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#and also the circle of having to conform to what her family wants for her- except she just can't do it anymore

cherryrainn · 7 months

Note

this idea’s been running in circles around my head for like 3 days

may I request some OW headcanons where the reader is the third shimada child and grew up feeling like the black sheep of the family, but after hanzo k!lled genji, they ran away without a trace and started their life over? they quit striving to be good enough for the clan and focused on being good enough for themself (also their dragon is golden/yellow) how the reunion goes, I’ll leave up to you.

please, and thank you

━━ ✧ 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

─ ✩ 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 ; none, completely platonic between reader and the shimada brothers

─ ✩ 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 ; sure thing! i literally could NOT think of headcanons for this so i hope this works too </3

─ ✩ 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 ; family conflict and estrangement, mention of death and loss, emotional turmoil

growing up as the third shimada child was a constant struggle for you. you always felt like the odd one out, never quite meeting the high expectations set by the clan. hanzo and genji excelled in their training, while you struggled to keep up. the pressure to conform to the strict traditions and expectations weighed heavily on your shoulders.

one fateful day, when hanzo had killed genji because...well... you had no clue why. but, you couldn't bear the weight of the clan's disapproval any longer. the revelation shattered what little connection you had with your family. in the dead of night, you disappeared without a trace, leaving behind the life of a shimada and all the expectations that came with it.

your journey of self-discovery took you to places far from the shadows of the clan. you reinvented yourself, shedding the identity of the black sheep. no longer bound by the stifling traditions, you focused on becoming the person you wanted to be. the dragon that accompanied you, golden and vibrant, symbolized your newfound strength and independence.

the years away from the shimada clan allowed you to build a life based on your own values and aspirations. you forged connections, honed your skills, and embraced the freedom that had eluded you within the confines of the clan.

now, fate leads you to overwatch, a beacon of hope in a world torn by conflict.

lena, aka tracer, ever the energetic guide, shows you around the place. the headquarters are a marvel of technology and camaraderie, but little do you know, your past is about to catch up with you.

as tracer introduces you to the various members of the team, you come face to face with hanzo shimada. the shock is palpable on both sides. for a moment, time seems to freeze as you lock eyes with the brother you thought you'd left behind.

"y/n?" hanzo stammers, his usually composed demeanor faltering.

"hanzo?" you respond, equally taken aback.

tracer, sensing the tension, awkwardly chuckles. "well, this is a bit unexpected. i'll just...uh, leave you two to catch up," she says, quickly making her exit with a zap, leaving you and hanzo in a charged silence.

the charged silence lingers for a moment, but eventually, hanzo breaks it. "i never thought i would see you again," he admits, his eyes betraying a mix of surprise and uncertainty.

"yes, well, life takes unexpected turns," you respond, trying to maintain a casual tone, despite the whirlwind of emotions within you.

hanzo nods, a flicker of regret crossing his face. "you left the clan. why?"

a bitter smile plays on your lips. "the clan and i had different ideas about my future. i wanted something more, something beyond the confines of tradition."

hanzo's gaze softens as he takes in your words. "you always were the rebellious one."

"and you were always the dutiful son," you counter, a hint of sadness in your voice.

he hesitates before speaking again. "i've...changed. i have done things i never thought i would."

"joining overwatch must be one of them," you observe, glancing around at the bustling activity in the headquarters.

hanzo nods. "i seek redemption for the past. a chance to make amends."

the sincerity in his words tugs at your heart. "we all have our demons, hanzo. maybe this is the place to face them."

as you and hanzo continue your conversation, a cyborg enters the room. he locked onto you, and you can feel the weight of his gaze. it's an intense stare, one that leaves you puzzled and slightly uncomfortable. you wonder why this stranger is looking at you so oddly.

angela ziegler, also known as mercy, enters the room just in time to witness the peculiar interaction. "genji, is everything alright?" she inquires, concern etched across her features. the name sends a shiver down your spine, a strange familiarity resonating within you.

"genji?" you mutter, turning to hanzo with a puzzled expression. "did she just call him genji?"

hanzo sighs, realizing that the truth can no longer be concealed. "y/n, meet our brother, genji. he's not... completely as you remember him."

your eyes widen in disbelief, and you turn back to the cyborg, who is visibly tense. the realization hits you like a wave, and you stagger back, shock and confusion washing over you.

"genji... alive?" you manage to stammer out, your mind struggling to process the revelation.

genji, unable to face the weight of your reaction, hastily leaves the room without responding to angela. you stare after him, a flood of emotions overwhelming your senses.

hanzo watches as you process the shocking revelation. the air in the room becomes heavy with the weight of untold secrets and unspoken pain. with a hesitant sigh, hanzo begins to unravel the tale that had remained buried in the depths of your family's history.

"y/n, after that night, i... we believed genji to be gone, lost to the darkness within me," hanzo confesses, his eyes reflecting the regret that has lingered for years. "overwatch, and dr. ziegler, they gave him a second chance."

your gaze shifts between hanzo and the doorway genji disappeared through, a whirlwind of conflicting emotions surging within you.

"my mind blames me for what happened," hanzo continues, his voice tinged with remorse. "it's not entirely wrong. i took away the life he knew, the brother we knew."

meanwhile, genji, plagued by the fear of your reaction, finds solace in the shadows. angela attempts to comfort him, recognizing the weight of the family reunion.

hanzo looks at you, a mixture of regret and hope in his eyes. "i understand if you need time to process this, y/n. but please know, genji is still our brother."

hanzo takes another deep breath before delving into the details. "genji sought me out. we... we fought. i had no clue it was him. during that confrontation, he revealed himself, shared the truth of his survival."

your brows furrow in confusion. "why didn't he find me too then?" you ask, a sense of hurt lingering in your voice.

hanzo's gaze softens with a touch of sadness. "genji believed that if he confronted you, it would only bring you more pain. he thought it was better for you to believe he was gone, to spare you the burden of knowing what he had become."

the weight of genji's decision presses upon you, a mix of emotions swirling within. the revelation of your brother's existence and his deliberate choice to stay hidden for your sake adds another layer to the already intricate tapestry of your family's history.

"but now," hanzo continues, "with overwatch, our paths have crossed once again. the circumstances have forced us to confront the past, to face the choices we made and the consequences we now live with."

a heavy silence settles in the room, the weight of revelations hanging in the air. you and hanzo exchange a glance, both recognizing the need for time to process the complexities of the situation.

"y/n, i understand this is a lot to take in," hanzo acknowledges, his eyes reflecting a mixture of regret and understanding. "genji and i are here whenever you are ready to talk or... be a family again."

you nod in response, the turmoil of emotions making it challenging to find the right words. the shared history, the pain of loss, and the unexpected reunion create a tapestry of emotions that requires careful unraveling.

hanzo gives you a reassuring smile before excusing himself, leaving you alone to contemplate the newfound truth.

the night stretches on as you retreat to your room, the weight of the revelations settling into the silence of the space. the familiar surroundings offer little solace as your mind grapples with the whirlwind of emotions stirred by the reunion.

a persistent headache gnaws at your temples, a physical manifestation of the internal struggle. sleep eludes you, and the dim glow of the moonlight filtering through the window casts a surreal hue over the room.

the next day dawns, the sunlight piercing through the curtains, casting a golden glow upon your surroundings. the world outside seems to carry on, indifferent to the storm of emotions brewing within.

with a heavy sigh, you decide to confront the lingering questions and uncertainties. the ache in your head intensifies as you make your way to the common areas, where you know genji often spends his time.

as you approach, you find genji quietly meditating, his cyborg form a testament to the battles he has faced. the room carries an air of tranquility, a stark contrast to the storm raging within.

"genji," you finally speak, your voice carrying a mix of curiosity and trepidation.

his gaze meets yours. there's a tension in the air, an unspoken acknowledgment of the shared history and the uncharted territory ahead.

"i wanted to talk," you continue, choosing your words carefully. "about everything."

the room is steeped in a heavy silence as you and genji begin to navigate the conversation, unraveling the layers of your shared history. genji's visor obscures his expression, leaving only the hum of the machinery beneath it as a testament to the transformation he underwent.

"i never wanted you to believe i was dead," genji finally speaks, his voice carrying a mixture of regret and understanding. "but i thought it was the only way to spare you from the pain of what i had become."

your gaze shifts from his visored face to the exposed hand that once belonged to a human, now encased in cybernetics.

"i never stopped thinking about you, y/n," genji admits, his gaze fixed on a distant point. "but i believed that the best thing for you was to live a life free from the burden of the shimada legacy... like you wanted.. like you needed."

the room remains a battleground of emotions until hanzo enters, sensing the need for unity. his presence adds a layer of calm to the storm, a reminder of the shared bloodline that binds the shimada siblings.

"hanzo," genji acknowledges, his tone a mix of acknowledgment and acceptance.

hanzo nods, a silent understanding passing between the brothers. "y/n, genji, we are family," he says, his voice carrying the weight of shared history and the potential for a new beginning. "we may not be able to change the past, but we can shape our future together."

the trio sits in the room, the air thick with the unspoken acceptance of each other's flaws and the determination to rebuild the bonds that had been strained by time and distance.

the conversation extends into the evening, a tapestry of shared stories, regrets, and the tentative hope for reconciliation. the room, once a battleground, transforms into a sanctuary where the shimada siblings forge a path toward healing.

#SHIMADA BROTHERS #hanzo shimada #genji shimada #overwatch 2 #overwatch #y/n #reader insert #ask #hanzo #genji #genji overwatch #hanzo overwatch

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ineffectualdemon · 14 days

Text

When I talk about being a chaotic dirt gremlin and "little rat man" and "trash gremlin" and things I need you to understand that this is not equating masculinity or my genderqueerness with filth or grossness

This is an ideological push back against the purity ideal that was placed ON me growing up in the Cultural Christianity I grew up in

It's about letting myself be messy and ugly and dirty and unkempt and freedom

The character that best embodies this feeling I'm latching onto is actually a woman. Bart from Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (yes I know the show runner wasn't great but that not the point rn)

Bart is a holistic assassin. She kills people

She is filthy, carefree, and loves her job

I don't want to murder people but I want her inability to give a single fuck what anyone thinks

I love that she's dirty and unkempt and doesn't care

I grew up being taught lessons about my virginity needed to be locked away for my future husband

That I needed to stay nice in pretty clothes

That I needed to be the Good One who didn't cause any problems

Its this need to live up to some feminine ideal of "girls don't fart" kind of perfection packaged in with family trauma of having to be the person who never caused an issue and only being able to accomplish that if I made myself so small and quiet no one ever saw me at all

Even after I escaped that arena I was then in pagan circles where I was told about the "divine feminine" and how menstruating was divine and perfect thing and women were all beautiful and precious

I didn't want to be this perfect clean precious thing

I wanted to be human

And it's not as easy as people think on the other side of the street

I tried masculinity on many times growing up and as an adult even if I didn't know I was doing it. Femininity as it was sold to me didn't fit right and so when I couldn't take it anymore I fled to masculinity

And there were spaces I was welcomed into but it was also performative. There was a need to never appear weak or imperfect in a different way. You needed to be a guy in the right way. You could sleep around but you couldn't cry. You could fight but you couldn't actually be upset. You could never be unsure or second guess yourself. The purity put on men is different from women in my experience

Women had to be pure in body and behaviour

Men had to be pure reason.

Women had to be pretty and clean and perfect and men had to be always right and strong

And neither could feel or be wrong or sad or ugly

And I hated that

I wanted be able to be ugly and unlikable and difficult and uncomfortable and obnoxious and have it be okay

I wanted to not care

And I admire women and men who can break out of patriarchal ideas of gender roles and be themselves

But for me I can't because I never fit in either camp even when I played with gender expression in those spaces. Even when I tried to be GNC as a woman and a man

Man is more comfortable for woman than me but neither feel right

So I exist in a kinda of quantum space as gender

But by declaring myself as a "trash gremlin covered in dirt" or a "rat man" I reject both of patriarchal ideals of purity and gender I grew up around

I'm not pure and I don't wish to conform to the "purity" pushed on me by Christianity as I was growing up

And I also rejected the different kind of purity packaged and sold to me by paganism in my twenties

I am an ugly, uncomfortable, twisted thing sometimes

And I take pride in that and that's where that comes from

This isn't in response to anyone btw I'm just talking about my experiences and feelings

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lightlycareless · 1 year

Text

Pillow Fort — Valentine's day special.

A/N: Hello everyone!

As I stated before, I was working on a small (heh) valentine's day special one-shot for Naoya just because :> I got the prompt from a list here in tumblr, unfortunately, I don't remember where...

Anyways, this is intended to be quite fluffy, sweet, and a bit fun. Just something different from the usual things I post x.x soooo no major warnings here, asides from the fact that:

This is and AU and both reader and Naoya are kids here. There are OC's, intended to be reader's siblings, their mother, father, as well as Naoya's siblings and mother. It's mainly a one-sided crush from Naoya, he's silly and he's really trying lol that is until... 👀

Also, this is kind of set in the same universe as the Halloween prompt I wrote a while ago (if you'd like to read it, you can find it here) I can't believe I already want to write a sequel to this hahahah I guess you'll know about what when you read it.

Now, without any further ado, happy reading!

It all started with a "Would you like to do something fun this weekend, Naoya?" from his mother to set off the chain of events that lead him to where he was in this precise moment: standing before the entrance of the L/N estate, carrying his belongings (a change of clothes for 2 days, pajamas, gifts, and everything else that pertained to a hygienic care) while anxiously waiting for someone to receive him after ringing the bell.

Naoya was first unable to put his finger down on the possible reason behind her question, or admit that he was uninterested, for he already had plans for said weekend: Since most of his brothers were going to be away due to some camping trip endorsed by their school, it meant that he was going to have the entirety of his home for himself to do whatever he wanted, seemingly without scrutiny or repercussions.

He believed he was getting the best deal he could’ve with his circumstances, that is, until Tomoko (his mother) informed him of a sleepover set to occur at the home of the L/N’s—it’s until then that he realizes he’d been conforming for less all this time.

To not say that he was very excited about it, of course—because ever since he first met you back then at that Halloween outing both your families had arranged, you’re all he thinks about.

Through school, lunch, homework, even when hanging out with his favorite cousin Toji, or his best friend Ranta, you’re somehow pulled into the conversation.

The youngest of the two didn’t think much of it, outside of being jealous, since he didn’t like the thought of having to compete for his friend’s attention that you were clearly (unknowingly) hoarding—although that would only be short-lasting, for he’d then realize that the relationship Naoya wanted from you was different than his, and soon became all supportive of it.

The other, however, couldn’t be any more irritated by the frequency of it. He didn’t enjoy partaking in a conversation where a little girl he didn’t even know was to be the center of attention, leading him to wonder if his upcoming baby was going to be as annoying as Naoya is when he’s old enough… or maybe this was solely his cousin’s doing.

Most of Naoya’s conversation circled the same topics: finding ways to get to spend more time with you. Get to know the kind girl that shared his good tastes a bit better—because recognizing his Halloween costume was enough to set you on a pedestal— as well as keeping your (and might as well his) siblings away from foiling his plans once set in motion…

A bothersome obstacle that reminds him to not celebrate his victories before time, not until he gets the definite answer to this important question…

“Will Hinata and Ren be there too?” Naoya asks, justifying it as simply trying to anticipate what to do once there, if he should bring more toys, for example, to share.

But Tomoko, being his mother all of his life and having raised more children before him, had developed a 6th sense that allowed her to see right through him and was able to identify the true reason behind his inquisitiveness: he was trying to ensure the sole attention of the girl he likes, as well as hoping to keep some distance from the kids he thought to be his natural competition (whom he unsurprisingly, didn’t get along with… much to her dismay)

And in a way, she was excited about the whole ordeal too—she just couldn’t help it! Ever since she caught wind of his sudden interest towards Y/N, she had done nothing but gush about it with Minako, your mother.

The endless possibilities of their youngests getting along, spending time together, and who knows…? Maybe something more down the road! Was something that made them coo at the young children whenever they were around.

It was undeniable that you and Naoya were a cute pair before their eyes, and oh… wouldn’t it be wonderful to dress them up in matching outfits?

