On What They Fall 2/4

So let me start by saying how much I hate @thisonesatellite. I mean obviously I don't hate her, I love her even though she has been HOGGING THE BRAIN, but I hate that EVERY TIME she says I’m going to need more chapters to tell my story I DO. I DO NEED THEM. Curse her. 

The upside of her eerie genius is that there are now three chapters in this fic. ONLY THREE, DAMMIT. 

I’d like to say that this one is less angsty than the first but that would be a LIE. 

The first angsty chapter can be found here on Tumblr or here on AO3. 

SUMMARY: Killian Jones is an angry young man. He has no family and few friends, and he’s stuck in a small town where everyone views him with fear and suspicion.

Everyone but Emma Swan.

She’s everything he wants in life and everything he can’t have. What he doesn’t know is that she wants him too.

Part 9 of Secret Things.

Rated: T

On AO3

Tagging some folks who might enjoy it: @kmomof4, @stahlop, @mariakov81, @teamhook, @resident-of-storybrooke, @darkcolinodonorgasm, @shireness-says, @thejollyroger-writer, @ohmightydevviepuu @jennjenn615 @superchocovian (Give me a shout if you’d like a tag for Chapter 3 THE REALLY VERY FINAL CHAPTER I MEAN IT THIS TIME)

Chapter 2: 

Killian doesn’t write and he doesn’t call. He doesn’t contact anyone except Belle, and she gets nothing but the odd text message sent at irregular intervals. She never tells anyone what the messages say and Emma can’t bear to ask. 

She googles him, though, in moments of weakness— when Graham pushes a bit too hard or when her parents smile at him too fondly, when Emma’s had a drink or two too many she gives in to the longing that is never not a part of her and searches for any scrap of information about him that she can find. 

Her searches come up empty, at first. She expects little else —he’s off on a boat after all— but then one day about a year after he left she searches for his name and finds an Instagram account. She holds her breath as she clicks on it, wondering if after so long it could possibly, actually be him. All the pictures are of landscapes and cityscapes and food and people— so many people, and though none of them are him she knows instinctively that this account is his. These are photographs he’s taken of his travels. 

She makes a second account for herself with a meaningless username and follows him. She checks his page daily, marking off all the places he visits on a globe she buys expressly for the purpose, charting his progress as he travels around the world. His photographs are gorgeous, full of colour and life, and they capture the spirit and the essence of each location. He’s a fantastic photographer, and it turns out an even better writer. 

One day when she checks his Instagram she sees a link to a blog. With shaking hands she clicks on it and finds a single post—a story, complete with pictures, of a day he spent in Vietnam. It was a hot day, he recounted, edging towards 50 Celsius (122 Fahrenheit, Emma learns from Google, and her jaw drops) and Killian spent it in a place called Hoi An, visiting an elderly couple who breed silkworms for the local trade and taking photographs in their un-air-conditioned house. By the late afternoon he was bathed in sweat, thirsty and grumpy and wanting nothing more than to get back to his boat and have a beer, sail out to sea to catch a cool breeze. When he returned to where he’d moored her, however, he discovered that some local children had cut his line and set his boat adrift off the coast. The children thought this was a hilarious joke, and Killian, despite his mood and the sweat pouring off him, found himself laughing along with them. With no other practical options available, he put his camera bag on his head, secured the strap under his chin, and carefully swam out to his boat. The water was warm, he wrote, like a tepid bath, bright blue and gentle, and it washed the sweat away and refreshed him. When he reached the boat he tossed the camera bag aboard along with the wet clothes he simply stripped off and then floated in the water, watching a thunderstorm roll in over the mountains behind the town. 

Emma devours the story eagerly, then goes back to the beginning and reads it again. His writing style is eloquent and engaging, his descriptions of the locations and people vivid and funny, and she feels like she’s there with him. She feels a pang at that realisation. If only she were there with him. 

The story ends with a final photograph, clearly taken from the deck of his boat. A stormy grey sky lit up by a flash of lighting arcing down over the tops of lush green mountains. The brown roofs of houses dotted around the lower elevations and down to the white sandy beach fronted by clear azure water. The caption reads: I had never known such contentment or such peace.

That he had to go to the other side of the world to find those things breaks her heart. 

She checks his blog daily and he updates it often, and soon she is only one of his regular readers. He gets dozens, then hundreds of comments on each post and he replies to them with charm and humour, and before too long advertisers begin to take notice. As do editors. 

His first professional article appears in Wanderlust about two and a half years after his departure from Storybrooke. More soon follow, and his blog is updated with less and less frequency. And then, four years after he left, he makes the cover of National Geographic. 

Emma cries as she reads it, huge, silent tears that leave tracks down her face, and with her fingertip she traces the small picture of him next to the article. His beard is thicker, she thinks, though he still hasn’t learned how to use a comb. 

Six months later he announces that he’s shutting down his blog because he’s written a book, a novel that will be published the following year. Emma is thrilled, and so proud of him. He always was good with words, as his impressive career in travel journalism proves, and she’s delighted he’s found an even more creative way to use that talent. But then she thinks about how, once, he would have given her this news himself, and her tears fall again. 

She thinks about how things were between them, so long ago now. How from the very beginning he fascinated her, that sullen, beautiful boy with his soft accent and his furious pain, the wary disbelief in his eyes when she brought him a blanket and the shock of intense connection when she shook his hand. Her persistent campaign to break through the bastion of his anger and discover the person beneath, her joy when she succeeded. The long, hot days of his first summer in Storybrooke, walking in the woods or sitting by the docks together, reading, listening to music, talking about everything. How in love with him she was and how she thought, in odd moments and snatches of glances that he might feel the same. 

Then autumn came and Killian turned eighteen. The morning of his birthday he dropped out of school, telling Emma without looking at her that with the chaos of his parents’ deaths and the struggle to find someone to take custody of him he missed his exams in England and here in the US everything was too different. He wouldn’t be able to graduate in the spring and he didn’t see the point of staying in school when he should be earning money. Now that there were no more funds from the state to support him, he said, he couldn’t be a burden on Belle. 

He got a job at the docks, working such long hours she barely ever saw him. When she did he was exhausted, worn in a way that worried her, though he always had a smile for her and a new book he discovered for her to read. His mind was so active, so curious, but when she tried to talk him into going back to school he refused to listen, withdrawing into himself if she even brought it up. 

Emma thinks about how he began to pull away from her, subtly at first, allowing the circumstances of their lives to do most of the work. She thinks of the gossip she began to hear about him, stories of sleeping with older women who would buy him alcohol, drinking until he passed out. She confronted him about it and he stonewalled her, telling her to go back to her high school boys and leave him in peace.  

Man whore, she hissed at him. 

Princess, he snarled back, turning the word into an insult.  

Emma cried herself to sleep that night, and the next day agreed to go to her senior prom with Neal Cassidy. 

--

 When word of Killian’s book gets out Storybrooke goes insane. Everyone seems to have forgotten the way they once treated him, the suspicion and distrust, the whispering behind his back, always waiting for him to explode in violence or do something that would get him locked up for good. All they remember now is that he’s a ‘local boy’—one born on a different continent, but that is also forgotten— and there is pride in their voices when they speak of him. There is speculation on when he’s going to ‘come home.’ 

Emma wants nothing more than for him to come home, but not like this, not into the clutches of these vultures, she thinks viciously, these people who made him feel like less than nothing and who now just want to trade on his acclaim. Yet she wants so badly to see him, to hear his voice again. He’s been gone five years and the wound is still open, still gaping and raw. By now she knows it will never heal, and if she lives to be a hundred she will never stop missing him. 

Graham knows it too. They’re still dating, sort of, in the sense that they go out together sometimes and they sleep together sometimes but Emma has never been able to fully commit to the relationship. She loves Graham but she’s not in love with him, as the cliché goes, and when Killian becomes the focus of eager conversation throughout the town Graham thinks he may finally know the reason why. 

“It’s Killian, isn’t it?” he asks her out of nowhere one day. They’re in the sheriff’s station where Emma now works alongside him, having graduated with her criminal justice degree and joined the force as a deputy. “You’re in love with him.” 

“What? How do you know?” She stares at him, too astonished to dissemble. 

“Emma, you should see your face whenever anyone mentions his name.” Graham smiles sadly. “I didn’t notice at first because— well, no one talked about him, but now his name’s getting thrown around all over the place and every time you hear it you look like your heart is breaking.” 

“Graham.” She has no idea what to say to him. 

“At least now I know why you couldn’t ever fall for me.”

“I’m so sorry.” Emma feels terrible. “I probably shouldn’t have— It’s just my dad was so—” 

“I know. I probably shouldn’t have pushed so hard. With hindsight it’s always been pretty obvious your heart wasn’t in it.” 

“I wish it could have been,” she says with a flare of anger. “Killian never wanted me, he left without even saying goodbye. I haven’t heard a word from him in five years, so why can’t I stop loving him?”

“What is it they say? True love never dies?” 

“I’ll have to find a way to kill it then, because I can’t live the rest of my life like this.” 

Graham stares at his hands for a long moment, and then he speaks. “You might not have to.” 

“What the hell does that mean?”

“I don’t think— I don’t think Killian didn’t want you.” 

“What?” Emma glares at him but he doesn’t look up. 

“It’s not something we ever spoke of, but looking back.. hindsight and all, I see some things now that I didn’t want to see back then. He was always so tense when you were around, and his face when anyone said your name— well, it was a lot like yours is now when someone says his.”

She shakes her head. “You’re imagining things, Graham. Projecting—” 

“No, I don’t think I am,” he interrupts firmly, finally looking at her. “I think Killian loved you but thought he couldn’t give you what you needed and that’s why he left.” 

“And what exactly did he think I needed?” 

“Maybe you should ask him that.” 

Emma throws up her hands. “I just told you he hasn’t spoken to me in half a decade. I’ve got no idea where he even is.” 

“You’re a cop,” says Graham. “You have resources.” 

“Graham Humbert, are you suggesting I misappropriate—” 

“I’m not suggesting anything, Emma, other than that it seems you and Killian have a conversation that’s at least five years overdue, and maybe it’s time you finally had it.”

--

Two weeks later Killian’s book comes out. It’s an instant sensation, shooting to the top of the bestseller lists. All his Instagram followers and blog readers and travel magazine subscribers buy it and so do their friends and family. Emma buys a copy and stares for a long time at his name on the cover before she begins to read. 

The book is not a love story. It’s a story of love frustrated by life. It’s the story of a boy and a girl, the classic star-crossed lovers, who end up not dying in each other’s arms or living happily ever after but just… living. Ever after. 

It’s the story of bad timing and bad choices and circumstances that grind away at love until nothing remains but the ghost of it, and of two people who would once have done anything for each other but by the end barely speak. It’s beautifully written and it’s heartbreaking, and for Emma it hits her straight in her soul. Because she is the girl, and Killian is the boy, and she doesn’t even have to read the interview he gives to the New York Times Book Review, confessing that the woman he wrote about is based on a real person, to know that this is them. This is how Killian imagined the path their lives would take, if they got together all those years ago. This is why he left. 

Emma takes the book with her everywhere, rereading it in every spare moment, searching for something to convince her she’s wrong, that she’s imagining what isn’t there. She forgets to eat and barely sleeps, and finally she goes to see Belle, knocking on her door with the book clutched tightly to her chest. Belle hugs her, the minute she opens it. She’s read the book too. 

“He’s never coming back, is he?” Emma whispers. 

Belle shakes her head. “No.” 

She ushers Emma inside, sits her down on the sofa. Waits. 

Emma stares at the book, ruffling its pages and toying with its dust jacket. “Isn’t there anything that might make him— any reason he might want to— to come to Storybrooke again? Doesn’t he at least want to see you?”

Belle chooses her words carefully. “I visited him last Christmas,” she says gently. “In his new place, at his request. He doesn’t want to come back here. I— believe there are some things he thinks would hurt too much to revisit.” 

“The woman in his book.” 

“Yes.” 

Emma takes a deep breath, looks Belle straight in the eye. “Is it me?” She holds up the book. “Is she— me?”

Belle sighs, but there’s no point in lying. The woman in the book is so obviously Emma. She’s kept Killian’s secret as long as she could, but if he’s going to put his heart on display in the pages of an international bestseller there’s only so much that she can do to protect it for him. 

“Yes,” she says. “It’s you.” 

“Then he… he loved me?” 

Belle nods, and Emma’s fingers grip the book tightly. “Did he leave town because of me?”

“He did. He loved you deeply, Emma, but he never acted on it because he believed you didn’t feel the same, and even if you did he couldn’t give you the life you deserved. Then you started dating Graham and couldn’t bear to watch you fall in love with someone else.” 

