#the EXACT same way all three times I think it's funniest to imagine he still wasn't satisfied with Kunikida's last meow | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

darthmaulification · 3 years

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(Idk why I thought this but I think it’s funny) Imagine din and reader going back to visit Karga for a job and reader is a apparent heart throb to most of the villagers (not that she knows) and like “hi mrs. Parker” Friday style, these women are see them walking by going “hi Reader~” with cara teasing of reader the whole time having to tell the ladies that reader is already taken with din.

A/N: you are my very first request, so i decided to do a full, bonifide one shot! thank you so very much!! 🥰💕💕

oddly enough, din doesn’t show his bucket in this until the very end. 💀 it became really cara-centric for some reason. hope that’s okay! 😖

also, the trope of “everyone collectively loves person, but person is so utterly oblivious to it” is, without fail, one of the funniest bits any piece of media can pull lmao.

hope you enjoy! 💗

content: references of sex (kinda), saucy language, gender neutral!reader (my first time writing a gn reader 😲), reader being completely “no thoughts head empty” type of oblivious, cara just brutally teasing reader, soft!din makes an appearance!, cara is also kinda a bisexual icon???

word count: 1,775

“... What do you mean?”

Cara looks at you strange. She searches your face for a few seconds longer, eyebrows furrowed, trying to see if you’re serious.

“Are you fucking with me?” She deadpans evenly, and you tilt your head slightly, blinking. You slowly shake your head, raising an eyebrow.

“No...?” You drag out the word and Cara barks a sudden, loud laugh at your genuine confusion, tossing back her head as she does. She straightens up in her seat, still chuckling lightly, and picks up her glass of spotchka. Cara leans against the backrest, draping her free arm over it.

“You’re really not fucking with me, huh?” She mutters with a grin, bringing the glass to her lips and taking a low, long sip, her eyes not leaving yours. You frown, puzzled.

“Cara, I have no ide—"

“Everyone wants to fuck you.” Cara interrupts and it takes a moment for the blunt, vulgar words to register, but when they do you feel heat rise in your cheeks. You visibly recoil, sputtering out an answer.

“I— What are— There's no—” All Cara does as you fumble over your words, getting more and more red in the face, is shrug, an easy grin on her face.

“Yeah, everyone wants to get in your pants, can’t say I blame ‘em.” Her grin turns downright predatory and it gives you the final push to spit out a reply.

“WHAT?” The word comes out incredulous and far louder that you had meant, causing you to cringe at the sound of your voice reverberating in the cantina. People glance over at you and you give the crowd a sheepish, nervous smile. Thankfully, everyone turns back to whatever they were doing, no questions asked. Then your head whips back to Cara, whose all smug-looking, to shoot her a glare. Your face is positively burning, and you just know she can see it.

“Are you fucking with me?” You throw her own question back at her, but it falls flat because all it does is grow the shit-eating grin that’s plastered on Cara’s face. She shrugs, gesturing around lazily to the room at large.

“Jax, the Rodian over there, gives you puppy dog eyes, Kol and Zaltor— the Trandoshans, not the Togrutas, by the way— look at your ass every time they get, that pink Twi’lek gal over there practically fawns over you— think her names’ Numa or Nima or something, the Duros over there...”

Cara continues listing off more and more names, and with each one (some who you know and have spoken to) you feel yourself getting more and more flustered. You sink low in your chair, staring wide eyed into your spotchka, hands on your temples.

“Good Maker.” You groan, placing your hands over your face and slumping onto the table. Cara (finally) stops listing literally the entire population of the village and gazes at you quizzically. She tilts her head.

“Don’t like being the sex idol of the town?” She teases and you groan again, louder this time. You glare up at her through your fingers, still furiously blushing. Oh, how you wish Din was here to beat the snot out of Miss Dune...

“No. This is a nightmare.” You growl out, going back to digging your face into the table, hoping the sandstone would just swallow you whole. Before Cara can reply, a new voice sounds up.

“U-Um, hi.” You stiffen and turn your head to the side to see two Twi’leks, one taller than the other, standing next to the table. They seem a bit nervous, fidgeting with their lekku and rocking on their feet, but something tells you they’re here for... something. The moment you meet Cara’s gaze, your face blanches.

“Kill me now.”

“Hey, pretty ladies.”

You groan and Cara flirts at the exact same time, Cara’s strong voice unfortunately gaining the upper hand. Both Twi’lek giggle, and the taller of the two, the lavender skinned one, flutters her eyelashes. Even more unfortunately, you make eye contact with her. She flushes when you meet her gaze.

“O-Oh my— Stars, um hi!” She and her companion devolve into giggles again and you force yourself to sit up. Giving them a forced smile, you rest your hands under your chin and elbows on the table.

“Hello. What can I do for you?” You ask through gritted teeth, attempting to keep your strained voice relatively nice, while also fighting back both the blush that’s still on your cheeks and the urge to shoot Cara with your blaster. Thankfully, the Twi’leks have gotten over the apparent “meeting their idol” giggles, because now the shorter one places a dusty tan hand on the table and leans in. A bright, stunning smile spreads across her face, but something flirty burns in her eyes.

“Mm. Me and my sister here have just been seeing you around so often.” She says, voice a obviously practiced mix of playfully coy and feigning ignorance. You glance from her, to her lavender sister, then to Cara. And your luck must really be in the gutters, or maybe Cara just wants to torture you—or both— but the mercenary only offers you a grin, lifts her spotchka to her lips, and sips. Your hands curl into fists.

“Yeah, I—”

“You’re talking to Mando’s squeeze, babes.” Cara interrupts yet again and all three sets of eyes land on her. Two of them moon-eyed and incredulous if not also disappointed, one of them so embarrassed that Carasynthia Dune, you are a dead woman—

“Really?” The lavender Twi'lek’s eyes are so blown wide you almost think they’d roll out of her head. Her sister looks just as awestruck, and both look a tad bit fearful. You go to speak, but Cara (you’re really starting to hate her) opens her mouth again and beats you to the cut.

“Mm hm. Y’all are hitting on the Mando’s sweetheart. Pretty bold, honestly, he’s real protective over this one.” The blush you put all your hard work into smothering returns full force at Cara’s words, and the Twi’leks start looking a bit flustered themselves, though for another reason.

“So sorry!” The lavender one breaks first and goes running off to a Rodian and Zabrak sitting at a far table. She leans in close, seeming to whisper something into their ears, and suddenly all three of them are looking at you with a strange mix of disappointment, lust, and fear. You hastily look away and hide your face behind your hand.

“Aw. Shame.” The tan Twi’lek purses her lips, pushing herself off the table, and you begrudgingly force yourself to look at her. She gives you that stunning smile again and winks.

“You know I’m here for you.” She says and sashays off to where her sister is. Across the room, she gives you another wink and flutters her fingers. Pretty sure that all your bloods’ in your face, you turn to Cara, slowly.

“Cara.” You say her name lowly, looking her dead in the eye. She’s grinning, and blows a lock of her hair out of her face. She feigns an unassuming, innocent look, but both you and her know better.

“Yeah?” She’s walking on thin ice and she knows it, but you also know she’s never been afraid of risk.

“I’m going to kill you.” You say, coming across as deadly serious as you possibly can. Cara’s grin widens, her eyes twinkling, and she downs the last of her spotchka.

“I know,” She starts and she shrugs, “But you know I couldn’t resist.”

You want to reach over and smack her a good one, but a voice alerts you to a certain someone at your side.

“Hey.” Din’s low, modulated voice gentle pulls your attention to him and you turn your head to look up at your silver-clad lover. Even with the dark T-visor, you know exactly where to look to find those soft, doe eyes beneath it. A small smile creeps across your face.

“Hey.” You reply and he offers a hand to you, which you gladly accept. Like always, his hand is large and warm and strong, and it makes you feel completely at peace. Din helps you up to your feet, settling you close, but not too close, to his side.

“I got the next few pucks, and the kid’s already in the Crest, so we’re ready to head out...” Din trails off and tilts his head, and you can feel his curious gaze roam your face.

“Your face is... pretty flushed. Are you feeling okay?” He asks it so gently and sweetly, his gloved hand still holding yours, that it’s almost enough to make you forget why your all disheveled in the first place. Letting out a forced, somewhat breathy laugh, you pull your hand away to cross your arms over your chest.

“Um, yeah, yeah— I’m good.” You assure him, but Din knows you so he turns his attention on Cara, whose sprawl in her seat, looking like a satisfied loth cat.

“What did you do?” He asks, keeping his voice neutral, but there’s a hint of that good ol’ Din Protectiveness seeping in too. Part of you celebrates that Din’s finally here to beat up Cara, but all the other parts of you just want to hop on back the Razor Crest and get the Hell out of here. Cara lazily raises her hands in mock surrender, tilting her head into her shoulder.

“Just playing, that’s all.” She replies, eying your spotchka from across the table. She and Din are in some type of staring match even as she reaches and snags your drink. You don’t care enough to protest. Din stares at Cara for a few seconds longer before he shifts on his feet and turns back to you.

“Ready to go, cyare?” His voice is like warm like sunshine, and it makes your entire being light up. You nod and smile, uncrossing your arms to grab his hand. His thick fingers close around yours, encasing your hand in his.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here.” You reply as you both start walking, tethered to one another by the most sacred link you can while in public. Din and you walk side by side, a Mandalorian and his beloved, through the cantina and out the door.

Cara watches you leave, then looks around at all the inhabitants of the cantina who had also watched you and the Mando leave hand-in-hand. She nearly laughs at all the looks of disappointment. You really were the village heart throb.

And as Cara downs the last of her (your) spotchka, she ponders,

Dammit. Wish it was me instead of Mando.

#star wars #star wars din djarin #din djarin x reader #din djarin x you #cara dune #anon #anon ask #request

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akampana · 3 years

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Continuation of this ask

Bedivere x Arturia - Ship it

What made you ship it?

TBH I was one of those few people who shipped it based on that like 2 second scene at the end of FSN. The Camelot Singularity just reinforced it. A lot came from the original Arthurian legend as well. Bedivere is similarly insanely loyal as he is in the game, and like in Fate lore, he’s been with Arthur longer than most.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

He journeyed so far for so long just to see her smile OH MY GOD BRB IM SOBBING HOLY CRAP CAN YOU JUST IMAGINE—

I’m a sucker for intensely loyal knights and I will always be. ALWAYS.

THE ANGST POTENTIALLLLLL but also THE FLUFF POTENTIALLLL

This man loved his king so bloody intensely. So strongly that his desire to see her survived the test of time. To be loved so much, so unconditionally for a thousand and a half years? Gods, that’s just too much, man. ;-;

And I absolutely adore how much it means to him to remain her knight, even if he tends to be insecure about the limb that he lacks, and how he believes he is nothing special in comparison with everyone else. I love that Arturia recognizes his strength and his worth, even if he himself can’t see it.

THE ENTIRE CONFRONTATION IN THE THRONE ROOM LET ME TELL YOU I WAS CRYING SOOOOO HARD THROUGHOUT THAT IK NIT EVEN KIDDING

THIS, the MINDBREAK Arturia goes through when she tries to remember

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I think that THIS SHIP NEEDS MORE LOVE AND I REALLY OUGHT TO CONTRIBUTE

All the other answers below cut!

Irisviel x Arturia - Ship It

What made you ship it?

I think I was bound to the moment I watched Fate Zero. When I was younger it was overshadowed by the feels Diarturia brought and not to mention Kiritsugu and Iri but this ship is damn good on its own.

What sold it though, is the argument she and Kiritsugu have in Episode 16, right after the last Saber and Lancer fight. Irisviel, who we all know loves her husband so much, forced Kiritsugu to answer Saber. That’s just how important Arturia was to her.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

I think they both found in each other something they themselves lack. It’s actually kind of funny. Arturia is human, and yet she’s so heavily consumed by her ideals that she doesn’t act like one. Irisviel, on the other hand, is not human, and yet everything that she does and wants to do is exactly that.

Throughout the anime, Being with Iri puts Saber into such mundane, ordinary situations that it teaches her to live. The suits, the escorting, being a passenger instead of a driver, appreciating the water by the seashore, etc. It's like the woman wants to leave her with some appreciation for the world, especially when she herself doesn’t have all that much time left.

On Irisviel’s part, I think she found in Saber the companionship she would have wanted from Kiritsugu during the last few days she remained on the Earth. Arturia had been the perfect knight in shining armor, taking Irisviel around to see the world as much as they could amidst a war. If they’d just had more time, I have no doubt Arturia would have taken Irisviel even more places, you know?

It makes me sad :( but in a good way.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I’m pretty sure Irisviel would wear the pants in this relationship ya know what I mean? Hahaha

Much as I love this ship, I think that it becomes all the more valuable because of how it ended. To each other, they were this brief, fleeting feeling of happiness. A love that was so short and yet so strong.

Shirou x Arturia - Don't Ship it

Hooooooo boi. Hear me out, mkay ? But this is just my personal opinion so pls no hate

Why don't you ship it?

I’m gonna start out by saying I don’t think I need to, tbh. Hahaha there’s enough content for this ship being fed to us, so my liking it or not is immaterial. But the reason is well...I watched FSN and Shirou x Saber was...not the best thing about it (the best thing about it was the soundtrack omg iconic) Shirou comes off as a bit of a misogynist, and kind of immature, and the whole time it’s like he doesn’t really listen to Arturia at all. Plus, it’s kind of like he just likes her looks at times. The final deciding factor was the date scene. That was just unbearable.

But then I go online and I see all this good stuff about them. And my friend ships them cause they’re canon, right? So, I’m like okay, what if I judged too quickly, let’s play the VN...and I did. And I still didn’t like him with Saber at all. So, I played the next route, watched the next anime, trying to redeem 1st route Shirou as much as I could but it just....didn’t happen. I think I can safely say I tried to like them. I really did. But no.

What would have made you like it?

Removing the misogyny and the immaturity and letting him listen to her. Like he should have.

At no point in their interactions did it feel like they were standing on equal ground, ever. Either he was speaking over her or the opposite. So less of that and a lot more respect.

And when you compare this relationship to what he has with like with his other two love interests, it makes this ship fall completely flat. It’s pretty...bland and honestly kind of shallow. It’s like the story just tells you they’re in love but there’s no answer to why they’re in love. Make him fall in love with her for her without necessarily forcing his need to save everyone on her.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

I may not like how they got there, but in the end Arturia was able to pass peacefully.

I acknowledge that Shirou was important and made a change in her life.

That ending scene where they meet after so long, NGL is pretty sweet.

A lot of my headcanons happen post-Shirou, so there’s also that.

Archer x Rin -Ship it

What made you ship it?

Tsundere x Cynic has gotta be one of the best dynamics out there.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

His true identity. The fact that she dragged him all the way across space and time to return as her Servant, that’s just bloody fate at work.

The fact that he keeps acknowledging she’s a strong Master despite his later conduct in UBW.

