#making me think more about Ashura

[completeoveranalysis]

Hi Nick. If you don't mind, can you share a summary of what you think Ashura's overall goals were? I'm still sincerely confused. And we now have the "reasoning itself crumbling" thing. He saw and saved this child cursed by FWR... or foresaw. He always planned for Fai to kill him. Was the whole point really to break Fai's curse out of care/love? Or to prove he could? He clearly didn't consider Fai's empathy or emotions. It start out with good intent but then his reasoning crumbled? thank you

Hello Anon! I don't mind at all! I absolutely love talking about these topics more, so thank you for asking!

The Ashura Problem is such a fascinating scenario because I'm pretty sure CLAMP deliberately wrote it to be both misleading and illogical. If it doesn't make sense then CLAMP absolutely achieved their goal, but that doesn't make it any easier to puzzle out.

So! The options!

(With content warning for everything that happens in Seresu oh my goodness)

Option A) That Ashura was a terrible person.

This is the interpretation that most closely matches Fai's lived experience, especially during the Seresu arc.

This explanation focuses on the fact that Ashura manipulated and twisted Fai's entire life and psyche until he was a broken person who would not have survived his own storyline. Ashura used all of Fai's tragic circumstances to mould him into doing exactly what Ashura wanted; he used Fai's dead brother against him, he trapped Fai into making promises he could use against him, he used Fai's emotional wounds to manipulate him, he limited Fai's magic for his own ends and deleted his memories of it, he committed mass murder, he tried to hypnotise Fai directly, he tried to get Fai to kill Kurogane, and then he tried to kill the entire Tsubasa family - all to get Fai to kill Ashura. It's worth noting that all of these actions echo the narrative impact Evil Wolverine has on Fai as well, and we can clearly see how broken Fai is over all of these revelations, even aside from the fact that we are told that Fai would have killed himself if he had succeeded in granting Ashura's wish. It all points to a very solid verdict, and one that pretty much the entire story supports from the very beginning.

The only thing missing is his actual goal. Why is he trying to get Fai to kill him? Is it out of boredom? Is he immortal and can't die without external influence, and so wanted to manipulate events until he got what he wanted? Is he just doing it all for the hell out it, and sees a dramatic death as just another fun thing to aim for? Or...

Option B) Ashura did it all to save Fai

This is the interpretation that mostly comes to the fore when Ashura dies, having failed in his long game to get Fai to kill him by his own hand.

This option revolves around Ashura's otherwise missing motive. The strongest motive potential motive we have for his actions is that he was trying to break both of Fai's curses at once; to become stronger than Fai so that Fai would be forced to kill him, and in the process wouldn't trigger the second secret curse and save Fai's life in the process.

The thing that muddies this interpretation is how badly he treats Fai to make it happen. Over the course of his entire life he breaks Fai. All his actions are hurtful and twisted, and he is willing to murder as many people as needed to make this goal happen, including literally everyone else Fai values in his life. Nothing about the Fai that's left behind is left unmarred by tragedy and self loathing - but he would be alive! And that seems to be what Ashura was aiming for, in this line of reasoning.

This neat thing about this option is that it really plays into the darker characterisation that CLAMP like to work with. Ashura has his own set of morals, inhuman and unknowable, and so he's willing to cross lines that seem to defy all the rules of empathy that you'd think would apply here. DID Ashura think this was still an acceptable result? Did he commit to this goal with the willingness to break and murder literally anything he needed to in order to make it happen? It seems so! But can he really say he loved Fai if he was willing to do this to him? He could see the future, so how could he not see that his actions would kill Fai just as surely as the curse would?

So it's either that, or

Option C: A bit of both!

This is the option that Tomoyo presents in Nihon, after the fact.

Tomoyo posits that both options are true at the same time, and the reason why this doesn't make sense is because of Fei Wang's influence on the universe. Logic itself is breaking down, so Ashura's actions have lost any logical integrity somewhere along the way.

This option allows for the paradoxes to exist as a deliberate example of the wider affect the overall plot is having on the multiverse. Tomoyo says that yes, Ashura did love Fai and was trying to save him, and also yes, his actions don't reflect that and would have killed Fai through his abuse in the misguided attempt to save him.

At this point in the narrative I think it's option C that CLAMP are set on. It does seem like they deliberately wrote the scenario so that Options A and B don't internally make sense on their own on purpose, so that C can rise out of the ruins and cast a shadow on the rest of the narrative right before things really start to kick off in the main plotline.

I hope this helps! This is my ultimate understanding of Ashura's plotline as it stands, but if anything isn't clear feel free to let me know and I can talk even more.

[red-dyed-sarumane]

im so close to having a casual unplanned apoptosis cosplay. i need a blue tie brown shoes & the jacket if i really feel like it since she barely wears it anyway. but otherwise i have something thats just SO close to her outfit

[aloesarchives]

Kengan Headcanon: Gaolong's reaction to an opponent speaking about you in a unsavory manner

Warnings: Swearing on my end, reader been ogled at, gender neutral reader/pronouns

Series: Kengan Ashura/ Kengan Omega

Pairing: Gaolong Wongsawat x GN! Reader

Word count: 1988

Pronouns: They/them (reader is referred as partner and (Y/N))

(A/N: Been sitting in my file for a year. Now it's finally finished and posted. Please let me know if there is anything else I need to tag in my warnings.)

So I already established that in my headcanon of Gaolang that he respects women unironically, actually he respects people in general.

That’s because he’s just GOATED like that and is overall a decent person, especially in the world/universe of Kengan.

But back to the topic, the reason why I want to establish this is he is someone that doesn’t take no shit from anyone. Based on what we learned in Ashura, Gaolang looks down upon those who are cocky and don’t take fighting seriously. Looking more into it, he normally just gets irritated by them due to his calm and collected composure. 

In the world of the sport boxing, it’s no stranger that he will come across people who don’t fall under the definition of sportsmanship. Gaolang has his fair share of opponents that need a little bit of humbling, and he for sure gives it to them during the boxing match. It also doesn’t help his perception of them when they think and openly claim they can clean Gaolang up, making him believe they’re shallow inside and out. But he only does the pre-fight press conference because his manager told him it builds up his good reputation and consistent publicity. Knowing him, he wouldn’t really go to these but he does it for the sake of the sport and the benefits it brings as previously mentioned.

In a normal situation at a pre-fight press conference, he’ll get annoyed by these fighters and let that emotion subside after the press conference is done. He’ll reply nonchalantly to anything that’s thrown at him whether it’s questions or remarks from his opponents that tests the waters. He knows how to handle them and just waits to get into the ring so his fighting can do all the talking for him.

That’s until there was one opponent he had to fight he wouldn’t forget. Gaolang’s title as heavyweight champion was never challenged nor questioned at all. But during that moment in time, Gaolang’s title as champion was being questioned when another boxer was racking up wins left and right. Although this boxer was slightly younger, he was picking up fast and his fights looked impressive. Eventually, this novice boxer was turning heads and getting popular to the point where rumors and speculation about him being the new champion in the heavyweight division. It seemed absurd to think so, but it wasn’t out of the picture. 

Gaolang saw the boxer’s other fights and understood where the praise was coming from. Although Gaolang was confident in his abilities, he still was cautious of the other’s abilities and boxing style. So like always, Gaolang trained like he always does. This wasn’t new to you at all since you have been with Gaolang for quite some time and married for a few years at that point in time.

You thought this opponent was different as he seemed humble and didn’t bark a lot. After turning on the t.v. back in Thailand, you started watching the pre-fight press conference. Again, nothing new to you at all. When the questions from reporters started coming in, both boxers answered them as normal. However, you had a feeling that something was off about the guy. You could tell what it was but your gut had a strange feeling that couldn’t be shaken. 

It was not until the last 15 minutes of the conference that the novice boxer started to bite off more than he can chew. There was one reporter left that triggered a particular answer from him that caught Gaolang’s attention. However, what got a reaction out of him was when the boxer mentioned your name.

“But I will admit though, Gaolang. I’m jealous of you. You’ve got a beautiful and wonderful partner there. I wish I had someone like (Y/N).” 

Gaolang didn’t like where this was going. More so when someone mentions your name that wasn’t friends, family, or King Rama. He knows people like to use your name to throw off Gaolang but he knows how to deal with those who try to use your name to their advantage.

But it doesn’t mean Gaolang doesn’t feel any sort of anger when this happens, especially now.

Gaolang stood up and gave his signature glare to his opponent. He then walked across the stage and stood in the middle. The boxer did the same but he had a stupid shit eating grin plastered on his face.

“What’s with the face, Gaolang? I thought you would agree since you have (Y/N) to yourself, ya’know? Having such a fine person as a partner is something between us two men with good taste could understand.”

“Watch your tongue, (Boxer’s name). (Y/N) is not an object and is not to be ogled at, have some respect.”

But the boxer didn’t know any better and forgot to hold his tongue. The next few things that came out his mouth sent Gaolang’s blood boiling. Then there’s you  who gasped and covered your mouth as you watched what unfolded in front of you on the screen. Deepening his glare more while still keeping his stoic face, he looked down upon the novice boxer.

“Your words against (Y/N) are punishable crimes, and I will deliver the punishment without further question.”

With that, Gaolang turned and walked towards the exit. All chaos breaks out in the conference room. Meanwhile, you were sitting at home with the feeling of disgust and a pinch of fear. You never minded when your name came in the news, but this type of attention was something you feared and the fact a man said on live television with no hesitation was terrifying.

Basically, Gaolang went straight to his hotel room and took a cool shower to calm down.

The anger subsided but the feeling of repulse didn’t.

There are only 3 things that Gaolang shows pride, loyalty and devotion towards: the country of Thailand, King Rama, and you.

And how dare that boxer disrespect you in front of him. The absolute audacity!!!

After Gaolang finishes his shower, he calls you to see if you're okay. Whether it is physically or emotionally, Gaolang needs to make sure you’re doing alright. Gaolang, as always, is respectful towards you in anything. That’s why he has never mentioned you or your relationship to the public unless you allow it. But even then, he wants it to be lowkey af.

Sure, you have calmed down. However, you were a little shaken by this. I mean, I would if a random man said some unsavory things about me on public broadcasting.

Gaolang apologized for letting this happen to you, to which you told him that this isn’t anything too serious and that he should focus more on his upcoming title defense match.

However, this was and IS a serious matter to Gaolang. So the next few days, Gaolang trained with just a little bit more intent than normal.

(Meanwhile, that boxer is getting absolutely slandered for the shit he said on the internet. Those netizens don’t like how he dissed their favorite power couple)

At last, the day of the match that would decide who keeps the title is here. You opt to stay home for this as it would be better for your piece of mind. But you were more worried about Gaolang. Although you  know your husband well, actually that’s the problem. You know how exactly your husband is. Goalang isn’t a hard person to read. He’s rational, calm, loyal, and observant. One thing you notice about Gaolang is how defensive he can get.

People can shit talk him all they want, he could give zeros fucks at all. But insult Thailand, King Rama, or god forbid you, that person is gonna get fucking die.

It had been a couple of days since the conference. So you know the initial anger wore off. But still, you only hope Gaolang goes somewhat  easy on him.

But since the controversy at the press conference caused such attention, this match was one of Gaolang’s most anticipated matches yet for any of his titles.

The event started as per usual with any boxing matches, the sponsors, introductions/entrances, anthems, etc. The challenger seems as confident as ever, having barely any nervousness evident on his face. Same goes with Gaolang, but with his classic stoic stare. The match was on its way once the referee explained the rules and the first bell rang.

However, you knew something was wrong right off the bat with him. It wasn't like Gaolang was fighting alright, he’s a man that never half ass anything. But you can tell he wasn’t giving his all at all. You didn’t know why he wasn’t trying at all. This wasn’t like his fight with Kaneda, he put effort into that one. But something was different about this match and you couldn’t tell what.

It seemed like Gaolong was struggling seemingly, the commentators were shocked and questioned that there would be a new heavyweight boxing champion on their hands. Was this the end of Gaolong’s reign as boxing champion?

No, you knew we wouldn’t lose to people like his opponent. He would rather die than give them a win.

The third round came along and around seemed hype about Gaolong’s opponent and he seemingly being the winner. However, Gaolong was not phased by this. In fact, he still kept his calm composed aura like he always does. That’s when you saw that Gaolong was up to something. You didn’t know yet but it was something.

The 3rd match began and that was when everything suddenly changed. It was like a flip of a switch as Gaolong just started boxing the hell out of his opponent. Gaolong had landed more hits than his opponent could dodge. 

