#These aren't all i've made but it was so satisfying to put these side by side | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

oxymorayuri · 1 month

Text

❞𝐍𝐨 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬❝

Part five

If you haven't read the first part yet, you can find it here or the storys masterlist. ♡♡♡

✦ Pairing: Portgas D. Ace x Reader ✦ Warnings: language, angst ✦ Spoiler: none

A/N: This back and forth of feelings is screaming; Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know? sorry guys I'm totally on the Arctic Monkeys ride lol. Also their vibe somehow suits Ace.

wordcount: 2722

tagging: @lazyninjatheorist - @sassyyassi - @cottoncandyloverrrr

! ᴍᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ !

ᴍɪɴᴏʀꜱ ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴀᴄᴛ

"All right you two, that sounds good. Y/n I'm firmly convinced that you'll come back with valuable information." The captain of the Whitebeard pirates leans back with a satisfied expression.

"But before you leave tomorrow, I have something special for you…" He waves a crew member over to you, who was standing at the side with a box in his hand. The young man in front of you opens the box and your eyes widen with a sparkle.

"These are small ear buds that you can use to communicate." Whitebeard says with a smile due to your childish reaction. Excited like a little girl, you examine your new technology.

That's so coooool!

"How did you get hold of them Father??!" You're surprised about the specific model. These aren't normal spy buds… These are long distance earbuds. No matter how far away you are from each other, you can keep in touch. It is also quite difficult to disrupt their connection... You are thrilled.

"Oh, that was easy. We just never needed it, until now." - "Hohoohoh that's so cool! Now I really feel like a spy!" You eagerly reach into the box. You put one bud in your ear and happily walk over to Ace to put the other one in his.

"Come on Ace, say something!" excitedly, you gently tap him on the shoulder. Ace blushes slightly as you get so close to him. He's a little uncomfortable in front of Whitebeard, and not just because he's giving you both a judgmental stare. Imagine how he would react if he knew what was going on between you two…

When you hear Ace's voice in that earbud, you have to pull yourself together not to squeal and fall into Whitebeard's arms instead.

"Thank you, Daddy!" You sit on his lap like a little girl while he pats your head with a warm grin.

Ace observes the close relationship between you and Whitebeard. He could swear you even look alike.

"Ace, listen to y/n… but in case something goes wrong, you're allowed to do whatever you think is right." - "You can count on me, pops!" He confidently points his thumb at his chest and you snort as you cross your arms in front of your chest. A little annoyed, you look up at your father.

"I don't need a guard!" You grimace in offense and Whitebeard bursts out laughing.

"I know you're strong…" His gaze softens and you let go a little. "I've often played with the idea of putting someone by your side. The fact that you've always traveled alone has never made me feel good, but I've never found the right one…" - "You softy…" You're bold but your cheeks turn pink.

You could never have dreamed that you would ever experience the love of a parent. Where would you be if not on the Moby Dick?

He ruffles your hair and you struggle a little weakly as you both share a laugh.

"So you're saying Ace is the right one for the job?" - "There is no doubt about that. I trust Ace and I would like you to do the same." - "Okay but only because it's you father…" You groan out a little defeated and jump off his lap.

Together, you and Ace walk back onto the deck and look at the island you've docked at.

"The show starts tomorrow morning Ace… Are you ready?" You rest your hands on the railing and look over at Ace, who is gazing into the sunset beside you. His eyes peer down at you from the corner of his eye.

"I was born ready." His confident grin looks promising. You're eager to see how he performs.

The next day arrives and you wake up before the alarm clock rings. Brushing your teeth in front of the mirror, you think about the fact that Doflamingo hopefully won't recognize you. Luckily for you, you wore a wig when you were undercover in Alabasta...

When you come out of the bathroom, you stop in your tracks because Marco is sitting in a chair in front of you. In your room.

"What are you doing here?" A little surprised at him, you sit down in front of your dressing table to get ready.

"Good morning to you too, little lass..." You raise your eyebrows and give a little snort. "Yeah yeah good morning, whatever…"

"I'm here to give you some advice." Marco starts talking without moving from his seat.

"Oh dear. Here we go again…" You say boredly as you put your hair up in a low bun. But Marco doesn't let it bother him and just keeps on talking.

"It's usually the case that when two people like each other, they end up together… Apparently you and Ace like each other soooo???" - "So what?" you turn around annoyed and raise your eyebrows. Marco groans out in a heavy voice.

"Are you two finally a couple and had a bit of a crisis or what's going on with you?" - "What makes you think we're a couple? We are definitely not together." You stop, caught off guard, as you pack your things.

"Well, the rest of us have eyes in our heads, you know… Additionally, Ace has been getting on my nerves with you since day one! Besides, you've more or less told me that you like him." Your ears perk up.

"Ah yeah? Ace has been getting on your nerves since day one?" a kind of evil smile settles on your lips.

"What did he wanted to know? What did he ask you?" You put your hands on your hips "Ah, so now you're getting curious?" Marco interlaces his fingers and you could swear you see amusement in his eyes.

"Yeah, what am I supposed to say now?" You roll your eyes. Marco already knows what's going on. Why is he bugging you like this?

"Of course I want to know what Ace asked…" You turn around. You don't want to show him the blush on your face.

"It's nice to know that the feelings aren't just one sided… you know…" - "Finally you spit it out… I thought I had to pull it out of your fucking nose…" Marco makes a relieved noise and you look at him with a disgusted expression.

"Eww that's gross." - "I mean that rhetorically, gosh."

You know exactly what he meant, but you stick your tongue out at him.

"Well, now that the cat's out of the bag, what do you want to tell me?"

You know Marco only means well, as always. Like when you once failed a mission and he gave you comfort or when you had an argument with Teach and he rushed to your aid. He's always been there for you, even when you were a newcomer to the pirate gang. He looked out for you like a brother.

"I'm pretty sure the feelings aren't one sided. Ace is crazy about you. At first I don't think he quite realized it himself, but he's come around to his feelings." He looks you up and down. "Not like someone certain in front of me…" You throw a shirt at him, which you were going to pack in your suitcase, and give him a death stare.

"You're annoying." Marco doesn't mind your attitude and starts talking again.

"You said you were the problem the other day?" You pause for a moment and sit down in another chair.

"Ace is great, but I've met some great men and where are they now? I just don't know if it's worth it…" A little ashamed, you look to the side and avoid eye contact. Marco is not exactly surprised. He was already expecting something like this.

He considers his next words carefully as he glances around your room. Whitebeard really means well with you, he thinks to himself. He gave you the biggest and 'nicest' room on the ship.

Nice is actually an understatement. A bed that looks as comfortable as it will be in reality. Bed sheets made of the finest cotton and blankets made of the finest silk, imported from the capital of Alabasta.

One side of your room is completely covered with a beautiful and yet simple bookshelf and on one side is your desk and on the other side, opposite the desk, is a small sitting area.

Your dressing table was made especially for you by the same carpenter who made your weapons cabinet. You thought the details carved into the cabinet were so beautiful that you wanted the dressing table to be made by the same craftsman.

The cabinet was already in your room so you went to Whitebeard with your request and he immediately changed the destination of the Moby Dick and sailed to the craftsman's island.

The name would have been enough for you, but Whitebeard not only knows your worth, he loves you like his own flesh and blood. So he didn't hesitate and got you your dressing table straight away.

Marco seriously wonders what Whitebeard wouldn't do. He doubts that there is anything. Not even he himself has that luxury and he is the commander of the first division.

He even thinks that if Ace messes up with you, Whitebeard would kick him off the ship to make you happy again.

"You know y/n, sometimes you have to take the risk to know if it's worth it…" You groan and let your head fall back, running both hands over your face.

"Ace said something pretty similar to me." you grumble.

"You know what? I know you're right, but I haven't known Ace that long either... I need to trust him. You know, out there on my missions, I was always dealing with people who had stabbed you in the back. Maybe I'm a bit paranoid, but maybe that's not such a bad thing…"

You want to look strong in front of him. You get the feeling that he thinks you're scared. But you just know how men can be. You can get over the heartache, but not over the waste of time. Not about the fact that you trusted them with your heart and told them things you wouldn't have told anyone else.

Marco seems a little frustrated but knows that he can't push you any further.

"Just be aware that you might regret it." You snort a little scornfully at his words.

"Why." Your voice a little serious. What should YOU regret?

"I don't know…" He glances around at the ceiling and then looks directly into your eyes "Maybe Ace is getting involved in some flirting again. After all, he's not tied to anyone. Then what? Are you going to splash him with water again?" He grins at you with a knowing look.

You feel like you've been caught red-handed, but your grin widens.

"Oh, so you saw that?" You get up from your chair again as you need to pack a few more weapons.

"You're getting jealous y/n, so my advice is that if you can't admit your feelings, you shouldn't deepen them." That one hit home and you stop in your tracks.

He's right. You shouldn't intensify your feelings.

"You're going to be together for a while now so either you come back as a couple or I hope your feelings haven't grown. The last time you were completely alone, it was only half a night when something happened…" A little lost in thought, he spoke his last words and seemed to be thinking things over.

"What did you actually do that night after the pub? When Jozou and Whitey arrived drunkenly on the ship, they said that you two had left hours ago but you weren't on the ship when they arrived?" The heat went straight to your face as the images of that night came up and you stammered to yourself a little unsteadily.

"That's none of your business!" you yell at him as you put on a cute sun hat. Carrying two modest suitcases filled with weapons, equipment and clothing, you stride past him and head for your door. At the door, you gesture to the closed door and look at Marco expectantly.

"Would you be so kind as to open the door for me?"

Marco sighs a little but eventually gets up and holds the door open for you.

"Just promise to let me know if anything happens, okay?" He looks at you a little worriedly and it's hard to believe, but your facial features are softening.

"Yeah, sure."

Marco takes your suitcases from your hand and accompanies you to the deck of the Moby Dick.

It's a sunny and calm day, the breeze is light and you hold on to your hat so it doesn't fly off. There are already a few familiar faces on deck, just waiting to see you and Ace off. You are surprised that Ace is already there, he seems to be quite reliable after all.

Ace was still talking to a few of the other members and when he noticed you in the corner of his eye, he looked down at you in obvious surprise.

"You look so…" He stuttered a little when he saw you in your floral summer dress.

"…Unusual?" you finished his sentence. Your outfit is definitely very different from your actual style… You like to dress rather extravagantly, but today you're dressed like a fine little lady.

Ace still looks at you, somewhat enchanted.

"…No, no, no, rather cute." You raise your eyebrows with your mouth open as if you want to say something, but close your mouth again and walk past him without a word.

You say goodbye to your friends and walk over to Whitebeard, who is already waiting for you at the end to say goodbye.

Marco presses your suitcases into Ace's hands, who is still a little taken aback by the simple and sweet sight of you. You look like you're going on a beach vacation.

When Ace finally managed to say goodbye to everyone properly, he came sprinting up to you and Whitebeard.

"Okay you two! Are you ready to bring success to the Whitebeard pirates? Are you ready to be the key?" His eyes are on you. You are his key to success and it always feels good when he says this motivation speech.

Excited as if it's your first day at school, you nod at him. You always forget what a dangerous journey you are about to undertake because you are already looking forward to how proud your father will be when you return.

"Of course father!" He hums happily and offers you his hand to lift you into the small boat that will take you to the island.

Ace jumps into the boat and you don't miss his open shirt blowing in the wind.

"Hey Ace, I don't mind, but I think you should button up your shirt. Remember, we're simple people. Your muscles would just be a distraction…" You barely give him a glance as you check your make-up in a hand mirror, but the dark haired man is grinning up to both ears.

"Oh yeah, a distraction? To who?" He asks in a cheeky voice. You look up from your mirror with a raised eyebrow and he laughs teasingly at you while buttoning up his shirt.

You wave goodbye to the crew member who paddled you ashore and together you make your way to the small town.

Ace weighs the two suitcases in his hands and seems to be guessing.

"What have you all packed? The suitcases are damn heavy!" - "Just some things… Weapons, my equipment, which is important for missions like this, and of course my clothes." You're puzzled, as you'll probably be on a mission for a while, but you're not particularly surprised when you look at Ace, who only has a backpack on.

"Man, it feels like rocks."

Masterlist

Hope you liked it, see you <3

➽ Next chapter

#one piece #ace x reader #portgas d ace x reader #portgas d ace #one shot ace #ace one piece #portgas ace x you #ace x you #short fic #one piece fanfiction #one piece fic

61 notes · View notes

insertsomthinawesome · 4 months

Text

I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!! Okay so honestly I have been very very inconsistent over the years with just disappearing for periods of time due to various things 😂 So it probably seemed pretty normal to most people.

But it felt different on my side, so I'm excited to be back in business. I took a month long hiatus! 31 days of not drawing digital art. Its not something I talk about on here? But I've been suffering from some serious long term Art Burnout for.... a really really long time. Long enough that I should've taken a break probably years ago. It finally got so bad that I could barely draw. I was scared to do it (cause it always looked "bad" in my eyes [i'll come back to that]) and doing it was exhausting and disheartening.

I talked it over with somebody and realized that the fear and anger and frustration I felt towards my own artwork was uh. Not Normal or Healthy. And I finally committed to taking a real break for once.

I still drew a little bit by hand? Traditional art has always felt like it has lower stakes for me (i don't often share it online, and sometimes I don't even share it with friends) so I did some of that when I felt like it. But Digital art was completely off the table.

I had put such an immense pressure on myself to make my digital art perfect, to make as much of it as quickly as possible to satisfy something. It wasn't fun anymore. I'm proud of what i've made over the years! But for a long time now the stuff I've been making was made while hating every second of making it. With some rare exceptions.

I hated my art! It was a combination of Perfectionism, taking in too many external expectations, and the burnout. If you hate doing something its kinda hard to love it even when you want too lol. It wasn't "Bad" in the sense that the quality was low and it was ugly! It was "Bad" in the sense that it was unhealthy for me to keep doing it at that point in time.

I'm glad to report though, that with my hiatus officially over as of Wednesday last week: I am once again. In Love. With doing art, and being an artist :)

I put off taking a break for years cause I was scared that taking a break would mean that I would never achieve all the things I wanted to do with art. I was scared it was a stupid and lazy thing to do that would mean I'd never achieve my dreams. And Also even though I kinda hated drawing, I also loved making art. Its a weird duality that I can't even really explain??? I hated it but I also loved it. I wanted it but I also wanted to run from it. It wasn't until I was more mature and had more clarity and insight (and unfortunately also until the problems got worse) that I was finally able to let go of those fears and just do it.

