#//shy yet just that bit of arrogance in his younger years

[neverendingdeath]

📜 :3

muse fun facts || archives of the blade He is and has always been surprisingly forgetful. When one has such limited time, making use of every second matters and he's always been adamant on not losing out to others because they had more time than him. This has, unfortunately, manifested itself as him taking on a few too many things all at once and at times, forgetting the most basic of things. In his previous life it held true as it does his current. He's not allowed to take on more than two or three tasks at once because it will slip his mind(until the 11th hour where he somehow managed). Where once he would have laughed off the mistake, he finds himself wondering why of all things, that is something his mind seems to remember.

[wishmemel]

jjk men tropes

Businessman! Gojo Satoru who’s forced into a contract marriage with you through no will of his own. you’ve watched him from afar for years (you could even go as far as to call yourself one of his admirers) but he’s never paid a glance in your direction. that all changes when fate throws a wrench in both your lives and has you preparing for a wedding that you neither want nor need. Gojo Satoru is incredibly good-looking, to his credit, but coming into contact with his arrogant attitude always leaves a sour note in your mouth. he’s nothing like you dreamt he would be in your head: charming, clever, and playful. where had you gone wrong in analyzing his personality? it was those deceptive blue eyes, wasn’t it? they had reeled you in and left you paralyzed, unable to pull away. so you’d made up a fictional world in your head with him as the star, and now that he hasn't lived up to your expectations, you’re finding yourself sorely disappointed. the only thing that can come out of this is Satoru's stubbornness when it comes to suddenly changing your mind, despite his previous nonchalance. maybe it's because he finds that it's not so bad having someone to come home to and eat dinner with and open the wine bottle for and kiss awkward goodbyes to. and maybe the two of you could do this for a little longer than what the contract had stated and maybe he'll give you a kid just so that he can have some memory of you when you leave and maybe he'll be able to convince you that he's not all that bad. (maybe he'll be able to convince you to stay.)

Tattoo Artist! Geto Suguru who has been your best friend since preschool. he’s reserved and shy, different from your usual types, and he spends most of his nights in, drawing elaborate sketches in his notebooks or enjoying movie nights with you. on days where you can convince him to come out with you, the two of you end up drunk at karaoke bars, singing your hearts out. it’s the first time you’ve noticed just how beautiful Suguru can be, especially the way he doubles over laughing after hearing your singing, and the way he outdoes you in every song with a voice that could drive women to their knees. he's not the type to say his thoughts aloud or even the kind to admit his own feelings to himself. if Suguru is good at one thing, it's running. but he hasn't run from you yet. he tells himself that he's just waiting for the right opportunity to let you down and leave, and he tells himself that it's not because his heart clenches at the thought of your eyes filled with tears, hands tugging at his shirt, begging him to stay. Suguru has been here long enough to know that everyone that you needed left the same way: by walking straight out the door without a second thought. so since you were kids, Suguru, only two years older than you, would look out for you like an older brother might, squaring up to the bullies on the playground in elementary and knocking out your persistent ex-boyfriends when you two were a little bit older. he wishes you would read his mind and make the decision for him. everything would be a little simpler if you knew what he was thinking and made him promise to stay before he could even take the first step to leave. (the same way a younger version of you had made him pinky promise on the playground to never leave.)

Boxer! Fushigoru Toji with bruised knuckles, various scars, and a set of washboard abs that you frequently dream of doing your laundry on. he dedicates his fights to you and promises to win in your name, regardless of those around you who call him a foolish romantic. his lopsided smirk, cruel and dangerous, is enough to shut their mouths as soon as they meet his dark eyes. knowing that boxing isn’t really your style, the two of you met at a bar where Toji worked part-time as a bartender and full-time as an arrogant flirt. it had been that troublesome smile that drew you in. danger was never something you balked from. rather, the opposite; it had butterflies swarming your stomach, unable to tell if they were from fear or excitement. it had you swaying on your feet from lightheadedness, caught between good for your heart and bad for your health. but when he takes you on his motorcycle, that seals the deal. it doesn’t matter that he refuses to put a label on your relationship. and it doesn’t matter that he refuses to make you two exclusive. what matters is that you wake up in his bed on sunday mornings and have breakfast with him until he has to leave for “business.” what matters is that you’re the only woman on his phone because Toji’s reluctantly told you that he’s an orphan. what matters is that someday he’ll call you his and that day will come soon. you know it will. you just have to be patient. (someday he'll say he loves you back.)

Ex-Lover! Ryoumen Sukuna who just can’t seem to let you slip from his fingers. he’s possessive and he’s obsessive, but he can’t let you go, and he doesn’t care what anyone else says but you’re his and god forbid you see anyone other than him. if you’re on dates with other guys, Sukuna will have them running for the hills with a mere glance in their direction, and if you’re a little frustrated by that, then it’s no worries. he’s here to cool your anger. he’s here, so you can vent your frustrations and tell him you hate him and call him all those names. he loves when you lie to him. he wishes he could hear it all the time. he thinks you’re so cute when you’re pretending to be mad at him and acting up for attention. oh, you’ll get that attention, all right. Sukuna won’t let you get away without it. then you’ll be on you’re knees, begging and pleading for a second chance, just like his pretty porcelain doll should be doing. he’ll hold you tight and whisper fervent promises of how he’ll never let you go ever again. and it's so romantic in his head; picturing the fear that'll widen those doe eyes, the shortness of breath you'll feel when he tells you his plans like a cliche villain, the irregular beats of your heart that he'll relish in hearing. you know he’ll never ever let you escape from his fingertips like that again. and you'd sooner kill yourself than be stuck with Sukuna a second time but he doesn't know that. (if he did, he'd burn the entire world to bring you back.)

Colleague! Nanami Kento who is so uptight that you can’t help teasing him on every off chance that you two find your paths crossing (which happens to be more and more frequently these days, you must admit.) he’s been in love with you since the day you stepped into the office, your sharp look matching the sleek dress pants that you wore that day, but hasn’t yet found a way to express it yet, other than asking if you liked love in your coffee the first day that you’d been assigned a desk beside his. you’d given him a blank stare that he seems to have interpreted as a death glare and he’d profusely mumbled apologies under his breath, vowing never to speak to you or look in your direction again. however, somehow, through some magic, you’d both reached this in-between point of talking where you weren’t quite friends yet, but you were definitely acquaintances. acquaintances and colleagues and why was he so desperate to put a label on his relationship with you? he's always been able to draw the line first and maintain his professionalism, but you're always leaning over to laugh at jokes that your other colleague makes and he thinks it's so distracting the way your eyes light up and crinkle at the corners. and one day Kento finds that he suddenly has a great sense of humour and a penchant for making you laugh the way your other coworker could never. (it's not a competition. but if it was... Kento would win in a heartbeat.)

[devinescribe]

Lonely Boy

Octavian x reader

Warnings: None

A bit angsty, mostly fluff

This is the first story I’m posting as the new owner of this account, and I love this character so much, soooo

Here you go!

When you arrived at Camp Jupiter around 7 years ago, the same day as Octavian, you weren’t exactly... expecting much. The boy was isolated from most, not well liked even from the first day he was there. Octavian came off as rude and arrogant… and he was.

“Hi… my name is Y/N L/N…. It’s nice to meet you,” you whispered to him, holding a cute little white bunny plushie.

“Hello. I’m-“

“Octavian, Y/N. Pleasure to meet you both. Welcome to Camp Jupiter.”

You were shy, and hid behind the boy you had just met.

“Don’t hide behind me-“ he hissed, trying to move away.

“Please don’t make me…” you whispered, a hint of tearyness to your tone.

The boy stopped. He had never really interacted with others his age as he had been trained almost his whole life by his parents putting pressure on him. He had just been in the Wolf House and survived Lupa’s training, and to see you hiding pissed him off a bit. At the same time, he felt bad.

Against his better judgment he let you hide behind him, stepping in front of you as you clutched onto his shirt.

“We can be friends…?” You asked quietly.

He was shocked.

“Um… I-… I… I’m not…” he stammered, as you walked around the camp. “…Okay.”

He quickly rose the ranks, much like you did… Or at least, much like you wished you had. You were in the first cohort, just like him. No matter how much you tried, he would never reciprocate your kindness in full. Yet he listened, and he was a lot kinder to you than he was to others. There was something that royally pissed you off about the boy... But there was something so painfully sad about him. You understood.

As a daughter of Discordia, you often got a bad reputation. People tolerated you. Sure, you were nice and kind to everyone, but that didn’t matter…

One slip of the tongue was enough to make people hate you for a week, no matter how hard you tried.

So you tried to be soft spoken, gentle, and kind. Patient with all of the campers especially the new ones and the little ones. It didn’t matter. Because to them, you were just a ticking time bomb.

"Y/N, you are now in charge of whatever the hell Octavian is getting himself into," Reyna said, shooting you a look as you two walked through the camp.

You sighed, "Why me? I do not have a high position… I suppose I am in the senate, but I can’t even call myself a centurion or preator so why me?"

She shrugged, "He listens to you. I don't know why."

This was true. With a sigh, you make a stop at your cohort before making the long trek to the temple where the young augur stood in front of his altar, with a teddy bear in hand.

"Octavian. Put the teddy down," You commanded.

The blonde scoffed at your intrusion.

"Why are you here?" he asks rudely, putting the ceremonial dagger down with a harsh slam on the altar.

He truly was just a petulant child… but he was your petulant child and possibly only true friend.

"Reyna officially made me 'one in charge of your bullshit.’ So put it down,” you said again.

A younger camper comes in, sniffling and crying. Their teddy had gone missing and they saw you come in here. You look at the pile of stuffed animals at the blonde boy’s feet. The younger camper cowered behind you, terrified of Octavian. Walking closer, you pick the stuffed toys up and forcefully take the one in Octavian’s hand.

“If you’re gonna keep doing this stop doing it to the kids’ stuffies. Here,” You said, roughly handing him a pristine white stuffed bunny. He stared at it as you walked out, arms full of stuffies.

He stared down at the stuffy. It was yours. The same one you clutched onto the first day at camp, the day he met you. One of your favorites. You made your bed every morning and always set up your stuffed animals on it. He never touched them. They were right there, but he never touched them. For some reason, he felt bad holding such an important item of yours even though he had never cared about anyone else’s.

Octavian scoffed. Of course, you were put in charge of him. Who else? He walked out of the temple and saw as you set the stuffies on a blanket, sitting, taking a needle, and thread out of a pocket in your skirt. He watched as kids sat around you, watching you sew. Your voice carried with the wind and he sighed, leaning against a pillar. A story. You were telling them a story.