Either way, after rightfully perceiving his intentions, she decides to provide him with a big, warm smile on her lips and a cheerful voice, the announcement she knows is to make the rest of his week enjoyable:

“No, they’re going on the same trip as your brothers—it’s just Y/N and you for the whole weekend”

To say that he was over the moon would be an understatement.

He was ecstatic!

But Naoya had to play it cool, even going as far as appearing seemingly disappointed by the affirmation of your sibling’s absence —he had to be careful with his cards, of course! He doesn’t want to wear his heart on his sleeve just yet, not when there’s a possibility he could be made fun of for them… or confirm if you even felt the same way as him.

And Tomoko understood his worries and shyness all too well.

After all, Naoya had never been the kind of kid to open up with others, at least not unprompted. And when he does, it is usually to show his annoyance either towards his siblings or father.

Yet, even with his reserved nature, she could still see the glint in his eye which truly reflected how thrilled he was for the weekend to arrive.

This was to be in a way, without question, a happy ordeal for everyone involved.

Aside from acknowledging Naoya’s feelings towards you, she was also cognisant of the poor relationship he had with the rest of Minako's kids, which had often led to many awkward, shameful apologies between the two mothers for their respective children’s behavior… ones that they tried their hardest to stop, but just never seemed to catch a break.

And it was amusing to see how they attempted to keep their troubled relationship a secret from them, putting on the act of “getting along” whenever approaching them, as if they hadn’t been quite spiteful towards one another seconds before, or that they wouldn’t figure it out with time!

They gave them the benefit of the doubt at first, thinking their behavior to be nothing more than a phase due to a rocky beginning, but the longer it went on and they continued to act the same, the mothers began to worry that perhaps… Perhaps this was a much more serious manner, one that would grow into their adulthood, and regretfully, continue on with you.

It’s why they were so elated to see that you and Naoya got along regardless of the evidence set before them!

Because Naoya giving up all of his sweets to you to seemingly cheer you up after an unfortunate prank was something one would only do if the other person was of their fondness, right?

Besides, Minako was even willing to confide that in the days after you last saw him, you’d voice a want to see him again, wondering what he’s been up to, or when would the next “outing” be with the Zen’in, completely different from your siblings, whom only seem to abhor his presence, wishing nothing more than to leave from whatever arrangement their parents pulled them into as soon as possible. There’s no denying that the two represented a long-awaited omen of change in this ongoing conflict: the dawning of a friendship between the two and hopefully an inspiring event for all involved. Even if it doesn’t lead to anything more down the road, it’s something that both mothers would either way enjoy watching grow, especially after confiding to one another that they always wanted their kids to be best friends, just as they were.

And in a more personal note, directly from Tomoko herself, she also wished her kids would behave a bit more like Ren and Hinata—their relationship was far more amicable, not like the ones her son’s had, whim by some strange reason, always managed to find a way to antagonize each other: either for the simplest of reasons like eating the last cherry on a cake, to the most outrageous ones such as stealing the other’s allowance. It’s always free for all in the Zen’in estate.

But if she had to pick the two worst, it would have to be Naoya and Naoaki. The youngest, and the oldest.

Naoaki eventually, thankfully, outgrown this part of his life upon entering his teenage years, forcing Naoya to carry on with the torch of irritating the other. Still, it would be a lie if he didn’t admit to occasionally entertaining his old habits from time to time.

The reason behind their actions eluded Tomoko, although she eventually came to the conclusion that it was more of a case of jealousy (still inexcusable, but the poor mother had to rationalize something!) more than anything else— with their altercations curiously growing more and more frequent after joining the L/N family on halloween…

Which leads to another question popping up inside Naoya's mind:

“Is Naoaki going too?”

“Oh, no” Tomoko says as she lightly shakes her head “He’s not going—he’s… a bit too old for these things” It’s what she comes up with to essentially avoid saying they're going to create trouble at the L/N estate is placed together, because being completely honest, it's the only thing that could come out of their relationship at this moment.

Besides, she also doesn’t think it’s right for him to be spending the night over at a house with kids much younger than him, unwittingly forcing him with the burden of looking after them, less when he could be doing something much more fun with his own friends.

However, this is something that Naoya doesn’t deduce at the moment (and might never do), instead, he opts to believe that his mother is doing his annoying older brother a huge favor by saving him the humiliation of disclosing that he doesn’t have any friends to hang out with because nobody likes him—his mother was just compassionate like that.

Well, once the situation with Naoaki was set, so was the one with the rest of his brothers, because just as it was stated before, they would be out of the house for the weekend.

With the exception of Naofumi, of course, who was both too young to partake in their excursion, as well as falling victim to a cold which bound him to his bed until he got better.

Naoya couldn’t help but feel bad for the constant misfortune his not-so-older brother always seemed to be riddled with, which is why he was more than willing to keep up the promise he made with his mother as they made their way to your home.

“Promise me to have fun, for you and Naofumi, ok?” Tomoko said as she softly grabbed his hand and guided him towards the entrance to the L/N estate “Also, don’t forget to give Y/N-mama the food Auntie Junko made for her as a thanks for the gifts, because it has to be refrigerated as soon as possible”

Tomoko wishes she was able to personally give the thank you gift to Minako, however, she knew that as soon as she stepped inside she would be tempted to stay and chat, and that’s something she’s not able to afford as of this moment since she left the newly mother-of-two to temporarily care for her sick boy while she brings Naoya over.

It’s not that she considered Junko to be her first option to help her out, in fact, she had already anticipated and prepared one of the staff members to take on her role while away so she could have a bit of time with your mother, but her sister-in-law is the kind of person to believe that if she’s not doing something, she’s wasting her time, and there’s no swaying her out of it once her mind is set.

Not the two beautiful twin babies she now has to take care of was enough to convince her, but if that’s what she wants to keep on doing to not feel as she’s slacking off, then she’ll leave her to it.

Aside from wanting to chat with Minako for a few minutes, Tomoko also wanted to inform her of the small envelope inside it…

Well, she just hopes that Minako is able to notice it before storing the contents away.

So fast forward to the greatly anticipated night, to the moment Tomoko left Naoya by the entrance—not without kissing and hugging him goodbye, much to the kid’s embarrassment—before going back home to her other beloved child as soon as possible.

Naoya quickly turned into a wide-eyed, anxious young boy with a thundering heart while intently staring at the wooden door before him, awaiting for the moment someone would come to receive him.

He didn’t know who was to greet him—you, perhaps? Oh, his heart skips a beat at the mere thought of seeing you already! Were you as excited as him too?

If that were the case, Naoya can’t help but also wonder what you’d think of his attire for the day, the black sentai ranger hoodie he got for christmas, the same one he’s been holding on from wearing just so you’d be the first one to see him in it —outside of his mom, of course, who like any doting parent asked him to model it for her.

But if he was to be greeted by your mother, then he guesses he wouldn’t mind it either. He needs to get along with her after all! Especially after allowing him to come over, but above all, because she’s your mother and he needs to make a good impression with her, as well as your father.

Naoya’s thoughts are promptly interrupted by the soft click coming from the other side of the door.

His heart, which has done nothing more but to beat strongly and steadily against his chest, begins to resound in his ears as he swallows down his growing anticipation, the consequence of the thrilling prospect of his introduction.

Any second now, the door will swing open and with it, revealing the person behind it.

He’s already been here before, seen you and your mother countless times as well, yet, he can’t help but nervously wonder who it will be? Who will be the one to receive him?

Fortunately for him, that’s an answer that comes not so long after as the entrance begins to unfurl, the light from inside falling on his eyes, forcing him to blink a few times to adjust his vision onto the dark silhouette of the person before him, and then… she appears.

Your mother.

“Naoya-kun!” Minako chirps, a wide smile on her face, as soon her eyes fall on the short black-haired boy standing before her. “Welcome! We were expecting you, I hope I didn’t make you wait that long!”

“N-no, I just… got here” he murmurs. Naoya is elated to be received in such a positive manner from your manner, yet, a sting of disappointment manages to make way into his chest as he secretly attempts to lean his head to the side, observing past your mother and into the hallway, undeniably hoping to catch a glimpse of you just a few feet away—sadly, you were nowhere to be seen.

“Well, I don’t intend on keeping you out here in the cold any longer! Come on in” Minako steps to the side, gesturing him inside, which he obliges to after giving her a quick nod.

Once inside and after your mother closes the door, she turns around and refers to Naoya once more.

“Well, welcome officially to my home. Now, let me help you with your things” She says as she attempts to reach for his backpack, only for him to step back before she even moved more than a few inches.

"N-no… I'm fine" he shakes his head, clenching his belongings tighter to him. After watching such a demonstration, Minako didn’t need to be told to not insist again. Taking his reaction as being overprotective over his belongings, and that, she’ll respect.

Yet, things don’t always seem to be what they are with Naoya, and this was to be another one of those cases.

Naoya wanted to appear strong and independent before her, to give her the impression that he's capable of taking care of himself, and subsequently, you—he truly intended to be meticulous when it came to showing off he was a good influence for your life during his stay at the L/N home.

If only he knew Minako already thought so…

"But my mom wanted me to give you this" he informs as he hands over the brown paper bag, Minako carefully grabbing it and taking a quick peek inside: it’s nothing more than a glass rectangle container filled with what she assumed to be pastries, and a white envelope on top. "It's from auntie Junko. She says thank you for the gifts"

"Oh! That? Ah, she shouldn't have… it's nothing really" Minako says as a light pink color flusters her cheeks.

And it really was nothing, the gifts she gave Junko were the minimum of what Eiichi and she thought she deserved, after going through so many difficult pregnancies… She finally obtained what she wanted the most: children.

And not just any child, but two! «What a blessing» is all that Minako could think of the whole ordeal, wishing her nothing more but prosperity in this new stage in her life.

However, the fact that she hasn’t been able to visit and wish it in person is a sorrow for her, but is able to console herself by remembering that the first weeks after giving birth are the important when it comes to the mother’s recovery and the development of the babies, it’s why she instead, as a way to make up for her absence, decided to send her gifts.

Either way, she knows very well there’s no use in reeling in her remorse when it was only a matter of time before she’ll be able to visit the new family, and oh, she can’t wait but to dote on Junko’s adorable baby daughters!

Will they have her distinguishable scowl? Maybe, maybe not. All that she knows is that they have Ogi’s hair color, or somewhat similar to it, that they were healthy in every sense of the word, and that their names were Maki, the oldest, and Mai, the youngest.

Still, seeing a miniature version of her trademark frown was enough to make her giggle, and that’s something she can’t miss.

But until then, she’ll worry about the adorable kid before her.

"Well, now I think I've kept you at the entrance long enough, let's head back to the kitchen and put this in the fridge, hm?" Minako says as she softly pats his head. A gesture that has Naoya’s cheeks slightly burning before giving her a nod and following her lead into their new destination.

“Are you excited for tonight? Because I know Y/N-chan is" she begins as they walk deeper into the estate.

“She is?? —Err, I mean, yeah… I am” Naoya blurted, before immediately composing himself and putting on his cool act back on. Your quick mention is enough to have him filled with the same excitement he imagines you to have, to the point he falters with his words. “Thank you for having me”

“Oh, it was nothing” she responds “I like it when my children have friends over! Besides, don’t tell Y/N that I told you this, but she’s been wanting to have a sleepover with you for a while now”

“Re—really?” There’s no hiding it now, Naoya’s heart was soaring.

“Yes, but this has to be a secret just between the two of us, ok?” Minako winks with a smile as Naoya nods. “She didn’t want to make her other friends, or siblings, jealous”

“I promise!” he reassures her, and your mother only chuckles.

As they went deeper into the estate, a sweet smell began to permeate the air, set to indicate the closeness to their destination—It was such a potent aroma that at one point it became all Naoya could think of as he continued to walk behind your mother.

It was a combination of scents, each one complimenting each other perfectly, and yet, no matter how much he tried to isolate each smell, he was still unable to distinguish what they were… outside of mouth watering meals that he couldn’t wait to see (and hopefully) taste if your mother so permitted it.

Thankfully, it wouldn’t take long before they finally arrived at the kitchen, which by that point, Naoya's curiosity—and hunger—were past its limits, to the point that he didn’t even notice the figure on the deep end of the kitchen waiting for him.

That is, until his conscience is pulled back to reality thanks to the interjection of a familiar shrill voice calling out for him… one that has his heart pounding loudly against his chest once more, after identifying the one behind it.

"Noya-kun!"

It was you, with big sparkly eyes, and a grin on your lips, waving at him.

"You're here!" You excitedly cheered from your spot, just beside the wooden dining table, stepping on a small stool which allowed you to loom over said table and work on the mix inside the bowl before you— or at least that’s what he assumed due to the small purple apron you were wearing, as well as the wooden spoon on your right hand covered with said brown mixture.

You don’t let more than a few seconds to pass before you jump down the stool, leaving the spoon back into the bowl, and rush to his side, wrapping your arms around him—as much as you could, for he was still carrying his things— as soon as you’re nothing more than a few inches away and pulling him into a welcoming hug.

The first thing that he notices at your closeness, besides how happy you seem to receive him in your home as well as the weight of your mother’s eyes glued on him which causes him to be nothing more than embarrassed, is the small smudge of chocolate at the corner of your lips. Evidence of a sneaky tasting from the brownie mix your mother asked you to look after while she left to pick him up—he knew of your affinity for sweets, so to see you like this wasn't a surprise, if anything, he found it both cute and relieving, for it meant that he’d done the right decision by bringing mochi instead of overwhelming you by gifting you more chocolate.

The second thing he notices, and perhaps what makes his heart sing the most outside of your mere presence, is your hairstyle: specifically your 2 ponytails, styled from the lower part of your head and falling on each side of your neck. Sure, he thought you looked cute—always did, no matter what— but that wasn't what caught his interest or his elation.

What made his heart skip a beat were the scrunchies you were wearing, because those were the same ones he got you as a gift a while ago!

In fact, Naoya still recalls the moment he got them.

It was during one of the (rare) occasions his mother goes grocery shopping. And for some strange reason, perhaps fate wanted it that way, Naoya decided to tag along for the day.

While they passed through one of the many aisles pertaining to the beauty section, he saw them.

At first he didn’t think much of them, outside of how they looked soft to the touch and that their pastel colors were much better than the bright, harsh on the eyes, fluorescent ones next to them, with his interest soon returning onto finding the next item on the grocery list.

But that wasn’t to be the end of it, and when Tomoko caught his gaze on them at the corner of her eye, a plan was quick to form in her mind. One that made him realize his mother was on the same side as him, and the uncountable doors of possibilities this new alliance brought him.

"Y/N would look cute with them, wouldn't she?"

And look cute you did, his mother was never wrong after all.

"Oh, Y/N… did you eat from the mix?" Minako said upon noticing the smudges on your face, pressing her lips into a thin line as she slightly frowns.

"...no" you murmur back with a telltale pout, completely unaware of the evidence on your cheeks. "I didn't!"

"Of course not" she giggles, taking a napkin from a nearby counter and walking over to you, crimson in your cheeks upon realizing what gave you away. "I hope you didn't eat it from the same spoon you were blending the mix with, or too much for that matter…"

"No! I got my own spoon!" you corrected, embracing the fact that you’ve been caught. "So I wouldn’t con-ta-mi-nate!" You sing and Minako chuckles at the familiar jingle. It seems that whatever Ren has been learning at school began to rub off on you because he’d been singing the same tune for the past few days now. "Mama, can I play with Noya-kun now that he’s here?"

"Sure, just be sure to take his items to your room before playing" At that, Naoya blinks. Wait, is he staying in your room?

"Ok!" You nod before turning over to him with a grin "Follow me, Noya-kun! I want to show you my room!"

Naoya doesn't need to be told twice to do as instructed, less when he didn’t have much of an option to choose from since you grabbed his hand and swiftly guided him through the halls and onto your bedroom, not even giving him the chance to dismiss your mother appropriately, worrying him that this might leave a bad impression.

Well, Minako didn’t really care much, not when she still had dinner to prepare.

