”

Myth lumbered closer. Smajor could see that his black feathers had red rachis. Dark ichor dripped off of the bottom of his wings now, instead of blood.

“Y-You haven’t died. You’re still the same thing, but… what in the Nether have you done to yourself?”

“I brought us to the inevitable conclusion. Funny it turned out this way. It seems you were right. I’m immortal, you’re immortal… And now I am your warden.” He wrapped the fingers of his empty hand around the bars. Smajor let go of them and stumbled back a step. Myth glanced toward the arm guard laying on the floor. “One hundred lives total. I had to do a few extra, just to make sure, but after number one hundred you did stay what you are now.”

Smajor emitted a series of disbelieving noises, then choked out, “What happened to you, then?!”

“Oh, that’s just a little sculk infection from being down here so long. It will probably make its way into there, too, so get used to it.”

“No, I mean the—"

“There are worse things than a fallen angel,” Myth interrupted. “Cursed angels. I suppose I wasn’t ever meant to be a guardian angel, either. But there are still other callings one can answer to. How unlucky for you. You chose the wrong type of angel to feed off of.”

 ~The End~

---

[P.S. A/N: Thank you to everyone who gave kudos, likes, and comments on this series! | Accompanying artwork by Cynthrey  - The Fall of Myth]

[triviareads]

hi! do you have any sierra simone reccs? I think you said you liked american queen but I wasn't sure if you'd read others?

I love this woman and I've read nearly everything she's written (sans the Thornchapel series and a couple others) and honestly? I would recommend most of it.

The Priest series: All of them brilliantly written, lovely, lyrical, etc. They all deal with some aspect of the forbidden (priest, nun, monk), and how the Bell siblings navigate this. You get the sense Sierra knows her theology as well as she knows how to write good sex on the page. Reading all of them made me genuinely contemplative (when I wasn't shook by the sex, or crying).

New Camelot series: Definitely a little weirder and a lot wilder. It's modern-day King Arthur/Guinevere/a character who's a mix of Mordred and Lancelot. Ash (Arthur) is the President of the United States and deffo an anti-hero so some of the decisions he takes are... unorthodox. There's a lot of twists and turns both external plot-wise and when it comes to their relationship so... consider yourself warned.

Short Stories (Far Hope Stories): All of these are set in England but centered around a secret, ancient place called Far Hope known for it's secret sex magic.

Chasing of Eleanor Vane: Eleanor is meant to marry the hero's nephew, runs for it, is hunted down by the hero Ajax Dartham (who is an uncle, but also a Daddy) and now they're in an isolated cabin while a storm rages on so oh noooo what will they doooo. No but seriously though, the way Sierra weaves such depth of emotion even into all of her short stories is magnificent.

The Last Crime of Peregrine Hind: A highwayman romance; Peregrine is hellbent upon *revenge* against the Dartham family but finds himself being unwittingly (well, wittingly, tbh) seduced by his captive Alexander Dartham, the brother of the man Peregrine is trying to kill.

The Conquering of Tate the Pious: The most iconic nun romance (sorry Tiffany Reisz) with a lady warlord. The nun, Tate, basically bargains away her body to The Wolf, in exchange for keeping Far Hope Abbey safe from the being plundered by The Wolf and her army. It's set during the Norman invasion which I personally loved.

Markham Hall series: Historical erotic romance centered on the relationship between Ivy Leavold and Julian Markham, her cousin's widower. I'd describe it as sexy gothic with a dash of murder mystery and a D/s relationship.

Misadventures With a Professor: Probably a comfort read at this point. Ft. English professor Oliver Markham Graeme (any relation to Julian⬆️? who knows) who has a huuuuuge professorial kink (and a looooot of shame about said kink for Reasons), and Zandy, who's an eager beaver-type training to become a librarian. They have a one-night stand without knowing who the other person is, and when they meet again, they realize Zandy's the person who's going to be his research assistant all summer and it goes from there.

[nalanzu]

Weiss Kreuze Episode 13: Bruch

So we've reached the halfway point of the series. We get a brief recap of Omi's family drama, and from the title the heavy drama isn't slowing down any time soon.

We do get the lovely sight of Takatori beating the shit out of Schuldig and Farfarello with a golf club for killing his daughter. Crawford redirects his rage to Weiss, which works incredibly well despite Schuldig having literally fired the gun.

The cases of the week aren't going to stop either, as we see a para-military type by a burning warehouse followed by a news report of a military base being broken into. Weiss, however, is more worried about the fact that there is a telepathic assassin who knows who they are. Ken and Yohji think it's time to fuck off into the sunset. Aya, of course, is still hellbent on revenge and will hear no talk of breaking up the team.

Omi and Persia have a conversation in a lovely cemetery off the bay, in front of Ouka's grave. Omi has come to the conclusion that Aya is right and Takatori must be stopped. They're interrupted by the man himself also showing up to pay his respects to his late daughter, but before we get the fallout of Takatori potentially recognizing Omi, we're going to rturn to the case of the week.

On the news, the stolen military weapons have been used to commit acts of domestic terrorism, which have been signed Weiss. Our heroes, of course, are furious that their name has been slandered. Not that anyone outside Kritiker knows who Weiss is, but they're still pissed about it. They do, of course, recognize that it's Takatori's assassins who are behind these shenanigans, and Kritiker takes the very reasonable step of not sending Weiss directly into the very obvious trap. Weiss does not appreciate this concern, especially Aya, who just wants to murder Takatori Reiji and will straight-up leave Weiss and Kritiker to do it.

Just in case it's not already clear, we get to see a soot-stained Schuldig cackling at news of the bombings. He doesn't want to reveal their identities to the public, either, he wants to play with them and so does Farfarello.

Manx and Persia think they're being watched, as the election approaches, and Persia - the police commissioner - arrives for a meeting with Takatori - vice prime minister. Takatori wants Persia to deal with this rogue group, Weiss, who is rampaging around the city. Or, he says smugly, is there some reason the commissioner doesn't wish to address the issue? They are playing very ridiculous cat-and-mouse. Persia's counter is a military special forces group that Takatori had formed while he was apparently in charge of the defense force (I - I'm not sure how politics work but I don't think this is it). It has gone AWOL. They clumsily dance around the idea that this AWOL special forces unit is Takatori's secret army before Takatori asks what he really wants to know, which is who Omi was. All he gets out of it is that he's Ouka's friend, an obvious lie.

Omi, in the basement, is trying to figure out what to do about the terrorists. Aya is cranky and accuses him of spying. Omi is also cranky and lets it slip that Persia is his uncle. More Omi family drama incoming, my friends.