Why were you so kind? Everyone acted like you were going to snap at the smallest of things, you never did, but you always stay with a smile on your face being good to everyone.

He walked down closer to hear your voice more clearly. Whatever story you were telling, the kids did not want to hear it.

“Tell us about the lonely boy!” one shouted.

A chorus of agreement was heard.

He watched as you laughed, nodding, never looking up from your stitching. You held each stuffed animal with such care.

“The lonely boy hm…? Well… Let me tell you all of when he met… the magical girl…” you smiled.

“Magic like you?” A little boy asked, holding onto a stuffed dinosaur with its arms detached.

You nod, “Like me… ready?”

The group of children nods.

“Once upon a time, in a realm where gods and mortals intertwined, much like this one, there lived a lonely boy. He was strong and brave, but deep in his heart, he felt a void, a yearning for something more.”

The kids leaned against each other and looked with such interest at you as you began to tell the story.

“The lonely boy spent his days training, mastering the arts of combat and strategy, much like many heroes we hear about. But unlike the other heroes, he was not well-liked. He was outcasted, feared, and hated by others. He was bitter, and mean on occasion�� even children ran from him-“

“Like Octavian!” A boy shouted.

The group laughed, and a part of you felt bad.

“Come now… be nice…. Where was I…? Ah, yes. Despite his strength, he felt a deep loneliness and just wanted to be liked by someone.”

Octavian scowled at the group laughing at him. He would never tell anyone that it hurt. He would never say that it hurt to be laughed at, to be seen as a joke. He knew how everyone looked at him. How everyone felt about him. He held the stuffed bunny you had given him tightly, still hidden as he watched.

“One day, while wandering in the forest, he stumbled upon a hidden glade bathed in moonlight. There, in the center of the glade, stood a girl unlike any he had ever seen. This girl was the daughter of a powerful enchantress. Her hair shimmered like starlight, and her eyes held the mysteries of the night. She had the gift of magic, able to weave spells and enchantments with a mere whisper. The magical girl was well-loved and admired by all, her kindness and charm drawing people to her like moths to a flame.”

“Like you? Is that what you do?” A little girl asked.

You smiled, “If that is what you think I do.”

The group of children laughed as you continued.

“The lonely boy watched the magical girl from afar, his heart torn between admiration and jealousy. Torn between wanting to hold her, and wanting to see her ripped apart. He saw how well-liked she was, how everyone was drawn to her… At first he thought he was jealous of her… Until he figured out he was more jealous of those who got to be around her. He longed to be in her presence, but felt unworthy and afraid of rejection.”

One of the younger campers, a little girl clutching a torn, well loved, stained rabbit, asked, “Did he ever tell her how he felt?”

“Not at first. Instead, he kept his distance, afraid of making things worse… Afraid of her hating him too. But his feelings grew stronger, and he couldn’t help but be drawn to her. He would leave small gifts, hoping she would notice, but he never had the courage to speak his heart. Her favorite treats, small pieces of the finest jewelry, love notes, and things she’d mentioned.”

Some girls sighed with a lovesick sigh.

“One day, his frustration and loneliness overwhelmed him. The boy saw the magical girl surrounded by friends, her laughter ringing through the air. Her wonderful, enchanting laughter followed by her bright, warm smile, that could put the sun to shame. He couldn’t take it anymore and confronted her, his words spilling out in anger and pain, rushing like an overflowing river, breaking the walls of the damn.”

The kids gasped, leaning forward as you kept seeing and fixing the stuffies. As you finished one, you handed it it to the kid it corresponded to. You pick up the last one. A stuffed black cat… or rather the shell of the stuffy. You sighed, re stuffing it and stitching it back up.

“He shouted at her, accusing her of being oblivious to his suffering, accusing her of being evil and rotten, because how could he feel so much for her and her never notice? Tears streamed down his face as he finally confessed his feelings, his love, and his despair. The magical girl was taken aback, stunned by his outburst. Her friends laughed. The lonely boy was not well liked, and the thought of the magical girl ever returning such feelings to such a rotten boy was humorous to them. The lonely boy ran, without hearing her answer, humiliated…”

Gasps of ‘oh no’ could be heard through the small crowd of campers. Soft sniffles caught your attention. It was never your intention to make the little ones cry…

“The magical girl, seeing the depth of his pain, ran after him, ignoring the laughter of her friends. At the glade, under a willow tree, she saw his teary face. She approached him with compassion. She hadn’t realized how much he was hurting… she hadn’t know of his feelings for her… With a gentle touch, she told him that she saw him now, that his feelings mattered. That he mattered to her. That he was… lovely. He was loved. In that moment, the lonely boy felt a weight lift from his heart. Their bond grew, and he found the acceptance he had always longed for.”

The group of kids sniffled and wiped their tears and snot on the back of their hands and their newly fixed stuffed animals.

“Remember, my little doves,” you say softly, finishing the final stitches on the stuffed cat,“sometimes, those who seem the loneliest need our kindness the most. Love and understanding can heal even the deepest wounds and bring light to the darkest hearts.”

The children cheer happily as you hand the stuffed kitten back to it’s owner.

“Some people deserve to be lonely….” A little boy says, petting his stuffed lion.

“Yeah… like the teddy bear murderer,” another girl scoffs, hugging her stuffy close.

You shake your head, trying to stop them from saying those things.

“Come now, you wouldn’t like to be lonely would you? I think he’s rather-“

“Octavian is mean.”

“He’s a jerk.”

“My siblings don’t like him.”

“No one in my cohort likes him either.”

“He deserves it.”

You stare in shock. Sure, Octavian wasn’t well liked, this you knew… but to hear all this from children… you felt bad for him.

“Guys… no one deserves to be alone-“ you try to start, but they talk over you.

In the midst of all the talking there a shrill scream as one girl finally notices Octavian watching. You turn and see him just standing there… he glares at you, hand gripping onto the white bunny. You look at him with pleading tear filled eyes to not do anything drastic… tears? When did you start crying?

You get up and go to walk over, but kids grab at you, telling you to not go that he was going to hurt you, he was mean, he was a jerk, how would rip you up like the teddy bears… and something inside you just snapped.

“Enough!”

The shout was so loud even campers who were not in the group of kids turned to stare.

“You are all just as mean and terrible as you say he is by saying things like that!” You yell at the kids, anger coursing through you, your blood feeling like fire in your veins.

Almost as soon as you yelled, you covered your mouth, regretting it.

Kids started crying and running away from you.

It hurt.

But what hurt the most was the glares you were receiving from other campers.

This was the snap they were waiting for…

You turned to go talk to Octavian, but he wasn’t there anymore.

Reyna rushed up to you.

“Y/N, what on earth is going on?” She questioned… was that anger in her tone?

“I’m sorry I-i just got overwhelmed and everyone was talking and I told them to stop and-“

“Over Octavian? Really? You made them cry defending him of all people?”

You looked at her, an incredulous look on your face. Shaking your head, you walk away, ignoring as she called out after you.

You’re sitting by the lake, under a tall tree, staring out as the sun glimmers over the water.

You hear footsteps behind you and hide yourself even more.

“Didn’t take you for the brooding type,” you heard the voice say.

With such arrogance and teasing in the tone, you knew who it was.

“Leave me alone Octavian,” you sigh, leaning onto the palm of your hand.

“I don’t think I will.”

You groan as the lanky blond sits next to you. He doesn’t say anything. He just sits there. An… oddly comforting silence stands between the two of you. You look down and notice he’s still holding your bunny.

“Is my bunny not a good enough sacrifice for you?” You joke with a sarcastic smile.

He would never tell you that he knew how much it meant to you, and that he would never ever dream of making you of all people cry.

So instead he just scoffs, “Of course it’s not good enough.”

“How do you deal with it?” You ask in a hushed tone.

“Deal with what?”

“Everyone hating you. You always seem so… fine with it.”

He plays with the bunny in his hands, pulling at it gently.

He was never okay with it. He was lonely.

“Well how do you go around camp being so kind to everyone when they look down at you for your parentage?

“… touché.”

He handed you the bunny back.

“Thanks….” He mumbled.

You were confused. Why was he thanking you?

“Thanks? Why thanks?” You asked, snuggling the bunny.

He hesitated, looking away. You noticed the way the tips of his ears turned red, and laughed.

“You nervous ‘Tavi?”

“Don’t call me that you insolent-“

You rolled your eyes and smiled.

“…Thanks for defending me… um… you didn’t have to…” he mumbled.

Ah. So that’s what it was about.

“I always will. Even if you hate me… I’m going to go… make it up to Reyna. Here,” you said, softly placing the bunny back in his hands. “He always helps me when I’m sad… I think you need that right now.”

Before standing up you bite your lip and place a kiss on his cheek. His face turned bright red as he stammered, trying to get his words out, but failing miserably.

You ran off, leaving the blond alone with his thoughts. He stared down at the bunny, holding it softly. Why was he such a coward?

“Thanks for being kind always… I wish I had the courage to tell you I like you…”

[supertvngames]

Arthur (Series) OC - Anthony "Tony" Samuel Read

Age: Over 3 Years Old

Species: Arctic Fox

Family: Arthur Timothy Read - Adoptive Eldest Brother Dora Winifred "D.W." Read - Adoptive Older Sister Kate Read - Adoptive Younger Brother David Read - Adoptive Father Jane Read - Adoptive Mother Thora Read - Adoptive Paternal Grandmother Bud - Adoptive Paternal Uncle Loretta - Adoptive Paternal Aunt Monique "Mo" - Adoptive Paternal Cousin Dave - Adoptive Maternal Grandfather Jessica - Adoptive Maternal Aunt Richard - Adoptive Maternal Uncle Cora - Adoptive Maternal Cousin Fred - Adoptive Maternal Uncle

Favorite Colors: Red and Pink

Hobby/Hobbies: Drawing pictures, scalping, singing privately, making stink bombs or any kind of prank tools, disobeying his parents' absurd strict rules, and especially pranking (mostly his older siblings)

Friends: George Lungden - Closest Male Big Kid Friend Fern Walters - 1st Closest Female Big Kid Friend Sue Ellen Armstrong - 2nd Closest Female Big Kid Friend James MacDonald - Closest Male Kid Friend Buster Baxter - Friend via Arthur Alan "Brain" Powers - Friend via Arthur Shelley "Binky" Barnes - Friend via Arthur Molly MacDonald - Friend via James

Enemies: D.W. Read Cora Francine Frensky Muffy Crosswire Timmy Tibble Tommy Tibble

Likes: Pranking his siblings for fun, pranking his enemies for spite, semi-cloudy soft-windy days, winter and spring, scavenger hunt, sleeping in his (not-so) secret hiding spots, Bionic Bunny, Dark Bunny, his adoptive brother, their friends, and especially his crushes: Fern and Sue Ellen.

