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favoniuscodex · 3 years

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undesired gift. [ diluc x reader ]

prompt: donna gives diluc a bottle of mysterious, alchemic liquid. much to everyone’s surprise, diluc tries some. unfortunately, it has some results neither diluc, donna, or you expected. diluc’s part of my love potion series! pairing: diluc x f!reader warnings: none? implied that the love potion evokes true feelings, but if such concepts make you uncomfortable, this is your warning! :) word count: ~1.5k words

a/n: this was originally just gonna be short scenarios but i got pretty wordy with ideas for everyone, so it’s been extended to a full series with independent parts for each character! ... i’ve written a lot of diluc in such a short time HAHA

“where’d you get that?” you ask, gesturing to the bottle that rests on the back countertop of angel’s share. you, one of diluc’s long-time bartenders and one of the few people he would actually consider a friend, had no recollection of ever seeing such a drink within the establishment. it appeared to be pink moscato, but the way the liquid glimmered in the light warned you otherwise.

“it was a gift from his favorite person,” kaeya joins in from his seat on the opposite side of the counter from you and diluc. you raise your eyebrows at him in confusion and amusement.

“you?” you ask kaeya and both kaeya and diluc let out a huff of air at your question.

“not quite. donna.” kaeya corrects you and diluc looks mortified as laughter bursts out of you. you look at the drink once more and are sent into another fit of giggles, all while diluc glares at kaeya for telling you such a thing and kaeya only smirks smugly back at him.

“donna? why did she think sending you a drink from a competitor was a good romantic strategy?” you ask. diluc wants nothing more than to crawl into a hole and avoid this conversation, but he knows how you and kaeya work when you’re together: a duo created of chaos and destruction. after all, the three of you had grown up as childhood friends, with you being the reason kaeya and diluc even acknowledge the presence of the other anymore.

“we are talking about the woman who likes to moan diluc’s name in the street like it’s a holy mantra,” kaeya shoots back and diluc can’t help but envy kaeya for how easily he makes you laugh, even if it is at diluc’s own expense.

“right, right,” you turn to diluc. “so, are you going to drink it? what if it’s poisoned?”

the genuine concern in your voice, combined with the way your tone becomes gentler when speaking directly to diluc has his stomach erupting into butterflies. meanwhile, kaeya pops diluc’s little bubble of infatuation with his next comment.

“maybe it has laxatives in it so diluc stops looking constipated all the time,” kaeya interjects. the corners of your lips twitch and diluc only sighs in response, choosing to ignore his estranged brother’s comment.

“i... doubt it’s poisoned. out of all of us, donna likely irritates me the most, but i doubt she would try to kill me with a drink,” diluc says to you, doing his best to ignore kaeya, who takes a drink from the glass of wine he had been carefully nursing for the last half hour.

“well, there is one way we can find out. you should try some!” your tone sounds like you’re just trying to be a supportive friend, but diluc knows you far too well to fall for it. despite this, the redhead has never been able to say no to you, which is something you are well aware of.

“fine,” diluc says and before you or kaeya can stop him, he uncorks the bottle and takes a swig, leaving you and kaeya to gape at him, wide-eyed. you half expect the redhead to fall over as if the alcohol wounded him, but he just winces at the aftertaste. after recovering, diluc just stares at you, bewildered by your bewilderment.

“h... how was it?” you finally ask. diluc glances down at the bottle in his hand.

“i would never sell nor supply anyone with this, even if i was paid extra to do so.” diluc responds and he feels the tips of his ears warm at the way you give a light laugh in response.

the night continues as normal, with kaeya eventually getting booted out at closing time with all other patrons. this leaves you and diluc alone, who seems to be in a strangely good mood, but you fail to say anything in fear of disrupting the soft smile that seems to be a permanent fixture on his face for the night. such happy nature on his behalf hadn’t started until he took a drink from donna’s gift, but you were fairly certain from the smell that it was non-alcoholic. plus, even diluc wasn’t that much of a lightweight, right?

instead... was he happy with the gift? did he like the attention donna gave him? he had never gave an indicator as to such a thing beforehand, but he had willingly consumed her gift under the smallest provocation from you. did he desire to court her? the sickening feeling of jealousy begins to gnaw at your stomach and you quickly attempt to ignore it, in the same way you had done your best to ignore your blossoming feelings for diluc over the last few months. the two of you were friends and that’s all you ever would be. you had no right to get jealous over a romantic gesture when you weren’t even brave enough to make one yourself.

but archons, you can never stop yourself from speaking, can you?

“what’s got you in a good mood?” you ask as you wipe down the counter while diluc wipes down the tables. cleanup duty was often one of the few times diluc engaged in small talk, but you couldn’t help but to curse yourself for breaking the comfortable silence that lingered between the two of you. diluc looks nonplussed by the interruption and looks up from his towel to smile at you.

it’s wide and his teeth are bright and it contorts his face in the most beautiful of ways, but it’s so uncharacteristic that you’re thrown for a loop, heat rising to your face. in all the years since his father’s death, you had never seen diluc smile in such a way.

what was in that drink? you ask yourself, but before you can think too much about it, diluc’s voice is interrupting your racing thoughts.

“i get to spend this time with you.” his words are honest and true, but they only result in the widening of your eyes. bewilderment consumes you whole as he sets his cleaning supplies down on the table. who is this and what did they do to my diluc?

“what’s with that face? do you not believe me?” diluc asks, walking over to you and slipping behind the bar, standing only a few feet away.

i must have passed out, you determine. there’s no way in hell-

“why wouldn’t i be happy when i get to spend time with the person i’m in love with?” diluc’s words are spoken simply, innocence interwoven into every word. you stiffen in response to them, staring at diluc blankly as your mind struggles to catch up with the sudden turn of events.

“w... what?” you breathe, absolutely terrified by the fact that mr. grumpy pants, the one whom you had fallen in love with, was suddenly knocking down every single one of his walls to tell you that he loves you. he loves you, the one who pesters him every time the two of you are on shift together. the one who would pester him when you were kids, insisting that the two of you should play knights together if he really wanted to become one. the one who stood before him now, tired and stuck in a disheveled bartender uniform.

diluc closes the distance between the two of you and stands before you, lifting his hand to cup your cheek gently. the pad of his thumb sweeps back and forth on your cheek and you hate yourself for leaning into his touch. this isn’t him. there’s no way. she did something to that drink. the redhead deciphers your hesitation with ease and smirks at you.

“do you want me to prove it?” diluc challenges as his ruby eyes flicker downward to glance at your lips.

shimmering pink liquid. where had you seen it before? you wrack your brain as diluc leans in and you immediately pull away as you retrieve your answer, leaving him to frown at your rejection.

“this isn’t...” you begin, stumbling over your words as you feel your head spin. archons, diluc got so close that you smelled his cologne. “what you drank earlier. it’s from the souvenir shop, it’s a love p-”

“love potion,” diluc interrupts, finishing your words for you. “i know. i read the bottom of the bottle beforehand. i did not necessarily expect it to work, but i figured that, at the worst, it would motivate me to confess my feelings to you.”

“oh.” you respond, voice hollow. “oh.”

he... knew?

“now that such misconceptions have been cleared, i suppose i should clarify my question as well.” diluc looks at you with an intensity you had never seen from him before. it sends a thrill through your body as his arms pin you between him and the countertop. “i would like to kiss you. may i?”

you nod.

you swear you taste the love potion on his lips.

#diluc favoritism alert but thats a given for this blog #diluc x reader #genshin impact x reader #ill make a masterlist for this series later lol #diluc #genshin impact

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keanureevesisbae · 2 years

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chasing nostalgia epilogue 2.0

Summary: Years have gone by. How are August, Leilani and Roger holding up?

August Walker x Leilani (asian ofc)

Wordcount: 2.5k

Warning: Last time these three are filthy AF: spanking, vaginal sex, double vaginal penetration (👀 ), use of dildo and vibrator, orgasms, semen, overstimulation and I think that's about it?

A/N: So, this was a totally different story than I imagined. A little spoiler: originally, Roger was supposed to be dead. However, I obviously didn't continue with killing him off, because as I was writing, I've come to love him so so much! Thank you so much for reading, for receiving this story well!

Masterlist // chasing nostalgia masterlist //

Leilani's POV

In one year time, my life has taken a full 180 turn. My life became something I never expected it to be. My two men were back in my life: August and Roger. It was like the puzzle was finally finished. The puzzle of my life included August and Roger.

I loved two men at the same time and despite August moving away, I always loved him and never forgot him.

It’s okay, I always tell myself. I always tell people who asks who my boyfriend is of the two, we’re just friends, when in all honesty, they’re both my boyfriends, however the world is not quite ready yet. I never suspected myself to be someone who would have this type of dynamic, mostly because I saw how much of a toll it took on my parents’ marriage with more parties involved, but then I realized they had a shitty communication.

I on the other hand always had good communication with my men.

We’re living the most domestic life neither of us could’ve imagined. Life hadn’t treated us well and it left us with gaps in our personal growth.

But after resolving everything, we fell back into our trusted routine. Almost like there wasn’t a years long hiatus between college and now.

August is still the one who takes the lead, Roger is the sensible one and I make sure they do not overwork themselves, in the physical sense. They have to prove themselves a lot, which is cute, but totally unnecessary.

There’s one major difference than what we had in college: we’ve got more time. With the cafe only being open from Tuesday to Saturday, we have two days where we can just do whatever we want. Besides, August is always dead set on his holidays, so there are moments where we close the cafe and go on a trip. The three of us to the most beautiful places in the world. I love being around them, having them with me and those days spend where there are no obligations, just us, are the times we get even closer.

I don’t want to change this lifestyle for anything in the world. The way they ravish me, how they love me and how they care for me, I know I can’t get that anywhere else. I don’t want that from anyone.

Just like in college, there are moments I share with August and moments I share with Roger. It’s how it worked then and it still works now. Because we now do live in the same house, I often wondered if they don’t feel jealous when they are able to hear everything, but they’re not envious at all. It even occurred multiple times I’m having sex with either one of them and the other walks in, grabs something and walks out, like nothing was happening in the same room.

And while they aren’t romantically involved, I can tell their bond is becoming tighter. And that truly makes me happy.

After a few months, Roger and August succeeded in finding the right prosthetics for August. It was a process that didn’t involve me, but a thing solely between the two of them. I respected that, especially when I saw how close they grew because of it. After some practice—which again, didn’t involve me—August is able to walk in his prosthetics. I’m so grateful he found the perfect match, because I could see how much the wheelchair bothered him. He hated it and now he has a part of his old life back.

I know he loves that.

I turn around the OPEN sign to CLOSED, after a long day in the cafe. It was a lovely day, since it was warm enough for me to finally wear a dress. I walk towards the kitchen, where both of my men are cleaning up. ‘What’s wrong?’ I ask them, when they look up.

‘You’re not allowed to wear that dress again,’ August says. ‘Everyone is just looking at your breasts and I was this close of kicking them out.’

I scoff. ‘What’s wrong with the dress?’

‘Nothing when you’re with us, baby, everything when you’re outside,’ Roger says, as he passes me to place the plates back where they belong.

‘Nonsense,’ I say, knowing damn well I’m gonna push August’s buttons with it. ‘I got great compliments of it. There was this really sweet group of men who thought I looked beautiful and the dress fitted me well.’

August clenches his jaw. ‘What?’

‘Kidding,’ I say, but it’s already too late. I can’t save myself. August stalks up to me, pushing up the hem of my floral dress. ‘What are you doing?’ I ask coyly.

‘You know damn well what I’m gonna do.’ His hand lands on my bottom and I let out a squeal. ‘Oh, look at that. I’m trying to teach you a lesson and what do you do? Make those cute sounds, which tell me exactly how much you’re enjoying it.’

♕ ♕ ♕

My bottom is fiery red by the time we reach our place. We live above our cafe and it’s so nice to not having to commute to work, especially when it’s a pain to find a great parking spot within a ten mile radius.

Roger’s already leaning with his back against the headboard, his hard cock buried deep inside of me. His lips are wrapped around my nipple, sucking lightly, though it turns a lot harder, especially when he teasingly sinks in his teeth, causing me to gasp. I’m bouncing on his cock, until he grabs my hips, forcing me down on him and sit still.

‘You sure you wanna do this tonight?’ August asks, squeezing my slightly sore and sensitive bottom in his large hand. ‘Be honest with me.’

‘I want to,’ I choke out.

August brings his tip to my entrance and after a little trial and error, he manages to push himself all the way in and I dig my nails in Roger’s chest, adjusting to taking them both at the same time. I cannot believe we finally managed to do the one thing we’ve always wanted to try—even back in college—and that is double vaginal penetration. I was always either too anxious or too nervous to try it out, but I now never want something else ever again: I’ve never felt so fucking full. By the way they both hold me, I realize they are probably also getting used to this feeling. I bet their fingertips are leaving bruises all over my body.

‘Can we move, baby?’ Roger asks, after he swallowed hard.

I simply nod, but it’s enough for them to know I can handle it. It takes some slow adjusting, but once we’re passed the initial shock of me being able to handle them both in my cunt, I am able to enjoy it a lot more. I feel both of them so deep, as they are stretching out my tight walls. August’s hand is entangled in my long black locks, pulling my head slightly back, my back arching a little.

The room is filled with our moans and thank goodness we soundproofed this room too.

‘I’m gonna cum,’ I whimper, before creating the first mess of the evening. I squirt passed both of their cocks, as the feeling of euphoria rushes through my body. Tears drip over my face, trying to catch my breath, as Roger toys with my sensitive clit, desperate to send me right over the edge again. I hate how he is succeeding so quickly, because I’m shaking again in a matter of seconds, clenching around the both of them.

‘Good girl.’ Roger wipes the stream of tears from my face and gently gives me a peck. ‘Does it still feel good?’ he asks, just to be sure.

Though it’s incredibly sensitive, I nod, because it still feels so good. I open my mouth against his, allowing our tongues to intertwine, to dance around each other. He hums against my lips and I can feel him smile.

Roger can probably tell I can barely keep myself up anymore, because he gently pulls me against his chest, after our lips parted.

I can tell by their groans they’re not able to last very long anymore. After having sex with the three of us for so long, they’re pretty much in sync with one another, even when it comes to cumming together.

They both cum at the same time, their semen painting my walls on the inside. They catch their breath, August squeezing my waist and Roger pressing a kiss on top of my head. When they both have softened, they pull out and I let out a whine, already missing the full feeling. We’re all a mess, covered in a mixture of my juices and their semen.

We’re unable to move, all catching our breath on a different part of the bed. When I push my legs together, they’re so sticky, I fear we’ve got to change the sheets, because no one can sleep like this.

‘Are you okay?’ Roger asks.

‘I’m fine,’ I whisper. ‘We’re doing this again, right?’

August nods and Roger agrees. ‘Our own little slut,’ August chuckles. ‘We’re so lucky to have you.’

♕ ♕ ♕

I dream about them, but that’s mostly because I’m absolutely addicted and obsessed with them. They are my everything, in every way. I dream about us having sex, about us sharing domestic times with each other, combined with tons of more sex. We’re quite frankly obsessed with each other.

I want their fingers, I want their cocks, their mouth. Everything.

When I wake up the next morning, they both are already up, but are staring at me with cocked eyebrows and Roger has a telling smirk on his lips.

‘What?’ I ask, not in on the fun yet.

‘Hope you had fun in your dreams,’ August says. ’Sure sounded like it.’

The soreness is overruled by the wetness pooling in between my legs. Evidence I indeed had tons of fun in my dream. And they sorta enjoyed it too, I suppose.

‘I had,’ I whisper, giving them both a kiss, as I do every morning. ‘Are you gonna do something about it?’

‘Oh, look at that. Our girl is already cocky in the early morning. You just stay put.’ August gets up from the bed and walks over to the cabinet. It’s at the same time Roger pulls me towards him and I securely get in between his legs. He spreads my legs apart by placing his hands in my knee cavities, bringing them towards my chest, already leaving me completely bare and vulnerable for August, who has yet to come back.

August smiles, his eyes glimmering as he walks over to us again. He sits on the end of the bed, a large silicone dildo and a vibrator in his hands. ‘Oh darling,’ he says, his tone slightly condescending. ‘Already so wet and ready for me.’

He prepares me with his thick fingers, slightly stretching me out, however it doesn’t take long before the thick and lengthy dildo is buried in between my tight walls. The vibrators on my clit are so intense, but I love the feeling. I take it eagerly. I am so addicted to the both of them, with the way they always make sure I have everything I desire, especially in the bedroom.

I lean back against Roger’s strong chest, his lips on my temple, as I whine and moan out loud. My hips buck up against the vibrator, the dildo buried deep inside of me, the thrusts growing rouger, hitting the right spot over and over again.

One powerful orgasm turns into two and my brain is foggy by the time I’ve at least reached four—or five, dunno anymore—and totally drenched August and the sheets. My cunt is so sensitive, however it doesn’t stop August. I know handing him this type of control, he always goes a little bit further than Roger would. Roger always stops when I’m a crying mess, gently kissing me and telling me I have been a good girl to him, however August doesn’t mind me crying. Sure, he keeps an eye out, knowing exactly when I dip into a state he doesn’t want me in, but he pushes my limits.

I’m a shivering mess by the time August stops the vibrations and pulls out the dildo, as I’m with my head deep in the clouds.

‘Good girl,’ August says. ‘What more do you want? You can tell us, we’ll give you everything.’

‘Your cock,’ I whimper. ‘I need both of you.’

‘Where?’

‘I don’t mind,’ I whisper.

So, they take turns. My cunt is throbbing, but welcoming their deep and rough thrusts. My head is buried in the pillows, my back is bend and I have spread my legs apart, so they have easy access. I feel their semen deep inside of me, as it filled me up to the brim, little streams already dripping down my legs.

‘Oh look at that,’ August chuckles, ‘her legs are shaking. Think we’ve reached her maximum.’

Roger holds my body against his when he gets the bed with me, as August walks over to the bathroom. ‘You did good, my darling,’ Roger whispers, ‘I’m so proud of you.’

August walks back and tells me to spread my legs for him. I do what he tells me to do and with a luke warm cloth, August cleans up the mixture of our fluids of my legs. When he brushes against my sensitive cunt, he chuckles when I jolt. ‘It’s okay, darling,’ he says. ‘We’re done for today.’

We all get sorta dressed, but they order me to stay in the freshly cleaned up bed. ‘We’re gonna prepare some breakfast for you,’ August says. ‘So you can rest.’

‘Non negotiable?’ I ask.

‘None negotiable,’ Roger says. ‘We’ll be back in a minute. It was an intense last few hours for you, sweetheart.’ I receive a kiss from both of them, as I watch them walk out of the bedroom.

I can hear them trying to make something in the kitchen, paired with chuckles and laughs, which only causes me to smile as well. I always wondered what would’ve happened, had August not barged into the room, when Roger and I had sex during that party. It would’ve been Roger and me, that I know, but I don’t even want to imagine August sitting alone in his place, still in a wheelchair and no prosthetics.

It pains me to think about that.

After everything that happened within the last twelve hours, I need to hydrate myself, so I get out of the bed, ignore the dull feeling between my legs and walk towards the door.

However, I quickly retract my step, when I hear Roger say: ‘Gotta tell you something.’

‘Shoot.’

‘Kinda love you.’

It stays a little quiet from August’s side, but then I hear a chuckle. ‘Good thing I kinda love you too, man.’

‘Is that you guys’ first I love you?’ I ask, walking around the corner, a soft and nearly nauseating grin on my face. ‘How darling!’

August rolls his eyes as he looks at me. ‘This was a private moment, baby.’

Roger ushers me over. ‘Not everything is for your ears.’

‘Took you long enough to say it.’ I walk over to them and stand in between Roger and August. ‘This makes me so happy.’

Roger, the first one to go all soft, chuckles and wraps an arm around my shoulders.

‘I love you two,’ I say. ‘A whole lot.’

And in unison they tell me, that they love me more. Which is absolutely impossible.

♕ ♕ ♕

chasing nostalgia taglist: @diegos-butt // @thelastsock // @liecastillo // @mis-lil-red // @sofiebstar // @abschaffer2 // @crazybutconfidentaf // @summersong69 // @gearhead66 // @xobriellaxo24 // @bourbonrice // @kebabgirl67 // @eldarwen333 // @kingliam2019

#henry cavill #henry cavill fandom #henry cavill fanfic #august walker #august walker fanfic #august walker fandom #august walker x oc #august walker x asian ofc #august walker x ofc #august walker x leilani #leilani #chasing nostalgia

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xmarchwarden-of-lothlorienx · 3 years

Text

A World Away

Thranduil x fem!human!reader

Requested: Anonymous

Summary: “I want a modern reader thrown into mirkwood forest. Found and thrown into a cell by thranduil. During an escape attempt reader sees an animal and decides to rescue an animal and get caught by thranduil. He takes an interest and reader is treated as a guest. Thranduil starts falling for her and sends her to live with humans. “What did i do? Why are you sending me away?” And then during the battle of five armies she meets with thranduil again and fluff”

Warnings: a little swearing (like twice)

Authors Note: Splitting this into two parts so everyone can suffer (joking lol)

Edit: Not me trying to schedule this and realizing it didn’t post 🤦🏻‍♂️

__________________________________________

With every step, you could hear your heart pounding in your ears. Your adrenaline rush prevented you from noticing the sharp briars that tore at your skin and clothes. You could worry about that later. Your only concern now was making it out of this forest.