Archer is ridiculously crass and Rin is easily riled up. In the Fifth Holy Grail War, they had the best Master-Servant relationship period. They have this explosive chemistry that just works so well.

When he smiles at her at the end of the route, and you just know that Tohsaka’s gonna be stubborn enough to make sure Shirou doesn’t end up going down the exact same path.

I think it’s sweet that he ends up going along with her whims because he secretly likes housework.

THE PRINCESS CARRY/ CATCH. MAN OH MAN.

Unlike the previous ship mentioned here, these two actually stand on equal ground with each other.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I don't think it's exactly an unpopular opinion, but I think they really ought to have more official content y'know? Rin is important in every route, and Archer's the actual climax of UBW and also entirely significant across three routes.

Medusa x Sakura - Don't ship it

Why don't you ship it?

Because while journeying through the routes, I always saw Rider as more of a best friend/sort of motherly figure to Sakura.

Or that Rider fulfilled the kind of relationship that she wanted to have with Rin, while Sakura unknowingly filled the void Medusa's sisters left in her life. I thought she was more of a guardian angel really, not a romantic interest. Kind of like how Heracles was to Illya.

What would have made you like it?

If I could maybe forget about the threesome with Shirou and the implied romantic feelings Rider has for him in Ataraxia that would be great.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

Sakura deserves all the happiness in the world and I really do believe that Rider could fulfill that.

This ship DEFINITELY DEFINITELYYYYYY NEEDS MORE CONTENT

Diarmuid x Cú - Ship it

What made you ship it?

oooh this probably sounds surprising since based on my content you'd think, no i dont ship this BUT I DOOOOOOO (i just happen to hc them as bros more often)

Honestly what did make me ship it is the parallels.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

IMO They have the biggest potential for hurt/comfort amongst all the ships mentioned here.

They can help each other get through their trauma. Their whole relationship would be extremely healing and supportive.

I love that Diarmuid seems to have idolized Cú Chulainn at some point and honestly who wouldn't be honored to stand beside him, no?

They could be up to the funniest shenanigans because Cú is chaos and Diarmuid would absolutely be an enabler because when he isn't angst-ing he's super damn chill.

Bros being bros hahahah...unless?

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Not really. Maybe that I think Lancer Diar and Cascu would get along better and Saber Diar and Lancer Cu would also get along better but honestly any form is good this ship is good

#akampana asks #bedivere #arturia pendragon #artoria pendragon #irisviel von einzbern #emiya Shirou #archer #rin #tohsaka rin #Medusa #sakura #sakura matou #diarmuid ua duibhne #cu chulainn #long post

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ask-fantasy-sanders-sides · 4 years

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Soooooo~! We heard what Roman thought about the caravan people, what about Virgil? You must have liked some other people than Missy and Jester over there!

(Virgil hums for a minute, thinking back to the travelling troupe he's spent so much time with. Not the kind of people he thought he'd be associating with on the surface, but Remus takes you strange places... He grimaces, but you get the feeling it's just for show.)

(The more he thinks about them, the more fond he sounds, like he's forgetting he has an audience while he muses about the troupe...)

Virgil: Hmm… not much to say, really. Most of them either hated and distrusted me at first, or still do, which is valid. And I’m closer with the kids then some of the adults, since I spent so much time herding them around during shows…

Virgil: Somiza’s alright. Kind, but keeps her distance. She’s good with people, and smarter than she acts… EV’s cool as shit, we understand each other just fine. --Of course I’m fond of them, I wouldn’t have left Missy and Jester with them if I wasn’t! They’re good moms...

Virgil: Tamaris is… fine? We flirt occasionally, but when do I not… He was one of the first to start trusting me besides EV, so that was cool, if misguided of him. Pryce… is pretty much the exact same. Pretty face, trusts way too quickly, annoying, but doable. Vanessa keeps her distance, cause she can tell I’m not very social, which I appreciate. And Jester and Missy are very fond of her, so I can’t hate her. Moira is much the same way -- stays out of my way, I stay out of hers. She got mad when she found out I couldn’t read, wants to teach me. I said no, obviously.

Virgil: Milo and Elias… I don’t talk to them much. Elias is much closer to Remus than me, and Milo took a long time to warm up to all three of us. Honestly, he, EV, and Lorilla might be the only things keeping that group alive… But those two always seem to catch me when I’m trying to avoid sleep. Elias is much more chill about it, he’ll just sit with me and talk, or wait out the longer hours. Milo will try to trick me into sleeping with milk and honey, because he was ‘totally making some for himself anyway’, but he’s a liar and a bastard and I can’t believe I keep falling for that damn trick… I don’t know, something about his whole shit is...calming? He’s what I imagine people mean when they describe surface “dad”s to me.

Virgil: Lorilla earned my respect, for sure. Last to trust me, knows her way around a weapon, hunts and tracks well, tamed a fucking bear. We’re...about as friendly as I let people get. She’s protective of the kids too, and Missy and Jester really like her, so… We’re very alike. And usually that irritates the shit out of me, but she’s not annoying, so it’s fine.

Virgil: Raena had a pretty violent reaction to me at first too, but she had a very good reason: She’s escaped from Luihaun'athar, just like me, and… well, let’s say it’s not too hard to recognize a Blackguard when you see one. It took a bit to convince her I wasn’t out for blood, but we get along fine now. We play Sava sometimes, since she has the board, even if we’re both bat-shit awful at it… Not much to say about Dario. Respects me, keeps his distance. Which is nice, as always. Theta’s still pretty scared of me, but he’s generally nice to the kids, as long as they’re not putting him through the ringer…

Virgil: And there’s a new one in the past few years, Brian. She’s a literal fairy. Like, less-than-a-foot-tall flying dragonfly person. Bri-anne, but spelled dumb, because she’s a fairy and she changes her given name every two minutes based on the funniest one she can come up with at the time. She’s funny; the kind of funny that gets old fast, though Remus swears I’m wrong about that… Supposedly, she was in the troupe years ago, and just left for a bit. I’d say I wish she stayed gone, but I’m scared she’ll materialize and fuck with me for it...

(Virgil smirks slightly at himself, then shakes his head, biting back a smile,)

Virgil: Then there’s the kids. I’ve probably spent the most time just babysitting them, which… I don’t hate doing. They’re good kids, if ridiculously reckless.

Virgil: The twins… Lea is probably the second most energetic, following Missy. Blunt, distrustful, rages against the system and adults, a real fucking punk. She’s fantastic, I adore her. Her sister’s a lot quieter, and we aren’t as close, but she listens to me. Respectful, but fragile… But, she’s always got Lea attached to her hip, so she’s fine for now.

Virgil: Yuuto’s a good kid, Roman’s just dumb. He, Lea, and my two can get into some trouble if they’re left alone together, but they’re just kids expressing themselves. He spends a lot of time with Jester, and I don’t always know a crush when I see one, but he’s a bit obvious... And Cyrus is a sweet kid. When he was little, he seemed to instantly form a crush on any dude he saw. He hit on me too, and Pryce “helped” him, which was a total shitshow… He’s much more chill now, showed real interest in my kind of work. I taught him to pick locks and steal, which everyone else thinks was a massive mistake, but it’s only ever been hilarious from my point of view~

Virgil: Peia’s the youngest -- still a toddler -- and I’m her favorite, obviously, because she has good taste. She freaks Dee and Remus out, which is always funny… I’m fucking soft for that little kid, I’m not even mad about it. EV and Somiza trusted me to watch her while they do the show, and she wouldn’t let me put her down, and she wasn’t even scared of Charlotte? She’s a little fucking badass! --When she catches me sitting down, she tries to sneak up behind me and jump on me. I let her think she’s quiet enough to catch me off guard, because she needs the training... And I am not about to let her down, are you shitting me??

Virgil: And then, there’s Missy and Jester… Well, you know how I feel about them. Little bastards, spawn of satan, ruined my life, I wish them nothing but pain. ...That’s a joke, obviously. I would kill for those kids-- And they’re still kids, goddamnit, I don’t care how big they get. They’ll be eight forever, and you can tell them I said so.

#lets roll #wanderland #please tell me if i need to tag anything else!

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doyouever-daydream · 4 years

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Birthday wishes

A/N Hello lovely humans! The Alvez family, Luke, Penelope, Luna, Roxy and Sergio, are back! Honestly I have a bunch of little cousins and have worked with many children so much of my inspiration comes from witnessing their imagination, so I think there’ll be a Luna series with oneshots/drabbles about this little girl’s adventures with her parents, that being said I’m sure someday I’ll come up with an idea for when Luna was a baby or something so the timeline will be crazy. Enjoy! (Also I finished writing/queuing this at almost 3am so probably more typos than usual)

Pairing: Penelope Garcia x Luke Alvez

Wordcount: 1706 (And I thought this was gonna be a drabble)

Masterlist

It was Saturday and in an unexpected turn of events, Penelope had been called to work but only for a couple hours, in the meantime Luke stayed home with Luna and they both attempted to bathe Roxy, the result of that was all three of them wet as Roxy escaped from them and ran around the house, Sergio looked at them from a safe distance not wanting to get involved in the mess, Luke was convinced their cat was judging him.

After they finally succeeded in bathing Roxy, Luke made lunch for all of them and Penelope arrived to see her family sitting in the living room eating sandwiches and drinking lemonade they had made using their own lemons from the tree in their backyard.

“Mommy, you’re home!” Luna quickly ran to her mom and she received her with open arms.

“I am, baby, how was your morning? Did you guys have a good time?” Penelope lifted Luna in her arms and kissed her cheek.

“It was great, we bathed Roxy and we played in the garden” She replied with a big smile on her face as Penelope walked to couch and sat in it, sitting Luna in her lap.

“I’m happy to hear that, now finish your lunch, Lu” Luke offered her a glass of lemonade, she had texted earlier letting him know that she had lunch during her work meeting.

“Hello babe, how was work? Was there a problem?” Luke questioned slightly worried as to why she was called on a Saturday.

Penelope shook her head “It was just an impromptu meeting we needed to have with one of the big bosses because he was in town, they reassured us it was a one time occasion and I hope they’re not lying” She sipped on her lemonade “Wow, you guys, the lemonade is delicious”

“There’s more in the fridge if you want, mommy” Luna offered as she hurried to eat her lunch.

“Slow down there, Luna” Luke asked her and though the little girl slowed down, she still seemed anxious to finish her sandwich.

“What’s got you in a hurry, miss?” Penelope asked as she stole a frie from Luke’s plate.

“I want to tell you something” Penelope looked at her husband with narrowed eyes to what he shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what their daughter was talking about.

“I’m done! Can I show you now?” She pleaded with big eyes.

“Go and brush your teeth and then you can show us” Luna nodded and hopped through the hallway with Roxy following closely behind, the two were inseparable since Luna had been born.

Penelope turned to see Luke with wide eyes and a smirk “What do you think it’s going on that little mind of hers?”

“I don’t know but I’m scared” He finally leaned closer to her and pecked her lips.

She sighed “I just hope she hasn’t changed her mind about her birthday party, after begging us to throw a Roxy themed party I would hate to not use all the stuff we already got”

“You insisted on printing a million stickers with Roxy’s face” Luke joked and threw his arm around her.

“I can’t believe she’s turning five already! I’m so emotional” Penelope confessed to him and he kissed her temple.

Luke sighed “I know, I can’t believe how big she is” As if on cue Luna and Roxy came back and to both, she looked five feet tall.

“I talked to my friend Kelly and she told me about the Birthday fairy” Both of her parents looked confused but not that shocked, sometimes Luna and her friends came up with the funniest ideas.

“What did she say about the Birthday fairy?” Penelope signaled her to come closer to them and then they noticed Luna was holding something, Luke placed his almost five year old on his lap.

“That you can ask for a birthday wish, it’s like Santa” Luke was starting to get nervous as to what she was gonna ask, mostly because he knew he would do everything and anything to get it for her.

“Oh, and what’s that you got here?” He asked Luna and she showed a piece of paper folded in half.

“I made a letter like I do for Santa” She opened it and gave it to him, there were random letters, a drawing and her name because she had learned to write it recently.

Penelope tried to guess what her daughter asked for but failed to decipher her letter “Can you read it for us, baby?”

“Dear Birthday fairy, I hope you are doing okay, I’m turning five next month” She looked hesitantly to her parents as if asking if she had that part correct.

“Go on, princess” Luke winked and Penelope took another sip of her lemonade and listened to her daughter.

“And I would like a baby brother” Her mom almost choked on her drink and her dad’s eyes shot open but laughed soundly “Mommy, are you ok?”

“Yes, Lu, I’m fine” Before her parents knew what to say she continued “reading”

“I love all my cousins so much but I really like to play with Michael but he’s not my brother, he is Henry’s little brother and I want one too so I can play all the time with him, thank you very much, Luna Grace Alvez” She finished and Luke had a huge grin on his face while Penelope looked terrified.

Luke decided to have the conversation seeing his wife was still figuring out what to say “Lune, sweetheart, baby brothers take more than a month to arrive” Luna scrunched her nose and looked exactly like her mom whenever she did that.

“It’s ok, I can wait two months, you can help me mark down the days like we do for my birthday and Christmas” When she finished, she yawned as she was used to take an afternoon nap and that’s when Penelope saw her way out of the subject.

“Baby, it’s time to take a nap, come on” Luna didn’t fight her mom and quickly linked her arms around her daddy’s neck so he could carry her to her bedroom.

A good twenty minutes later Luke returned to find Penelope sitting in the same exact spot with the same worried look on her face.

“I really wasn’t expecting that” She confessed as she removed her glasses and leaned her head on the couch.

“I was surprised for a second but kind of saw it coming” Penelope glared at him with suspicion in her eyes.

“Did you put her up to this, Alvez?” He laughed and shook his head.

“No, I mean I didn’t expect it today but all of her cousins have siblings, I thought the idea would appear in her head sooner or later” She massaged her temples “Wow, is it that bad to have my children?” Once again Penelope glared at him and he swore she would throw him something “I’m kidding, I’m honestly kidding, what do you think?”

“I don’t know, I always pictured her as an only child, us as a party of five, dad, mom, daughter of our dreams, dog child, cat child” She extended her hand so Luke would sit beside her.

“Ok, then we’ll talk to her about it, we’ll find a way” As ever Luke was supportive of her and Penelope felt both thankful but also uncertain, he had a say in the decisions of their family as well.

“What do you want?” She looked at him and saw a hint of worry in his eyes “Come on, babe, be honest”

“Well I wouldn’t mind becoming a party of six but I wouldn’t even think about it if it’s something you don’t truly want” He shot her a smile, Penelope placed a hand on his cheek and he leaned into her touch “I mean it, Pen”

Penelope sighed “The truth is I’m scared, I’m just getting the hang of being a mom of one, and she’s almost five” Her eyebrows were raised and her eyes were wide open.