It was obvious to the crowd that this round was one-sided. Gaolong outmatched the hell of his opponent in every way he could. And with a finishing blow to the jaw, Gaolong had won by a knockout. The crowd went wild, the commentators losing their minds from the fast yet heavy KO.

Gaolong pulled the ultimate power move by letting his opponent think he had a sliver of hope in beating Gaolong. Only for Gaolong to straight up smash it to the group and pummel it until it was dust. He shattered the man’s hopes and dreams by letting him think he had a chance of getting a win only for Gaolong to show him that he is nowhere near his level.

That Gaolong was miles ahead of this cocky bastard and he made sure his opponent knew that. This loss will forever change his opponent for the rest of his career.

After the Gaolong’s win was finalized, all he wanted to do was go home back to Thailand and be with you. That’s it. He did his press conferences and interviews, but he didn’t care for them. All that mattered was you and he needed to get home to you as soon as possible.

As always, King Rama gives Gaolong a few days to a week off of work when Gaolong brings home a win. Every time Gaolong wins, it’s like an unofficial national holiday is happening. Thailand is bright and festive as ever everything he wins.

Now with Gaolong back home and off from work, he just spends his time with you. Maybe a little training but more so leisure and doing errands or chores with you. You were happy that Gaolong isn’t in a bad mood anymore but Gaolong now knows that people who weaponized you and your name against him just to stir the pot. 

Well, he takes that pot and creates his own fucking food with it because no way in hell will he let someone do that to you. He made it known with that match. Because after that match, his opponents never mentioned your name ever again.

Thai God Guard Dog privileges.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope you enjoyed it! Please like or/and reblog it! Have a wonderful day!

[kikiwooo]

© @/kikiwooo

notes: gn reader

[ CARRYING ]

X.Borg

On his shoulders. What can be better than that? With the height of his, enjoy the ride. He'll also grab onto your leg for you to not fall off.

"Steady now, wouldn't want you to fall off."

Dyrroth

He loves to hook his hands under your thighs and lift you up, how should I explain this; front piggyback? Your height or weight doesn't matter to him, he's the prince of the abyss after all.

"You look rather..frustrated by this..~ Come on, look at me."

Fredrinn

Carries you with only one arm just to show off, yeah that's fredrinn. He makes it a little game to win over your heart, his charming face and that smirk of his doesn't help at all.

"How's the weather up there darlin'~? Pretty good mhm?"

Julian

Throwing you over his shoulder seems like a effective choice actually. Especially when there's a fight and there are more enemies he can take so he just throws you over his shoulder like a potato sack and 🏃💨

"Stop squirming I don't want to drop you-! oi! Stop hitting my back now that's hurts-"

Aamon

Guy's either princess carrying you or leading you by the hand like a true gentleman. Honestly it all makes the cold Duke's heart flutter. Aamon is clever, so clever that in a middle of the fight he can scoop you into his arms and ran to a nearby tower. (Don't forget his invisible cloak ability)

"I got you."

Xavier

Above the others Xavier is most comfortable on carrying you on his back. For him it's the most efficient way if you get injured and run for aid. Just,, just imagine him bending down to his knee and waiting for you to settle on his back🥺🥺

"Jump now, that way we'll be faster."

Martis

Just like Aamon, the Ashura king himself prefers to carry you in his muscular arms, I mean who doesn't want that?? Also won't miss any opportunity to flustee you making you hid into his chest, you bet he's grinning ear to ear.

"Look at me love, I want to see you~"

Gord

Gord doesn't see the need to carry you, he can make you float instead but won't do that you need to beg for...literally. What, ain't standing next to him is enough for you? With how an ear sore(affectionately) you are he will, with a flick of his wrist will make you float. Go ahead and take the opportunity to bump his nose.🤫

"Tsk, don't get any ideas..."

Jonshon

Carrying? What's that? Take a seat instead, don't forget the belt.

Hanzo

Holds you like a kitten/puppy, just like a baby animal in general. He's a big guy what did you expect? Hanzo doesn't really like having you close to him because of the demon inside him who makes comments such as how sweet your blood smells...

".......must you stand this close? .......fine...come here."

Claude

Tries to throw you over his shoulder just to tease you then falls to the ground with you. As playful as Claude can be he's a hopeless romantic and most of the time is clueless about literally everything. He's getting advices from his best man, trust Dexter on this. He's showing how should Claude carry you-

"(Name)- heyy, trust me on this, please one more time-! No I won't drop you I promise-"

Leomord

If you specifically want him to carry you, he'll do it without saying anything, be it princess carry(his favorite) or any other styles. But mostly you two will be riding with Barbiel, he's behind you, arms on the both of your sides. His reflexes are fast, he'll catch you before his mind can proceed.

"The weather is quite nice don't you think darling? Would you accompany me and Barbiel for a little walk?"

[itbitesback]

hot mouth

summary: what happens when ohma gives you some loving after eating spicy food?

fandom: kengan ashura

pairing: tokita ohma x f!reader

content and warnings: light smut, f!receiving oral, mild injury, cursing, cohabitation

author note: no idea what i was thinking with this idea 😭 this was also supposed to be written in a more lighthearted and comedic tone but it turned out kinda serious? anyway, this is one of the first kengan fics i ever wrote and i decided to finally post it. feedback is appreciated!

word count: 1,341

sigh. what to read now? you ran your fingers over your expansive bookcase, trying to decide what book to sink into next. it was your day off from work and you had just finished a good novel; not in the mood to do anything else but read, you were trying to decide on another, but none of the dozens of books in front of you looked particularly appealing. it was your never ending dilemma that you bought books constantly but could hardly ever make yourself read what you bought. you groaned in frustration, looking even more intently at your unread book collection.

you were looking so intently, in fact, that you didn't even hear the key in the doorknob, or the steady feet on the floor padding in your direction. the soft chuckle that your lover let out behind you when he saw you so focused on your books was also lost on you. you nearly jumped out of your skin when you suddenly felt big arms wrap gently around you.

"AHH- oh, ohma? you scared me babe, god" you said, trying to get your racing heartbeat to calm down. he had just come home from training with rihito. at once, the scent of his masculine smell greeted you. his skin, his hair, and the dried sweat clinging to his body.

you held back a groan. you found his natural scent to be sexy, and he knew it. it's exactly why he held back from immediately showering after training when he was around you. this time, he wanted to use his scent to his advantage, but you weren't yet aware of that.

"back home from training, did you eat yet ohma?" you asked. he grunted in assent. a shiver of excitement went through you; with how he was still wrapped around you, you heard his deep voice right in your ear and felt the vibration in his chest against your back.

ohma, ever observant, took notice of your excitement and smiled to himself. he made his move. he subtly inhaled your scent, rubbing his nose into your skin and nuzzling his face into the crook of your neck while shifting his arms tighter around your middle.

soft kisses were planted on your jugular and you shivered to feel his teeth gently grazing your skin. ah, so he was horny. very quickly into your relationship with ohma you had learned the small differences between his simple affection and his lust. nuzzling and hugs were commonplace between you, and his only goal therein was to show his love and feel yours in return; when teeth and kisses were involved, however…

unexpectedly, he lifted his head from your neck. you almost groaned at the loss of contact. "what are ya doing?" he questioned, referring to your presence in front of the bookshelf. "did you finish that other book?"

"i did, yeah!" you answered although he confused you, did he want to have sex or not? you went on about your book anyway, "it was really good but now i can't figure out what to read next."

"ah," he sounded his understanding as you eagerly began telling him about how the novel ended. he genuinely liked hearing you talk about your interests and he would listen to you go on about them forever, but the literary arts and reading itself was lost on him so he could contribute nothing to conversations about it.

you trailed off when there was nothing more to talk about. there was a silence and tension between you two and you once again became aware of his intoxicating scent, his strong body pressed against yours. whilst you were talking he had shifted his head to rest his chin on your head.

you squirmed under his hold, impatient. "ohma," you mumbled, "give me more."

he chuckled. so then, you wanted exactly what he did.

———

a few minutes later ohma had you pressed up against the wall, naked from the waist down, moaning softly, and hopelessly wet. ohma kneeled under you and was eagerly licking at your cunt; he had begun by rubbing his face against your entire mound, gathering your wetness and the scent of your arousal all over his face. one leg was slung over his shoulder and he gently held you open with his fingers, licking and mouthing all over. he avoided your clit for now, teasing you. you heard him groan every now and then at the taste of you.

your head was thrown back against the wall and one hand was buried in his seaweed hair and the other was on his shoulder, trying to steady yourself in case you fell over (though he would catch you). soft panting moans filled ohma ears.

you were lost to the sensations. his tongue and mouth felt so good. though it kind of felt different than usual, what with the burning sensation—

—burning? why was it burning?

the pain steadily escalated and you abruptly shoved ohma away, starting to pant in fear and pain. your pussy was BURNING! you started frantically flapping your hands and kicking your feet, utterly confused and uncomfortable. what the hell was happening?

ohma could only stare at you in bewilderment from his kneeling position on the floor. “y/n? whats the matter?”

you stared back at him, still squirming with discomfort, then it finally hit you. “ohma,” you started cautiously, “what did you eat before you came home?”

“i had spicy noodles but i don’t see what- ah. shit.” his eyes widened. the terrible realization was apparent on his face.

“you damn idiot! why would you eat spicy food and then come eat me out! it fucking HURTS!”

the burning was getting worse and you didn’t know what to do. you tugged back on your shorts that ohma had discarded earlier and began pacing back and forth in the room in agitation. your breathing was frantic and you couldn’t calm down enough to figure what to do. it was all you could do to not start running around the house like a chicken with its head cut off.

ohma abruptly stood up and hurried out of the room, but you hardly noticed. he then came back; he was the only one sane enough in that moment to find a solution to your problem.

he caught you by the hips mid-pacing and once more kneeled in front of you. “y/n, calm down,” he insisted. “stay still. i’m going to help you.”

you looked down to see him with a wet washcloth in hand; he eased your legs apart and put your hands on his shoulders to steady you. gently but firmly, he pressed the cloth to the open juncture between your legs.

you flinched at the temperature of the cold water, but slowly you felt soothed and the pain eased. with deliberate movements ohma shifted his hand to make sure the cloth could reach every part of your mound. the act itself was achingly intimate.

as you finally calmed down and your body became lax, you looked down at ohma and his face staring back at you reflected the same emotions you felt: embarrassment, bewilderment, but still relief.

———

now you were laid up in your shared bed with ohma, trying to come down from the chaos of earlier. you were huddled up in the covers while your boyfriend sat on the edge of the bed, looking at you.

“i’m sorry, y/n,” he said quietly to you. the usual unshakeable tokita ohma was unsettled by this incident and the fact that he was so careless and caused you such pain. his brows were deeply furrowed; he looked away from you, still ashamed.

you sighed and sat up, resting a comforting hand on his cheek. “listen, lets just put this behind us okay? besides, i have something more important to talk to you about.”

ohma looked at you again, brow raised.

“did i taste better than those noodles?”

his eyebrows shot up in shock. then his face cracked into a rare smile, and you two laughed together.

————

tagging: @aneenasevla @ohmaswife @hoe4rairai @kengan-daddies @juliusreinholdswig @milkkicoffee @bokutosbiceps

[pastxlscorp]

Palia Character Characterizations/Impres.

(impres. is short for impressions btw! also big ass rambling)

I started Palia the other day and I'm amazed it's free. Aside from some obvious glitches, the game is pretty good and it's on par with some games that charge money. I've been doing some quests but I'm not too far into the story, but I have some strong feelings about some characters. This might not have a big fanbase but if there is only one fan, I am one! I'm just gonna give some first impressions and how I headcanon some characters personality wise based on other impressions of them from the villagers n shit. You should try it out if you already haven't!

Nai'O:

STARTING OFF WITH MY ANNOYANCE FOR THIS MAN. I know a big controversy with him is that he's in a monogamous relationship with another villager (spoilers: Kenyatta) yet he is still a romancable character. Although in his culture it is normal to have poly relationships, he has some pretty inconsistent writing (im gonna get into this more later with Reth). He argues that Reth flirts with everyone, which he clearly is annoyed by, but if he falls in love with the player, he actually is fine dating both you and Kenyatta depending on your dialogue choices. Seems inconsistent that he would get pissed at Reth while he was over here flirting with the player. ALSO— Kenyatta literally calls Reth hot, so she’s not even fully loyal to him either. He seems aware of this, since it honestly sounds like his disliking of Reth is more jealousy than anything. I personally don’t see the significance of having the two of them date monogamously if they’re clearly open to poly or having an open relationship. Aside from that, he's a very sweet villager who I knew I was gonna like from the start. Farm boy himbo that knows what he's doing until it comes to social cues. Romance him if you wish! He's a sweet boy who wants what's best for his family but aside from that, he's a fairly simple character. As far as I've explored the world and quests, I haven't found any deeper nuance or lore with him since his family is pretty wholesome. Nothing wrong with simplicity, but I love characters with a little more complexity and nuance since there is so much more to dive into, analyze, and admire.

