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sondepoch · 4 years

Text

HC: MC breaks a bone!

Demons can’t break bones. Neither can angels. Nope, from head to toe, they’re pretty much indestructible. So imagine everyone’s utter shock when you break a bone, and they’re reminded of just how weak the human body really is.

Word Count: 5.2k

SFW + mild violence + mild description of broken bones

Characters: All Brothers + All Undateables + Luke

MASTERLIST

Lucifer

Boi flips out

So it didn’t actually happen while he was around, which is why he has so much trouble understanding what happened

You tripped on the steps outside Majolish? And you fell the wrong way??? And somehow, that was enough for you to break your ankle?!?!?!

Poor baby, he has no idea how he’s going to relay the information to Diavolo

When Mammon and Asmo sheepishly enter his study to tell him what happened, they’re highkey terrified for their lives - but learning that you actually broke a bone has him so shook that he doesn’t even remember to punish them, and he’s instead rushing to your room to see the damage for himself

He sees Belphie napping on your stomach and sort of assumes that everything is okay, and that his brothers were making a big deal out of nothing

Then he gets closer and sees the horribly twisted angle your left foot is in

Suffice it to say, neither Mammon nor Asmo returned to their rooms fully unscathed that night

Overcomes his natural hatred of Solomon to call him and ask for—brace yourself—help, and when the mage offers to cast a spell that will revert your body to its prior state, Lucifer insists on doing it himself, no longer trusting anyone else with your all-too-fragile body

Relocates your room to the first floor of the house after all is said and done

Asks Diavolo to move all your classes such that you don’t need to climb any stairs

Refuses to believe you when you tried to insist that bones breaking is fairly common for humans

Becomes super overprotective

Insists on helping you with everything

“Lucifer, I can walk down the stairs myself, you know.”

“Yes, I’m sure you can” - he says with a straight face, refusing to let go of your hand as he takes you down the two-step elevation outside the House of Lamentation

(Bonus:) One day he catches you and Levi looking at parkour videos and from that moment and onward he refuses to let you out of sight for any longer than is absolutely necessary

(Bonus bonus:) Catches you doing "parkour" in your bedroom, jumping from Beel’s shoulders to the bed, and then it becomes a new house rule that you’re not allowed to climb onto Beel’s shoulders

Mammon

He was with you when it happened, and the second he heard the crack, he screamed

Honestly, the most high-pitched, shrill sound you’d ever heard

You were more scared of the noise coming out of Mammon’s mouth than the awkward way your pinky was dangling

Only when he was done screaming did the pain actually set in, and then you were hissing viciously in an attempt to distract yourself, trying your hardest to blink the tears from your eyes because Mammon already looked like he was about to cry, and the Devildom really didn’t need two blubbering messes in one day

The one saving grace for you both was the fact that Simeon was nearby, and he used his Celestial magic to heal you (you both begged him not to tell Lucifer, of course)

Baby becomes even more possessive over you afterwards

Still can’t get over how easily it happened

“Are ya sure?” Mammon asks whenever you casually tell him you’re about to do something. Doesn’t matter if you say you’re folding paper cranes or planning on jumping off the roof of the House of Lamentation, he’s lost pretty much all faith in your ability to do anything without your human body breaking in the process

Oddly enough, he becomes much more touchy with you

Needs you to “prove to him” that you’re not injured by squeezing his hand

And then he just doesn’t let go

Oh, you’re holding hands? What? Who said that? Wait, can you prove that you’re not injured and squeeze his hand again? It’s for safety purposes. For safety.

Occasionally, though, he really does have you move your pinky just to prove to him that there weren’t any lasting effects

Overprotectiveness increases by 500 points

Starts to hover around your room a lot more, awkwardly trying to help (really, he’s doing his best) but often doing things much worse than if you simply did them yourself

Gets into a fight with his brothers whenever one of them handles you too roughly

“Hey!” He shouts at pretty much anyone who touches you “Ya gonna hurt my human!”

Will drop anything and everything if he ever sees you trip to catch your fall

Legit, he was once holding Lucifer’s cup of coffee and out of the corner of his eye, he saw you jump to flop on the couch. Cue instant panic mode: he turned into his demon form and all - literally throwing the coffee on Lucifer as he ran forward to catch your body before the couch could break any of your bones

Yeah, he got into a lot of trouble that day

Leviathan

Has officially decided that he’s never going outside again

Ever.

It happened while you were both at one of Lord Diavolo’s parties - you were trying to maneuver the crowds in search of him, actually, and another demon tugged you close and tried to force you to dance. You fought back, of course, frowning as you escaped the demon’s hold, but apparently, they pulled you back and your wrist just snapped

God, he doesn’t think he’ll ever forget the sound of your scream

The demon was punished severely, Diavolo made sure of that. But Levi didn’t care anymore - he just wanted to get you back home, safe and sound

In the following days, he never leaves your side

You have to switch to online classes, at least for as long as your wrist is healing, and Levi takes it upon himself to make sure that the assimilation process is as smooth as possible

You start taking all your classes together, remaining in the same room even if you don’t have the same subject

Homework is a little harder, since Levi usually finishes before you, but he waits for you to finish while he reads manga

Evenings are spent watching anime in his room and debating random topics (oh, and you both marathon the entirety of TSL a couple more times ;))

He even tries to let you get the video game experience, and he picks an RPG game for you both to play and lets you tell him what to do an how to move around, since your wrist is broken

It’s actually super fun because he knows where all the traps are and which ones you’ll like, so he subtly guides your character through the gameplay process to get the best possible experience, and you actually end up enjoying this more than playing solo

(As a joke, he once offers to let you play with him. As in, you use your nonbroken hand to control the left side of the controller and he controls the right side, but that turns out to be a hot mess and you both quickly abandon the idea)

Even after your wrist heals, the two of you continue to spend boatloads of time together

This boy even stops calling you “normie” at one point

Real subtle about it but he tries to convince you not to go back into society again. Like ever.

“What if you get hurt again?” He asks when you tell him you’ve made plans with Asmo to go shopping

“Then we get to spend even more time together, all over again!”

Cue leviathan/blushingmess.exe

Satan

Probably the ONLY brother to have actually known that it’s possible for humans to break bones

Why?

He read about it in a book once

Still, that doesn’t stop him from visually flinching when he sees you writhing on the ground after being shoved into a bike rack by a lower-level demon, clutching your arm which is disfigured so awkwardly that the bone is popping out

His demon form manifests immediately, and he’s about to rip this demon to shreds when you desperately call out his name, and then he’s more preoccupied with helping you than he is with beating this demon to death

(Inwardly, though, he’s quite relieved that you stopped him from killing the demon immediately. Now, he’ll get to spend the next four millennia torturing the creature slowly, keeping it just an inch from death until he’s satisfied that the demon has paid for injuring you so severely. :))

Runs over to you immediately and pulls you onto his lap, quickly muttering an enchantment that will temporarily numb the pain

Proceeds to ask you whether you want him to use magic to forcefully heal you or if you want to heal the human way

Will respect your wishes 100% no matter which you choose

Throws himself into reading and studying human medicine as soon as the two of you get back to the House of Lamentation

By the end of the month, he’s an expert on human anatomy (and where human strength lies on a comparative figure to demon strength)

Takes it upon himself to watch out for you, threatening any demons who express behavior that isn’t excessively cautious

Starts walking with you and Mammon to and from school

Keep it lowkey, but the truth is that he doesn’t trust his brother to fully make sure that you’re safe so he takes it upon himself

Doesn’t really panic too much, he knows that you getting injured was more the demon’s fault than it was yours

Is actually very considerate of your feelings in all this

Consciously makes sure that he doesn’t treat you too differently, not wanting to make you feel like he thinks you’re weak. But he no longer trusts other demons around you, and after getting your permission, he casts an enchantment on you which prevents lower-level demons from touching you without your explicit consent

Smiles devilishly every single time one of them tries to shove you in the hallways of RAD and gets sent flying 30 meters backwards in response

Devilish smile intensifies when he finally gets around to kidnapping and torturing the demon who dared to push and injure you in the first place

Asmodeus

He’s worried about you for a good hour

Not to say he’s inconsiderate

No, he’s understandably concerned immediately after he sees you on crutches, and when you come home with a broken foot, he’s immediately hanging out with you and completely (read: barely) restraining himself from making flirtatious comments in case you’re still in pain

The second he realizes that you’re fine as long as you don’t apply pressure on it, a switch flips

Now that he knows that the fracture isn’t going to spread to the rest of your body and destroy you from the inside, he’s overwhelmed with how cute it is that you need his help to do basic stuff

And honestly, you kinda vibe with it

He’s the shortest brother, so you having to ask him for help to get things off the shelf because you can’t stand is a rarity, and he is living for it

He lives with six overlords of hell, so the feeling of someone asking (no matter how reluctant) him for help in simple stuff like climbing up or down the stairs is something he absolutely cherishes

The second he realizes how good it feels to do stuff for you, he’ll never stop

Will 100% put Mammon to shame in how frequently he starts hanging by your side

He thinks of everything even before you do, always making sure that when you guys sit down, you have everything you need to be occupied for hours: from water to nail polish to the latest gossip at RAD, this man will make it his life’s mission to be the perfect prince while you’re injured

Seriously spoils you

Even when you finally heal and get better, he doesn’t stop helping you

Actually has the nerve to start complaining when you try to do stuff on your own

“You’re going to hurt yourself! Let me do it for you!”

“Asmo, I’m microwaving popcorn”

It doesn’t matter if you shower him with 'thank yous’ or if you grunt in annoyance every time he sits down next to you with an item you were about to get up and look for, he knows you appreciate the things he’s doing and that’s all he needs

Effectively gives you the royal treatment, occasionally putting Barbatos to shame with how diligent he is in helping you out

It never stops, even months after you’ve made a full recovery

Then again, who are you to complain? ;)

Beelzebub

Suddenly becomes terrified of his own strength

He’s there as it happens, and the way your face immediately contorts in pain right before you bite your lip to stop yourself from screaming will really never stop haunting him

It doesn’t help that you get injured from something that would usually be considered child-safe in the Devildom - a small windup toy which your fingers had gotten stuck in before two of them snap completely

Man is by your side immediately

The pit in his stomach isn’t caused by hunger but by genuine fear as he watches Lucifer and Satan soothe you with magic

He wants to run over to you and wipe your tears away, but should he? How can that be a good idea? He’s easily 1000000000x stronger than that toy you were messing around with, and what if he accidentally hurts you?

He knew it was possible for him to kill you before, but now he realizes how easy it would be - so simple that he might not even realize it

Instantly steps back and begins avoiding physical contact with you, trying his hardest to be there for you emotionally but struggling because every time you ask him for cuddles, he awkwardly changes the subject and looks away

He only comes clean to you about his concerns after you get mad at him and plant yourself in his lap, wrapping your arms around his head angrily as you demand that he give you affection

“Beel,” You mutter, a light pout forming on your face. “The reason you’re strong isn’t just because you have the muscles, it’s because you have control. You’ve never hurt me before, and nothing you do will hurt me now, so stop being such a stubborn goof and hug me”

Cue very hesitant hug

But it’s a start, and he slowly becomes physically close to you once more

(Subtly tries to let you stay in charge, though. He’ll initiate hugs, but you’re the one to squeeze tightly, and he’ll simply follow your lead)

Decides that rather than being afraid of what his strength can do, he’s going to use it to his advantage - and he resolves to become even stronger so that if there’s ever anything that can cause you pain, he’ll be there by your side protecting you, whether it’s against a demon strong as Diavolo or another windup toy from Majolish

Gets into the habit of running his fingers over your hand after it’s done healing, checking for scars and making sure that you’re still completely healed

Slowly develops into handholding - and who is Beel to complain? If he’s holding your hand, he’s by your side, and if he’s by your side, he can better protect you, so there’s no problem there

Belphegor

Quietly blames himself

It apparently happened while you were alone, and you fell down the stairs in the House of Lamentation. But Belphie is 99.99% sure that you were only going up to see him, and if he had just been awake, this never would have happened

Not to mention, this was the second time he had caused you pain, and it wasn’t even intentional!

Boy can’t look you in the eyes properly after the incident

Starts forcing himself to stay awake and isolates himself in the attic

Only when Beel finally gets serious and asks him what’s wrong does he quietly confess his thoughts, and his twin is quick to relay the information back to you

Honestly, you’re lowkey relieved when you hear the reason

You were beginning to think that Belphie was avoiding you because he had grown tired of your company, and the thought was sort beginning to break your heart

That doesn’t stop you from yelling at him for being inconsiderate

“This is why you need to talk about your feelings, Belphie!”

“But— “

“No buts!”

Honestly, he’s kind of relieved to see you yell at him so animatedly despite the cast around your arm, it makes him realize that although you’re physically injured, you’re mentally fine

Is very hesitant about napping on you, especially since he knows that if he falls asleep and accidentally shifts into a position that hurts you, you won’t be strong enough to stop him

You flick his forehead and tell him to not to be stupid, insisting that he sleeps next to you like usual, and he very hesitantly leans on the shoulder of the opposite arm you injured

Becomes way more considerate, even when tired

Shift in your sleep? He’s awake, checking to make sure that you aren’t uncomfortable or in pain

Wake up and try to get a glass of water? No problem, Belphie will get it for you, just stay here and sleep tight

Hogging the blanket? For the first time, Belphie doesn’t even mind, he’ll just carefully snuggle closer to you, double-checking that you’re comfortable before drifting back off to sleep

Even after the cast comes off, he’s still conscious about how tightly he grips you and how much physical exertion you put your body through, always reminding himself that, above all, you’re human and your body can’t handle the things his can

Solomon

Groans

That’s right, thanks to an awkward fall, your toe is broken, and this wizard boy has to audacity to groan at the sight of you on the floor, tears in your eyes as you clutch your foot through your shoe

“As if those brothers don’t hate me enough as is,” He grumbles, lifting you to your feet and whisking you back to Purgatory Hall, where he goes full medic mode and inspects the damage

Tries his hardest to convince you to let him fix it with magic, but just last week, he accidentally turned you into a cat while attempting to place a strength enchantment over you, so you’re understandably hesitant as you refuse him

As expected, when the brothers find out, they put him through hell (pun intended)

For not being able to protect you while it happens (they ignore his complaints that it was technically you who fell and injured yourself) he is now tasked with your recovery

Aka he is your slave

You make him carry your books when you go from class to class, you make him buy you lunch from the cafeteria, you make him give you his lecture notes whenever you don’t feel like paying attention in class

Hell, if he weren’t such a god awful cook, you would probably make him take over your cooking duty, as well

“This is abuse” He huffs one day, sighing in irritation after you ask him to go fetch you a glass of water

“I’m sorry?” You ask, feigning innocence. “What’s that? Did you ask me to go tell Lucifer that you aren’t treating me properly?”

Grumbles under his breath in six different languages, cursing you out in each one of them as you wink at him

You’re almost sad when your toe finally heals, and he’s finally free

Thankfully, the two of you somehow grew used to each other after spending so much time together for so long, and (much to the brothers’ displeasure) you continue hanging out with Solomon long after you’re off crutches

Will tease you about it when it’s all over

He doesn’t forget about how you lorded over him for as long as you were injured, and thus takes it upon himself to make sure that you don’t get hurt again under his watch

(At least, that’s what he tells himself as he holds your hand to march you down the steps outside Majolish, not letting go even after the ‘threat’ is passed)

Simeon

confusedangel.exe

First and foremost, how did this happen??

He’s so concerned and shocked when you show up to RAD one day in crutches because you broke a bone on your leg

Didn’t know that was possible

Actually goes home and spends half an hour on the Devildom equivalent of Google trying to maneuver his phone and search up how common this is and whether it’s normal for humans

Accidentally opens the images tab and sees a bunch of super disturbing and painful-looking injuries, and he nearly drops his phone altogether

Instantly assumes that your injury is as bad as those, despite your constant reassurances that you’re fine as long as you don’t apply too much pressure

Lots of pampering

He’s suddenly available 100% of the time for you, no matter what he’s already doing or the time of day

Insists on helping you wherever he can, like holding your stuff for you at RAD, ferrying you from class to class without forcing you to don that heavy rucksack

Even takes over the responsibility of walking you to and from school

He doesn’t quite understand that your injury is physical??

Like he can’t seem to wrap his head around the fact that you’re mentally unaffected by the injury, because angelic injuries are typically so difficult to induce and severe that they always cause some kind of trauma

He’s always testing you - double-checking that you remember facts from old lectures, holding up fingers to test your sight, even asking you details about himself every now and then

That’s actually the story of how you accidentally told him that you thought his eyes were prettier than the sky and he still hasn’t forgotten it

Never really forgets about your injury, even after your crutches are long gone

Protectiveness goes up by 5000%

He suddenly becomes acutely aware of the fact that you’re surrounded by demons and, although the brothers usually mean well, he becomes impossible concerned for how you’re faring

He expresses his concerns to you one day really sweetly and you’re so touched because ??? How can someone be this pure???

To ease his concerns, you both start hanging out a lot more - when before you mostly hung out at the RAD library before parting ways, Simeon now invites you over to Purgatory Hall more often and you bring him back to the House of Lamentation so that he can see how safe you are with the brothers

Luke

Just like Simeon, there’s so much confusion going on inside this smol bean’s head

Are you really telling him that you??? the person who has taken it upon themself to be protective over HIM??? are so weak and fragile??? that tripping over a pebble was enough to fracture your jaw???

The roles in your relationship are suddenly reversed

(Or well, Luke tries to reverse them)

He does his best to be there for you instead of vice versa, insisting that you no longer need to save him from the brothers when they make fun of him for being like a chihuahua

Lowkey, he actually earns their respect for how protective he’s suddenly being over you, but the baby can only go so far because - face it - he’s basically ten years old

Doesn’t let that stop him from shooting dirty looks toward any demon who looks at the bandages on your face twice

Immediately goes home and researches what kind of foods you can comfortably eat, and enlists both Barbatos and Beel’s help in cooking soft dishes for you that you’ll be able to eat, despite your injury

Does his best to help you where he can

Takes over your cooking duty at the House of Lamentation

Takes extra-detailed notes so he can lend them to you after class

Even goes as far as to get high-quality Celestial bandages with natural healing properties and gives them to you, hoping that everything he’s doing will make your recovery a little bit faster

He’s really come to look up to you as an older sibling, so seeing you injured (even if you don’t necessarily show the pain) has him seriously torn up inside, and it takes all his effort to keep a straight face every time he looks at you and sees the bandages on your face

If you’re even a little self-conscious about any scars afterwards, he will spend hours convincing you that you look fine (and in truth, he can’t actually see the scar anymore, so he’s being honest)

Long after you’re recovered, he will remember at the most random times that you’re so fragile despite always looking so strong, and it tears him up inside

Because of this, random, tearful hugs become the norm

Occasionally, one look is all it takes before his eyes are welling with tears and he’s burying his face inside your stomach, holding you tight and promising to “protect you to make sure that you never get hurt again”

Very innocent, very sweet

Never fully forgets ever again just how fragile humans are

Barbatos

Knew it could happen

Was sort of prepared for it to happen

Didn’t actually expect it to fucking happen

This is probably one of the only times where he regrets not using his powers to check and see what the future held - literally, it would have been so easy to have saved you had he known it was coming

Went to Diavolo asking to switch timelines but the demon lord said no

Highkey becomes incredibly protective of you, just in super subtle ways

You suddenly find yourself invited to Diavolo’s palace much more often, and it’s Barbatos who now entertains you, bringing you there under the guise of asking you to “taste the new recipes” he’s attempting to perfect

Pfft, his recipes are already the definition of perfect - the only reason he’s putting that food in your mouth is because he cast a spell on it, and it’ll make your bones stronger

Dodges all questions when you ask about it, real slick

“Barbatos, isn’t this the same dish you gave Beel when we came here last month?”

“I’m afraid I have no recollection of what you’re talking about.”

“You know, the dessert you gave him after he asked you for the biggest banana spli—”

“Oh my, would you look at the time. Let’s get you home, now, before it gets too late”

Used to walk in front of you when walking you around the palace, but he now walks behind you so that he can watch you in case you trip

I mean, why wouldn’t he? You managed to break your collarbone while jumping down the stairs in Diavolo’s palace - you clearly can’t be trusted to look after your own health

(lowkey also never leaves you unsupervised around Mammon again, who in hell thinks it’s a good idea to try parkour of all things in the castle of the demon lord??? and encourages it?????)

Finds it incredibly endearing when your injury renders you unable to do basic tasks

Like if you were a helpless human in his mind before, now you’re less independent than an unpottytrained demonchild, and Barbatos is living for it, especially since you’re too stubborn to ask the brothers for help, so you turn to him instead

Absolutely loves when you text him for help

[17:39] MC: barbatos?

[17:40] Barbatos: Yes? Are you in need of something?

[17:40] MC: ...i was walking around the House of Lamentation and i accidentally banged into the wall outside Satan’s room and there was a really big sound and it turns out that i knocked a bunch of his books off the shelf and he comes home in half an hour and please help he’s going to kill me if he sees what happened

[17:40] Barbatos:

[17:41] Barbatos: I’ll be right there.

Diavolo

Oh boy

This man has lived a long, LONG time and never in all those millennia has he been as pissed as he is now, seeing you sheepishly lean on Mammon for support with the nearly all of your leg hanging limp

What he can’t grasp is the fact that this actually happened in school

Like, it would be one thing if a demon had injured you out of spite - he could simply punish them for all eternity and eradicate the root of the problem

But for you to be injured this severely? In spellcasting class, no less?

