#sk reader au 🐟

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sorry for the late reply! And to answer some of your questions in the tags, it’s actually all three. A “final girl” is a basically a trope that means a character (usually protagonist) that is “pure, feminine, and the victim” during a horror film. They’re usually a victim of chance or have a distant past connection to the killer. Be it their intelligence, connection, or simply pure luck, the final girl is able to avoid death until the end where: 1) they survive to the end and defeat their killer 2) they escape or 3) they die regardless. I was thinking of killer! yan bsd, but I was also intrigued with a victim/final girl! bsd. An example of an idea that’s currently plaguing my mind is Final Girl! Nikolai. I liked the idea of a serial killer targeting magician/or whimsical (maybe ability users) people and choosing nikolai as target. cat and mouse chase, and they end getting the drop on him (how? idk). Its kinda a slow burn horror, but regardless nikolai fights back. this is a gist and example. Tuna, i’m so sorry about throwing this ramble dump at you. 🙈 this is just an idea, nothing you actually have to do. im just happy sharing this with you - 🦄

ahahahaha....there was a lot i had to say about this, but i kept it as brief as i could because i Might...might do a series/oneshot w this au. Maybe </3 thank you for sharing this gem of an idea i am very excited to dig in nomnomnom. tagged under 'sk reader au 🐟'

gn! reader, is a serial killer & implied to have an ability that can 'collect' other abilities. can be read as a yandere reader.

cw: stalking, murder, violence

ability users are fascinating little things.

especially when they try everything in their power to stay alive. it's a wonderful sight, to see those that always stood above regular people, to see those regarded as gifted, desperately attempt to survive. there was something intoxicating about holding power above the same ability users that were feared by all.

but your interest was less in the users and more in the ability itself.

there was a lot you hoped to learn about abilities, regardless of the type. there must be a reason as to why some were sentient, why some were so much more powerful than others, why some were uncontrollable, and the best way to learn, was of course, through the ability itself. you were willing to do anything to satisfy your curiousity, even if it meant the user had to die for their abilities to join your collection.

you had fond memories with all of them; flawless made for an exhilarating fight, always a step ahead until you sunk your claws into the frightened figure of a dark-eyed ability user, rashōmon was unique, the dark mass almost besting you, but, in the end, you stood victorious over a sickly body—even if you hadn't gone after it, this was an ability that wasn't meant to survive for long, and you liked to think that it was for the best that it joined you instead of disappearing with its user. and of course, discourse on decadence was unforgettable. you remembered it belonged to some goverment agent who was hot on your trail—it was the closest anyone came to stopping you—and your most recent kill.

usually, you didn't like picking favorites. each ability was fascinating and unique in its own way, but it was undeniable that one in particular stood out to you.

the overcoat was an interesting ability. at first sight, it appeared quite simple, but you had viewed it in action too many times to know just how frightening it was. how easy it was to turn it into a lethal weapon—to reach in and twist out a limb or to drain out the blood from a vein. the seemingly unlimited potential of the ability, however, was only one of the aspects that intrigued you.

generally, you've never cared for the users as much as you did their abilities. while you enjoyed the brutal torture you made them suffer, and you liked hunting them down, they always came secondary to their abilities. you didn't care to know their names or their personal stories. despite all that, a name—nikolai gogol—had made his way on your list of targets, scrawled next to his ability.

it'd only take you a minute to identify nikolai in a sea of people.

whether he had the scar over his eye showing or hidden, whether he was wearing glasses or colored contacts, no matter what wig he wore or how ordinary he tried to look, you would immediately be able to point him out. no disguise, no false identity could hide him from you—you know this because he's tried, many times now, to fool you. but you've always known it was him, from the slightest strain of his voice when disguised, the unsettling blankness in his gaze when he looked at you, the subtle upturn of his lips when he approached you. you knew it was him from the way he titled his head when asking you a question, the way he said your name, and even the syllables he stressed when he spoke.

he approached you first as a police officer, then as a detective, a local politician, and even an assassin. You had already noted down each encounter you had with him, the details of each false identity, and what you had learned from it. it was a feat in itself that nikolai had survived so many encounters with you. perhaps it was because of your growing obsession with him,

(somehow, you always knew that your last victim would be nikolai. he'd be a fitting end for your legacy, as the ability user who had been watching you from the very start. the only ability user you could see as more than a shell for his powers. the only one who escaped you once.)

initially, you believed that nikolai followed you around for self-driven justice, to punish you for your crimes. (the policeman getup convinced you of that much), but instead of lunging at you, he watched, enraptured, as you stole the perfect crime, and he followed you closely as you stalked the user of falling camellia, doing nothing to stop you either time. and every time after that, be it walking past him in the busy streets of yokohama or meeting him as your taxi driver, nikolai had yet to try and expose your crimes and exact revenge. he never held a blade up to your throat, never used the very frightening ability of his on you.

his passivity, however, did nothing to quench your bloodthirst.

it was you who attacked him first.

you're no stranger to hunting down your prey. it was something you anticipated now, the sound of footsteps making their way around corners, the sight of shaking shoulders and trembling hands as they hid behind walls, the way fear consumed them when you finally cornered them; you relished in the hunt as much as you did the result.

nikolai doesn't make it much of a hunt. he's quick, with his coat fluttering around him. his footsteps, you remember, are light and quick, his breathing staggered as he laughed wildly. he snatches up your gun with a hand through his coat, and shoots blindly. there is despair consuming his mind, no panic climbing up his spine. his heart rate accelerates not out of fear, but out of thrill, and he looks at you with unrestrained elation. this was no hunt, nikolai wasn't hiding from you—this was a chase. just as you approached a dead end, and you think you can finally, finally, shove him into a corner, nikolai turns to smile at you one last time, before disappearing into a flurry of his coat. as you stand alone, a dark glove laid on the floor ahead of you catches your attention; his glove might have caught on a jagged end and fallen, you think. after cleaning up his mess, you silently pocket it, still haunted by that uninhibited look and that devilish grin.

nikolai is everywhere after that, taunting you.

he sits across you from the train, he takes your order in a restaurant, he applauds you from a distance, after watching you drag away yet another body, congratulating you on another successful kill.

"next time," he smiles at you, all coy and enticing, "i hope it's me."

you hope so too, but you don't let him have the pleasure of knowing that. the scowl on your blood-streaked face sends him spinning away in giggles.

it wasn't the next time, but after a few more dead bodies and many more warnings about your work are played on the news, you meet nikolai again. nikolai gogol is no easy prey, but you're not one to be bested twice. this time, you don't let him run. you're finally on top of him, blood pooling out of where your knife was stuck in his thigh, his coat ripped off him and abandoned somewhere else. it would be so easy to kill him now, so easy to watch him bleed out and claim his ability as yours, but for the first time, you hesitated on delivering the killing blow.

this time, it's not the ability you're after, is it?

[spacexseven]

Tuna, messed up idea, but imagine thriller buddy cop comedy turned full blown yandere horror with: scapegoat! Darling based on the serial killer au. Darling just has terrible luck and gets pinned all the murders and worse thing? they wake up one day, covered in blood, in a strange place with the cold corpse of a red headed man. It takes a while for the implications of what happened to hit them and they later find out they now have mutiple abilities. Abilities they never had before. Or! maybe, this is a crappy isekai au with bad end! serial killer reader. sigma 🤝 isekai scapegoat darling - 🦄 (im thinking about random ideas too much while i should be finishing other wips and ideas.)

manga spoilers below regarding the unknown doa members and a future part of the doa's plan :) i took liberties with the extent of the book's abilities so. don't question it hfhfh

in the same universe as sk reader, but this time, reader is a stranger who has been brought into the bsd world as a pawn in fyodor's new plan. here, fyodor has broken out of meursault already. fyodor centric but implied sigma x reader and nikolai x reader

cw: murder, dark isekai, death, start of an obsession, manipulation, kind of dehumanization of reader, fyodor is Evil.

let's say things were not going according to plan. the hunting dogs had found the coin bombs in the casino, and now all eyes were on sigma and the associated members, mushitarou was out and working with ango and the ada, and the port mafia had seemingly come to help the ada too. it would only be a matter of time before kamui's identity was revealed, and that would destroy everything he's worked for thus far.

it would be easy to do as kamui says and unleash bram's infection across the population; it would only take weeks, if not days, for the virus to spread with kamui's ability in hand. but fyodor disagreed with his decision. no, there was a better way to do things. all he needed was time to distract the public and get everything back on track. if kamui's identity was revealed now...it would throw the world into chaos, yes, but not the kind he needed.

this called for his last resort.

though he hadn't told anyone, there was a little more than a side of a page left blank in the book. on the written side, he had intentionally left a very part blank on the offchance that things would stop going his way. kamui was unaware. of course, but that was for the best.

the first order of business was to ensure ango sakaguchi was dead.