And I'm really really glad I did. It was everything I needed. And I hope to strike a better balance in the future with art. Taking more breaks when I need them, or just when other things have my attention like reading or Video games (Some star rail got played during this time xD)

From the outside things probably aren't going to be that different?? At this point I don't really have any sure plans to post anything I've been drawing since my Hiatus ended. I might or I might not xD I'm still a hobbyist artist taking things at her own pace, but I hope that it shows how much happier I am :)

Whumptober 2023 is being officially put to rest by this post btw! I was in major burnout when that event started, and I'm ready to just, move on from all the past expectations I'd shoved on my shoulders. If I feel like filling any of the prompts or going back to any of the ideas I'd come up for it I will! But I'm not going to worry about doing it unless the desire sets in. Thanks to everybody who's been so kind to me throughout my time on here as an artist! Ya'lls tags and screaming and kind words, the fanfic, the asks and the responses? Its been fantastic :) You guys have made me laugh, smile, and cry tears of joy. I hope from here that things only get better and sweeter! And if I have bad days again, that's okay too.

Here's to 2024 and whatever it may bring ya'll :D 🎉🎉✨✨🧡💜

#isa screams #long post #gif #flashing #i think? Lemme know if I'm incorrect on that one alksdjfLKSJDJDSG #I don't normally talk this much so its kinda strange?#its kinda nice to be more honest about this stuff though #I'm a bit more of a private person so its hard to find the balance between wanting to discuss things openly and honestly #but with the fact that I don't owe the entire world an explanation for everything I do #its a tricky thing #but today I felt like doing this and I think that's okay #if i regret it I just won't do it again alsdjLSDJLFJSGSDG #thanks if you read this! I appreciate it!#I'm a pretty smalltime artist relatively. So sometimes it feels as though it doesn't mater what i say or express.#But hm. I doubt its really that simple or bleak #And if I don't respect myself then well. Who will right?#And I want to learn how to be happy with how little or how much I get #part of the reason I've done so poorly mentally as an artist is chasing numbers and outside praise instead of asking the harder questions #am i happy with what i do? what I make? Who I am #I'm going to probably be working on those questions and problems for the rest of my life.#But thats okay. Thats not a bad thing :)

56 notes · View notes

itsclydebitches · 3 months

Note

So any thoughts on the news from Rooster Teeth regarding The stuff they're putting on the rooster teeth site?

I've only heard about this all second-hand, but the anthology series in particular has me going "Meh" at best and "Not again" at worst. The latter because (as we're all well aware) RWBY has a long history of dividing up information across its (flexible) canon, rather than consolidating it within the story proper, which makes that story... a mess. So I can perfectly picture a version of Volume 10 where important questions/revelations/world building are glossed over—or outright ignored—and when fans rightly want to know why the main characters aren't getting info about what occurred while they were gone, the answer is, "Oh we heard about that in passing in the side show developed during the hiatus." Emphasis on "we"—the viewers. RWBY tends to assume that if the viewer has certain information then they don't need to repeat that for the characters, despite this being a series where secrets and half-truths abound. And while that's a logistical issue all on its own, it also robs us of the chance to see the characters reacting. I don't want to watch a side installment to figure out what was happening in Remnant during Volume 9, then watch a Volume 10 where I have to assume via twitter announcements that the girls maybe learned about an undetermined amount of that stuff off screen. I want to SEE them learning with us in real time and once we have that framework, yeah, then you can flesh it out with an anthology series. It's far more satisfying to learn alongside Ruby that—as a random example—Sun and Neptune had all these cool adventures as a way of forwarding their friendship, then see those adventures animated down the line. As opposed to seeing it and then going, "I guess Ruby heard about that too? Maybe?? They haven't actually interacted on screen yet though, so...."

Of course, this is likely being done not only to fill the RWBY void, but to get our some of that Volume 10 info (epilogue included) in case the real deal is never green-lit. But again, I'd rather have confirmation. If Volume 10 is never going to arrive then fine, I get it, you publish what you can. But if there is still a chance of it happening then RT is shooting itself in the narrative foot by rushing and telling bits of the story too early. The hook of Volume 9's ending is the shock of seeing everyone semi-united in Vacuo, but still dealing with a myriad of problems. What happened immediately after evacuation? How did people rebuild? When (and why tf) did Ruby become this god-like martyr? Have they already spoken to Theodore? What new plans have been made to combat Salem? There are a lot of questions that arise from a time skip, questions the characters share, but if the audience gets many of those answers before they do AND the show doesn't lean into repeating that information for us to indulge in the characters' emotional reactions to it instead... what little that's currently interesting about Volume 10 goes down the drain.

#rwde #rwby #mymetas

42 notes · View notes

hwashotcheeto · 4 months

Note

Have you ever thought of villain Hwa? Maybe he's like also a tiny bit in the Mommy Hwa role but he's super angry at the world for not returning the huge amount of love he has for them and his tiny fists get angry n stuff- and then he decides to have revenge on "selfish" people who aren't really what he thought they would be with the amt of love he gave them... (it's pretty dark and scary) and then and then- someone helps him realize that despite the darkness in the world and how he has a right to feel that way there still is light and they bring his cute heart back to a safe and more secure place- while both y/n or oc or however become justice seekers or some kind of superheroes or smth and Hwa and y/n are satisfied at the end of the day

And when they get home y/n turns around bc she thinks she heard someone crying quietly (it's Hwa) and then he just hugs her and thanks her "for taking care of Mommy bc he really needed it"

I decided to drop this at the front desk of the library bc I love all of ur sweet and beautiful Hwa things...

First off, thank you for sending this in, darling. 💜 Thank you for the sweet words as well.

Secondly, I am a villain Hwa enthusiast (Tbh, I've put this man into so many roles, he could be Barbie). And if anything, I know this feeling all too well, so I'll gladly make something with this.

And just so we're all on the same page, when we say Villain Hwa, this is who I imagine

WC: 2k (wow she's long)

CW: Angst, mostly, but fluffy towards the end, vague descriptions of gore and throwing up, and one "Mommy" at the very end (lmk if I missed anything)

It's no surprise to anyone that the world is cruel and dark. In general, the world isn't a fun place to be. You'll get a very different answer depending on who you ask.

But for as much as people like you and I will argue that the world has some good in it, it's hard for some people to see it.

Seonghwa, unfortunately, had reached a breaking point.

He gave so much love to the world, to everyone in it, and got nothing in return.

The first few hundred times he was brushed off, he didn't let it get to him. Helping people made him feel happy, and giving love to people made him happy.

To see smiles light up people's faces, to see their eyes light up, was the greatest sight he could imagine. His heart felt full.

But even the most selfless person needs a moment to be selfish.

Seonghwa, alone and abandoned by those who he gave love, snapped. The selfless little voice in his head couldn't take it anymore. Didn't want to take it anymore. To be used and thrown aside, and not even recieve a "thank you" for anything he did.

"Just one!" He cried, tears in his eyes, his hands shaking from anger. "Just one person to say thank you, just one!"

But it was more than just "thank you" that he needed.

Seonghwa's skin craved the feeling of someone else's. If he closed his eyes and concentrated hard enough, he could feel it. Fingertips against his cheek, palms against his chest, arms around his waist.

But not just anyone's. Yours.

You and Seonghwa were lovers. For years, you'd been by each other's side, being each others support, your other half, the piece that completed you.

But why is it all in past tense? Why weren't you here right now, holding him in your arms, telling you how much he loved and appreciated you?

Because you'd left. Not because you didn't love Seonghwa, you loved him more than you'd ever loved anything.

You'd left to train, to be better, to protect him. Honestly, he wasn't hardly listening when you'd told him. All he remembered was that you were leaving, and he wouldn't see you for months.

And it had been months. And you weren't here.

With no way to contact you, or hug you, or even see you, Seonghwa had been spiraling. And he found himself on his knees in his home, completely and utterly drained.

And as he did, he had a revelation. An epiphany. An idea that might make himself feel better.

He'd hurt those who'd hurt him.

Revenge is a fruitless, endless road that will bring you nothing but emptiness, he'd heard before. But he just wanted someone to feel what he felt. To feel what it felt like to be weak, drained, used up, spent.

To make everyone who was so selfish to abuse his kindness suffer.

And never hurt anyone ever again.

Was your departure the catalyst for Seonghwa's shift? No. But it definitely didn't help.

You were standing beside your chief as you looked at the mutilated body of a young man. You were silent and pale as you tried to keep your food in your stomach.

But a breeze pushed the smell of rot into your nose, and it all came up before you could stop it.

"Go sit down, rookie," your chief gruffly said to you, to which you agreed with a nod, trying to wipe your mouth and prevent a second wave from rising up.

You stumbled away from the scene and spit up the rest of the disgusting mixture of bile and breakfast. Months of training don't prepare you for how to not lose your stomach at the sight of gore and the smell of decomposition.

"You'll get used to it," one of the detectives said as you spit into the street. The taste made your stomach churn all over again. You looked at him, and he offered a sympathetic half smile. "If it makes you feel any better, I threw up my first time too."

You nodded and leaned against the building, then slid down onto the ground, hugging your legs.

You'd insisted you could handle this, and it turns out, you can't. You'd left your life, your home, your boyfriend, for this. Because you believed you could do this, and wanted to be useful.

You were starting to see it less and less as the days went on, especially with this.

Your chief came over and made you stand back up, despite still feeling sensitive and nauseous. You tried to focus on what he was telling you, and putting the pieces to the scene and making sense of the details, but it was all foggy.

Until he mentioned something that made you perk up.

"A witness said they heard the name 'Seonghwa,' but it's not the victim's name. There's a high possibility that's our suspect."

Seonghwa?!

Your sweet, loving, charitable, selfless, goofy boyfriend? The boyfriend who cleaned so intensely, you could see your reflection in any surface? The boyfriend who'd cuddle you every night and make sure you fell asleep comfortably?

Seonghwa couldn't have been the one to murder and mutilate a man.

Much less someone you thought he considered a friend.

It couldn't be him.

It couldn't be...

Five unsolved murders later, you were losing your mind.

Five, FIVE, in one MONTH. And they were all tied to Seonghwa. They were all killed the same way, torn apart the same way, left in a mess the same way.

How could this be the same man you loved?! How could he have done this?! What had happened, why was he going after all of his friends?!

Your numerous calls to him hadn't worked, your desperate attempts to catch him hadn't worked either.

Honestly, you weren't sure if you wanted to find him in this state. If he was tearing apart his friends, would you be a victim too?

There was no discernable motive anyone could find, so it was a possibility that plagued your mind for the weeks he was out there.

You slept with your gun in your bedside table. It pained you to even think about hurting the man you loved.

But you had to protect yourself. You wouldn't turn into a number. A victim.

It turns out that keeping the gun beside you was a good move. But not because you were the target.

It was raining. No, storming. Thunder claps and lightening had kept you awake, alongside the paranoia and fear.

Amidst all that, you heard screaming outside your bedroom window. Living in the city, it wasn't anything new, but this was different. Running, then footsteps, then more screaming. A sound of someone being tackled. A struggle.

You shot up out of bed and grabbed your gun, hastily pulling on a mismatched outfit of clothes before you threw open your apartment window and looked into the alleyway below.

Just as you'd feared, it was him. Seonghwa, your love, your world, had someone pinned to the ground underneath him. You recognized him, he was another one of Seonghwa's friends. He already had blood on his face from an injury you couldn't see.

Your heart was pounding so hard, it could've exploded. You climbed out of your window and onto the fire escape before you screamed:

"SEONGHWA, STOP!"

To your surprise, he did. He stopped and whipped his head around, looking up at you. And despite the position he was in, he smiled so big when he saw you.

"Love! I mis-"

"PARK SEONGHWA, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" You screamed again, starting to run as carefully as you could down the slippery fire escape. His face and heart dropped, but he couldn't be surprised.

As you made your way down to the ground, his would be victim had escaped. And as he ran off, you saw the Seonghwa that had been doing all this.

Dead, dark eyes stared him down as he left. He had a blade in his hand, his shaking hands. His was face twisted into an anger you'd never seen. Not anger, rage. It scared you, it terrified you.

How could this be the man you'd left behind all those months ago?

Seonghwa looked at you, and the monster of rage disappeared. His eyes were bright, his face was soft. He put the blade away as he properly turned to you.

But neither of you said anything. You had too many words to say to him. He had no way to explain himself.

More than anything, you wanted to hug him. You wanted to tell him you still loved him, you missed him, you wanted to go home with him. But now you knew their was this angry, evil dark side of him.

You didn't know if you felt safe with him.

So you asked the one question that'd been in your mind since this started:

"Why?"

And Seonghwa opened his mouth to answer you, but nothing came out. He started thinking, then closed his mouth.

A few seconds later, he burst into sobs and dropped to his knees, covering his face with his hands.

What had he done? What had he become? He wasn't anything like he wanted to be. A murderer. Vengeful.

Selfish.

His selflessness wasn't appreciated by this world, by the people in it. He'd hated it, hated those who took him and used him, who made the world seem so much darker and crueler than he'd ever seen.

And what did he do? He made it worse. He took lives. Hurt people. Hurt himself.

It was true. Revenge is a fruitless, endless road that will bring you nothing but emptiness.

You knelt in front of him and pulled Seonghwa's hands away from his face. He stared at the ground, still sobbing.

"I was tired," he finally rasped out.

"Tired?" You said, exasperated. You felt anger start to bubble up inside you. "All this because you were tired? All this murder and-"

"I was tired of being used!" Seonghwa sobbed, gripping onto his own jacket.

The rain was coming down harder now. Buckets of water were pouring over the both of you, your clothes completely soaked through.

"I did so much SO MUCH, and I never got anything! No one told me if they appreciated me, if they loved me, if they even liked me!"

Seonghwa was shaking now, his words coming out as broken gasps and sobs.

"I gave so much love! So much love to selfish people who wasted it! Just once, I wanted someone to tell me I was good, that I was okay, to prove the world wasn't such an awful, cruel, disgusting-"

You threw your arms around his neck and hugged him tighter than you'd ever hugged him. Seonghwa didn't skip a beat, he hugged you back and cried into your neck.

The love he'd been begging for was here. The touch he'd been craving. And oh, it felt better than he could've ever imagined.

"You are good, Seonghwa," you whispered. "You are good, you are kind, you are loving." You choked back your own tears as you spoke.

You hated the world for what it had turned your boyfriend into. Your sweet and selfless boyfriend had become a monster.

And it could've all been prevented from a hug. A simple recognition that he was loved. Wanted. Needed.

"I love you, Seonghwa," you whispered.

He hugged you tighter and bawled like a baby.

The world cried with you both. Buckets of rain, drenching you both, thunder shaking the buildings and lightening showing flashes of the sun in the night.

It could've been hours that you were in each other's arms, on the ground in the alley. It could've been days. Time wasn't important.

But you both knew you had to run. You abandoned your training for him. You saw what he'd become without you.

As you stepped back into Seonghwa's house, he hugged you tight again, from the back, nuzzling into your rain soaked skin.

"Thank you," he whimpered. "Thank you...for taking care of me."

You turned around in his arms and held his face with both your hands. Seonghwa's eyes were as you remembered them. Big, round, soft, gentle. They held the moon and stars in them.

