#other than that i know the basics of the timeskip what they all end up doing in the future etc

[stuckinakillingjar]

if the hq movies end up being ass and not covering everything i will finally read the manga i promise

[creative-crybaby]

Fly on the Wall

PAIRING: yan!timeskip!Sakusa Kiyoomi x fem!reader

GENRE: smut | dark content (18+)

Minors DNI

TAGS + WARNINGS: yandere themes, noncon, stalking, somnophilia, semi-public masturbation (m), nipple play, fingering (with leather gloves), dacryphilia, cum eating, creampie, size kink, breaking and entering, panty stealing, basically Sakusa is a perv

Let me know if I missed anything.

WORD COUNT: 8.7k

SUMMARY: The new Black Jackal’s manager catches Sakusa’s eye. Unfortunately, whatever distance, physical or otherwise, is between you two, is too far for his liking. All characters are 18+

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Not meant to be a Christmas gift, but my timing does wonders, I guess :/

© creative-crybaby, do not repost or modify

The Black Jackals getting a manager didn’t excite him the way it did his teammates. The idea itself didn’t bring him dread, of course, but the knowledge that certain players may get distracted–or worse: rowdier–brought more stress to him than he’d appreciate. 

Bokuto and Hinata were already babbling on to each other about what you might be like, reminiscing their high school days when they both had two managers on their respective teams. Atsumu joined in, whining that Inarizaki wasn’t as lucky to have a girl manager, let alone two attractive ones. He also bet that you’d be cute—Sakusa could only roll his eyes at the exchange.

You carried yourself with a grace often unfound in volleyball when meeting the team, offering a polite smile as you introduced yourself. Even when bombarded with questions from the boisterous ones (you know the ones), you didn’t falter, even assuring Meian that you didn’t mind the energy: “It’s nice to know I’ll be supporting a passionate team.”

Pretty, Sakusa thinks. You didn’t blow him away, but it was enough for him to acknowledge upon first laying eyes on you. Even he found himself momentarily frozen when you two made brief eye contact. 

Regardless, you’re not here for a modelling contract; you’re here to help the team grow to its full potential. The wing spiker may not be praying for your downfall, but he certainly isn’t going to celebrate your arrival too soon, either. 

Anyone can refill water bottles and hand out clean towels to sweaty giants. The same goes for taking notes on their progress, especially since you should know how volleyball works. From what Sakusa has observed, you do more than well in that department, too, always ready to correct someone’s form or have a report prepared for Meian in no time. You’re organized, punctual; it helps that you also sprinkle in some encouraging words when necessary. (Certain members are more than happy to gain that praise, which means more headaches on the ravenette’s end.)

It doesn’t take long for you to get him to accept you into the team—in his own way. He doesn’t avoid you like the plague, per se; he merely never saw any reason to put in as much effort to get to know you the way someone like Bokuto or Atsumu would. He was just glad to have one more person to give him some proper feedback. 

That distance Sakusa created is seemingly one-sided. There’s no special occasion, either: it was after a practice that partook a few days after a game against the Tachibana Red Falcons. A close match where the Black Jackals managed to pull through, though that wasn’t precisely what consumed the wing spiker’s thoughts at the time. You handed him a neatly folded towel during the athletes’ break, and he nods his thanks. You stay before him, and he peers up at you curiously after wiping his face. Stretching your hand to him, you carry a mini hand sanitizer pack. Nothing special: it’s a standard bottle in a dark red and attachable case. 

“Noticed you weren’t a fan of the gifts from some of your fans and would look grossed out when a kid would touch you,” you explain, offering a small smile. “Hope you don’t already have one of these. This was the only normal-looking one I could find. Wasn’t sure how you’d feel about having a giraffe case dangling from your bag.”

You offer a sheepish laugh that Sakusa would refuse to admit is something he’d want to hear again. Not wanting to leave you hanging any longer than he already has, he takes your gift, eventually muttering his thanks. 

It’s like a boy clinging onto that one compliment he got a few years back because it’s all he received. A rational voice in his head dismisses your observation as something someone on the team probably mentioned to you—maybe Atsumu made a joke about him being a germaphobe, and you took it seriously. 

Still, that’s not a possibility the wing spiker wants to entertain. Not as he goes on with the rest of practice, not when he’s in the changeroom, not when he’s attaching that case to his gym bag, not when he gets home, and certainly not when he goes to bed that night. A small gesture, one probably wouldn’t overthink, lingers in his thoughts until Occasion #2 appears. 

Coming back from an away game is one of the few opportunities the volleyball players get to recharge. After packing everything into the bus, each member sits in their unassigned-assigned seat. Or, at least, most of them would. Some chose to sit wherever it was convenient for them: they wanted to carry on their conversation with one of their teammates or maybe get some shut-eye. Sakusa was the latter, opting for a window seat far away from his boisterous colleagues as possible. Ready to close his eyes, he only got a few seconds of relaxation before he sensed some shifting next to him. With furrowed brows, he opens his eyes, ready to tell Atsumu off (let’s be honest, it’s always Atsumu), only to find you making yourself comfortable in the spot next to his instead. 

You turn to him somewhat sheepishly. “Hope you don’t mind. I wanted to get some rest, and you’re pretty quiet, so I figured having you as my seating buddy was my best shot.”

You don’t say anything afterwards, waiting for him to tell you to leave him alone. To his surprise (and yours, he’s sure), the wing spiker mumbles a stoic “Go ahead,” his eyes trailing towards the window as he readjusts his mask. Even with his gaze no longer on you, he could hear the smile in your voice as you thank him. 

For the next several hours, Sakusa remained awake, thinking about everything and nothing all at once as he’d glance over to your sleeping form every few minutes. Even people like Bokuto and Hinata lost enough energy to fall asleep, but the ravenette didn’t notice. If anything, his entire world dissolved into nothingness as soon as your frame unconsciously leaned on his shoulder. His whole body froze, but surprisingly, not out of disgust. Awkward, perhaps, but he didn’t feel the need to wake you up, let alone push you away. 

His senses heightened. With you so much closer, his eyes scanned every detail your face had to offer, every reaction you had in your sleep, from stirring after hitting a speedbump to sighing whenever Saksua dared to take a breath too deep. Speaking of breathing, even with yours being so shallow, he can hear the steady rhythm loud and clear, despite Bokuto’s snoring somewhere in the distance. Your scent attacked his nose, even with the mask shielding most of his face, and he can at least admit to himself that it was refreshing to smell something that wasn’t a bunch of sweaty athletes. It’s just your head on his shoulder, but the ravenette felt you burning your mark into his skin, one he didn’t ever want to wash off. Every sense except for taste—

A speed bump. The last thought retreated as fast as it invaded. The remaining hour and a half to return home flew by with his guilt as a distraction. Even when Atsumu woke up and teased the wing spiker for trying to get close to you, Sakusa didn’t feel the need to reply. He merely looked down at your still-sleeping form for several seconds more before eventually trying to wake you up. He’d rather he didn’t, but something about others seeing you in such a vulnerable state irked him in a way he can only describe as filthy. No amount of water and hand soap can scrub away that dirt, but as soon as your eyes opened and met his before anyone else’s, that itch got scratched. He didn’t register your profuse apologies until a couple of other teammates decided to join in on the teasing, and suddenly Sakusa found his voice. 

“It’s fine.”

But it wasn’t fine. And it still isn’t. Maybe you forgot about it or saw that moment as a funny story to share over drinks with friends, but it’s different for the wing spiker. He knows it shouldn’t be, yet here he is, replaying every minor interaction between the two of you. There was a reason for him keeping his distance from you when you first started: you both stick to your tasks during practice and games, only interacting when progress and strategy are the focus. Otherwise, the athlete is back in whatever vacant corner he can find, shrinking his almost 6’’4 frame as much as he can in hopes that he can avoid possible interactions. (And if that means he gets to watch you laugh at something Atsumu said or go over strategy with Meian, then those times in his hiding spot have come with new benefits.)

But he’s not in a corner right now: he’s at Onigiri Miya with his team and EJP Raijin, eyes boring into your frame as his cousin says something he doesn’t quite catch. 

The ravenette hums. “What was that?”

“Your new manager’s pretty cute and all,” Komori starts, not too loudly for others to hear, “but if you keep staring at her, you’re going to look like some creep.” Sakusa’s head snaps to the libero, who sheepishly smiles as he scratches the back of his neck. “I mean, I get that you were never all that good with girls, but even you should know this stuff by now.”

The wing spiker scoffs at his cousin’s joke, opting to take a bite out of his onigiri instead of replying. You’re listening to whatever story the blonde Miya twin has to share, laughing whenever the younger one butts in with commentary to embarrass the former. Now you watch in amusement as the two lookalikes bicker, and it makes Sakusa realize something: besides the few moments he recalls oh-so fondly, you don’t interact with each other much outside of volleyball. 

He glides his thumb across the nori on his food in irritation. The moments shared between you rarely involve anything outside of the sport. For someone as observant as him, the ravenette is almost ashamed he let his very few one-on-one memories of you two distract him from such an obvious (and somewhat embarrassing) fact. 

You’ve probably spent more time with a handful of his other teammates. Sakusa recalls Bokuto and Hinata inviting you to a movie marathon at the latter’s place on your day off, though through all that excitement exchanged between them, all he could do was mutter under his breath about them wasting your time. It probably doesn’t matter whether or not you accepted their offer; they still approached you. 

The same goes for whatever Atsumu says to you that makes you two snicker under your breaths. Inside jokes, Sakusa is sure of it, though it doesn’t make him scoff any less. If anything, his mood grew sour with every interaction you had that wasn’t with him. Another fact he wasn’t aware of until the blonde setter asked him if the stick up his ass was bigger than it used to be. (The wing spiker’s response to the harmless joke needn’t be shared.)

“Just talk to her.” Komori’s voice brings Sakusa back to Onigiri Miya. Staring; again. Lovely. The ravenette faces his cheerful cousin once more, who offers a chuckle. “I’ll even play wingman if you want.”

The quieter of the two finishes his onigiri before getting up from his seat. The libero watches as his relative puts his MSBY jersey on before heading for the exit. “I’m good, thank you.”

The ravenette risks a glance your way once he makes it to the door. You don’t meet his gaze, still occupied with the twins. No surprise there, but that doesn’t stop the disappointment plunging into his chest as he exits the shop.

That one-sided has seemingly returned since then, though the roles are reversed. Even with the few moments exchanged between you two, Sakusa struggles to pinpoint when he started to care for your attention in the several months you’ve been part of the team. The days when he felt indifferent involved less overthinking and even lesser restless nights; now, he can’t stop nitpicking at whatever detail catches his eye. You styled your hair differently one day; you’re snacking on cheesecake-flavoured Kitkat because it’s your new favourite snack. These notes follow up with nothing on his end except an extra bullet point in his brain’s buzzing list. 

It’s a winter evening when he adds his first crucial fact: your home address. An abyss swallows the sky at what seems to be only half past five. Not a usual time for practice, though nothing that disrupted Sakusa’s schedule. He’s making his way to his car when he sees you standing aside, eyes glued to your phone. A rare sight, though not an unwelcomed one. 

You’re frowning, the wing spiker notices. He’s approaching you, he notices too little too late. You notice him. 

“Oh, Sakusa!” you smile, pocketing your device. “Good work today.” The ravenette doesn’t need his mask to hide his contentment at your praise, though the pride that swells inside him grows challenging to swallow. “Off home to relax?”

His tongue rests between his teeth as he nods, and you hug your coat tighter to your body. His brain screams to carry on a conversation, no matter how small or meaningless, but his eyes seem to do enough as they rake through the parking lot. He’s looking for your car, he realizes, but has no clue as to what it looks like. 

“Had to bus here,” you explain sheepishly. Sakusa watches you from the corner of his eye, internally sighing in relief at your (alleged) mind-reading powers. “My car needs fixing, and with practice taking place later on in the day, finding a bus worked better.” Your gaze trails to the streets only a few meters away, exhaustion making them droop. “Guess my supposed ride is being held back, huh?”

“Let me take you home.” 

Your head snaps in the wing spiker’s direction, whose eyes slightly widen in shock at his proposition. Now he decides to talk. He digs his nails into the strap of his gym bag, jaw clenching as he tries to appear calm as he awaits your response.

Your brows crease ever so slightly. “I wouldn’t want to cause you any trouble.”

Your voice shrinks at your concern. Sakusa imagines you shrinking under his gaze as well. “You never cause me any trouble.”

Not how he would’ve liked to word it, but it’s too late to take it back. You beam at him, offering your thanks and letting him know you owe him as you step closer to his tall frame. He doesn’t flinch away, instead facing the parking lot once more as he chews on his bottom lip under his mask.

The car ride holds silence throughout the fifteen-to-twenty minutes on his end, with you giving the ravenette directions and discussing the team’s progress. He only offers curt nods and soft hums, not that he minds this time; your sunny tone and presence in such a closed space were more than enough for him. Besides, his brain is occupied with carrying your guidance as you get closer to your destination. Because he’s the driver, and you ought to return home safely. It’s been a long day for both of you: you’re exhausted, and you don’t hide this fact as you slump in the passenger seat and sometimes yawn. 

And when you finally tell Sakusa to pull up into your driveway, he can’t help but scan your home with his eyes, wondering which windows expose which room. He sees one with lavender curtains from the interior, and he’s willing to bet that’s your bedroom. 

You thank him, and the thought evaporates. He’s tongue-tied once more; he nods, unlocking the passenger door. Offering one more smile, you exit the car, and the wing spiker’s eyes bore into your frame as you walk up your porch and enter your home. 