Aya, who has zero chill, immediately runs off to threaten Persia for the terrible crime of being a Takatori and not letting Aya murder his nemesis. He gets a gun to his temple, courtesy of Manx, and demands to be sent out on a mission immediately. Not only does he have no sense of chill, he has no sense of strategy or timing. When he doesn't get what he wants, he threatens to take his toys and go home, by which I mean he threatens to quit Weiss. Persia reminds him that the only reason his sister's medical bills are being paid are because Kritiker, his employer, is paying them. Aya's only answer for this is that he's not going to take orders from a Takatori. Oh, Aya.

This entire conversation, by the way, was observed by a shady government-type in a suit and sunglasses.

The next terrorist attack involves more explosives, killing multiple people. Persia still doesn't want to send Weiss into an obvious trap. Manx points out, quite reasonably, that they can't just keep doing nothing, even if their opponent is military special forces. I can't help but feel that there's a middle ground between Do Nothing and Send Weiss To Handle The Terrorists. I'm pretty sure that middle ground is Collect Information And Develop A Plan. Nobody on the show agrees with me, though, and they're just going to point Weiss at the problem and say, Fix it.

Aya, meanwhile, is having flashbacks of the day his sister was run over and being told that she would almost certainly be braindead and comatose forever. I have some thoughts about quality of life here. we get a dramatic scene of Aya folding an earring into her hand, while he wears the other one of the pair. Back in their assassin basement, Omi has tracked the location of the terrorists probably, and everyone but Aya is set to go kill some dudes. Omi tells them Aya has quit the group, although he really has no solid basis for this.

Instead of going straight to the dramatic fight, we get another flashback to the night sister!Aya was hit by a car and a scene of them at a festival. It kills the pace entirely. Just kills it. Kills the pace and the mood. We learn that the two of them found their parents dead on the floor at home, suffocated by gas, and Aya notices the gas and a tiny bomb right before the house explodes. Aya, trapped in the wreckage, watches as his sister is run over after she escaped the house. We also learn that Aya's father was suspected of having participated in an embezzlement scheme, so the gas leak is possibly suicide, according to the papers. Ah, the plot is thicker than we have been led to believe.

Aya, of course, is absolutely convinced that his parents were murdered. There is a cute bit with the earrings, which sister!Aya bought at the festival, and Aya vows revenge. He gives his sister the one earring, which she has apparently been holding for years (what hospital staff member is going to leave the earring in her hand? omfgggggggggg), and puts the other one on. Did he just pierce his ear with the earring? The fuck, Aya.

We finally get back to the present, where Weiss attempts to sneak into the very obvious trap and is immediately caught by the terrorists with a giant floodlight. Good job, guys. Aya, for his part, sees Takatori's car driving down the road and leaps on top of said car. He attempts to stab Takatori through the roof of the car, with his sword, and all he is going to do is ruin the damn sword. Takatori isn't even IN the car, it's Crawford being smarmy.

So we've got 3/4 of Weiss running away from rocket launchers and Aya facing off against Crawford's gun and Farfarello's knives. Manx, in a car with Persia, thinks the fact that Aya isn't with the group is affecting their performance. Guys, I do not think that's the problem. That is really, really not the problem. Persia is also aware that his brother knows about his little side project courtesy of the spy from earlier.

With the kind of dramatic timing we expect from this show, Takatori calls Persia to gloat about almost certainly being elected Prime Minister in the election the next day (weren't there noises being made a couple episodes back about supporters he absolutely needed to win the election being murdered by Weiss? istg), but also to say that he knows who's behind the terrorist group, Weiss. He threatens Persia with Consequences as soon as he wins the election.

I feel that, with reasonable people, this would just be giving Persia warning and enabling him to prepare and develop a strategy. We have seen, however, that despite apparently successfully running a paramilitary shadow organization of spies and assassins, Persia has zero concept of strategy and he's not going to do anything useful with this information. As expected, Persia concludes that the best course of action is to go find Aya. Just. No. A prettyboy ball of rage with a pointy stick and no sense of perspective is not going to solve your problems, Persia.

Also, several episodes back, we had a whole-ass scene with A Kritiker Agent who had been set to watching Masafumi who turned up mutated and dead. This clearly indicated that YOU HAVE MORE PEOPLE THAN WEISS. Why the fuck are you not mobilizing them? Why?

Aya, meanwhile, is getting his butt kicked by Crawford's ability to see where he's going to strike and just step out of the way. It's pretty funny, honestly, although Crawford is incredibly smug about the whole thing. Crawford tells Aya it's pretty sad that he can't see the future. Aya snarls that you're not supposed to see the future, you're supposed to make it. To be fair, that's a pretty good line.

Weiss is not doing well facing off against rocket launchers and helicopters, what with not having any ranged weapons except for Omi's darts, and Ken may or may not have a broken leg. We end the episode on Farfarello pointing a stabby weapon at Aya's face.

Honestly, for all of my bitching, this is a pretty fun episode. Nobody is acting reasonably. Nobody. The actions one would expect to be taken given the circumstances that must exist due to what's been laid out in the plot are not taken. There is a hyperfocus on the men in Weiss despite the fact that Kritiker has been stated to be a larger organization. Nobody understands that information is a valuable commodity. It's incredibly juvenile storytelling as it gets into details that were previously only implied and absolutely fails to create any sort of cohesive or believable narrative.

I have no idea why it's still somehow a lot of fun. Honestly, it's entirely possible that I just like yelling at the television that the problem they actually have is not the problem they think they have and either way Aya is 100% not the solution.

[xxhatchetxx]

Can I interest any of you into the most self indulgent thing I have ever made? @priest-of-rage and I started yelling about Hannibal and welp! here’s a zadr au!

Dib is an FBI special agent. To please his father he now goes after "real" monsters. At this point in his life he hasn't seen Zim in years and assumes him dead. Until his boss forces him to a take a new psych eval with a new psychiatrist 

Zim isn't a serial killer. Just a dumb alien doing his usual earth destruction plots

Below is further explanation into the au! Its mainly Hannibal S1 themes and is canon compliant  to IZ!

Dib started to see less and less of Zim as he grew older. By the time he graduated school he hadn't seen the Irken in years. The fire that powered his obsession left him and Dib made changes in his life. He goes to school for forensic science. It's not quite the science his dad wants him to do but it's real science enough for him to leave Dib alone.

Zim was doing many things over the years. But not having his one true nemesis around started to bore him. It had been a while, so he thinks of a  brand new genius idea to take over the Earth! 

But first before that he must track down Dib. Can't have him foiling his plans again so why not find him to keep an eye on him. He finds out Dib works for the wretched FBI and is in the need for a psychological evaluation. So  Zim's concocts a genius plan to become a psychiatrist just so he can give the most bogus evaluation for Dib that will surely get him locked in the crazy house forever!! 

Dib’s life takes a sudden dip into the interesting when he sees Zim again. With a new found determination he plays nice with him in front of others but becomes hellbent on exposing him again. Unfortunately he doesn't have much time to expose Zim when there is a murderer on the loose. It's also complicated as Dib still has lingering feelings for Zim that he thought he buried years ago, but seeing him again has unearthed them.