“Babe, it’s about learning, I don’t know how to be a dad of two either, I mean, remember how much we called JJ, Matt and Derek because we had no idea of what we were doing? And now, look at us, she’s turning into a wonderful tiny human who cares for people and animals and insects and plants, you should’ve seen her talking to the lemon tree about how we were taking the lemons so he could grow more” Luke recalled the moment and held Penelope’s hand, and Penelope thought that her daughter would make an amazing big sister.

“She cares for non living objects as well, the other day you were in Phoenix, she accidently stepped on one of my pens and cried because she had broke it” Luna’s ability to care for others was always something that amazed everyone who knew her and it made both of them really proud.

“So are you gonna think about it?” Luke asked wishing she’d say yes.

“I don’t think I have to think about it” She saw his face fell and explained herself “I mean, you’re right, I remember how scared I felt when our sweet Luna was born, and I still get scared, I mean she keeps growing up and the next thing we know we’ll be parents to a teenager and as sweet as she can be, she’s also stubborn and determined, just imagine…” Luke cut her off as he looked pale now.

“Please, don’t go there, she’s my sweet little girl who asks permission to pick flowers not to go on dates or parties and I’d like to think that’s the way it will always be” She smiled seeing him so reluctant about thinking what the future would look like in another ten years.

“Ok but if I agree can we already start talking about names? I love talking about baby names” She wondered with excitement on her voice.

“I’d rather go straight into baby making” He suggested as he eyed her in a very suggestive way.

“Hmmm, you always have the best ideas, after all Luna’s nap just started” She smiled and let him lead both of them to their bedroom.

#penelope garcia #luke alvez #garvez #garvez imagine #garvez fanfiction #criminal minds #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds fanfiction #luna alvez series #luke x penelope #garcia x alvez

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theteapotofdoom · 4 years

Note

Is overhaul a boomer? He has a baby face.

This is the funniest ask I ever got because I personally think that Overhaul has the exact opposite of a babyface. For the longest time in the manga, I assumed he was like, 35 or something because he looked WAY older than Shigaraki to me. Like I’m not kidding, just looking at him I’m thinking mid-thirties.

And of course, the anime didn’t make it any better by giving the poor man a receding hairline, he looks straight up 45 in the anime, Bones really said “fuck that guy” I’m so sorry my dudes.

But we actually don’t have a canon age for him except “in his twenties” so as far as I’m concern and unless Horikoshi personally tells me otherwise, he is 27. 27 seems like a very good age for him. I’m speaking it into existence.

But to answer your question, Overhaul isn’t technically a boomer, even if it was revealed that he was 29 it still wouldn’t fit. But also, he absolutely is a boomer for these three reasons:

1) No matter how you twist it, Overhaul is undeniably older than Shigaraki, because Shigaraki is just 20. So unless they’re the exact same age, which I honestly find very unlikely, Overhaul is older. It also makes sense considering how condescending he is towards Shigaraki and how much Shig’s chaotic energy annoys him. And with all of that in mind, I am absolutely convinced that Shigaraki would call anyone who is ever one month older than him a boomer. You just know it’s true. Shig absolutely sees Overhaul as a boomer.

2) Overhaul has the biggest boomer energy I have ever seen in man. I’m not even kidding. Everything about him, his goals, and the way he acts is pure boomer energy. His entire plan about how the world is sick and he has to cure them of their quirks is basically like “It was better before, let’s bring things back to the way they were” and “I know what’s best for you, I will decide on your fate and future based on my own personal experience”, which are common boomer speeches. Also just … all of his interactions with Shigaraki are just “boomer vs. gen z”. He is constantly trying to tell Shigaraki what to do, accuses him of being “too chaotic” and “without a proper goal” and is just constantly trying to fix the LOV and to change the way they do things. He doesn’t like their chaos and wants them to be organized and detached like him. Peak boomer energy.

3) It’s just funny to imagine that Shigaraki just kept telling him “okay boomer” again and again, every time they had a business meeting together.

So yeah, obviously don’t take this too seriously. This whole post is basically a big shitpost. But Overhaul is forever a boomer in my (and Shigaraki’s) heart, and that’s just how it be.

#shigaraki tomura #my hero academia #tomura shigaraki #bnha

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i-love-him-on-purpose · 4 years

Text

the half of it liveblog

LET’S GO I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS SINCE MARCH hi. my name is abby, and this is me watching the half of it

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

i have big gay expectations for this movie

as an asian wlw, i do NOT want to be disappointed

starting NOW

fuck YES this animation is beautiful

plato. this movie is already calling out my dumb gay ass

they did really good casting with ellie! imagine having a movie with high schoolers that LOOK LIKE HIGH SCHOOLERS

chugga chugga chu chu? SQUARE UP BITCH

OMG paul and ellie’s first meeting is iconic

“i’m not looking to cheat” “no one is”

“gET a thESaURus uSE a speLLcHecKer gOOd luCk rOMeo”

this is an accurate representation of hold times istg

IS THIS A MEET CUTE?!

aster looks so tired but wowowowowow she is hecking beautiful

ellie is a disaster gay

exhibit 1: staring at aster in band

exhibit 2: “i’m ellie chu?!?!?!”

exhibit 3: more staring in the hallway

staring/longing is the peak gay experience

she is FINALLY charging acceptable prices for writing

i’d ask $15 for two page

maybe she just loves writing

can’t relate

“SHE’S LIKE ALL THREE” paul you eloquent mf

he’s a ROMANTIC... but so bad with words omg

“yah my grandma’s dead wanna go out with me”

“love makes you screwy. don’t you get screwy?”

istg you dumb jock ily

in love, one always starts by deceiving oneself... and ends by deceiving others

PAUL OMG

i LOokED uP PLaiGiAriZed

...

wow i had to stop for like 8 minutes there to properly watch their letters play out

the way alice wu spins this story is absolutely gorgeous

aster and ellie are so in sync and understanding of each other

the art, the words, the letters

everything just meshes together perfectly and i’m already in love with their story, whether or not there’s a happy ending

oh ho ho... paul....

no but he’s totally right

dating is burgers and fries and ice cream and whatnot

love is what ellie and aster have been doing– the talking and the listening and the understanding

smithcorona ahaha

“i love... nazis” paul you good there

oh honey you understand nothing

LMAO i love how ellie’s riding away on her bike and paul’s just bent over in the background PERFECTLY poised to pick up a rock

YES! jock + lesbian friendship

“hi ellie chu’s dad” has the same energy as “mr. jack’s dad” and “mr. sir” if u know what i’m talking about (check, please! mutuals hi)

yeSSIR yeSSIR

i love how paul just treats this like drills he has to run

jocks, man

PFPDFSLDKJF HE GOT FASTER AHAHAHA

why do neither of them know how to play ping pong istg

i love one (1) girl that laughs at horror movies

omg my anxious ass would be terrified if i thought someone was watching me

oh, i thought that line was about aster

but it still makes sense in a friendship way

and this IS a friendship movie so it does make sense

my coward ass would’ve never brought a boy home in high school

especially not to my enthusiastic italian father

besides i only ever dated one person and she was a girl and i hadn’t come out to my parents yet

kudos to ellie

oh i just realized that aster’s christian

does that influence her views on lgbtq?

probably

oh, ellie

watching that made me tear up

god, falling for someone who doesn’t know that you’re you

this english teacher is fckin hilarious

and also totally not a romantic lmao

OMG FATHER SHANLEY

AHAHAHAHA

“world’s asleep. more room for secrets”

now THAT’S what love feels like

falling in love with the little things

wait he doesn’t say “you like aster?”

THEY SCAMMED US

...does he support her or not

paul munsky say something

oh he realizes that he doesn’t know what love is not that ellie likes aster

“if love isn’t the effort you put in”

i love this friendship and paul’s quiet wisdom

oh boy there are weird chewing noises

TACO SAUSAGE!

aww paul’s a romantic and ellie’s hilarious

seeing “guy” makes my heart hurt

aw ellie have a little faith in our dumb jock <3

this is so cute and super awkward

i feel like i did this at some point in high school

OMG PAUL WHAT ARE YOU DOING

what just happened

awww he’s so enthusiastic

bitch what the fuck is “a look”

CONSENT

wtf is this a fucking rave

WTF ARE YOU BITCHES DOING

are high schools like this now??? is everyone fucking horrid?

yes girl play your song

wait a sec can they all hear her without a mic

she wrote that? that’s so sweet <3

awwwwwwww

but that’s so cliché

it’s literally high school musical

oh boy now she’s POPULAR?

i love their friendship so much

OOP

awwww I LOVE THEIR FRIENDSHIP

omg what? shoes in the house? shoes ON THE BED? DISGRACE PAUL MUNSKY

jk him caring for her is literally so cute

i’m glad we can have that platonically

she did that for him? aww

the way she spits out the advil is hilarious

OMG ASTER?!?

i bet she thinks ellie and paul are dating

oof

“it’s paul’s chinese friend” who the FUCK do you think you are? STEP THE FUCK UP KAREN

oh it’s the daisy!

it’s gorgeous

i feel like aster definitely suspects something

OH THEY’RE SPENDING THE DAY TOGETHER

i have no idea what she does at the station?!?

“SECRET PLACE” oh lawd

aster definitely knows it’s ellie

i wish i had a secret pond

but alas

i am just a poor city girl

ellie is a disaster gay and i am living for it

LONG UNDERWEAR ellie is prepared for all situations

paul is so sweet that’s adorable

“i don’t think i’ve ever hung out with a girl and not talked about boys before” the GAY is showing and i love it

but love isn’t about feeling safe

it’s about feeling adventurous but being safe

you’re in HIGH SCHOOL why tf r u thinking about marriage?

oml don’t get married to trig he’s a fucking idiot

i lowkey thought they were going to kiss

and then ellie “i am a RUSSIAN DOLL of clothing!!1!1!”

sdlkfjsdlkf

AHADHSFDSJFLDSKFJLESKF PAUL LOOKS SO NERVOUS

when my asian mom did this, my white dad would look just like him, even after literally decades of marriage

WOAH the visuals

just... two people looking at the same sky

so intimate

“gravity is matter’s response to loneliness”

that’s so deep but all i can think of is r/showerthoughts

just two girls discussing their deepest beliefs and secrets in a spring

i would like to do that pls

lmao ellie’s dad and paul are besties now

oh ellie

COLLEGE you deserve to go to college!

omg aster and paul’s height difference

paul’s siblings are hilarious lmao

SLDKFJSDL “A BUNCH OF GUYS SNIFFING EACH OTHERS’ BUTTS” is maybe the most accurate description of high school sports

guess all that running really paid off paul

“squahamish scores for the first time in 50 yrs” i-

ellie trying to finesse the yakult is the funniest thing

what the FUCK just happened

what

that was like watching a train wreck in slo-mo

paul WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?

WHAT THE FUCK

dkjlsfdksjlfkldsjf

i have zero words.

...trig

is he ok

who sprayed him? was it paul or ellie’s dad??

oh god literally all three of them are ruined

paul! he’s trying! and that matters!

he’s been taught to condemn it

but he supports his friend first and foremost

so he tries to understand and accept it

...oh no paul’s mother

ellie looks so sad :(

ugh i’m crying

she had to grow up too quickly because of her mother’s death

“have you ever loved someone so much you don’t want anything about them to change?”

i’m so emotional

SKSKSK “i had to grind something” homophobic mother looks up

the fuck is “little lady”

oh i get it he’s proposing

trig is literally the human manifestation of microaggression

ASTER DON’T DO IT

ELLIE?!

the painting metaphor is back and i am not ok

AND I OOP- she slapped him ok ok ok

“mommy wants you to know that in case you are gay, mommy still loves you” “no mom i’m not gay” “thank god” “i might want to change your sausage recipe though” “are you INSANE?” THIS IS AN EXACT PARALLEL to when bitty came out and mama bittle still loved him but then the JAM (hello again check please mutuals if ur still here ily)

lmao the english teacher “now that is some divine intervention” she is neutral evil and i am LIVING for it (bet she’s wlw too)

“you don’t mean dead, right” SLDFKJSDL

“love is messy and horrible and selfish... and bold.” -ellie chu

that’s fucking beautiful

aster looks... so tired

COLLEGE YES SHE’S GOING TO COLLEGE

i have no words i just want to watch this and cry

they kissed.

they KISSED.

“i’ll see you in a couple of years”

i love that they don’t end up together

that they know that they should wait, that it’s not their time yet

because love is “the trying, and the reaching, and the failing”

ellie looks so happy

she’s comfortable in her own skin

FINALLY

she deserves everything

omg the emojis slap

her dad’s conductor? station master? idk but he’s working again and i’m so proud of him

is paul seriously giving her sausage

lmao

“too smart to be crying on the platform like a wussy” “i’m not crying” “wussy” underrated exchange of the year

paul chasing after ellie on the train is so sweet

i’m sobbing

“moron”

ugh

she looks so content and i love that for her

that’s the end

if you made it this far, congrats!

overall 10/10

it’s such a sweet movie it’s well paced, well written, and well shot

time to go see if there’s any fic

bye!

#the half of it #liveblog #leah lewis #alexxis lemire #daniel diemer #alice wu #ellie chu #paul munsky #aster flores

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nmberfive · 5 years

Text

words we can’t take back

read on ao3 || read part one || part three coming soon || idea creds to @didon || reblog for tag list

tag list: @ravenclawfairchild @depressed-spaghett @lovelyjoe123 @i-dunno-dude-like-probably @danarysstormborn @traaashbabe

Five is the first to notice the way Vanya looks at Ben. Her gaze is guilty, apologetic, heartbroken. He’s not sure of the exact circumstances of the latter’s death, but he can’t imagine that Vanya would’ve had anything to do with it. Not while she was on the pills that numbed every emotion she might feel, good or bad. Not while she was still hidden away in the academy, convinced she was ordinary.

First, he turned to Klaus, who offered no help beyond a guilty shrug and a hasty, “I dunno, she destroyed the world, I’d be acting a little weird too, wouldn’t you?”

Five wouldn’t be.

So he asks the others one by one, and they all respond with variations of the same answer, always delivered guiltily, none of them meeting his eyes.

So he asks Ben. Ben frowns, shrugging, lost in thought. Then, his eyes widen, and Five leans forward, frowning. “What? What is it?”

“Well- On my funeral, Klaus said- he was high, you know, he didn’t mean it-”

“What’d he say?”

“He said- he said she should’ve died instead of me.”

“He said what?” Five’s face darkens, and he drums his fingers against the arm of the chair, forcing himself to keep quiet, so that Reginald doesn’t hear them, doesn’t realize something’s amiss. Breathing heavily, he closes his eyes for half a second, before allowing himself to look back at Ben. “And the others? Did they say the same?”

Ben shrugs, frowning. “I don’t know, I’m- I was tied to Klaus.”

