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xaracosmia · 10 months

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ꕥ — WELCOME TO EXO COSMIA, LELOUCH VI BRITANNIA. 🌑

ꕥ — OOC INFORMATION;

name / alias: kaye age: 24 pronouns: they / them ooc contact: ofelpis @ tumblr other characters in xc: angel devil

ꕥ — IC INFORMATION;

name: lelouch vi britannia age: 19 pronouns: he / she series: code geass canon point: post-anime ( pre re;surrection ) app triggers: manipulation / mind control / gaslighting / brainwashing / colonialism / terrorism / genocide / patricide / sororicide / fratricide / child abuse / human experimentation

personality: at first glance, lelouch is an easy-going, amicable person with the slightest touch of a mean streak. while a member of the student council, people don’t pay much mind to lelouch, if at all. he goes about his days at school with what seems to be barely a care in the world, disinterested in applying himself in anything or making friends outside of his carefully curated circle. he was just a normal, uninteresting person that had a soft spot for his little sister. nothing strange about that.

in actuality, lelouch is a bitter young man, entrenched in frustration at the current social environment and hellbent on changing it, even if it means using force. there is a strange balancing act between the genuine care and compassion he shows for his companions and his attitude that he can use anyone as his tool should he charm them with the right concoctions of words. his charisma is intoxicating, displaying fine leadership skills that rival even the most seasoned politicians. he has the strong belief that those with noble titles don’t deserve his respect, and longs to revolt against the country that he feels abandoned him.

to do that, he would do absolutely anything. he would be anything. he would put on a hundred different faces to make sure that his plans were executed to perfection. nothing else mattered more. not even himself.

something your muse struggles with: secrecy. lelouch is a two-faced liar, cycling through faces near constantly so that he can appear presentable to the different companies that he keeps. this has spiraled so much that he will lie to close friends and loved ones in order to reinforce their perceptions or suspicions of him in the hope that it will be the least painful outcome for them to endure. he is terribly afraid of showing genuine vulnerability to anyone.

your muse’s greatest strength: his ability to strategize. lelouch can take account of a situation at incredibly fast speeds and come up with a plan that would ensure his side’s victory in record times. he isn’t afraid of bluffing or resorting to underhanded methods in order to get what he wants, a quality that makes him uniquely proficient at furthering his own agenda.

history / background: from the very beginning, lelouch had felt like a pawn that was part of a game much larger than him. the eleventh prince of britannia, lelouch and his sister were cast out of the country of britannia after the wake of their mother’s death and sent to japan. he was relieved. almost. by becoming hostages, perhaps they could finally live in peace.

shortly thereafter, britannia invades japan and forces them into a complete and humiliating defeat. enraged at the sheer disrespect displayed by his father, lelouch stands before his best friend suzaku and promises him that britannia will pay for what they’ve done.

a story is fabricated. lelouch and nunnally of the royal family had been killed in the war. instead, he and his sister take on the name lamperogue, and are allowed to stay at the prestigious ashford academy. there, seven long years passed, lelouch growing to be one of nunnally’s main caretakers outside of classes and school council activities. he drifts about day by day, playing the bored, easygoing classmate during school hours. as the day ends, his friend rivalz drives him out to undisclosed locations to gamble with haughty nobles that think they can beat him in chess.

it’s during one of these after-hour outings that lelouch comes across a suspicious vehicle, and, upon investigating, finds a green-haired girl trapped in a metal pod. soldiers call out his name. they tell him that they will shoot. the girl is a project that he is not allowed access to. he scoffs. how unfair. the world is so dirty. he is going to die without having done a single thing.

do you desire the power of kings?

i wish for a peaceful world.

huh. that sounds perfect.

perhaps this is just the thing he needs in order to first spin the cogs of his plan. the black knights are a welcome surprise that he takes advantage of with open arms. as he disguises himself as an innocent, unknowing fool on his school campus, the rebellion group’s status rises higher and higher under the leadership of the enigmatic zero, until they are recognized as what will be the special administrative zone of japan’s official military force. japan will be an independent country again, at least in this little corner of the universe.

it’s a start. it’s too fast. he’s too unprepared. his geass flickers stronger and stronger, until he turns to his foolish, loving, wonderful half sister and tells her to start the march of her own funeral procession.

it was his mistake. he has no right to mourn her death. he is told that he is a demon. that he will be hated by the entire world for his selfish whims. no matter. he welcomes it. this, too, can be used to his advantage. he would fix this damned world, even if it meant that everyone that knew him would be unable to look him in the eye ever again. like a blood soaked lamb, he would play the part.

everything would change. even if it meant that he had to fall for it to do so.

powers / abilities:

geass – an ancient power that is passed from ‘code bearers’ to vassals of their choosing. lelouch’s personal geass is the power of absolute obedience, which manifests itself in his eyes with a pink glow and bird-shaped symbols that replace his pupils. should lelouch make eye contact (this can also be done via reflective surfaces) with an individual and give them a verbal order, the targeted individual(s) will follow this order without question.

there is no time limit to how long this command will last, nor is there a limit to how many people he can command at one time, and those affected by the power will forget the experience once it wears off. a person may only be controlled by his geass one time before it stops being effective. some additional limits include commanded people not being able to follow commands that are impossible for them. they might direct lelouch to the next best person that could help him though. additionally, those under geass can resist it temporarily if they find the order conflicts extremely with their own sense of morals and personal goals there is some content in the series that involves people having geass-breaking powers specifically, in which an individual will be susceptible to being put under a geass again from lelouch specifically, but i doubt that this will come up.

also, this power is kind of grossly overpowered even with it’s drawbacks. it’ll only be used in cases where i’m given express permission to do so.

“perfect” geass – an additional ability that allows lelouch to turn his geass on and off at will. without it, his geass will always be active whether he wants it to be or not, which could lead to unintended consequences. ( don’t ask him what those consequences may be. )

inherent abilities:

gun proficiency – can use most handheld guns with good accuracy

mecha proficiency – typically good at piloting big robots if given the opportunity

sewing – can make/fix clothes easily

cooking – it’s on the (soup) tin

items / weapons:

shinkiro – a 15 foot tall mecha that’s primarily black in color with gold and red highlights. it’s capable of multiple different things, such as: - diffusion structure phase transition cannon - powerful chest beam cannon. can be used as either a big beam or can be aimed as multiple pinpoint lasers to hit multiple targets

absolute defense system - can summon a large pink energy shield with a hexagon pattern anywhere immediately around it in order to block incoming attacks

hadron cannons - shoots sphere shaped energy ammunition from its wrists

slash harkens - wire cannons that are stored in its knees, to use for offensive, defensive, and travel purposes

fortress mode - it folds up like a transformer into a beetle shape to travel around better

factsphere sensor - picks up on visual and thermal information in the outside environment for pilot

it has limbs to kick / punch / pick up people / etc

it can also fly

zero outfit – hand tailored by lelouch himself, it is a fitted two piece tailcoat suit that is purple in color with gold highlights. it comes with a set of black leather gloves and a white cravat, along with a black flared cloak with a red interior and gold accents. most important of all to the outfit is a black horned helmet with a smooth face, the screen opaque on the outside as to hide the wearer’s identity. it has two mechanical latches, one which affixes the helmet to the wearer’s head more properly, and another that takes a small slot out of the front of the helmet to reveal the wearer’s left eye when lelouch in particular wants to put people under his geass’ influence.

eye contacts – a pair of purple eye contacts that suppress the powers of geass and hide its appearance from view.

chess board – folds open and has compartments for its pieces. very cute, but it doesn’t have any special abilities other than being his ultimate stim toy.

laptop – has both his high school homework and plans for rebellion on it. most importantly it has a bunch of photo albums and other sentimental things that he would love to have.

starting ability: LMFAO (nothing) starting item: zero outfit

extra:

i feel like code geass touches on a lot of unpleasant things but it won’t be brought up often if at all, and if it does it’ll be in nsfw channels or in a private interaction

he like… becomes immortal in the sequel movie but that wasn’t necessarily something i wanted to work with in the group at this time SO i’m holding off adding it for now. sorry that things happen to this guy

not sorry that he’s trans though

in group, lelouch will go by the surname lamperouge. there might be a time down the line where he talks about his britannian origins, but i doubt he’ll ever want to reclaim the name when he’s not back home

discord id: traitorking. passcode: i’m so glad you’ve found another guy with every mental illness (undiagnosed) on the planet to love

#xc application #mun: kaye #exo cosmia

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skania · 2 years

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can i ask why you ship shirley and lelouch? im a fan of the show and dont have any ships (though i do like him with cc but im not invested in that) but i never see lelouch and shirley shippers, it seems like the fanbase prefers him with cc or kallen. i think if lelouch just stayed as a regular person him and shirley could've gotten together

Hi there, anon! You can absolutely ask but I must warn you, this is going to be long 😂

I ship Lelouch & Shirley mainly for three reasons: the first being their development together (and the sides of Lelouch that Shirley is able to bring out); the second being the meta (and all the ways it implies and foreshadows LuluShir); and the third, their sheer potential and what I felt it could've brought to the story.

First, what I loved most about their development is that Shirley fell for Lelouch because she was intrigued by his thought-process, which lead her to become his friend and fall for him in the process. She fell for him after seeing all of his painfully un-cool sides, and loved him despite finding out he was behind the Zero mask. Her love is as genuine as it can get; and the way she falls for him is ridiculously realistic.

Meanwhile, Lelouch loved Shirley dearly (she's the only one from the StuCo that he brings up in Episode 2, aside from Rivalz, who at that point was set-up as his closest buddy), but he took her for granted and didn't realize that literally everyone around them thought it was only a matter of time before they got together - this, too, is ridiculously realistic in a school setting.

It's only when Shirley makes her feelings clear and that he loses her at the hands of Mao, that Lelouch's own feelings for Shirley come to the forefront. And they bring out what I love best about Lelouch; that deep down, he's just a desperate kid that bit more than he could chew, one that sadly doesn't know how to keep what matters to him safe.

And Shirley is one of the things that matters most to him. We may not see this in the day-to-day scenes where Lelouch is distracted by his big Zero Plans™, but the series never shies away from it when push comes to shove. Shirley is the very first person CC tells Lelouch to keep at arms-lenght so he won't lose her; and Shirley is also the one person Lelouch constantly tries (and fails) to be selfless about. Like erasing her memories just so she will stay away from him and be safe & happy.

And the thing is that, Shirley's dynamic with Lelouch is the only one explicitly romantic from both ends throughout the whole show. You can't watch Lelouch & Shirley's biggest moments and read them platonically because the series didn't write them that way. When Lelouch erases her memories, he hugs her close to him and tells her that if he could do it all over again/if they could be reborn, they should be lovers. Then he waxes lyrical about how her smile saved him and how precious she is to him, all while a love song about Shirley from Lelouch's POV plays in the background. She's also the only one he kisses back. Then in S2, he blurts out that he likes Shirley and when Shirley suggests that he's lying, he denies it in such an emotional way that he takes himself aback. Then he literally sits there, expecting Shirley to kiss him, and looks so nervous that his closed eyelids are shaking. And then blushes up a storm simply because Shirley calls him out on expecting a kiss from her.