He’s backing out of the driveway when he begins to wonder if there is something different he could have done. The small talk was calming, but he found that he wanted more. 

The drive back consists of Sakusa glancing over at where you sat every chance he got. He swallows harshly, fingers tapping impatiently against the steering wheel at a red light. Even with practice done a while ago, he feels hot. His clothes hug him uncomfortably, and it isn’t until his brain entertains the idea of peering down does he understand why. 

He recognizes this street. The ravenette pulls over to a secluded area, quick to unbuckle his seatbelt before throwing his mask off. His chest heaves as he slowly looks down once more as if the first time was just a trick of the lights. 

He’s hard. Being alone with you for less than half an hour is enough to make him fucking hard.

He’s also alone. For a second, he recalls keeping a pack of tissues in the glove compartment. 

He’s also in his car. His home is not too far from yours, he noticed as you gave him directions. 

You were also in his car. The passenger seat pulls Sakusa’s gaze towards it. He’s leaning into where you sat not long ago, and if he focuses hard enough, he can catch a whiff of your perfume.

His cock stirs in his slacks, and the ravenette climbs over the gear shift before his brain can reason with his body. 

The passenger’s seat is still a bit warm, he notices upon making himself comfortable in his new spot. The wing spiker shakily exhales as he unzips his pants with great haste, shimmying them down to his thighs. His pace doesn’t slow down when he gets to his briefs, either, opting to tuck the waistband between his balls and dick’s base to free his shaft of its confinements. Only then does he pause, breathing still trembling as he tries to calm himself. 

There’s not much time. An empty parking lot when he got there, but it won’t stay that way forever. Sakusa spits into his palm, needing some makeshift lube to start slowly stroking himself. The relief has his eyes fluttering closed and lips parting with a sigh. It isn’t long until he feels some precum sliding down from his slit, and he spreads the stickiness to help with his movements. He takes a deep breath through his nose and again catches your scent. 

What if it was your hand pumping his cock instead? It should be. You’d be smiling as you do so, peering up at the wing spiker through your lashes as you ask him how he likes it. Always there to help during practice; how is this any different? You want what’s best for the team, for him. Anything for him—

Sakusa’s choking on a groan as he paints his hand and the glove compartment a creamy white. He doesn’t open his eyes until his high finally descends him back to earth, where he realizes what he’s done. 

He groans, in both exhaustion and disgust from the mess in his car and thoughts. He was a teenager when he lasted this long, though the quantity of his release takes him by surprise. Has he truly been pent up for too long? Did you do this?

Sakusa’s quick to take out that tissue pack. 

You thank him for the ride home once more the next time you see each other at practice. Other than that, the wing spiker continues to keep his distance. Mainly due to the shame that follows remembering what he’s done after dropping you off, but the one time you two shared eye contact for more than a few seconds when you handed him a towel during a break brought another feeling into the mix: excitement. What for, Sakusa has yet to find out. Or maybe he’s trying to avoid that explanation. Like any minute, you’ll tell him, you know, eyelids heavy as the emphasis tells him more than enough of what you’re talking about. The thought makes his lower stomach churn in an agonizing blender. Then, you’ll pull him into the storage closet, where you’ll—

Say his name. Well, no. Not you. Someone else is saying it. Again and again. 

The ravenette blinks back into the real world, masking his fantasy with a blank slate for a face as he turns to look at whoever could need something from him.

“Oh, so yer awake?” Atsumu. Of course. “Still got some energy in me, and I need t’kill a bit of time. Wanna set fer ya fer a bit.”

The grin the faux blonde offers isn’t reciprocated as Sakusa notices front the corner of his eye some of his teammates entering the changeroom. A part of him wants nothing more than to follow them, the clothes clinging to his body from all the sweat making him internally recoil as he wishes for a shower. He also knows this is an opportunity to improve without you there: as much as he enjoys your presence, you become a distraction as a drawback. 

The wing spiker sighs. “Only for a little bit.”

Atsumu beams at his teammate’s (albeit reluctant) acceptance, already jogging to fetch a ball to begin.

Sakusa finds his focus coming back with every spike he lands on the other side of the court, slowly but surely returning to normal. Another way to release some steam; he tries not to cringe at the memory of the other tactic from the night before. 

The attempt fails as soon as you enter the gym with Meian by your side. The two of you are speaking to each other—about what, the ravenette isn’t sure. He doesn’t get a chance to listen in, anyway.

“Nice kill!” Atsumu chirps, gaining the attention of not just his teammate, but his captain and manager as well. With a final nod, you and Meian go your separate ways; him towards the changeroom and you, the other two athletes. 

“Don’t push yourselves too much, guys,” you chuckle. “You already worked hard during practice. Take the time to relax as well.”

Sakusa can barely give you a nod while the setter grins at you. 

“I’m gonna get cleaned up before we head out, ‘kay?” The wing spiker’s head snaps towards his teammate with a raised brow. Neither you nor the faux-blonde acknowledge his confusion. 

You smile. “Take your time. I’ll just put the net and volleyballs away while you’re at it.”

Atsumu nods before slapping Sakusa’s back and jogging to the changeroom. The ravenette can only look down at a stray ball and pick it up. He remembers enjoying the silence between him and whoever he was with. 

“I’ll help,” he mutters, walking away before he can witness your reaction. It’s ridiculous, like some middle school crush: wanting nothing more than to be close to you, but freezing up as soon as it happens. And he can’t avoid you forever–he doesn’t want to–because you eventually meet him at the ball cart, dropping the armful of volleyballs into it. “What was that with Miya earlier?”

His voice finds itself whenever he’d rather it didn’t. He’s curious, sure, but he didn’t need his tone to give away his distaste. He can only hope you dismiss it as Sakusa being Sakusa and nothing more. 

With the small smile you give him, the ravenette is certain he’s safe. “Oh, ‘Tsumu invited me to check out this restaurant that recently opened with him after practice. Heard they made some of my favourites there, and I wanted to try them ASAP.”

Sakusa pretends that you being on a first-name basis with the setter doesn’t bother him. He doesn’t respond to your explanation and remains silent as he brings the net down with your help. The next time he acknowledges you is before he rushes to the changeroom to shower, ignoring Atsumu as they cross paths.

He’s at the wrong house. 

You’d think one knew the directions to the place they called home, yes? At the very least, have an idea of the area. Yet, it’s only until your driveway makes it to his peripheral vision does the ravenette realize his mistake. And he’s just in time to watch you walk up your porch. 

After another restless night, the wing spiker needed to clear his head. His home brought him no distractions, already too tidy to clean, and his mind continuously drifted away when watching recordings of volleyball matches. With a day to himself, he might as well go around town—there’s a mall not too far from his place, he recalls. It was a better attempt at keeping him occupied, though he couldn’t help it when he passed a perfume shop and wondered what scent was your favourite. Or the neighbouring lingerie store, putting whatever scandalous pieces of lace out on display, giving the athlete’s spiralling mind suggestions on what you would look best in. (White, he concluded before processing.) 

He didn’t want much, nor did he need much. More or less satisfied with his purchases (and dissatisfied with failing distractions), he’s in his car, ready to head back home. 

But he’s not home. Or rather, his house. The latter is a mere building; the former, a sense of comfort. And while there’s guilt bubbling in his chest, witnessing you carry on with your everyday life has him relaxing in his seat.

You were on an errand run, Sakusa observes. Groceries, from what he sees. What would you be making for dinner tonight? He’s too far away to catch what exactly is in your bags. The weather’s fallen to a frigid slumber—stew, perhaps? Or maybe you’ll make some umeboshi—those appeared to be your favourite whenever the team stopped by at Onigiri Miya. He and his teammates have had the opportunity to try some of your cooking firsthand; the ravenette is positive whatever you make will be just as delicious.

Then he remembers yesterday’s interaction, and his grip on the steering wheel tightens. Where did you two go? And when did Atsumu get so comfortable with you to take you out? You seemed content and—

And getting angry during this opportunity won’t do him any good. Surprised, Sakusa manages to calm down a little, opting to distract himself with other scenarios.

What could you two eat together? What would you serve him? He lets his thoughts waltz. The two of you share a meal after a long practice, or maybe you cook together on your day off. He’s seen a few romance movies in his life; he can imagine hugging you from behind as you prepared the food, him nuzzling his nose into the crook of your neck as you both talked about whatever was on your mind. The conversation would continue as the two of you ate at the dinner table, his hand itching to find yours across from him. 

And for dessert, he’d have you sitting on the kitchen counter with your legs wide open as he ravaged what’s in between them, your hands clawing at his dark curls as his greed controls his tongue. Or, maybe you’re feeling extra generous and decide to help him relax after a tiring practice, lowering to your knees to take every inch of his—

You’re struggling to open your front door. Too many bags in your hands—the wing spiker has half a mind to get out of the car and help you. As crazy as you drive him, he still has some sense to remind him that whatever excuse he has to be in your neighbourhood won’t be convincing, even from him. And with the evergrowing tightness in his pants, he has another problem he can’t hide. Worse, he doesn’t feel as bad as he used to anymore.

You finally manage to get inside, and the athlete starts the engine to find a secluded area once again.

Sakusa has to refrain from spiking the ball at the faux-blonde’s face in the following practice. A match among teammates, and noticing the setter’s little pep in his step upon entering the gym that morning had the ravenette glaring hard. A part of him was relieved being on Atsumu’s opposing team, doubting he could work alongside him for the day. 

For now, the wing spiker aims his spikes at the older Miya twin. Anyone could view the action as part of his strategy; aiming for the setter to prevent them from setting is an old trick in the book, but still in the book. 

“Damn it, Omi!” Atsumu exclaims in frustration after not properly receiving Sakusa’s spike. “Quit pickin’ on me! Ma arms are gonna fall off!”

A twinge of satisfaction plucks at the ravenette’s chest from the outcry, though he masks it with a huff before walking back to his position. His eyes automatically make their way to your form on a bench, keeping track of the points while scribbling some notes whenever possible. You don’t catch his gaze, seemingly occupied with whatever’s on your clipboard. The lack of attention makes Sakusa frown, as he had hoped you’d see him on his little winning streak. 

It doesn’t stop him. If anything, it adds fuel to the fire, the flicker of pride from before blooming into something dangerous. 

His plan doesn’t change: Atsumu will remain his target until he decides otherwise. The next time he’s given a chance to spike, his eyes make the mistake of gluing themselves to his victim. Barnes quickly steps in front of the faux-blonde’s spot, flinching from the impact but still blocking the ball perfectly. 

It’s just one point, one that he can easily take back. Still, Sakusa can’t help but aim his glare at the setter on the other side of the net, something that doesn’t go unnoticed. A hand lands on the wing spiker’s shoulder, snapping him out of his spiralling daze. 

“Take a seat, Sakusa.” Meian’s expression appears relaxed, though there’s a rough edge to his tone telling him it’s not a suggestion.

The bench you’re sitting on is opposite his team’s side of the court. Had that not been the case, the ravenette would try to take the opportunity to sit with you, even if words wouldn’t be exchanged. Instead, he settles onto a bench too far from you for his liking. Even if he were to try and take a peek at you, players from the other team block you from his vision, what with their constant moving. 

He’s observing their movements; anyone can assume that. Sakusa can no longer remember the time he’d do something like that unless he was watching videos of matches at home. If he’s not keeping the ball in the air on his side of the court, then he’s scavenging for a chance to even be reminded of your existence: you handing the athletes water and towels, the captain calling your name to gain your attention. Anything will do. So no matter the frustration that comes with the package, he’ll find a way to catch you. 

It isn’t until he watches you rise from the bench does Sakusa realize that practice is done for the day. He didn’t notice his teammates walking away from the court and giving him a clearer view of your frame; he was glad he could see you at all. His posture straightens as he watches you approach Atsumu, and his hands ball into fists when you rest your hand on the faux-blonde’s arm. Whatever you two may be discussing, the ravenette can only assume it has to do with his teammate being on the receiving end of his pent-up aggression. 

Your conversation ends short and sweet, with you walking towards the storage closet. Sakusa’s only half-listening to his captain when he asks if everything is okay with him. Meian is offered an unenthusiastic response of “Everything is fine” before the younger athlete stalks away.

You’re struggling to roll out the ball cart from its spot when the wing spiker enters the storage closet. He doesn’t hesitate to approach you from behind and grip the handle about an inch away from your hold. You gasp, jolting back slightly before turning your head to face the brooding ravenette. 

“You startled me, Sakusa,” you sigh, clutching your chest. “Is there something I can help you with?”

Always so eager to please, aren’t you? The wing spiker has to refrain from smirking at the thought. 

Still, he ignores your question. “The wheels on this cart have been acting up lately.” With newfound confidence, he places his free hand on your shoulder to gently pull you out of the way for him to yank the cart. It jerks out of its place with a loud screech, and you wince. “You just need to give it a tug. Until it’s fixed, anyway.”

Sakusa looks down at the cart upon realizing this is probably the most words he’s spoken to you without having you carry the conversation. 

You grip the handle after a few seconds of silence. Your voice, suddenly meek, shakes as you thank him. He’s blocking your way; nothing you need to point out to him, but your silence says plenty. His feet stay planted on the ground, and your loss of confidence makes his cock stir in his pants. 

“You were pretty tough out there earlier,” you point out. The wing spiker knows you purposefully left out who he was giving a hard time. He also knows, based on your concerned tone, that you’re asking him for an explanation. 

You aren’t offered a response. Sakusa only takes his time turning his head to peer at you, the darkness of the storage closet and the way his black curls frame his stoic face giving him an intimidating aura. But what has you subconsciously shrinking into your corner are the onyx caskets for irises boring into your frame, beckoning you to crawl into the empty pools of demise. 