Dislikes: His meal interrupted (he gets grumpy), harsh sunny days especially in summer, practically almost anything D.W. likes (Mary Moo Cow, Crazy Bus, Tina the Talking Tabby, etc.), and anybody who picks on his siblings (only he gets to do it)

Personality: Tony is just your typical little toddler boy, who is a curious thrill/adventure seeker. He is just ready any form of excitement and yet knows when to sit down and relax. And although Tony can be slightly carefree and mischievous, he has a lot of more common sense than he leads, for a kid. Tony even throws snarks every now and then, most notably just to mess with his big brother Arthur and their friends. Plus Tony seems to have a short temper, especially when it comes to the nonsense of obnoxious and spoiled brats, and all those who wrong his family and friends. He can be a bit protective. And not to mention, surprisingly, Tony can be extremely shy when meeting girls he likes, specifically Fern Walter and Sue Ellen. Although, he later on, he builds his confidence around them. Tony is oblivious when preschool girls have a crush on him. He's just not used to being crushed on. Plus being adopted can be a sensitive topic for Tony when someone tease him about it. Tony, however, resent the fact that David and Jane have favorite D.W. This is also a sensitive topic.

Bio: Tony Read is the adoptive younger brother of the titlcular character: Arthur Read. Tony's birth parents were family-friends of David and Jane Read. However his parents unfortunately passed away due to different circumstances (child birth and car accident).

After the deaths of their friends, David and Jane adopted Tony to honor them. Tony has live a decent life with his adoptive family, mostly with his brother Arthur, who doesn't seem mind too much to take him with him around despite the sibling rivalry between them. D.W., on the other hand, cause trouble for Tony as much as she does with Arthur. However, Tony retaliates by pranking her. Tony can be prideful, which is essentially his downfall. He take pride when it comes to his schemes or skills and talents. He never see it could lead into consequences to bigger ones that are almost too much to handle.

Since Arthur took Tony to hang with his friends ever since Arthur was in the 2nd grade, Tony got along with Buster, Brain, and Binky very well. Although, Tony can't stand Francine's arrogant attitude and Muffy's bratty behavior, all remind him too much of D.W., and how they antagonize his big brother despite being Arthur's "friends". And Tony got make a friend of his when meeting George. He found George to be a fun and interesting guy, and loves his puppet play. And he got acquainted with George's friend Carl. Of course, when Tony first met Fern, he had a huge crush on her. Tony thinks Fern is adorable. Initially he often goes quiet as he's extremely shy when seeing face-to-face with her, and as well as goes hiding. After gaining his confidence to talk to Fern, they became friends. He enjoy mysteries and detective stuff with her, and he doesn't mind scary stuff. And since Sue Ellen moved in to Elwood City, Tony's had the same reaction when meeting a new crush, he was timid around Sue Ellen yet he is interested in her. Tony thinks Sue Ellen is cool as she's brave and knows martial arts. He even ask Sue Ellen for lessons on a couple of moves. Tony thinks Sue Ellen is cute too. They became good friends as well.

Of course Tony does make friends at preschool, like James MacDonald, who they became good friends after Tony leads the conversation and protect him from the Tibble Twin's shenanigans. Emily is another preschooler that Tony made good friends with even back when D.W. doesn't like her being perfect. Yet Tony does tease D.W. that Emily is better than her in every way. Although, Tony does not like Tibble Twins at all, considering how obnoxious and loud they are. Though, of all the kids to bombard with pranks, the Tibble twins are Tony's favorite targets

Trivia: - I figured that if Arthur had a younger brother as suppose to he had a twin brother relationship with Buster and see an older brother in Brain, I thought it would be interesting how he would handle a younger brother. - Plus I wanna have Arthur interact with Fern and George more. So the connection they had with Tony makes it possible. - I also figure that how D.W. would handle against someone who doesn't care she has parental favoritism on her side.

[provisionalsparkle]

The Boy Next Door

Reader x Bang Chan (Stray Kids)

[Genre] exes-to-lovers au, smut, angst.

[Word count] 6.7K

[Warnings] Smut. Angst. Unprotected sex, voyeurism, ample description of bodily fluids.

[Note] This is my contribution to @feliix ’s Summer 2 Lovers collab! Check it out!

Summer.

The season of fun and sun, careless joy, long days and warm nights…

For most people.

For you, this summer is about change. It’s about the little town you used to live in, the quaint house you grew up in, the smell of your mother’s cooking or the breeze from the yard, the sound of younger kids playing in the street. It’s about the big city you will go to live in, it’s purple and orange twilight skies, black silhouettes reaching toward the skies beginning to twinkle with golden lights, the noises of the traffic coming from evening bustle, the scent of the delis and restaurants that line the streets.

You were stuck between these two places, university having been a four year long limbo of boundless sex mislabeled as self-discovery, and now visit your home one last time, reminding yourself of the life you had there before moving on to another.

You think of the past with nostalgia, yet also with a restlessness that makes you want to run from everything. The stillness, the silence, the unchanging landscape in this little town is too unbearable, too unsettling. But it’s familiar, and it’s comfortable. The life you’ll soon live promises excitement, autonomy, it’s the adulthood you’ve fantasized about. It terrifies you too, and you have these horrible dreams about missing the payment of the most insignificant bill and having the entire world collapse on you because of it. You still don’t know how to do your taxes.

College is over, a new life awaits you in a big city after landing a rather ideal job, but it felt like you were leaving things behind. Funny how, after so many years of fantasizing about this grown-up life you suddenly felt like a lost child, scared to forgo the familiar.

It’s these sort of almost-quarter-life-crisis thoughts that fill your mind on a particularly warm afternoon. You’re indecently splayed out on a couch with as little clothing as possible, the door to the backyard is wide open, letting an occasional breeze waft in to disrupt the stifling stillness of the heat. The lights are off, and you were too unbothered to turn them on as the sun set, preferring to stare at a darkening ceiling as the evening sky turned purple.

There’s a familiar jingle of keys from the front door.

“Honey? You home?”

“I’m here, Mom.” You lazily answer back. She wanders from the hall to the living room, you can feel the judgemental look she gives you.

“Have you been laying like this all day?”, indignation lines her voice. Was it so surprising to find you like this?

“Yeah…”

“You can’t just lay here all day. Go out! Get some sun! Go play with those kids you used to hang out with from school!”

“I can’t Ma, I’d rather just plank here.”

“Oh goodness, Y/n. Give me one good reason you shouldn’t go hang out with them!”

“I’ll give you two: either they grew up to be total bitches or they had kids and became a bore.”

“I didn’t become a bore when I had you!” She exclaims, although it’s not too serious and some playfulness hides beneath the surface.

“Yeah, that’s because you’re a cool mom. They don’t make those anymore.”

“Hmm… well, I think you should make a bit of an effort.”

“Mom… it’s my last vacation you know -”

“You know what?!” She suddenly exclaims, her voice brightening like a lightbulb just radiated in her thoughts. “Mrs. Carson’s son is here with her for the summer too! I bet you haven’t seen him in ages, and he’s gotten so handsome.”

“Mrs. Carson?” You didn’t have any clue who that was.

“Well… you might remember her as Mrs. Bang, but Jane changed her name when she married Norbert a few years ago. She still lives next door and Christopher’s in town spending the summer with his mother.”

Bang…

Christopher…

You hadn’t heard that name in years. It surprised you a bit actually, and a hint of a smile came to your lips.

“Yeah, yeah, Mom… I’ll think about it.”

You wouldn’t admit… something did grab your attention. A curiosity of sorts.

You were fifteen years old when you had your first kiss. He was a short boy with a kind smile, a bit awkward really, but you had a fondness for him. It wasn’t about looks at all, all boys at that age were hideous and nothing would change your opinion on that, but you’d swoon whenever you saw him. It was mutual, an icky teenage infatuation that had your friends poking fun at both of you whenever you’d become giddy at the sight of one another. Hot faces, nervous glances, trembling innocent touches.

He sat next to you in chemistry and you’d hold hands under the lab table while the teacher gave class. His left hand always felt soft in your right one. Cute. It’s a bit silly but you’re glad you had that sort of adorable and silly romance. While it lasted, that is.

Christopher wasn’t a bad guy. He was stupid, like all boys that age.

When you saw him kissing another girl, of course you cried, but you knew it had to do with him being stupid more than anything. This simple looking girl that you had been friends with in elementary school, you can’t even remember her name.

You know why he did it, beyond his stupidity. Your mom had let it slip long before - you knew it was coming.

“Honey, would you believe? Mr. and Mrs. Bang are divorcing!” Probably just some hot gossip from one of her PTA yoga groups, no ill intention on your behalf. She didn’t know you were seeing Christopher - over your dead body. You were fifteen and a horrible student, you didn’t need to give your mother yet another element to ground you with.

“Oh no…” You acted as normally as you could, your first thoughts went out to Christopher first though. “Do you know why?”

“Well… I’m obviously not going to ask, duh! But I do know that Mr. Bang is taking the kid with him abroad.” What?! What did she just say? Chis is WHAT?!

“I - uh, what?” Act normal, act normal, act normal.

“Aww… sweetie, was he your friend?” Goodness, parents can be so oblivious, but it’s beneficial in this case. She doesn’t pick up on the depression of your mood.

“I guess.” A sniffle is about to threaten your composure so, in your teenage arrogance, you leave before your mother can see your teary eyes.

The subsequent days were strange. You expected Christopher to tell you the news, you expected to comfort him, you expected to live out the rest of your young romance as best as you could. And then… you saw him.

And he said nothing. He was cold, pushed you away. He must be going through a lot of pain, you thought. More days went by and he still said nothing, and his demeanor grew worse, no affection, no smiles. He must be having a hard time, you reasoned.

Sometimes you thought he was on the verge of saying something to you, like he was about to say something and the words threatened to come out but he’d suddenly pull away and swallow them. You didn’t question it really, it was so confusing but you just went with it.

You never held his hand in chemistry again.

Time made you realize that Christopher didn’t want to be with you anymore. You weren’t sure if it was because he stopped liking you, and that hurt a little, but you knew what he was going through, and you stood by him in case he ever chose to open up and cry on your shoulder. You’d be there for him.

When he kissed that girl, it didn’t really surprise you. Damn it, what was her name? You cried, you thought it was because you were ugly and your boobs were still pretty small - stupid reasons.

It took a few months for you to understand the real reason.

He left without saying goodbye. You never spoke to him after he kissed what’s-her-name. Maybe he tried to do so a couple of times, but you ran away or didn’t let him. Or maybe you remembered it that way to comfort you, just so you’d live with the thought that he tried to apologize, tired to make things right.