“He’s such an idiot,” hisses Emma, and Belle does rather agree. Yet she’s not sorry Killian left Storybrooke; he’d never have made anything of himself had he stayed. He’s got the life he deserves now, and he’s stable, if not quite happy. He’s been seeing a therapist and working through the scars from his past. For the first time in all the years she’s known him anger isn’t his defining feature, and while she does think his book takes rather too pessimistic a view of the life they might have had together, she’s certain none of the progress he’s made would have been possible if he’d remained here in this town with Emma, however much he loved her. 

“Tell me something, Emma,” she says. “If Killian had told you he loved you before he left, what would you have done?” 

“Gone with him,” says Emma, without a second’s hesitation. 

Belle gives her a hard look. “You would have given up everything —your education, your family, your home— to live with him on a boat, scraping by on his savings?” 

“Yes.” Emma thinks about the picture from his first blog post, the calm and contentment he’d found floating off the coast of Vietnam. She would have given up anything to experience that with him. Just to be with him. “All I’ve ever really wanted is to have a life with him. The details of that life don’t really matter. I mean, they do, but— we could have worked them out together.”

Belle smiles and gives her head a little shake. One of these days, she thinks, she’ll stop underestimating Emma Swan. “He’s living in New York now,” she says casually. “In a neighbourhood called the Bowery. Bought himself a nice little flat there. Apparently the advance on his next book was a generous one.” 

Emma swallows hard before she speaks. “Is he planning to stay there?” she asks. 

“I think so,” says Belle. “I think he’s ready to stop wandering and find his place.” 

--

Emma has been with the sheriff’s department for three years and she’s never once abused the power that comes with her position. She doesn’t speed or park where she shouldn’t, or even cut in line at Granny’s as even Graham has been known to do. She’s never even jaywalked. But when she learns where Killian lives, his very neighbourhood in fact, she busts out every cop trick she knows to find his address. 

When she has it she sits for a long time, thinking. Then she opens Google Street View. She feels a bit like a stalker, looking online at the very building where he lives, but she can’t help herself. And if she goes through with her plan then she will quite literally be stalking him and via not-quite-legal means as well. 

But she can’t get Graham’s words out of her head. A conversation at least five years overdue. She wants to know why he left, why he pushed her away even before that, why he didn’t trust her to love him enough to make everything else irrelevant. She needs to hear it from his own mouth, not from Graham’s or Belle’s or anyone else’s. She needs to know.  

She doesn’t tell anyone where she’s going or what she intends to do. Her dad is surprised when she asks for two weeks off work— she’s not had so much as a sick day since she started— but when he and her mother ask about her plans she tells them she just needs some time away after her breakup with Graham. Her father’s mouth goes grim; he’s not happy about that breakup. But he says nothing and her mother hugs her and tells her to take all the time she needs. 

--

The next morning finds her at Killian’s door, trying to calm her racing heartbeat as she stares at the number on it, gathers her courage, and rings the bell. When he appears her breath stops. Her world stops. He looks good, is all she can think. Older, of course, filled out and more solid, with thick scruff along his jaw and his hair neatly trimmed if less than neatly combed. He’s always been good looking, but in the past the anger and defiance that so often marred his features made it hard to see. But now… now the anger is nowhere to be seen and he is beautiful, his smile shining as brilliantly as she remembers until he recognises her and it fades away. 

“Swan,” he gasps, staring at her with wide eyes. “What— why are you—” 

“I read your book,” she says breathlessly. 

“Ah.” 

“I loved it. You’re an incredible writer.” 

He drops his eyes and rubs his neck, a pink flush spreading over his cheekbones. Some things haven’t changed, she thinks. He never could handle praise.

“Erm, well, yes. Thank you,” he says. “Um. Come in, Swan.” 

He steps back to allow her entrance and she feels breathless again as she takes in his apartment. It’s plainly furnished but everywhere there are things, all manner of them, clearly souvenirs of his travels. Sculptures and paintings and knickknacks and other little touches of the life he’s lived without her. She spins slowly around, wide-eyed. 

“This is amazing.” 

“Aye, well, I’ve done some travelling.” 

“I know. I read your blog too, and your Instagram.” 

“You— really?” 

She turns to look at him. “Yeah. I’ve been following you for a while. On the internet at least.” 

“That’s— well, I don’t really know. I don’t know what to say. I didn’t think you—” I didn’t think you cared. She hears the words he doesn’t say. 

The urge to touch him is so strong she digs her fingernails into her palms to stop herself from reaching out, wrapping him in her arms and never letting go. She notices that he seems to be doing the same, one hand stuffed deep in his pocket and the other a tight fist at his side. The tension Graham spoke of is there as well. It radiates from him, belying his casual posture. He was always tense around her in those later years, she remembers. Now she has some new ideas about why. 

She doesn’t know what to say, though, how to start the conversation she needs them to have. 

He starts it for her. “Why are you here, Swan?” he asks. 

“Belle told me where you live.” 

“That’s a how, not a why,” he says, with a small smile.  

“I just wanted to see you.” 

“Why?”

She tries to sort through all the reasons: because she still loves him and always will, because she missed him every second he was gone and she’s so angry at him for leaving without even a goodbye but also she’s proud of him for what he’s accomplished, for pulling himself out of the life he hated and finding success through his talent and hard work and sheer stubbornness. She tries to sort through the chaos of her thoughts but before she can the door opens and a woman rushes in. 

“Sorry I’m late, I— oh. I didn’t know you were expecting any visitors.” 

“I wasn’t.” Killian smiles at the woman as she approaches them. She’s tall and elegant with dark hair that tumbles in wild curls down her back. Emma feels small and dowdy next to her, and when she kisses Killian in greeting Emma can’t suppress a flinch. 

“This is Emma,” says Killian. “A friend from Storybrooke.” 

The woman looks at her with sharp interest. “I thought you didn’t have any friends there.” 

“I believe I said I didn’t have many,” Killian replies with a grin. “She’s one.” He turns back to Emma and the smile slips away. “This is Milah, my agent,” he tells her. “And, ah, my girlfriend.” 

Emma doesn’t flinch this time, she’s frozen by the stab of pain through her heart, though she knew this was coming from the moment the woman came through his door. Of course he has a girlfriend, she thinks, he’s moved on with his life. He’s been moving on, for the past five years. She’s the one who can’t let go. 

She feels like she’s watching herself from outside her body as she summons a smile from God knows where and shakes Milah’s hand. She says all the right things— nice to meet you and yes, here on vacation and just in the neighbourhood, thought I’d look him up. From the expression in Milah’s pale eyes she doesn’t believe a word of it. 

“Well, I’m sorry to cut your reunion short, Emma, but I’m afraid Killian has an appointment and we’re already running late,” she says briskly. 

“Yes, of course,” Emma, replies, leaping to her feet and grabbing her things. “I’ll just… it was nice to meet you Milah, and to see you Killian. I’ll, uh, find my way out.” She forces herself not to run. 

Killian catches up to her as she’s waiting at the elevator. “Swan!” he calls, and Emma wills the elevator to come faster, wishes she’d just taken the stairs. She tries not to turn around, but he calls her name again she can’t resist the entreaty in his voice. 

“Where are you staying?” he asks, all in a rush. “For how long? Can I— can we—” he takes a deep breath and tries again. “I’d love to see you before you go. If you like, that is. Can I take you for coffee or something?” 

The elevator doors open and she steps inside, turns to look at him almost against her will.

“Swan,” he says again, and his voice is so soft. 

She gives him the name of her hotel, forces herself not to be thrilled by the warmth of his smile. The first smile he’s directed at her in five years. “I’ll come by tomorrow morning,” he says, and she nods as the doors slide shut. It’s just a platitude, she tells herself, just something people say. She won’t get her hopes up. 

She won’t. 

--

Killian returns to his apartment where Milah is waiting, actually tapping her toe on the floor as she stares at her phone with a stony expression. He ignores her mood, grabs his jacket and his satchel and holds open the door. 

“Are you coming?” he asks. 

She sweeps by him without a word and he follows her downstairs to where a town car is waiting. There is no sign of Emma in the street.

They sit in silence as the car navigates the heavy traffic. Killian is lost in his thoughts, unnerved by the way his skin is tingling, his blood pounding hot in his veins. This reaction is insane, he thinks, they didn’t even touch. Just seeing Emma again has shaken him to his core and he can’t work out how he feels about it. He never expected to see her anywhere but in his dreams. 

“That was her, wasn’t it?” says Milah, interrupting his reverie. “The woman from your book.” 

“Aye.” He regrets Emma’s presence in his book, resents it a bit. He tried to write the woman differently but no matter what he did she refused to be anyone but Emma. In the end he gave in, hoping that writing about her might excise her from his heart. It didn’t. Nothing ever could. 

Milah is silent for several streets. When she speaks again her voice is carefully neutral. “Are you going to tell her you’re still in love with her?” she asks. “That you’ve never stopped?”

“Milah—” he begins, but she cuts him off with a short, sharp gesture of her hand.

“It’s okay, Killian. Well, it’s not okay, but I’ve always known you didn’t love me the way you love her.” She gives a wry smile. “I just never imagined she’d show up at your door.” 

“No, nor I.” 

“What are you going to do about it?”

He scrubs a hand over his face. “I don’t know.” 

Milah pauses again, chooses her words carefully. “You know you’ll never be completely happy without her, right?” 

He nods. “I know. But—” He hesitates, and she steps in.

“But you don’t think you deserve to be.” She gives him a probing look. “You do, you know.”

Killian stares at his hands, fighting against the memories that are starting to engulf him, things he hasn’t allowed himself to think about for years. Emma’s laugh, the way she smiled at him, the sunlight in her hair. Her father’s face whenever he saw them together. The way people in Storybrooke used to watch them, resentfully, as though his mere presence in her orbit would despoil their princess. 

He shakes his head.“You don’t understand. Emma, she’s perfect—” 

“She’s not,” snorts Milah, and meets his glare with a calm stare of her own. “She’s just a woman. A lovely one, yes, and by your account a remarkable one. But still just a woman. One who loves you.” 

His heart squeezes at that thought, one his brain refuses to entertain. “She doesn’t,” he insists, “she’s just being—” 

“Oh, stop it!” snaps Milah. “Stop making excuses. It’s fucking obvious to anyone with eyes. She’s as bad at hiding her feelings as you are. That woman is crazy in love with you and the only reason you can’t see it is because you think you don’t deserve it.”

“I don’t deserve her,” insists Killian, his jaw set stubbornly. 

Milah rolls her eyes, huffs out a breath. “You know what, maybe this is for the best,” she says. “Your moods were driving me crazy anyway.” 

“What, are you breaking up with me?”

“Yes. Yes I am. I can do better than a self-loathing nomad who’s in love with someone else.” 

They glare at each other. “You probably can,” says Killian. 

“Damn straight,” says Milah. 

“You will still be my agent, right?” 

“Of course I will. You’re my fucking cash cow, love.” 

Their glares fade into grins and they laugh. “Maybe it is for the best,” he concedes. “I like you too much to impose myself on you.” 

“Stop that,” says Milah. “That self deprecation gets really bloody tiresome. Just tell Blondie you love her, the rest will sort itself out. And quit holding her up in your mind like some sort of goddess. She’s just a woman.” 

Killian doesn’t reply. 

--

He calls Belle late that night. She answers after many rings with a sleepy “Hello?” He’s woken her up. He expects he should be sorry for that but he isn’t; he’s too mad at her for telling Emma where to find him. For destroying the peace he’s worked so hard to achieve. 

“Why,” he chokes out. He’s been sitting alone for hours fighting the urge to drink, unable to sleep, thinking about Emma and remembering and trying not to tumble back into feelings he thought he’d escaped. “Why would you tell her where I was?”

“What?” says Belle, and there is genuine confusion in her voice. “Killian? Who did I tell what to?” She must be tired, thinks Killian, if she’s dangling prepositions. 

“Emma,” he snarls. “You told her where I live. Why? Why, when you know how I—” 

“Hold on,” Belle is awake now, and there’s a snap in her tone. “I told Emma you live in New York but I didn’t give her your address. Why? Is she there?” 

“Aye.” He rubs the bridge of his nose. “She appeared at my door this afternoon.” 

“Ah.” Belle sounds satisfied. 

“What the hell does that mean?” 

“Killian. Please think about this. She tracked you down. She went to a lot of trouble to find you. Why do you think she would do that?” 

“I’ve no bloody clue.” 

“You do,” says Belle sharply. “You’re just being obtuse. What did she say?” 

“Not much. The timing was complicated.” 

“Well, talk to her. Just talk. See what comes out.” There’s a pause as Belle sighs. “You’ve spent so long thinking you can’t have good things, Killian, I suppose it must be difficult to change that mindset. But you have to. You can have the things you want. You are allowed to be happy.” 

“I—” He doesn’t know what to say. 

“Get some sleep,” Belle tells him. “Talk to Emma in the morning. And keep me informed.” 

“Aye.” 

He hangs up the phone and drops onto his sofa, letting his head fall into his hands. Belle’s words ring in his ears. 

You are allowed to be happy. 

Fictional character ask: Peter Pan and Wendy Darling.