his ability would prove to be too much of a hindrance since he could use it to find kamui and the others. with the information he had, he could somewhat be certain of where ango was and what he would be doing.

under the moonlight, he writes, ango sakaguchi walks down the alleyway, believing himself to be alone. suddenly, there's a strange sensation at the back of his neck; he considers turning around to face his pursuer and slowly reaches for his gun. but it's too late. the minute his hand reaches for the handle, something pierces his chest...

he can almost feel the words coming to life, twisting reality. fyodor smiles to himself as he finishes writing the last line; besides the corpse of ango sakaguchi, a person awakens. in their hand is a gun, the bullets of which match the ones inside ango. he writes about the blood splattered newcomer methodically cleaning up the scene and disposing of the body and evidence.

this person's ability allows them to take the ability 'discourse on decadence' for themselves.

it's a little bit harder to alter history, to make it so that the deaths of numerous ability users before were a result of his new subordinate's work, and give you all the power you need to be useful to him. he has to write down all the details about the deceased users so that there are no discrepancies, has to ensure the crime scenes are cleaned up but with enough clues so the implication is clear. there is a serial killer loose in yokohama, one that has been targeting ability users for almost a decade now.

the special division wouldn't be surprised that ango had become a victim; it made sense because he had been strongly involved in the case for a while now, but this also made it a priority. files about the sky casino were put on hold, and now the terrorists of the armed detective agency and the serial killer were the priority of the government.

it's funny; the special division thinks that the serial killer is working with the ada, which is why you were not caught despite the agency being aware of your presence all this time, and the ada believes you to be working with the doa. they would all be running in circles, chasing their own beliefs, with no consideration of fyodor's involvement.

nikolai brings him updates; his pawn is in a constant state of confusion and shock, and still unable to use your ability as it was intended. you're plagued by nightmares, too, and still afraid of everyone. he chides fyodor for not writing you to be a calm, composed person, so you would continue your work as fyodor intended you to, but he only had so much space. besides, he tells nikolai, pawns can be trained, too; like pets. all he needs is to offer you a home, an identity, and a life—just like he offered sigma—and you'd be eating out of his hand. what did it matter to you, after that, if a few more lives were lost as long as it guaranteed your own survival?

he arranges for documents to be made; for you to have your own job and home so that there's no suspicion about your identity, arranges for nikolai to surveil you closely and watch out for the eyes of god, lest you're caught by fitzgerald, and for sigma to gain your trust. he himself comes to let you know about all the abilities you have and helps you wield them easily

it's a shame. on paper, you were the perfect pawn—but you're too weak to act on your own yet. he doesn't mind the extra time spent, however, and he coaxes you into targeting mushitarou, whose ability would be extremely useful, but your hands still shake even when he places his over yours and directs the gun for you, and you still cry when you see the blood pooling out of mushitarou, folding in on yourself with shallow breaths. you still tremble when he asks you to use your newest ability.

you're still sniffling when he pets your head and suggests you clean up, and though you go quiet, he can tell you're still haunted by your actions when he looks at the glossy emptiness of your eyes. even after all this time, you still look conflicted when he praises you for a job well done.

it doesn't matter what you feel right now, anyway. fyodor smiles to himself when he catches sight of you slumped up against sigma, watching the other go through his customer files, because he would never let you leave. you don't have anywhere else to go, or anyone else to turn to. nobody would accept you like they have, and you knew that; even if you were so terrified that your hands froze over the trigger or you can't pull the knife out, you'd still force yourself to do it if he asks.

truly, you make for a perfect pet.

[spacexseven]

What would fyodor think about sk darling?

hahahaha i was hoping someone would ask this...

fyodor is intrigued by you. he knows, of course, that there was a serial killer on the loose taking the lives of multiple ability users, including some that he recognized. it was interesting enough that your target appeared to be only ability users, but when he finds out that nikolai has a connection to you...well, now he just had to find out more.

your ability is also quite curious; needing you to kill someone to steal their ability, hence implying that abilities could be transferred. of course, since his ability was intertwined with himself, he was curious as to whether you were able to take his ability.

seeing nikolai follow you around like a lovesick puppy is what convinces him to start watching you.

he knows you're aware of nikolai (he expected that from you—was this warm feeling in his chest pride?) and his ability, as well as his extensive criminal record. it doesn't deter you from trying to run off with his ability, however, and neither does your initial defeat. he watches as you walk away without your gun and with a glove instead, watches as you get back to plotting. fyodor finds it all quite amusing.

as a reward for entertaining him, he drops a parcel on your doorstep with your gun in it. the only other thing there is a message written on a simple card attached to it—santouka taneda's ability may prove to be very useful. he knows that you already knew this, but he was just curious about whether his message would cause you to change your plans and target taneda instead.

it doesn't.

you're very meticulous in the way you go about your plans, and clearly an anonymous message won't get in the way of that. you don't even ask nikolai about the note, which could only mean you knew it wasn't him who had sent it to you. instead, you approach fyodor himself one day when he was walking into a cafe.

"dostoevsky," you say, your smile so unassuming that he'd have never thought you were capable of the evil acts you had committed, "i'll kindly ask you to please stay out of my business."

for a moment, he's caught off guard. and then it comes crashing down on him—you had ango's ability. that's how you knew it was him.

he smiles back, just as fabricated as yours, "please," he takes a seat across you, "i only meant to offer some friendly advice."

you raise an eyebrow, "friendly? do you always use your friends as pawns to eliminate your enemies? or am i just special?"

"we have a common goal," he instead says, "concerning the eradication of ability users."

you scoff at that, "you clearly know nothing about me. i'm not doing this for the same reasons as you."

your eyes are void of emotion, and your hand is gripping the fork on the table—an obvious threat. for the first time in a while, fyodor finds a genuine smile replacing the fake one from before, "in that case, why don't you tell me about your reasons? we may be able to cooperate on certain matters."

you can say no and leave. after all, fyodor is asking you to help him kill off some ability users that can become problems later, and he knows you don't have to say yes. you can decide that you don't want to get involved and walk away, and he can't do anything about it. holding a stranger hostage wouldn't cause you to surrender yourself, nor would a threat to your life. there's nothing forcing you to stay, but you don't leave anyway. instead, you let your polite facade drop, an unreadable expression taking its place.

"alright," even your voice, he realizes, sounds cold and blank now. it only makes him more curious, "but i have one condition."

"nobody touches nikolai gogol. i'll do with him as i please, so don't involve him in your plan. if you can do this for me, i'll hear you out."

[spacexseven]

V LATE REPLY BECAUSE I HAVE LONGER QUESTIONS AND ANSWER FOR YOU TUNA! bit here i throw these ones.

if only your ability didn't need you to kill...in that case, are you really to blame? such what-ifs only work in your favor, and if it comes to the point for a majority believes that you're needed alive, if only because you can be a wonderful weapon for the special division (much like how despite how his ability is considered the most dangerous, ayatsuji is kept alive and working), and the ada is given the work of keeping you alive and preventing you from harming others...then yes i can make a wonderful little thing w yan dazai (and ada) hehehe

A: delusional yanderes (my beloved). A quick background check helps in the implication that sk reader actions, while drastic, were merely built on survival. in a kinder world sk reader “would be a good person” but they “had to” be cruel to survive. Its half truths and lies that are stretched far too thin fit a false narrative that plants the seeds of a festering obsession within the ADA and Ayatsuji. Tsujimura and Ayatsuji can be placed as SK Reader’s semi-handlers. Watching over period to ensure that SK reader rehabilitation is working as intended. It doesn’t please Ayatsuji to have to part ways, but he doesn’t have much of a choice with giving SK readers to the ADA.

SK reader has a hostile and wary group of people who aren’t exactly pleased with the arrangement but are willing to attempt to give SK the benefit of the doubt. It’s a boring turn of events, but SK Reader can longer collect any abilities, nor hunt down any ability user without a proper reason. The mysterious killer suddenly goes missing, and the cases go unsolved. Of course, the truth is a bitter pill for many involved, but the saying: “how much is a person worth?” comes to mind as SK reader’s quiet fate is chosen, and the outcome shows that SK Reader’s Ability is worth over a dozen guilty and innocent lives.

