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skania · 16 days

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OnK Chapter 149

I know it doesn’t mean much coming from me because I’m always complaining about Aka’s writing, but…

And I mean it when I say that I expect nothing 😭 This was literally my first ever OnK-related reblog and its tags are more relevant than ever lmao

These, too:

#honestly I didn’t think too hard about any of this during my first read #because the romantic endgame seems so obvious that it kind of discourages guessing lmao #but re-reading these chapters has made me appreciate Aqua’s side of his bond with Akane a lot more

Back when I first got into OnK, I mentioned that Akane was the entire reason I kept reading the manga. I didn’t care about the romantic subplot, found Aqua/Kana extremely obvious and predictable, and Aqua plain boring.

It’s only during my second read that I paid close attention to Akane’s interactions with Aqua and I ended up playing myself into both, caring about Aqua and shipping him with Akane lol

This chapter has made me realize that despite everything, I'm not emotionally invested in whether they end up together or not. I’d prefer it, obviously, because Aqua truly is at his most interesting whenever he’s around Akane, and their dynamic has the best development in the manga (so far).

But it’s just like I said before: If they don’t end up together, that’s just Aka’s loss, not mine. I’m just here for Akane 😂

And as an Akane fan, I feel like the best thing for me to do right now is to just take a step back and watch things unfold, because Aka will do whatever he wants regardless of how any of us interpret his manga lol

So instead of posting the long post I originally wrote about this chapter when the leaks came out, I'll just share a a clown gif because in hindsight it was silly of me to expect Kana out of all people to have any sort of meaningful insight into Aqua 🤡

And a couple of things that caught my eye because I can't help myself:

Kana didn't even see Aqua and Akane have any sort of meaningful moment, just those two standing in each other's vicinity was enough to make her throw herself a pity party. How many more times is she going to pity herself and give up? How has Aka not tired of writing her this way? Where did her development from the Scandal arc go? 🤡

So Chapter 147 featured Kamiki thinking Ai doesn't love him and Kana thinking Aqua likes her. It even had a helpful "Cut 139: Misunderstanding" panel and everything. Will this mean something? Who knows!

Kana used guilt-trip! It was super effective!

Oh the irony! Poor Akane looks like she's been hard at work convincing herself that she's over Aqua. And you know what? I cheer for her and respect her energy 100%. I'd rather see her doing her mightiest to help him without any ulterior motives than to have her crying for him and hoping to get back with him every other chapter lol

Akane calling Kana out for her pity-party and for being cowardly was so cathartic that if I didn't already stan her, I'd have become a fan right now 😭 It also means that Aka is 100% aware of the way he writes Kana, so when will she finally be allowed to grow?

Kana's praise to Akane made me so sad though because yes, Akane is pretty and she's talented and she's kind. That's sweet of her to say. But that's not what made Akane someone special to Aqua: it was the way she understood him. The worst part is that Kana ends her praise by saying that Akane is a "goody-two-shoes" but... that's the opposite of how Akane views herself. She sees herself as someone who's not decent and not normal. So it's no wonder that while she gets flustered (it's her dear kana-chan praising her), she seems to get a bit sad/frustrated afterward. After all, for Akane it's probably the opposite. Men would prefer a decent, normal, bright girl like Kana - Aqua included.

I wish someone would tell Akane that she is too ignorant of her own charms and that she doesn't have to act like an adult all the time. Truly the pot calling the kettle black! Sadly, unlike Kana, Akane seems to have no one in her corner in this manga. Aqua was the only one there and the poor guy is barely even a character anymore lol

Overprotective mother or controlling ex-girlfriend? Take your pick!

The English translation left something pretty important out in these panels. Akane doesn't just say "if you have a girlfriend", she says "if you have a precious/important girlfriend". This distinction is very important because it goes to show that... as expected, Akane doesn't think she was an important girlfriend to Aqua. It's like she didn't count and Kana would be the real deal. Oh, Akane...

Which takes me to her very silly, very convoluted yet very predictable plan (in true Aka fashion).