You had planned your escape from the Elvenkings dungeon for weeks. Today, the opportunity to put your plan into action had finally arisen. As you dodged fallen logs and low hanging branches, you thought of how you came to be here in the first place.

Your head was throbbing as you came to. You attempted opening your eyes, but the bright sunlight forced you to close them again. You could hear strange voices speaking in a foreign tongue. You attempted to move your hands, but they were bound. Forcing your eyes open a second time, you took in your unfamiliar surroundings.

You were in a forest, surrounded by men and women dressed in strange clothes. All of them had long hair that was intricately braided, revealing their...pointy ears? Okay, what on earth was happening here.

“Excuse me, but who are you people? Why am I here?” You voiced. One with blonde hair, you assumed he was their leader, snapped his head towards you.

“You were trespassing on our lands. You are now in the custody of King Thranduil. He shall decide your fate” You gulped. Oh lord, what had you done now?

You were ripped away from your thoughts when you tripped over something in your way.

“Shit!” You hissed at the pain now shooting up your leg. You turned and looked at what had caused you to fall. A small fawn lay trembling at your feet. It didn’t appear injured, but your conscience wouldn’t let you leave until you checked. You extended a hand to the fawn, but it flinched away. “C’mon, I won’t hurt you. I promise,” you reassured. As you were checking the animal over, the sound of a sword being drawn reached your ears. You turned to see the tall figure now standing behind you. You recognized him as one of the guards that had taken you prisoner when you arrived at this miserable place.

“I see we didn’t get very far,” the elf said sarcastically. You dropped your head in defeat.

“Damn my good conscience,” you thought.

___

The first time you were before the Elvenking, he had been perched atop his throne. This time, you met him in his private study. He was seated in a large chair, sipping a glass of rich red wine. He appeared unbothered. You weren’t sure if anything could sway him.

“Leave us,” he commanded the guards placed at the doors. He took another long drink of his wine, then placed it on the table beside him. Neither of you spoke, and the silence was deafening. Thranduil took a deep breath and gestured to the seat adjacent from him, ”Sit.”

You obeyed, the large plush seat nearly swallowing you. You fiddled with your hands-noting that they had been left unbound this time.

“Do you have any idea what the punishment is for those that try to escape my prison?” He questioned. You shook your head in response, not trusting your voice to remain steady. “A more barbaric king would likely have you put to death.” Thranduil noticed you becoming more anxious. “But do not worry, I don’t plan on doing such a thing.”

“O-Oh?” You stuttered.

“You must be quite clever to have out maneuvered my guards,” Thranduil continued as he poured another glass of wine. “It was surprising to learn that your escape failed because you stopped to help a fawn.”

“It wasn’t my greatest decision,” you admitted.

“Perhaps, but I think it’s ultimately been in your favor,” Thranduil hummed.

“What do you mean?” You questioned.

“What I mean is that I’ve reconsidered my original sentence. I believe I may have been quick to judge when you were first brought before me,” Thranduil paused. “I hear of all the happenings in this forest. Humans are typically uncaring of those around them. Despite your situation, you stopped to help another in need of aid. Quite a noble trait to possess, yes?”

“Yes, I suppose,” you replied. You had never considered yourself noble before. Helping others had always felt like the right thing to do.

“If it would be no trouble, I should like you to remain in Mirkwood-as my guest.” There it was. The point that this conversation had been leading to.

“I-Really?” You exclaimed. Just when you thought you were starting to understand how this world worked, you were blind sided once again.

“If you have family you would rather return to, I understand. We would be more than willing to supply you for your journey-“

“Oh, no,” you cut him off (which surprised him). “It’s not that. I just wasn’t expecting it is all. I appreciate the offer, and I totally except.” You were glad to finally move on from being a prisoner. The treatment in Thranduils dungeon was alright, but a prison is still a prison after all.

“Well, then,” said Thranduil, pouring a second glass of wine. “Let’s drink to the hope of newfound friendship,” he offered the glass to you. You accepted and raised your glass to him. A possible friendship with the king? Oh, this was going to be a story to tell.

___

Life in Mirkwood was very pleasant; spending your days exploring the endless gardens and library. You would share dinner with Thranduil once a week. Then twice a week. Then soon you would dine together most nights. You noticed how interested he was in your life-both before you came to Middle Earth and now.

What you didn’t notice were the whispers between the elves. Since the death of his queen, the king had been closed off. Now, he was showing such favoritism to a human woman. Sharing dinner with her. Strolling through the gardens together. Gifting her with clothes and her own dwelling. It wasn’t until Legolas brought it up did Thranduil notice how fond he had become of you.

“Ada?” Legolas asked one day.

“Yes?” Thranduil replied as he leafed through paperwork.

“I’ve seen you’ve become quite partial to (Y/N),” said Legolas.

“Hm, I suppose I have,” Thranduil paused from his work.

“Do you think you may have...romantic feelings for her?” Legolas hesitated before asking.

Thranduils eyes widened at what his son had said. “O-Of course not! Honestly, Legolas, I don’t see why you would say such things!” Legolas gave his father a look and turned to leave.

“If you say so,” Legolas teased before closing the door behind him.

Thranduil pondered over what Legolas had said. Yes-he could see it now. He had slowly become wrapped around your little fingers. Falling for you so slowly he didn’t even notice. He wanted to feel joy-could he have found a second companion at last? But he couldn’t help the guilt that clawed at his stomach. Many elves only married once. Though his wife was deceased, her soul still lingered in the Halls of Mandos. What then? Should he do you both a disservice and pursue his newfound love? Thranduil stood and paced the room, thinking of what he should do. Finally, he called to the guards outside the room. He had made his decision.

“How may we serve you, My King.”

“Tell Lady (Y/N) to pack her things. She must be gone by daybreak tomorrow. She is not to step foot in the Woodland Realm again, understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

Thranduil felt sick. This was for your own good, he kept telling himself. To be with you would only hurt you both. It had to be this way.

___

You wiped away your tears as you packed. You didn’t understand. Mirkwood was your home. Thranduil had become your closest friend, but now he was banishing you? You thought the Elvenking liked you, even entertained the thought that he more than liked you, but not now. Now you felt foolish. Of course it would never work. He was a stupidly handsome immortal king. You were a human girl from a different world.

You threw the last of your belongings into your bag. The guards escorted you out of the castle. Before the cart you were placed upon moved, you took one last look at the kingdom, trying to absorb every detail. The coachman urged the horses forward, and that was it. You would never see Thranduil again. As night fell, so did your tears.

Little did you know, you weren’t the only one who cried that night.

Tags: @themerriweathermage

#lord of the rings #the hobbit #thranduil #thranduil x y/n #thranduil x you #thranduil x reader #the hobbit x reader #the hobbit x you #the hobbit x y/n

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shining-magically · 4 years

Note

so I’ve wondered this since the trailer came out years and years ago and Chloe defended the movie - was the red shoes teaser written by the same team that made the movie? were they forced to market it like that, was that based on an earlier draft, etc?? not sure if you know but you seem like the leading expert!

Sorry, this is gonna be an absolute novel because you know I’m an animation fan and the history and production of Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs is SO interesting and insane. Like, Tangled levels of insane. Thanks for calling me an expert, no one else was gonna do it so I just kind of took up the helm lol.

Here’s the low-down... The timeline of the movie’s production is an absolute mess and kind of an extremely wild ride. It was in production for ten years, went through a lot of different crew members, and went through at least two other major versions of the story before landing on the final version.

Since there’s not a ton of info on the movie’s production, a lot of this is pieced together from different interviews and context clues, and also a lot of what I’ve read and what I am quoting has been translated from Korean, sometimes pretty roughly. But yeah.

Here’s the story of why the Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs teasers and poster were so, so bad and fatshame-y and the actual movie was so, so good and body-positive. (With pictures and production artwork!)

(This is a beast of a post so I’m putting it under a cut.)

All right, so. After its conception originally as a short story by the South Korean studio Locus Creative in 2009-2010-ish, Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs was being worked on and was set to come out in Summer 2017, as evidenced by this poster at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, featuring a different logo and very different character designs for most of the dwarfs.

In early-mid 2016, the first teaser (in which we see Snow White undress and then two dwarfs recoil in horror at her fatness when she takes her magic shoes off) was released, after the film had kind of been slowly chugging along for 6 or so years. (I am having such trouble pinpointing when the second teaser was released (in which one of the dwarfs basically attacks Snow while she is sleeping to steal her shoes), but I believe it was around the same time.) The teasers didn’t get that much traction because this was a small film from a small indie studio in South Korea.

None of the final actors had been cast yet. At this point in the production, the story was different, one of the many versions that the movie went through. As in the final movie, the dwarfs were actually cursed knights/princes and Snow White switched back and forth between two body types due to her magic shoes, but in this version, the dwarfs needed to steal the shoes from her in order to break their curse (rather than needing “a kiss from the most beautiful woman in the world” like in the final movie).

The weird thing is, I believe they had JUST changed the movie’s story when the teaser came out. I’m almost positive it was released more as a proof of concept than as an actual trailer for the movie. They had just recently combined two separate characters (seen above), a typical pretty, skinny princess character (Snow White) and a cute chubby girl character (’Bonnie’), into one single character that switches back and forth between the two appearances when she wears the magic shoes (also they had just dropped literally half of the movie taking place in the real world, with a magic mirror portal, it was a whole thing).

They didn’t have the details of this aspect of the new story hammered out yet, and the first pass at presenting Snow’s magically changing body type, was, yeah, not good and super offensive. This was a really inexperienced indie studio making their first film on a low budget, so even the animation and voice acting wasn’t great. I think they just wanted to get SOMETHING out there because it had been 6 years and they wanted to have something to show for it.

But here’s the thing. Despite how the teasers make it seem, this was always supposed to be a movie about body positivity, letting go of appearance-based prejudices, and loving yourself and others for who you are and for who they are, which we see in the final film.

I like to think of our film as a kindhearted one. Our intentions are nice.

- Director Sung-ho Hong

It’s important to keep in mind that this movie was made in South Korea by a 99% Korean crew, and, as I understand it anyway, in Korean culture, ‘fatshaming’ is not really a thing that is seen as overtly offensive. Also, children’s media there seems to have more adult things in it than in the US, which probably accounts for the more risque parts of the teasers. That said, I really believe that at this point in the timeline, the movie was on-track to be bad (or at least not very good) when it was released, and it would have ended up bad IF a few key players hadn’t signed on (which I’ll get to in a moment).

Interestingly, the movie’s producer, Sujin Hwang, said in a 2017 interview:

“[Both teasers] were solely produced to induce curiosity. They’re completely irrelevant to the actual story.”

- Producer Sujin Hwang

I think what she was trying to convey was that neither one is a scene in the actual movie, because while the teasers didn’t reflect the revamped story as it existed in summer 2017 (the time of the interview), they DID reflect the earlier version of the story where the dwarfs wanted her shoes, which is what the story was at the time they were made.

Now that we’re in post-teaser 2016, HERE’S where things start to turn around. After the teasers were released, my guy Disney veteran and native Korean Jin Kim joined the project. He and Red Shoes director Sung-ho Hong had been buddies for about eight years and Sung-ho had been trying to get Jin to come to Seoul and work with him at Locus for a long time, and he finally succeeded.

Jin and his twenty years of Disney experience as an animator and senior designer on films like Tangled, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, and Moana, had a HUGE HUGE HUGE influence on the movie. He redesigned almost all the characters, oversaw all the visual development from the moment he signed on, and heavily (HEAVILY) supervised the animation, literally going frame-by-frame through preliminary animations and drawing over them, teaching the inexperienced animators at Locus everything he knew. (Literally almost everyone except him either only had TV experience or had no professional experience because they just gotten out of school.)

From an outsider’s perspective, it really seems as though Jin joining the project (and his gargantuan effort) made the quality SKYROCKET. Not just in character design and animation, but also in things like effects animation, story, etc. After he joined, Locus really started pushing HARD to make a good, high-quality movie, and his influence and experience from being a prominent figure at Disney was absolutely key. The studio also began to really study Disney films and other well-made animated films from other studios to really try and pinpoint what the DNA of a good animated movie really is.

I don’t have any solid evidence, but I’m pretty sure that Tony Bancroft (an animator and the co-director of Mulan) then joined the project because he’s good friends with Jin Kim. He is only credited as the voice director (the movie was recorded in English and the characters were animated to the English dialogue), but I am SURE that he probably also had a pretty big influence on the movie, because like... How could he not? I really really think there was more to his role than his title would have you believe, even though there’s almost no info out there about it.

So now the movie goes through a gigantic metamorphosis. Character designs, visual development, and animation quality are all rapidly improving, the story is tightening, and the themes of the movie (which, again, were always the same and intended to be positive) are being presented in a more sincere way. The movie is becoming the sweet, self-love-encouraging and body-positive movie that was eventually released.

I’m putting a gif from the credits of the final movie here. As we move into 2017, when the giant eruption of backlash occurred, please keep in mind that the story was finalized at this point and that THIS was the movie people were so mad about:

Chloe Grace Moretz accepted the role of Snow White immediately after she read the script and she recorded her lines (I think) in early-ish 2017. Her co-star Sam Claflin also immediately accepted the role of the romantic interest, Merlin, after reading the script and recorded his lines in (I believe) July 2017.

In the summer of 2017, the story and script were more or less the same as in the final movie. Promotional images from that time show that most of dwarfs had been completely redesigned by this point and didn’t have their teaser designs anymore.

They also released a few screenshots that look exactly like the final film. The movie was advertised as coming out in ‘2018′ at this point. Here’s a promo image from 2017 that is MUCH more tactfully worded than the infamous Cannes poster:

So now we’re in summer 2017. The Cannes Film Festival. The movie’s script and story have been basically nailed down, animation is underway, and the Korean film company Finecut is beginning to market and sell the movie to worldwide audiences. They are planning on showing some footage to potential buyers at the festival, and they make a poster to advertise the film there.

Unfortunately, it’s THIS POSTER:

Now here’s where there are some unknowns. By this point, the movie is basically in its final form, which is an adorable, body-positive story about loving people for who they are, loving yourself for who YOU are, and that provides commentary on society’s standards of beauty and how they affect how people are treated/viewed. So why this poster??? All I can really tell is that someone (I think Finecut) really, REALLY messed up and either horribly mistranslated the tagline, or didn’t do enough research to know that this kind of thing is REALLY NOT OKAY in western culture.

The above picture is shared and the internet backlash begins, fueled by tweets from prominent body-positivity activists like Tess Holliday. Even Chloe Grace Moretz speaks out against it, because she of all people KNOWS that that’s not what the movie is about. The internet then finds the old teasers from before the movie was revamped and it makes things worse. Producer Sujin Hwang profusely apologizes and says that that is NOT the message of the movie. Locus pulls the advertising campaign, and takes down the two old teasers.

“Our film, a family comedy, carries a message designed to challenge social prejudices related to standards of physical beauty in society by emphasizing the importance of inner beauty.”

- Producer Sujin Hwang

Voice director Tony Bancroft also tried to explain the situation:

“The truth is the film has a body-positive message as its core theme–it’s the opposite of what reports are saying. The problem is one poorly translated movie poster that has been taken dramatically out of context.”

- Voice Director Tony Bancroft

And then... There was nothing for a while. The movie didn’t come out in 2018 and was delayed. From what I can tell, I DON’T believe this delay was related to the Cannes backlash. I think it was mostly due to Locus’s limited budget and resources, because as we know, animation is difficult, time-consuming, expensive, and easy to do badly but hard to do well. Also, probably with Jin Kim and Tony Bancroft’s influence, they REALLY wanted to make sure to do a good job with the animation because they now had a great story and they really wanted the movie to be a quality, worldwide hit that would kind of put South Korean feature animation on the map. Just take a look at how nice the final animation was:

The movie was released in South Korea on July 25th, 2019. Unfortunately, the damage was done in the English-speaking markets and it was not released to an English-speaking audience until June 22, 2020, when it was released digitally in the UK. At the time of this post, there is no set US release date, but the distribution rights were recently bought by Lionsgate and the MPAA gave the film an official PG rating.

So who’s to blame? There’s no good answer. You could blame Locus for making those old teasers. You could blame Finecut for the competely tonedeaf Cannes poster. You could even blame cancel culture for raging against the movie based on one poster and two old teaser trailers without researching what the movie was actually about.

All I know is, it’s a damn shame.

#mooncactus #red shoes and the seven dwarfs #red shoes and the 7 dwarfs #animation #animation production #animation history #red shoes movie #redshoes #jin kim #tony bancroft

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petitfanboy · 3 years

Text

Comprehensive and in-depth analysis of Asuka and Shinji relationship in 3.0+1.0, implications for the ending and why many youtube Eva analysis videos titles I believe are wrong. (Spoilers ahead)

Preface

It seems it was yesterday when I wrote an extended essay regarding the essential and critical relationship of Asuka and Shinji in Evangelion for the last time. However, seven years have passed.

My idea here is to write, in general lines, about the relationship of Asuka and Shinji in the last movie and the ending and its implications in a more detailed way. I will use different analyses I have read so far besides mine, and you will find the links to all of them in the text.

I have tried to maintain an analysis that followed the narrative plot and what I believe is closer to what the director wants to express. However, as Anno himself has said multiple times, his work may inspire different feelings in different people, so I understand where the differences might come from and, in no way, this is intended as a confrontation to other opinions and theories.

Please, let me start with an introduction.

Introduction

While a lot has changed for me in these years, my view of A/S relationship in the whole Eva universe, including their dynamics, meaning, and canonical aspects have not changed.

Long story short, A/S represent core aspects of the message Evangelion wants to transmit: The Hedgehog's dilemma, the fear of connecting and rejection while having a strong desire to be loved and understood, and finally, the pursuit of happiness. Asuka and Shinji are opposites on their outside and equals on their inside. A perfect match for exploring those issues.

RoE makes clear their similarities

Asuka and Shinji similarities

Evangelion arrives at a fulfilling conclusion at the end, showing us how it is possible to overcome the abovementioned problems. To depict that, it always involves resolving the different issues Asuka and Shinji have between them, becoming closer, opening to one another and, probably and eventually, staying together.

Evangelion portrays that resolution using scenes showing the exact moment of the change in A/S dynamics, the moment when both pursued real connection starts. What happens after that change is unknown, but the intention is clear: once they begin to make an effort, they have the chance to be happy together.

Before the release of 3.0+1.0, different spoilers and youtube video’s titles ruined my life, as I suppose that happened to some of you. It had such a significant impact on me that it is hard to define with words. Not because I was an angry asushin fanboy as some might classify me, but because, had it been confirmed, it would have meant that the message that Evangelion has been constructing since its first airing was shattered to pieces. I could not accept it.

At that specific moment, the Eva Extra Ex manga came and saved me.

Eva Extra Ex Manga Translated

I cannot highlight enough how important this manga was and still, it is. For me, it represented a call from Anno himself, saying: Do not worry, Evangelion is going to keep being Evangelion. I still recall the endless discussions on the internet when 3.0 came out about the effect of the time-skip, in what lousy state the relationship between Shinji and Asuka was (or if it was even inexistent!) and how Evangelion was going to transmit another message in the end. For me, there were always precise moments in 3.0 that pointed against those conclusions. But with Eva Extra, everything changed. It tied aspects of 2.0 and 3.0 very nicely and allowed us to discover more regarding Asuka's feelings and motivations.

With the first interaction in the manga between Asuka and Mari, we see that Asuka still has (deep) feelings for Shinji. As the story progresses, we see how Asuka reacts to Mari's teasing and how unconvinced Mari is of all the bravado that she displays. A/S relationship, alongside their communication and hedgehog's dilemma related problems, still existed in the present timeline of the events of 3.0 and 3.0+1.0.

God's in his heaven all right with the world.

Chapter 1: The houses of healing

Instead of speaking of every Shinji/Asuka interaction scene, I will try to make this analysis lighter by talking about how it progresses across the film and focusing only on key scenes.

The film's first part explains how Shinji achieves healing after understanding how people around him are friendly, which is a big difference from EoE. In EoE, it was impossible. Shinji was left hurt and without any option to heal. He ultimately achieved healing through his experiences in instrumentality, leading to the ending and the hope/love message we all know in One More Final: I need you.

This process, this healing, happens in a precise location. That is the reason for the chapter's title. I took the liberty of naming this first chapter as the eighth chapter of Tolkien's book The Return of the King. But, what place is it?

Initially, Shinji is taken to Toji's house. While that place suits Rei, who will understand the basic meaning of life and being human, Shinji makes no progress there. Interestingly, Kensuke sees how Shinji is not making any progress and suggests he should go with him to his house. Why? It is driven by his new parental role, reminiscent of Kaji. He thinks why Shinji is in such a state and understand his needs at that moment. Besides, with or without knowing it, he reunites Shinji and Asuka under the same roof and the same parental figure.

I cannot say that he willingly wanted to reunite Shinji with Asuka, although I am sure he thought it was a direct consequence of carrying Shinji with him, so he was happy with that idea. As we know from 2.0 and the original series, their friends are the ones who notice Asuka and Shinji bond, so it would not be strange that Kensuke wanted to reunite both of them.