This is the same boy that had a semi-naked Kallen fall on-top of him and didn't bat an eyelid. The same guy that sees CC's naked legs every other day and just picks up her discarded boots to tidy up the room. Yet the simple thought of Shirley kissing him makes him turn into a lost, nervous school-boy; and that's what I love most about them and their development. The effect Shirley has on Lelouch and the sides of him she is able to bring out; because I love Lelouch most when he's at his most honest and vulnerable, and I feel like only Shirley, Nunnally and Suzaku are able to get him there.

Secondly, the meta. Look at the scene above, for example; Shirley's dad is explaining to Shirley that one day she'll fall for someone, and as long as that person sincerely loves her, he'll support them with their whole heart. The series literally had Lelouch's own victim step up and clear up that they would support LuluShir, as long as Lelouch sincerely loves Shirley back; and the way the scene was set-up, with precisely that line being heard as we pan to Lelouch, really stood out to me. Because it was clear foreshadowing of the fact that either Lelouch already did or would come to do just that. Otherwise, Shirley's dad's monologue could have simply been about how he would support Shirley's love regardless of who it is, instead of focusing on how he would support it if the love is mutual.

All this to say that, like I mentioned before, Shirley's and Lelouch's dynamic is written in such a way that you can't take the romance out of it. Kallen's with Lelouch remains one-sided throughout the entire show, CC's with Lelouch is fantastic but it reads the same way whether you see them romantically or not. Romance is not an integral part of it; depending on how you look at it, it isn't even a factor. With Shirley, however, it is integral from the beginning up to the very end.

But that's not all, Shirley's dynamic with Lelouch is also a lot about hope and kindness; all of the values Lelouch seeks in the ideal world he wants to build for Nunnally. This is best represented in the episode where Lelouch finally realizes that his happiness has been in Ashford all along, and takes Shirley's wish - of wanting to light fireworks together with everyone - as his own.

The fact that when Shirley dies, Lelouch stops hoping for a happy ending says it all. Just like Euphie represented the hope of a bright, kind, happy future for Suzaku; so did Shirley to Lelouch. And just like Euphie being tragically ripped from Suzaku sealed Suzaku's ending, so did Shirley being ripped away from Lelouch; because it was at this point that Lelouch truly cuts-off Ashford, the happy place he longed to return to.

Similarly, both Euphie and Shirley are at the core of what makes Zero Requiem possible. Euphie, because she didn't tell Suzaku who Zero was (thus showing that she believed in Lelouch despite everything) and Shirley, because she's the one that plants the seed of forgiveness into Suzaku's mind. Euphie and Shirley, with their endless kindness, inspire Suzaku and Lelouch both to make the choices that lead to Zero Requiem.

So essentially, from a meta perspective, I believe Shirley is meant to be to Lelouch what Euphie was to Suzaku. And Euphie was Suzaku's one true love and his hope for a happy ending. She was his biggest tragedy.

The difference is that Suzaku had no other potential ships more popular than himself with Euphie, so Sunrise didn't have any reasons to play it safe. Which sadly wasn't the case with Lelouch and Shirley, and their narrative does suffer greatly from it.

Despite this, Lelouch and Shirley are the only ones to have their own love song (which is, ironically, given to Lelouch & CC in the fanfic movies once Sunrise decided to make them the main romantic ship in that continuity- which once again, says it all) and they're also the ones that get their happy ending in the side-story featuring Lelouch's ideal world, which shows him asking out Shirley to a concert rather than the other way around.

So I feel that the intentions were there, but Sunrise didn't commit to LuluShir the way they committed to SuzaEuphie; which brings me to the third reason I ship Lelouch and Shirley.

I believe that Lelouch and Shirley, their hopes and their tragedy, had the most potential out of any of Lelouch's ships to elevate the show even higher. I do believe that just like Euphie, Shirley was always meant to die because of the effect her death would have on Lelouch; and so he could fully parallel Suzaku. However, I think that if only they had committed to LuluShir the way they did to SuzaEuphie, the tragedy of Shirley's death would have even more impactful.

If Lelouch had been allowed to savor his happy ending after he starts dating Shirley; if he had been genuinely allowed to touch it, however briefly, only to have it ripped away from him - I believe that would've hit the general viewer even harder. If asking ourselves Did Lelouch love Shirley back? weren't necessary at all, Lelouch's loss would've been much more widely felt and that last scene where Lelouch lies dying and Shirley is the first thing to go through his mind would've been much more touching (the montage Lelouch sees as he dies opens with Shirley's smile and closes with his own - the kind of subtle yet extremely telling thing Sunrise pulls with LuluShir throughout R2).

Code Geass could've literally ripped my heart out and stepped on it, but instead they decided to play it safe and just imply LuluShir throughout meta stuff and Lelouch's reactions and commentary here and there; and that sadly didn't do justice to all the potential they had.

The main reason for this, I feel, is that you're absolutely right; the fanbase does indeed prefer him with CC and Kallen, and this has been the case since the beginning. Leaving aside those that genuinely enjoy their dynamics with Lelouch more than Shirley's (which is completely fair), a good part of the fanbase associates Shirley with 'uncool Ashford stuff' while they would rather Lelouch be Zero 100% of the time, so CC and Kallen fit the quota better. The fact that one of them is Lelouch's second-in-command and the other the token fanservice-action-girl of the show also nets them more points than Shirley with the general viewer, who watches Code Geass for the political chess moves and the flashy mecha fights.

Sunrise could've found a way to make the general viewer care more about Shirley, so that her storyline with Lelouch and the role she was meant to play on it could've lived up to their full potential; instead, they chose to leave her on the side-lines until it was time to set Lelouch on his no-happy-ending-in-sight path. Which was, to me, a huge loss of potential.

So when it comes down to it, the last reason I love LuluShir as much as I do is that I see and treasure what it could have been.

I hope this answers your question, anon! Thank you very much for wanting to know my thoughts about this!

#lulushir #lelouch x shirley #shirley x lelouch #fandom: code geass #otp: masquerade #this got longer than I thought it would be #but thankfully it's not as long as I FEARED it would be lmao #there's a lot of things to say when it comes to lulushir #I'll be forever sad that the series didn't live up to lulushir's full potential #they could've been star crossed lovers at the top of anyone's tragic romance lists #instead they're left in this weird limbo where a huge chunk of people completely missed the role shirley was meant to play #in lelouch's narrative #and I'm willing to bet it was because sunrise wanted to play it safe because of how popular chad masterlord zero was lmao

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sweet-evie · 3 years

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The Emperor's Wish: My Personal Favorite [Fanfic Commentary #10]

Fanfic AO3

His final judgment is at hand. The price is set and the plan is in motion. But Emperor Lelouch uncovers his lover's secret, and it will haunt him beyond his own death.

[FANFIC COMMENTARY]

Legit, I’m proud of this one. I don’t know why… Probably not the best either. But this was incredibly self-indulgent, and hey, it turned out so well. Would you find it funny if I told you that this fic premise was in my head ever since I wanted to write for CLuCLu? Like, after watching the movie, I was always imagining how it would pan out so differently if Lelouch had a child, and C.C. is left to care for her lover and her son.

This is my baby and my pride and joy. My only one probably 😅 There are lots of made-up quotes in that fic that I’m really (and I mean, really proud of, and I don’t say that often because my writing is ~Hit or miss~ )

Unlike One Day at a Time, this one took a genuine effort to understand characters and how they would react in this what-if situation I created in my fucked up head. 🤣😂

It was written during the thick of quarantine and lockdown last year (April 2020), and I guess that helped fuel my timeliness and speedy updates. Because I was writing fanfic for the majority of the day, with minimal breaks in-between. Some of the reviewers on FFN can attest to the daily updates I had for The Emperor’s Wish.

It started as a one-shot with the Prologue, as my way of testing the waters. When I felt secure and sure that I could finish it, I went headfirst, never looked back, and came out of the other side, proud of myself for not abandoning a WIP 😅. But that was also because I had so much fun with it. It was nice to imagine a world where Lelouch had proper closure with his friends and family.

My favorite moment from The Emperor’s Wish (aside from the blatant CLuCLu romance) is Lelouch and Suzaku’s relationship. I love how I wrote them there. I love their bromance, as well as the subtle Ned Stark & Robert Baratheon allusion towards Chapter 11: Rewriting the Stars.

Suzaku never had a brother. And Lelouch never truly liked any of his… But even if they weren't bound by blood, theirs was a bond built on so much more.

For you are the brother I chose…

Perchance if some reader is as obsessed and familiar with George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire as me, then I bet they would have caught that… Or not. And it was simply self-satisfaction for the writer. Either way, I. Don’t. Regret. It.

And of course, I loved writing it mostly because of the star of that fanfic: Alexander Lamperouge himself. 🤩

He’s now in my Sims 4 universe, as a spellcaster. 😂

My Loves and Regrets

I LOVE how I wrote Nunnally here, honestly. She’s not a character I’d imagine that I could ever pull off flawlessly, and while I don’t think I accomplished the ‘flawless’ part, I think I did a decent job fleshing out her reaction and what a decent conversation with her older brother and C.C. could have gone like, also her reaction to finding out she had a nephew.

I REGRET that I didn’t get to write a lot about Lelouch’s other friends -- Shirley, Milly, & Rivalz, to be honest. It just felt so out of left field for me to force their story somewhere in the fanfic retelling considering the entire story did revolve around the CLuCLu family. In my own way, I tried writing more for the three of them separately, but that didn’t push through, because for some reason my brain doesn’t work. The only one I made a decent attempt at is Shirley, but I didn’t publish the fic either. It was about her meeting with Lelouch again after a year or two. It was set somewhere in Dubai. She was supposed to meet his son, and see C.C. again, and the ending was supposed to have C.C. and Shirley hugging and Shirley tells C.C. to take care of Lelouch. It was a very bittersweet one-shot/drabble/plot idea that was never publicized.

I LOVE my shoddy attempt at drawing parallels between certain scenes in The Emperor’s Wish. One of the readers, Kurosawa Ayumi, actually caught it and mentioned it in a review. It was the scene where Alexander was playing with his Knightmare toys (Lancelot & Gawain), and how Lancelot was cleaved in half from being accidentally thrown or dropped, and then how Jeremiah put him back together again. And then I transitioned to the annals of the prison in Grahlbad where Lelouch and Suzaku were about to confront each other after two years of not speaking and assuming one was dead.

I REGRET that The Emperor’s Wish isn’t longer. Like, I wish I took the plunge to create complicated twists, but it just… didn’t feel right at that time, you know? 😅🤔 Considering how I framed the fanfic as a retelling and reimagination of Re;surrection’s plot from the start, I feel like it would be too far-out to suddenly make things overly complicated than they already are. Also, there literally wasn’t much information available about Shamna, Shalio, and the rest at the time.

I LOVE the scenes I added in the fic, and the ones I put my own fanfic twist on. Re;surrection was a movie, so for obvious reasons, there’s time constraints and not as much time to flesh out characters like in a series. I tried doing that in my own way in this fic, and whether I succeeded at adding believable details to their interactions or not, it’s up to the reader. I’m just relieved that I actually managed to pull it off, given how sucky I am lately.