“I have to be if I want to win,” is his response before finally leaving you be, exiting the changeroom with the same intensity you witnessed mere seconds ago.

He’s back: closer. 

Parking his car nearby doesn’t cut it for him anymore. Sakusa doesn’t think it ever did. With the amount of patience lost for every practice with his team, the initial distance was just a formality. 

Now, his car hides nearby as he approaches your home, giving a quick yet thorough peek over his shoulder to make sure he’s in the clear.

It took him the third visit to learn where you hid your spare key, having seen you take it out from under the cushion of a little bench on your porch. And luckily for him, it hasn’t left its spot. 

Even with his morals flying out the window, the wing spiker neatly places his coat, scarf and boots aside after removing them, then ponders over his leather gloves until ultimately deciding to keep them on. He eyes the spare slippers by the entrance before concluding they won’t be necessary (for this visit, anyway).

Based on the house’s layout, it shouldn’t take long for Sakusa to find your bedroom. But it’s not going anywhere, and neither are you. Why not get to know you via your home?

It’s a small house: one story and cozy. The ravenette wonders how you afforded it, even with your salary. With how minimal the style appears, he can only assume most of your income went into the building itself. Would it be too much for him to buy you things for the interior? As a gift, perhaps when the occasion calls for it. 

Then again, is he really in any position to ask himself about doing too much? He almost chuckles at the thought. 

A quick yet thorough tour of your home gives him a more detailed layout, though he’d love to stay longer had he had the time. Or better yet, your company. As satisfied as he was to find your living room and kitchen tidy–and by his standards no less–he’s not done getting to know you. 

People don’t really need an exploration of the bathroom. It’s as clean as any other room, though it’s a cast-aside note when his eyes land on your laundry basket. Half full, too. Squatting closer to the dirty pile, a subtle yet musky scent hits his nose. Sakusa almost groans, cock stirring in his slacks; for such a clean freak, he’s never been more excited.

His eyes scan the basket’s contents, eventually landing on flimsy lace. Part of him wishes he wasn’t sporting gloves for the occasion, but he doesn’t let that stop him as he picks up the article of clothing. Underwear, of course it is, and a flattering magenta nonetheless. You wear this to practice? Or are there other times you put it on? Do you have a matching bra? The wing spiker can’t find anything in the basket, though he’s sure–no, he knows–you’d wear it like it was made for you. 

Are you wearing something similar right now?

The ravenette stands from his position, pocketing the lacy undergarment before exiting the bathroom. Consider it a welcoming gift. 

Again, it doesn’t take long for him to find your room. Being in such an intimate location is a different experience compared to looking in as an outsider. Everything is you: the way you organized your shelves and vanity, the colour palette—your scent is more prominent here. Sakusa doesn’t catch his eyes fluttering shut until he distinctly hears shifting. 

To his right, you lay on your mattress, your sheets messily hanging off parts of your body. You’re barely a silhouette in his eyes; the moonlight stalking past the crack between your curtains is the only thing helping the ravenette navigate your room. Parts of the glow highlight a bit of your face, though a shimmer from the light’s reflection teases his peripheral vision. 

You have a bookcase headboard, and on it lays a necklace in its case. Nothing fancy; a golden heart hanging off a thin chain. It’s more the note next to its box that catches the ravenette’s eye:

Thought this would look good on you ;) Hope you like it!

— Tsumu (your favourite setter <3)

If it weren’t for the fact that you’d notice, Sakusa would crumble that note and follow up with the faux-blonde’s neck. When did you get this? He surely would’ve noticed if you received it during practice. 

There’s a good chance the setter gave it to you before or afterwards. The wing spiker’s aware that the two of you spent time together outside of training, though for it to happen enough times that Atsumu found it appropriate to give you a gift as intimate as a heart-shaped necklace has the ravenette glaring at the piece of jewellery. (As open as his teammate may be, Sakusa doubts he’d buy something like that for someone after a single meet-up.)

He hears a sigh: yours. Your body shifts in its spot again, opting to lay on your back. The wing spiker freezes for the slowest seconds his alarmed brain can count, only to relax once you stay in your new spot.

They say an average of eight spiders crawl into your mouth yearly while you sleep. A myth, of course, but maybe that’s what we tell ourselves to ease the paranoia. Maybe, that’s what he is, Sakusa thinks; a spider. Soundless, observant—he’s certainly made himself at home. 

Maybe not, he reconsiders. Most people would carefully trap the eight-legged creature before bringing it outside. Or kill it; no mercy necessary. You have yet to do either. 

Then again, you aren’t like most people. Not in his eyes, anyway. No, his eyes entertain themselves with your every move, and no matter how deep those holes in the side of your head are, you don’t catch his stare. Whatever he may be, he’s always the perfect distance to observe you.

Sakusa’s brain buzzes mindlessly as his hands draw closer to your form, long fingers pinching the hem of your pyjama shirt before lifting the material. No bra: not a surprising observation, what with your nipples poking at the fabric from the cold. Even with how dark it is, the ravenette salivates from the sight, his cock stirring in his pants. He’s grateful for the lack of witnesses, though it’s still embarrassing to be as affected as he is. You’re not even fully nude. Yet.

He waits for a reaction. Other than you moving in your sleep, the wing spiker receives nothing. He exhales through his nose, never thinking that gaining the knowledge about you being a heavy sleeper early on would be an advantage for him. His fingers twitch before slowly landing on your stomach. Again, no reaction; he then lays his palms to join the digits. With a deep and shaky breath, the ravenette glides his hands up your torso until they reach your breasts. 

They feel perfect in his grasp, even with the thick layer of the leather gloves creating that barrier. Your face scrunches when he gives your mounds a light squeeze, though you remain asleep. As deep of a sleeper as you may be, one wrong move could ruin everything. Sakusa gulps, dragging his middle finger to flick at your nipple. A shaky breath from you is enough for him to shift into a more comfortable position on your bed before he continues his ministrations more confidently. 

He’s careful, he assures; eyes flickering from your chest to your face, reading your expressions to discover what you like and making sure you don’t wake up. All the while, the athlete tries to ignore the tightness of his pants, although watching you squirm beneath him because of his touch makes that a challenge. 

“Hnngh….”

It was barely audible, but enough to make the athlete stop everything. You’re still asleep, of course—he’s almost impressed, a bit jealous, even. Countless nights of insomnia on his side because of his fantasies playing on a loop, but yours give you a good night’s rest.

Regardless, the wing spiker gears to earn another reaction like that. Dipping his toes further into the water, he gets a little rougher, tweaking the sensitive buds between his covered fingers. Your back arches in his hold; more than enough confirmation for him. 

Shifting his position once more, Sakusa wraps his lips around one of your nipples, dragging his tongue against it while groping the other breast. You whimper when he begins sucking: a shallow sound, but it travels down to his crotch. He already has to deal with the embarrassment of finishing early because of you; if he cums in his pants without any stimulation, you’ll surely be the death of him.

He can’t rely on you being a deep sleeper forever: the wing spiker must work quickly. Pulling away from your chest, Sakusa brings his attention to the lower half of your body. His hands glide down to your hips, hooking his index fingers past the elastic waistband. He wonders whether he should take his time removing the article of clothing or pull them down in one motion. You help him make a quick decision when your leg accidentally brushes against his hard-on. And while he refrains from letting out a groan, his hands make fast work of harshly tugging your pants to your knees. 

Silence: not a sound from you, not a breath from him. Your thighs clench momentarily out of reflex once the cool air hits the exposed skin. Not fast enough—Sakusa managed to catch a peek at your drooling cunt. And it isn’t until you finally relax again does he exhale with a light shiver from the sight. 

Now, with a clear view, the athlete reaches for his opportunity by swiping some of your essence and bringing that same finger to your clit. Your hips buck into his touch as he rubs slow but tight circles on the pearl, making his brows furrow in concentration and chest swell with pride. It isn’t long until he adds to his pace and slides a finger from his other hand into your sopping hole. Your thighs clench on impulse, a mewl leaving your throat as the air remains stuck in his. His movements are forced to a halt due to your hold, and it takes several seconds for you to settle. Do you enjoy the sturdy material of leather rubbing against your insides? Maybe you’re unaware of the answer, but God, wouldn’t the ravenette love to know.

Dipping his toes in the water is long out of the discussion; if anything, he’s in too deep, the water rising every second he proceeds. He might as well follow the rest of him down, no? Take that final gulp of air before dipping his head in and letting that frozen abyss swallow him.

Sakusa experimentally wiggles his finger inside you and, after gaining no reaction, slides in another. With how wet you already were, it doesn’t take much effort on his part. You gasp, but your eyes stay closed. Even with his morality slipping away each day he sees you, the wing spiker still finds himself surprised (and grateful) that you can sleep through his actions. He wonders how far he can go. 

The longer and deeper he pumps his digits inside you, the more reactions he earns from you. The squelching noises between your legs also become louder, especially with the leather material of his gloves. He’s no longer worried, just curious about what sounds and expressions he can pull out of you. 

A particular response tells him he’s found your sweet spot. With a drawn-out yet breathless wail, you lift your hips off the mattress once the ravenette prods at a certain part inside you. 

Where there is darkness, there is also light, and that’s exactly what could be said to describe the glimmer in his eyes upon discovering this hidden gem of information. He continues his ministrations, watching in fascination and lust as you grind into his touch. 

Meanwhile, his cock is begging to be released from its restraints, throbbing due to the display. Sakusa was hoping to hold out for a bit longer, mapping out your body in ways he hopes no one else has, but along with any logic and morality, his patience flies out the window. 

You whimper when the athlete slides his fingers out; he almost wants to coo, assure you that he’ll make you feel all better. He can’t, of course, so he opts to taste you, lick his digits clean of your slick. He’s certain he almost cums on the spot, your sweetness consuming his tastebuds (as well as a hint of bitter leather) and leaving its mark in his memories. The wing spiker’s eyes roll to the back of his head as he tries to refrain from groaning. 

When his gaze returns to your form, he’s swift with your pants, further sliding them down before doing the same to himself. Having his cock out of its confinements already does plenty for him, but not enough. Sakusa recalls how your cunt squeezed his fingers, practically sucking them in. You were warm, dripping, even with his gloves in the way. And with how eager he is to have you make a mess on his dick, he knows he’s no longer the same person he was before meeting you.

The athlete taps the tip of his cock against your clit a few times, just to watch you squirm, before sliding into your entrance. Only a few inches in, and he already has to dig his teeth into his bottom lip. None of this was a part of his plan—he’s not even sure he had one in the first place; he just needed to see you, feel your presence in some way, shape or form. And the latter is more than he could ever ask for, your insides hugging him just as tight as they did his fingers. The lack of a barrier is the icing on the cake. 

He’s bottomed out before he knows it, and Sakusa doesn’t know where to look: your face contorting from being filled to the brim or your cunt stretching open to accommodate his size. Either one intensifies the swirling of his lower stomach. All he can do for now is play with your clit until you appear to feel better. (And if that means you clench harder around him, then so be it. He’s come this far as is.)

After a few minutes, the wing spiker reels his hips back with a deep breath. His thrusts are gentle, as much of a challenge as it may be to hold back. He bites his bottom lip as he feels you hug every inch of his cock, threatening to milk him for all he’s worth when he’s barely begun. You’re so much better than his hand; no fantasy can compare. 

A few strokes in, and Sakusa’s restraint is thinning. Every time, he thrusts in a bit deeper, a bit faster, a bit harder. You’re quietly moaning between pants, your face twisting from a pained expression to one much lewder. Pretty lips parted with brows both furrowed and raised, you have the ravenette throwing his head back with a silent groan. 

Unfortunately for him, that’s when he catches sight of that damn necklace again. His grip on the sheets next to your head tightens, his thrusts sloppy as his mind races. What made Atsumu think he had the right? Does he think a necklace is all it’ll take to get you? Sakusa drops his head to glare daggers as you continue to mewl and whimper. What do you think is happening right now? Who are you thinking about right now? 

His mind keeps reeling, and the wing spiker fails to notice how he’s taking out his aggression in his thrusts.

Your whimpers grow to pathetic cries, tears forming in the corners of your eyes, and his hold on your sheets move to your wrists on instinct. With the mental spiral and physical force, the ravenette fails to notice your eyes shoot open.

Then, you gasp. “Sakusa!”

He hears the fear in your voice, no doubt. Yet, in a situation like this, with you beneath him, tears streaming down your cheeks as your sobbing and panting mix together, he can’t help but create a more beautiful scenario. You’re begging for him, his cock, needing him to fuck you stupid and fill you up to the brim, the pleasure so overwhelming that your nails are digging into his back, only his shirt shielding his skin from the potential marks. 

The athlete doesn’t think; he slams his lips against yours, his tongue quick to explore your mouth as his release hangs on to the edge. And when your pussy flutters around his dick, creams around it, it’s the push he needs. Hot spurts of cum paint your insides white as Sakusa kisses you harder, his hips stilling. Even as he groans against your mouth, he can hear your choked moans, and he never wants any of this to end. 

But that’s not how it works. Eventually, you both come down from your highs, his cock going soft and out of cum to give you. The wing spiker doesn’t pull out, but it doesn’t stop the white liquid from trying to seep out. It makes him shiver, slowly ending your kiss for you both to catch some air. The string of saliva connected to your lips that follows him as he sits up distracts him; something else to bind you two together. It’s messy, so so so messy. 

He loves it. 