When Akane thinks “I know exactly what you hate”, I imagine she means that Aqua hates hurting and endangering those he cares for. So I'm guessing Akane thinks that if she plays matchmaker and quite literally throws Kana at him, someone he has a soft spot, then Aqua won't be able to go through with his revenge because that would mean breaking Kana's very fragile heart.

In other words, it looks like Akane is going to try and use Aqua's guilt-complex against him and her weapon of choice is love. But not her love, obviously, because as far as she's concerned, her romantic love already failed to save him.

Granted, using Kana's romantic feelings to her advantage is kind of... well, wrong. To quote Akane herself, [Kana] is neither her pet nor her property, but a person. But I'm guessing that Akane may be falling victim to the same loophole she got caught in in Chapters 96 - 98. She thinks she knows what's best, so she's putting her own beliefs aside for the time being.

Kind of like Aqua, actually.

And, ironically, it's Aqua himself who first realized how easy Kana is to use.

So! All in all, I'm here for Mastermind!Akane but I hope that Aka will actually make it worth our while. Will Kana realize that she's about to be used as a chess piece in this Proxy War? Who knows, characters in this manga seem to walk in circles, only being allowed to grow when it fits the plot 😂

Last week we wondered whether Aka would subvert expectations or go the predictable route, and down the predictable route he went. His way of making it less predictable is by including a twist in the form of Akane's ulterior motives, but will this be enough to allow this ol' used trope to lead us someplace new? I guess we'll have to keep reading to find out, but given the quality of the writing lately, I'm not expecting much lol

#my aquakane meta #except not quite #being constantly let down by aka is so bittersweet because there's a part of me that's like hahaha I knew it!#while another is just like: sigh why is he always like this #I thought my expectations were already ground level but I'll lower them a bit more just in case #just please let akane keep serving #that's all I ask for #and if someone can at some point in the manga actually #you know #help her #that would be pretty cool too #because she's basically carrying the entire plot on her shoulders right now yet no one offers her any kind of emotional support at all lmao

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favoniuscodex · 3 years

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miscommunication. [ childe x reader ]

prompt: “ok, don’t hate me, but i kind of told them we were dating.” w/ childe from my 2.5k event prompt list! pairing: childe x gn!reader warnings: reader is a harbinger with a cryo delusion. reader is scary/intense in a typical way you'd expect a harbinger to be word count: 1.1k words

a/n: good luck to those of you rolling for childe! or rosaria this is absolutely 100% a crack fic im sorry to whoever requested this. i just wanted to write a fic where childe was lowkey scared of the reader but in like... a Good Way.

"hey! tartaglia!" you yell upon seeing a familiar head of ginger hair weaving in-and-out amongst the fatui's ranks. childe wasn't hard to spot due to his distinct uniform, but his height was what made him stick out from the rest of the crowd. amongst the fatui, the eleventh harbinger was your closest friend and the only one you even spoke to outside of work-related events, but now, he's at the top of your list of people that you wanted to fight.

blue eyes glance back at you before quickly tearing themselves away. upon recognizing who exactly was yelling his name, childe quickens his pace as he rushes away from you. he nearly trips over some startled subordinates in the process, but they only mutter apologies for childe's own mistake in an attempt to get away from one of his fellow harbingers: you.

"get back here, tartaglia!" you order, briskly walking forward and rudely shoving past your underlings in an attempt to get closer to childe. childe, however, does not listen, and as he fearfully looks back behind him to see you rapidly gaining on him, he lets out a nervous bark of a laugh in shock.

then, he does the most irksome thing possible. childe breaks out into a sprint.

you yell multiple expletives as you chase after him and the lower-ranking fatui agents around you watch you two in absolute terror. as you chase him down the hallways of northland bank, finally breaking out of the throng of fatui soldiers, childe begins to laugh like the utterly annoying man he is.

the chase finally stops when he dives into a meeting room and you hear the click of a lock, forcing you to stay outside. this was your bank. the eleventh harbinger was just here on a little vacation assignment. but you? you were in liyue full time. how dare he lock you out of a part of your own building? but hey, you decide to give him a chance.

you knock gently on the door. three nice, completely calm raps of the knuckles against the polished wood. no more, no less.

"ajax," you call sweetly, hoping that it'll weaken his defenses. "could you be a dear and open the door?"

you hear an astonished laugh come from within the room.