The Epilogue

The epilogue for The Emperor’s Wish went through a lot of rewrites.

At one point, it was supposed to overtly show the CLuCLu family traveling through Georgia, Lebanon, etc., and about how exhausting and challenging it was to hunt Geass fragments, gather intel, and take care of a baby at the same time. But I scratched it in favor of the first scene in the epilogue that we have now -- which is Suzaku and Nunnally discussing the latest Black Knight report, and the convenience of the entire operation because L.L. and C.C. were involved in some ways.

Hence the lines:

"They were responsible for stopping that criminal, weren't they?" She asked even when she already knew the answer.

"Highly likely. Probably stripped him of his powers before they abandoned him to be caught by the Black Knights."

And then I decided to take the steamy-but-not-really route for the final scene. The vague lovey-dovey between Lelouch and C.C. There was also a slightly vague allusion to them getting married underneath a poplar tree.

Plus, the last line was the cherry on top of my favorite fic so far:

— professing over and over again how fortunate and how blessed he was to have and to hold her for better or for worse…

And not even Death was powerful enough to tear them apart.

And on that note,

It wasn’t the longest fic I would ever write, nor is it the best, but it’s definitely one of my favorites. 😊😍�� And I loved every second of writing it. 🥳

#code geass #fanfiction #the emperor's wish #lelouch x c.c.#c.c. x lelouch #cluclu #lulucc #lelouch vi britannia #c.c. (code geass)#lelouch of the resurrection #fukkatsu no lelouch #wbad blog #wbad fanfiction #fanfiction commentary

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tainbocuailnge · 4 years

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i just fuckin love lelouch so much and i think what best encapsulates why is that he’s got a whole washing list of love interests who are all interested in a different lelouch. shirley likes her high school classmate lelouch and kallen likes revolutionary leader zero and cc likes her co-conspirator and suzaku likes his childhood friend. and all of those are entirely lelouch and he genuinely cares about each of those people but he can’t really maintain being all of those different lelouches at once without alienating the people he cares about in the process, because he’s always trying to live up to everyone’s expectations of him on some level and when inevitably one of them sees one of the other masks in his closet they feel betrayed that he’s been hiding the ‘real’ lelouch from them, unaware that every one of those masks is the real lelouch because he’s a liar by nature and a people pleaser to boot. even with cc, who has long since seen the whole wardrobe and accepted all of it, he still tries everything in his power to keep her from seeing high school lelouch when he’s already determined that he is to be co-conspirator lelouch around her and he can’t show her a side of him that contradicts that. he’s the leader of a global revolutionary movement known for defying authority and expectation alike at every turn and yet his need for approval is so crippling that he was 100% planning to die a heroin addict in a back alley purely because nunnally disapproved of his methods and the only reason he got back in the game was because he realized there are people who are counting on him to do so. he’s a stone cold tactical genius and commits war crimes like it’s his hobby and has terminal caring too much disease and he’s constantly lying yet all of it is real. every lie is the real lelouch because lelouch is a liar.

#code ass #im halfway s2 now pwease no spoilers

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cynthiaandsamus · 3 years

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Custom Toonami Block Week 69 (Nice) Rundown

Code Geass: So this episode is kind of a ride, like fuck. We kinda yadda yadda how Lelouch fucking escaped from Nunally’s sinking airship and just have Rolo sitting over him in bed kind of conflicted that he’s still stuck on his old little sister, so therefore he programs the tvs in Lelouch’s train to blast Nunally’s appointment but it’s funny because he probably didn’t even have to do that because directly after that Lelouch runs into the station and Nunally shit is just everywhere, like I get it’s a metaphor but it’s just funny that Rolo had to plan for him to run into something Nunally-related only for him to run out of the plan and run into ten times more Nunally shit. Then we get Kaguya claiming herself, Kallen and CC as Zero’s harem directly followed by a depressed Lelouch hypnotizing a bunch of street punks to exercise, about to do drugs and asking to fuck Kallen, like this episode is fucking ridiculous and parts are hilariously contrived, thankfully Kallen slaps the shit out of him and Rolo’s like “yo bro we don’t need that bitch, come on and live it up in this ridiculously racist system and the one place where it’s slightly less racist with me” and then they go back to school and have the “Happiness is Like Glass” scene which is genuinely amazing and moving, like for all the weird zany stuff that happens in the first part of this episode, this is a little oasis of pure sincerity and quality where Lelouch makes a promise he knows he won’t be able to keep. Inspired by this amazing moment, Lelouch returns to the Black Knights with the thought of “Maybe there are other reasons to destroy an oppressive dictatorship aside from my one ridiculously crippled sister” which he probably should’ve thought of before. And then he defeats Suzaku’s navy with the power of FUCKING BUBBLES, like yeah, this episode is right back to being crazy ridiculous but Lelouch is back and wants in on Nunally’s special zones… okay, phrasing.

Inuyasha: So we open with a scene of Kagome playing cards with Miroku which is genuinely adorable if pointless, but it just makes me laugh that Miroku and Sango seem to know all the rules of the game but are still stumped when Kagome tells them they’re Playing Cards, probably a culture thing. Anyway, Inuyasha has to kill a Barrier Demon to get the power to break barriers, which is a bit of a conundrum because Barrier Demons have, you know, barriers, which Inuyasha currently cannot break. Worse still said demon is a little girl and a half-demon like Inuyasha which understandably puts him in quite a quandary. Inuyasha does his usual thing of “Let’s just go in swinging and figure out the rest later but Shiori’s grandfather deflects the admittedly cool-looking Water Wind Scar Inuyasha throws at them with Shiori’s barrier. Shiori’s mom is all “Gimme back my daughter you said you’d stop attacking us if I let you have her” and he’s all like “Well make me, I have a fucking barrier and can hold you hostage” so everyone’s generally pissed off about the situation and Shiori’s granddad with the long name sends all the bat demons to go destroy the village which makes no fucking sense because the only reason she’s still cooperating is so they won’t hurt her mom, without her she has no reason to keep doing it but I guess he’s hoping having nothing to live for will make her do what he says out of nihilism or some shit.

Yu Yu Hakusho: Yusuke gets to face off against Suzaku, the final boss of the Saint Beasts and the gang get to demonstrate the teamwork lessons from this arc by doing a reenactment of the jumping Bahamut scene from Advent Children so Yusuke can get up the tower to fight him. It’s really pretty cool how they splice in Keiko’s Day of the Dead montage with Yusuke fighting Suzaku, tying things together thematically and culiminating in Yusuke and Keiko both fucking decking their opponents. I also really like how Yusuke’s so confident Keiko won’t go down to a zombie hoard so easily, like she’s not a fighter but she’s smart and has got guts so he’s pretty sure she can last a while while he pretends to punch Suzaku with his shoes. Overall a really good start to the fight that means Yusuke still has to wiggle his way out after using his Spirit Gun already and Suzaku still has a lot of shit to pull.

Fate Zero: So Saber and Lancer do their fight and there’s a bunch of fightnobabble talk that someone who’s actually held a weapon in their life would probably enjoy but to me is just “Oooh cool jabbies, flashing lights” which is still fun. Basically everyone’s watching though, Kirei has his ninja squad on the job, Kiritsugu’s Black Ops is monitoring things and Iskander is watching from the Radical Highway Bridge from Sonic Adventure 2. Eventually Iskander is like “Well damn they might kill each other if this keeps up” and Waver’s like “yeah duh.” And Iskander shows who wears the booty shorts in this relationship by storming into the fight against Waver’s wishes cause he wants to fight everyone anyway. So yeah, giant lightning chariot in the middle of this First Boss battle.

Konosuba: Now that the party’s all formed the group settle into a daily routine of Kazuma being Megumin’s wheels for her Explosion training, Aqua being a waitress and Darkness doing… probably better not to think about what Darkness is doing. Anyway, Megumin bombs the shit out of a Dullahan’s castle and before the Dullahan can call his friend Celty to come kick her ass, Darkness gets hit with a death spell and he issues a challenge to Megumin to come to the tower of the Four Saint Beasts and (wait wrong anime again) but Aqua just breaks the curse on her own and they just don’t bother showing up. In the manga this is really funny because Aqua’s in a maid outfit from her waitress job and just does it like it’s nothing and then they show a panel later of the Dullahan waiting for them like “The fuck when are they getting here…”.

Sailor Moon Crystal: So for some reason even though we only have three of the five Sailor Guardians, Luna decides this is the time to give a recap and reintroduce our protagonists for the first part of this episode. Anyway there’s a big party to celebrate a dated princess Di reference that’s kind of in poor taste at this point and Usagi and friends get in based solely on having fancy dresses and being hot, man I had no idea getting in with rich people was that easy. Anyway, Usagi gets a new tiara because of love and shit and gets an upgraded Ancient Egyptian Laser Beam from the moon. The Four Kings show up to be all “Ha-ha! You defeated my demon but now there’s all four of us and even though we still think you have the crystal and outnumber you and there will never be a moment when you’re weaker than this we will now… LEAVE FOR NO REASON!” like the logic of people in this show oh my fucking god. But of course the dated princess reference’s treasure isn’t the crystal they’re looking for and Tuxedo Mask kisses Sailor Moon while she’s asleep which is definitely sexual assault there was no fucking consent there, I don’t care if they’re moon soul mates or whatever she barely knows who he is and wasn’t conscious. But yeah Luna calls him out on his shit and despite clearly being an ally he has to be all edgy and be like “Well maybe I’m a friend, maybe I’ an enemy, who knows~” because I think he gets his power from how mysterious he is, like he’s going to be utterly useless if anyone figures out who he is, not to mention Luna already knows his identity but for some reason doesn’t tell Usagi. Idk man I just have a hard time following the logic of this fucking show…

Durarara!!: So yeah, this is the “The Yagiri Family is fucked” episode Namie has a weird fucked up brocon yandere thing going on, Seiji’s an asshole that because of having two stalker yanderes going after him has become a fractured manchild that thinks love is everything and pretends he knows shit but knows less shit than pretty much everyone around him and has his sister do all the shit for him. But yeah, Celty sees Seiji with the girl with her head and freaks out, and Shinra A DOCTOR if you remember says “Hey maybe your head just attached itself to a corpse Parasyte style” like either he’s a terrible doctor and really thinks that or this is a smokescreen to make Celty think her head has moved on and she should too which is a fucked up level of gaslighting. But yeah, Mikado takes Head Girl, Seiji keeps stabbing people with pens for some reason, luckily it’s mostly Shizuo so it doesn’t do anything, and Izaya’s just like “oh shit, chaos, I’m down”. Basically everyone is awful in this episode except for Mikado who just wants to help and doesn’t know shit, Celty who’s doing her best, and Shizuo who’s just awesome as usual.

#ooc #Toonami #Custom Toonami Block #Code Geass #Inuyasha #Yu Yu Hakusho #Fate Zero #Konosuba #Sailor Moon Crystal #Durarara!!

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kyogre-blue · 4 years

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Naruto Shippuden, ep 459-462

AKA the Kaguya backstory. The most important part is that the new OP, Blood Circulator, is very cool. I love it, finally a good OP.

459:

Kaguya knows about Indra and Ashura and correctly identifies Naruto and Sasuke as having to do with them. (Later she gets it wrong, so lol)

Sasuke has two summon contracts at once.