You’re both breathing hard for the next several seconds, your terrified expression not faltering as your body trembles lightly. 

“Wha—How?” you gasp, sob, you’re not sure, and neither is he. He’s only half-listening, still floating on that release and too far away. “Sakusa, how did you get in?”

There they are again: those eyes. Empty pools, yet always full of judgement. Like you’re the crazy one. Tracing the river streams down your face and clumps of shields for lashes, they seemingly do more talking than his mouth. 

Then, Sakusa reaches a hand out to cup your cheek. You flinch, but it doesn’t stop him from wiping a stray tear. Even with your helpless sounds quieting down, the silence isn’t any less deafening. And when his voice, smooth and deep and a little too nonchalant, invades the room, you shiver.

“I was always here.”

© creative-crybaby, do not repost or modify

[justwannabecat]

~Quasar AU background~

So… due to overwhelming support, yeah, I’ll make a part 2. Before that, some worldbuilding. There’s a lot here that feels impossible. Mainly Danny up and leaving like that. What about his friends, his family?

Well, it’s pretty simple. This is far enough in the future that Jazz has gone to college. She’s no longer there, and his parents stopped feeling like family a long time ago. That’s easy enough to understand.

Meanwhile, for Sam and Tucker… I was thinking that the Gregor episode happens later in canon. So basically, here Danny is, his sister miles away, his parents hunting him down, and his friends seemingly turning their backs on him. Combine that with the fact that he’s FORCED to be a hero, that he’s failing his classes, that he’s bullied and often gets punished for it… It’s just the tipping point.

On the JL’s side, they can’t exactly do anything when they don’t know there’s a problem in the first place. The GIW were monitoring information going in and out. For example, they kept the knowledge of the Justice League a secret, but heroes were already known, so Amity Parkers simply figure that heroes stick to whatever city they swore to defend. Calling in another city’s hero? They’re all too busy.

There’s also a huge timeskip between Danny leaving and Batman investigating. I mention it in my tags, but basically, without Danny to stop them, the ghosts get bolder. Technus tells all the other ghosts, feeling pretty darn bad about what they did, except… not all ghosts care. Desiree, Spectra and Bertrand, Aragon, Undergrowth and Nocturn, to name a few. Technus sharing that was basically an invitation for any ghost with less-than-pure intentions.

The GIW put a huge ghost shield around the entirety of Amity Park, but only after some huge disaster. If that were the end of it, it would be fine. However, it’s not. The hunters don’t discriminate between harmful and peaceful ghosts, nor adult or child. While it isn’t the first ghost they’ve caught and killed, they do End a child, and it’s the first completely innocent afterlife they’ve stopped.

It took five years, but the Ancients finally declare war.

(Also! The name came from the astronomical phenomenon. Quasars emit 100-1000x as much light as a regular galaxy. I thought it was fitting considering Danny is one of the most powerful ghosts. Also, although I didn’t know this when I named it, there are also these things called “Quasar ghosts” which are basically glowing green markers of where a Quasar died out. Just made me laugh more because I don’t think I could have chosen a more appropriate name if I tried!)

Tag list: @random-dude12 @overtherose @osnii @profounddestinyrebel @currentlyalivebutmentlyd3ad @thatonegirl10 @learning-to-fly-on-my-own @epilepticnerd @alcorbearson @hoarder-of-gender @sirtin @oddessy @naluforever3 @litlecameron @skulld3mort-1fan @nogenderonlyfrogie @screamingtofillthevoid

[enavstars]

can u also give us fic recs? i wanna read your fic but it's long hdhwhsjs

wanna be in the right mindset

so do u have any?

Here are some fics that I really liked because I thought they were interesting. I loved the way the characters are written, most of them are Kai centered, angst (check the tags for any triggers) and short. Also these are some we used as reference for the characterization of the ninja in Eclipse.

(idk how many recs you wanted so I put a lot)

They turn the light on and it's burning up the sky by Sugarglider_s : very short and poetic Kai analisis angst fic. Absolutely love the way it's written and the interpretation of Kai's character.

Hello my old heart by Bemmiecake : this is a long unfinished fic centered around Kai in the timeskip between seasons 3 and 4. I had to add it because it is definitely one of my favourites, this fic has made me emotional multiple times. It's heartbreaking how Kai has to go through his awful coping mechanisms as the Red Shogun and how he ends up finding a sliver of hope in the process. It also features a well built oc!

What gets out comes around by fruitcasket : this one is Cole centric but explores some contradictions of his character mostly with his relationship with Kai, how despite being a kind soul he acts as a bully towards him quite often.

Too familiar by Maplebreeze : Oneshot about Kai realizing him and Lloyd had similar experiences. Basically RG brothers fluff with some hurt.

Alike, alone by fruitcasket : Morro possesses Kai fic but it’s focused on Kai and Morro’s interactions and similarities rather than actions. It does some character analisis and dives into their mentality.

All of the work, none of the money by ADHDplusCartonnmakesCHAOS : Fic about the ninja learning about Kai and Nya’s childhood. There are many fics exploring this theme but this one is my favourite so far, talking about the subtler things like how costly pads are when you're already short on money to eat.

Fight by Maplebreeze : It describes perfectly how Kai would lose himself to violence (as one of his awful coping mechanisms) again and again and again, to distract his heart from all of those close to him he couldn't save (up until Possessed)

Guilt by Cherry_dynamite : On this fic we finally get closure with Lloyd addressing the fact that he did not see Kai's survival guilt back in the slither pit.

Boiling Point by Salty_Pickle_Bones : It is about Kai and the team being wrecked by Nya's death. It shows just how lost Kai has become, how he's going down the alcoholic rabbit hole again.

Off the deep end by Kiss_The_Cook : Set in the first season when Lloyd is a kid living with the ninja. Kai refuses to get close to Lloyd, despite Lloyd admiring him, because he knows he and Lloyd will get attached to each other and Kai thinks it would be very bad for the kid to do so. Brothers fluff (and some angst), I love how Kai’s mentality is portrayed and of course little Lloyd.

Aftermath by Sugarglider_s : Fluff opposite oneshot. Not really related to the rest but I love it and made a comic about it -> link here.

Feel free to recommend any other fic you like. We are especially interested in those that analyze the characterization of the ninja in depth, more specifically any other character besides Kai (pls let us know, especially ones about Jay, we’re struggling with writing him).

Side note: I know there aren’t many Kai and Nya fics so recommend ones focused on them too pls.

[emelinstriker]

Wukong ♢ 'Vacation'

Heads up, I haven't seen the sleep bug episode, or any other season than 4 in general, in a while and just remember the general plot moment of the episode. Also the moment of MK trying to get in contact with Monkey King while flexing his new abilities.

All's based in an AU anyway so we shall strife away from the canon timeline- whoo :D

I just know Monkey King doesn't fully return till like the end of season 2, so this shall have major timeskips-

♢ ~ Angst ~ ♢

"Sun Wukong! Where are you?!", your slightly irritated voice rang from behind some trees as you moved past some foliage, looking for your monkey boyfriend. He was supposed to train MK today and you wanted to pay a visit to Flower Fruit Mountain, but then you caught MK training on his own as his mentor was nowhere in sight.

MK told you that Monkey King decided to take a sudden vacation and that he apparently sent you a message just minutes prior. You didn't notice the message however as you were busy trying to get the sleep bug game notification off your phone. It didn't work, so you ended up just turning off your phone so you could deal with it later at home.

But the fact that he outright left not only you but also the kid like that was quite upsetting.

Knowing the stone monkey, he didn't actually immediately leave. He was probably still somewhere on Flower Fruit Mountain to collect everything he would need just in case while being away. And it seems you were right on the money. You found the Monkey King packing up some leftover things that weren't behind the waterfall or near his and MK's designated training area. The items seemed to not be for a relaxing vacation to be honest.

"Wukong! Why are you going on vacation out of the blue?!" You asked as you approached him with quick steps.

He froze, his tail stiffening for just a second to let you know you startled him. The monkey quickly turned to look at you rather nervously. "A-Ah h-hey heeey, peaches! Wh- Well, what a surprise to see you all the way out here!"

"Mhm. Same to you", you started, glaring at him, "But don't avoid the question. You should be all the way on the other side of the forest and training your successor right now, y'know?"

He waved his hand dismissively, "He's got the basics down and knows how to train himself. I did train for the most part on my own as well. He'll be fine. Besides, it's not like I'll be gone forever. I'll be checking in from time to time." Then he continued to pack two more items.

You were still quite mad at him despite the explanation. "But why are you going on vacation right now and without me?"

That seemed to catch his attention, but not in the way you expected. The simian's ears seemed to twitch a little at your words, but he refused to look at you as he packed another item.

"Listen (Y/N), I simply need to get away and be alone for a while. I'll be visiting some people I know from the past. I'd love to have you on another vacation, just... not this one." His tail lowered itself until it was tucked between his legs. That didn't stop you from feeling left out of yet another mini-adventure. It was far from the first time he insisted on you staying behind due to you being a regular human with nothing more than verbal strength.

This time was no different as you noticed that whatever he had planned, the seriousness in his voice told you enough that wherever he was heading to was not a simple vacation. But that was even more of a reason to at least tell you where he was going!

You clenched your fists in frustration. "Can't you just tell me what's wrong? It's not like you to be this secretive! I know you're off to doing something alone again because of whatever bits of a hero complex you have left, but-" "I can't tell you, okay?!" He snapped back, finally turning to you with the snarl of a feral monkey, catching you off-guard.

"Ugh, that's why I need a vacation right about now too! Gods, you're so pushy in moments like these, I just need a break!"

Tears pricked in the corners of your eyes at his words, but you turned around quickly enough so he wouldn't see. You took a deep breath to calm your nerves and keep your voice from cracking.

"Fine. I hope you have fun on your vacation, Monkey King", you responded as you started to walk away, your back facing him the entire time while tears began rolling down your cheeks.

The simian was still annoyed as he began hopping onto his cloud and taking off. Only halfway to his destination did his brain finally register that you referred to him by his title. That's when the reality of the argument you two just had a few minutes ago hit. And so did the memory of how he described you, followed by you tearing up.

He did notice.

"...Shit", he muttered to himself dreadfully as he facepalmed. As much as he wanted to go back this instant and embrace you before you left Flower Fruit Mountain, his mission had to take priority as the fate of the world was in danger. He would have to apologize to you later...

"Later" turned into several weeks however as he fought to obtain information on how to beat the Lady Bone Demon. Occasionally he would check in on MK, of course. He did ask about you at least once everytime he got in contact with the boy though, even while being in the middle of battle. The guilt that was eating at him was a lot more bothersome than getting his hands on the Samadhi Fire's map.

MK noticed how often his mentor would ask about your well-being and at first thought that it was sweet of him to ask about you... But then he realized he could just get in contact with you directly too. You had a charm in form of a necklace that let you transport to Flower Fruit mountain, as well as open the waterfall and get in contact with your lover.

That's when he started to catch onto the suspicion that something must have happened between the two of you.

"Monkey King, why don't you just talk to (Y/N) directly? They still have the charm you gave them, right?"

The golden image of the Monkey King crossed his arms before scratching his cheek with a frown. He seemed suddenly very much uncomfortable.

"I... Uh... I don't have the time for a lengthy talk with them right now. I still need to visit another friend in a bit! Right! Yeah! Okay, see you later, bud!" "Monkey King, wait-"

And then the connection cut off. Feeling upset and abandoned by the one who was supposed to mentor him through his journey as hero, he decided to give you a call.

The phone rang until he heard your voice. Your recorded voice.

"Hi! This is (Y/N)! Please leave a message if you need anything and I'll listen to it as soon as possible!"

He hung up and tried to call again, but it also only went back to voicemail.

Raising an eyebrow at your sudden unavailability, he decided to just send you a text instead, believing you were busy at work and put your phone on silent.

'monkey king keeps asking about you btw, but doesn't seem to wanna talk to you directly :('

'tell me if you wanna talk to him and i can try get you two in contact'

'if he hasn't talked to you recently that is'

'he acts kinda weird rn tbh'

You should be able to read those messages once you got time. Probably after work.

And yet he never received any text back.

What he didn't know was that you weren't at work. In fact, you were being held captive by the Lady Bone Demon's servant, the Mayor. Him and his Lady knew about your relationship with Sun Wukong and how fragile you were compared to the rest of your friends.

"I don't have anything to offer you!" You yelled out as the Mayor held your arms effortlessly behind your back, forcing you to simply talk to his Lady's glowing image in front of you.

She giggled ominously, "On the contrary, (Y/N). Your destiny has been sealed the moment you agreed to a relationship with that damned simian and befriended his successor."

"What the hell am I of use for to you?! I don't have any special abilities you could even benefit from!" Your voice cracked towards the end from the amount of anxiety you had.

"Well, unfortunately for your frail body, your destiny involves succumbing to your wounds."

Before you could question her any further, the Mayor moved your wrists swiftly, breaking your arms in the process. You cried out in pain, breathing heavily as tears began to fall.

"For you see, the charm Sun Wukong gave you will aid us in creating the New World. Contact him through it." She smirked down at your quivering form. "And even if you decide to be uncooperative, destiny will catch up sooner or later..."

And as suspected, you were being very much uncooperative. So much so that you ended up with more injuries than you could keep count of. Probably half of which included several broken bones from the Mayor's raw demonic strength.

While the Lady Bone Demon wasn't so fond of your refusal to call your boyfriend, she merely saw it as a minor delay. She knew Sun Wukong and the rest of the crew would get suspicious and try find you eventually.

Even if it took days upon Wukong telling the crew to find the three four rings...