As Dib hunts down the killer his boss forces Zim to accompany him. Neither party are too pleased

Garret Jacob Hobbs is a defective Irken who came to earth with thoughts of leaving his past behind him. He wanted no memory and forced his pak to make him forget. But not before starting a new life, getting married and creating a human-irken hybrid daughter.

The more time he spends on earth the more he loses himself. Every so often the pak tries to force reset, to get back to an Irkens mission of destruction and conquering. Hobbs realizes he needs to make "missions" for himself. So he does. His missions are murder. They slow the paks reset but this also causes him to lose his mind. As he forgets more, his "mission" just becomes murder. Hobbs is fully convinced he and his daughter Abigail are human. 

Abigail Hobbs has no idea of her Irken lineage. Her father explained her pak was a simple life saving medical device she has just always needed. Being a hybrid, her antennae are small and one is underdeveloped. She also does not have the same healing ability other Irkens would have. She has never used her pak legs and has no idea that it is anything other than what her father told her.

One day something finally snapped in Hobbs and he attacked his family. Thankfully Dib had done enough investigating to track down Hobbs. Dib (and Zim) are there in time to kick down the door but not before Hobbs kills his wife and slashes his daughter's throat. Dib finds himself shooting Garret Jacob Hobbs. He then rushes over to the injured girl on the floor. 

When Dib looks over to Hobbs as he bleeds out, he can almost swear he sees half of his face flash the familiar Irken green skin and large bug eyes. He shakes his head and applies pressure to Abigail's neck to try and stop the bleeding. Looking back to Hobbs after he assesses Abigail's condition, he looks fully human and very much dead. 

Dib thinks both Hobbs and Abigail are human and feels responsible to try and take care of her. He's the reason she is an orphan. He knows what it's like to have an absent family. He tries to be like a father to her but it's hard. He doesn't know what he's doing. 

Zim had suspected something was off about Hobbs, but the day he watched Dib kill Hobbs was just the confirmation that he was Irken. A defective who lost his mind that killed and ate humans. Zim found the eating humans part disgusting but it wasn't like he hadn't stolen their organs and eaten them before. It's Abigail he has an interest in. She was too quiet. Too calculating. Too emotionless. Too much like himself. He took to her easily. Became the parental figure Dib longed to be. How could Abigail like Zim more than Dib? What was he doing wrong that a wretched alien was doing correctly?

Seeing Zim care for her the way he did made it very obvious that she was not human. It took Dib a while to admit to himself that Abigail was Irken. This whole situation is complicated for him. He cares for Abigail and he can feel his romantic feeling for Zim start to bubble over. But isn't he supposed to be exposing Zim? And If he exposes Zim what about Abigail? She was raised as a human but she is technically also an Irken. 

Zim eventually shows Abigail what she really is. Who she really is. She's frightened by the state of her true appearance but Zim says he will teach her and show her what it means to be an Irken. He is proud of his heritage and he will teach her everything. 

She knows Dib is trying to be her father, but won't he expose both her and Zim as aliens?.

Abigail: Dib knows doesn't he? 

Zim: He knows what I am.

Abigail: What am I going to do.

Zim: He will keep our secret.

Abigail: You don't know that. 

Zim: He will. Otherwise the one good thing in his life will be taken.

Since no one ever listens to Dib he never really shuts off his mouth. The wrong people overhear Dib one day and it puts Zim and Abigail in real danger of becoming test subjects to be ripped apart and studied. As much as Dib had those thoughts as a kid, that wasn't what he wanted. Losing Zim for all those years took a toll on him and he wasn't about to lose him again or lose Abigail.

[tornsurvivors]

@torntruth sent in; (  𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑫𝑪𝑨𝑵𝑶𝑵 𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑴𝑷𝑻. )

( alexi ) headcanon + swords,  ( sylvanas ) headcanon + soul, ( sadie) headcanon + healing,  ( elyssa ) + second chances .

𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬; 𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑥𝑖 //

Using lethal force is something Alexi tries to avoid at all times. When subduing a criminal or a threat to the Empress, she would use her baton-- it is beneficial that she knows close quarters combat, so she can easily knock them out. If the enemy has a sword, she’ll use hers but only to defend / fend them off. She will use the sword to injure and subdue if she needs to, but she will try to avoid killing with it. That doesn’t mean she won’t if she’s forced in a rather perilous situation where Emily’s life or hers is threatened. Like that one time, when their carriage was ambushed and she threw a live grenade back at the Regenters. A matter of life and death, basically, is when she will use her sword to kill to save Emily and her own life. Or even an innocent person’s life. The day when Ramsey betrayed them and stabbed her is also a reason why she keeps her own sword close by at all times now, even though she still wouldn’t use it if she has other options to subdue an opponent. 

She also trains new recruits in sword fighting with the help of Sylvanas, but they also teach the recruits to only use their sword to defend and subdue. Same thing with crossbows. Going up against those who are hellbent on murdering them is a different story, of course. While it obviously will be unpleasant, they’ll know it’s necessary to protect their people. 

𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥; 𝑠𝑦𝑙𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑠 //

The reason Sylvanas didn’t turn into a monster like Arthas?  The broken fragments of the Ranger-General that fought tirelessly from within. That was probably Arthas’ mistake when he ripped her soul away from the afterlife and shattered it in the process. A fragment of it was devoured by Frostmourne, but he left the rest inside Sylvanas when he raised her as a Banshee... so she could be aware of the terrible crimes she was about to commit upon her people in the Banshee’s stead. But he didn’t really think it through, he had forgotten all about his own humanity-- devoured by the Lich King’s power... that he didn’t think Sylvanas would take advantage of the only thing she had left of her true self and use it against her Jailers when Ner’zhul’s mind control weakened and she broke free. Because of that, she was able to plot her revenge all while pretending she was still a slave to their control. But also to gather information on where Arthas hid her body-- sealed away in an iron coffin to further torment her.

Even as the Banshee Queen, the fragments of the Ranger-General helped her fight against the temptations of the vile creature that lived within her altered body as well. It’s what helped her resist the pull of insanity and bloodlust. Even though she has done questionable things for the sake of the Forsaken... she still didn’t commit genocide, because of the remnants of the Ranger-General. 

𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠; 𝑠𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑒 //

When she lost Jake, she basically lost a whole half of her and nearly her whole heart went with him. Left behind with broken fragments of it. Healing was a very, very slow and grueling process-- or so you would think. It nearly cost her sanity as well, and her humanity... for that the O’Driscolls had turned her into a monster, as she claimed. Murdering them out of a blinding rage and a desperation for the hope she would find a sliver of relief and satisfaction that she had avenged her husband’s cruel and pointless death. But it never really helped. Just made her feel worse as she would look at her hands stained with the bad blood. She rarely slept, for that she would be plagued with nightmares of that horrific day, and of the monster she would see lurking behind her eyes. She also drank heavily, hoping it would somehow help numb her, but it never really did the job. She’d always be haunted by the loss the next day when she sobers up, over and over. So, you could say that she never really healed. A big part of her is never going to heal completely.