Five sighs. “Right, I’ll figure it out. Can you tell him and Vanya that we’re having a family meeting in my room tonight? Around midnight so we’re sure the old man is asleep.”

Ben nods, clapping Five on the back as he starts to leave. “Sure thing. You’re a good brother, Five, you know that?”

Five shrugs. “She deserves better, that’s all.”

Ben nods, grinning. “Yeah, like I said. Good brother. Better than the rest of us, anyway.”

He leaves the room, and Five leans back, eyebrows furrowed together as he considers how best to go about this.

This time, it’s Allison he asks first, because he knows she will be the first to open up, to admit to what she’d done.

They’re alone in the library, while the others train. He leans back in an oversized armchair, frowning. She sits opposite him, pretending to pore over a book he knows she has no interest in.

“So you told Vanya you wished she was dead.” His voice is deadly quiet.

Her head snaps up, eyes widened. “How do you-”

“Lucky guess.”

“I was- she was leaving and I just-”

“I’m not really interested in hearing your excuses Allison. Besides, I’m not the one you need to tell them to. Family meeting at midnight tonight, my room. Don’t be late.”

And with that he’s gone, leaving Allison’s mouth agape, guilt pooling in her stomach.

He reappears on Diego’s bed, sitting silently as he watches his brother throw knives, each one hitting dead center.

“Real men throw knives, right?” He says, smiling coldly as Diego jumps, whirling around. “I’m pretty sure they don’t tell their sister they wish she was dead, though, so I guess you can’t call yourself a real man.”

“Jesus, Five, don’t do that.” Diego says weakly, frowning.

“Then don’t say shit like that to Vanya.”

“That was ages ago, how do you even-”

“I have my ways.” Five smiles thinly. “And just because it was ages ago-”

“Doesn’t mean it’s okay, yeah, yeah, I know. But how am I supposed to apologize for that? I don’t even know if she-”

“Remembers? She does. Family meeting tonight, my room, around midnight.”

And then he’s gone again, reappearing in Luther’s room with a grim smile. Luther jumps up, eyes wide. “What’s happening? Did Vanya hu-”

“She’s not a monster, monkey boy.” Five bites out, forcing himself to keep his anger in check.

“She caused the apocalypse, Five!”

“And whose fault was that?” And okay, so maybe he’s given up on keeping his anger in check. ‘

“Hers!” Luther rolls his eyes, hands clenched into fists.

“No, Luther, it wasn’t her fault. It was ours. Ours and dear old dad’s. Out of all of us though, I think you deserve the most blame.”

“Me? I didn’t do anything!”

Five laughs. He laughs and he laughs until he’s doubled over. Finally, he manages to retain control of his breathing, and he glances back up at Luther. “Funniest joke I’ve heard in awhile, big guy. Thanks for that. You’d be surprised how little humor their is to find in the apocalypse.”

“I wasn’t joking,” Luther snarls.

“Oh, okay. You call locking our sister in a cage nothing? She came to apologize and you suffocated her and then threw her into a cage. A cage that, by the way, she’d been sent to for a long period of time as a child. You faulted her for being unused to a power that she didn’t know she had. That she was drugged into being unable to use. God, she was drugged into not even having fucking emotions and you used that as an excuse to attack her? To lock her in a confined space when she has PTSD from being locked there as a child? And before we left, you were more than willing to leave her to die. Which I suppose came as no surprise to her, since you already told her you wished she’d died instead of Ben, which, by the way, he does not approve of. And if you want to name one time you listened to any of us, I’m all ears, because frankly, I can’t think of any. Not before I left, not since I got back. I get it, you’re Number One, you have a weird hero complex, you want to lead. But Luther, we’re a team. That means we listen to each other. Just because you and the old man have decided you’re our leader, the rest of our opinions don’t matter? That’s bullshit. We’re your siblings, not mindless soldiers who follow your every order. If we want to stop the apocalypse, it’s time to start acting like it. Which means you listen to all of us, including Vanya. Got it?”

Luther sits back on his bed, stunned. “Uh, yeah.”

“Good. Family meeting at midnight in my room tonight. You can start practicing listening then, big guy.”

And then he was gone again, off to who knows where, his siblings left to ponder regrets of the past.

#tua #tua netflix #tua fic #the umbrella academy #luther hargreeves #diego hargreeves #allison hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #five hargreeves #ben hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #umbrella academy

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raendown · 5 years

Link

Soooo this started as just a simple commission and then rapidly got out of control, as seems to keep happening to me lately. xD For you @copyninken for inspiring me with such an excellent commission prompt!

Chapter: 1/9 Pairing: MadaraTobirama Word count: 4660 Rated: M Summary: Walking patrol around a university for mages probably sounded like a wild time but Tobirama has never found it all that exciting. He's not even technically supposed to be here. When responding to a tripped alarm becomes a desperate attempt to stay alive, however, excitement is the last thing on his mind. All he's ever wanted is a quiet life alone with his books until he finds himself bound to Uchiha Madara in the most impossible way and finally learns to think about more than just himself - in a way.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the header!

Duality

He wasn’t even a professor. Tobirama scowled to himself and pulled the edges of his cloak tighter in search of whatever pocket he had dropped his warming stone in to. Such a simple rune and yet it was no help to him if he couldn’t find it. Of course, he wouldn’t need it if his brother hadn’t turned those puppy eyes on him and begged with his bottom lip wobbling pathetically, so disgustingly sad that Tobirama had agreed to do as he asked just to make that face go away. He wasn’t even a professor! He should not be out here in the evening chill performing a professor’s duties.

A huff of frustration escaped him and he dropped his handful of cloak, shoving it back so he could pat himself down for other pockets. His habit of misplacing things was the whole reason he’d started sewing extra pockets in to his clothing whenever he remembered to but the problem was that now he had too many pockets to look through and his things still ended up lost.

Fingers closing around something cool and smooth, he fought back the excess material to pull his hand out with a cry of triumph, expecting to see the warming stone he was certain he’d picked up that morning. Then he snorted in disgust when he found half a broken pestle instead. No one was around to watch him stomp one foot in irritation. No warming stone and now he was probably going to spend the rest of the evening wondering which mortar was missing its pestle. Had he taken someone else’s? Had he broken his own?

How was he supposed to properly grind faerie wings – willingly gifted, of course – if he hadn’t the right tools?

Contrary to his predictions, any thoughts of preparing ingredients for his various experiments came to an abrupt halt when he rounded the corner and saw the other person he was meant to be paired with for that evening’s patrol. Madara looked as dramatic as ever, clad in fiery red from head to toe as though his natural element wasn’t obvious in the way sparks clung to his hair and smoke rose out of his fingertips in fits and starts. Standing along one of the outer passages, positioned next to an opening in the wall, his hair rose and fell as the wind howled outside. The idiot would have frozen in minutes dressed down as he was if he wielded any other element.

After a few moments of standing in one place and scowling as hard as he could Tobirama accepted that the other man hadn’t noticed him there. White skin and sharp footsteps should have made him rather obvious in the dark but Madara had always been a little too wrapped up in himself to pay much attention to others.

Tobirama threw the broken pestle at him.

“What the fuck!?” Madara screeched in surprise when stone sparked against stone right next to his face, leaping away and spinning in a full circle until finally his eyes landed on where Tobirama had now crossed his arms with an expectant expressed. “Are you kidding me? I was supposed to walk patrols with your brother tonight; what the hell are you doing here?”

“Nothing pleasant, I assure you. Brother decided that planning a date with Mito on the same night he was scheduled to walk the halls with you was an excellent idea. One would think the security of his own university would be more important than gargling someone else’s tonsils but I have never claimed to understand how his mind works. And so here I am.” He smirked a little when Madara wrinkled his nose with disgust.

“Must you refer to it like that?”

“Have you seen them kiss? That is essentially what he is doing.” Tobirama slid his hands in whatever pockets were closest to ward off the winter chill. “Whatever you want to call it, he asked me to cover his duties while he is otherwise occupied.”

Visibly put off, Madara waved both hands aimlessly in protest. “You’re not even a professor!”

“I know!” It wasn’t often the two of them agreed on much but in this they were of the same mind.

Of course, Tobirama was more than old enough to be a professor here at the school should he have wished to be. He certainly had more than enough knowledge to teach any of several different subjects. Unfortunately for the masses he had very little interest in taking so much time away from his research, preferring to stick with his technical status as student and continue on in the life of a scholar. Nothing appealed to him more than the rush of discovering some ancient scrap of knowledge written by some unnamed mage and finding a use for it.

He did not appreciate errands like this one taking up precious time he could have been using to look more in to the effects of those crystals Touka had given him for his birthday a century or so ago. If his estimations were correct then they might have been formed from a naturally occurring phenomenon that only happened during a massive outburst of dragon magic. Such things had never been recorded!

“You’re off in your own head again already. Great. Well this is going to be just tons of fun, isn’t it? Babysitting you while looking out for students getting up to shenanigans. You know how they get when they catch the first hints of graduation! I’ve had three try to break in to my office in the past week and there’s still a month left of classes!”

“Looking for exam notes?”

“Obviously.” Madara snorted as though he hadn’t done the exact same thing when he was a student, sneaking a peak at his teacher’s notes so he knew exactly which spells he should study up on for the exam.

Tobirama snickered without bothering to hide it. Served the asshole right for being so uptight all the time. He hoped some of those students had got what they came for before Madara caught them. Later he would have to figure out who they were and provide them with the answers himself, having taken the class on a whim a decade or so back. The poor idiot probably didn’t have enough imagination to change his exam from year to year.

“Ugh, let’s just get this over with. We usually start with the western courtyard to make sure no one is trying to perform any summonings under the moonlight.” Spinning on his heel, hair and cloak flaring out with a wholly unnecessary amount of drama, Madara stalked away down the hall without waiting to see if he was being followed.

“I remember my first summoning.” Tobirama sighed wistfully. Ahead of him, Madara twitched.

Before he could get too far in to his reminiscing about the time he summoned a nether beast that took a liking to Madara’s hair – poor taste but it had probably been the funniest thing the university had seen in several decades – their patrol was interrupted before it could even truly begin.

As soon as the alarm went off Madara, long used to having it tripped by miscreant students, pressed one palm against the closest wall and murmured something in a low voice. The wards rippled under his touch and Tobirama could hear them deep down in the parts of himself that had been connected with the world’s magic since his very first breath. He knew as well as anyone else who had been here at the school long enough that the wards were alive in a way he couldn’t explain, although being a student he also knew that they wouldn’t listen to him as they did to Madara. More poor taste. That man had nothing to say that would be even half as interesting as the things Tobirama had floating around in his head.

“What have they to report?” he asked when his companion set off without saying anything, scurrying to keep up.

“The alert came from the northern edge of the property. What anyone is doing all the way out there is beyond me. If we’re lucky maybe they’ll fall in to the river before we get there.” Every word Madara spoke was dripping with offense as though whoever was out there causing trouble had done him a personal injustice by choosing to do so on the night it was his duty to watch over the massive castle housing their university.

Drifting along behind him, not half as worried, Tobirama snickered again at the image of someone falling in to the river. Long ago when the first mages had created this place of learning they had been just a wee bit suspicious of outsiders. History was a little vague on exactly which one of them did it but Tobirama’s theory was that it had actually taken all of them to convince the earth herself to raise up high and set the university grounds far above the rest of the surrounding countryside, sheer cliffs at every boundary line and only one set of stairs carved in to the eastern wall. Just imagining someone stupid enough to topple off the cliff and down in to the northern river left Tobirama smiling. People were idiots. If somehow a non-magic person had found their way to this hidden place and trekked all the way up a staircase that would be invisible to them he sort of hoped they fell back down the cliff just for being so insufferably nosey.

Neither of them spotted anyone on their way to where the wards had been disturbed, not another soul awake or at least none of them stupid enough to be up and about on a cold winter night such as this. Which was strange, actually, unless somehow the disturbance had come from outside the boundaries because if it had come from inside then they should have passed someone on the way to the scene. After exiting the front doors of the castle there was really nowhere for anyone to hide on the wide open grounds surrounding it.

As they drew closer, merely a few dozen feet away, Tobirama began to twitch.

“I don’t like this,” he grumbled.

“What?” Despite the fact that there was no love lost between them, he appreciated that Madara had the good sense to stop and listen to him. He did have his smart moments.

“The snow,” Tobirama pointed out. “It’s undisturbed. And there are no whispers.”

“Whispers?”

Cutting one hand through the air impatiently, he snapped, “Yes, whispers, the water in the snow. I can speak to my own element just as you can. No one has gone through here in the past few hours. If they had then the snow would remember.”

Madara eyed him contemplatively for a moment and then nodded. With absolutely no connection to water himself, he would have to rely entirely on Tobirama’s word for that. Unfortunately the fire in his veins did nothing to make him a cautious man, preferring to bull his way in to a situation while yelling his questions, and that tendency showed itself now. With a decisive slant of his brow he strode forward and stretched one hand out, probably intending to speak with the wards again and ask what they remembered about when the alarm had been tripped.

He cried out with surprise and stumbled back in to Tobirama, sending both of them crashing down in the very center of the glyph lighting up underneath their feet. Completely hidden by snow, diameter large enough that Tobirama could have stretched out completely and not been able to touch both sides, it glowed with a pale yellow light the moment Madara tried to pass beyond the far side and cast him back, trapping them both within.

“I told you I didn’t like this,” Tobirama murmured, already reaching out with raw magic to feel around the edges of the glyph.

“Shut up. What’s happening?”

“Oh, I really don’t like this.” That was all the answer Tobirama managed to give before the light doubled in intensity and the world around them began to warp. Madara screeched in his ear and Tobirama couldn’t help but agree – with the panic, not with the level of decibels he managed to achieve. This was definitely cause for panic.

They had barely a handful of seconds to process what was happening. One minute they lay in a heap together in the virgin snow outside of their beloved university and the next they were transported to what would have looked like an underground cavern of some sort if not for the wind blowing in from one end. Someone had forcibly relocated them to a cave. Someone was looking forward to an early grave when they found their way back home.

“If you even think the words ‘I told you so’ I will rearrange your face.” Madara sat upright just to snarl at Tobirama, covering his discomfort with the usual bluster.

“Now seems as good a time as any to tell you that my dearest wish is for you to someday learn to use your brain for thinking first before the yelling starts.”

“Fuck. You.”

“We may have to resort to that for entertainment, as abhorrent as the idea is. I’m sure you haven’t spent the brainpower to notice but we appear to be sealed in here.” Tobirama lifted one of his eyebrows and gestured towards where the cave twisted out of sight. No visible barrier could be found but he could already feel the muffling effect of some kind of dampening spell.

Not only had they been sent away but they had been trapped here. Wonderful. Tobirama wondered what he had done recently to piss the spirits off so much that he ended up trapped in a cave with only Uchiha Madara for company. Literally anyone else in the world would have been better – except for maybe Uchiha Izuna. Madara’s younger brother was probably the only person more annoying than him. Even worse, he somehow had less social tact than the world’s biggest buffoon.