This wouldn’t be the first time he’d been at your house, however, this was to be the first time he’d seen your room, and that thought alone was enough to ignite his curiosity and excitement.

Not even when you visited him at the Zen’in estate (which he both enjoyed and suffered, for it meant that sometimes you’d be playing with his brothers) could compare to the joy this chain of events brought him.

Eventually both you and Naoya arrive at the door he figures to be the entrance to your bedroom due to the Pokémon stickers plastered all over it, alongside the small sunflower sticker and a lotus flower which only made him roll his eyes upon realizing whom they represented.

Still, he doesn't allow their implicit presence ruin his mood as he goes on to wonder if the next time he's here, you’ll allow him to place a sticker of his own. If so… which one?

Well, that's something he'll have plenty of time to decide once he's back home, for now, he wants to take advantage of this opportunity and get to know you better through seeing your bedroom for the first time.

Thus, his mind begins to machinate all kinds of scenarios regarding the contents inside: What would he find? What would you show him? Did you have posters all over the walls? He doesn’t because his dad doesn’t let him put up posters in his room, saying that it will “ruin the value” of the home, maybe your parents aren’t as irritating as his and allowed you to put up whatever you wanted.

Or perhaps he’ll finally get to see the so famed plushies you always talk about, ones he has to be very attentive to just so he could guess which ones weren’t from your collection, and subsequently, give them to you as a gift.

Well, any assumptions would soon be cleared and cemented when you slide the door open, finally revealing your room.

The first word that Naoya thinks describes your room the best is cozy.

It’s decently sized, not as big as his, but with enough space to fill it up with whatever you wanted.

There's a window at the far end of the room which provides you the calming view of one of the many gardens inside the estate, as well as the impressive bright full moon in the sky.

From there, the second most noticeable thing was the absence of posters… which he really thought you’d have, but now that he thought about it, you probably would’ve made better use of something a bit more practical, like toys… or the hard-to-ignore mountain of plushies found in the corner of your room.

He already estimated quite a large number from the conversations you had with him pertaining to the subject, but he never expected this many! Do your parents get you a new one whenever you go out?! Do you perhaps have a plushie tree in the backyard?? How—how is he going to compete with that??

Guess he'll have to figure out which ones are your favorite and work from there.

Beyond that, his attention falls back onto the first thing that actually caught his attention, the elephant in the room.

A large…blanket tent-like encasement held up by various chairs, illuminated by small golden string lights, in the middle of your bedroom.

Naoya doesn't believe to have seen something like this in the past, outside of when he goes camping with his family, and considering this was indoors… he's naturally prompted to inquire:

"Is this your bed?"

"Nope! It's a pillow fort! Papa made it for me" you explain matter-of-factly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world—and for a sleepover, it just might— while you went ahead and closed the window curtains. "He said he used to do them with his friends when he was little, and that they were fun, so he wanted to do the same with me for my sleepover!"

"I see…” Naoya murmurs, still somewhat… confused. “So you don't usually sleep like this?"

"Mmhmm" You hum back, shaking your head "But it would be cool though! Papa even set my t.v. in there, look!"

You rush to the pillow fort, where you'd be dropping to your knees and subsequently crawling past the entrance and deep into it, as Naoya, who had yet to put down his things, simply limited himself to look at you from where he was.

He'd glimpse through the fabric door and finally observed the mentioned T.V., which was past another hill of pillows and plushies (Naoya rightfully assumed to be your favorites due to their location) mounted on a small wooden box, as well plugged to a Nintendo 64.

It seems Eiichi had not only shared with you a piece of his childhood, but also, done it in a way where it also combined the things you liked.

And for that, Naoya can't help but feel a little bit jealous, silently wishing his father was as attentive as yours.

"This way we can play games while laying on the futon! Oh, and because papa knew you were coming, he also got me an extra controller!" You announced, reaching over to the left side of the T.V and pulling out two controllers, waving them at Naoya "Mine is the purple one, and yours is black! Because of black Sentai, your favorite , right??"

Your assumption hit the mark yet again as his eyes widened and his cheeks warm up. If he already thought of you as kind, he now adores you.

"Yeah…" he nods, a small smile on his face "and yours is purple because of Gengar, right?"

"Yep! Everything I have is purple! Except for my Gameboy. I wanted the purple one, but got the gray one instead. But I saw you can paint it, but my mama doesn't let me because she says I'll ruin it, but I saw you can have it painted by someone else! But she says I shouldn't do that either, because I don't really need it…" you continue to ramble on as Naoya's mind takes him to another seizable opportunity.

Sure, this opening sets him going against your mother's wishes, but at the same time, if done correctly this could place him in a more positive light in your eyes, and I'd he thought about it, your parents too! For he'd also be showing how attentive he is.

It's set then. Just as with the scrunchies, he'll ask his parents for a purple Gameboy to give you on your birthday. The cost of something like that holds no influence in swaying his mind away from the idea, because affording something like that is nothing but spare change for someone like his father.

"I'm sure you'll get it" Naoya says in an effort to reassure you, without giving out much details… if not to build up anticipation.

"What do you mean, Noya-kun?" You ask, leaning your head to the side as you watch him shrug, feigning ignorance.

Even after all this time getting to know each other, you still hadn't said his name correctly. However, that’s not something he intends on correcting anytime soon, since he’s already grown fond of it. It's a special nickname only he gets, and the one only you are allowed to say, no one else!

In fact he even prepared a nickname for you too, one that he believes fits you very well due to the roundness of your cheeks and your affinity for such sweets…

"You'll see, mochi-chan" he says and your mouth widens in surprise. The secrecy behind surprises always excites you, so you decide to not ponder any further. "Talking about mochi, I got you some"

He takes off his backpack and places it on the ground to begin searching for your gift, swiftly and carefully pulling them out—2 boxes, one of assorted flavors and taro, your favorites.

"For me?!" You cry as he hands you the boxes, Naoya nods and you squeal once more , jumping in the spot out of happiness "Thank you so much! I'll place them next to the ones papa gave me today so we can eat them later… or not! Mama is making brownies so I want to try them first, oh, and she's also making your favorite!"

"My… favorite?" Naoya carefully repeats, wanting to make sure if he heard you right before fully diving into enjoying the fact that he might eat his favorite meal that day.

"Yeah! I think Naoya-mama said your nii-chan was sick and was giving him miso soup, but because you ate all of it she had to do more, so mama thought she would make some for you!"

"She—she said that?" Naoya nervously stammers, shame taking a hold of his feelings by his mother’s merit, yet again. His cheeks now fully ruby-red as he wonders what were the intentions of his mom relaying that information?!

"I'm sorry about your nii-chan" you say as you walk over to the nearest closet, opening the door and placing his gift alongside the other… immeasurable amount of mochi boxes inside.

Had Naoya not been too busy dealing with the shame of mother's betrayal, he would've felt intimidated by your father's doting. He once more finds himself inwardly asking how can he compete with that?!

But before Naoya is able to do much answering, he's pulled back to the conversation by the following words.

"Is Naoaki-kun ok?"

Naoya chokes.

"He's… he's not sick" Naoya whines, a scowl on his face "although I wish he was…"

"Don't say that, Noya-kun!" You protest, crossing your arms "He's your nii-chan, and he's really cool! He knows alot about Pokémon and he's really tall too, I wish I had a brother like that"

Naoya wants to say that you don't really mean that, or that you'll change your mind after getting to know him better, but instead of allowing him to ruin his night any more, he decided to redirect the conversation onto another topic.

"I know about Pokémon too" he counters, and you raise your eyebrows.

"You do?" You ask, tilting your head. Last thing you remembered about him and Pokémon… was nothing really. He doesn’t speak much when you’re talking about it.

"Yeah, I recently got a Gameboy and started playing it"

"Oooh! Which one are you playing? Did you already beat the elite four?" You enthusiastically wonder as you rush back to him, and here is where Naoya realizes he might've miscalculated the lengths of your interest.

"Y-yeah… just beat the first one" he falters as he looks away from your intense gaze in hopes of avoiding further interrogation. Luckily for him, it seems you don't notice (or care) as you simply continue on.

"My favorite one is Agatha because she has a Gengar. But she looks really mean…" you sigh "I want to become a trainer one day"

"I'm sure you can do it…" he murmurs along.

"Really? Because I already know what I want for my team! First I want a Gengar, from there I want a Rapidash because my mom likes horses, I want a Porygon too because Ren-nii likes that one, whenever he plays he just spends all his time in the casino trying to get it… and maybe a Meowth for my sister she likes cats, papa said he likes plants so I'm giving him an Oddish. That's what I have until now, but I still need one more…" you frown, pressing your lips together, hand underneath your chin, as you momentarily plunge into deep thought, figuring just which one would be the perfect match for your set… "oh! I know, what's your favorite pokemon? I'll have it in my team!"

Naoya would've felt honored for your suggestion, had it not been evident he lied his way to this point.

Truth to be told, his father didn't buy him the Gameboy he promised to get after that Halloween night because he didn’t think it necessary for a kid his age to have one in the first place.

Naobito believed he should be playing outside, spending time with his brothers or making new friends, since apparently he was having issues socializing with the rest of the kids at school—exactly the type of symptom he expected to see due to his already poor relationship with his brothers and his lack of interest for anyone else but you. The reason behind his fixation and arrogance eluded him, almost as if he were completely unaware that Naoya was simply replicating what he saw at home.

However, because of Naoya’s insistence, Naobito eventually relented to his request and ended up buying… or so that’s what the youngest of his children expected to happen when his father handed him the sealed box of the new video game device… he did not ask for.

The mere thought of his indifference and subsequent mistake is enough to anger Naoya, but not enough to cease his efforts.

To overcome this obstacle, Naoya decided to acquire the knowledge he needed through his brother's Gameboy, the one he had long discarded because he found it boring, and the same one he couldn't find the day he finally decided to rummage through his room—only to later find out that it had actually been sold in order to get this favorite group's newest album.

Always the explosive one towards his brothers, Naoya was quick to demonstrate his exasperation through his selective choice of vocabulary, but his brother —who was not in the mood to entertain him that particular day— dismissed him by suggesting he could just watch the anime instead if he was so desperate to know about it.

And that’s what Naoya (reluctantly, cause he’s never going to admit Naoaki actually had a good idea) did at first… that is, until he realized it overlapped with the airtime of his favorite anime. Thus, he was forced to quit the idea altogether.

Oh, but now… now he wishes he'd powered through this conflict, at least for a few more episodes, because now that you’re asking him questions about the franchise is when he realizes he barely saw, or remembered any of it—Aside from this one episode where a round, small pink creature with big blue eyes sang people to sleep, was the protagonist of…

"Jigglypuff?" You ask once he described the Pokémon "You like that one?"

"...yeah" Naoya lies "they're… cool"

"Yeah, they are! I like how she puts them to sleep and that’s very useful when you want to catch a Pokémon you don’t have! And it’s funny how it gets angry too and marks their faces!" You giggle "Alright, I'll get a Jigglypuff for my team since you like them! Oh, I know! What about your team? What would you like to have as a trainer?"

"I—I haven't thought about it, really… how about we talk about something else?" He nervously suggests "like… um…what are we gonna play today?"

"I have many games!” you admit proudly before starting to list them “Mario Kart, Smash, Zelda, Kirby… But we can only play Mario Kart or Smash brothers because it's for multiplayer, the other ones you'll have to watch me" you grin.

"Do you play Digimon?" Naoya innocently asks, and the way your face contorts into a frown immediately after has him feeling remorseful. Did he… say something he shouldn't have?

"Wha—what's wrong?" He stammers, blinking as he sees you twist your lips even more.

"I don't like Digimon. Pokémon is better" you say that, and nothing more.

Your sudden animosity for the franchise (or anything, really, since he always thought you as eternally unaffected… asides from that one prank he hates even mentioning) makes him wonder where this disdain came from, but ever the talkative child it's only a matter of seconds before you offer the answer yourself "Satoru-kun makes fun of me because I like Pokémon and he likes Digimon, and he's really annoying so I promised to never play it!"

Naoya blinks, processing your words for a few moments before starting to feel further ashamed. He feels bad that he brought the topic in the first place, had he known your distaste for it he would've ignored it completely, and secondly… because it turns out that's the device his father got him instead of the prized Gameboy he sought.

It's a "2 step forward, 1 step backwards" kind of situation that makes him want to move on from it as soon as possible.

Your natural inquisitiveness, however, wasn’t about to allow that just yet, and Naoya is forced to root himself at the present to answer your question—or partially, that is.

"Why do you ask?" you look up to him and his guilt only weighs heavier on his shoulders.

“Just because” he shrugs, brushing off his initial wondering as nothing more than good ol’ plain curiosity, but you knew better than that—grew better than that thanks to your less-than-discreet father and his doting ways. Besides, you already gave him the opportunity to keep one secret earlier, he shouldn't be greedy with two!

“That’s not true!” you giggle, placing your small hands on his shoulders, slightly shaking him to egg him on “Tell me, Noya-kun!! Pleaaaaaseeeeee”

“Fine, fine!” He says, managing to escape from your surprisingly tough grasp with a swift move, alongside the quickening of his heart for your closeness“...I wanted a Gameboy but my dad ended up getting me a Digivice, I mean, it’s not even similar! I don’t know how he got confused”

“Oh, so you have one?” you chirp interestedly, a completely different reaction from the one Naoya expected, that being disappointment “Hinata-nee has one too, let me show you!”

And with that, you turn towards the exit and sprint past the door, decidedly heading over to your sister’s bedroom.

Naoya wasn't sure if you wanted him to follow you, but that's what he ends up doing anyways since he didn’t feel comfortable enough to stay in your room without you, catching up to you just a few steps behind, only to come to a screeching halt upon seeing you enter the bedroom he presumes to be Hinata's, deduced from the sunflower stickers decorating the entrance.

It’s no mystery that he and your sister did not get along, and might’ve already planned how to get back at her, however, he still knew it was in his best intentions to stay away from her things, lest he wants to run the risk of retaliation from her when she inevitably learns about it, specially when he still has the element of surprise to his advantage… and his mother’s warning to behave lingering in the back of his mind.

But you, who has yet to catch on to their turbid relationship, couldn’t rationalize his reaction as anything but odd, more so upon noticing the distress on his face, prompting you to ask.

“What’s wrong, Noya-kun?”

“I—uh, I don’t think I should be going to your sister’s room” he responds, shaking his head.

“Why not?” you counter back, and for the first time in his life, he condemns your curiosity as much as he found it endearing when directed towards him and his interests, it sometimes unwittingly dug him into a hole.

“I don’t want her to feel like I went in without permission…” he goes on. He really cared less about what your sister thought, he just didn’t want to get into trouble at your house… and get his mom angry to the point where he’d never allow him to see you again.

“Hmmm, well” you take a step closer to him, at first your face serious and pensive almost as if you were considering his words, before throwing him a mischievous smirk and raising your pinky finger to him. “I won’t tell if you don’t!”

Naoya’s affliction disappears as a wave of emotions paint his face: first it's surprise, and then… amusement.

It's only the first time he sees this side of yours, but he can already tell he likes it. It opens a new door of possibilities, both literally when he intertwined his finger with yours before entering Hinata’s room just behind you, and metaphorically when he imagines the kinds of pranks you two could pull off on Naoaki if you ever want to scratch your mischievous bone. The two of you could literally be unstoppable!

But until then, he stands by as he watches you go ahead and rummage through the many drawers of her vanity table, the place you assumed most of her items to be stored in, attentive enough to not leave any unnoticed, but careful to not give the impression you were there.

And once you eventually find the object of your search, you take it out, giving yourself a mental pat in the back as you turn around and cheer.

“Look, I told you Hinata-nee had one!” you say as you walk over to Naoya, showing it off to him as you pressed on the buttons to turn it on.

A few seconds later and the device beeps, initiating its system. However, once the Digimon appears on the screen, your smile fades. “Agh, but she never takes care of it! She forgets to feed them and let them sleep too! If I had one, that would never happen, but I can’t because papa said I play too many video games at the house and I already have a gameboy so…” you shrug.