And find you they did.

But not in the shape they had hoped.

You were completely bloody and bruised, your limbs were mangled in a rather disturbing way.

The crew was horrified- Not only at the sight, but also at the realization that you were lifeless, dead...

The Monkey King felt the most broken. The memories of your forever last conversation being one big mess of an argument... He thought he was keeping you and the others safe...

He mourned over your dead body, letting his tears fall as he carefully cradled you in his arms, his fur and armor now having bloody spots. MK was struggling with telling his mentor to focus because he himself couldn't fully focus anymore at the sight of a close friend's body. However, the thought of other people, including his other friends, ending up in the same position as you were in was terrifying.

And that was all the motivation they both needed to keep moving. The Great Sage wiped away his tears, looking at your resting form one last time before glaring into the distance.

He would avenge your death, no matter what.

And if possible, would try find a way to bring you back... Even if it involves fighting the Heavens once more.

> Link to Masterlist <

[cursedvibes]

"Don't interfere with Gojo's fight, you'll only be a burden" 🤡 anyways I think we all agree this was a terrible fight with a terribly executed ending. It feels like bad writing, with Gege unsealing Gojo and not knowing what to do with him having a bunch of characters waiting to progress and be developed. Just unnecessary, like what did the fight accomplish? Gojo straight up forgetting about Megumi and being like "oh nvm, i was never gonna win anywyay" just feels OOC.

One of the most anticipated fights in the whole manga and it was kinda trash. I hope the plot moves along now. Like you said, I want to see the students fighting Sukuna and Kenjaku, also give me the parent Kenjaku reveal moment with Yuji, Gege, and some KenJin flashbacks. Perhaps add in a little "Jin is actually alive". As compensation.

Also waiting on that Sukuna/Yuji fight. Please Gege let that one be good.

I don't know if it's because Gege lost passion for the story, but there would've been dozens of better options on how to do the fight besides "students sit on their ass and watch the live stream of their teacher's death". F in chat, guys! No, don't interfere, that would be too interesting and feel way too natural.

I really don't want to be this harsh, but everything since Gojo's unsealing has just been very questionable writing decisions. I like the Culling Game actually, I enjoyed it more than Shibuya, even when we were focusing on characters I didn't care as much about. It didn't have the constant threat of death I expected, but it was still good and I especially liked all the new lore and character exploration. Execution of Yuki's death was meh and there could've been done more with the fight, but it still moved me. Tsumiki turning out to be a piece of cardboard was my first real disappointment, but I could've looked past that if her and Yorozu's death would've been executed better. And after that it was just kinda...bad.

Angel agrees to unseal Gojo without explanation despite refusing to do that earlier. Backdoor has no drawbacks, Gojo is just out now. He's kinda weird post-Prison Realm and definitely different from before with changed priorities, but we don't get anything concrete about him or his time in containment that would give more depth to this. He just feels kinda detached. And then one month timeskip. I still remember when people said we would get flashbacks during the fight to explain what the characters were up to. But nope, nothing. Who knows if the main characters have an actual plan, Gojo definitely doesn't seem prepared. We get vague hints at Gojo using his time in the Prison Realm to adjust his domain, but we don't hear his perspective on that (would've been too interesting), we are just told about how he must feel by other characters. It's such basic things that could have made this fight more engaging and moving, but we barely get anything. On top of that it is stretched over 14 chapters and 4 months for no reason. Just make it hit harder from the beginning and shorten it that way. Kenjaku and Yuki were powerhouses and they didn't need this much time. Also the constant Gojover teasers got old very fast.

However, Gojo did manage to strip Sukuna off his domain and Mahoraga, so that will make things a little bit easier for the others. Sukuna can't just vaporize everyone with Malevolent Shrine anymore.

With the Kenjaku vs Gojo fight not happening, I am more confident though that we will get more focus on Kenjaku & Yuuji and explore their relationship and past. Feels like there will be more time dedicated to them, although that also depends on how Yuuji vs Sukuna goes. I am very excited for what's to come either way.

[tenebriskukris]

Oshi No Ko Chapter 144 – My Thoughts/Analysis

We're thrown a bit of a curveball for this chapter, but it's certainly an enjoyable chapter nonetheless. Spoilers for Oshi No Ko Ch144 below.

A timeskip??? After the absolute banger we got in the last chapter we’re served up a timeskip?? Considering how the last chapter ended I fully expected things to focus on everyone else’s reactions to the kiss scene as well as Aqua and Ruby’s new dynamic but shifting the spotlight to the movie’s hospital scene in Miyazaki is a massive departure from where we were in the last chapter. The pacing issues of the arc are starting to become more and more evident.

Traditionally movie productions take months if not years to get to a stage where they can actually film the movie. Even setting aside that most of the people involved are basically newcomers to the big leagues of stardom, the production shouldn’t run this fast towards the finish line. And now the manga’s telling me that there’s nothing that would be relevant in between the bureaucratic mess that would actually be making a movie of this scale? I can believe reincarnation exists, but certainly not paperwork and bureaucracy running as fast as it has throughout the arc.

The manga does infodump some cursory knowledge on how actual productions are supposed to work—thankfully enough. But the fact that it has this basic knowledge and it hasn’t seen fit to add in other, smaller interactions between the cast members who already lack sufficient screentime—and by proxy Aqua and Ruby—is a grating offense. Perhaps it would have been better to split this entire movie arc into two, perhaps three arcs in total while juggling more character focused chapters? I’ll make sure to give my thoughts on this arc as a whole as soon as it finishes.

With all the hubbub of Aqua as Hikaru and Ruby as Ai, I’ve almost forgotten that Melt wiggled his way into production. Why is he here again as a B-list actor? I know Kaburagi likely pulled some strings to get him in, but his acting ability isn’t really something to harp on. Then again Goro would basically be a B-list character in a story about Ai so I get why they didn’t try very hard to find someone good in acting.

Ruby’s face as she glares at Melt is perfect. Her roasting Melt is fucking hilarious, especially since she’s not even wrong in her criticisms. Of course that girl is going to have opinions on someone that’s trying to portray her sensei. If it was some role that wasn’t Goro I’m sure she wouldn’t have cared as much as she has about how he acts.

The little little princess shirt in Ruby is a treasure. This girl needs to be protected.

Melt knowing that his acting skills are only decent is a great moment of self awareness from a character we don’t seem to see much of. Other actors coughKanacough would have egos too large than to admit that they were doing anything wrong without some sort of outside intervention.

We’re basically in the final stage of the movie??? This arc’s pacing has been all over the place, so I can believe we’re approaching its conclusion, but there’s still too many plot points left unresolved. 

It’s refreshing to see Melt admit his deficiencies to Ruby and doing what he can to shore up his weaknesses.  It shows that not everyone is not to the level of Akane or Kana or even Aqua—Melt may just be the least experienced actor among the cast. And while Ruby’s acting ability may be less refined in comparison to Akane or Melt, I don’t think it’s a leap to say that she performs the role of Ai better than Akane or Frill simply because she can understand Ai’s heart better than what’s written on the script. Her impromptu scene after Kana’s outburst was proof enough of that—I doubt that either of them would’ve let their emotions run free and gave us a peek at what Ai was really feeling.

Ruby saying that Himekawa would’ve been a better fit for the role of Goro is multi-layered. On one hand of course she wants a good actor to play her sensei. But on the other hand Himekawa is also her half-brother. 

Melt saying that he’s putting more effort to understand the characters than anyone else is somewhat ironic considering Akane’s very existence. Ditto for Aqua and Ruby when they’re playing their parents. Perhaps Melt has also been affected by Kana’s insensitivity with how those words can be interpreted very badly.

Oh. Some of Ai’s merch in Melt’s pocket. I’m starting to see where this is going. Also I know that guy who sold Ai’s merch! Funny how he keeps popping up.

Melt’s analysis of Goro…even if he’s not on the level of Akane or the rest of the cast, I think he’s managed to grasp the man’s heart well to make these kinds of statements. I have to give Melt props for it and I have to dock the manga points for basically infodumping this to Ruby and the average reader. It’s a typical case of the manga telling us rather than showing us Goro’s character. Really, would it be difficult for us to see another Ruby flashback of what her thoughts are of Goro?

Ruby’s face as Melt explains his reasoning for his portrayal of Goro’s character…And the way the panel is drawn—hiding Ruby’s star eye from the reader—that’s good paneling. Also, “A symbol for his feelings for that child.”? I’d say that the manga was trying to bash in the fact that Goro and Sarina had a very unique relationship even further but the fact that I can still see people screaming about this exact subject even almost 150 chapters into the manga so I can forgive them for it.

Ruby gushing about Melt’s portrayal immediately after dissing him is also funny. Melt’s proved he can understand Goro, so she has a greater respect for him after that. I’d also wonder if Akane would have similar thoughts about Goro from the script…

Crow Girl???? Finally you’ve reappeared. I was wondering what the payoff for her being in the arc would actually be.

Oh man Ruby…with how 143 ended I think this tells us that Aqua didn’t break Ruby’s heart after that kiss scene. If he did—which would be very much out of character with how AquaGoro holds RubySarina in his heart—it would definitely be shown to us immediately afterward. Letting what happened after that scene linger in the background still doesn’t sit right with me with the arc’s already bloated pacing, but I understand why it’d have to be offscreened—doesn’t mean I can’t critique the hell out of it.

Crow Girl lore???????? Crying and shaking and throwing up right now what the fuck does she mean by that. The implications are all running into each other because with how Crow Girl described how the reincarnators could be considered gods it’s looking more and more likely that Aqua and Ruby are in a position to eventually become gods. Comparing that with how Miyako in the flashforwards was talking about how Aqua and Ruby were given favored treatments and trials in equal measures alongside divine guidance…it paints a picture of how the potential supernatural aspect is going to pan out. 

I am also pretty sure that some of the gods Crow Girl refer to are Aka and Mengo themselves, the actual writer and artist of Oshi No Ko. Especially with that whole “you guys often receive help from god without knowing it” bit. That smells very much like narrative relevance and protagonism. If the manga decides to go meta now I wouldn’t really mind that, but I’d hoped it would be foreshadowed better beforehand. A small comment about how “god-like” Aqua and Ruby would be would’ve really helped. 

And of course we end off on Crow Girl being a gag. For a very powerful supernatural entity she seems to be easily handled by Aqua and Ruby. You’d think she would put the fear of god more into them, really, but if Aqua and Ruby actually do become gods I can see why she’s being pushed around by them like this. 

What the actual fuck was this chapter. We don’t get to see if Aqua has white star eyes after the kiss but we do see Crow Girl and her massive lore drops written between the lines. Ever since she’s been introduced in this arc I’d been wondering what the followup would be to her whole thing but having even more evidence that Aqua and Ruby are on the path to godhood was not on my bingo card for this chapter.

I’ll be the first to admit I don’t have the cultural knowledge on the Japanese versions of gods—the kami—so I can’t put the pieces together on some of the more subtle things that Crow Girl might be referring to, but casting off mortality for the divine isn’t something that most people can aspire toward on a whim. In my mind you’d ideally need at least two things for it. Belief and freedom.

The former for people to believe in you in a certain manner—of which both Aqua and Ruby are already there with the movie releasing—and the latter through some sort of catalyst that makes a person more than flesh and blood. For a manga without much of a magic system at all, the only thing I can think of at the top of my head is dying.

Of course this assumes that both Aqua and Ruby will choose to become gods in the first place. Perhaps to reincarnate Ai again? But with how the manga is pushing this narrative of godhood and the supernatural it’s still in the cards for them. Something to consider as the arc unfolds.

[musubiki]

Sorry if this has been answered before, but I just don't know where to find it... how is Coco like in a fight? What does she use? What is her role?

Because I get that Mochi is like the support that can deal magical damage, Lime is the main damage dealer who can tank magic, oscar is a more general tank, and i dunno, is Taffy some sort of aoe damage dealer? Or is that conditional? I'm curious to know how they're like in a group fight.

