Sack’s Random Kirby AUs #1: Perennial Bloom AU
Desperate to bring Sectonia back, Taranza makes a gamble after learning of Morpho Knight’s existence. Taking a bold stand, he travels to the Divine Terminus and summons it in hopes that if he defeats it he can resurrect the person he loves.
And Taranza does prove himself in battle, but Morpho Knight still refuses to grant his wish. It tells him that the cycle of life and death cannot be disturbed and that there’s nothing it can do. He must accept Sectonia’s death.
Taranza won’t, though. In an impulsive, last ditch effort, he makes an proposal that neither he or Morpho knight expected to hear:
“What if I offer up my own life!? You… you said you couldn’t bring her back because that would disturb the cycle of life and death. Could I… take her place? That way, it wouldn’t upset the balance.”
Morpho Knight, intrigued by his offer and impressed by his bravery, ends up presenting an impulsive deal of its own:
“Half of your life. Split your spirit in two and rekindle her soul. Your lifespan will also be cut in twain, but the person you love will return, having stolen much of your future from you.”
Taranza accepts, albeit under one condition:
“Return her as she was,” he pleads.
“I will remove the rot,” it responds. “The corruption will cease, but I can make no promises she’ll still be the person you remember after having experienced what she has. Her heart will return to her, but her memories will remain.”
Taranza’s frightened, but says that’s just fine. That’s… all that matters. That Sectonia is alive again, and that the curse he put on her is lifted.
As such, he willingly sacrifices half of his life. Sectonia returns.
She looks like she once did— like Joronia, that is. As she stares at Taranza, she’s frightened and confused.
She says she doesn’t know what’s going on. What… what happened? The last thing she remembers, she was…- t- there was that pink thing. She was fighting it. It…
“Killed you,” Taranza confirms. But he reassures her it’s alright. She’s back now. He’s been trying to save her for a very long time.
Staring at him, though, she’s even more confused. She remembers attacking him. She remembers hating him. Why?
He explains her corruption— just what the mirror did to her. He describes her becoming a tyrant who not only went on to terrorize Floralia but who treated him with abject cruelty. She remembers everything.
She’s horrified. Horrified, and a little angry. Why… why would Taranza try to bring her back? After being abused— seeing her become a monster? Why would he bring her back, knowing she’d have to remember that? Knowing she’d look like this again?
Fingers stretch. The shape of her eyes shifts. Fuzzy brown skin and orange horns remain, but golden wings burst from her back.
In a voice that isn’t hers, she screams:
“Why would you do something like that!?”
A pause. She freezes up at the sound of her own voice. She stares down at elegant fingers, quivering.
“What- what’s going on!? What did you do to me!?”
The Mage Sisters and Hyness are surprised when Taranza returns with the person he was hoping to save— they had no hope he’d succeed… and that surprise only grows when they realize he’s carrying her. She’s unconscious, and he’s screaming and crying about something having gone wrong.
Hyness’s hypothesis is that it has something to do with her nature as a parasite. For years she existed as a Frankenstein’s monster— an uncanny yet beautiful monster made of other peoples’ sewn together parts. Now that she’s ‘herself,’ again, her body has no idea what it’s supposed to be.
He, Francisca, and Flamberge take her inside to try and wake her, then calm her down. Zan Partizanne is put in charge of supervising Taranza in the meantime.
The minute they’re alone, she asks him, point blank:
“What did you do?”
Taranza plays dumb, saying he has no idea what she’s talking about, but Zan isn’t going to fall for it. She says that she’s familiar with death, and that there’s clearly more to this story than Taranza is implying. There’s no way Morpho Knight just brought Sectonia back. Taranza made some sort of deal with it, didn’t he?
He says he did no such thing. She tells him if that’s the story he wants to tell, then it’s fine, but she just wants to warn him: miracles don’t come for free.
(Rich, coming from her.)
Eventually, Hyness and the others are able to wake Sectonia, and by the time Taranza’s arrived, she’s calmed slightly. She’s still clearly unnerved, but says they explained everything to her— both what’s likely going on with her and how much he suffered in her absence. She apologizes for ‘lashing out,’ saying the last thing she’d want to do is seem ungrateful.
Taranza, of course, tells her it’s fine. He’s just happy she’s back.
…But is she happy?
Morpho Knight was telling the truth— she’s no longer cruel and self-obsessed, however Sectonia has been changed nevertheless. Traumatized and trapped in a body that’s always seeming to shift between two forms she despises, she’s not only crushed by guilt, but left with no idea of who she is anymore.
She… doesn’t deserve to be ‘Joronia’ after everything she did, does she? Taranza insists she does— that it wasn’t her fault, but it does little to convince her. She can’t stand the idea of being ‘Sectonia,’ either, though.