With or without Kensuke's will, bringing Shinji to Kensuke's house mirrors Misato's apartment, but with a male figure as the leader (i.e. A Kaji instead of Misato). It is a comeback to better times. Kensuke takes the parental figure for both Shinji and Asuka, as Misato did when Asuka moved in 2.0 for both children. This time, Asuka is the one who is already living there (previously it was Shinji), and Shinji is the one who arrives later. In 3.0+1.0 Misato cannot fulfil her maternal role anymore, as explained later in the film (and redeemed at the end).

Let me linger on this parallel. In 2.0, when Asuka arrives at Misato's house and introduces Asuka to Shinji, we have the romantic comedy scene of the shower a few minutes later. The scene makes us understand that they feel some attraction to each other, albeit in a very early stage (and introduces PenPen to Asuka). Time forward, this first interaction is repeated in Kensuke's house. When Shinji arrives, he finds Asuka naked after having a shower. This time, no reaction is seen from either part explicitly. Neither Shinji nor Asuka blushed or overreacted, but Asuka clearly states her disappointment, which shows us her desire that Shinji reacted, that Shinji expressed attraction towards her. A significant line that adds up to all the previous evidence about Asuka's persistent feelings for Shinji. What about Shinji? There is a minor detail. When he sees Asuka naked, he stares at her with a glare that is just a mix of emotions. Although it is difficult to tell what he is thinking, Asuka is directly opposite him, and he can see both the DSS choker and her body. However, he only notices the choker when she wraps herself with a towel. Draw your conclusions.

From that point onwards, we get a few scenes representing the problem Asuka and Shinji have communicating and how alike they are. When Shinji throws up for the first time, Asuka explains to Kensuke why Shinji behaves like that and shuts himself off. However, she is doing the same, playing with her console. Asuka's video game is Shinji's SDAT. Asuka hates the behaviour of Shinji because she sees her flaws in him.

Despite all the façade, she tries to communicate and help Shinji repeatedly in the coming scenes, checking on him on several occasions. Whenever she does that, the movie clearly shows us that she has abandoned her Shinji-like behaviour, showing us the console turned off.

Asuka and her videogame

The climax of their conflict is the force-feeding scene. But before analysing that scene, let me tell you a few more details.

I believe that the mirroring of Misato's apartment is portrayed through other details. For example, the name KenKen might have been chosen in honour of the missing companion from Misato's apartment: PenPen.

Furthermore, while some people might find odd the tendency of Asuka to be naked, this is driven by her disgust with her own body, which is shown in the Eva Extra manga. Finally, to enforce the idea that the relationship between Kensuke and Asuka is different from the one that she and Shinji have, it is essential to notice how Kensuke calls them. He calls them by their surnames, Shikiname and Ikari, placing distance between them.

Let's return to the force-feeding scene. In that scene, Asuka wants to help him, which is why she feeds him, and at the same time, she explains her frustration regarding the lack of reaction and understanding on his part. The conflict between them is portrayed similarly to the Eva 03 incident in 2.0

Visual comparison 1

Visual comparison 2

She is trying to understand him, and she tells him rather precisely why she thinks he is in such a state. She only wants him to reciprocate that understanding, and she wants him to think and explain why she punched him after seeing each other after 14 years. I must highlight the punch's importance. It summarises their communication problems, their conflict. Eva clarifies it in 3.0 using the same parallelisms as other communication problems, like Gendo and Shinji.

However, we know how she feels. The Eva extra manga gives us that insight. She has feelings for Shinji but hates his inaction due to his internal struggles. The hedgehog's spikes have been replaced by a punch. If they can talk about the punch, they will start communicating.

From an external view, Shinji reacts to being force-fed in a way that probably is not what Asuka wanted. Shinji leaves the house, followed secretly by Asuka, in another display of how Asuka feels internally. It is another parallelism with Misato's apartment, again with a reversal of roles between Shinji and Asuka.

Parallelism

However, we will learn in future events that Shinji started to think about what Asuka told him at that moment, so he listened to her.From this point onwards, Shinji will deal with his thoughts and come to an understanding with himself. It is not achieved alone, but with the help of Rei and, although not directly, Asuka. She is the one who directs Rei to the place where Shinji is and continues checking on him to see that everything is going fine. She is there.

Asuka cares

When Shinji grows up and maturates, we have the first bidirectional communication attempt between Asuka and Shinji. While she asks Shinji if he feels better, he responds with only sounds. Yet, this is the first time they have tried to talk about their respective problems and emotions calmly. We will see this pattern repeat itself several times in the movie: Shinji grows a bit, and then Asuka opens herself another bit. It is very interesting to see Asuka's glare. Asuka is drawn with that glare whenever she is looking at Shinji in a positive/concerning him way. We will return to that later. Besides, she speaks to him without looking at her console.

All this healing process ends in a sentence that is easily overlooked. The night Kensuke is discussing with Asuka the plans to return to the Wunder, Shinji comes home and says, "I am home". It is the reflection of Shinji's complete healing. Thanks to his growth, he has found a new place where he belongs once more. It let us understand why he will consider that this place is important for Asuka too. Both have suffered the same parental love deprivation, lacking a place where they truly belong. Finding a place that they can call home is part of their way to happiness and usually happens before both connect.

The film also let us see how Shinji heals, comparing it with the healing of one of the village's dogs

Now, Shinji is ready to go with Asuka to the Wunder and start a transformative journey for himself and those around him. But first, let me post a few more details, some of which I had not noticed until doing some research on the internet:

Visual comparisons that highlight the similar role of Kensuke as Kaji (Parental role)

2. Asuka's scarf to hide her DSS choker.

3. The possible futon share between Asuka and Shinji, showing how she cares about him.

Chapter 2: A trip in the Wunder

The most relevant scene for their relationship in the Wunder is Asuka's confession. However, there are a couple of interesting interactions before that. The first one is the display of Asuka's jealousy of Sakura when she sees her interaction with Shinji, saying, "Are you his wife?"

The second one happens when Asuka meets Mari. While loaded with fanservice, this interaction is not trivial. Mari's teasing is an essential element in the Rebuild series, even more knowing how important the character of Mari will become at the end. She seems to be aware of Asuka's real feelings, and we know from the Eva extra manga that she tries to push Shinji and Asuka together, which I will come back to later. Asuka replies to Mari's teasing that Shinji "does not need a lover, he needs a mother". This sentence is a double edge sword. First, it shows Asuka's interest in Shinji as a romantic partner, given her deception, and actually, Asuka is saying this sentence while she is playing the videogame, so probably she is hiding her feelings, shutting herself oof the world as Shinji used to do. Second, it shows the problems they face: Communication and maturity. Maturity, because Asuka feels that Shinji has not changed as she has had, and communication, because as we will soon know, Asuka also wants that figure in her life. However, it is not true that Shinji has not grown up. It is just that they have not tried to communicate again, and thus, she does not know about Shinji's recent developments

Everything will change when Asuka faces the reality of possible death. Before the "final battle", she decides to reach out for Shinji. After Mari introduces herself to Shinji in an awkward way that will be important in the ending, Asuka repeats her question. In reality, she asks if he has thought about her, how she feels and everything she has gone through. To Asuka's surprise, Shinji answers the question, blaming his inaction. Taking this as a partial sign of maturity and growth, Asuka starts opening herself, although not wholly, a sign that Shinji's answer might not have been entirely correct. Besides, her body language is similar to the previous lift scenes in Evangelion, where we know she hid her real emotions.

She will equal what to tell Shinji to Shinji's growth. Therefore, she explains to him how she liked him 14 years ago, but not how she feels now. Furthermore, she leaves before Shinji can reply to her statement, leaving Shinji staring back at her through the glass. So, it is Mari again who makes us understand that this has been a sign of communication that goes in the right direction. She congratulates Shinji and stimulates him to continue like this. Again, Mari is trying to solve Asuka and Shinji's problems. Mari says goodbye in Chinese to Shinji (perhaps, a way to tell us that the spell of goodbye works, as they meet again later) and goes to do the same with Asuka, asking her if she feels better. Mari is trying to make Asuka see that opening herself to Shinji will bring happiness to her too.

Nevertheless, we must not forget that the short confession happened because Asuka thought this might have been the end. In a sense, it almost was.

Chapter 3: I need you

This chapter starts after Shinji and Gendo have resolved their issues. As I explained before, the need of resolving their parental matters will be critical to both Shinji and Asuka. The same happened in EoE. Asuka gets to know her mother in her battle against the mass-produced Eva, and Shinji learns about his father's plans and mother during instrumentality. After those experiences and their other interactions through instrumentality, they arrive at the I need you scene where they open to each other.

Gendo gets off the train, and the control of instrumentality is handed over to Kaworu. While Gendo was willing to sacrifice everything for his sake, the growth of Shinji reaches its maximum at this point. Shinji decides to take the reversal role of his father. Even if he is heartbroken or it is a hard and not a pleasant experience, he wants to help Asuka and those who were nice to him. This is the transformative journey that Shinji accomplishes in RoE that marks a completely different path from NGE+EoE.

I worded the sentence highlighting Asuka because those are the literal words of Shinji, naming Asuka as an individual and using the Japanese word "minna" for the rest, which could be the rest of his friends or even the rest of humanity. Shinji has learnt that he must give without seeking anything in return. He must stop thinking about himself only. He is going to help their friends without any positive repercussions on himself. As he later will explain, he plans to rewrite the world with the new spear given by Misato to get rid of the Evas and what they represent, stopping the cycle of suffering that comes with them, and let their friends live a happy life.

Symbolism of the spear

Interestingly, he does not explain this to Asuka and only mentions it to Rei, with some hesitation, which is what prompts him to tell her that Mari would come for him eventually. That behaviour is because for getting rid of the Eva and rewriting the world, he needs to impale himself with the spear inside Eva 01. While we do not know for sure the effects on Shinji, the way it is portrayed resembles a willing sacrifice, a person opening himself to that terrible outcome for a better benefit for their friends. Besides, we must not forget that the sync rate of Shinji with his Eva was infinite at that time, so probably the expected outcome would be the death of the pilot and he knew about that.

This situation is what gives us an essential context for understanding Shinji's actions. As Asuka earlier, he also thought that he might not return. But let’s see what happens with Asuka and Shinji.

The first to be saved is Asuka. As some sort of guardian for Asuka (and Shinji, and even Asuka/Shinji relationship), Mari reminds Shinji before he leaves her entry plug in the anti-universe that he has to find her. And he does.

There are many iconic and meaningful landscapes in Evangelion. Still, none of them has the symbolism, meaning, emotional associations and beauty as the beach where Shinji and Asuka laid at the EoE has. Although it is not the same beach and there are different details, the scene's meaning is clear. It was the scenario of One More Final: I need you. Thus, the location evokes that meaning, where Shinji and Asuka connected and expressed their emotions and feelings in EoE. To increase and highlight that intention, the first shot we have of the landscape is a full white moon, a remnant from the N3I. The moon has always been a poetic figure for love, and it brightens the sand creating the white beach. It is the perfect scenario to share an intimate moment.

Then, a saved, Eva curse-free Asuka awakes. The first sentence references the fact that the curse of Eva is lifted, and she can sleep. As some people detail, the plugsuit is a combination of different ones. This phenomenon will repeatedly happen in the anti-universe. Long story short, as I do not want to enter the terrain of the time loops and different universes, I believe that the idea behind that symbolism is that Evangelion is a multiverse. The anti-universe might somehow connect them, and we can see them. However, the characters remain the same from the universe where they come from. Only those annotated in the book of life remember those other universes or RoE time-loops (which seem to affect only the RoE universe and seem not to be confirmed in the other universes), and probably, as Shinji is in charge of the flow of events, the bleeding in his memories is what drives those changes.

The fact that Asuka wears a plugsuit that is a combination of previous ones, does not mean that she is Soryu or several Asukas at the same time. She is Shikinami, and it is the first time that she is on that beach. Her background and memories are from the RoE timeline, as she does not express, as Shinji will do later, any perception of that phenomenon. The same goes for their location. While they are on a similar beach, it is not the same where Soryu and Shinji found themselves in EoE. It is probably the bleeding of details between universes that wraps the metanarrative message that gives importance to the scenery (that beach is where they connected and accepted each other both in EoE and in this movie, and the place will always symbolise that)

Even those aware of other timelines (Kaworu and Shinji at that point) can only remember that they met before or have a déjà vu feeling. They do not have a complete insight into what happened. I think that this bleeding of details gives an important message: All the universes of Evangelion exist. Soryu and Shinji's story from NGE and EOE has happened, albeit in another universe, part of a larger multiverse. In a sense, it is saying that NGE+EoE is as canon as RoE, something essential to maintain coherency. The difference is that they happen in different physical planes of space and time.

Let's return to the fact that a grown Asuka is on the beach. The camera plays, repeating the same shots as in EoE, linking both scenes thematically again. Moreover, the visual links expands to other couples in Eva.

Here, Shinji sits next to Asuka, with his arms around his legs and a completely different gaze, making clear Shinji is happy to see her. The events follow this path:

Asuka sees Shinji next to her and calls him "Baka Shinji" in a not mean way. A way that shows us that despite calling him "Baka Shinji" time and time again, that did not mean that she truly hated him.

Shinji verbalises his happiness to see her again and says thanks to her for letting him know her feelings previously.

Shinji reciprocates the same feelings, using the past tense. Why? Well, at least this time is more straightforward than explaining why he choked her. Shinji has several reasons for this: First, it directly answers what Asuka told him earlier. And second, he wants to save and return her to the Eva free world, and thus, knowing that he might not return, hides his current feelings.

Asuka is surprised that her feelings are reciprocated. She blushes and turns to her left, hiding her real feelings at that moment to Shinji. In the next shot, we see a happy, blushed Asuka smiling.

The reaction of Asuka and all the previous evidence from the movie and the manga make it evident that she still has feelings for him. With his body language, Shinji is also transmitting to us that he is hiding his true feelings. Besides, a past tense confession for Shinji makes no sense at all. Shinji has been sleeping those 14 years. For him, those moments where "he liked" Asuka are only a few weeks or months ago from this moment on the beach. We will get the last evidence that Shinji still has feelings for Asuka, thanks to Kaworu. He, who is aware of all the timelines and universes, asks Shinji if he will feel lonely letting Asuka go. Shinji, with the same body language and a sad face, says no. We must link Shinji's behaviour to the fact I explained earlier. Shinji wanted to sacrifice himself for the happiness of Asuka and everybody.

This links with another idea. The scene is fast-paced. Once Shinji confesses his feelings, he says goodbye to Asuka and the Kensuke sentence. While this might be a reminiscence of Asuka's behaviour in the Wunder, allowing him to avoid any reply, that would have made things more difficult. However, his words are carefully chosen. We know from Rei's experiences in the village that "goodbye, is a spell of magic to see each other again. Despite his plans, Shinji's wish is to see her again

The meaning of goodbye

Then we have the Kensuke sentence. I wanted to talk about this in a simple way. Asuka needed the same parental role as Shinji, and through her experiences in instrumentality, she finds that she has that part of herself fulfilled by Kensuke. However, things get complicated if we start to notice some details. The fact that Kensuke calls Asuka "Asuka" instead of Shikinami and that the doll with Kensuke inside of it appears in the Rei scene has raised concerns that the Kensuke who appears in Asuka's instrumentality scenes is in fact Shinji, helping Asuka to find her place in a future world without him. In more detail:

All Asuka's scenes in instrumentality revolve around Shinji, nothing from Kensuke. It seems that Shinji wants to revert that and makes her conscious that she can find a place to belong and the parental role she needs, especially taking into consideration that he was about to die.

Instrumentality scenes comparison

She verbalises that she has no place to belong yet (despite living with Kensuke for some time), so Shinji wants to clarify that point for her.

It answers why Kensuke calls her Asuka and not Shikinami and why the doll appears again in Rei's scenes on the stage. Furthermore, it connects Asuka's memories with the beach scene, as it is after Kensuke says, "Asuka is Asuka" that she wakes up next to Shinji.

The original source of the theory for me was this video

In the end, from Asuka's instrumentality to the end of the beach scene, Shinji wants her to understand that she has a place to belong alongside the parental figure that she needs and that she is also loved by him, although he is going to let her go for her benefit. A true act of selflessness given his feelings. That is heart-warming and an actual act of love on his part.

Then, something happens amid the fast-paced scenes. The camera shows Asuka with an open mouth, sleeping(?) and Mari next to her. Wait. When did Mari come in? Why? I am not sure of the answers to these questions. It shows that Mari is more than we thought and has more knowledge about the anti-universe and what is happening. We do not know if this scene happens just after Shinji’s words or something has happened in the middle, as Asuka's expression seems not to match the last we see from her. Is there a deleted scene in the middle? Mari says her goodbye to Asuka. Mari has been a bridge between Shinji and Asuka and a close friend to her. In some sense, and continuing the parallelisms between Shinji and Asuka, she has been her Kaworu

Interestingly, Mari only appears to say bye to Asuka and not Rei or Kaworu. At the same time, Shinji only says sayonara to Asuka, the only character that does not have a handshake and a shutter closed. While there is no definitive answer to this fact, I believe it is crucial regarding the ending, as it will establish a continuity between the goodbyes and future gatherings, all directed by Mari, and that is why she appears probably (and she might be the one ejecting Asuka’s entry plug)

After Mari's take care, Asuka wakes up in the entry plug and is ejected by Unit 13. It is important to note that Asuka leaves without any kind of voluntary movement. She awakes in different locations and is the Eva 13 who ejects her. We do not know Asuka’s opinion about this at any time, or how she feels about being saved leaving Shinji behind.

Chapter 4: The sacrifice is stopped

After Kaworu and Rei's scenes, which I am not going to talk about, Shinji decides to carry out the Neon Genesis. We get to the moment where he is ready to sacrifice himself, in some sort of redemption of humanity's sins for creating the Evas and all the suffering that accompanied them. But then, Yui appears.

She stops the spear, protecting Shinji, and takes him out of the Eva 01. Yui’s wish is that he can live in that Neon Genesis world where the Evangelions do not exist, where people, and Shinji, can be happy. This moment changes everything. The plot twist will allow Shinji and Evangelion to have a happy and hopeful ending, thanks to Yui's (+/- Mari) plan.

The sacrifice of Shinji's parents for the sake of their child redeems them from the emotional deprivation Shinji has endured all his life. Shinji, mimicking the last instrumentality scene in EoE, returns to the anti-universe, now alone.

Chapter 5: Mari to the rescue

Shinji waits patiently on a blue water beach. Slowly, he starts to fade away in the anti-universe, as there are no others to relate with. This concept was explored both in EoE and at the end of the TV series. Then, Mari comes with her Evangelion to rescue him and take him back to the real world, now the Eva-free world, as promised to Misato. This is very important, as it highlights that Shinji is not going to a parallel universe. He is returning to the same world where his friends are (Asuka for sure, Kaworu will meet him again too, and Rei, honestly, it is not so obvious where she decides to go in her scenes, but probably too)

Mari's last Evangelion is important too. Contrary to Kaworu and Rei, I believe it is how Mari and Shinji returned to the ordinary world (probably with its entry plug, like Asuka). We might never know that. Then, the next scene is the opposite scene from Asuka in the entry plug, but with Shinji. Now we see an adult Shinji in a train station.

There are different questions to answer to understand what is happening in the ending. However, I think that the film's conclusion is the same regardless of the answer to those questions.The questions are:

Is the train scene set in the AU or in the real world?

Are Mari and Shinji the people we see coming out from the station?

Did Asuka arrive at Kensuke’s house or is she present there if that is the real world?

I tried to sum up the different theories in simple pictures.

My personal opinion just after watching the movie was that the first scenario was the most likely. However, after seeing different analyses, I am not 100% convinced and I cannot give my support to other theoriesyet.

The sources for the other theories are these

And the fact that the pilots might be illusions come from here

As you can see, regardless of the answer to the questions from above, they always end up meeting again. While this is not explicitly shown in the movie, I strongly believe it is the reason why Mari appears at the end scene. Mari is the beacon light that will guide him in this new world, and there is a lot of visual comparisons that prove this fact, comparing Mari to Misato, and knowing the role of Mari in Gendo and Yui’s life. Furthermore, a lot of people consider that the fact that Asuka is alone in the platform is a sign that she is there to be reunited with Shinji, as she has no partner and seems to be playing with something like her old videogame. All of this is enough evidence to stop thinking about this ending as “Shinji choosing Mari to live a happier life” or “to let go the past”.

Comparison

The role of Mari in Yui/Gendo life. A hint in her possible role with Asuka/Shinji

Mari and Shinji, Mari and Gendo, the same fate.

I am sure that Mari will reunite Asuka and Shinji. She has been a bridge between them since 3.0, and the Eva Extra manga gives more insight into that respect. Besides, she did the same with Yui and Gendo, and there are a lot of comparisons between Yui/Gendo and Asuka/Shinji in a visual way throughout the series.You will find Asuka glancing at Shinji with the same face and eyes expression as Yui did.

We have talked about this before.

While it would be interesting to know exactly how Shinji arrives there, the narrative conclusion that they will meet again, independently of what has happened to the world, will not change. This resonates with the title of the movie "thrice upon a time", as evidenced here.

There have been multiple Evangelion universes, both with and without Evas (EoE ends with a world without Evas, as the manga does) and in all of them, all of them, Asuka and Shinji meet again. And this is really important, as now they can communicate and have the chance of growing together and be happy.