However, when she officially met Piper and fell head over heels for her... she did find her redemption, and that was her shattered heart and bruised soul healing from the trauma she had suffered and inflicted upon herself after Jake’s death. There’ll ALWAYS be a big piece of her that will never heal from Jake’s death, and she’s... okay with that. Because to her, it’s just another reason, a reminder for her to fight harder and to remember her humanity. To not let that monster win and to never get burned again. While she didn’t heal fully on the inside, her newfound love for Piper simply fortified her.

𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬;  𝑒𝑙𝑦𝑠𝑠𝑎 //

Even though she was given a second chance to live again, to fight for Sylvanas and for their people-- she sometimes feels guilty. Because her twin brother didn’t get the second chance to live. He died a cruel death, only to be raised as something that wasn’t of this world... a shell of his former self, to be used as a weapon against humanity and innocence. She still had a chance to be saved, while he didn’t-- she clung to her body after Marwyn killed her and she is haunted by thoughts of what happened to Elwin after he died. Did he watch his own body being paraded around as a monster? Did he watch it murder dozens?  The mere thought of the torment that he undoubtedly must’ve felt as he watched helplessly-- as Sylvanas had when they paraded the Banshee around, was far too excruciating. Elyssa couldn’t help but feel as if she didn’t deserve the second chance to live, when her twin had been robbed of the precious life and future he deserved. However, after she was forced to kill Scourge Elwin and ended his misery... his boundless gratitude was enough to lessen that guilt.  

His last words to her before she watched his spirit fade through the ice and snow: “Don’t feel guilty. It’s not a complete loss. Live for us, Elyssa. I want you to live for us both. To love for us both. To fight for us both. I will forever be grateful to Sylvanas for saving you as you deserved to be. Do not squander this second chance. I am not gone. I will always be with you, in heart and by spirit. This isn’t goodbye.” 

It was then that Elyssa decided that second chances were considered an act of mercy. Something that one shouldn’t ever have to feel guilty for. 

[insomniac-jay]

Kamigami

Full Name: Orihiko Saikami

Hero Alias: Origami Hero - Kamigami

Age: 24

Gender: Male (Cis, He/Him)

Nationality: Japan

Occupation: Pro Hero; Sidekick

Affiliation(s): Demoman Agency, Construction Crew

Description:

Design notes:

He wasn't born with wings, that's just him showing or probably about to use his Quirk.

Spiky bangs, fluffy hair

Personality: Jaded and stoic, Kamigami is not sociable in the slightest. He can't hold a conversation for long and prefers small talk. This detaches him from both the rest of his teammates and his fellow heroes-- except for one: Inkspell (Nadeshiko Shinpengaki). Orihiko is very judgemental, often judging others off words alone. Not to mention that he doesn't like holding back his feelings for the sake of others.

Kamigami also has a dry sense of humor, so don't expect many jokes from him.

One of the most prominent things that says a lot about Orihiko as both a person and a hero is how hellbent he is on avenging his father and killing holding the man responsible (Archangel/Tensen Zokukurai) accountable. Seeing his father murdered in front of him and still haven't gotten the justice he deserved drives him mad with rage.

While not a sociable person, Orihiko is a good older brother to his younger siblings, boyfriend to Inkspell, and later on father to his kids.

Quirk: Papercraft

Orihiko has godlike control over any and all forms of paper and paper like substances including papyrus and parchment. Some other abilities include being able to turn matter and objects into paper and giving paper physical properties. Orihiko can also make it resistant to fire, water, and sharp objects.

Kamigami mainly uses paper to create different constructs, or origami constructs.

Family:

Unnamed father (Deceased)

Unnamed mother

Sakka Saikami | Fable (Younger brother)

Miyoshi Saikami (Younger sister)

4 other unnamed siblings

Paired with: Nadeshiko Shinpengaki | Inkspell

@floof-ghostie @calciumcryptid @s0ursop @opalofoctober @elflynns-horde-of-stuff @peachyblkdemonslayer @pizzolisnacks

[inuyashaha]

Reflecting on the post I just reblogged about Sesshomaru's mother not having having a profile page.

Yashahime as a whole has a big raging boner for Toga...and yeah, I get being interested in the man who spawned Sesshomaru and Inuyasha. I was also interested, but for what we have gotten about him so far, I'm just not...that impressed? He was powerful. He was kind. He liked to make it with lots of women, and Kirinmaru has a big crush on him...alright. He's pretty one-dimensional to me, and I've seen fan interpretations that fleshed him out beautifully; however, I still feel like we are being told he is wonderful without showing that he's so great. Don't get me wrong. There is plenty of evidence in the original that he was extremely powerful, but Yashahime is hellbent on showing how likeable he was...and I didn't get that from the original so very much. Actually, I feel like there are some kind of shady things he's done which are not addressed at all (though that could be my own bias coming in).

Everyone is telling the girls how they are like their grandfather. Moroha's blood tastes like Toga's. She has his ghosty-power thing rise above her when she battled Kirinmaru. Towa's kind and loving heart apparently comes from Toga, who liked to share the love (if you know what I mean), and not her own mother who forgave everyone who tried to murder her (even those who succeeded) and changed the stony heart of Sesshomaru.

Even in recent episodes, Kirinmaru laments that Toga's power sent him careening off into the sky. To me, it's kind of garbage that we are focused on Toga when it was confirmed that Sesshomaru surpassed his father. I thought we were getting some of that when Sesshomaru and Kirinmaru battled before, and the "heavens and earth" itself trembled at their battle. Now, though, a whiff of Toga's "awesome power" wielded vicariously somehow through his granddaughters is what stops Kirinamaru (at least temporarily)?

Toga. Toga. Toga. Why was no one telling the twins about their father who overcame Toga, who is a more powerful daiyoki than his father? At least Moroha had someone telling her stories about her parents, even if she is referring to her mother as a "reincarnation of a great priestess" (which again, why focus on Kikyo? Kagome did a lot more in her own right). Even Inuyasha, who due to being a half-demon is not going to out power Sesshomaru, is still amazingly powerful. Why not focus on what he passed on to his daughter?

I would love to see people telling the girls how amazing their dads are, not their granddad.

Or if we are going to focus on grandparents, Sesshomaru's mom has more personality and style than Toga...sorry, not sorry. She may not be a fighter in the typical sense, but to me, it looks like she wields far more power than Toga ever did. I'd love to see someone take a look at Setsuna and tell her how much she is like her grandmother. Have Towa feel proud that she shares blood with this grand lady.