OOOO NO TOO RIGHT I ACTUALLY DONT THINK I TALK ABOUT IT MUCH!!!!!! i always mean to do some kind of like...poms guide to tcwg focusing on the guilds actual abilities, but i never get around to it (besides talking about mochi and lime always being able to kick ass) but yes!!! let me talk about a quick rundown of everyone else!!!

first off, in general, all the guild members have combat ability to some degree!! the idea is that they each would be able to reasonably handle themselves in a fight on their own, so to an extent they can all be considered damage dealers, but for members like coco and oscar they can serve a slightly more supportive role if theres other damage people like lime or taffy around!! but!! coco and oscar can also do damage!!

coco:

her magic item ends up being her shoes!! essentially, shes the speedy flash/quicksilver type of power where she can move very quickly. the mechanics of it is that when she activates it, she has 5 seconds where everything around her slows down A LOT and she can move normally (which then translates to her moving insanely fast in like 1 second in real time), and then a 3 second cooldown before she can use it again. as mochis magic grows, this power grows too and eventually she is able to upgrade it to 10 (maybe 15) seconds of quick movement with a 3 second cooldown.

in an actual fight, this can have uses in several ways: 1) dodging, obviously, or escaping. 2) power: sometimes she just straight up uses all her seconds to just beat the shit out of someone, which in real time translates to you receiving like 10 aggregated punches to the face all at once. seems like this would be less useful than it sounds but she has downed taffy more than once just by (what looks like to mochi and lime) a punch to the gut, but in reality was like 12 punches to the gut all at once. 3) thievery: VERY easy to steal shit from people when they have no time to react. an example of this is her stealing marshals stopwatch mid-fight and he doesnt notice until its time to reset it and its gone. ANYWAY she has a lot of uses!!!! when shes on her own she makes use of the power function more, but around taffy/mochi/lime shes much better served as a supportive role.

post-timeskip she ALSO gets the ability to ......how to describe this.....create platforms under her feet? like if she needed to to the top of the building she could just. walk. as if there was a staircase there. the platforms she makes last for ~15 seconds so theoretically she could "create" "steps" for the rest of the guild to follow

oscar:

in oscars case, he gets two separate magic items. pre-timeskip (or pre-arm i guess i should say), he has the cat witch's medallion-- mochi only has one, and it has protective properties so oscar is much more of a defensive role in the pre-timeskip!! she gave it to him because his reckless stubborn ass wouldnt stop going into the giants thicket and almost got fucked up by the forrest spirits more than once, so she gives him this as a symbol of "under the protection of the cat witch, do not fuck with"

but basically put its more of a shielding item!! its a little different than the rest of the guilds items in that it directly draws its power from mochis magic!! it creates protective barriers, but with oscars mind he can use that for more than just barriers (he uses it for all sorts of things that are not directly protective in nature. imagine a fight where the opponent can constantly put up and take down and move around walls that cant be destroyed. theoretically capable of turning someone to jelly if they get caught between them)

after amanita rips his arm off (rest in peace, oscars dominant hand), and after some time passing for the quest to take place, mochi gets him the arm of Camongyf-- an artifact from the kingdom of the first witch king that can be considered an upgrade from the medallion!! its actually not horribly dissimilar from limes m34th weapon in the sense that it was the first kind of technology/magic fusion weapon. basically can make use of either technology or magic depending on the situation, and its also capable of drawing on mochis magic to make those magic energy weapons mochi uses!! so post-timeskip (and post-arm) he has a lot more combat capability, but still tends to drift towards the sheilding/protective uses!! also, the arm he uses was once actually the crow witchs artifact, so it has wings built in that he can use

taffy:

obviously taffys magic is water magic, and he has a 100% combat role. as the water mage, he technically has unlimited use of water and ice, so he CAN do things that are not technically combat, but most of his magic use is in a fight. water magic historically and traditionally is meant to be elegant, peaceful, smooth, like water bending kind of magic. taffy however was never taught properly and the only way he knows how to use it is how he learned by experience and desperation, so his water magic is very rough, chaotic, unrefined, but equally very terrifying and powerful. kind of like the difference between a calm and glassy shoreline ocean vs the ocean in the deep sea where waves are 40 feet high and will kill anything above the surface

water magic can do.......most anything. whatever he can think of. he can make ice weapons, he can wrap you in water and suspend you until you drown, he can freeze you, sink you, impale you, force water into all your orifices and blow you up like a balloon if he wanted to.,,, he can ALSO do AOE damage just by the nature of water-can-do-whatever-i-want-it-to-do

this is also scary when hes paired up with lime (pre-timeskip) with the thunderbat, because it gets like that mechanic in botw where you use lighting weapons in rain/water and it becomes AOE lightning damage (of which doesnt hurt lime because of the resistance)

something also to keep in mind about taffy is that as the water mage, his magic follows slightly different rules than a normal mage, and one of those quirks is that resistance.......doesnt really mean anything against him. since water is considered a natural element and while CONTROLLING it is magic, the element itself is not ACTUALLY magic. ie, limes resistance doesnt play a factor in a taffy fight. those who cannot be hurt by magic can still be drowned and impaled.

that being said taffy is absolutely terrible at hand-to-hand. he relies so much on the water magic, even at close range, that if you can somehow get to a point where you can land PHYSICAL BLOWS on him, thats it. which is why cocos power is so good against him because shes too fast for him to keep her away, and when she DOES land blows it packs a mean punch

as far as a group fight, i havent payed much attention to synergy!! theoretically they would all be good together in different combinations and just using their abilities differently, but at some point i would like to see all of them paired together to see what kind of cool things they come up with hehe

[dogboyjackkennedy]

okay, screw it:

time for my interpretation of the DSAF 3 Dee Cutscene (y'all know the one)

basically, i think that it jumps around in time a lot more than we think it does.

now, sure, i'm well aware of the fact that it's most likely meant to be interpreted as "Jack dropped Dee off at the diner while he went to get drunk, and while he was off doing that, Dee got murdered," but...i got something a bit different out of it.

now, i'll lay things out a bit at first, with me explaining how i interpreted the scenes in question:

so, in order:

first scene - Jack drops Dee off at the diner. so far, everything is going along with canon (or, at least, probably how canon is meant to be interpreted). Henry and Dave watch on from the shadows; Dave appears rather normal, while Henry...appears to have an idea. then, of course, Jack leaves the diner.

this, however, is where my interpretation kinda...diverges a bit.

i believe that, between these two scenes below (v)

there's a bigger timeskip.

now, we know that Jack and Peter had to work some jobs in order to support Dee and give her a good life. what if Jack left her at the diner because he had to work that day?

of course, while Jack is gone, Henry abducts Dee and later gets Dave to help with her murder (something of which he did not sound enthusiastic about, might i add). Jack returns a few hours later to pick her up, only to discover she's missing.

this is where this next scene starts:

scene two - Jack returns home from the diner, likely after learning about Dee being missing. he looks upset, and understandably so. now, some may ask: Why Doesn't He Look More Distressed About This? His Sister's Gone! and...okay, hear me out. this may be me projecting a little bit:

...AUTISM.

as someone who is like 99% sure they're autistic (yeah, not formally diagnosed, and not interested in being, either), this is something that, in my research and in my personal experience, can be a sign of autism. it's described as "difficulty showing or expressing emotions appropriately," at least when i tried to look up a way to word it, and. Yeah That's A Thing I Deal With.

(like i swear, every time i find something that Jack does that either i relate to or go "hey, i kinda do that! (to a degree)" and i decide to look it up, it is, basically, An Autism Thing (or, at least, can be Viewed as such).)

so yeah, he's grieving. and a day or two passes.

at some point between this and the next scene, either happening the day before he goes to work there, or even earlier the same day, Jack applies for a position as a nightguard at Fredbear's, likely to figure out what happened to Dee (consider: CAMERAS). he is either told to come back the next night or later that night.

and now, we get to this next part:

scene three - Jack Gets Really Fucking Drunk, Likely Out Of Grief. he drinks a lot, to the point we see clear signs that he's drunk as hell. Look At The Number Of Bottles On The Table (this is important for later; Remember This). eventually, he realizes that it's about time for him to head to work, and that leads to the next scene:

scene four - Jack rushes over to the diner, still drunk, mind you, to go and do his job. and what happens as soon as he walks in?

i know it's hard to see, but...dead ahead is the stage. and one figure seems noticeably shorter than the other.

as though it's not on the stage, but directly in front of it.

and it appears to be Springbonnie, considering we know Springbonnie was on the right, and if you look close enough, there seem to be long ears.

we hear a slowed/deeper version of Henry's theme, as well as a deeper version of Henry's laugh, play in the background, before everything goes dark.

and the cutscene finally ends.

SO, ALL TOGETHER NOW:

Jack drops Dee off at her birthday party at the diner. he has to work, so he can't stay. he likely believes that everything will be fine; it's a place for kids, after all!

A Murder Happens

Jack returns later that evening, only to find out that Dee is missing. he is distraught by this, and probably searches the building top to bottom. the police are likely called at some point.

Jack heads home after it's clear that there's nothing more they can do. He Definitely Takes It Well (sarcasm).

Jack, likely the next day or the day after that, gets an idea and decides to apply for a job as a nightguard. knowing that Henry will likely immediately recognize him and stop him from doing this (because, at this point, while he doesn't know what Henry's done, he does logically know that Henry might keep him from getting the job because he might tamper with the investigation), and likely being incredibly drunk, wears a fake mustache and just hopes Henry won't be able to recognize him. Henry does, but decides to play along with this, and just straight up doesn't tell Jack about the Murder Robots That Will Kill Him. (you Cannot tell me that Henry didn't recognize Jack. there's no way).

Henry either tells him to come back the following night (if Jack did this the day before scenes 3-4) or that night (if Jack did this on the same day as scenes 3-4)

Jack Gets Fucking Drunk And Runs To Work, Finding The Building Empty

Jack mentions in Dsaf 2, if he chooses to tell his own springlock story, that whatever animatronic killed him had caught him off-guard. animatronic footsteps, if we're going by Fnaf at least, Are Really Loud and Noticeable. if Jack were drunk and distracted by, say, grief, however...

Jack gets stuffed into Fredbear by Springbonnie and gets springlocked.

we know the rest from here: Henry finds him and leaves him to die, he gets revived, etc etc.

anyway, there's my entire interpretation of that cutscene from DSAF 3. it's really long, but like. This Was Just Straight Up What I Thought Had Happened The First Time I Had Watched That Cutscene (at least kinda)

[reineyday]

TW: Long Ask Okay, so basically, this au has a long title but I dubbed it Child of the Sword. It started off with Zoro being able to see the spirits of the swords since in One Piece, swords are sentient and are possessed in a way. Only Zoro can see these spirits and talks to them all the time. At first, he didn't realize others couldn't see them. My friend and I played around with this a lot, and now's it's developed into a whole thing.

When Kuina died, Zoro's anger and grief erupted and Zoro discovered he was the incarnation of the Ancient Weapon: Ares. Created by the war god Asura. The sensei makes Zoro swear to never use his power in public unless it was life or death. Zoro goes on to see Kuina's spirit tied to Wado Ichimonji. During the shells town arc, Morgan is extra cruel bc he is Morgan, and when Zoro is tied in the courtyard he has the swordsman whipped on the back, marring and littering Zoro's back with scars. Zoro's honor is in shambles when Luffy shows up and helps him. During Baratie, Zoro fights Mihawk and loses, ending up with the scar on his chest. After Zoro promises to never fail, he whipsers "Finally a worthy scar" and Mihawk overhears. Mihawk almost noted how Zoro always seemed to be looking at things that aren't there. So naturally, the warlord decides to kidnap Zoro instead of Luffy (yes I am mashing up OPLA and the anime, fight me). The Straw hats go on the free Nami from Arlong then make plans to get Zoro back from Mihawk. Zoro is less than pleased to be kidnapped by the strongest swordsman. Mihawk brings Zoro with him to meet with Shanks about Luffy's bounty poster and Shanks convinces Mihawk to give Zoro back to the Straw Hats, but before that happens, Mihawk and Zoro end up talking about Zoro's special abilities. Mihawk comes to the realization of what Zoro is and keeps it to himself. During the two year time skip, Zoro reunites with Mihawk (even though he never stopped talking with the warlord after being dropped off ((begrudgingly)) at lougetown). Mihawk trains Zoro in the way of the sword AND helps him to realize his full potential. This is all I have for now, but I have ideas for Dressrosa and Wano. :D

oooooh this is so interesting! you could play a lot with the idea that zoro sees sword spirits! i'd also be so curious to know what zoro sees of yoru, if he sees her at all. im a fan of this theory i saw where being in control of your sword means being control of its spirit, and being in control is shown by your eyes looking like imu's. that perhaps hakuba is cavendish's sword spirit manifesting in a way cavendish cant control; that zoro's scarred eye is hiding proof of a spirit that had to be sealed away lest it overpower him; and that mihawk's eyes have those same rings because he's fully in control of yoru's sword spirit. i could see smth like that working in conjunction with kuina's spirit in wado diring the timeskip, that zoro trains with her (cries) to unlock wado ichimonji's full power, and that it's possible because of his ability to see sword spirits!!!

also obsessed with the idea that mihawk pivots and kidnaps zoro instead, especially because he really doesnt have to. 😂 mihawk meeting a boy that can see sword spirits and deciding "i will train him whether he wants me to or not" and then kidnapping him to give his nearly-bisected ass terrible first aid on his coffin boat... hilarious. 😂😂 shanks seeing the absolutely haggard and scowling teenager limping as he follows mihawk onto that island and being exasperated like,

shanks: you have to give him back, mihawk.

mihawk: no, he can see sword spirits. i need to have a hand in cultivating his power.

shanks: mihawk, you can't just--wait, you can what? omg does gryphon actually look like a gryphon?!?!?! wait, no, no, i'm trying to be the voice of reason here.

red-haired pirates in the background: *burst out laughing at shanks being the voice of reason*

and also probably mihawk will throw in some bratty sort of shot at shanks getting to bet on luffy and why cant he bet on zoro, and shanks will have to be like, "i didn't kidnap luffy, mihawk, just put him back!" hahaha.

i digress! interesting idea tho 👀👀👀

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 67 – Saint Death’s Daughter by C. S. E. Cooney

This is a book I’ve been vaguely aware of for a while, without really knowing anything about it beyond that it was getting a lot of positive buzz, but it got a WFA best novel nomination and that provided the impetus I needed to finally give reading it a try. And, well, I’ll be honest – this was a slog for me. If it had been half the size it would very likely be one of my favourite works of the year; as is the best way I can describe the reading experience is ‘slowly drowning in cotton candy’.

The book stars Miscellaneous ‘Lannie’ Stones, younger daughter of a declining noble house which has provided executioners and assassins to the royal family of Lariat since its founding, and generally but not lately provided necromancers as well. Lannie is the hope of the family, a necromantic prodigy (if one with a profoundly inconvenient allergy to violence that requires her isolation from the rest of the family and her raising by a bound revanent nanny and the dubiously trustworthy ghost of an ancestor). As the story opens, her parents have both died, and she’s been forced to write to her terror of an elder sister to come home as their debts are called due. She comes home with an enscrolled and deeply unwilling fiancee abducted during her studies. This, surprisingly, only takes up the first small chunk of the book, followed by a timeskip, the introduction of Lannie’s niece born in the interim, the elder sister dealing with the consequences of her seven-year campaign of bloody vengeance against the foreign court which murdered their parents, and the beginning of the actual plot.