Reth:

my boyfriend First impression was how this man was a flirt. It's pretty heavily implied imo that Reth is a womanizer and sleeps around. His boss, Ashura, mentions something about Reth likes having his nights free and Nai'O blatantly just says this man flirts with everyone in proximity. I find the beef between him and Nai'O interesting, as it implies either Reth is jealous of him or dislikes him because he considers him cowardly for hiding his relationship with Kenyatta. When Nai'O sends you off on a quest to deliver something to Reth, he calls Reth "loverboy" and he calls out him and Kenyatta for sneaking around and also Hassian's love poems. This is kinda reiteriated when he makes a comment about Hassian's love letters being not-so-secret. He's aware how he's an obvious flirt, which I find admirable. He does not give a fuck about how anyone perceives him and is open about it, which is why he shames the other two for sneaking around with their romance lives. In another quest, he makes another comment about stealing Nai'O's muscles. Initially I thought he was interested in Kenyatta but I think him flirting with her is more of a rivalry between him and Nai’O. Amongst the villagers, they are the two canonically best looking, which is an interesting dynamic. It makes sense why Nai’O would then be pissed off Reth was flirting with Kenyatta, as he knows she does find him attractive. I headcanon that Reth is one of the few characters that would be romantically interested in the player even if they didn’t romance him because of his voicelines. Some of them are like “uh oh, gotta go uh…” and he’ll make up an excuse to leave sounding flustered. Reth, to me, is one of the more complex characters because of how much shit goes unsaid with him. He comes off as very easygoing because he's stressed because he has a hard time saying no and ends up lying, which gets him into a load of shit. His small talk is really sweet though, I like to headcanon he's flirty so the (spoilers) cartel can’t tell who he’s close with. I'm currently romancing him and one other man! I really find it cute how he sweet he is to his sister. Bold move to abandon the family careerline (especially since he is I think the only dude in the village who is not carrying family tradition) and he knows all eyes are on Tish (his sister) because of it. It's cute that he only cares about how people talk about him when it impacts his sister. I assume this is why he usually takes all the shit the other villagers give him because he knows it would go on his sister otherwise. I felt so bad bc I actually didn’t cover for him in one of his friendship quests because I thought ashura would’ve figured I was lying. In Reth’s letter, he writes if you covered for him or didn’t and says there’s no hard feelings and that he was using the free time he got to spend with his sister. I’m sorry pookie 🥹

Hassian:

Really liked him at first, but he became unlikable really fast. He's super attractive if you're looking for a black cat boyfriend or a tsundere, but it gets old quick. He comes out rude even when he's trying to be nice and in real life this shit would be so toxic. In game reasonably it's more tolerated but it just is not my cup of tea. I'm usually a sucker for dudes with this archetype too since it's just nice to see people soften up and get comfortable, but Hassian just can be overbearing. I was leveling up my friendship with him and he sent a letter saying "You'll probably freeze to death without my help, so take this. You'll thank me for it later." like lil bro fuck u. Jokes aside, I'm not a fan of the fact he's romancable mainly because it's revealed later on (spoilers) that he is in love with another villager, Tamala. It's lowkey fucked up because there is a whole quest where you have to deliver one of his letters to her and if you deliver it to her on the first try, she laughs at his letter, showing it's clearly not reciprocal, at least anymore. On his romance quests (I searched it up bc I got curious) she admits she led Hassian on because she wanted a fling and he wanted marriage. I felt so bad for bro but lowkey he brought this shit on himself. Tamala affirms what I'm arguing because she explains they broke up b/c of his "sour" demeanor. Again, cute on paper, but if you don't write any development it gets old fast. It kind of even feels like you're a rebound for Tamala. I do like that the villagers know he has a soft spot for Auni (one of the 2 children villagers) because he always plays with him. This could have been a great premise for character development but unfortunately it just does not go anywhere. I know there's a reddit thread complaining about Hassian's lack of development and another for Nai'O being in a relationship and romanceable-- if anyone's is interested in reading more.

Hodari:

First impression: dilf. I'm not crossing that out I'm being honest. I instantly wanted to romance Hodari but honestly as I kept playing he lowkey came off as such a dad and then I realized bro is in fact a father. If you want a dilf, go for it. But if you have daddy issues like me, you're gonna look at bro in a different light when you get to know his character. His lore is pretty fucked up but it's sweet he's trying to look out for his kid, just the way he goes about it is not the best. I did really like one dialogue in idle chat with him that he admits he knows his daughter sneaks out and he doesn't say anything about it because he knows he can be a helicopter dad sometimes. I'm still debating as of now if I'm gonna romance him or not but I haven't seen any red flags with Hodari as of yet, just that he's reasonably a little closed in and dry, but he's not nearly as hostile as Hassian.

Jel:

bros side profile is immaculate. my HUSBAND. Loud and proud bro. At first I genuinely did not fuck with him because he was so mean initially. He made it sound like you were a peasant. He develops quickly through small talk though and it's so cute, like he easily became my favorite. He goes on night walks and enjoys the beauty of literally everything: some of his favorite gifts are insects and shells. He finds everything potential of beauty. He's a little corny when he's greeting you (he'll talk abt how you brighten his loneliness bc he's so dramatic) but I adore it. Also call me odd but I find that when a man has a girl best friend, immediate green flag. His relationship with Tish reminds me a lot of me and my best friend I adore it SOOO much. I'm in the process of romancing him and BRO I found out through youtube tutorials that if you're romancing him and someone else he comes to your house and tells you "If you were trying to keep this from me because you thought it would affect things between you and I, you're wrong. I'm a big boy. I know how to share." WHAT? WHAT? WHAT. Anyways I would 100% recommend romancing him I see no flags if they are any, red is my favorite color. goodnight.

[haru-naechi]

A FEMALE FIGHTER

Soooo, I just finished reading Kengan Ashura (currently reading Omega), and I had this interesting thought:

Imagine a female fighter in the Kengaverse who isn't just someone who knows how to throw a punch, but an absolute monster like the rest of the cast. It's a bit of a fantasy idea, but I think it would be fascinating to see how the other characters would react, especially considering the significant biological differences portrayed in this world. Even though much of it is unrealistic, having a female fighter who can lift a truck doesn't seem too far-fetched, right?

My dear Kengan Ashura/Omega (and Baki) writers out there... MAKE ME HEADCANONS OF THIS PLEASEq

I'm updating this to include Baki <3 (I forgot about it when I wrote this) I know that compared to Kengan, Baki has a lot more headcanons and fics, I have read some of them with strong fmc, just take this a sign to continue because Im craving lol

[goosewriting]

Cover It Up

summary: after getting a scolding from Ashura, Reth and reader get closer (follows the cover it up quest). 

relationship: Reth x gn!reader

warnings: fluff!, spoilers for Reth’s dialogue 

word count: 4k

A/N: more Reth because i love him fr fr <3 i'm not sure how many parts there will be to this but make sure to read the previous part if you haven't!

Navigation: Part 1 | Part 2 (you're here)

(english is not my first language. constructive criticism and grammar corrections are very appreciated!)

— — —

You’re working on a new piece of furniture that Tish gave you the instructions for, when you see Reth coming through the gates to your house plot. A slight panic settles in the pit of your stomach as you realise that you were so absorbed in your work you’ve completely lost track of time.

“Oh shoot, I didn’t forget we were meeting up or anything, right?” you ask as you set down your tools, hurrying to clean up your workstation.

“Nope,” he retorts, coming to a halt before you. “I came here unannounced.”

“Okay, good,” you breathe a sigh of relief, facing him fully. “So what’s up?”

“Nothing much,” he says and gives you his signature smile, leaning on the worktable with his hips. “I just wanted to see your face, is all.”

You narrow your eyes slightly at him in suspicion, but can’t help mirror his smile.

“Well, take your fill.”

He studies your face for a moment.

“Ah, yes,” he concludes with a nod. “That’s the face of my favourite person right there. Good to know it’s still there.”

“Why wouldn’t my face be here,” you retort with a chuckle, but then furrow your brows in worry. “Seriously though, is something wrong? I’m not complaining about you being here; it’s just that it’s rare for you to come by like this.”

He sighs, his shoulders slumping forward slightly.

“Yeah, I, uh, I actually need your help,” he admits. “Again.”

You motion for him to sit next to you on the bench by the entrance of your house.

“Sure thing,” you reassure him once you’re both seated. “What can I do?”

Reth takes a deep breath, gesturing with his hands as he talks.

“So, remember the whole thing where I made a huge dinner for Ashura and his friends because he kept seeing me going into the back rooms,” (How could I forget, you think.) “Well, turns out he didn’t believe me at all, actually. He’s keeping an extra eye on me now, and some shipments for, you know, have been suffering because of that.” He can’t hold your gaze and it falls to his lap instead. “I need to change bases for a while.”

Reth then asks for your map, and you hand it to him. He marks some places where you’re to leave some shipments in Bahari Bay. You look at the places he marked, mentally already tracing the path you'd take so as not to be seen, and hopefully not run into anyone.

“The shipments are in the storage room,” he adds. “Can you pick them up tonight?”

“Yeah, I can do that,” you say with a small smile. He’s visibly relieved at your words.

“Thank you so much.” He runs a hand over his face and shoots you a sheepish smile. “I don’t know why you keep putting up with me like this, but I really appreciate this.”

“Hey, we said no more of that negative self-talk,” you remark and give him a playful push to his shoulder. “I help because I want to.”

Reth looks at you for a moment with a slight tilt to his head. What did he do to deserve you?

“How about I have some food ready for when you come back?,” he offers, and you immediately perk up at that. “Any wishes?”

“You know I never say no to your food,” you laugh, and think for a moment about his offer. “I’m craving… something greasy. Finger food. With potatoes.”

He laughs at your odd request.

“Alright, I’ll see what I can come up with.”

– – –

You take an evening nap to get ready for the night, and when the clock strikes midnight, you set out for the village. You’re extra careful to not run into anyone, entering the Inn from the back to access the storage room, and stuff the merchandise into your backpack. It’s not the first time you’re moving things for Reth, and you have to admit you’re curious to take a peek. You have an inkling as to what could be in there – something Flow related and highly illegal, probably – but Reth made you promise over and over that you wouldn’t peek. The less you know, the better, he would always say. So you shove your curiosity aside, and make a quick exit towards the east gates leading to Bahari Bay.

You move swiftly, and actually take the opportunity to mine whatever iron you come across on your way to the marked positions. Making so much noise with the pickaxe probably isn’t the best strategy to remain hidden, but at least this way, if someone saw you, you could say you were mining. Besides, you seem to always be running out of it, so any extra ore is welcome. When you get to the spot Reth marked on the map, you hide the boxes behind some bushes, then start your trek back, picking up some mushrooms and Sweet Leaves on the way back to Kilima. 

Once you’re back, you make a quick stop by the storage room again to pick up the food left by Reth, then head home. As you unpack it, still warm, you see he cut potatoes into wedges, covered them in seasoning, then baked them with plenty of oil. You hum in surprise at how good it tastes, savouring every bite. You also can't help but feel that it tastes strangely familiar, like a comfort food from another life. There's still something missing, but you can't quite put your finger on what.

– – –

The next few days go by as usual, and you keep catching yourself itching for something to spice up your routine. Perhaps another “supply” run by Reth? You mean to go see him at the Inn to ask if there's anything for you to do, except that you don’t even make it far past your house, as the moment you walk out of your door, you see Ashura coming into your lot through the gates. With a smile and a wave, you greet him from afar, but as he steps closer, you can see he doesn't look too amused. You gulp.

“Hey Ashura,” you start as you meet him halfway. “What brings you all the way to my humble abode?”

He looks down at you, and sighs. You shift your shoulders uncomfortably under his gaze.

“I wish I could say I was here for a friendly chat.”

Ashura’s stern gaze softens somewhat, in the way a father gives in to the “not mad, just disappointed” stance. 

“What exactly did you think you were doing by helping Reth?” he asks you, crossing his arms over his chest.

Your gaze falls to the ground, brows furrowed. It’s none of your business, you want to say. But that wouldn’t be fair. He’s here because he’s worried, because he cares.

“How’d you find out?” you ask instead, daring to meet his eyes again.