Actually, if we are going to focus on grandparents, why not flesh out Rin's parents? Were they kind? Were they brave, saving their little girl while sacrificing their own lives? Maybe the twins' bravery and kindness could be traced through their mother's lineage.

I'm so baffled by the wasted opportunities in each episode, but hey, at least we get to see Moe play the violin again, am i right? Whoo! Maybe we can see Moe and Towa share a big motherly hug, and Setsuna will blush under Moe's approval as she plays Rin's song (who? that lady in the tree?). Maybe Moe will play Rin's song for twins, and Mei can sing harmony. Gosh! So emotional! I just hope we get to see more of Sota and Mei making pinky-promises with Towa to deny part of her identity. That is the good stuff!

[I swear to all that is holy, if the new big secret violin arrangement just added to the soundtrack is for a scene with MOE and the twins, I will have a stroke]

[elliepassmore]

Our Violent Ends review

5/5 stars Recommended for people who like: fantasy, multiple POVs, gang fiction, enemies to lovers, Romeo and Juliet, alternate history, murder wife, action

Review for These Violent Delights here I was very excited but also very nervous going into this book. These Violent Delights ended at a fairly high tension point and I was very eager to see where that was going to go and whether/how Juliette and Roma would fix things. On the other hand, this is a Romeo and Juliet retelling, and we all know how that ended. Tensions were higher than ever in this book. Roma thinks Juliette killed his mother and Marshall and is out for blood. Meanwhile, the Scarlets are getting in even deeper with the Kuomintang while the Communists are ramping up the workers' protests. So things are...tense, to say the least. It was actually kind of nerve wracking to read parts of this book just because of how much politicking was going on and how it seemed everyone was stabbing everyone in the back while shaking hands. I think the politics of it is pretty interesting and I liked seeing more of the protests and how that impacted things. The greater inclusion of the two different political factions makes things pretty interesting. Likewise, the workers' protests play a bigger role and the ripple effects of that can be felt throughout the book on multiple occasions. There's a good sense that Shanghai will never be the same, no matter who comes out on top. For the characters, the whole cast is back (minus the dead ones). Juliette has largely resigned herself to having to dodge Roma's bullets for the rest of her life while she works to maintain her status within the Scarlets. Despite what happened at the end of the last book, though, she's still determined to see this out with as little bloodshed as possible and hopes both sides can set aside their grudges for the greater good. Juliette is still her spitfire self and I enjoyed her interactions with other characters. She definitely finds where she wants to stand in this one, perhaps more so than she did in the first book. There are people with the Scarlets and the White Flowers that she doesn't want to see die, and she seems to be more invested (than before) in the innocent lives that get caught up in the middle as well. Juliette has an interesting character arc and you can definitely feel where some of her exhaustion comes from. Roma is a different story. He's hellbent on vengeance for Marshall and is determined to see it happen at the end of his gun or blade. Never mind that a part of him still loves Juliette, he throws himself into the role of the White Flower's heir and really starts acting the part in a way he didn't in the last book. This 'new' Roma still has his old characteristics, though, and he still finds himself drawn to Juliette and the mess that's happening in Shanghai again. Roma also has to decide which side to be on in this book, but for him I think the decision is easier. Fear not, though, because we do still get that good enemies-to-lovers stuff in this one (and fake marriage). There are actually a lot of good Juliette-Roma moments in the book. It is still a Romeo and Juliet retelling, though, and Gong really captures this sense that they're on borrowed time (though not really the kind in the OG story). Benedikt is back as well and is also very changed from the last book. Gone is the fairly easy-going artist and now we have someone who's becoming a shell of himself. He suffered a loss at the end of TVD, more so than Roma did, and he has to battle the emptiness and rage welling up inside him. It's rough for a little while, but he eventually gains his footing. Marshall also comes back and is, honestly, not that different than before. His arc becomes more important toward the end of the book, where he gets to make all sorts of fun decisions about loyalty and freedom and love. I will say, though, that I adore his and Juliette's interactions and am glad we got more of them. Alisa is back in this one too and since she isn't kidnapped for a lot of it she plays a bigger role. She's quite clever and is easily able to get in and out of spaces, meaning she sees and understand a lot more than other people think. Unlike a lot of the other characters, she's still fairly unmarred by the blood feud and the hatred it brings, which is nice. On Juliette's side of things, Kathleen/Celia is a fairly central character again. Like most of the others, she's contending with shifting alliances and a shifting Shanghai. However, she's doing it in a slightly different way. She's still infiltrated in with the Communists and she definitely sees the draw of what they're saying. Kathleen does go through a pretty big transformation in this book and it's super interesting to see where she is at the end of the book. Rosalind also comes back in, but again she seems mostly relegated to the background of the book. She does become more important later on, but for a lot of the book she's either not there or she's there and not really having anything to do with anyone else. We do get to see some nice sisterly love in there, though, and where Rosalind ends up is also very interesting. The ending is a tiny bit open-ended, but it also clearly leans toward one interpretation, so I'm going with that one. Based on where things had gone in this book, I don't really see how else things could've played out, so the ending did fit, even if it maybe wasn't quite what I'd imagined. I enjoyed this book and think it added a good amount of tension to things while also giving good character arcs and wrapping up nicely. Considering how this one ended, I was thinking the next MC would be Alisa, but after reading the blurb for Foul Lady Fortune I'm not entirely sure, since it could also be Kathleen/Celia or Rosalind. Regardless, I'm looking forward to what's in store next!

[leonardhoee]

Ikevamp Guys as Villains

Warnings: Mass Murder, Gore...

Tagging: @aurora-morning @delicateikemenmemes @writer-akihiko @nafeary

Napoleon

Napoleon would be a royal dictator. He is the leader of a corrupt, authoritarian regime, hellbent on conquering the world. Think Hela (Thor: Ragnarok or The Darkling (Shadow and Bone). He controls people with his massive armies, and believes he is the only rightful ruler in this world. He believes that the world should be remade in his image so it can be restored to its former glory. He craves power and he will stop at nothing to get it. His armies are tools that swore their lives and souls to his cause. He feels no remorse in sacrificing them for his greater good. The only thing that would satisfy him now, is seeing the world crushed under the heel of his boot.

Leonardo

Leo as a villain would be like Iron Man gone bad. He does what he does simply out of curiosity he wants to see if it would even work. Cyberterrorism is just a tool for him. He would make modifications to his own body so that his eyes can see x-Ray, night vision, and other people’s biological information, and his brain is directly connected to the internet. He would create an entire army of robots like Ultron (Marvel) or Terminators. He hacks into government servers and international television broadcasts. He takes over entire governments simply by sitting in his lab controlling his army from a tablet. He can destroy anything connected to the internet with a flick of his finger. He wouldn’t even have to get up out of his chair. His plans would be so well thought out that no one would realize what happened until they’ve already lost.