But the fact of the matter is he didn’t speak to you and he didn’t say goodbye. He didn’t want to.

He didn’t want to say goodbye because it hurt.

He was trying to ruin your relationship so you’d break up with him and he wouldn’t have to say goodbye, so that he could kill the feelings you had for him to spare you from the pain of his departure.

Or maybe you were just imagining it like that to make it a cuter memory and think about it fondly.

Maybe in the end, Christopher was just a horny teenage boy that cheated on you. Maybe.

Regardless, you giggle as you think back on the silliness of it all, and how serious and life altering it all felt in your childishness. It seemed so long ago, so distant, and you were so changed that it felt like it had all happened to a different person. You wondered about the man next door, and the entirely different boy who had once been next door. What kind of person had Christopher become?

University did you well. It was four solid years of irresponsible drinking and uninhibited sexual exploration paired with relatively easy academics. You don’t know how it happened, but it had been like a transformation from one day to the next.

You, sort of, kind of, absolutely plain and normal girl that no one would notice lest you stepped in their line of sight. One day, there you were - normal.

Two weeks in - boom. Confident. Your roommate was an okayish girl, another plain one. Then you started noticing how comfortable you were undressing in front of her, to change clothes or whatever, as if it was the most normal thing in the world - which it was. Wearing shorts and skirts became less of a worry, just something that felt better. Sometimes you’d be thrown icky glances from some boys, which you hated, but others were acceptably flirty and you loved those. The best ones were the boys that would get shy and who would quickly whip their heads the other way once you caught them staring.

That definitely flipped the switch. It made you feel strong, it made you feel damn good. You, who at the most had dipped a finger into the world of heavy makeouts during high school, now became a seasoned seductress of all kinds of men. So long as you could wrap them around your finger with your demeanor, so long as you could prowl over them and take the lead.

Ah… the good old days.

What was going to happen now, though? Four years later, no slightly inexperienced men left to be wowed. Everyone you knew was turning into a bland and bitter office worker. Was this the end of it?

To think that you’d be ending this glorious chapter of your life in this tiny town, lounging on the same stuffy couch in the same hot living room every day, having your routine philosophical melodrama where you’d stare at the ceiling in the afternoons until your mother came in inquiring if you were alive. It was a terrible fate.

A few days after the revelation of Christopher’s presence, which you would never admit had been circling your mind nonstop, your mother returns with another piece of information.

“You know, Jane and Norbert are having a get together of sorts next Saturday - just the usuals from the block.”

“Is that so?” You said with disinterest.

“In fact, I borrowed a baking pan from her last week… why don’t you go over and give it back to her for me? She might need it, and you probably haven’t left this house in days.” You didn’t reply, but you could feel her eyes on you, waiting for you to obey.

“Fine…”

The afternoon was enjoyably fresh, although your white t-shirt stuck to you like a second skin, the bikini top you wore underneath tracing its silhouette into the cotton. You lazily stomped your way to the house next door, admiring the tall window where you had snuck into Christopher’s room a couple of times during your short romance. A ladder was perched up against the exterior toward that window, they must have been fixing things up. The porch was full of cans of paint, tools, boxes. It was only when you rang on the doorbell, begrudgingly holding the large tray, that you realized that Jane might not be the one to open the door but instead it could be -

The door swings open and you gasp. Christopher.

Well… his face hadn’t changed much. But he was slightly taller than you remembered, far more masculine, oh, and he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Yeah, he was shirtless… jeans hanging low on his hips… shirtless… abs… fit waist… arms…

“Hi! Is Jane home?” Good… pretend you don’t remember him.

“I - Uh… no, my mom’s actually out right now.” He replied. His voice had grown deeper, and where did he get that accent? Wait - did he not remember you? Now, that just made you angry, but you wouldn’t let it show.

“Oh, well… my mother wanted me to return this.” You say handing him the tray, avoiding trailing your eyes downward.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll give it to her.” He says. He seems a little frozen, an expression between surprise and caution lingers on his face, but you don’t know if it’s good or bad.

There’s a moment of silence where you just stare at each other.

“Y/n…” He finally says. There’s hesitation in the way he says your name. He’s scared, not of you, but he’s scared about the fact that you’re on his doorstep.

You don’t say anything, calmly, almost coyly, waiting for him to continue. You’d gotten rather good at pretending you were calm, and the slightest tint of a smile painted your lips so you wouldn’t seem cold or ingenuine.

“Do you remember me?” He asks. You can’t help but huff, a tiny laughter really.

“Of course. You know, you haven’t grown much taller.”

With those slightly playful words, you turn to walk back to your home, and with each step your impression of the encounter with your childhood love became more bitter and less sweet.

It was strange how you thought about him, about it. The situation, that is. Seeing him, talking to him, both of you now being older. A few days of thinking now.

You don’t know why you thought about it so much, but you thought about it. You thought about it without knowing how you felt about it or what you thought about it. This man you had only gotten a glimpse of, too overwhelmed to take in his features properly, now walks around your mind freely. He wasn’t the boy you knew. He wasn’t the boy next door whose hand you’d once hold in chemistry, who you’d kiss before turning the corner towards both of your homes. The boy who left all those years ago.

No, it wasn’t that boy. It was that man, who kept perturbing you. What did you feel? Interest? Yes, there was something quite intriguing about all of this which sparked your curiosity. Lust? Of course, absolutely, the man next door looked divine. Suppose you could abstract the person from his body, so that you wouldn’t be so bothered by who he was and what he meant to you, and you’d easily bend over in front of him and invite him in.

You supposed a conversation was in place, though, because after all, he was still the Christopher. You couldn’t just go around fucking people like that anymore - unfortunately. That was something you got away with in college. It’s a shame college boys grow up to be boring men, sex gets more boring, they think they have all the authority… Maybe you should go back to school.

You’re sitting on the windowsill of your second floor bedroom, one leg hanging out and stepping onto the roof. Opposite to your window, beyond a neat shrub, is the window of the guest room of Mrs. Carson, formerly Bang, which seems unchanged from when you last saw it. You remember watching her from your room, also unchanged, using the TV in there to do some aerobics she followed along from a VHS… was it a VHS? No, that’s the machine. What were the things you used to put in the VHS? A cassette? No… regardless, eventually she must have started using DVD’s.

Damn it, it all seemed like thousands of years ago.

Damn it, you were still so melodramatic throwing around words like poetry over some Richard Simmons tape. Aha! It’s a tape!

Your crotch is being dug into by the window frame, and you let your weight rest on it, the slight grind tempting you to have a round of masturbation. But you’ll finish the cigarette you stole from your mother first. It tasted awful, it was another adult thing you couldn’t understand. Why did everyone at university smoke so much? It was just another thing their eager teenage selves did to emulate the adults in grown-up world, to feel a little more grown-up. Who the hell likes this stuff?

But you liked watching it burn, occasionally inhaling its airy and bitter smoke. It wasn’t your preferred type of smore. You preferred watching papers and matches burn, their sweet and rich smell, the warmth of the fire that would sting the edges of your fingers. Shame your mother only used a lighter, you didn’t like the smell of that fire either.

You just surrendered to watching the bright tip of the cigarette and the white streams that came from it.

“You know those are bad for you.”

“Jesus fucking Christ!” You exclaimed, your heart nearly jumping out from your chest. A man had sprung out from the window in the guest room of the Carson house, formerly Bang, and that man was Christopher Bang himself.

“Sorry I didn’t -”

“You almost gave me a fucking heart attack - what the hell?!”

“ - mean to startle you…”

“Damn it, Christopher!”

“Ah! So you do remember me?” He says with a bit of joy, but you just look at him, realizing that this is where the talk will come. His features grow a little more somber. He continues, “So… I guess I -”

“Where’d you get the accent?” You interrupt, genuinely curious. “You sound like the crocodile hunter.”

“Well… I was living in Australia with my dad.” He says it in a normal tone, but you make sure it doesn’t stay normal.

“Oh, so that’s where you went?” You both wince at what you just said. Yep, it’s finally time for that talk.

There’s a bit of silence, but you’ll let him be the one to fill it.

“I…” He sighs deeply. Uuhh… it’s quite a masculine sigh. “I didn’t know you’d be here. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again but I… there’s something I’ve always wanted to say.”

“I’m listening…” You say. It’s a flat tone, but it’s funny. You hope it’ll ease him.

“I wanted to say I’m sorry.” Some silence again, “I’m sorry for being an ass, I’m sorry for cheating on you -”

“Chris, we were like fifteen… you kissed a girl with braces, big deal.” You waved it off. Really, kissing that girl didn’t bother you so much, now almost ten years later.

“I left without saying anything.”

“Yeah, you did. Hard to not notice.”

“I was - I know it’s not an excuse, but I was going through a lot and I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“So you left without saying anything?”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok… we haven’t spoken in years. I practically forgot about it.” No you didn’t.

“Did you?” He says. Was he hopeful when you insinuated he hadn’t hurt you as much as he thought he had?

“No, not really. I mean, yeah, you kissing another girl was pretty insignificant, we were just kids. It did hurt that you left without… I don’t know… There wasn’t any closure. There wasn’t a goodbye. I felt confused for a while, I guess.”

“I’m so sorry about that. But my parents were splitting up, I was going to have to leave everything behind. You were the first girl I loved and I was going to have to say goodbye and I couldn’t handle it. I was too hurt and embarrassed to even tell my friends. I wish I had done it differently.”

“Yeah, I wish you had too. I wanted to be there for you, you know? I wanted to hug you, hold your hand, tell you it was going to be ok.

“I really messed up there…”

“It’s okay Chris, you were just a kid. We were just kids.” You offer your sympathy but he doesn’t soften.

“Mhmm. Doesn’t make me feel less guilty about it.”

“Can I ask you something?” He nods, “Did you do all that stuff… you know, treat me that way, for real or where you…?”

“I was hoping you’d break up with me, get over me. That way we wouldn’t have to say goodbye and we wouldn’t get hurt.”

“I got hurt.” You admit.

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing.” You insist. “It’s fine. We’re fine. We’re old and grown and fine. All of that’s in the past, I can’t blame you for acting like a kid. It’s okay.”

“Well I can agree with you there. We did grow up, not kids anymore.”

“You didn’t grow that much.” You laugh, he laughs too.

“You certainly did.” He’s being flirty. It could have been bad timing, but the mood felt right.

“Oh, you noticed?”

“Hard not to.” Goodness was he being direct. “You were really cute back in school, I had a crush on you for like, forever.”

“Really…Plain old me?”

“Really. And now here we are and I think I could have a crush on you all over again.”