Life is not fair. SK reader case shows that to many and the results lives a poisonous cocktail of emotions to stew. For, Dazai Osamu, it leaves a mess of anger and attraction to build up. (more thoughts on this man in the second question)

I feel Yosano probably develops this way towards SK reader too but its much more slow burn and with dignity. Given her past with Mori and the whole war, its natural for her to avoid getting too attached to people. She already has a low opinion on a murderer who kills people for merely having an “interesting” ability. She’s one of the more full blown hostile and indifferent yet passive aggressive ada members. At least at the start of it. She’s probably noticing the behavior of others first before she notices her own. Her own obsession and repression blinding her actions with quick, yet childish lies. Her hand linger on SK reader’s body when they get injured. Well, she just needs ro make sure SK readers injuries aren’t severe. She finds herself bantering, not arguing or scoffing at SK reader, but full blown banter. As if they’re friends, and not a guard and a prisoner who barely escaped their own execution. The feeling of want and lust breaks her ideals. She won’t cage or break SK reader. She won’t be like that man. She won't And yet, when she looks at the mirror, the horror that consumes Yosano is horrible because she doesn’t see Yosano Akiko in the mirror, but only Mori Ougai staring back at her.

or you know. dazai is losing himself in the desire to get revenge on the person who killed oda. but while trying to find you, somehow it turns into him learning more about you. somehow your evil existence turns into something addictive and alluring for him. who are you, really? dazai feels like he's the only one who knows. and you're the last connection between him and oda (since ango is gone too), so he's even more fixated on you. if you went after them, then why not him? everyone knows the infamous ability nullifier, right? cherry on top is if you blatantly tell him you have no use for his ability. i think it'd break him to the point where he completely loses himself

I do love hurting Dazai. His ability nullifies SK readers and in a way, nullifies and destroys everything sk reader has worked for. With his ability, there is no point in hunting and going after ability users, he’ll merely cancel it and it devolves to a physical fight rather than an ability fight. His ability is also rather boring and a “cheat” one that sk reader probably dislikes. I feel SK reader values work because they always work in getting the abilities they want and carefully maneuver their way into getting said abilities. While Dazai is heavily interesting and very complex, I feel that SK reader is someone who doesn’t project their own feelings onto others. Dazai’s been projected by Fyodor, Chuuya, Akutagawa, Mori, and even Oda. SK reader doesn’t have that need to understand or be near Dazai. He’s just the person who holds a powerful, but boring, (and the biggest sin for an ability, or at least I think SK reader would feel, it’s for it to be boring) compared to other seemingly dull ones. I genuinely find it ironic in a horrible and tragic way, that dazai would most likely project his own feelings and ideas on SK reader and feel as if only he, Dazai Osamu, truly knows you. Dazai becomes something like Akutagawa, always chasing after someone. He’s like Nikolai but worse in a pathetic and depressing way (so basically in canon anyways). He has journals filled with newspapers and photos of you. Random garbage and items that you dropped or wouldn’t notice being taken (Reader probably has but doesn’t feel threatened yet). He haunts SK reader, nipping at their heels like a starving dog. Unlike Nikolai, Dazai consumes ascoets of SK reader. He buys (or steals, maybe just takes the original) the same shirt Sk reader was wearing a day ago, the shoes they were gazing at or recently bought. records the shows sk reader enjoys or would like to watch. the food that they like to eat. the brands sk reader uses. the same shampoo.He records common words sk reader uses, or phrases they repeat. Whenever dazai wakes up, it's always to sk reader’s voice. But the looks SK reader gives him (indifference, boredom, annoyance) when they tell him that they have no use for such “boring and cheating like ability” gives a despair filled filling that not even Oda’s death gave him. (Honestly, Dazai is pur punching bag in this au and he’s the fyodor with god darling.) - 🦄 (the rest of the ada is still being finished, plus the other question and answers i have. this only the brief thoughts on this idea. Including yosano because she’s so fun to imagine as yandere)

okay quickly before i start!!! for some reason it totally slipped my mind that dazai's ability is. literally nullifying other abilities so😭trying to steal his ability would result in a singularity or something. i don't know how i mentioned his ability and still forgot?!?!

okay yea i just wanted to say that Anyways moving on

i do like having tsujimara and ayatsuji (tsuji2) as sort of sk reader's handlers (esp because both ayatsuji and reader are considered to have dangerous abilities and what not) also reluctant cooperation to ayatsuji becoming obsessed w sk reader is sooo fun heheh

in terms of the ada, much like how dazai's record was wiped and he was sent to the ada, sk reader gets a clean slate (they have to do it themselves since mushitarou is dead like sk reader and their interesting takes about abilities and ability users, especially if they show some form of admiration to ranpo first) is the only one who's explicitly told about what he's dealing with. he's not pleased, but better have you here than on the streets killing more users, or worse yet, in mori's hands

yosano finds out your identity when you use an ability you've stolen, one she recognizes from seeing the corpse of the user on the news. and once she finds out, everything she thought she knew about you feels like a lie. she might start hating you. she's someone who treasures life and people, and knowing you do what you do for your own reasons, with no regard for the users you've slaughtered fills her with anger. still, it's complicated. you were introduced to her as someone who made some mistakes, but has a chance at rehabilitation. wasn't that her, too? after tormenting all the soldiers (though against her will), she was given a chance to live with the ada, despite her past. when she thinks about the conversations you've had with her, the times she's used her ability on you and you've never once shied away from her touch, despite knowing she had to hurt you to heal you...it hurts. she remembers how you busted into an underground hideout once, to save her when she was taken by an enemy organization. now she knows the ability you used to save her then, came at the cost of a life. and she doesn't know how to feel about that.

there must be a reason that fukuzawa and ranpo have kept silent about your past. that everyone has treated you with the same familiarity the others get. and there must be a reason you're here now, that you took the opportunity to come to the ada instead of continuing your crimes. she wants to believe it; that you had changed. that your past didn't matter. after all, when you leaned on her arm after a night of drinking and told her you liked her company, that must have meant something, right? when you listened to her story and squeezed her hand, you felt for her, right? there was some humanity in you, and the little bit of it was enough for her—but only for her. she tells you that the others won't be welcoming if they knew who you are, hoping that, at the very least, you'd distance yourself from them if you believed that. she lies about their feelings towards ability users that abuse their power, claims that even if the special division begged the ada to help you, they'd toss you out at once. she lies and pretends she doesn't remind herself of someone she hates.

most ability users find dazai's ability annoying, but this blatant hatred you have for his is painful. you like figuring out how abilities work, how their users can use it to their advantage and how it shapes a person; but dazai's serves you no use (and you tell him all this to his face, not at all worried about how he may react), it only renders abilities useless, it only negates power. it doesn't contribute, doesn't leave a trace—it's not even permanent. and, when you think of the others in your collection, it's just boring.

"besides," you say, unbothered by dazai's obvious pain, "i have better things to do than entertain your stupid questions. the user of flawless (it rips him apart, how you can't even say oda's name) is dead, and nothing you do now will change that."

since you don't give him the answers he wants, he instead decides he can only find them out by following you. dazai thinks you'd be the kind of person everyone hates, the sort that harboured such hatred for the world that you'd turn to committing brutal crimes out of anger and jealousy. but it's far from the truth. what he sees of you is...an unbelievably normal person. you smile at the barista that makes your morning coffee, you stop to pet the stray cats that rub against your leg, you read books and listen to music and you're so ordinary like this that it makes his head spin. how were you the same ruthless murderer that he met before?

the salt in his wound is nikolai. seeing you talk to him, listen and entertain his questions, letting him walk you to the station after a murder like it was the end of a regular day fills him with an unfamiliar feeling. he watches nikolai ask when you'll go after him, sees you smile sharply and wink back, instead of your usual glowering silence. he realizes how you're warming up to the clown, becoming familiar with him. you even call him by his name—nikolai, you say, amused—and not by his ability. nobody else earned that honor from you. and it feels like you've stabbed him straight in the heart.

this all sets off his all consuming obsession with you. it's pathetic, how he searches desperately for something. it's not the answers he came looking for, but it's even more important. he looks for clues in your empty coffee cup and the cream you use on your hands. he searches for evidence in the books you read and your contacts list. he digs for the meaning behind why you keep the torn glove of nikolai gogol and why his name is on the list of abilities you plan to steal. by the end of it, dazai can't even recognize why he's doing this for.

he doesn't bother to hide his tracks, but it doesn't matter. as always, all you offer him is an uninterested, passive look, even when you find him in your room, looking at your papers.

"if you have to be a creep," you say, your apathetic tone twisting the knife in his heart, "at least have the courtesy to clean up after yourself." and that's all there is to it.

[spacexseven]

😂I’m just imagining in dead apple dazai fyodor and shibusawa are sitting on that table and just in the middle of their talk sk reader just barges in and is like ‚shibu I just got to tell you about the new ability I got!‘ and shibusawa is just suddenly ignoring the other two and is like ‚omg bestie I get the cookies and the tea you know where the nailpolish and the hairties are let’s meat up in the lounge I have to hear that!‘ and fyodor and dazai are just like ‚what in the world did just happen?‘

fyodor and dazai get kicked out because the real star is back!!