“It was pretty obvious. Reth may be good at lying to others, but I know his tells. Besides, Hodari saw you sneaking around at night.”

Hodari you little snitch, you think and can’t help the grumble that escapes you. Ashura sighs yet again, his arms now falling to his sides.

“Next time you hide things in the bay, make sure no one sees you.”

“Well, I thought I was doing a good job at not being seen,” you mumble. “... But point taken.”

He raises a brow at you, still waiting for an explanation. You shrug your shoulders and raise your hands in defeat. 

“I- I was just helping him out,” you say truthfully. “If I don’t, he’s going to work himself to exhaustion and beyond, and you know that.”

“And this is how you decide to help?” he says in a somewhat scolding manner. “Look, Reth can spend the rest of his life running away, lying to anyone who might care about him. But I’ve seen the way he looks at you, and talks about you. He’d hang the moon if you asked him to.”

You can’t help the heat creeping onto your face at his words. I’d hang the moon and more for him too, you think to yourself. Suddenly you feel very self-conscious in front of the man that’s become a father figure to you, and seems to be one to Reth as well.

“Then, what do you suggest?” you ask. “You care about him, right? That's why you worry. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here. Well, I care about Reth as well. Tell me how to help him.”

He hums, placing a large hand on your shoulder.

“Help lead him on the right path.”

You let out a helpless scoff; how do you even do that? There’s so many factors at play, and you're not even sure if Ashura has the full picture regarding Tish’s disease and treatment and all… Where do you even start? 

As he sees your brain is starting to work a mile an hour at his words, he retrieves his hand after giving you one last squeeze.

“Well, I’ve said my piece. Maybe I'm just an old man overstepping his bounds… But I want to see Reth thrive here,” he says and shoots you a smile. “And I want the same for you.”

“I- even if you were overstepping his bounds, you’re doing it because of the right reasons, so… Thank you for telling me. I think I needed to hear this.” You bite the inside of your cheek, considering if you should say the next part or not. it's something that's been eating away at your mind for a while now. You fidget with your sleeve, looking up at Ashura and being met with nothing but warmth and support in his eyes, and you can feel the last of your walls crumbling.

“You know,” you start after taking in a shaky breath. “Sometimes I forget that this is… real. Appearing out of thin air with no memories of anything at all except for my name. I think deep inside I expect this all to be a dream or something, and that I’ll be snapping out of it at any given time. So I guess I wasn’t taking my actions seriously, and dismissing the fact that what I do here has real consequences for the people surrounding me, as well as myself.”

Ashura looks surprised at your words, and for a second you regret telling him. Seeing the flash of panic on your face, he reaches out and envelops you in a hug. 

“Have you told Reth about this?” he asks, and you shake your head as you press your face into his chest, ashamed.

“You have a lot to talk about then.”

He pulls back, holding you by your shoulders and looking down at you affectionately.

“Whenever you feel like that, you can come talk to me, okay? Don't let it build up.” He pulls back completely, about to turn around. “And I don't know if it's much comfort, but you're very real to us. To me. And I'm glad you're here.” 

With the knot that formed in your throat, you can't utter out a word, so you merely nod at him, thankful. He says his goodbyes and leaves.

After the conversation, your mind and heart are a whirlwind, so you decide to take the rest of the day “off”. You basically stay in bed, cuddling with your palcat until evening. Once you find the strength again, and after feeding yourself and your companion, you set out to the village. Except that you find yourself taking the long way, heading West until you reach the Daya’s farm, although staying out of sight, then walking down the coastline. You twirl the Sundrop Lily you picked on the meadow between your fingers, trying to form a coherent sentence in your head with which to explain to Reth how you feel regarding, well, everything. That he’s putting himself in danger. That you don’t want to see him neither hurt nor burnt out. That you want to help him however you can. That you sometimes feel lost too, given the current circumstances of your existence. That you can’t stand the thought of being stranded here without him. That you care about him. So much. 

At the last thought, heat creeps up to your face, and your heartbeat quickens, and for the first time in what feels like forever, you just allow yourself to feel.

By now, you're standing by the entrance of the sewers that lead to the Underground, so with one last deep breath, you climb in. Reth’s shift should end soon, so you could head back into the storage room together to have a much-needed talk.

As expected, you find Reth behind the bar. Things seem to be slow today, as he wipes down the surface with a bored look on his face. You quickly scan the place to see if Zeki is anywhere within earshot, but you can’t see him, so you walk up to the cook. When he spots you, his immediate reaction is perking up with a smile, but then he goes a bit stiff as he realises why you’re here.

“Hey,” he greets you as you come to a stop on the other side of the bar. “Wasn’t sure you’d come see me. I take it Ashura paid you a visit.”

“He did… Are you, uhm, done soon?” You look around again. “I think we need to talk. In private.”

The slight panic in his face doesn’t escape you, but he’s quick to push past it, trying to play it cool.

“Y-yeah, I was about to wrap up here, actually. Give me a couple of minutes, I’ll meet you in the back?”

“Okay. See you in a bit,” you offer with your best attempt at a reassuring smile. It doesn't seem to do much to calm him down, though.

Once in the storage room, you beeline for his couch, which he uses as a bed, and sit down with a pillow, hugging it to your chest. You can’t help pressing your nose into it; it smells like Reth, and you can feel yourself relax a bit.

Not five minutes later, the door creaks open and closes again, and you straighten up a bit. Reth heads to where you are, taking a seat next to you, and he leans into the back of the couch with a tired sigh. You don’t know how to start the conversation, so you just sit in silence for a moment until he heaves a deep sigh.

“I think I might have used up all my second chances. I really messed this one up,” Reth says, looking ahead instead of at you. “Weird thing is, Ashura didn’t fire me. He even asked me if I was okay. Guess I'm the world’s worst brother and employee.”

He lets out a wry chuckle, then leans forward to prop up his elbows on his knees, holding his face in his hands.

“I keep ruining things. Can’t keep my sister safe, can’t make anyone proud,” he mumbles, and it makes your chest tighten in pain that he thinks of himself that way. You’re about to say something when he straightens up and looks at you with a sad, resigned smile. “It’s like, I know that I'm doing it, right? But I just can't stop myself. Give me the chance, I'll ruin your life too.”

“That's not true…”

“But it is. I'm no good for you. If you stick around, you're only going to get burned.”

Then let me burn to ash, if it means I can keep you by my side, you think, and in the second it takes you to decide if that’s too much or not, he’s taking something out of his pocket. Your heart skips a beat when you recognise the metallic piece. You’ve heard from others about the Palian custom of giving pins as a sign of true romantic interest. Far more than a box of chocolates.

“Before all this happened, I was even gonna ask you to wear this pin,” he says, brushing over it with his thumb. “Stupid, right? I’ll just throw it in the gutter where it belongs.”

“Wait–” you finally find your voice again, and he looks up at you surprised. “It absolutely does not belong in the gutter. Don’t throw it out, I- I’ll take it.”

“Really?,” his brows rise in surprise and what you assume to be hopefulness, then a blush spreads on his face. “You know what this pin means, right?”

You nod. He looks down at it again, ears burning dark pink.

“It means I want to give us, you and me together, a real chance.”

“I know,” you say, putting aside the pillow you’ve been holding onto and reaching for his hand instead, holding his free one with both of yours and giving it a squeeze, which he reciprocates.

“Even after everything?” he asks, voice impossibly small.

“Even after everything.”

“I… Oh. I mean, okay, good. That’s- That’s good.” He clears his throat. “Sorry, I was really expecting this to blow up in my face like everything else. I’ve never actually given my pin to anyone before, you know? Never thought I’d meet someone who wanted it.”

“Well, here I am. So… are you going to give it to me?” You let go of his hand, holding them out with your palms up.

“R-Right.” He carefully places the pin in your palms, folding your fingers over it and holding your closed hands in his larger ones.

You look up from your hands at him, and he looks at you so lovingly, genuine and vulnerable, that you start feeling the familiar prick of tears coming behind your eyes. But you don’t want him to see you cry, so you lean in and place a lingering kiss to the corner of his mouth instead, then slip your hands out of his grip to hug him.

“For the record, you're not the worst brother or employee,” you say, sneaking in a quick peck to his cheek in between words here and there. “You’re an amazing brother, caring, loving, selfless. You're a wonderful employee and Ashura wants to keep you around because he cares about you. And you’re the best boyfriend I could ask for. I am proud of you. And I know your parents would be too if they saw who you've become.”

At your words, Reth’s body trembles with a silent sob, and you hug him tighter. He lifts you up and you climb onto his lap so you’re straddling him. He buries his face into the crook of your neck, while you lovingly stroke up and down his back.

“And don’t even think about saying that I'm too good for you or some nonsense like that. You deserve the world and more, Reth.”

He chuckles; you know him too well, as he was about to say exactly that.

“Thank you, sweet tooth,” he mumbles into your skin instead. “I needed this.”

After a moment longer, he lets out a deep exhale, then pulls back slightly to look at you. His eyes are a little puffy, and you cup his face, stroking over his cheekbones. You press your lips to his, kissing him once, twice, and wanting to deepen it, but you have to break it off to yawn, unable to stop it. Reth laughs.

“Long day?” he asks.

“Not really? Just glad we talked about this, I guess…” You give his cheek a quick peck. “Can I stay the night?”

“Of course.”

You climb off his lap and you both change into something more comfortable. Reth lends you one of his shirts, and you’re left in just that and your underwear, not really wanting to sleep in your work trousers that you were gardening in the day before. You neatly fold your clothes and put them on a chair, carefully placing Reth’s pin on top, and you take a second just looking at it.

When you turn around, Reth is sitting on his bed in his sleeping garments, looking at the floor with a violent blush. You look down at yourself, suddenly self-conscious, and you place your arms in front of you protectively, not that it does much at hiding anything though.

“I- I’m sorry. I just didn't want to sleep in my dirty work clothes,” you say sheepishly.” Does it make you… uncomfortable?”

“No! No, not that. It's just, uh,” he clears his throat. “It’s quite the view. I don’t want to stare and make you uncomfortable.”

Your heart is beating so fast, you can hear it rumbling in your ears.

“It’s okay, Reth,” you say, voice trembling slightly. “You can look.”

He tears his gaze from the ground to your face, checking if you're sure, and when you give him a little nod, his eyes slowly start wandering downwards. They travel over your neck, chest, stomach until they reach your thighs, where he seems to linger for a bit, then he gives you a quicker once-over. You just stand there, doing everything in your power to not hug yourself or pull the shirt down to cover up.

You’re not sure what you’d even expect him to say except a ‘nice’ maybe, so you just walk to the bed, lifting the covers and climbing in.

“Well, if you're gonna sleep like that,” Reth says suddenly, standing up, and you watch with big eyes as he reaches over his back and pulls on his shirt. “I think it's only fair I take this off so you have something to look at too.”

In a swift motion, he pulls his shirt over his head, throwing it somewhere without much regard. His cooking outfit didn't ever really do much to hide his silhouette, so you knew he’s fit, but your heart was not ready for this. You can feel your face burning up significantly, and before you can stop yourself, your eyes are roaming his form: from his broad shoulders to the small waist, his toned arms and pecs, all you can think of is all the hickeys you want to add to his freckled skin.

Your eyes go back up to meet his, and even in the low light of the storage room, you see the dark pink blush going from the tip of his ears all the way to his sternum. He gives you a second to take it all in, seemingly pleased with the way your eyes are practically eating him up, then climbs into bed after you. Since it’s more of a couch rather than a bed, there’s not a lot of space to begin with, let alone for two people, so Reth hugs you into his chest, with your head tucked under his chin, and tangles his legs with yours, and he’s so warm, it’s almost too much. Sure you’ve cuddled and shared a bed before, but there was never this much skin contact.

His hand shyly slips underneath your shirt to give your hip a squeeze, and you involuntarily let out a squeak of sorts, to which he can't help but snort.

“Cute,” is all he says, as his hand travels further and comes to a stop at your waist, while your own arm snakes around his torso, holding onto him.

“Is this okay?” he whispers, and his hand slips to the small of your back, softly drawing random figures. You merely hum in response. Your face is basically pressed to his chest already, so you place a kiss right under his collarbone, and you hear him inhale sharply. You kiss him again, and again, then give a tentative bite.

“Sweet tooth,” he growls the nickname warningly. “Neither of us is gonna get any sleep if you go there.”

“Sorry, I couldn't help myself,” you giggle, propping yourself up to properly kiss him good night, then you turn around, and he hugs your back into his chest as you hold his hand over your heart. “Good night, Reth. I’m glad to be here with you.”