Kaguya can hit tenketsu with... chakra needles? I guess Hyuuga could use senbon to the same effect if they tried.

Shunshin continues to be weird and confusingly translated.

460:

Kaguya touched down from the sky very gently.

Lord Tenji of the Land of Sou. Ministers Suzaku and Genbu of the Land of Ka. These two countries have been having border discussions. Land of Ka makes up an old record of owning a specific lake. They have 3x Sou’s army though, so they can get away with anything they want.

The Divine Tree grew in a crater (where it crashed down). It looks like a normal tree, not the pillar that grows during the 4th war. Aino says it appeared “several” thousand years ago and grew quickly, which is weird since it’s supposed to bloom every millennium. It kills anyone who approaches.

Kaguya brainwashed Tenji, so he doesn’t remember how they met (which is her being suspected as an intruder and throwing around his guards).

She wished for peace (among the Ootsutsuki?)

It is indeed amazingly gay. Aino is the one who says that Kaguya is looking at the sky as if waiting for someone, and Tenji really just repeats her words to Kaguya. And then, when we see Kaguya looking at the sky again, it’s Aino who actually keeps her company, not Tenji.

Tenji is really... I get that he couldn’t openly declare war on Ka because they have more troops, but he seems to be genuine in his insistence on “peace” which is really stupid? Land of Ka forces literally invaded his palace. They had no reason or excuse for being there. To think you could have peace at all when they clearly want war is insanely dumb.

Kaguya was weirdly weak when fleeing from Sou’s forces. Maybe weakened by pregnancy? It’s really weird.

She just bit the fruit a little. A tiny nibble.

461:

Hamura uses “haha-ue” and “anjia.” I think he’s the only other character to do this. Ashura and Izuna both use “nii-san” iirc.

Notably, the Sage toads seem to have existed from before Shinjuu, which makes sense since they come from nature energy, not chakra. Gamamura is the one who approaches Hagoromo and Hamura.

Kaguya sacrifices people in the “Ritual of the Divine Tree,” but its true nature is hidden from the population.

Why did Haori die? Aren’t the people fed to the tree supposed to become White Zetsu??

Hagoromo never used his Byakugan even before it changed to Sharingan. Later, he gets a 3rd eye red circle marking but not an actual Rinne-Sharingan.

After her initial activation of it, Kaguya released some people from Infinite Tsukuyomi so that humanity wouldn’t perish. In other words, using Infinite Tsukuyomi on everyone would wipe out humanity.

Confirming again that the Divine Tree drains Nature Energy from the land and humans, eventually killing everything.

462:

Hagoromo grew a beard while training in senjutsu. Hamura’s hair got long. Seems like it took several years.

Kaguya only tried to take back their chakra after they decided to stop her. The Divine Tree then changed into the Juubi to protect her.

Their battle lasted for months.

This filler shows Hagoromo immediately dividing the Juubi’s chakra into “nine souls” (the bijuu) even though he himself says he only did it after seeing Ashura’s... whatever.

He says he will raise the bijuu to trust and support humans, but he didn’t seem to have done anything to teach humans to cooperate with bijuu. In the end, it’s humans who treat bijuu poorly first, so Hagoromo is not great as always.

Hamura says he could feel Kaguya’s emotions for some reason?

Reviving Kaguya requires two things: the Divine Tree and Infinite Tsukuyomi. Both require the Rinnegan though, and also the nine bijuu.

Zetsu approached both Ashura and Indra’s reincarnates in attempts to create the Rinnegan. (Some Senju was definitely told to rip out their rival’s eyes lol) But it all failed until Madara.

Zetsu didn’t know about Madara setting up the Izanagi transcription seal initially, so the plan must have been for Madara to win at Valley of the End. Tobirama hid Madara’s body to study it, which Madara counted on. I’m not sure what the point of leaving behind a Kage Bunshin is though? Won’t it run out of chakra soon anyway?

(Also, Tobirama invented Kage Bunshin, apparently still during the war for Madara to end up copying it.)

Madara created the Hashirama copy only after summoning the Gedo Statue. It was only to extend his life.

Apparently, Madara’s corpse was preserved by Obito, which is a bit surprising since Obito didn’t want him to be revived. Was he unable to find a chance to destroy it?

#watching naruto #now playing

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krshush · 4 years

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I made the mistake of thinking abt CG while in the shower, so who wants a Discord ramble I made to a friend about Suzaku and Lelouch while I’m On This Bullshit Still (ft. me trying to Avoid Saying Direct Spoilers for friend’s sake dkjhf)

god the way that Suzaku and Lelouch are at like, different fucking wavelengths on how to undo the empire's terribleness is so good to me.

Lelouch, in all his overthinking and knowledge and rage, goes for revolution. Straight up. Dons a mask and calls it Zero, Zero who becomes a leader to the revolution that's been trying to start in Area 11 (Japan, except stripped of its... almost everything really, since the Britannian Empire won out) ostensibly to kill his father the Emperor and make the world a better place for his little (blind, wheelchair-bound) sister to live in. But Lelouch is a VERY Ends Justify the Means guy. He's not particularly nice. He is not particularly compassionate. He knows war is going to stain him the fuck up with blood. He knows it. But it all has to be worth it in the end. He knows it.

Suzaku has seen the effect of Ends Justify the Means though, firsthand. Suzaku's father died and Japan fell with him, but Britannia winning stopped the bloodshed of the war. But Suzaku still feels hollowed out, after What Actually Happened to his father. There's still pain and grief and regret that looms over Suzaku to the point of flinging himself into danger, for selflessness, for death. And he hates watching Zero start bloodshed back up again, especially when Suzaku opted to change the system from the inside out: he's gotten to become an Honorary Britannian, became a soldier, became a soldier good enough to pilot a Knightmare Frame. and he genuinely believes you have to uphold honor in your means to justify the ends, naive as that is even when he believes it from experience...

...Except when he doesn't, anymore. A Lot of things happen to Suzaku in just the first season, and his morals break. He's still going to change the system from the inside, but everything about maintaining Good Means goes out the window after being frustrated and betrayed and stricken with grief even more over the course of the season. And a lot of those bad things happen because of Zero, because his childhood best friend under a mask decided Ends Justify Means, and he doesn't even know that’s who it is.

For a portion of season one, Lelouch doesn't even realize Suzaku's the pilot of the Lancelot that's been giving him so much fucking trouble on he battlefield too!! They pass like fucking ships in the night except the ships have guns and swords and mechs fighting each other!!!! There comes a phone conversation late into the first season that is so tangibly tense with Suzaku unsure that Lelouch is Zero, but Lelouch encouraging Suzaku to come out and fight and kill Zero that it just!! it JUST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FUCK

to say NOTHING of the fact Lelouch has his own fucking emotional ups and downs as his plans and mistakes end up failing closer to home time and again and it fucks him up!!! But he's past the point of no return!!!! He's GOTTA keep going!! He’s GOTTA make all this WORTH IT!!!!!

they both go on such JOURNEYS as characters through the whole SERIES and that alone makes me just lose my mind, there's a LOT, I'm fucking EXCITED about this DUMB SHOW

#sets this down and SCATTERS BC EMBARRASSING #I also wrote this abt a third the way into my S2 rewatch which like. man.#K.R. shush #K.R. liveblogs CG

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witchingrey · 4 years

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late thoughts about my favorite pink princess. warning, it is gently critical analysis of euphemia, since she’s one of my favorites, but also painfully lacking in screen time + development .

honestly, while i want to say euphie / euphy garners softening feelings by nature, c.c. i think would not coddle her like cornelia if in some really odd universe her plans coincided with her half-brother. which...we all know how that went. the princess is an angel but her flaw is in a sense...exactly that. her naivety / impulsiveness , and while this would be more okay if she wasn’t in a position of power? she is in a position of power. so c.c. naturally would be very blunt with her which really..could go either way.

because life isn’t so ‘simple’ and frankly her going back to her good days with lelouch and nunnally is already ‘not possible’ due to lelouch’s choices since deciding their contract , the barbarism of the royal family manipulating / abandoning two orphaned children, and the power struggle for emperor / empress among its heirs. sadly, i don’t want to say euphy / euphie isn’t meant to be in this show...but in a sense she isn’t, because her outlook / state of being can’t survive, and while she’s capable of growth we were robbed of? i feel honestly more like i’m watching a child than i am a teenage girl . more under the cut. again, gently critical. there isn’t a character in this franchise that isn’t someone i have critical thoughts about because i love this compiliation / franchise and when you love something you analyze it like crazy.

she’s designated to be this way, and i wish so much more was done with her, since it seems like another ‘fridge the girl’ story but . . . her story is also a harsh example of someone who really needed to acquaintance herself far more ( and she tried! ) with what she set out to do because beginning the work of SAZ isn’t something you do in a few months, much less announce at a school. she should have continued her studies, she should have lived more years, she should have witnessed things more clearly - because i am far from hating euphemia in any capacity, she’s someone i adore, but i’ve watched her do the same impulsive actions over and over and realize that a lot of things she brings on herself, and this isn’t pitting c.c. vs euphy . i’m saying c.c. would be completely open to pointing this entire point out to her without fear.

there is nothing wrong with being innocent, pure, naive and but the writers ultimately paint euphy into a tragedy that cannot be undone instead of showing what i wish was more a rise and build of people all around her giving her solid criticism instead of coddling (cornelia) , omitting (darlton) , manipulation (schneizel). i won’t say anything about suzaku because i do believe while he genuinely loved her, and she truly loved him, that’s a realm that really hits the tragedy home because i think one of the best written things about her is her trying to understand japan through suzaku / their expeditions but not necessarily enough to make her a suitable viceroy, much less a sub-viceroy if we all actually followed the britannian system in the show.

instead euphy remains a solid, tragic ‘what if ‘ and ‘could have been’, never fully allowed to grow , see error, or be free of endless coddling and omitting of truths. combining all of this, her own shortcomings, the stage upon which everything is set, and lelouch’s entire ambition itself, and you ultimately lead to a very tragic, very nasty, almost inevitable end. basically she deserved better, yes, but also being the way she is did not help her and shows if its too far on one spectrum it can be potentially harmful and a set up for inevitable tragedy / destruction.

#. * ◇ ─ : to give form to a forgotten color. ╱ ❪ c’s world. ❫#i love euphemia so much but her potential is wasted and rushed #and she serves more as a cruel moniker of lelouch's actions having horrific consequences than she stands as her own person.#we don't really have /enough/ of her individuality that isn't hindered by some other cast member for good or bad.#we only really know she loved suzaku; she was naive to her detriment; she was placed improperly into power and then fridged.#ironically the person she adores her own sister is sadly a major factor in euphie's stunted growth into a wiser person .#naivety and kindness and purity is not wrong and should never be considered so.#but remaining that way and having it be to the furthest extremes ultimately becomes more of a flaw than a charm #much less something productive if you want to combine two completely different cultures in the span of what? a month and a half?#again i feel her arc was rushed but there is also a very chilling purpose to it.#euphy simply wasn't ready and unfortunately she persisted in things she wasn't ready /for/ and then the unthinkable happens.#and instead now she only serves as a catalyst of the fridge'd woman who was loved by a major protagonist in the show #besides lelouch himself or the heroine; c.c.#to drag him further into the darkness already long persisting inside him.#it's really messed up why am i talking about it.#oh because i'm on it.#if she had more episodes we could have seen more prominent and solidifying growth but again i feel like the 'mayfly bug' which dies #within hours in nature...euphy sadly is no different.#sadly her good traits are her very flaws.