Dazai

Dazai would be unhinged and reckless. He’d completely detach himself from human emotions and commit as many insane heinous crimes as possible till he does something bad enough that he would get killed for it. He creates an alternate persona for himself like the Joker or Hisoka (HxH), and at that point he has buried his emotions so well that he fails to differentiate between his persona and his true self. He may not actively acknowledge it but his true goal is to just go out in a blaze. It doesn’t matter how many lives it costs to do so.

Jean

Jean would be walking a fine line between villain and antihero. His main motivation is wiping out the people he considers evil, to make the world a “better place”. However, he would take it to a point of mass murder. There would be major battles breaking out between the people that support him and the people that believe what he is doing is evil. He believes he is bringing divine justice upon those who deserve it and thinks this is the way to atone for his past sins. Sound familiar? Jean would be Kira (Death Note). He is also similar to The Hood (Arrow). He has no mercy and he will not hesitate to kill.

Comte

Comte is rich enough to buy world leaders. He is the puppet master behind every single nation of the world. No one suspects him, however he slowly takes over countries one by one. He would also run some kind of underground mafia operation that’s involved in pretty much every kind of trade there is. He gets his money from so many sources that even if one is cut off, he is still rich enough to maintain his control over politicians and famous businessmen. Comte is the leader of the secret societies that the world’s richest people are involved in. The world answers to him and you would never even know. (Similar to Kingpin (Marvel) and the Court of Owls (DC)

Sebastian

Sebastian was adopted by Comte after ran away from his family. When he was young, hs saw firsthand how cruel the world can really be. He wholeheartedly believes the world is better off being run by Comte, and has pledged complete loyalty to him. He is Comte’s right hand man and he runs most of their underground mafia operations. He is incredibly versatile and does whatever Comte needs from him. Acting as a proxy? Assasinating a world leader? Leading a heist? Sebastian can do it all. His ideals have been so skewed growing up with Comte, that he sees himself as an extension of Comte’s power. Nothing more. He is a loyal weapon to be used by his boss.

Vincent

Vincent would release his emotions and would be unable to handle it mentally. He would be a serial killer who escaped from an asylum after losing his mind. He would kidnap his victims and slowly bleed them out as he paints with their blood. His specialty is carving designs into his victims after they have bled out and died. He leaves a sunflower at every crime scene and each new murder is just his latest artistic masterpiece left for the world to see. One way or another his art will be remembered, and it will cause the whole world to feel as much as he does.

Theo

Theo is driven by rage. Rage towards the world, towards the way he and Vincent were treated. His strength and anger would translate into him having an incredibly powerful monstrous form. His only goal is destruction. He wants to tear apart the society that allows people to get hurt like he did. He would be similar to Venom (Marvel), Abomination (Marvel), or Eren (Attack on Titan). Blinded by rage, he looses sight of his original goal and devoted himself to destroying everything he sees. It doesn’t matter who gets killed, they’re just collateral damage.

Isaac

Isaac can be two different types of villains all in one. On one hand, he’s a mad scientist who happened to discover a chemical combination that can be weaponized. However his insatiable bloodlust drives him to weaponize his discovery for himself. He wants people to know fear like he does (think Scarecrow (Batman). I can see him laying with Leonardo and helping upgrade his robot army with that chemical. On the other hand, when he lets himself give in to that bloodlust, he won’t stop unless he is stopped by someone else (like ripper Stefan from Vampire Diaries). He rips apart his victims like a wild animal. His crime scenes are covered in blood with dismembered body parts.

Mozart

Mozart would be an assassin for hire. He’s like a ghost. There have been stories about him but no one truly knows who he is. He works in the shadows and kills efficiently and without hesitation. One of his specialties is creating various sound waves that can kill his target. For those type of kills he doesn’t even need to leave his base, he can simply hack their device and cause it to play that frequency. Comte has hired him before to carry out certain kills he couldn’t do himself because of his position. Mozart is extremely devoted to his job will kill anyone who gets in the way of him and his target.

Arthur

Arthur would be a mix between Moriarty and Kilgrave (Jessica Jones). He would have some kind of mind controlling ability that allows him to create loyal puppets for his elaborate schemes. He loves playing games with the people suspecting him and he leads them in circles with their investigations. Sometimes he will even offer to personally help investigate cases he is responsible for, just to lead them into dead ends and plant fake clues. Every crime of his is a masterpiece with countless layers going into it. He does not see the people involved as humans. They’re just his pawns in his game of chess. Arthur just wants to see how far he can go before he finds a worthy opponent that can solve his cases.

Shakespeare

Shakespeare would be a theatrical serial killer who later escalates to mass murder. He would start out by abducting people he believes to “fit the role” he has planned for them. He would then kill them, replicating famous death scenes from plays and movies he admired (or his own plays). Each crime scene would be perfectly set up with lighting, makeup, and costuming. This would escalate later on to him and his troupe taking massive groups of people hostage, forcing them to read lines and act out various gruesome plays. When someone dies in the play, the actors have to murder each other. If they refuse, Shakespeare murders them both out of rage and brings in new people to replace them. He will not stop until he creates his perfect play.

[bunnirs]

Someone To Fight For

Y/N L/N is the last remaining Kurta, fueled by hatred for the Phantom Troupe. They’ll do anything to eradicate their existence, even if it means dying in the process.

Kurapika Kurta X Reader

Word Count: 3,353

Your motives were clear as day. Kill the Phantom Troupe, and then yourself.

Murder was something you weren’t proud of, and would never be. That is why, to atone for your sins, you would end your life after you murdered the very people who slaughtered your tribe.

The Kurta were known to be peaceful. They were stubborn, but truly harmless. That’s why they never stood a chance against the Phantom Troupe. What or Who is the Phantom Troupe you ask? It’s a group of disgusting lowlife thieves who steal whatever they lay their eyes on. At that time, it had been the Scarlet eyes that defined your Tribe.

How you escaped was beyond your luck. They must not have noticed that you slipped away, running for your life. It must have been the fact that they were too busy gouging out the eyes of your tribe, your family. Maybe your people’s screams were so loud they couldn’t hear your sobbing, or maybe they didn’t care. Afterall, you were only a child.

That was the day you realized that your world would never be the same. That was the day you realized that you would never be able to walk freely without knowing that they were dead. So you trained, you killed, and you bled. You cried during your sleep as your nightmares materialized the very bodies of your fallen comrades, their eyes filled with endless black voids, forever missing.

As you grew up, you became stronger than you would’ve imagined. Your rage had grown over the years, silencing the screams of your past. Even as they calmed, they still rang in your ears. The begging, the crying, the screaming. It all stuck, only to be relieved at the death of their oppressors.

As the last Kurta, you had to fulfill their wish, or die trying.