“Me too babe, me too.”

~~~~~

🐥 [link to join my taglist is in my pinned post!]

[eroguron0nsense]

Doflamingo, Love, and Arrested Development

This is mostly just me paraphrasing other Doffy metas and comments I've made but I kinda feel like the real tragedy behind Doflamingo's warped psychology kind of gets missed by people who focus more on his trauma in and of itself and get lost in discourses about having sympathy for characters despite their complete lack of morality and disregard for everyone (perfectly possible), or whether Doflamingo has any redeeming characteristics or genuine concern for anyone or anything outside of himself (he doesn't).

Doffy's story is fundamentally a tragedy, but not because of his childhood traumas or how drastic and painful they are; plenty of One Piece characters experience severe abuses or incomprehensible loss, but they're ultimately stories of how to find hope in the face of the incomprehensibly traumatic, or the salvation/redemptive power of love. Even characters who don't necessarily see their goals fulfilled (see Fisher Tiger, Pedro, Ashura Doji, EGGHEAD SPOILERS etc) aren't fundamentally tragic ones in the way that, say, Ace is, in that they die having fulfilled their goals to the best of their ability and knowing that people will carry on where they left off, even if they don't get to see the liberation they hoped for. Rosinante's story isn't a tragedy because he dies satisfied that he's given hope to someone he loves deeply (and to some extent tried to make amends for some of the guilt he clearly feels for participating in an institution that ruined that child's life).

Doffy, on the other hand, is a never-ending downward spiral from day 1. He was indoctrinated by evil people from birth and never has it addressed (his parents, for all their talk about living more simply than the Celestial Dragons, NEVER actually say "slavery is bad" to Doffy when he asks them why they don't own people any more and I have my own theory on why), who then suffers unbelievable trauma and has his sense of loss–both of his "birthright" and his innocence/ childhood–weaponized for evil. And he spends the rest of his life in this semi-permanent state of arrested development and violent entitlement. He can't have the station and privilege of the Celestial Dragons to... own slaves and live in luxury, so he builds a kingdom where HE reigns supreme and everyone who crosses him is killed or enslaved as a toy. His mother dies and he kills his father, so he assembles a cult-like "family" to try and compensate for the one he's lost/destroyed, but he doesn't and likely doesn't know how to love them in any meaningful way beyond being possessive of them and seeing them as extensions of himself (e.g. he's willing to kill anyone who makes fun of Pica because no one's allowed to antagonize his "family", but he also orders Monet to do a suicide bombing in Punk Hazard, and he's willing to sacrifice one of them for the eternal life surgery, etc). I think that might be why, even though he should know Corazon has every reason to hate and fear him, he's still so eager to take his brother in when they reunite as adults–he shouldn't trust him, and he eventually comes to suspect him of treason, but he's desperate to have a family and Corazon is emblematic of something he wants but can never have because he's a cruel stunted person who knows nothing but entitlement and violence and cannot process the idea that anything has value or merits selflessness and sacrifice.

Everything Doflamingo does is defined by trying to replace or compensate for the family and privilege he was "supposed" to have, but he doesn't love anyone or even understand how real love works because he's been taught to have no regard for human life and all he knows is that love = absolute servitude, that his interests are ultimately more important than the wellbeing of his "family" members, and that betrayal means death. And far be it from me to sympathize with a fallen aristocrat's deranged revenge power fantasies, but it does demonstrate how oppressive institutions inevitably deprive their own beneficiaries of some of their humanity, and consequently fuck them for life. Doffy craves genuine affection and has had his capacity for it permanently stunted by his former class station and indoctrination.

This craving for love combined with an inability to actually feel it in any meaningful way factors into why he's so obsessed with Law, who he kept hardcore projecting onto in the flashbacks and who he expected to turn out just like him. His brother chose Law over Doflamingo and even his undercover mission out of love, and for all his traumas and hangups, Law can find his own crew and friends who he cares about, and he's able to live on and find meaning even after losing EVERYTHING because Corazon genuinely loved him enough to die protecting him. Doffy, on the other hand, is doomed to a loveless, misanthropic, cruel existence where he tortures countless people to compensate, but he can't replace what he's lost and he'll never find it. It's not what Corazon would have wanted, but Law fighting for and honouring Corazon's memory in everything he does enrages Doffy, who will never be able to understand why they cared for each other so deeply, and why both of them are integral to his downfall.

[kengan-daddies]

It was really funny in the fic "awkward things they do that ruin sex" when Saw Paing would barge in accidentally while reader and Kaolang are doing it. Can you please write a full nsfw fic for that? I wonder if Saw Paing would get embarrassed and apologize loudly or shout out "KAOLANG LETS FIGHT!! also nice cock bro"

LMFAOOOOOO!!!!! I saw this a few days ago and I've been excited to write it ever since, and now we're finally here!!!

Long Awaited Interruption Kaolan Wongsawat X Reader

Anime : Kengan Ashura Character : Kaolan Wongsawat Warning : Suggested Themes, Humor, Fluff

Long Awaited Interruption Kaolan Wongsawat x Reader

Long Awaited Interruption Kaolan Wongsawat x Reader

It's been weeks since you and Kaolan last had sex, it was always such a chore to wait for him since he dealt with the prince 24/7, but the time finally came and it was now your chance to embrace one another, to kiss, pulling and tugging clothing off of your forms.

Kaolan was always pent up, seeing as how he spent weeks sometimes even months away from you, but he was always gentle and slow when it came to your pleasure, he wanted you to always feel satisfied. You lay on the bed in your naked glory, your skin glistening in the lamp's soft glow, his hands gently trailing over your waist as he silently worshipped you.

You stared down at him, watching him idolize your body, it was a common sight but you'd never get tired of seeing it, the love and admiration in his eyes for you and you alone. The door suddenly snatched open and you both jumped, scrambling to cover your body.

"GAOLAAAAAN!!!! I HEARD YOU WERE BACK, SO LET'S FIGHT!!!!" He shouted, the usual fire in his eyes as he smashed his fists together. Once he made sure you were fully covered, Kaolan glared over at Saw Paing. "Saw Paing, I'll deal with you later, I'm busy right now." He said as he stood from the bed. Saw looked around him, seeing you bunched up in blankets.

An embarrassed look on your face as you shyly waved at him. He looked over back at Kaolan, his smile widening. "OH!!! GAOLAN!!! YOU DIDN'T TELL ME YOU WERE HAVING A SLEEPOVER!!! WHY DIDN'T YA INVITE ME!? I'M THE SLEEPOVER PARTY KING!!" He declares as he points his thumb at himself proudly.

Kaolan nearly fell over from the ridiculousness of the whole thing. "No, you dimwit!! I didn't invite you because this isn't a sleepover at all!! Use your brain damn it!! I'm surprised you're not the smartest man in the world considering how well-protected it is." He said annoyed. Saw Paing seemed to think over his words as he looked around the place.

"Hmmmm, not a sleepover eh.... Then what is it?" He asked. Both you and Kaolan looked at him in disbelief. "I'll tell you what it is. It's me getting rid of the cockblock, aka you, Saw Paing." He said before he placed his hands on Saw's shoulder turning him around as he began pushing him out. Saw Paing just looked at him confusedly as he let Kaolan push him out. "Cockblock..... OH, I GET IT NOW!!! YOU GUYS ARE HAVING -"

BANG!! CLICK!!

Kaolan sighed in exasperation as he leaned back on the door, you chuckled as you could still hear Saw's voice through the door. Kaolan rolls his eyes when he hears Saw Paing bidding him farewell and that he had a nice cock. Kaolan rolls his eyes once more as he shook his head in fond annoyance before he walked over to you on the bed. "You do owe him a fight." You said as he pulled the blankets from you. He sighed as he crawled on the bed, his arms wrapping around your waist as he lays his head down in your lap.

"I know, I know. But I'll worry about him later, until then... " he said as he placed sweet kisses over your thighs making you chuckle as you ran your fingers through his hair.

[reigningcheesesun]

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ RETH x READER

wc: 2983 tags: fem!reader, she/her reader pronouns, reth from palia, canon events (i guess could be spoilery?), finding your shepp, self indulgent writing, not proofread or beta read :D

masterlist

“Find a shepp,” you muttered to yourself with a sigh. It was hard enough trying to navigate this newfound world, let alone trying to find a shepp per Eshe’s request. Since spawning into this place they called Kilima Village, you had been thrown into task after task. How would you ever find the time to build relationships with the villagers if you were always busy? You decided that today you would take a break from being the errand girl for everyone and instead would meet everyone you could find in hopes that you would find someone who would be willing to be your shepp. Up until now, you had only briefly spoken to most of the town, but no one knew you well enough to be your shepp just yet.

As you came into town, you assumed that Ashura would probably have wise words of advice on the fact of the matter. Hurrying along, you walked into the inn to find Ashura at his desk. 

“Hey, Ashura!” you said cheerily as you approached him. The large, gentle giant softly smiled. “Welcome in, y/n! Good to see you today. How are things going for ya?” he asked.

“Honestly? Well, I need some advice. You know this place, and the people, better than anyone, so I was going to see if you have any tips for me on picking a shepp?” 

“A shepp? So that’s what Eshe has you doing, I see. Well, many of the townsfolk would be more than happy to be a shepp- but,” he gave you a look, “asking them to be your own comes with a lot of responsibility on their part. You don’t want just anyone to be your shepp, and it should be someone you feel close to or have a connection with.”

“Responsibility? Eshe didn’t really explain much of all this to me. I thought they just told Eshe ‘Yep, she’s one of us!’ and that was it.”

Ashura chuckled. “In a way, yes, that is what they do. But their job as your shepp doesn’t stop there. They’re responsible for you, so anything you do- whether that’s good or bad- reflects upon them, too. Likewise, anything they do can also affect your own standing in Eshe’s eyes, if you get what I mean.”

“Oh… so we are kinda tied to each other’s social standing?” The wheels in your head began to turn. Who would you choose as your shepp then? It seemed the task wasn’t going to be as easy as you once thought it’d be.

“Yes, at least in the beginning it will be. But once you’re on your feet, most of us will forget who you picked as your shepp and there won’t be a little red string tying you guys together anymore. But don’t just rush into it, you’ve got all the time you need to pick someone who best fits you and your lifestyle. I know you aren’t Majiri like us, but maybe figuring out what path you like can help you narrow down your candidates.”

“Path. That’s right! A lot of you guys have your own path, so maybe I should find one I could call my own as well. Thanks, Ashura! I knew you’d be a big help for sure.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s what I’m here for, of course. Kilima Village has a pretty good variety of those in different paths, there is a path for everyone- from farming, furniture making, to cooking-  you’ll figure it out.” Ashura placed a hand on your shoulder and gave a soft smile before walking past you to go about his day.

There is a path for everyone. Surely someone in this town had a path you could find yourself in, you just had to figure out who it was. As you stood there, racking your brain through the makeshift list of names in your head, you heard the rumbling coming from your stomach. You had been so immersed in your search for finding a shepp today that you forgot to make yourself something to eat. You looked around the inn, seeing the bar open for business.

“What’cha got on the menu today, Reth?” you asked as you put your hands on the counter. The elf playfully contemplated his response, acting as if he was thinking long and hard about it. “Well, I would say my famous lettuce soup, but I’d be willing to whip up something different if you wanted,” he said with a smirk.

“As much as I love your lettuce soup, I don’t think I can have that for breakfast. How about some bacon-stuffed mushrooms? What do I have to do to get some of those on your menu?” you laughed. Reth was someone who was fun to talk to, in your opinion. You knew that the rest of the town had their own opinions about him, but none of it mattered to you. You enjoyed how go with the flow he was and how he always seemed to take each day one at a time.

“You know what, for you, I can make those. Just don’t tell people I make stuff off the menu.” He winked and turned around to start prepping the food. As you watched him chop the ingredients and assemble your meal, you wondered what his thoughts were on paths and choosing a shepp. “Reth, what do you think I should do about finding a shepp? Ashura said I should find someone who’s on a path that I can find myself in, but I don’t even know where to start.”

Reth scoffed to himself. “You sure you want to ask me about paths and shepps? I don’t think I’m really the best one to give you any advice on that, y/n. But if you wanna know how I feel, I think that these paths people take just because their parents do is a little outdated of an idea. I think what Ashura means is finding a path that you like, that you enjoy doing. You lucked out being human, even if you changed your mind, no one is really gon’ say much about it.” His tone changed towards the end of his sentence.

“Yeah, so I’ve heard. The Majiri don’t seem too understanding if you change paths… but I’m sure you know it all too well, but I’m glad you’re doing something you like.”

“Me too, this stuff is way more fun than getting splinters all day and hammering away on furniture,” he said as he put the plate of bacon-stuffed mushrooms in front of you. The food looked immaculate, you could tell it was made by someone who truly loved what they were doing.

Hey, Reth,” you said quietly as you started to cut the food into pieces. Reth turned around and wiped his hands on his apron. “Yeah? What’s up? It’s not good? Don’t tell me that, just lie to me,” he snickered.

“No, no. It’s not the food, this is good, great even,” you said as you finished a bite. “Do you think, maybe, you would be my shepp?”