You wiped the tears and rain off his cheeks. "Anything for you, Mommy."

Oof, that was a lot. I felt a lot of myself in that, I've been feeling underappreciated lately too.

I hope this wasn't too far off from what you wanted, @peppermintlattelover, I tried to stay in-line with the prompt as best I could. The more I wrote, the more I liked where it was going, but I hope you like it too.

With that being said, thank you for reading! Please reblog if you enjoyed! 💜

This is a work of fiction written by me. This does not represent the idol in any way. Any re-upload is not allowed and will be reported.

#ateez #seonghwa #ateez ff #seonghwa ff #angst #fluff #ateez fanfic #seonghwa fanfic

36 notes · View notes

wheel-of-fish · 2 months

Note

What inspired you to write fanfic again after a long absence?

I've been struggling with how to answer this because I don't want to dredge up old tensions, but I do want to be honest. The main reasons I stopped writing were burnout—which does continue to be a thing and is why I'm generally less active these days—and vulnerability. Most of the worst experiences I've had in fandom involved the transformative side of things, hence my separate @wheel-of-fics sideblog and my long-term aversion to even reading fanfiction.

The years away from fanfic (and a year away from Tumblr) gave me time to recharge and heal. I think at some point I'd seen so much ridiculous fandom drama repeat itself that I made peace with the fact that it's always going to be there, and you just have to distance yourself from it as much as possible (even when you're put in a callout post or left trolling reviews or passive-aggressively blogged about, all of which I have been!). The opinions and harassment of a few aren't worth giving up something you like to do. And I really missed working with words! There's something so satisfying about crafting a good sentence.

Also, this story idea was rattling around in my head for like two years. It needed out. :P

#I am dipping my toes back into reading fanfic again btw #very slowly #(in)box five #thanks for asking anon #fanfiction #red death riding

27 notes · View notes

duhragonball · 1 month

Text

End of Evangelion: 25'

Yeah... that's...

"You don't understand!" is pretty much Neon Genesis Evangelion in a nutshell.

Or "You do (not) understand! (true²) Director's Cut" is how the franchise would put it.

Let's just get on with this.

I watched End of Evangelion last night. Well, early A.M. I took a nap and woke up at midnight and it seemed like the right time to watch a thing like this.

I did not enjoy the movie. I'll explain this, of course, but I wanted to get that out of the way up front. There are positives, sure, but I went into this thing hoping for a more satisfying conclusion than what was presented in the TV show, and I didn't get it. Both endings suck. There you go.

Let me back up a bit. So the TV series ran from 1995 to 1996. The final episodes, 25 and 26, were controversial because they were expected to wrap up the whole story, but instead they went in a bizarrely abstract direction. Both of those episodes apparently take place inside Shinji Ikari's mind as he struggles to accept being part of a collective gestalt of every human mind on Earth. This is the result of the "Human Instrumentality Project" a concept mentioned in Episodes 1 -24, but never adequately explained. The final episodes just skip past the part where Human Instrumentality was achieved and shows the result, without bothering to discuss the background or the cause, or the long-term ramifications.

From what I gather, the main reason Episodes 25 and 26 were Like That was because the studio was short on time and money, so a more satisfying conclusion was not practical. But since the series turned out to be so successful, they were able to take another crack at it with End of Evangelion. The film is very clear about its purpose as an "alternative" to Episodes 25 and 26. It's divided into two sections, numbered 25' and 26'.

I'm not sure the viewer is expected to pick one over the other. The original 25&26 take place in Shinji's mind when Human Instrumentality happens. 25' and 26' take place in the outside world, showing the events leading to Human Instrumentality and the aftermath. There may be some continuity issues to iron out, but a fan could easily accept both endings as canon.

That's not my problem here. The problem is not that there are multiple endings, or that the endings are too "abstract", or that the endings aren't "happy". Fundamentally, my gripe is that the endings are confusing. Perhaps it might be said that the endings are pathologically confusing.

I think this is one of those Big, Emotionally Raw Works, where you can't really discuss it without revealing something about yourself in the process. So let's do that. End of Evangelion makes me feel stupid. There's parts of the movie where I'm just completely confused and I have no idea what is happening or why. It feels less like entertainment and more like I'm about to take a test I didn't study for.

Except I did study, because I've literally been taking notes on this thing for the past three weeks. I was looking forward to this, and last night I'm near the end of the movie wondering what the hell I'm going to write here, because I don't understand what the hell happened in the movie.

So I poked around a fan wiki for a bit, trying to get a handle on some of the major concepts, and as I read the articles, I realized that a lot of this information just stone cold never made it into the TV show or the movie. There was one thing I looked up that had to reference a Playstation 2 game that released six years after the movie premiered.

It's not that I'm too stupid to understand Neon Genesis Evangelion. It's that the franchise appears deliberately designed to hide information from the viewer. You're just supposed to roll with it, I guess. Or spend days researching all this side material. Read the manga, read the wiki, read fan commentaries. I hate this. I hate this so much.

So maybe I'm not stupid. Maybe the anime was just badly designed. That would be comforting, except I still feel stupid for investing so much time into trying to understand this thing that seems purposely rigged to defy understanding. It's not just the ending. That's what everyone talks about, but the ending is just a symptom of a bigger problem. The beginning is really slow. Then the middle starts to get weird, and there's a lot of mysteries and subplots and lore that gets set up with the implied promise that "we'll explain later". And the ending(s) drop that ball. The surgery was a success, but the patient died.

I feel stupid because I got a reply to one of my liveblog posts, I think Episode 12, in response to some comment I made about all the characters having the same backstory. Ritsuko has a complicated relationship with her workaholic scientist mother. Misato has a complicated relationship with her workaholic scientist father. Shinji has a complicated relationship with his workaholic scientist father. Is that a theme or did they only have one idea? My point is that eventually it stops being clever and starts being redundant. Later, we learn that Asuka has... a complicated relationship with her workaholic scientist mother.

"What, are you stupid?" asked the reply guy to my wry observation. They deleted it a few minutes after I saw it, so maybe they felt some remorse over the comment. Normally, I let these things slide. I might respond if I get legitimately hot about it. But this one got to me. "Am I stupid?" I asked myself last week. I seem to be complaining a lot about this show, but it's supposed to be a classic. Am I not giving it a chance? Am I missing something here? Am I just not smart enough to appreciate this thing? Am I just not trying hard enough?

If you're reading this, Reply Guy, please know that I didn't take it personally. I'm not upset with you at all, but I am trying to be honest with myself about this. This Neon Genesis Evangelion business has been frustrating me all month long. Now I'm at the end and it all feels very hollow, like I wasted my time.

I think that's my philosophy on life. I try to seek out new things to explore, usually stories, and sometimes they don't work out the way I wanted them to, and that's okay, because it's the journey that counts. Shinji Ikari keeps shutting down throughout his story, asking why he should bother doing anything, because he's too terrified of the possible outcomes of his actions. My thing is that bad stuff happens all the time no matter what, and you just sort of have to recover and move forward, because that's the only way to see what happens next. So I'm not sure if I can relate to Shinji or not.

Anyway, let's talk about Shinji masturbating in a hospital room over Asuka's comatose body.

I had heard about this scene, but I didn't realize how long and pathetic it is. Asuka had a nervous breakdown in Episode 23. This movie has to follow up on that, becuase Episodes 24, 25, and 26 each refused to pick up on her character arc.

Meanwhile, Shinji is wracked with guilt and dread over his battle with the 17th Angel in Episode 24. He had to kill Kaworu, but in spite of Kaworu's betrayal, he was still a friend to Shinji when he needed it the most, and he was such a good sport about getting killed, you know?

So this movie has to get us back to that moment, when Shinji and Asuka are at their lowest ebb, and I guess they decided that Shinji should go see her in the hospital because he's desperate to talk to someone about what's he's been going through. But Asuka's unresponsive, so he starts shaking her like he's trying to wake her up. Instead she just rolls over, which somehow exposes her half-naked body, and Shinji is so overcome with lust that he rubs one out right there and then. Doesn't even get a Kleenex, doesn't find a place to sit, he just whips it out and goes to town right in front of her.

I guess this is supposed to be a joke, but it doesn't land. It's not even a matter of the joke not aging well. Yeah, this is a 27 year old movie, but Shinji admits this is terrible behavior almost immediately. The "joke" didn't age at all. It was stillborn. This is like when you go to a graveyard and you see one of the tiny graves and the dates are from the same year. That's how funny this is.

The most charitable reading I can give this scene is that it represents the hypocrisy of Shinji's whole deal. He constantly insists that he can only do as he's told, because he's afraid of people not liking him if he makes a mistake or thinks for himself. But here he's doing some pretty disgraceful shit, and I sure as fuck didn't tell him to do this. did you? Did anyone? Of course not. He goes limp for most of the rest of the movie, but not here. Nossir. Seems pretty sure of himself in the minute or so it took him to finish his business.

The other aspect of Shinji on display here is that his ideal social interactions are one-sided. He's most comfortable with people when they can't see what he's doing, when they can't touch him back. That's why he wished for isolation in Episode 25. Here, with Asuka unresponsive, he's basically got the same thing.

I suppose the flip side of this is when Asuka kissed Shinji in the TV series. Her hangups are kind of the opposite of his, where she wants to be in charge of everything and everyone constantly showers her with praise for her achievements. She wants to kiss Shinji but she can't be vulnerable enough to admit that, so she orders him to just stand there and be kissed because she wants to "pass the time". And she makes him hold his nose shut because she doesn't want to be breathed on while she does it. I mean, they both have intimacy issues, but at least Shinji had a chance to consent to her weirdness.

In the NERV base, the crew wonder why they're still on alert status, since the last Angel was defeated. There should be no more threats, and it kind of makes sense for NERV to be disbanded. The only business left is the Human Instrumentality Project, and none of these ham-and-eggers know what that is.

But Misato has some information about it, which she mulls over while she's in her car. I guess? Let me explain this in more detail, because the movie never totally gets into the "why" of it all.

Okay, so the SEELE group has access to something called the "Dead Sea Scrolls". According to the NGE wiki, SEELE got it from the two angels that came to Earth, Adam and Lilith, in the distant past. SEELE has used the information contained in the scrolls to establish themselves as the secret rulers of the whole world. And they founded NERV, and its predecessor organizations, to study the Angels and figure out how to preserve the human race.

They talk a lot about Second Impact on this show, but they never explain exactly what caused it. Second Impact was not a meteorite strike or a rampaging angel who self-destructed, or even a lab accident. It was caused deliberately by SEELE, as part of an effort to contain Adam, who lay dormant in Antarctica.

If I understand correctly, this was necessary because at some point, Second Impact would occur anyway, and then Adam's children, the fifteen Angels we saw in the TV series, would come looking for Adam's body and unite with it, triggering a Third Impact that would definitely wipe out humanity. This is all supposedly explained in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

So SEELE's play was to trigger Second Impact deliberately, so that they could confront the Angels on their own terms. This gave NERV time to develop the Evas to fight the Angels, and to shrink Adam down to a more manageable size so he'd be harder to find.

Once the Angels were all defeated, SEELE could then trigger Third Impact. See, the TV series made it seem like the objective was to prevent Third Impact, but that was never possible. Third Impact is inevitable, I guess, so the only way to ensure humanity's survival is to evolve humans into something that can withstand the disaster. Thus, the Human Instrumentality Project, which will combine all human minds into some sort of disembodied superorganism at the moment of Third Impact.

However, throughout the TV series, SEELE has butted heads with the NERV Director, Gendo Ikari, about how this plan is to be implemented. Gendo wants to transform humanity into something new. But SEELE seems to want to retain their human nature and just use the plan as a lifeboat until the disaster has passed. At least, I think that's the disagreement here. Like I said, I had to learn about SEELE's agenda from the description of the PS2 game. It's not exactly a shock that the cabal of worldly oligarchs should want to save themselves and hold onto their wealth and power at the same time.

Gendo, on the other hand, seems mostly fixated on reuniting with his wife, Yui Ikari, who apparently died in 2004 during an experiment with Eva Unit 01. In the TV series, it was heavily implied that Yui lives on inside of Unit 01. Since Gendo's version of Human Instrumentality involves drawing up human minds into a noncorporeal union, I guess he figures that this will include Yui's mind, even if she has no body. It's unclear in this movie if Gendo actually intends to include anyone but himself and Yui in this merger, but in Episodes 25 and 26 of the TV show, Human Instrumentality is presented like it's all humans, even dead ones, and Gendo Ikari talked about it like that's what his version of Third Impact was supposed to be.

I suppose the only thing keeping Gendo and SEELE from turning on each other was the Angel threat, but now that this is over, SEELE attacks. First they try to hack NERV's supercomputers, but this is foiled when they recruit the aid of...

...Ritsuko Akagai, who betrayed NERV in Episode 23 when she destroyed all the Rei clones they had in storage. But she's the only one smart enough with computers to block the hack, so she crawls back inside one of them and uses her dead mother's notes to build a more robust firewall or something. I think she j-pegged a RAM or something, I don't know.

Ritsuko wonders why she's even bothering, since she already turned on Gendo. They had been banging on the down-low, but she got fed up with him when she realized he loved his dead wife more than Ritsuko or her mother, who also used to bang Gendo on the down-low.

With that cyberattack fended off, NERV now has to brace for an actual attack. Admiral Clownshoes notes the irony of NERV defeating all those Angels, only for their final opponent to be the humans they were trying to save.

Tactically, the entire battle is a formality. SEELE runs the whole world, and they can send wave after wave of soldiers into the NERV facility, which is already badly weakened after months of Angel attacks and budget cuts. NERV's defenses were designed for dealing with Angels, and their greatest weapons were the Evas, except Unit-00 was destroyed in Episode 22, and Unit-02's pilot has lost the ability to sync. Nonetheless, Misato wants the pilot kids secured, since she knows SEELE's goons will try to take them out first. She orders Shinji to deploy in Unit-01, and even though Asuka's in no condition to fight, she has her put in Unit-02 and then sent to the bottom of the lake. It's not much of a hiding place, but at least she'll be safer there than inside the base.

Where's Rei? Well, no one can find her, but she's gone down to the room where they keep Lilith and she's soaking in that orange goop they have down there.

Perhaps anticipating this, Gendo excuses himself and orders Clownshoes to take over the defense of the base. Clownshoes seems to know what he's up to, and sends his regards to Gendo's dead wife.

At this point, it's basically a race to see who can trigger their version of Third Impact first. SEELE wanted to use the Lance of Longinus and Lilith somehow, but since the Lance is in space now, they now plan to use Unit-01, the only Eva created from Lilith. That's what makes it special, apparently. Units 00 and 02 were made from Adam, I guess?

Anyway, Gendo plans to do it by combining Adam and Lillith together. He's got Adam's body within his own, and he wants to join with Rei, who contains some essence of Lillith. This was Rei's main purpose all along, I think.