Instantly fires the teacher who was careless enough to let you walk into a casting circle which almost obliterated you whole - and spends ages commending Satan for having the wit to save you before things got even worse

But that doesn’t stop him from using the full extent of his princely power to ensure your continued safety

Instantly moves you out of the House of Lamentation and into his own palace, ignoring Lucifer’s repeated requests for you to not be moved

“I need to make sure they’re comfortable,” He hisses to his right-hand man, almost to Barbatos’s amusement. “The healing process for humans is long, and I need to make sure that they get better without the distractions your brothers provide”

Makes it painfully clear that if you ever get injured again under an RAD teacher’s watch, nothing will be able to save them from the unforgiving flames of his wrath

Starts spending as much time with you as humanly possible

He always stops by your room in the afternoon, generally to check on your well being and to inquire on how you’re faring, but those conversations always seem to wrap up late at night, long after you’ve both abandoned the original topic at hand and are lost in discussion over something else

One time, when he was feeling particularly guilty after looking at the painful swelling on your leg, he invited you back to his own room to sleep on his bed because - as the acting king of the Devildom - his bed is literally the most comfortable place in the world and he hardly uses it

You sleep in it once and can never sleep anywhere else again

For more reasons than one

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

(Reluctantly) offers to let you move back into the House of Lamentation once you’re completely healed, but celebrates like crazy when you tell him that you’d much rather stay with him, and it becomes SUCH an ego stroke every time you remind him how much you adore it in his palace

Lowkey grateful that you got injured because it was the catalyst that allowed you both to grow close

But will absolutely make sure that nothing of the like ever happens again

5K notes · View notes

captnjacksparrow · 3 years

Note

Hi! It's me again!

I've always shipped SNS from the beginning. Always. And reading your posts made me ship them even more to the point where it's one of the only pairings I ship in the Narutoverse! And I've always had this question burning in the back of my head. (Now, I don't know if you've already answered this or not so bear with me) I hope this isn't a stupid question.

Why, in your opinion, did Naruto never give up on Sasuke? (That might seem like a dumb question but I'm very curious) I've always wondered why he didn't. Maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention to the anime or something.

I mean, think about it. The people around him that he trusted wanted him to give up on Sasuke. I mean, even his friends were giving up! So I wanted to know why he never gave up. And what made him forget the promise he made to Sakura to him wanting to personally save him himself? (Again, those two questions seem stupid but I'm just really curious!) I don't know if you already answered these in previous posts but it's always worth it to give it a shot.

Like, it always confused me. And if Pinky always loved him since childhood, why couldn't she do anything to help bring back Sasuke? She just Naruto to do all the work and seem shocked when he wants to personally save him himself.

(Ok, this question is all over the place, I hope this isn't too confusing for you! Thank you for taking the time to read it and maybe answer it!)

Wonderful Ask!!! @dead-deadashell ... Sorry for the delayed response and that’s because I don’t know the true answer to your question at that time and after a careful thought, I found one.

Why Naruto never gave up on Sasuke?

There may be many reasons....

In the Part 2 Sasuke Reunion Arc, When Sai asks Naruto, “But Why?... It’s not like you have been ordered to do this!!”.

To which Naruto says, “He is the person that, more than anyone else accepted me and my existence.... Sasuke is my friend... He represent the bond that I waited for so long to receive... So, That’s why”.

Even Itachi himself asked Naruto, “Why are you so Obsessed with my Brother?”

Naruto said, “That’s because I consider him as a Brother more than you ever did”.

And there are many instances Sasuke himself asked Naruto, “Why do you go so far for me?”.... This is Sasuke’s way of asking “Why are you not giving up on me? Why are you coming in my way again and again and hurting yourself?”

Naruto always replies with, “Because we’re friends” or “To me, You represent a Bond that I waited for so long”, “Because I’m your one and only Friend”.

It may be any one of the reasons above... And all the reasons are 100% valid.

But In my opinion, the true answer lies in the very simple and unnoticed panels in the Manga. But before that.

As we can see in the above panels, Naruto felt completely betrayed when Sasuke was really trying to kill him.

“In the End, Maybe It was just me who thought we were friends... But then, that would make me so Stupid... Sasuke”

Naruto thinks that Sasuke never really considered him as a friend and that his one-sided Friendship makes him feel so Stupid.

It’s like Naruto felt acknowledged by Sasuke and he thought they became friends. But then when he find that Sasuke was trying to kill him with no second thoughts, Naruto just went heart-broken here which is evident from the way he was crying.

And yet Naruto doesn’t want to give up.

Well, Naruto never giving up is not something new. He did it many times over and over.

He never wanted to give up taking the Tenth Question in the Chunin Exams Paper Test.... Why?? Because he doesn’t want to run away.

He never wanted to give up fighting against Gaara in Part 1 even though it will cost him his life. Why?? Because Sasuke acknowledged Naruto’s strength. And he also wanted to protect Sasuke and sakura.

He never wanted to give up on fighting for Tsunade infront of Kabuto... Why?? Because he wanted to prove her that he is worthy enough to carry on the Hokage title. Also, by proving this, he can bring her back to the Village and cure Sasuke, Kakashi, Lee.

He never wanted to give up fighting Pain... Why?? Because he wanted to protect the Village... He wanted to end the cycle of Hatred by carrying on Jiraiya’s Will.

He never wanted to give up fighting Obito in the war even though he provoked Naruto to give up many times.... Why?? Because he wanted to end the war.

So, there is a set reason for why Naruto never gives up doing what he does on different situations he was put under. And yet when it comes to Sasuke, his reason varies from time to time. Even though, Sasuke himself wants Naruto to give up on him, and yet Naruto still couldn’t.

Why??

The reason is...

No... It’s not the acknowledgement part.... It’s those beautiful sentence in the top left panel....

“I don’t know why ”

Yes... Naruto doesn’t know why he doesn’t want to give up on Sasuke.

なんでかわからないけど Nande ka wakaranai kedo I don't know why....

And this is not the first time Naruto says he doesn’t know why he was going so far for Sasuke. He said it again in VoTE2 as well.

それ説明しろって言われても...オレも正直...よく分かんねェょ. そんなの… ただお前のそゆ...背負ってゴチゃゴチャしてるとこ見てっと...なんでか... ...オレが...痛てんだ

Sore setsumei shiro tte iwa rete mo... Ore mo shōjiki... Yoku wakanne yo. Sonna no… Tada omae no so yu... Seotte gochagocha shiteru toko mitetto... Nande ka...Itenda…

Even if I were to say that explanation.. I still honestly… don’t properly understand…that kind of thing… It’s just that you…I see that (you) are being burdened with complaining about doing various things, endlessly.…For some reason…I…am pained…

The word,

“For some reason”

This word choice “For some reason” carries the very similar meaning to “I don’t know why”... we’ve seen from the above panel.

This is actually a Romantic Trope... Like we don’t know why we are doing it but for some reason, we want to do it... because of ‘certain’ unexplainable feelings. If N & S really felt like they are just friends or brothers... This word ‘For some reason, I don’t know why’ would never exist. Because Brotherly and Friendly bonds have their feelings and reasons clearly drawn.

I am not saying they were romancing when they were just 8. It’s just that they both had ‘certain’ child-like mutual attraction towards each other. But even after they turned 17, they still couldn’t figure out ‘Why they are feeling certain way about each other’.

If they were just Friends or Brothers, they would’ve already figured it out. Because Sasuke is someone who really had a Brother, he knows how it feels like. And Naruto literally acted like a Big Brother to Inari and Konohamaru. And Naruto is someone who found many friends by the end of the series and he also knew how it feels like. And yet they don’t have a proper term to define their ‘Feelings’.

Since it’s something that cannot be ‘explained’ or ‘said out loud’.... They clearly Love each other in a non-brotherly or just-friendly way. We can call this as a Soulmate Bond (with some subtle romantic undertones).

Well, I’ve always said in many of my posts, Love needs a reason. We should know why we like that person otherwise it’s simply called infatuation which comes from Physical Attraction.

So, Naruto and Sasuke doing things for each other without knowing the exact reason. How is this not infatuation??

It is not.....

Because

This is it... ‘Loneliness’ is the reason, they start to notice each other in the first place. And that’s why it’s not called Infatuation.

Both Sasuke and Naruto don’t understand why they are doing what they are doing for each other. It’s just that both of their body and mind seems to be moving on it’s own whenever they see their significant other was suffering. And that’s why Naruto couldn’t give up on Sasuke.

And this is precisely why I couldn’t find the answer for why Naruto never gave up on Sasuke. Because the character in question (Naruto) himself don’t know why he couldn’t give up.

It may not be a satisfying answer to your question @dead-deadashell ..... But I truly believe this is the answer. I’ve seen many people say the reason was because Naruto was a lonely kid, Sasuke was the first one to Notice him and that’s why he couldn’t let him go. And that is also true. I really wanted to write that as an answer.

But if that was the real reason, when Sasuke asked ‘Why are you getting in my way? Why did you go that far for me?’..... Naruto could’ve easily said, “Remember the first time we met near the Lake Pier..... You were the first person to notice me. How can I lose the First person who acknowledged my existence?”.... But Naruto never said this was the reason he never gave up...

When Sasuke gave up his life in the Land of the Waves for Naruto, both of them were not acquainted properly. They had very minimal conversation. And they weren’t even Friends, to be honest. And yet Sasuke’s body moved on its own for no reason. Naruto evoked Kyuubi Chakra for the first time. Like all those years when the Villagers treated Naruto poorly, he could’ve easily released Kyuubi Chakra because of the Extreme Rage he amassed during his childhood just like Gaara. And yet Sasuke’s death was the first time Naruto experiences such an immense Rage.

We all know why Naruto considers Iruka as his Important person.... because in Episode 1 Iruka acknowledged him as an Excellent Student and also as a person who belongs to the Village of Konoha. That changed Naruto and stopped him from taking revenge. Naruto evoking Kyuubi Chakra for Iruka will not be surprising. Whereas Sasuke hadn’t yet acknowledged Naruto at that point of time.

How Naruto could pull such a strong reaction for a boy who just smiled at him but barely became friends with??

Why Naruto couldn’t give up even after Sasuke rammed him with his Chidori which could kill him?

Why Naruto couldn’t give up even after realizing the ‘Friendship’ he thought he had with Sasuke was one-sided? It’s like, “Even though you consider me as someone irrelevant, even though you don’t acknowledge me... I am still going to save you from the danger”...

When I asked myself all the above questions, I can’t able to find the exact reason just like how Naruto couldn’t. Because there is none. And that’s why we call this as an Extremely Unconditional Love that Transcends beyond everything.

What made him forget the promise he made to Sakura to him wanting to personally save him himself?

From the beginning, that promise was not about Sakura. That Promise was just an added accessory. It’s like you want to start a business and someone with the very similar ideas like yourself decided to partner up with you. Same thing happened between Sakura and Naruto. Naruto already got panicked when he heard about Sasuke leaving the Village.

He already made up his mind to rescue Sasuke. Sakura just joined later and put some non-sensical promise on him. That promise is something he wanted to make it for himself before everyone in order to not falter from saving Sasuke.

If that promise was all about Sakura, then Naruto should have made some reference about Sakura in VoTE1 & VoTE2 before Sasuke. Because Naruto is a person who always speaks for others. Namely,

Here, Naruto was speaking to Zabuza about Haku’s feelings. He is making Zabuza understand about Haku and his sacrifice.

Similarly, Naruto was talking to Obito about how Rin would feel about the current dream of Obito.

If that stupid promise was all about Sakura, then why Naruto never mentioned about Sakura and her feelings to Sasuke in VoTE1 and VoTE2????

Imagine Naruto saying, “Do you know how Sakura feels about you? She really loved you. Don’t you feel anything??” ***Insert Puke noises***

Why didn’t he say that??? Instead, Naruto only talks about his own feelings to Sasuke in both of the battles.

So, That promise was all about Naruto and his bond with Sasuke. Sakura is just a traveller who travelled along with Naruto’s journey for a while and then later she decided to take a different path and asked Naruto to abandon his journey. To which Naruto said, “That promise has nothing to do with you... I want to personally save Sasuke”

From Narrative point of view, Sakura acts as a good beard for Naruto. Because if Naruto alone chases after Sasuke, then that would obviously gives off a blatant Homosexual Vibes. Add Sakura and her stupid promise to the mixture.... No one would ever doubt it.... And hilariously back then when that Chapter was released, when Naruto said, it was not about the promise he made with Sakura.... even non-shippers found that Arc was Gayer.

Why couldn't she do anything to help bring back Sasuke?

Because she never put any effort in trying to understand Sasuke and his heart. She just desire him physically.

To help someone, we need to understand and trust that person. She neither understood nor trusted Sasuke completely. So, that’s why she couldn’t help in bringing back Sasuke. Whereas, Naruto desperately tried to understand Sasuke at every given chance...

Look at the difference!!!!

I am leaving this at here.

So, you asked me why Naruto never gave up on Sasuke....

“It’s because Naruto found Sasuke and started to like him for a reason that binds them together, that is, Loneliness. And after that everything he did for Sasuke is something that was out of his own control or reason or logic or explanation. The reasons he gave to everyone as to why he can’t give up on Sasuke are just an afterthought or a mere excuse.

Because, Naruto himself don’t know why couldn’t give up on Sasuke and it was all his subconscious doing.

How Unconditional!!!”

#sns #sasunaru #narusasu #sasunarusasu #Naruto always wanted to save Sasuke for himself

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transsexualhamlet · 4 years

Text

asmr i psychoanalyze my favorite war criminal, aka calling out norman the essay

basically all of my thoughts on norman on one callout post because i care him (both manga and anime are discussed)

LINK TO RAY PSYCHOANALYSIS: https://chaoticgaymess.tumblr.com/post/646749875570196480/ray-81194-the-long-explanation

this is going to be ungodly long so here’s a keep reading, essay below the cut

((tw for suicidal ideation and self harm, brief discussion of eating disorders))

Disclaimer: no shipping is included here this is just about norman also they’re kids who call each other siblings

Thoughts: So you may be thinking, Rowan, why do you yell about the colorless war criminal so often? Well the answer lies in your honor the court hates to see a girlboss winning. Norman is a girlboss :) Yes norman is a tiny twink who can't lift a milk jug. And he is a girlboss :) Obviously I don't condone, um, eugenics and all, but that's not the point the point is that he satisfies my need for more characters like Levi motherfucking Calder from Unwind because I’m apparently an edgy 13 year old. Also all of his problems are violently things I can fix and I keep him around as a pet project because someone needs to give him a hug and slap him on the face

I diagnose him with things:

-pisces man :pensive:

-is he albino? Not literally. Is his skin so pale he would catch fire if he went outside at noon? Yes.

-autism: Yes I’m aware that calling him autistic makes him, problematic rep by perpetuating the autism unfeeling savant stereotype whatever but have you considered i’m autistic and I’m projecting also he’s L with standards? Anyway traits of AuTism he has: hyper fixation, canonically breaks and fixes things over and over because like ofc he does, doesn’t understand Emotion, hyperaware of body language at the same time as it all somehow flying over his head, low empathy, sensory experiences™, min maxed in certain areas, and I don’t think he’s got social interaction quite right? There’s something off about it

-gifted kid (derogatory) This is self explanatory but basically him being the smartest and the best in a competitive environment caused most of his issues, such as the perfectionism, the need to succeed, the lack of self esteem and ridiculously high expectations on himself, giving himself no breaks or time to relax, the “i must be productive with every second of my day or i will die” deal, the “peaked at 11” thing, the way in which he goes through life like there’s going to be a fucking test on it

-Eldest Daughter™ lmao. Norman’s always had to be mature, he’s always had to be the best, he’s always had to do the things Ray got out of bc he’s a snitch and Emma got out of because Isabella likes her. Norman gets respect from Isabella only if he excels, and her bar for him is astronomical. He doesn’t have the Mommy Issues that Ray has, but it’s because for him Isabella basically just reflected his expectations on himself, whereas with Ray it was more personal.

-low empathy (part of the autism thing): this one needs more explanation, but it’s not a bad thing in and of itself. Cognitive empathy is a thing and he can use it, but he does not instinctively understand other people’s emotions, or even recognize them properly, especially when the person is not like himself. This is obvious in Emma. Man has no fucking clue what’s going on in her head or why she does what she does, but he can predict what she will do in any given situation very well. He could understand the suicide attempt from ray he predicted more because Ray’s an easier equation to solve, and someone who’s more similar to him. I know he gets it because, well, motherfucker’s just as self desctructive as him, just in a more dignified manner.

-he’s got some sort of chronic illness. This is also me projecting and a headcanon but he’s got something going on, even before lambda pumped him full of growth hormones or whatever which they maybe should have Not Done but oh well. (I assume this just didn’t happen in the anime, since he’s still so fucking short) But he's So weak. He passed out when it was too hot. He passed out when it was too cold. He can’t open a pickle jar. His skin is too pale and he’s skinny af. He’s much more prone to sickness and probably has asthma too? But in the case that he did actually have something going on, I don’t think grace field would see the need to treat it, if it didn’t impact the quality of his meat? Isabella’s probably just “you have chronic pain and you get migraines? Great, take some tylenol and do some calculus.” Can’t say that probably helped anything.

personality type: ISTJ

Basically, he’s the most boring personality type to exist, and personally as an enfp i do not respect him. But basically this means he’s a fucking nerd that gets his projects done for school the day they’re assigned, is probably the president of the Anime Student Council™, and could probably get away with premeditated murder (ok actual istjs this is a joke don’t skin me)

The only trait that norman doesn’t have on the istj thing is telling the truth. Yeah, he values the truth, but like, that doesn’t apply to him, clearly. Bitch is a notorious liar.

The only other personality type he has any similarity with is intj, which is the same except it’s more rare and a purple theme instead of a blue theme. Sadly, that’s not him though, because although he can care more about some kinds of philosophy overall this isn’t the case and ray already occupies this personality type tbh.

strengths and weaknesses: This one’s kind of obvious, but he is aside from the crazy insane intelligence good at planning. Extremely good at planning. He can predict any outcome and figure out how to prevent it, using all his resources. For example he’s physically weak and someone could literally just walk up and stab him, but it doesn’t impede his progress on his goals because he’s surrounded himself with strong, mentally inferior people who would die for him in a heartbeat. He never gets stuck in some “everything is shit and i can’t do anything” deal like Emma and Ray do, he always works through it and has confidence in his abilities (in as much as he will solve the problem or die™. Weaknesses other than his twink body include his Low Wisdom score. It’s funny how he’s often associated with an owl, the mans is 14. He thinks he knows what he’s doing. He doesn’t. Plus obviously his fundamental misunderstanding of so much of everything going on around him, the fact that he lies not just to the world but himself, his refusal to take care of himself and his incredible cowardice. His achilles heel is being forced to, actually confront his actions.

what he likes about himself: He does pride himself on his mental abilities, and his judgement, which in his opinion is the only correct opinion and the only correct way. In the past, he likes being seen as a leader, he likes being responsible for other people. He likes his ability to manipulate and lie, because he sees it as an asset, and I honestly think he enjoys being william minerva more than he enjoys being Norman. He prides himself on his unhealthy expectations and the fact that he is able to meet them. Honestly, he does think he’s better than everyone else, mentally, though it’s humbled by his self hatred. Cursed thought: If Norman had self esteem he would be light yagami.

what he doesn’t like about himself/insecurities: Oh god, nearly everything. His appearance, his status, his superiority, his physical inability, his own mess of a mind, also have I mentioned his appearance. He’s obsessed with self control. He wants everything he sees wrong with himself gone. And I understand why having control of everything is necessary and appealing, everything for him has always been rigid and planned out from moment one, he was even more regulated in lambda, and though he desperately wants to Not Be Food, he has no idea what to do with the chains now that he’s broken out of them. So he just wraps them around himself. Regulates to an unhealthy degree when he sleeps, what he eats, when he actually takes even minimal care of his own problems, what he looks like, how much of himself he lets show, the expressions on his face, the literal thoughts inside his own head he will shut down if they are not Correct. It’s literal self harm. Norman, please stop it.

motivations/goals in life/general philosophy: To be honest, I’m not sure he knows what he wants. He sure thinks he does, he could sure give you a memorized answer, but it means nothing. He wants to excel. He wants Emma to be happy. He wants to be perfect and for that to make everything perfect. But he doesn’t realize everything he’s working towards will do pretty much the opposite of that. He’s a crippling perfectionist, and pretty much everything he does is motivated by his fear of failing. He picks the certain path, he doesn’t wait for anyone else, he doesn’t care if it’s not nice. Emma foils that a most of the time because he cares about her, but it can only go so far, especially after he’s had so much time without her to develop a Complex. His philosophy is very contradictory, basically the tokyo ghoul “everything bad that happens to you stems from a lack of ability”. All of his problems are his fault. All the world’s problems are his to fix. If he can’t fix them, it’s his fault, it’s because he wasn’t strong enough, and not being perfect condemns someone forever, including himself.

how he’s perceived by others vs how he actually is: In most people there wouldn’t truly be much of a difference, but with Norman things are different, because, well, most of his personality in grace field is a put on, as well as the tough guy dictator thing he radiates after lambda. How he appears to someone is determined by the context of their meeting- the kids at grace field see him as a nerdy, weakish, pretty boring kid who is really caring and kind. The researchers at lambda see an obedient, beaten down and perfectionistic boy. The lambda kids see him as an infallible leader, ruthless and genius, a good man who knows what’s right. But in truth none of that is him. It’s a fucking chess game to him, putting on different faces, lying and pretending and treating everyone differently. In truth? He’s a fucking coward. He’s scared out of his mind and he’s tired and he can’t take pain, he’s obsessed with reaching some goal he deems is necessary that in the end is going to be his death because he doesn’t want to face the consequences of his actions. He’s taken on the role of someone evil, though deep down he’s not, he feels it’s easier to live that way because it strips him of his conscience.

interpersonal relationships: In general, Norman sees all relationships in a pretty dim light. He sees everyone as black and white, for the most part, and other people make no sense to him intuitively, he has to figure them out like a puzzle. He’s manipulative and not particularly kind, but he follows all societal expectations to a T, overly focused on his appearance and placing the person he’s interacting with into a Category™. So he can be truly kind, to people he feels deserve it, to people who he values and doesn’t see flaws in. He gets incredibly attached to people he loves, protective, though he often doesn’t take their own feelings on the matter into consideration, and he’s ruthless with anyone who he deems a bad person. With people he understands and relates to, though, things can be different. If he sees someone as like himself, he will drop all the social interaction police bullshit and cut to the chase of whatever he wants or needs from them, and he’s not very forgiving in any manner, if he thinks what someone did is actually bad.