That led you to now, as you stood on the roof of an abandoned building on the quieter side of Yorknew City. You had been tracking the Phantom Troupe for days now as they gathered around the Auction that was to last through September. It was the perfect time, seeing as the troupe seemed to separate regularly to satisfy their needs. You just had to pick them off one by one.

Even if their abilities were a secret, you had gotten to know their personalities and that was enough.

The numbers of whom you were watching, were #1 and #3, also known as Nobunaga and Machi. They didn’t seem to be the most dangerous of the Spiders, but even so, you could NEVER underestimate them. These monsters killed your people after all, and that wasn’t the easiest task.

Hours into your endeavor, you began to notice that you were not alone. Two more people had joined you in stalking the troupe members. From the looks of it, they seemed to be two ordinary children, besides the fact that they could effortlessly hide their aura. Would it be enough to stay hidden from their victims? Probably not.

That’s all it took for you to get closer to the two troupe members, almost afraid that the kids would get to them first. You were not afraid for yourself, no, more for them than anything. If they got noticed, they could easily be hurt, or worse, killed. It didn’t matter who killed them, it could very well be you. If they got in your way, you may not be able to restrain yourself. You had been planning this for months, and if they ruined it now, you’d be beyond pissed.

More time had passed, but that didn’t matter. Everything seemed to go by in seconds for you, your heart almost beating out of your chest as the two of the children disappeared into separate buildings. You grew nervous, hoping to whatever god there was, that the children knew what they were doing. But your prayers went unanswered, seeing as the two troupe members, Machi and Nobunaga, caught on to the children’s aura, disappearing into the very building the children had hidden in.

That’s when you decided to throw in the towel. You couldn’t stay hidden and wait till they disposed of the children, you needed to do something, and the human in you begged to help. And that’s what you did. You jumped from roof to roof, landing on the building the green boy had gone in. As soon as you landed on the ceiling, you jumped off the edge, swinging yourself through the window. As soon as you did that, your feet had met the back of the pink haired troupe member, Machi.

Much to your dismay, Troupe Member #9, Pakunoda, was also present, blocking the doorway of the child. That really pissed you off. You hadn’t noticed her, and she could’ve been tailing you this whole time, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Her aura was also joined by another, making four troupe members present. The other was most likely taking care of the other child, alongside Nobunaga.

As you disregarded your realization, you grabbed the child’s arm, skidding to the other side of the room, glancing between Pakunoda and Machi, whose face was still plastered into the ground.

“Who are you?” The boy asked, his voice in a low whisper, obviously skeptical of you.

“Your friend.” You murmured, letting go of his arm as it tensed. Hoping he got the hint, you stepped in front of him, almost in a protective stance. “Honestly, I thought I warned you about sneaking up on people.” You glanced at him, winking, hoping to god he wasn’t as dense as he looked.

He seemed to understand, nodding his head firmly. He let out a nervous laugh, putting his hand on his neck, scratching it. “I’m sorry, I just got carried away! They were worth a lot of money.. and me and Killua couldn’t resist!”

“You really are an idiot..” You grimaced, hitting his head softly, mentally kicking yourself for the display of affection. So they were in this for money.. how.. unoriginal. Of course they had bounties on their head, it wasn’t a surprise to you. They were crazed thieves who picked fights with the mafia, so it was a no brainer they pissed people off. But for kids to get involved? That was a load of bullshit.

Through the conversation you had with Gon, Machi had pushed herself up, dusting off her outfit and holding her nose. It definitely looked bruised, if not broken. This wasn’t going to be easy to get out of.

“So, you two.. know each other?” She questioned, an eyebrow raised. “I knew there were two of you, but I had no idea there was a third. Bad judgment on my part. Paku, we have room in the car for three right?”

Pakunoda hummed, nodding a yes to her question. “So they’re after us because of money? Seems a little… risky don’t you think?”

“Kids are kids.” Machi looked at her, and then stared directly at you. “We won’t have another problem will we? I really don’t want to have to kill you in front of a child.”

“The same goes to you.” You responded, shifting your weight to your other leg, crossing your arms. “So, what's this I hear about a car?”

“Well, we’re obviously not going to let you go.” Machi glanced between Gon and you, a small smirk growing on her face. “We’ll bring you back and let the boss decide on what to do with you.”

You only shrugged, glancing at the kid, whose eyes widened. You could guess he didn’t expect to get caught. You almost laughed as you ruffled his hair, hoping to comfort him. You wouldn’t let anything bad happen to him and his friend, that was for sure.

As you were loaded into the car, you could tell the white haired boy, known as Killua, was questioning your well-being. You wouldn’t blame him, not at all. You’re messing with dangerous people, and you can’t expect to trust anyone. The kid that you helped seemed to look at his friend, almost having a conversation with their eyes. That’s all it took for Killua to glance back at you, his eyes losing their hostility, and a small smile formed.

That quickly vanished when the members of the Troupe began to speak. You blocked them out, staring out of the window, watching the surrounding area become less urban. You were sure they said something regarding you, but you couldn’t care less to listen. They didn’t deserve your attention. Not now at least. You were sure that you ticked them off, seeing as one of them kept glaring at you. You hadn’t done anything yet and they were already tired of you. Good.

Time seemed irrelevant now, as everything seemed to go as it came. You were now in the base of the Phantom Troupe, the Spider tattooed freaks who slaughtered your people just for the sake of their eyes. You almost wanted to throw up as you looked at them, they weren’t scary...just ugly.

To your dismay, they decided to take the kid whose name was Gon, and force him to arm wrestle the members. You could tell he was in pain, and no matter what his friend tried to do, the Troupe was one step ahead.

What was odd, was the fact that Nobunaga was hellbent on letting the kids join. What was in store for you? You had no idea, and you didn’t care. You only leaned against the wall, picking at your fingernails, making sure they were in a clean disposition. Some of the troop members watched you, and that only made your smile widen. You hoped they remembered every inch of your face, so they could be haunted by it even in death.

“So, Pakunoda, when you scanned the three of them… what did you see?” One of the members who you recognized as Feitan Portor, Troupe member #2, asked. He said it while looking at you, holding Gon by his arms, his body bent over the table. To you, it looked wrong, but you couldn’t really suppress your opinion.

“They don’t know each other.” Pakunoda said, your eyes widening as you stared at her. Her power must be something like reading minds.. or seeing people’s memories.

“That’s odd, they pretended too.” Machi said, her voice laced with amusement. “So, you just pretended to know him?” She said, moving her gaze towards you.

“Yeah.” You said blatantly, dropping your hand from your face, the dirt now removed. “I have no idea who these kids are. What I do know, is that you guys are going to die. Doesn’t have to be today, but it will happen. I’ll make sure of it.”

They all stopped what they were doing, staring at you. Killua and Gon had stopped breathing for a second, their eyes widening as they stared at you. Wrong move.

The Spiders turned to each other, laughter erupting from their throats. It would have bothered you had you been cornered, but you knew how to deal with them. You had trained for four years, just to kill them. It wasn’t going to stop now.