Meanwhile, Misato leaves her post to find Shinji, who was sulking in some corner instead of reporting to his Eva like she ordered. She saves him from some goons, but they're cut off from Unit-01, so she has to find a way to get him where he needs to go. She also has to convince him to cooperate, since Shinji's completely gone to mush in the midst of this new crisis.

As she drives him to where they need to go, she explains (most of) the necessary backstory to him. Second Impact was triggered deliberately to buy time for Human Instrumentality, and humans are descended from Lilith, just as the Angels came from Adam. So in that sence, the human species is collectively the 18th Angel, just another candidate to inherit the future of Earth. Humans, like any of the fifteen Angels spawned from Adam, have the opportunity to trigger Third Impact and secure their place as the dominant life form of Earth, but we had to beat all the Angels first to do it, and then find a way to survive Third Impact when it finally happened.

And while Gendo plans to do with with Adam and Lilith, SEELE wants to use the Eva series, somehow, so it's vital that Shinji use Unit-01 to destroy all the other Evas.

Speaking of destroying Evas, Asuka finally wakes up in Unit-02, which is currently getting battered with depth charges. She still can't control the Eva, and she just keeps whimpering that she doesn't want to die. Eventually, she hears her dead mother promising to protect Asuka, and she realizes the truth: that Asuka's mother, Kyoko Zeppelin, was absorbed into Unit-02, much the same way Shinji's mom was absorbed into Unit-01.

Now, at long last, Asuka can operate her Eva again, and she goes apeshit on the SEELE troops. They sever her power cable, but she doesn't care, boasting that five minutes is plenty of time to take out these creeps. This is honestly the best part of the movie, because they had reduced Asuka to a pitiful shell for so long, and now she's finally taking charge and whoopin' ass.

It won't last.

With the conventional forces beaten, SEELE sends in nine Eva Units of their own. These are units 05 through 13, but they all look the same, and I'm not even sure they have pilots. It's a pretty cool design for a "bad guy" Eva, but they don't figure into the plot very much. They're here to destroy Asuka and Unit-02, and Asuka has to destroy them to stop SEELE.

Meanwhile, Misato has almost gotten Shinji to the Unit-01 launch bay, but she got shot, so she tells Shinji he's on his own from here. Shinji continues to resist taking any responsibility here. He says he's not worthy to pilot the Eva because he hurts people. He killed Kaworu, and he "did something terrible to Asuka". So at least the movie recognizes that. I guess it was included just to show the audience that Shinji isn't exaggerating when he doubts himself like this.

Misato refuses to indulge his self-pity, and she doesn't care how much he cries or tries to use his past actions to disqualify himself. She tells him she's made plenty of her own mistakes, but she still learned something about herself anyway. Hey, I guess Misato kind of gets what I was saying earlier. I guess this makes her my favorite character?

Well, yeah, but I don't like how she gives him a long kiss goodbye, then promises they'll "do the rest" when he gets back. I mean, she dies immediately after he leaves, so I think she was just feeding him empty gestures to motivate him while she still could, but... that's kind of fucked up.

Meanwhile, Gendo and Rei reach the room where Lillith is to begin their attempt at Third Impact, but they find Ritsuko waiting for them. She pulls a gun on Gendo and tells him that she sabotaged the supercomputer while she was reprogramming it to stop SEELE's hackers. Except... when she tries to execute her plan, the computer doesn't do it. This is because it's been imprinted with the mind of its original creator, Ritsuko's mother, and apparently mom still carries a torch for Gendo, even after Gendo screwed both Akagis over. Gendo then pulls a gun on Ritsuko, and says "I truly..." but the sound cuts out as he says the rest of it, so we don't know what he wanted to tell her.

In any case, she calls him a liar after she hears it, so either he told her he loved her and she didn't buy it, or he said something really cruel and she knew he didn't mean it. Either way, Gendo shoots, her which normally would suggest his true feelings, except I think this Human Instrumentality business works on dead people too, so life and death kind of becomes meaningless in this movie. We see a ghostly apparition of Rei as Ritsuko falls into the LCL fluid. We also saw ghost Rei when Misato died, so this seems to be a thing now.

Meanwhile, Shinji makes it to Unit 01, but it's immersed in Bakelite, which Misato had ordered dispersed through the base to impede the invading goons. I'm not sure how it got here, though, unless the bad guys used Misato's own trick to secure Unit-01. So it looks like Shinji can't get in the robot, even though it's not a robot, and he doesn't even have to be inside the stupid thing to control it. He literally proved that on his first day on the job. Yo, Shinji, get in the robot, your mom loves you.

Meanwhile, Asuka seems to be doing just fine killing the bad guy Evas without Shinji, but just as she finishes the last of them off, the Lance of Longinus suddenly flies back to Earth and improbably stabs Unit 02 through the face. Uh... how? Why? What the fuck?

Also, all the Evas Asuka defeated suddenly reactivate. With her battery drained, Asuka is helpless to stop them as they crack open Unit-02 and eat it. I'm pretty sure Asuka herself is killed during this, but we don't see a body.

I guess this was the catalyst to get Unit 01 off its duff, as it finally breaks out of the Bakelite and grabs Shinji like it's gonna put him in. Unit 01 busts out to join the battle, and it's thig big impressive spectacle. It even has angel wings now.

But it doesn't actually do anything. Shinji just gets a look at what's left of Unit-02's mangled corpse and screams.

And that's the cliffhanger for 25'. There's a credits sequence, then a dedication note from the director, and then the second half starts as Episode 26'. So this is a good place to take a break.

If you're curious, the part where Eva 05-13 show up to confront Asuka is about where things ended in "Evangelion: Rebirth". But 25' is about twenty minutes longer than that, so I'm not sure what the significance of that cutoff point was supposed to be. I guess it works as a cliffhanger, but it's kind of dumb to have Asuka finally wake up and kick ass, only to get utterly destroyed a few minutes later. Then Shinji shows up to set up the real cliffhanger.

To be fair, this half of the movie is better than the second half. Mostly, it benefits from the parts where they actually show the characters recovering from Episode 24 and beginning to move to the next phase of the story. This was what the TV show failed to do with its Episode 25. Now, we get to see the SEELE vs. NERV battle that was only implied before, and we get to see how Human Instrumentality is arranged.

We also see why it needs to be done. In the original ending, it seemed completely arbitrary, like Gendo Ikari just decided this was a cool thing to try and he just did it to the whole world without asking anyone's permission. Here, it becomes clear that if Gendo doesn't pull the trigger, SEELE will, and it's just a race to see who can get their vision accomplished first.

And we actually get to see the other characters in this version. Asuka wakes up and gets her groove back, Rei's part in the drama is revealed, and Ritsuko and Misato get shot. Seeing this stuff makes me even more irritated that the TV series just jumped right past it all.

Still, this half of the movie has problems. For one thing, a lot of runtime is spent just showing troops slaughtering NERV personnel, and showing Misato leading Shinji to his Eva. Also, there's a healthy dose of Gendo and Rei just staring pensively at Lilith without actually doing anything. A lot of the footage doesn't actually progress the plot, and only Misato and Shinji's scenes are useful for providing exposition. Gendo and SEELE's words are too cryptic to be of much use.

The main point of this installment was to reinforce things we already knew: Rei's important to all of this somehow, Shinji is a sad sack, and Asuka is helpless. And maybe it needed to be reinforced in July 1997, more than a year after the TV show ended, but I don't think it needed to be hammered home this much.

And like I said from the start, this whole thing relies on a lot of ridiculous stuff that I feel like I should have been told about in the TV series. How did the Lance of Longinus come back? SEELE couldn't have arranged this, since they were the ones who were so upset about losing it in the first place. Why are there two methods to trigger Third Impact? How did Asuka's mother get sucked into the Eva and yet she remained in human form long enough to go insane and hang herself? Why did the bad guy Evas suddenly recover from their injuries when it was convenient for the plot?

Perhaps most critically: Why are they just treating Third Impact and Human Instrumentality like the same thing? Like if you do one, then the other one just automatically happens? Is that how it works? Then why were they so worried about the progress on that project? It could be done at will, right?

Oh, and how did SEELE figure out how to do all this stuff? They have their own fleet of Evas, which seem to work better than NERV's. They made their own Angel in the form of Kaworu. They seem to know how to make Third Impact happen, without Gendo's help. And however they got this far, they seemed to pull it off without anyone from NERV knowing about it. So why did SEELE even need NERV in the first place? As it currently stands, the only reason Gendo's ahead of them is because he's physically closer to what he needs to work with. SEELE could have nuked the base from orbit and hauled Eva Unit 01 from the wreckage.

Again, the whole movie just makes me feel like I missed an episode, except I didn't. I watched the whole thing, which leads me to assume that the next chapter will clarify everything, except it doesn't, as we'll see next time. See you there.

#neon genesis evangelion #2024ngeliveblog #end of evangelion #shinji ikari #asuka langley soryu #rei ayanami #misato katsuragi #ritsuko akagi #clownshoes

17 notes · View notes

heliosthegriffin · 8 months

Text

Shadow Knight, and Magic Girls Vi

Chapter 6

Red yawned. "Sure is quiet tonight."

"I know, right?" Yellow answered.

White looked around. "The Grimm aren't very active tonight."

"I'm not sensing anything," Black muttered.

Crimson nodded. "Well, lets call it a night, then. Unless, you four want to go looking for the Shadow Knight?"

Blake grimaced. "I'd like to, but he's been quiet the last couple nights, I wonder what schemes he's up to?"

-----

Jaune grimaced as he was shot with a hose of cold water and soapy bubbles.

It was pass midnight, and they had not gone to get anything to eat, yet.

Instead they had taken him to a car-wash, to clean up Amber's car, and Jaune.

That said, Amber hadn't been lying, she knew how to get blood out of the seats.

He had been nervous about cops for a moment, but Melanie sent a text, and said they didn't need to worry.

Then they sent him through the drier, and a fluffy pink bathrobe was pushed into his hands. "There, we've had enough of your fine ass for now." Militia added.

Jaune slipped it on, then moaned happily, feeling warm and dry and clean.

For some reason Militia blushed, then got behind him and pushed him forward. "Come on, lets go get breakfast."

Jaune nodded. "Sounds good."

The five of them then went into a nearby dinner, unnoticing of the four boys staring in awe at Jaune in nothing but a bathrobe surrounded by hotties.

Cardin dropped his fork. "My life is a lie."

Dove looked at him. "Cardin?"

"All this damn time, I've been playing the wrong game. Alpha this, Chad that." He put his hands in his hands. "Badass, or whatever. I need whatever he's got." Cardin jerked a thumb at Jaune who was looking at the menu.

Then noticing how tired and drained he looked, and how relax and satisfied the girls looked.

Seeing that, they could only salute in honor, then left. Giving him a pat on the back as they left.

Jaune looked confused.

"What was that?" Vernal asked, drinking coffee.

"I don't know, but I think I just made amends with my former bullies." Jaune said uncertainly.

"You get bullied?" Vernal laughed. "Yeah, right. I've heard you earlier, what are they made of steel?"

"No, flesh and bone, but I did say former, this was over a year ago, and I made my stance known on bullying since then." He smirked. "I almost got expelled when I did that."

Vernal leaned back, smirking. "Sweet." She then looked at Jaune's chest. "You ever think about getting inked up? Scars are sexy and all, but so is ink." She pulled down her shirt slightly, showing where her sleeve ended near her chest, Jaune getting a nice view was just a coincident.

Jaune turned away, blushing. "Maybe."

"Just think on it, Tiger."

Jaune felt a shove on his shoulder. "Move over," Militia pushed on him, but struggled to even make him budge, until Jaune obliged, and found himself pinned in the middle of the booth.

Amber and Vernal on one side, Melanie and Militia on the other.

Breakfast in the middle.

Jaune made his choice.

The girls then bonded in fascination as they watch Jaune put away enough food to feed a family of body-builders.

Though, soon as they were all done eating, reality made itself known.

"So, what now?" Vernal asked, holding her mug.

"What do you mean?" Melanie added.

"You came to our house and-" Amber caught herself. "You know, we might have allied for the moment, but it doesn't change what happened."

Militia shrugged. "That's true." She picked at her omelette. "I don't feel like killing anybody right now, though."

"Not when you don't have any men backing you up?" Jaune added, looking at her omelette hungrily, which she quickly surrendered.

Melanie scoffed. "Like that would help, our boys are dead for nothing, we saw your handiwork, what you deal with, we'd have to call in support from some PMC's that owe us if we wanted to put you down."

Amber bowed her head. "I'll go back, live in a compound if that's what you two want, just let them leave."

"Junior's dead." Militia said flatly. "We're going to have to tell Big Bear, he's not going to be happy."

"I know. But, just consider,-"

"Amber, I heard what you said to Junior." Jaune said piercingly. "Why did you want to die?"

The table went silent.

"Jaune, please-"

"You tried to throw your life away, if that's the case, I found it, it's mine now." Jaune said, he poked her chest. "You're don't have the authority to do give it to them, so tell me, so I can help you."

Amber bowed under his gaze. "I can't stand it. Couldn't stand it anymore. I'm saving people who make other people's lives a living hell. How am I supposed to live with myself?"

Vernal shrunk in on herself, Jaune noted that but said nothing.

"I've spent my whole life wanting to help people, and now, due to my own choices, I'm obliged to make other's lives hell by proxy, I couldn't live with myself Jaune. I've always heard, rumors, I guess, that thinks attack people out there." She paused, she shook a little.

"I thought, if I went out, maybe I could do some good, If I got killed by one of those things, maybe, it'd keep someone else alive."

Smack.

Jaune stared at Vernal, she had slapped Amber right across the face. "What the hell, are you thinking?! What right do you have to give up your life? Jaune's right, you should be his, because you can't seem to think at all!"

Jaune blushed.

Phrasing.

"Just because, they're bad guys, doesn't make you a bad girl, sure, they do bad things, but does that stop normal doctors from saving criminals, either? No! You're just doing your job, and if you feel so bad, go volunteers some fucking hours, you damn idiot!" She pulled her into. "What do you think I'd do without you?" Jaune heard her whisper.

He heard Amber start to sob, without thinking, Jaune started rubbing circles in her back.

"Ok, that's nice, but there are pretty good guys who work with us, that you saved." Melanie said sharply. "What? Do you think everyone who works outside the law is just a puppy-eating monster? No, they're just people like you, me, or him. It just so happens, this might be best way to pay they're bills, or the only job they can get."

Amber looked at her. "I know that, but it doesn't make me feel any better!"

"Then shut up," Militia said coldly.

Vernal looked ready to start a brawl, but Jaune put a hand her shoulder.

"Blondies right, you don't have a right to your own life anymore, but it's not his, or yours, or hers. It's ours, it ceased to be your own when you signed on with us to get out of Mistral," She shifted her finger to Vernal. "And, her away from the Branwens, we risked our lives, and connections in Mistral to get you two here." Militia sighed taking a breath. "The least you could do is honor that."