Emma: Norman obviously cares a lot about Emma, and honestly views her as better than anyone else. He realizes her moral integrity and all of the things she has and he doesn’t, and admires it. Because of his black and white view, Emma is like an angel to him. She couldn’t do anything wrong if she tried. But he comes to treat her as something to be protected instead of respected, and although he realizes she wouldn’t like what he’s doing, he fundamentally cannot empathize with her and doesn’t try to understand her. Their personalities are very literally opposite. Norman really needs to fucking listen to her. And Emma needs to understand that Norman doesn’t have a single ounce of empathy and you really do need to spell it out for him. Emma can only convince him when she has logical reasons for her actions, which she, doesn’t often have. And Emma gave Norman too much slack, because she didn’t see past the surface, and Ray never wanted to warn her, even though he knew the dude was showing a bunch of red flags, because you know. It was kind of an unspoken deal between them. (on ray’s part)

Ray: His relationship with Ray is a lot more complicated than with Emma. He understands Ray, where he doesn’t understand Emma, and he can see right through anything Ray does. And this makes things really tense between them, because Ray doesn’t, take kindly to being psychoanalyzed. If someone perceives him he will deck them and Norman is just there silently perceiving him at all times when Emma doesn’t see it. They are both constantly in competition with each other, but they care about each other a lot, though it’s kind of in a derogatory way. They both recognize each other as fundamentally fucked up, and silently agree never to bring it up with Emma. They’re nice to each other when she’s around, but all pretenses disappear when she’s gone. Ray is always frustrated with Norman, because Norman’s never been intimidated by him, and though he tries his best not to be vulnerable around him, Norman can always see through it, whereas Ray can’t crack Norman’s fake fucking smile no matter what he does. Norman will always take Emma’s side, and doesn’t see Ray as a good person at all, but he still understands and can excuse him, he takes measures to be… worse than Ray, which is better in his mind, because it’s rational, and ‘not selfish’.

Isabella: She has always had ridiculously high expectations for Norman, and treats him kind of harshly compared to the others. Bitch has heat stroke and Isabella’s first question is a calculus problem instead of like, “are you ok”. She knows he doesn’t complain about anything ever and she doesn’t stop him from being Terrible to himself, because it makes her job easier. They want smart kids, not mentally adjusted kids. She does really care for all of them, but she basically overrides it, she gives them what they want, not what they need, lets them be exactly what they’re making themselves. Isabella is distant with Ray but gives him anything he wants, she’s close and super nice with Emma, but Norman is… it’s weird. Isabella is proud of him because he meets her astronomically high bar. But at the same time, Norman never really cared for her that much and has never pretended to. Once they discover The Thing, though, he has a revelation, and it doesn’t take him long to switch his entire perspective about her. He’s pretty much like. Oh. She’s like me. That explains it, time to treat her like I treat myself: fucking brutally. Passive aggressive as hell. The kind of energy the :) emoticon at the end of an email gives. He does like just go “yeah we should kill her” at one point, which. You know, ok. When he got shipped out it was hhhh really interesting because Isabella knew full well he knew he was walking to his death and Norman was like “are you Truly Happy?” and just went :) and she was like h u h and tried to get him to talk while they were walking there because she feels Bad about it and he just. Did not. He didn’t say a single word just kind of smiled menacingly at her and I think it was half a sort of rebellion and half because he viewed her as similar to himself and therefore felt no need to put up any front with her, no words were necessary for him to impart exactly how he felt about it

Lambda kids: His relationship with the lambda kids is weird and bittersweet. I think he really truly does care about them, they were in a similar situation to his and he wants them to get what they want. However it is not a healthy or beneficial relationship, they see him as a god and don’t realize that he’s killing himself to give them what they want, he’s basically adopted them when out of anyone norman’s the one that should least be in charge of kids. I think he’s honestly younger than them but I’m not sure if they even know. He acts like their fucking mom, and that’s from what he thinks mothers are like… like isabella?? Giving them what they want, not what they need, lying to them, showing a front, caring deeply for them but at the same time using them for his own ends. And it’s not helpful for him. He thinks he knows what they need, but what he’s doing is what they want. What they need is therapy,(and so does norman), and he doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with using them as weapons because they love him. It makes him feel good, to be seen as perfect, to have people who don’t know how weak he really is. But it’s only making him worse, and he’s enabling everything the lambda kids are doing wrong as well. They need like, Yuugo and Lucas. Some actual adults who are actually wise and have the ability and the knowledge to take care of them and understand their mental problems and maybe actually address them. And actually be nice to them. But um sadly.

what he’s doing wrong: It’s pretty obvious, but… Norman, you maybe *shouldn’t* commit genocide? You’re not helping emma, you’re not making anything better. You’re not helping the lambda kids, you’re enabling them. You’re not helping your friends from grace field, you’re ignoring what they want. You’re not helping the world, you’re eradicating an entire race from the face of the earth and murdering the poor for the crimes of the fucking 1%. You’re not being a martyr, you’re a selfish piece of shit liar you little coward, you just want an easy way out and you want to die on your bloody fucking hill instead of admitting you’re wrong. Grow up, cringe little man.

why he went wrong: I think most of the reason this happened was the way he was raised combined with the kind of person he is. Norman would have turned out fine, if there has been good adults in his life who actually cared about his well being. Instead he got people who just wanted to control him and make him what they needed, and family who largely didn’t realize there was anything wrong. Ray being an ass to him most of forever probably didn’t help but well, that’s just Ray. Even then, he would have managed alright if he escaped with the rest of the kids because he would never have been separated from the experiences that caused the rest of them to realize demons weren’t all evil. In lambda he didn’t have anyone supporting him or telling him when things went too far, so he fell into relying on himself alone, pushing himself further with absolutely no limits. All he saw was enemies and allies, and things got stratified. He never had a lucas or a yuugo or mujika when he would have needed it, instead he found children who wanted him to be in charge and a world that made it so he had to be. Everything was an echo chamber for his worst thoughts, so they just became more and more dominant.

what he needs: To put it simply, he needs Emma and Ray to cut to the chase and slap him across the face and make him take care of himself. He needs to be forced to see everything for what it really is- this edgy 14 year old committing atrocities to feel better about himself? He needs to be told that what he’s doing is irrational, because in reality, it is. There are better solutions that he’s ignoring, both to his own suffering and the demons, and the way he’s going now no one will truly be happy because of it, that there is no requirement that things be perfect and this bullshit doesn’t make him stronger. He needs someone responsible to take the fucking dagger out of his hands. He also needs someone to babysit him and make him go to bed at a reasonable time.

i describe his personality through songs on my spotify playlist for him:

-outrunning karma by alec benjamin: this one super applies because it calls him out for making shitty decisions, being manipulative and a liar, and having blood on his hands in a very calm and subdued manner, that he knows this is wrong and yet he chooses to keep running faster and faster towards destruction, that he means to escape it through death

-empty by boyinaband and jaiden: yes this is a song about anorexia yes it also applies to norman i’m not saying norman literally has an eating disorder (but honestly it wouldn’t be far out of character if he did) but metaphorically this applies to his method of ignoring his needs, both emotional and physical, in favor of seeming in control

-toxic thoughts by faith marie: this one speaks to his gifted kid trauma. Man’s got perfectionism running his entire soul. He’s terrified of failing, because he’s always been at the very top, he’ll beat himself up over any miniscule mistake and forces himself to keep at bad habits that keep him Productive, but he won’t ask for help no matter how much he’s suffering because that would be failing, he fights with his mind, this song basically tells him “yeah i feel you but you need to stop that”

-no time to die by billie eilish: ignore the romantic overtones but this is emma and norman, emma who trusted norman and was lied to, betrayed, for norman’s greater good, and norman who refuses to feel or hurt because of it, who refuses to apologize or see himself as wrong, pushes forward because he’s going to Pass Away

-achilles come down by gang of youths: hhhhh it's like. His vibe. Obviously you can disregard the lifestyle specific shit but it's. It's achilles come down you have to understand it’s like the same deal as friend, please just like french and longer

-friend, please by 21 pilots: i feel like i don't have to explain this one but it’s more to the manga (not the anime where he kind of figures out he done did wrong by himself instead of committing unforgivable sins and still going yeah this is valid before emma is like holy fuck). He is like sorry emma I cannot fix anything I’m going to die :) *coughs blood* and emma going like stop it stop it stop it fuck you see you fucked up and i forgive you just stop don’t walk away while he’s like “no<3”

why im a repressed little norman kinnie even tho he’s my exact opposite: I don’t generally kin ppl like norman, honestly he’s an infj I have no clue how it happened but I’m pretty sure it’s because of my intense desire to project onto a little man who cannot lift a milk jug and has chronic pain and decides you know what I AM tired of being nice i DO wanna go apeshit. Also he’s a twink. A little bastard. He’s a terrible person and I go mood every time he does anything. I said mood when he fell out of a tree. Don’t know what this says about me, I swear I wouldn’t commit no genocide. He’s like the inverse of Yoichi Saotome, and somehow i kin him too. Damn.

Miscellaneous headcanons:

-man’s SO attached to his william minerva cloak. He’s a wispy little bitch, you know he’s wearing that thing inside the house, he’s fucking cold. It also makes him Look Important he can retreat into it like an emo middle schooler with an oversized sweatshirt

-although you could probably get Mad street cred from having two whole brands you know he’s not gonna whip it out and show off his lambda thing he’s incredibly self conscious and his chest hasn’t seen the sun in years

-norman’s got MAD laundry skills to be able to wear like, all white all the time while constantly murdering people. I think he’s the only one who knows to do the laundry. And Ray is the only one who knows how to cook.

-but even then there’s gotta still be a few questionable stains on that thing, but if anyone asks he’s like “ketchup” “I’ve literally never seen you eat anything with that much color” “ketchup :)” *coughs blood*

-he’s probably thought “well i have not literally coughed blood yet today so I am not legally obligated to take care of myself”

-He probably adopted much of his current personality from taking on the persona of william minerva. I’m calling him out for being like me, he’s a blank motherfucker, he absorbs personality traits from characters he plays! He’s just not in theatre so it’s a bit more intense!

-the first time he sees barbara Eating Demon Meat he kinda stares and goes oh cool! not for me and violently exits the room. Like it's hilarious bc he thinks that's really gross on a moral level though he understands why she would do it

-Which is even funnier bc I’m not sure about the canon on this but there was That Chapter Cover that one time that kinda seemed to imply norman eating demon meat which i absolutely latched onto because I’m terrible. He was just politely eating it. With a knife and fork like why dude. As to a possible reason for him doing that I can come up with, of course barbara does it out of spite, but man we don’t know the properties, if it had some sort of painkilling aspect to it or it was like, caffeine, you know he would, but he would Definitely not talk about it

-I kinda disagree with what the anime did in episode eight? It was good I liked it and the imagery was fantastic but also have you considered Norman could not kill someone with his own hands if he tried, or even physically injure them? That’s what his minions are for shawty. That doesn’t make it any less bad, of course, but the manga captured it perfectly by the fact of he carries around a dagger and a scepter in the capitol battle, but he never even raises it out of more than intimidation. He walks through calmly like he’s not scared at all but he makes sure all the lambda kids do all the actual murder, he just stands there impartially, clearly The Mastermind, as the kids fucking murder the queen of the demons. And I think that’s more profound because he’s, a coward. And he doesn’t realize being the one who orders the strike makes you just as responsible as the one who sticks the knife in someone. The knife is just there to Compensate™ for the fact that he weighs like eighty pounds.

-he’s more of like lady macbeth (because he’s a girlboss) than macbeth himself. He has blood on his hands, but it’s the kind of blood that you can’t wash off. He never killed anyone himself, and he cannot admit he never would have been able to.

-the last thing is that there are definitely epic things about the anime, episode 8 was my favorite so far, goddamn that imagery and the bitch walking through the city while it burns down with the screaming asmr going on behind him my god. We stan. But like the downside of, letting Emma and Ray get to him before he commits first degree murder makes the whole thing lose a lot of his value. In the manga (oh my god look at me being a pretentious manga fan please) it fit more of his ideas- he never backed down, and he planned for Emma coming and trying to stop him. Of course he wanted Emma to stop him, he wanted it with all his fucking heart he was pleading for it to happen but the man wouldn’t give himself what he wanted if he was held at gunpoint. He knew she’d come and he made absolutely sure she wouldn’t be able to stop him. So when she came and he said “you’re too late”??? It kind of said it all, in the fact that he was disappointed that he got his way. He still thought he did the right thing, but deep down there where he shoved all his thoughts and feelings he desperately wanted to be saved from himself.

So yeah, those are my thoughts. Feel free to eviscerate me if these are not Correct he is just my favorite girlboss who I feel the need to yell at

#tpn #the promised neverland #yakusoku no neverland #tpn norman #norman tpn #essay post #god why do i do this to myself #dear god help me this is 5000 words #rowan's hyperfixation essays

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astersofthesky · 4 years

Text

Reasons why I ship LawLight

It's been a year since I last watched Death Note and up to this day, it still remains on my TOP 5 FAVORITE ANIME (alongside Attack on Titan, Daiya no Ace, Gintama, and the Inazuma Eleven franchise).

Be as it is, the ship between L and Light holds a special place here in my heart. And today I want to talk about the reason why I am head over heels for this painstakingly beautiful ship.

For a quick heads-up. "LawLight" is a non-canon ship pair from Death Note. The two person involved are Yagami Light also known as "Kira" and the Great Detective L otherwise known as Ryuuzaki. I believe that their trope belongs to the enemies to lovers. They are also the most famous ship for the said fandom.

I admit that I am a certified fujoshi. So when scenes like walking together under falling sakura leaves, going to a cafe for their date to confirm their suspicions about each other's identity, and was even CHAINED 24/7 were shown, I can't help but ship them despite the fact that they are LITERALLY TRYING TO KILL AND CATCH EACH OTHER.

Actually for me, what makes this ship so appealing is their cat and mouse chase. A criminal and a detective. The spark and sexual tension apparent in their battle of wits. Who shall fall first? Who shall emerge victorious? And I firmly think that this dynamic between them is also one of the biggest factors why this anime/manga became such a success.

In the eyes of a shipper, some of their interactions are seen as a potential fuel to lit a burning flame called romance. Another thing, they also complement each other.

Why? Well, let's look at Yagami Light first.

Light used the notebook to alleviate his boring mundane life. Because of his high IQ, normal things don't ellicit excitement for him. Also, always hearing about everyday crimes, his strong sense of justice tells him to rid the world of this disgusting humans who continue to cause chaos for the world. So, immediately grabbing the death note as an opportunity to make his ideals a reality, KIRA IS BORN.

Of course, no matter how good the intention is. Taking lives is still a murder. And the fact that Light wanted to take advantage of the situation to become GOD OF THE NEW WORLD, it's true essence is slowly turning into selfishness. Just like any ordinary case, the police have taken interest, no, it's more accurate to say that they were FORCED to take interest. With no more cards to play, the worldwide police decided to ask help from their trump card. Yes, the world's greatest detective L.

Hiding in a single gothic letter and synthetic voice, Light had found his other half. The yin to his yang. Why you ask?

It's simple. L is the only person who can match his intelligence. Who can see through his barrage of lies and alibis. He was the only one who doubted him, the only one who almost sent him to his doom.

He was the ultimate obstacle Light needed to overcome. Because of this thrill, of this danger, Light found true challenge. Other than the joy of killing criminals for his dream, battling with L brought an unexpected bliss deep within his soul. Because of L, his once dull world had been painted with complicated colors. L is the only one who can understand Light.

He is his enemy.

He is his Equal.

He is his captor.

The same goes for L.

Being the number 1 detective in the world, I bet that cases has become repetitive for him. With his astounding deduction skills, he could immediately solve a case while eating his favorite sweets. Thus the appearance of Kira is a mystery for him.

A highly difficult game for him to solve and win. As he said himself, he is childish and he hates to lose. So in order to win, he's given away his identity. He steps out of his shadows and approached Kira himself. Maybe it's a call for responsibility, a call for justice, or a call for his pride, whatever his reason is, he's willing to risk his life.

When he made contact with Light, he had realized that Light is the only other person who can see through him. His trials, his tests. Light never fails to amaze and surprise L. He had even considered him his successor, even though he only used it to test Light, with the latter quickly grasping the subtle accusation.

He is his enemy.

He is his captee.

He is Equal.

No one knows if their relationship had gone beyond detective and a criminal. If they ever had a genuine conversation. One without lies and hidden intention.

A talk as L and Light.

Looking at a watcher's perspective. A single particular scene showed a glimpse of their relationship. The rooftop and foot massage scene who fueled a lot of LawLight shippers.

"The bells are unusually loud today." - L

At the rooftop, L had asked Light if he had ever uttered a truth once in his life. With Light regaining his memories, L knows that this attempt is futile, yet he still tries. And maybe, even held a little hope that Light would surrender himself.

Light on the other hand, as expected caught the meaning of his question, within that short silence, he contemplated his answer even if it's just for mere seconds. But because Light had already steeled his resolve, he chose to lie.

He had already made a choice.

And that is to kill L.

And L himself knows it.

At the stairs, an intimate scene between them is shared. Both are drenched in the rain, then L suddenly offered a foot massage to Light. For non-shippers, they say that it's a Bible reference.

But for people like me, it's simply nothing but a bittersweet moment where for once, emotions are stirred and shared.

The atmosphere, their longing stares.

Light drying L's hair.

The exchange of words.

It truly is a very painful and touching picture.

"It will be lonely isn't it? You and I will be parting ways soon".

L is known for not showing his true emotions. Yet in here, he bares everything. From the way he looks at Light and that slight curve on his mouth, like he's very regretful of something. Maybe it's because he wasn't able to personally give him the verdict or it can also be what ifs and what would they have become if they didn't meet in this kind of circumstances.

On Light, he looked shock and somewhat sad. They say it was an act, but the knowledge of his arch-nemesis soon dying, the one who has been with him since this "chase" started, the one being who gave him thrill and pushed him to his limits, the one who for months, was chained with him 24/7, the only one who could stand as his equal, the one who made him feel, losing that person will surely give you mixed emotions, and I believe that the sadness there is genuine, even though it had been overshadowed by his delight for victory.

It was only a for a short moment but for once, they've dropped all facades as they face each other as L and Light, not Ryuuzaki and Kira.

After L's death, Light is shown to have lose some of his sanity. I've read in a site before telling that L was the one who's holding his ground. And with him gone, with the thrill of danger gone, Light suddenly found himself at loss. He spent months trying to rid of his enemy. His disappearance had caused a void in his heart.

I remember a certain scene where Light imagined L sitting at his usual chair. His eyes were dead and devoid of color. That's where he also started to lower his guard down. For him, L is his only formidable opponent, his other half. He is his equal. It proves with the appearance of Near, where Light says that he's far inferior to L. That he doesn't deserve to wear his mask.

Light had come to respect L.

In Light's final moments, he sees L. A hallucination some says. But they're missing a point here.

The fact that L showed up, either his soul or an imagination, means that he had become an important figure to Light. Maybe he was thinking what L said during the times that they are wearing the chains.

"As long as we are wearing this chains. You and I are bound to share the same fate. If you die, I die." - L Lawliet

Yes, the chains are gone, physically. But because Light had allowed L to become an important piece of his life, he had secured the chain for L to held him captive for as long as he's alive...and if you let your imagination wild, even after death.

This are the reasons why I fell in love with this ship.

They're both broken.

One is blinded by power.

One had secluded himself from the outside world.

Their chase will never be forgotten. A game that only the two of them understood knowing from the beginning that they will never achieve a happy ending. This painful and bittersweet ship will go down in history.

#death note #lawlight #lawlight death note #yagami light #l lawliet #l death note #shipping #light death note #analysis #austere writes #meta

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duhragonball · 4 years

Note

Launch?

Give me a character and I will answer:

Why I like them: I think the main appeal to the character is that she doesn’t take any shit from anybody. The blue version of Launch is pretty passive, but she also knows that anyone who messes with her for too long is going to have to deal with the blonde version.

To go a little deeper, I think there’s an enigmatic quality to Launch that draws people in. We have no idea why she changes hair and personality when she sneezes, and we don’t know where she came from or what she was up to when she dropped out of the Dragon Ball story. This sort of ties into something I’ve always maintained about the Vegebul ship: the main fascination lies in how much we don’t know. The audience is left wanting answers, and has no choice but to invent those answers for themselves.