I really did want to enjoy this book, and on the page-to-page level it was often somewhere between charming and delightful. But there were just so many pages, and so very little happening on most of them. After the timeskip the book spends something like 500 pages just leisurely meandering, stopping whenever anything catches its interest to spend half a page or three enthusiastically describing it. At a certain point the exuberant narration and playful vocabulary stop feeling delightful and start feeling like the author is somehow being paid by the word.

This is made all the odder by the fact that around the 80% mark the book suddenly realizes its got a bunch of problems to resolve and switches into an entirely different gear, rushing through revelations and resolutions like it’s on a deadline. Which apparently it was? The book ends with what feels like less of a sequel hook and more like a final hundred pages were chopped off the finished product by a longsuffering editor pushed past the brink.

So, the lion’s share of the book is interested less in plot than character dynamics and cute slice of moments. It’s very much a found family sort of narrative, delivered in an incredibly blunt fashion. Which definitely works for a lot of people, I’m sure, but everyone was so obviously written to be endearing and charming and fell into love of various sorts with each other so instantly it just left me cold, and more a bit bored.

This is a book with footnotes, and among those it feels pretty middle of the pack? Not doing anything particularly impressive with them, and they don’t have a real character or voice different from the rest of the book, but they’re a fun enough way to infodump a bunch of Stones family history (particularly all the ways different members have died).

Thematically...look, I’m aware this is entirely a personal pet peeve not shared by any particular audience, but the fact that Lannie’s whole life from infancy is being chosen as the beloved priestess of a goddess of death for one specific purpose, and that this is portrayed as an entirely benevolent, positive, and uplifting thing to have done at basically all points that it’s discussed just sets me on edge. There’s nothing really badly done about it, I’m just a contrary maltheist by nature and the book did basically nothing to allay that.

Generally – I don’t know, I’m not opposed to 700 page books (I’d be an utter hypocrite if I was. Almost certainly still am regardless), but I feel like being that long is a failing the book then has to justify? It should be obliged to do something with the length, if it’s going to demand so much of my time to wade through it. This didn’t really feel like it did.

[originalfireemblemscenarios]

Who missed character interactions? I did. So I'm bringing those babies back to make me write again

You can request from all games I write for, however I'd really appreciate some Engage requests because I wanna give writing them a try!

For those unaware... Rules! (Also changed a few things)

You can request it until I say it's over. And this time there are no slots to be taken! I'll answer all that don't violate my rules!

How it works?: Basically you can do/say anything you’d like to any character and it will be up to me to respond as that character. Kinda of roleplay thing.

As always NSFW is not allowed. But I am okay with suggestive topics and subtly hinting on what may happen after or what happened before the interaction. Like lingering tension that won't be getting any further than that.

You can roleplay as other character in order to make it a ship request. However if you don’t state it i will think that it’s a reader.

If you’re interacting as a reader you must add gender identity/pronouns of the reader. That is just so I know what type of gendered language I'm allowed to use!

Please put random emoji on begging and/or end of your ask so I know you read the rules. They can be different and they can be the same. It can also help me when I get multiple annons for the same characters.

Be specific. Don’t say “I complimented x” since it won’t give me anything to work with. If you/character you interact as says something I’ll need an exact quote.

Put one of these on the end of the ask so I know what kind of relationship you have: /f for friendship, /fm-c for where your character is a child of the one I'm responding as, /fm-p for where yours is the parent, /fm-s for siblings, /d for dating, /e for enemies, /p for pining, /c character who responds (my part for writing) has a crush on your character, /mc if your character has crush on the one you’re requesting to respond and last /m for married.

You can continue one ask for more parts if you want to! And those who participated before can continue their storylines (if you're still here/remember it still lmao)

For three houses: I'll assume that all interactions are pre timeskip. If you don't want this then you need to say so right away.

For Awakening/Fates/Engage: I'll assume that the interactions are during ingame events. If you want to change that you have to tell me right away.

Also I'm posting this like, right before I go to sleep soooo... Yeah, expect answers in a few hours haha

Also also, I'm literally posting this only on 2 blogs cause tbh I mostly wanted to do it JUST here but jic I'll post this on 2 to have a higher chance of starting something xD

[rantahead]

If you don't mind me asking, could you do a rant on MitsuSumi & KawaSumi/KawaHima.

Like why people ship them (if you know) and all that because, personally, I find all three disgusting, especially KawaHima.

gladly!

(I know this'll be more of bsu and anti-bsa, but it's an important essential of the story)

ok, so I, personally, ship msu and ksu because I find them fun and more of crack ships then actual canon ships. I see why ppl like them, but they are more of crack ships. the only one that's actually sailing is ksu, but that's basically dead since timeskip.

but before I get into those ships, let's begin with the incest KawaHima.

kh is basically bsa, an incest ship. except the only difference is kh doesn't have same blood (bsa is incest because of their dads are reincarnations of Ashura and Indra and their clans are close, almost to the point of bsa being literally cousins). but kh are ADOPTIVE siblings, either way, they're related, not by blood tho.

I don't understand why ppl like it considering they're literally siblings. it's basically like shipping Boruto and Himawari. and not to mention their age difference.

ok, so now msu & ksu! first we'll start with msu because that won't take as long as the ksu rant:

so the first actual reason ppl started shipping them (actual fans) is the anime when Nue arc took place. that's what got me hooked on them.

but bsa fans only ship them to get Sumire and Mitsuki away from Boruto and Sarada because Mitsuki has only shown to be romantic around Sarada and Boruto (he might be gay for Boruto, but if he's straight, he's only ever shown interest in Sarada). and Sumire, well, need I say more? she is the ONLY character to have confirmed feelings for another character, hence why they want them both out of the way, because, other than Kawaki, they're the biggest threats to their ship. and they say Mitsuki is the captain of their ship, yet they're suddenly gonna want to throw him away the second he has any romantic relationship with either. and he actually never called them a "good couple" in the manga a.k.a canon and only in the Academy in the anime. after graduating and being on the same team, NOT ONCE has he said they make a good couple because he KNOWS they don't. hell, he asked Sarada ONCE about her feelings in anime and in manga, but he just wanted to know, not that he thinks they will make a good couple, but he was curious, not shipping them.

and with Kawaki, they ship Sumire with him just so they'll both be out of the way of their ship. yet Eida has feelings for Kawaki so she'll most likely get him and Sumire has feelings for Boruto so she'll most likely get him. Sarada's only option is Mitsuki, but yes, Kawaki is a victim of the disgusting bsa fandom because neither parties (Boruto, Sarada, Mitsuki, Kawaki) have confirmed their feelings for each other.

and they know how cringy their supposed ship is, which is why they try and say Sumire's love is just a crush and Sarada has confirmed her feelings over blushing and she's a tsundere. they even say Sumire only lied to Sarada so she could recognize her feelings, yet that backfired because after that, the only romantic scene they got was Sarada hugging Boruto in timeskip, like, 66 chapters after Sumire supposedly "manipulated Sarada in realizing her feelings for Boruto".

ok, so I gave a basic rundown, but I'll get into detail about it, starting with Sumire's confession:

ok, so here, antis claim that Sumire only manipulated Sarada into realizing her feelings for Boruto (which didn't happen considering the only romantic thing they have in the ENTIRE manga is the hug at the end of TBV chapter 5, the rest of their moments in the manga were cons to the ship). Sumire was GENUINE about HER feelings, not helping Sarada realize hers.

(btw, for bsa to actually happen, Sarada's personality has to take a big 180 for the ship to actually be considered romantic)

because this comes back up AGAIN:

this is when they KNOW she has DEFINITE feelings for him - REAL feelings. not an act, not a manipulation tactic, REAL FEELINGS, TRUE LOVE.

even Katasuke says "though it's so very obivious". meaning her feelings are true and real.

and say she DID manipulate Sarada to realize her feelings (hell will have to freeze over before it's confirmed that she did), her look wasn't jealous, but more of shock because it came out of nowhere, and she looked concern as Team 7 left and she was looking back at Sumire, probably like "oh no, this idiot is gonna get her heartbroken!". she was worried FOR Sumire, not worried ABOUT Sumire. she didn't think of Sumire as a rival, she thought of her as a close friend (she was her first friend and only friend until Chocho showed up) and she was worried that Boruto (being the dense kid he is) will hurt her.

say, just say, that she lied to Sumire about not having feelings for Boruto (as some antis claim), she'll be an even worse friend than Sakura was to Ino when their friendship ended. at least only one was serious about Sasuke (Sakura), Ino only went after him just to piss Sakura off. whereas Sumire's feelings are real and if Sarada has real feelings, all her moments after chapter 19 will be to piss of Sumire, because remember, she NEVER mentioned Sumire's name when she told Sasuke about Omnipotence, and she hugged Boruto IN FRONT of Sumire. that'll just make her look WORSE than she already does.

but Sarada couldn't care less about romantic feelings, let alone for Boruto. as she confirmed with Eida and Mitsuki.

so they need Sumire to be like Ino and move on with a guy like Sai (Mitsuki), hell, even Kawaki!

the only problem is:

"(koi) = Love between lovers(romantic)"

THAT is the kanji written on Sumire's databook and the cover she first appears in. they're both about SUMIRE, not Sarada as ppl claim. because why would it show up in the same cover Sumire does, huh? suspicious. but her databook cover comfirms her feelings are real.

but now they know that her feelings won't go away so they need Mitsuki and Kawaki to come and take her away so any of them won't be in the way.

msu has had NO interactions in the manga, had the Academy & Nue arcs and the one seen in the Kawaki arc where Mitsuki catches her when she falls over after Kawaki kicks her (all in the anime), well, if you exclude all the random classmate talking during other arcs. but overall, those have the romantic scenes and even then, the only romantic scene is that one seen in the Kawaki arc that isn't even that romantic.

ksu however, in the manga, only has Sumire being Kawaki's caretaker and the anime added a few "romantic" ksu moments, then realized, "wait, this isn't what's happening in the manga", and suddenly, it's like they never happened and ksu never even met.

ppl think that Sumire being Kawaki's caretaker will make her fall in love with him, yet HE asked about HER feelings for BORUTO, not him, BORUTO, his brother. both Mitsuki and Kawaki haven't shown any romantic feelings in ANYONE, including Sarada and Boruto. but at least with Boruto and Sumire, there's a spark there (Boruto being a little too much overprotective of her).

Sarada, however, currently, hopping to and from Mitsuki and Kawaki, so it's kinda hard to tell who'd she'll end up with but it'll probably be Mitsuki because Kawaki ruined Boruto's life. with Boruto, there's just that "he's my teammate, gotta keep him save", "my master told me to protect her so I have to."

say msu or ksu do get a lot of attention, you really think Sumire could look at them like she looks at Boruto. Boruto, himself, debunked that she may be a good actress, yet she can't hide her feelings. she can barely hide her feelings from Boruto in front of anyone. I'm honestly surprised Sarada didn't see the confession coming when Sumire started talking about if Boruto was popular with the girls back in Konoha.

but ppl start creating crazy theories that they'll end up together and that Kishi planned it.

but yes, I'm gonna rap this up:

basically, ppl (some) ship them because they're cute, most ship them to get all three out of the way.

[sugaredcosmos]

I got into One Piece at the start of this year

and overall I really like it. At the moment I'm in the 800's range of chapters so I'm on Whole Cake Island and I wanted to share my thoughts on it since so much is happening now with the franchise between the manga seemingly headed towards an endgame right now, and the live action's success and confirmation of a season 2. The first thing I'd like to say is that I think I can overall recommend reading/watching it. However, I do have a few problems with the series that I think people should be aware of when getting into it. For one thing it does have many of the issues that plague the shonen genre.

In particular, it has a few issues in its portrayal of female characters at times. However, I will also say that those female characters, while often drawn in very limited body types and facial structures, have easily as quality and engaging stories as the boys in the show. All of them have their own unique, interesting, and emotional backstories that are consistently on par with the men's. However, at the same time, they are also undeniably more prone to sexualization and are often on the sidelines in a lot of the fights, the ladder of which is especially apparent after the timeskip as of where I am now. So, overall I think the depiction of women can be hit or miss but I will also say that it's still a lot better than some of the other big works in the shonen genre, namely Naruto and MHA.

Another quirk I've noticed about the series is that most if not all of its characters definitely suffer from flanderization as time goes on and lose a lot of nuance that they had in earlier chapters. I think there are standouts among the cast of this but it's pretty universal. To give an example, I'll use the relationship between Luffy and Chopper. In chopper's introduction story there's a bit where luffy thinks that reindeer meat would be pretty yummy. Somewhat on brand for Luffy but it still feels a bit out of character. Later on in that same arc Luffy is shown fighting for chopper and defends him for his ideals (see episode 88 of the anime for referene). Later on, however, there are numerous "emergency food" jokes made by luffy that genuinely bother me with how much it feels out of character for him. Like I know that "having all of the food" is on of the reasons that Luffy is a pirate but I would also think that his friends are a lot more important to him than that. Especially with the influence that Shanks had on him when he was younger (spill a drink on my and I can forgive that but mess with my friends and you're fucked etc etc).