“So you can go off and kiss another girl with braces and leave the continent?”

“No, I’m a one woman man.” He says while making himself comfortable on his own ledge. It’s getting comfortable overall, like you’re talking to someone you’ve known for the longest time, like a decade of separation didn’t do much harm.

“Well, well. And who is that lucky woman now?”

“There’s no one at the moment. I’m in the middle of some life changes.”

“Do tell.”

“I’m moving back. Well, not here, just in the country again. A big city, big job, kinda scary.”

“Seems we’re on the same boat. I just came back to say goodbye to this place forever and I’m ooout.”

“Did you finish school already?”

“Yeah… I wish I hadn’t though.” You think back on your experience with longing, lamenting it’s end.

“Wow, can’t relate. I couldn’t wait for it to end. What’d you miss about it?”

“Well, I didn’t have to work, grades were good and easy. And I guess, it was tons of fun.”

“How so?”

“Being on a campus full of horny and stupid guys - it was open game.” Chan hisses at your admission.

“I wouldn’t have taken you for that type.” He chuckles, “You would stutter for like the first two months we went out.”

“We were just kids.”

“I guess we were…”

Another comfortable silence as you stare off at the sky, your cigarette burnt through with only the spongy bud left to pinch.

“Chris?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m single too, you know.”

It might have been a bad idea, you said it on impulse after all, something quite instinctive having taken over you. Maybe you were just horny and Christopher was just hot, regardless, the conversation was over. Before he could even process what you said, and the implications to it, you had already slipped back into your darkened room and out of his sight.

Chan felt like a teenager again. Not in a good way.

Chan remembered your first kiss, holding your hand. He remembered your breasts being the first he had ever really noticed, your legs being the first he ever caressed. He remembers how you’d press your bodies together while you kissed, not really understanding what both of you felt, only understanding the urgency of it.

Now he can name those feelings, the ones that once belonged to an inexperienced boy, merely dipping his toes into the surface of that world. But now that he dove, and had dived into its waters several times, he knew how to swim in them.

Yet, seeing you made him feel like he didn’t. It made him feel like he couldn’t swim, like he couldn’t breathe. He felt like he was drowning.

The first moment he saw you on his doorstep he felt his stomach drop, a pang of guilt that had lingered on his mind during countless of sleepless nights hitting him with full force. He didn’t expect it. He thought he would never see you again.

And after taking another look, a longer look, it was like he was swimming in completely different waters. He felt submerged, and he didn’t know which way was up. He wanted to open his mouth and swallow it all up, let you drown him.

He hadn’t felt this raging feeling since he was a teenager. He certainly hadn’t had a specific woman make him feel like this until you.

It made him feel another kind of guilt. Shame even.

The following days he’d watch you, shamefully. His mother had him painting the house and when he stood on the rooftops he took his time to enjoy the view of you swimming in your pool, wearing tiny bikinis that stuck to your skin and showed the buds of your niples and the lines of your labia through the fabric. He would admit, shamefully, that he stopped watching from the roof because he needed to get closer to see these beautiful details.

He now watched you from over the fence in his backyard. Getting incredibly hard watching you swim, watching you oil your body down.

It was all horribly, horribly shameful.

But weren’t you the one that mentioned you were single? It had caught him off guard. He was being cheeky in that moment, but he didn’t know what waters he was testing then. Now he knew, and it was making him behave so, so shamefully.

Should he go over there, push you into a corner of the pool and pull your bottoms to the side? Should he kneel at your feet while your rubbing yourself with that golden oil, and beg you to let him fuck you?

It wasn’t just the thought of sex that drove him mad, it was you in general. How inferior he felt in front of you, like he had to prove himself. Every day he worked shirtless, hoping you’d get a glimpse of him, but you were just so unbothered by it all.

It was driving him fucking insane.

If only you knew.

Except - of course you did. Of course you did. This is what you craved, what you were best at. Driving boys, technically men but boys sounds tastier, to be absolute slaves to their desire for you. Christopher wasn’t doing a good job at hiding it. Did he really think that you would suddenly spend every day swimming in the tiniest bikinis after having not left your couch for over a week? They really are such stupid, fuckable animals.

And Chris was particularly fuckable.

Day four of his perverted project, he was hammering away at some boards in the back porch of his house. Your mother wouldn’t be home for hours, his parents were away for a couple of days.

Everything was perfect.

“Chris?!” You call loudly over the fence from your chaise lounge, carelessly flipping through a book. The hammering stopped, he had heard you. “Chris, it’s hot today. Don’t you think you should come over for a swim to cool down?”

Why on earth were you acting so damn unbothered and confident, he thought. Why on earth were you asking him over?

It’s only a matter of time before he circles his own house and slides in through the gate on your end. He’s still wearing jeans and a utility belt, gloves too. No shirt.

“You can’t really swim in those, take them off.” You hardly peered at him from over your sunglasses. He was just standing there, frozen. That’s usually a sign that you’re working your magic well. Good. “Come on Christopher, take them off.”

“I - uh, I’m actually not wearing trunks right now. Uhm… I’ll be right back.”

“Oh, you don’t have to go.” Insert unbothered page flip. “Why don’t you just undress and get in the pool so I can join you?”

“W-what?” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He genuinely thought he had imagined it, maybe all of his hornyness was driving him insane.

“Christopher!” You whine. “You’re ruining the fun!” You slam the book shut and throw it over to the side, taking your sunglasses and hat off. “Chris, I think it’s obvious. Do you think I haven’t noticed you being a peeping tom for the past half week? Look! You’ve already got a tent in your pants and everything!”

“Fuck.” Shit, you were right.

“This is like, hmm, like an open invitation to fuck me.” You say with an eye roll, but your eyes roll toward his abs because they are absolutely distracting you.

“Are… are you serious?”

“Well… You want to, I want to. You’re nice, look like you’ve become quite a decent man - and I’m not just referring to your physique Chris. Maybe, just maybe, it would be an excellent idea if we finally fucked this tension away.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that. You’re here for a few weeks, so am I. Why not enjoy each other while we can? After that we can just go our separate ways, just like before except we’ll end it on good terms.”

Too many points for him to argue with - you were right on all of them. He couldn’t disagree. In fact, he eagerly agreed. Little did he know you had this pitch rehearsed to perfection, to your benefit, because he seemed to be completely subdued by it.

“Fuck.” He mutters under his breath. Fumbling with his belt, zipper, exposing the line of his abdomen down to his hardening cock. A fat, heavy cock that swung between his muscular thighs. He was fully nude now, standing in front of you, his tan skin glistening in the sunlight. You’re quick to urge him over with a finger.

He pounces, but once he’s crawling over you on that narrow chair, he becomes slow.

“Hi.” You manage to whimper out, now feeling a bit small beneath him, feeling nervous even.

“Hey.” He’s just as nervous but there’s an energy that goes beyond either of your wills pulling you toward one another.

He kisses you. It’s a kiss you melt into, and he sinks his body against yours, with you spreading your legs so he can slot between them. His cock rests against your lower abdomen, his body pressing further into you.

You can’t help but slide your hand between your two bodies in an attempt to finger yourself, prepare yourself, but he stops you and pulls back.

“No.” He growls.

“No?” Is he going to leave you like this?!

“Let me.”

And you do. Chan lowers himself, adjusting you so he can easily bend over the chair while kneeling on the ground, and his hands shake as he dips the tip of his fingers into the hem of your bottoms, just slightly tugging at the material, playing with it before he starts to play with you. You’ve got the perfect view of him basically drooling over you.

He slides the bottoms to the side, but you pull at the strings at your hips, so they come undone and he pulls them away completely. Your lips and the juices coming from between them are just as glossy than your oiled skin.

He can’t help but dig in. Fucking you with his mouth, jamming his fingers in you. It’s an animalistic frenzy and it’s hot and slippery and sticky. You cum and your fluids spill over the impermeable cushion below, pooling under your ass. He can see every sparkling droplet fall from you.

It’s just a haze, he nearly jumps on you, bending your legs nearly over your head, bouncing his pelvis on your cunt like a trampoline, smacking with every thrust. You’re completely glued to one another. If he’s not abusing your mouth with his tongue then he’s biting on your shoulder or grunting, growling, into your ear. It’s filthy. You’re absolutely sure you’ve never been fucked like this.

He cums, several times, as do you. He pulls out each time, jerks himself off on your body, although a couple of times you urged him into your mouth and face. He pulls the triangles on your top to the sides, so your breasts are exposed. He made sure to cum on those too. Semen, sweat, squirt, oil, spit, everywhere there are droplets of your fluids shining on your body like jewels.

It ends with him lying on top of you, nearly sleeping from exhaustion, and your lips feel deliciously sore and sensitive, almost ticklish as he softens inside of you.

It happens again. Several times in fact. Many, many times. When his parents are away, when your mom is away, you fuck all the time. Just a little call of his name over the fence or from your window and he’d be running to you. You were too comfortable with one another to bother with formalities, it was like you’d never been separated. You’d wait for him on all fours, wet cunt on display for him to dive in, but he’d always greet you with a gentle kiss.

Fucking each others faces, drinking eachothers fluids. You even let him fuck you in the ass, multiple times, and he was the first guy to make you cum that way. You were just as hooked and as desperate as he was.

Things started to change though.

The welcoming kisses became longer, you’d talk between the rounds…

You’d fall asleep in his arms, or he in yours.

You’d fuck slowly, deeply, staring into each other’s eyes.

You’d talk to him, tell each other stories of all these years, asi if you had been together the entire time.

You’d smile as you made love, gently. You’d let him cum inside of you.

He’d hold your hand again. They were as soft and warm as you remembered.

You were holding his hand on one particular pink evening, your head resting on his heaving chest, teaching circles into his pecs and nipples. On your bed, in your quiet childhood room. It was a painful silence now. It had been weeks, weeks closer to your respective departure dates.

“I wish I had never left.” He eventually says. You don’t know what to say. “I wish we could have stayed like this for longer.”

“Maybe we would have broken up eventually, or left for college.” You ponder.

“Maybe I would have taken you to prom, or we would have had sex together for the first time…” He returns.

“On this bed? Hmm? With my cute school uniform?” You tease. “Yeah, maybe.”

“But I guess this is what was meant to be.” He sighs, as do you.

“I’m sorry.” Is all you can say.

“What for?”

“I don’t know, I just feel bad. I started this and now we have to go our separate ways again.” You feel something sting in your eye. You can’t cry now.

“Shh…” He coos as he hears you sniffle and feels you twitch. It makes his heart ache like it did all those years ago when he left.

“I - I…” You cry. “I don’t want you to go. I don’t want to go.”

He pulls you into his arms, crushing you in an embrace. Your eyes are closed but you feel the tears fall from his face, he’s crying too.