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maxfieldparrishes · 5 years

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shake the bones

Part IV. Insomnia is a bitch.

(read on AO3)

The night air is chilly, but Kallen pays it no mind as her feet take her wherever they please.

She stumbles as the side of her foot comes down hard on a seam in the pavement, but she rights herself and finds her footing, running on with wild abandon into the night. Tokyo does not sleep and neither does she, no matter how tired she feels or how heavy her eyes are and she's come to learn that, when these agonizingly slow nights find her, there's nothing she can do but meet them where they are.

She runs past her favorite corner store, past the train station that takes her to school, towards the river, dodging those in her way. Most of the passersby are drunk and smiling, turning to look at her with bleary, glassy eyes as she sprints past them. One group has a man who shouts after her, but she forgets about him as she pushes herself into a sprint to make a light.

The park is full of shadows when she arrives, and the only sounds she hears are traffic and night birds, just as she wanted. The Shibuya river is a trickle, a narrow canal compared to the width of the Kano and the estuaries where she'd grown up, but there's something soothing about being near flowing water. Kallen takes a minute to take in the sight of the Shibuya, the lights of the city glinting on it through the trees, but then her restlessness seizes her by the throat and she has to run again.

She has two options: run until she vomits, or scream at the top of her lungs for an hour straight. Running doesn't bring the cops or piss off the neighbors, so that's what she chooses.

Kallen remembers all the trees in Izu. Beech, black pine, cedar--cryptomeria, she remembers Naoto had called by its Latin name. She remembers Naoto taking her into the woods, a little girl with coltish legs and too much energy, quizzing her on birds. As she runs, she pushes herself to recall as many as she can: Pacific loon, greater short-toed lark, Japanese skylark... She takes a ragged, gasping breath--barn swallow, Pacific swallow, Japanese waxwing--and tries to ignore the burning in her calves. Japanese thrush, Eurasian tree sparrow, Japanese bush warbler, and she falls to her knees, hard, in the middle of the path, rolling off to lay panting next to a cypress tree.

She wonders where that little girl went. Kallen is sure she doesn't know.

Kallen raises a fist and pounds it against the tree trunk, the rest of her body still. Whatever it is that hovers over her, she can't fight it, and she can't outrun it. All she wants to do is run until she collapses, to push herself, feel nothing but strain until she forgets herself.

There's something bubbling inside her, water or lava, she doesn't know. Geyser or volcano?

Kallen raises her hand and wipes sloppily at her face, smearing snot, sweat--and are those tears?--but she stays laying where she is. Hopefully, no one will come by and question why there's a young woman laying on her side under a tree, in a deserted park, at three in the morning.

She gives herself five more deep breaths, then she'll get up. Otherwise, she has an utterly bizarre feeling that whatever possesses her on these nights is going to drag her back home, face down on the pavement, by the nape of the neck. It's not rational, but it motivates her to move when otherwise she'd just lay there, blinking and sleepless, until the sun comes up.

Kallen pushes herself upright, sighs, shakes the dirt and leaves from her hair, and begins her run back.

When she sees her apartment complex, Kallen slows herself into a jog for the last few blocks. Her street, so busy in the morning, is silent and still now, the few lights peering out from the windows muddied and dim. But soon, she knows, there will be a slow trickle of people, then a flood of them, as they all rush out to make their way to school, or work, or wherever it is they're going.

She had left Lelouch asleep on the sofa he had moved, and he hadn't stirred as she tiptoed past and silently shut the door behind her. Hopefully she can return and slip inside, back in her room, without waking him; if she's really lucky, her door won't squeak at all.

Technically, she's supposed to use the main entrance. But the service door is easily wiggled opened, and it's far closer to her apartment than walking all the way around to the front of the building. Kallen slips inside, jogs up the stairs to the fifth floor, trying to remember all the while why she wanted a fifth floor unit (a little bit bigger and a private bathroom), and sticks her hand down what passes as the pocket of her leggings to find her key.

Slowly, incredibly carefully, she inserts the key and presses it to the inside of the lock, making sure to maintain the pressure as she twists it open, and then takes the knob in her still-sweaty hand and twists that too. Kallen tiptoes inside and turns to press the door almost silently shut, bracing a knee against it as she turns the lock to the "closed" position, not noticing that the small lamp on her bookshelf is on. To be fair, the light from said lamp is super dim, so dim that if she turns it on in the daytime it's almost like it isn't on at all.

"You know, for a woman who's so deadly in a Knightmare, I'm surprised you aren't more aware of your surroundings outside of one."

Kallen leans her head back and closes her eyes. "First of all, save it, because I'm not in the mood. Second of all, you were asleep when I left."

"I was." Lelouch stretches his legs out in front of him, sweeping them to the side to sit fully up. "I think I just missed you. I heard the door squeak and by the time I fully woke up you were gone."

Damn that door. "Well, I'm back, so you can go back to sleep," Kallen says, moving to take the yoga mat from its spot under the side table and unrolling it in front of the television. "This doesn't make much noise." But as she starts her post-run routine and goes into Downward-facing Dog, stretching out her hamstrings and back, she notices that Lelouch is staring at her, and his expression is... unamused.

"So this is it, then?"

"What are you talking about?" she asks between deep breaths, pedaling each foot before stretching her heels down to the ground.

"Are we not going to talk about the fact that you decided that three in the morning was an excellent time to go for a run?" Lelouch sits up straighter. "Where did you go?"

"One, I'm an adult and I can run at three a.m. if I want to, it's none of your damn business," Kallen responds, "and two, Shibuya."

"You ran to Shibuya?"

"Yes, Lelouch, I ran to Shibuya," she says, lowering herself into Cobra, keeping her breathing rhythmic. "Most people are capable of running. Some of us even enjoy it." Kallen finds it in her to be amused by his glower.

"Fine, fine. You can do what you want," he says, with an airy sigh and a wave of his hand, "but why?"

Crap. "No other time to do it," she says, after one beat too long, and she knows that Lelouch knows she's lying. Kallen hopes he'll drop it, and decide it's too early in the morning for an interrogation, but death hasn't made Lelouch any less ruthless.

"Really. So you do this every morning?" he asks. "This is your routine?"

Kallen pushes herself back into a runner's lunge. "Just drop it."

Wrong thing to say. Lelouch has never let anything go in his entire life, both the first half and the second. "What's going on?" he asks, and there's genuine concern underneath the irritation, and that little hint of concern pisses her the fuck off.

"Nothing."

"Kallen," he starts, his tone even and so annoyingly rational, that she comes out of her forward fold with a vengeance.

"What?" she snaps. "You want to know why I ran? Because I can't sleep and I can't stay here all night and stare at nothing. So I go for runs. I don't want to stay awake, but I can't sleep. I don't... I don't shut off. I never have. When this kind of night hits me it's just... there's really nothing else I can do but run."

Lelouch is staring at her again, slightly shell-shocked. "Do you have trouble sleeping a lot?" he asks.

"Don't psychoanalyze me," Kallen snaps again. "Do you think I have trouble sleeping?"

"I wouldn't really know, considering I've been... dead," he says, "but I'm going to go with yes."

"A-plus, here's a gold star." Kallen starts to roll up the mat. "Now you know."

"Yes," Lelouch says, "and the question is, what are you going to do about it? You can't function like this."

That stops her dead in her tracks. "What am I going to do about it? I have tried everything. Valerian root, melatonin, benadryl, everything. What are you going to do about it?"

He doesn't have an answer ready for that. Lelouch has always had a plan for everything, but he cannot fix Kallen, just like he couldn't fix Nunnally, or C.C., or Suzaku. He cannot make her better. When the world was wrong, before, he had fixed it. But this is different. "What about seeing a doctor? There are options for medications," he asks, resisting the urge snark back at her.

"Pills are out of the question." Kallen waves her hand. "You get one guess as to why."

"Right." Lelouch blinks and puts his elbows on his knees. "So... that's it?"

"That's it." Kallen stows the mat underneath the side table. "Nothing else to do about it. Not right now, anyway." Turning her back on him, she says, "I'm going to take a shower. You should try to sleep," and goes off without a backwards glance.

He had tried to stay awake, but the light was still low and the night still held sway outside, and the sound of the shower running provided the white noise he liked, and he had fallen back asleep before he realized it was happening.

Lelouch had wondered about the shadows under Kallen's eyes when she first picked him up, but chalked it up to her grueling schedule, as she had told him when they arrived. Now he knows better.

When he woke, Kallen was gone, and the clock told him it was well before the time she needed to leave by. Lelouch wonders if she had slept at all. He doubts it.

He needs her to help him, but Lelouch think he needs to help her first. Kallen is loyal, honest, one of the strongest people he knows, but she is struggling. Neither is she happy, and though it may be self-centered, Lelouch's first thought is that he didn't die and come back to life for her to be miserable in the new world they helped make together.

His second thought is that there's no food in the apartment. Lelouch grabs the apartment phone, the sticky note with Kallen's cell number, and leaves a voicemail with a grocery list.

#kalulu #lulukare #lelouch x kallen #kallen x lelouch #otp: you have to live #better late than never! *finger guns*#don't @ me i love them sm #code geass

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loyalflutist · 5 years

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History Repeats Itself (Rem x Deuce, slight Machina x Ace)

Rating: Teen and Up Audience Archive Warning: N/A Words: 4,183 Summary: After hundreds of years from the great war in Fodlan, a new era of peace has arrived. However, history repeats itself to an extent when it comes to relationships. Machina and Rem find themselves thrust into Garreg Mach Monastery as transferred students from Suzaku Peristylium in Orience, facing their teachers who they learn are from an all-too-familiar background.

A/N: Eh.... Forgot to upload this up here. Still working on my Edeleth stuff, so for now, enjoy another Rem x Deuce OS! Wanted to pull in the concepts from Fire Emblem: Three Houses and use it with this pairing. Might plan out a longer series with a genuine crossover of these two series.... but I digress.

---

Garreg Mach Monastery is known for its peculiar history. Hundreds of years have passed since the time of the Great War between the three nations in Fodlan. The Adrestian Empire, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and the Leicester Alliance squared off in a vicious conflict that spans roughly five years. Legends of an Ashen Demon and an Adrestian emperor, their actions left marks upon the land. The results? A new era of peace.

However, history is known to repeat itself.

The existence of Crests still exists to this day with discriminations and olden lifestyles rule over the population. Those Who Slither in the Dark are still present, their experimentations and foul play disrupt the country. Civilian unrest rumbles society as political corruption began to unveil itself to the public.

It was never about the pen beating the sword. It was those who wield the sword that decides who would wield the pen.

“Rem? Are you okay?”