I decided to look for information on sneezing in Japanese culture, just to see if I could find some insight into the character. I had a hunch that there must be some figure of speech about a volatile person changing moods as often as they sneeze, or something like that. What I found instead was the superstition about a sneeze meaning that someone must be talking about you. I didn’t think this had anything to do with Launch, but then I found out the superstition goes a little deeper. If you sneeze once, then someone must be saying something nice about you, but if you sneeze twice, then someone’s saying something bad about you.

So that might be what Launch is based upon. When she sneezes, someone must be saying something nice about her, and she becomes nice in turn. But on the next sneeze, she turns bad, just as someone must be saying bad things about her. Really, though, she turns the whole superstition on its ear, because of all people, no one’s ever talking about her while she sneezes. They’re always watching her with breathless anticipation.

Anyway, I think it’s her lack of a coherent character arc that intrigues people. You can sort of piece something together, but nearly all of her appearances in the anime are filler scenes, so it’s almost a guarantee that you’ll be putting more thought into it than the writers. That scene where she’s working in a food truck could mean that she’s gotten her life in some kind of order, but with her, there’s really no telling.

Why I don’t: I find the lack of hard information about Launch frustrating at times. I feel like there’s some awesome throughline that I should be able to find that would define the character in some profound kind of way. Mark Waid could figure it out, I bet. I still need to read his run on Archie. He probably did some 4D-chess character study on Coach Kleats or something that would blow my mind. I’m sorry, this is supposed to be griping about Launch and instead I’m griping about how envious I am of Mark Waid. Uhhhh... I dunno, maybe she shouldn’t be stealing stuff all the time.

Favorite episode (scene if movie): I can’t think of anything better than the episode where she’s getting drunk over Tien’s death in the Saiyans Saga. It’s a great followup to their last encounter, where she wanted him to join her in robbing banks, and he wasn’t interested.

Death wasn’t that big a deal for TIen in the long run. He just ascended to the next plane and trained under King Kai, just like how he trained under Kami in the year leading up to the Saiyan invasion. But for Launch, it’s a big deal, because he’s finally gone somewhere she can’t follow. And at last, she begins to understand why Tien isn’t interested in stealing money.

And then... nothing. She shows up again at the end of the Kid Buu fight, giving zero indication as to what’s happened in between. What happened to her? You decide, because Mark Waid costs too much money to hire, and I sure got no clue.

Favorite season/movie: Probably the Tien Shinhan Saga by default, since her fascination with Tien is probably the biggest character development for her. And she figures into this weird glitch between the anime and the manga. See, the manga version of the 22nd Budokai is much shorter, so Launch never leaves the hospital after they take Yamcha there to deal with his broken leg. You don’t even see her until the final match, where she, Bulma, and Yamcha are listening to the play-by-play on the radio. But in the anime, the tournament is drawn out over a few days, and she watches all of Tien’s matches in person, and even attempts to murder Chiaotzu. So it’s a weird deal, which is perfect for Launch.

Favorite line: Probably the line where she explains what happens to her when she sneezes, since it’s the only concrete evidence that she’s aware of her double personalities. Blonde Launch sometimes goes “awww, no!” when she feels a sneeze coming on, but that could only mean that she hates sneezing, even without knowing what it means. But Blue Launch knows she has another self, which means the Blonde one must be aware of this as well.

Favorite outfit:

It gets no better than the black shirt and army surplus pants.

OTP: Tien. There’s so little we know about Launch, so I’m inclined to hang on for dear life to the one thing we do know, which is that she’s very interested in Tien.

Brotp: None. Launch is a very solitary character. She’s the wind.

Head Canon: Not really a headcanon, but a story idea that I couldn’t really work out, but I thought it might be interesting if Launch’s Launchness was like a physical condition that could be imparted upon other people. Like, Bulma gets it, and then she ends up alternating between robbing banks and standing around going “Oh my!” But I wasn’t sure I wanted to reduce the original Launch to that sort of explanation. “Oh, we know what causes this, and it’s something we can turn off.”

This may be why I struggle to come up with story ideas for Launch, because my impulse is to try to invent some neat and tidy explanation for Why She Is Like That, but doing such a thing would force me to choose one possibility and exclude any other, potentially better ideas.

Unpopular opinion: Toriyama forgot about her because there was really nowhere left to go with her at that point in the story. Once DBZ started, the story became less about Goku’s friends and more about Goku’s family, and Chi-Chi basically took Launch’s spot. She was introduced as a foil for Master Roshi, and then got a stint as Tien’s love interest, and then the series progressed to the point where Tien and Roshi were both afterthoughts, so of course Launch was going to become even more of an afterthought.

And this is okay, because this is what happens with supporting characters. Like I was saying, if she actually stuck around, and showed up in every “All-the-side-characters-watch-what’s-happening-on-TV” scene, I don’t think she’d be as interesting as she is with her long, mysterious disappearances.

A wish: I hope my next attempt to write Launch goes well.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: I don’t really have anything to put here.

5 words to best describe them: Enigma wrapped in a mystery.

My nickname for them: Ain’t got one.

#dragon ball #ask duhragonball #launch #lovelypurplefox

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kickingstonesandbones · 4 years

Text

ADA: Songs the BSD characters remind me of (even though no one asked)

I’ve recently watched all 3 seasons of the Anime, the movie and the OVA and have started reading the Manga from the beginning. Right now I am only at chapter 40 because I started reading like 2 days ago, so idk stuff that would happen after the Anime storyline (if it goes that much further than season 3 ending, I wouldn’t know). I based this off on either specific lyrics that made me think it would fit the character or a certain vibe I was getting from a character. For some characters it was easier, for some not so much lol It is why some characters have multiple songs that make me think of them while others only have one (if they even do have one, that is – but the ADA does, except for Katai). So please do not rip into me because you think a song might not fit them as well as I do, because I just have not gotten to the latest chapter of the Manga yet, so there are some characters I do not know that well yet but I wanted to do this for fun. Other than that, I hope you enjoy this list~ Also, feel free to add to my list if you have songs that I haven’t mentioned but think would fit the characters, if you want to~

My taste in music is also pretty broad and not limited to certain languages or genres (though I do have my preferences), so I will provide translations of the lyrics in different languages from English. The German ones (like Kontra K, Elif, etc.) were translated by myself (on the spot), for other languages like Romanian or Korean, etc. I had to look up translations on the internet.

Disclaimer: For the songs for Dazai, one might want to consider a TW, for one of his songs has extremely open-no-room-for-speculation suicidal lyrics. If this affects you, please skip that one, I will put that song last on his list.

And, well, because this is 12 pages long in the document, I will be making a cut here…

𝔸𝔻𝔸 𝕚𝕟 𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕝

💙 Wölfe (Wolves) by Kontra K 💙

It’s about so much more than just strength, it’s about solidarity and virtue / It runs so much deeper than your wounds could ever get / We’re walking through the fire together until the day we die […] /

And we are so infinitely far away from being perfect / But what doesn’t kill us will make us stronger / And hope dies last / It dies last /

A lot of the members have been through quite some shit, but they hold it together all the time and always pull through and manage to keep moving forward sooo (some random arsehole I talked to spoilered me about Yosano and Mori -_-)

💙 Born For This by The Score 💙

A force that they can’t stop / They just don’t get it, I think they forget / I’m not done until I’m on top / I know I was born for this / I know I was born for this […] /

We are the warriors, who learned to love the pain / We come from different places but have the same name / ‘Cause we were born for this / We are the broken ones, who chose to spark a flame / Watch as our fire rages, our hearts are never tame /

ℕ𝕒𝕜𝕒𝕛𝕚𝕞𝕒 𝔸𝕥𝕤𝕦𝕤𝕙𝕚

💙 Believe by Hollywood Undead 💙

I can’t believe / That when I breathe / That there’s something good inside of me / Just one good thing inside of me / So close to me / That memory / Of that one good thing inside of me / Just one good thing inside of me /

If I went out the back door, nobody would stop me / But, where would I go? / ‘Cause I ain’t never had a real home / So, what do I know? / So, I could keep runnin’, hide until they find me / But, what would that do? /

That he really hates himself that much and how insecure he is in his right to be alive not just simply because he is a living being really hurts to see.

💙 Face it by NF 💙

Don’t know how to face it / Let’s go back to basics / Yes, say what you mean, do what you say, but man I hate this / I just don’t know what I’m chasing, don’t know what I’m chasing / Yes, somebody told me / Life is something you don’t wanna play with / But I just keep on playing like life is just a playground […] / I look at myself and I ask what the goal is / Yeah, tell me what your goal is / I’m just so lost in emotions, I don’t even notice / I just slip into a place and I don’t think straight / Devil in my ear tryna tell me everything’s great / And in a year realize I’m in the same place / Running in the same race, same pace […] /

Get that sickness out my mouth / I feel like my train is derailing / I can feel it / Yo these words are only words until they actions / Words until they actions, strive on empty satisfactions / Yeah, the fact is I don’t know, fact is I don’t know /

💙 월식 (My Tragedy) by Taeyeon 💙

At the end of an empty day / Everyone busily returns from somewhere / In the red night sky / I disappear into the darkness little by litte / These many sparkling lights / There isn’t a single light that’s mine / Under the cold shade by myself / Like it wasn’t there from the start /

💙 Oceans by Jacob Lee 💙

I learnt to let go when I was younger / Scared of growing old / I would swim far into the ocean / And try to stay afloat / Until my lungs would cough up water […] /

I don't want love no more / Though it's the one thing I've been searching for / Though it's the one thing that I miss the most / Now I'm afraid to be alone / I learnt to grow old when I was younger / Scared of staying young / Afraid of the thoughts that I had conjured / That sat atop my tongue / Knowing I'd change the worlds opinion / If they would just, listen up / But they won't, now /

I feel worthless / Maybe I should open the drawer / Burn the pages / Write poems with the ash on the floor / Pour the ink, into the sink / And watch it drain from the shore /

𝔻𝕒𝕫𝕒𝕚 𝕆𝕤𝕒𝕞𝕦

I know Dazai has a looooot of songs, but tbh I could’ve added at least another 15 because. There. Were. Just. S O . M A N Y . T H A T F I T H I M S O W E L L ‼‼ (Well, at least the ones I could think of off of the top of my head right away.)

💙 Believe by Hollywood Undead 💙

Don’t you know, little boy, they’ll lay you to waste, man / Little do they know, every song is a lifespan / Yeah, they’ve taken one, but I’m takin’ my last chance / To hold all we know and let go with both hands / Though, don’t you know that plots are made from concrete / Right through the stone, can you hear my heart beat? / Beats through my bone, like no memory left me / Not for a second or a minute when I dream […] / My heart beats heavy in an open chest / And, I wanna say goodbye, but there’s nobody left /

I broke it all, and I put to the test / Put your hands in mine, and feel this emptiness / There’s no beat in my chest / ‘Cause there’s nothin’ left / No, it ain’t goodbye, its a last caress / What’s another dream? / You could hardly sleep /

Makes me think of Oda aka the bond they had aka the admiration Dazai had for him.

💙 Face it by NF 💙

I ain’t sleeping lately / I ain’t sleeping lately / Yes, I know that I’m the only person that can change me / Maybe, that’s why I ain’t changing / That’s why I ain’t changing / I got too much on my mind, I guess I don’t know how to face it /

He obviously has a lot of issues, and I bet he still doesn’t think of himself as a good person. It strikes me as if he’s thinking that Agency Dazai is not much different from Mafia Dazai. “Your hands are black. Mafia black,” as Higuchi said. I think he did not deny it when she said that, so he doesn’t disagree with her.

💙 Rain by Hollywood Undead 💙

I don’t mind, no I don’t mind, I don’t mind the rain / Simple things and subtleties, they always stay the same / I don’t mind, that I don’t mind, no I don’t mind the rain / Like a widow’s heart, we fall apart, but never fade away (fade away) /

Run like a child, do you know where I came from? / No, I don’t, but I’m singing all the same songs / I’m alone, and you’re looking for your anyone / Does it hurt just to know that it’s all gone? / I can feel the pain in the words that you say / Hidden in the letters that were written to no name […] / Buried in red, white, and a side of some blue / Some will die too late, and somebody too soon / If he could come back, we’ll see what it cost him / We had to lose it all, just to know that we lost one /

💙 Lass mich lieber allein (better just leave me alone) by Kontra K 💙

Man, don’t explain the world to me, it isn’t perfect / And just as imperfect are also you, her and me / All of that isn’t a problem to me / But tell me, since when does hatred laugh so audaciously into my face? / But it’s somehow alright for me […] / Man, I wish for a minuscule part of naivety back / But it seems it’s somehow too late for me / Somehow already too late for me […] /

Already been wandering for so long, you forget / Who is worthy of sacrificing yourself for and for whom you better not do it / You run along the street of success without any luck (on your side) / But she walks out of hell into heaven only once and then right back / If you end up where you started then where is the meaning? /

Because I also have my baggage to carry all on my own / Just like all of the fuckers that think I’m living in heaven all by myself / But the fire and the flames in which I’ve been standing in for so long already / Man, they refuse to see them / But it’s somehow alright for me /

You better just leave me alone / Because when they carry you on their hands, they will (eventually) let you drop / I’d rather fall alone/by myself / Rather alone/by myself /

💙 Lies by Will Jay 💙

I'd rather tell myself if I ignore / These thoughts they'll go away / And my toxic friends have changed / Truth is I hate confrontation / Deal with it tomorrow / 'Cause there's nothing I can do / That's my favourite excuse / Feeding my procrastination […] /

And I think I just realised I would do anything / To keep hiding the pain I've been burying / That's why I tell / Lie-lie-lie-lie-lie-lie-lies /

💙 Du willst es (You want it) by Kontra K 💙

Only the good ones die young, and not long after the best ones follow / No idea, ask death why he thinks that I am so damn bad / Still here, we’re almost not worthy of heaven / Working day for day, only the hatred kills the pain / Life will shoot you in the chest but only ever hit your heart / Thank God that place in my chest has been emptied a long time ago […] /

We asked God, “why” / But the devil said, “doesn’t matter” / We’re swimming in a pool full of misery / But bring us another glass of it /

💙 Wie gemacht dafür (like we were made for it) by Kontra K 💙

Pretty normal, normal / Because you can’t get me, get me further down (the hole/ditch) / Than I’ve already been, you get it? […] / I’m going one-on-one with my inner demons, and I’ve been doing that for the past 13 years / I’ve been there, no matter what happened / Ask your gangsters, they know my voice / Have respect, respect for the realness / But fucking piss me off, and I’ll be sending you to heaven […] /

What pressure are you talking about, I inhale this city deep into my lungs / Put it on the beat and I’ll be giving you a new reason for your hatred /

Like we were made for it, we’re running through hell barefooted / We’re living rent-free in their heads, with the real ones, with the real ones / Like we were made for it, always loyal to my people / Swapping none of my friends for money, for the real ones, for the real ones […] /

If you’re my enemy, I’ll give you lead (bullets) / If you’re my friend, I’ll give you love / Because a wolf stays fucking loyal only to his family /

💙 Lonely by Nathan Wagner 💙

Is everybody lonely? / Is everybody scared? / Is everybody worried / That no one really cares? / See I'm afraid to love, but afraid to be alone / Still I wonder why my heart is always broke / What a way to live, let the fear take all control / Oh, this ain't life, no / I'm not alive […] /

'Cause I'm afraid to show the people who I am / I'm not special, I'm just a simple broken man / So I will hide my face with my picture perfect mask / Oh, this ain't life, no / It's just a lie […] /

If I looked you in the eye / And showed the broken things inside / Would you run away? / Would you run away? / If you saw my darkest parts / The wicked things inside my heart / Would you run away? / Or are you the same? /

The following one makes me think of Mafia Dazai

💙 Body Count by Grey ft. Thutmose 💙

I got a hunger, I got a fever / And it just won't quit / I got a temper, I got a bullet / With your name on it / Everybody wonders what it's like on top / I don't gotta wonder 'cause I call the shots […] /

My blood runs cold and my feet run faster / I still got heart, I hear a heart don't matter / Say what you want and it'll be your last words / It ain't a secret, I got a hit list / And baby, you're up next /

Stack 'em up, stack 'em up / Teach 'em not to fuck with me / Bag 'em up, bag 'em up / Let 'em know who runs these streets / Take 'em down, take 'em down / Count 'em out like one, two, three / Add a-na-na-na-na-na-na-nother one / To the body count /

T r i g g e r W a r n i n g !

💙 Bullet by Hollywood Undead 💙

Gone too far and yeah I'm gone again / It's gone on too long, tell you how it ends / I'm sitting on the edge with my two best friends / One’s a bottle of pills, one’s a bottle of Gin / I'm twenty stories up, yeah I'm up at the top / I'll polish off this bottle, now it's pushing me off / Asphalt to me has never looked so soft / I bet my momma found my letter, now she’s calling the cops / I gotta take this opportunity before I miss it / 'Cause now I hear the sirens and they're off in the distance / Believe me when I tell you that I've been persistent / 'Cause I'm more scarred, more scarred than my wrist is / I've been trying too long, with too dull of a knife / But tonight I made sure that I sharpened it twice / I never bought a suit before in my life / But when you go to meet god, you know you wanna look nice /

We hit the sky, there goes the light / No more sun, why's it always night / When you can't sleep, well, you can't dream / When you can't dream, well, what’s life mean? / We feel a little pity, but don't empathize / The old are getting older, watch a young man die […] /

When you were young, you never thought you'd die / Found that you could but too scared to try / You looked in the mirror and you said goodbye / Climb to the roof to see if you could fly /

So if I survive, then I'll see you tomorrow / Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow

𝕐𝕠𝕤𝕒𝕟𝕠 𝔸𝕜𝕚𝕜𝕠

💙 Brunette Ambition by Qveen Herby 💙

'Cause it's been three weeks and four days / No days off, just runways / I’m fucked up, I'll throw shade / Outwork you on a bad day […] /

On a mission, got no competition / It's hard to sleep with brunette ambition / Revenge is sweet, pussy: my religion / They say slow down, but I never listen /

Old me forsaken, these rules are for breaking / I get lonely with no new friends / Associate, but they can't relate / When you want the world, they’re uncomfortable /

This one is 50% lyrics, 50% overall energy of the song. Yosano is a bad bitch, and I love her.

💙 STFD by TeZATalks 💙 [Flash Warning for epilepsy]

I'm not here to take no names or reservations / I'm the devil telling Satan I'm just wild / Sit the fuck down / Imma kill it let me live just how I'm livin' / Ghetto heart with good intentions / I'm just wild / Sit the fuck down /

I'm chasing freedom for the fearless / I gotta do it 'cause I can't chase fear myself / I'm 'bout as broken as I confess / But better than most that lay cower / Proud of who they crowd / You don't know me / Coming to take your crown / Bow down / You know that I can do better, better / I don't need you to come in and show me how / Settle down / Cause you know that I can do better, better /

This song is mostly just the vibe for me. Quite…. unapologetic. Like the badass bitch vibe Yosano gives off, despite (or probably especially because of) her past.

💙 Nur mir (only to myself) by Elif 💙

Can’t believe what’s happening to me / Your words have manipulated me / I shouldn’t lose the connection to myself / Because otherwise your words will always stay with me / At first, you were there for me / But then you wanted me as your property […] / This city is big enough for the two of us / I have to share it with 4 million others anyway / I get onto the same train, stand on the same platform / Oh, everything’s profit (to you), everything’s yours /

But I only belong to myself, only to myself / Belong to myself, only to myself / Not to her, not to him, not to you /

💙 Disease by Hollywood Undead 💙

Our words are broken but they’re spoken aloud / So come together, come together again / The time is now, let Armageddon begin / They say beginnings always start with the ends / I say forever and forever, Amen /

Forget what you are / Forget what you feel / We stand apart but fall together / Nothing ever lasts forever /

We’re born to live, we’re born to die / We’re forced to swallow these pills and to never ask why / What I’ve become, why can’t you see / That everybody, everybody, everybody’s got this disease? /

𝔼𝕕𝕠𝕘𝕒𝕨𝕒 ℝ𝕒𝕟𝕡𝕠

💙 The Wolf by SIAMÉS 💙

Each and every day / Hiding from the sunshine / Wandering in the shade / Not too old, not too young / Every night again / Dancing with the moonlight / Somewhere far away / I can hear your call […] / Ain’t no fairytale / What I see in your eyes / Awaiting your mistake / Not too close, not too far /

Honestly, finding a song for Ranpo somehow was harder than it should’ve been lmao Originally, this song is about addiction, but if you read them in the sense of it being about a criminal, whom Ranpo is about to catch, it makes more sense. I am sorry I can’t provide a better song for him right now djhfksjlhdfujhhgkfc

𝕂𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕜𝕚𝕕𝕒 𝔻𝕠𝕡𝕡𝕠

💙 Fuck You by Silent Child 💙

Am I wasting my breath on you / Feels like my words are never getting through, yeah / I never said I hate you to someone so much before / I'm light headed when we talk and then you shut the door, god damn / Like what are we still talking for, yeah /

I really hope you don’t see tomorrow / I tried to play nice with you / 'Cause all you ever do is try to fuck up my day / And you were successful / (But I know the truth) / No you don't have anything better to do / Everything you ever loved has tried to escape you / So why would I want anything to do with you /

Fuck you /

Don’t lie, he would blast this at full volume when Dazai fucks up his schedule again HAHAHA (I love their dynamic)

💙 Waiting by Zhavia Ward 💙

The truth is you don't even / Know what the hell you believe / But you should believe / Lions don't lose sleep / Over the opinions of sheep /

So if you're waitin' / To watch me fall / Watch me fall / Watch me fall / I'ma keep you waitin' / To watch me fall / Watch me fall / Watch me fall / I'ma keep you waitin' /

Empire State kinda view / And I'm up here with the crew / I got the feelin' that you wishin' / You could be up here too / Maybe I should feel bad for you / Be a little sentimental / But I don't, no I won't / Make excuses for you to hide behind /

This one makes me think of the time Fyodor tried to break him mentally by making that little girl sacrifice herself (Season 3), but he got back up pretty quickly again after having his ideals get shaken like that.