[spacexseven]

nikolai goes out of his way to find newspaper articles about sk reader and drops it somewhere in their place so they can wake up and see pages and pages and photos of all their victims and the crime scenes and the ridiculous theories some people have

A: TUNA, TUNA, YOU CAN'T JUST TYPE THIS AND GO!! Nikolai just has a whiteboard or a wall of newspaper articles now adoring his walls(maybe even the casino). Little cards and books collect pictures of past victims, vaguely familiar only because of the ever growing collection of abilities, instead of bookmarks. sticky notes attached to pre-record podcasts, videos, and cds of live television speaking of SK Reader’s acts. Lists of Forums that hunat after the ever so mysterious murders, all of which are hilariously wrong, or in the off chance, a little bit correct, that commentator seems to simply disappear…

SK having a morning routine and waking up to their own collection of notes, pictures, and smiley faces of their favorite ability user.

the time he watched them steal oguri's ability, he insisted on walking w them back to the train station because "haven't you heard? there's a serial killer targeting ability users right now. you shouldn't be walking around alone."

SHAUSBSBSH. I’m so normal about them. really. I can imagine Nikolai dressed as a police officer or maybe a salary man and from an outsider’s pov they just see a “worried” man and their companion walking together, too far away to hear their seemingly normal conversation: both of them commenting of corpses and the new abilities that SK reader has gained and the uses they have. the usual daily slice of life stuff.

But also, imagine: The heat of human contact of Nikolai’s hand brushing against SK Reader while they come down from their high of their recent kill (rip oguri man x2 because these two weirdos are doing their weird murder courtship thingy). The faint moonlight makes Nikolai seem almost ethereal, but there’s hunger in his eyes. The same hunger that SK Reader knows so well, after all, it’s the same hunger SK Reader always sees in their own eyes. The faint upward tugging of his lips makes the slight smile on his lips akin to ghastly, macabre snarl. He walks them back to the train station that always seems to connect and depart Nikolai from SK Reader. The conversation changes from the local show, yokohama politics, food, the corpses that seem to pile in alleyways and the abilities that grow under their heart skin. The growing hunger grows under SK Reader’s heart, but it’s different from before. They ignore it. (I lowkey believe this is probably the one of the first signs or the key moment SK Reader falls for Nikolai in their own weird way)

their first kill was some small time ability user; they didn't know about how their ability worked until this point

A pickpocket. A nameless ghost. Either way the idea that Nikolai grows to resent a stranger is delicious and laughable. (or maybe an unfortunate fool that grew curious about SK Reader and had terrible luck)

I like to think they're working their way into the heart of yokohama, where the ada and pm reside. Yokohama is known for having multiple active ability groups so it's where their later kills will be focused. ango, oda, hirotsu and akutagawa were tasked to find sk reader first, which is how they ended up being killed by sk reader. initially these names were near the bottom of their list, since they were planning on slowly infiltrating yokohama, and killing off prominent users would hardly let them work unnoticed

THEY HAVE A LITRLE LIST. Oh my beloved SK reader. They probably took their time to think it through and write each one, or maybe SK reader is simply impulsive. I love them either way.

Also Flawless? That’s so heartbreaking for Dazai. Oda gets sent after SK Reader or maybe he just happens upon them and feels a familiar feeling: Dazai and his own shadow, and Oda attempts to be a good person. Regardless it ends with his life taken, but imagine a survivor au with a different obsession aka Oda and the murder black comedy of roommate, SK Reader. SK reader probably traumatized Oda’s orphans and it would be pretty messed up if Dazai just found his best friend’s cooling corpse and in the corner a huddling group of weeping children. Or maybe SK Reader drew them away, no reasons for nuisances in their way. Oda is alone when he dies. Rehabilitation au with Oda, or maybe a slap in the face for Dazai if ADA decides to rehabilitate SK and he finds himself falling for the awful murder who took Oda’s life away. A toxic, awful, yandere fest because Dazai doesn’t mean to fall in love and most likely SK Reader is probably pining after Nikolai or Simply not interested because Dazai isn’t “fun” as his ability is.

i'm still working on sk reader's ability, but their ability allows them to take the ability of users they kill, so that's another main motivator. they kill for the ability they want to have. it probably started out as a survival thing, but now they just do it for the ability.

SK Reader’s ability is fascinating. I really adore how it weaves into their wants of collecting abilities and how maybe, in a kinder world, if they could copy abilities they “probably” wouldn’t kill people, but we love one awful serial killer.

it just looks like random murders to the public, though it appears to be done by the same person. a lot of ability users don't let others know about their abilities, so it's the special division and other ability user groups that figure out the murderer is only targeting ability users first

Ooh! maybe the first person they kill has an ability that gets information?? And SK just collects info by that, or they’re just a stalker and stalk after every lead of an ability.

uh no name yet bc im not creative enough for that haha

fair. I’m also v bad with names. :V

i think it'll be hard to write anything between ada and sk reader except for them wanting to throw them in jail bc dazai is obvs going to be very upset about oda's death, and fukuzawa wants to restore order to ability users in yokohama. sk reader is like. an irredeemable bad guy ㅠㅠ

I love an irredeemable bastard reader,and it be pretty fun if somebody out in the Stray dogs universe is delusional enough to believe that SK reader is misunderstood or “can be fixed” (thinking about delusional oda or maybe jouno, maybe fukuzawa 🤔). No, but like antagonism relationships are soo good.

pm, since mori sent his people after sk reader i don't think he'll be as upset as surprised. he might actually try to recruit sk reader or at least see what they're up to bc they killed many of his strong members already. i don't think the other mafioso will be too thrilled about meeting sk reader though…

Most PM members have someone or something that connects to an ability, so the idea of somebody hunting them to kill them or someone else for their ability immediately means SK reader is on their blacklist. Love that for them. Hunting dogs x SK reader is so fascinating. Jouno and SK reader would really make a good dynamic to work with. Sadistic protector from Jouno, but SK is more bloodthirsty for the idea instead of the act itself. SK reader doesn't seem to find the act of torture, but rather the process of the hunt, entertaining. but both cruel bastards either way.

i think for this au, the hunting dogs and doa make for the best in terms of characters to explore sk readers dynamics with so i can talk more about that later if you want ^-^ ( & adding this one too + ) man...im such a sucker for the villain x detective trope like yukito is literally haunting my dreams i am obsessed w the idea of him going after sk reade

YUKITO!!!!! Him falling for irredeemable bastard sk reader. Maybe it starts with him only connecting the murders by a “witness” (see nikolai or sk reader themself) and it spirals to a obsessive unhealthy chase of both prey and predator and rival with SK reader. (Ranpo can be aplied to this. For any ada member this is a blow to their heart and ego because falling for a murderous monster??? oh the horrors) - rambling again, but thank you again so much Tuna. I’m literally just writing notes about ideas spilling from this au. - 🦄

ahahhha wow this was Long thank you for such a detailed response :DD

nikolai hates that he doesn't know all your victims. is it curiousity or eome twisted form of jealousy, that there were so many others that got your attention before him? thing is, it's not publicly known exactly how many victims you have, and it's not something you tell anyone, either. that list of yours is also constantly on your person (he hasn't seen it, but the day he does, any jealousy dissipates immediately when his is the only name on the list). he sticks to obsessively researching you instead, saves any and all mention of you and your crimes, even has a personal, hidden, collection of things about the you that everyone else knew. a copy of your workplace id card, pictures of you from a friend's social media, anything he can get his hands on

ahhhh yes!!! he makes sure to silence any netizen who seems to understand youand your direction, and logs into forums to discuss you with others. not like any of these strangers had ever had the chance to witness you at work—so all their comments were just meaningless garbage.

along with newspaper clippings, nikolai leaves you print outs of people who support your actions, people who, after word gets around that your victims included mafioso and an ex-assassin, are more intrigued by you. it all irritates you, but if you ever show any amusement at what you read, nikolai would personally go to finish off whoever had your attention like that

(my poor baby oguri...will write some good bf stuff for him later)

oh...he's sick, turning up to a crime scene dressed as a police officer. he shines a flashlight at you and says "hands up!" in such a cheerful tone that it has your heart skipping a beat. and when you're walking back with him, whoever would suspect you just killed a man? nobody would think that nikolai was telling you that a friend of his worked with mushitaro oguri—so that's the user's name—before, or that you reply about not caring to learn about a dead man's name.

nobody sees how nikolai's wicked smile falters when you tell him you'd much rather look into his (still alive) ability user friend, and nobody hears him trying to distract you by asking about your ability.