Rem Tokimiya blinked. She found Machina Kunagiri staring at her, his concern bubbling right above the surface. The two students were spotted inside the carriage. Having hailed from a respective part of Orience, the Dominion of Rubrum, their travel long and arduous since the early morning, it was no surprise that her childhood friend acts this way. No… Perhaps he asked not about their exhaustive state. She moistened her lip and glanced through the glassed window. Pine trees sprinkled with shades of darkness by the sunset’s orange rays crawled by as the horses continued their throttles. Not far from their destination, the famous monastery stood miles away, its huge structure both inviting and intimidating.

“…I’m okay.”

Dressed in the new school uniform provided by the monastery weeks ahead, the student unconsciously rubbed the back of her hand.

“I’m really okay.”

“Rem…”

Machina extended his hand but stopped halfway. He stiffened his lips. The young boy slowly retracted from Rem and felt an additional weight plop on his shoulders. Machina could not bear to look at his friend’s eyes. Then, under his breath, he whispered,

“I’m sorry.”

After all, he could do nothing but watch the horrors that befell upon her when they were young. The war between the Milites Empire and Dominion of Rubrum wasn’t enough. Those Who Slither in the Dark had strong ties with the Empire’s leaders. How the two managed to interact and align their ideals was a mystery. Not that it mattered to the male student. His jawlines were outlined, Machina gazing through the opposite window.

He witnessed the horrors of their parents dying by the soldiers’ hands. What he did not forget was the horror of watching his friend undergo experimentations to implant a Crest into her body. Cruel experimentation devised to test the hypothesis of a person not only not from nobility, but from another country altogether and their adaptation with the Crests was given the green light by the two communities. Those Who Slither in the Dark wish to rise their power in another country. The Milites Empire hopes to use this to their advantage for the current warring state.

Machina and Rem were two of the many unfortunate souls, and they were the sole survivors of the non-consensual surgeries.

Recounting those days always caused a shudder to run down his spine. He dryly swallowed, his elbow now rested on the carriage’s door, and pressed his chin against his palm. Occasionally, Machina would glance over at Rem. His friend still sat upright, the black magus drumming her fingertips along the uniformed skirt. A cough ripped through her tranquil state. Machina nearly bolted up from his seat as the female covered her mouth, a violent fit shaking her entire figure.

“R-Rem!”

She shook her head in the midst of her hacking. It went away after a few seconds, but not without consequences. Rem leaned back against her seat, breaths fast, the smeared blood present from the corner of her opened lips. Machina immediately took out his navy handkerchief and offered it.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Stern tonality trickled in his words with hopes of some honesty from Rem. Rem simply nodded after wiping. He chewed his lip, retrieving the soiled cloth, his stares becoming dagger-like.

“Why are you still—”

He stopped himself. Then, his eyes softened and felt tears welt from them. Machina glanced away with a silent grimace. When he spoke no more, the female softly called out to him.

“Machina?”

No response. Rem didn’t push him to speak. A moment of observation told her plenty about his reactions. She stifled a long exhale and reverted her gaze elsewhere.

‘ He’s beating himself up again… ‘

And there was nothing she could do to stop him. (The last time she did, he unintentionally hurt her in the process.) Machina had crawled back to their past once again. Back to the time when they were held prisoners by the two organizations. Outcries and screams echoed in the back of his skull. The knives that plunged into his friend’s arms without anesthetics, the blood transplants, the forceful insertion of a Crest into her chest cavity… Rem was always the one to save him, and she always did. Even now she’s hiding the side effects from the surgeries to alleviate his guilty conscious. The handkerchief trembled in time within his whitened grip. The rest of their rides were basked in utter silence.

-----

Two hours ticked by and nightfall switched with daylight. Stars shone in the clear sky, the flames from lamps flickered in-sync, and the lack of students notified their abnormal arrival. Despite the lonesome arrival, they were greeted by a Gatekeeper. The young man saluted to the two students, his eyes brimming with excitement.

“Greetings, Rem and Machina! I hope your trip from Orience went well.”

“It was,” Rem clasped both of her hands, her smile shining to the security guard. “It was worth the trip.”

“Excellent. I was afraid the both of you would never come since it has gotten late.”

“Don’t be silly,” Machina motioned. “No matter the time of the day, we’ll come here.”

“Aren’t you both in good spirit,” the older male chuckled. “Now that you’re both here, I’m happy to inform that your assignment to a house has been finalized too by Lady Flayn.”

Machina crossed his arms and faintly hummed.

Garreg Mach Monastery’s Officers Academy was known well for providing resources and a community for students from all three nations in Fodlan. As the two were foreigners, they would be placed by random chance into the three houses. Their alliance would lie in whatever nation they belonged to. Even though Fodlan was known well for its unification, the three countries were still divided based on their ideologies and people. It was literally the same situation as Orience minus the current conflict it undergoes. The only difference is the lack of a unified academy from Orience, the academies all under a nation’s flag.

The Gatekeeper looked at Machina.

“Machina, you have been assigned to the Blue Lions House.”

“Huh… I guess we’re both—”

“Rem, you have been assigned to the Black Eagles House.”

“Wait, what!?”

The male student felt his posture falter. Ever since they were young, they were inseparable. After the incidence with their past traumas, Machina and Rem stuck closer to each other, always as a pair… Though this was more so from the male’s dependency. He straightened his back and coughed audibly into his fist.

“You’re telling me that we’ll be separated?”

“I… I suppose so.”

“But why?!”

“Please, don’t ask me!” the older male wildly pushed his hands outward, beads of sweat flying out of his head. “This is all under the discretion of Lady Flayn!”

“I demand that one of us transfer to the other house!”

“You can try talking to her, but… I don’t think she’ll change her mind.”

“I’ll try!” Machina glanced over at the flabbergasted Rem… though flabbergasted for reasons other than class placement. He huffed. “I will speak to the archbishop. I will be back soon!”

And off he goes… with a cloud of smoke too behind his heels! It was almost comical had it not been for the circumstance that prompted his dash. Both the adult and student stared in awe after Machina. They exchanged looks. Then, a forced grin bore on their faces. Words would never be able to describe their feelings about this.

“I suggest you visit your classroom,” the Gatekeeper said. “Knowing that Lady Flayn wouldn’t make any immediate plans, you might as well familiarize yourself. I also believe the professor is still in the classroom.”

Rem tilted her head. “At this time?”

He nodded.

“Yes… her name is Deuce. She’s a new professor here at the monastery.”

“She is?”

“Indeed. It’s her first time teaching, but I’ve heard many good things from the other professors,” the Gatekeeper cupped his chin. “If I recall… she’s from Orience too like the other professor.”

An imaginary exclamation point popped over Rem’s head.

‘ Someone from Rubrum?! ‘

Learning of this new fact urged the student to visit the lecture hall; a quick thanks and farewell were given before leaving. Of course, a bit of time passed as Rem found herself losing track of her place in the large academy. Vague directions on top of the dark environment hardly posed clarity. (There was an incident with crashing into a wall, but that hardly warrants an explanation.) The student, fortunately, found the premise… with a little help from a white hooting companion.

Rem popped her head into the empty classroom. Well— Somewhat empty. There was a petite brunette standing in front of the lecture hall. The young girl, dressed in a familiar dark uniform from Suzaku Peristylium and vermillion cape, drew a couple of arrows and notes on the blackboard. Light taps and scratches emitted from the chalky utensil with occasional pauses. She didn’t seem to notice the brown-haired newcomer.

‘ She’s wearing the peristylium uniform… ‘ Rem mentally shook her head. ‘ She can’t be the professor he spoke about. She's too young. ‘

Perhaps there were a couple of students that came from Rubrum this academic term. It was worth noting that some students from all four nations had transferred out of the country for various reasons. Most of them were for a political movement. Some were due to familial circumstances. Others were a little more on the enigmatic side. In Rem’s and Machina’s case, they were transferred for a multitude of reasons. Could this be the same for this young girl?

“Hello?” The brunette’s hand froze and glanced over her shoulder. Seeing as how she didn’t move from her position, Rem decided to approach the girl. “I’m looking for the professor. Do you know where she is?”

“That’s me.”

The speaker's tone was so soft, she could have mistaken it for a whisper. Rem blinked.

“I… I didn’t quite catch what you just said.”

“I’m the professor.”

“…”

When greeted with silence, the brunette sighed. She placed the chalk onto the nearby desk and properly looked at the student.

“My name is Deuce. I’m the professor for the Black Eagles House,” the professor finally cracked a smile. “I’ve been expecting you. Though I must say, I’m a little surprised to know there are more students arriving from Rubrum. It might be a small world after all.”

“You’re so young to be a teacher.”

Rem, after much silence, blurted with unintentional disregard for the instructor’s comments. There was a pregnant pause. Eventually, Deuce lightly scratched her flushed cheeks in response, her eyes briefly shifted elsewhere.

“People say that all the time to me.”

“You must be very smart.”

“I don’t think so,” the youngster now giggled and frantically waved her hand. “The archbishop must have seen my talent in music and pitied me… or maybe it’s because I’m not from Fodlan…”

“Um, you studied in Suzaku Peristylium, right?”

“Yes, until last year when I transferred here with some of my classmates.”

Rem clasped her hands behind her back, leaning forward. Due to their proximity, Deuce found herself unconsciously examining the girl’s face. Those long eyelashes, those pair of curious eyes that twinkled with optimism, those soft lips— Heat burst into Deuce’s head. It took a great effort to resist the temptation to hide. The teacher placed a hand over her chest, her heart rapidly thumping. Just what is this feeling that tugs at her heartstrings?

‘ Mother never told me about this. Am I sick? ‘

Unlike the brunette, Rem was not oblivious to the source of her reaction. She giggled. How innocent of her teacher. It would be best she holds back the teasing and gets back to their original topic.

“What class were you from?”

It appears that it had snapped Deuce back to reality. The pink tinges lightened as the ex-cadet lowered her hand.

“Class Zero.”

“Class Zero…?! It’s no wonder why you were chosen to be a teacher!”

“Is it? I didn’t know it was that important.”

Rem immediately grabbed ahold of the girl’s arms and gently shook her.

“How could you not know? Class Zero was always known as a legend… No one has ever spoken about being from that class!”

“That’s not what Mother said…”

“Mother?”

“It’s a long story. I might have to tell you about sometime tomorrow.”

Their exchanges were brief as nightfall hardly allowed much time to spare. However, the two girls instantly clicked. Could it be from their shared homeland? Or could it be due to their age? Whatever it was, what Rem could attest to is the comfort she finds in her new professor… even if she is a little younger than expected.

Deuce was left in the classroom to complete her preparation for tomorrow’s lesson. Although Machina came running towards her with tears flowing down his cheeks about the inability to transfer later on that night, Rem secretly thanked Flayn for keeping them in their respective houses. It never hurts to have a breather from her overprotective friend. Besides, after getting to meet Deuce, she wouldn’t want to transfer to another house.

-----

The next day came quicker than ever for Machina and Rem after settling in. It was a whole new setting to experience. Students had flourished the monastery’s grounds. Some of the guards and warriors that patrol the premise seem to be from the same class as Deuce.

“It’s nice to find some folks like us!” Nine playfully slugged Machina’s shoulder. “Ya know, we gotta stick together, yo!”

“Nine, could you please leave the students alone?” Queen adjusted her glasses with a stack of files at hand. “We have to deliver these to Seteth.”