Both men pushed themselves to their feet and moved towards the far side of the cave where a bend in the path would have led towards the outside world. A few meters before they would have reached it they were stopped, something unseen sizzling in warning. Neither of them were really all that interested in using themselves as a test subject to find out what they were being warned away from. At least, not without knowing who laid the barrier, what their element was, how willing they were to separate limbs from bodies, that sort of thing.

Edging backwards until the sizzling stopped, Madara dropped his face in to what was possibly the sourest expression he had ever managed, arms crossing and shoulders tensing until they were hiked up around his ears.

“This is bullshit,” he declared.

“I hate to say you’re right about anything but in this case I am compelled to agree.” Tobirama looked around for somewhere to sit, disappointed to realize there was nowhere that wasn’t covered in ice or snow. He ignored the offended the mess of huffs and snorts behind him as Madara tried to figure out if he was offended or smug.

After a while the man settled with, “Between the two of us we can find a way through it, why are you sitting down?”

“Because between the two of us I am not volunteering to get close enough to that barrier to make a physical inspection. If you would shut up for a few moments I could gather my concentration to look at it in other ways.” Scraping a small area clean with the side of one boot, he added, “Unless you also happen to have studied for as long as I have and understand how to connect yourself to another person’s magic? No? I didn’t think so.”

“Could you be any more of an asshole?” Madara snarled.

“Probably but they say imitation is the highest form of flattery and I have no intention of flattering you.”

While his companion took a few seconds to work through that Tobirama sat down on the cold stone floor, as free of snow as it was going to get, and turned himself inwards to the power flowing through him. Madara’s inevitable screech of anger went in one ear and out the other as Tobirama let his consciousness gather and then flow outwards, stretching himself until he could feel every inch of his surroundings. The bright sensation of fire-passion-fearless took concentration to think past, as Madara often did, but Tobirama forced himself to push farther towards the warm-forbidding-apology that awaited him at the mouth of their impromptu dungeon. Strange, he thought. Those weren’t the feelings he had expected to get from this little exploration. Whoever set up that barrier felt guilty while doing so.

Carefully brushing along the edges, Tobirama was able to feel for points where the spell was weakest and slip underneath them, filling the proverbial cracks with his own magic and leaving pieces of himself behind like those hidden landmines non-magical folk had been so fond of during their first couple of wars.

Retreating back in to his own body and opening his eyes felt like a loss. It was always a bit of a jarring experience feeling the world in such an intimate way and then opening his eyes to find himself nothing more than human once again. Existing as conscious magic made him feel free and unconstrained while coming back to his body left him overly aware of how cold his ass had become from sitting on frozen rock. Popping his eyes open, he grimaced and clenched both butt cheeks in an effort to encourage some blood flow.

“Well?” Madara demanded. “Did the oh-so-smart scholar find anything useful?”

“I’ve weakened the barrier but it’ll take time to fall apart completely. Until then there’s really nothing for us to do but wait.” Not the best news he’d ever had to deliver, although the irritation in Madara’s expression was at least a small lift to his mood.

“Seriously? We just sit here? And do nothing?”

“I have done something. That something will take time. If you have anything you would like to add to my efforts then be my guest.” Tobirama waited and when his companion gave no response he hummed in satisfaction. Being right was a pleasure all on its own but being right when Madara was wrong? That was always best.

Since it was already quite late his hope was that he could somehow fall asleep or at least doze off to pass the hours more quickly. Madara stomped around trying to find a place of his own to settle down while Tobirama closed his eyes again and told himself very firmly to ignore the cold seeping deeper and deeper in to his limbs with every passing moment. If he lost part of his ass cheeks to frostbite someone was going to pay very deeply for such a transgression.

More than an hour passed in complete silence after the other idiot with him finally settled down and yet still Tobirama couldn’t bring himself even close to dozing off. Water was his element of course but he certainly didn’t enjoy sitting around in the frozen form of it for ages on end. Around the time he realized he had all but stopped shivering he also realized that perhaps losing an extremity or two was the least of his problems, though it still ranked fairly high in his mind. His limbs were fairly important to his ability to perform certain spells.

Curious in a sluggish sort of way, he lifted one hand and tried to wiggle his fingers.

“Ah,” he murmured, voice slurring. “That’s not good at all.”

“What’s not good?” Madara’s voice demanded. Up until he spoke the man had appeared to be sleeping, hunched down with the snow around him melting, body heat raised to keep warm.

Tobirama forced his head to turn and meet his companion’s eyes. It took a few moments to process the sudden cursing, the way Madara scrambled across the cave to kneel in front of him. When large hands enclosed his own he felt nothing.

“Your fucking lips are blue! Actually blue!” Madara blew on his hands. Logically Tobirama could guess that he was heating the air but it appeared his fingers had gone entirely numb. At some point while he sat there and waited for sleep hypothermia had found him instead. Irritating. More so because he found thinking straight incredibly difficult once he actually tried to think about anything.

“Definitely not good,” he said.

“Why the hell didn’t you say anything?” Madara demanded.

“As if you would have cared.” Difficult as it was to concentrate on anything, the antagonistic relationship between them was as natural as his own heartbeat and required even less thought.

Predictably, Madara snorted, almost dropping his hands in retaliation. “Fine way to speak to the only one around who can keep you alive,” he snarled.

Contrary to his attitude he did continue to breathe warm air over the frozen digits between them. If they’d had a little warning before getting summarily evacuated from university grounds then maybe one of them might have brought along gloves or a scarf. Well, Madara wouldn’t have because he didn’t need either but Tobirama certainly would have bundled up a little more. Either their captor hadn’t thought of these particular consequences or they didn’t really care and he would only find out which if he lived through the cold night.

For the most part Tobirama sat still through Madara’s attempts to bring feeling back in to his hands, even if that was largely in part due to the fact that he was worried any movements would send him toppling over sideways. Only the fact that he had settle in place seemed to be keeping him upright. After a while Madara gave a frustrated growl and Tobirama blinked up at him wordlessly in question.

“This is taking too long. I can’t breathe the rest of you warm again – also that would be creepy and I hate the images in my head now. I need to warm all of you up at once.”

“So do that,” Tobirama mumbled.

“Well it’s not as easy as ‘just do it’! I could build a flame easy enough but it would burn you before it did much good. There’s…another option. But you’re not going to like it. Hell, I don’t like it.” At Tobirama’s grunt he took a deep breath and absently rubbed the hands between his own. “Open your pathways to me. Your core magic. I’ll merge it with mine and lend you my fire; that should keep us both warm.”

Staring at him in complete shock, Tobirama managed to ask, “Have you gone completely mad?”

It was, by all accounts, a perfectly understandable question. There were few things more intimate that one mage could do for another than allow them to touch their core magic. Not even most married couples would be comfortable bearing their souls in such a manner. To do so for someone he didn’t even like, let alone trust, the very idea was laughable.

Yet Madara was far from laughing.

“There has to be another way to get warm,” he insisted. Madara sighed.

“No. Your body temperature is so low, there’s no other way to warm all of you at once without killing you. I could wrap around you and raise my own heat but it wouldn’t work fast enough and you would burn.” Shaking his head, he frowned. “I wouldn’t have suggested it if I thought something else would work, believe me.”

Tobirama closed his eyes for a moment to think and realized a few moments later that there was no longer any time to do so. When he tried to open his eyes again it was a fight, a harrowing effort, and he recognized that Madara was right; he was too far gone.

“Fine,” he whispered.

Without asking he couldn’t be sure if Madara was doing this because he would never hurt Hashirama by letting his brother go out like this or simply because he was a man with enough morals not to let another human die right in front of him. Tobirama considered it but decided against asking. He probably wouldn’t like the answer and it didn’t truly matter. In the end he was still being offered a free ticket to survival, a one-time offer going fast.

At the very least Madara was merciful enough not to be smug about it. He nodded once before shuffling around behind where Tobirama sat and wriggling in between his frozen bulk and the wall to press their bodies together, chest to back.

“The closer we are the better this will work,” he said. “Don’t worry, I hate it just as much as you. One little cuddle and then we never speak of this again.”

“I’ll clam up if you do,” Tobirama assured him.

His companion grunted. With his body now slumped backwards against another form Tobirama found his head lolling forward to stare down at the hands interlocking with his own again to create two points of connection, making a circle of their pathways for their magic to flow along. Clever, he had to admit. Positioning them like this would leave them in a constant state of feedback with each other.

Despite already agreeing to do this, opening himself to Madara proved to be one of the hardest things he’d ever done in his life. Every instinct in his body cried out against the first touch of another’s magic where he should feel only his own and yet with sheer stubbornness he managed to keep himself from shoving the other man out. He expected the feeling of being invaded, the most sacred part of him violated when it should have remained pure only until the unlikely day he intentionally invited another in.

What he did not expect was the harmony. Madara’s core and his own merged together as easily as stirring the ingredients for one of his elixirs. Warmth suffused him as promised but it wasn’t quite the warmth he expected, less body heat and more a sort of inner peace the likes of which he’d never achieved in his life.

In the darkness his inner eye was blinded by a light, fire rushing along the rivers of his core magic, cool blue turned to burning gold and dancing in such a way he couldn’t distinguish fire or water.

And he wasn’t alone. Tobirama stared unseeing at the cavern around them and knew only the second presence inside his mind, the hesitant brush of a thought that wasn’t his own. Ever too curious for his own good, he pushed towards it and gasped as he encountered Madara’s mind, faint but there, the edges of that twisted and baffling mind just beyond an ephemeral and very much proverbial wall. He shouldn’t. Tobirama knew he shouldn’t. But his curiosity had gotten him in to trouble many times in his life and this would certainly not be the last.

He pushed. Just a quick gentle nudge, inching a little closer for a better look. What better way to understand a man’s actions and personality than to take a look inside his mind and the feelings therein? For a moment he could feel the edges of Madara’s curiosity echoing back at him and, incredibly, he got the impression that he didn’t so much break in rather than the door being willingly cracked open. It was a thrill until the unthinkable happened. He slipped. He fell in to Madara in a way that would have been impossible to describe to anyone who had not experienced the same thing before but if he hadn’t just given himself entirely over to another he would have had only one thing to say.

They were one.

#rae writes #commission #madatobi #madara #tobirama #magic au #modern with magic au #fanfiction

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tk-duveraun · 5 years

Text

Just Kidding

FE16/FE3H, Felix/Sylvain, Azure Moon/BL Spoilers, Rated T

---

The problem with Felix was- Okay, one of the problems with Felix was- Hey, I’m getting to a point here, stop interrupting. One of the many problems with Felix was that he was equally the funniest person Sylvain knew and the person thought of as the least funny person in existence.

He very clearly remembers telling Byleth, with gestures, so she’d believe him, that, “Felix handed me a ladder... And then told me to get off his back.”

Byleth had tilted her head - it was eight months into the school year and she’d gotten better at showing her emotions - and said, as deadpan as Felix had been for joke, “He must have seen you trying to get something off a tall shelf.”

The bottom line was, no one believed Sylvain when he told them Felix was making fun of him.

“I won’t say you have a persecution complex,” Ingrid said, “though you do, but Felix is completely serious. That’s his thing. Glenn was a sarcastic jerk with a heart of gold. Felix is just, well, bluntly rude.”

Sylvain protested and tried, again, to explain that Felix was actually quite good with Black Magic and the electric shock that made his red hair stand on end had been completely intentional, but she wasn’t having any of it. When Ingrid stalked off in disgust, he was frustrated enough that he didn’t even go into town to flirt with pretty girls. He sulked in his room, a book on Black Magic propped up on his lap. The only thing for it was retaliation, even if he struggled to think of how he could use his talents with fire for a harmless prank. Maybe a haircut? He fell asleep with the conversation and plots still swirling around in his head.

No one ever compared him to Miklan, his sleep-muddled brain muttered between dreams. Yeah, he was older than the others and Miklan older still, so they didn’t know Miklan the way they knew Glenn. And Miklan was unashamedly awful, even before he was disowned. Generally, it was bad form to compare a guy to someone who’d dumped him in a well and left him for dead.

There was something about the well incident that made it easy to talk about. If he was opening up about his family, which, okay, was a rare occurrence, the well was his go-to. It had been terrible. He was still claustrophobic on bad days. Still choked every time he drank well water. (Thankfully Garreg Mach had plenty of milk and juice for the students.)

Sylvain would have thought it’d be easier to talk about other things. Like the thing he never talked about. The thing no one else knew. It was hard to form the words, even in the silence and privacy of his mind. When Miklan had caught him sneaking his laundry to the washing room before the sun was even up. When Miklan had looked between his red face and balled up sheets and smirked. When he’d said, “Congratulations, little brat. You’re officially as useful as you will ever be.”

It was just a few words and the goddess certainly knew that everyone called him useless at least once a week, but for some reason the event shied away from his waking mind and hid behind damp well-walls.

“You know, Felix,” he said the next day. It was late afternoon and he was in the training hall for one reason and one reason alone and it wasn’t training. No, the training was a terrible downside to his attempt at subtlety. “Hey, that doesn’t count as a point, I was talking.”

“Maybe you should shut up.”

Sylvain crossed his lance with Felix’s sword twice more before he got back to his point. “You know, Felix. You’re not like anyone else. No one in the world could possibly compare to your boring disinterest toward and for girls. It’s almost impressive, really.”

There, he’d done it. “People shouldn’t compare you to your brother” in words that wouldn’t bring up his defensive hackles.

“You’re an idiot,” Felix replied, but there was something in his sword swings. A thoughtfulness that did nothing to make them easier to parry. Not that parrying a sword with a lance was a particularly sound strategy to begin with, but the point of his trip to the training grounds had nothing to do with training, remember?

When Sylvain later fell dramatically to the ground in feigned, completely feigned, exhaustion, Felix stood over him.

“That’s why I do it.”

Okay, that was another problem with Felix. He would continue conversations he had in his head aloud and simply expect the other person to keep up and figure out the context. And if they didn’t, and Sylvain never did, he huffed, scoffed and walked off.

Sylvain spun his lance in his hands, still on the ground, and tried to make sense of the latest non-sequitur.

Three days later, waking up from a nightmare of clutching soft linens and wishing to melt into old, stone tiles, he woke with a gasp. It hadn’t been his own fault this time, not understanding Felix’s comment. Felix had, for once, given him too much credit. Felix had imagined Sylvain grumbling at muttering at him that ‘No one ever believes me when I tell them you’re funny.’

Felix messed with him precisely because no one would believe it. Jerk.