Peter Pan

Favorite thing about them: His sheer cheeky exuberance for life and adventure, as well as the childhood fantasy of never growing up, being able to fly, and living such an exciting life in a fantastical place like Neverland. What child wouldn’t want to fly away with him if he were real? Also, as amoral as he can be, the book makes it clear that he does have some fundamental goodness in him, sympathizing with underdogs and with a strong belief in fairness, even to his enemies.

Least favorite thing about them: Where to start? He’s arrogant and selfish, he forgets and neglects people who care about him, and he has all too little concern for human life. Of course that’s part of Barrie’s whole point: childhood innocence is a double-edged sword, because it means not fully knowing right from wrong, so an eternal child will naturally be a morally gray person.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I dislike change.

*I like fairy tales.

*I'm more complex than I seem at first glance.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I can't fly.

*I know nothing about swordfighting.

*I have a mature sense of right and wrong.

Favorite line: The famous one, which he thinks to himself when he assumes he’s going to drown at Marooner’s Rock:

“To die will be an awfully big adventure!”

brOTP: Wendy, Tinker Bell, and later Jane.

OTP: Wendy, though of course he doesn’t want that because it would mean growing up.

nOTP: Captain Hook.

Random headcanon: I’ll admit, this isn’t my original thought, but I like it: he’s a ghost. He doesn’t know it, nor does anyone else, but he didn’t really run away from home as a baby, he died. This is the reason why he never grows up. The book makes it clear that the Lost Boys do grow up; new ones come and go all the time, while only Peter stays a child forever. This is also why his parents “replaced” him with another son instead of waiting for him to come home, and why he doesn’t need to eat, but is content with make-believe food. Hook’s attempts to kill him were always doomed to fail: he can’t die because he’s already dead.

Unpopular opinion: He’s neither a straightforward hero nor “really a villain.” He’s a complex character.

Song I associate with them: “You Can Fly’ from the Disney film.

I’ve Gotta Crow,” from the 1954 Broadway musical (Mary Martin as Peter).

"Never Never Land,” also from the 1954 musical.

Favorite picture of them: Disney’s Peter: my introduction to the character, as I’m sure he was for so many people.

This illustration by Trina Schart Hyman, one of my favorite illustrators for fairy-tales and fantasy.

This illustration by Scott Gustafson.

This picture by the same artist showing him battling Hook: I like that neither looks any less evil than the other.

This truly Pan-ish Peter. The wild, crazy hair makes perfect sense for him: he has no mother to cut it or comb it and probably wouldn’t bother to do those things himself.

Wendy Darling

Favorite thing about them: That she’s unquestionably the real protagonist of the story, even though Peter, Hook and Tinker Bell overshadow her in pop culture. She’s the audience surrogate. She’s also the only character who has a real character arc, growing from idolizing Peter, and from leaving her parents to fly to Neverland in the “gay, innocent and heartless” manner of a child, to realizing that Peter will never return her romantic feelings, realizing that she misses her parents, and choosing to go home and grow up, even as she always treasures her memories of Peter.

Least favorite thing about them: I’ll have to concede to feminists who complain that she isn’t a Strong Female Character™. The fact that she spends her time in Neverland playing “mother” to Peter and the boys, mending their clothes and cooking make-believe meals while they have adventures and fight pirates, and then needs to be rescued at the climax instead of taking any part the battle, does reflect an early 1900s model of gender roles, not a modern one. Of course I’ll say it once and I’ll say it again – there’s nothing wrong with traditional femininity and a female character doesn’t need to be Strong™ to be a good character. Still, I’m glad that some recent adaptations have given her a more active role.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I'm female.

*I like to tell stories.

*I find Peter Pan fascinating.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I'm not very good at sewing.

*I don't have any brothers.

*I don't particularly want to have children.

Favorite line: When Smee offers to free her if she’ll be his mother: “I would almost rather have no children at all.”

It’s the “almost” part that makes it; as if having a full grown pirate for a son would be unpleasant, but still better than having none.

BroTP: Peter and her brothers.

OTP: Peter in the short term, but her husband in the long term.

nOTP: Hook.

Random headcanon: She eventually married Tootles, the Lost Boy she was the closest to.  This isn’t canon for every version of the character, but in the original version of the “When Wendy Grew Up” epilogue (which wasn’t part of the original 1904 play, but which Barrie added in 1908), Jane’s father was explicitly said to have been one of the Lost Boys.

Unpopular Opinion:  I don’t wish Peter had chosen to grow up and marry her. In the first place, that’s not what he wants, and in the second place, it’s the fascinating eternal child Peter whom she loves: a grown-up Peter would be a different person. They each have the life they want in the end, even though it’s bittersweet that this requires them to part ways

Song I associate with them: “Your Mother and Mine,” from the Disney version.

"Tender Shepherd,” from the 1954 Broadway musical.

Favorite picture of them: Disney’s adorable Wendy.

This illustration showing her with Peter’s shadow.

This illustration, also from the shadow-sewing scene.

This pretty picture by Trina Schart Hyman, showing her first meeting with the Lost Boys at the door of the house they built for her.

SanUso 39. “I can’t do this on my own” 😭👌🏻

Thank you for your ask! Hope you like it, it can be seen as brotp or ship~ Thank you @petite-neko for correcting this prompt!

Warning: this is post-Whole Cake Island. 

“Putain de bordel de merde!”

Half of the crew froze on the deck when this scream of pure frustration came out of the kitchen.

Zoro’s nap did not seem to be disturbed the least, and Robin did not look like she was willing to look away from her book – as if it was just ‘another’ trouble among many others on the Thousand Sunny she just could afford to ignore. On the other side of the boat, Brook, Franky and Jinbei were obviously too busy having a debate on the different degrees and stages of humour, especially since Big Mom’s former crewmate clearly kept trying to prove his point through ‘jokes’ no one ever understood.

Luffy and Chopper stopped fighting over the fish they just caught for a second, and the Straw Hat doctor would probably have checked on Sanji if Luffy did not try to swallow what Chopper qualified as an ‘extremely poisonous’ fish. Not that the Future Pirate King could be affected by that, but if that could avoid having a Captain complaining about his stomach for the next twenty-four hours. Plus, it was not as if ingesting poison, even when one was immune to it, was a particularly good idea.

Nami was busy taking care of her orange trees, and Usopp was having his usual daily talk with his ‘baby plants’ when the cook… exploded. Truth was, it wasn’t the first, and probably not the last time this week.

“You should go,” Nami told the snipper.

“Me?” Usopp asked, disconcerted. “Didn’t you just hear-”

“Well yeah, I did,” she didn’t even bother looking up. “That’s why I said you should go.”

“Why not you? I’m sure you’d do a better job-“

“I don’t know how to fix things like you. And Franky’s already busy, so…”

“Fix things?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s what it is about. I’ve seen Luffy playing with the mixer, two days ago… I’m actually surprised it lasted that long.”

Usopp glanced at Luffy. Their eyes met, and his idiot Captain grinned and waved at him, with this innocent look on his face, as if he had never done anything wrong in his entire life.

“Alright, but if that’s not it-“

“That’s it.”

Usopp sighed.

XxX

When Usopp arrived at the kitchen, he expected the cook to be as angry as his scream implied merely a few seconds ago. Instead, the young man only found the kitchen apparently empty. With a few more steps, however, his eyes fell to his nakama sitting on the floor, as if life had lost all its meaning. On his face was the expression of a man who had given up all hope as he sat there on the floor.

“Hm-“ Usopp muttered. “You need anything?”

If he didn’t know his friend any better, Usopp would have thought he’d scared Sanji, somehow. The cook’s body contracted, and, upon seeing his nakama, seemed to relax a bit.

“Nah,” he said, then paused. “I don’t know, maybe. That damn machine’s broken. It’s- it’s useless. I… can’t do this on my own.”

He pointed at the mixer – of course Nami was right. He looked like he wanted to add something, but prevented himself from doing so at the very last second. 

After taking a look at it, and spending half of the afternoon swearing and cursing Luffy – who knew what he did with that thing – probably tried to make some fish with it or something, like the damn idiot that he is – Usopp finally was able to fix it. In the meantime, Sanji spent his time behind him, trying to help and see what he could do, in vain. Whenever he asked “Can’t I do something?” Usopp replied “No thanks, just be patient.” To his “Are you sure this is fine?” the snipper started to lose patience, but never gave in.

Yet, something felt wrong.

Sanji wouldn’t react like that. It wasn’t like him to just, act like… like Luffy would. There was a nuance, though- Luffy would have been immensely annoying because he was bored, probably. Sanji’s voice was stained with worry.

“All done now,” Usopp declared.

Sanji smiled and thanked him. He then went for a cigarette, and unsuccessfully tried to light it. His hands were shaking. Without giving it any thought, Usopp put his hand on his, and in a slow, soft movement, put his matches and cigarette away.

“Luffy played with it,” he said, after a while. “That’s why it wasn’t working.”

He couldn’t see Sanji’s eyes, and he knew it was probably for the best for the cook. It wasn’t unusual that one of them would get a sudden anxiety attack or something of the sort. He did not really know much about it – but he’d seen them before. Hell, he was the King of anxiety. He knew how stress and PTSD worked.

And Sanji had been back only recently. Everything that happened on the Whole Cake Island – was so violently marked and present in his mind. The snipper was actually impressed by his nakama’s strength.

He remembered how they all hugged when he came back.

He remembered how tight his embrace had been. How warm – how needy it was. There was a strong thirst for affection and support, and they all provided it to him the best they could.

“It was broken,” he continued. “But now it’s okay. Everything’s fine. Nothing’s completely broken, anyway, as long as it’s here, there’s still a use.”

Sanji tensed, and Usopp just went for it. After a few seconds, he felt Sanji’s arm sliding on his back, and the man finally returned the hug he offered.

 “We’re all happy that you can use that mixer again, Sanji,” he muttered. “Can you imagine how it would have been, if Luffy had kept trying to make fish dishes with it?”

There was a soft chuckle coming out of the cook, and a reassuring warmth spread through the snipper’s body.

“This kitchen would be a catastrophe without me,” Sanji’s soft, broken voice answered.

 “Yeah,” Usopp happily replied, his eyes slightly wet.

Fanfic asks: 1, 14, and 20

1 - What was the first fandom you got involved in?

“involved” might be too strong a word but back in the days of usenet i lurked on a lot of rec.arts.s-f boards, especially for The Wheel of Time and (of course) Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon.  i actually had a website for sailor moon where i used to do my own screengrabs and make image galleries.

14 - Go on, who are your BroTPs?

ami/mamorou on BSSM ollie/barry on arrow captain charming on OUAT captain book on OUAT mal/zoe on firefly

20 - Any ships which you surprised yourself by liking?

already answered, but it’s oliver/felicity on arrow.  for SO MANY reasons.  also, i was not immediately a CS shipper.  i mean, i WAS, hello, have you seen that man, but also it wasn’t clear at the time which way OUAT was going to go with hook as a character and it wasn’t really until mabye good form or even the CS movie that i really, truly got into it.  which, of course, was when i should have stopped, but, lesson learned etc 🤣

hey, send me fic asks!  i have already driven to connecticut and back today and i am le tired.

Premiere Nebula Shipping Concepts!

I haven’t thought much about ships in this series aside from Kotostelle, who have basically been together in my head since I started writing Imperfect Storm. But here are a few that have come to mind and my thoughts on them.

ValkaxOmega

I mean, obviously, they’re a magical girl team, so people are gonna ship them. I gotta say, I like their dynamic, but it’d be really hard for them to reconcile their beliefs and get together. Valka will blame herself for Omega becoming an Actress for a very long time, and Omega just wishes Valka would open up more, especially in the first book where she keeps a ton of secrets. So these two could end up good together, but there would be a lot of miscommunication in between.

ValkaxPhea

They were roommates for a while, so I can envision this a little easier. They have similar views on what they want out of their lives, and both can be initially cautious of new people (Valka shows it more, but Phea is actually way less trusting). The problem I see with it is that they both idolize each other to an extent, and while that’s great for pumping Valka up and getting her out of depressive states...she also doesn’t see the very obvious signs that Phea likes her. Because why would she, really?

ValkaxLayton

Valka leans more towards women, so I feel like this is the only real male/female relationship she could have with the cast. She feels a strong connection to her team captain, Layton, and while they’re more of a BroTP as I’m writing them now, I could imagine Valka being more comfortable in that kind of relationship. Though I do feel that Valka’s experience with non-Actresses and dudes leaves her a little hesitant to trust them, so they’ll probably stay friends. (Or have the whole awkward “he likes her but she doesn’t” thing because that’s happened to me so much in my experience with opposite-gender friendships.) Anyway, I’m mainly considering this for nostalgia purposes, as Layton was originally created to be Valka’s love interest on the RPs I got the concept from.