Conclusion

Asuka and Shinji are two sides of the same coin, with different defence strategies in the context of the hedgehog's dilemma. Despite their mutual attraction, they are incapable of communicating and reaching each other. In EoE, it took almost the end of the world and humanity to understand that it is thanks to not living with the fear of pain and rejection that we can understand and accept others, ultimately overcoming the hedgehog's dilemma. This is expressed by the caress of Asuka to Shinji in EoE. This loving gesture shows us that the characters start understanding each other and have the chance to be happy together. EoE ending is a message of love and hope.

A/S relationship will represent this conflict wherever they are portrayed, in a cycle of desire/attraction, which leads to conflict and a resolution with understanding and love once they learn to accept each other and start communicating. In EoE is quite visual and displays both of them together at the very end. The manga is less explicit and more hinted at, but the scene at the train depicts how they connect in that new world where they will understand each other.

Thrice upon a time is not an exception to this rule. The last scene of EoE and the manga that involves Asuka and Shinji is the moment they connect, communicate, and change the way they treat each other. In 3.0+1.0 their final scene together is the beach scene, where they confess their mutual feelings in what is a never seen before sincerity and openness between them. Then, a world without Eva is created (in EoE this is exemplified by the crucified Eva and in the manga is more similar to the movie) and we know that Mari will guide Shinji to a safe return to that Eva free world and a gathering with Asuka and his friends. Despite not appearing on screen, all the narrative of the movie, and the whole of Evangelion, makes us understand that they will understand each other more and more and will be more honest towards their feelings, giving them the chance of being happy. As a consequence of that, the leitmotif of Evangelion is repeated once more.

The message of 3.0+1.0 is not about letting go of the past because you have grown up or let it go to move forward. The message is that it is thanks to going through those good and bad experiences that life gifts us, accepting the chance of suffering pain, that we can mature and learn. This learning will make us understand ourselves and those who surround us more, making us love ourselves and others, having, ultimately, the chance of being happy, loved and finding a place to belong to.

And it is in the middle of this struggle, that the love story of Asuka and Shinji shines, reminding us that humans can connect and be happy.

If they can overcome their problems, so will us.

Everybody finds love in the end.

One More Conclusion: Where is Anno's wife?

What a ride! I think I have written about almost all of Shinji and Asuka's interactions, perhaps leaving just a few ones at the beginning of the movie, and without the mention of Anno as Shinji or his wife as Mari in all the essay! While extremely popular, the theory that Mari represents his wife has many flaws and I still do not understand where it is based. From the character being designed without the supervision of Hideaki Anno to the direct denial from his wife, including that the theory does not match the narrative plot. While self-insertions and story developments related to personal experiences are not rare in storytelling, we cannot explain everything in Evangelion by metanalysis. While Anno's struggles with depression have shaped NGE+EoE, the development and growth of the characters in their own arcs are what matter when analysing them. Shinji might be inspired by his awful experience at that time, but as we said earlier, Asuke is shaped like Shinji, albeit with different behaviour. Therefore, we should accept that both of them are depictions of Anno and not only the masculine figure.

In the end, it is Shinji who rejects instrumentality, returns to the real world and is caressed by Asuka in EoE. The characters do that, not Anno. The same happens in this last scene. While the location of the train station and city is totally related to the director, what is going to happen to the characters in the context of the plot is an important thing to consider when analysing them.

From NGE+EoE to this last movie Shinji grows and understands the path to be happy always. This is not exclusive of the RoE saga because Anno has overcome his problems. Therefore, conclusions such as "now Anno is happier, so he wants Shinji to be happy" are not supported. What changed in RoE is that the growth of Shinji happens prior to the last impact and instrumentality, instead of growing after those experiences. This allows the portrayal of a lighter version of Shinji in those dramatic moments, resembling more a traditional hero who saves his friends, instead of letting them down and then coming to an understanding all together (because everyone shares a slice of the guilt cake) in instrumentality.

I believe that it would be more fruitful if we took into consideration his wife's work in the way that this tweet states, rather than engage ourselves in discussions about meta self-insertions.

I hope my words have helped those who felt like me after the release of the movie.

Thank you very much for all your time reading this.

#Evangelion #Rebuild of Evangelion #Shin Evangelion #asuka shikinami langley #Shinji Ikari #asushin #asuka x shinji #shinji x asuka #las #everybody finds love in the end #thrice upon a time #evangelion 3.0+1.0 #Asuka and shinji will meet in all evangelion universes

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ackerfics · 3 years

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the parent trap — levi ackerman (iii)

part one | part two

— levi ackerman x female reader (modern au | the parent trap au)

— warnings: angst if you squint??? and another original character that was annoying to write

— summary: caelum was too excited coming back home to london but found out that there was someone ruining their plan with their advances.

— word count: 6.6k

— author’s notes: this has been updated yey !!! i’m so happy to finally write for their series again. i hope you enjoy reading this as much as i enjoyed writing it.

London was an entirely different world for the boy of eleven, blue-gray eyes memorizing every building and street as their car drove past the city.

The trip back home finished without a hitch; the only thing perplexing Caelum was that he was directed to the first-class section of the plane by one of the stewardesses. If there weren’t many people behind him, waiting for their turn to board on the plane, he would’ve stood longer at the entrance. The entire flight was spent vibrating with excitement on his seat, thoughts revolving around finally meeting you, his mother. His anticipation remained until he went out to look for Oluo at the airport, neck craning and standing on top of an airport seat to get a glimpse of the butler. Everything was going smoothly, Oluo never suspected anything when they did their handshake, however, the older man questioned him on his hair. Even though he practiced it a dozen times, Caelum froze in front of the narrowed eyes of their butler. Something was underlying in his gaze that made the gray-eyed boy nervous, managing out the reason for his undercut with a crafted smile.

“Now you remind me of someone I used to know when I went with your mother to a university overseas.”

Caelum was praying to any deity that this will not foil the plan.

If the first-class ticket and London’s bustling streets didn’t make Caelum awestruck, the house bearing the name [Last Name] in the gates definitely did. It was exactly like what was described to him and more. The first thing that came to his mind when he laid his eyes on the cozy home was that it looked like it belonged in a fairy tale. There were vines placed immaculately on the walls, presenting flowers with the color palette of lilacs, carnation pinks, and baby blues. The garden was a sight to behold and for Caelum, all the flowers he could remember were present there and taken with utmost care. Butterflies drifted in various areas of the estate, making it look magical than it already is.

It was a refreshing sight after all those years of seeing maroon and deep green walls.

When he heard the car door close behind him, Caelum jumped an inch in the air and composed himself. The tips of fashioning this aristocratic persona ringing in his head and reminding him of what he was here for — his gaze unknowingly going to the window above the front door, its curtains flying because of the wind. Oluo placed a gentle hand on the little boy’s shoulders, a smile painting the man’s lips as he gestured for the little master of the household to greet his awaiting family. With an excited smile, he went up the pathway and reached the door. When he placed a hand on the doorknob, he could feel his heart beating erratically in his chest with his cheeks hurting from how widely he was smiling since he landed from his flight.

A small, shaking hand was placed on top of his heart, a deep breath was released, and finally, Caelum opened the door.

A hallway greeted him, paintings coloring the plain background, and carpet leading to a set of stairs. There were two doorways on either side of the hallway. Caelum glanced at the closed door to the left side of the hallway before peeking excitedly at the doorway with a tantalizing smell emanating from it. As if he was about to enter Wonderland, the onyx-haired boy took careful steps into a vast living room. The couches were arranged to be surrounding a low table and facing a fireplace that was between two open doorways, which Caelum noticed was leading to a study or mini-library.

A vase with white roses behind the long couch caught his attention, making his way over there the moment he saw the card dangling from the stems. It wasn’t in him to be nosy but the scented card with romantic connotations was enough for him to feel nervous. The roses now didn’t sit right with him the more he stared at it. It was much too flamboyant for the eleven-year-old’s eyes after seeing the flirty card. He hoped to God that it wasn’t what he thinks it is.

Caelum looked up at the top of the wall presenting an open kitchen and dining table. There hung a banner with an explosion of colors saying, ‘Welcome home, Caelum’, in everything glittery that the kid snickered at. It sent a wave of warmth through his little body.

Then, there were giggles coming from the study — a series of small laughter that made Caelum abandon his curiosity of the feast dedicated to his homecoming. He followed the sound towards the library beside the living room, the rustic atmosphere reminding him of the library from the Beauty and the Beast. Even though a whole wall was covered with books from all generations, there was still an armchair positioned under the wide window letting in the cool breeze. A small laugh once again rang through the room. Caelum hesitantly glanced at the desk at the other end of the study, a person holding a newspaper piquing his interest.

Caelum remembered a name.

“Hange?”

A messy array of brown hair, shining glasses, and a lopsided smile were behind the newspaper. The person had stars in their eyes as they planted both hands on the desk, standing up from the chair with a squeal.

“Little bean! My, have you grown in those eight weeks. You’re practically a gangly young man now.”

Hange rounded the desk, arms wide open for the little boy running towards them. They let out a playful huff when Caelum wrapped his arms around their waist, the brown-haired person cooing. The little prince was like a koala, making Hange’s heart melt at the sight. They swayed the two of them back and forth, humming happily under their breath, smile so wide that they didn’t care if it hurt their face. Hange was so happy to finally have the boy home until their mood dampened a little when they felt their button-down shirt becoming wet by the second. Peering down at the onyx-haired boy, Hange panicked at the steady stream of Caelum’s tears, with the boy ducking down to hide his cherry red cheeks that seemed to bloom after realizing he carelessly cried.

“Holy shite, are you alright, little bean? Hey, you can talk to me, you know?”

The gray-eyed boy’s hug tightened around them, taking note of the warmth exuding from the person’s body and welcoming. “I’m home,” he muttered against the shirt of the family friend.

Hange smiled softly at the eleven-year-old boy, planting a kiss on the crown of his head. “Welcome home. Uhm, what are you doing, little bean?”

Caelum stopped from taking a deep breath against the crook of Hange’s neck, his face erupting in a pretty shade of rouge as he looked up at the brown-eyed person. His gaze bounced back from left to right, avoiding any eye contact with Hange. It was rarely that he could express his emotions freely like this and for once, it felt good. His whole life, he always kept his expressions in check when out of the comforts of his house, he hid them behind those scowls his classmates feared or the blank face he perfected under a certain someone’s guise. Caelum smiled brightly at Hange, eyes carrying an entire constellation map that the person gushed internally at. “Just smelling.”

“Smelling?”

“I’m creating a memory,” Caelum whispered only for the two of them, the books their witnesses.

Hange lightly tapped the boy’s nose with their finger. “So what do I smell like?”

“Years from now, I’ll always remember the person who taught me how to read and write short stories, acting them out before my eyes and making me see the beauty of the world. I’ll always remember this person and how they smell like,” he paused to inhale the older person’s scent, “old books, lavender, and orange marmalade.”

Hange snickered. “I miss you!”

“Caelum?”

The two pulled away, looking at the doorway towards the hallway. Hange had a knowing smile on their face, nudging the gray-eyed boy encouragingly to the direction of the melodious voice. “The queen is here, little bean. Go greet her.”

That gesture flew by Caelum’s head as he took careful steps out of the library and to the living room with wide eyes. It was finally happening. The moment he was waiting for all his life. The moment his father across the oceans was waiting for all those years of being separated. Caelum could barely contain the magnitude of feelings circling his stomach, going up towards his chest in the best way possible. He was nervous at the thought that what if you wouldn’t like him. He was excited to finally get a glimpse of your face in real life rather than in pictures. He felt like flying at every step leading him to the hallway that presented the winding stairs. Caelum gulped down his saliva before taking one step nearer the stairs.

There you were, looking like a seraph descending from the heavens with your white flowy, long-sleeved chiffon dress reaching to your toes. Or a fairy gracing the presence of the mortals as you stood barefoot on top of the stairs with the most beautiful smile Caelum received in his lifetime. Your hair was styled in effortless waves that framed your oneiric visage, eyes gleaming from the windows and hand pressed against your heart. Simple pieces of jewelry decorated your neck and wrists, making it seem like you were royalty. He could see how your breath hitched the longer you stared at him, almost as if you remembered something that was supposed to be locked and forgotten. He hoped it was because of this father that you smiled in a bittersweet manner that took Caelum’s breath away.

One thing was certain in the little boy’s mind — the pictures his dad owned didn’t do you justice.

“Mother,” Caelum managed to breathe out.

He can see Hange and Oluo peeking from the living room, the latter being the one tending to the finishing touches made by the cook of the family, but Caelum didn’t mind them witnessing the reunion of two pieces of an incomplete puzzle.

“You’re back,” you gleefully stated, carefully running down the steps of the stairs to engulf your son in a much-awaited hug. You planted a kiss on the side of his head and shoulder, feeling the boy nuzzling more into your figure.

You noticed how much he’s grown the past eight weeks he was away. Even if this was an opportunity for him to make some friends aside from the ones residing in your home, you didn’t want the only piece of your ex-husband to be away that long, much less with seas separating the two of you. Hours before Oluo told you through the telephone that Caelum’s flight just landed, you were mindlessly touching your bare ring finger, the silver band enclosing around it long gone and stored in the confines of your drawer. The blank sketchbook on top of your lap is forgotten with the unfinished sketches of beautiful wedding gowns that your clients requested. If this were set in the times when you were still a university student, the pages of this sketchbook would be filled with defined jawlines, soft light-colored eyes, and a small smirk that you loved so dearly. That person’s face can now be seen on your son, the undercut making his Ackerman features more pronounced.

You pulled away, placing both of your hands on the sides of Caelum’s face. “And with an undercut. Who helped you with this haircut?”

Caelum was crying when he answered, “A boy I met at camp. Do you hate it?” His face was contorted into a grimace since he knew looking like his father would probably affect you.

“Hate it?” You searched his face, kissing his forehead. “No, I absolutely love it. You look so much like someone I know.” Your eyes caught something shiny in his ears. A delighted gasp came out of your lips as you ran a finger on the silver stud earrings decorating Caelum’s ears. “Well, are there any other surprises? Bellybutton rings? Tattoos?” You shared a laugh with Caelum, only for the boy to start crying again. You caressed his cheek, wiping away a tear trickling down. “Oh, darling, what is it? Are you feeling blue at seeing me again?”

Caelum shook his head. “I just missed you so much, Mummy. Don’t worry, these are happy tears.”

You cooed, pulling the little boy in your arms again, patting his back soothingly. “I know.” You can feel him nuzzle his face on your neck, rubbing his back to help him calm down. “This summer has been too long without you, my little prince.” Your eyes met with Hange’s at the entrance of the living room and smiled when you saw them wiping away a stray tear.

“You have no idea, Mum.”

You pulled away from your son, cupping his face delicately on your palms. “Shall we have the feast that was waiting for our prince to come home? I’m sure you’re pretty famished from the flight.”

“Yes, little bean!” Hange exclaimed from the living room. “Oluo prepared the roasted beef especially for you. How about we murder that with our appetites?”

“Please don’t, Hange,” Oluo sighed at the animated person. “I don’t want to clean another mess in the dining table from you and the little prince’s small eating competition.”

“You spoilsport!”

Caelum laughed heartily. “I think that sounds amazing.”

Lunch was divine.

Caelum was hungry after that flight and all the pretending that he gobbled everything that he could place on his plate. It started with the mashed potatoes and gravy, something that he didn’t have for a long time. Then, he tasted the roasted beef Hange mentioned earlier and it took everything in him not to hum in satisfaction. He didn’t want his family to notice that he ate this dish in years when in fact, it was a certain someone’s favorite food. Hange continuously placed some more lunch on his plate that by the end of the meal, Caelum thought that there wasn’t any room in his stomach for dessert. You laughed at the boy’s remark and teased him that if he caught a glimpse of the sweet, he would think twice. And he did. The dessert that followed was a tall, clear glass of strawberry parfait that smelled heavenly for the onyx-haired boy. His father wasn’t too fond of sweets, which meant that whatever his old man was eating, he will entertain it, too. Parfaits after a hearty meal were just the cherry on top of a sundae.

“So you’re saying that you gained a friend in that camp?” Hange asked through a mouthful of the parfait. For some reason, Caelum still understood them despite the unintelligible blabber coming out of their mouth. “And that he’s like your soulmate?”

Caelum nodded as you scolded Hange. You took the napkin on your lap and dabbed it in the corners of your best friend’s mouth, making them presentable and not the mad scientist that they were known for in the university that they worked at. “Hange, at least use the napkin provided by Oluo.”

“Why would I do that when I have you?” Hange cackled after swallowing the full strawberry they plopped in their mouth.

You threw a playful glare their way. “Say that one more time and I won’t hesitate to throw you out of the house.”

“Oh, but you won’t! You love me too much to do that, [Name]!”

You shook your head with a smile before facing your son again with sparkling eyes. “So how did you and your friend meet, little prince?”

“We had a fencing match one time at camp,” he started, vibrantly ready to relate the story.

“Ooh!” Hange interrupted as if they were guests in a quiz show on the telly. “I bet you kicked your friend’s ass at first! You always had a knack for fencing even before Mike taught you the basics.”

Caelum choked on a strawberry, incredulously staring at the brown-haired person. Was he that weak compared to the person he was trying to be at the moment? Judging from the grin of Hange and the proud gleam in your eyes; that would be the case. The little boy they knew took private classes in fencing with a talented family friend, with his life homeschooled (the teacher in any field other than sports being the exuberant scientist just sitting across from him). And there he was, learned fencing because of a show his father was watching. He recalled everything that was told to him back at camp before engaging in an engrossing conversation with the members of his family.

“Uhm, he did a pretty good job parrying my attacks and I have to say, I was impressed when he managed to corner me in the pavilion. To think we managed our way there from the fields.” He prevented the grimace from surfacing. “But I was the one who pushed him in the washing area. His words were too colorful for the whole camp to hear — they gasped.”

Hange’s chortles rang through the dining area. Even Oluo smiled while he poured you another glass of iced tea. Your look of surprise was then replaced with a laugh, joining Hange, though yours weren’t as loud as theirs. “Little bean, now I need to see that!” The brown-haired person spoke in between laughs.

“It is quite funny,” you admitted with a light chuckle. “But think about it, we’re laughing at a boy’s demise.”

“What can I say, Hange’s happiness is too shallow these days,” Oluo interjected from beside the said person, making them stop for a moment to pout at the butler’s statement.

“At least I didn’t always have a stick up my arse,” Hange huffed. “You’re always moody, Oluo. One would think you won’t have any chances in picking up a partner in the future.”

Oluo gasped, a hand placed on his chest.

“Okay, you two, leave the fighting for when Caelum’s not in the room,” you reminded them with a cool stare over the rim of your glass. “This is his day after all.” When you saw them resort to glares to not spoil the atmosphere, you nodded in satisfaction. Placing the glass of iced tea on the coaster beside your plate, you turned to your son who was holding back his amused laughs. “What happened after that—?” Then, your phone rang and everyone’s eyes fixed on the device sitting at your side of the table. With a sheepish mutter of apologies, you stood up and answered the call from your wedding gown studio. “Hello, [Name] [Last Name] speaking.”

“Ma’am [Name], thank God you answered immediately,” Armin, your secretary, practically shouted in relief. “There was a problem here and we would like to ask for your inquiry. I know Caelum just got home today but Historia’s gown has some minor complications.”

You hummed, taking a glance at your son laughing at something Hange said (probably another one of their experiments that they recently tested out), and fixed a smile on your face. Armin was a sweet soul who always had a talent for managing your wedding gown business — being the brains of the whole team. You were kind of lucky when he applied to be your secretary because the way he organized everything around the studio and the way he conversed with your clients was just sent from the heavens. “How bad is it? What exactly did Historia say?” Your client, Historia Reiss, was one of the kindest people you welcomed in your studio. You only hoped this wasn’t as bad as you conjured in your mind because there’s not a negative thing that came out of that young woman’s lips.

“She said that the veil covers too much of her gown,” Armin sighed. There was a faint chatter in the background and you discerned Sasha’s voice asking if there was free lunch because Caelum came home. “Sasha, no, I won’t ask her that. Just buy something from the bakery down the road,” Armin exasperatedly answered his colleague’s question, his voice too far away from his phone. “Hello, Ma’am, I’m sorry, Sasha asked me something.”

You laughed. “No, it’s alright, Armin. Good to know that you’re all lively there. How about this, I’ll be right over the studio in about ten minutes to fix the issue with Historia’s veil and bring you some packed food. Is that alright with you?”

“Fuck, yes!” Came from the other line, followed by a “Sasha, she can hear you, mind your language! Ah, yes, Ma’am! We will be waiting for your arrival. Have a safe trip going here!”

“Always, Armin,” you replied, the call cutting off. You turned around and faced your little family with a bright smile. “Sorry, I bet that was a loud call.”

“Was that from the studio, Miss [Name]?” Oluo voiced out the collective question of the people at the dining table.

You nodded, taking a seat beside your son again. “They have some small problems with my current client’s veil. Didn’t specify the problem because Sasha asked Armin if I should bring some food over to them. They must be hungry from all those clients coming over for a photo shoot.”

“Ah, I miss those little rascals,” Hange sighed, leaning back on the chair with a satisfied hum.

“They’re not little, Hange. Connie is practically taller than all of us here.”

“Ah, I miss those rascals.” Oluo snorted from behind Hange’s chair. The brown-haired person turned around to give the butler a playful, narrowed look. “I heard that.”