(the bit about the moonlight and falling in love w nikolai gahhhh im sobbing so good. soo good.)

if only your ability didn't need you to kill...in that case, are you really to blame? such what-ifs only work in your favor, and if it comes to the point for a majority believes that you're needed alive, if only because you can be a wonderful weapon for the special division (much like how despite how his ability is considered the most dangerous, ayatsuji is kept alive and working), and the ada is given the work of keeping you alive and preventing you from harming others...then yes i can make a wonderful little thing w yan dazai (and ada) hehehe

or you know. dazai is losing himself in the desire to get revenge on the person who killed oda. but while trying to find you, somehow it turns into him learning more about you. somehow your evil existence turns into something addictive and alluring for him. who are you, really? dazai feels like he's the only one who knows. and you're the last connection between him and oda (since ango is gone too), so he's even more fixated on you. if you went after them, then why not him? everyone knows the infamous ability nullifier, right? cherry on top is if you blatantly tell him you have no use for his ability. i think it'd break him to the point where he completely loses himself

there is a network of ability users that if you know where to look, you can find. it's the easiest way to identify most of the ability users in an area. personally i like to think as an ability user, there's something about other ability users that catch your eye. maybe it's the way they look at other, regular people, maybe it's the way they move as though nothing can faze them. they tend to know other users too, so finding one can lead you down a whole other path of ability users waiting for you.

jouno w sk reader. bc of his backstory i think he can find it easier to relate? to you. he thinks you can be brought over to fight for justice instead. with an ability like that, you can go after many of the evildoing users out there, and you can keep their abilities. the hd would be happy to have you, but jouno makes this a...personal project. he doesn't involve them until he's sure you'll accept the offer to work w them

[spacexseven]

Inspired by the wonderful work of Tuna, and prince fyo and the numerous contributions of 🌺 with this ask and this ask + 🩹 ask

Links bc tumblr nerfted this once:

For prince fyo: https://www.tumblr.com/spacexseven/716304129101905920/ik-the-royal-au-is-my-ida-but-i-wanna-hear-more-of

🌺 1: https://www.tumblr.com/spacexseven/715673822625513472/im-the-possibilities-are-endlessss-like-at-first

🌺 2: https://www.tumblr.com/spacexseven/715545715174146048/this-is-not-a-request-but-like-im-rambling-my

dazai 🩹: https://www.tumblr.com/spacexseven/716312685221920768/tuna-tuna-princes-and-knights-you-are

Excellent Pieces and excerpts from the first fic:

“the maids that giggle about how weak he looks. even the other nobles don't hide their insults, spreading rumours that tarnish his reputation and drag his name through the mud though they knew nothing about him.”

“ as far as you're concerned, his highness prefers working from the shadows. he isn't as popular as the other princes, nor does he have any offensive skills to show—his influence is weak and his demeanor mild.”

“ He liked watching you leap up and put your life before his, even if the slightest scratch you received in return would lead to the complete annihilation of the person who planned the attack.”

“ He liked knowing that you had already dedicated your life to serving him. and if letting you believe he was weak would mean you coddled him even a little more, he didn't mind keeping up the appearances for a little longer.

“ but the charade had to end someday, and as he observed the look of admiration and surprise from you, who was witnessing him for his true nature,”

🦄: Okay! so this was a major inspiration for the rumors section of royal au. I liked the idea of rumors both by the public and more fabrication for power. I took some of the ideas presented in this concept fic and Used them for the au, especially with the Dazai and Fyodor section. Most of the princes have some drama in their lives and are considered black sheeps by the royal court of the kingdom. Fyodor was and still is one of the most ominous and dangerous of the princes, but he isn’t omniscient. The plan for “this” Fyodor is vague because I wanted to make space for any future installments or ideas expanding by anyone who wishes to add more thoughts to this au (feel free anybody!). However, something that was previously done in the drafts of the aus was him not being completely human (as the rumours say). The finished piece i sent you was running with idea that Fyodor might’ve be a homunculus of some kind, similar to Albedo (Genshin Impact) or a clone situation like Chuuya (underrated aspect of his lore) — or the fact that Fyodor might be a regressor or a transmigrator like Sigma. I also thought briefly in older drafts that Fyodor was a demon king who died and reincarnated every hundred years to attempt and restore his glory but fails as he get thwarted by a holy knight, but I didn’t want to put the Knight Darling into the ringer (Dazai does that for me).

on the princes:

🐟: chuuya my beloved :( cannot believe darling killed him bfr!! and the fact that he was genuinely trying to warn them about dazai </3 chuuya feels a lot more human than the others (ironic bcs of the 'imposter' rumors lol) but i cant help but wonder how different things would have been if darling followed chuuya instead of dazai…

okay so first: “ chuuya feels a lot more human than the others ” — YES! Thank you, this was on purpose and I'm glad I was able to properly showcase it. Chuuya is the most human and down to earth out of all the unhinged princes, but he still has red flags that don’t get shown because he dies early on in most timelines for being a slightly better human.

however, In some early drafts: “Chuuya is pretty to look at, and you wouldn’t have minded waking up next him if you didn’t know about the rotting lookalikes that lay chained to the chamber’s of his manor.” Uncanny valley “Chuuya.” my beloved + Draft! Dazai: “It’s a nightmare that you live between both reality and delusion. You lead each fair maiden and gentleman — sacrifices — into the maze and watchas Dazai lets the chain go off Akutagawa. The screams that follow always haunt you as you close your eyes”. The og drafts had awful royalty dazai that hunted people for sport since some of those “rumors” held some truth + plus cursed! aku. As you know by the previous answer, Fyodor has also gone through multiple different ideas, but frankly just thinking about an ambitious, always wanting and scheming human Fyodor is already enough nightmare fuel as it is.

Okay, So if darling followed Chuuya, Darling would end up dying. Chuuya is cursed by “something” that actually consumes anybody that takes the place of a “lover” by chuuya sides. As long as Chuuya doesn’t think about anybody as a “lover” the curse won’t affect them, but the moment Chuuya falls in love and starts fantasizing about Darling it always ends up with them dead. Rip Darling. Because of this, Darling never really gets to be a personal knight to Chuuya via Sigma intercepting and making sure Darling at least gets to live for a couple of more years.

Sigma is always working around this, and at the knight pledge event chuuya was out because his winery had been spiked and burglarized. Sigma is a good prince who’s acting like a guardian angel for Darling. So Darling would probably go for it (50 - a no for guilt of the past, but 50 - for yes for redemption) but it’s unlikely since Sigma will do anything to ensure darling’s survival. Sigma is always in bcakground, stressing and gathering more trauma with each loop he fails.

And yes, this the curse is somewhat of an open secret, and Dazai did have Chuuya Killed off partially because of this. He noticed Chuuya Attraction towards what is “his” and didn’t need the danger attached to it to possibly harm darling so chuuya had to go. (and if that information came from a certain jester attached to the hip of the fourth prince — well, he merely heard it from someone who told someone else about the rumours)

Chuuya was also aware of the possibility of a fellow “imposter” but didn’t know which prince it came from. All the princes have suspicious and secretive origins. Chuuya was searching for a fellow “outsider” as he saw himself be. rip chuuya. however, he is pretty unhinged later on when he gets to live longer.

🐟 : I love prince dazai :((( even if hes a little bit scummy i adore him and his terrible ways <3 love the idea of him picking out a weapon for darling and engraving his name onto it before giving it to them like a constant reminder of whose grace they're under ahh the thought of him avenging everyone who hurt darling even after their death is soo yummy loosing his mind bc the guilt and the way he failed to save you is eating him up. (also the line; a different monster will lead you astray is soo mmmm)

Thank you! I genuinely had a lot fun writing for the Dazai part, lowkey got converted to the Dazai base via 🩹 and their dazai asks. They really fueled a lot of Dazai’s character when I went to look back to see how Dazai would act and behave. You mentioned how Dazai would feel about breaking his darling, and even if in this au Dazai is slightly Yan (more scummy and unhinged than full yan (for now)) that did inspire me to make him the “first love that betrayed” trope in typical manhwa otome isekai. Chuuya would contrast him by being the “green flag” of the duo. The collar asks also came into play because I was super duper close to writing Dazai collaring the Knight as a sign of ownership before backpedaling into a dagger. I’m a coward Tuna. I love it when in media Lovers use or push away their beloveds and lose their mind when said beloved dies by their accidental plans backfiring or going the wrong way than what they expected. its so good watching them lose their minds be it self destructing or destroying everyone else.

And yeah: a different monster will lead you astray - I loved that line and i had to rewrite some aspects of the au to fit it! im glad it stood out of you too!!

🐟: i love the comparison of fyodor and dazai, how darling 'chooses' fyodor this time bc they see dazai in him...also very curious that his death was overwritten in their memory hmm i wonder why. i think maybe the fact that fyodor was weak and seemingly defenseless except for his words and his charm, unlike dazai who always seemed to be dangerous to everyone, was what ultimately attracted darling this time? maybe they want to believe he would need them more than dazai did, and wouldn't betray them after all?