“Would you like one?” Naoya is quick to offer, unsure if the soft, sad undertone in your voice is a reflection of wanting the device, or simply your sadness for the poor digital monster.

“No, not really… I mean, maybe! We could play together like that too, right?” you assume, Naoya nods. “But I really don’t like Digimon, and if I get one Satoru-kun is just going to find a way to make fun of me too and I don’t want that either”

“Well, mom always said that if it’s something you don’t like, you don’t have to do it” Naoya reassures and you smile, happy to know you could always count on his wisdom to help you out.

“Yeah, you're right! I want to play Pokémon instead, Mario Kart, or even Smash! I want to try out this new thing I saw the other day on T.V!” With the talk of Digimon and Digivice tossed to the side, you grab Naoya by the hand once more and rush back to your bedroom, wasting no second to throwing yourself into the pillow fort, crawl on the futon towards your designated spot, and start setting up everything for a long night of video games…

“Oh! Wait, we have to change into our pijamas first!" you gasp, crawling past Naoya, who had just joined you inside the pillow fort, and going to your closet, taking out your light green warm nightwear, frog themed and looking back at Naoya “you can change here, I’ll go to the bathroom!”

“Wait, isn’t it better if you stay—” Naoya attempts to stop you, but once again, you prove too quick for him to keep up and before he’s able to continue with the rest of his sentence, you're already gone.

Left with the underlying and awkward sensation that he’s stuck in this situation with nowhere else to go, he decides to adapt to the circumstances and change into his pajamas, a black Sentai themed set per usual, just in time before you return.

“Ready Noya-kun?!” you make your grandiose return with a resounding announcement, tossing your clothes onto a nearby chair stashed away in the corner, making way back into the pillow fort and to your spot just before the t.v. “You can sit here next to me, it’s a good spot, promise” you gently pat on the empty area beside you, and like an eager puppy, Naoya does as you request and follows you inside.

Once seated, you hand him over the black controller, (perhaps not) unwittingly brushing his fingers against yours, before glancing up to the loading screen that has been on repeat for the past minutes.

And thus, the night begins.

The two begin by playing a few rounds of Smash Brothers, first together against a team of CPU’s, and then against one another. With you choosing Samus and Naoya, Captain Falcon.

The young boy found it quite hard—no, impossible to beat the veteran you turned out to be in this game, a clear statement evident by winning 10 times in a row, before eventually growing tired of the game and moving over to Mario Party.

Here he seemed to have somewhat of a better time due to the relatively easier nature of the mini games there, that is, until he realizes he's yet again, no match for your expertise.

But even as competitive and humiliated as he was by his consecutive defeats, he was still able to push all that aside in favor of genuinely enjoying his time with you.

Naoya rejoiced in how giddily reacted at your victories, with the cheeky grin on your lips as you looked over to him, almost as if you were telling him “did you see that?”

Or how you weren’t afraid of ruining your winning streak in favor of giving him a bit of an advantage, either by skipping on buying the necessary stars to win the game, or not doing anything during the minigames, although this would be for naught since you’d end up winning one way or the other.

These small things were the ones that made his night amazing, but most of all, made him feel appreciated, carefree.

A sentiment that doubled down when it was time to take a break, one which came in the form of someone knocking on your door accompanied by the delicious smell of recently made miso soup and brownies.

“Heard you two were having fun so I decided to let you have dinner here” Said your mother as she walked past the door, tray in hand, and towards the children. “Just be sure to return the plates to the kitchen after you’re done, pumpkin”

She crouches down and leaves the tray on the floor.

“That was one time, mama…” you respond with a frown and a pout as you crawl out of the tent, Naoya right behind you, before silently mouthing her to “don’t embarrass me infront of Noya…”

Minako, unable to hold back her amusement at your adorable reaction, chuckles as she ruffles your hair. You take the gesture with a bit of irritation at first, still embarrassed by your exposure however, never one to hold onto grudges, it wouldn't be long before you fall victim to her doting and start giggling alongside her, solely stopping when the smell of homemade food is too much for your stomach to ignore any longer.

Wanting to quench your hunger, you peel away from her and head over to the tray, reaching for the utensils before giving a cheerful thank you for the meal and start to eat.

Once Minako deems you appropriately cared for, she decides to see her attention on the young kid besides you, who now mirrored your actions.

“How’s my daughter treating you so far? I hope she's been well behaved, I know she can be a bit overwhelming, so don’t be afraid to let her know if she’s being so”

“Mama!” you whine, blush on your cheeks, mid-bite. “Don’t say that!” Minako laughs once more, she was just teasing you after all.

“She’s been very good to me, L/N-san!” Naoya comes to your rescue as he proudly admits his experience so far. To him, this was a test from your mother to evaluate his courteous nature… as well as a good way to express his genuine appreciation for everything your family has given him. “Thank you for your hospitality”

“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s nice for Y/N’s friends to come over” she says, softly ruffling his hair as well “I hope you like the soup, I made it specially for you upon hearing it's your favorite!"

Naoya blushes, whether because of the warmth of the soup, or your mother's attentive nature… let's call it a combination of both.

"It's delicious" he says while his mind scrambles to formulate more compliments… "more… more than my mom's!"

"Ah, well I thank you for your compliment! Just promise me to not tell your mother you said that, after all, I'm sure she makes a delicious soup as well" Minako clarified.

And in that, she was right. To Naoya there was no better food than the one his mom made.

If anything, him saying that her food was equally as good as his mother’s (or more) was to be a good compliment!

But if that's what she wants, he'll comply, besides, he wouldn't like his mom feeling sad about him liking someone else's soup. At the end of the day, his heart knows there's no competition!

"Well, I'll let you two eat. If you need anything else, I’ll be in my bedroom just a few doors away”

“Thank you” Naoya says once again as he nods, you humming alongside, and then, your mother exits the room.

And once their stomach is full with the delicious food your mother prepared —which Naoya could only delight on, after all, it was his favorite— alongside the brownies you'd proudly announced to have done yourself, even though less than a quarter of the process was handed by you, abandoning the job immediately after Naoya turned up at your house (he doesn't care, he still eats them excitedly as ever)—the two continue on with their long night of gaming

The next game in your entourage was to be Pokémon Stadium—and your personal favorite for obvious reasons.

The game seemed to pass undetected for Naoya (outside of absorbing as much information as he could for future reference) since he didn't find it as fun as the previous ones due to the new mechanics, but he was bound to remember it because whenever a pink colored Pokémon appeared on the screen, you’d say:

“Look! It’s your favorite Pokémon!”

It was far from the truth, of course, but he didn’t have the heart to tell you no, or the information to give you an alternative.

By playing the game, however, he realized he liked Abra in particular, something about its psychokinetic powers resonated inside him… making him wonder if you liked the Pokémon too (no, you didn’t, you’d tell him later—because you hated how difficult it was to capture a Pokémon who would teleport away from the battle as soon as they could!)

From there, the next game that set the tone for the rest of the night: Mario Kart—and not because he liked the game in particular, if anything, this is where he realized that the infamy following the game was well earned.

The video game was unreasonably harder than the others (whether for your configurations or default, it was irrelevant to him) and no matter what he did, he just would never catch up!

He tried to get a head start by pressing the designated accelerator button, only for the car to stall instead because he’d apparently “pressed the button too early” or so you attempted to justify, and by the time he regained control over the vehicle he was already behind all of the other racers!

But if that was already pretty bad, the items scattered around the track was the metaphorical cherry on top of his demise: while most of them held the intention of providing the upper hand to whoever manages to catch them, it seems he’d gotten the uncommon bug that only allowed him to use his items incorrectly and subsequently lose.

Far different from your usual outcome, which you were all aware of thanks to the confident yet focused look on your face.

How was it possible that you were just good at every single game that you played?! You must have a talent that eludes him, or perhaps your dad was right in saying that you played a lot in your free time.

Well, whatever the reasons didn’t matter to him, and his frustration wasn’t going to last that long either, not after you gifted him the words that would make up for all of his defeats.

“What?” you ask upon noticing the stillness of his car, as well as catching him staring at you through the corner of your eye “Just because I like you doesn't mean I’m going to let you win!”

“You—you what?” Naoya is only left to stammer as a consequence of the rattling statement you've thrown into the conversation. Such was his shock, that even his controller fell off his hand and to his lap, followed by a gentle thud that was deafened by the thundering of his heart echoing in his ears.

He couldn't believe what you'd just said, and denied wanting to accept it so easily without being completely sure, so he swallowed, preparing himself to work through the knot in his throat and squeak "Wh—what did you say?" hoping to obtain a reiteration from your part…

“Noya-kun, you dropped your controller! How do you plan to win like that?” is what you decide to respond to instead, completely ignoring his question as you reach for his controller and hand it back to him, much to his disappointment.

But even then, it wouldn't matter to him that much, not when he decided to convince himself that he heard you correctly the first time.

Your words were like honey to his ears, no, much more sweeter than anything he could imagine! And if this wasn't a sign that he was on the right path, then he didn't know what it was!

Well, either way, he can't say he's not excited to figure out what he meant to you through his own merit....

The kids eventually grow tired of playing, and wanting to do something different and less stimulating, they decided to relax by watching a movie and snack on a few more of those brownies they managed to sneakily steal from the kitchen on their way back to return the used plates…

A plan that was proving to be successful, that is, until they bumped into your mother just a few feet away from your bedroom, an unexpected presence that froze them on the spot, but who could do nothing more than smile and chuckle at how suspicious they looked with their wide eyes and rosy cheeks as they attempted to hide all evidence by placing the brownies behind their backs, and it would've worked, had there not been any lingering clues on the corners of their mouths—Only realizing so when one saw the other.

“I’m sorry” Keeping his promise to his mother, Naoya is the first to speak, looking down to the ground in embarrassment as he attempts to wipe the chocolate out of his face with his free hand.

“Ah, no, it's not that, I’m not upset” she said, taking out a handkerchief from her pocket and helping clean up Naoya “I’m honored really, it’s the first time I made brownies so you two getting second servings is the highest of compliments”

“But I made them mama!” you interject with a cry and she blinks, before nodding.

“Oh, yes, of course! How could I forget my little baker?” Minako apologizes, patting your head. You smile back at her in a way that lets her know you accepted her apology, and she proceeds to clean you up as well. “Well, I’m still glad that you liked Y/N-chan’s work. Maybe she can even bake you a cake on your birthday, it’s soon, isn’t it? In March if I recall correctly…”

“Your birthday is in March?” you gasp, startled by this new information you were ignorant about just a few moments ago, as your head swirls into his direction, earning a subtle sigh from your mother due to her interrupted work. "When??”

“March 27” he reveals. A date that he greatly anticipates as soon as the year starts, or any day of the year really, since his mother organized the greatest birthday parties ever without fail: He gets to open all the presents he wants, and eat nothing more than food that he likes—but now, he has one more thing he was looking forward to the most, and that was your attendance!

Maybe he can finally introduce you to his best friend? Or even his favorite cousin!

“Are you gonna have a party? Am I invited?!” you urged before turning back to your mother, jumping to get her attention “Oh, mama, can I go? Can I go, pleaseeee?”

“I’ll think about it” she winks at you before looking at Naoya.

She already had made her decision though, for the envelope Tomoko placed alongside Junko’s food earlier that day turned out to be nothing more than the invitation to his birthday party, set to be on the weekend of his birthday.

“I’ll be waiting for our invitation, Naoya-kun” she teases, and Naoya flushes.

“I—I promise to bring one!” He blurts out “And Y/N-chan will be a special guest too, I promise!”

“I’m sure Y/N-chan will be happy to attend as a normal guest” Minako says “Now, I’ll let you continue on with your slumber party, but also, don’t eat any more than those brownies, too much sugar at this hour will just force you to stay up at night and you have to rest well” she reminds, but you shake your head in rejection of her idea.

“But a slumber party is meant to be all night!” you protest, a pout on your lips.

“Well, he’s going to be here tomorrow too, you don’t have to do everything tonight” Minako explains and you stare at her for a few seconds, as if analyzing her words before giving her a nod.

“You’re right!” you concede, giving her a thumbs up, which she mirrors almost immediately after “Ok! Goodnight mama!”

The two eventually return back to your room, resuming their new plan.

“What do you want to watch Noya-kun?” you say as you reach out for the T.V. controller and begin to surf through channels.

Naoya seems to ponder on the mental list of possible movies to watch, he could suggest his favorites, or maybe the ones he hadn’t seen… that is, until an interesting idea crosses his mind, one that if it's planned correctly…

Yeah, he definitely knows what he wants to do now.

“Let’s watch a horror movie” he suggests, glancing at you in hopes of finding the typical enthusiasm a kid has for tasting the prohibited…

But “No, thank you” is what you respond with, without hesitation and whilst intently shaking your head. You didn't even bother to give it a second thought as you continued “Papa and mama say I can’t watch horror movies”

Naoya is faced with a difficult position yet again: he wants to obey your parents and earn brownie points with them, however, he’s seen (or heard more likely) how people tend to clutch at their partners when seeing a horror movie, and he wants to try if you’d do that with him, so…

“Just the first minutes” he insists, going against his better judgment as he doubles down in a high risk gamble. “And if it’s too scary we can just watch something else”

And at his insistence you decide to finally give in and consider his alternative, assuming by your furrowed brows, before coming to terms with your decision with a nod.

“Ok! But no more than a few minutes!” you say as you hand him over the controller, sealing the deal.

Naoya takes it and immediately presses in the numbers of the channel he'd seen his brother waste his life in watch horror movies in his free time.

And luckily for him, there was already a horror movie playing on the channel when it finally changed, so it meant they didn’t have to wait much for one to get one.

After you come to the same realization, you rush to hide yourself under the covers, pulling them up just below your eyes with hopes that this setup will offer you some kind of protection, as well as allowing you to peek back at the T.V, just enough to anticipate for the moment you’re bound to be inevitably scared and hopefully act accordingly.

Naoya can’t help but gush at your sight, rushing to do the same by joining you underneath the covers and lying beside you as close as he could.

“You better protect me if something happens!” you say upon noticing his closeness, which you don’t mind at all, for it turns out, he’s quite warm and that’s a plus for someone as cold prone as you. “This was your idea!”

“I will” he says with a smile, glad that step one of his plan is already in motion as a sudden urge of guardianship engulfs him “I’ll protect you!”

“Okay…” you whisper and you push yourself deeper into the futon upon hearing somewhat of an unsettling, screeching noise from the T.V, which turned out to be nothing more than a fake jumpscare, intending to lower the guard of the viewer, that is, until the true scare came out.

The first time it happened you were less than enthusiastic about it, squirming and crying underneath the covers when it first transpired.

The second time you inadvertently took cover at Naoya’s arm, pressing your face against it as you tried to run away from the horrifying sight, his small heart pounded loudly against his chest for having you that close to him—although when did it not beat like that when you were around?

But by the third time, it stopped being fun. The way you squealed and looked away was turning to be quite… unsettling to him. He thought that by this point you would’ve realized this was nothing more than a cheap horror movie made to fill the blank spaces between the good emissions, even laugh at the cheesiness of it, however, the more you cowered, the more he realized this was a bad decision and no amount of reassurance from his part could pacify your fright.

So he ends up doing the right thing by taking the controller, switching the channel into something he’d thought you’d like better and hopefully relaxing you—his go-to anime channel.

At the sudden interruption, you peek from underneath the covers, glancing up at him wide-eyed as you continue.

“Why did you change it…?” You asked, softly and hesitantly. You were confused, and rightfully so, for you perceived him to be quite enthusiastic about seeing a horror movie in the first place. Why the sudden change of heart?

"Because… uh, it was pretty boring” he responds nervously, briefly glancing at you before looking away, riddled with shame for having distressed you. “and… you didn’t seem like you were having fun”

“It wasn’t fun” you admit, looking back at the T.V. “...thank you”

His heart squeezes with something he describes as a combination of happiness and regret, the first for your admiration and recognition, and the second for having pushed you through all that just because he wanted to replicate something he overheard Naoaki wanting to try out.