Melanie took over. "Look, I'll admit it, Junior jumped the gun, he shouldn't have done what he did, and we should have tried to curb his anger, but it's too late for that." She took a drink of water, side-eyeing Jaune.

"We'll just have to live with ourselves then." Jaune said tiredly. "Look, I'm not sorry, not at all, I like living, but more than that, I like other people living happily." He drank his glass of water to the bottom. "So, how are we going to solve this? I'm not dying, and I'm not handing them over, this the starting lines on negotiating."

Melanie gave him a brave look. "You and what authority?"

Jaune sighed, then casually pushed her. Melanie and her sister went falling out of the booth.

From on the floor, she looked up at him. "Ok, point taken."

"You were sitting next to me," Jaune pointed out. "I could have done any number of things, but that was it."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever mister muscles." Militia said getting back in the booth.

Melanie sitting back down next to pink-robed boy, nodded. "Alright, but think about this from another point of view. They're homeless, you're a teenager, they have no job without us, or finances, and I doubt you have the means to support them."

Jaune nodded. "Yeah, that's true, but we could figure out something?"

"Look, we're the reason they even got into the Kingdom, without us, they'd have Kingdom Immigration forces breathing down they're necks. Even if you protect them from us, could you protect them from the taxman?"

"What if I marry them?" Jaune said idly, making them freeze up.

"First off, bigamy isn't legal in Vale anymore, second off, you're not of age, they're go to jail."

"Only if my parents don't consent, and they always want more grandchildren."

"That's true, but we're just talking about green-card marriage, getting them knocked up is a huge decision. Can you really afford to be a father, and do your heroing, Mr. Knight?" Melanie added more weight to her argument by the minute.

Jaune shrank.

"If you die, what then? They no longer have your protection, and the children grow up without a father. Your family has to take up the burden, and we are free to target-"

Jaune's hand ghost over her neck, barely stopping himself from snapping her neck. "You touch my family, fuck right or wrong, I will go to war with you. If I have literally tear myself apart to do so, I will, and I swear on my families name, I will leave you, your sister, your mother, father, and the rest of your gang nothing to be remember as but another bloody page in history, am I clear?"

Melanie stared into his eyes, and knew, in her soul, that he was telling her the truth.

"Yes." Jaune retracted his hand, but did not relax.

"Amber," He said calmly. "We're going to renegotiate the contract."

"What?"

The twins stared at him. "What?"

"Bring me to Big Bear, we're going to talk."

"Are you insane?" Militia asked.

"Probably, but, if he's going to find out his son's dead, it may as well come from the killers lips." He turned to look at the car. "And, if nothing else, I imagine he can wait to kill me a bit, if I give him some information."

Melanie leaned forward. "What could you have to offer him?"

Jaune smirked. "Well, you can't tell me, that you're not curious about those monsters, so, what makes you think you're boss wouldn't be either."

------

"Red." Black said ominously. "Where's my books?"

"Ju-just give me a little more time, please?" Red squeaked, hovering back from the eerie presence Black was giving off.

"Oh ho ho, you want more time? What will give me for it?" Black held her hand to her mouth.

Red stiffened. "Are you blackmailing me?"

Black looked at her like she was a idiot.

"Ok, more than you already are!" Red huffed. "At this rate just go ahead and tell them! It can't be any worse, than -, What- what is that in your hand?" Red held a shaking hand at to what Black held.

In her hand, a scroll, it was playing a video of Red. It was a compilation labeled, Magic Red Fails.

It was over two-hours long.

Part 1 of 10.

Red's eyes began to water. "Please, don't." She asked sadly.

"Red." Black said softly. "I'm not Yellow, or Ms. Purple, that won't work on."

"Dag-na-bit!" Red sort of swore.

"Wow, why don't really let me know how you feel?"

"I'm sorry, I just don't like being backed into a corner, alright?!" Red then sighed. "What are your demands, oh great and awesomey, Magic Girl Black?"

Black reached behind her, bringing out a list. Red read it, then kept reading it, then paled as the scroll started to unfurl further and further down till it hung in the air ten feet down from where it started.

It was only after hovering down half-way down the list, that Red realized she couldn't actually read anything on it, as it was just shifting illusionary words meant to take up empty space.

"Did-did you use your magic just for a joke?" Red said confused.

Black didn't blush, but hurriedly rolled up the paper. "I'll just forward it to you later. Don't disappoint me." Then flew away as fast as possible.

Red hung there in the air. "She can make jokes?" Stupefied. "I can tell no one. They will never believe me."

------

It was a generic office building, well-kept, but uninteresting, where the Xiong Family met. If one where to peer from the outside, they could never guess what was going on in the inside.

Jaune sat on the floor before a mountain of man, taller and broader than he was, with flowing grey and black mane of hair, and well-groomed beard.

His eyes were somewhat beady, but they're intense and focused.

Big Bear, Hei Xiong Sr. was dressed similar to Jaune in just a robe, but his was far more formal and expensive.

He was attended to by a dozen, pretty and young women, all barely dressed at all in short, thin silk dresses, and they all looked more than happy to be here with Big Bear.

With a gesture from the man's massive paw, one of them came over and poured them both a cup of some strong smelling fruity alcohol.

"Drink." The man said simply.

"No." Jaune responded.

"It's not poisoned."

"I don't drink. I'm not legal."

"Bufafafa!" The man bellowed, slapping the ground. The ground shook like a dump-truck hit the building. "You're a silly child. What are you? 18? 20?"

"17."

"When I was your age, I'd drink my own weight every night." Big Bear said reminiscing. "Though, I can't say I'm as wild as you are."

Jaune nodded. "I can't say many are." He looked at the drink. "I mean no offense, but I like to be clear as minded as possible, at all times."

Big Bear took his cup and drained in two gulps, his cup was the size of a mixing bowl. "That's not a slight is it?"

"Not at all, but considering I spend most nights on the streets fighting ... things, I try to not be drunk."

Big Bear chuckled. "Usually, it's the other way around, getting drunk most nights and then trying not to get into street fights, but it happens."

There was a pause, with only water trickling from a fountain in the back and the girls moving to fill the void.

"You killed my son," Big Bear said simply.

"I did."

"He was my only son."

"So he was."

"Drink." Big Bear said simply, pushing the cup to Jaune. "To his memory, oh, killer of my blood."

Jaune stared at cup, it was the same size as Big Bears.

Holding it, he held it out. "Cheers, to his memory."

Big Bear had his cup refilled, then met his cup. "To his life."

Jaune drank deeply from his cup, drinking till there was no more to drink. It burned going down, with a heavy musky taste, but it was also sweet and fruity.

"Not bad for a first timer." Big Bear said amused. "More?"

Jaune shrugged. "Why not?"

"Good." Big Bear said. "If you are to die tonight, die with warmth in your veins."

Jaune nodded. "If I am." He took another long drink after his cup refilled, he was starting to feel loose and warmer. He smiled, his eyes watery from the scent of the drink. "So, shall we get down to business."

Big Bear straighten himself out. "Yes." He said seriously. "You want to renegotiate for Ms. Autumn, and her friend? And, your own life, I suppose?"

"Preferably," Jaune said loosely, then smirked. "Or, if you wish, we could negotiate for yours?"

Big Bear blinked at him. "Daring aren't you?"

"Seven women, all with suppressors," He gestured to the scantily clad women, pointing out the hidden weapons on them. "All of them, aimed at me from the moment I enter this room, at least one might hit me, but not before, I can break your neck." Jaune laughed, the drink was getting to him. "Even if they do hit me, I'll make sure to take every one of you bastards with me." Jaune smiled, it was predatory.

Big Bear blinked again. He drank when he met with those that talk with him, to weaken the barriers between them, to lower inhibitions and make them expose they're truth.

He smiled, so this boy's truth was so bloodthirsty?

"Oh, you think you can take me?"

"Oh, definitely. You're bigger and stronger than me, maybe," Jaune sloshed his cup. "But, also bigger, slower, older, and ... and, well, I just have to break you neck once, right?" Jaune leaned back. "I mean even if I don't, you're what sixty? Seventy?"

"59," Big Bear added.

"Whoops, anyway, you're getting older, I don't have to kill you, if I hit you hard enough, you're not going to recover again. You're body is slowing down, and so is your healing. I break your leg, arm, ribs, it won't ever be back to 100%. Then what?"

Big Bear nodded. "Correct, but your point?"

"Might makes Right? I guess?" Jaune stretched. "Lets not play pretend, saying you got this far by being just a good business man and leader, though, I bet that helped, but you're such a big-mother fucker, that you could just throw most men out the door, if you get crippled, and you have no heir, then what?"

"I imagine, I'll be dethroned."

"Exactly, imagine if I kill you, then what? You're whole organization falls apart, decades of work gone in months, because every black-suited jackass here will be scurrying for the scraps you leave behind. No heir, no leader, then all your sub-bosses will think, 'My turn.' Wouldn't they? You don't get to the top by being a nice-guy, right?"

"You sure are threatening my life a lot, for a man here for peace talks." Big Bear said amused.

Jaune shrugged. "You're the one that made me lower my inhibitions, I know what drink does, doesn't make you do anything you wouldn't already do, it just makes you not think twice about it."

Big Bear smiled widely. "I love honesty, what I love about booze, always brings out the realness in people. Can't hide anything, much less anything to yourself." He then sighed. "I like you, boy. Shame though."

"Yeah, can't imagine you're just going to let me get away with everything." Jaune straighten up. "My deepest apologies for you loss." He kneeled till his head touched the floor. "I'd offer my life, but that will not make up for your pain."

Big Bear grunted.

"But, I can not offer you revenge, not yet, I have to give my demands."

"Which are?"

Jaune rose looking him in the eyes. "Move Ms. Autumn to an actually hospital, offer your continued protection to Vernal, do not hold any grudges towards the Malachite Sisters, harm my family, and finally," Jaune took a breath. "Please, do not let my work got unfinished."

Big Bear stared at him curiously.

Jaune stared him pupil to pupil. "The death of the monsters that hunt the night."

------

"So, how's the crush, White?" Yellow asked as they flew over the park.

"How's the black-eye?" White responded.

"What black-eye, - ah!" Yellow then crashed into a ice-berg hovering in mid-air, crashing through it.

White watched as Yellow then slammed through several trees in her fall. "Hmm, they saw vengeance is empty, but I don't know, this feels pretty cathartic." A fire ignited on the ground catching on the broken trees like tinder, as from the ground, as a luminously angry Yellow soared up at White, who gulped and flew away as fast as she could.

"Not as planned, not as planned!" She muttered, as she heard Yellow roared behind her.

------

Big Bear was silent.

"You aren't blind, or deaf." Jaune accused. "You can't possibly think I was solely responsible for all the deaths of your men, do you?" He points to his teeth. "Do you think I am the one who ripped them apart with my great fangs?" He curls his fingers. "Or, do you think I used my sharp, long claws to cut them apart?"

"I know of them." Big Bear said after a silence. "These are what you go out at night to combat, Shadow Knight?"

"For as long as I have been able, for as long as they've existed."

"Hmm, I did not realize you have lived step for step with all of mankind's history. That contradicts your statement of being only 17, who's the real, old man here?"

Jaune's eyes widened. "They go back that far? I thought that they only showed up last year..." He searched Big Bear's face for any lies. "You're telling the truth."

"Yes. How arrogant you are."

"That means-"

"Tales go back as far as the dawn of man, telling story of monsters in the dark, of to beware the night. Tell me, do think they are all fable?"

"No, not now." Jaune stared at him intensely. "Then what do you know?"

Big Bear breathed heavily, his breath still smelling of they're drink. "Not enough."

Jaune smiled bitterly. "Isn't that the truth."

"But, I do know what my own father had told me, what his father told him, my family is old boy, dating back to the founding of Haven herself." His eye suddenly looked much older. "To not go wandering into that dark night, less you find yourself consumed by it."

Jaune listened.

"When I was a boy, around your age, I had everything I could desire. Money. Women. Power. Influence. Friends to drink with. I was the master of my fate, and was set to inherit this seat before you, which I did, but that's a story for another day." He breathed out, he started to tremble. "I thought, I believed truly, that I was unstoppable." He brought his head up, staring at Jaune with haunted eyes. "I met something that was truly unstoppable."

----

White met Black mid-air, stared at each other, seeing panic in one's face and embarrassment in the other.

"We never saw each other." White said quickly, looking behind her for any sign of Yellow.

Black nodded. "Agreed." She saw what looked like a small yellow bonfire approaching from behind White. "Good Luck."

"Thanks, I'll need it!" Then they separated. "Wait! Where's Red? She might be my only hope to calm down her sis-, I mean Yellow."

Black then disappeared, saying nothing.

"Well, that's a lot of help, you are!"

-----

"I had decided one night, to return to my motherland one summer." Big Bear said. "To go back to Mistral, to see the place of my grandfather's birth." He paused, thinking, smiling. "I had been young and full of myself, it was as you said 'a big-mother fucker,' " He smiles pridefully. "I could knock out any man I saw, and have any women I put my gaze on. It did not matter that I was a stranger in a old, old land. I was King. I could not be toppled."

He took a deep drink, his cup empty, he dropped it. A girl came over with a bottle, but he wavered her away. "No, not a drop more for me," He looked at Jaune. "You?"

"Do you want to see me drunk?"

"Bufafafa!" He laughed. "No, I don't think I do, you're bad enough tipsy."

He paused. "Funny, how the Gods write our fate, I only had the one child, and no woman has ever approached me with a bastard." He looked sadly. "I would never turn away a woman, either. Yet..."

Jaune scanned the women around him. Not a single belly-bump on any of them. But, it was obvious to him they're relationship, Jaune could practically smell him on them.

"Excuse this old man his rambling," Big Bear bowed slightly, there was a genuine sorrow in his eyes. "Back to my tale. I was young once, and proud too, I thought I was a master of all I saw. Despite my arrogance, though, I made many good friends in my time in the Old Land. We fought together, drank together, laughed together, I thought I had found by comrades that I could take back with me to Vale. One that would be with for the rest of my life as I tore a bloody swathe through our fair city, till I reigned as her master."

He looked out into the cities night. "It was not to be."

"This was some thirty years ago, the last free years of my life," Big Bear turned to a woman. "Bring me some water, please." She obliged. "I wanted to leave my mark on Mistral before I left, to take my place as you see here."

Jaune looked at him. "You met them didn't you?"

"A big one. I had heard rumors, of something in the deep country of Mistral, where they still practice the old ways, away from our living, they're very spiritual people, powerful too." He looked Jaune over. "But, not like us, brutes. They're power is more subtle and focused."

Jaune looked at him curiously. "How so?"

"They're a slippery people, impossible to touch or sneak up on, and strong enough to slip a boulder in two." He looked at his hands. "If you haven't seen it, you wouldn't believe it."

Jaune thought back to firing point blank into that girl, and not even phasing her. "No, go on, I believe you.'