You chuckled at their little banter, eagerly facing your son. He rose an eyebrow at your hopeful face so you told him with an arm wrapped around his shoulder. “Hey, little prince, want to clear your afternoon schedule and come with me to the studio? Everybody there has been dying to see you after eight weeks.”

“Really?!” Caelum brightened at the invitation. Too much that Hange and Oluo stopped their bickering to stare at the boy with surprised faces. Of course, their little prince always held an excitement whenever you invite him to your studio but this time, it seemed like he was too eager as if he never stepped foot in your safe haven of tulles and silks. Upon realizing the mistake, Caelum let out a nervous laugh, scratching his undercut sheepishly. “Uhm, because I miss them, too. Being away from home for eight weeks is taking a toll on me. Makes me forget the little things here.” He didn’t meet any pair of eyes around the dining room, hoping that they wouldn’t pay too much mind in his little slip-up.

It was always your son’s enthusiasm that made you cherish him his whole life. He was rather closed-off with strangers, making his first meeting with the people in the studio rocky. Seeing him express such joy at the prospect of meeting Armin, Sasha, and Connie again sent a smile on your face. You pinched his cheek endearingly, kissing the crown of his head right after. “I understand, sweetheart. Whenever I go overseas for a client, I would forget what home feels like, too. Well, then,” you turned to the two people smiling at your interaction with Caelum, “will you two hold the fort while we go visit the bridal shop?”

Hange flashed a huge grin that made you wary for a second, two thumbs-up for the dining room to see. “Don’t worry, [Name]! You know I’m more than capable of keeping this place squeaky clean and free of malignant atmosphere.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Oluo murmured.

“Again, I heard that, Oluo!”

“So we’re just going to forget how you nearly set the kitchen on fire because you wanted to try baking? Or that time where the house looked like a pigsty because you stayed inside your lab for who knows how long while we’re away for Miss [Name]’s client in Greece? Or—“

Hange waved their hands around. “Okay, okay! You don’t have to remind me of those, Oluo!” They all but whined.

“We don’t have to worry about those anymore because Oluo is here to make sure nothing of that sort happens again,” you told them, standing up from your seat and offering a hand to Caelum. “And, Oluo, can you pack some food fit for five people? I bet Sasha didn’t eat her lunch yet.” The little boy took your waiting palm with a warm smile, returning it with a grin of your own. “I’ll head first to my room to pick up my sandals and handbag, then we’ll be good to go.”

Caelum followed you out of the house after changing into a baby blue suit. He didn’t have any of this clothing in his closet back home, fidgeting with the collar of his undershirt that was buttoned up because he couldn’t breathe properly. The two of you were inside the family car, the chauffeur following your instructions of heading straight to the studio when you noticed how he kept fiddling with the top buttons of his white button-down. Reaching a gentle hand on his neck, you unbuttoned the too-tight undershirt, chuckling in disbelief. “You always unbutton the top button of your button-down whenever you wear your suits. What made you change your mind today?”

The gray-eyed boy froze for a second before laughing at his mistake. “I just forgot, I guess? I’m so excited to be in the studio that it completely flew from my mind.”

You hummed, putting this aside as you looked out the bustling city passing by. You felt a small hand subtly clutching your own, making you turn to Caelum who was also staring into the buildings outside their vehicle. You smiled, squeezing his hand tightly to let him know you’re always there for him. You didn’t miss the small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. The steady playlist emanating from the radio made you relax until you reached the white establishment that carried all your hard work.

“Have a good day in the studio, Miss [Name],” the chauffeur bid you goodbye.

“Thank you so much, Marcus,” you replied, going out of the car with Caelum in tow.

The studio was breathtaking just like your house. Caelum had to prevent the look of awe sprawled on his visage. The building was pristine white with a huge window showcasing the many gowns you designed through the years, some of them were made after the original dress was sold to remember the people who you made happy on their wedding day. There was a glowing chandelier visible through the glass and a huge space between hanger racks of white gowns. Caelum took the front of the studio in with a proud smile until his eyes stopped on the gold, cursive letters on the building and the glass windows. There was only one person in his mind who fits the letters L.A. and he was across the sea with his twin. Caelum glanced at you, a spark of hope flaring in his chest at the sight of your loving smile directed at the letters.

The plan will be sailing perfectly in no time.

“You know who would look really beautiful in that gown?” Caelum looked up to you with a wide smile. “Like breathtakingly beautiful?”

“Who?”

“You.”

You stared at Caelum incredulously. Did Hange say anything? Knowing your best friend, if a secret is shared with them, they wouldn’t hesitate to spread the good news. Despite that, they were still the most lovable person you know in your lifetime. You ruffled your son’s hair affectionately. “Did Hange say something? I was hoping I would be the one to tell you the news.” The look of confusion on Caelum’s face made you smile. “You know, eight weeks has been a long time, and,” you trailed off, staring into the initials on your studio, “I think it’s time for us to have changes in our family. Let’s go inside, yeah?”

What you didn’t notice when entering the studio was a pale, horrified Caelum following you.

Surely this isn’t what he was assuming at the moment. But the image of the bouquet of white roses sitting daintily in the living room back home was plaguing his mind. That flirty card he accidentally read. He couldn’t help but say,

“Fucking hell.”

You glanced at your son with raised eyebrows. “Did you say anything, sweetheart?”

An innocent smile replaced the scowl on Caelum’s face. “Nothing, Mum.”

There was some clamoring in the next room that attracted your attention. You squeezed Caelum’s shoulders before entering the main studio that housed the people you grew to care about. Connie was manning the camera and lighting, Sasha trying her best to help Historia with adjusting her veil, and Armin pacing in the middle of the room with a hand on his chin. Historia’s fiancé, Ymir, was standing at the side clad in a white suit, worried for her lover’s situation. At the sound of your laugh, the blonde man looked up and instantly brightened, almost as if you were a goddess relieving them from their hardships, which is exactly why you’re there.

“Ma’am [Name]!” Armin exclaimed with brilliant sapphires directed at you. “I’m so happy you’re finally here!” He turned his head to the side to catch the attention of his coworkers. “Guys, she’s here!”

“Yey!” Sasha cheered.

“Miss [Name],” Historia breathed. “You’re finally here.”

“Don’t you worry, Historia,” you reassured, walking towards the small group of people. “Can you tell me what the problem is? Oh, and Sasha, there’s some food for all of you in Caelum’s bag.”

Caelum lifted the lunch bag in the air, jumping back when the brown-haired girl dashed in his direction with stretched arms. He let out a yelp when he felt a bone-crushing hug from the woman. She reminded him of Hange when he arrived home earlier. Caelum shakily laughed at the grip and swaying of Sasha. He could tell she was a lovable person and when she pulled away from him, a large grin mirrored his. “Hello, Sasha,” he greeted.

“Caelum, little prince!” she squealed. “Aw, you’re still so cute as ever. And you got an undercut!” She gasped. “It looks so good on you, champ.”

“Thank you.”

“So the veil is covering the backside of the gown,” you noted as Historia wore the train of fabric. Caelum and Sasha looked on to where you were standing, hair now tied in a high ponytail, locks curling against the back of your neck. “But if the veil isn’t there to accentuate the dress, it feels bare. Historia, love, can you try turning sideways with your chin up?” Historia followed your instructions, revealing the back of the dress where flowers were sewed on top of a see-through fabric covering the blonde’s back. You hummed, “Darling, is it alright if we change the veil?”

Caelum stared at you, eyes shining as you started to wear the façade of being the known designer in Europe. It clogged up his throat that he finally saw you like this. Years and years of talking to the stars and asking them if they can align your fates together to meet you for the first time were all worth it. Caelum bets that if it’s nighttime at the moment, the little dots making up the cosmos would shine even more, and they would rain their lights down on you. Because you were so beautiful that Caelum felt like crying. His mother is finally at his reach. He truly loved his dad but a motherly lullaby will be the one completing his dream. His dad would be over the moon seeing you this way, with your flowy dress and genuine smile, Caelum hoped that it was enough to make Levi fall in love again.

“Your mum is amazing, right?” Sasha knowingly told him. The boy was out of his trance, facing the woman who was munching on a piece of chocolate chip cookies. “Every time you would visit the studio, you always have that look on your face while watching your mum. It’s like, to you, Ma’am [Name] holds the entire universe in her hands. And I agree.” The brown-haired girl smiled, looking at you picking out some tulle in the nearby rack, Armin helping you decide. “You know that feeling where a person feels so far away yet they’re there in front of you? That describes what Ma’am [Name] is like to us. She sometimes got this faraway look that it’s hard to bring her back to us.”

Caelum pursed his lips. “I think she’s just missing someone.”

“Oh?” Sasha was surprised to hear that, especially since you have someone at the moment. “Do you know that person?”

The onyx-haired boy looked up at Sasha with a sad smile. “It’s a person across the ocean, longing for her, too.” He looked down at the carpeted floor. “It would take years for them to meet again but I know this time, something will kindle again.”

“That’s the person behind the name of this bridal shop, isn’t it?”

Caelum nodded. “I hear he’s an amazing man.”

“I think so, too.”

“Caelum, sweetheart,” you called out. “What do you think?” You gestured to Historia, intricately woven hair decorated with the veil you made at the last minute. It was a shoulder-length veil of a single-layered tulle, the top bunched up to imitate a band holding the fabric together. There were pinpricks of small gems in the veil, making it lovelier than before.

“It looks amazing, Mum,” the boy whispered, the response a signal enough for you to continue the photoshoot. There was movement in the corner of his eyes and Caelum found himself looking at an awestruck Ymir, eyes solely focused on her fiancé. Did his dad ever look at you like that when you were still together? Will he still look at you like that after years of separation?

“Can you check these shots, Ma’am [Name]?” Connie asked, showing you his camera screen.

“That’s beautiful. I love how Historia shows the gown like that. Historia, love, can you do those turns again? And smile the widest, think of this as your wedding day and Ymir is standing at the end of the aisle, waiting for you. There we go! Did you get that, Connie?”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

“Darling, are you still here?”

An unfamiliar voice came from the entrance. Sasha groaned in distaste, making Caelum curious as to who would barge in the studio without an appointment. It seems like it wasn’t only Sasha who expressed their dislike to the person, Armin had a wince on his face and Connie rolled his eyes inconspicuously because you were by his side. Caelum turned to the sound of the voice and a tall man clad in a three-piece suit greeted his eyes. The man’s face was contorted in a smug, cocky expression that screamed he was above everyone else. The gray-eyed boy heard Sasha mutter, “Arsehole,” under her breath. He furrowed his brows in confusion and irritation as the man sauntered inside the studio, making his way to you. His jaw fell to the ground when the unknown man wrapped his arms around your waist.

Caelum missed the way your form tense under the embrace of the man.

“Lucas, I’m working,” you told him in a flat tone, the earlier atmosphere dissipating at the arrival of this Lucas person. “I told you through the phone that I’m unavailable today. Why are you here?”

“Aw,” Lucas cooed, planting a kiss on the side of your neck. “I just miss my bride-to-be. Is that too much? I went into your house and asked that boisterous scientist friend of yours. Hannah? Is that her name?”

“Their name is Hange and don’t refer to them with a specific pronoun or call them boisterous,” you reminded him in a tired voice. “You know the reason, right?”

“Of course, silly me,” he laughed. “I texted and called you too many times this afternoon. Why aren’t you answering?”

“I had my phone on silent because I’m working.”

“Why have a phone if you don’t even use it?”

“Why come here if we don’t want to see your face?” Sasha murmured, hiding it behind a bite of a cookie.

“Who’s that?” Caelum asked no one in particular, his incredulous face showing a multitude of emotions.

“That man is Lucas Williams,” Armin answered since Sasha was too busy grumbling and eating at the same time. The blonde gave the boy a sympathetic smile. “Maybe your mum didn’t tell you this yet but that man over there, clinging like a koala to her, is her fiancé. We were actually surprised one day at the start of summer when your mum entered the shop with him following her like a clueless child. I heard from Ma’am [Name] that Lucas was the man your grandparents wanted her to marry when she was young. I think they set her up with him the moment you went away for summer camp.”

“No,” Caelum breathed, repeating it like a mantra.

“The little shite is here?” Lucas asked, looking around the room until his eyes met with dull gray irises. “There’s my future son. How was camp, Your Highness?” That nickname immediately settled a bad taste in Caelum’s mouth. It was too mocking for his liking. “It’s boring, right? Your mum insisted to let it happen because you were deprived of social interaction your whole life. Oh, stop looking at me like you’re ready to murder me. That’s so cute.”

The boy’s eyes transferred from the annoying man to your worried ones. His glare softened into a pleading pair of eyes, wordlessly asking you if what Armin said was true. You could only look away with a hurt expression and a hand over your arm, answering all the questions in his mind. No, this can’t be. If you’re to be married, what was going to happen to the plan? He was sure that you still love his dad, that you long for him, but why did you accept this proposal? What’s more distasteful was that this man had no care in his surroundings, being too loud that even Historia retreated to where Ymir was.

If looks could kill, This Lucas person would have been too deep in the ground for it to be called a grave.

And the more Caelum glared at him, the more he noticed things that are amiss — just like that faint imprint of pink lipstick on his neck, just below his ear. His eyes widened in realization, analyzing the way Lucas looked at you.

It wasn’t like the way Levi would look at your pictures.

There wasn’t any lingering affection and adoration in Lucas’s eyes.

Caelum will do anything to cut off Lucas from your life. A new plan will be set in motion, he hoped the other boy in California will accept the changes Caelum will be making.

The next morning when breakfast wafted through every part of the first floor of the [Last Name] residence, his phone rang with a very mysterious caller name, ‘Weatherby’. He excused himself from the dining table and locked himself in his room, leaving behind the questioning pairs of eyes following his running form. Sitting on the plush mattress of his bed, Caelum leaned forward until both elbows settled on top of his knees.

A posh voice that he was trying to imitate rang through the other line of the call, “It’s me. We have a major problem here. A pest made herself known. What’s your situation over there?”

Altair took a deep breath, losing the British accent. “Please don’t freak out, Cae, but,” there was a pause, “Mom’s getting married.”

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nimedhel09 · 3 years

Text

Other Fairy Tail headcanons noone asked for

Yes, I have more. Again, be prepared for the longest post, but also for probably some Frenchisms and inaccurate English.

- Human-hating-and-eating dragons existed long before the war, but they were few, as human meat wasn't that good for most draconic tastebuds... Most of the dragons preferred to just ignore humans, as they were seen as lesser beings by a big part of the dragon population.

- Dragonof and Montes Secreta are a rare show of dragon-human symbiosis. The dragons protect the territory from invading forces, be they human, dragon or otherwise, and the humans take care of the dragons and feed them.

- Dragons and dragon slayers hoard. What exactly depends on each individual's interests.

-> Natsu likes to hoard stuff that makes him think of his friends... or that belonged to his friends before he hoarded them.

-> Gajeel hoards metal (because food), comfy stuff (mostly cushions, pillows and sheets) and he began hoarding books when he began to form a friendship with Levy.

-> Erza, of course, hoards her armor and weapons. She has a very difficult time parting from any of her belongings, which is why she always over-prepares for quests. The slayers and herself realize the origin of her "problem" when her parentage is discovered.

-> Rogue collects frog stuff. He had a passion for frogs as a child (seems like a headcanon I share with @pencilofawesomeness hehe) that never really went away. So each time he goes on a quest and sees anything ressembling a frog? He buys it. Frosch has many maaaaany frog onesies, in all the colours imaginable, as they also share Rogue's love for frogs, but her favourite is the pink one (yes, in my head, Frosch is a girl).

-> Sting hoards jewellry and gems. He loves the colours and the sparkliness.

-> Laxus collects music. He does not realize he hoards it until he hears the other slayers talking about their hoards and realizes he has a lot of vinyls in his house.

-> Erik/Cobra hoards miscellaneous stuff that catches his eye for longer than 5 seconds. Usually, it's small and he got in the habit of hiding everything in places he marks to find later, since he never had the stability of having a nest/cave/territory that belongs to him until after he was pardonned with the rest of Crime Sorcière.

-> Wendy hoards tea sets. She loves them, she loves to look at them, and each time she can find one that calls to her, she'll buy it and add it to her hoard. She also has a special tea set for visitors. It is the only tea set that people other than her and Charle/Carla can use or touch. Noone outside of the slayers, exceeds and Levy know that.

- The god and demon slayers also have biological modifications to get closer to the creatures they have the ability to "slay". Gray has little horns that his hair hides, he has night vision, which makes his eyes reflective in the dark (something that has freaked out a few guild members and people he had to fight against) and his teeth are very SHARP, although they're smaller than dragon slayer fangs and narrower.

- Juvia has had a very stern talking to by Cana, Mira and Erza about her harassing of Gray. Gajeel was not happy to see her so despondent afterwards, but when she explained what happened, he gently told her that it was something she needed to hear, because her behaviour was not OK. She still struggles with obsessive behaviour, low self-esteem and anxiety, but she gets help from Mest.

- Gray and Juvia have a talk when Juvia realizes that she does not want to be that person, and they finally get to have a healthy friendship. No romance, though, as Juvia finally grows out of her unhealthy obsession with Gray and realizes that's not what love is supposed to be.

- As a coping mechanism for... everything, Juvia bakes. A LOT. And she offers her confections to everyone in the guild. You know she is having a bad time if she brings a lot of pastries, and if it lasts for more than a day, it's very bad. Mira and Gajeel have developed a system without meaning to when that happens. Mira works on getting Juvia to cheer up and Gajeel gets her to open up to him.

- Mest never turned Brandish against August. Nuh-uh. No sir, he definitely did NOT. Also no pedophilic thoughts about Wendy. He finds her warm and adorable and he loves her as a little sister, thank you very much. He was also head over heels about Lahar and it took years to get over his death. He is understandably very weary of falling in love. He also develops a crush for Macbeth/Midnight after Crime Sorcière was legalized and the members came to mingle with Fairy Tail more often.

- Most of the members of the younger generation, at least, are not heterosexual (because sexuality is a freaking continuum, people). I might expand on this at a later date if anyone is interested.

- Jellal and Erza have a very serious talk and both work on their Tower induced trauma for years before they decide they might want to try a romantic relationship. Jellal is the one that has the most difficulty healing from the past and seeing Erza as a person instead of his saviour/deliverance/light and stops putting her on a pedestal.

- Erik talks to Kinana about Cubellios and how he thinks she might be his lifelong friend. Since Kinana has bad amnesia, she asks Mest to help her retrieve her memories, and, although everything is still quite hazy, she remembers her attachment to Erik. They slowly work through her memories, but Erik is very respectful and does not push Kinana into anything, he just wants to know her, and, maybe, if that could happen, his friend back. They end up slowly falling in love.

- Juvia is like a little sister to Gajeel. He is very protective of her, and she is the only reason he joined Fairy Tail. They stay close through the years, and Juvia ends up being the godmother of Gajeel's and Levy's children. Juvia is understably over the moon and spoils the heck out of her nephew and niece.

- The original appearance of most of the Celestial spirits is quite different than what it is nowadays. Leo/Loke's original appearance is closer to his Eclipse Celestial Spirits ark than his current one. He is a fighting spirit, after all.

- As there are 88 (accepted) constellations in the sky, there are 88 keys. The silver and gold ones are the most known, but there is another set: the platinum keys. Those keys are as powerful as the gold keys, but not much is known about them.

- Since opening a key gate demands so much magic power, celestial wizards have slowly decreased in numbers. Celestial magic is coming closer to becoming a lost magic every year. It does not help that Celestial wizards are so often used by dark guilds as sacrifices for dark intents.

- Many civilians think that, because there are "light" guilds and "dark" guilds, some magic powers are considered dark and light too. Which, in turn, makes them afraid of any kinds of magic that is not in the accepted definitions of "light". That's one of the reasons why Freed, Mirajane and Bickslow hated their born magic for so long. It took them years or even decades to stop the self-hate, with the help of their friends and family.

- Since the awakening of his etherious nature, Natsu has been terrified of losing control. Which made him train harder and subtly distance himself from the guild. Of course, the other slayers, Erza, Gray and Lisanna saw right through him and Lisanna confronted him about it and he spilled the beans.

- NaLi is a thing. They're very cute together. Natsu is not interested by sex (yep, he's asexual), but he loves the proximity with Lisanna so sometimes they do have sexy time, but not often at all.

- Mira is a big gossip, and she does the shipping thing, and she does try to imagine ship-kids, but when someone tells her they're uncomfortable/they don't want kids or she sees that she makes them so, she stops and apologizes and never does it again. Because Mirajane is a respectful friend that does not push her friends and family to follow patriarcal societal rules, thank you very much.

- Gray inherited his devil slayer magic genetically. So he was born with it. But it was dormant or sealed until Silver awakened it (it makes more sense that way, in my mind).

- Fairies did exist, but they are extinct in Earthland. They do still survive in another dimension with other elf-like beings (because I said so and because I like the idea of a Sidh in-universe, because travelling to parallel universes is a thing, so there!)

- Talking about that, there's a difference between parallel universes (Edolas) and dimensions (the place where Angel's "angels" dwell). A parallel universe is a different kind of world on the same "wavelength" as the one Fairy Tail exists, and a different dimension is in the same universe, BUT on a different level (you know, the 2D, 3D and so on, and so forth). But because I do not want to go full-on-nerd-mode-that-will-never-stop-talking-about-the-thing, I'll stop here.

- Minerva and Rogue are a couple and you cannot tell me otherwise.