---

Five years was a long time to wait for any follow up. Not that Sylvain had expected any. There wasn’t much to joke about. There might have been an upturn when Dimitri pulled his head out of his ass, but it had come at the cost of Felix’s father. Felix loved him, Sylvain knew. Hating their parents was a privilege Sylvain carried alone, no matter how many suitors Count Galatea threw Ingrid’s way. Felix’s love for his father was obvious in how angry he made him, in how badly, deeply Felix wanted an apology for a single, careless comment nine years old.

Sylvain stood at Felix’s right shoulder over the best grave they could give the late duke and heard the quiet, “I forgive you.”

Was this another event no one would ever believe? Another set up? No. Sylvain knew it wasn’t and didn’t question his certainty. It couldn’t be a set up because Sylvain would never tell another soul about the private moment he was allowed to witness. Until he heard the whispered words, he might have doubted that he carried Felix’s complete trust, but there was no mistaking it behind the highly inadequate grave.

So Sylvain did the only thing he could. He said the words Rodrigue should have said so many years ago. “He didn’t deserve to die like that. There should have been another way.”

Felix reached over his shoulder for his hand and when he had it, he squeezed Sylvain’s fingers so tightly that his knuckles popped.

---

In the camp outside Enbarr, outside the final battle, Sylvain hoped, they sat together with their fingers touching through layers of leather and metal. A thick, tense atmosphere lingered throughout the entire camp, but to Sylvain it felt like they sat in a pocket of a different, shakier, more anxious fog. Maybe it was the tremble in his heart, the way it screamed and clawed at his ribs for him to grab Felix and kiss him now while they still had the chance.

He didn’t start at the sudden turn of his thoughts. After all, it wasn’t really sudden when he’d been circling around the feelings for years. It was just like him and his useless brain and heart to realize how he felt on what was potentially their last day alive.

(It didn’t occur to him that most of the war had been potentially their last day alive, but if it had, he would have discarded the thought because he was a romantic at heart.)

Then Felix did the thing. The particular tilt of his head, the exact softness of emotion around his eyes, the pull at the corner of his mouth as if he wanted to smile, but chose not to because he liked to make himself suffer needlessly.

It wasn’t the time for jokes. Or maybe it was the best, the only time for jokes. Sylvain picked up his hand and put it fully on top of Felix’s. He braced himself.

“I don’t know how to make the others believe it.”

Okay, it was the other thing. The thing where Felix was having a conversation with the Sylvain in his head, who was always more clever than the one holding his hand and maybe he should take it as a compliment, but he was mostly focused on the knots his stomach had turned into.

“Believe what?” He finally asked because his heart wouldn’t give enough energy to his brain to figure it out.

Felix turned his head, looked him in the eye and the rest of the conversation, the one line he had said to the Sylvain in his mind struck the Sylvain holding his hand.

He thought the words at the same time Felix said them.

“I love you.” Sylvain didn’t, however, think the derisive “Obviously” that Felix tacked onto the end.

Didn’t really think at all.

He just leaned in and kissed him.

#sylvain jose gautier #Felix Hugo Fraldarius #sylvix #FE16 #blue lions spoilers #what the fuck #this meanders for 1000 years #these boys #Rodrigue you failed #you had one job

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swans-anime-ramblings · 6 years

Text

“Luffy had no reaction to Boa...doesn’t that mean he won’t have romance?”

I’ve been debating about posting this blog because I was hesitant about the kind of reaction it would receive. But I think this topic is worth discussing logically.

Alright, so let’s dig into this thing.

If we’re going to understand Luffy and his actions (or not actions) towards Boa, then we have to first understand him as being a character that fits the Battle Shonen archetype. The genre, despite people’s complaints about it, is the most popular type of manga/anime genre there is. And One Piece, for all its glorious writing, world building and character development, is perfectly happy to sit in its genre, with Luffy fitting right into the hero archetype.

Where did this archetype even come from? It may surprise you to learn that Dragon Ball is in fact the grandfather of modern Shonen. You know what kind of stories were running in WSJ as DB’s contemporaries? Big burley manly men who never changed or progressed like Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star.

And the antithesis of this is Goku, little innocent Goku who takes this character type and flip it on its head. (Kid Goku is so cute guys! *cries*)

Toriyama’s writing absolutely can’t be understated here. Nobody had ever seen anything like Dragon Ball. It became a cultural phenomenon. It became a blueprint for success.

The classic Shonen Hero archetype has evolved into the following:

innocent

clueless when it comes to love

loves to fight/ get stronger

has a catch phrase

wants to protect their “Nakama”

thinks before they act

often stupid or a simpleton

gains power ups through training and other means

cute

Within the archetype you’ve got big hitters such as:

Goku— the OG who was so clueless, he couldn’t tell someone’s gender without slapping them in the crotch. Also obsessed with getting stronger to the detriment of, well, everything

Luffy— the uber innocent muffin who will do anything for his crew, and will go out of his way for people if it concerns their dreams. Aware of his weaknesses more than the others, Also really dumb at first

Naruto--- the misfit who starts out peeping at girls but then ends up taking on the burden of the entire world, because he’s THAT concerned about everyone and everything. Definitely the most selfless, has dumb moments, but smarter than the others

Ichigo--- the lovable grump who literally doesn’t give a shit. Coolest one of the bunch

Natsu--- loves his friends so much he gains power ups in the middle of the battle to win through the power of friendship. Probably the funniest one, takes life one job request at a time

Asta— the new kid on the block. Constantly yells to the point of irritation, believes working hard will solve all problems, doesn’t understand how relationships work and that nuns don’t get married

Deku— I know people will ask. Yes, he is a Shonen Hero, But doesn’t fit into the archetype so be will be left out of the discussion (the kid actually suffers from overthinking...complete opposite than these lovable idiots)

So, for fun, let’s throw all these Shonen Heroes into the same situation Luffy found himself in

All of these heroes fall through the ceiling and into Boa Hancock’s bath where they come face to face with the most beautiful woman on the planet who is naked.

Goku: completely unphased by Boa’s beauty. Asks who Boa is, and when she gets pissed, stands there with a “huh?” Look on his face when she shoots the love beam at him. After it has no effect, Goku puts his hand up with a smile and then says, “see ya!” Before flying off. Probably more concerned with where Vegeta went and if he managed to find a new level of Super Saiyan

Naruto: definitely phased by Boa. Would probably turn to stone ahahahaha

Ichigo: after being annoyed because he fell through the roof, would take one look at Boa, and get flustered out of embarrassment. By the time Boa tries to question him, he’s already left and found the exit.

Natsu: upon falling into the bath, he’d also be completely unphased by Boa. Would most likely take note of her earrings and ask about them. He’d probably also end up saying something Boa would find unbelievably rude, but something I would laugh hysterically at. “Woah?! Is that your guild mark?! Cool!!!”

Asta: I imagine Asta would most likely cover his eyes out of courtesy, and ask for the way out. When Boa gets mad and asks why he’s not head over heals for her, nor why he’s looking at her body, he’d say something like, “sister Lilly is waiting for me” and then leave. *sigh*

So here’s my point. Three of our boys would have the same exact reaction as Luffy. When it comes to the archetype, lusting after girls simply isn’t in their nature. Natsu’s reaction to a naked Lucy was to cover her boobs with his hands “fine I’ll cover them” he sighs in the dub. No lustful reaction whatsoever. I’m pretty sure any normal guy would, um, not react that way. He looks so bored.

Asta refused to peep at a girls bath (way to shut that down buddy), and Goku’s seen plenty of naked people and he doesn’t care. He even has the same reaction in Dragon Ball Super, after he’s married, when he accidentally sees another woman naked (who is very beautiful).

(Harsh reaction there Goku, lmao)

Luffy’s reaction to Boa is completely in line with the archetype. The innocent nature of the main character is extremely important. Oda even says in the SBS that it would just be plain weird for Luffy to get a nose bleed. I agree.

So, do our boys reactions to Boa mean romance isn’t possible for them? Of course not. Goku got married and had 2 kids. Naruto, who is the most interested in women, got married. Ichigo ended up with someone and had a kid. Natsu’s relationship with Lucy isn’t “canon” yet, buuuttt with this sequel coming and all the art Mashima’s been posting, I think we can all just call it and it’ll be happening. As for Asta, the manga is still young so it’s hard to say, but judging how Tabata is treating romance in his manga, I’d say It’s a distinct possibility. Asta does have a low-key herem going on 🤷‍♀️

When Goku was a kid, he came across a foe who could turn evil (ie bad thoughts) into a weapon and kill you. Goku was the only person to ever survive because he has no impure thoughts. It basically works the same way as Boa’s love-love beam.

This innocence is why Goku can ride his magical flying cloud the Kinto-Un, aka the Flying Nimbus. That innocence in Goku stays with him forever, too. Goku can ride the cloud after he’s gotten married and created spawns. The idea is, sex isn’t dirty. It’s just how you treat it may or may not make it dirty (ie unwarranted advances). Master Roshi, Goku’s perverted teacher, can’t ride the Kinto-Un. Using Goku as an example, our innocent muffins can still have romance/make babies. Their highly innocent nature doesn’t stop them, but normally with these types, they will only have romance/make babies if it’s with one very special person.

This is important to remember; for this genre, romance is a part of maturing and growing up. Most of these shonen heroes end up with someone once they’ve passed a certain point.

In One Piece Specifically

When it comes to Oda’s writing specifically, romance between characters doesn’t really play a huge role in One Piece like the way it does in Naruto and Fairy Tail. Everyone who reads OP should recognize this. Whatever ends up happening at the end of One Piece, there aren’t going to be a zillion pairings and those pairings staring off into the sunset.

There’s that famous line from Oda where he answered a question in the SBS (from chapter 317)

D: Doesn't anyone on Luffy's crew fall in love? Will there never be a tale of on-board romance? (Sanji is an exception in this case) I'm just wondering.

O: OF COURSE THEY'RE IN LOVE... WITH ADVENTURE! (← good one)

The SBS is a place where Oda jokes around with his readers. I think his answer is a good answer because it’s true, and when it comes down to it, a deflective answer. And whatever else Oda has said or hasn’t said in magazines or interviews, Oda can change his mind about what he wants to include or not include in his manga.

The reason I think this is worth bringing up is because I can see a storytelling shift which has changed in his manga. Romance in any capacity used to play almost no role in the early story. Just think about the type of characters he was creating. You’ve got Nolan’s descendant who hangs out with guys that look like monkeys. You’ve got the giants of Elbaf, you’ve got the Galley-Law company guys. There’s hardly any blood families in the first half either. Vivi and her Dad are a notable example, but they are the minority, not the majority. The first half of the story was mostly focused on people who were not blood related and were making their own families, like the Franky family. Like the Strawhats.

Post time-skip and New World, we’ve got a very different story being told. With Kyros and his wife Scarlet, Oda actually gave us the backstory to their romance! Dressrosa was set up a bit for that type of story, but I still find it notable. It wasn’t necessary for character motivations for Kyros. It felt like Oda wrote it because he wanted to.

You’ve got romance playing a big role in Whole Cake Island, even with Chiffon and Bege. This is a married couple with a young son, and not the type of characters we’d see in the early story. Sanji and Pudding were more of a serious type of relationship, even with Sanji “choosing to feel love” for Pudding. Guys, that’s...mature. We’ve seen a lot more blood ties in the New World, even to the point of the Big Mom pirates, dysfunctional as they are.

In the end, you write what you know. When One Piece started, Oda was a single guy, now he’s in his early 40′s with a daughter. The types of stories he’s telling now are based on more mature aspects of his own life.

Does this mean Luffy will most definitely end up with someone? Of course not. There’s a distinct possibility OP will end with Luffy as he is and there be no pairings of any sort.

But to dismiss the possibility of parings based on Luffy’s reaction to women or something Oda said back in some interview, is also too dismissive of a stance to take. Like his Shonen counterparts, romance for Luffy is a possibility. Remember what I said about the genre; romance is sign of growing up and maturing. Luffy is still growing and maturing, so it isn’t out of the cards.

In the end, Only Oda knows. Until One Piece has concluded, we’ll have to wait and see.

#luffy #lunami #luna #luffyxnami #luffy ship

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winterverses · 6 years

Text

Grass of Parnassus

I’ve been to this place. If you’ve been on a drive through the Rockies with me, I might have pointed it out. The little flowers, by the way, are beautiful. I’ve always been fascinated by them.

This is very... take it as you like it, I think. Some days I think it’s sweet, and other days not so much. Ambiguity is attractive. Who would know this better than Kiryuu Touga from Shoujo Kakumei Utena? And who better to comment on how frustrating it is than Saionji Kyouichi?

(ps: hello tousai crew)

Up here, the air was thinner, and the mountains rolled by our car relentlessly. I’d never seen anything like them. Japan has mountains, it’s true, but these Rockies were, if not as resonant to me as Fuji-san, at least impressive. I could barely tear my eyes from the leaping crags and the still, blue-green lakes. Touga had rented a convertible, and while I tried to disguise my gawking, eventually he’d slowed to well below the speed limit, tacitly allowing me to feast my eyes.

“Are we close?” I asked, feigning irritation, still unable to quite look away from the spectacular views. “You drive so slow, it’s going to take hours to get there.”

I could hear his soft laugh over the rumble of the engine. “We’re close. We may not be in time for lunch.”

In Tokyo, it was nearing three in the morning. “I can only imagine the texts I’ve gotten,” I grumbled, willing myself not to fumble for my useless phone. “You could have given me a little more notice. My girlfriend was furious.”

“You can check your email on my phone if you like. If she has the brains to realize you can’t use your phone, your inbox will be full by now.” Without even looking my way, he threw the phone into my lap, and the wind whistled louder around us as he sped up. I guess he thought I wasn’t looking at the scenery anymore. Well, I was distracted.

As soon as I keyed in his pin, I saw the thirty or so texts from his recent ex. I started to read them out loud without even realizing it, incredulous. “‘What did I do wrong? Call me.’ ‘I love you, Touga. Please forgive me.’ ‘I’ll do anything...’ “You’re a horrible boyfriend. Why would you dump her the day before your trip? Great way to celebrate your anniversary.”

His mouth a twist of amusement, he spared me a level glance and then turned back to the road. “One month isn’t an anniversary. She was getting boring anyway. I doubt your messages are any better.”

“Ugh. They’re not.” I’d logged into my personal email only to find a whole page of diatribes. “I’m not even reading this. She’s ready to kill me.” I turned the sleek, pretty thing off and dropped it in his lap. He always had the best of everything, but it didn’t sting as much as it had in high school. The last time I’d gone with him on any of these trips was probably years ago, though he’d sometimes mention them, throwing out little hints or suggestions. I’d only come this time because he couldn’t return the ticket.

Abruptly I felt the car slow, and I glanced around. Mountains fringed with glacial ribbons, soft heathery brush. The air was so clear that I felt like I could see every detail of the cliffs around us.

“There,” Touga said and slowed further, then pulled into a turn. There was a small turnout, a row of restrooms, and a gravel road leading into a hollow nestled between two mountains. We pulled slowly up the drive to a large log building with a red roof.