Big Bear looked at him, then blink. "You've fought one, haven't you?"

Jaune nodded. "If I can help it, I'd like to never do so again."

Big Bear thought for a second. "In this city. Recently," The great man sounded shaken. "It's related to all the property damage isn't?" The man put two and two together. "They're fight those monsters aren't they?"

"You've seen the streak of light at night, haven't you? They weren't meteor, or swamp gas. They're powerful, but they're uncontrollable, unskilled. They're still plenty of monsters that they miss, possibly because of how unskilled they are."

Big Bear breathed slowly. "Bufafa," He chuckled slowly. "You just keep destroying my world, don't you?"

"Not destroying, just making room."

"I had heard stories about people like that too, back in Haven, in the Old Land. Stories of girls of great power?" He looked at Jaune's face. "I see. Back to my tale." He took a drink of water, then smiled. "I got my ass handed to me on a platter by one of those people, it was awe-inspiring. I was so confident, and that lost spurred a fire in me that I never knew existed."

"I know the one." Jaune agreed.

"It made me stupid." Big Bear continued. "I had lost to a person that was half my size, and old. It was embarrassing beyond belief, all my comrades rushed him, they got the same fate. We were fools, he had come to warn us. He knew what we were out here for.

"He knew of the beast out there, generations of his family knew of it, and none had bested it, only survived. The Nuckaleeve."

-----

Red was still hovering in the air, when White flew and hid behind her. "Red! Red! Save me!"

"From what?"

"That!" She pointed at fire-storm approaching them.

"Oh." She patted White's shoulder. "Nice run, kid."

"This is not the time for jokes!"

"Ok, ok!" Red said, then flew at Yellow. "Yellow! Stop, bad Yellow! Bad!" She said with a finger pointing at her accusingly.

"What?! White started it!"

"Did she?"

"I mean ... kinda?"

Red looks at the burning park in the distance. "Sure, she did."

"Argh, fine. Maybe, I over-reacted, just a little bit?"

"Yellow."

"Fine! I'm sorry, White for messing with you."

"Thank you." White said haughtily.

"White." Red said.

"And, I'm sorry for giving in to your provacation."

"Good." Red said, she jerked a thumb at the ground. "Because, we got company!"

Hundreds of Grimm were charging towards them, following Yellow's path.

Yellow punched her hands together. "Good, I could use some stress relief!" She threw a glance at White. "Be glad it's not you."

White smirked. "Want to make a bet? I believe I can slay more Grimm than you can."

"Oh, it's on, my sister from another mister!"

"I'm in too!"

-----

"We chased after it anyway," Big Bear continued. "I called in every favor I could, I had something to prove. I wanted this thing dead, if I couldn't beat that old man, I was going to one up him, prove myself superior, then return home a champion."

Jaune looked at him sadly. "I see."

"I had made many friends during my stay in Haven, many with connections to powerful forces. Millions of Lien spent in one night. Tanks, APC's, Experimental Weapons powered by Dust, Guns, Rockets, Jets, hundreds of men. All led by one brass balled idiot."

Big Bear gestured to himself. "I have never had one moment in time I wanted to turn back more than that night." He moved his hand as if winding back a clock. "We were slaughtered, it wasn't a fight, not even close to one." He shook. "I don't even know I how I survived. I just woke up the next morning, my leg broken, and the remaining men pulling me out. They said nothing to me, but I knew they blamed me, they wanted to kill me. But, for whatever reason, they choose not to. They're are nights I wish they had."

"Your comrades?"

"Dead. Not even enough to bury. Miles of beautiful old country gone, but It wasn't scratched. It rampaged for days, and when we went to where that Old Man lived ... The village was flattened, and he was a not much more than twisted bone and skin. Horrible way to go, the Thing seemed like it had a personal hatred for him, we just pissed it off enough to make it act on it."

"Did ... Anyone?"

"Yes." Big Bear answered bluntly. "A little boy. The Grandson of the Man. I took him in, you know, took him back with me, along with two little infant girls, the daughters of the former heir of ... Well, that's not for you know." He stared at Jaune harshly. "I imagine you can guess."

"I can."

His eyes softened. "I fucked up. Not just on that, but on being a father." He said hatefully, but not to Jaune. "I spoiled him, gave him everything he could have ever wanted, thinking that would make up for taking away his family." He slammed his fist on the floor. "It made him a conceited little shit, who thought the world owed him everything."

Jaune breathed out. "Shit."

"Yes."

Silence reigned.

"What now?" Jaune asked.

"I don't know." He looked at Jaune, eyes uncertain. "I truly don't know. I can't let you go, but I don't blame you either. But, you are a good man, better than me." Big Bear reached into his robe, pulling out a pair of twin axes. "Blood demands blood."

Jaune stood up. "Blood demands blood, however, my demands?"

"Granted." Big Bear said softly. "On my words, for all the meaning it may have to you."

"Everything." He looked away. "Could... You tell my parents I love them?"

"I could."

"In my room, if you search, you'll find everything I have on the Monsters, all my records. How I fought them, how I won, what I know."

"Bow, child."

Jaune knelt.

"Hand out."

Jaune put his hand out.

One of the axes fell into his hand.

Blood dripped down from Big Bear's other hand.

"Cut your hand, boy."

Jaune looked up in confusion.

"As I say."

Jaune made a line across his hand.

"Hold it out."

Jaune did so.

Big Bear, Hei Xiong Sr. Grabbed Jaune's hand, they're blood mingling.

"From this day on, you are a member of the Xiong Clan. Welcome, my heir to the family."

Jaune froze, looking dumb-struck. "You don't want me dead?"

"A little bit, but as you say, I'm old, I have no heir, my men are power-hungry idiots. But you? You're young strong, brave, and most of all, smart. You're what the family needs." He looked down at him. "What is your name, boy? Mr. Shadow Knight, sound a bit too title like."

"Jaune, Jaune Arc."

"Arc?" He paused. "Interesting. Regardless. From this day on, to replace the blood you have spelt, you will take it's place. Rise, Jaune Arc Xiong, my son. For where I have failed, you shall succeed."

Jaune rose up awkwardly. "I still have parents,"

Big Bear shrugged. "Then just call me Uncle Xiong, nephew."

"I'm not a criminal."

Uncle Xiong looked at him like a fool. "No one said you had to be... Well, you already kinda of are. But, that doesn't mean I need you to be a criminal, I have plenty. No, I want you to be my sword in the dark. Against the monsters out there."

Jaune nodded. "That I can be."

Uncle Xiong smiled. "Good." Then he looked down. "Have you not been wearing pants this whole time?"

#jaune arc #fanfic

49 notes · View notes

tonberry-yoda · 2 years

Text

Sick of It - Narciso Anasui

Pairing - Narciso Anasui x f!reader

Warnings - Ansui is a little suggestive lol

Word Count - 854

Notes - gosh, i love this man with my entire soul. italics in dialogue mean whispering

And don’t forget, REQUESTS ARE OPEN! So if you want to request any writing, please don’t hesitate to ask, but please read my pinned post before requesting! Please enjoy!! Don’t forget to stay hydrated! <3

The way Anasui looked at Jolyne pissed her off. He would swoon whenever she would come around, sashaying her stupid little hips. She just wanted to smack that stupid look off of his face. She wished he looked at her like that. Even a glance would satisfy her. Especially after everything they’ve been through. It's like he would forget she existed every time Jolyne was nearby. It made her want to curl up into a little ball, never to be seen. Well, it actually made her want to kill Jolyne, but she had to restrain herself. She didn't want her sentence to be longer than it already was. But what pissed her off the most was the fact that she and Jolyne became roommates. Of course they had.

“I'm so glad I didn't get a crazy roommate like Gwess. I'm glad it's someone I know.” Jolyne smiled and unpacked her bags, making her roll her eyes. “And what makes me happier is that it's someone who has a stand and understands what's going on. And you and Anasui are pretty good friends, right?” Why in the hell did she have to bring his name into this? But she just smiled, trying not to rip off her little face. “Yeah! I've known Anasui since forever!” She hated how she sounded just then. It was fake. But she had to before she went absolutely feral. “Aw! That’s so cute! Aren't you guys like a couple or something?” Where did she get the audacity to ask a question like that? “Nope.” “Oh, but I thought-” “We’re not. Never have been.” She didn't mean to snap like that. She wanted to be on Jolyne’s good side, but she was honestly in a really bad mood. “S-Sorry. I didn't know.” She sighed, turning to Jolyne, handing her an extra pillow. “No, it's fine. I didn't mean to snap.” “It's okay. I was the one who butted into your personal business.” She was. But it was fine. Everything was fine. So she just curled up in her blanket for the night, trying to ignore the moon that was shining in her eyes.

---

“Pssssst!!! Hey!” She turned over, seeing Anasui peeking out of the wall, meaning he was in a ghost room. “What do you want?!” She turned to see a guard coming her way, and pointed her head in that direction to signal to Anasui. He tried pointing for her to go into the ghost room with him, but she wasn't getting the hint. Quickly, before the guard noticed that she was even there, Anasui pulled her into the ghost room. “Jesus, Ansui! What?!” He just giggled and pulled her down on the ground with him. “I heard that Jolyne was your roommate.” Alright. Now she was pissed. She stood up and threw a glass bottle on the ground, which broke and then put itself back together. It wasn’t real after all. She went to leave, but she felt a hand on her arm, pulling her back. She turned to find Anasui, who looked very concerned. “What’s wrong? Was it something I said?” “I'm sick of you talking about Jolyne!” She went to leave again, but was now pulled down towards Anasui, accidentally landing in his lap. “I don't understand.” She hurried off of his lap and just sat next to him, readjusting her hair. “Just… nevermind. I'm going back to my cell.” “No you’re not. Talk to me.” “Oh, shut up! You haven't been listening to me all this time and now that I'm not giving you attention, you all of a sudden want to hear what I have to say?! Screw you!” She went to hit him, but he grabbed her fist, looking into her eyes. “You’re in love… aren't you?” “Cocky bastard! Let me go!” He grabbed her other hand that went to punch him and he tilted his head. “Is that so?” He giggled, putting her hands down. He watched the frustrated tears form in her eyes and he smiled, wiping one that fell. “My, this man you’ve fallen in love with must be one hell of an asshole, huh?” “Yeah,” she giggled a little, wiping her other tears. “You could say that.” Anasui opened his arms and she immediately fell in, hugging his arm. “I'm sorry. I didn't know.” “It's okay.” “I'll stop talking about Jolyne.” “Well, if you like her more you can-” “Shut up. You know I love you with all my heart and soul.” “Just not like that.” He gave her a little smack on the cheek and leaned down, their lips only inches apart. She could smell the mint on his breath and nearly felt the lip gloss that he was wearing touch her lips. “I guess I just didn't realize how gorgeous you really are.” He squeezed her thigh a bit and smiled. She smacked his arm and turned over, blushing. “Is that all you care about?” He giggled and pulled her face towards his. “I got enough time to understand your personality, love. I guess I just didn't take time to appreciate… everything else.” She hated that cocky bastard.

465 notes · View notes

moonspirit · 28 days

Note

hi! I hope you’re doing great today ☺️ I wanted to ask you one thing

how do you think Annie got her ring? was it her idea so that she would not have to bite herself? and if so, what does it say about her personality?

Hello! I hope your day is going well too :3

Interesting question tho. I don't think anything about Annie's ring was ever mentioned in the manga beyond the obvious reference to its purpose. Please correct me if I'm wrong tho, my memory these days is WELP xD

However, assuming I am right, this is where I have to say that I like picking tidbits of information from other published sources to expand upon lore, as long as it doesn't straight up contradict canon information.

So, I'll dive into Lost Girls for a bit.

I recall a chapter in it where Mikasa confronts Annie over her ring that she found in the training grounds (we already know that Annie doesn't wear her ring all the time, only putting it on when she's likely to use it, and Lost Girls maintains this). Annie's response to this is that it was an item given to her by her "parents" before she left home, and that it's important to her. Mikasa then asks her something like, "Why are you here, in the military?" And follows it up with, "It doesn't look to me like you're here to secure a place in the inner districts, rather, you're doing it because you have to." Annie then explains that the ring is what gives her purpose, and that's good enough a reason.

From this I've always assumed that the ring wasn't a thing Annie made or bought herself - it was given to her by her father, probably once she was seen by the Marleyan military as a definite successor to the Female Titan.

Now where did the ring itself come from?

Since we aren't told much about Mr.Leonhardt either except for the fact that he was shipped off to Liberio for his half eldian blood, his background remains murky. But I remember reading a reddit post years and years ago about how the pointy blade on Annie's ring was a bit similar to real life poison rings that were used in the middle ages by nobility. These rings were used to poison enemies as well as to facilitate suicide in case of capture. Sound a bit familiar? Anyway, somehow I ended up imagining that Mr.Leonhardt came into possession of a similar such ring with a blade as a part of a loot of stolen goods before he arrived at Liberio, and that has been fact in my head haha xD

So while I've just taken Annie's words (about being given the ring by her dad) at face value and accepted them, it is also highly interesting to explore the possibility that Annie bought it herself. Why? Let's see:

Whichever take you go with, the ring is very symbolic. The choice of using the ring to transform instead of a bite or cut, is very much reflective of what Annie was taught: to be quick, powerful and lethal. With a ring you attract less attention, and the cut will be smaller and therefore easier to hide as it heals. It can assist in situations where the hands and mouth are bound and gagged. It can also act as a psychological trigger: putting it on means you have a mission to complete and see through, no matter what; aka, you mean serious business.

So to put it simply: Annie getting the ring for herself would basically speak about her tactical mind and quick problem solving abilities, leaning towards methods most efficient and able to get the job done with minimum effort - the ring achieves exactly that.

On the other hand, Annie getting the ring as a "gift" from her father would speak to narrative symbolism. The reason I personally like this more than the first one is because Annie calls the ring "important to her", and perhaps that is because the ring is her one, single tangible link between her and father (in the Lost Girls chapter, she pats her left breast pocket to check for it), and as such, it's very precious. This brings out Annie's softer side that yearns and longs for affection and love.

Anyway xD Long ass reply, but I hope that satisfies you!

#ask #oneav #annie leonhart #attack on titan #annie leonhardt #aot #snk #shingeki no kyojin #meta #??

18 notes · View notes

emjiroki · 2 years

Text

For all my fellow Enji Todoroki simps, I bring to you the Full A-Z NSFW headcanon game!

18+ under the cut MINORS DNI

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

Usually drags you to the shower with him. Because of his high body temperature he sweats a lot during sex so showers are a great way to relax and freshen up, he definitely hold you close.

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Alright we all know this man is a breeder so he’s proud of his big cock. Enough said. On his s/o it would have to be the mouth. The way you kiss his skin and drag up marks, the way your lips stretch to take his cock against you tongue. Shoves his big fingers past your lips when he’s fucking you in his office and you’re being too loud.