He was already having a good time with you, regardless if he was close to you or not, so it was stupid to ruin it for something that was probably fake either way…

So instead, he decided to rescue their night before it was ruined any further and share with you what he liked the most, watching anime. With a series he thought would be much more enjoyable (or at least that's what he hopes): Cardcaptor Sakura.

It’s certainly a bit out of his usual watches, but through the small glimpses he's gotten here and there, he can still admit it's interesting all together. And with that notion, both kids begin to watch the anime, slowly becoming enraptured by the somewhat soft-spaced story, yet adventurous and creative storytelling.

But more than admiring the interesting show on the screen before them, he was more elated to see that this show had effectively lulled you into a more peaceful state of mind: you were no longer attempting to hide underneath the covers, instead, your arms are now out, head slightly lifted thanks to the new adjustment in your pillow, and completely focused on admiring the protagonist and the adventures she’s inadvertently roped into.

A peaceful, contrasting sight that leads him to ruminate on his regret for having attempted to ruin it by his senseless imagination, as well as realizing just… how much he likes to be with you, and how he's excited to spend the rest of the weekend with you.

It’s now become an undeniable fact that he's the happiest when he’s by your side, and when he’s apart, all that he wants to do is be with you. He likes how you laugh, and how you smile.

How you’re so focused and competitive on your video games, but at the same time, patient with him, who is nothing more than a complete failure at them.

He likes how you even remembered the things that he likes, whether them being food, anime, or even his favorite color.

Naoya is happy to be with you. And his feelings for you have grown so big since the first time he met you, that he begins to feel this overwhelming need of telling you about them starting to inundate his mind.

Thus… it begins..

Taking a deep breath, he takes the first step with what he considers to be his most excruciating, but satisfying, endeavor yet.

“Y/N” he calls. No nickname, no honorifics, nothing, just your name, a way for him to show how serious he’s approaching this matter.

There’s a slight tremble on his voice, as he awaits for confirmation that he has your attention, which it comes when you hum as a response. “I… want to tell you something”

“What is it, Noya-kun?” you respond, moving your head to glance at him.

He never thought he could be taken aback by the sight of your big round e/c eyes, but he’s proven wrong at this moment; and if anything, he's happy to be wrong, because it just lets him know he needs to do this.

“It’s many things actually” he begins “First… I want to tell you that I’m sorry for putting on that horror movie. I… thought it would be fun since I’m not that scared of them, and it was a cheap movie too but, well, I just ended up scaring you and I didn’t want that, so… I’m sorry”

“It’s ok, Noya-kun. Ren-nii likes horror movies too, I think…” you say, a yawn suddenly escaping your lips which makes you instinctively rub your eyes as well. "So maybe you could watch them with him next time!”

“I’ll see…” he frowns, mentally taking Ren, your brother, out of the equation before continuing “But still, it was wrong to scare you”

“Don’t worry about it… you can make it up to me with sweets…” you cheekily suggest.

Naoya huffs in amusement before relaxing his head back to the pillow, eyes now on the fabric ceiling. “You like sweets very much, huh?”

“Yeah…” you nod, and he hears shuffling coming from your side. Naoya presumes it must be you doing the same as him.

“I’ll see if I can get you more next time I see you… at my birthday party!” he says “I’ll make sure to ask for a cake you like too, that way you can eat as many slices as you want”

“Chocolate?” you ask and he nods.

“Yeah! Just that?”

“I like chocolate…”

“I know, I saw that today!” He smiles before taking a deep breath and placing his hands over his abdomen, intertwining his fingers together as a way to ease his nerves—his heart beginning to torment him yet again. Now… onto the hard part. “... also, there’s something else I want you to know”

You don’t respond this time, and he takes your silence as if you were signaling him to proceed.

He takes another deep breath, attempting to ease his poor heart from beating too hard, before continuing.

“I… I had fun with you. I always do actually, I can't think of a time I don't! But… What I meant to say is that I was the happiest today…

Ever since I met you at the halloween night mom planned… you’re the only person I want to be with!. And who doesn’t? You’re funny, fun, and you like the same things I do! Or most of them anyways… kind too, even with my annoying brothers… and you’re cute too… the cutest girl I’ve ever seen in my life” Naoya admits as well, though he seems to falter a bit there since he’s not used to calling anyone cute after all, always feeling ashamed to do so—there’s something about his siblings making fun of him for their mother calling him cute that completely derails him from using it.

But if he’s ever tasked to appoint a definition, he’s sure you’d be the perfect example.

“I—I guess what I mean to say is… It… it felt nice to hear that you liked me back then when we were playing and I…” he pauses, heartbeats in his throat as he musters all the courage he can for the following words “I want you to know that I like you too! I like you, Y/N-chan. And… I hope you like me the same way”

It’s done.

He’d placed all his cards on the table, wore his heart on his sleeve with nothing more than pure intentions, and from this point forward, it was a matter of seeing if you’d correspond to them… if you felt the same for him.

God, he doesn’t recall ever being this nervous in his life, not even when he got to meet his favorite actor from his favorite show.

He’s so nervous to hear your response, that he doesn’t even feel capable of looking at you.

Naoya’s going through a layered turmoil of emotions he’s having a hard time dissecting, it’s like a combination of excitement, nerves, fear, and relief…

And yet, it’s the moment he’s been looking forward to the most in the past few weeks—he’s sure of it now—the moment he’ll know if his feelings are reciprocated, and be happy!

But those thoughts begin to hinder when he realizes that seconds have gone by and you’re yet to give him an answer.

A hum, a word, even a gesture with your hands, anything to signal him that you’ve at least heard his words… but he receives nothing instead.

“Y/N?” he calls, no answer. And his heart which was soaring with anticipation, threatening to escape the confines of his chest, now begins to sink into something he can only identify as rejection—no, this was worse than that, something he didn’t think existed, but your silence made it possible for him to learn otherwise.

Did he… miscalculate what you meant? And now… you’re grossed out by him?!

Oh, he doesn’t think he’ll be able to handle this situation if it becomes his reality.

“Y/N?” He repeats once more, and it’s at this moment that he realizes there is no other path for him to take than to face the lights and the possibility of a grimace of antipathy against him resting in your usually cheerful face, marking the painful end of his friendship with you.

He doesn’t think himself capable of seeing such an image, but pushes through as he turns his head to face you, just as he’s been taught to do so in the face of uncertainty.

So Naoya holds his breath, tightly closes his eyes as he gathers up courage, before opening them and glancing back at you, expecting to be received with an image that would only fuel his nightmares…

Or perhaps, drowsiness?

Because when he finally sees you is when he realizes that your silence wasn't of indecision, uninterest, or even rejection—no, nothing like that.

It had been because you’d incidentally fallen asleep.

With your softly eyes shut, mouth slightly agape, and chest slowly rising and falling to the sound of your relaxed breathing, you were the epitome of slumber—and a completely different sight he’d drearily created in his mind.

At the whiplash of this revelation, Naoya can’t help but sigh as the weight of his worries is suddenly lifted from his shoulders; it wasn’t what he was expecting, but at least he can find comfort in the fact that it was nothing bad, more so when his mind pushes him to recall the words his mother imparted him with on the night of halloween:

A few minutes after the L/N family had departed, the Zen’in’s ride home arrived, with the same chauffeur that had driven them at first, and just in time before the night got any colder.

The group scurried to get into the car, and once everyone was seated and appropriately secured, with the heater in just the right temperature, their ride home started.

It must’ve been the combination of the warm temperature and the continuous rocking movement of the car that has Naoaki falling first to the clutches of slumber, eventually surrendering himself completely into sleep as he rested his head on their mother’s shoulder.

And Naoya, ever the one to keep up first with his brother before anyone else, was quick to voice his opinion on the matter.

“Why do you let him rest on your shoulder?” Naoya asks “Wouldn't it be better if he waited till home? I mean, that’s what I would do—That way he could rest better in his bed than on you!”

Tomoko holds back the urge to chuckle at his irony, because she’s more than capable of listing a few occasions where Naoya has fallen asleep after picking him up from his extra-curricular classes, having to carry him to bed… well, that’s just in the nature of two conflicting siblings, she supposes.

“Ah, well, if you put it that way I would definitely prefer Naoaki-kun to rest on his bed in the long run, he is quite heavy after all” she begins to explain, a smile on her lips, as she wraps her freed arm around Naoya and pulls him closer, a gesture that has him immediately basking on her warmth by hugging her back “But I like it when my children do that, it makes me feel… how do I put it… happy. Happy that they’re comfortable and safe with me. Besides, it also reminds me of when he was an adorable little baby, just like you!”

She pinches Naoya’s cheek and the young kid can’t do anything but to twist his mouth out of disgust at the mental image of Naoaki being “cute”, as well as fluster up due to the embarrassment of his mother’s cheesy, yet welcomed, gesture.

Back then, he didn’t understand it. Thinking his mom to be the usual doting self she always is.

But now that he’s living it, he gets it. That must be what he’s feeling when he sees you resting besides him, falling victim to the consumption of all of your energy.

It seems that not even the brownies were enough to refill your stamina and help you stay up throughout the night, just as you told your mother you were planning to do.

At the end of the day… he was ok with you not answering his feelings at the moment.

If anything, it just gave him more opportunities to impress you and your family into liking him more! (Outside of Ren and Hinata, of course, they were… different)

And with his birthday coming up, there couldn’t be any better timing.

Seeing your current status inspires Naoya to yawn, signaling it was also time for him to go to sleep. So, he does. But not before he pulls your side of the covers a few inches more, resting just at the base of your neck.

Once that’s set, he reaches over for the T.V. and lights controller—the one your father had set to turn off the line lights around the pillow fort—and turns them off.

In the deep silence of the night he carefully moves to his side and starts getting ready to lay back into the futon, fixing the pillow just how he thought it more comfortable before leaning the back of his head into it.

He begins to blink slowly, drowsiness weightening down his lids, but before he plunges into morpheus’ arms he gives you one last look—or whatever features he’s able to make out through the adjustment of his eyes— smiles, and thinks:

«This has been the best day ever»

He closes his eyes, falling asleep.

Deep into the late hours of the night, a gust of wind begins to take its path. First, by passing through the branches of the many trees in your garden, rattling the leaves and waking whatever animal is resting there. Continuing on its way by squeezing into the smallest of gaps of windows forgotten to be sealed for the night, mandating a shiver from the poor unsuspecting person that is to be resting inside, coincidentally, the one to be the most cold prone out of the whole estate—you.

Your body initially retaliates from being awakened by making you curl up against yourself in hopes of harborging the warmth of the covers, with a subtle whimper here and there, tightly squeezing your eyes together, before another shiver erupts from your body, making you grunt and eventually, wake you up.

The first thing that your eyes notice is the complete darkness that immerses your room, it’s such an eerie environment that doesn't fail on freezing you on the spot, considering that most of the time you had the light of the moon to accompany you.

Even then, you were more than ready to scurry out of your chambers and into your mother’s room, that is, until memories of moments before your sleep flood your mind: you were watching T.V. a horror movie to be more precise, and then, you started watching anime, someone was telling you something, you can’t recall—

Oh, right! How could you forget? You were with Naoya!

Well, in your defense, you usually lose track of what you are doing, or were doing, immediately upon awakening, only regaining it either through patience or eating. (Hinata begs to differ on that last one)

Now that you remembered what happened, or partially, you move forward to try and put the pieces together of who remembered to turn all of the lights off (since you… ah, let’s say that this subject quickly became your mother’s bane after a while) as well as when was the moment you actually fell asleep.

But before you could even scramble through your memories, a sudden sigh rupturing the calmness of the night gives you the answer.

Your head swirls in its direction and then, through your now adjusted vision to the darkness, you see him: Naoya lying with his body downwards, his face directed towards you, hair disheveled, but over all completely and fully deep into his sleep.

The revelation is enough to let you know he must’ve been the one to do what you often fail, as well as reminding you to keep quiet as to not wake him up; just the thing you start to do as you continue on trying to figure out how you’d fallen asleep in the first place—you recall Naoya telling you something about how sorry he was for putting the horror movie, and how you told him that if he wanted to make it up to you, you were accepting sweets as an apology…

From there on out, everything seems to turn into a blur, memories mixed between scenes of the anime you were watching and Naoya’s words, making it difficult to distinguish which one came from him, and which one from the t.v…

You eventually grow tired of going around in circles, deciding to instead go back to sleep and think about it in the morning, perhaps even ask Naoya about it if it keeps bothering you by then—although you were sure you wouldn’t have time for that, after all, your mom promised earlier that she would take you to the park!

The excitement is enough to push you back down to the bed, but not before reaching over for one of your favorite plushies (which you’ve unknowingly tossed aside while asleep) with the intentions of cuddling with it for the rest of the night, that is, until you’re abruptly stopped by another of Naoya’s sigh’s.

Something inside you convinces you instead to place it beside him, believing he could benefit much more from the fluffy companion and get a good night's sleep than you, who could just get another cuddle buddy if you so desired.

You carefully inch the plushie as close as you can towards him, avoiding making any rough movements that could wake him up, and once in the desired placement, you let it go.

You then return to your usual spot, stretching your pillow a few times before resting on it, moving to your side just to get a quick glance at Naoya, wishing him good night, and subsequently diving back into your dreams.

But just as you were opening your mouth to do so, something flashes across your mind, and a sudden wave of heat invades your cheeks, one that ignites the thundering of your heart the longer you keep staring at him, effectively stopping you.

You continue to silently observe him, breath quickening the harsher your heart pounds against your chest, eventually overwhelming you with the urge to move closer to him.

And that’s what you do. You carefully scoot over to him, as close as you could without taking much of his personal space and attempt to get a good look at the face of the kid you shared quite the enjoyable evening with, and wouldn’t mind doing so tomorrow, or any other occasion.

However, as much as you wished to keep looking at him to make sense of what your mind was telling you at the moment, it doesn’t take much longer for your eyelids to begin weighing down on you, signaling you that it was time to go back to sleep.

Something that doesn’t give you much space to retaliate once your body forces you to prepare for rest, starting by slowing down the intermittence of your blinks, the speed of your breathing—the general introduction of laxness in your body and the starting process of recuperating your energy.

But even in this resting moment, when your body is mobilizing all of your remaining energy for nothing more than getting you to sleep, you’re still able to gather enough stamina to formulate and mumble the conclusion of your thoughts:

“I like you too”

And then, everything goes dark.

#prompt series: jujutsu kaisen #naoya zenin #naoya zen'in #naoya x reader #naoya zenin x reader #naoya zenin x your #jjk naoya #naoya zen'in x reader

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aldbooks · 2 years

Text

I saw an ask response earlier where the ask was basically implying that Azriel had mercenary intentions with both Mor and Elain, whether he was conscious of that or not, and my response got me thinking about the bat boys.

So, let's do a little analysis...

First off, it's important to note that in some form or other, all three are considered 'bastards', Cassian and Azriel literally, Rhysand because of racial biases. All three of them had some similar experiences because of the connotations that word carries (though obviously to very different degrees) and all had vastly different experiences as children that, even after they began living together as brothers, really shaped who they are as grown men.

Cassian

The bastard of a low born female with an unknown male, Cassian was perhaps the most hated among the three of them, at least from what we know so far. He was forced away from his mother very young and forced to fend for himself in the war camps.

We're told that bastards are given nothing when they join the camps. They're left in the cold without even shelter and have to earn, win or steal everything. Which Cassian does. He fought other boys in the camp to win the clothes he wore.

Because of this, Cassian, despite his obvious power and talent and intelligence, now feels he has to work to earn every bit of pride, praise, respect, and affection he receives. He worked his way through the ranks of soldiers starting from the very bottom to become their general. Which is... insanely impressive on its own. Yes, Rhys made him the general, but he definitely earned it, just like he earned the seven siphons he wears. Siphons that are basically never given to bastards. The Illyrians hate him, but begrudgingly respect and obey his orders because he fought for that respect.

He allows himself to become the emotional punching bag for his friends because he feels it's how he earns his place in their circle. Even Nesta comments on this.

Still, he believes himself unworthy because that's what he's been told his whole life. And in spite of all of that, he remains kind and compassionate and giving. He fights for those who can't fight for themselves, because, until he met Rhys, no one was there to fight for him.