“How... rustic.” I looked over at him in surprise. “I thought it would be more expensive. And tasteless.” The lodge overlooked a serene lake so blue it looked tropical at the same time as it looked icy. Several expensive cars were parked on the gravel. We pulled up beside one and stopped. “This doesn’t look at all fashionable,” I said, and I couldn’t help the note of approval in my voice.

Touga leaned back in his seat and shot me an exasperated look. “Kyouichi, since when would I bring you somewhere fashionable and expensive and tasteless? Trust me. You’ll like this place. I may even be able to scare up a fishing rod and a boat for you.”

I climbed out of the car and grabbed my overnight bag. “Since when do you stay in places like this?” I asked, but I was barely listening for his answer. Tall pines cradled the lodge, and there were antlers on the outside walls. It looked old and a little shabby. The kind of place that has fireplaces going even in summer, and where the water doesn’t always work right. In short, it looked perfect for me. I started up toward the lodge, not waiting for Touga. I wanted to see the inside.

I wasn’t disappointed. A wash of wood and smoke and fur engulfed me as I stepped inside, and I breathed deeply. There were chairs made of actual antlers here, and taxidermied animal heads dotted the blonde wood walls. No one was behind the counter. It was as if this place didn’t care whether or not it had visitors. I could see a little gift shop full of unidentified wooden and fur trinkets through the right hand doorway, and I heard snatches of conversation coming from the other. Before I could investigate, Touga came up behind me and tapped the bell on the desk.

An awkward, thin girl materialized out of the door behind the desk; I’d taken it for a closet. She paused when she saw me and Touga and then spoke in English. “Hi! Do you have reservations?” She was rather plain, with a nose too snubbed to be pretty and a bit of an overbite, but she seemed very friendly.

There was a short pause as Touga mentally switched gears into English. We’re both fluent speakers, but the language came more naturally to me. Of course, because he couldn’t stand not to be perfect, he’d asked for my help learning, and I’d drilled him until he was almost as good as I was, but still there was always a little hesitation when he had to switch from one language to another. “We do. A reservation for Touga Kiryuu, for three nights.”

Her smile brightened when he spoke. They always light up when he’s around. In her case-- Angela, her name tag said-- it made her gorgeous. “We do have your reservation here, Mr. Kiryuu. I’m afraid we’ll have to ask your friend to sign in also.” The smile dimmed back into professional welcome as she turned it on me, and once I would have taken it personally, but time and real life had taught me better. She’d met him before, and liked him, but I was a stranger. “Here’s the book, and we’ll need some identification.”

I grinned crookedly and pulled my passport from its spot in my jeans pocket. “Kyouichi Saionji. Nice to meet you.” Pushing it over to her, I then signed the ledger in perfect kanji.

“Nice to meet you too, Kyouichi. I’m Angela.” Her smile flared back to that dazzling brightness, and I felt myself get a little bit fluttery in the stomach. I backed off to let Touga deal with the details.

Passports safely in hand, we climbed the stairs to our room on the top floor. Touga had already explained to me on the way there that we were sharing a room, something we’d never even had to do in high school, but that he’d had it switched out for one with two beds. The decor got no better inside the room. More taxidermied heads, more blonde wooden walls, more furs. There was no view to speak of, as the windows were microscopic, and a cold black iron stove sat in the corner.

Did I mention I loved it?

There was a little informational pamphlet on the table near the window, but I decided to save that for when I was bored. Dumping my bag on the bed, I began to make myself at home. Touga didn’t bother, instead leaving his bag beside the bed and checking the time. “Lunch will be over, but the restaurant will still serve us. Shall we get something to eat?”

I grimaced and finished tucking my clothes into the drawers near my bed. “Might as well.”

The water was icy clear, perfect, tinged with blue in the way that all the water in these mountains seemed to be. True to his word, Touga had sweet-talked his way into borrowing the owner’s fishing rods and personal boat for me to use-- and then promptly laughed at the idea of coming out on the lake with me as if it was the funniest joke I’d told him in months, giving me the excuse that the reflection on the water would turn his skin the exact color of his hair. “It’s not as if they make sunblock or anything,” I growled under my breath, again, glad that he couldn’t hear me. Some days it was just like being in high school again. He was so damn aggravating. Hell, his real objection was probably that life jackets were too unfashionable for The Great Kiryuu Touga to ever consider wearing. I huffed again and almost missed a gentle tug on my line.

Probably a weed or something. I waited, but the tug didn’t come again. Despite the bright sun, I could feel the cold seeping in through the aluminium walls of the little canoe. God only knew what Touga had told them to get them to allow me out there alone. I’d never been in a canoe before. By way of help, Touga had searched up a webpage with an explanation of how to paddle it, and left his phone with me. It kept buzzing at intervals, another annoyance, as his now-ex girlfriend contacted him over and over, trying to figure out what she’d done wrong.

He could be a little nicer to them. At some point it had become clear to me that he had no intention of ever settling down, or even getting close enough to anyone that the question ever came up, but it wouldn’t hurt for him to be nice.

That little tug on my line again. I waited, my thoughts suddenly halted, the soft sweep of air through the brushlands the only noise. For some reason, the guests had disappeared one by one today; no voices disturbed that gentle susurrus of wind and water. The tug didn’t come again, but this time I was wary. The last two guests had left at lunch, a pair of dark-haired girls that had been kind of cute in an overfed American way; they’d driven off in their silver car hours ago. As far as I could tell, the only cars left belonged to the staff. And our rental convertible, of course. But… thinking back, I wasn’t sure it was a rental. He had excused himself “to get the car” while we were in the little airport, it was true… but come to think of it, the car had been in the parkade, not near the doors. And I hadn’t seen any paperwork in his hands.

The fishing rod nearly leaped out of my hands, and I set my wondering aside. There would be time for that later.

In several hours, I had a string of trout and what looked like whitefish large enough to feed a family of six, and I was hungry enough to eat them all myself. When the staff member had been giving me the safety talk, there’d been a moment where she’d paused, glancing at Touga, and then said they would be happy to cook whatever I brought back; glancing at Touga’s phone, I saw that it would be dinner soon, and decided it was time to head in. The canoe was a little awkward to paddle, but it wasn’t hard once I got used to it. I made my way to the dock where I’d said goodbye to Touga that morning.

He was nowhere to be seen, of course. After dropping the fish off with the cooks, I caught sight of him coming down from the rooms above… followed by the girl who’d checked us in, Angela. I couldn’t help a flare of angry distaste. Really, couldn’t he even go one day? No wonder he hadn’t wanted to go fishing, if that was what had been on his mind.

“Had enough?” he asked as he caught sight of me. His hair was faintly mussed. His clothes showed no sign of disarray.

“I don’t know, have you?” I replied in Japanese. There was no need to embarrass the girl by making sure she knew that I was aware of what had gone on.

He only rolled his eyes. “If I’d wanted to spend time around a sour face like that, I’d have brought your ex,” he said.

“She’s not my ex,” I snapped. “I haven’t decided yet.” But with the way she was acting, it was likely. What kind of woman tried to stop her boyfriend from seeing his oldest friend? It wasn’t even as if we were doing something like going to bars or anything. She just couldn’t handle the--

He was not competition. I scowled all the way to dinner, ignoring his calmly affable conversation or replying with the shortest, surliest replies I could get away with.

Still, he liked the fish. Sometimes he had trouble making himself eat, but not this time. Must have been the mountain air.

It was good fish, though.

I managed to convince him out on a hike the next day, up to the glacier-fed waterfall that was the source of the lake below. The water was the iciest, cleanest water I’d ever tasted… and the hike wasn’t bad. Not hard, but not really that easy either. Some of the climbing sections were pretty steep, and other parts of the trail were submerged under freezing lake-water. We had it all to ourselves; no one was left at the lodge. Some tour buses came by, but invariably a staff member came out to chase them off after a half hour or so. Odd place. You’d think they would want the business.

But the lack of people meant we could spend as much time as we liked examining trees and rocks and tracking squirrels and such. Touga swore he’d seen a fox. I didn’t see anything. Then again, he knew more about this place than I did. It was Touga who’d pointed out the delicate green-veined white flowers, calling them Grass of Parnassus, and naturally launched into one of those long-winded explanations of how Mount Parnassus was sacred to both Apollo and Dionysus, and how that was odd because they were opposite in terms of worship with Apollonian being serene and contemplative worship while Dionysian was raucous and given to excess and therefore this and that about these damn flowers… they were pretty, though. Little green-veined white stars that didn’t seem like they were anywhere until you really looked for them, and then you’d realize they were all over the place.

That night he disappeared for a while. It’s not as if I didn’t know what he was doing. I pretended I was still asleep when he came back to our room. Couldn’t he have gotten separate rooms? It’s not like the place was full or something.

He ever so graciously obliged me when I casually checked if he wanted to come out on the canoe with me the next day, though. And someone had left a large umbrella near the door; Touga took it without asking, and no one ever said anything about it. Maybe he’d arranged for it. The asshole. No matter what, he always had the jump on me, one way or another.

He wouldn’t fish when we were out on the lake. Said he would scare off our dinner. I almost wanted to just forget about it then and there, and just fail to bait the hook so I caught nothing, but… it was hard getting him to eat sometimes. I decided I’d better not risk it. He sat in the bottom of the canoe with the umbrella propped over his shoulder, being used as a sunshade, and a book open in his hand. We sat there silently for hours, drifting on the lake, until I had a decent string of fish.

The dining room was empty that night. Just us and the waiter. And he didn’t disappear that night either. Maybe Angela had gotten sick of him. But no, when we went to check out that morning, she was there, smiling at us the way she had that first day, though this time her smile didn’t dim any when she looked at me. “Hope we see you again soon!” she chirped, that dazzling smile of hers making me self-conscious. Fortunately, she had to turn away to check in a family of five who’d just come in. She didn’t look like she was pining away over his departure. Maybe he was losing his touch.

“What do you think?” Touga asked as we walked down the front steps.

“About what?” I asked, feeling grumpy. This whole thing had been pointless. I’d broken up with my girlfriend for this.

“About the place, Saionji. What do you think? Would you like to come back?”

Something about his tone didn’t sound right. I scowled at him, but he missed it, as he was putting on his sunglasses.

“What am I supposed to think?” I snapped.

I definitely didn’t deserve the long-suffering sigh I got in return. Touga was silent for a moment, then laughed quietly, shaking his head. “All right,” he said, picking up his bag and walking to the car. “Although if you like, you can come and stay whenever you want.”

“I don’t even have to see the price to know I can’t afford that,” I said. “Besides, it’s not like I need your permission.” Touga just smiled secretively, and it was only then that the truth dawned on me. “You bought it? Why?”

He shrugged noncommittally and tossed his bag into the back seat. Someone had already started it and brought it around for us. Naturally. “I needed property overseas. I just thought you might enjoy it.”

That could mean anything, from exactly what he said to ‘I bought it for you.’ Rubbing my forehead, I tossed my bag in the back and got into the car. As he got in beside me, I couldn’t help a little laugh. “Next time, I get a couple weeks of warning. And you’re going to learn to fish.”

“Really, Saionji, she was terrible for you,” Touga said, putting the car in gear. “You’re not even going to miss her.”

It would have been paranoid to assume he’d bought the place to ensure that I’d break up with a girlfriend he didn’t like. Even so, I couldn’t rule it out. Maybe I’d never be able to figure out why he did the things he did when I was involved… but it would be stupid to dwell on it. “Where are we going now?” I asked.

“Someplace expensive and tasteless,” Touga said, and I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.

Well, even if he wasn’t, maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. He had come fishing with me, after all, and it wouldn’t reflect very well on me if all I did in return was act like a spoiled brat. That was his job. “Fine,” I said, and looked away before he could see my grin. I knew he knew, though. He always did.

#Utena #Touga #Touga Kiryuu #Saionji #Kyouichi Saionji #touga/saionji #maybe #SKU #RGU #Shoujo Kakumei Utena #Revolutionary Girl Utena

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angeltriestoblog · 4 years

Text

I Miss 5 Seconds of Summer???

A few days after 5 Seconds of Summer held their concert in the Philippines last 2016, I wrote a blog post with this exact same title then went on to elaborate that I missed the version of them that I fell in love with. I’ve unarchived it so anyone who bothers to read this has a salient starting point, but be warned: I seriously can’t make it through the entire thing without suffering from a chronic cringe attack—who ever told 16-year-old me that she could write?!

—

I have listened to 5SOS’ entire discography almost exclusively today. But my Spotify followers wouldn’t know. In an expert attempt to evade their judgment, I go on Private Mode so I can cry to their music in peace. I’ve also been watching a couple of their videos too. My favorite is this live performance of Ghost of You where Calum Hood does some immaculate vocal blending at the 1:26 mark. I have my watch history paused though so I don’t get bombarded with more recommendations and end up spiraling further down the hole.

It’s funny how I think that removing every trace of related activity on my corner of the Internet could also erase it from my own memory, render it as a mere figment of my imagination instead of a clear manifestation that I’m starting to like them again. And it might seem even funnier that I am convinced that people care! But then again, I did unstan them pretty publicly a few years back following a misogynistic interview they did for an issue of Rolling Stone, which also featured all four of them almost fully nude on the cover.

To this day, I continue to dissect the piece with one part of me thinking that I might have overreacted, having seen and read it for the first time when I was 14 and much more of a prude, and the other knowing that I did not. In one paragraph, Luke Hemmings admits that during the early years of the band, they took advantage of the amount of female attention they were at the center of. “They were wildest on their early tours, when they’d go to bars to mingle with fans after shows,” it read.

In another, Hood talks quite nonchalantly about his infamous dick pic that made its rounds on the Internet the year before, and how it surprisingly gave the band a lot of publicity. “Now I’m just working on the sex tape,” he jokes. “I’ll call Pamela up, like, ‘Hey, it’s been a while. We really need to hype this band up!’”

Having risen to fame as the opening act of the clean-cut British-Irish group One Direction, 5SOS was immediately touted as a boyband—next in line to 1D’s throne, or competing with them for the crown, depends on which magazine you read. Though this exposure granted them a huge teenage fanbase (myself included), they hated the label that came with it. They constantly asserted that they played their own instruments and wrote their own songs, and behaved in a way that well-curated, expertly marketed groups would not: carefree, loud, playfully and forgivably naughty. No one would believe them though. People would say it’s the curse of being conventionally attractive in the music industry. You were almost always expected to be a popstar, a commodity that catered to the masses. But they tried anyway: maybe a lip ring and a couple of tattoos would do the trick, sprinkle some curse words here and there in interviews, get caught smoking or drinking.

That interview was their final act: their big-time effort to break away and hopefully land a spot amongst the rock bands they looked up to and wanted so desperately to impress. Even if it meant objectifying, mocking, and taking advantage of the girls who propelled them to stardom in the first place. Simply put, that interview was them desperately trying to get rid of fans like me. And so, I obliged.