The anime also has its own set of issues. The early one piece anime I think got the vibe of the story phenomenally well. The animation and art style is incredibly faithful to the manga and consistently gives of so much charm and vibrance that I think is lost later on, especially with things like the first opening, the soundtrack, and the eyecatches with the wanted posters accompanied by character's musical motif/theme. Where the problem comes in is when these really sweet and charming elements start going away upon the end of Skypeia/G8 and the start of the series' run in a 16:9 aspect ratio. The artstyle has a noticeable change, and the pacing begins to suffer a bit more than it had previously. You can look up what episodes cover what chapters in the manga and early on it was usually a ratio of like 2-3 chapters per episode, sometimes more, and around enies lobby it goes down to 1-2 chapters maybe 3 sometimes, and post timeskip it's one chapter per episode and sometimes 2 or 3 which is why I switched to basically exclusively reading the manga after awhile of bouncing back and forth between reading and watching.

The final issue I really have with One Piece is that the manga's content has a few weak parts. The 3 main ones that I found were Long Ring Long Land (specifically the davy back game), Thriller Bark, and Fishman Island. Two of these actually have something in common, Long Ring Long Land and Thriller Bark both have really really good parts at the end of them. My main thing with Long Ring Long Land is that the Davy Back Game feels like it was made under editor pressure to have a tournament arc. Because it just kinda pops up and never comes back again with very little if any character development or change in the status quo. However, after the davy back game has concluded we get a loooooot of new stuff, worldbuilding, a character introduction, and foreshadowing. Similarly, Thriller Bark is another arc that I wasn't a super big fan of until the very end with the musical number and subsequent conflict involving a fair amount of spoilers which I wont go into now, but just know that my main issue with thriller bark is that I think it should've been a shorter island more in line with something like Whiskey Peak, Drum Island, or Amazon Lily as a bigger part of the Sabaody Archipelago/Impel Down/Marineford Saga. Finally there's Fishman Island. I wont say much since it's post timeskip content and very spoilery, but I think it's a very thematically rich saga that suffers from too many new and underdeveloped characters, and a loooooot of pacing problems not to mention a lot of annoying character quirks and out of character actions of both the straw hats and a lot of the villains and local characters. Luffy in this arc is just really mean to another character for very little reason and it feels VERY out of character to me, and a lot of Sanji's really annoying character traits from an otherwise likeable character come out swinging here. But other than that and a slow start in the manga (which the live actions kind of fixes if you watch that first) One Piece is GOOD. Like, really good.

It's a show that, despite being the kind of premier shonen manga for the past like 25 years breaks from a lot of the genre's tropes. A lot of action manga, including the newer ones like JJK and Demon Slayer all seem to portray the characters in a place within a kind of societal system where they find a place to belong. One thing that One Piece does that I love is that it places its characters in direct opposition to that system. As pirates, the Straw Hats are outlaws being hunted by a system that's consistently portrayed as unfair and unjust. Oftentimes what they do when they visit an island is take down some illegitimate ruler that's been forcibly put in place by forces outside of the people's control. That's not something that happens in normal shonen. In fact, it's usually the other way around. Typically a shonen series villain is someone within or outside of the current system that's trying to change it. Shigariaki in MHA, Suguru Geto in JJK, the Phantom Troupe and Chimera Ants in HxH; all of these villains are bad people in the same position as the Straw Hats in One Piece. It's incredible how much nuance goes into the series villain's place in the worldbuilding. There are heroes and villains on both sides of the story's central conflict of Pirates vs the World Government. Usually the world government is portrayed as oppressive, unjust, and serves to keep the cruelly wealthy Celestial Dragons in power. However, we also see certain agents of this system that are good apples or neutral forces just trying to do good in a bad system such as Captain Smoker, Koby, Aokiji, and Garp. On the reverse side we also have a rogues gallery of pirate antagonists who usually end up being shorter term villains but sometimes evolve into overarching threats such as Blackbeard, Buggy, and a few of the Seven Warlords and Four Emporers. Ultimately the series main conflict is one of Freedom vs Control as well as who deserves to be in power and a leader's right to rule. Overall, I recommend you take the journey through One Piece. It's funny because it really is a journey. If you tell a One Piece fan that you watch or read it the first question they'll usually ask is where you are in it and it feels like that's a mark of progress in an adventure and i think that's really special. Just like the characters in the show, you're embarking on a journey. If I were to give any advice to new readers/viewers it would be to savor the moment you're in. One Piece is a piece of fiction and art that is truly about the journey instead of the destination. Don't worry about "being caught up" take it at your own pace and enjoy the moment you find yourself in and realize just how far you've come and how far you have left to go. Btw, in case anyone asks, my favorite character is Sabo and my favorite Straw Hat is Chopper

[morroodle]

Morro's Redemption

Morro deserved a redemption so now I'm giving him one. I love playing with morro redemption stories and this is how they generally go though the circumstances differ (I have so many aus help me). I'm calling this my Morro redemption au but note that it's not one consistent story and there will be plot holes and contradictions when I eventually decide to make more. Bonus this is the au where all my headcannons come from/can go

Requested by @dontlookforme00

It starts when he's possessing Lloyd. Being in his head, Morro has a chance to see some of Lloyd's memories and thoughts, and he starts to understand. Lloyd is just a kid. Lloyd never wanted to be the green ninja, nor did he do any work to get that title. He was forced into this role and has been hurt because of it when he never deserved any of this. It's not his fault, and Morro's anger towards him fades.

Just as Morro can see some of what's going on in Lloyd's head, Lloyd gets a peak at Morro's brain too, and he starts to understand. Morro was a kid, alone and scared and unloved. He was desperate to be a good student, to somehow repay the man who showed him kindness. When he was told he could be the green ninja he was filled with hopes and dreams and for the first time someone thought of him as something more than a street rat. He would be the best green ninja possible and make Wu so proud! He would be a great hero and make people safe and happy! When the day came and the weapons didn't react he was crushed. He thought he had done something wrong, that he had failed his dad master, that he really was just a worthless street rat. He had to prove destiny wrong, he just had to. He would do anything to prove that he was the green ninja, that he was a good student and not a waste of Wu's time. He got himself killed like that, desperate to prove himself to the person who loved him most.

*vague plot timeskip* this isn't actually one solid au so basically anything can happen here, heck even day of the departed can still happen. All that matters is for whatever reason he's stuck with the ninja/wu in the monastery.

Morro regrets what he's done and he hates himself for it. He wanted to be a hero, to help people and protect ninjago, how the hell did he end up like this? He still carries the aggression learned in the cursed realm, and tends to hide in his room, avoiding Wu most of all. It takes time but eventually him and Lloyd get to talking (replace with Cole for a slightly different situation). Morro apologizes, and they talk about the green ninja prophecy and how it affected them (see above, trauma bonding woo). There are tears and elemental powers but they end the situation doing a little better.

The other ninja are... wary of Morro. They understand that he's good (ish) now or else he wouldn't be living with them, but with how aggressive and closed off he is they haven't really talked to him or tried to understand him, and Lloyd can only share so much. While most of them are at least tolerant of Morro, Kai fucking hates him. He is pissed that he hurt his baby brother and he won't just ignore his attempt to destroy the world. Kai confronts him and it goes... questionable and definitely not mentally healthy. Essentially Kai is giving Morro shit about it when Morro interest him with a "I know and I hate myself for it" type thing (tempted to actually write this) and there's a whole lot of screaming and crying. They are by no means on good terms but Kai chills out after that (the other ninja either overhear or are told about this later) and from there they can at least start building relationships.

After this point my solid thoughts start to break down and there aren't any more major events but the general idea is Morro slowly getting more comfortable and building relationships with the ninja (and Wu but way slower). I plan another post about just those relationships but at this point his redemption is pretty much complete and my aus start to go different directions.

Morro is avoiding Wu like the plague. He still hates him and is extremely angry but he wants to be good now so he can't just kill him and he dosent know what to do so he just hides from his problems. After quite some time and definitely after the Morro Kai thing Wu confronts him and it goes absolutely horribly. (I've played out this scene in my head a dozen times a dozen different ways but there is a general idea). Morro is so so hurt and practically screams his throat raw yelling at Wu, full on mental breakdown ugly crying. When Morro is done Wu hugs him, and he lets it last for just a moment before punching him and breaking his nose. After this Morro goes back to avoiding Wu but things start to get a little better. Wu is trying to make things better and help Morro heal but it is going very slowly.

[you-usuratonkachi]

how could things potentially go for Byler in S5

Okay so, I keep thinking of ways S5 can fix the whole Will-Mike-El triangle and make it satisfactory for everyone. 

My issue with Byler becoming explicitly endgame is always the same: Mike hasn’t had time to process his feelings yet, and tbh as long as he’s with El, I doubt he will face them at all, because... well, because he doesn’t want to. And, I mean, he’s supposed to be 15 (which I always forget because they do not look 15 but well) so it’s not very surprising either. 

It took 4 seasons for Will to be shown as explicitly interested in Mike romanically. it was always heavilly implied, but never specifically highlighted. In the past seasons, if they put some kind of emphasis on the issue, it was more about Will being generally queer than Will being in love with Mike. They built that specific side of the issue NOW, so that it could have a resolution in S5. 

They have done the same for El’s character arc. It’s begun since S3 and it’s probably going to pull through by S5. 

What about Mike? Unfortunately for him, he always gets the short end of the character development stick. For being someone so closely connected to the two people who have a central role in the story, they do not dedicate much time to his psyche, and I wonder why they wrote him like that when they have made it a point to make his relationship with both El and Will be so important to both character developments. Why is it that he’s so important to them but he doesn’t get to care properly for either or have them influence his character development? 

Between his first fight with El in S4 and his last monologue to her he literally hasn’t learned anything. What he got was Will reassuring him that he was already loving her the right way, he just needed to be more confident, so he basically only repeats himself by the end (plus the ily). 

So if I’m right and El decides that she is better off breaking up with him, that will be the moment where he will finally starts to think. If he wants to go anywhere with his character development, the breakup needs to happen both for El and for him. 

In my ideal world, it would be a good breakup. El would suffer, because out of the two I’d say she’s the one whose feelings are most invested, but she would know it’s for her own good. Mike would be confused (as he was in S3 after all) and hurt because he feels like he did his best. But they would also feel better very fast. Relieved, even. And it would be nice if they got to have a couple moments where they get to actually be FRIENDS first and they realize that, holy shit, they work better this way. In fact they can finally TALK to each other work as a team without being defensive or projecting. Which would ultimately make them feel that it was for the better. 

Now in between this situation, I think it would make sense for Mike to feel like Will lied to him. He said El would always need him, that he was the heart... I think it would be the perfect chance to bring up Will’s painting and possibly make Will and Mike’s relationship strain because of it as Will is unable to explain what he truly meant with it. 

Eventually Mike would calm down and realize that Will was just being a good friend and it’s not his fault. 

This would be a good moment to introduce how conflicted he is towards Will, to show that there’s tension between them that doesn’t only come from Will’s part. Since Mike doesn’t have El to fall back onto anymore, some emotion coming from him is overly due. 

Something supernatural ensues or happens in between who knows. 

Timeskip. 

I think the timeskip having M*leven being broken up is the best possible use of the timeskip, because this gives both Mike and El reasonable time to get over each other and the audience can also feel like it’s done and it’s not too soon for Mike to move on. It’s important that before the timeskip they establish some kind of open tension between Byler coming from him. They already kinda did with Mike’s behavior in S4, but they didn’t highlight it enough for the unattentive watcher to pick up on it. So they definitely need to make it more explicit. To leave it in the minds of the watchers and Mike’s mind for the whole duration of the time skip, and eventually pick it back up after the timeskip. 

More supernatural stuff ensues. 

Mike feels dejected because Will’s painting depicted him as a Paladin and the heart of the party but in reality he doesn’t feel that way at all. Sometimes he looks at it longingly but he feels like it’s all a lie. He’s not that special at all and El didn’t really think about him that way either. So he feels like he’s stupid for fixating on it, but he still loves that painting so much. 

Eventually Will falls into a supernatural situation where Mike has to do something and take charge and either Will tells him that he was the one who painted and thought all that of Mike, or El tells Mike that she knows nothing about the painting and Mike finally realizes. 

Basically, they absolutely should pull a Beverly/Bill/Ben situation with the painting. It’s too similar not to. They set it up way too well. 

The aftermath could go both ways... either Mike was shown to struggle with his feelings for Will throughout the season and at this point he finally says fuck it and acts on them OR he still saves the day in a way that is not 100% romantic but by the end, when the supernatural is defeated and everything, he has a heart-to-heart with Will where Will gets to actually confess to him and Mike gets to be honest to him about the fact that he’s confused and scared and has been this whole time, but if Will is willing to have him anyway, he’s willing to work on it, because it’s not as scary if Will believes in him. And Will admits that this is so so scary for him too, but they promised that if they were going crazy they would be crazy together so of course he’s willing to work on it with Mike and they tentatively hold hands. 

The season ends with Mike and Will leaving Hawkins for the same college and Mike asking Will if he wants to create a new party with him, ending the whole thing with Byler basically havily hinted but not yet official and them actually ending up playing D&D and accepting that that’s who they are for the rest of their life. 

It wouldn’t give us Byler as a couple, but I think it would make such a good finale which would match all characters without making anything out of the blue? I think I’d rather have Mike come to terms with himself in a realistic, fleshed-out way, you know? Hints were given but it still feels to me that they won’t have enough time to make him go through so much self-discovery for Byler to be a full fledged couple. 

I think I would love such an ending? They would be 17 or 18 by then and it just... fits. That he would learn to be himself by then, leaving his smalltown behind, but having Will with him. Because Will makes him feel like he’s not a mistake, like he’s better for being different.