Rhysand

Rhysand is the son of the High Lord and his mate. Born into a privileged life, that would have been mostly devoid of love if not for his mother. Hated by almost everyone outside of the Night Court because of the reputation of his court. Hated by the Illyrians because of his mother's elevated position and refusal to conform, but also because they chaffed at being ruled by High Fae who thought themselves better. Hated by the citizens of the Hewn City who considered the 'half-breed' a bastard and unworthy of his title. They only bow to him now because they fear him and they've seen what he will do to those who try to usurp him.

As a child, Rhys himself tells us that he hadn't understood what it was to be without until he saw Cassian trudging back to his little tent in the rain/snow (can't remember which but it was wet and cold). At this point, he still doesn't like Cassian but he feels guilt for the luxuries he has that Cassian does not and begs his mother to let him stay with them and they later adopt Azriel as well.

This begins a cycle of Rhysand feeling like he doesn't deserve the things he's been given because of his birth, and why he tries so hard to make sure his friends stay comfortable and well paid, giving so much of his wealth and himself to them. He does it with Feyre too, feeling like he has to compensate her for staying with him and giving up the chance at a life where she would not be hated and hunted because of him.

He wants to be liked. Wants to be loved. This is very evident, not only in how he acts with his family and his mate, but with others too. He befriended Tamlin when he was younger, and only abandoned him after he was betrayed. That betrayal and lost friendship still hurts him. He was so hopeful about a friendship with Tarquin and was genuinely disappointed when he realized the consequences of the choices they made in Summer meant he would likely never be trusted by the man the way he'd hoped.

He has a tendency to make plans on his own, sometimes without fully thinking through the consequences, or who will get hurt, and constantly puts himself in front of the figurative blade to spare those he loves pain. Again this all seems to come from guilt.

Azriel

The bastard son of a Lord and a servant. Hated by his stepmother and brothers who treat him abominably cruelly simply for existing while his father does nothing to stop any of it. He's acknowledged, but not given the privileges of a son and is only set free from his personal hell when he develops a rare gift and suddenly becomes 'valuable.'

We don't know much about what the war camps were like for Azriel, other than he had to learn to fly at a much older age than other boys and was probably bullied for it. We know Cassian taught him, so it may be safe to assume he and Rhys took him under their wing relatively early. He was probably decently well protected by the two of them. He now has a massive hero complex, always wanting to be the savior and have the glory.

After the war camps, Rhysand's father takes Azriel as his personal Shadowsinger and forces him to spy for him. This is likely where Azriel learned most of the skills he now uses today as Spymaster, including the torture. Again, we don't know much about what those days were like for him, but it's implied he both witnessed and was made to do some terrible things. However, he'd once again been deemed 'valuable' and given a prestigious position in court.

Azriel's entire reputation is built on fear and intimidation, fed by rumors both of the power he/his shadows wield and what everyone knows he does (i.e. 'interrogations') and he not only has a very high opinion of himself, he also seems to feel he deserves the awe and 'respect' because of who he is. He's very prideful and we mostly see this when anyone questions him. He seems to believe he's owed things because of everything he was denied.

This is where I diverge from 'canon' and get into my impressions of who Azriel is based on what we do know...

Azriel is a font of contradictions. He craves love, but because he received so little of it in his life thus far, doesn't truly seem to comprehend or recognize what love is. He has an obsessive personality and confuses infatuation, jealousy and feelings of possessiveness with actual affection. He seems to believe there are (overly) simple solutions to complicated problems despite all the things he's observed over the years and all the political intrigue he's participated in.

Examples: Kill Beron (all the Vanserras most likely) = Autumn will be a better place and Mor will be avenged. Illyrians/CoN aren't cooperating? do whatever tf you want and kill whoever disagrees/opposes. Kill Lucien = Elain is 'free'. Find a mate = be happy.... there's a lot of killing involved there. I imagine this is also something he's learned from his time as Spymaster. Sometimes the easiest way to stem the flow of information is kill anyone who knows.

Azriel was treated badly and shunned by his own people and doesn't hold any compassion towards them for the prejudices they were taught or try to teach them different, as Cassian does. While Rhysand and Cassian try to find ways to move forward and create peace with as little bloodshed as possible (despite being the general, Cassian would rather avoid war if he could), Azriel would just as soon see the world burn.

All three have both good qualities and bad.

Rhysand- I think mostly because he feels trapped by the reputation he was practically born with- can be cruel and overly arrogant, and can be selfish in that he only seems to consider how his decisions affect his own people and no one else. But, he genuinely wants to make the world better, even if he doesn't always understand the best way to do that.

Cassian - deeply underestimates himself. Despite being the most emotionally intelligent of the three, he often missteps in his interactions with other people. He takes insults to heart, which can lead to him lashing out when hurt. (hello destroying an entire village because of what happened to his mother, or the things he said to Nesta when she insulted him) He gives too much of himself, but always chooses to see the best in people. We especially see this with his thoughts on Lucien while others in the IC are disparaging him, and the last words he says to Eris in ACOSF. Also with how he views his own people.

Azriel - Is angry at the world. He is capable of compassion, but only seems to extend it to those he believes are 'deserving' of it. Thus he hates the Illyrians, the Autumn Court and the CoN for the actions and opinions of a few, as though they were one entity and not made of individual people who do not all share the same thoughts and prejudices as the worst of them. As much as he hates himself, he also seems to have moments when he revels in his own bloodlust and darkness. He has the most healing to do of the three of them.

#rhysand #cassian #azriel #bat boys #character analysis #acotar

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thestalkerbunny · 1 year

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Could we know more about the princess? She seems really cool

Sure; here's her original art of Princess Diedre.

-Princess is just a title imposed on her by her goblin army, she technically is a Countess. She presides over fairly large town, bordering on City status. Development of the town was halted when the Goblins invaded.

-She spent most of her childhood cloistered in her family home without visitors. She had private tutors and didn't go outside much at all. Her parents were very protective of her.

-By the time came for her to be courted and married, despite her attempts to conform to suitor's needs and wants-they were often 'stunned' by her appearance and were paid off by her parents to remain silent about what they saw. Very few suitors saw beneath her mask and veil as most of them made her very uncomfortable.

-The black mask she wears under her veil is called a 'Moretta' Mask. It was commonly used in Venice to attract attention to other parts of a lady rather than their facial beauty. To invoke interest in their 'inner beauty'. (or tits. Tits work as well.)

-Diedre favorite past time is gardening and her home's grounds have beautiful wide gardens. She also likes to illustrate pictures from her favorite books in water colors.

-She's extremely fond of her goblins, doting on them almost just as much as they adore her. It's not uncommon for people to call upon Lady Diedre and see a goblin cuddled up on her lap. Thanks to her wealth, she is able to indulge the goblins in whatever they wish and allow them the liberties and freedoms of recreational activities they'd not known for so long.

-Her parents sort of 'retired' from the noble circles after the goblins invaded and took up more permeant residence in one of their summer homes on the coast. The goblins moving in was a bit much for them to take.

#TSB Ask #Princess Diedre #Princess Barghest

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marinecorvid · 1 year

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2.21.23 (but actually drawn at least a month ago - and now posted 6.2.23) - some xy fic sketches. rambles beneath the cut

in my Great Fanfiction Rewrite of the (X)Y plot because it was sadly lacking in some places, Calem/Xavier kinda sorta joins Team Flare! To be honest this isn't my 100% original idea, I saw someone post once on here somewhere how cool it would've been if your rival, frustrated with constantly losing to you, joined Team Flare in desperation to beat you. I have taken this concept and am running with it. Xavier in my story Did Not take kindly to losing the Mega Ring to Yvonne: a rookie trainer, a girl, a girl who doesn't fall into his preconceived notions of what a young female trainer should be like, a girl he initially assumed he would be in a relationship with and he'd be the tough trainer in contrast to her contest abilities, someone from a poorer family from his. He gets uhh a little wild trying to prove his might makes right (deeply sheltered child who was never exposed to anything that would upset him syndrome)

In my head Y is the canon, but I'm doing a ramshackle combo into a tentative Z in which Yvonne and Yveltal fight Lysandre together, but also Xavier and Xerneas at some point and Zygarde is there too as a result of Team Flare managing to find BOTH legendaries (who in the anime were depicted as being right on top of each other) but only figuring out how to use Yveltal in the Ultimate Weapon. Xavier steals the Poke Flute and uses it to wake Xerneas (willingly or not - he's irrational, but IDK how down he'd be for the "destroy the world" plot, but Xerneas DEFINITELY uses ~fairy powers~ to fuck with his mind)

Yvonne has vitiligo! Dyes her hair blonde for the first halfish of the game, lets it grow out to its natural brown as a symbolic representation of not wanting to conform to certain beauty standards. She starts wearing very snazzy suits post-game, avoiding short sleeves and skirts

My HC is that Sycamore is her da! He and Grace were an item back in the day when Grace was in Kalos Rhyhorn racing, and she only realized she was pregnant when she'd already left. Sycamore didn't feel ready at all to be an active father, and Grace didn't feel any strong need to be in a relationship with him/have him be a part of Yvonne's life with a strong circle of friends and family who'd help with childrearing, so he stayed in Kalos and continued his work on evolution and Fairy Types in Kalos, every other month or so receiving an email of an update of Yvonne's life in progress. Eventually Grace's racing injuries/chronic pain is too debilitating to continue racing, and Sycamore offers his grandparents' cottage in the starting town. Yvonne knows her father is an academic/scientist in Kalos but doesn't know it's him, and doesn't want to know until she's more comfortable in the region. She DOES start to suspect though, but only confirms it mid/post-Geosenge crisis (haven't decided how long that's drawn out) in a hospital bed. Sycamore (after years of watching his daughter grow up from afar, and has become more invested in her life in the past few years) is delighted that she's willing have a familial connection

a lot of people draw Yveltal as a bird (super cool, no judgement) but it's very dragon-y to me with the hands/wings, kinda like how bat wings are just elongated fingers with skin between them. The logic of the tail eludes me though. It's Yvonne's buddy post game! As much as she does not want it to be her buddy! But when a super powerful ancient deity of death decides it wants to be your friend there's not a lot you can do to stop it. She warms up to it eventually. They have a fun time threatening Malva together

Korrina is a sports lesbian

Shauna slight redesign. She and Yvonne become an item around Laverre. In my story there's a cool Ren Faire-ish thing happening when they arrive and they both get a little tipsy and kiss and spend the evening running around in semi-accurate reenactment dresses giggling and dancing and giving each other wildflowers

Gogoat =)

#pokemon #xy #gen 6 #serena #yvonne #calem #xavier #yveltal #sketch #my art #this has been languishing in my drafts long enough

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toxic-mothers-tourney · 1 year

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Toxic propaganda: Mrs. Asahina/Mafuyu’s mother (Project Sekai: Colorful Stage)

CW: suicide

mrs asahina is the mother of one of the main characters of project sekai, mafuyu asahina. mafuyus mother is very emotionally abusive and guilt trips her constantly. she puts her on a super high pedestal and completely made mafuyu lose her entire sense of self and identity. shes a HORRIBLE person, and in more recent events took away mafuyus only source of happiness (her computer where she talks to her music group, and her music stuff). shes so horrible. i hate her. MAFUYU LITERALLY CANT EVEN EXPRESS A SINGLE EMOTION FOR LIKE, THE MAJORITY OF THE PLOT BECAUSE OF HER

The entire reason mafuyu is traumatized. extremely manipulative, tries to take away everything that makes her child happy and make her child conform to what she thinks is a good lifestyle.

Mafumom's idea of love is, essentially, to repress and restrict her daughter's hobbies/interests/desires in the name of pushing her to the top of the academic world and eventually becoming a doctor. Her daughter, Mafuyu, is depressed, stressed, and suicidal as a result (she doesn't even want to be a doctor she actually wanted to be a nurse but her mom was like "aim higher gurl!"). Her only escapes are 1. the archery club and 2. the music circle she writes lyrics for in secret, both of which are things her mother is trying to deprive her of, as she's been spying on her over the course of the current arc. As of the event story "Immiscible Discord", she's even gone so far as to throw away Mafuyu's synthesizer, and has claimed to have spilled a drink on Mafuyu's laptop, forcing it to be sent away for repairs. Personally I think this is a bold-faced lie, she's probably actually trying to figure out how to install a keylogger or something. TLDR the woman's an academics-obsessed control freak

her mom doesn't have or deserve her own name in the canon gje;ioajsg

ANYWAY. so she's like. the main contender in the entirety of mafuyu's unit's story because basically she's controlling every aspect of her daughter's life, doing shit like restricting who her friends can be, throwing away her musical instruments (the literal only thing in her life that makes her happy), throwing away her laptop, sneaking through her laptop (prior to throwing it out) and messages, etc etc etc like!! she's the worst!!!

oh and mafuyu's friends were concerned for her so one of them met up w her mom to discuss the situation to which we learned for 100% certain that her mom is a certified bitch who doesn't care abt mafuyu's happiness whatsoever but instead just wants to have a perfect child…

also weird and fucked up when they snuck out to the local theme park and mafuyu saw a lost child get reunited w their parent and was Shocked to see the mother be compassionate and kind to the child instead of angry at them for wandering off (cue seeing a memory of mafuyu's mother getting mad at her for getting lost as a small child)

A vote against Mafuyu's mother is a vote against every shitty, conditional-loving parent out there. A vote against Mafuyu's mother is a vote in support of kids with autistic burnout. A vote against Mafuyu's mother is a vote for Mafuyu getting out.

i'm a DID system and i also feel that mafuyu herself is very DID-coded (the vocaloids in her sekai all read as alters to me)

Mrs. Asahina has the perfect family. Her daughter Mafuyu is talented, popular, and the top of every class. She attends cram school every day so she can get into a top medical school! Mrs. Asahina couldn't be more proud of her precious, polite daughter who knows it's always best to listen to her mother. Of course, a quick look beneath Mafuyu's facade reveals that her mother's efforts to strip away all imperfections have left Mafuyu a depressed shell who has been pretending to be happy for so long she can no longer feel anything at all. This game's worldbuilding revolves around the "Sekai," which are little pocket dimensions/personal mini-worlds born from one or more person's emotions and inhabited by "virtual singers" (Vocaloid characters including Hatsune Miku) whose personalities reflect those of the Sekai's creators. The world that manifests from Mafuyu's truest self is a grey void dotted with abandoned skeletons of unfinished buildings, and her version of Miku initially displays almost no understanding of how emotions are supposed to work. Mafuyu uses the Sekai as an escape, since she can't ever relax at home.

The game lets us see the results of Mrs. Asahina's toxic parenting long before we ever meet her in person. In-game, Mafuyu is part of a doujin music group with three other characters called Nightcord at 25:00, and her struggles are the driving force for N25's primary storyline. Mrs. Asahina, however, is not just responsible for Mafuyu's state at the beginning of the story, but actively fights to keep her daughter under her thumb going forward. Mafuyu's friends slowly make progress to help her become her own person through the music they all make together, but when that growth inevitably leads to some very small attempts by Mafuyu to stand up for herself, her mother tries to isolate her from her friends (who really aren't a good influence, you know; shouldn't someone as bright and talented as Mafuyu spend time with people who are as driven as her?) and to stop her from making music altogether. After all, the music is just a distraction from what's really important, like her studies. It's all in Mafuyu's best interest, of course, and Mrs. Asahina would be remiss not to ensure her daughter will grow up to be successful.

Since Project Sekai is a rhythm game, I would be remiss not to mention the music. Not only does N25 generally cover the songs with the darkest lyrics/tone out of all the groups in the game, but the original songs commissioned for the group really drive Mafuyu's brokenness home. Standouts include Composing the Future (the main song for all four characters, which focuses on a sense of hopelessness for one's future), Jackpot Sad Girl (Mafuyu's first focus song, which is about her inability to express her long-buried emotions), Bug (in which Mafuyu compares her existence to a computer glitch ruining her programmer's plans) and Samsa (which compares Mafuyu's life to that of Gregor Samsa in Franz Kafka's iconic tragedy, "The Metamorphosis")

#Toxic propaganda #mrs. asahina

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cursedvibes · 1 year

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So in your top ten favourite characters, yuji is the only protagonist in the list which is not surprising but I'm very surprised that you like yuji so much to include him. Why do you like him so much compared to other protagonists and apart from him if you have to choose other protagonists, who would they be? You don't have to answer this of course. Thanks!