“I know… but what else can we do?”

There was nothing left to do, other than fuck the days away, crying, holding each other until it hurt. It was a horrible, horrible thing to have fallen in love with Christopher Bang this final summer.

You didn’t go with him to the airport. You didn’t want to say goodbye, you didn’t want to see where he was going.

But he did slip into your room that final night. You made love quietly, he kissed you as you cried.

He said it was the second time he loved you, and the second time he had to leave you.

It hurt much more this time around. Maybe you shouldn’t have done it, maybe you shouldn’t have gone next door.

Being in your house was unbearable once Chris wasn’t next door.

A week later, you’ve arrived at your new place. It had been a whirlwind and you stayed at a hotel the first couple of nights while your new furniture got brought in, most of your personal belongings only fitting in a couple of bags.

It’s kept you busy. That way you think about him a little less. Crying into pillows that have that certain ‘brand new’ smell isn’t quite as comforting as you’d expect. Everything seems unfamiliar, strange, artificial. Nothing here reminded you of him - it was for the best and you hated it.

The place is nice, bright. It’s on the third floor of a small apartment building, a couple of other doors beside yours in the hall. You go downstairs to grab a few packages that have arrived, carefully treading up the stairs in a kind of balancing act once they’re piled in your arms. It’s a choreography you can dance to with expertise, always denying any help from your neighbors.

However, you do fumble with the lock and handle once you’re at your door, holding the boxes up by pressing them against the door with your body as your hands blindly fumble with the keys, nothing but cardboard in your sight.

Nothing you can’t handle, until they start to slip.

“Woah, let me help you with that!” someone says behind you, and in your complicated state it’s a bit difficult to process what happens but the boxes are soon out of the way, said someone pulling them from you and freeing you.

And then you see him.

Him.

Your him.

He says your name and you’re too stunned to react. He’s in awe too. He drops your packages, and you’re certain some of them contain some makeup palettes but you don’t give a damn at the moment.

“What are you doing here?” You finally ask, frozen in place.

“I… live in 304.” He says.

“You live in 304?” He nods. “You? You’re serious?” He nods again, eyes still wide.

You both stand there, processing it all. This can’t be real.

“I live in 302.” you manage to say, after some time. Your voice is weak, all the air has left your lungs. You shake.

“You do?” He asks. Now you nod.

This can’t be.

But he cups your face, holds it like you’re precious and delicate, he kisses you. It is real. You kiss him back, harder. Eventually you’re both clinging to one another, gripping each other’s clothes desperately.

“You live here.” He says, little tears sparkling in the corner of his eyes. You nod, the same tears coming to you.

“I do. Mm-hmm.” The sniffles you let out seem so sweet to him, he swoons with how happy you are to see him. Knowing you feel the same joy he does - it makes him feel complete.

“I live here too!” He cries, laughing, smiling, beautifully.

One more kiss, just to make sure it’s real. You pull him in and kiss him one more time.

It’s real.

[essayofthoughts]

Relating a little to what you said in DMs earlier: how much of Percy's... him do you think is nature vs nurture? What parts of him do you think would still be Percy even if he had a trauma-free* peasant upbringing? Or if his family life were different? Or if the Briarwoods had never happened?

That first part's a bit hard to answer straightforwardly because...

Because it's kind of easy to see what effects the Briarwoods most likely had on Percy through anecdotes and the like and from that reverse-engineer who he could have been before/without them but so much of his characterisation comes from his class and his gender (which is why I want to do a Fem!Percy AU, because I think a gender switch there could be fascinating to explore). Changing that drastically changes in Percy in ways that I think everyone would disagree on - and it would also depend on the story you're trying to tell, what changes you make. Ideally you'd still want him to be recognisable as Percy but he'd be very different from canon due to such very different experiences and so you'd need to make those similarities and recognisable parts make sense despite the differences. So. I'll try to answer the next question but I'm afraid I'm gonna be vague.

What parts of him do you think would still be Percy even if he had a trauma-free* peasant upbringing?

I think he'd still be a very private person and I think he'd still have an interest in learning, in what makes the world work - and I think he'd probably still feel a bit isolated from his family due to that interest in learning. I could easily see him going into smithing or some kind of engineering, and probably without the traumas of canon he might extend his early interest in magic - boy loves the Feywild and he made Arcana rolls before the Briarwood Arc; Taliesin's stated Percy's distrust of magic came from Orthax.

I think he'd be a bit less arrogant in this kind of an upbringing but probably still prickly and proud about his achievements, especially given it'd take him a lot more work and effort to get what he needs with this kind of an upbringing versus canon. I do think he'd still be considerate - probably even more so than canon - and probably a bit more willing to get in an argument when he doesn't have upper-class etiquette drilled into him.

I... honestly, depending on how far he climbs, I could see him being a bit more like Ripley, albeit without her total lack of morals.

Or if his family life were different?

Hm, for this I'd need clarification. Different in what ways?

Or if the Briarwoods had never happened?

I mean. You know I've got my No Briarwoods (Yet) AU on my WIPs list so I can go off on this for a bit.

I think he'd be more explicitly shy with his social anxiety than just... repressing it all as in canon - more willing to at least try but more obviously nervous about it. In canon he's spent years isolated and grieving and traumatised, without the protection of his social class, and so he's learned to shove down his anxiety and not let anyone see it. I think there'd be a bit more sweetness to a No Briarwoods Percy, but I also think he'd be so much more blind to his privilege.

I do think he'd remain very aware of power dynamics and the importance of respect but I think he'd be a lot more casually "How much can one banana cost, [NAME], ten dollars?" and it'd probably give Vex an aneurysm every time until he realised. And I do think he'd still be private so he'd have to relax a bit with people before the fact he was shy and not just a proud dickhead would become obvious.

Relating to this, I think if he'd had a chance to grow past the point of the Briarwoods attack without that grief and trauma, I think he'd be a lot more connected to his family. I've stated before that I firmly believe his friendship with Keyleth is, at least to him, modelled on his relationship with his sister Whitney (we see his interaction with Cass, Vesper was older than him and Keyleth is younger, he very much treats and seems to consider Keyleth as a sister, ergo Whitney) and I think it's also likely that Whitney has a few things in common with Keyleth which made Percy making that mental connection easier - which also says to me, that while he probably looked up to Vesper and Julius and thought of Cass as a brat and perhaps a bit spoiled, I think he genuinely liked Whitney even if they disagreed and may well have spent some time with her of his own volition - or, perhaps, that he wishes he'd spent more time with her.

That all said, I do think that he felt disconnected from his family at times due to being tutored instead of in any classes (per Taliesin's comments in Grog's Oneshot) and due to being more involved in his studies that social events and society ("Julius and Vesper were the ones who dealt with court") and of course the younger ones being younger - we know Percy just wanted to grow up and be an adult, that he sees himself through canon as one of the only adults in the room (Vex being the other), and I think that...

I've kind of written it into Ghost Cass, but I really do think Percy felt that he was a little looked down on for prioritising study over people and I think he was a bit defensive about his intellect (another reason he can overexplain himself) and his schooling - this thing that set him apart from his siblings - and I think he felt a bit disrespected by his family and peers at times. We know from Taliesin's comments in Grog's Oneshot that Percy was the kind to join a game with classmates and peers and munchkin in a way that made it unfun for everyone else and rather than explain to him they'd just... ostracise him. I think, given a few years and more time with his family, he'd have grown out of that, come to be more comfortable in himself and with failure and with being teased, become better at accepting he doesn't have all the answers at that it's okay to ask for and recieve help. I've said to friends before that part of Percy is forever a bit frozen at the time the Briarwoods attacked, shattered by trauma and kept from easily changing. You can sometimes see these moments of childishness peek through and it can be a very startling reminder of just how young he is, and how young he was at the time of the attack.

And the thing is at the end of the day a lot of this means that Percy can still very easily come across as a dick to people who don't know him - but I do think his family would understand him and he them, and while I don't think he'd ever be fully comfortable in social situations (I do tend to think of him as more of an introvert) I do think he'd get more comfortable once he eases up in other areas, such as with his family and regarding his intellect.

[manunelle]

{Ikevamp} How many kids would they have? {Headcanon #4}

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Since the rest of the routes of Act 2 are still not out, I’ll only finish these headcanons after reading the routes. I hope you all don’t mind this decision, because I don’t feel comfortable writing about a character that I still haven’t read the route. 

Hope you enjoyed these! If you have any doubts or opinions that you’d like to share, feel free to message me anytime! ;) 

Comte de Saint-Germain

Twins, a girl and a boy. 

The girl was the first to be delivered, and Abel was already crying so much from happiness, so imagine his face when his wife didn’t stop screaming and the midwife informed that another one was soon to be delivered. He hugged his son against his chest tightly, tears streaming down his face freely, a sob leaving his lips when the baby opened his eyes, staring at him with calm golden orbs. 

MC shed her own portion of tears at the sight, hugging her daughter with the same love that her husband did with their son. The two stayed a long time just hugging and gazing lovingly at their children, which resulted in Leonardo teasing the couple. 

Abel spoils them rotten. They don’t even need to ask for anything, because they probably already have it. It’s kind of frustrating when their birthday comes and they don’t need or want anything, so Abel needs to put his brain to work. 

Despite having the world in their hands, the kids are not arrogant or self-centered. They always donate their toys and clothes whenever they stop using them, which makes both of their parents very proud. 

The girl is an extrovert, knowing exactly what to say and how to make people feel better. She’s really interested in traveling abroad, but Comte is a bit reluctant to have his daughter leave his sight. Yes, he’s really protective of her. As she grows up, there will probably be one fight or another about his overprotectiveness, and MC will need to intervene. I believe that Abel will learn to control this side, however he will still feel a bit bothered that his daughter is not always by his side or whenever he sees her surrounded by boys at the ball that she accompanies him. 

The boy, on the contrary, is quieter, letting his daughter deal with the conversation part. Despite being more shy, he’s really fond of cuddles, almost demanding them from his parents and sister. Loves when Abel runs his finger through his golden locks, an expression of pure enjoyment on his face. He loves reading and writing, just like MC, and enjoys their conversations about literature and writing techniques.  

I haven’t decided yet if they are purebloods or humans – I thought about having the girl be a vampire while the boy is a human, but I’m not sure about it yet. 

Dazai Osamu

Dazai has a girl and a boy. 

The girl is about six years older than the boy, and she has MC’s hair and Dazai’s eyes. She’s a bit of a tsundere, and Dazai loves to tease her. However, if anyone else attempts to do so, the person themself will become the target of his mockery – no one messes with their children. No one. 