"fuck no," you hear childe say. "you're just going to kill m-"

you don't wait for him to finish. instead, you use your cryo delusion, gifted to you by the tsarista herself, to freeze the lock off the door of your own building. it falls to ground, shattered from the intensity of the cryo energy coursing through it. from within, you can hear frantic shuffling around and you decide to toy with your friend a bit by standing outside the door for a few minutes. when the shuffling finally dies down, you enter the meeting room.

crouched underneath the meeting table, hydro daggers in hand, rests childe, who looks up at you with wild eyes and a crazed grin on his face. of course he looked excited at your threatening stance, especially as you unsheathed your own sword, slamming it down into the ground in front of him, ripping through the rug and splintering the wood flooring. pure anger coursed through your veins as you crouched down to your fellow harbinger's eye level, hand still resting on the hilt of your sword.

"tartaglia," you say, coldly. "why did signora congratulate me for getting in a relationship with you?"

childe lets out a nervous laugh, yet his eyes are unreadable as he smiles at you. the eleventh harbinger is as insufferable as he is adorable, especially when you are one of the few things that can make him actually fearful. you had never really understood why, but always used it to your advantage -- even now.

"i'm losing my patience," you say, hand slackening on the hilt of your sword and falling lazily to your side.

"you haven't already lost it?" childe asks and you stick your tongue out at him. he lets out a soft laugh in return. "alright, alright, but you're not allowed to get mad at me."

"me? mad?" you laugh, placing a hand on your chest. "never. i always control my temper."

childe stares at you blankly and the two of you fall into silence as he slowly comes to terms with the fact that you weren't going to agree to his terms. he clears his throat and speaks nonetheless.

"okay, okay, don't hate me, but i kind of told them we were dating," childe says, holding up his hands in faux-surrender. you tilt your head slightly and stare at him.

"why?" you ask. childe clears his throat yet again, a flustered red hue appearing on his face.

"well, scaramouche and dottore were going on and on about how everyone around them is too weak to fall in love with a harbinger and i thought it was lame of them to say, so i said that we were dating to spite th-" childe begins, but you cut him off.

"no. why didn't you just ask me out?" you ask, narrowing your eyes at him and leaning in just a bit closer. at your words, childe falters, eyes widening and blush darkening to a deep red hue. as if his brain had to reboot, it takes him a whole several seconds to even think of a response.

"w... what?" he breathes and you roll your eyes.

"i mean, i would have said yes," you respond, not bothering to repeat your question. childe stares at you dumbfoundedly, unsure of what to make of your words. his blue eyes scan your features for any hint that you're joking, but he can't seem to find one.

"would you like to g-?" he begins, but you cut him off once more.

"yes. there's this cute traditional snezhnayan food vendor stall that just opened near the port. i would like to try it." you say and you propel yourself upwards, standing tall. with a slight jerk, you manage to rip your sword out of the floorboards and sheath it again. the harbinger doesn't make any moves to chase after you and you smirk down at the table, which now obscures him from your vision.

"i am free this friday night. my shift ends at six, so pick me up at seven. it'll give me time to get ready. does that work for you?" you ask, turning away from him and walking over to the doorway. childe shuffles around, crawling awkwardly out of his defensive spot under the table, hydro daggers long since gone.

"y... yeah. yes! friday at seven. i'll pick you up. that sounds great!" childe says, stumbling over his words as he speaks earnestly. you turn and flash him a smile over your shoulder.

"see you then," you giggle. "ajax."

#childe x reader #genshin impact x reader #childe #genshin impact #axia's writing

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deeply-infernum · 5 years

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"Just a Little Bit of Your Heart." - Khaýd Gharibacci.

This is my first Harringrove shot, so I hope you like it and I'll read all your comments about.

The night was slightly bright, the stars did their thing and the chestnut was in his car heading home, he did not know much what was out of it, however he needed some peace after many events happened in these few days : the days were now pure fights against beings from another dimension.

"What the fuck."