𝔽𝕦𝕜𝕦𝕫𝕒𝕨𝕒 𝕐𝕦𝕜𝕚𝕔𝕙𝕚

💙 S.C.A.V.A. by Hollywood Undead 💙

Here's the massacre, a mausoleum fit for me / Lived a hundred years, a hundred years I didn't see / Gave all my hope away, isn't any left for me? / Bombs are splitting atoms, what can the future bring? / We can fill a million choirs and wait till children sing / We can walk a million miles and end up in the sea / And our lungs just keep filling and lying when we breathe / The world's filled with liars, liars like me / And I look at my child, it's finite, this feeling / Eyes blue like the sky, I see all of this meaning / I reach up to God and I ask if I'm dreaming […] /

Everybody says greetings and goodbyes / Everybody pays, no one knows the price / We know the price of sin, the sin of sacrifice / I know I'll sin again, but who can save me twice? / How much can we ask? You'll get the answer first / How much can we kneel with the air that chills the earth? / The air keeps getting colder, my knees keep hitting dirt / The innocent can cry without the guilty getting hurt / You ask who you love and you don't know, no, do you? / The spirit of God just passes right through you / You gave away heaven, handed right to you / And I can see it all, tell me, is it true? /

Fukuzawa is that anime character that’s visibly been through a lot of shit (and has done a lot of shit as well, even morally grey or black), which could be why he’s so stern and not a man of many words. Marked by life, if you will. He also gives off a very “wise man” kinda vibe right from the beginning, so I think that this song somewhat fits him because it is wondering about the state of the world and human nature.

💙 Courtesy Call by Thousand Foot Krutch 💙

This is your last warning / A courtesy call / I am not afraid / Of the storm that comes my way / When it hits it shakes me to the core / And makes me stronger than before / It’s not a question about trust / But will you stand with us? […] /

There’s a rumble in the floor / So get prepared for war / When it hits it’ll knock you to the ground / When it shakes up everything around / But survivial is a must / So will you stand with us? /

This song just has that badass vibe. And no one can deny that Fukuzawa has a badass and intimidating vibe as well as he seems so stern and stoic most of the time.

𝕋𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕫𝕒𝕜𝕚 𝕁𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕣𝕠𝕦

💙 Nesimtit by Mark Stam 💙

I don't have lots of cash / But enough for me to buy you an ice cream / For us to go on a walk / And for you to whisper to me in the waves of the ocean / I've taken some days from the border / And I put some behind the door, on ice / For cloudy weather / So that we can have them when the movie of life passes […] /

Let me be your lifeline / When your world is in the process of demolition / Let your dreams fly / I promise, we'll catch them somewhere around the sun /

Oddly enough, the Tanizaki siblings were just as hard for me as Ranpo… There aren’t really that many songs that would make me think of them. But this Romanian one made me (partly) think of him, I also think it’s cute and would probably fit him lol Especially the last four lines make me think of him and Naomi. After all, he’d even burn down the whole world if it was for her sake. All in all, this just sounds like him in the sense of a really supporting person/friend/brother.

𝕋𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕫𝕒𝕜𝕚 ℕ𝕒𝕠𝕞𝕚

💙 You Should See Me In A Crown by Billie Eilish 💙

You say, "Come over, baby / I think you're pretty" / I'm okay, I'm not your baby / If you think I'm pretty /

You should see me in a crown / I'm gonna run this nothing town / Watch me make 'em bow / One by one by one / One by one by / You should see me in a crown / Your silence is my favorite sound / Watch me make 'em bow / One by one by one / One by one by one /

Naomi isn’t giving me the same “badass bitch” vibe as Yosano does, but she does have that “badass princess” vibe. Is that making any kind of sense? Like, she does not have an ability, but she is neither dumb nor completely helpless in all situations. So, there is a slight badass vibe, but not the “I can and I. W i l l . Kick your stupid. Bitch. Ass.” – so a…. “badass princess”? Because she also has that elegant aura about her. I hope I am making sense…?

ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕦𝕟𝕠 𝕂𝕚𝕣𝕒𝕜𝕠

💙 2! 3! by BTS 💙

We know that you are happy right now / That you're slaying right now / You have all what you deserve / And we are so damn proud / But you're people, like us / You have spars, you get hurt / You get tired of the pressure / You get tired of the rush / God, thank you so much! / For giving us the chance / To tell you that we're here for you / And this will never change /

Lay on us / When dark times come and surround you / Our light will help you to get through / Our love is gonna heal you / Lay on us / The ones who would go to space to / Steal some stars just to give you 'cause it would make you feel good / We're gonna stay with you forever, until the end / We swear that we're not going anywhere / Yeah we're not going anywhere / We know the road can be so tough / But with holding hands / Together we take a nice deep breath /

Haruno strikes me as the kind of person, who’d be a really supportive friend, so I thought this might fit her. I have not seen much of her and her character neither in the anime nor in the manga yet, so I don’t really know whether this is any good or if it does her any justice.

On the other hand, I feel this song would also fit the Tanizaki siblings well.

𝕄𝕚𝕪𝕒𝕫𝕒𝕨𝕒 𝕂𝕖𝕟𝕛𝕚

💙 Puste sie weg (blow them away) by Kontra K 💙

Love in the air – blow it away / 9mm on the chest – then blow it away / 3g on the mirror – better blow it away / And the wind will do the rest / Hate in the air – blow it away / Pressure on the chest again – then blow it away / Seven sins in my head – better blow it away / And the wind will do the rest […] /

Because everyone’s talking, talking, talking too much / But unfortunately never do it, do it, do it / And I don’t hate, hate, hate the player / But I’d rather kill a whole team by myself /

I’d rather have three, four warriors than one thousand “brothers” / I’d rather pick up cents from the ground than break bread with liars / I’d rather be broke like I used to be than be a part time dealer / I’d rather have a heart of gold than sharing with no one at all (no one) /

Hatred in the air – blow it away / Pressure on the chest again – then blow it away / Seven sins in my head – better blow it away / And the wind will do the rest /

Take the lyrics quite literally, “blow them away”. The feeling of this song fits him, I think, because of his sheer strength. He just blows away hatred, malice, etc. and is unaffected by any of it as his heart and his head stay innocent and pure, even if naive.

I have to say though, it can be a pun, especially the part of “9mm (gun) on the chest” would be most obvious for it (especially considering that the “on the chest” part does not specify in German whether it’s your own chest or you are holding a gun to someone’s else’s chest lol). In general “puste xy weg” means to blow it away with the air out of your mouth, but colloquially it can also mean gunning down something or someone. And if you apply that meaning to every single line with “blow it away”, the meaning turns around from not letting it bother you to killing it, which I find interesting with this character. (Because he definitely has great potential to actually kill someone with his ability alone.) Though what I thought when I heard this song was that it might fit him with the meaning of him letting nothing bother him.

𝕀𝕫𝕦𝕞𝕚 𝕂𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕜𝕒

💙 Alaska by Elif 💙

Sometimes I’m thinking, I’m going insane like everyone else / They said I’d be going nuts and yeah, I’m starting to believe them / -7°C, I’m walking through the city park by myself / The down jacket is keeping me warm, but in my heart, there’s Alaska /

I don’t know what love is / No matter how much of it I get, I need more of it / It’s tearing me apart on the inside / When I, once again, don’t know where I’ll be getting it from / Even my therapist says, he doesn’t know any further / My dark side, it’s stronger than the good one / My youth was poisened, the future is uncertain / It is how it is yeah, it is how it is /

💙 Godsent by Smash Into Pieces 💙

I used to share, I used to care / The good in me is gone I'm bad / I used to give, I used to feel / The things you did will never heal / Take a look at me now / See what I've become / I will no longer feed the machine / Can't control the monster in me, no / The way that I feel / Makes it harder to breathe / When I'm thinking about you / The monster is real /

This makes me think of her in the Port Mafia.

💙 Boomerang by Smash Into Pieces 💙

I've been gone for a while now / But only to gain my power / I've been fighting my demons / And I'm back up on my feet (and now) / The harder you fall down / The stronger you come back later / Now I feel like an army / And I've only just begun /

This one in turn makes me think of her in the Agency.

💙 Circles (제자리) by G.Soul 💙

Oh, we know the ending / No matter how you escape / Here again / Always come back to me / Back again / Eventually / Here again / Why is it so hard to leave? / Here again / We always stay here […] / Answer me, I don’t know, no / Just don’t know / You’re getting stuck / Forever / Oh, we know the ending / No matter how you escape / Here again /

This makes me think of what Kouyou (I hope I am remembering her name correctly) was saying about her as a flower of darkness, as she was kind of turning in circles (no pun intended)–between wanting to be in the light and “accepting” that she only belongs into the darkness–at the beginning before she finally joined the Agency.

💙 Excuses (변명) by G.Soul 💙

I told you not to be too good to me / That it would make it too hard on you / No matter what you say now / I don’t hear a word of it […] / Even though I may be making a mistake / Even though I may regret this as time goes on / Baby, I think that we should just end it here now /

Even though the song in total has a different vibe (and story lmao), these parts of the lyrics makes me think of Kyouka telling Atsushi that there is no saving her, and that the light is no place for her (directly after saving her from the Port Mafia). It kinda makes me think of the part, specifically, where Atsushi suggests going on a “date” and at the end of it, Kyouka wants the last place they go to to be the police station.

𝔻𝕒𝕫𝕒𝕚 & 𝔸𝕥𝕤𝕦𝕤𝕙𝕚

💙 Sing To Me by Missio 💙

Somehow I got nominated as a king of sadness / Got so much I know that I could even feed the birds / And that's why / I prayed, I prayed, God sent me right to voicemail / It's like, all day my vanity is for sale / Take it away, my head is in my own hell /

Sing to me, I am not doing well / Getting tired of my own words / Sing to me 'cause I can't hear myself / Through the loudness of my own hurts / Call me selfish when I say this, say this / I'm kinda helpless, and I need you / Sing to me 'cause I'm not doing well /

Somebody told me that there's two sides to this life / I think I might've chosen darkness over light /

These two are two sides of the same coin, but no side is brighter than the other. I feel like they are kind of mirroring each other in the way they feel about themselves, which is why these lyrics mirror both of them towards each other as both are in need of salvation as they’re drowning in their own minds. Dazai is just better at hiding it from Atsushi.

💙 Namae wo yobu yo (Call A Name) by Luck Life (Season 1 Ending) 💙

I was searching / For the reason I’m able to remain as myself / If there’s a version of me / That exists within your heart / That even amid the darkness on this long, hilly road / I feel I can become a new me / Able to make my way through / So that each of us, walking our individual moments, can keep on smiling / So that we can keep moving forward, exploring the meaning of life together / I’ll call out a name / Your name / So that you can remain who you are /

Technically, lyrically it’s the entirety of the song, but I will not write down all of it lmao And it’s the Atsushi and Dazai parallels here again. It’s not just the ending with the animation that shows it for me, but the lyrics reflect both of them in them as well. I absolutely loved this ending. I never ship characters as I do not care about that, but I really love these two (separately)~ (What they mean for each other aka what they might mean for each other in the future [peace of mind/finding worth for Atsushi, and a reason to live for Dazai, etc.], how they’re already helping each other [Dazai helping Atsushi with feeling worthless, and Dazai finding a bit of piece of mind], etc. etc. etc.) I haven’t loved 2 characters in an anime as much as this in quite a long time (The last time was Kougami and Akane in Psycho Pass) as I find making up characters as complex as them and make them fit together as well as them/make them complement each other/balance each other out is actually pretty hard to do really well.

Making up this list took waaaaay longer than it should’ve. (I did not include Katai because I couldn’t think of a single song for him, sorry.)

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bemused-writer · 4 years

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Game!Hector VS Show!Hector + Some Story Predictions

Originally, this post was going to be about my thoughts on the Castlevania series more generally, but then I had too many thoughts about several characters, so this post just turned into a look at Hector, who I personally find pretty interesting.

His character also demonstrates some of the more obvious changes the show has made and I can attest that people have Opinions about Hector in particular, so I kind of want to talk about the character for a bit.

First, a visual comparison:

Visually speaking, not much has changed. He has gray/silver hair and his outfit is much the same, though some of the more dramatic bits from the game are toned down (most notably the shoes, though you can't make that out here). His skin tone is a little darker in the show, possibly to make his Greek heritage a bit more obvious.

His backstory is... kind of changed. To be honest, the game did not care about backstory. XD I know they had a tie-in manga for the game, but I'm not going to be bringing that into this because I've never read it. This is going to strictly compare what we know from the game compared to what we know in the show, mostly to keep things simple for myself.

So, Hector's background in the game is very simple: he betrayed Dracula after he started killing humans (unclear if the killing of humans was the actual problem or just how he was going about it), left him, renounced his devil forging as evil, married a woman named Rosaly, and then set out to avenge her death after she was burned at the stake for being a witch.

His backstory in the show is quite a bit more detailed, but tonally quite different. He was often isolated as a child for being considered a freak for his ability to raise dead animals (his devil forging), which he kept as pets. His own parents despised him, and at some point he burned his house down with them inside. In other words, he murdered his parents. At some point he met Dracula and the strike up a bond and later joins him to "cull" the humans who have always mistreated him. He very specifically wants it to be a cull and not a genocide; he thinks with a manageable population, people will be ... better? I guess? Anyway, Dracula lies, says sure that's what we'll do, and he joins him. He does not have a wife (this is before he would have met her anyway), and therefore vengeance isn't a plot point.

Part of the problem in comparing this is that these two Hectors are set in different points of time. Game!Hector has already betrayed Dracula and moved on with his life. Show!Hector has just joined him on his crusade.

His personality is where we can see the bulk of the rewrite, however. Game!Hector was a no nonsense, take charge kind of guy that alternated righteous fury and outright bullheadedness with aristocratic manners and gentlemanly behavior. It was simply fantastic. He knew what his goal was (avenge his wife), pursued it (killed Dracula) and then called it a day. Perfect. Maybe not a ton of nuance (but when has there ever been in this franchise?), but definitely satisfying to witness. The man has mastered pretty much every weapon you could possibly hope for, can summon innocent devils through forging, and is basically an all around powerhouse.

Show!Hector is ... not like that. At all. He has a much softer personality and a lot more quiet sorrow about him. Game!Hector was not soft and he definitely wasn't quiet or especially sorrowful despite having just lost his wife. Game!Hector was also a lot more abrasive when angry and almost stiffly cordial when he wasn't. Show!Hector actually has a sense of humor, is quieter, and actively dislikes debate.

As for fighting, show!Hector hasn't displayed his martial skill of yet, so I can't say whether he's any good at it. He uses a hammer for forging night creatures, which could be dangerous, but mostly feels practical. Basically, game!Hector feels like a warrior that cross-classed with a summoner while show!Hector feels like a full-fledged necromancer.

But probably the biggest change in personality, and the one that I think has caused the biggest rift in whether people like show!Hector or not, is that game!Hector had an absurdly strong will and was never placed in a position that made him look weak. Show!Hector has beliefs, but he's hardly flinging himself into the fray to defend them. He has been constantly manipulated and, as of season three, psychologically tortured, has developed Stockholm syndrome, and is basically going to have a lot more to work through than game!Hector ever did in terms of plot.

To put it succinctly: game!Hector was allowed way more agency while show!Hector has yet to break free of the very literal chains that bind him. Game!Hector purposefully joined Dracula, purposefully betrayed him, and purposefully chose everything else in his life. Show!Hector was manipulated by Dracula into joining his crusade under false pretenses, was manipulated by Carmilla into betraying Dracula, was kidnapped, imprisoned, manipulated by Lenore into trusting her, and is now her slave to boot thanks to a magic ring slipped on his finger during an intimate moment.

So, what with all these changes, will show!Hector ever display the backbone we're more adjusted to seeing from game!Hector? First of all, I think it's a little unfair to say he hasn't shown any. No, it hasn't been that overt, take charge attitude from the game, but show!Hector has not meekly bowed to the horrors inflicted upon him. He has survived everything that's been tossed at him.

But, if we really are just talking about when we're going to see a Hector that wipes out his enemies without a single doubt and has the resources to pull it off, well, my guess is not until season 5 at the earliest. His story arc has been pretty whumptastic as you can see. To be honest, I do feel like Hector's plot has probably had too much whump. He's basically being psychologically tortured nonstop as of season 3 and, yeah, it's probably good to point out he's not exactly a "good guy." Lest we forget, he was perfectly all right with wiping out a significant portion of mankind, but his current circumstances are just degrading and certainly aren't designed to deliver justice.

But why do I think we might see him regain his agency in season 5 as opposed to the upcoming season 4? Well, he's been made a slave of Lenore, very literally through magic, so it's unlikely he can do anything to break that of his own free will. Most likely, Isaac will storm the castle and break him out, not out of the kindness of his heart, but because he wants to kill him. However, this isn't the version of Hector he'll want to fight. A battered, broken man? There's no honor in such a fight. And that right there gives us a portion of the game's plot: Isaac wants Hector to regain all of his strength so they can have an epic battle.

Still, things are much changed. Isaac was once a slave himself in this version, and I can't help but wonder if Hector's circumstances might ring more with him in the show than they ever did in the game. I doubt they would become "friends" exactly, but perhaps a new level of understanding could be gained.

There's also the Lenore angle to consider. As I mentioned before, this version of Hector isn't married, but could his attachment to Lenore remain despite her abuse? Could Lenore end up loving him as well? And if Isaac is the one that kills her, could this be what spurs on that craving for revenge that Hector had in the game?

If so, I have mixed feelings on it. I don't believe Lenore can love Hector after what she's done to him. It would be the height of hypocrisy, but, well, she's not a good person, so that probably won't factor into things. For Hector's sake, I hope he doesn't continue to harbor any goodwill towards her. Continuing to genuinely care about her would be catastrophic. But, pretending to be under her sway? After she's already convinced he can't do a thing against her? That could be interesting because it would reverse their roles. Some possibilities there.

Regarding Hector's potential romances, it's interesting (in, you know, a disturbing way) that Hector's intimate scene with Lenore is set side-by-side with Alucard's scene with Taka and Sumi. Both of these scenes ended phenomenally badly. What is initially seen as an attempt at comfort by both Hector and Alucard turns into an incredible betrayal: Lenore turns Hector into a slave while Sumi and Taka attempt to kill Alucard for "withholding" information.

It also shows that, oddly enough, these two are in similar predicaments despite having never met. They both long for intimacy (not necessarily sexual) and for understanding, acceptance, but they never receive it. The fact that these mutual traumas are portrayed at the same time makes me wonder if these two might eventually meet and find comfort in each other, either platonic or romantic. It would certainly be dramatic; they both had ties to Dracula, were on opposite sides of the war, yet harbor basic similarities. Hector seems to long for some peace and quiet; Alucard's abode definitely has that. Alucard probably also wouldn't mind a bunch of undead pets, so... shrug

One thing I am convinced of, though, is that at some point Hector is going to have his comeuppance, one way or another. It would be incredibly disappointing if he goes through all of this and still loses in the end. That would quite the disservice to the character and, in my opinion, uninteresting. It seems much more likely we will see more of his suffering, but also how he will slowly turn it around until he has an advantage of some kind.

Also, with this comparison of the character, I suppose it would make sense to finish off with how I feel about the character. I already noted that I like game!Hector, but in truth I actually really like show!Hector as well. Yes, he's much changed, but he also has a level of depth the game didn't permit. He's sympathetic despite being on the side of evil (which is how I feel about Isaac as well, though for very different reasons). I wish his story hadn't involved so much humiliation, but that doesn't prevent me from liking the character, In fact, I think he's handled his circumstances with a remarkable amount of poise and grace all things considered. It's interesting, and I absolutely must know how he's developed further.

#castlevania #bemused's post #long post

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recentanimenews · 4 years

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FEATURE: How Much Has Kazuya Spent On Dates So Far?

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and for college student Kinoshita Kazuya, those desperate measures included stumbling onto a rental dating service app and booking a "date" with a rental girlfriend after being dumped by his lady love and left heartbroken. One thing eventually leads to another and Kazuya constantly finds himself lying to his friends and family about having a sweetheart, but when in actuality, Chizuru Mizuhara is just a rental girlfriend. Not only has Kazuya's lie become chaotic and way out of control, but it's also become an EXPENSIVE lie to keep up with. Chizuru has to maintain her job's reputation and professionalism, and although she's doing Kazuya a solid, those dates aren't free. Let's check out just how much Kazuya is burning a hole in his pocket.

In Episode 1 "Rent-a-Girlfriend," Kazuya is so heartbroken from being dumped, he decides to book a date with a rental girlfriend. According to the app, the base fee per hour is 5,000 yen, roughly $48, but we don't get much more information about any other fees at that point. On their first date, Kazuya and Chizuru go to a cafe and aquarium, and it's at the cafe Chizuru requests payment and we see Kazuya hand Chizuru four 10,000 yen bills which roughly equals $383. The date goes on and seems to be going well until Kazuya reads Chizuru's reviews and realizes his date wasn't so special.