His son is a carbon copy of him. He’s really serious and quiet, and Dazai’s really worried that he inherited those dissociative feelings that he himself once felt in his youth. He is always drowning his son in affection and advices, showing big interest in his life and friends, always listening attentively to whatever he’s saying. 

The girl is really protective of her younger brother as well, often having to fight other children that pick on the boy. Dazai and MC are called often to the school because of that, but I imagine Osamu as a really supportive parent, defending his children from whatever injustices that might be thrown towards them. 

He sometimes feels overwhelmed and surrounded by those self-depreciative feelings, feeling that he can’t do this, that he can’t be a good parent, so MC needs to be really supportive and attentive. 

Even if he feels like that, this man loves his family and would defend them with fangs and claws if necessary. 

[kobedivision]

Relationship: Family - Kaiji Sano

Minoru Sano (44 Years Old) - Kaiji’s father. A respected surgeon, he’s a man of few words and is dedicated to both his work and his family. He and his eldest son, Henri run an underground black market operation in their hospital where they partake in human trafficking and organ harvesting. Their relationship is not bad but Kaiji doesn’t interact with him much, he speaks with him only if he has to but other than that, he just forgets his existence entirely.

Cordelia Beaumont (42 Years Old) - Kaiji’s mother. A popular seamstress who owns boutiques all around the world, she adores making clothes and dressing people up in cute fashion, especially her sons. She loves her family dearly, especially her husband and can get quite irritable when people take up too much of his time. Unbeknownst to most people, she is also the daughter of the head of a famous crime family located in France. Kaiji has a very loving relationship with his mother and let’s her dress him up in dresses and skirts while she gives advice on how to obtain his loved one once he finds them, one might even say that he’s just like her.

Henri Sano (27 Years Old) - Kaiji’s eldest brother. A recently graduated medical student and a new doctor, he’s charismatic and a natural leader, despite being new, he’s quickly rising in the ranks and has become a dependable man. He recently got engaged to a young woman who works as a waitress however, no one has seen much of her since the announcement, he and his father run an underground black market operation in their hospital where they partake in human trafficking and organ harvesting. Kaiji and Henri don’t talk much, if at all, Kaiji finds Henri boring and Henri thinks Kaiji is a spoiled brat. They’ve agreed not to fight in front of their mother so they don’t make her angry.

Izana Sano (25 Years Old) - Kaiji’s older sibling. A nonbinary owner who goes by 'they/them' pronouns of a quaint little library away from the main city, they're a nice and easy going person if not a tad bit shy, preferring to stay clear from conflict which is why they moved out from home as soon as they could. Kaiji, surprisingly, is on pretty good terms with Izana, sometimes even visiting their library, yet has never touched a single page from the books they have there, something that both amuses and annoys Izana.

Mikiya Sano (22 Years Old) - Kaiji’s older brother. A famous B-boy in the popular breakdancing group “Barracuda Blade”, he’s cocky and arrogant, and at times a complete sadist. Growing up with 5 brothers, he’s somehow developed a superiority complex, he’s completely deluded himself into thinking he’s the best and gets rather violent with people who tell him otherwise. While their relationship is not completely terrible on some days, it’s best that Kaiji and Mikiya stay in separate rooms, the damage that can be done to property and to people is frightening.

Claude Sano (22 Years Old) - Kaiji’s older brother. Mikiya’s fraternal twin and freelance writer who lives in Shinjuku, a complete recluse, he hates people and he hates socializing even more, preferring to stay in the comfort of his home. He especially doesn’t like to talk about his family, constantly muttering under his breath about how they’re “horrible” and “they’re all fucking crazy”. Kaiji hasn’t seen him since he was 17 and is honestly kinda worried about him despite not seeing him for so long, he's tried to reach out but every attempt so far has been met with silence.

Nagisa Sano (17 Years Old) - Kaiji’s younger brother. A high school student and a total playboy who constantly has girls (and even a few guys) falling at his feet, Nagisa doesn’t really care about them, only using them to get what he wants (and perhaps coercing them to sleep with him) and then dropping them when he finally has it. Despite that, he’s still one of, if not the most popular kid in his school, Nagisa admires Kaiji and moved out of the family home to move in with him, working both as Kaiji's mod and somewhat of a manager for his brand. Out of all his brothers, Kaiji has the best relationship with Nagisa, they're extremely close and Kaiji will defend his little brother no matter what.

Azumi & Chiemi Sano (3 Years Old) - Kaiji’s younger twin sisters and the relatively new members of the Sano family (who had to be hidden at first for safety reasons). They’re absolute sweethearts who adore both their mother and Kaiji the most, Kaiji sees his baby sisters as absolute angels and has a habit of spoiling them with sweets, plushies, and cute clothes, he also makes it a point to visit them as much as he can whenever he’s in the area. Although they’re too young to show any symptoms, Cordelia hopes that they grow to inherit the family condition like all those before them.

[mrpenguinpants]

Ok like I know this is your third compliment but I'm so glad you're writing for this fandom. All your ideas are so creative and developed that none of it felt so OOC. If you can, what about angst HCs from Kaeya and Diluc. Since theyre so head to head against each other, imagine if they were in love with someone but was with their brother. Now they have to watch Kaeya/Diluc with their s/o while suffering from the sidelines ;w;

Ahh you’re all so lovely 💕 Don’t be shy to just say anything I promise I’m not scary. Your compliments makes me feel more confident ;u; I just finished diluc’s and kaeya’s hc of being jealous so I’m lowkey branching of my last hc point for both of those posts. Took a bit of a different style this time and I might have went a little too deep aha. 

Spoiler’s for Diluc’s and Kaeya’s character stories and past (but you should really read Kaeya’s story) 

---

Diluc and Kaeya: Falling for their brother’s s/o 

You had told him when it was late at night in the tavern. For the better half of a couple months, you’ve been dropping by around late afternoon asking if you could keep him company and help out since he’s been so busy during the day, and Diluc would never say no to that. It was a passing comment you made as you said goodbye to him as you opened the door to head out.  

You wanted to keep your relationship a secret from the public? Felt it was wrong to not tell him since you were dating his brother? Had you not noticed that he was in love with you for months? 

He smiles and bares it, nodding goodbye as you leave, just until that door closes and he’s left alone. He slowly unclenches his fists from under the counter as the weight in his chest gets heavier. He hasn’t felt like this in a long time. The last time was when his father passed away. 

A part of him feels ashamed that he let himself get so close to you even though at the time, he had no idea you were actually in love with his brother. He hadn’t even seen you talk to Kaeya once since knowing you but to be fair, he doesn’t involve himself in Kaeya’s affairs unless it’s to protect Mondstadt. 

But as he reflects in the empty tavern, he doesn’t regret meeting you and becoming close friends. It’s not your fault, you were in love with someone else. He should be happy for you and Kaeya. 

He wants to protect the things that he treasures most. When his father passed away he lost the faith in both the gods and the knights of Favonius. He doesn’t want to push you away and lose what he still has because of his actions or behaviour. 

In the beginning, he becomes bitter to Kaeya. Before he might have humored Kaeya’s antics and random drop ins but now all he feels is rejection and this weight he can’t get rid of that start’s clawing at him whenever he sees his brother. The first time Kaeya made eye contact with him after you had told him about your relationship, he simply had a wry smile stating that he hadn’t seen Diluc’s eyes like that since he defected from being a knight. 

He doesn’t hate Kaeya or think Kaeya stole you away from him. Kaeya protects Mondstadt in the day while he does in the night. That’s how they’ve always been. When he sees you out with Kaeya in the morning he stares longingly before quickly disappearing out of sight. 

When his father passed away, Diluc's took a journey that lasted for three years. He had a lot of time to reflect on his past and the anger he had carried until he acknowledged his shortcomings. Those years away let him leave his childish immaturity and when he returned to Mondstadt, he was ready to take on his father’s will one more time. He’s been through this process once before and he’ll push himself to do it again. 

That doesn’t mean that his feelings for you will immediately leave him but he’ll learn to move on and treasure you as a friend, that you’re still in his life. There might be some days when he’s alone that he might think of the what if’s but he’ll take a deep breath, know that you’re happy, and the weight will settle down and become lighter. 

You were friends with Kaeya before you officially met Diluc. You and Kaeya had bonded over drinks and soon became drinking buddies. At first you had been a bit wary of him since he was the Cavalry Captain and thought you had done something wrong, but he really was just interested in talking since he heard you also disliked grape juice. 

Naturally, that meant that he would drop by the tavern with you and one day, Diluc happened to be there and he thought he might officially introduce you two. Maybe poke some fun at Diluc and his distant personality.  

Overtime Kaeya finds that he looks forward to your outings. Hunters and bandits are often his drinking buddies but he’s there to smooth talk them until they end up telling him everything he wants to know. But you’re not a bandit or some spy, he can let his guard down around you and just have a normal conversation without ulterior motives. It feels...nice and he let’s himself slowly relax until he ends up tripping along the way and finds himself falling. 

That is until he makes an unprompted visit to see Diluc only to find that you’re there too. He takes one look at the scene and turns around. He remembers when they were younger and how people would say they were almost like twins, knowing each other’s thoughts and intentions without having to say a word to each other. 

He think’s its some cruel joke you’re playing or maybe the Gods are cursing him over his methods. As he walks down the streets of Mondstadt, he wants to rationalize that the only reason you were so kind to him was to get closer to Diluc. Or maybe you actually were a spy? He’ll laugh to himself for thinking of such a thing as he replays the same scene in his head over and over. 

Everyone's got a secret, but not everyone knows what to do with it, he had told you this with his usual arrogant smirk one night. You were confused at his implication before he shift’s his gaze to where Diluc is. Diluc quickly turns away when you turn your head in his direction. He watches amused as you sputter about how you do not need his help with setting you up with his brother. 

On the contrary, he actually enjoys putting people into the difficult position of making tough decisions. He won’t lie and say that he hasn’t given you false information just to see you come back embarrassed. In a way, these moments are a way for him to slowly let go of his feelings by helping you get yours across. 

Diluc is direct so he’s not surprised when his brother cut’s right to the point early in the morning and asking what he’s trying to do. As Diluc’s hard stare attempts to drill into him for answer’s he thinks back on that same scene. Diluc had looked calm and in a state of content. Peaceful happiness. It’s the same feeling he has when he’s with you. 

He thinks back to another scene. It was the first and only time Kaeya failed in his duty. By the time Kaeya finally reached Diluc, it was all already over. Their father was dead and killed by his own son. 

Kaeya’s own biological father had abandoned him and it was Diluc’s father and Mondstadt that had welcomed him with open arms when he had nowhere else to go. 