Yes! Darling likes feeling needed. They also were looking for someone they deemed as good natured (🫠 yeah…) and they found it within Fyodor. However Darling is very unreliable and actually went with Fyodor because he’s filled with rumors to brim like Dazai and is unconsciously searching for pieces of Dazai in anothers and immediately ignores the red flags and pledges their loyalty and support to Fyodor. They know deep down that it’s their past going to repeat itself but it feels familiar and so much like dazai. They need to feel like they won’t be thrown away and Fyodor doesn’t have as many allies or any true allies that have enough political or physical power, so maybe Fyodor will hesitate with throwing them away unlike Dazai.

(Darling is really going through it. They have abandonment and trust issues.)

Fyodor and Darling are using each other and exploiting their weakness but it's also depressing because they’re getting closer to each other than anyone else before (rip sigma). Fyodor likes the fact that Darling needs him and depends on him. He starts leaving some blindspots open because he knows Darling will cover them. There was a situation in which darling got poisoned and all hell broke loose. Darling doesn’t recall this as they were astral proejecting via poison, but they remember a “weird dream” where fyodor was nursing them back to health before an odd jester would come at night and babble about a life in “Yokohama?” ����

Fyodor killed the og “sigma” because he was useless and cruel, someone who was unnecessary and incompetent in every manner. In return by sacrificing the soul of the crown prince, he would get “an all powerful and amazing ally that would bring anybody to their knees.”

and… he got sigma.

anyway to mister sad isekai himself!

🐟: i love love love prince sigma. seriously he'd be pretty good at it, with his dedication to his post, if not because of his general insecurities. i wonder who's really pulling the strings here, fyodor, nikolai or someone else? im really curious about nikolai's part in all this...sigma realizing he and darling are connected by fate and death and all else is insane!! makes for a great development. because now not only does his life (and return to life) depend on them, it's in his best interest to keep them by his side. seeing them work for fyodor hardly eases his mind, however, because he knows the fourth prince has something else planned, and maybe he already is aware of sigma's connection to darling...?

Crown prince sigma is one of my faves in this au. He’s very dedicated and attempts to be somewhat of a neutral party as the crown prince and avoiding conflict with his rival princes.

THEY ARE (somewhat unfortunate) SOULMATES!!! Sigma is doing his best while navigating his whole isekai life experience and is going through it x100 because the one person he loves can’t stay alive. It doesn’t help in some timelines darling manages to get hitched be it the princes or some randoms (see: ex-prince candidate and former archduke turned scholar fukuzawa, scholar apprentice ranpo, rival scholar and poet poe, investing nobleman fitzgerald, ex-prince candidate and wandering plague doctor yosano, royal detective and ex-consort candidate ayatsuji, consort candidate tsujimura, Poet and court lady Kouyou, commoner turned errand boy atsushi, that one weirdo novelist conman who disappears and makes really weird face (sigma got conned by oguri in a timeline and keeps a grudge and it grows worse when you and oguri get together), and the list keeps going on and on. darling is a popular suitor who pulls people in by their whimsical and depressing hopeful desperation for a place to belong and feel needed in.)

Sigma does keep knight darling close and he struggles with reputation since his memory grows fuzzy with each timeline that keeps happening. Is he the hated crown prince or the glorious king? Sigma doesn’t know.

Darling did ran away only once with Sigma. It was the quickest death for both because all that sigma remembers was a coat and booming laughter turned into anguish sobbing.

and now, drumming sound: about our dear jester and favorite clown man, Nikolai knows more about the time shenanigans than Fyodor. and from all the little bits and pieces i have been throwing around in here, you can already tell that Nikolai isn’t a good person in this cursed au.

He isn’t happy about it, but Nikolai personally kills knight darling in all the timelines. He won’t allow it to be done by any other hand, it has to be his own hands that take their life. so why does he kill darling? because darling is his sk darling and can’t stand a life where they’re “confined” to another.

yeah, buckle up because its gonna get weird. my brain likes making everything complicated and nonsensical.

Nikolai recalls a life where he fell in love with a serial killer. In this life, their relationship in a city, yokohama, and culture and jobs are different. He is happy and free with his beloved. He even has a dos-kun! Happy, happy, happy! He can’t recall how it happend, but sk darling dies, and then Nikolai dies. his memories blur after that. he can’t remember anything after sk reader’s death.

He’s reborn in a world where only the powerful get chosen and rule.

The original crown prince candidate that stepped down to become a mere royal jester. oh the drama! His name is forgotten, only to be linked back to a jester and few nobles who share bare minimum of similarities. The suprise he feels is all to real when he meets a baby version of prince fyodor. It hit it off like always and it all comes coming down when that prophet comes into his life.

A prophet, who only appeared in the original and first timeline because Nikolai is always careful with making sure in snapping his neck before he can arrive to the palace and utter those cursed words.

“A knight born on the day of origin of the kingdom with the past of hunter will lead the kingdom and the future king to prosperity as long they blossom by the side of their true king. the world will wither and break if the tyrant king takes the throne.”

Among the hundreds of people and millions of citizens, only one person who was found to have signed up to be knight. Among the thousands of people it could’ve been it had to be his beloved.

The look that Fyodor gave him when Nikolai fell to knees and laughed like madman is one that Nikolai will never forget — especially the confused and scared look that darling had which contrasted and rivaled the annoyed, confused, and slight murderous look that all the other princes had.

It was a bloodbath and the worst timeline. His darling was treated more like a prize than a person and watching them wither away, killed something inside him. It was awful to watch darling lose their freedom and be confined to a place to ensure they keep the prophecy into the “proper road.” lest it becomes a tragedy. They take darling’s freedom away and with it, something breaks inside their mind and something else stirs inside. something awfully familiar. However this Nikolai is kinder and even has a far better sense of “morals” as this Dos-kun comments. So, naturally he does his best to save his beloved even if it always end in futile death. People grow desprate when they’re cornered and neither darling, nor Nikolai are any different than them.

It ends with Nikolai holding you each night as you weep miserably for him to end it all. Eventually, the treatment of being seen as a prize and tool for the princes and members of the court take their toll on you, and you simply stop talking.

In another world, Nikolai committed many, many awful crimes, and who would ever say that Nikolai can’t simply do it again? nobody. And so nikolai drowns himself in red and magic that resembles his old ability.

(what nobody else but Nikolai knows in the distant future: Every time darling wakes up from their dreams, they feel less hopeful for something. they notice the way people move, speak, and sometimes they feel so vex for magic users who are simply so.. so, so, so boring! they have abilities why do aren’t being creative with them?)

It didn’t matter how hard he tried but his plans always seemed to fail even with outside help.

In the original timeline that his darling lived: the world ends with a familiar grin painted on their face, even the kindest and most patient of people grow tired and apathetic into brutality after facing so much. they dance together as the world gets destroy and Nikolai wakes up once again.

and again. again. again. againagain-

it’s rather easy for someone already toeing the line between delusions and reality to lose their minds when they’re stuck in a bizarre time loop.

Nikolai isn’t sure what is causing the time loop, but he is aware that only he is able to properly recall it. until he arrives of course.

The he bumbling, buffoon, arrogant, and downright idiotic crown prince sigma is trying his best. an anomaly is occuring and Nikolai is losing it. He tried everything. he’s killed the princes. destroyed the kingdom. cursed the kingdom. saved the kingdom. acted as the king. married his darling, and yet everyone still dies no matter what he does.

Sigma remembers too. His darling is remembering as well, but it’s different. Instead of standing by Nikolai side… darling always seems to be pulled by sigma, and that is perhaps the final straw that breaks the camel’s back.

This Sigma who almost broke and brought back some sort of relief to darling, but it wasn’t him. it wasn’t nikolai who was next you.

(why can’t they see that he’s saving from the awful imprisonment that has been placed on them? they’re so caged into a loop that doesn’t change no matter what they do. and even if does change if darling gets with sigma, Nikolai can’t and won’t accept that. it wasnt love at first sight the first life and neither in the second one, but they eventually got there, didn’t they? So in this 100000th life Nikolai will make sure the two you get the proper life you both deserve)

I’m sorry if this all confusing.

and to explain the whole drafting idea, ahhhhhh here: okay to explain just how unhinged and confusing this au became i give you the backstory that came into existence via your birthday in 2 hours and 34 minutes.

This is an unhinged au because it’s actually an sk au in disguised, and i throw you the utter nonsense this au started off with: originally an ability user got the dropped on sk reader and some of their suitors and they woke up in a hazy like dream world where they played out the storyline. This idea then spinned out of control into an isekai au with sigma dying via getting murdered by sk reader and nikolai (they were on a date) and sigma waking up in a parallel universe. It got more derailed into a sigma isekai horror plot with an omniscient nikolai who remembers all the timeline and is attempting to bring back his “darling” (see: sk reader) via terrible time loops and mind breaking them. Something about soul swaps and sacrificed people with a literal devil! Nikolai and an uncanny valley, not human, creature being reborn into prince! fyodor. It was meant for more horror and yan centric, but I also wanted more mushy and fluffy vibes (wow wasn’t fluffy through the angst??/joking) so i decided to give more redemption and background to the characters instead of having a purely outsider horror pov.

so does draft! nikolai kill darling for them to “turn” into sk darling?? yeah kinda but nikolai also loves this kinder aspect of darling so he conflicted and mourning it. and then it went into the world end and darling having to meet their proper soulmate to save the world, but nikolai doesn’t believe in soulmates but im freedom and choice.

this au spiral from the first idea into multiple different aus in a matter of minutes since i wanted to give you something fresh and new instead of any of my backlog stories or unfinished wips for your birthday. It literally got out of control and I had to revise and rewrite until I found it worthy enough to get sent out as a present for you.