- Talking about the saberkitties, that guild desperately needed to heal after Jiemma. It took them a lot of work to get to a level where everyone began to trust in their guildmates and the guild itself. Minerva is the one that had the hardest time, as she was the daughter of the abusive jerk and his favoured and longest victim.

- She also had the hardest time after Tartaros, because it took months for her to have a human body again. Sting, Rogue, Orga and Rufus were there every step of the way for her. She loves them with all her shriveled little dark heart.

- She stays a badass with some violent and cruel tendencies, but she's mostly awkward, nowadays. She feels most comfortable with Rufus and Rogue because they're calm and quiet. She also adore Frosch.

- It took Yukino months to decide that she might possibly want to rejoin a guild. She goes to Sabertooth to confront her bad treatment and the trauma from her excommunication and has the longest talk with Sting, although she sees that he's far from his cocky, rambunctious, confident self (because Tartaros + losing his dad + Minvera stuff going on). They have a heart to heart and Sting apologizes profusely about how he acted until the Eclipse gate thing. She accepts his apology, but still hesitates to rejoing the guild. Noone pushes her, but Sting asks her to at least stay around for a few days so that the other guild members can see her. She does, and gets apologies from everyone. However, she does not see Minerva, and since she was one of the biggest offenders when it came to bullying in the guild, she really wanted to confront her, but the situation is explained to her. Yukino rejoins the guild after a few weeks of hard thinking, and patiently waits for her very needed conversation with Minerva, although she does not push for it when she knows that things must definitely not be easy for the spatial mage.

- Orga is half Fioran and half Encan. That's why he weats the clothes he does, and has the tatoos. The facial paint he has during the GMG is because of a warrior tradition from Enca. He goes to visit his maternal family at least once a year. Although noone outside of his friend circle (which was noone during Jiemma's tenure) knows of that tidbit about his background.

- Freed, Rufus and Lucy are all from high society, but they never mingled or even talked. Freed's father was very strict and rarely allowed him to go to parties because he was never good enough, and then when his magic realized itself, he was too ashamed of the creature that was his son to even consider it. Rufus, on the other hand, was too young, but he saw Lucy from afar. He just never talked to her. Freed only knew of Lucy's name, but Lucy wasn't aware of him at all, because she would do anything to not do a good impression.

- Talking about Lucy, she is very sensitive to any kinds of comments about her physical appearance due to a childhood with the pressure of having to look like a perfect breedable doll, due to her father's expectations and just high society. Because she was seen more as an asset than a human being. And even though she rebelled about all the expectations, she internalized them still. She still struggles about it.

- Another thing she struggles with is: independance and freedom. Two things she never really had until she decided to flee her home. That's one of the reasons she kind of lets Natsu drag her on adventures too, because making decisions for her life and having the responsibility of her own destiny freaks her out and gives her major anxiety. She even had panick attacks about those.

- Lisanna had a very hard time getting used to Edolas, but also getting used to being back to Earthland. Her siblings and close friends (aka Natsu and Happy)? Even more so. Lots of angst and not believing it to be true and stuff. Also, she had quite a bit of difficulty reconnecting her Earthland friendships. She tended to see the guild as their Edolas versions for a while. But now everything's fine.

- The Raijinshuu bonded over their eye magic and their respect for Laxus, because he was the one to help them and make them join the guild.

- Laxus, under his not-approachable, cocky veneer, is just a very awkward sweetheart that has no idea how to interact with humans outside his three friends. He exudes big introvert energy and you cannot tell me otherwise.

- After the war, Laxus is lost. He does not know what to do without his grandpa. But the guild has to go on, so he tries to hide his grief and buries himself in work, because there is a lot to do. Of course his team sees it and with a lot of coaxing, he does properly mourn Makarov. He also goes to Porlyusica to talk about him and get help with his lungs (because there's scar tissue caused by the bane particles still there).

- For weeks on end, Erza and Laxus talk about who should be the next master, even though Laxus does not even want to take on the role anymore. And because no consensus is reached with just them, they decide to have a guild poll and let everyone choose their favoured candidates (could even be someone else, they do not care). In the end, poor Laxus still ends with the responsibility, and when he discovers all the paperwork his grandfather left, he nearly has a breakdown. Fortunately, Freed comes to the rescue, and when she hears about it, Lucy also helps. Lucy gets closer to the Raijinshuu and the new master that way and Freed, Laxus and her talk at length about their childhood, expectations and the verbal abuse they had to live through.

- When he discovers the amount of money that team Natsu makes the guild lose every single mission, and the destructiveness of most of the guild members, he decides to change that with the help of other guilds. The new Council, hearing this, jumps on the opportunity to try and get the guilds more involved because they do not want to keep on dealing with Fairy Tail nonesense. They have better things to do.

- Hisui gets more involved in the politics of the country and tries her best to make relations better with their neighbours Bosco and Seven. Since Bosco was hit the worst by the forces of Alvarez, she also organizes humanitarian missions that she sends to all the guilds in Fiore. Getting missions from the crown is a never seen before occurrence, but she thinks that it's a cause important enough to get involved. Her project pays, as relations with Bosco thrive after that.

- This also makes the population more curious about the other countries of Ishgar, as Fiore has always been mostly self-sufficent and autocratic.

- The Raijinshuu + Laxus (also, I hate that Laxus isn't officially part of the team and they're just his followers, come ooooon!) is actually the strongest team of the guild, but since they're not official, well... it's not official. Even without Laxus, the team is very efficient and rarely destructive. They have the advantage of all the members being quick thinkers and all of them are quite strategic, and if Freed tells them to do something, they do it without question. And even though Laxus is very powerful, he is also very analytic when he goes on missions, and even in fights. (Yes, I have a bone to pick with team Natsu when it comes with how they operate. Also, that particular way they work? Well, makes Lucy and Wendy not blend with them very well)

Ok, I think that's it for today. I might add to my list of headcanons, because I have MANY (too many to count).

Here's a little list of things I'd like to tackle at one point or another:

- where all the (time travelling) dragonslayers originated from and how they came into the care of their dragons

- Fairy Tail ships, sexualities and the why (aka, why I think nearly none of the characters are straight)

- Acnologia's backstory, but done in a way that does not make him one-dimensional, because the King of dragons deserves it, thank you very much

- Why I dislike the characterization of the cast, and what would have worked better from a narrative point of view (from my point of view as a reader, writer, someone who LOVES character development, but also maybe a bit someone who's actually studied literature in Uni)

- Maybe also ways for the magic system to actually have consequences? Because in the canon material, we've got nearly nothing for the main cast and I am annoyed.

- And probably some more worldbuilding, because you know I LOVE me some worldbuilding. I also think way too much about stuff, so yay?

#Yes I did another headcanon post #i'm on a roll #fairy tail headcanons #patriarchy can burn in hell #wholesome and accepting friends #we are respectful in this house #another very long post #sorry not sorry #fairy tail headcanon #fairy tail #I love angst ok?#But gimme the fluff too #I ought to sleep but my brain does not want to let me

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bleulone · 3 years

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Can we talk about about how Colin looked in ep 1 when he first saw Marina compared to how he looked when he saw Pen in ep 8. Almost the exact same look! Of course his look to Penelope is probably more about his guilt because he brushed her off when she tried to warn him but still..progress! Lol and then when he's getting ready to leave for Greece, he glanced towards Penelope's home. I think they're having Colin's feelings for her grow gradually in the show instead of all of a sudden like in the books.

Hey! Thank you for this insightful ask of yours :) Sorry for the late answer, I took a long time to write this— without further ado, here we go!

Indeed, Polin is first and foremost a story of gazes, those gazes being of many natures. Whether they are love ones, friendly ones, admirative ones or lustful ones, looking imposes itself to be a huge parameter in Penelope and Colin’s love story.

In order to understand that on screen, film-making has at its disposal a very rich and smart langage of its own. Sometimes, comparision helps to underlines the differences between one character’s relationship with person A mirorring person B. I feel like Shondaland and Chris Van Dussen wanted to introduce the audience to the evolution of our Bridgerton men’s perception of Love. For instance, while Anthony views attachement— to Siena— as a way to escape his responsibilities before becoming his villain (...until our queen ma’am Kate Sheffield comes to the picture), Benedict doesn’t comprehend this universal concept and prefers to enjoy the many physical pleasures life can offer. In other words, the older brothers already explored their sexuality here and there, making them the infamous rakes that they are. As for Colin, it’s a complete other thing.

Colin is young. Very young. At 21, he’s just left Eton College and barely knows anything of the world nor women. Like Anthony said in 1x06, Colin hasn’t been taken to brothels which is a very important step in the building of young men’s sentimental and sexual education during that time period. Since he missed this essential step, our sweet/immature boy has no clue about how to deal sagaciously with his feelings and his “foolish” impulses, baring his naivety. At this point of the story, we can easily come to the conclusion that Colin is a virgin who can’t drive XD. He’s just a child overcame by his passions, a hopelessly romantic who rushes things without taking the time to properly court or know his significant other. And his off-screen flirtation with those supposed numerous girls in London isn’t of any help to justify his (oh so little) experience. So when he sees Marina, he’s so struck by her... mainly by her alluring appearance. And he doesn’t seem to let his eyes nor mind go beyond her exquisite beauty.

In this perspective, the whole Colin/Marina storyline can be perceived as a parallelism to the Pen/Colin’s one. In 1x01, he is immediatley smitten with a dancing Miss Thompson, which happens to be ironically the same case with a 17 year-old Pen but with him. We got to see her, a few moments ago, dreamily looking at him from the back of the dancefloor (echoeing the episode where she fell madly in love with him after he fell off his horse at Hyde Park). She’s charmed by his dashing look and his kindness, yet she doesn’t seem to know anything else about him considering the rare conversations they share. Her burning gaze fits the original story from Julia Quinn’s books because in Romancing Mister Bridgerton, the 28 year-old spinster Penelope do realize later on that Colin is more than a good looking man : he’s a human who possesses a temper and flaws.

Either way, both of our boos are portrayed as hopelessly young people in love who childishly idealize the objects of their affection.

In 1x08, it’s the other way around. It’s Colin who sees Pen first, her who appears to wear the yellow dress’ lookalike from the pilot—what an interesting call back ^^. With his mouth slightly agape and his eyes wide open, we can catch sight of the timid spark of a change in his gaze : Colin Bridgerton notices Penelope Featherington. He‘s touched by the realization that she cares about him. It would be rather inappropriate of me to say that Colin is already in love with her. However, in the finale, I do believe that he’s more struck by her high level of deep care for him than her beauty.

We are thus able to spot two big differences in Colin’s relationship with women in this season : when his attraction to Marina was purely physical and rushed, his attraction with Penelope is more emotional and slow. And for now, he comes to cherish his special bond with her, especially after she tried to warn him of the dangerous trap he was about to fall into. Even if he just sees her as his younger sister’s best friend right now, Pen matters in his life. And it’s still a little yet important progress for sure.

Speaking of which, I agree with you that this look of awe as well as realization is mostly mixed up with guilt. Since he didn’t take into account her words, he felt the strong need to apologize. But bear in mind that guilt formulates a considerable part in Colin’s feelings for Pen... and it’s only the very beginning. In the future, he’ll blame himself for not seeing her as the beautiful goddess and siren that she is in the first place. He’ll blame himself for not reciprocating the feelings for her.... Though at the moment, due to his lack of experience with women, Colin is oblivious to Pen’s obvious signs of sorrow when he told her he’s leaving for Greece/Cyprus. Next time, he’ll detect her sadness and won’t let her go, I’m sure of it (if he doesn’t I’ll riot).

Furthermore, I’m so glad you brought up the scene where Colin glances at the Featherington house. I had the same thought as well. When you put this still and the one where Pen is crying while looking at her window side by side, it even seems like they’re looking at each other. In a way, it implicitly confirms Pen’s key role in his final decision... After all, she’s the one who inadvertently inspired him right ?

The act of traveling has always been seen as cathartic since leaving home to discover yourself allows you to heal your broken heart and soul. It’s natural for Colin to do this. To make his first real steps into the world. His choice is quite relatable more than it is essential for his arc in the series. I can’t wait for him to come back all changed, hot ^^ and mature. I think, like you said, they are planning on making him progressively falling in love with her. Colin’s feelings will gradually leave the platonic zone to explore and officially stay in the intimate zone throughout the seasons.

Overall, the Colin/Marina and Colin/Penelope parallel in s1 mostly helps viewers to compare the way Colin evolves from being a stubborn naive boy to a heartbroken young man who’s aware of his crutial need for Experience. His coming of age, just like Pen’s, has just begun. And they will surely lead to our boy changing himself into the true charming rake that he’s meant to be and our girl into a more confident woman. Consequently, I think their story won’t take 10 years but rather at the very least 5 years perhaps to fit the TV timeline. Once Polin will finally be able to discuss, we’ll hopefully get to see more interesting nuances and shades added to the portrait they painted of one another over the years. They’re indispensable to the slow build up of their emotions/attraction as well as the shattering of their childish idealization/perception of each other.

All in all, I’m so loving the fact that season 1 beautifully sets up the importance of the gaze in Polin’s love story. This first installment is like an expository scene of a play. It leaves a trail of clues and pieces of information here and there at the reach every viewers who can pick them up and analyze what can be the main themes which will determine one character’s story arc/romance. With Polin we have : admiration, wit, love and friendship, desillusionment. (I know they are more but it’s all I can think of rn lol).

If we’re already emotional messes just with the mere power of them looking at each other, imagine when they’ll actually talk and share real conversations. It’s going to be a long way to canon but luv me some good fluffy angsty steamy slow burn :) ✨ I hope this long of mine answers your ask ahah, even if I talked about many things other than just Polin’s looks. Also, sorry if you spot some grammatical mistakes, English is not my first language.

#bleulone answers #anon #ask #meta and gush #polin #polin meta #colin x penelope #colin bridgerton #penelope featherington #julia quinn #romancing mister bridgerton #bridgerton #shondaland #chris van dusen

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serpenteve · 3 years

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So I ship Darklina, but I actually...don't hate Mal? Sure, he was a dick sometimes (so is the Darkling, in different ways), but he was also like 17 or 18 right? And, to me, he'd changed by Ruin and Rising. He went through a lot of character growth. He's not my favorite character by any means. He's probably one of my least favorite, simply because of how boring he is, and I think him and Alina would have been better off as friends or siblings for a platonic familial type thing. But he's also a teenager. That doesn't give him an excuse for being a dick but I feel like from what I've seen from Darklina stans (and what I myself have done in the past) is we hold him to such a high standard but we excuse everything the Darkling does. Yes, he's the villain, but he's also a love interest, which means he does need to be somewhat held accountable. I love the Darkling, he's my boy, and he makes Mal look like a piece of cardboard in comparison, but if we're able to love a centuries old villain and forgive his mistakes, shouldn't Mal at least get some grace? Heroes are allowed to mess up, especially teenage ones. Hell, when I was 17 I was a wreck. It just feels weird to write off everything a centuries old man does but tear apart everything a teenager does, you know?

But I also understand the Mal hate and I don't expect people to love him (I don't even love him lmao). I just wanted to see if some Darklinas are more open towards Mal because I understand most Darklinas hate his guts (understandably so).

Sorry for the long ask. What are your thoughts on Mal?

I don't think all Darklinas hate Mal but a lot of people who hated a number of things in the books happen to be Darklinas. If you hate the book romance, then you're more likely to criticize other aspects of the storytelling like the plot and writing choices.

I definitely think people's perception of Mal hinges on whether they feel like he redeemed himself in Ruin & Rising and/or whether or not they were exposed to the fandom discourse and reactions surrounding the characters. For example, if you read the Grisha trilogy after seeing people endlessly simp for the Darkling and talk about Mal like he's the Worst Character Ever™️, then probably you will think book!Mal really isn't that bad and people excuse the Darkling's actions despite him like.........destroying an entire town for funsies and terrorizing Alina across the country 😂

The whole Mal vs Darkling debate originally arose out of audience expectations. Mal was presented as a heroic love interest while the Darkling was basically a false romantic lead turned villain who Alina kinda still had the hots for but had to heroically resist lest she become seduced to the dark side. The Darkling wants to control and exploit Alina and will stop at nothing to do so. Therefore, we expect Mal to embody the opposite of this: support Alina in doing what she wants and not treat her like a trophy he's entitled to. Instead, Bardugo---perhaps unintentionally---set the opposite in motion.

I actually really don't mind Mal in Shadow & Bone. Yeah, he was kind of an ass to Alina at parts, but he apologized and helped her get the stag and most of his faults can be overlooked as dumb teenage boy things. The problem arose in Siege & Storm when Mal grew entitled, possessive and emasculated because Alina had this power he did not and Alina had this great destiny that didn't revolve around him. Regardless of what Bardugo intended with this lover's quarrel, many readers interpreted this as Mal wanting Alina to be weak and dependent on him. And now, when readers look back at his more annoying traits in Shadow & Bone that initially didn't bother us that much, it holds more sinister implications. It wasn't that Mal and Alina were drifting apart, it was that Mal doesn't care about Alina until someone else cares about her and then he realizes "oh shit! my biggest fangirl that i took for granted has been taken away and has a life of her own??? unacceptable!!11". This combined with the Grisha being coded as any marginalized group and Mal's bigotry towards Alina and then her ending where she lost her powers so the author could pair her with Mal also left some.................IMPLICATIONS 👀

And listen, it would be one thing if I was the *only* reader who was whining about how Mal's character drives me up the wall......but like literally 3/4 of the fandom hated his ass because Bardugo accidentally made him toxic in a very *familiar* way that the Darkling's toxicity is not---at least for that part of the fandom. And this clash between reader expectations and what was actually on the page is what gave rise to a lot of Mal hate. You mentioned that readers hold Mal to a higher standard than the Darkling and that's true. But it's also because Mal is supposed to be a hero, not a villain. The expectations we had for the Darkling were literally on the floor after he decided to randomly massacre Novokribrisk. Whereas Mal being toxic in exactly the same way a chauvinistic garbage IRL man would be toxic was way too much for some readers and we just ended up shipping Alina with the Darkling out of pure spite. Especially when said villain is saying things like "I've seen what you truly are and I've never turned away? Can he stay the same?" or "He’s otkazat’sya. He can never hope to understand your power, and if he did, he’d only come to fear you."

ALSO, I'm a big believer that the reason the Darklina shippers grew in number is directly because the Darkling and Alina are never in a romantic relationship. The failed and wasted potential was indeed a huge draw, but the fact that we never got to see what their canon relationship would be like allowed us to fantasize about an ideal situation in which the Darkling comes to the error of his ways and learns to treat Alina as an equal. The quotes I mentioned above are up for interpretation. He says he will never turn away and that he would be able to understand Alina's power...........but he also proved that he isn't above using her as a weapon without regard for what she wants. Because we never get to see the Darkling and Alina in a real romantic relationship, we can now choose to interpret that line seriously in fanworks, regardless of whatever the hell Bardugo intended with it.

#viv answers #i could probably write an entire essay on this but i feel like ive rambled long enough lmao #anti mal

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firelxdykatara · 3 years

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I would actually be really genuinely interested to read your defence of Makorra. I’ve never really been partial to any of the TLOK ships but I know that one gets a lot of hate (even though I don’t see anything wrong with people shipping it) and I’m just curious to see your take.

I've been sitting on this a bit, because it's been a while since I actually sat down and thought about what it is I love so much about Makorra--the fire/water and slap-slap-kiss/BST energy aside--and it reminded me that I actually rewatched the first three episodes of LoK not that long ago (which is when I had my revelation about Equalist Asami, and how I think that the Equalist Mako and Korra fight in episode three was originally meant to be Asami's true introduction to the show, to be revealed when it became clear she and her father were Equalists), because of this meta by @devildogdemon on episode three that reminded me just how much those early episodes made me love Makorra well before the love triangle crashed onto the scene and everything went tits up.

I've spoken before about how what I really loved about Makorra was the potential:

I personally loved Makorra, but I loved it for what it could have been, not what it wound it actually being in the show–but that’s because the love triangle was sloppy as hell and poorly handled, and it took the place of actual bonding for the krew and development of their individual friendships.

This still holds true, and I think the foundations were all very well laid out in the meta that I linked above.

When Mako and Korra had time alone together, and were in a stressful situation, they worked incredibly well together, despite the way their personalities--Mako a bit staid and stoic, used to shoving down his emotions so that he could be the parent his little brother needed and, as a result, never learning how to process how he felt in a healthy manner, while Korra spent her whole life among adults and as a result never really learned how to just be a kid, or how to relate to others her own age, so she is brash and reckless and does what she thinks is necessary because she's never been around people who had to ask permission before they just Did Things and hey, she's the avatar, shouldn't she be the one everyone is looking to for leadership???--tended to clash, especially early on.

They slid almost effortlessly into the Battle Couple trope when it came time to fight--to try and get Bolin back, and to protect one another--and those scenes in Book 1 feel a lot like Zuko and Katara training together at the end of book 3, covering each other's blind spots and accomodating for each other's weaknesses. This is also, incidentally, the episode where Korra winds up wearing Mako's scarf--the one memento he has from his parents, who were killed when he was a child. Sound familiar?