Kazuya decides to book a second date out of spite. While Kazuya pays Chizuru upfront like the previous date, we don't really see just how much Kazuya is paying this time around, but seeing as both dates are essentially the same, taking place at the same cafe and aquarium, I'd reasonably think Kazuya spent about the same amount of money, $383 for his second date as well.

In Episode 2 "Ex-Girlfriend and Girlfriend," Kazuya's grandmother wants him and Chizuru to visit her at the hospital weekly. Because Kazuya isn't ready to reveal the secret just yet, he and Chizuru come to an agreement that Kazuya can rent Chizuru for one hour every week. As they get ready to go on their first scheduled "date," Chizuru hits Kazuya with a 12,000 yen bill plus taxes, which just about equals $115. The receipt also offers some insight into how the service fees are broken down. For this date, in particular, Kazuya is paying the base fee which is the hourly fee of 5,000 yen (about $48). Kazuya is also charged a 2,000 yen (about $19) transportation fee, and a 5,000 yen (about $48) choice fee, also known as a nomination or selection fee. The choice fee is charged when clients want to select a specific "girlfriend" to go out with.

This next date was going well and just about wrapping up when Kazuya and Chizuru run into Kazuya's friends Kibe and Kuribayashi. In a panic, Kazuya introduces Chizuru as his girlfriend, and in order to keep his secret under wraps, Chizuru continues on with the date business as usual. This little panic move came at a cost though, and Kazuya ended up paying 17,000 yen, or roughly $163 in extension fees. Yikes!

By Episode 4 "Friend and Girlfriend," keeping up this fake girlfriend charade was really starting to take a toll on Kazuya, both mentally and financially, but what better way to take his mind off of the whole situation than going to the beach with his friends? The day was going great until Kazuya runs into Chizuru — who was disguising herself as her college persona, Ichinose — and after a close run-in with Mami almost discovering Chizuru's alter ego, Kazuya now finds himself at the beach with his "girlfriend." This date was completely unscheduled, but as I previously said, desperate times call for desperate measures, and 25,000 yen or roughly $240 later as calculated by Kazuya, he was able to keep his secret safe.

By Episode 6, "Girlfriend and Girlfriend," Kazuya has already attempted to try and set the record straight and "break up" with Chizuru so they could both move on. But of course, the situation was never that easy, and Kazuya and Chizuru make an arrangement where they can keep pretend dating so long as Kazuya adheres to some rules ... which include payment.

After reintroducing their relationship to Kazuya's friends, Kazuya receives a bill for 17,900 yen or just about $172 plus taxes. This bill was broken down as 5,000 yen (about $48) for 2 hours, a 5,000 yen (about $48) choice fee, a 2,000 yen (about $19) transportation fee, and a 900 yen (about $9) food and beverage charge. The 900 yen food and beverage charge is something to make note of since in addition to all the standard service fees, the client also pays for everything while on the date ... everything! Those additional expenditures aren't included in the service price and so, depending on the date, that can add up really quickly.

It's not long after Kazuya and Chizuru re-establish their "relationship" that they already find themselves scheduling their next date. After Kazuya and Chizuru run into Kazuya's friend Kuribayashi, they find themselves preparing their sports gear as Kuribayashi sets up a double date with them and his girlfriend, Ruka to go bouldering. The cost of this date is not exactly clear. The date itself seemed fairly average with no crazy transportation fees or extended hours, so I don't think it was one of the more expensive bills Kazuya picked up, but again, it's difficult to confirm just how much this date set him back.

It may be the New Year by Episode 9 "Lies and Girlfriend," but there's nothing new when it comes to Kazuya and Chizuru's "relationship." This episode starts off with Kazuya and Chizuru on a casual cafe date, and like the double date with Kuri and Ruka, the price of this date is not clearly stated. Because this is a cafe date, I was able to compare this date with the previously established 17,900 yen or $172 cafe date. Seeing as Chizuru was drinking coffee, it felt reasonable to include the 900 yen (about $9) food and beverage fee in the total. Later on, Kazuya's family sets up a trip to visit a shrine and eat dinner for the New Year. In order to keep up with the image, Chizuru agrees to accompany Kazuya on the trip. Again, like the bouldering date and the previously mentioned cafe outing, the official cost of this trip isn't really known. However, Kazuya does mention this trip would be about half of a day. I can only assume the price would be much higher seeing as the date extends multiple hours and there could be some extra charges for food and shrine souvenirs.

The money's starting to add up and with Kazuya only having so much cash to start with, he needed to find a job if he wanted to keep this scam going. In Episode 10 "Friend's Girlfriend," Kazuya receives his first paycheck. Based on the manga, Kazuya was left with 40,000 yen (about $383) after paying all the bills. So how does Kazuya choose to spend the rest of that sweet, sweet paper? Well, scheduling a "date" with Chizuru is definitely on the table, but after seeing how badly his friend Kuribayashi is feeling after being ousted by Ruka revealing he rented her, Kazuya decides to share his own secret with Kuri by setting him up on a date with Chizuru. Considering Kazuya was wondering what to spend the rest of his paycheck on, and the fact Kazuya set up the date at an amusement park, which requires ticket costs among other things, it makes sense the whole 40,000 yen which equals just about $383 would be spent. So how much money has Kazuya spent to keep up this rouse exactly? Based on what the anime shows us, I could plausibly conclude Kazuya spent a little more than $2,000 on all these dates. But this total really only sums up the standard service fees from the dates we see, not really any of the extra expenses that come while on the date. When you take into account all of the taxes, all the extra costs spent on whatever activities the date called for, and the fact Chizuru has been playing the role of Kazuya's girlfriend for about a year as we found out in Episode 12 "Confession and Girlfriend," the actual amount must be SO much more!

How much money do you think Kazuya has spent so far? Let us know in the comments!

Pro hero Veronica Valencia is an anime-loving hot sauce enthusiast! You can follow more of her work as a host, writer, and producer on Twitter and Instagram.

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Veronica Valencia

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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onepdumpsterfire · 5 years

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Disclaimer: These stories are based ‘loosely’ on the game Obey me shall we date. The major stuff will be the same, but here and there the story will be changed or embellished. It is just an AU and I do not own the game the characters, from both One Piece or Obey Me, nor do I own One Piece in general. It would be cool though…

Warning: The characters will mostly be ooc and for the most part will not have the same background as in the anime/manga. The reader’s age will be above consent; the exact number is up to you.

Seven Heavenly Virtues

Devildom!AU

(pt9/?)

Various Characters X Reader

The boys were homesick. Three days away and more than a hundred human lifetimes in the house of lamentation goes down the drain. They all moaned their loss as soon as they walked in through the door. Imploring the unknown future to let them rest in their safe haven.

Gathering in the kitchen, the first thing they did was prepare a nice lunch, having left before they could eat anything. Inviting you to join in with them, you all laughed and played in the newly finished kitchen that none of you have yet to test out. Reminiscing on your stay in the palace. Poking fun at the small fights and the constant visits to the underground labyrinth. Law sniveled over his lost pet while Sanji proudly pronounced the new pact he’d made.

All throughout the meal, the chatter continued. Even as it ended and the table was cleared, the conversation didn’t end. It just moved on to the living room, all sitting around each other to better listen. The stories didn’t stop at the retreat. Bringing up past stories, and mementos that they’ve all kept. Your shenanigans with the siblings being a popular topic of conversation. Sabo leading the cheerful atmosphere to a more subdued one.

“Y/n, you’ve already made pacts with four of my brothers, what’s your end goal?” He didn’t beat around the bush. He needed to know the truth and so did his brothers. All of them deserved to know.

“A-ah well you see…” There was a pressure in the room that was palpable, different from when the demon brothers showed their true forms. It wasn’t suffocating, so to say, but it was dizzying having to think of a lie. You were doing this for Zoro, so he could make up with Sabo. At first, when you first told him you’d do it, it was because you pitied him. He seemed so desolate. Then you got closer to the brothers. There was this undeniably human urge to help them. You wanted to make their family whole like it was before the war. Before the protest. Before the heartbreak of losing someone they loved. It was a human cliche to want to fix a broken person, but this was more than one single person. It was a whole family being held together by lies and deceit. They were grief-stricken. Grasping at whatever they could so that their last remaining strands of normalcy stayed. It wasn’t a lie you wanted to help them all. It wasn’t just for Zoro anymore. So you told the truth, for the first time. Albeit, leaving out a few details.

“I’ve seen how well you all seem to get along… but there’s this underlying… how should I put this…” You put a balled hand up to your chin, thinking of a way to say this without being rude. “I don’t mean to step out of line…. But you all seem sad. There are times where you all seclude yourselves and I don’t know.” You ran your hand through your hair. Looking anywhere but them, you distracted yourself from the embarrassing statement. “Maybe it’s because I’m human, but I want to see you all get along.” The brothers were confused, they thought they had been getting along. Sure they had their sad days, but who didn’t? “I know that you guys have your times when you do, but there are other times when you all can barely hang out together?” you knew how this was sounding. You didn’t mean it like that! Waving your hands in front of you, you tried to fix your mistake. “I-i mean there’s just a coldness in the room… I uh….” Blood rushed to your face, you were making a fool of yourself. You should just wrap it up. “I just wanna see you guys hang out comfortably all the time because even if you don’t I see you all as friends!” Your face was hot, and your hands shook. It was embarrassing to admit this, but you needed to say something. “Oh Y/n, I love how much you care for us!” Sanji swooned over to you, taking your hand in his, he leaned in close. Dropping his voice lower, he murmured in your ear, “and It’s so cute how flustered you got.”

Law and Luffy thanked you for looking out for their family while Kid fought with Sanji. He wanted him to let go of you, but the other didn’t relent. You all lost yourselves in your own little bubble; maybe if you had paid more attention you would have noticed the suspicious look Sabo sent you. He was skeptical of your intentions. He believed you wanted to help. He just didn’t think that what you said was the whole truth. Ace noticed it too. He might be tempestuous and distant, but he was also smart. He too knew you were hiding something. And he knew how much it irked Sabo to not know the full truth. Ace liked to irritate Sabo, and if you were hell-bent on getting them to grow closer. The answer was one in the same. Out of the spite he had, he’d make an offer. One you couldn’t refuse.

“Y/n.” You pulled away from Kid and Sanji who were still grumbling about not letting the other lay a hand on you. “Yeah?”

“You’ll need my pact too, right? I’m willing.” He seemed smug. He knew how mad Sabo would get if he offered himself without a thought. They argued back and forth, about how he wasn’t doing this because he wanted to make a pact. Ace was doing it because he liked to rile him up. Back and forth they went. It was close to physical at some point, but the others separated them. Telling them to go to their rooms to cool off.

There it was again. A constricting force in the room. Ace and Sabo fought all the time, usually it was yelling. If it leads to anything more physical one of the brothers would tell them to go to their corners. It made you wonder what could have happened to turn their relationship so sour. Right now wasn’t a good time, you’ll wait for later that night and ask one of the brothers you had a pact with. Kid or Law, they were the most likely to give out information.

After everyone left for their rooms for the night you felt it safe to poke at the conflict the two brothers seemed to share. You texted the group chat you had with Kid and Law, asking if they could provide some answers or if it would be best to speak to Ace in person. They both spammed you with messages saying that you shouldn’t bring it up to him, ESPECIALLY not in person. Law offered to fill you in on what happened at the cost that you come over. It was a small risk, but a risk nonetheless. Sabo didn’t like you wandering around late at night. Though you wanted to know the truth more than you feared the reprimand you would get if you were caught. So you went over with Kid tagging along. Obviously he would, for ‘help with the storytelling,’ as he put it.

Law’s room hadn’t changed since the last time you were here. Papers were still strewn around on his desk; comic books and books alike were still piled high on the coffee table, the floor, his bed, any surface really. His beloved series is still center stage in this whole mess. It was probably the only thing that looked like it wasn’t in disarray, Law included. He had dark bags under his eyes and seemed to only change between the same three outfits. Always adorning it with his beloved long coat.

“Can’t believe you live in this mess.” It looks like Sabo wasn’t the only one scolding Law for the state of his room. Kid pushed books off of Law’s bed to make way for himself, all the while continuing to grumble about the mess. “At least it’s not a scrap pile like yours.” Angrily, Law collected the books from the floor and stacked them in a pile by the bed. “I have them organized! And I use them, unlike you who reads the book once and never picks it up again.” Kid grabbed a book of the pile next to him, “I mean, come on. Med books? Who’d read these in the first place!” Kid tossed it back onto the floor. “I read them! And study them! If you’ve forgotten I’m a licensed surgeon.”

“Surgeon my ass. The only reason that you’re allowed to do any of your sadistic testings on people is that the people at the hospitals are too afraid to tell you to fuck off!” sparks were flying between the both of them, you needed to end this now. “Will you both stop! Two brothers fighting in one night is enough!” Law turns to you, still simmering in the heat of the moment, “Is that an order, master? Gonna keep telling us what to do?” How could he think that! You would never abuse your power over them. “No, it’s not. But the fighting is getting us nowhere.” The tension in the room is thick, both of them not wanting to let the other have the last word. It soon dissipated as Law decided it was time to get the point of this meeting. “Well… about why Ace hates Sabo. He doesn’t really hate him per se.” Law kept his eye on Kid, who continued to move his things around. “How should I put this… the more alike two people are the more they hate each other?” Kid scoffed, “why don’t you start from the beginning. You’re just gonna confuse her.”

Law crossed his arms, “if you’re so great at telling stories, why don’t you?” Still fighting, really? “Fine, I will. Sit down pee-squeak, I’ll try to make it short.” he patted the spot next to him. Making himself right at home, isn’t he. “You know what we are, right? The seven deadly sins,” He answers his own question, classy. “We only became that after we started to revolt against our father, god”

“Before we became that we were the seven heavenly virtues. Chastity, abstinence, liberality, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility.” Law noticed Kid settling down, deciding that he wasn’t gonna move anymore of his stuff, he sat at his desk. “Ace was the first of us to fully change,” Law continued the story from his new spot, “the civil war in Heaven fueled his anger. It was like a punishment from falling from Heaven. Straying from the path of righteousness,”

“Ace was all rage and frustration when we first got here.”Kid breathed out heavily from beside you. He remembered the bout of anger his brother had. It wasn’t easy to see one’s own family be consumed by such an emotion. There was the hate for the war and towards his brothers. Hate towards himself. Ace couldn’t help it, he was just so angry all the time now. They all had to go through that with him. “We had to keep reassuring him. Teaching him how to cope.” Law rubbed at his face, insomnia finally letting his shoulder droop in tiredness. “Sabo doted on him. He felt guilty for making us fall out of grace.”

“But it wasn’t his fault,” Kid interjected, “we CHOSE to follow. We saw how corrupted it was getting in Heaven too.” you’ve heard from Luffy that it was, but just what was it that made Heaven corrupted? “If you don’t mind me asking, how was it corrupted?”

“That’s a whole other story, sweetheart.” Law said, “short version, there was gonna be a war between Heaven and Hell. Demons were amassing an army, but it’s so hard to be good these days.” Law’s eyes widen as he raises his hands, feigning shock. “Heaven didn’t have many soldiers so they had to get some.”

“A war between Heaven and Hell?”

“Yes, that was with the old king, but rules around here are different. If you can defeat the king you get to rule.” That’s why Shanks is in office right now… erm palace. That also explains why after all this time and fighting, Hell wanted the three realms to get along.

“Ahem,” Kid clears his throat, “back to the story, Sabo doted on Ace. They got close for a while, but soon after we found out Sabo swore his loyalty to Shanks.” Law followed him up, “It wasn’t just that he swore his loyalty to brand new king. It was that he tried to hide it.” That must have made Ace feel betrayed. His loyalty to his father was terminated in such a disastrous way. He wouldn’t have wanted to pledge his loyalty so soon, nor would he have wanted his brothers too. After Ace and Sabo had gotten close, to have the newfound avatar of pride throw his dignity away and swear his loyalty. It must have been a hard blow. One that must have broken Ace’s trust even more. Cracking their bond as brothers. Sabo didn’t just put his pride away for this, he put doubt in the strength the brothers held. This thought must have festered until Ace just found himself hating Sabo.

*Author’s note: I changed how wrath got was birthed or whatever to this to go into more depth. (In truth I forgot about the circumstances of his birth so I decided to just roll with this.) (Later I did find out but decided to keep it this way.) Also, I changed the scene to only envy and avarice because too many characters in one scene make me stressed out.😓*

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i-prefer-the-term-antihero · 5 years

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Your favourite Pandora Hearts character and why? Mine is Jack, because he’s interesting.

(AHHHHH I took forever to respond to you, I’m so so very sorry!! ...Actually it was partially because I really loved your question or took me so long to answer…Also I uh, wanted to take the time to edit my message and explain this concisely…and I failed)

Thank you so very much for you question anon!! I don’t get a lot of asks so it made me overjoyed to get one.

My favorite ph character is Break!! Actually he’s become my all-time-favorite character!!

As for why, well…I don’t think you were looking for a long response, but I’m a very longwinded person so I couldn’t help it…sorry in advance for all the detail XD

There are far too many reasons I could go into for why I like him, but I think probably the main one is that he is a very specific type of redemptive villain that is difficult to find in most stories.

If you’ve read my blog description you know I like villainous characters with redemptive qualities. I find them much more relatable and interesting than main characters who find being selfless and good easy. Plus I’m here for the angst. I especially like when I myself find these characters creepy or unlikable at first and learn to love them later—(which, because I’m prone to look for the good in villains, is tough to do)—because it means my enjoyment and love for the character in the end feels more real (ie it wasn’t just because I found them attractive, or read into something what wasn’t really there).

One of the many reasons I love Pandora Hearts is that it is littered with these types of characters. These types of characters are difficult to write, so most authors only have one or two in their stories, and often even those who do try to write these characters are unable to do so well. But Mochizuki has written more than I’ve ever seen one author write. Not only that, they are all unique and not just carbon copies of each other, and they are all well written, interesting, unique, and relatable. (I mean, even the main characters in her stories struggle with good and evil, and it makes them interesting and likable too).

Break is a specific brand of this character category that I’ve never seen before or since. He’s almost like the reverse: a redeemed person with villainous qualities. He’s...the next step.

See Kevin is your usual character in this category: he’s killed a bunch of people (villain) but he did it to save his family (redemptive quality). He was very easy for me to like.

But Break is different. I haaated Break when I first started watching the anime (before I read the manga). He was creepy, he was manipulative, he was condescending, and he didn’t seem to care about anyone but himself. Learning about Kevin began to change my heart, but it was what he says in the carriage ride home from the opera house that made me fall in love with him. How all the jokes, the teasing, the condescension was stripped away in that moment, and he was completely honest and vulnerable with them, revealing his true character.

He basically explained then...what’s the next step? What happens if and when a redemptive villain like Kevin gets what they want? Will it be the redemption they hope for?

Seeing a villain get what they want, what they think will redeem them...but finding that it isn’t what they want at all, nor a redemption for them…seeing how that completely dismantles everything they knew…everything they are, seeing them change, seeing them learn to live with the villainous things they did, to try to make up for those things, and find redemption in other ways, thereafter...that’s powerful. And that’s real.

The ways in which Break is villainous are realistic. I haven’t met any murderers (to my knowledge...), nor have I killed anyone, but I have met people who are condescending and manipulative, and I have been condescending and manipulative myself. Kevin is easier to like because his brand of villainy is removed from what feels real to me. And Break is easier to hate when you don’t know him because his villainy is the kind we all face on a daily basis.

But that also means that his redemptive qualities are the ones we face on a daily basis too. I haven’t killed anyone to save my family, nor have I met anyone that’s done so, but I have done things I regret, and that I want some sort of penance for. I have thought certain things would “save” me, in a way, and found it wasn’t what I thought it would be for me at all. I have had suicidal thoughts (“so...you want to die?”) and I have tried to do things myself without asking for help when I really should have relied on my friends…and the list goes on.

Everyone is both a hero and a villain inside, but our villainy and heroism is much subtler. It’s hard to get this right within a story. It’s easy to just paint a fictional world in black and white, and have good win, and not really work at the characters and story until you can see why the villains think they’re right, and how the heroes can be wrong. But I am so happy Mochizuki painted her world in grey; that no one is fully a villain or fully a hero, there’re all very human.

As a fantasy lover and writer I’m always trying to thread the line of how far fantasy should go, and where reality should seep in. There are fantasy stories in which you lose touch with reality so much it feels almost soulless. But I still want to travel to fantastical worlds and fight demons and dragons with heroes. To me Mochizuki hits the nail on the head. She definitely takes me to worlds that are delightfully fantastical, and builds her world so well, with its own quirks, and rules, demons and gods, but her characters, and the messages they provide us with are so real.

Break is a prime example of this. He can be the worst of villains and the best of heroes. And the messages that surround him (”You’re much much stronger than you think you are” ”no, you simply want to save yourself” “we can never know what would have happened” etc.) are so real I often think about in everyday life.

Despite being young I am often more drawn to adult characters than kids/teens. Which means I am often very fond of mentor characters. But one of the ways in which these characters fall short is that most of the time their character arc is kind of over; they don’t really grow, learn, or need advice throughout the story. They simply give it. They probably did some bad things in their past but they’ve learned from it and they’re done now. And that’s great!! But is isn’t as interesting or relatable as someone who is still struggling themselves.

Break is a very rare type of mentor character. So much so that I don’t think a lot of people would even call him a mentor character. But he does mentor Oz. And he does give advice. But unlike most of these types of characters he isn’t just done, just a good person now. He’s a hero in his own way, but he’s still very much messed up, and he needs to take others advice as much as he can give it—just like us in real life. In fact, one of the most wonderful pieces of advice he gets is from the very person he mentors, which is absolutely amazing, and rare within this type of relationship.