Reth looked astounded by the question. “What?! ME ?! Y/N, I wouldn’t even know what to do with myself as a shepp. Maybe if I knew you better, but even then, you sure you want me to be that person? I don’t really have the best reputation in the village.”

You pushed the food around on the plate, almost feeling stupid for even thinking he’d agree to something so serious. It wasn’t like Reth to be tied to anything, let alone a new person in the village who was asking a lot of him. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. You’re probably right,” you said quietly.

Reth leaned on the counter and met your eye level. “Look, if it comes down to it and you still don’t have someone, then I’ll do it. But there’s gotta be someone way better out there for your decision than this guy. But I will do it if no one else will-”

“Really?!” you exclaimed, cutting him off. Reth put up his index finger. “Yeah, but on one condition,” he chuckled. “You just have to promise to keep coming into the inn and having breakfast, lunch, and dinner here for a while before I really agree to it. I gotta know the person I’m shepping for before saying yes for real, don’t I?”

You rolled your eyes playfully. “You know what, Reth. I think I can do that, but only if you promise me you won’t make me lettuce soup every time I come in.” Reth laughed heartily at your response and nodded his head in approval. “Fine, you got a deal.” He made his way to the other side of the counter to take someone else’s order and began prepping their food for them. 

It was hard not to watch in awe as he prepared the orders he had coming in. He was meticulous with his cuts and attentive to all timers in the kitchen, basically ready to take stuff out before the timers could even go off. It was like watching an artist paint a masterpiece as he plated the food and garnished it before passing it across the counter. As you continued to watch, you admired how much fun it looked like he had cooking. Finally, you finished your food.

“Reth,” you called to him as you placed your coins on the counter. “For the food.” You got off the seat and waved goodbye. “See ya later, Y/N! I’ll be here all day,” he laughed as he waved back. You left the inn in a better state than you came in, at least you knew that if all else failed with the rest of the town, Reth had promised to be your shepp.

ɞ────⋆˚₊⋆ ๑

The coming weeks didn’t bring any result in picking a shepp. Everyone was either too busy to commit to it or didn’t feel right with your relationship being so new with them. You walked into the inn and sat at the bar, laying your head in your arms and letting out a long sigh.

“Hey, hey, hey. This is a ‘no-sad-human-zone’, you can’t do that here,” Reth said as he leaned on the counter in front of you, resting his head in his palm. “Ughhh,” you groaned dramatically. “Wow, that bad, huh? I bet I know what will fix it.” He snapped his finger and walked into the back of the bar where the pantry and other cooking supplies were at. A few moments later, you could feel him put down a plate of food on the counter beside you. “This one’s on the house,” he said as you raised your head up to look at what he brought out. It was a fresh bowl of ramen, complete with boiled eggs and green onions on top. Reth leaned over and whispered to you. “Just don’t tell anyone I let you have it for free, okay?” He winked and grabbed a cleaning rag to start wiping off the counter.

You appreciated the sentiment, especially coming from Reth since you two were starting to grow a little closer after all the visits you had promised to make to the inn. “Reth, what do you do outside of this place?” Reth paused for a moment, a little confused by the question. “You mean like once I leave work? Uh… I do…. stuff, I guess.” His tone implied he wasn’t really trying to answer the question, but you couldn’t pinpoint why.

“Well, are you going somewhere when you’re done today?” you asked, not really sure where you were going with the series of questions.

“I have a few things I have to do later tonight, but nothing right after we close up here. Why? You tryin' to ask me to hangout?” He chuckled and kept wiping the counter. 

“Actually, yeah. Do you want to?” You were still unsure yourself what was even going on, but the conversation just seemed to flow naturally. You did want to know more about Reth after all this time, and he did say he needed to know you more before officially agreeing to be your shepp. Short conversations over a meal while he worked weren’t really the best way for you two to get to know each other.

“Oh, uh,” Reth said, scratching the back of his head and smiling. “I didn’t expect you to actually say that was the plan. But ya know what, I think we can do that. Why don’t you come back later at say, 6pm? I’ll be finishing up here and we can go somewhere then. How’s that sound?”

“Sure, that sounds good. Thanks, Reth.” You started to eat your food as you noticed Reth checking the clock on the wall. “I’ll be right back, I have to.. Get a few things from the storeroom.” Reth scurried off out of the bar and rushed down the stairs to the basement area. After a few minutes, you felt a large hand on your shoulder. You turned to see Ashura standing beside you, he looked like he needed something.

“Have you seen Reth? I got a few things I need to talk to that boy about, but he’s always in and out doing things,” he said.

“He just had to go to the storeroom for something, but when he gets back I can let him know that you need him?” You gave a shrug as you suggested.

“Yeah, that’ll work. Thanks, Y/N. I have to head out to the garden, but he should know where to find me.” He gave a sincere smile and left the inn. You looked up at the clock. Reth had been gone for at least 10 minutes. What on earth does he have to even get down there? And what about his job? Luckily, the bar wasn’t full of people waiting on him, but what if it was? He would be in high water with Ashura come the end of the day, and you definitely didn’t want to see if that sweet man was capable of bringing down the hammer.

You glanced around the bar; it didn’t look like anyone was coming to get food anytime soon so you decided to go downstairs to see if Reth needed help with whatever it was he was getting. You got up from the bar and made your way down the steps of the inn. It was your first time down there, but the store room was just across the room past the little boat docks under the inn. As you grabbed the door handle, you felt it turn and pull open as Reth left the storeroom. “Oh! Uh.. Y/N, what are you doing down here?” he asked nervously.

“Well, you were gone for so long, I thought maybe you needed some help or something. And plus, Ashura said he was looking for you.” Reth let out a groan. “Yeah, I forgot I have some errands I have to run tonight for him. He’s probably just reminding me.” He let out a soft sigh under his breath. “We may have to reschedule our little hangout tonight, if that’s alright.”

“Yeah, that’s fine…,” you said. The two of you sat awkwardly in silence for a moment before you broke it. “Maybe I can help you with some of the errands so you get done early?” Reth’s face lit up at the offer. “Hey! That just might work.” He snapped his fingers. “How about you do a few of the deliveries and pick up some things, and I’ll take care of the rest? I promise the deliveries aren’t that bad, just a handful of things to take and pick up.”

His bright smile made you smile as well. “Sure, you just tell me where to go.” Reth pulled out his order pad and wrote down the people to deliver to and who to pick up ingredients from. “There, that should be it. Eshe’s stuff’s all done, just upstairs in the back fridge. You’d be a real lifesaver doing this for me.”

You took the list and walked back upstairs with Reth. He led you into the back kitchen area and got the delivery package out of the fridge and handed it to you. “Careful with it, it’s a luxury to deliver this special dinner of mine to Eshe. Gotta deliver it safely or it’s both our hides that’ll be skinned,” he chuckled. “And just let the others know you’re picking up for me, they should have the stuff ready for you. Thanks again.” He bashfully smiled, something you hadn’t really seen before, but it was endearing. “No problem, I’ll be back before long,” you said before you left the inn.

Eshe’s delivery was your first priority, so you made your way across the bridge down from the stables and found her waiting, impatiently to no surprise. “Hey, Eshe! Have something for you,” you said as you pulled the package out and offered it to her. You watched Eshe look at the package and then back up at you before taking it. “So Reth has you doing his job for him? Hmph, seems fitting. This better be what I’ve been waiting for, not like that awful lettuce soup he pushes every time you order at the inn.”

“He doesn’t have me doing them, I offered to just help him out. I’m sure the food he made is well up to par; he really puts in a lot of work into his food, ya know,” you said assuredly. Eshe scoffed at your reply and tucked the package under her arm. “For his sake, I hope it is. If not, he will surely hear about it.” She walked off towards her house and left you standing there alone.

“These people really feel some type of way about him, don’t they?” you mumbled to yourself. 

2024 ©️ reigningcheesesun. please do not copy, translate, and/or distribute my work. divider.

[newtthetranswriter]

Soup, Memories, and Feelings

Word Count: 3949

Paring: Reth x Gn! Reader

Summary: Wanting to make something to show your gratitude for all that Reth has done for you, you end up at the Daiya’s farm. After being told about Butternut Squash you remember a small bit of your past. Deciding what better way to show your gratitude than giving the Chef a meal from ancient Humans, oh and maybe some more feelings are shared.

Warnings: None really, maybe just spoilers for Reth’s story

A/n:  Hello people. So firstly sorry I stopped writing for a bit there, my adhd was being crazy and writers block also hit. I also got hooked on playing Palia which is why I decided to write this for the great Soup Boy. Anyways, if you are new here welcome and be sure to check my pinned post for everything you need to know about this blog. Now without further ado enjoy and remember to hydrate or diedrate.

   Waking up in another time with no memories except for my name was such a strange experience. Having to build a new life from nothing was a challenge but luckily I had the help of the villagers in Killima. They all helped me figure out how to take care of myself and be a productive member of their community, not caring that I was human or that I just appeared out of nowhere. Sure they were confused as to how a member of the extinct human race showed up but they eventually just wanted to make sure I was ok.

   Many of them took time out of their schedules to help teach me skills I would need to survive. Teaching me everything from foraging and gardening to hunting and carpentry, each skill I learned helped me establish myself in my new home. And even though I was grateful for each and everyone of them for teaching me these skills, there is one person I can’t help but express my gratitude for. Even while working two jobs in secret to insure his little sister got the medicine she needed, Reth still made it a point to help teach me how to cook.

   After getting to know him and learning of his secret second job, working for the cartel, all I wanted to do was help him out in whatever way I could. Whenever he was in a pinch because either Ashura or Tish were getting suspicious I would help out, running deliveries or helping make food he accidently promised to make. It didn’t matter what he needed, I was there to help out. But even after weeks of helping him out I still felt like there was more I could do to help him, there had to be something else I could do to make sure he knows how much I appreciate him.

  I spent a good portion of my free time brainstorming ideas on how to show my gratitude for the long haired chef. Eventually I settled on making him some food, but I was stumped on what to make for him. I knew it had to be perfect, I also wanted it to be something he hasn’t had before so it couldn’t be just a simple vegetable stew or steak dinner. At a loss for Ideas I head for the Library to look for recipes that might work. 

  Entering the library I nodded to Caleri in a silent greeting before heading to bookshelves that would most likely hold various different cook books. Grabbing a few I sat down at one of the tables and began to flip through them to see what they had to offer. After spending a few hours flipping through the various books, none of the hundreds of recipes seemed to be what I was looking for. Laying my head into the current book I was looking through, I couldn’t suppress the groan that left my lips in disappointment.

  Sitting up from my folded position, I looked around trying to think of an idea on what to do about my dilemma. After looking over the stacks of books that failed me, I looked out the window and watched as Auni ran past. Seeing the youngest of the Daiya family, I was reminded of their farm and how they have a small stall where they sell various seeds and crops. I decided I could look through what they had and maybe get an idea of something to make. Returning the books back to their shelves, I waved goodbye to Caleri as I began heading for the farm.

  When I reached the Daiya’s farm I was greeted by Badruu who was offering some gardening advice to another human who had also recently reappeared. Nodding to the farmer, I began to look through what crops and seeds they had to offer this time of year. They had the classic tomatoes, onions and carrots, as well as some other common vegetables but none of them were really speaking to me. Moving from the fresh vegetables I looked to the packets of seeds resting on the table. As I was looking through them I noticed on one of  the packets there was a picture that looked familiar but I couldn’t quite place what it was, like I had seen it before but the name of the vegetable was just out of reach.

  While I tried to recall what the vegetable was, Badruu came up beside me. “Looking for some new crops to start growing?” He asked, noticing I was looking at the various seeds.

  Picking up the small bag of seeds I nodded. “Yeah, trying to get ideas on some new dishes to make as well.” I explained while still trying to figure out why this one vegetable was so familiar to me. “By the way what kind of seeds are these? I don’t think I’ve seen these before.” I asked knowing that Farmer would have the answer I was looking for.

  “Oh, those are for Butternut Squash. It’s a hearty vegetable that is great for many different meals. Though it does take quite a while to grow, if you planted it would likely be ready to harvest in about three months.” He explained. 

  Hearing the name of the vegetable seemed to trigger a memory from my past. Not a super detailed memory but enough that I knew it was from a long time ago. I could see a beautiful golden soup that was creamy and smelled amazing, it was topped with chopped bacon and served with some nice bread. I was also able to recall how it was made and what all was needed for the soup. With this new found memory of a food from my past, I knew exactly what I wanted to make for Reth. Sure I would have to wait for a few months to be able to make the soup but I was sure it would be perfect.