When he asks her what she’d like to be called, she says he can refer to her as whatever he’d like. She doesn’t care.
For the time being, they settle on simply ‘Nia.’ If she can no longer envision herself as Joronia— ‘beautiful spider,’ but also doesn’t wish to be Sectonia— ‘beautiful wasp,’ then…
Well, that works.
Taranza and ‘Nia’ return to Floralia, but aren’t able to stay long. As soon as the denizens realize the totalitarian queen has returned, they riot. She and Taranza are forced to flee to Popstar— more specifically Castle Dedede, leaving behind the only home they’ve ever known.
From there, they settle into a routine of sorts, with Nia attempting to adjust to being alive again and Taranza trying his best to help. This is easier said than done, though. Not only does Nia have the aforementioned identity issues, atrocities committed, and body dysmorphia to deal with, but she’s volatile and prone to lashing out. One moment she’ll be in a panicked rage, and the next she’s started to weep. She tries to remain stable and come across as content in front of Taranza, not wanting to tarnish his happy ending, but even that’s difficult sometimes. She’s very, very confused, frustrated and afraid.
She begins donning a mask at all times— unable to bear looking at the sight of herself regardless of which face she wears.
…Still, it’s not all bad. She starts to get to know the friends Taranza has made in her absence, and while some of them make her feel envious, she’s grateful for their presence.
She’s grateful for his presence as well, trying her best to make amends as they awkwardly attempt to repair their relationship and figure out what exactly it should be now that the dust has settled. Are… are they allowed to love each other now? Should they?
While initially Taranza’s friends are happy for him, the more of them that find out about the sacrifice he made to make this dream come true, the more he’s criticized. He’s told he’s done something self-sacrificial that he can never take back.
He says he’d never want to take it back in response, but they warn him that if Nia learned what he did, she’d be crushed. And not only that, but with the way he sometimes hears her cry at night…
Even he has to wonder if he actually did this for her or for himself.
(^ Unfinalized designs for/doodles of some messed up bugs)
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Tagged by @scarstarved to list 9 favourite characters (thank you for the tag 🥲💕💞🫠)
It’s under a read more bc it’s kinda a big post lmao, also not particularly ordered because my brain combusted just trying to think of 9 (ended up with 8 but why not it’s my favourite number) and a bit on why they’re there bc it was a fun revisit tbh.
Oh this is going to be a great getting to know me exercise 🥲
1. Rick Prime (Rick and Morty)
The current favourite little goblin. Could never explain why he was a fave but after unmortricken and the subtext threaded throughout s7 I think it's finally coming together especially when I think of other faves in this post (I have a bad habit with faves with seeing them for 0.5 seconds and deciding they're a fave and only later realising why as more about their character is revealed)
To avoid sharing more of my thoughts about his character (and clowning harder than I've already let slip and bc it's mostly interpretation and hc) Let's just say I think there's so much about Prime that is not fully understood yet and I can't wait to see how they address it (also pour one out for another victim of the curse of many of my faves dying in horrible brutal ways with unresolved emotional conflict)
2. Tartaglia/Childe/Ajax (Genshin impact)
Can’t explain this one too much either yet tbh. Another on sight fave. Precious little goblin who cares immensely for his family and seems to want to have friends/an adventurous life but is distanced by how he's wrapped up in conflict and chaos ever since he fell into the abyss as a child.
"You shall ever be the eye of the storm,"
"And the clashing of steel shall ever accompany you."
He has a constant desire for battle and proving himself (likely because it’s how he learned to survive/possibly because it keeps him occupied and it is a horrible cycle). He’s likely also addicted to the thrill of winning/surviving/overcoming due to this as well.
I constantly worry he's going to die. Pleasantly surprised that he hasn't so far. I want to see him develop. I want to see him peel away from the Fatui (bc he’s clearly unhappy and he dislikes a majority of the other harbingers but they’re a means of both keeping his family supported and seeking challenging battle). I want to see him do well and realise he's more than just “a weapon” to serve the tsaritsa’s purpose but the whole abyss thing is a LOT of unresolved trauma that he has never properly been addressed. And boy oh boy does he have a lot of death flags.
3. Amanda Young (Saw)
Ohhh Mandy. She's so, disaster. She has this depth of compassion and raging conflict inside her. Following John just because he gave her a hint of purpose while still regretting what she's become to some extent (secretly continuing harm/trying to kill Adam/wanting to help the fellow addict and being visibly distressed when they died etc) and making unwinnable traps as she thinks they didn’t deserve a second chance.