“No one’s that stupid to openly admit to wanting to kill us… so you either must be stupidly strong… or just stupid in general.” Feitan said again, tightening his grip on Gon.

“Call it what you want.” You said, sliding down to the ground, your back to the wall. “But this is a warning.” Your eyes narrowed, glancing at the members. “You don’t know who I am, but I know all about you. Do what you want with that of course.” You leaned your head back, looking at the ceiling before closing your eyes. Your aura vanished, and your eyes narrowed, a red glow emitting from them. “Just know that I’m always watching.” After that, the red vanished, and you closed your eyes.

Of course anyone in a situation like this would never willingly fall asleep, seeing as you are open and vulnerable. But of course, you weren’t normal. Your nen ability was perfect for this situation.

You called your Nen Ability: Relentless Increase. The more someone damaged you, the stronger and more immune you became. This caused a huge amount of power to build up inside of you, leaving you stronger than ever. Torture didn’t work on you, seeing as halfway through it, you were numb to the feeling and could easily overtake your assailant. So with this, you could easily stand by while the Troupe watched you. Of course, they had no idea about what you could do, so it was smart to stand by.

Your instincts were proven true, seeing as they didn’t even try to touch you. Instead, most of the members left, leaving you with the two kids and Nobunaga. It almost irritated you. This Nobunaga dude seems confident in his skills, thinking he could take care of the three of you if you tried to escape. Of course, the children proved him wrong.

They had a plan up their sleeve, and it actually worked. While you sat in the room, they broke through the wall, running in opposite directions. Since you didn’t follow their example, Nobunaga seemed to trust you. First mistake on his part.

When he left you unsupervised, you took the opportunity to break out yourself. By the time he had lost the kids, you were long gone. As you ran, you expected someone to come after you, but instead, you found the kids high tailing it out of the surrounding fence. You laughed a little, running alongside them for a while. They seemed to be high in spirit, despite the fact that they were just held against their will by a dangerous group of thieves. Kids these days never failed to surprise you.

Sure, your plan failed, but at least you got knowledge on the Troupe, as well as two kids who might know something important about them too.

On your walk into YorkNew, the three of you had made small talk, getting to know each other. It seemed to be a smooth conversation, until Killua brought up your eyes

“So… Y/N.” Killua narrowed his eyes, focusing on the ground in front of him, his hands fumbling in his pockets. “Your eyes…”

“Ah yes.” You mused, kicking a loose stone from in front of you. “What about them?”

“When they turned red…. are you by chance…?” He didn’t finish, finding the conversation almost too awkward to continue. He didn’t want to press any wrong buttons with you.

“A Kurta?” You finished for him, your eyes slightly narrowing at the word. “Yes. The last one.” You could feel the water building up in your eyes, threatening to spill.

“No you're not.” Gon said suddenly, confusion lacing his tone of voice.

That shocked you, causing you to choke on the saliva that built up in your throat. The tears in your eyes were forced out, and you suddenly fell to your knees, uncontrollable sobs leaving your throat.

“Great going Gon! Look what you did you idiot!” Killua berated him, hitting him across the head.

You clenched your fists, the sand and dirt from the road coated your palms. You began to laugh as your tears fell, washing away the loose build up on your knuckles. For the first time in a while, a genuine smile formed on your lips, your laugh gaining in hysterics. You looked crazy, but at that moment, you didn’t care. You weren’t alone.

“...I think.. we broke her.” Gon muttered.

“We?! I didn’t do anything!” Killua yelled in his face, pointing at you.

“Well you brought it up!” Gon reprimanded, knocking his hand away from you.

You slowly stood up, your legs shaking, tears continuing to fall from your face. You raised your dirt covered arm, wiping the liquid from your face, grime replacing it. “S-so… where is this… other Kurta?”

“Oh, right! Kurapika is in Yorknew right now!” Gon smiled, pointing at the city on the horizon. “He’s actually our friend! And to be honest, we were just about to go see him!”

Your face brightened, the setting sun shining down on you. “...Can I… can I join you?”

Killua and Gon stayed quiet for a moment, before large grins appeared on their faces.

“I don’t see why not. As long as you're not an idiot, you should be just fine. There’s only room for one of those around here.” He giggled, poking Gon in the side.

“Yeah! We’d love for you to join us!” Gon gave you a thumbs up, before looking over at Killua. “Wait Killua, what’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Nothing! Come on slowpoke!” Killua yelled, running ahead of the two of you.

“Oh you’re so on!” Gon cheered, running after him, before skidding to a stop, looking back at you. “Come on! Wouldn’t want to lose ya!”

“Are you calling me slow?” You inquired, raising an eyebrow. “Well then, I suppose I don’t want to get lost.” You rolled your eyes, playing along with him. That’s when you started to run alongside Gon, laughing as he tried to tag Killua.

A few days passed, and it was the day that Kurapika was meeting up with Gon and Killua. It was the day that you’d finally get to see another Kurta, after four long years.

The day seemed to go on forever, only getting slower as the time grew near. Time never liked you it seemed. It made important, peaceful moments go by so fast you couldn’t even keep track of everything. But when you wanted to get over with something, it seemed to slow down just to spite you. It took four years just for you to learn that you weren’t alone, and maybe it’ll take forever just to see him. But In all honesty.. you could wait decades if it meant restoring the missing piece in your soul.

The time finally came around, and you finally saw him. He was tall, blonde, and had dark eyes. You could tell they were contacts, seeing as nothing could compare to the natural beauty of a Kurta’s irises. Just by the look of him, you already felt the welcoming warmth of home.

He made eye contact with you, and for a split second he became confused. That vanished when he saw the tears spilling from your eyes, and the red creeping up onto your normally dark irises. From the overbearing emotion you felt, your true scarlet eyes revealed themselves to him, and that was all it took for him to come running towards you.

He enveloped you into a hug, it was so tight that he was afraid you would vanish before his eyes. But you were there.. and you were real. Your eyes were real.

“....Kurapika..” you managed to breathe out, the air being stolen from you as he smothered you.

He immediately let go, letting out a formal apology. “I- I’m sorry..” he muttered, his face red from embarrassment. “I just got…”

“Overwhelmed?” You finished the sentence for him, a small smile creeping onto your face.

“Yeah.. that’s the word.” He said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

You giggled, finding his reaction amusing. “I understand completely.”

Killua and Gon were giggling as they whispered to each other, the two of them running off a split second later. That left the two of you alone.

“Do you want to.. catch up?” He suddenly said, ignoring the two boys that had left in a hurry. He knew they had done this on purpose, and he was thankful. For once he was glad they left, because now, he had you.

“You know what...” You smiled, your hand on your chin as you pretended to think of an answer. “I’d like that.”

Just for a moment, your rage had softened.. and you had someone to live for.

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