  Deciding that I wanted to make the soup from my memories, I smiled to myself. “I’ll take them, thank you Badruu you are a lot of help.” I said handing over a few gold pieces before saying goodbye and heading back to my house.

   After reaching my plot, I prepared a small garden plot at the back of my house where it wouldn’t be visible if anyone came by for a visit. I wanted to keep my plan a secret for as long as possible, if everything went according to plan Reth would be the first one to find out about this recently resurfaced memory. Anyways, after getting the plot ready I planted the seeds and watered them. Making sure to put a stake in the soil next to the plot with the bag the seeds came in on it so I knew what was growing there and so I would remember to water it.

   Once that was taken care of I headed inside to the small office I had set up for myself. I grabbed a few extra pieces of paper and began writing down the recipe so in a few months when it came time to make the soup I would remember what I needed to do. I also decided that I would write a second copy so that when I gave the soup to Reth I could also give him the recipe. After writing out the recipe twice, I placed both copies in my makeshift cookbook and placed it on the shelf for safe keeping. All that was left to do was wait for the squash to grow and ripen.

Time Skip

   As I watched the leaves change from green to varying shades of yellow, orange, and red, I also watched as the squash plants grew behind my house. I made sure to keep a close eye on them, not over watering them and making sure no bugs got to the key ingredient of the soup I was dying to make. Each day the squash was getting closer and closer to being ready, and each day it became more difficult to not tell Reth that I had remembered something from my past.

  He had expressed that he hoped that my memories would come back so we could talk about them, and now that I’ve had this memory it was so hard not to run to him and tell him about it. But I wanted the resurfaced memory and the golden soup to remain a secret until I could present him with the soup. So, I held back and regularly checked the squash to see if they were ready.

   Luckily after three whole months, the squash was ready to pick which meant I just had to gather the other ingredients and make the soup. After getting the squash cleaned up and placed in my kitchen I made a quick trip into town. I opted to buy the needed ingredients instead of foraging and hunting for them because it would be quicker and easier then refining everything. I bought some vegetable broth and Surnuk meat from Zeki’s and then bought a few apples and onions from The Daiya's farm. Having all the necessary ingredients ready I headed home to prepare the soup.

  With all the needed ingredients in my possession, I started on the soup. Roasting the squash until it was soft enough to scoop the meat of the squash out of the skin, cutting the apples and ones, turning the meat into bacon. Once everything was ready I put everything except the bacon into a large pot, mixing together the soft squash and vegetable broth with the onions and apples, creating a thick and creamy soup. Placing the pot on the stove, I set it on a medium heat to get warm and happy. 

  While the soup began to heat up, I quickly made a simple loaf of bread that would be perfect with the soup. I also prepared the other things I was planning to give to Reth. I made sure to grab the second copy of the recipe I had written specifically for him. During the months that I was waiting for the squash to be ripe, I decided that I wanted to give a few more things. Knowing that most days Reth barely managed to squeeze in a couple hours of sleep between the inn and the market, I made him a new pillow and blanket to keep in the store room to hopefully make those couple hours more comfortable. Placing the pillow and blanket in the basket I picked out for the occasion, I grabbed the recipe and laid it on top of the blanket.

  Checking the time, seeing that it was close to time for Reth to be done at the Inn and heading to the store room for his short break, I went to check on the soup. After a quick taste test confirming that the soup was perfect, electing a happy feeling and a brief memory of joy at the similarity to the soup from memory, I grabbed the chopped bacon and placed a lid on the pot of soup. Placing the bowl that held the bacon and loaf of bread on top of the basket in my arms, I grabbed two empty bowls and spoons also setting them in the basket. Looking down I confirmed everything I needed was in the basket and then turned and carefully grabbed the pot of soup off the stove.

   When I got into town I took a moment to decide the best route to get to Reth without raising too much suspicion from Ashura or anyone else that may see me carrying the soup. Deciding it would be best to go through Zeki’s shop and into the market than to Reth’s store room, I made my way to the Grimalkin’s store. Carefully making my way into the underground and back up into Reth’s store room.

   I breathed a sigh of relief when I entered the room having not run into anyone between my plot and Zeki’s, as well as making it to the store room before Reth finished meeting with Jel and Tish. After collecting my thoughts I began to set up the dinner I had prepared. I carefully cleaned up one of the small tables, pulling a couple of chairs close to the table. After setting up the table I placed the pot of soup in the center leaving the lid on to keep the heat in, I placed the bread and bowl of bacon next to the pot as well. I then moved to place the bowls on the table alongside the spoons I had brought. Once I was sure the table was perfect, I placed the basket with the other gifts under the table just out of sight so as to not completely ruin the surprise.

  As I took a step back to admire my work, I was startled when I heard the sound of footsteps approaching the storeroom from the direction of the Inn. Quickly calming my racing heart, I turned to face the door as Reth opened it. It took him a moment to register that I was there, but when he noticed me he just stood frozen for a second. As the room was filled with silence I began to worry that I messed up, but before I could start rambling, Reth finally reacted.

  “Hey, Y/n. What’s all this about?” He asked, finally stepping away from the door and making his way towards me, noticing the set table as well as the large pot. “Did I forget a date or something?” Reth tilted his head, trying to remember a date that was never planned.

  Seeing the confusion on his face, I couldn’t help but laugh at the hint of fear he held thinking he forgot something important. “No you didn’t forget anything Reth. This is all me, I wanted to surprise you with a nice meal.” I explained grabbing one of his hands as he stood in front of me. The look of confusion was still present on his face so I explained further. “You work so hard, taking care of the inn during the day, then you go down to the Market and spend the night working there. You do so much to make sure Tish is healthy, even if it means putting yourself at the mercy of the cartel, and I want you to know that I see all that you do and I think you are so strong for dealing with all of this. So I made you this dinner and figured we could eat together and maybe chat while you relax before you have to start working again.” I suggested with a smile, nodding to the table behind me.

  “You didn’t have to do this for me, Fancy Pants.” He said taking in everything sitting on the table. I just shook my head knowing he would try and brush it off as not a big deal, keeping a hold of his hand I pulled him to the table and made him take a seat in one of the chairs. Once he was seated, he sighed in defeat before becoming more curious about the set up. “So what did you make me?” He asked, reaching for the lid of the pot.

  I gently smacked his hand away, shaking my head. “You are not doing anything other than sitting there and letting me take care of you. I said you need to relax and that includes me serving you your dinner.” I informed him before reaching for the lid myself. “As for what I made, It’s Butternut Squash soup.” I told him, sparing a glance his way looking to see if had any reaction to the dish but he just looked confused. “Butternut Squash is a vegetable that is typically in season when the leaves start changing colors, and it’s great for things like soup. This soup was actually really popular this time of year back when humans were still around.” I said pouring soup into each bowl and sprinkling the chopped bacon on top of the soup. “Funnily enough it was one of my favorites growing up.”

  As I placed one of the bowls in front of Reth, I watched as the Majiri processed my words. After a second he spoke up. “Wait, you said it was one of your favorites when you were growing up. Does that mean you remembered something?” He was completely focused on the mention of my past before I appeared in Kilima.

  I smiled as I took my seat across from him, grabbing a slice of bread to eat with my soup. “Well kind of. It wasn’t a super vivid memory but I remember this soup and how to make it. I also remember how good it made me feel to eat it.” I explained while spooning some of the soup onto the slice of the bread.

  Reth also began eating the soup, copying my method of putting some on a piece of bread. “Well at least it’s something, maybe you’ll find more things that trigger memories of your past.” He said, before finally taking a bite of the soup. As he took in the flavors of the soup I couldn’t help but hold my breath waiting for his reaction. After a few seconds a smile spread across his face. “This is some of the best soup I’ve ever had, and that’s saying something because I’ve had a lot of good soup.” I could hear the pure joy in his voice as expressed how much he liked the soup and I couldn’t hold back my own wide smile.

  “I’m glad you like it.” I said, looking down at my own bowl of soup and began eating again to try and hide the slight blush at the compliment. 

   After the brief exchange, we both focused on eating. There was little said between bites, both of us just enjoying the other’s company and the warm meal. Once we had both finished eating, I set the bowls to the side before reaching under the table for the other things I brought. Seeing me reach for something Reth raised an eyebrow in confusion. “What are you doing now Fancy pants?” He asked, trying to look over the table as I made sure everything was in place in the basket.

   “Well, I didn’t want to just give you soup, so I made you a couple of other things.” I said raising the basket and placing it in front of him.

    I watched as his eyes went wide, surprised by yet another gift he did not expect. “You really didn’t have to. The soup was more than enough.” He tried to deflect.

   Shaking my head I thought for just a second before speaking. “Well, how about you think of the soup as a thank you for doing so much for everyone else, and you think of these gifts as a thank you for helping me.” I offered hoping he would understand, but he just looked at me confused. “Reth, even while you were busy with the inn and your debt to the cartel you have taken time to teach me how to cook. But not just that you’ve taken the time to become one of my first friends here. Not to mention how you stole my heart.” I explained with a gentle smile.

   I watched as his look of confusion was replaced with a look of shock, that then morphed to what I could only describe as love. “Well I am a criminal so I’m pretty good at stealing things.” He said with a light chuckle. “But seriously I think you stole my heart first. You also didn’t have to do all this for me.” He looked up at me, making eye contact.

   “You’re right I didn’t have to do any of this.” I said before grabbing one of his hands. “But I wanted to. I wanted to make you this dinner, I wanted to give you these and I wanted to spend the evening with you. I didn’t do it because I had to, I did it because I wanted you to know how much I love you.” I watched as heat rushed to his face, turning it a slight magenta. 

   He quickly tore his eyes away from mine looking back to the basket, clearly flustered by my confession. “Thank you. For everything really.” His voice was quiet but I could tell he meant it. He just wasn’t used to such strong displays of affection. After a couple more moments of silence, he looked back up at me. “I love you too.” He said making eye contact with me. Sure we had given each other our pins, to show that we were serious but this was the first time we uttered the words out loud. I couldn’t help but let my smile grow at the words that meant so much to the both of us.

  Taking a moment to just enjoy the peaceful silence, I looked towards the basket that held the hand made pillow and blanket before looking at the small clock on the wall of the store room. Seeing that there was still a couple of hours before Reth had to be down in the market, I started to stand up, earning a confused look from the chef in front of me. “Don’t worry I’m not leaving. I just thought you might want to try and sleep a little bit before you have to be in the market.” I said, grabbing the pillow and blanket and turning towards the couch. “I’ll stay awake and keep an eye on the clock so I can wake you up before you have to go down there.” I said after placing the pillow against one of the arms of the couch.

   Reth seemed to process my words before standing up and making his way to the couch. But when he sat down he didn’t move to lay down. “Would you lay with me?” He asked quietly. It was clear from his voice that he meant exactly what he said. There was no hidden meaning he really just wanted me to lay down with him.

   After a moment of shock not expecting him to ask for me to lay with him I moved to the couch with him. “Of course.” I said sitting next to him. The couch was rather small but we managed to make it work. After a few moments of awkward adjustments we finally got to a position that was comfortable for both of us. I was laying on my back tucked as close to the back of the couch as possible, while Reth laid on his side next to me. It took a few words of reassurance but he eventually agreed to rest his head on my chest while I wrapped my arms around his back and pulled him in close. 

   Once we were both comfortable it wasn’t long before Reth fell asleep tucked close to my side, head resting above my heart and arm thrown over the top of me. True to my word, I stayed awake watching over him and keeping an eye on the clock. Seeing him so peaceful and truly relaxed for the first time in a long time I couldn’t fight back my smile. I was glad I could offer even a moment of comfort for him after all the struggles he’s been through in his life. I also knew that even though I wasn’t from this time and I had no memories of what life was like before I awoke in Kilima, I would never hope to change how my life turned out.

(dividers by @/cafekitsune)

[red-dyed-sarumane]

kyuuyakus so good not only bc its like the only song heavy enough i can tolerate at loud volumes that can Almost drown out my coworker who never shuts up but ALSO for the points ive said 74times & will continue to,

aru sekai shoushitsu set us up for something super sci-fi, which. yes. the series very much is. but it was so technical and almost coldly indifferent. and then we're given the whole "old testament" in the title & the whole intro reading that isnt far from dantes inferno type content as my good friend emimin pointed out. we've got this new aspect added in and at the same time the lyrics let you know this character's still dealing with the complex technical stuff, from the terms down to the second kanji in ashita being incomplete as though because of a program error or interruption or some other similar reason.