He snorted, he only dedicated himself to examining every corner of what seemed to be a forest around the road, suddenly the memory of golden curls appeared in his mind which he wanted to evade but he knew perfectly well that he could not do it, he felt lost in he, his blue eyes, his mocking smile, the seriousness in which a single movement of his eyebrows could leave you frozen, knew that Billy was in danger while under the influence of Mindflayer, but he could with it, even so he seemed to give in to the horrifying being Steve just wanted the blond to be fine.

The road was retaken again with a loud sound that made it slow down, left the car with its chocolate mane hitting the air and looking directly at the mall which was far away but from the height it could be seen perfectly.

— Billy…

He muttered and went back into the car to accelerate everything to reach the center.

"..."

— It's ironic that now you are the same Billy Hargrove you are by my side when you used to hate me... why? If I had never done something to you...

— I thought so too. -Billy whispered exhaling the smoke caused by tobacco when smoking the night cigarette that he had a habit of doing long ago, the morning was perfect companion of sincerity for those two submitted to their own decision to hide every trace of their current situation, like two fierce bears that they hated each other, like two birds of different species willing to fight for food for their young, like two bees determined to kill any intruder.

In Steve's home, his parents were rarely seen, so he practically grew up only with the help of friends, he had everything, he was not missing anything, but something crucial like the presence of his parents was too lacking.

— But since I saw you, you've always been someone pretentious and you thought the world was at your feet, but when I arrived in your city, the world turned to me and your reign was over. -He said mockingly messing up Steve's beautiful long strands, approaching him dangerously at the level of bumping his breaths, Hargrove's cunning hand ran subtly across the abdomen over the shirt of the blue eyes boy, his breathing became heavy and the mischievous smile was worth photographing.

— Even I didn't resist your charms and now the brat I hate most is now the current love of my life that tells me a new story every day. -It was true. Harrington's sincere and full smile of victory appeared after an icy eternity hidden in Olympus, Billy believed he was unworthy to see such a beautiful smile or simply the gods had rewarded him with being able to see her after giving up his arrogant and self-sufficient attitude when he knew clearly that he needed help, but the one who gave him help was now loving him without any condition on.

The strong and rigid arms of Hargrove were present at the waist of the tallest attracting his body to him and deposit a soft and sweet kiss on the chestnut's lips, the kiss was not any kiss, however, the hands of the opposite were directed to the hair and turned back of the blond stroking with subtlety and curiosity as each muscle of him reacted to his touch, was similar or identical to his with the lips of others.

— I really didn't think of loving someone like that. -Said the lower one, standing next to his partner on the sofa taking a suggestive position in them which made them laugh in unison, it was not strange in them, but they would do it this time in a different way, sweeter, pure love between them, It was not simply quenching sexual impetus. As if Billy wanted to convey something.

— Not me, or at least hide it, I'm not one of those but I just don't want to be hurt, Billy, enough with your father's ...

— Don't remember, it's not worth it. -He smiles. — Now he will go away with his wife, I will be alone with Max, my little sister, don't tell her, but I love her too much, I just want to protect her.

— How did your mother do it with you before... that?

— Exactly the same. -He said with a smile, he had opened very well with Steve about his whole life and they had sworn to always take care and love at all times but hide it, it was not a good time to prove it so much, but, his friends already knew That at least made them feel good, not as something forbidden, not quite.

— Better eat my mouth and let's make tonight the best of all our lives… -He said it in the most vague and sad way of all, he was a self-confident and sincere Billy, Harrington didn't respond and that night was really the one that made his own.

— Do you promise we'll be together until the end protecting us? -Steve murmured over the red lips of the blue eyes boy stripping off his clothes little by little.

— I promise you with my life.

"..."

The trip was being dangerous and tears fell on his cheeks involuntarily, what was going on? He knew that the only ones who could make a scandal of that magnitude were his friends, and therefore among them was the bad guy in the movie: Billy.

Several stop signs were passed without any respect, the traffic lights were useless before the worry of a being who loves, a being that is about to lose everything by a simple war between two worlds but it was the truth, they had to do it or they would die more people.

"Thank U" by Alanis Morissette was in the background in the car singing to give everything, the lyrics of such melody did not help the chestnut at all, he despaired but finally arrived. While he was going down, every memory next to the blond came to his head, almost destroying his good expectations and also everything that crossed his path, when he entered he found a great monster being attacked with fireworks and in the second floor could see his friends, it was comforting to know that his beloved was not participating in this.