None of my ideas are though out. i think about i once and write before putting it in my notes and never checking about it in months. I think you’re far better about this than me. most of my things are wips. we’re both doing our best and wishing you luck and happy days to come!

my brain is a little hamster ball that spins and ends up everywhere and anywhere.

I’m so so sorry Tuna about me rambling in the ask box. I just had a really wacky and fun time writing this concept for you - 🦄 (Tumblr pls don’t nerf this)

you know the first time i tried answering this my laptop crashed and because of that i will be trying to keep this reply concise TT i think it may be the size that it couldn't handle </3

quickly before we start. i need to take a moment and say Wow because this is 3k words in an askbox and if that number isn't surreal i think the fact that you took almost 3 hours for the original ask is?!?! absolutely insane. that is an astounding amount of dedication and i suddenly feel a little shy and i wish words could encapsulate how much joy this brought me. (after all, i am a reader before a writer, and who doesn't enjoy getting to see such wonderful ideas?) so much respect to you and thank you so so much, really. it's amazing to see what you have and i'm really so honored to be able to see and respond to it like this :)

fyodor lore...i think regressor fyodor may work, in which case i believe he will be the first to realize that he's not the only one who remembers his past lives. maybe this could work into why he's so involved with sigma and darling, despite them not having any reason to be connected w each other. it must be irritating to know that both sigma and darling play a role in his plans, because they become an unpredictable variable now. sigma, at least, remembers a lot of his deaths and lives, so the only way fyodor can rein him in is by keeping a close eye on him.

darling is an anomaly, though, since they don't appear to remember more than the first life with dazai. based on sigma's Many deaths, I'd suppose there are more where darling has experienced, but can't remember, for some reason or another. i'm inclined to believe a certain prince with an affinity for magic may have something to do with that, or perhaps it's the new court jester whose gaze doesn't seem to leave darling...except, that's not even their first life, is it? they've probably lived a hundred more without knowing. which is crazy...

i like to think there was a life where darling stayed by fyodor's side forever, but even as he achieved his plans and became king, there's nothing that changes. he just wakes up to see darling in their ordinary uniform with their ordinary weapon, and no sign of the sword he gave them, but the hope that he could win them over again is all he needs to try again. maybe the memories linger, and sometimes darling walks past fyodor's room only to suddenly remember a time when they were knelt by fyodor's bedside and huh? when did that happen?

the cursed aku thing reminded me of the minotaur story </3 poor aku i'll save you </3 (adds him to the list of Characters I Will Save)

chuuya's curse is...interesting. i doubt he'd be able to live long with a curse like his, because how does he know it only kills a lover he has? what if he believed it may kill anyone by his side? so, if there's any one who doesn't die, he might begin to believe that they aren't entirely loyal to him, hence why they weren't dead yet. eventually the loneliness and paranoia gets to him and he's just destined for a tragic end either way. the greatest mercy for him is a death before he learns the true extent of his curse. but chuuya is really clever, so i guess it's inevitable that he does realize what his curse is. either way, it's a miserable existence. :(

because fyodor easily views everyone else as pawns, i don't think he'll be so upset at the idea of darling using him to satisfy whatever feelings they have. maybe they hope to learn why dazai betrayed them by working with fyodor, if only to satiate their own curiosity. it doesn't matter, anyway, because fyodor ensures that once darling takes the pledge to put fyodor's life before theirs, they would only have eyes for him.

(and… he got sigma. i'm crying about this line. come on fyodor, it doesn't get better than sigma :>)

omg...sigma...all his lives are angst-coded. him having to watch his literal soulmate fall in love with some less than favorable people (but it's worse when darling falls for the actual good ones, the ones he knows will keep darling happy. it hurts because he knows he can never give darling that content lifetime with no worries about crazy jesters and cunning princes). at the very least, he hopes to break the curse so at least one of you could be happy.

ultimately his role has always been for another; a replacement for the previous crown prince, a pawn for fyodor, and now, he exists as darling's counterpart in this strange revival/death thing, but he doesn't really mind when it concerns them. for once, he plays the role of the protector, of the one in charge, and they aren't privy to his plans. and he knows his intentions are pure, his role in their life will always be of their own benefactor. he's the one who makes sure they don't go hungry in the lives they're imprisoned or banished, and he's the one who ensures darling and their partner live well in the lives they leave the palace. he's the one who stops them from getting too close to chuuya, and tries to ward off fyodor's watchful gaze (unaware of his knowledge), and desperately attempts to keep nikolai away. but after all this, he cannot ask them to pledge their life to him, not after knowing the cruel end darling will face by doing so.

this nikolai twist is Insane. Like woahhh where do i go from here?!

i think nikolai carries a lot of resentment at himself (and the world) because of how his life w sk darling ended. why didn't he save them? why did he end up here? how did things turn out this way? and he's more infuriated that the once free and unreadable soul, bloodstained and calculating, that lured him in and trapped him all those years ago became...this other person, this foolish, compassionate knight of all things. it's quite ironic. darling still kills now, but not because they can, not because they want to, only because they have to for whichever pathetic prince they've decided to serve.

and it's horrible because here, darling has never done anything to warrant such a cruel fate, but they've been subjected to a painful life as long as the stupid prophecy exists. he wonders, bitterly, if this is their past catching up with them, punishment for a crime they don't even remember committing.

but as the lives turn by and everyone takes notice of darling, nikolai finds himself starting to learn more about them, too. he learns that their eyes burn with the same silent fury when anything irritates them, that their lips curl in the same way when they notice something amusing, and that they're still just as dedicated to their work, whether it be murder or serving a prince. and i think. nikolai feels some guilt for starting to like knight darling, who's more compassionate/warm than the original sk reader. maybe he feels like he's betraying them by doing so, because he may have 'reverted' back to his 'original' state, but darling is entirely different where it matters. this darling doesn't understand his ideas and thoughts, they would never approve of his crimes, and worst of all, they don't even care for him.

not once in their many lives did they spare him more than a single glance, except when he killed them to reset the timeline. and each time, they looked at him like they didn't understand, like they couldn't recognize him. but when sigma came in and started helping, darling recalled those moments. even when serving fyodor, they seemed to remember their past. but not with nikolai.

he's not sure what's worse; falling for someone who will never understand him, or having someone not even remember a single moment after spending thousands of lives together.

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“this is so sad poor reader ill save you” tuna, you say this while you place the poor darling with fyodor. I have no place to argue tho. i’m just as guilty with placing poor reader in this too. also scapegoat/pawn darling has the worst isekai experience. The fact that they never even existed and fyodor simply used the book to warp reality to make it so “sk” exists. I can’t help but imagine how horrible it must be, especially if darling is a bsd reader of fan, for them to slowly piece together that reality is contorted to fit the narrative of a cruel serial killer who took so many ability users life. Fyodor re-writing deaths only to ensure for the deaths to be exceuted by an innocent murderer. the realization of scapegoat/pawn darling is going to be horrible when they remember the abilities names and connect it to oda. However, this could also backfire for fyodor. Darling doesn’t want to die, and i can imagine this darling having a more cowardly and selfish attitude towards people in bsd. either imagining as monsters who are after them for crimes they never committed because they never “existed” or putting themselves first because they’re “only fictional characters.” Maybe resentment builds up towards fyodor? a lucky day, or even a single minute is all that takes for even a man like fyodor to fall.

Imagine of they were close with mushitaro? maybe a way to coaxe him to be more at ease before fyodor makes them kill him? the betrayal and the angst. so much trauma for both.

THE NIKOLAI DYNAMIC. it’s so different since this “sk reader” actually isn’t sk reader because they bever truly “existed.” Scapegoat/Pawn darling is emotionally vulnerable, a rat placed into a corner, not quite willing to bite just yet, but not willing to die either. I Imagime it’s very tense and it’s more thank likely that Nikolai probably falls first compared to the more anxious and survival driven darling.

I have many ideas brewing with Jouno, Dazai, and Ranpo bc of this. A lot of it mixing with them building up a love-hatred (emphasis on hatred) turned to savior complex built on the fact if they find out about the truth with the book and darling’s existence.