ValkaxAlarice (only in AU)

I know this is yet another Valka ship (possibly because I have no idea who to pair her up with), but I can’t shake the feeling that Alarice would probably like Valka as a person if she ever got to know her as more than the Valkaine Project. Obvi too far gone in this ‘verse, but if she hadn’t gone to the dark side...a definite, fascinating maybe.

OmegaxXue

I’ve put thought into this, but not a ton of it (mostly because they haven’t really met in canon yet). It mostly stems from shared trauma from their brainwashing and the fact that their Actress names translate to “Soul Gem” when you put them together. But they’re both very feelings-based people, so it’d be a pretty healthy and open relationship. (Probably the fluffier version of ValkaxOmega’s mentor/apprentice relationship.)

OmegaxAlarice

One-sided from Alarice’s perspective, and solely because disguising herself as a regular person meant she was actually treated like someone other than her Firebrand leader self for the first time in years. Omega’s already been in one abusive relationship, so if she knew, she’d be mega cautious of getting into one with someone like Alarice. It’d never get anywhere unless Alarice hypnotized Omega into doing so, and she has better things to make Omega do, anyway.

PheaxXing

Mainly an aesthetic ship—fire and water duo, a model and a rock star getting together...it’s just cool. Xing’s currently captured, but I could see them being booked for the same shoots, dating a couple of times. Don’t know if there’d be anything more to it or not.

PheaxVanessa

Not in a million years. If you defect to the Firebrands, Phea might forgive you enough for the two of you to be acquaintances again, but never girlfriends. They totally act like exes, but were never actually together.

IoxIago

Two teenagers watching old movies and researching conspiracy theories. That’s basically it. Even if they were to develop feelings for each other, Io would never admit it. Anyway, she’s way more interested in movies and battles for the time being.

IoxStellexKoto

At the very least, I know Junior Varsity will form an Actress trio together. Whether it gets any further than that depends entirely on if Io ends up growing deeper feelings for these girls.

The ManufacturerxKaine

This is probably the most complicated ship in the series, because Kaine was literally made to be Valka’s dark clone and the Manufacturer’s ideal girlfriend. Problem is, while she’s into it in the beginning...her attention is bound to wander to other guys. (After all, she never really got the freedom to date around and find her own love.) Seeing what he does to her partner Koto is essentially the nail in the coffin for her.

KainexLayton

I haven’t thought much about it, but I like the idea of Layton being the sort of “nice guy” to show Kaine what life outside Star Corporations is like, and inevitably, how much the Manufacturer abused her. In the original RPs, Kaine was more of a yandere who gained interest in Layton to steal him away from Valka, but now I imagine it as more of a “spy accidentally falls for their target” sort of thing. She tries to get intel from Layton, and it all goes downhill from there.

DimanchexAlain

It’s pretty much canon that President Asteria used to like Valka’s father, Alain Sparks, to the point where they dated for awhile. Alain broke off the relationship because he didn’t want Dimanche to get the bad press that would accompany her dating someone who’d challenged the government. She’s since married Omega’s brother, and her relationship with him is fine...but she can’t help but wonder sometimes. Alain considered going back to her exactly once, but by then, he’d already unofficially adopted Io, who needless to say, would have felt very uncomfortable facing her estranged mother who assumed her dead at that point in time.

(So to summarize, Kaine might be the only Nebula member I know for certain is straight. This is subject to change.)

Just Between You, Me, and the Whole Seireitei

Hitsuhina Week 2018 - Day 3: Loyalty / Secret

Rating: K (General)

Setting: After (or during if you want) the ten year time-skip.

Synopsis: Toshiro has a secret that no one can find out, not even Momo…but is it really a secret anymore?

AN: So, I finally present to you some fluff for the week. This is just meant to some silly fun that may or may not be a tad OOC. It’s also a brOTP fic for Toshiro and Rangiku. I hope you all enjoy it!

It should have been like any other cleaning day: wash down the floorboards, dust off every surface, rearrange the tomes and books in the bookcase, keep the paperwork piled up in one place, and scrub out the ink stains in the desk.

“Uh, Captain, do you need to scrub the floorboards that hard? I think the varnish is starting to come off.”

Toshiro stopped, looking down at the wash cloth scrunched up in his reddened hands. His heart was hammering in his chest and his head hurt with all the thoughts racing in his mind. The reflection in soapy water on the floorboards showed his brows were almost meeting at the bridge of his nose and his eyes were narrowed. He’d never looked more frustrated in his life.

With a disgruntled sigh, he stood up and threw the cloth into the bucket of water, almost tipping it over. He raised his hands to the back of his neck and threaded his fingers through each other as he paced from one side of the office to the other. Rangiku, halfway down one of the bookcases’ ladders, had a frown slowly forming in her brow. “Captain?”

He stopped pacing. “It’s nothing.”

“Well that’s clearly not true.” She came the rest of the way down the ladder and stepped around the desk to him, careful to avoid the wet floorboards. “Sir, please, tell me what’s on your mind.”

He looked out into the courtyard, considering. If he didn’t say anything he was certain he was going to combust. Besides, for all their bickering and childish arguments, Rangiku was perhaps the only other person in the whole Seireitei he felt comfortable confiding in.

“Matsumoto.” He turned back to his lieutenant, putting on the most serious face he could conjure up. “What I say now does not leave this office. No one, and I mean no one, not even Hinamori – especially Hinamori – can know about this. Is that that clear?”

Rangiku’s eyes widened and her eyebrows rose in concern. “Yes, of course. What is it?”

Toshiro crossed his arms over his chest. Heat rose up the back of his neck and flushed through his face. The mere thought of what was on his mind was enough to make him blush. He bit the inside of his cheek, mulling over how to tell her. No, it’s no use. He decided to just come out and say it. However, when he spoke, it was an incoherent, rushed mutter.

Rangiku tilted her head to the side. “Uh, Captain, could you repeat that? You spoke too fast.”

Toshiro threw his head back and cringed. “Damn it!” He sighed as he unfolded his arms. He stared back down at his own reflection. He took in a deep breath before he spoke. “I think I’m in love with Hinamori.”

He’d realised it a week ago, when Momo and he were coming back from one of their visits to Granny. For years he had strong feelings towards Momo, but he couldn’t understand the nature of them. He knew they had evolved exponentially from how he felt about her in their childhood. Back then she had been a friend, someone he could tease without worrying it might hurt her feelings. But now, these feelings cause evaluate everything he said to her – was he too harsh? Did his teasing go too far? Hurting her had become one of his worst fears, certainly not helped by what happened during the Winter War.

These feelings were heavy enough to press on his mind when he thought about her, and yet they made his heart feel as light as a feather. Tingling, pleasant – and at times painful - warmth ran up his arms and through his chest when she grinned at him in a certain way or laughed at something he said. She’d become the most beautiful being he’d ever seen when the sunlight haloed her hair and highlighted the brown hues in her eyes.

In that moment, when she grinned at him as they mused about the past, a thought came unbidden, without any sense or reason. It felt as though a floodgate opened, and he could do nothing to stop – and perhaps didn’t want to.

I love her.

Back in the present, Toshiro’s cheeks and knuckles darkened from faint pink to red. His mind was warring between embarrassment and relief at finally having told someone. He raised his head up, and wasn’t surprised to see Rangiku wide-eyed and gapping.

He sighed through his nose. “I realise this is out of the blue and-”

“YES!”

He grunted in surprise and leaned away. Rangiku had thrown her arms up and was beaming so wide it must be hurting her cheeks. As he stuttered out her name, she practically back-flipped on to the nearby couch.

“Oh, finally!” she cried out. “It’s finally happened!” She threw herself up from the couch and paraded around the room, a large skip in her step and her voice far too loud and squealing for his liking. “Years! I waited and watched afar for years! It was worth it though, to finally feel this euphoria! To finally hear it from him! I can finally talk about it with him and coach him on dating!"

She goes on ranting and raving her excitement, leaving Toshiro bewildered at first, then angry. It wasn’t until she stepped on a wet patch of the floorboards that the captain snapped. “Matsumoto!”

She yelped and raised her foot away from the floorboard. The light dimmed in her eyes as she met his gaze. She stumbled over words, either trying to apologise or explain herself as brought her foot down on a drier part of the floor.

“What do you mean you were waiting?” he asked, trying to reel in his anger.

Rangiku smacked her lips together. “Ah, Captain…I hate to tell you this, but your, uh, feelings aren’t exactly a secret.”

Toshiro stiffened. “What do you mean?”

She scratched the back of her head, looking off to the side and smiling ruefully. “Well,” she drawled. “…you haven’t exactly hidden how you’ve felt.”

His eyes widened again. “How’s that possible?”

The lieutenant looked conflicted between laughing at his naivety and shaking her head in pity. “Captain…everyone knows you two have history together. You don’t exactly hide that you’re protective of her, or that you look out for her when she’s in trouble.” Her gaze softens. “Not to mention there was all of the things that happened when…Aizen betrayed us.”

He gulped. “So, you’re saying everyone in the Seireitei knows?”

Rangiku nodded.

“The captains, the lieutenants? Even our suborodinates?”

“…Even the officers in the other divisions too.”

He was positive his whole face was crimson red now. He’d never felt so mortified in all his life. “If you knew, then why didn’t you tell me?”

Rangiku held her arms up defensively. “I was worried you were going to freeze me for assuming!”

He can’t rebuke that. When he said nothing, she sighed and brought her hands to her hips. “Besides,” she continued, “it’s not my place or anyone else’s to tell you how you feel about someone. It’s something you have to learn yourself. How I felt about…Gin is not necessarily the same way you feel about Hinamori, for example.”

Then, a horrifying thought crossed his mind. “Does Hinamori know?!”

Rangiku quickly waved her hands in reassurance. “No, no, no! She’s none the wiser.”

Toshiro could only feel an iota of relief. His shoulders slumped. “So what do I do now?”

The question made the lieutenant blink. He must have sounded as childish or vulnerable to her as he did to himself. Shame flushed through him, causing him ball his hands into fists.

Rangiku smiled with a huff. “Well, you could go over to the fifth division right now and tell her how you feel.”

A startled choke left him and heat started to rise up the back of his neck again. He couldn’t form any coherent protests to the idea, but he certainly wasn’t about to go and confess to her.

Rangiku chuckled. “I didn’t think you’d be ready for that.” With the floorboards now dried, she saunters over to him. “In all seriousness, Captain, you should take your time understanding these feelings. Just because others have known about them for years and you’ve only just recognised what they are doesn’t mean you need to rush into telling Hinamori. You’ll know when you’re ready to tell her.”

There was a time when Toshiro would have been surprised by Rangiku’s occasional words of wisdom and understanding. But in the decades of getting to know her, her words brought comfort to him in times of need. Just like those times, he could feel his anxiety and anger slowly ebb away.

“And how will I know?” he asked.

The lieutenant winked and put her hand on his shoulder. “You’ll just know, trust me. You could even plan ahead, if you wanted to. Make it something grand and elaborate.”

He shook his head. “No, that’s not right.” He wasn’t completely satisfied with her answer, but then anything dealing with emotions always eluded him.

“Well, regardless, Captain, I’ll be here for you if need any advice or support,” she offered. “I won’t tell anyone that you’re aware of your feelings now. I promise”

He took in her gaze, soft with understand and sincerity, and her wide – perhaps even proud – smile.

“Thank you, Matsumoto.”

With a final squeeze to his shoulder, the lieutenant pulled her hand away. “You’re welcome, sir.”

As she straightened, he looked around their office. “Now, back to cleaning. That was your break for the day.”

She gapped at him. “Aw, but Captain!”

“No excuses. We have to finish cleaning before the end of the day.” Toshiro got back down on his hands and knees, taking up the cloth from the bucket and wringing it. “If we finish early enough, I’ll cover your dinner at one of those restaurant’s you like.”

Rangiku blinked rapidly. “Captain…are you buying me dinner tonight?”

“Not if you don’t get back to work.”

She clapped her hands together and grinned. With an enthusiastic ‘yes’, she walked over to the ladder and climbed back up to finish dusting.

Toshiro resumed scrubbing the floorboards, this time with much less force. He allowed the barest of smiles to shape his lips. He never thought he’d be relieved by the fact he’d told someone else about how he felt for Hinamori. The fact the whole Seireitei seemingly knew about his feelings still unnerved him, but to know Rangiku – his lieutenant and closest friend – was the only one who knew he was now aware of his feelings was comforting.

He may have not been able to keep his biggest secret from the Seireitei, but he’d keep this one.

Captain Marvel Review: Not Just a Girl (Spoilers).