-insert image of katara's necklace around zuko's wrist here-

And before anyone gets on me about the parallels, I'm not saying that Makorra is the same as Zutara (although if you told me that Bryke intended it to be, I'd believe it--either because they thought they were finally giving the shippers what they wanted or, more likely, they wanted to show why they believed zk would never work), but the parallels do exist, and it's largely because Mako occupies the same position within the krew that Katara does within the gaang. They also have the BST and the banter more than any other relationship in the krew, so of course they're going to wind up paralleled to the relationship in the gaang that had the most narrative tension. They are still, at the end of the day, very different relationships, because Mako and Korra are very different people than Zuko and Katara.

But I'm just saying, the symbolism of one half of the pair wearing the other's only physical link to their dead parents........it's there. I didn't make this up.

They also, again like zutara, have this moment of emotional closeness and vulnerability early in the book--in episode 3, where Mako reveals to Korra what happened to his parents and why he had history with the triads, which casts some light on why he acted the way he did in the very first episode (I've seen people getting on Mako's ass about how 'mean' he was to Korra, but like, a) he was very calm about it, and b) how else would you expect someone who lived hand to mouth on the street for an entire decade to react to someone claiming they had 'nothing' in the same breath as admitting that they'd never had to want for anything in their entire life?), and allows them to become closer emotionally--as friends and potentially more, given the explicitly romantic framing of the interaction and several others throughout the episode.

Ultimately, what initially drew me in to Makorra was that slap-slap-kiss/Belligerent Sexual Tension they had in the beginning of book 1, but what really makes me think of what they could have been is the way their relationship developed in episode 3 and the groundwork that was laid for a slow-burn there, rather than Korra deciding she was in love with him just in time for Asami to crash into the scene and nab him first.

(Incidentally, had Asami been an Equalist like she was originally supposed to, this could all have been part of a larger plot and Korra could have slowly come to realize what Mako meant to her while examining the things she felt when she saw him with Asami--meanwhile, all of their relationships could have been given room to breathe and grow, especially if Bolin's puppy crush on Korra were dropped, and Mako and Korra clashing over Korra's suspicions of Asami wouldn't have been quite so ugly if both of them were proven just a little bit right. And then allow for that betrayal to shake the foundations of the krew before Asami works her way back into their good graces, and Mako and Korra don't get together until they've navigated the fallout from that and discovered how much they really mean to each other.)

Uh... yeah, I rambled for days, hopefully I answered your question adequately! I just. I really love Mako, and I really love what he and Korra could have been to each other, and I really love who Korra could have become if the show let her actually grow organically instead of giving her Character Development Through Brutal Torture, and all of that has I guess kind of sunk into a ball of how the show would look if Makorra were done better to me lol.

#mako #makorra #atla #lok #equalist asami #makorra meta #mudbend #asked

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fandom-imagines-stories · 3 years

Text

Part of the Family

Enzo St. John x Mikaelson! Reader

Part 1 of 4

Words: 2621

Summary: After leaving the Armory, Enzo is devastated to find that his family was a group of thieves and liars. Determined to help your boyfriend through this, you come up with a wildly romantic solution.

Note: Besides being in season seven of Vampire Diaries, there isn’t much else of either show’s plot. I just wanted to write a little series that I thought would be both Enzo’s romantic side and the Mikaelson’s flare for the dramatic. So no deadly threats besides family drama. Let me know if you guys like it! (Note: I’m reposting these because I really wanted to just make some minor edits before I finally finish out this series)

Warnings: Lots of Fluff (and some mild language)

The quiet was both peaceful and maddening. You were used to the sound of jazz music in the morning and the strong smell of coffee, but this morning there was nothing. Just silence. You slowly rose from the bed and grabbed the nearest pieces of decent clothing you could find- which just happened to be your boyfriend’s favorite shirt, a pair of jeans and sandals. Your feet made almost no sound on the hardwood floor, but it was enough for Enzo to hear you coming.

“I didn’t mean to wake you, love.” He said, looking out the window of your apartment.

“How could you have? You haven’t made a sound at all.” You scoffed.

“Are you asking me to be louder at seven in the morning?” He turned towards you and you could see the raw emotion in his eyes. He saw you looking and quickly moved his gaze to the kitchen. “Ah, I’ve forgotten the coffee. No wonder you’re in a foul mood.” He had been acting this way ever since he had gotten back from the Armory. Something was wrong, you just couldn’t figure out what. You followed him into the kitchen and wrapped your arms around his waist, placing a light kiss on his shoulder before resting your head there.

“Enzo…” You started, kissing the crook of his neck. “What’s going on? You’ve been acting strange lately.”

“Don’t know what you mean, darling.” He poured coffee into your mug and handed it back to you. You pulled yourself up onto the counter and sipped the delicious warm liquid.

“You haven't played your guitar in days, you won't go out of the apartment, and every time I try to talk to you you seem completely distant.” Even now, he was looking off, not really hearing you. “Enzo!” His gaze snapped to you.

“I’m fine love. Really.” He kissed your cheek as he walked past. Still not convinced, you followed him to the living room where the two of you sat in silence. You took a deep breath, wincing at your own words.

“It’s the Armory, isn’t it? Your family.”

“I said that I’m fine!” He snapped. “Maybe I’m just sick of all your bloody questions.” You scoffed, narrowing your eyes at him and setting the mug on the table.

“You’re so afraid of being alone, Enzo.” You stood and grabbed your car keys. “Maybe you should stop pushing away the people who care about you.” He didn’t even move his gaze from the floor as you slammed the door of the apartment behind you.

Enzo rubbed his eyes. He knew that he shouldn’t have snapped at you. He was tired and hurt over the fact that his family wasn’t at all what he dreamed they would be. They were quite the opposite, actually. He feared that he was exactly like them; a lying, heartless beast who only cared about the ends instead of the means. Looking back at his life only made him see how similar he was to them. And it scared him more than he wished it would.

Bonnie gave you the ‘I told you so’ look from across the cafe table. You rolled your eyes. Although your family and the remaining Bennett witch had never gotten along, you had become best friends with both her, Caroline, and Elena. It still hurt to think that you would never see two of your closest friends together again all because of Kai’s stupid curse.

“Don’t say it.” You begged taking a long sip of the new coffee you ordered. She held up her hands and smiled innocently.

“I have no idea what you mean.” She too drank from the cup in front of her. “It’s not like I’ve been telling you for the past year that Enzo is a total dick who is so undeserving of you.”

“We had an argument, Bonnie.” You sighed. “We didn’t break up so stop talking about him like we did.”

“I always talk about him like this.” You pegged your bunched up napkin at her and fell back in your seat. “Look, Y/N, I know you care about him, but I saw what he was like in the Armory. He was so determined to figure out who his family was, I think when he found out who they really were… he broke.”

“I know and I want to help him. I just don’t know how.” You thought of what your life was like compared to his. “I don’t exactly know what it’s like to not have a family.” Every moment of your life was surrounded with memories of your twin brother Kol, or your younger sister Rebekah, or of course your two loving- but insanely protective- older brothers; Elijah and Niklaus. Your siblings meant everything to you, and it was hard to imagine what your thousand years would have been like without them.

“Try to make him feel like he’s a part of something.” Bonnie suggested. Despite her dislike of Enzo, a part of her did like to think of him as a somewhat ally. She also cared deeply about you and she wanted you to be happy, even if it was with Enzo. “Make him see that he isn’t alone.”

“What the hell do you want?” Damon snapped, narrowing his eyes at his old friend standing before him. Enzo pushed passed him into the house. “Come on in.” Damon slammed the door and followed Enzo into his living room.

“I need a drink.” He muttered, finding Damon’s favorite bourbon and poured himself a glass. He drank it quickly and poured another. Damon snatched the bottle away from him.

“Sorry buddy, but I am not your personal liquor store.” He poured a glass for himself and placed the bottle away from Enzo. “What’s wrong with you anyway? Where’s your obnoxious British swagger?”

“Let’s just say I’ve had a rough week.”

“Ah yes, the rest of the St. John psycho clan…” Damon started. Enzo shot him a look. “So your family sucks. Join the club.”

“It’s not just that…” Enzo sighed heavily. “It’s Y/N.”

“So this is a lover’s spat? My favorite.” He leaned against the table with a smirk. “What did the female half of the Devil Twins do now?”

“Y/N didn’t do anything. I snapped at her this morning after she asked about… them.”

“Let me guess, she wants to meet the parents?” Damon said sarcastically.

“Can you take anything seriously?” Enzo growled. Damon wiggled his eyebrows mischievously.

“Nope.” He ushered Enzo onto the couch who laid down, arm slung over his face. “Maybe this is just your turning point. I mean, we all kind of knew that the two of you wouldn’t work.” He moved his arm so he could look at Damon.

“What?”

“Yeah, I mean, sure it was ‘cute’ at first. The two sociopaths of Mystic Falls united by their undying need for mayhem and death.” He gagged. “But we knew it wasn’t going to last. Her family puts each other in coffins, you’re claustrophobic, she has daddy issues, you had a thing for my mom- the list goes on.” Enzo propped himself up on his elbows.

“You think we should split up?”

“Of course not.” Damon took a long drink of bourbon. “Have you not been listening to a word I just said?” Enzo’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“Did I miss something?” He wondered, fully sitting up on the couch. Damon rolled his eyes and moved behind the sofa to get more bourbon.

“I’m Damon freaking Salvatore! Am I really going to tell you to go with what everyone else thinks?” He put his hand on his chest in mock offense. “It’s like you don’t know me at all.”

“So you’re saying not to split up?” Damon smacked the back of his head and Enzo growled.

“Do I need to spell it out for you? Think about it. Everyone thought that Elena was making a horrible decision when she chose me. Despite the fact that she is in a witchy coma for the next sixty years, we still held onto the idea of spending our lives together. Exhibit B; everyone said that Stefan and Caroline were the perfect couple and they were going to live happily ever after- until he made the dick move to run off with Valerie even after we killed Rayna.” Instead of pouring a glass, he just took a swig from the bottle. “The point is: the world is full of assholes who are often wrong. So don’t listen to them.” Enzo blew out a long breath and fell back onto the couch.

“I suppose you’re right.” He chuckled.

“Of course I’m right.” Damon lifted him up from his seat and started pushing him towards the door. “So go find your hot psycho original vampire and make sweet love to her for all I care. Whatever gets you out of my house.”

“Why did we stop being mates again?” Enzo asked sarcastically when he was shoved outside.

“You tried to kill my girlfriend, remember?” Damon thought for a moment. “Then again, I did try to kill yours on multiple occasions so I guess we’re even.” He laughed to himself. “There was this one time, after we-” He stopped the sentence abruptly, remembering that he was standing in front of Y/N’s current boyfriend, so revealing their dirty past relationship was probably a bad idea. “Nevermind. Now go.” He finished and slammed the door. Enzo thought about everything he had said and knew what he needed to do.

He found you sitting back in the apartment, with an extremely determined look on your face. When you saw him come in, you stood. You opened your mouth to speak, but he stopped you.

“I’m sorry.” He blurted. You cocked your head to the side.

“For what?”

“Shouting at you this morning. I’ve been thinking ever since I got back from the Armory, panicking really.” He explained. “What if I’m just like them? I’ve lied and cheated and killed to get what I want, much like they have to add to their supernatural collection. I was angry at myself and I took it out on you. I’m sorry.” To his surprise, you laughed.

“You don’t need to apologize, Enzo.” You stepped towards him, placing a hand on his cheek. “God knows I’ve started my fair share of brawls between us.” He leaned into your hand, the tips of your fingers tangling in his hair. It took all of his strength to pull away and continue.

“I haven’t finished.” He paced across the room and your hand fell to your side. “I’m not going to be able to just move past this. I need time. I need to try and figure out what I’m supposed to do now.”

“I know.” You interjected. “I want to help you, Enzo. I want to help you get through all of this.”

“No.” He said bluntly. “I need to do this on my own.” You thought that you could let it go. That you could let him go off on his own to figure things out by himself. But you couldn’t.

“No you don’t.” You snapped. “Enzo, you don’t have to do this alone.”

“It is my family. I need to do this.”

“They may be your blood, but they are not your family.” You put your hands on either side of his face. His eyes were glistening.

“Then I shall never have one?” His expression was so sad, it crushed you. One solution came to mind and it made your body shiver with nerves.

“If you want a family…” You paused and studied him. You knew that you wanted this, but would he? “Become part of mine.” His puzzled expression pushed you further. “Your whole life, you’ve been wanting to be a part of something. You’ve wanted a place to belong. I can give that to you.”

“Y/N, what are you saying.”

“I’m saying,” you took a deep breath. “Lorenzo St. John… Will you marry me?” His eyes went wide and for a moment your heart sank. But then he smiled, sending a bright feeling through you, like a ball of light traveling through your veins.

“Are you serious?” He asked and you nodded. He lifted you off the ground, spinning around and laughing. “Yes. Of course yes!” Your lips collided as you continued to spin. He set you down on your feet, your arms still draped around his neck. “Though you have robbed me of making the large romantic gesture of proposing.”

“Well,” you grinned, taking his hand. “Let me make it up to you.”

You curled your toes around the bedsheets and released them, feeling the breeze come in from the open window. You felt a hand playing with your hair and you turned to face Enzo. He twisted a strand around his finger then pushed it away from your face.

“Hello love.” He purred, placing a soft kiss on your forehead. You sighed with content. He wrapped his arms around you and you laid your head on his chest. The moment couldn’t be more perfect. Until you realized…

“You’re going to have to meet them.” You blurted suddenly. He pulled away so he could look at you.

“What?”

“My siblings. You’re going to have to meet them.” He chuckled.

“You’re worried about that?”

“Yes!” You exclaimed. “I would like to be married in New Orleans, since it is the closest thing I’ve had to having a real home.”

“That’s perfectly fine with me.” He said, pulling you into his arms again. You pushed away and sat up.

“I don’t think you understand. We’re not...” You paused to search for the right word. “Normal. Nor are they very hospitable when it comes to strangers.” He sat up next to you, his fingers drawing circles on your back. “We need a plan.”

“I highly doubt-” He started but you cut him off.

“Freya will probably be defensive at first, but if you do nothing to threaten us, she’ll warm up to you. Rebekah will try and get you to give her a reason to hate you, so you’ll have to make sure to be careful. Eventually she’ll accept us since she’s always been a sucker for a good romance. Kol will be fine with anything that brings a party.” You turned to face him, a very serious look on your face. “Elijah is the one you want to impress. He’s the only one who can stop Klaus from killing you.”

“Stop Klaus from doing what?” Enzo exclaimed.

“Niklaus is very temperamental when it comes to his sibling’s relationships with other people. He always fears that we will abandon him for somebody else. So when he discovers a romance, it is rare that our significant others survive the encounter.”

“And you want me to meet him?” He scoffed. “And then tell him we’re getting married.” You snatched up Enzo’s shirt that you had worn earlier from the bedpost.

“My siblings being a part of our wedding is really important to me Enzo. Even the ones with murderous tendencies.” You left out the fact that all of you tended to go on killing sprees from time to time- yourself included. He sighed and pulled you in for a long, passionate kiss.

“Well if I am killed because I love you it will have been worth it.” You pouted your lips sarcastically.

“You’re so sweet.” You said, pressing your lips to his again, but pushing away quickly. “We’re still going.” He groaned and fell back on the bed. You rolled your eyes and located the rest of your clothes, barely able to contain the turning bundle of excitement and nerves rolling around your stomach. It was time to go home.

Keeping Reading to: Meet the Mikaelsons

General Tag: @rae-gar-targaryen; @takemepedropascal; @childhood-imagination; @mylovegoesto; @yellowbadgergirl; @itmejado; @suckmyapplejacks

#lorenzo st john #repost #enzo and the originals #klaus mikaelson #elijah mikaelson #damon salvatore #enzo st. john x reader #michael malarkey #vampire diaries #the originals

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shihalyfie · 3 years

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The difference between the friend dynamics in the Adventure and 02 groups

This is a point I’ve reiterated in a lot of my 02-based metas, but there is a fairly distinct difference between the Adventure Chosen Children having a tight, deep bond and yet not quite being friends in “social life”, whereas the 02 group was a much tighter group on a social level. I always feel that I need to be really careful about saying this, because if I don’t word it carefully, it sounds like I’m trivializing the Adventure group’s bonds (plus, a lot of Adventure diehards will get very upset at you for suggesting this no matter how you put it), so I thought I should write something a bit more in-depth about it.

I think a lot of of this ultimately ties into what each series was about. The fact that Adventure was meant to be a series about “self-recognition of the individual” whereas 02 was about “relationships with others” has been pointed out by many a fan (and official staff too, while we’re at it), and it naturally lends to how the characters and the relationships between them will have a fundamental difference.

The idea that the Adventure group wouldn’t be the type to get together all that easily never really took that long after Adventure to set in. Of course, Our War Game! having this as a plot point also had a meta purpose (basically, limiting the number of people who could participate in the Diablomon battle), but it also has a very important point behind it: the Adventure kids’ social lives were never all that intertwined.

Again, this is something that sounds really awful to say without further qualification. What do you mean, the Adventure kids weren’t friends? Does that mean their entire adventure was for nothing? Did they go through all that only to forget about each other right after it?!

Well, no, that’s kind of exaggeration. I think to properly flesh out the nature of the issue, it’s important to define the differing ways you can be friends with someone. Imagine that you go on the best vacation in your life. You meet a handful of people there. You swap stories and get life-changing advice. You take commemorative photos after some really spectacular experiences. You swap numbers and social media contacts and then you go home. Are you going to keep in touch every so often with the people who gave you some very important advice, and maybe check on their important life events or organize a reunion sometime in the future? Very possibly! Does that mean everyone you met at that trip will now be regularly going out for lunch with you every week now?...Probably not, especially if you already have friends from school. That doesn’t mean you aren’t friends with the important people you met during that best life-changing vacation; it just means that they fill a very different niche in your life from the friends who don’t necessarily understand the life-changing vacation but have the free time to chat with you over lunch.

When the Adventure group found themselves pulled into the Digital World during summer camp, they had already come from very different social spheres. In short:

Taichi, Sora, and Koushirou were the only ones with a background of knowing each other beforehand, thanks to being in the soccer club;

Yamato went to the same school as the others but was a stranger to them, to the point people didn’t even realize Takeru was his brother at first;

Mimi had her own friend circle (see Adventure episode 29);

Jou was assigned as Mimi’s camp group leader but had no other prior relation to her, and Yamato didn’t even initially know his age;

Takeru wasn’t even supposed to be there since he didn’t go to their school and was only tagging along with Yamato;

Hikari was brought halfway into the adventure by virtue of being the eighth Chosen and Taichi’s sister.

Although six of the eight come from the same school, you can see that they’re basically “kids brought together by a certain circumstance” -- they’re not kids who would have normally come into each other’s purview had it not been for this. Which also means that as soon as their adventure ended and some years passed, the aspects of their real lives and social circles started kicking back in:

Taichi continued soccer;

Yamato formed a band (and presumably had a good relationship with his own bandmates);

Sora quit soccer for tennis;

Koushirou quit soccer for the computer club;

Mimi moved to the US;

Jou started attending a private school outside Odaiba;

Takeru and Hikari were never in their age group to begin with.

In the case of Taichi, Yamato, Sora, and Koushirou, it’s representative of how, although they originally had a shared interest in soccer, ultimately, they started to drift into their own specialties. Again, remember that Adventure was a series fundamentally about finding yourself and finding your own path, and all of these choices actually tie into their character arcs: Taichi is a straightforward person and a natural, charismatic leader, meaning soccer was good for him to begin with; Yamato learned to become more sociable and make friends at school; Sora started playing tennis as part of properly reconciling with her mother, and Koushirou decided to pursue a club relevant to his actual interests instead of one purely so that he could have minimal presence in it.

Mimi’s moving to the US is an interesting case because it’s likely because she’s often described (by both fans and official staff) as someone who is easily likeable and can get along with practically anyone. Considering that she’s constantly considerate of others and lacking in condescension or malice, it’s easy to see why; her infamous bouts of complaining were largely because she was under a lot of stress at the time of Adventure’s events (it’s even said that her cracking under pressure was meant to be representative of how an ordinary child her age would react to the situation), and otherwise she has no problems making friends -- hence why she was shown in Adventure episode 29 as already having friends in Taako and Mii-chan that she presumably hung out with prior to the events of the series. So in moving to the US, the point is made that Mimi could move to an entire other country and still hit it up with people there (and she does, given how she makes friends in Michael and the other American Chosen without issue). So thus, Mimi’s moving is also part of her own path -- becoming an effective “ambassador” between international Chosen as they start to pop up all over the globe.

As for Jou, his character arc has heavily to do with the fact that he’s always been on the “elite” academic track -- Japanese school entrance exams stretch back as far as high school, so the fight to get into medical school comes back as early as here, and since the events of Adventure helped Jou come to terms with why he wanted to be a doctor rather than just following his father’s wishes, it’s understandable that he would now be putting everything into that goal -- even if it means going to a different school outside Odaiba and committing himself to the prep school life. And, generally speaking, the other kids respect that too, given that the only time they tried to pull him from it was a time they were literally suffocating on the spot and needed Ikkakumon’s specific backup badly (02 episode 16).

And finally, Takeru and Hikari? The fact that they’re that much younger than the others in this group really is a big deal. When they’re on something “purpose-based” like an adventure, of course the others will have no problem keeping them around, and of course they’ll be happy to participate with these older kids. But if we’re talking about mundane, ordinary life -- there’s not a lot of evidence to suggest they really would prefer the company of kids so much older than them for conversations over lunch. This is especially because it’s hard to imagine they didn’t have other friends at school, too.