“Oi, why do I have to go with you anyway?”

“I hope you understand we have to report our results to Lady Flayn.”

“Ugh… of course… Well, hope ya’ll have fun with your new class.”

Though they arrived a month into the school year, the students were approachable and welcoming to the newcomers.

It turns out… Deuce might be one of the best professors out there. Young as she may be, her intelligence, coupled with the battle knowledge gained from her time in Orience and Fodlan, made her a valuable faculty. Many students, though older than her, generally find her loving and humble to an extent.

“I thought she would be clueless,” one of the students whispered over to Rem’s direction. “Turns out, she’s not all bark. Kinda scary.”

Scary? Rem didn’t think so. Throughout the days that came to pass, she had not seen the young girl raise her voice at her students. Exceptions were made when they were out on the practical field trips, but they were from protecting her students rather than to belittle them. Still… despite her gentle demeanor, the status of being one of the youngest professors teaching at Garreg Mach Monastery shook the students to their core. Deuce was an abnormality alongside her classmates from Class Zero.

As for Machina… turns out, he’s got a young teacher too by the name of Ace. His professor has a similar background as Deuce, albeit slightly different from the way he handled his classroom. He wasn’t as soft nor much of an introvert as his comrade. Ace was known to be calm and collected, but his emotions ran deeper than his reasoning. This caused Machina and Ace to butt heads at times despite their associations. Still, Machina has a newfound respect for the blonde. Ace was never one to mislead his new student in the right direction.

Days soon turned to weeks, and weeks soon turned to months… Varying seasons flew by at a steady pace. Rem and Machina were able to make new friends. They’ve become acquainted with members from Class Zero. They were able to get closer to their professors. Teatime was exchanged, their past traumas unraveled to the prestigious instructors. Rem could never forget the response she got Deuce after explaining her reason for being in the Officers Academy.

“I was hoping to find a way to live with the Crest inside of my body. I don’t know how much longer I have left to live, but I came here to find out how. It would be better to find a way to stop my coughing fit too.”

“Rem…” the brunette grabbed ahold of her hands, squeezed them, her voice having dipped into a broken whisper. “I promise, I will find a way. I promise from the bottom of my heart.”

The same could be said for Machina and Ace. Ace was surprised to hear that the young male struggled to cope with his PTSD. Someone like Ace and Deuce, who were vigorously trained as child soldiers for Arecia Al-Rashia, never understood the disorder. This was a first for the card wielder.

“I couldn’t protect her!” Machina hollered and weakly shoved Ace. “They should’ve chosen me first! Why!? Why did they choose her!? Why did they spare me!? WHY!?”

“Machina…”

It would be a lie to say Ace didn’t tear up. He had to embrace Machina with hopes of keeping the student from having an irreversible meltdown.

Both teachers were there for their students, especially for Rem and Machina. It felt as though they had strengthened their bonds. The connection they had for one another was as deep as it could get.

For Machina, his bonds grew even stronger with Ace after spending time caring for a baby chocobo with his teacher, their lifestyles slowly formatted to that of parental care for the creature.

“Us? Like parents? You could say that,” Ace said without much thought. “I think Machina would fit the mom role well.”

“Aceeeee—! What are you trying to imply here!?”

Rem finds it amusing to see her childhood friend, who was always so clingy to her, let loose… especially at the cost of his embarrassed features. His red face was a comedic sight to see. Yet from a mile away, one could tell that Machina didn’t mind the implications. Machina did confess during their time at the monastery about his romantic interest towards his young instructor.

What about Rem and Deuce? It was also clear as day that Rem was crushing hard on Deuce… Very hard, in fact. Machina felt bad watching his childhood friend struggle with an oblivious professor like Deuce. Whenever they were out on a date, Deuce had always seen it as if they were friends. Regardless, their relationship became clearer in the following month. It was a bit more dramatic than what the two males had.

“Rem, look out!”

“!”

A flash of white beam was shot at the cadet’s direction. Rem, her bloodied daggers having been pulled out of a bandit’s body, found herself as its target. At least, until Deuce slammed against Rem with her shoulder. The rough shove caused the injured student down onto the ground. An “oof” slipped out of her cracked lips as she slammed face-first onto the wet greenery.

“ARGH!”

Rem snapped her head up, the bruises beginning to form from her cheek, her eyes widen at the unfolding scenario. Deuce’s silver flute had been tossed to the side. The teacher curled into a fetal position, her hands impressing themselves onto her chest. One of the faculty, Queen, rushed to her aid.

“She’s been burnt!”

The self-proclaimed secretary cast Heal as another student tried to flop their professor onto her back. Deuce’s facial features were twisted, the pain all-too prominent. Hearing her whimper surged forth newfound energy into the sickly student. Rem got up onto her two feet. The red daggers were readjusted, the female immediately kicked forward to the assaulter.

It was all a blur. Rem’s vision was completely red. She was not one to fall under the spell of vengeance nor unnecessary violence, but something had snapped in her the moment her professor succumbed to the attack. A battle cry erupted from her throat, the daggers slashing at the enemy in a flurry. What should’ve been a simple mission from Lady Flayn to defend a village from bandits turned into a bloody mess.

Crimson stained her school’s uniform, the magma-red blood splattered onto her exposed skin. The tips of her blade sunk into the tough bandit’s armors. No steel could prevent the magically infused weapon from piercing into its thick layer. Rem tore the weapon away as she lost breath. Then, she fell to her knees, her vision beginning to narrow.

‘ No, no! Not right now! ‘

Rem stabbed her daggers into the soft earth. She lowered her head, her eyes squinted, and blood beginning to drip from her chin. A coughing fit shook her entire achy figure. The Crest was taking a toll on her frail body. It provided her strength on the battlefield, making her a one-man army, but at what cost?

‘ Deuce… Deuce! ‘

The young student struggled back to her feet. She slowly dragged herself towards the fallen bard. Deuce, who acted as support for their battles, was unconscious. Queen shot a glance at the wounded student.

“Deuce is fine if you’re wondering,” she mumbled. “The laser didn’t break through her muscles. Some luck she has…”

Seven from nearby immediately caught the wobbly student. Arm over her shoulders, the tall soldier directed another Class Zero member, Trey, to cast a healing spell onto Rem. Though Rem managed to keep herself awake throughout the rest of the day, Deuce wasn’t that fortunate. The student had mostly healed from her bruises and lacerations in the aftermath. The same could be said for her teacher. However, the professor was in a coma for a week.

“Oh, Deuce…”

Completely dropping the formalities, Rem sat by her side on the seventh day, her hands clasped together into prayer. She watched the same scene happen over and over. Chest rising and falling at even intervals. Occasional twitches from her fingers and brows. The silence that hung in the air between the two girls. Rem lowered her head and wept tearlessly.

“When will you wake up?”

If anything…

“How could I tell you how much I love you?”

As expected, there was no reply.

Time ticked by until the sun began to set. Machina and Ace came by, their visits brief and acting as a reminder to return to the dormitory. Rem had gotten up from her seat. However, compared to the previous times where she would say her farewells and leave the premise, she found herself hovering over the brunette’s face.

“…”

It was the heat of the moment. Rem didn’t think twice about her actions, letting her instincts run freely. She closed her eyes and planted a kiss on her professor’s lips. Those luscious, soft lips were as delicate at Deuce was. Guilt settled into Rem’s stomach once she retracted. Heat overwhelmed her head as she bit the bottom of her lip. Kissing her professor was already overstepping her boundary… How could she do that?! She didn’t even properly proclaim her love to Deuce!

Right when she was about to pull away, Deuce reached up to caress Rem’s cheeks. Then, as if on cue, the brunette returned a kiss of her own.

“!!!”

She couldn’t even call out to her teacher’s name. Rather— She was thunderstruck! Rem opened her mouth and closed it like a fish gasping for water. Deuce, on the other hand, could not resist a weak giggle from her end.

“Why are you acting that way, Rem?”

“I—I… I-I mean! You’re… You’re awake!”

“Rem…”

“I’m so happy! I didn’t know what to do if you haven’t awakened—”

“Rem.”

“Yes?!”

Deuce eventually reached up to pat the flustered girl’s head. With a smile of her own, the professor whispered,

“I love you too.”

Turns out, Deuce finally sorted out her feelings during her comatose period. A week in a dream-like state gave her plenty of time to straighten her thoughts out. As she soothed the crying student, the ex-cadet thought back to the times of history from Fodlan. This situation eerily reminded her of a certain couple found in legends... A flashback of Byleth Eisner and Edelgard von Hresvelg transparently overlapped the two girls. Not all of history was to be repeated, but in this case, the blooming relationship of a teacher and a student from special circumstances began anew.

#final fantasy #final fantasy type-0 #fan fiction #fanfiction #fanfic #fan fic #os #oneshot #one shot #loyalflutist #rem x deuce #rem tokimiya #deuce #Machina Kunagiri #ace #machina x ace

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zephyrthejester · 6 years

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Code Geass Deadblog: Episodes 45-46

Holy shit! ANSWERS! ACTUAL FREAKING ANSWERS, AT LONG FREAKING LAST. IT'S TIME, IT HAPPENED, ACTUAL AAAANSSWEEEERSSS

Starting off, I kicked myself for not seeing the possibility that Marianne would come back into play. She's been talking to C.C. all this time, and even accounting for that C.C.'s current amnesia, there'd be no reason to think she still couldn't. In a stunning twist, it was revealed that Marianne and C.C. had forged a contract once; Marianne's Geass must have been extraordinarily powerful, because she puppeteered Anya's body from beyond the grave and got close to C.C. Close enough to enter her mindspace and have a hearty conversation with her, which restored her memories.

Even more shocking, we next had a stunning turn of events with Suzaku and Schneizel. In full view of Gino, Lloyd, Cecile, Kanon, and Cornelia... Suzaku resolved that his ideals up until now were naive. The ends do, in fact, justify the means. And to that cause, he and Schneizel conspired to assassinate the Emperor! How in the everloving fuck does Suzaku manage to walk around with those massive balls of his? I guess this is what happens when the fallen paladin squashes out every last spark of Lawful Good in his heart. Schneizel's point of view was that the Emperor has completely failed to uphold his duty as an Emperor, placed himself before others. Man. I feel really bad for thinking Schneizel was a snake! I didn't dare trust him, but at this point I'm really sure he's genuinely a good dude who wants good things.

Suzaku intercepted the Emperor at the mouth of the cave on Kamine Island, but Bismarck intercepted his blow upon the Emperor... Not that he could have killed him, anyway. So, turns out the Knight of One had a Geass of his own, kept hidden under that sewn-shut left eye of his. You'd think I'd have seen that coming...

Lelouch arrived on the Island then. He had gone wild with his Geass, sending a huge swathe of the Britannian forces into chaos, fighting each other indiscriminately. Marianne (as Anya) and C.C. used it as the perfect cover to infiltrate the scene. And Lelouch... well, he confronted his father in the Sword of Akasha just as he was beginning Ragnarok. There was a creepy intertwining pillar of human bodies writhing around there, which was super creepy, and I still have no freaking idea what that was supposed to be. But anyhoo, Lelouch claimed a victory by rigging the exit to explode behind him, sealing both himself and his father in the alternate realm!