Like I said, there’s a lot more I could say, expanding on these ideas, I could go on about other things like how fun and funny he is…but I’ve said too much as it is XD In the end he’s just this very unique type of character you don’t get to see very often.

And, I won’t go as in-depth on this, but since you mentioned him, my second favorite character is Jack!! I also find him very interesting.

He’s another unique villain-with-redemptive qualities. There aren’t many characters who almost every word out of their mouth for half the series is a lie, or twisted truth, who aren’t completely hateable.

The moment you learn he lied you also get to learn his backstory, and why he lied, and why he thought what he was doing was right, how broken he is too.

I just love that twist. I’m usually good at predicting things, and earlier in the series I even thought “wouldn’t it be crazy if Jack was the villain?” and then I was like “Nahh he’s too sweet.” But then he was!! It was so unexpected and cool that he was the antagonist after all.

Again, that goes back into what I was saying earlier. In a lot of series the way Jack and Glen are painted in the first half would be all there was to it; there’s a wonderful hero and a terrible villain, nothing more. Or, if there was the twist, it would then be the opposite, that who you thought was the terrible villain is the wonderful hero and vice versa, and again, that’s all. But then when the truth comes out you find that they are neither, that they are both people. And they’ve done heroic things and they’ve done villainous things, and they will continue to do both as the series goes on, but that does make either of them completely good or completely bad.

In a weird way I think Jack is the best of all these different worlds. At the beginning of the series I was like “he’s like a sweet little puppy I love him so much” and at the middle I was like “ahh he’s so evil I love him so much” and by the end I was like “aww he’s so broken I love him so much” XD He has all those qualities within him, that sweetness is still a part of himself and his personality, he did do some genuinely villainous things, and he is very broken.

Again, I’ll stop there for now XD

Thanks again!! And again, feel free to direct message me!!

Can I also turn this into a tag game? @song-of-amethyst, @maddyisenough, @sanhatipal, @nozominohana, @emily-cheshire, @the-twisted-otaku, @tabinotochuu...and @ anyone else who sees this post and would like to engage, Who are your favorite ph characters and can I get your longwinded explanations for why you love them?

#pandora hearts #pandora hearts fandom #xerxes break #jack vessalius #antihero asks #ph #ph fandom #favorite characters #favorite ph characters #favorite pandora hearts characters #tag game #anonymous ask #friends

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bramble-rose · 5 years

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Fruits Basket and ‘problematic topics’

Okay … so this is going to be long and messy and lately I am starting to write some long text-posts about the stuff I like here on tumblr what I maybe shouldn‘t do … but since no one of my friends really cares for the things I like and since those thoughts kept pounding in my head I thought the best would be to write them down. So… warning… Spoilers for Fruits Basket (Manga, New/old Anime) ahead. And Warning this will contain some sensitive topics as well. And to warn you for the last time: I am no english native speeker. As for that.

So listen ... since one of my favorite animes of all time (Fruits Basket) got it‘s remake I am more than happy to see the new content popping up everywhere. What I don‘t like are some of the interpretations for some story parts.

Furuba isn‘t perfect and has a lot of flaws. The series is about 15 years old right now and things have changed. But what I want to adress is the issue about Furuba containing abusive and pedophile relationships which are romanticized and seen as okay.

I have to say. No. That is not the case and here is why I think this way.

The characters I want to talk about are mainly Akito and Shigure and Kyoko and Katsuya.

Yes. Furuba contains abusive relationships. But those are part of the story and not absolutly positive.

Looking at Akito and Shigure their relationship is very complicated and part of the discussion I mentioned above. When Shigure was very young he had a dream about Akito. The one person he would love. It was kind of a prophecy. A future vision. He sees the one person he is suppoused to be with. The one and only person for him. The dream was about an adult Akito - who was born 9 month later. So Shigure is about 6 years older as Akito and he clung to this dream and the feelings he conects with this: LOVE.

Even after the curse is broken he stayed with Akito. That was his main goal in the whole story. He wanted the curse to break to be with Akito. Not with some child. With the future Akito he saw in his dream. The real Akito, not the one obsessed with the curse (and her dead father).

Shigure is depicted as a typical ‚pervy character‘. An anime trope I don‘t really like but it is used often in anime and is for comedy. It seems japanese people tend to find this stuff funny. I don‘t really like this but I never thought anything about this since I have seen this so often. The pervy old men. Well… Shigure is 26. ‚Old‘ is really a relative vague term in this case but stil his character is used for this. Like Ayame and Mine later.

That his and Akitos relationship is kinda problematic for some people lies in the fact that Shigure is older and clung to his dream – while Akito was stil younger than him. That she will always be younger than him and that Shigure never did anything to her or did anything that would sexualize her (until she is over 21!) is never mentioned by anyone.

A lot of people mention the flower flashback where an 16 year old Shigure gave 10 year old Akito a flower, after she asked him, if he would love her. Shigure told her (depending on the translation) that he has and will always love her and that she is everything he cares about. He gave her a platonic kiss on her cheek and smiles at her with affection. Nothing more.

Yes Shigure was stil 6 years older at this time and Akito was about 10. But consider the story and Shigures futuristic prophecy dream … does this makes him a pedophile?

I don‘t think so - because a pedophile is a person who is sexually attracted to young children and minors. Shigure is not sexually attracted to young children even if he is used for this pervert trope. He is not sexually attracted to the 10 year old Akito. In the flower scene all I saw was affection and, yes, love. But platonic love. People need to learn to understand the difference between love and sex. And romantic, sexual and platonic love. Those feelings can develop and change - but you need to read a story in its context.

Is Shigure a pervert. Yes. Does he like to look at highschool girls – for the sake of the comedy, yes. Is he a pedophile. Fuck no.

Is his and Akitos relationship stil problematic? Hell yes. Because they both love each other to the point where they hurt and manipulate each other. This is not romanticized in the stroy. The have romantic moments, yes, but most of the time the relationship between those two is shown to be everything but perfect or healthy. In the end they come together but they have to work on their relationship. That is how I see this two.

Now to Katsuya and Kyoko.

Again people say Katsuya is a pedophile for marrying a (15?) 17 years old girl.

But again, as for Shigure and Akito, their realtionship is not flawless. Katsuya was a student teacher (a trainee teacher) when meeting Kyoko. He did this because his father was a teacher and wanted Katsuya to live up to this. So Katsuya was studying to become a teacher dispite he didn‘t really liked it (and later cancelled his education). When he meet Kyoko he didn‘t start to meet her because she was a young girl or because he was attracted to young girls. As we see in the manga Katsuya was very popular among the highschool girls and some of them had a crush on him. If he truely was a predetor he could have everyone he wanted … but he didn‘t. He found Kyoko intereseting as a person. A young lonly girl with no goals or ambitions. He wanted to help her and fell in love with her. It just happened.

So yes … he is about 8 years older as her. But when he dicided he wanted to marry Kyoko and spend the rest of his life with her, he cancelled his teacher education, went straight up to her parents house and asked her parents for permission to marry their underage daughter! This happend after Kyoko was released from the hospital and her parents wanted to throw her out of the house. Katsuya suddently appeared at the scene and even Kyoko was surprised. That is why I think he decided before he wanted to marry her and that is why he went to her parents home.

Again. A pedophile is a person who is sexually attracted to children. Katsuya married one girl and stayed with her. Had a child with her. Wanted more children with her as they grew older.

Was it good that a lost young girl who never had a real family or someone who cared for her married someone much older and who she was mostly dependend off? Yes. But that‘s all. I see no other problems here. I think the message that was suppoused to be here was: love can hurt but overcomes everything (even age) and can heal everything. Was it executed perfectly. Well … no. Sadly.

Another thing I found really confusing in this context is the topic of age gabs. Especially with american readers. I have read a lot of posts about relationships between minors. For example: He was 17, she was 13/ 14 … 3 year age gap but he is a grown men and a pedophile. Than: 17 year old girl, 20 year old men. 3 years age gab. Now she is a kid, he is a pedophile. And than I read a lot how people are thrown out of their parents homes the second they turn 18 because now they are grown adults. I am a little confused about this double standarts. Of cause the older you get the more you grow as a person and you become an adult sooner or later. But it is really … strange to me. Where is the line? From what moment on are you a stil a child? A Kid? A teen? A young adult? An aduld? This depends on the situation and circumstances and how people want to interpret this. Because …. regarding to this all vampire stories for example from the last years would be about pedophile vampires. Twilight, Vampire Diaries. Buffy.

So in the end: Fruits Basket has relationships with age gaps. Yes. Some of this relationships contain abusive behaivor. Yes. Are those portrait as absolutly positive and romantic? No. Are there parts of those relationships that are problematic? Yes.

Are there any pedophiles in this series? No. Just no.

Maybe people, especially younger people, should educate themself and learn what this term really means. Age gaps =\= pedophilia.

But in the end you will see what you want to see and read what you want to read in a story.

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 5 years

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Psycho Analysis: Lucy

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

It’s not very often you see a series where the villain is the main character, but then again it isn’t very often you see a series quite like Elfen Lied. The series is dark, foreboding, and gory, and a lot of that has to do with its protagonist, the Diclonius woman Lucy. Lucy is one of the most brutally tragic villains you’ll ever see, between her incredibly nightmarish childhood to the constant torment her very nature puts her through as a mutant. It all adds up to a very rich, complex character... though one that ends up not as fully realized as she could have been.

Actor: Kira Vincent-Davis portrayed Lucy in one of her star-making roles. The other? Osaka from Azumanga Daioh. She definitely delivers an excellent performance here, and it is easy to see how she managed to get such a varied career out of this. She knows just how to inject the right emotions into Lucy’s voice, and when Lucy is in her Nyuu personality she manages to fill the latter’s Pokemon speak with enough character that you get what she’s going for.

Motivation/Goals: Lucy is a Diclonius, and as such she has internal homicidal instincts that make her desire to slaughter as many people as humanly possible; coupled with the horns, the name she ends up being given (her true name is Kaede, but she ends up being called Lucy), and the fact she ends up embodying each of the Seven Deadly Sins if you read into her actions, and Lucy ends up a symbolic stand-in for the Antichrist. Of course, as a child, she didn’t really grasp this and in fact actively tried to suppress these feelings, but unfortunately fate decided to deal her a very poor hand.

First was her only source of happiness at the orphanage she grew up in, a puppy. A puppy that her bullies found out about, and in one of the most infamous moments of the series, beat it to death in front of her… and in turn, begin her descent into villainy as she slaughters the entire lot of kids, from her bullies to the girl she had befriended earlier who decided to snitch to the bullies about the puppy.

Second was what she felt was a betrayal at the hands of her only friend, Kouta. After he got her to open up and befriended her, she saw him at the festival with his female cousin and became insanely jealous, thinking he chose another girl over her… and so she went on a killing spree, which culminated in killing Kouta’s father and sister right in front of him.

And finally, her last ray of hope, a human who she had befriended was injured by the people who finally took her into custody… she died of her wounds, but Lucy wasn’t told until after she was imprisoned under the condition that they save her. When she finally gets a chance to escape, her sole motivation seems to be staying near Kouta again and try to find some way to apologize for her heinous actions, though even she realizes she’ll never be able to atone for what she did to him.

This brings about a pretty interesting facet of her goals: she slowly starts to defrost and gain more humanity the more time she and her split personality Nyuu spend with Kouta. It is in fact a major part of the story that she slowly becomes less evil as time goes on and she begins to develop, though by “less evil” I mean to say that at best she is an anti-hero, one who has no qualms about brutally dismembering anyone who dares to harm Kouta or herself.

This also ties into one of the major themes of the series: nature vs. nurture. Obviously, Lucy’s internal genetic desire to wipe out humanity is her inherent nature, but one also needs to look at what drove her to her killings; she was bullied, abused, and faced prejudice, betrayal, and scorn all around her for her entire childhood. Notice how when she’s shown the simplest compassion, she immediately starts to fall for that person and seems to want to do better, before a simple misunderstanding causes her to react in a volatile manner. It may seem over-the-top and disproportianate what she does to Kouta, but this is what her peers and caretakers molded her into: a violent misanthrope who clings desperately to even the tiniest shred of kindness in the world, and when she feels betrayed she lashes out and kills in a fit of rage, giving in to her violent nature. After gaining the amnesia during her escape at the start of the series and gaining her split personality, she is taken in yet again by Kouta and treated as a friend, an equal, and this begins Lucy’s ascent from pure villain protagonist to very, VERY dark anti-hero.

Personality: Lucy is a cold, cynical, and bitter woman due to the numerous tragedies she experienced, but she is no emotionless husk; if there is one thing that is true about Lucy, it is that her capacity for love is one of her greatest strengths and greatest weaknesses. Love is what drove her to kill Kouta’s family out of jealousy, it’s what drove herself to sacrifice herself for Aiko (the girl she befriended before being captured), it’s what drives her the most throughout the series really. Her capacity for love is only even closely rivaled by her capacity for hate.

Final Fate: In the anime, Lucy finally confesses the truth to Kouta, and while he outright says he can never forgive her for what she did, he is at least a little more sympathetic to her plight than he was in the manga, where he outright said he hated her (though he did at least say her split personality Nyuu could stick around as long as she promised not to kill anyone). She then makes a heroic sacrifice against the army who is after her, one which she may or may not have survived. The ending is rather ambiguous, as opposed to that of the manga in which she is really and most sincerely dead after nearly bringing about the apocalypse in a fit of rage.

Best Scene: There are a lot of contenders, but perhaps her finest moment is the scene where Lucy as we know her is truly born, baptized in the blood of the bullies who killed her dog.

Best Quote: “When you're miserable, you need to make someone even more miserable than yourself.”

Final Thoughts & Score: Lucy is an amazing character. Her character arc is a depressing, heartrending rollercoaster showing her descent into the darkest depths of despair, cynicism, and evil before she begins to slowly but surely rise again, climbing out of the dark if only just a little bit. She’s stoic and sadistic, monstrous and vicious, cruel and uncaring… but at the same time, she has a boundless expanse of love inside her broken, battered heart, and a burning passion that drives her actions and the plot. She is shattered, she is flawed, but she is so very interesting.

A really fascinating aspect of her is how she deconstructs the tropes of the cute monster girl and magical girlfriend. The former is deconstructed by the fact that, despite being appealing to the viewer and us being given no reason to think she’d be unattractive to the humans of her world, her horns and other differences cause her to be mocked, tormented, and persecuted by her peers, with said persecution ultimately pushing her over the edge and causing her to become a serial killer. For the latter, her powers are incredily, seriously dangerous, as her invisible arms (or vectors, as they are called in the series) can easily dismember and when not dismembering infect the reproductive capabilities of whoever they touch, and there is also the fact that they are part of the contributing factor that drives her to madness.

Lucy gets a 9/10. She’s a very impressive villain, and one who has one of the most fascinatingly tragic backstories. In fact, she has the backstory by which all tragic backstories should be judged; if your villain wants to destroy the human race and yet their backstory wasn’t a horrendously cruel conga line of trauma the way Lucy’s was, you may want to rethink that backstory. It really is the tragedy and the way the series unfolds to show you just how she became the way she is that makes her so great; the only reason I don’t give her perfect marks is because the manga goes into far more detail in developing her, as the anime was made while the manga was still ongoing.

And you know what? That might honestly be for the better. Lucy in the manga was far more insane, far more evil, and far easier to see as irredeemable, though even there she had moments of kindness and compassion that ultimately belied her true nature buried under the years of systematic abuse and betrayal. In the anime, while she is still a bitter, jaded serial killer, she comes off as bit more worthy of redemption; she revels far less in the actions she takes and seems to act in her adulthood more out of self-preservation than anything, as she harms only those who have wronged her rather than people who just get in her way. It does end up making it more believable when Kouta offers his sympathy at anime’s end; this version of Lucy seems more like a broken monster who does all she does because at this point it’s all she knows and all she thinks she can be rather than someone who all too often indulges their twisted genetic instinct. I would have much preferred to see this Lucy receive the culmination to her character that the one in the manga did, but sadly that did not come to pass. We are left with something brilliant, but also something that could have been even more heartbreakingly beautiful in its tragic poignancy.

#Psycho Analysis #Lucy #Elfen Lied #Spoilers #speelers

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juleswolverton-hyde · 5 years

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Running Home | 02: The Road

Genre: Fluff, Romance, Smut (eventually), Friends to Lovers

Pairing: Tattoo Artist!Bangchan x Reader

Warnings: No warnings apply

Summary: A journey consists of three essential parts, even the one proposed by an estranged childhood suddenly showing up at the door after years of absence. Although, perhaps begging to embark on an adventure is better befitting of the situation.

After all, the two travellers might find the destination they could not find themselves at the end of the road, inherently constantly running in circles.

Not anymore.

It is time to go home.

The Setting Off / The Road / The Destination

Masterlist

Proposals are a type of commandment left up to an individual’s own volition to agree to or decline, though circumstances or the person uttering the potential decision can influence judgement regardless. However, it also depends on the relationship at the time and that in and of itself.

Time.

‘Run away with me.’ Platinum locks are pushed back by a haphazard palm that afterwards grabs onto the doorway just above where a startled head is resting to stay grounded, mind going insane due to the lack of logic in the demandingly spoken request. The long oversized sleeve rolls back to reveal a stunning grey and black-toned tattoo of a snarling wolf that covers the biggest part of the left forearm, an animal that is nothing like the docile personality of the kangaroo that was first associated with the childhood friend.

Then again, everything has changed.

We do not know each other.

Not anymore.

The familiar scent of mint mixed with a fresh cologne fills every sense when the long lost friend leans in, faces a few centimetres apart in the tiny space of which the air gradually becomes tense, heart oddly beating in a blind panic thanks to Chan’s begging whispering nearness. ‘Let’s do it. We’ve always wanted to. Now’s the time.’

‘It isn’t.’ A step backwards breaks the intimate spell, reason breaking through the mirage of wonderful words reminiscent of the rebellious teenage dreams longing to be wildly liberated and build an empire of ink somewhere in the world. It is a harsh truth, but those goals cannot be pursued anymore as the process of growing up has taught an ignorant girl the ways of reality which have led her to become a freelance editor with financial stability after a good while of struggling. The current point is a good place, certain of professional possibilities on the path taken after completing the bachelor in Creative Writing. Why leave behind such an incredible future after working so hard to achieve it?

‘Wha- What do you mean it isn’t? Y/N, while we were apart I did my best to actually create what we thought of together, working shift after shift at crappy jobs to save up for the tattoo studio we would open one day. I finally got the money and found a location, but all that is missing is you. Don’t say you forgot what you promised me, that you don’t remember promising to be my business partner.’

‘The old me promised that, Chan. I also worked hard to get where I am now, went through stress and money-related hardships to live here and have a steady career. Congratulations on making it. I’m genuinely happy for you, but I left our dream behind when I realized it wouldn’t work, at least not for me. I’ve grown up, moved on.’ A shivering sigh worsens the increase of homesickness because everything within has become aware there is no way to cure the mental distress.

College has cost too much in terms of funds and all-nighters to accomplish assignments or study for tests. The multitude of inherently futile interviews had led to too grand an amalgamation of barely manageable stress that could only have been diminished a tad when starting as a freelancer, fortunately landing on the music company’s project after collaborating on a few smaller yet successful projects. The collection of mangas and books on the shelves of a professional are a proud display of the achieved novel ambition to make people read more. Henceforth, there are factors that make giving up the current life impossible despite the craved reunion with Chris.

The offer has to be turned down.

He has to go.

‘You’re lying.’

‘I’m not, Chan. Really, I’m happy. I get to do things I hadn’t thought possible, work on projects for big companies. See those bookshelves over there? Those are the titles I worked on.’ A convinced digit points at the shelves spread throughout the apartment which support a variety of volumes resulting from all the paid assignments that have carved the road leading here.

Successful and free of former worries about even making it this far.

Only to end up merely as a name in the credits list.

To be skipped.

Like the rest.

A faceless ghost with a name.

‘Y/N,’ the gentle softness in speech tells there is no way to deny the presented lie for the inked wolf sees what lies beneath, as he has always done by reading the mind even when it is not wanted, ‘drop the act and be honest because this pains me to see. You aren’t happy, at all.’

The unconvincing gesture towards the paperbacks falls away, arms stretching forward in longing for a hug from the regained childhood friend and happily wrapping around the waist when a nod gives consent. The heaviness of existence falls away in the warm comforting fabric of the oversized sweater smelling of minty cologne, lashes fluttering shut when the embrace is lovingly answered by a big palm holding the head against the chest. ‘I’m not, haven’t since you were gone.’

A moment of comfortable silence passes before the hush is broken by a confession that has been known all along, confirmed to be so once more as plush lips place a kindhearted kiss on locks that have missed the contact. ‘I feel safe with you.’

‘I’m not letting you go again. I promised to protect you and I will. I’m not gonna leave you behind, never again.’ The shivering suppressed sobs are rubbed away by small digits holding on tighter to dusky clothing, a deep sigh slightly calming a frantic heart. ‘Never again.’

‘Shh, it’s alright.’ Nothing more can be said without breaking out into tears as well, simply hiding away into wordlessness to let the simple phrase speak for itself.

‘Please, Y/N. Please, run away with me. Let’s just grab the bare necessities and vanish, start anew. We can get food and additional supplies along the way. Even if you decide to turn back eventually, at least come with me today. Let’s just go.’