He went up immediately to help others, everyone was almost glad to have him on his team to stop the Mindflayer, however, Steve's features seemed to fall like a mask, the security he was feeling fell like a crystal mask breaking into the ground to reveal the face of the aforementioned full of terror when the beast, looking mocking, looked down, the scene was incredible, Billy had a prisoner to Eleven which seemed to have a conversation where Billy was stunned, confused.

Steve left everything immediately going to where they were seeing the monstrous image of a being more than ten meters high in front of him.

— Billy! -Exclaimed the brown eyes boy in a desperate scream, looking at him with great anguish to see what he was doing. — Let her go! -The fireworks stopped because there were few of them, there was nothing else to attack, Mike could come almost behind Steve being able to help Eleven with Max and the others, all grouped watching that scene and how the abomination was ahead admiring everything.

Steve slowly approached Billy.

— Steve no, it's not safe!! -Shouted the younger sister of the blonde however did not get even the least case from the protagonist, Billy's teary eyes in front of Steve showed that he did not want to do any of this, but his body was now damaged by the same influence of the monster , being a few inches in front of Billy, one by one looking into his eyes, the brunette spoke.

— Hey... you look very bad, idiot... -He whispered subtly watching his beloved, showed features that were not his own, influencing on a higher level by the supernatural.

— I'm Steve, the boy you hated and hit without explanation, remember? The one who loves you now without any commitment, the one who will take care of you like that costs his life... -He muttered, everyone was attentive, but the influence was shouting to claim Steve's body as an offering, however the fear of the chestnut was still but I wasn't going to give up.

— I beg you to beat this that has you trapped, you don't exist to be cornered, to be trapped, you exist to be free, like that night in which you and I were free, please, Billy... react, please... -The hands of others had been on the chest of the blond, the tears of the lowest were sprouting, he was being himself, little by little he could beat the supernatural, he smiled as he knew how to do it, hugged him carefully but being punished for that Beast hurting him inside, he gasped at the stabbing pain in his chest.

— You don't know how much I love you. -It was the only thing he could say and released the child, just when he felt the destructive presence of the being in front of them, he pushed Harrington falling to the ground and being helped by the companions.

— Billy! -Eleven exclaimed, his powers still did not return to her, and he could not do anything, Billy held that kind of assassin tentacle of the Mindflayer with both hands, it was just directed for Steve, another of them went straight to attack the blond going to the side from his abdomen, Billy tried to endure but his forces were almost nil, another attacked the free side of the boy, Steve could not release the force and anger accumulated to see his boy being hurt in such a way because he was being stopped by his friends, desperately shouting the name of his beloved, when a final blow pierced the chest of the ojiazul, simply leaving it without any force, the portal was about to be closed but almost minutes later this was carried out ending the life of the Mindflayer almost instantly .

— Billy, no! -He screamed heartbreakingly watching the dying and blood-drenched body of his entire life, his breath was leaving, the blood was leaving him and his life was about to end, Max and Steve immediately came to his aid, Steve took him in his arms part of his body combing his curls as if that brought him back to life, the chestless tears of the chestnut fell on the lap of the blond.

— You laughed, please, don't leave me here, I beg you. -He pleaded with total destruction in his voice and heart, a slight smile peeked over the blond's face to turn to see his redhead sister releasing a weak "I'm sorry" for all the damage he had caused, finally turned to his Straight-haired angel and wonderful smile, weakly took his cheek.

— Thank you for making me see life in a fantastic way. -And with this, Billy's life was over.

The screams of Steve and his lament was a requiem sounded throughout the nascent life of his companions, the cry of his little stepsister and his allies were of pure fury, the life of his sweet and bad Billy Hargrove had ended up simply defending him from a inevitable death but thanks to his pure and honest love he had simply taken the place of the person he loved as he promised.

— I will protect you with my own life...

#steve harrington #joe keery #dacre montgomery #billy hargrove #billy hargove imagine #billy x steve #harringrove #stranger things #season #stranger things 3

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