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically… I’m a disgusting person)

Cums inside of you. Has to. Feels so self satisfied when he gets to watch his cum drip from your swollen pussy. He will pull out if you’ve made it clear its not something you want but you better have said something because he’s not going to stop otherwise.

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Enji likes it when you leave marks on him. Scratch marks down his back, hickies littering his chest, a bite mark or two. He'd grumble about how he'd have to take time to make sure everything was covered up and would nearly blow up if anyone saw them or pointed them out but he LOVES them. You are punished for leaving a dark bruise right under his jaw that he didn't notice before Keigo did though

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

Obviously he's experienced. He's got four kids!?! This man knows how to fuck. Period.

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying. Will probably include a visual)

It might be surprising to some people but he LOVES when you ride him. More like try to ride him. This man is BIG so straddling him is even more of a challenge than fitting his cock inside of you. He'll coo so sweetly to you as he puts a hand to your hip, pulling you down over and over again until you're too tired to move your hips. Then he'll push you down against his chest, pull your legs up, and fuck you from underneath, able to hit every soft spot and making you squirt in minutes.

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

It’s not that there won’t be moments where you’ll get a chuckle out of him but for the most part he’s pretty serious. Enji sees intimate time as time to connect with you and he takes your relationship very seriously. Also hates being embarrassed or embarrassing you.

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

There are times where he’ll let it grow out maybe a little longer and than usual due to being busy but he never lets it get unkempt. YES HIS PUBIC HAIR IS CRIMSON TOO

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

He's not the most romantic honestly. No grand declarations of his love ad keeps your relationship more on the private side. BUT he absolutely worships you in bed, makes you feel so good and gives you every ounce of love he has in his body. He'll make sure you know he loves you.

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon)

Doesn’t do it often. Only if he feels really pent up and you aren't around for one reason or another.

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

I've said it once and I'll say it a thousand times. DADDY KINK. If you aren't into thats one thing but as soon as a whimpering "daddy" leaves your lips while he's pounding you its all over. Get's hard just from hearing you say it but especially when you tease him.

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do)

Anywhere in his home. Expect to get bent over any solid surface or held against the wall just around the corner so he can fuck you. His home is his castle and he’s gonna cum inside of you anywhere he wants to. He also gets hard thinking about fucking you over his desk at work but that is a FAR off fantasy until Keigo can learn to knock.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

Just you in general. Tease him a little, maybe push a few buttons and he’s rock solid ready to go. He’ll act like you don't effect him down to his Breeder balls but you do.

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Anything that inflicts pain that isn’t spanking or orgasm denial. He doesn’t want to hurt you and it will immediately turn him off.

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

Likes both receiving and giving. Loves to feel your thighs shaking around his head but can't help the way your tongue makes him fall apart so quickly. I like to think he's amazing at eating pussy... maybe I'm biased hehe

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

His tendencies gear him towards more of a rough fast pace. Snapping his hips and impaling you on his cock. but if you want to make love he will, sensual touches and a soft slow grind until both of you are falling apart.

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

Nope. Doesn't like them. Has been late to meetings because he was fucking you back to sleep in the morning. He wants to take his time and really can't cum that quick.

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

Isn't much into risk because he doesn't want to be caught in a compromising situation being the number 1 Hero BUT honestly isn't gonna tell you no if you show up in a short skirt and ask if you can distract him for a bit

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

CAN GO FOR HOURS. It takes awhile for him to cum and he wants to make sure you're throughly wet before he even tries to fit his cock inside of you so expect a good two hours and multiple orgasms.

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

Isn't a big fan of using toys on you. If he can't please you enough for you to not need assistance then he isn't doing it right. But he won't mind if you have a few toys for when he isn't around.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Likes to edge you sometimes when he's in a good mood and wants to play a little but most of the time it's more of a making you wait kind of teasing. He's a busy man and he won't always have time to give what you need right when you want it.

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

He started out not really making much noise at all. A heavy grunt every now and then but when you tell him you want to hear him because it turns you on, he slowly gets more comfortable with being louder. Will tell you how good you feel and how much daddy loves you, will moan real low right in your ear just to feel you shiver against him.

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice)

Loves when you wear skirts or dresses so he has easy access. will have you bent over and fingers deep inside of your drooling cunt before you can swat his big hand away.

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture or words)

He's big okay? Girthy and long. Damn thing sags under its own weight and it feels so nice and heavy against your tongue

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

Medium high sex drive. Like I said, he's a busy man and so finding time when he's not exhausted is rare but if you don't think he won't still fuck you dumb being dead to the bones tired you're wrong. Sex drive is usually higher after a good workout because of the flowing endorphins.

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Not very quickly. Will most likely take you to shower or will hold you until you fall asleep against his chest and stay up just thinking for awhile. Sometimes he'll flip on his nightstand light and read for a bit before bed but he's usually too tired to even move at that point.

#enji todoroki smut #enji todoroki #enji todoroki x reader #em talks 👄#em x enji #my hero smut

403 notes · View notes

1ndigo712 · 7 months

Text

headcanon of jesse and seiji's relationship

[spoilers of some interactions in redemption and striking distance]

so first of all, Jesse Coste and Seiji Katayama. They were something, according to Seiji, and because I love these two to an unhealthy amount, I will be sharing my headcanon/theory on their relationship, past and present.

disclaimer: this is my take on their relationship and slight copium. Lots of headcanon stuff up ahead y'all.

Let's talk about Jesse Coste first. Man, this guy. I've seen buttloads of posts about how he doesn't reciprocate Seiji's feelings for him, regardless of whether or not he's aware of it. Going off of Jesse's brief monologue in Rise(I assume it was Jesse, the context fits), it was said that he'd finally found 'someone [he] could share everything with', this implies that Jesse had thought of Seiji as an equal, or a friend somewhere in their childhood. They very likely had an intimate relationship with some romance sprinkled in, but obviously there was a lack of communication that likely caused a rift between them.

Lots of people say that Jesse knows how Seiji feels about him and takes advantage of that, but I like to think that Jesse, though he's super popular, is the densest mf when it comes to romance. For example, when he and Seiji have close moments, he'll feel his heart speed up but he doesn't know why he feels funny around Seiji so he puts up a facade. He's secretly insecure when it comes to Seiji because Seiji doesn't see him as 'the number one' as much as other people, and he's afraid that he won't be enough for him. In Striking Distance, he tries to convince Seiji to go to Exton with him because though he feels insecure around Seiji, he's lonely without someone to stand besides him, and he doesn't know how to express that.

Jesse also doesn't know that his feelings aren't unrequited, but since the first time they met, Seiji's been the only one who could satisfy him and meet him at his level, and so he unconsciously puts him on a pedestal in his heart. He thinks Seiji is too good for him in some ways so he makes sure he's the best at fencing, but this turns to be slightly toxic as he then never addresses Seiji as his equal. From Seiji's POV, it obviously seems like Jesse is dismissing him because Jesse thinks Seiji will never be as good as him, but Jesse was raised with the goal of being number one so he's scared that Seiji will overtake him and leave him, and he's scared of being replaced by someone who can be more to Seiji than him.

For Seiji, he doesn't know how Jesse feels, but he admires Jesse a lot. When Jesse is asking Seiji to fence him in Redemption, Seiji looks mortified and scared- scared because he wants to say yes but he wants to know who he is without Jesse. He has/had feelings for Jesse, but he also thinks that it's unrequited and Jesse won't ever reciprocate that and see him as an equal. Obviously we don't know what happened at the match that made Seiji move to France, but miscommunication or the lack of communication on their feelings in general is likely to have caused it. They clearly share some similar sentiments about each other, but neither side is able to open up about it.

Seiji had reminisced that it was easy with Jesse. It was easy because no words were ever needed to express themselves. They knew each other so well to the point that a short match was more than enough to convey their thoughts and feelings, just not love. Seiji isn't good with social interactions, so it helped that they didn't need to talk as much since their fencing did most of the talking. If one side felt upset, they'd have a short match of first to 3 points and the other would know what's wrong by the end of it.

Then the romance came. Neither knew how to express it through fencing, and perhaps Seiji wanted to tell Jesse that "You can't keep pushing me around" and that he has feelings for him, but through a language only the both of them knew. Fencing.

Seiji's parry came late in the match, similar to how he wasn't able to speak about his opinions in time. In Rise, Seiji says that "I must have practiced that parry a thousand times". Like previously mentioned, fencing was their way of communicating and confiding in each other. Seiji practiced that parry so many times because aside from wanting to perfect that technique, he wanted to stand up for himself and also express his love, but it wasn't delivered as well as he would've liked it. He could've left because he was scared that Jesse didn't like him back, and he has doubts constantly.

When Jesse asks for him to go back, a part of Seiji wants to follow him because he wants to believe that Jesse misses him, and he does, but like I said, Jesse Coste may be the fencing champion but he's failing in figuring out his feelings. But Seiji also doesn't want to go with him because he's scared that their relationship has changed, that Jesse won't see him in the same way now because Seji left so suddenly.

TL;DR: they are both dense idiots, i love them, they love each other but no one can talk properly so their relationship is a slightly toxic, two-sided unrequited love thing with a slightly unhealthy dose of miscommunication.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk. *bows

#jesse coste #seiji katayama #fence comic #fence redemption #headcanon #let me cook #fence rise #jesseiji #copium

21 notes · View notes

justimagineok · 1 year

Text

2:30 series - in the middle 3

You're sitting beside Jungkook on his bed, watching him play a game on his phone, zoning out. Jungkook has been watching you ever since you arrived, barely talking. You just greeted him, refusing to eat the food he offered you and settling for just sitting by his side, watching him play. He's been playing for almost 30 minutes, but you felt like 2 minutes, barely paying attention to your surroundings.

“You’re quiet today.”, Jungkook pause his game to look at you.

"I guess so. I’m just a bit tired, is all.”, you shrug.

“You sure that’s all it is?”, Jungkook frowned at you, odding your behavior.

“Yeah. I’m sure.”, you avoid his eyes, looking at his phone with the game paused.

"C'mon, ______. I can't see you're not fine. Talk to me."

You look at him, his eyes sincerely concerned with you. How could he be worried about you while he was in a situation like that?

"I'm just… Feeling lost, you know? Like, when you don't know where your place is anymore? I'm feeling like I've got nothing to look forward to. I might sound pathetic right now… ", you stop talking, shaking your head, wanting to erase everything you just said. Jungkook has more serious problems to deal with right now, and here you were, complaining. "I'm so, so tired, Kook. And not of activities… of life in general. I don't feel appreciated in my own skin. It just feels like I’m stuck. Like I can’t get past it."

"Well... For what's worth, I appreciate you.", Jungkook says simply.

"thank you", you say, giving him a smile. Jungkook kept looking at you, trying to think of something to cheer you up.

“Hmm... Do you want solutions or comfort?” , he asks, dead serious.

"Hell of confident today, aren't we?", you tease him. "I don't see any solutions for this right now."

"I'm always confident, babe…", he smirks. "Well... if you choose solution, I'll tell you about all the amazing things you have already done, the people you helped, the love you put in everything you do… I'll remind you what you might have forgotten. I'll tell you that I like your personality, your sense of humor, I like the stories you tell, and that I like being around you. If you choose comfort, I'll put your head on my shoulder just like that old song, and we're gonna watch Phineas and Pherb the whole afternoon and cuddle, and yeah, exes can cuddle if we do it respectfully, and yeah, I just made that up.", you laugh, pinching his arm. " I want you to remember I’m here, whether you need hugs, or ice cream, or… anything", he smiles simply, giving you time to pick one. You only stare at him, overwhelmed by the feeling your heart felt. 'Be cool my heart. He's being nothing but a great human being, like he always was. '

"So?", he calls your attention again. "Which do you wanna?"

You, your mind answered to itself.

"The Phinneas and pherb thing", you finally say, and he signs for his shoulder, so you lay your head. Jungkook hums satisfied.

"wanna hear a joke?"

"Do I have a choice?", you furrow your eyebrows at him, teasingly.

"No, you don't. Why did Adele cross the road? ", he says, not really waiting for your answer. "To say hello from the other side". He says dead serious.

You hold your laugh all you can, but it suddenly goes out, making him laugh too.

"That's the worst joke ever."

"I made you laugh, though."

The day passed quickly as the two of you watched Phineas and Pherb. You ended up dozing off next to Jungkook, only to wake up when the nurse coughed lightly, trying to wake you both up. She was far more understanding than you'd expect for someone seeing a patient sharing a bed with their visitor. Jungkook scratched his head in embarrassment as you jumped off the bed quickly, settling down next to him. You could have sworn you saw a smirk on his face.

After doing his physiotherapy session as usual, Jungkook seemed much more willing and happy, despite his leg still being in the recovery phase the doctor assured that in a few days he could remove the cast and start some exercises to walk freely again. He was ecstatic, to say the least.

His mood wasn't as different as you expected or as the doctors predicted, but you noticed how much more irritable he was since the accident. From being completely satisfied with his recovery, Jungkook went down to zero, cursing himself for not being able to be more agile at something as simple as 'getting better faster'. You always assured him that he was doing well, but even words of encouragement didn't seem to have any effect. He got irritated when his mother called, asking how he was doing, or when the members made video calls to keep him updated. He didn't just want to hear and see about it, he wanted to be there.

Despite all that, the two of you seemed to be doing well. Neither Jungkook nor you have spoken about the almost-kiss that happened or your confession of still loving him just the same. The subject hovered like an elephant in the room, but neither of you brought it up. Jungkook watched you, wondering if you would ever talk about it, but you didn't. You never brought up the subject. In your mind, you were focusing on the most important issue, which was healing Jungkook, but to him, it seemed like you just didn't care. That what you said made no difference. For a moment, he wondered if you regretted saying all that now that he was in the hospital, now that he needed you more than ever. He wondered if you were there out of sheer pity or some kind of moral obligation.

He pushed those ridiculous thoughts away quickly as he watched you nap next to him on the bed again. After annoying you to check the hallway for any sign of the nurse, Jungkook made room for you beside him, smiling as you lay down next to him, snuggling into his arms.

The two of you talked for a long time, remembering the peaceful days while you were together. The nights when you two would come home tired from work, just to cuddle on the couch, you playing with Jungkook's hand, tracing his skin, examining his tattoos closely. You remembered the day that Jungkook brought home Bam, the little puppy that took over both of your hearts. You guys laughed, remembering and trying to count how many times Jungkook made you watch Iron Man with you. He wouldn't admit that it was at least 7 times, much more if you count the times you fell asleep in the middle of the movie. You tried to count how much money you'd already spent on skittles, but Jungkook quickly changed the subject, swearing to heaven that he hadn't spent 30,000 won on skittles in his life, but you just laughed, knowing that sure enough, it was more. The day you ruined his old phone trying to do his laundry, a task he hated to do. It was a good time, you ended up admitting it. Inside himself, Jungkook swallowed the urge to sarcastically comment on how much pointless talking about any of that was, since you had decided to break up and ignore all the good things you've experienced. He didn't want to spoil the good time, but his chest tightened watching you sleep. You were so close and so far away at the same time.

