A Little Thing I Wrote A While Back When I Was Revisiting KHR... Basically My Very Self-indulgent Thoughts

A little thing I wrote a while back when I was revisiting KHR... basically my very self-indulgent thoughts on a BAMF!Skull who decides the best strategy to survive the underworld is by letting everyone else underestimate him.

I've never really been fond of the way he's treated by others in canon, and it completely baffles me why they'd choose to characterise him like this if he's supposed to be one of the strongest seven.

There are ways of making supposedly OP characters weaker - inner fears, disagreements, conflicting loyalties, a person who is their achilles heel, a lack of motivation - you DON'T need to make someone into a bullied lackey.

----

As far as navigating the wild seas of the mafia goes, Skull believes that being underestimated is the best strategy.

Skull is a method actor.

And that means embodying clumsiness and hysteria.

He makes mistakes. He plays up his confusion. Joins the weakest family that he could find (With some sense of ethics that he could stomach, obviously. He'd be speeding down the highway in the opposite direction if he so much as caught a whiff of the Estraneo. Ugh, hurting children.)  He botches his jobs. He falls and screams and cries and shrieks. He lets himself get hit and made fun of.

He picks himself up and dusts himself off at the end of every day.

It's a fine balance, this game of being just competent enough to affirm his status as the Cloud Arcobaleno, and yet leaving others completely baffled at his continued survival.

It's a risky game to play, stringing some of the world's most powerful along and playing them for fools.

He is Skull, the world's greatest stuntman. Taking big risks is just another day to him.

You see, those who are born and raised in the mafia have a complacency to them. They look at civilians and think weak.

They look at Skull and see nothing but civilian. Weak. Coward.

These mafia men forget that stuntmen like Skull actively run into death with their eyes wide open. 

They forget that being born a civilian means that they have actively chosen this life of danger. They have seen it all and decided to stay.

So Skull lets the other Arcobaleno have their fun at his expense. He takes on the role of useless lackey and screams into all their ears at the first sign of danger. Makes them forget that he's the first one to spot any danger at all. Lets them gloss over the fact that appearances aside, he was also chosen to stand beside them as one of the strongest, in spite of his civilian background.

It feels like a huge prank he's playing on them, one that may never see an end and it tickles Skull deep inside that these mafioso who pride themselves in their strength and intelligence and spy networks have never quite figured out that Skull is simply performing a role in front of them.

He's content to let life continue on this way. He has no qualms allowing their arrogance to one day cause their demise. After all, the fall of many great men has been caused by their very own hubris.

That is, until, he catches wind of something very interesting.

Reborn has been assigned to tutor the up and coming candidate for Vongola 10th.

A civilian candidate.

And Skull has never quite been interested in involving himself in mafia affairs, but just perhaps…

He could impart some teachings to help a kindred soul navigate this world.

And really honestly, it seems like it'd be fun to fuck around with Reborn. Just a little.

-fin-

Like I REALLY don't get canon. He's a STUNTMAN. Danger is pretty much his job??? He actively chooses to jump through rings of fire and taunt death and the mafia decides he's weak?????

Reborn x Skull , RSK

Volo is already pretty manipulative in canon, but it will be so much worst in the “Volo finds Akari first” au lmao Showering her with praise and compliments, making her reliant and trust only him. Plus the others would probably accidentally confirm whatever lies Volo tells her, like their apprehension towards her or fear of Pokémon when they’re more than normal in Akari’s world. It’s so messed up but I’m eating popcorn waiting to see how far it goes

I'm right there with you anon, pass me some of that. Because YES, unless he's getting excited and letting things slip he's very good at crafting the narrative he wants to make Akari believe. I imagine he'd find a very good balance between not keeping her completely sheltered so nobody - including herself - suspects something is off, and being her only source of information about Hisui and everything else, making her wary of revealing much to anyone other than him.

He scares her with tales of banishment, and those he doesn't even have to lie about! People really are left to die in the wilderness if they're deemed untrustworthy, and those tales make her too scared to lose their access to Jubilife for resources, shelter and information to ever reveal anything that could make her stand out to them. He maybe even shows her to some graves, away from any settlement, made hastily to bury the remains of people who died in exile before wild pokemon could get to them. It terrifies her, the thought of being sentenced to die alone without getting to go home, until he smiles and promises he won't let this happen to her. She'll be safe as long as she stays by his side.

That isn't to say he treats her badly. He doesn't, quite the opposite even - she's precious to him, as someone he believes to be the key to Arceus. He manipulates her so he doesn't lose that key under any circumstances, but he doesn't view her with the same jealousy and bitterness he comes to in canon. She's his blessing, and he means it when he says he'll keep her safe. Manipulating her is just a necessary mean to that end, and he needs to ensure she trusts him. Until they reach Arceus, he won't let anything happen to her. Once they do reach him... Whatever she's meant to accomplish, he'll make sure she does.

PROMPTS FOR DENIAL, DENIAL, AND MORE DENIAL * assorted dialogue for saying no way! adjust as necessary

it wasn't me.

you must be mistaken.

i didn't do that.

i don't love you.

that wasn't a kiss.

denial is a river in egypt.

please just tell me the truth.

you've got it all wrong.

i don't think you're lying to me.

i never said that.

you're imagining things.

when did i ever tell you that?

that never happened.

i was in the other room when it happened.

i heard everything, but i didn't see it.

that was someone else.

just tell me what you know.

you know what? i believe you.

i didn't lie to you.

are you sure it was me that said that?

i swear, i didn't do anything.

if you didn't do it, you need to tell me who did.

on my mom's life, i didn't do it.

someone is setting me up.

who told you i was here?

the truth will set you free.

i wasn't here to do that.

you're making a big mistake.

they're blaming me for something i didn't do.

i didn't say that to you.

technically it wasn't a lie.

i was fast asleep when it happened.

i didn't hear anything.

you've mistaken me for someone else.

maybe you saw someone, sure, but it wasn't me.

they'll tell you where i was.

i never touched it.

if it's missing, it's not my fault.

i thought someone else was watching it!

i didn't promise you anything!

when did this happen?

you're shitting me.

this is a frame job.

who are you covering up for?

why don't you just tell me the truth?

i never said we were exclusive.

you didn't tell me you were going out.

it slipped my mind.

i didn't mean to lie to you.

i don't know how else to tell you i wasn't here.

they said i did it? when?

when are you going to quit lying to me?

yesterday you told me one thing, and today you're giving me a whole different story.

so what is the truth?

that's never been the case.

you made that up.

this is how you wanted me to find out?

! delusional

assistant director takemichi on good and bad day