It’s Here! The final chapter before Avengers: Endgame, the newest hero, and the first female led movie in the MCU Captain Marvel! Carol Danvers is here and she is ready to take on Thanos bare handed, but first she had her own adventure to go on. For a solo/origin hero movie Captain Marvel is fun, heartfelt, and thrilling. Who is Carol Danvers? There was a lot of talk about whether Brie Larson would be able to capture the comic book characters intensity, (a stupid fear, she has a freakin’ Oscar) Would the MCU’s first female lead be strong? Likeable? Maybe she wouldn’t smile, or her voice would be too high. All worries were unfounded because both Brie Larson and Carol do the comics justice. Larson’s portrayal is layered, she is likeable, and she is badass. Carols dry humour, coupled with Larson’s delivery, help her cut down anyone who dares get in her way, Fury, Talos, Yon Rogg, all pale next to her, because she is simply too badass to put up with men who want to make her less than she is. The scene where she comes across a biker who tells her to smile directly mirrors the treatment a lot of male MCU fans gave the character when the first trailers came out. Instead of smiling she steals his bike. Instead of placating her mentor, Jude Law/Yon Rogg/Dumbledore, she owns her own sense of self worth, saying she “Doesn’t need to prove anything to him.” She does more damage in thirty minutes than all the other heroes have done collectively over a ten-year period and it’s exhilarating watching her cut through enemies and spaceships like butter. The scene where she unlocks her potential and kicks ass to No Doubt’s “I’m Just a Girl”? Cinematic poetry. But it isn’t all photon blasts and quick remarks; there is a vulnerability and humanity that is uniquely Brie Larson. To have a gruff, completely cold character, or a too bubbly fun lover would be a disservice. She is at her best when the two sides come together. Her vulnerability, her sensitivity to others are strengths, they don’t take away from how badass she is. Only 90’s kids will remember The movie really wants you to know that when Carol crash lands on earth that she is in fact in the 90’s. From the first shots of her crashing through the roof of a blockbuster video everything screams grunge. The best references were to Carol and Maria playing street fighter 2, using the Alta Vista search engine, and the costume styling. Sooo much plaid. The soundtrack is full of nineties bangers that both fit the time period and the story. Strong female singers like Gwen Stefani in No Doubt and Courtney are used to highlight Carols most badass moments. Nick Fury is young and has an eye and SHIELD isn’t full of Nazis. Sometimes the layers of nostalgia are quite thick, like all the 80’s nods in Guardians, and a lot of random references are shoehorned in. But for the most part these references at a unique flavour to the story that helps further differentiate it from the other MCU movies which is getting harder and harder to do. The Power of Friendship. In the last ten years the MCU has had a lot of good friendships evolve, Bucky and Steve, Tony and Rhodey, Thor and Heimdall. But before now we haven’t seen any female friendships blossom, not even in the team up movies. Carol and Maria, played by the amazing Lashana Lynch is a beautiful thing to see. Described by Brie Larson as the movies true love story, of friendship lost and then found again she couldn’t be more right. The pair have an amazing relationship, two women supporting each other and thriving in an industry dominated by men. Their mantra “higher further faster” a tribute to their ability to rise up together. They join Mar Vels programme together and support each other up until Carols “accident”. Their reunion upon Carol’s return to Earth is emotional and touching, Maria’s tears as she reminds Carol of who she is, is one of the most touching scenes in the film. Maria even helps during the films climax, egged on by Marias daughter, Monica. Monica also adds a sweet innocence to the movie, excited when Auntie Carol returns. Monica Rambeau also has a lot of interesting arcs in the comic universe also and it will be interesting to see if the MCU character follows suit. Carol and Fury: BROTP. Very few heroes have been able to go toe to toe with Fury’s charisma and imposing personality. Some obey (Steve, Natasha, Clint), some rebel (Tony), but few have ever felt like his equal. No one besides Carol has ever been able to create a playful comradery. Whether it’s a symptom of being younger or less jaded doesn’t seem right, because he’s still badass. Carol is probably the first person to ever knock him down a few pegs (“Congratulations agent Fury you just asked a relevant question.) Like Carol he goes against his superiors in favour of what he thinks is right. Brie Larson and Samuel L Jackson have electric chemistry, throwing barbs and having each other’s backs when it counts. The fact that the two actors are close friends helps with the organic evolution of their characters connection. The fact that Fury kept the beeper on his person for twenty or so years is a testament to how much he trusts Carol. SKRULLS: Be careful who you trust. The Skrulls an alien race of green shape shifters who can take on the form of any being that they encounter and seamlessly blend in, essentially taking over planet one person at a time. A huge plotline in Marvel comics, the Kree versus skrull war is the movies central conflict. Carol is told that essentially the Skrulls are baddies and her team of noble warrior Kree are all that stand between the shape shifter and total domination. The fact Marvel has trouble creating memorable or impactful villains, who’s motivations are usually unimportant, never to be heard from again. (Loki and Thanos are exceptions.) The Kree as a concept are pretty terrifying, unseen they could take over family or friends without you knowing, and their original forms are like scary green goblins. Ben Mendelsohn plays their leader Talos, a charismatic leader with a single purpose in mind who will do anything to reach his goals. Mendelsohn comedic timing coupled with a thick Australian accent puts him above a lot of the blander villains. His fear of Goose is particularly hilarious. But it’s once you find out why he’s doing what he’s doing that he and the Skrulls become more. If you follow the news or pay attention to the state of the world right now the plight of the Skrulls will feel really familiar to you. Misplaced and hounded by an army that is far better armed, just looking for a planet of their own. Obviously, their methods are pretty insidious and wrong, which highlights how desperate this group of characters are. This helps in developing Carol as a character, who makes the conscious choice to go against her “team” or the Kree and does what she thinks is truly the right thing. The Goose is Loose. Lastly, the little scene-stealer Goose the cat/flerken! Not everyone is a cat person, but everyone should be a Goose person. Where he came from is a little vague, and why he came to earth is unknown. Fury loves him, Carol loves him. The only person who doesn’t is Talos, which is a hilarious gag. His flerken moments are disturbing and wild; his tesseract strength stomach is a site to behold. He is the only being besides Carol to melt Nick Fury’s heart, and he is the answer to one of the MCU’s last remaining huge questions: What happened to Nick’s eye? How does Captain Marvel fit into the MCU. We know the events of Captain Marvel occur before almost every event in the MCU bar Captain America’s origin. None of the other heroes exist in their current forms, no stones have been collected and no team has been formed. That last part, the idea of forming of the Avengers initiative comes right after Carol and Nick’s adventure, the name a nod to Carols air force days which is a nice touch. Coulson and Nick are young; their cgi faces actually work really well, after about 20 minutes it all starts looking really natural. The MCU tends to use it’s trump card when it wants to make a solid connection between movies and that is the tesseract. The cosmic cube has been owned by Nazis, Loki, Odin, and finally Odin. Another piece of the artefacts origin is put into place. However without remembering where the cube was after world war two you have to wonder how the cube was passed around so much afterwards. It isn’t used in Carol’s comic origin, and it doesn’t make total sense. It’s a very convenient plot device, but any other Kree object could have been put in it’s place. It does make Carol the strongest hero in the MCU however which is fitting, giving her the ability to travel so far from Earth that she has no clue about any of the events that happen in her absence until Fury pages her in the Infinity War post credit scene. Brie Larson’s explanation, that there are a lot of planets and species in the universe that need help besides Earth, is actually a pretty solid explanation. But is she really gone the whole time? Did she pop in occasionally to see Maria and Fury at any point? Did it take twenty years to help the Skrulls? All valid questions that aren’t answered. Where will the MCU go, after Endgame, now that it’s unleashed it’s most powerful force? It’s exciting to think future adventures could happen away from earth, that villains could potentially become stronger, Maybe Galuctus will pop up. Brie Larson and others have mentioned the possible appearance of Miss Marvel, Kamala Khan in the sequel, which would fit nicely with the films message of girl power and a lot of people would love to see. Wherever the MCU goes after Endgame is open ended, but Carol’s strength opens up so many exciting possibilities.

Okay, so for your WIP list, I was definitely intrigued by many, and I was all set to ask about #12 and #18 (the title "Deckhand Davy" just really made me curious) but then I got to #25 or the "Captain Book thing" and that's the one I have to ask about most! :)

I’ll address all of them, since you’re so excited ;)

12, “Mermaid ANGSTTTT/FREE KILLY”, is kind of like Free Willy but if Killian was a merman trapped in a zoo. You can blame @thesschesthair for that one. And I think I had it set up that David worked in the zoo (which was owned/run by Gold) but Emma was the first one to get him to talk. It’s all outlined and about 3k is written, but I got sidetracked by other merman!Killian stuff ;)

Here’s a bit, though:

With Henry occupied, she snuck back over to the tank. Before she reached it, that sad, lonely tune was being sung again. Whatever was in there, be it mammal or fish, she couldn’t let it carry on being so sad.

She knelt next to the glass barrier and pressed her left hand against it. It wasn’t as though it was a meaningful action—it certainly wouldn’t do anything to free the lonely creature—but she couldn’t help the desire to have a more physical connection with whatever it was. If only I knew how to help you, she thought.

Suddenly, she was aware of the fact that her hand wasn’t alone...and neither was she. On the other side of the glass, a masculine hand was mirroring hers, palm to palm through the pane. She followed the hand down a strong arm, across a defined shoulder, and to the face of what was probably the most attractive man she’d ever seen, studying her intently. For a moment, she was frozen, eyes locked on the too-blue ones of the man in the tank—until she realized holy crap there’s a man in the tank, yelped, and jumped away.

Her sudden movement must have scared him, because he too popped out of sight—but not before she caught another glimpse of those golden scales from the other night. No, not just scales: a tail.

18, “Deckhand Davy”, is actually already published as The Dutchman Must Always Have A Captain, which I wrote for @cocohook38. But I keep it in my WIP folder for whenever I get to the CS follow-up to it.

25, “Captain Book Thing”, is just some brotp cuteness, haha. It’s a half-finished story about Belle taking Killian shopping for his date with Emma in 4x04, because someone obviously showed him around town and they were kind of starting to be friends then.

I didn’t even get 600 words in, and of course didn’t outline it so I have no idea where it was headed, but here’s a bit:

“You. Want me. To take you. Shopping.”

“Aye.” She’d never seen him look so bashful; his eyes were on the library’s tiled floor and he was scratching behind his ear while a pink flush colored his cheekbones.

“Why not Emma, or Henry?”

“The lad is in school, and...it’s something of a surprise for my and Emma’s date tonight.”

She couldn’t help but smile at that; good for them. “And...the hand?”

He clenched his left hand into a fist. “Also part of the surprise.” She wasn’t sure how she hadn’t realized that the hand in a large glass jar in her husband’s shop was the pirate’s, and she was proud of her husband (because she still loved saying the word husband) for returning it.

“Okay.”

He looked up, almost surprised. “Is that a yes, love?”

So...hopefully I’ll get back to these someday, but we’ll see ;) thanks for the Q!

ask me about a WIP title and I’ll tell you about it

WIP Tag - 12 questions

I was tagged by my babe @cassandraxstardust thank you! And I’m going to tag @have-fun-storming-the-kastle because she can’t escape me and my tagging ever. So let’s go!

1. Tell us a little about your WIP (i.e genre, premise, anything you’d like to share about the plot…etc.):

So the first book is titled Prize (at this point) and it’s going to be part of the Silent Star Series, which will either be a duology or trilogy. The first book is from the perspective of 21-year-old Casper Arnett, the youngest member and captain’s son aboard the Solarus. They’re a cargo crew who make food and goods deliveries. It’s a pretty mundane existence, until Casper discovers two teenage stowaways - a girl named Dia and a boy named Smokes - aboard the ship.

The crew’s lives get infinitely more complicated at this point because it becomes very clear that there are important people after the teenage duo, which leads to Casper and those he cares about being thrown into a whole lot of danger. But Casper is very inquisitive and is determined to unravel the web of secrets surrounding Dia and Smokes.

2. Tell us a bit about your main protagonist(s):

Casper Arnett is the son of Beatrix, the compassionate but tough captain of the Solarus. He’s spent his whole life aboard the ship, and the crew are basically his extended family. He’s extremely curious and just as kind-hearted as his mum, although he does sometimes try and act macho. Casper cares deeply and probably a little bit too much about people. He’s honestly the biggest Hufflepuff.

Dia is one of the stowaways and probably the one who’s hiding the most secrets. She’s 18 years old with some quirky mannerisms that make Casper suspicious that the stories she tells don’t add up to who she really is. Although softly-spoken and seemingly frail, Dia is a lot more rough around the edges than she wants to let on. She’s an extremely troubled girl and she has some very powerful people after her.

Smokes is Dia’s protector, but more than that is a mystery. Their connection is intense and important without being romantic. They’re the same age and have known each other for years. “Smokes” is a fun nickname because of some his abilities. He’s a mercenary, after all, and his true identity is something that he keeps well under wraps. He’s hot-headed and sharp-tongued, and won’t hesitate to lash out.

3. A fun (or not so fun) fact about your protagonist(s)?

Casper was quite literally born on Solarus. Who’s his dad? Will he come into the picture? Probably not. I don’t consider his dad important. He’s been raised gently but firmly by Beatrix and she’s the only parental figure who matters to him.