From there, Lelouch and Charles began to speak about the nature of lying, which tied into a conversation held between Marianne, Suzaku, and C.C. At long last, we learned what "C's World" is: A collective consciousness of humanity's memories. It was at this point where I realized that, yeah, Mao is probably dead. Whoops. I was convinced that was a dart gun C.C. fired into his neck...Oh well. C's World sounds like a place that's a one way trip, if you catch my meaning.

Evidently, Charles wants to get all of humanity into C's World so that there could be no barriers, no masks, between people, and therefore conflict would end. So in other words, it's literally Human Instrumentality, but with a lot less sexual metaphors. Anyhoo, Marianne's ghost thingy slipped out of Anya's body and went into the Sword of Akasha to meet with Charles and her son, and things got really spicy from there.

Marianne was able to personally explain the mystery of her death: It was at the hands of V.V., who killed her because Charles' love for her was threatening to lead him astray from completing the Contract between them. In Marianne's dying moments on those stairs, her Geass activated for the first time, and she just so happened to be looking one Anya Alstreim in the eyes. Anya, then a child, was cowering behind a pillar and just so happened to be there at the wrong time. Marianne's power turned out to be the power to transfer her consciousness into another person, and from that day on Marianne lived in poor Anya's body, and eventually worked out that she can telepathically communicate with C.C.

C.C. learning the truth of what happened is what caused her to give up her leadership of the Geass society to V.V. and disappear. Charles, meanwhile, swiftly learned of V.V.'s murderous deception and that planted the seed of a future betrayal right then and there... Dear lord, man. V.V. was truly an absolute scumbag. Forged an identity and relationship out of ridding the world of lies and breaking down barriers, then murdered his brother's dearly beloved and tried to cover it up. How disgusting.

Then, in a shocking twist, it was revealed that the Emperor kinda sorta had good intentions for Lelouch and Nunnaly all along??? Sent them to Japan to not make them potential targets for V.V. Oh, and he used his Geass to make Nunnaly convinced she was blind, just to ensure she couldn't have been a witness. Yeah, no, sorry, I'm 100% sure this was the show pulling this out of its ass. I guarantee you the Emperor wasn't meant to be sympathetic early on, and I personally do NOT want to feel any sympathy for this monster. He's done plenty of stuff that's inexcusable, among them his big goals. Like... Why couldn't Charles have let Nunnaly be "blind" at first, then once the heat died down a few weeks later, reversed it and also meddled with her memories to leave no evidence? Everyone thought it was psychosomatic, anyway! Her recovering her sight would have been believable!!

With that reveal neatly wrapped up, Suzaku and C.C. entered the Sword of Akasha thanks to Code powers, and stuff. Don't ask me how... With all the pieces in place, with Marianne fully supporting Charles' plans and Suzaku having his one question answered... Charles raised his hand, channeled C.C.'s Code, and began Ragnarok.

Then Lelouch did the most Lelouch thing he's ever done and used his Geass on God. To not stop the march of time. To not let the world grow stagnant, and ungrowing. To let the world remain in chaos! Because that's the world Nunnaly wanted. And it wasn’t a command... It was a request.

With that, the swirling towers of human bodies that was rising to God fell to pieces, and those who attempted to kill God similarly disappeared... Charles and Marianne vanished into dust, while C.C. looked on and realized that all along, they only loved themselves. Well, damn. Turns out Code Geass' story was a metaphor for toxic familial relationships all along. Sometimes, yes, father and mother do NOT know best. Also, humanity’s consciousness uniting to wipe someone out of existence gave me huge Elder Scrolls vibes, which was nice. There’s a “Brass Tower” joke with the Thought Elevator somewhere...

One month later, and Tokyo had been mostly rebuilt. The world's eyes turned upon the imperial palace over in Britannia, where the Emperor was due to make a speech. YOU KNOW WHO WALKED OUT? YOU KNOW WHO WALKED OUT AND SAT ON THE FREAKING THRONE? Lelouch vi Britannia... 99th Emperor of the Britannian Empire. And at his side, standing proud, was Suzaku Kururugi... The newly dubbed Knight of Zero.

I've never facepalmed so hard. The Knight of Zero. The Knight... of Zero. The Knight of Zero. Jesus christ I am convinced this entire show was conceived just so they could do this one thing. Jesus. The Knight of Zero, you guys. He's the Knight of Zero now. Literally, and metaphorically.

And that's where the episode ended... With the world watching in stunned shock (notably, the Black Knights and poor, poor, poor Rivalz, whose mind exploded), and Lelouch using his Geass upon Odysseus and dozens and dozens of important nobles in the hall to make them view him as their Emperor.

Good lord. There are four episodes left!? If I didn't know any better, I would think this was the finale! The big bad thwarted and killed, the "hero" sitting on the throne, ability to achieve his goal at his fingertips... But no, there's a lot left unresolved. What's next for C.C.? What will the Black Knights do? What is Schneizel scheming!? And why is Suzaku loyally serving Lelouch? These are questions I can't wait to see answers to.

Boy. When Code Geass goes in, it goes in hard.

Other Thoughts:

Um. One of Odysseus’ lines HEAVILY implied that Nunnaly was alive. So holy shit, that’s a thing. What. I am not sure how to feel about that.

Marianne was caught in the act of trying to doodle on Suzaku's face with a permanent marker while he was unconscious, which secured her spot as the best character in the show. Shame she turned out to be a massive asshole, dethroning her and returning the title to Cheese-kun.

I encountered the famous "Notto diso shitto agen" frame of the Emperor, and it was glorious. I now completely understand the context, and that pleases me greatly.

So what's up with Anya? Does she have any memories at all? Was Marianne more of a passive host or was she in full control the entire time? Gods, imagine how fucked up it would be to one day witness a murder while you're a kid, then suddenly wake up on some random island while the world is nearly ending and you're a teen suddenly.

C.C. was wearing her old straightjacket at the very end. Which is super weird. Who finds those comfortable?

Beyond "What's next?" the only question I still really have is "What's C.C.'s name?" Though, truth be told, I'm not expecting an answer to that at this point.

#Code Geass #Code Geass Liveblog #Code Geass episode 42 #Liveblogging #Liveblog

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greywitch · 6 years

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i like how lelouch always puts everything on hold for c.c. click thru for a 1k word analysis on lelouch --> c.c. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

in the middle of the battle for narita, lelouch runs off the battlefield to care for c.c. when she’s injured protecting lelouch from suzaku even though he already knows she can’t die. initially, he wants to sample her blood for testing, but after hearing her moment of weakness and her name, he tosses the bloody rag away (tho while they’re in the cave, isnt he worried the still inexperienced black knights would fuck up somehow lol)

again, lelouch knows c.c. can’t die and c.c. was… not very Kind rejecting him to go to mao, but as soon as lelouch figures out what mao had said to her, he immediately stops to go save her even though…. he really didn’t need to because as c.c. said, her leaving was the comparatively easier solution to protecting himself

ending of r1 - nunnally is kidnapped, but he still has time to worry about and reassure c.c. (cue the “if you’re a witch, then i’ll become a warlock” line)

in the chinese federation infiltration picture drama, post-dance and post-geassing of the federation officials, kallen and c.c. both depart to make preparations, but lelouch this time is the one to stop c.c. and engage in small talk basically LOL but also to reassure her and, as evidenced by the picture drama fading out on their convo, that goes on for Quite A While despite the fact that they have more pressing matters lmaooo

EDIT2: AND I FORGOT THE BRIEF SCENE in r2 ep11 immediately post-kallen capture when c.c. is going out to join the battle because they are That Outmatched and lelouch stops her to say, “if we start to lose, run for it” to which c.c. responds, “come up with a solution before that happens” :’) (this is a really good thread discussing it.)

edit: I FORGOT TO ADD OF COURSE r2 ep 15 - the emperor has code; lelouch HATES the emperor and britannia and is devastated to learn defeating him is IMPOSSIBLE now, but when he learns the Solution would be taking c.c.’s code and killing her to go toe-to-toe with him, he 200% refuses. given all the carnage he’s caused thus far and all the people he’s lost (euphie, shirley, etc), given the “ends justify the means” mindset he has, it makes little sense not to take c.c.’s code to secure a road to victory tbh, esp when she was convinced it (mercy kill) was what she wanted but love often doesn’t make sense :’)

nunnally is in grave danger again - he lashes out at an amnesiac c.c. but as soon as he realizes he’s hurt her, he snaps out of his freak-out to care for her

there’s also a moment during this arc when he’s going to make his final stand against the emperor do-or-die, kill-or-be-killed and he thinks something along the lines of “kallen take care of c.c.” which is rly sweet given c.c. is completely useless to him now and she’s not even really c.c. anymore

they’re in the middle of an all-out war about to enact a plan with very low chances of survival/success (i.e. disabling the fleija), and he still takes the moment to reassure c.c. and have a genuine heart-to-heart (cue kallen cockblock)

you could say some of these instances are due to Pride and not wanting to Owe C.C. A Debt (i.e. examples 1 + 2) earlier in the series, but we’ve all seen that lelouch CAN swallow his pride (when he goes to suzaku and begs on hands and knees for him to protect nunnally) in order to achieve a goal, and anyway pride can’t explain the rest of the instances throughout r2

with his other main love interests, shirley and kallen, lelouch has…. more often than not blown them off, intentionally or otherwise

lelouch has blown off shirley so many times except when her life was In Imminent Danger but one instance is shirley calling lelouch about to confess during the chinese federation arc and lelouch asks her a question bc politics before immediately hanging up lol

kallen gets captured by the enemy; lelouch means to go save her (and he does give the immediate order despite the strategic risks), but A Bunch Of Shit Happens and he gets waylaid for many episodes and then isn’t even the one to directly save her in the end lmao (i think she was “priority item #3″ during that operation?? bc the main focus was nunnally and ider what priority item #2 was lol)

but with c.c. i cant really remember a moment where c.c. Required His Immediate Attention, and lelouch hasn’t given it to her, regardless of what other Shitfest is going on or how relatively minor her issue is, even when the Shitfest involves nunnally, his #1 priority. given lelouch’s reactions to events throughout the series, i’d say c.c. is a close second—maybe because she’s Useful To Him earlier on in the series (even though kallen is too lol, his “most special piece to play” as he says) but that explanation is insufficient to explain his actions by the end of r1.

there was discussion on the reddit about a scrapped plot okouchi had written where c.c. was kidnapped and lelouch immediately ran off to save her (here and here with link to OG tweet), and at first i was like this sounds kinda ooc but looking back on some of these canon instances….. sounds about right lmaooo.

he keeps shirley and kallen at arms length much of the time because, as c.c. says in the series, there are times when you have to distance yourself from those you love because you love them, and he does love shirley and kallen. but with c.c. he shares something special, something different, something where he can not only rely on her to be his other half but also keep her in his thoughts even when his thoughts are a fucking mess and even when 1) there’s no need or 2) it doesn’t benefit him.

#code geass #c.c.#lelouch vi britannia #lelouch #clu clu #im using all the tags bc im passionate and i havent posted shite in like 2 years LOL #rip this blog and fanfics #who knows when they'll return from the war

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