Well, there's also Marie-Joseph on the list, who's the protagonist of Innocent Rouge, but it is true that I have an easier time liking antagonists than protagonists. I don't have a problem with animanga protags in general, many just don't make my top 10. For example, Johnny is my favourite Jojo and I also like Emma and Norman from Promised Neverland.

I think what I generally look for in a protagonist is that they feel realistic, their ideals are meaningfully challenged and they are actually allowed to struggle. I also prefer a motivation that goes beyond "I want to be the best" or if they want to be the wizard king/Hokage/pirate king/mafia boss/#1 hero I need a good reason for that and what they want to do with that position besides power fantasy. That's why all the mc striving for the titles I just listed fall off for me.

Antagonists are a lot easier to like because they usually already highlight flaws of a system or person, or they are used to push personal characteristics to the extreme (like mad scientists with strife for knowledge and scientific progress). Usually their actions are meant to be criticised, so you don't have the problem with the author brushing over inconsistencies and flaws for the sake of elevating the mc.

Innocent (Rouge) did that really well. The story starts out with Charles-Henri as the protagonist. He wants to end the monarchy, end the bloody business of execution that forces his family to live as outcasts and also wants to live out his gnc side freely. But ultimately he fails and becomes like the people he swore to oppose, even continuing the circle of abuse from his father to his own children. That's when Marie-Joseph steps up in Innocent Rouge. She has similar ideals as Charles used to have, but thinks even further and has the strength to push for the change she wants to see. Charles becomes one of her antagonists because he thinks if he couldn't succeed, she should be forced to conform to society as well. All that highlights in my opinion what makes for a good protagonist. Fights for what they believe in, but are still challenged and forced to struggle (the more the better), and have a meaningful connection to the antagonist(s). If you want to know how not to do it, just look at Naruto and especially the confrontation between Naruto & Nagato.

What I like specifically about Yuuji is that he starts out more or less like any shonen mc (friendly, bit hyperactive, naive), but we see how he is shaped by the cruel world around him. He is surrounded by death and we see how it breaks his spirit multiple times, but he still pushes on, even if it means fighting for his right to die. He just feels very realistic. Despite his supernatural abilities, his reactions to such a harsh reality are very natural and he isn't blind to what is happening around him (even if he sometimes wants to deliberately ignore it). He also doesn't have any big aspirations of changing the jujutsu system or becoming the strongest just for the sake of power. What he wants - a proper death - is instead very personal and quite tragic for someone so young. It makes sense that a teenager who has only operated in jujutsu society for around half a year, wouldn't have such high aspirations. He barely understands the system works under, so he leaves the changing of society to people who actually know it. So far he also had his cog mentality, which let him reduce himself to a puppet, but he will now be forced to rethink that.

Btw, this is part of why I think Geto and Yuuta are mismatched in Vol 0. Geto's actions are entirely based on critique of jujutsu society, while Yuuta has only interacted with it for around 1 year. He says non-sorcerers should be wiped out to elevate sorcerers and give them peace, and all Yuuta has to say to that is "idk you might be right, but you're killing my friends so you have to die". I don't blame Yuuta for that, at that point he wasn't in a position to critically analyse what Geto was saying because he lacks the experience, but then don't set him up against an ideologically-driven villain if you can't present a counterargument that isn't based on "killing friends bad". Not to mention that we the readers barely know anything about jujutsu society at that point and even less about how non-sorcerers factor into it. So while genocide is of course bad, we don't even know if Geto's general idea makes sense in-universe (it doesn't). Gojo says Geto's ideology is bad, but we never find out why in that volume.

Yuuji fits into his story much smoother and doesn't try to be more than he is. Even though Kenjaku is overthrowing the system, the way Yuuji is set up against them is very personal and in line with his character.

#asks #hope this is coherent enough to make sense

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kiatheinsomniac · 1 year

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𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏𝐒 | 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐒

Hey, I saw your post about the ships. I'm saving up some money for a large commission but this small one I would like to 'participate in' :) Name: Alexandra, but my best friend calls me Sasha (Russian short version) Gender: sex is female but tbh, I always thought of myself as an individual and not strictly male or female. I don't know what this is called :/ Sexuality: I once thought I'm bi, but I never enjoyed sex with my ex. I find men and women attractive equally but don't feel any specific sexual attraction, even though I do have some fantasies about a specific fictional character. So I think the best that would describe me would be demi bi sexual, or some sort of it. I apologise for the long elaboration Appearance: neither skinny nor heavy. I'd say a good middle (I used to be obese and have stretch marks in hips and thighs, but I also was anorexic, now I'm happy to be in between with slight curves and a few muscles that slowly show themselves as I'm working out quite a bit), brown hair till past shoulders, brown eyes, high cheekbones. I'm around 176 cm tall Personality: I can be impatient, but when it comes to others or animals I'm very patient. I like the nature and animals, sort of pagan believe, I like reading and drawing but also action as I used to race in horses (barrel race but also carriage races), I'm seeking adventure and have done a lot of crazy stuff, like skydive, hitch hiking and other stunts (when I was younger though). I still like a good adrenaline rush but in a controlled way. I like horse riding and motorcycling (again controlled in a good manner). Both give me a feeling of freedom. I guess I could be described as sporty. I'm empathic but also stubborn. Coming from a family where domestic violence was used to break me and make me follow what I was expected to do and how to behave. I need time to warm up to people. While I'm friendly to strangers, it takes a really long time until I warm up and even longer to let a person in and trust that person. But once a person is' in my inner circle', I'm loyal and protective. I love walking barefoot (something that pissed my parents off and I received a few bruises for that, still liking it though). I love a good banter between friends, and can be sassy (when I feel comfortable around the person). I also tease and appreciate the small things in life, I don't need big presents or anything but am quite happy when I can be with the people I hold dear and enjoy the time with them, if it's a calm evening or some adventure/action. Oh, and I don't wear dresses! I feel uncomfortable in them! No high heels either. Not very practical. Please know that you can take your time and I'm in no rush. Like I said, I can be impatient (especially when it comes to myself, as I'm my worst critic and have high expectations of myself) I'm very patient when it comes to others. So I don't mind if you work on others' ships and requests first. I hope this is enough and not too much. Let's see who you ship me with from the Assassin's creed series :) – @havatnah

I ship you with Kassandra!

Kassandra is really drawn to how you don’t really fit the ‘norm’. She’s no different to you and she is also drawn to adventure and living her life as she pleases without feeling the need to conform to societal standards so much. She really enjoys that you’re someone she can share adventures with and so she always invites you along to wherever she goes. She especially likes horse riding with you and the two of you often end up racing each other for the thrill on your way home – it’s something she always loves doing with you! Like you, Kassandra is very active and so she enjoys spending time with you when the two of you work out together, she pretty much considers it a date and she’ll be very supportive of you and flirty the whole time (see: likes to flex to try and impress you, she wants to show off and be your big, strong girlfriend).

Kassandra is very understanding of your past as she has a troubling story about her childhood too. She’s friendly but she can be slow to trust too and so the beginning of your relationship starts as friendship. The two of you take things slowly and learn to trust each other as friends before you open up more and become lovers and Kassandra really wouldn’t have it any other way because it means she gets to fall in love with you twice. She admires your loyalty and protectiveness as they are core traits of her own and traits that she attributes to any good person. She also doesn’t mind that you’re not big on dresses or heels as she isn’t either so it just makes it more likely that the two of you can share clothes and she just loves seeing you wear her stuff and especially loves when you return it and it smells of you.

♡ Kass loves going on little adventures with you! Whether it’s just a casual little outing such as a hike or perhaps something more daring and adrenaline-inducing, she wants to bring you along in order to share the thrill with the one she loves the most! Considering the long ziplines in the game, I can 100% see her taking you ziplining! The two of you strapped in and just going over deep valleys all for the thrill and the rush of doing so! She’ll make a whole day out about it too – a hike, maybe a packed lunch you made together the evening before, having a little dance between yourselves to some music in the kitchen. She loves days out with you.

♡ She likes going to your gym or bringing you along to hers too (whichever one offers you the best memberships). She likes working out with you, supporting you and making teams with you, will be checking you out half the time too, she just loves seeing what you can do! She’ll try to show off a bit with weight because she likes knowing that you find her fit and attractive, she wants to be at her best for you.

♡ Like you, Kassandra is also outwardly friendly to those she meets but she’s also slow to trust after her upbringing of her family being torn apart and having to find her own way right afterwards. She understands what it's like to feel betrayed by the ones who you were supposed to be able to depend on and she feels the reluctance to trust that follows such a thing. This causes your relationship to start off as the two of you just being friends; you’re getting to know one another and trust each other at the slow pace you both need. Each one of you is there for the other when it’s needed and eventually the two of you grow comfortable enough with one another from your love to develop into something more than that of just friends.

♡ Kass loves sharing her clothes with you! She doesn’t really wear super feminine clothes like dresses or hells either – even when she’s going out somewhere fancy, she feels much more comfortable in a suit than a dress. The result of this is that the two of you have a good chance of adapting certain aspects of each other’s styles and sharing clothes! Kass will practically throw her hoodies at you because she loves that when she gets them back, they smell like you.

♡ Kassandra isn’t really one for flowery words so she shows her love with lots of gestures: big and small. One thing she does is that she makes sure to keep the floors of the house clean for you to walk around barefoot without getting your feet dirty. She knows it’s something you like and after finding out that you were mistreated for it, she goes out of her way to make sure that you can feel comfortable with it around her.

☾ ⋆ ﾟlike my work? why not: ∘ buy me a coffee? ∘ commission me? ∘ join my taglist ∘ consider following/reblogging

#⊹ ° . kia ships ˎ :

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stargreen-fan · 1 year

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Kit an American Queer Icon

Reading one's self into material can also be a survival mechanism for LGBT individuals- Marlene Bellissimo

She resembles a Barbie doll more than all the other American Girls, with straight, light blonde hair and blue eyes. It’s not like I really needed a Kit Kittredge doll, I had the movie which came with three others for only $10.75 from Amazon, but then I read her book and that magical thing called resonation happened. But Why would Kit resonate with me so much? I have more in common with Josephina, having grown up in New Mexico, and lost a parent (My Dad) as a child, even though I’m White like Kit. It scares me that that is the reason Kit resonated with me… But there’s more boundary-pushing about Kit’s gender expression than all the other American Girls—a warning for massive spoilers ahead.

I have been struggling with my Gender Identity for a while. At first, it boiled down to the Psychotic breaks I have had, but gender is a social construct, and Psychosis has a blatant disregard for societal norms. Finally, I got well enough to tell my Mom I was Nonbinary in 2019, all I had to do was pick a Nonbinary Identity from under the umbrella, but I am a boy now.

But, back to Kit. Kit Kittredge is the only doll bought entirely with my own money. I connect with Kit loving Robin Hood. Most of the stories I loved until I was 13 stared male leads. Valerie Tripp says of Kit "Kit was not a flouncy girl." She then describes how “Out of place” in her pink frilly bedroom. “Out of place” implies a queer, or rather strange, sense of unease, which makes it sound more complex than just hating pink in a feminist way. Kit and I love baseball. With this setup, we have still a lot to establish about the Great Depression, which the next two books cover really well, nothing remarkably Queer gender-wise happens. Maybe something happens to her sexuality wise though. In Kit’s Suprise, Kit admires Amelia Earhart, the scene was made into a song for the Circle of Friends musical.

When I saw her up there on the big silver screen,

It was the most exciting thing that I’ve ever seen.

Amelia, you’re my hero, you’re my ideal.

You’re not a silly princess – no! – Amelia, you’re real!

How does it feel to be Amelia Earhart?

How does it feel to know that you can fly?...

But nothing can stop you, no one can top you.

I want to be like you

Flying solo,

Solo,

It all goes to show how far a girl can go,

Flying solo,

Solo.

I have memories of admiring Mary Martin flying in Peter Pan, and the verses I copied express my six-year-old literal thoughts about her, which I later realized was a crush! My cruses on Gorden Ramsey, President Obama, and Buddy Ebsen were what I was taught to recognize.

When Kit gets a new flour sack dress for her birthday, she’s excited about it, because it’s the first hot weather clothing she’s had in months. It makes Kit feel “Cool and light and airy” according to Valerie Tripp. It makes sense to put practically over dysphoria, when dealing with small things in the world, like getting ready on time. That’s the reason I need top surgery, binders are slow to put on, and my Cerebral Palsy makes it even more difficult, (Which is why Medicare should cover my Top Surgery.) so I can’t wear them as much as is necessary, so when under time pressure I toss on a dress. What I’m trying to say is wearing gender-conforming clothing is not a sign of the absence of dysphoria.

In fact, Kit Saves The Day, the very next book takes the opposite approach. It starts off by innocently mentioning that the overalls Kit is wearing are hand-me-downs from her brother. Now two books ago, in Kit’s Surprise, the family is threatened with eviction, and three books ago, in Kit Learns A lesson Dad was getting donated groceries from the soup kitchen, after losing his job in Meet Kit. The family is too poor to care if Kit can conform to gender norms by book five out of six! When Kit goes on an adventure to the Hobo Jungle and ends up riding the rails, and gets caught, the railroad bulls assume she is a boy, despite Will’s hat not covering up her feminine bob. Then it happens the hat falls off, and she is found out. Transphobes say they can always tell someone’s birth sex, but these railroad bulls couldn’t, because of a cap! This is where the background of hating the pink room and liking Robin Hood makes it feel different than Addy, who wanted to wear fancy dresses in freedom, dressing as a boy to be safe while liberating herself from slavery. Although Will does give Kit the hat to make the railroad bulls think she’s a boy to protect her in jail. Safe from What? My Adult mind can hypothesize

.In Changes for Kit there is a sign of acceptance of Kit’s possible Queer identity as Mother and Miss Hart and Miss Finney give her a coat made from her Dad’s old one with a hat and mittens made from Charlie’s old sweater. For the full end-of-the-story spoilers see the Meet Kit Kittredge video from American Girl, It’s a lovely ending, that does not have to do with Kit’s Queerness.

While I did not have an American Girl doll as a child, the deep connection people feel to them is very personal and is something that kids of all genders and sexualities deserve. If you are reading this article, in a news publication it means Kit and I share a dream.