4. How did you come up with the idea to write this story?

I think because I’ve read so many stories of the sweet girl and a broken boy so I thought, what if it was the other way around?

5. Who does/do your protagonist(s) trust most?

When it comes to Casper, that would definitely be Beatrix. He’s not afraid to admit to his mum when he’s wrong and also go to her for advice. I think that they have a very healthy mother-son relationship.

As for Smokes and Dia...well they only really trust each other at this point, and even that’s questionable.

6. Now tell us something about your antagonist(s):

Okay so there are a few and I can’t say too much without spoiling, but I think my favourite so far is Dresden Hemlock. He’s a galactic crime lord, but he’s fought tooth and nail to be where he is today. He was once poor and now he’s killed and deceived his way to the top, and he knows he still has to fight to stay there. I like to think he’s very flawed and human, he can relate to a lot of the others. He isn’t a sadist and he isn’t unreasonably cruel, he’s a businessman and he knows what it takes to stay in business.

7. Share a line of dialogue / or an idea for a scene you’re excited about:

I’m really excited for the scene where Dia’s true identity is exposed. It’s not right until the very end and it’s incredibly shocking, I’m hoping that finding out the truth about her will throw people off.

8. Share a line that spoils something (without context):

"Accident? Oh my dear girl. Surely you know that we don’t make mistakes. Every part of this was a piece of a far bigger plan. Including him.”

9. What do you enjoy writing most about this story?

I think the fact that almost all of the characters are neither “good” nor “bad”. Just when you think you’ve got someone figured out, it gets flipped upside down. I’m really hoping they come across as three-dimensional because the main characters all have their flaws and their problems that I’m really liking exploring.

10. Favourite relationships (platonic/romantic/enemies…etc.)

My favourite would have to be the brotp that is Dia and Smokes. So many times there’s this assumption that they’re something more, because how can a boy and girl be that close and be “just friends”? But it’s definitely telling of how strong their friendship is, despite the trials they have faced and will faced, that they’re incredibly close.

Dia and Casper is an incredibly slow-burn romantic pairing. It’s a relationship of growth for both of them that’s integral to the story, but they’re certainly not going to fall in love fast or anything like that. There are a lot of twists and complications they need to navigate before that happens.

11. What are you most looking forward to seeing your readers reactions to in the story?

I think some of the plot twists with Dia and Smokes. Just when you think you know who these kids are, you get another curveball, and the final truths will probably be a bit shocking.

12. Who is the hardest character to write?

Dresden! I’m not good at writing literal smooth criminals :P

Chris

Why I like them – I think he’s a genuinelysweet guy and would do just about anything for anyone. He might not always goabout it the right way, but he figures it out and works to fix his mistakes.

Why I don’t – n/a lol

Favorite episode (scene if movie) – fromthe game… I liked when he brought out his sled to have fun with MC in uh, TFBook2 I think? It was cute. Also, his bonus Zoo scene… he’s a dork and I loveit. Oh and the anniversary scene on the hill… ah, I like too many I guess haha.

Favorite season/movie – uh, favoritegame book (so far) is probably TF Book2… because he and MC go official and hetells her he loves her. Aww…

Favorite line – “There’s my girl.” Andall the dorky crap he says lol.

Favorite outfit – the brown leatherjacket getup when he asks MC for help with a makeover before all thepresidential stuffs begin.

OTP – MC of course J

Brotp – PB canon characters… Zack

Head Canon – he secretly wishes he wasa superhero. He likes good shoes – sneakers, flip-flops, whatever it is… otherwisehe likes to go barefoot a lot.

Unpopular opinion – he’s a pushoveror weak or… something? What do people say? I donno, I tend to ignore Chris hateand only talk good things with people who like him haha.

A wish – A wish..? Um… I wish PBwould write the remaining books/chapters like they did in TF Book 1.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen –PB kills him off… luckily the TF Series is a romance, not horror or sci-fi, etc…so I think we’re safe. ;)

5 words to best describe them – thoughtful,strong, soft(ie), playful, dreamer

My nickname for them – (MC’snickname for him) Captain or handsome

Thanks for the ask @choicesfannatalie :)

~Max

Happy Holidays! I'm dropping into some of my fave creator's ask boxes and encouraging them to Spread the Cheer by Sharing What You Created This Year! Before a new year starts, take some time to reflect on the things you wrote or created to bless the fandom this past year. Remind us all of the awesomeness you put out there in 2019, and feel free to tease us with things to come in 2020! Then pass this along to your faves, so they can share in the fun!

Aaah! Thank you anon(s)! ❤️❤️❤️

2019 is my first full year of fic-ing, and according to AO3 I have written nearly three hundred and sixty-six thousand words, which considering that I was always the kid who submitted nine and one third pages for a ten page essay is kind of astounding. 

I had three fics begun in 2018 that carried on to this year, the first is Finding the Altar, my first attempt at the secret dating trope, mostly written last November but I wrote the epilogue for the 2019 January Joy. The second carry-over is Another Brick in the Wall, begun exactly a year ago and finished a few months into the year. It is the high school AU that I never meant to write but that ended up taking over my life, still one of my favourite fics because of how much I enjoyed writing it. Finally there’s also Both Are Infinite, which was started last September and is still unfinished. I am SO sorry for that, but I promise it will be finished. It is not abandoned!!

For things started in 2019 we have: 

The Key, an angsty, smutty one-shot written for January Joy

Their Way By Moonlight, the love of my life and my number one priority for 2020. It’s a 3B canon divergence in which Emma and Killian are soulmates who can share dreams, which leads to him coming for her and restoring her memories in New York in a very different way than in canon. There’s also a different curse on Storybrooke and a very different development for Emma and Killian’s relationship, along with loads of Captain Cobra and cursed Snowing, and an arc for Regina (including a partnership between her and Killian) that I really love.  

Honeysuckle, the purest thing I’ve ever written. Precious cinnamon roll Librarian Killian, and single-mother Emma who gets caught in a precarious situation until he comes to her rescue. Inspired by @shireness-says

Three Non-Blondes, secret-dating attempt number two. Very silly, but fun, with maybe my favourite version of Mary Margaret. 

The Depths of Love, another 3B divergence with no second curse. Emma trying to work out her feelings and Killian trying to protect himself from heartbreak. Also my very first collaboration with @thisonesatellite and honestly I’m not sure this story would exist without her. 

The smutty trio of Schadenfreude parts One and Two, and Steak and Something on the Side.   Voyeur Neal and Asshole Walsh. 

Osaka-shi Serenade, the most personal thing I’ve written. Based on how my husband and I met when we were teaching English in Japan. Still unfinished, but again, *will* be!

Two Sunday Mornings, a pair of angsty ficlets from each of their POVs, plus Brothers Jones. 

One More Kiss, a Lieutenant Duckling short fic that I didn’t love when I wrote it but has really grown on me, to the point where I might (*might*) expand it at some point. Quite angsty, but happy at the end. 

The Great Grammar Caper, a very very VERY silly future fic in which Deputy Jones is the hero we need but his efforts are foiled by a devious Granny. 

Rainbound, a take on the snowed-in trope, only with rain.  

The Parquet Man, absolutely and without question the most fun I’ve ever had writing. The storied romance that is Captain Floor, told from the POV of Killian (by me) and Floor (by @thisonesatellite, who writes unorthodox POVs like NO ONE ELSE). 

The Very Witching Time and its follow-up The Sleep of the Sun, written for @cssns and @cspupstravaganza respectively. My very favourite verse, in which Emma is a witch and Killian cursed in the form of a dog. There is magic and an extraordinary house with a sentient garden, and creepy forest, and more magic, and Cora with an evil plot, and even more magic, and some adorable and surprising children at the end. PLUS some absolutely stunning art by @mariakov81 to accompany it ❤️❤️❤️

How Not To Flirt, based on a prompt. Emma tries to flirt with Killian but he fails entirely to see it. 

Words Unspoken, a friends-to-roommates-to-lovers story full of mutual pining and very, very poor communication. 

The Ballad of Emma and Killian, in which they are not famous when they meet, but when their careers take off they stand by each other through it all. Rockstar!Emma and actor!Killian.  

On What They Fall, my magnificent octopus. Angry, damaged Killian who can’t see how much Emma loves him. Mutual pining, angst, Captain Book brOTP, and people working through their emotions, prioritising their mental health, and coming out of hard times strong and brave enough to allow themselves to be happy. Another personal favourite. 

abandon, a birthday gift for @kmomof4. Neverland sex-pollen smut, pure and simple. Well, simple anyway. 

come sit at our feast, a Halloween fic written for @csrolereversal Halloweek. Without question the most out-there thing I’ve written, with all the OUAT characters reimagined as supernatural beings who come together every Halloween to throw themselves a hell of a party. 

Drink The Wild Air, a birthday gift for @thisonesatellite which will be finished SOON. The Captain Duckling high-seas swashbuckling adventure tale I’ve wanted to write for some time. Featuring Brothers Jones 2.0 and CASTLE STORMING. 

Drabbles, a series of short fics of all kinds, written when I need to clear my mind. 

Across The Snowy Places, a Thanksgiving tropestravaganza. Featuring secret dating, snowed-in, only one bed, heater not working, favourite author, found families, matchmaking, and drunken affection/confession. ALL THE TROPES. 

To Keep It All The Year, my Christmas gift for @katie-dub. Final chapter coming soon! This story has just flowed out of me. It features angry, broken Killian, single-mother Emma, adorable wee bab Henry, and some extraordinary Christmas magic. 

WHEW!! I think that’s all of them! I’m a bit 😮😲😳🤯 looking at this list. It’s been a less-than-great year on the whole, to be honest, but at least productive on the fanfic front!! 

Thanks for the ask, anon, and I hope you have a great Christmas and a brilliant New Year!! 

- 

"give me a character and i’ll answer" I cannot NOT ask you about RotE, that's like postbaiting. I give yoooou... Kettricken, Althea and Alise! (also curious about what you would say about Beloved)

woot yay! and lol postbaiting. 

Kettricken

do I like them: Oh I love her so very very much. 

5 good qualities: This is a woman who raised her son to understand that leadership is about sacrificing yourself for those under your rule instead of about privilege and power over them, goddamn! She’s also incredibly sweet even when she has to be firm with someone, has amazing reserves of mental and emotional strength, respects all life including animals and those people who are usually discriminated against and hated, and understands keenly the importance of cultures retaining their own traditions even as they join together. 

3 bad qualities: Does she have any? IDK. I can’t think of a one. Especially as seen through Fitz’s eyes, who ADORES her. 

favourite episode/etc: I think in Royal Assassin when she leads the hunt for the Forged and inspires everyone to be brave but also take it seriously, and then cleans and prepares all the bodies and a whole unit of soldiers take on her colors afterward and songs are sung of the Vixen Queen - that showed a lot of her character, especially since she was really on the outs with everyone at the time. 

otp: I mean obviously her and Verity, but you know I have my secret otp of her and Fitz too. ;)

brotp: her and Nighteyes. *tears up*

ot3: I mean, I guess sort of her and Fitz and Beloved? Though it would be more platonic on her part mostly, and especially between her and Beloved.

notp: her and Regal. *shudder*

best quote: Oh gods, probably the part at the end of Assassin's Fate when Fitz makes a comment about not seeing her there, and she kind of sadly says he never does and kisses his head and walks away like. OOOF in the feels!

head canon: She’d have happily joined Fitz and Nighteyes and Beloved in the stone wolf if she hadn’t both her own grandkids and Fitz’s daughter to take care of. But she’s a sacrifice to her people, and so even had she been asked, she’d have said no. *crying*

Althea

do I like them: Ooohhh, I love her so much!

5 good qualities: She stands up for herself and those she cares for against even impossible odds, she chooses what she believes is right for those she loves even if it goes against what she wants for herself, she tells her truths even when it’s incredibly uncomfortable to do so, she’s a fantastic captain, and she’s a great friend once she’s chosen to be one to someone.

3 bad qualities: Her over-confidence/need to prove herself does sometimes get her into dangerous trouble, it takes her awhile to realize she loves someone, and oooooo she has a temper!

favourite episode/etc: Gosh, I’m having trouble picking a favorite part, but probably when she and the others are working on getting Paragon sea-worthy and she realizes she has to let Brashen be the captain because if they get Vivacia back she’ll need to go and be her captain, so even though she stubbornly believes she’d be just as good if not better at it than him, she backs down and acts appropriately as his second - even to the extent of covering the feelings she finally realizes she has for him.

otp: with Brashen, obvi.

brotp: with Amber, or possibly Ophelia. 

ot3: none.

notp: with Kennit - blech!

best quote: Probably the one where she talks about how she wants both romance and to captain a ship in her life, and how anyone she would partner with would have to be okay with that. 

head canon: The two dragons that were once Paragon, especially Karrigvestrit, come to visit her and Brashen and Boy-O sometimes. They are favored by many of the dragons, especially the ones who were once liveships, for their part in freeing them and for the care they gave them as ships. This helps their families survive the community’s difficult transition to the new economy. 