Likely because she harbors the fact she both doesn't feel worthy of a second chance herself and knows what this "second chance" has made her become, she doesn’t feel that purpose, doesn’t feel like she is grateful for living as John claims. The whole scene where she’s pointing the gun at Lynn and the “nobody fucking changes, it’s all bullshit, it’s all a fucking lie and I’m just a pawn in your stupid game. I don’t mean anything to you.” “So help me. Fix me. Fix me motherfucker, I’m standing right here.” Haunts me a little. Ahhh mandy 😭 I cry every time at that fucking scene.
It hurts to see her devotion to John (and he refuses to give up on her to the point of his death, he believed in her most of all, because she was the example of his ideology) while also seeing her so fundamentally disagree with his principles through her own struggles. She's just pain, pain, agony. Pain. (Another victim of the unresolved emotional conflict deaths 👏)
4. Danny “Jed Olsen” Johnson (Dead by Daylight Ghostface)
Idk why but the dbd ghostface is just so so good. Like I love the Scream movies sure but Danny is a special case. (Also I was a ghostface/stealth killer main back in my dbd days lmao) Danny's story and persona is great, from the Roseville murders, to how he writes/visualises the crimes before they happen, the way he wears certain perfumes during special kills. He’s just so interesting as a ghostface. He seems obsessed with the horror; the unexpected, the atmosphere, the anticipation, the thrill, the reverence of his stories and legacy. He seems to almost feed off of the human response, the fear and resulting chaos when people read his stories in the paper after each kill.
The local police were confounded: the murders were carried with fury akin to a crime of passion yet coldly premeditated.
The scarier the story, the more he appreciated his life. The truth of the stories made them far more potent.
He’s so in love with making a carefully constructed, terrifying story come to life. Yet he’s still impulsive and hot headed when something in his design falls apart. Ah reminds me on the days I’d write paragraphs on analysing his character based on the small background we had before the archive tome 🥰
And I will always adore how well his gameplay in dbd lines up with him as a character.
5. Gintoki Sakata (Gintama)
Listen I have such a soft spot for Gintama and by extension Gintoki himself. He acts lazy, aloof/sarcastic, unattached and a bit "not my problem, don't care, glhf with that"/selfish but he always has a good heart in the end. Often putting himself in danger to help others and going the extra mile for them when they're at the end of their rope. Notably from memory for broken families and people desperate for reconciliation/a second chance.
This anime had so many emotional beats for how silly it looks on the surface. I remember crying from emotional impact into crying from laughter in the same episode when I first watched the series. Also a lot of heartfelt moments of advice and commentary on the human condition. He’s so adorable. Parfait king.
6. Kokichi Oma (DRV3)
Here we go. Not my proudest one (was honestly a little scared to mention him because of the fandom/character perception etc but DR series was a huge part of my teen years along with RPG horrors so rip) but man does this kid mess me up. It hurts so much how he was just trying to investigate and end the killing game in his own way (trust issues so he refused to openly team up). And the way he spirals so hard in the trial after getting Gonta (who, I think he did consider a friend) killed as self defence against Miu is just 💔
The way he considered them all friends and in an attempt to end the killing game, he died slowly and painfully, while knowing they all hated him.💔 Yes his means/the way he went about it were fucked, yes I understand why people hate him. But jesus christ does understanding his motives and his emotions during the game fucking hurt. (another unresolved emotional conflict death let’s gooo)
7. Tiffany Valentine (Child's play series/chucky tv show)
Oh I love her so much. She gets two gifs bc I can’t choose. She was like the highlight of s2 especially. I love her energy, her swings, her endless obsession with/pursuit of knowing true, all consuming love; the way she will not be devoid of all humanity and loves her kids and will realise some things Chucky does are awful while still conversely doing absolutely abhorrent things herself (the Nica incident perhaps?). Will never argue with seeing more of her. I'm so glad the show delivers. (I still need to catch up on s3 though). I would honestly love a little more of her formative story, how she became Valentine.
8. Michael Myers (Halloween)
Another showing my love of horror here but this big guy is a classic. Actually what got me into horror so intensely tbh. I love his little arts and crafts. The way he'll string up a whole scene just to get the most screams and fear. The way he panics when his mask is removed. I do always wonder about him. I mean we're told he's evil in human form but I can't help but feel Loomis gave up on him. Everyone did. I don't doubt it's as basic as him being the shape of evil and that's fine but I like how ambiguous it has always been. There is no clear cut answer on why Michael is what or who he is and I love it.
Wow love the recurring themes here. I’m sure I probably forgot a few older faves too but oh well. Time to not analyse those and go sleep.
Tagging @potetosaradas @dayglomasochism @lara60 @drawmanations @zanukavat if any of you want to share your faves. 🥰
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