—

Now that I’ve been staying at home for almost three months straight, I have revisited a lot of old favorites: poorly written fan fiction I used to eat up in my early teenage years, full seasons of Nickelodeon TV shows (only the good ones) downloaded off sketchy places on the Internet, my childhood journals filled with my loopy handwriting and family of stick figures. I know I’m not alone in this pursuit: it seems like we’re all holding on to remnants of our past to remind us that we have experienced better days, and they will surely come again soon.

I felt like it was inevitable I’d return to 5SOS because they had released their fourth full-length album during the first few weeks of the quarantine. Everywhere on social media, I was reminded that one single was out, and then another, and then another and I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try. After all, I did give Youngblood, their third record, a spin when it first came out as well. I thought their attempts at experimentation bordered on pretentiousness, and figured that if this was the musical direction they wanted to take, I’d surely hate every succeeding record as well.

But the problem was I really liked it. Although it wasn’t a no-skip album, each track was different from the rest, all showing a level of inventiveness and mastery of musical technique not present in previous releases. After playing the entire thing again and again, even the songs I didn’t vibe with at first started to grow on me. Turns out the beauty of Easier and Teeth is in the details: the thrumming bass at the beginning, the unconventional vocal inflections, best appreciated in an enclosed area with the volume on high. My amazement at how their musical style had progressed over the years led to me listening to all of their albums in chronological order, then rewatching some of their funniest interviews which were alarmingly easy to retrieve from memory.

During these times, I’ve wondered why I still remain curious about what they’re doing, why I still give their music a shot when I see it on my Release Radar. They never apologized for the article and I assume that they talk about things of that sort even more now that they’re older.

And I guess the answer is simple. Besides the fact that the music is honest to God amazing, they kind of made me who I am. Having found them during the height of my teen angst phase, I reveled in having idols who were open about rebelling against the system and forging our own paths despite being looked down on by those older than us. It was through them that I was introduced to bands that further diversified my taste in music, that I started experimenting with a more introspective type of writing that led to the style I employ to this day. I made so many good friends because of them, some of which are still in my life today. Looking back, I wouldn’t consider it the best version of myself but she was different. More importantly, she was really happy.

—

I am well-versed in the discourse surrounding problematic faves, and I know that if I ever find myself in such a situation, I have two options: either go down the productive, politically correct road and steer clear from them, or continue to consume their work but with the knowledge that what they did was inexcusable. I teeter between boycotting their music altogether—because even Spotify streams can be translated into revenue and there’s nothing that powers oppressors like financial stability and fame—and choosing to separate the art from the artist so I can appreciate good work without the reputation of its creator clouding my judgment.

I guess at this point, I probably am looking at them with rose-tinted glasses. I heard that some victims of even the most abusive and toxic relationships look back at their time with their former significant others with fondness. Though what I had with Calum, Ashton, Luke, and Michael was nowhere near romantic, and their transgressions far from a personal attack, maybe it applies to my situation too. I look at 5SOS now through the lens of the 14-year-old who embedded watching Keeks into her daily routine, or fell asleep listening to Heartbreak Girl on repeat and rejoiced when it hit 1,000 plays on her iTunes. They are no longer that band, and I am no longer that girl. And while it doesn’t hurt to remember the times when we were those people, I must remind myself that things can never go back to the way they were.

Maybe this doesn’t have to be as dramatic as I’m making it. But that’s the good thing about keeping this blog despite getting published on other corners of the Internet—I can make it as dramatic as I want to be.

#quarantingz #personal #angeltriestoblog #5 seconds of summer #yas we back with the personal essays babey!!!#kasalanan to ng ghost of you #this blog aint dying

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marvelandponder · 7 years

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M.A. Larson Roasts the Fandom

Well, originally it was his, at least. From what we can gather, it seems this was an old script they had lying around from when Larson worked on the show, and they’ve retooled it to work for the current season.

Who exactly did the rearranging is still a mystery, although if I had to throw a guess out there, it would make sense that this season’s story editors Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco (otherwise known as the Lady Writers) were the ones giving the script its updates.

If so, that explains why it came out so fantastically despite Larson saying he wasn’t happy with the final product.

From what very little I know about the industry, it’s not uncommon for writers to watch their scripts be turned into something totally, soul-crushingly different from their original vision. So, I’m hoping that behind-the-scenes communication issue is fixed. Even if it doesn’t always affect episode quality, we ended up losing a good writer over it, and I can’t imagine it feels good to put your heart and soul into something only for it to be changed before it airs.

That being said, it’s almost ironic that it happened with such a meta episode. Larson usually gets blamed for the Twilicorn fiasco despite his original script being totally different. So it’s kinda funny that Magical Mystery Cure got him flak for years and this episode — which ended up being sort of an encore after his grand finale with Amending Fences — is yet another episode that was changed without his consent but this time it ended up being pretty well loved (on the whole).

Life has a weird sense of humour like that.

I had to start with that behind-the-scenes stuff because I’m shocked—shocked—that they managed to make an episode that’s somehow even more meta than Slice of Life.

Not only that, but because of its weird production history it’s an episode that perfectly blends the old feel of MLP with the new. I really can’t tell you how much of Larson’s script they kept intact (he seemed to imply not a lot, but it feels so much like classic MLP that I almost refuse to believe some of this stuff wasn’t from him), but this is such a weirdly perfect episode because it brings that Return of Harmony feel to the season 7 version of these characters and this world.

And to top it all off, as a long-time fan of the show whose been in the fandom since season 2, the ponifed mirror it holds up to the fans is just hilarious.

Pictured above: us rn

Like, actually the best thing. It’s a funny episode for causal fans, but for hardcore fans, it’s amazing—and any commentary that can add a layer for those in the know, but not detract anything for the little fans or casual viewers, is just golden.

It also sort of exemplifies what there is to love about Larson. Even if nothing but his original concept ended up being used (still don’t believe that), it makes perfect sense that this came from him. The smart edge he was willing bring to Pony will forever be missed.

But, at least we have one last hurrah! Sort of. So without further introduction, allow me to fangirl over and pretend to analyze an episode about the dangers of missing the point by over-analyzing!

… wait.

Not Just a “It’s Just a Kids Show” Argument

Okay, so when you’re a huge fan of cartoons made for children, you tend to come across this argument a fair bit: it’s just a kids show. Why are you looking so deep into it? Don’t over-analyze it, it’s made for kids.

At glance you might think that’s what this episode is arguing, too, that if adult fans want to watch, they should keep in mind that it’s just for kids and not overthink it.

But that argument tends to come with the connotation that kids shows aren’t deep at all and can’t be meaningful because they’re made for kids. And it doesn’t take me to tell you, a cartoon fan, that that’s just not the case.

This episode isn’t devaluing what kids enjoy, or even saying all deep thought over what was intended to be fun, silly, and heartfelt is bad. But it is a reminder not to get so lost in that overthinking that you miss out on what the show’s really about: the fun, silly, cute horses learning cheesy, but still incredibly earnest lessons on life, love, and (of course) friendship.

And this isn’t exactly a middle finger to the fandom, either---I’ve seen it taken that way a few times, too. If you remember Slice of Life and even the convention scenes of Stranger than Fanfiction at all, you’ll remember M.A. Larson (who wrote Slice of Life) and the rest of the staff actually love our creativity and world-building. They dedicated an entire episode, the show’s 100th, to characters the fans created themselves.

And yes, even our analysis community is well-loved by the staff if Quibble Pants is anything to go by (his character may grate on Dash’s nerves from time to time, but he’s also portrayed as incredibly smart, inventive, and learns a lesson in the end to become a better pony).

So, please don’t misunderstand: they do still love our passion and even our crazy, overly-deep ideas, and you can even make criticisms if you want (I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s an anti-criticism thing, either), but the point is that we need just need to keep things in perspective, or else miss out on the fun of it all.

And, that this show is meant for kids. Not “just for kids,” like that’s a bad thing, but that kids are, have been, and will forever be the target audience, and that’s something we should always have a respect for.

I’ve always loved that about the staff. That they have a great love for the young fans of the show, and they’ll always put them first. It’s the way it should be, even with a an older fanbase that they also love dearly (despite our many, many flaws; which come to think of it mirrors the lesson the mane 6 are trying to teach).

So, yeah, this is one of the funniest lessons the show has had to date, and but also one that carries a lot of meaning, for fans young and old.

I warned you that this would be a lot of fangirling.

Character Growth, Comedy, and Criticisms

God, this episode has so much going for it… I’m just sitting here trying to think of where to start and remembering just how much there is to enjoy here.

Okay, for starters, he nailed the fanbase’s biggest hangups over the years:

Fluttershy: Learning the same lesson over and over Pinkie Pie: Considered flanderized when she seems too silly/not grounded in the moment (think Filli Vanilli, the colouring book in Princess Twilight Part 1, or the balloon distracting her in Three’s a Crowd) Rainbow Dash: Hardcore fans claim she’s perfect, is best pony Twilight: Was better before the wings, or would’ve been better if ____ had happened Applejack and Rarity are hilariously switched. Rarity is the background pony getting all the criticism every time she does anything (has an episode), and Applejack is the one that’s praised to the point of obsession.

Spike, ironically, doesn’t have a role in this episode, and you can tell just based on some of her lines that Starlight took his spot in the rewrites (Spike totally would’ve stayed behind with Rarity in the exact same way). I’m a bit bummed they didn’t put in a joke or two for him, because he did write in that journal, too. They could’ve even commented on whether or not he’s considered part of the friend group (a major character or a supporting character), but there’s only so much running time.

I love that the CMC just got popular on the playground for their entries. Like, no drama there, they’re just loved because they’re adorable and sweet, and isn’t that accurate though?

Also: they actually are going to have an episode later this season about that summer camp idea they had, called Marks and Recreation. And some people wonder why I love the later seasons.

And I like that by calling some things out in-episode, like Fluttershy’s baby steps or Pinkie’s silliness, they actually get a chance to say, yeah, you might be legitimately right, but here’s how they’ve grown as characters.

Even just listening to some of the lyrics of the song: Rainbow Dash’s ego is huge, but it gives her the courage to fail, Pinkie might seem overly excited on the outside, but it’s just because she’s so excited to be with her friends. Twilight’s was a bit rushed to get to the chorus, but aside from hers, they each get at the heart of why these characters are so compelling and endearing and I just?

I just really love that.

Oh and I want to take a moment to appreciate the design of the song, because Daniel Ingram puts in so much freakin’ thought to these sometimes. The point of the song is that their flaws are what make them who they are, and by extension make them friends, so what does Ingram do?

Not only gives them each a verse to detail one of their biggest flaws, but lets them come together in perfect harmony for the chorus. That perfectly matches the meaning of the song.

If it sounds similar to another season 7 song because of that harmony, you’re not wrong: it’s similar in structure to Until the End of Time (or was it When We’re with Our Team?), only that was half a joke song: the point was that in comparison to Starlight and Trixie, the girls have a ridiculously easy time getting along. Super catchy and upbeat, but also a lot more vague than Flawless because it’s focusing on just how well they get along after all this time of being friends. So, this episode’s song ends up being the more meaningful of the two.

Oh, and then there’s Starlight Glimmer in a supporting role! See, this season has been letting her play the supporting role instead of always being the star or costar in her appearances, which really helps integrate her more and more into the cast. Even though she comes up with the idea of showing the girls they’re appreciated, she doesn’t overshadow their efforts to solve the problem.

A part of me doesn’t like that she had to take Spike’s role in the episode to do it, and again, that would’ve been remedied if Spike had a small joke about being on the run from crazy fans asking how close he is to Twilight and the girls really. It’s not like whoever revised this episode didn’t have a great sense of humour too---if nothing else, our Mystery Editor(s) definitely must’ve put in Starlight’s line about needing to copy the Communist Manifesto, so I’m sure they also could’ve reworked something funny for Spike quickly.

But at least we have a Spike episode this coming week to help make up for it.

Back to this episode, can we just.

Can we JUST appreciate the comedy?

Not even ‘oh this episode made the giggles’ but just like... the sheer variety of kinds of jokes? We had slapstick, we had sight gags, we had things floating into frame, we had the frame moving over to the punchline, we had ridiculously hilarious expressions, character humour, smartly written lines, and to put the cherry on the cake of course, we had meta humour.

Like, this episode is a comedic gold mine.

It makes me appreciate the different kinds of humour the show has to offer. Dr. Wolf just recently made a video on the lack of slapstick in MLP in recent seasons, and as a fan of director Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, At World’s End, Baby Driver, etc), I recently watched a video on how he does visual comedy like no other director. Give it a watch if you’re interested.

So, yeah, since most episodes have one or two styles of comedy they rely more heavily on, it’s just refreshing to get a full buffet.

Oh, but even after the lesson, I should probably still say something critical in this this critical analysis, shouldn’t I?

Well, fine.

For one, the townsponies viewing the mane 6 differently once they know their personal thoughts is somewhat reasonable, but if you take a step back from the meta of the episode, it does put this episode in the category of: the town acts like jerks for an episode... episode

I find it hilarious and don’t have much of a problem with it, but I realize that for some, this is an actual problem because this is supposed to be such a loving, kind world.

At least this time there’s a reason for them to go total Jerk---unlike, say the marketplace in Putting Your Hoof Down or the squabbling delegates of Princess Spike---but for some this is going to be an issue.

Also, you have to wonder if they censored some things in the journal, because otherwise, everyone now knows Daring Do is A.K. Yearling...

... unless that’s what upcoming episode Daring Done is about. Have I mentioned I love the continuity in this show?

Oh, and I think I might make the details section its own post this time. Normally save a space at the bottom to highlight small details I liked in an episode, but this post has already become a huge love-letter, so I should probably spare your dash from being eaten alive.

So, overall, to me, this episode is kind of masterful. Larson was definitely the man for the job: I can’t think of anyone else who could so eloquently put the fandom in their place without straight up insulting them---or have the cojones to try! All while reminding the fandom of all the reasons there are to like the show in the first place!

Brilliant in concept, and in execution, so even though I spent this post praising Larson himself, I’ve also gotta give some love to the current staff members for this one. Like I said, it blends classic MLP sensibilities with all the polish, development, and emphasis on continuity of the current seasons, and for that, it’s a truly unique, wonderfully insightful episode.

And right off the heels of The Perfect Pear, which was an emotional masterpiece in my eyes, too! Right now, I’ve gotta say, it’s good to be an MLP fan.

Need more pony? I always do. That’s why I have all these episode reviews and editorials for you! And to make it easier, have the last three things I’ve done:

Hard to Say Anything Review, Honest Apple Review, and SciTwi v.s. Twilight

Year of the Pony

Special Thanks to Millennial Dan on Deviantart, who made the Microphone vector for the logo! And Kishmond for the book vector!

Is MLP Officially the Most Meta Cartoon Yet or What?

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