Alise:

do I like them: I do! She annoys me on occasion, but I do like her.

5 good qualities: She’s brave as heck, she has compassion for days especially for dragons even when they have none back for her, she doesn’t care much about social class even though she comes from the richer Bingtown stock, she’s optimistic as whoa, and she cares deeply for the history of her home even though such academic pursuits are looked down on in her social and familial circles. 

3 bad qualities: She’s so so so naive, she has trouble standing up for herself, and she sometimes gets so wrapped up in studying the past that she loses track of what’s happening right in front of her. 

favourite episode/etc: When she and Sedric realize they’ve both been used by Hest and that their friendship to one another means more to them than any hurts they’re carrying - but she still makes it known that she’s angry with Sedric for how he betrayed her and that it will take her some time to get over that. She’s so strong and true to herself and her own value in that moment and I love it. 

otp: with Leftrin of course.

brotp: with Thymara. Adore their friendship. 

ot3: noooone, but. the part of me that kind of digs dysfunctional love/hate stuff would be interested in a much less abusive Hest/Sedric/Alise something something??? idk, probably not. maybe just a little.

notp: with Hest or anyone else who would abuse her trust and open heart and not see her with the same adoring eyes as Leftrin does.

best quote: Can’t think of a specific one - wish I had those books! (I got some in the series for Xmas, so that only leaves ummm 11 to go? holy crap this series...)

head canon: She eventually finds out what happened to Hest because even Kalo took pity on her and Sedric’s constant worry about when he’d come back out of the woodwork to hurt them again. She doesn’t approve of what the dragon did, but she’s also quite relieved. She has trouble reconciling the two things and Leftrin has to assure her that she’s not a bad person for being glad that her ex is dead.

Beloved (aka The Fool, Amber, etc.):

do I like them: I very very much do. 

5 good qualities: Genderfluid (as well as classfluid and just kind of identityfluid), wonderfully playful trickster type, lives with constant awareness of how every action they take could set important historical events on or off course and yet finds ways to be joyful and have fun despite the seriousness of their life, brave - oh so brave - charging into battle even as a pacifist with no fighting skills to speak of, able to befriend kings and slaves and everyone in between alike as well as animals and dragons and liveships - basically can empathize with and get along with just about anyone. 

3 bad qualities: Really really doesn’t like to talk about themselves even when doing so would help someone out a great deal, allowing this trait to turn from a mysterious sort of wiliness to outright deceit at times, can be cruel even to those they love if they believe it will help fulfill their spiritual purpose in life.  

favourite episode/etc: Probably how much fun they had playing the role of Lord Golden and treating Fitz like their servant and hobnobbing with the rich and famous of the Duchies. 

otp: with Fitz, the only person they ever loved in a romantic way, IIRC.

brotp: also with Fitz, since their relationship was primarily platonic. 

ot3: I mean kinda with Fitz and Nighteyes not in a romantic/sexual way but as a 3-soul soulmate kinda way. (Add in Kettricken to plz?)

notp: Pale Woman? IDK, I could see some fans shipping them but I wouldn’t like to see that personally. 

best quote: So many, especially all of his fool-like quips and puzzlers. But probably the best is where he tricks Fitz into calling him Beloved. hee

head canon: As part of the Wolf of the West, they check in on Bee and Kettricken and Nettle and Hap and everyone else as often as they can. They also visit with the spirits of Chade and Verity and Shrewd in the skill-river. *tearing up*

DanSen Novel 1

So I’ve just finished reading the novel version of the Inazuma GO vs Danball Senki crossover movie and I wanna talk about my favorite parts. And when I say ‘finished reading’ I mean ‘read all the Inazuma parts and skipped the DanSen parts because if Muraku’s not there I’m not interested’.

An Overview

The book is 198 pages long and covers up to the scene where Fran is ‘rescued’ by Tenma and the others.

The novel expands on the background of both the birth of Shinsei Inazuma Japan and the LBX.

There’s new scenes that aren’t in the movie.

It’s very slow-paced. The first 100 pages focus slowly on the lead up to the exhibition match between Shinsei Inazuma Japan and Inazuma Legend Japan.

A translation of Volume 1 can be found here.

So I won’t be translating it, buuut like I said above I wanna talk about my favorite parts. Note: I will use MY personal translations (which are very liberal because LOL) not the translations from the link above.

Araceli’s Personal Fav Parts

So the first scene that caught my attention is the opening of Chapter 1 Two Worlds, where Tenma is running late to after school practice

Matsukaze Tenma was only a first year, but he was the Captain of Raimon soccer club. While he still had a few more months of being part of the soccer club’s kouhai - junior - members, soon enough new members would join and in turn become Tenma’s kouhai. Tenma knew that meant at the same time the current third years would graduate, so Tenma felt a strong responsibility to take his role as Captain very seriously.

‘I’ve got to pull it together! From next year I’ll become a senpai!’

Two things here. 1 - the third years graduating is acknowledged. I don’t feel particularly strongly about Amagi, Sangoku and Kurumada but it’s still emotional for the soccer club... members leaving... The second thing is TENMA AS A SENPAI PLEASE I WANNA SEE. This is so cute. He’s already shown he’s becoming more mature and responsible in Chrono Stone and Galaxy. Tenma senpai... He’s just too tiny and cute to be a senpai...

Also: 

Gouenji, Kidou and Endou are described as Raimon’s Old Boys which is... funny to me... Since Minamisawa calls Kidou etc.. an ‘old man’ in the drama CD. Hah.

The scene is as follows: Hibiki has an important announcement for certain players he called to Raimon’s soccer building. It reminds me of the original series episode 69 - Birth of Inazuma Japan!

Tsurugi’s eyes are, once again, described as ‘long and sharp’. This reminds me of the scene from the games when Aoi says that ‘Tsurugi’s eyes have a really kind expression when he smiles’. Uhh... So Kyousuke has really pretty eyes I guess.

Tenma calls Yukimura Yukimura-san. Cute.

Tsurugi lets Tenma know Hakuryuu is there too.

Then GOOD PART:

Nowadays, Hakuryuu and Tsurugi were good friends who would sometimes meet up and practice together.

They meet up and practice together?? Hakuryuu and Tsurugi BROTP. Hakuryuu’s school is still not confirmed though, lame.

Then BEST PART IN THE WHOLE BOOK - a physical description of Kirino. I cannot... describe... my sheer joy... This is the canon physical description of Kirino...

His long hair was gathered on both sides and hung down low. While he had a gentle-looking attractive face, his eyes shone with resolute determination.

My baby is once again canon beautiful and I’m happy. Shut up.

Next Hibiki tells them they will be the new Inazuma Japan and play an exhibition match against the Inazuma Legend Japan. They’re nervous but all accept one by one, until it’s Hakuryuu’s turn. Hakuryuu’s been quiet the whole time, until Tsurugi teases him about being afraid. The smartass replies:

‘So the reason I’m here is basically because there’s no way these guys can win against the legendary players by themselves’?’

Show off. Last to accept is Kariya, who’s basically bullied into joining the team, even though he’s really reluctant. Kariya exists to be teased by everyone lol.

Then Hibiki tells them there will be a training camp for a week before the exhibition match. So they all have this training camp together at Raimon school and that means that they all spent all that time together THAT I DON’T GET TO SEE ;w; Don’t tease me like that... No wait - do tease me. I want Hakuryuu Tsurugi bromance.

Locker room scene. Inazuma Legend Japan.

Gouenji is described is wearing his hair in ‘pomade’ style for the first time in a while. According to my dictionary pomade comes from French, but I don’t know what it means. I guess spikes?? Anyway, to his teammates this feels ‘refreshing’, and Endou says it it feels like his ‘old friend has returned’. Gouenji feels the same about Endou wearing gloves.

Kazemaru fixes his hair in front of the mirror. Nice. My boy needs a mirror to make sure he looks pretty. No hastily tied ponytail for him - he’s gonna do it the neat way. Yes I know I read way too much into this.

Okay, we’re skipping the whole match to land on Fei’s description.

His light green hair looked like two long rabbit ears...

RABBIT BOY CONFIRMED.

Next the super super cute part that talks about how the Ina girls and the Danball girls bond.

The girls gathered together and talked about the differences in fashion between the two worlds. They talked about the stylishness and cuteness of the outfits they were wearing, and got a feel for the atmosphere of each of the world based on what celebrities were popular over there.

THE WORLD IS ABOUT TO BE ERASED and they’re talking about cute boys and clothes. My kind of girls. I’m not even kidding. I wanna hear this conversation so bad. What idol does Aoi-chan like??

And before anyone worries ‘this is so sexist, having the girls talk about clothes and shit’ nahhh man this is pretty much exactly how I expect Japanese girls to act with each other lmao.

Last scene of interest: Yukimura, Kirino, Hakuryuu and Tsurugi are on water-gathering duty and have a short scene that’s not in the movie.

-Yukimura asks Kirino a question and calls him Kirino-kun. Why’s this matter? Means Yukimura’s more polite than I thought. 

‘Kirino-kun, what do you think of Yamano Ban and the others?’

-Kirino takes a while to answer the question, as if he’s choosing his words carefully. Kirino personality UP! He’s careful about what he says. I love this boy.

-Hakuryuu calls Yukimura by Yukimura-san. So Hakuryuu IS a first year. I didn’t know that but it explains a lot.

‘Thank you, Yukimura-san! To be honest, I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a while.’

-Hakuryuu is super suspicious of the LBX crew, as is Yukimura. Kirino and Tsurugi are more willing to trust them, even if they’re also suspicious. Great foreshadowing - oh wait, this scene is not in the movie.

-Yukimura says the LBX gang might just be pretending to be their friends to get close to them so they can erase them too, but Kirino says he’s overthinking it.

Hakuryuu, however, sides with Yukimura.

‘I can buy Yukimura’s theory.’

Tsurugi tells him to cut it out, but Hakuryuu ignores him. LOL. I need more of these two, PLEASE.

And that’s it. For now. The book was fun. Read the translation if you like. And if you’ve anything you wanna add/ say please do!

ouat belle for the character ask ?

Thank you so much! ❤️

Give me a character and I will answer:

Why I like them - pretty much everything about her. She loves books, she’s a total sweetheart, she tries to see the best in everyone, etc.

Why I don’t - ????? I don’t know if there’s really anything I don’t like about her

Favorite episode (scene if movie) - oh gosh, I reeeaaally need a rewatch. I don’t know what my favorite would be. Probably one of the times she told off Rumple? However, even though I don’t ship them anymore, I still really love the old flashbacks with them too.

Favorite season/movie - again I need a rewatch. The seasons kind of blur together for me now.

Favorite line - there’s so many but of course when I try to think of them I forget them or I’m afraid of not getting the wording quite right. One that’s not necessarily my favorite and not her most hopeful but something that’s sort of relevant to how I think is, “I’ve always dreamt of heroics, but I think it’s safer I stick to my books. They’re the only adventures I know that have happy endings.”

Favorite outfit - all of them??? She and her wardrobe are beautiful.

OTP - I don’t think I really have one for her anymore right now

Brotp - Captain Book (though as evidence I desperately need a rewatch, I was looking for the clip with the quote to make sure I got it right because I copied and pasted it from a list I found when I blanked, and as part of that episode I somehow kiiiiiinda forgot he shot her??? But they’ve come so far since then. So they definitely weren’t a brotp for me way back in season 2, but they very much are now.)

Head Canon - Idk if this counts as a headcanon or if it’s more like an au or something, but if she were in fandoms, she’d write the most beautiful, heart-wrenching, fluffy-ending fanfiction, and always leave positive, encouraging reviews on the ones she reads.

Unpopular opinion - so I don’t know if this is unpopular or not, but I have seen some hate for her at times that people are annoyed with her for how she keeps going back to Rumple instead of standing up for herself and finally cutting him out of her life once and for all, and I disagree with the hate. While yes, she could hypothetically do that and a lot of us want her to do that, she’s in an abusive relationship that she has been in for a long time and it’s just not as easy as that. I think people need to be a little more understanding of that, that she’s been emotionally manipulated so much and that takes a toll on someone, and that combined with her preexisting reluctance to give up hope on anyone allows him to do that even more and encourages her to come back to him. “He’s changed/He’ll be better this time,” isn’t an uncommon mindset and it can be very hard to break out of. Her hope for the good in people isn’t the problem, her abuser and people like him are, and it bothers me when people say she should lose that and face reality and they call her naive, because shouldn’t we want to make the good things the reality instead of bringing someone down into dealing with the bad? It’s like when you’re a kid, with no reason not to trust your peers, and then you fall for something they said or did that could have been true and they call you gullible and laugh, and things like that chip away at your ability to trust people. We should protect the kid that trusted and that sense of goodness in others, and there shouldn’t have been anything to give the kid that tricked them the idea to even do that in the first place. I know there are terrible things and people in the world and I realize that that’s not exactly an easily attainable reality since they’d have to all be on board with it, but I don’t think it’s wrong for her to want that, and I give her so much credit for trying to stay positive even after everything she’s been through, and I hate that people want to bring her down like the Rock crushing kids’ dreams in The Tooth Fairy. Idk. I just want to wrap her in a blanket and protect her. (That got really rambly and might even be the popular opinion anyway, idk. Sorry.)