and it feels even more different because theres just so much emotion in this one compared to shoushitsu. all the "bye-bye"s written in ways that express deep pain, the fact that the "see you tomorrow"s are cut off in the way they are the first time, and so drawn out the second time. the genre's not the spacey, distant trance type that shoushitsu is; its heavy, its intense, its got as much to it musically as there are details in the story. it's not just to sound cool, it's getting her state of mind across just as much as the spoken words. the world's being destroyed physically & metaphorically, everyone's suffered this over and over, they've parted ways so many times and its just never something they can get used to, especially not if they want to keep trying to end this whole loop, she's stressed past imagination trying to keep everything in check when its just not possible, & the intensity of the music just emphasizes all of that. there's less intense parts too, sort of like a forced focus on what she's doing that all too quickly builds to a panic. or the in the second part where everything gets so dire, the bell's tolling and she's running out of time, the piano over top of it giving such an uneasy feeling, and then right back to that heavy panic. theres so much emotional charge in it you know the long notes aren't just magu having fun with it; you just know they're meant as screams. i dont even think i can say screams for help, i think she knows shes past the point of help or at least that she's supposed to be everyone else's source of help that it's just stressed lamentation. she's doing everything she possibly can and its not working so all thats left is to cry out about it.

and then u have the rute furute wo a motif in here that's added in under the "fractal wa/kurikaeshita" parts that really hits harder now with kannagi for extra context. knowing that this is in the past & can't be changed and everyone else is using this as a point of reference. then u of course have the nami no ne wo motif, & the longest & clearest instance of it aside from maybe oumen mokushiroku so u know she's herself & gets to live, gets to keep doing this & watching other people die. (although i have absolutely no frame of reference for how long she lives given this is a past event & she doesn't seem to be present in the more current time songs. we dont really have that context yet) & then we're back to the rute motif on top of what still sounds like a jumble of nothing. but i also thought the rute line was nothing and here its a big deal so i cant wait to realize what this other jumble is, considering its also under the last ima kizanda parts.

theres just so so much to it, so many little intricacies that build such a full picture from whats otherwise one of the more simple series songs & i cant love it more.

[queenofthedisneyverse]

Palia human headcanons

We are all telepathic and can talk to each other anytime. Which means we also can annoy the sh*t out of each other if we wanted. Just friendly annoyance from time to time. A special thanks to @wolfofbluestardust for this hc.

Maybe we function as a hive mind? But I think that only happens when it’s an emergency. Like if someone got hurt badly and can’t move at all. Or, when all of us need to be in a certain place at a certain time. 

An average human can run about 2-3 miles at best. But in our case, we can run longer and walk for longer periods of time. 

Very tough claws? Let’s be fr, my avatar has climbed various mountains with nothing to latch onto so I see this as fitting. We can just retract them when we don’t need them anymore. 

None of us can swim, which I think is hilarious. It’s funny to think that we can travel in the most unsafe ruins and come back out alive like nothing happened but don’t f*ck with water. 

We remember songs from our old world but have no clue where we heard them from. It gets annoying when you can’t remember the other lyrics AND can’t look them up to see what they are. However, we sometimes have parties and our lead singer (or singers) will sing a song we all know. Possibly have a band in the background for the instrumental parts. (I hope this makes sense)

I think it’s a popular headcanon that all humans have amnesia when we get to Palia. Which means none of us remember if we had siblings or parents. So I’m sure Ashura, Hodari, Badruu, and Delaila (maybe even Sifuu) serve as “adoptive” parents to all of us (who don’t romantically like them). 

Najuma and Auni are like younger siblings of course, (well to me they are). As well as Reth, Tish, and Kenyatta (if you don’t see them as someone to romance.)

Tbh Eshe gives angry rich grandma vibes and Kenli gives forgetful but happy grandpa vibes. 

Very durable seeing as we can jump off HIGH ASS mountains with very little issue afterwards. I imagine a villager, Ashura or maybe Tish or Hassian, catching one of us jumping off a mountain for the first time. 

“Oh my dragon, are you alright?!”

“Yeah, why?”

“...”

Cue to a villager watching us drop off cliffs and mountains over and over because we think it’s cool that we can do that without a scratch.

Speaking of running, are we like…. fast? Because I see all of us running like track stars all over the Bahari and Kilima…so, would it be fitting for us to be really fast, or would that be overpowering? But either way, I know none of us have bad looking legs. 

YOU CANNOT TELL ME WE DO NOT HAVE A DRAGON DEFAULT FORM!

Hear me out here. We were sent by the dragon to Palia and therefore possibly blessed with abilities BY A DRAGON. So, what if when we feel EXTREMELY threatened or with a strong urge to protect someone or something, we turn into a dragon?! Wouldn’t that be cool!

I have another HC that involves players having more spiritual abilities, let me know if you want to see them.  And if you see this post, share your HC's for Palia.

[theangryman]

kink as religion/spirituality

it’s a little gauche to say something is “like a cult” - it’s overused as an expression

but a large problem i have with kink/bdsm subculture is the commonalities with religion, the spiritual aspects

when you think of precedents for “consensual” ritualized harm and self harm, they are religious (several groups have traditions of undergoing full on crucifixions for Easter, there’s similar rites for some Shia Muslims for Ashura - which is today I believe)

the desire for progression as some sort of internal challenge - there’s always a desire and encouragement to expand one’s limits

it’s driven by the same desire for a transcendent experience

the communities’ members have strange persecution complexes, gaslighting victims of abuse, especially when by higher ranking members

the focus on hierarchy (leather culture had formalized rules - serve in a house, train as submissive - tortured gay men wanting to punish themselves - maybe can read a form a Catholicism into this; modern kink culture is like modern Protestantism in that any sufficiently well groomed upper middle class man can claim to have the unique skills to be a good pastor/“dom” and open up a church/dungeon)

the repulsion towards former members/critiques of systemic issues present (expression anti kink opinions has gotten me the same kind of hateful response from other trans men that being a trans man did in the 2010s online - to the point where gendering people correctly appears to be optional for folks who are anti kink? the double whammy of being accused of being a TERF and than insulted with “girl” is always a fucking whiplash - can you not use the term “TERF” to mean “anyone i don’t like,” y’all look like fucking morons)

maybe many of these things can be applied to things like multi level marketing or any other extremely large organizational idea that people subsume their identity into, but the aspect of seeking “ecstasy” adds a hellish intensity to the mix

and like losing one’s religion, it’s difficult to leave. it’s difficult to part with the thought parties the beliefs. it’s difficult to justify to outsiders. (i agreed to let him do X but he did Y - the specifics don’t matter but it’s going to happen to you)

it creates mind bending cognitive dissonance - only puritanical criticisms of kink can be addressed. no matter what critique of kink you make, the response is

men are submissive too! (go actually look at femdom porn/hentai lol and see what they want or make a troll fet dom-F account if you don’t believe me + most submissive men are trans men with self esteem issues - the type who have boyfriends that refer to them as their girlfriend to their family; the religious analog would be something about complementary gender roles perhaps)

it’s all about consent! (what do we say about consent in power dynamics? now this is a subtle point, which is made impossible to address because it is such a fundamental threat to heterosexuality itself, that Dworkin tried to make and was glossed into “all sex is rape” because it is such a threat - what do we say to the idea of consent when we are fundamentally unequal human beings by nature of assigned sex of birth? who makes more money? who can overpower? i think most have gotten the picture that what Thomas Jefferson did to Sally Hemings was unambiguously rape, but what about all of the women throughout history when marital rape was considered the norm? it requires acknowledging that your great grandpa probably raped your great grandma, or up and down that line for thousands of generations - maybe if you acknowledge up front that gooners are going to want you to agree to humiliating and disgusting sex acts up front - that agreeing to have mutual fun with a stranger means rolling the dice on physical assault - maybe if you agree up front and pretend you can set some kinds of rules it’ll work out; similarly, religion is the comfort that life isn’t pointless suffering and maybe we’ll get to see our dog and grandma again if you follow these rules)

you can’t project your trauma onto the community/bad people aren’t doing really kink (i have a fairly large sampling size of kink partners and experiences personally. i genuinely don’t believe my arguments can be dialed down to “i had personal trauma in kink thus all kink is bad” unless one is taking my words at bad faith. this very much reeks of accusing atheists of hating god because of trauma or not getting what they want.)

you don’t actually believe that/you’re lying/you want it (these are obvious comparisons to religion)

these feel like the same kinds of responses i see to ex Mormons/Jehovah’s Witnesses/etc online

modern kink is similar to modern Protestantism in that it facilitates the creation of micro cults. institutionalization of kink is structured such that critique can be deflected onto individual actors. i’d argue Reddit is a major source of kink “education” - and no one can deny that subreddits can have concerning moderators. You have Fetlife, which is primarily heterosexual, male dom/female sub pornography. You have a couple of Booktok tier pop psych books which encourage Bronze Age marriage models. This maps to the diffuse ways in which American Protestantism propagates its ideas - it’s a nebulous mess of ideas that can evaporate when asked to take responsibility. We can’t hold all Christians accountable for Mark Driscoll’s ideas; we can’t hold all kinksters responsible for the actions of [insert the creeps who message you if you take up my suggestion of a troll fetlife account]. But can we not ask what it says about American Protestantism that Mark Driscoll exists and says what he says? And can we not look askew when what he said could be happily echoed by a kinkster as long as it was prefixed with “it’s kinky and consensual btw <3” and had been posted on fetlife anonymously - instead of his own church forum?

Kink is reactionary ideology which has parasitized societal acceptance of queer folks to justify the abusive dynamics of heterosexual relationships and sex, which has replaced religion as the justification for that dynamic.

[sasukeless]

please don't kill me but genuine question about sns (disclaimer that i've only seen the anime, not read the manga, shameful ik): in shippuden, naruto's attachment to sasuke felt sooo forced to me at first because it looked extremely one-sided and i resented naruto a lot because he acted like sasuke was the same as he was before he left and was projecting/in denial rather than seeing sasuke as his own person with agency and who had different ideals/methods. Obviously things were put in a different light when we eventually learn about the indra and ashura, and the reincarnation/soulmate thingy but idk it never erased that first impression for me, despite sns connection being obvious at the end i still disliked naruto as a character. So would really appreciate your perspective on this!

lol i won’t kill you, it’s fine.

tbh i just think this all to me seems like you got stuck in early shippuden naruto characterization and like i cant remember how it’s in the anime (thankfully) but in the manga is pretty clear that.Yes, naruto attachment to sasuke looks one sided then and it is intentional!! kishimoto wrote that on purpose. same with naruto not being able to see that sasuke is different. i always joke a lot how at the beginning of part 2 naruto has deluded himself to believe sasuke leaving for orochimaru was almost like a kidnapping where he’s convinced he has to save sasuke like a damsel in distress from the tower he was locked in. which ofc while orochimaru basically groomed sasuke to seek him, sasuke still is not being held captive (and actually he’s planning to kill orochimaru and take his autonomy back). but the point is that Naruto starts to realizes he’s never gonna get sasuke back like that and after jiraiya’s death he understands a little more why sasuke would choose revenge too. idk why you mean by forced tho because to me naruto’s obsession w sasuke is one of the most natural thing to come from him. traumatizing kid latching himself to the first person that showed him love and refusing to let go it’s pretty realistic. imo this obsession also it’s what humanizes naruto the most. he wants to save sasuke because he doesn’t want sasuke to suffer but he also Needs to save sasuke because he’s pretty codependent on him emotionally and needs him by his side for his own goals and life to have meaning. it’s a pretty selfless and selfish trap he’s in.

back to the whole one sided thing. once again this is pretty intentional. kishimoto hides sasuke’s feelings for naruto, most of his arc in part 2 he only leaves small pieces here and there but nothing as grand because he wanted to make the big reveal at vote 2 where we finally get to know that sasuke had developed a similar attachment to naruto since childhood but deals with it completely different (since they have complete different perceptions of love). the whole point of this is that it should recontextualizes their entire dynamic again because now you’re aware the same feelings of yearning and love naruto had for sasuke that lead him to chase him for years and become unhealthy obsessed were mirrored by sasuke and because his different view of love this is why sasuke kept running away.

anyway idk if this will help or not but yeah i still recommend the manga