#american girl #kit kittredge #queer history

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byneddiedingo · 1 year

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Jason Franklin, Bette Henritze, and Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002) Cast: Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert, Patricia Clarkson, James Rebhorn, Viola Davis, Celia Weston. Screenplay: Todd Haynes. Cinematography: Edward Lachman. Production design: Mark Friedberg. Music: Elmer Bernstein. Costume design: Sandy Powell. Homage never turns into parody in Todd Haynes's Far From Heaven, a film whose very title alludes to Douglas Sirk's great 1955 melodrama All That Heaven Allows. Haynes's film is set in 1957, only two years after Sirk's was released, but the sensibility that controls it is very much of an era almost half a century later. Haynes has the liberty to deal with matters that were taboo for American filmmakers in 1955, specifically miscegenation and homosexuality -- two words that now have an antique sound to them. But his film has the same resonance as Sirk's: Both expose the raw wounds inflicted on people by social conventions, by the desire to "fit in" with what a given community establishes as its values. We like to think of the 1950s as the nadir of American conformity, a society on the brink of having its repressive qualities exploded by the rebellious 1960s, but although Haynes's film is a "period piece," I think it also provokes us to evaluate what restricts us today. We can pat ourselves on the back that we -- or at least the liberal-minded people in the circles in which I travel -- no longer recoil in horror at an interracial couple or find ourselves shocked, shocked that there are people who love others of their own sex. But just as Cathy Whitaker (Julianne Moore) and her circle of friends retreat into an exclusive community, we too often find ourselves falling into a similar trap of smug self-righteousness that won't withstand the cold shock of reality -- like, for example, a presidency gone awry. Cathy's blithe intellectualized conviction that all people are created equal is tested when she crosses the invisible line between the races. Her frustration at not being able to have a friendship with a Black man -- i.e., someone other than the dull suburbanites that surround her -- is mirrored by her husband's inability to make his way out of the closet. But Cathy naively thinks that there's a "cure" for his problem, making it a lesser trial than her own, which she can blame on society. In the end, the beauty of Haynes's film is that he never yields to the temptation to impose a false liberation on his characters, an ending in which everyone lives happily ever after. Cathy sees Raymond (Dennis Haysbert) off at the station, knowing that she'll never visit him in Baltimore. Frank (Dennis Quaid) is holed up in a hotel room with his lover instead of his spacious suburban home, his family life and probably his job now at an end. They are real enough characters that we want to know what will happen to them, but we suspect that there are no stirring triumphs ahead, only a struggle to rebuild damaged lives. Haynes and his team of cinematographer Edward Lachman, production designer Mark Friedman, costumer Sandy Powell, and composer Elmer Bernstein have crafted a 1950s world that's familiar to us from countless movies, but because of the shrewdness of the screenplay, the depth of the characterization, and the brilliance of the performers the film succeeds in making it real. There are stereotypes in the film, like Celia Weston's malicious gossip, but they are balanced by roles that could have fallen too easily into stereotypes -- Patricia Clarkson's best friend, James Rebhorn's doctor, Viola Davis's maid -- yet manage to develop dimensions of actuality. Far From Heaven also does something that very few films inspired by older ones do: It illuminates its source, so that it's possible to watch All That Heaven Allows again with a new understanding of Sirk's achievement.

#Far From Heaven #Todd Haynes #Jason Franklin #Betty Henritze #Julianne Moore

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eleanordev-she-her · 2 years

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alice in wonderland is what a dreaming little guy would dream about and write it down good with prose and probs autisim creature tbh also trans lmao considering their age and where they lived and the socioeconomic situation and like maybe growing up receiving tales of or propaganda about like the crimean war or something but writing it in a fun gamer way and everyone lost their minds, you can be a fucking trans gamer girl irl online 100% blorbo material and think about it and talk about it and want to be her, no fucking wonder people loved it. Just like god fell in love with and tried to be in the likeness of his gamergirl waifu lilith and try to be her adam to conform with gender roles in society it was written at the time not some cosmos space god gender roles lmao but then tried to fight aganst gender norms and be themselves and became a trans gamer girl girlfriends with her instead and biting that apple is like homophobia or something being sucking her girldick is like illegal or a shame on society at the time or in the family circle or whatever and the punishment is getting evicted literally from a rich family to poverty for the crime of being queer like that'S just fucking something real that happened to someone and they trans gamergirl mode into it and why fucking rich church politicians fucking hate us so much literally the same thing happening over and over so we have to fight for trans rights and stuff lmao, because trans people are closer than god, god is literally trans let'S fucking goooooo. its just some weird little guys writing transition fantasy on at the time equivalent fimfiction.net we'Re just some weird little guys crafting the best most coolest and creative games and media for u to enjoy just feed us and give us money on patreon and we will blow your fucking minds off with a tornado turbo mind blowjob and you will like it either you like to like it or not with our creativity (we as in we the queers but also me eleanor lmao pls give me money just 3 dollars >:3 )

#5 am

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lily-orchard-gossip-blog · 2 years

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the way lily treats her fans... the way she speaks to them makes it clear ... she doesnt want fans she wants power over people .... and the fact that her fans always take her word as law in fear of her slandering them makes this clear ... lilys fanbase isnt a fandom... its a cult

Well, lets see, according to this site here, some of the criteria of a cult is:

A charismatic leader: Cults always follow a charismatic leader, living or dead, whose teachings are considered of the highest importance. This leader may be considered a genius, or may be considered a religious figure like a messiah or prophet.

Well, Lily isn't considered a religious figure, but her fans do believe her to be incredibly intelligent, and flock around her personality, so I would say that pans out.

Ideological purity: Members are strongly discouraged from questioning the cult's doctrine and any doubts are met with shame or punishment.

That one also pans out, if the Cypher incident is anything to go by.

Conformity and control: Cult leaders often exercise an extreme degree of control over members' lives, including dictating what they can wear and eat and what kinds of relationships they can have. Conformity is also enforced by group members who police one another.

I've heard that everyone is policing each other, and doing everything to make Lily comfortable, so this also tracks.

Mind-altering practices: Sleep deprivation, chanting, meditation, and drugs are often used to break down individuals' defenses and make them more susceptible to cult ideology.

Well, Lily hasn't done this one, so let's cross that out.

Isolation and love-bombing: It is common for people in cults to be encouraged to cut contact with outsiders, including close family members. Within the cult, new members are often subjected to love-bombing, a practice where new initiates are showered with love and praise to bring them deeper into the cult and foster a sense of belonging.

Love bombing? Check, every account of her relationships seems to have some account of Love Bombing to them, and it comes with the nice little caveat that a lot of outsiders will begin to shun the new members as the begin to speak more like Lily.

Us-vs-them mentality: Cult members are often encouraged to see the cult as superior to life on the outside and to feel that those outside the cult lack understanding or insight.

Let's see, everyone who critics Lily is a: Nazy, Bigot, fascist, racist or a baby. People who get expelled where just secretly Nazy the whole time, and a lot of people who circle her sphere all feel as if other people outside the circle don't understand her, or are just secretly vultures, so big check mark here.

Apocalyptic thinking: Preparation for a supposed apocalypse or cataclysmic event is a major characteristic of many cults, especially cult religions.

Well, Lily hasn't been preaching the end times yet, so this doesn't apply.

Time and energy: Followers are expected to dedicate huge amounts of time and energy (and often money) to the cult to the exclusion of their own lives, interests, jobs, and families.

Let's see, a lot of them are patrons, so that covers the money angle, and based off of the accounts, a lot of people are expected to just constantly reach out to Lily and put all the work in the relationship. So I guess that's the time and energy angle.

Welp, six out of eight key points isn't a glowing look. But of course, I'm not saying Lily is running a cult, but if people come to that conclusion based off of the works she produces, then that's on her.

(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

#cult

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agentrouka-blog · 3 years

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Why do you think Jon settles for gender non confirming girls because he could never hope for a high born traditional lady like Sansa to love him ?

Well, I would not phrase it that way at all.

1) Jon isn’t settling for any specific person. He hasn’t voluntarily entered into any relationship at all. The one he was manipulated into was a toxic mess seething with self-deception and guilt. In order to exist within the relationship, he projects things onto her that she doesn’t actually have. (Smart and funny and warm? Right.) And he still coldly rejects Ygritte’s suggestion to settle down. Val he contemplates specifically for the purpose of Winterfell. He may settle for the idea that what Ygritte offered him was the only kind of “love” he could ever hope to have, but he was not committed to her as a person. He is actually not settling for anyone at all. Which was his original plan in joining the Night’s Watch, anyway.

2) While Jon is - in all likelihood - very much into the feminine, ladylike type, that is not a commentary on gender noncomforming individuals. He is comfortable with nonconformity. Arya, Samwell, spearwives. Out of all of them, Jon is hazily attracted to the non-conforming Satin. The draw is prettiness, softness, refinement and non-violence. Not primarily gender, let alone gender conformity. But he is not rushing to “settle” for Satin, either. It’s a safe, distant appreciation. The kind you’d, say, develop after escaping an abusive relationship.

3) If anything, there is a classist element to this. What Jon wants is a Lady in the original sense of the word, much as he describes his fantasy of his mother:

In his dreams, she was beautiful, and highborn, and her eyes were kind. (AGOT, Jon III)

Highborn. Born into wealth and nobility, and capable of navigating those circles confidently. Also beautiful and kind. A Princess Classic. And Winterfell, too, pretty please. Lord of Winterfell.

And yes, that is off limits in every way. Even if we ignore any suggestion of Sansa in this context.

Jon could have married and had a family, just not a noble one, so his choice in going to the Watch is not just to reject fathering bastards, it is to reject all alternatives to that unattainable dream or being Lord of Winterfell with his lady by his side.

So he doesn't settle for anyone. If anything, he settled for the Watch.

I’m pretty sure we will only see him explicitly choose one person. Who, ironically, is currently a low down dirty bastard, though no less kind, beautiful or ladylike for it. And, also ironically, likely in a context that does not include Winterfell in the bargain. So for all his “Winterfell, Winterfell, Winterfell and a lady” exclusivity, he’ll end up choosing the lady when she cannot offer him that castle. Because her brothers are alive and she is only a girl, because in choosing her he is rejecting the offer of the castle itself through Robb’s will, because the castle does not matter unless it is shared with the right person.

#rouka queue #jon snow #romantic love #classism #sansa stark #jonsa #femininity #soft power

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rachelbethhines · 3 years

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Tangled Salt Marathon - “Rapunzel Knows Best!” ( A first half of S3 Recap)

So I decided to place the recap after Be Very Afraid for several reasons. For starters it’s where the season three hiatus took place. It’s also framed like a cliffhanger episode the same as The Great Tree and Queen for a Day; so while Cassandra’s Revenge is technically the midseason finale, Be Very Afraid functionally servers this narrative purpose better. Finally I want to keep the Cassandra heavy stuff contained in it’s own recap later same as I did for Varian’s arc in season one.

Also keep in mind, everything I discussed in previous recaps still apply here. Nothings changed and you could argue that the issues I bring up now could have also apply to past seasons; they just happen to be at their worst here.

Here are the past recaps

To Filler or Not to Filler

Hey, What Ever Happened to That Varitas, Guy?

What Is the Point?

‘Whatta Twist’

And here are the episodes that’s covered in this recap

Rapunzel’s Return Part 1

Rapunzel’s Return Part 2

Return of the King

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf

The Lost Treasure of Herz Der Sonne

No Time Like the Past

Beginnings

The King and Queen of Hearts

Day of the Animals

Be Very Afraid

Poorly Defined Conflicts

I’m not just talking about Cassandra’s lack of goals here either, though that is a part of it. I mean in several episodes the central conflict isn’t laid out clearly enough before being resolved. We flip from one set up to the next without ever resolving the first; like in Rapunzel’s Return when Cass and Varian fight for screen time or whenever Rapunzel is suppose to learn one lesson only for someone else to learn a completely different lesson in every other episode. And to this day I don’t know what Rapunzel and Feldspar’s subplot in Lost Treasure was suppose to be about.

There’s also of course the ill-defined overall conflict; which at this point has become convoluted and nonsensical to the extreme, and will only grow more aggravatingly stupid as the season progresses. The main villains lack clear goals, their motivations don’t align with previously stated facts, and the actual interesting conflict involving the threat of the rocks and their destruction of people’s lives and homes is just shoved under the rug and forgotten about.

There is no story without conflict. Having the conflict be all over the place is not only confusing but makes it harder for the audience to invest in what’s going on.

Failed Narrative Promises

Tying in with the above statement regarding conflicts, we have failed narrative promises. Rapunzel is repeatedly told to that she needs to learn something in several episodes only for her not to learn it at all. She either learns some unrelated ‘lesson’ that wasn’t established, (like in Rapunzel’s Return with her pervious goal about ‘opening up to others’ being switched out for a generic ‘responsibility’ lesson that at the last minute, where she doesn’t even do anything responsible,) or she winds up ‘teaching’ the opposite lesson to a different character thereby rewarding her for her bad behavior.

And that’s just within the induvial episodes themselves; there’s also broken narrative promises through out the overall story arc; like...

no justice/redemption for Lady Caine,

no acknowledgment that the Saporians are the victims of colonization

no conclusion regarding Corona’s murky past

no satisfying ending to Varian’s plot that sees everyone in involve grow

a poor copout of an explanation for Cassandra’s face/heel turn

The Dark Prince reveal going nowhere

The Brotherhood being put on a bus

King Frederic, or any royal, not being held accountable for their past actions

Lance’s new found responsibilities just being thrown away for the tenth time

The Disciples plot being being dropped

next to nothing in season two winds up being relevant

And Rapunzel, the protagonist of a coming of age story, fails to learn anything at all

I could probably go on but you get the gist. Tangled is incredibly frustrating show to watch because doesn’t deliver what it promises. You’re not being clever by ‘subverting audiences expectations’ unless you can justify your narrative decisions with previous set up. Tangled is too lazy to build proper set ups so it’s ‘twists’ leave you wanting to punch things rather then impressing you.

Character Assassinations

Every single character in Tangled the Series gets thrown under a bus, driven off a cliff, and then allowed to drown in the ocean of their completely unaware self-congratulatory smugness.

Rapunzel is turned into a bully

Cassandra is given the idiot ball to hold permanently

The King and Queen are lobotomized

Quinin gets replaced by a robot

The rest of the Brotherhood are pale shadows of what they could have been

Edmund is transformed from tragic complex figure into a dumb jerkoff who abuses his kid for a laugh

Zhan Tiri, once an ancient demon warlock, is reduced to a floating impotent ghost girl

The Saporians become poor hipster parodies

Cap is put on a bus

Any villain who isn’t Cass is gets ignored

Lance is infantilized to the point of absurdity

Eugene becomes a doormat

and poor Varian is forced to become a complacent victim to his abusers as oppose to being allowed to keeping his dignity

I think the only person who escapes this mass murder of characterization is freaking Calliope, and she’s hasn’t even appeared yet! (Well okay her and Trevor, maybe)

This all ties back into the poorly defined conflict and failed narrative promises. Rather than let the characters drive the story, they’ve become puppets to the plot, and plot is really stupid and forced, and circles back in on itself and is full of contradictions.

Manipulating the Audience’s Empathy to Do the Work for the Writers

The reason why the creators believe they can get away with such poor characterization and lazy writing is because they expect the audience to do all the heavy lifting for them.

Cass isn’t given an on screen reason for what she does because they’re hoping her fans will just automatically excuse her because they like her/relate to her and not, you know, get mad at the writers for dumbing her down. And after all who doesn’t love the creator’s pet? Meanies! That’s who!

No one calls out Rapunzel’s bullshit on screen, because if everyone likes her, then you, viewing audience, should too. Because if you have any sort of independent critical thinking abilities and a sense of right and wrong then clearly you’re ‘just a hater’.

Everyone should just shut up and be satisfied that Varian is even on screen now and be grateful for the scraps that they get cause he’s not the real point of the show and according to Chris ‘Varian fans aren’t real fans’. Even though they make up most of his viewing audience.

I could go on, but it’s just variations of the above. The writing in this series is very fond of gaslighting the audience and trying to trick them into justifying the absolute worst behaviors while desperately hoping they doesn’t noticed the continued downgrading and dismissal of characters they do like or once liked.

And the sad thing is, it’s worked. There are people to this day that still try to justify this show’s shitty morals and bend over backwards to excuse the likes of Rapunzel, Frederic, Cassandra, and Edmund. Worst, there are loud sections of the fandom, (usually on twitter) who think bullying is okay and follow in Chris and his characters footsteps. Most of them young impressionable girls who are now ripe for TREFS to indoctrinate because they use the same bullying tactics and excuses for authoritarianism.

Media does effect reality, but not in the way purists and antis would have you believe. No one is going to become a violent manic from playing a video game nor a sex offender because they read a smut fic. But they very much will conform to toxic beliefs if it’s repeated enough at them by authorities they ‘trust’; like say the world wide leading company known for family entertainment and children’s media, and the ‘friends’ they find within the fandom for said company...

I’m not saying you can’t enjoy Tangled the series or that you’re some how wrong for liking it’s characters, nor do you have to engage with every or any criticism thrown it’s way. But yes you need to think about the media you consume on some level and valid criticism is very much important to the fandom experience for precisely the above reasons.

Conclusion

This isn’t even the tip of the iceberg of what’s wrong with this show, but it is most of its biggest problems laid bare. Anything that haven’t covered here or in the past recaps will be explored in the final recap. Cause this is it folks; the last leg of the journey for this retrospective. When come back, hopefully next week, we’ll tackle Pascal’s Dragon.

#tangled #anti-tangled #tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure #tts #rta

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