"I think I'm falling in love with you all over again... and I can't take it.", Jungkook confessed to you, who was still fast asleep. "I can't, 'cause in the end, after I get all recovered, you're going to leave me again, aren't you? I'm just your charity case. Someone you need to save. Protect. As you know how to do it very well. ", his voice trembles, watching you sleep peacefully, oblivious to what he's saying. "And I'm good with that for now, because I missed you so much, ______... So, so much. And love so much you being here with me, but I can't keep doing this for much longer, babe…"

You moved a bit closer, putting your face even closer to his, but still heavy sleeping. "I'm still hurting… with everything. With you breaking us up, with you leaving me, with not knowing why you always run… for a brief little moment, I thought I got over you, but I didn't. I tried to show you that I'd be okay without you, but I wasn't. I was hurting… I'm still. ", Jungkook touched your chin softly. " I'm about to lose you again, and I don't know if I can handle that. I can't."

couple art by Gyung Studio - not mine

#bts fake texts #bts fic #bts fake chat #bts fake chats #bts scenarios #bts #2:30 #jungkook x yn #jk x you #jk x reader #jungkook x you #jungkook x y/n #jk x y/n #jungkook x reader

86 notes · View notes

kumoriyami-xiuzhen · 1 year

Text

Hakuoki Tsukikage Kazama Short Story

This is the last translation to make up for March (only four not five since i don't count a week because of my bday)... I'm probably just going to translate the rest of what I can for April...

Also I hate tax law. Taxes themselves are something I'm okay with to a degree since I'm probably more federalist and like health care and the idea of dental care, but looking through who knows how many statues and laws from the CRA for just one thing is something I wish I didn't subject myself to lol.

ANYWAY.

The story for this translation was originally published in B's-LOG 2019年11月号.

the last of these I'll be able to translate are the Souji one with the books, the Saito story with the flower in winter, the Harada story and the one for Souma.... i think those haven't been translated?

Hakuoki Tsukikage B’s Log 2019年11月 Kazama Short Story “Nagatsuki (長月)” [meaning the 9th month of the lunar calendar]

Translation by KumoriYami

"This was all that could be prepared."

"No, it's nothing. I should be the one apologising for forcing you to do this."

With a plate in my hand that I received from the hostess who bowed her head to apologise, I greeted her before going back to the room.

On our journey to Aizu, this was the only inn we could find.

The closer to the battlefield, the fewer people there were, and the once lively stores and inns tightly shut their doors.

This was something that had been realized after camping out several times, [though] Amagiri-san found that there was inn operating at the end of the road/street [not sure about the first half here].

(It was thanks to Amagiri-san...)

Chizuru sighed as she thought this.

"...Too slow."

Back in the room, Kazama-san had already put on his yukata and was relaxing as he looked out the window.

Ever since we left Edo, Kazmaa-san had been wearing simple western-style sleeves.

Although that really suited him, I still thought he was more attractive while wearing a kimono.

"Out of kindness, the hostess provided me with a choushi. What do you think about this?"

According to ChatGPT (since I could not find a response I liked through google): "In Japanese, 铫�� (choushi) is called "yakan" (ヤカン) which refers to a kettle or a pot used for boiling water or heating liquids, often made of metal or ceramic. It is commonly used for making tea or coffee, but can also be used for warming sake or other alcoholic beverages." T/N: the raw itself uses "铫子"

"Hmph… this sake is not to my taste, but if you want to pour it, I'll drink it."

In response to his arrogant statements, I smiled wryly and poured some sake for him.

I wasn't used to his behaviour before, but now I've completely accepted it.

(He is actually a very emotional person…)

I already know that now.

As I listened to the sound of insects in the distance, I poured sake into his cup.

In this private room [In private?], he was unexpectedly quiet, and was fond of silence, so I didn't have to force myself to greet him.

His posture as he looked up at the moon was so graceful, like the appearance of someone in a painting—

(What am I thinking...)

For some reason, I was now very concerned about Kazama-san's inner thoughts/opinions.

"It's almost the fifteenth night [Alternatively, this can be interpreted as "the night of the full moon" like in the Juugoyabana drama].

"This sake is no good, but I can it's not bad as a side dish to appreciating the moon."

In contrast to his sarcasm, his eyes were gentle.

"When you're satisfied and aren't asking for more, it's easy to get what you want. In this world, there are too many foolish fossils [term is for people out of date or have fallen behind] who have forgotten this."

His words penetrated deeply into my heart.

With my own eyes, I have witnessed what people who pursue profit and those who have robbed others to satisfy their own desires. I saw firsthand what that looked like to the state of my hometown.

If Kazama-san wasn't at my side, perhaps I wouldn't be able to endure it.

"...So, are you satisfied now?"

"What a foolish question."

The corners of his mouth curled into a smile at the me who was feeling shy.

"If you want me to feel satisfied, let me satisfy myself first… it is useless to have another's person way of thinking/thoughts fulfilled by someone else."

(...He truly is a gentle person.)

The words I heard were a comfort to me who was worrying about those still fighting, and those yet to fight.

As he looked up towards the moon again, and I silently thanked him.

---end---

#hakuoki #hakuouki #hakuoki other translation #kazama chikage #yukimura chizuru

55 notes · View notes

obsidiancreates · 1 year

Text

Out Of The Shadows and Into The Neon (Part 3)

Donnie Jr chews on an old sparkplug as Donald talks with Draxum.

"Say that four times fast," Leon jokes, laying on Donald's cot to the side and holding his son above him. Leo Jr giggles, waving his stubby little arms and legs. Leon chuckles at the baby noises. "You can try it when you're older."

"But what do you mean they aren't yokai or mutants?" Donald says to Draxum, gesturing at Leon to shut up.

"They are mutants, but it wasn't my ooze that made them."

"So what did?"

"I don't know. It's a chemical composition I've never seen before."

"That means you guys are really special," Angelo gushes, setting Mikey Jr down by Donnie Jr. Mikey immediately goes to grab Donnie's sparkplug, and Donnie cries as it's knocked out of his grasp. Donald doesn't look, engrossed in glaring at Draxum over the lack of satisfying answers but one of his mechanical arms comes out and grabs the plug before it falls and gives it back to the tot. Donnie laughs-squeals happily as the arm pats him on the head.

"Maybe someone found an oozesquito and messed with it," Raphie suggests, dangling a bit of string in front of Raph Jr's face as the tot tries to grab and eat it. "Or uh, four of them."

Draxum sighs, rubbing his eyes. "The tests all suggest they were born this way."

"Oh, so just one then!"

"That's not good either, Raph." Donald picks up Donnie and cradles him. "And why would they be abandoned in an alley? I thought mutant sanctuaries were getting more common."

"We can make something to track down their birth parent," Draxum says, frowning, "But that might mean giving them up. If you guys want to continue with the whole 'heroes' thing, anyway. I say we just keep them no matter what."

The four new dads share a look. Leon's and Raphie's eyes go white with a faint glow for a second, a quick mind-meld discussion-

Leon sighs. "We owe it to them to check, don't we?" He looks up at Leo Jr and smiles softly. "But either way, I promise you boys will have a family. Okay?"

Leo Jr babbles, reaching for Leon. The baby smiles, all gums and love.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So..." Raphie blinks as they all stare into the apartment a week later. "I guess we're keeping them?"

It's really a rhetorical question, because the mystic DNA tracker has lead them to a human's apartment with a single, completely normal, turtle. And with one DNA test in the tracker's built-in tester... it's a confirmation. That normal turtle, somehow, is their tots' mother.

"Well, unmarked cardboard box, left in an alley, no food or water left with them," Donald lists off, putting up a finger for each item, "Yup, I'd say that human didn't want them."

"But-but how?" Leon holds the sides of his head. "That's not- I thought-"

"Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth," Splints says happily, already shimmying his way back up to the roof. "We get to keep my grandsons!"

"But-!" Leon looks to his twin, throwing his arms out to the window. "Come on! This is weird even for our lives!"

"I agree completely, my dear brother," Donald says with a nod, "Which is why I'll be taking a sample of DNA from that turtle to give to Draxum. But I have a feeling we won't be getting many answers from it. And in that case, there's only one thing to do."

Leon and Donald share a serious look, and then both nod. They speak in unison.

"We get those tots some toys."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Donald scoops Donnie Jr up with one hand, the tiny tot's shell easily fitting into his palm. True, as he's gotten older he's gotten rather large, to put it mildly, but still. His son is small.

His son, and his sons brothers, look very different to him and his own brothers. Draxum wasn't able to tell what species they are, though their mother looked to be some sort of terrapin. Donnie Jr's shell is completely rounded, no curve in towards the bottom of the spine. His hands and feet are large, much more reminiscent of a regular turtle's in terms of proportion. His little feet are completely circular, which while adorable, is probably going to make sneaking around a lot harder. And making shoes an impossibility.

He tickles the bottom of Donnie Jr's foot and Donnie Jr squeals with laughter. Well, the nerves work as they should. And that laugh melts his heart, so that also works as it should.

Donald pulls the baby holder out of it's box and clips it on. Donnie is surprisingly good as Donald gets him into the little holder, and the tot just laughs again as he hangs from Donald's chest. Perfect.

"This-" Donald says, holding up some blueprints, "-is going to be your brother someday. I was finally able to patch the corrupted code from the recovered drives."

The prints show a little turtle-shaped drone, and a second set show a small, stout body with the same head design. "Any preference for his main form? I'm partial to the drone-"

Donnie screams and reaches out, so Donald leans closer, and the tot slaps one little hand on the stout body design. And-

And whimpers.

"Hey." Donald straightens back up, trying to keep his voice soft. "Why does Shelldon upset you?"

Donnie whines again and kicks his little legs, taking in a big breath-

"Oh, no-"

And wails.

"Ah! Please, stop making that noise!" Donald quickly takes his son out of the holder and holds him up to examine him. "No injuries, diaper is clean, we just fed you-"

Donnie wails and sobs some more, and Donald hears an echoing fit start up from Angelo's room. Then from Raphie's, and then from Leon's.

"You've caused a chain reaction!" Donald cradles his son close and bounces a little, patting his son's back as gently as he can while internally panicking. "Um, will a lullaby help? Rock-a-bye Donnie, at the lair's top, when the sub cars ride the whole lair will rock-"

Angelo bursts into the room, eyes bloodshot and a wailing Mikey held in one arm. "Doooonie?" Angelo says, eye twitching and smile forced, "Can you make your boy quiet down already?!"

"Yelling will only make him more upset!" Donald nods at his blueprints. "Hide those, they're what set him off!"

"What?!" Angelo stalks over and sets Mikey down on the desk, looking at the plans and flipping them over. "Your Shelldon plans made him cry?!"

"I don't know why, but yes!"

Mikey keeps wailing, Donnie keeps wailing, Mikey makes grabby-hands and his little all-pupil eyes focus on-

Donald quickly shifts his hold. "Give me Mikey!"

"Wh-"

"Do it!"

Angelo hands Mikey over, and Mikey immediately wiggles closer to Donnie and snuggles against him. After a few moments the sobbing and screaming beings to calm, and calm, down to whimpers and them gasps and then...

Soft breathing. They're asleep.

"As adorable as this is," Angelo says, snapping a picture quickly, "I am tired, man!"

"I'll be awake longer." Clearly, the Shelldon plans are... delayed, so he'll have to find something new to work on with Donnie. Maybe something more basic... Leo Jr did drool all over their toaster earlier, so maybe they can build a new one together.

He'll... probably make Shelldon the drone again. Hopefully that will... sit better with his son.

"You drop Mikey off back in my room before you fall asleep, got it?" Angelo pats Donnie on the shoulder as he leaves. Leo Jr and Raph Jr have quieted down out there, so at least it's quiet again.

Donnie uses his robotic arms for the rest of the night, cradling the tiny close close to his chest.

For such little things... they're full of a lot of mysteries.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey, that's how we got these two to calm down!" Raphie is mindful of not talking with his hands as Raph determinedly sucks down his bottle. Any disturbance to his meal and he'll throw a massive tantrum, so Raphie must stay very still.

"As soon as we put them together they calmed down." Leon hands Leo a little tongue depressor, and Leo begins waving it around with wide eyes. His lack of coordinator is adorable enough to make Leon tear up a little. It's been less than a month and he would die for this little guy. For all four of them.

"Awww, they really do take after their dads," April teases. "Lemme guess, Raph Jr was the big spoon?"

"Actually, Leo was." Raphie relaxes in relief when Raph Jr finally releases the bottle. He burps the baby carefully, and then sets him on his lap and start bouncing him up and down.

"Because my son is bigger," Leon points out with a smug smirk. "Because he's a champion."

"Speaking of," Cass says, tilting her glass of wine at Leo (and not caring one bit that it's morning, she is committed to being a wine aunt), "Are you planning on training them to follow in your footsteps as powerful warriors?"

"No duh." Leon rolls his eyes. "They're mutants and our kids, it'd be neglect if we didn't train them at least a little."

"I will supervise," Splinter says happily, playing peek-a-boo with Mikey Jr. "But I am not helping in training until they are older. I could barely keep up the first time!"

"Not your fault, Papa," Donald assures, going through his favorite textbooks to make a Bedtime Reading pile. "We were simply too dope, even as toddlers."

"Mmm, that's one way to put it." Splinter laughs as Mikey, without fail, squeals in delight with every reveal of his face.

"I brought pizza," Casey declares as he enters. He sets the boxes down and opens them up.

Everyone leans over the pizza and stares.

"Is that... jellybeans?" Angelo looks caught between being ill and being violently offended. Splinter picks up a slice and takes a cautious bite. He stiffens, and then his whole body shudders.

"I asked for pepper things on the phone!" Casey looks through the other boxes and sighs in relief. "The rest are fine."

"Pepper things?"

"Those yellow sort of spicy ones?"

"... You mean pepperoncinis?"

"Those! Yes! ... May we go over some of the names of foods again, Master Michelangelo?"

"Oh, I wasn't about to let you leave not knowing every single pizza topping after this." Angelo gives Casey a friendly punch to the shoulder, and they both laugh. As they do, though, Angelo sees Mikey crawl closer to Splinter, to his hand, his little baby mouth open and showing some tiny baby teeth-

"NO!"

It's too late.

But Mikey doesn't choke, or throw up, or spit it out.

He... chews and swallows. And he smiles.

And he goes back for more.

Everyone watches in horror at the enthusiasm Mikey has for the monstrosity of pizza.

"He... he'll grow out of that." Angelo nods to himself. "He'll grow out of that."

#tmnt 2018 #tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2k12 #rottmnt #tmnt crossover #reincarnated au #tmnt fic #tmnt fanfiction #fanfic #my attempts at fanfic

68 notes · View notes