‘I’m not going to turn back.’ The motion of a thumb wiping the tears from pale cheeks is leaned into, molten chocolate irises twinkling in soothed delight before Chris mirrors the gesture on a dry face not yet broken. However, there is something needful in the manner in which the distance is tried to be breached, distinct from how it used to be done in older days in the increased want for intimacy that was formerly solely joked about, only applicable to the situation whereby the friendship would have been of a deeper meaning.

Something that has never been.

‘You promise?’ A suggestive nod almost results in a brush of lips, but shamefully ends in pulling away and ending the closeness that was willingly given into with retracting fingers leaving behind a strangely disconcerting coldness on the skin. ‘Go... Go get your stuff. Or would you- do you want me to... help?’

‘Yeah...’ Although likely not needed, it is a comforting thought, a desire that desperately wants to be fulfilled, to have the platinum-haired boy with the wolf tattoo help with packing what little is needed and already present in this empty home. Henceforth, awkwardly avoiding any type of physical contact in the fairly spacious apartment that stills feels too small to move freely in, a small backpack containing what would be enough for an overnight stay at a friend’s is gathered.

Withal, there is no way to avoid touching at the surprising sight of the sleek motorcycle which will blend seamlessly into the scenery at nightfall parked on the driveway of the apartment complex. Brows furrow as the knot of digits untangles in favour of inspecting the vehicle up close. ‘You have a motorcycle?’

‘Uh, yeah, I do.’ A hand timidly rubs the back of the neck, uncomfortable at yet another paradoxically uncharacteristic element of the returned comrade is brought to the surface touched by Time.

‘Well, I trust you’ll get us where we end up needed safely or I’ll come back to haunt your ghost.’ A smirk successfully undoes the fit of strangeness, bringing back the once familiar affection free of the judgment from outside, the prejudices deeming us a couple.

A concept that seems oddly pleasant as the joking manner is joined when a helmet is handed over. Well, so it seems to be but just as the object is within reach, it is quickly snatched away to be placed on the head with a loving devilish gaze. Knuckles reach up, which results in the annoyingly impactful patting on the top of the thing to ensure it is securely put in place. ‘Or the other way around.’

Annoyed, the knuckles are stilled. ‘Stop that! By the way, you’re the driver. Besides, I refuse to let you haunt me.’

Confidence fades away into worry at the registration of there being solely one helmet, gazing questioning at the apparent motor mouse with an underlying fear for his safety. ‘Shouldn’t you wear it?’

The important inquiry is brushed off with a tender smile on the full lips of slightly tilted platinum locks. ‘Ah, don’t worry. I’ll be careful so you won’t actually get to chance to stalk me forever in ghost form.’

‘Chan...’ Fingers rapidly grip the edge of the oversized sweater already getting on the vehicle, holding the fabric up enough to see the top part of a melting Victorian style pocket watch outlined engraved into pale skin.

Time slipping away.

As it had from us.

‘You’re still as stubborn as ever. It’s fine, Y/N. Come on, get on and we’ll get going.’ The hold on the clothing is made undone by the wearer gently tugging it out of its current grasp, but it is replaced by a new one in the form of once more entangled fingers when the big calloused palm reaching out is taken after patting on the backseat.

Soothingly protective, the thumb rubs over the back of the smallest hand as deep brown irises sparkle with the true intention to protect like before had always been the case. We have had always had each other’s backs. ‘I’ll be careful, I promise.’

But knowing this had never stirred up the same storm as it does now, the stomach tying into an odd expectant knot while cheeks fortunately hidden by the head protection warm up. Regardless of the curious sensations, arms wrap hesitantly around the waist after clumsily sitting down on the passenger seat, clinging like a koala to Chris’s sturdy buff body.

Sensing the discomfort, the guarding driver checks at every turn to what extent the distress has grown and occasionally slowing down when noticing the enhanced grip on the middle going paired with an anxious whimper. Thus, the road of flashing streets and open highways leading to an unknown destination is embarked upon.

Though there is rapidly a stop on it already that makes all the continuous wishes for a car, a probably whole lot safer option, come to a halt at a grand supermarket in the nearest town. Howbeit relieved at being liberated from the insane traffic, it was honestly expected to be travelling at least until twilight colours the sky in a tropical gradient of mango yellow and papaya orange. Even food shopping can be done later since the cold luxurious apartment was not left without taking a few snacks and bottles of water for along the way. ‘What are we doing here?’

‘You might have everything you need, but I kinda... went to you unprepared.’ The key turns in the engine, the loud noise of the motor quickly tuning out to vanish completely in the ruckus of chatter against a background of moving wheels.

‘You did what?’ Like a gentleman, Chan extends a supporting hand to take while dismounting the vehicle, monitoring every movement to prevent any accidents.

It does not go a smoothly as planned, losing balance regardless of the support point but fortunately getting caught by surprised strong arms. ‘You okay?’ At seeing nothing is the matter after a thorough inspection, tensed shoulders sigh in relief as they relax. ‘I went to you with only a change of clothes, that’s all there is in this big backpack. Moreover, it’s better to do groceries now so we can make some good miles uninterrupted. Who knows where we’ll end up tonight? Wherever it might be, I’d rather have a tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush in the least.’

As done many times in the past, strands are fondly ruffled, a cute suppressed giggle betraying the obvious enjoyment of the effect of the irritation the gesture is known to cause. Notwithstanding, as always and strangely more so than before, it is tolerated. Even delighted in, though a blatant display of the whirlwind inside is out of the picture for it best remains hidden among all the other odd sentiments that have come to stir a girl missing her best friend. ‘C’mon, I know you secretly like it when I do this.’

A roll of the eyes denotes the statement, nullifying the teasing confidence in the transformed yet familiar voice of the young tattoo artist. ‘Keep on dreaming, Chris Bang.’

‘You totally like it,’ comes the musing response to the futile verbal counterattack, dark Timberlands easily catching up to the sneakers already on their way to the supermarket.

‘No, I don’t.’ A huff comes from pouted lips, only leading to bubbly laughter from the side that makes the heart melt as it never has before.

‘Yes, you do~’ One hand tucked into the pocket of twilight-shaded ripped jeans, the other comes to rest on the right shoulder and pulls a fellow runaway sturdily against the side.

The gesture is answered by an arm snaking around Chan’s waist, holding on tightly out of the irrational fear of any type of separation occurring that will increase the homesickness again. However, the prominent sarcasm in voice hides the anxious thoughts about a premature end of the reunion. ‘Are you really gonna argue like this? How old are you again?’

‘The same age as you, although you sound awfully like a grandmother.’

‘Oh, grow up.’

‘I have.’ And something indescribable in the glimmer of irises signifies the time for joking is over, the sideways contact breaking off to entwine fingers after speaking in a sombre tone with a downcast gaze. ‘Though at times I wish I hadn’t.’

‘Why?’

‘Because it complicates things, too. Especially how- no, never mind. It’s not important.’ A solemn shake of platinum locks finishes the complete attempt at elaborating on the broken-off sentence, speech lowering to hopelessness as it repeats the heart-wrenching statement. ‘It’s not important.’

‘You know you can tell me everything, right? What’s up?’ Whatever is deemed superfluous, it does matter to the one who had to let the problems of the past years unconsciously slide. Finally, there is a chance to find a solution again so each issue can be met head-on either together or solely with a little bit of help.

Which is denied by a final close to the subject and a squeeze below. ‘Let’s just get what we need and go, Y/N.’

Not speaking further of the strange behaviour, the pathways lined with food on both sides are navigated while unconsciously switching trolley duty and searching each other when one of the two has wandered to a different section to retrieve supplies for the journey ahead. Of course, as tends to be the natural reaction towards pairs doing their groceries, people throw an inconspicuous glance in our direction while we simply go about while chatting as if there has never been a goodbye. Withal, an uncharacteristic darkness glosses over molten chocolate during the moments a guy without an apparent partner looks in our direction, Chan becoming very touchy by holding hands for no reason, throwing an arm around the shoulders to enhance the intimacy or leaning in as close as possible.

The latter happens again when standing in front of the razor section in the drugstore part of the mega shop and a sudden wonder strikes concerning what brand the tattoo artist uses nowadays.

The looming presence able to provide a question rising behind the back sends shivers down the spine, though it is not an unpleasant sensation and fuels the want to lean against the buff companion, especially at the sound of an amused hum. ‘Gillette.’

‘Huh, what?’

‘Gillette is the brand I use. In fact,’ a bright orange packet reading “Gillette Fusion” is taken from the rack and placed in a small palm, ‘this is the one, in particular, I tend to reach to.’

‘Good to know for when I have to do groceries for us in the future. For us as friends, naturally.’ The last part is hastily added to not cause any confusion about the status of the current renewed relationship, words coming out in a rapid unbroken stream.

A seemingly disagreeing muttering responds to the fast additional comment, thoughts gaining a voice howbeit in an incoherent fashion. All that can be gathered from it in terms of intelligibility is the wistful ‘don’t want to’ in the middle of a sentence. Nonetheless, when seeing the curiously raised eyebrow, the former friendly yet oddly protective composure is regained, nodding in a direction away from the current section of the supermarket at the appearance of a possible rival. ‘I think we have everything. Let’s pay and go.’

‘Chan, you’re acting weird.’ Reluctantly, broad shoulders are followed as they walk away in the direction of the checkout counter with attention turned unwaveringly towards a point somewhere in the distance.

Attention shifts when looking sideways at a tug on the oversized sweater scented with minty cologne which is grabbed in an effort to both halt hasty dark Timberlands and not lose him.

Not again.

Obviously irritated, a response is nothing short of growled, the fierceness of which instills a paralyzing fear into libs growing suddenly stiff. ‘No, I’m not. What are you on about?’

‘Yes, you are. You’re being more affectionate than you’ve ever been, but also more defensive.’ The ice is endeavoured to be knocked off from bones entirely to not lose a sliver of convincing power in the argument about the weird behaviour. In the past contact merely remained at a multitude of hugs and the occasional pat on the head, digits sometimes ruffling hair good-naturedly while proudly grinning.

‘Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not acting anything different from normal.’ Yet the suppressed snarl malforming plush lips tells a different story, revealing the truth underneath the concealing futile lie of normalcy.

‘Then why are we walking away just as another guy passes, eh?’ The last remnant of the abyss between us is breached without letting go of the piece of clothing, the tattooed wolf not tugging it out of the grasp as before, but carefully watching every movement with intent.

A hand comes to rest on the hip, compellingly guiding the way to the exit, sight ever onwards. ‘He’s got bad intentions.’

‘The chap over at the bakery, too?’

‘Yes.’

‘And in the fruits aisle?’

‘They were looking at you weirdly. I didn’t like it.’

‘Then what about the dude in the health aisle? Was he a suspicious character as well?’

‘He eyed you a bit too much.’

‘Chan, for God’s sake, I’m a grown-up woman. I can take care of myself.’ Although not a lie, what has really been done is taking care of myself just enough to keep the homesickness at bay, just enough to actually believe to be able to function as a proper independent adult. The blatant truth is that while the surface has been well-tended to, the foundation has been crumbling since the farewell without any hope of being restored as long as there was a distance filled with questions ripping it apart.

‘We’re on this journey together. You and I form a team, a “we”. There’s no “we” with any of those other men, they’re just individuals who can’t be there nor ever will be there for you as I am!’ The strange outburst at a stop in the open passage to the cash registers resembles the experience of a lonesome soul comically ensuring they are fine while being all but that yet never voicing this. Nevertheless, surely there had been someone for him to fill up the gap created by the tear, a beautiful girlfriend to come home to.

Notwithstanding, if that had been the case, then why is there a sense of prolonged yearning in the raging? All there is, after all, is friendship, which is made questionable by the passage of time.

Unoccupied digits place themselves over the heart in a heavily rising and falling chest, the vibrations of an unintended pleased hum reverberating through them. Curious how such a simple form of contact can calm a scarlet frenzy. ‘Tone down. What are you saying? Don’t tell me you’re actually jealous because that’s delusional.’

‘Just forget it.’ Passively aggressively, one hand lets go of the waist to envelop the appeasing digits that are left no choice, holding on to them for the silent remainder of the shopping break as the other pushes the trolley.

Only upon paying and dividing the additional stock of supplies among us does the touch unravel temporarily and once more when the helmet is securely put into place again.

And though hating the ridiculous rigidity that has surfaced out of the blue, automatically Chris’s waist is firmly held onto when the motor is mounted to continue the journey. However, muscles tangibly relax as the key turns in the engine, kind genuinely apologetic eyes glancing over a broad shoulder to meet a gaze traced with annoyance at the scene-making earlier though that fades away into forgiving softness at hearing the vocal crack which is tried to be dismissed casually. ‘I’m sorry for the way I behaved. It’s just- we’re finally- I mean, it’s us together on this road and I want to see it through. I want for us to be at the end like how we started it, with the both of us by each other’s side.’

‘You could’ve made that clear another way, you know?’

‘Yeah... Yeah, I know.’ Uncertainty undeniably comes through in the manner in which the handles are rubbed as sight is turned towards the horizon again. ‘I should’ve thought before acting, acted differently. I’m sorry.’

‘It’s alright.’ Cheek pressed to the large dark backpack of the driver filled with provisions, the embrace is tightened. Speech lightens as the burden of failure to please, the fear of having messed up thanks to triggering so strong a reaction in a recently reunited with soul, is lifted and thus makes room for pure joyous contentment. ‘I’m here, still your travel buddy.’

‘You still like me?’

‘I do, Chan. I do still like you.’

‘Glad to hear that.’ Regardless of not looking back, the smile undoubtedly beginning to form on plush lips can nevertheless be envisioned. A calloused palm affectionately brushes over the digits firmly forming a knot below as the strange restraining undertone curiously returns. ‘I’m really happy to hear you say that.’

A chance to respond is nullified by the engine roaring to life, reawakening the instinct to do whatever it takes to survive a new encounter with rampant traffic racing at high speed. Yet, the knowledge of who the guide is and the faith put in him fuels the determination to see it through until the destination is reached.

Until we are like we were before.

Somewhere side by side.

Not footsteps to be washed away by the waves.

But those continuing to walk together.

Never alone.

Never again.

#Stray Kids #SKZ #Stray Kids fanfiction #Stray Kids x Reader #Kpopwonderlandtag #SKZ x Reader #Bangchan #Bang Chan #Chris Bang #Chan

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fanfictionasliterature · 6 years

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Naruto/Sasuke Rec List

Back to my OG fandom, this time for an ubiquitous pairing. 20+ fic, with 1+ outside of ao3. Due to the size of this list, I plan on updating with more recs later.

In Good Company by weialala

Summary: This will sound a little ridiculous, no matter how Sasuke phrases it. I see dead people is embarrassingly tacky, and I'm half-spirit seems like something Sakura might say when she's stoned sky high. So he settles for a shrug.

Notes: The fic is wayyy wayyy better than the summary, and transcends the I-see-ghosts trope. If you don’t like this fic, you’re lying.

Sowell is a great Naruto fanfic writer, with a lot of classics I reread all the time. Among my favorites are

Wrong Turn

Summary: Naruto and Sasuke have an interlude in the desert. Nothing changes.

Notes: This is the kind of fic that’s so thoughtful it leaves you wondering if you need to immediately go and reread it.

Two If By Sea

Summary: Sasuke has always known he'll die by water.

Notes: A short, angsty fic, which let’s be for real, is how we like our Sasuke fics.

Asymmetry

Summary: Naruto teaches Sasuke how to believe again.

Notes: A succinct, gut-punching fic that’s full of angst and hope, and so much plot in a surprisingly short fic. A believable alternate ending.

rageprufrock is one of my favorites as well. Amazingly funny, touching, brilliant, amazing.

Telephone

Summary: It's rough being Team 7.

Notes: Hilarious! There’s no reason not to read this.

Kantayra is another classic, and writes great short humor fics.

The Subtle Art of Uchiha Seduction

Summary: Sasuke’s finally decided on his chosen mate, and he pursues him with the same ruthless determination he does everything else. Unfortunately, it’s all too subtle for Naruto.

Notes: Cracky and funny.

Commiseration Night

Summary: Now that they're jounin, husbands, and fathers, the men of the Konoha 11 get together once a week to commiserate about their sex lives...only Naruto doesn't seem to get point when he talks about his marriage to Sasuke. Naruto/Sasuke/Naruto.

A World of Truth by luchia

Summary: The world is trapped in an illusion which removes anger, hate, and death. It's paradise, giving everyone everything they've ever wanted and reviving anyone they've ever lost. Nearly two years into the illusion, Sasuke snaps back to his senses and must decide whether to keep the world in false bliss, or return it to war-torn reality.

Notes: A great alternate ending, and one that makes you really for and empathize with Sasuke. Can’t recommend it enough.

megyal is another Naruto staple, and is thankfully prolific. Of her fic, I particularly like:

(Make things so) Complicated

Summary: Naruto as Jounin; Sasuke redeemed/Jounin (+ genin team optional)... either established (healthy) relationship or a get-together piece. Really, it's the interaction I'm after. Kids welcome.

Notes: Fluffy, cute, and touching in the way that all megyal fics are.

Put a little fixing on it

Summary: Back and forth on Sasuke's return.

Notes: This was brilliantly remixed by Elizabeth Culmer, and I recommend both fics.

What Isn’t Broken, Can Still Be Fixed by Elizabeth Culmer

Summary: Madara lied about the eye transplant's effects. Captured and brought back to Konoha, Sasuke must adjust to blindness and his unexpected survival. NaruSasu, written for RemixRedux 8.

Baby Animals, Weddings, And Other Things Not Normally Associated With Uchiha Sasuke by prettypriestess

Summary: In which Konoha needs to upgrade their plumbing to be more resistant. (Or, the one where Sasuke and Naruto get genin and maybe someone buys a house.)

Notes: Wherein Sasuke and Naruto are accidentally domestic, which is a trope I adore, and is done particularly well here.

Damaetas by pellaz

Summary: SasuNaru. Set postseries. Orochimaru has taken Sasuke's body, and Naruto hunts him while dealing with such obstacles as training his first genin team.

Notes: The fic takes the unhealthy aspects of Naruto’s obsession with Sasuke to its logical conclusion. It’s disturbing, angsty, and so so good. It’s the kind of fic that makes you realize that we were robbed of characterization.

The Inevitable by rayemars

Summary: Sasuke can see the changes that communication with the fox demon is bringing to Naruto, and he knows what they're leading to.

Notes: Another tragic fic, this time in a bite-size amount.

Killing It by dawnstruck

Summary: A year after Jiraiya's death, a new Icha Icha volume gets published. Self-declared Number One Fan, Hatake Kakashi, grows suspicious, but keeps buying them anyway.

Notes: The writer has tagged this as cracky humor, but I think it’s more touching than anything else. Less Narusasu though, and more a Kakashi POV.

Twentythirds by Erisabesu

Summary: When one ritual dies, another is born. [SasuNaruSasu] Yaoi.

Notes: This is the kind of fic that takes character growth very seriously and is a very believable way I could see Narusasu happen in the canon universe.

A Stitch in Time by aureus yarara

Summary: What if Team Seven could have seen, the day Orochimaru bit Sasuke, the future that will come when he takes his offer? Naruto: loved, admired, Hokage. Sakura: strong, confident, head of the hospital. And Sasuke? What does his future hold? Will he like it?

Notes: Sadly, the writer has promised no sequel.

Moonflower by mylilchickadee

Summary: Grief, loneliness, lost chances . . sometimes one can lose themselves to them. And Naruto falls hard. An unconventional, sort of one-sided NaruSasu. Character death Mangaverse

Notes: Angsty in a really good way. The ending is brilliant, and ties up loose ends in a way I really wish Kishimoto had remembered to.

This Life by crazy toffee

Summary: Naruto’s dream was to become Hokage and gain the respect of his village. Between the life he wanted and the life he has, can he really find a way to be happy? Can he really have the thing he wanted most of all?

Notes: Another great alternate ending fic. Fills me with a lot of hope.

Honorable mentions:

Cohabitation by weialala: Sasuke starts calling Naruto "the missus" behind his back two months after moving in with him. It was, in retrospect, akin to ritual suicide.

All things of dearest value hang on slender strings by sirona: Nothing sours a village’s mood faster than a heatwave, and with the anniversary of the Fourth Ninja War on the horizon, the Nanadaime Hokage knows something must be done about it. That’s where Sabaku no Gaara comes in, but Sasuke is not best pleased with his involvement.

words without thoughts never to heaven go by gatty: None given, but be warned that this made me sob on a bus.

The Listening Sky by Fahye: Finally, a Naruto fic written in full knowledge of the manga, even though this particular story should be considered AU after chapter 345. Ish. NO HEBI. ALAS.

The Tower by Nilladriel: Naruto destroys a village. Sasuke does something about it. Futurefic, SasuNaru.

Healing the Broken by KizuKatana: The war is over, and Sasuke is brought back to the village after his defeat by Naruto. But he is struggling to re-assimilate into the village. As his mental stability continues to erode, Tsunade and Kakashi ask Naruto to try a different treatment method. Naruto x Sasuke (slash - boy x boy). Post manga chapter 693.

This, He Learned by unknown: Naruto had learned many things from Sasuke (…) perhaps it was high time Sasuke learned something from Naruto instead. For a change.

Therapy by NavyBlueWings: After four years, Tsunade has had enough of Sasuke and Naruto's fist fights. Ordering them to go to the best therapist in Konoha seems like a good idea. But what's this...? Dom and Sub? Sleepovers and kiss wars? What did they just sign up for?

#narusasu #naruto uzumaki #sasuke uchiha #naruto #sasunaru #fic #rec #list #pairing

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