Oh, Tuna, this was truly a delight to read and think about. thank you as always, and thank you for sharing this wonderful writing with us - 🦄

i actually didn't think that far about how else darling could react to the situation, but i think it's highly likely that they do end up resenting fyodor so much (and/or becoming detached from the idea of bsd being 'real' or the characters being 'people') to the point where they are actively planning his death. him teaching them how to use their abilities would become a painful memory when they end up using it to kill him. ouch

this version does give a lot more potential for (more) characters to develop a weird infatuation or complex regarding reader. for instance, nikolai approaching reader abt killing fyodor knowing their distaste for him (if they end up developing a hatred toward him) ^-^ im glad you liked it

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Hi ! I'm not good at writing down my thoughts, sorry, but the other anon's ask gave me some things to think about. In the serial killer darling au, are there any yanderes that are obsessed with the idea of darling killing them?

Like I can imagine there being a yandere who's so obsessed with darling that they want to die by their hand, and then have their ability be a part of darling forever and ever. These yanderes would be smiling in their last moments as they stare into darlings disgusted/unamused expression.

Or like a yandere who thought they wanted to be killed by the one they loved the most, only to regret it in their final moments, desperately trying to stop the blood and talk darling into helping them and not leaving them because they realized this is not what they wanted. They wanted to be a part of their darling, not some extra asset so their darling can search (in the yanderes mind, cheat) for another victim. Its not that they fear death, its just that they want their darling to be loyal and obsessed with the yanderes even after death.

Hopefully this makes sense !

yes hi! don't worry this is all very cohesive !!

nikolai is definitely one of those yanderes, though he hopes more for sk reader to kill him and then also die. depending on how things play out, dazai, akutagawa, sigma and atsushi can also feel like this ^-^ i think for all of them, they will end up regretting it except dazai and nikolai as long as darling dies with them. it's like a 'i want to be your last' type of think yk? sk reader is fixated on making nikolai their last kill anyway, regardless of what happens to them so :>

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I’m sorry, but I am not over this whole part while I'm re-reading: “it wasn't the next time, but after a few more dead bodies and many more warnings about your work are played on the news, you meet nikolai again. nikolai gogol is no easy prey, but you're not one to be bested twice. this time, you don't let him run. you're finally on top of him, blood pooling out of where your knife was stuck in his thigh, his coat ripped off him and abandoned somewhere else. it would be so easy to kill him now, so easy to watch him bleed out and claim his ability as yours, but for the first time, you hesitated on delivering the killing blow.” I Am So, So, Normal about this. It’s a description that’s so vivid and consumes all my thoughts. The dynamic between SK Reader and Nikolai is still making me reel. Idk, but something about him just watching SK Reader hunt and kill ability users, regardless of their affiliation or history, is so eerie. The news reporting on SK Murders [something that's haunting me, and I’m sorry about the other rambling questions I sent you earlier]. I couldn’t help but imagine Nikolai or SK Reader walking by an electronic store or maybe near a TV, and just watching, In their “everyday” life, and simply knowing about every single life they took. It’s sentences like these from your writing that send me images and flooding ideas from simple things. I love it. SK Reader hesitating is both a great and awful thing, they love someone, and not something. Niokolai’s ability is great, but it’s Nikolai that’s captured SK Reader’s attention and want. The Last Sentence is like a death toll? Like the sinking realization that SK Reader can no longer turn back like their life used to be because now they know that “this time, it's not the ability you're after, is it?” [I Really can’t express how much I love that last line.] Thank you again for sharing this wonderful Work, and have a fantastic Day Tuna! - 🦄

oh man i am wiping away my tears. not one but Two very lovely asks from you this must be my lucky day! quickly before i address your other words

nikolai goes out of his way to find newspaper articles about sk reader and drops it somewhere in their place so they can wake up and see pages and pages and photos of all their victims and the crime scenes and the ridiculous theories some people have

the time he watched them steal oguri's ability, he insisted on walking w them back to the train station because "haven't you heard? there's a serial killer targeting ability users right now. you shouldn't be walking around alone."

also pls dont apologize about the questions i was so excited to see them that i was. literally vibrating in my seat and jumping off the walls ^-^ wanted to elaborate on everything tho so its still in the drafts right now ^^ im actually very very excited about this au too so im sooo happy to see al your questions i have thought so much about sk reader that its probably? a bit concerning? and ive even planned out how id like to go about a collection of writing for this au...

also. giggling and rolling around omg im so flustered to see lines from my own writing hherhrrhfjffj thank you for all your very sweet comments i will cry over this all day and night

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Ooh that was fantastic! SK Reader my new beloved. Also the idea of a spinoff with yu-yu? 👀. However I’m still absolutely foaming after obsession Nikolai. He’s something else, so disturbing and entertaining. Also, rip aku, ango, hirotsu, and mushitaro. I’m wondering so much of this universe: who was Sk Reader’s First kill? Is it Japan wide or does SK Reader’s kills only cover Yokohoma? We already know SK Reader main reason, but did someone or something else help develop the urge to kill ability user for SK reader? Has the public noticed the trend of killings or is it considered non connected murders? Has the reader been given a name by the public? Any vague information on the ADA and SK Reader? Or the Port Mafia considering they lost a resource with Akutagawa’s Death? (higuchi rip) . Sorry for the questions and thank you for the amazing fic. Your writing is wonderful. It gives so much inspiration for many. Thank you again for sharing your work with us. - 🦄 anon.

hehe to answer some of your questions

their first kill was some small time ability user; they didn't know about how their ability worked until this point

i like to think they're working their way into the heart of yokohama, where the ada and pm reside. yokohama is known for having multille active ability groups so it's where their later kills will be focused. ango, oda, hirotsu and akutagawa were tasked to find sk reader first, which is how they ended up being killed by sk reader. initially these names were near the bottom of their list, since they were planning on slowly infiltrating yokohama, and killing off prominent users would hardly let them work unnoticed

i'm still working on sk reader's ability, but their ability allows them to take the ability of users they kill, so that's another main motivator. they kill for the ability they want to have. it probably started out as a survival thing, but now they just do it for the ability

it just looks like random murders to the public, though it appears to be done by the same person. a lot of ability users don't let others know about their abilities, so it's the special division and other ability user groups that figure out the murderer is only targeting ability users first

uh no name yet bc im not creative enough for that haha

i think it'll be hard to write anything between ada and sk reader except for them wanting to throw them in jail bc dazai is obvs going to be very upset about oda's death, and fukuzawa wants to restore order to ability users in yokohama. sk reader is like. an irredeemable bad guy ㅠㅠ

pm, since mori sent his people after sk reader i don't think he'll be as upset as surprised. he might actually try to recruit sk reader or at least see what they're up to bc they killed many of his strong members already. i don't think the other mafioso will be too thrilled about meeting sk reader though...

i think for this au, the hunting dogs and doa make for the best in terms of characters to explore sk readers dynamics with so i can talk more about that later if you want ^-^

man...im such a sucker for the villain x detective trope like yukito is literally haunting my dreams i am obsessed w the idea of him going after sk reade

thank you for all the questions! i had fun discussing this au with you ^-^

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Oh oh maybe the would form a club together shibusawa and sk Reader and then brag about the newest ability they got over tea and biscuits

ohh yes they have sleepovers too w matching pajamas and they paint their nails together ^-^

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Ok you said that shibusawa and skin darling would be friends but now my question is is he a FAKE friend or a real friend? Like is he gonna betray darling in any way?

?! dont do my guy shibusawa like that...</3 they are bffs 4 life

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What does sk stand for? And imagine how disappointed sk darling would be to find out that ranpo doesn't have an ability

Also ever since I read the post about sk darling I've been wondering if darling is like an ability user too? Or are they a normal person?

sk - serial killer ㅠㅠ they do have an ability, which lets them take the abilities of people they kill ^^ id like to think they make all these plans to find ranpo and then. hes just. him and theyre like What. and then ranpo arrests them boom

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Hello, I'm very interested in your sk reade who can still other abilities by killing them! And i wonder what if you do a spinoff with ayatsuji? Anyways, make sure to stay hydrated and safe <3

i am working on a spinoff!! just dont know if i want it to be like ayatsuji tasked w capturing sk reader or if he finds out sk reader is also under special division control like him :^

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I've got some questions about sk darlings ability

How does their ability work? Like can they use multiple stolen abilities at once or just one? Is there like any inconveniences to their ability? Like I'm talking about how kenjis ability only works when he's hungry or if there's some sort of cooldown

im still working on it but this is what im considering so far! ofc any input or suggestions is appreciated ^-^

they can use the ability of a person they killed (but they must have killed them. just delivering the final blow is enough)

must be an ability they understand first. if they dont know how the ability functions, they cant take it

they can only use one ability at a time

(but capped at 10 abilities they can switch between? like once they kill the 11th person and acquire their ability, the 1st ability they have is gone? if that makes sense??)