A wish - I just want her to be safe and happy and away from the guy that messed up so much of her life. (And also for her not to be written as just a babysitter in the background for everyone until his plot needs her for something, but sadly it appears that won’t be happening)

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen - spoilers: with Emilie leaving the show, please don’t let death be Belle’s exit, because they like to kill people off. Let her be happy and alive and well.

5 words to best describe them - hopeful, beautiful, kind, bookworm, strong

My nickname for them - I don’t really have one. I just call her Belle.

Salty ask meme

Because I was asked by @luckydragon10. Here goes a dragons response. And why can't I format anything on my phone?

What OTP in your fandom do you just not get? Huh. That’s actually a hard question because I honestly don’t care what other people ship. I personally ship only characters I find attractive. I don’t have time to wonder about other people’s likes and dislikes. Those are fictional characters. I only ship the pairings I like. I do tend to try on pairings for size from time to time. Can even be convinced if the writing is hot enough. it’s mostly about how attractively they are written.

Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP? Lol no. It’s all about hot, filthy, dark, sensual desire for me.

Have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion? Because they like something? Never. I DO NOT CARE what anybody likes. Like, could not give a single fuck about it. However if someone tries to force their opinion on me? Oh, then I block them and probably most of their followers. Have no time for assholes.

Do you have a NoTP in your fandom. Are they popular OTP? OMG those questions are hard as hell. Considering I ship/read/write for over 30 fandoms this is impossible. Probably? I sometimes find the main ships boring - not even because they don’t make sense or look good - but because I oversaturated on them.

Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you? Only in a sense I have read too much about them :D But even then I eventually come back a year or two later. But that’s a case of boredom not ruining a pairing. Unlike the general trend I observed the recent years i do understand those a fictional characters and fics are fiction, so what if somebody writes a character as a dumb asshole or an evil mastermind? If i like the theme I will read it, if I don’t I will just not read it.

Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated? I don’t hate pairining. I don’t enjoy some of them. But yes, definitely. Some fics are just so brilliant they sold me on a pairing. I am easy like that :D

Is there anything you used to like but can’t stand now? Not really. There are things that I feel have been overly often used, like bucky or Steve using the forties slang a lot. First I just disagree with language working this way. That you speak 99,9% modern language and then out of nowhere use words from old times. But that is also a case of seeing it too often and it just lost it’s shine.

Have you received anon hate? What about? Hm, not much but yes. Mostly about an writer that claimed she had the right to tell me what I can and can not think, and what I can and can not write. You can not own an idea. Deal with it and get lost. And looking back I am convinced it was just a publicity stunt.

Most disliked character(s)? Why? … small Steve. Can’t forget the strange proportions given him in the movie and the fact he would probably reach my elbow? But that’s purely aesthetic thinking. I have nothing against him as a character. But that was the reason I pretend Captain America movie started at the point of transformation, or was a radio drama before.

Most disliked arc? Why? Civil War. I just hate the breaking apart of my fantasy team. And I also hate all the things that were implied about Tony in his actions. In my mind he is not a violent man, not towards others. That moment he attacked Bucky - that was like throwing away all three iron movies for me. So I wasn’t all that pleased with it.

Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why? So, I sometimes enjoy het and women seem to be generally vilified in fandom. Anything that has a vagina and is not an old grandma is considered evil in some way. I love her and I refuse to vilify women in fiction just because.We have enough problems in real life than bringing the RL problems into fiction just because everybody else does it. If everybody else jumped off a cliff, would you too? I wouldn’t so don’t even start this shit with me. Everybody = nobody in my book. So if anybody else wants to write her as a bitch, fine, but don’t expect me to do it just because.

Is there an unpopular arc that you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why? Not really. probably because I don’t read Marvel or DC comics, and my other fandoms don’t seem to have as much problems as the predominantly american ones. Maybe because smaller fandoms are calmer, less people make the fandom their whole life and are generally more distanced from it.

Unpopular opinion about XXX character? Hmm, I don’t like sub Bucky when it’s after Winter Soldier? I think a large part of it is that a lot of sub fics I read at first were not very well written or just ignored his issues altogether. And my personal opinion. I have no beef with those fics existing, I just don’t read them.

Unpopular opinion about your fandom? Too many people unable to distinguish reality from fiction. I’m in different fandoms for a very long time. It was never this bad before. People acting as if a fictional character is real and has right or feelings. It doesn’t. It’s a thought. It does not exist. It is not hurting anyone or anything. People claiming fictional characters are protected by consent laws and what else. All those pseudo ‘social justice warriors’ that try to convince authors that writing underage is in any way bad or affects real life. It doesn’t.

If you could change anything in the show, what would you change? I would let Steve have more time. Show more of his feelings. I think in Civil War his struggle was cut off in favor of action and okay, I like action. But if I could, I would make him a focus, give him time to process the emotions on screen.

Instead of XYZ happening, I would have made ABC happen… I know it’s never going to happen but I would either have Steve and Bucky fuck (on screen preferably!) or in Civil War Bucky being more of a badass. I know he wasn’t the main character, and had very little screen time but I would love him kicking ass left and right. And I would give him a better arm. The one he had seemed to break in EVERY FREAKING SCENE he had. I have ranted and ranted and ranted about the supposedly destructive arm breaking every time he used it :(

Does not shipping something ‘popular’ mean you’re in denial and/or biased? Again, my firm opinion is everybody = nobody. Just because someone does it, it doesn’t mean I have to do it too. I’m unmovable on this point and have very, very firm stance on the ‘thought police’.

What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom? Lack of distance. Too many people take it personally and make it a war, what should only be done in fun. We don’t go to war over books in bookstores. Why the double standard for fic authors? Before the era of social media - this wasn’t something that happened before. Sad to see it develop now.

What is the purest ship in the fandom? Whatever one you enjoy the most.

Popular character you hate? No such thing :D Well, maybe my preference that skinny Steve should be a radio drama. I can deal better with the way artists draw him - more proportional, more like an actual human male. But in general - nope. Oh, and I love to hate Brock Rumlow.

Unpopular character you love? Don’t have any specific one.

Would you recommend XXX to a friend? Why or why not? Fics? oh I recommend plenty. Movies? I tend to drag all my friends to all marvel movies whether they like them or not, so I’m the last person to ask the question. Because if I enjoy it I will find a way to make my friend go see it with me, if only for pure enjoyment. Granted, I did have to literally sit on two of them to watch the new Star Wars and listen to them moaning about how much they hated it, but they DID watch it with me :D I do have a feeling making them watch the last one is going to be so much harder, but I will find a way. Eventually.

How would you end XXX/Would you change the ending of XXX? Civil War. That is the movie that I would change for the reasons I mentioned before. Oddly enough it’s Tony i feel protective about and the disassembly of the values he represented to me before. I can very much see him beating some on Bucky (he can take a beating, no problem) but the outright attempt at murder… no. I disagree. And I would change it.

Most shippable character? All of them. If i find them hot I am perfectly willing to make them a fandom bicycle and have everybody ride them. I am a Bucky girl though - but not the broken, fragile Bucky that is popular but the strong, dangerous one. The badass.

Your fave and your latest fave /o/

Let’s start with my fav. And since I’m a horrible narcisist, I’ll use a character of mine, my Yuki !

What I like about them : honestly and very modestly, Yuki is adorable. She’s tiny, she’s cute, with huge eyes and tiny feet, and she’s a ballerina to boot ! No really, she’s an adorable little thing, all cuddly and affectionnate once you get her to trust you (but it’s very, very hard). But under that, she’s tough as nails when the need comes, and she will kick your ass. And when rightly poked and prodded, she says the funniest things.

What I dislike about them : do I dislike something about her ? Maybe, but that’s about me. Even when I planned for her to have the worst backstory ever, sometimes I tend to do it too much, and she turns into a poor little wittle woobie without any redeaming quality.

Favourite moment : probably that part where she demonstrates for the first time to anyone that she’s not just an itty-bitty ballerina and a meek, tiny thing, but a competent dancer, serious and hardworking, and an athlete who can kick someone across the room without any effort (and she’s way more flexible than people give her credit for). It makes some people feel all weird and bothered~

Least favourite moment : when I had her get her Achille’s tendons cut by her asshole of a sister. Poor Yuki didn’t deserve that at all…

A situation with this character that I want to see explored more : I’m the one exploring it so really, I’m not leaving one stone unturned ! But I’m quite curious about a lot of things about her, including her youth, before she was ostracized by her family.

An interesting AU for this character : okay we’ve seen so many AU for her, but let’s start with the latest latest one ! That post-apocalyptic word with Rie and Rei as the librarians. Yuki probably has to fend off for herself, and it’s very hard for a tiny Yuki to survive in a world without laws or anything. The library is her haven, where no one can hurt her because those two librarians are terrifying and assisted by strong persons who kick a lot of asses. She spends lots of time there, more and more, until she just… doesn’t live. Rie and Rei let her stay around because she goes to great lengths to help them and make herself as useful and irreplacable as she can, taking care of the books and cooking for everyone. It’s very nice, because she’s not in danger anymore, and they even like her !

A crossover : with Fantastic Beasts. Imagine Yuki (and all the Puppy Pack) meeting Newt and his puppy pack in New Orleans, probably hunting whatever creature is around. Shinji is elated because new people, Newt just wonders who are all those weirdos, Shizuka wants to see all the creatures, Credence gets lots of hot chocolate, Menthe wants the kittens, Tina wants them to calm down a little, Rose feeds everybody, Jacob feeds everybody, Queenie feeds everybody, Kisuke wants all the beasts, and Yuki communicates with Credence by meeps and awkward glances.  Everybody is happy, has fun, drinks alcohol and tea and coffee and chocolate, and everything is perfect. And the Niffler steals all the spoons.

OTP (or OT3+ etc…. just… favourite ship) : AGA so many ! It’s hard to choose ! Let’s start with the last one and go from there : Yuki and Misha are totally adorable in the tol / smol, strong / delicate, protective / caring department. They are simply adorable and need to be protected and shipped and cuddled and everything.

Other ships? I didn’t cite Tomoyo-dono just because I love those two idiots so much. They are dorky and in love and protective of each other and lovely and represent the 11th division which makes every captain go “o.o” and Yuki’s family go “è.é”. And they are so good to each other. Then Kenpachi and Bahorel (and Shishido) (and Hiyori) (and probably others) who reproduce my favourite trope of the grumpy, strong, punching, aggressive character falling for the tiny, fragile person (who’s totally head over heels for them) and getting such a “PROTECTIVE” vibe that they would eat anyone alive to help the tiny person. And then there’s Shinji. Who’s neither grumpy nor fight-crazy, and a total troll, but who gets the same “PROTECT THE TINY PERSON” urge. And then drive them crazy.

BROTP : with Shizuka and Menthe. Yuki would be totally lost without those two idiots helping and supporting her in any stupid idea or street fight ever. And then they go out for tea / chocolate / whatever.NOTP : any violent character. Tiny Yuki doesn’t need violence in her life, just hugs and cuddles.

An assortment of headcanons! - according to Yuki, Misha is the best thing to exist since green tea. And even then, it’s a draw. Misha is everything she ever dreamt when she was little and wanted to be a Disney Princess : he’s tall, handsome, strong, protective, gallant, gentle, supportive, and very cuddly. Perfect, except that he doesn’t sing random love songs, but maybe that would be a bad idea. Beside that, perfect.- her favourite hot drink is a perfectly made matcha seijo no shiro. Since it’s super expensive, she rarely indulges into it, and when she does, she does her best to enjoy every sip !- she has a black light snowflake tattooed on her left wrist, so her parents can identify her body should something happen to her. She doesn’t like it very much, but she doesn’t pay it much attention.- she would never sell you for a corn chip.- she loves to dress Tomoyo-dono up and turn her into a pretty, pretty princess. And then go and run around in princess-y clothes and do very unladylike things like eating with their fingers and climb things you’re not supposed to climb.- she likes Dr Who a lot. She hasn’t seen many episodes, but it’s a favourite of her. She wants to knit herself some fandom stuff, but yarn is expensive, so she puts a ball or two aside when she can.- she doesn’t really have a comfort food, because she doesn’t eat much, and sometimes, it’s a fight just to get something down. Anxiety and depression are bitches walking hand in hand.- when she’s on her own, Yuki sleeps all curled up like a little ball. Now that she has a huge shark boyfriend to sleep with, she just lays half on him like a big sharky pillow.