Not that they mind being around all these older kids when the time calls for it, but as far as socialization goes, they have their own lives to live. And that’s fine; again, Adventure was a narrative about kids coming to terms with themselves and what they wanted, and it’s not their fault for prioritizing those paths and forming their own social circles rather than insisting on being a specific eight-person group (no matter how much the fanbase wants to have the romantic image of them sticking together all the time no matter what).

Plus, it’s not like they all completely drifted apart and cut each other off!

Just because they’re not “daily life friends” doesn’t mean they’re not still important to each other. 02 episode 38 has Taichi, Sora, Jou, and Koushirou show up for Yamato’s concert -- it’s unlikely they were attending every single one of his concerts, but this was a very important one that was going to be broadcast on TV, so it’s only natural that even Jou (who, again, doesn’t go to school in Odaiba anymore) would still come to support him.

In fact, the fact they can come together when a situation like this happens even without necessarily meeting up every single day of their lives is probably a testament to how strong that bond is in itself. They don’t need to hang out once a day or week to maintain their friendship, and having other friends they’d rather hang out with throughout the day or invite to events doesn’t necessarily mean the other Adventure kids are less worthy friends to them. That experience in August 1999 was so impactful on all of them that they will never forget it, so even if they spent quite a long amount of time not interacting with each other, when a circumstance that necessitates them coming together does bring them together, they can hit it off like nothing happened. Think about how you might have an important friend that you may not chat with on a daily basis, but you talk to them once in a while and hit it off like you never had a break in the conversation. But because that strong bond is based on that one very specific experience that happened in one specific summer, it’s only natural that the majority of meetups over this are going to be based on something to do with that experience, like Digimon incidents; for ordinary things like “band concerts” or “club activities”, it’ll naturally be easier to stick around friends who have more similar social interests, like fellow band or club members.

On the other hand, this is very much not the case for the 02 group.

To understand why the 02 group has a fundamentally different dynamic, we need to dial back to a little before the actual “adventure” part of 02 started.

Right off the bat, we see:

Takeru moves to Odaiba from Sangenjaya, and specifically to the same building Miyako and Iori live in, meaning he’ll be walking to school with them every day;

02 episode 7 indicates that the Motomiya and Yagami families live in the same apartment complex, meaning Daisuke and Hikari are also likely to walk to school together;

Miyako and Iori are established as having already long hit it off with each other as neighbors;

Daisuke, Hikari, and Takeru end up in the same class (with Daisuke and Hikari having known each other already).

In other words: Even before anything to do with Digimon had been introduced (or re-introduced, technically) into their lives, the kids were already being thrown into each other’s social circles. You could technically argue that Daisuke wouldn’t have necessarily met Miyako and Iori if not for the Digimon incident coming into his life later in the episode, but Takeru being neighbors with them basically fills in all of the gaps here -- unlike with the Adventure kids where the adventure in August 1999 threw them together when they likely wouldn’t have been in the same social circle otherwise, the 02 kids are the social circle even independently of the Digimon incidents. In fact, due to being functionally neighbors, there are a lot of ways these kids’ social lives intersect, with Daisuke and Miyako being Taichi and Koushirou’s juniors, Miyako working for Yamato’s band, Yamato being classmates with Miyako’s sister Chizuru, and Jun and Miyako’s other sister Momoe being classmates.

Since, again, 02 was a series fundamentally structured on examining relationships, you can basically view Adventure being a series about “bringing some people together as they find self-assertion even when they’re from different social circles” while 02 follows that up with “so if they were in the same social circle, how would they deal with that?” -- especially since 02 makes it clear that certain kinds of emotional baggage associated with that can actually make it much more complicated.

A lot of 02′s first half is dedicated to the 02 kids doing completely mundane things that have very little relevance to the Digital World conflict -- watching TV in the computer room (remember: this was before they realized the “genius boy” being covered on the news was actually relevant to this), or having a picnic in the Digital World. Mimi even explicitly points out that this kind of thing wouldn’t have happened with the Adventure kids, but it’s not just because of the fact that Adventure involved a lot of running for their lives! It’s easy to dismiss a lot of what happens in these early episodes as “filler”, but a lot of this is dedicated to depicting how the 02 kids were constantly spending time with each other for reasons completely separated from Digimon incidents. This even includes completely ordinary things like soccer games -- Takeru, Hikari, Miyako, and Iori come to support Daisuke with an obvious motive of seeing him do well, so it’s apparent that they’ve come to enjoy hanging out with him beyond just obligation.

Part of this is because of the different nature of the Digimon conflict that they experienced. The Adventure kids had an experience that really was, functionally, “one” experience -- an extremely formative and important one, but one condensed one that they all experienced together. The nature of what the 02 territory war and conflict was, on the other hand, meant that what the conflict “was” to the 02 kids was of a completely different nature. This wasn’t summer vacation; this involved going back and forth between the fight and real life, to the point where Digimon fighting became integrated into “daily life” -- so of course you’d probably hope that the people you’re fighting with are also people you like to bond with on a social level. “Digimon life” and “social life” became synonymous to them.

And when it all comes down to it, it’s hard to pinpoint a “single experience” that the events of 02 embodied, or at least in the same way August 1999′s adventure was. As much as they were running for their lives, the Adventure kids have the luxury of looking at the events of their series as a formative singular time for them, one that they could even look at nostalgically, but for the 02 kids, it’s hard to condense everything into one singular experience (it’s easy for the audience to see it as one series, but for the kids themselves, it’s a very long chain of vaguely connected events). Actually, most of the year involved fighting with someone who ended up becoming their important friend and the other involved helping him deal with his trauma, so it’s not like everyone would be likely to have the most romantic image of this experience itself to “bond” over as much as they care more about the take-home they got out of it: each other.

One thing that 02 doesn’t really spotlight front and center with its starter cast of characters is that, unlike the Adventure kids, who either came with their own social circles prior to Adventure or eventually developed their own in the course of their lives, it’s heavily implied that the 02 kids actually had difficulty making other friends even on a social level, or at least were likely to be in a situation where the other 02 kids really were better company than their other options even for mundane situations. This is especially in the case of the newly introduced characters, who are, effectively, a bit socially “displaced” from others and likely to have struggles fitting in.

There are quite a few signs that Daisuke had serious difficulty making friends prior to the events of the series (with Hikari being the closest thing he had to one), and the fact that the 12-year-old Miyako is portrayed as constantly hanging out with the 9-year-old Iori, brought together by being neighbors, rather than people closer to their own ages stands out. Iori is particularly interesting in that, unlike with Takeru and Hikari, who were portrayed as kids likely to socialize better with those their own age, Iori’s unusual maturity for his age heavily implies that he would actually be out of place with his classroom peers (a very common phenomenon for some people in real life, too!). 02 episode 3 depicting him left alone in the classroom with only a teacher to watch him while his stubborn fixation on principles leaves him slow to finish his lunch says a lot -- his own behavior is liable to isolate him from others, and it’s thus not all that surprising he ended up bonding with some kids who are older than him and more accepting (and even treat him with proper respect, too).

Takeru and Hikari, too. There’s been a lot of arguments over whether the two of them would theoretically be closer to the Adventure kids or the 02 kids, but I would honestly say it’s technically both at once -- they have the same “not socially close, but intuitively understanding” relationship that the Adventure kids all have with each other, but hold the other 02 kids as part of their social circle and hang out with them in “daily life”. So in other words, they have the Adventure kids’ relationship with the other Adventure kids, and the 02 kids’ relationship with the 02 kids. This is presumably why Takeru and Hikari end up hitting it off so well at the start of 02 even though they didn’t interact all that intimately in Adventure; not only do they have that shared experience they intuitively understand, they also were able to start hanging out in day-to-day life and actually, well, socialize.

This applies to them in relation to the rest of the group as well. While neither of them were necessarily portrayed as having social problems, one common thread between the two is that they’re both very emotionally closed-in. Takeru’s response to negativity is to cover it up with smiles, until he can’t hide it anymore and bursts (which scares the hell out of Iori in 02 episode 19 and ultimately forms the basis of their Jogress arc), whereas Hikari has issues vocalizing whenever she’s hurt or in pain (said by herself in 02 episode 31, but with precedent from Adventure episode 48). That means that, even with potential social circles at school, it’s unlikely they necessarily would have had someone they could emotionally bond with deeply off the bat (especially since Takeru had just moved from Sangenjaya), and it’s likely why they kept gravitating towards each other (despite never truly talking about anything in-depth for most of the series) up until the Jogress arc.

In other words, while the Adventure kids’ adventure of self-actualization meant that their relationships to each other were mainly formed on simply understanding that they had a similar experience and empathizing, the 02 kids -- full of a group of somewhat socially maladjusted and out of place kids, plus two who had been on the prior adventure but were young enough to now still be carrying some deep-seated, unresolved emotional baggage -- were in a position where they arguably needed each others’ help to grow.

Jogress isn’t just an obligatory evolution gimmick; it’s something very important to 02 as a series and understanding what it wants to say about relationships. I think one thing that makes me very sad is how often its constant pigeonholing as a gimmick makes me hear people saying that Daisuke and Ken was the only plot-relevant one and the rest were forced “spares”, saying that something like Takeru-Hikari and Miyako-Iori would make more sense. But when the point of the series is about building your relationships from scratch and learning to grow together, I really don’t feel that a story about relationships that naturally existed already would have helped it nearly as much. It’s not like Daisuke and Ken was that likely of a friendship, either!

This is especially in the case of Takeru and Hikari, who certainly were vibing pretty well with each other, but were still very emotionally closed-in with a lot of emotional baggage until the more to-the-point Miyako and Iori were able to break through their shells. (02 episode 13 is so often considered a “Takeru and Hikari bonding” episode, but while it does do a lot to show off the depth of their relationship that hadn’t been depicted much besides them just hanging out all the time, it also does not solve Hikari’s core problem in nearly the same way Miyako gets to the bottom of it in episode 31.) This is also why Takeru and Hikari have such a different relationship with the 02 kids compared to theirs with the Adventure kids; while they were largely tagging along with the older kids and learning a bit about inner strength back during their summer adventure, the 02 group is the one who not only provided them with friendship on a more equal peer level, but also poked deeply into their emotional issues that they very much needed others to help them out of. These are friends who finally get them.

That Ken ultimately becomes yet another addition to this group of kids in need of friends finding support in each other should go without saying -- after all, it’s made abundantly clear he was very lonely and friendless until Daisuke and the others reached out to him -- but it ultimately culminates in them choosing to integrate this lonely boy from Tamachi into their social life. (Remember: Ken is the only of the six 02 kids to live in Tamachi and not Odaiba, but the last quarter of the series has them going out of their way to meet up.) The episode that establishes that everyone has truly made their peace with Ken and wants to unequivocally support him (with the most originally stubborn against it, Iori, graciously accepting him) is sealed off with a Christmas party. A completely ordinary Christmas party that has nothing to do with the Digimon incidents at hand, where they can play meaningless card games and celebrate the little things like Ken laughing, because it’s not just forgiving him or learning to work with him, but actively enjoying his presence and supporting him.

The Digimon Animation Chronicle profile for Ken in Diablomon Strikes Back refers to him as Daisuke’s “best friend” (親友). Usually, the word for “friends” within Adventure and 02 would be nakama (仲間); you may have heard this word from One Piece fans, but this is a word that roughly means “one of us” and has a stronger emphasis on being in a certain group, or being like-minded. Thus, “you’re a Chosen Child like us,” or, more pertinently, “you have the same goal as us and we’re in this together” (after all, it’s not like being a Chosen Child was ever an exclusive club or anything).

But in the case of Daisuke and Ken’s relationship, it’s not just about having happened to gain a deep bond over the course of 02, it’s that Daisuke now really does have a sense of emotional closeness to Ken that the two are considered best friends by default -- in any situation, despite him living all the way in Tamachi. Even though the franchise loves to put them in the category that “protagonists and rivals” usually get, where most others are ones who tend to have friction but understand each other in the end, Daisuke and Ken are unique in that they’re not like that at all. They have a very straightforward sense of emotionally confiding in each other, at worst maybe lightly bantering a bit, but they are friends before anything else, and that extends to the rest of the 02 group as well.

The aftermath

On its face, it sounds like the 02 kids are getting a pretty luxurious deal -- they got a fun adventure of emotional growth out of it, and they’re tight friends with each other at that! Well, that probably sounds great, but there’s a flip side to all of this.

Firstly, as I mentioned earlier, the Adventure kids’ adventure in 1999 was a lot more “romantic” than the 02 kids’ eight-month-long ordeal. Sure, a lot of it definitely was stressful, what with the running for their lives and the scary villains and the emotional conflict, but there was also the part about getting to meet Gennai and the other friendly Digimon around and getting to explore villages. They were on summer break, so they didn��t even really have to worry about school (especially once they realized time dilation was a thing); it’s basically the epitome of the romantic coming-of-age story. (Fun fact: Stand By Me is really culturally influential in Japan.)

02, on the other hand, was an eight-month-long ordeal of having to fight a territory war crammed into the after-hours of school, juggling fighting this war with keeping it from parents, in a fight that would retroactively turn out to be against what would later become a heavily traumatized and beloved friend, plus eventually watching him get subject to even worse trauma. Oh, and the series also ended on witnessing a bunch of deaths (or in other words, the worst New Year’s Eve ever). While it seemed like the kids had the luxury of enjoying the Digital World in ways the Adventure kids couldn’t at first, actually, they didn’t get to enjoy as much of it at all, since they never got to form any lasting relationships with anyone like Gennai or Elecmon. These kids were basically too busy trying to keep each others’ heads on straight to really be able to focus on that.

The comparative mess that the 02 kids went through, and the messes that they kind of are, means that they’re rather dependent on each other for emotional support. This is not inherently a bad thing, mind you; the fact that some people are more independent than others is a simple fact of life, and the 02 kids (whether it’s from naturally being a bit misfit or from the degree of their experiences) being the type who grow together with mutual support isn’t inherently anything bad. It does, however, mean that they’re likely to have some difficulties ahead coming out of 02 as “growing up” conspires to make it more and more difficult for them to stick together -- after all, how many people have actually been able to stick with their elementary school friends all the way into adulthood? This is especially because Japanese high schools admit students by examination, and rank by academic ability; it’s not particularly common for those from the same elementary/middle school to attend the same high school, even if they live close to each other, and it’s very unlikely that all of them will be sticking together in school by that point.

So, how did they fare?

Well, before we get into anything else, we should probably bring up one thing that seems like such a tiny little detail but is actually very important for this: Technology didn’t stagnate at 02′s D-Terminals, and by the time of Kizuna in 2010, smartphones and group chats existed! (Earlier than they did in real life, at that.) This is actually really important because of how much it does for that question of “how to keep in contact when circumstances like school keep you apart” -- especially when the Adventure group would certainly appreciate the method to keep in touch despite their lives largely getting increasingly separate. That, and even more so if other similar technological things like social media existed; there’s a lot of ways to keep in touch despite physical and circumstantial distance.

Of course, they’d been keeping in touch via email since 02, but a group chat is much lower pressure and actively encourages everyone to keep in touch; think about how useful group chats have been for connecting with your own longtime friends. It’s ambiguous whether the 02 group was privy to this particular chat from To Sora given that they were clearly on call for incidents like the Parrotmon one, but it’s also entirely possible that this is a room for The Ones Who Went on That One Adventure in August 1999, especially since they use the Crests as their icons, and the 02 group has their own (let’s be real, they totally would; think about how many Discord servers with overlapping people you might be in right now). This, combined with the fact that the Adventure and 02 groups seem to have formed a sort of recon squad for the increasing number of Digimon incidents in Tokyo, means that there are actually a lot more opportunities to stay involved with each other than ever before!

As it seems, the Adventure group does seem to be rather emotionally close to the point that Taichi is willing to reach out to Yamato simply to dump his emotional troubles about his future career prospects on him (despite them going to very different universities at this point). Yet, at the same time, there’s still a palpable sense of distance going on here, and a depiction of Taichi and Yamato having developed separate social lives and their own friend circles -- Taichi with Morikawa and Nemoto, and Yamato with Abe (their names come from the novel), who are also acquainted with each other enough to talk about career and worry about each other.

When Taichi and Yamato talk over beer, they don’t even have updates on the same people (Yamato has to update Taichi on Sora and Takeru’s status), and ultimately, Yamato comments on their drifting -- saying that it’s a potentially inevitable part of choosing one’s path. It’s not hard to see why he says this; it’s been a recurring theme for them since after the events of Adventure. Sora and Mimi haven’t been around for Digimon incidents lately because of their careers, and it’s highly likely Jou hasn’t either; Koushirou keeps in touch, but our only depictions have been in the range of business and Digimon incidents.

But for the 02 group? Absolutely not.

The Kizuna drama CD has a lot about what the 02 group was doing (and planning to do) during their little “vacation” in New York. In fact, there’s a lot to go on about here:

Daisuke and Takeru show up together even though Iori was allegedly said to be “first” approached, meaning the two of them were basically hanging out anyway.

Daisuke insists on going on a trip that’s about his own personal career with friends -- and not just any friends, but specifically the group of himself, Ken, Miyako, Iori, Takeru, and Hikari. He also wanted his seniors along, but they were too busy -- but it’s pointed out that the other 02 group members aren’t exactly full of free time either, meaning that these five have a special place of importance to Daisuke in his ramen career trip.

Even the Digimon are aware of what the other humans (the ones that aren’t even their partners!) have been up to lately.

Miyako and Hawkmon say that it’s only natural for them to show up when the group is getting together -- i.e. being with this specific company is a fact of life to her, to the point she invents D-3 gate exploitation to be with them.

The group keeps saying “it’s been a while” for periods of time in which it is made pretty obvious it’s actually not a lot of time at all. (Miyako had just left for Spain to the point her coming back elicits an “already?!” kind of reaction, yet that constitutes “a while”, and the most likely very short time between the trip planning and the movie is also apparently “a while”, and it’s very likely that Takeru’s “a while” in greeting Iori may well have not been that long, either.) It really makes you think about how often the people in this group must be meeting up to think that this constitutes “a while”...

Hikari is ready to fight people for denying her the chance to play with Miyako.

Beyond that, they’ve all apparently been regular enough presences in Daisuke’s life for completely offhand comments and actions to have major impacts on his career thoughts.

In the movie itself, Miyako refuses to take on the exact same request that she ultimately gladly participates in with the rest of the 02 group in New York -- presumably, because the fact her friends are there makes it all better.

As it turns out, despite everything -- despite everyone going in completely different directions with their careers, attending different schools (Iori’s still in high school while everyone else is in university!), the 02 group has been maintaining this attitude of going out of their way to hang out with each other, in a sort of “we do it together, or we don’t do it at all” sense. Of course, that’s not to say they’ve all stayed so socially maladjusted that they’ve become completely incapable of making any other friends at all, but there is a very clear, strong preference of them wanting to be in each other’s specific company to the point that they would do ridiculous things to make it work.

So, you might be asking: what’s the trade-off?

Yamato attributes the alienation between the Adventure group to “choosing one’s own path”. Inherently, this is not quite right (nor is the sentiment that “choices are bad” in general), especially considering that Daisuke, Iori, and Hikari already made their choices in path a long time ago, yet are still behaving like this. The question is actually more of priorities; notice that while the older Adventure characters are mainly portrayed in Kizuna as aggressively pursuing career prospects, the 02 characters, despite having their current educational statuses listed in their profiles, simply seem to have this as not an object.

Iori’s still in school uniform; he’s arguably cramming this all between school club obligations. Ken, Miyako, Takeru, and Hikari don’t have their current educational status involved at all, and even though Daisuke’s ramen trip is technically for his future career, he’s also happy to just “play around” about sightseeing (and, again, there’s also no reason he needed to bring his friends for this). Takeru’s working on his novel, but he hasn’t actually decided it’ll be his career yet. It’s not about whether they’ve made choices or not; it’s about the fact they’re going about this remarkably casually to the point where maintaining their relationship with their friends is more important than career. And this extends to the 02 epilogue as well; compared to their seniors’ more prominent history-making careers, the 02 group’s is more low-scale and community-oriented (the only exception being Sora, but even that ties into individual ambition more than anything else, considering that not succeeding her mother is already a pretty big deal in itself).

The take-home

Adventure and 02 are both very well-known for showcasing people with different personalities and goals in life, and celebrating their differences. I think, personally, the difference between the Adventure and 02 groups’ dynamics is also something that reflects on the different ways to live one’s life as well. This is especially something that most of us can probably understand well now that we’re adults looking back at this, especially in light of Kizuna.

There are some of us who really want to do large-scale things in this world, and will need that understanding of the self to get there but may struggle with maintaining consistent friendships on that turbulent path, and have to adapt by managing the different levels of their relationships and learning to get along with different people in different ways. There are some of us who gain happiness more from mutual support with the people around us even if it means not ostensibly achieving as “great” things, and feel most comfortable with a single consistent set of friends. Some of us are in between, or feel elements of both as we try to experiment with things in life (actually, I’m pretty sure that’s probably most of us to some degree).

Think about your own life and future prospects right now, and then think about the friends you may be in touch with, or haven’t been in touch with for a while, or the ones you talk to for different purposes or fulfill different niches in your life. We’re all trying to straddle this balance; there’s no one right way to live.

#digimon #digimon adventure #digimon adventure 02 #digimon adventure last evolution kizuna #kizuna spoilers

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