Kaeya just smiles at Diluc and remarks in his typical cryptic manner that there will be a time where he won’t know where to stand. He doesn’t know when that time will come but he’ll think of you and where he would want you to be. So until that day comes, he’ll do everything he can to guarantee your safety. He can tell Diluc wants to say something but he holds back. 

To be the first yet placed second, he thinks when you come running up to him to thank him for all his help. He can see Diluc off to the side silently watching and ready to step in and he thinks of the possibilities of what he could do in that moment. Maybe he could confess that he’s been secretly in love with you before you even met Diluc? 

Instead he holds back and repays the favour from earlier in the day. He congratulates you and invites you out to drink in celebration of your new relationship. 

[succulentsunrise]

Finral x Vanessa modern au and Finral is dropping Finesse because she is going to marry Langris who really likes her so Finral goes to Vanessa and then something happens between them…

I assumed this was a request, so I wrote for it 🥰 I hope it is to your liking!

Beginnings in Five Conversations

Vanessa has five conversations to figure out a person's feelings.

Words: 3238

~✿~

Vanessa Enoteca had met Finral Roulacase during her high school years. A friend of hers had had a brother, who was a friend of Finral’s, and so the four of them had met every now and then. Sometimes it was at school corridors, sometimes at their house. Vanessa had, admittedly, not had the most flattering first impression of Finral. She had thought him a little shallow and air-headed, especially after witnessing his flirty demeanour. It was not that she had anything against flirtiness - she quite liked herself throwing the occasional tease - but it was that perceived shallowness. She had thought him shifty, perhaps a player at best. It had changed when she had learned to know him. Finral was one of the kindest people she knew. He was gentle and a little awkward, but his cheerfulness drew people to him. He was a free spirit with a weakness for a pretty face and sweet words. Not that Vanessa could see him commit to relationships too often. Yet those days of high school didn’t see the two become very close yet - it was later, when several years later Vanessa realized that her new neighbour was, in fact, Finral. They met many times then, whether it was during shopping trips or simply coming back from their day at the university. They began to hang out together, and their friendship bloomed. They shared long walks, heartaches, even complaints about their respective universities. Before long they were sitting on the same couch, stuffing their mouths with popcorn and squealing as the protagonist confessed their love in a romantic comedy. Eventually they moved together to help with the expenses, both happy to divide chores and bills. 

It was then that Vanessa was introduced more to Finral’s family. His younger brother, Langris, visited their apartment every now and then. He studied physics, just like Finral, though their approaches were different. In fact, to Vanessa it seemed like the two brothers were almost opposites. Where Finral was bright and sociable, Langris was arrogant and a bit withdrawn. They would discuss theoretical and experimental concepts that Vanessa had only heard of, and could barely pretend to know about. It was much easier when the two brother’s childhood friend, Finesse, came along as well. She was a slender, shy woman with a friendly smile and a gentle manner. When Langris would get intense about some experimental concepts, Finesse would take Vanessa aside and simply ask how she was doing or request to see what she was working on. Vanessa would gladly tell her about what she had learnt during her courses or show what she was tailoring. She quickly caught on that the two brothers would quickly lose their interest in talking about physics when Finesse left them like that. They were both extremely considerate about her, and would look after her like two lost puppies. It didn’t take much to guess that they both harboured some amount of feeling for the older woman. Not that she was that much older - just one year over Vanessa, four over Finral, and five over Langris. 

“Tell me,” Vanessa started one day as only she and Finesse were sitting in the living room.

Finral and Langris were in Finral’s bedroom, searching for a book Langris wanted to borrow for a course. 

“You know that those two have feelings for you, right?”

Finesse smiled a little weakly and shook her head.

“It’s difficult to say what part of them is feelings, and what is childhood fondness,” she replied at length. “Finral, for example, is very fond of me, but if he pretends that he loves me, he is only fooling himself.”

Vanessa looked at her curiously. Finesse’s fingers fiddled a little. 

“He has always been like this with me. He flirts, he takes care of me, he makes sure I am fine. If I ever answer his flirts, he withdraws, however. He doesn’t really want it, I’m sure.”

“Do you want it?”

A brief silence followed Vanessa’s question. Finesse glanced towards the room where the boys were. 

“Langris is very sweet, you know,” she said suddenly. “Much sweeter than you’d think.”

“That’s not what I asked,” Vanessa laughed out of surprise. “What about Finral?”

“Ah, you’re not catching on.”

Finesse’s voice was a little frustrated, and she buried her head in her hands for a moment.

“Finral is a good friend. I am certain we could live together in happiness, if that would be what he wanted, but we wouldn’t love each other. We could talk ages, lying together on the sofa. He’d take care of me when things would get rough. He would always be there for me. It has always been this way between us: we love each other, but it is not love.”

“You mean–it’s platonic?”

“Yes,” Finesse sighed, sounding a little relieved. “Yes, it’s platonic.”

“Do you think he feels the same way?” Vanessa asked more carefully.

She thought Finesse looked sincerely surprised at her question. As if she hadn’t realised that Finral was, for lack of a better word, infatuated with her. Perhaps it was too strong a word. Yet Vanessa was certain that it was true. Finral loved Finesse. Finesse loved Langris. Now, did Langris love her back?

“What - what is it about Langris?” Vanessa questioned.

She couldn’t quite keep the astonished tone away from her voice. Finesse flushed a little and looked away.

“I don’t know,” she whined. “He can be so passionate when he isn’t with Finral. He gets excited about the smallest of things, though he doesn’t want to show it. I think it is - it is cute. He is shy and tries to act so tough, but he likes a lot of things. He is soft and just - he is just - you haven’t heard him explain all these concepts, with stars in his eyes.”

None of that, indeed, sounded like Langris to Vanessa. She wondered if perhaps Finesse had met some alien that pretended to be Langris, but that would be silly. It wasn’t that unrealistic that Langris would act differently around his childhood friend. Maybe he shed all that arrogance he carried with himself around her. In that case, good for them. 

“It’s difficult with them,” Finesse continued. “I don’t want to ruin anything, so I just - I don’t know. It is better to not do anything.”

Vanessa sighed and leaned onto her hand. Finesse was still avoiding her gaze, but she could see the slight flush on the woman’s cheeks still. She cared for Langris, more than for Finral. No, not more - just in a different way. 

“Have you–” Vanessa started, but the voices of the two brothers suddenly emerged from the room.

“--seen any cool movies recently?” she sighed resignedly, changing the topic for Finesse’s sake. 

She looked thoughtfully at Finral, his adorable face lighting up as he began listening to Finesse’s explanation of an animated movie. She felt a little sting in her chest. His adoration was clear to see. Why did it make her feel so bad?

The thoughts about the love dilemma didn’t leave Vanessa alone, even as days went by. It was difficult enough to figure out if she should say something to Finral, but for some reason, she felt personally affected. She didn’t quite know - or want to know! - why. At least she got another chance at figuring out what the situation was during one of Langris’ visits. Finral was walking outside when he arrived, and so it was just him and Vanessa. After the initial pleasantries had been swiftly dealt with, they stood and stared at each other rather awkwardly. Vanessa couldn’t see what Finesse saw in him. It wasn’t her problem, anyways. 

“Hey, can I ask you something personal?” she blurted out. 

It was a little sudden. She leaned against a wall and crossed her arms. Langris cocked an eyebrow in that cocky way of his. There were no stars in his eyes, just a smug (and false) sense of superiority. 

“What?”

“Do you like Finesse? And I don’t mean - not as friends.”

Langris’ gaze faltered, his hands curling to fists.

“What kind of a question is that?” he said, his tone a tad bit aggressive.

“I had a talk with her recently,” Vanessa confessed, hoping it would lure Langris to speak up.

“And?”

“Answer my question.”

“Sure, sure,” Langris shrugged his shoulders.

He had faltered, but he was going back to that easy-going, arrogant attitude he usually portrayed. 

“Finesse is a dear friend to both me and my brother,” he stated. “So what?”

He wasn’t taking the bait.

“Ah, I see,” Vanessa sighed, twirling a finger around a strand of her hair. “That’s all then.”

“What do you mean? Did she say something?” 

“I’m sure you can ask her later. She is a dear friend after all, and dear friends have no secrets.”

Langris looked momentarily angry, but said nothing. He simply rolled his eyes and went to Finral’s bedroom. It was a little disappointing for Vanessa. She had hoped he would’ve at least let slip a little more. She didn’t really have a good excuse to follow it up with anything. She’d just have to wait for Finral to come home, and hopefully get more details from him. If he’d be willing to talk about it.

It was actually several evenings later, when Vanessa and Finral shared a lovely dinner of take-out and cheap wine, that she decided to tackle the issue again. She had not seen anything happen between the brothers or Finesse, and she was curious if anything was happening. So, she began with a safe question.

“How’s Langris doing?”

“Oh, well,” Finral pondered, gulping down the food he had managed to put into his mouth just at that moment. “He’s good, I think. Nothing new since he last visited.”

“Mm, I see.”

“Funny that you are asking about Langris. You’ve never done that before.”

There was genuine suspicion on Finral’s face, even as he laughed. Vanessa smiled at him innocently.

“I was just curious. We had a little chat last Tuesday, when you were coming home,” she explained.

“Oh, right. What did you talk about?”

“Well–things.”

“That’s specific,” Finral commented in good humour.

“Agh, it’s difficult!” Vanessa complained. “I don’t know if I should say anything or not.”

“It’s something serious?” 

“Yes, well - kind of.”

Finral took a long sip of his wine. He looked thoughtfully at his glass for a moment, then smiled.

“Lay it on me.”

“Are you sure?” Vanessa asked, worried by his reaction.

“Yeah, come on. Tell me.”

“Alright, well, he–no, let’s clear something up first. You like Finesse, right?” Vanessa started. “You love her, don’t you?”

Finral shook her head, but not as an answer. She could see him connecting the dots and trying to shake them off of him. His gaze didn’t leave the wine glass. The smile faded a bit. He didn’t answer, and so Vanessa continued.

“I’m asking because - because he does too. Langris. He didn’t say it outright, but he has at least a crush on her, I know that much. And I’ve talked to Finesse, I know how–”

“I know,” Finral interrupted her silently. “I know.”

Vanessa stared at him.

“You know?” she repeated. “What do you know?”

“I know that Langris likes Finesse, and that she likes him back. I’ve known for a while now. They meet up before they come to our place, you know, it was obvious. Langris would never slip anything, but Finesse, she - she would tell how they’d have been sitting in a cafe before that, or how they walked together, or things like that. I knew.”

His voice, though stable, conveyed a broken feeling that somehow resonated with Vanessa’s. He wasn’t crying, yet his posture and the vacant look in his eyes showed that he had given up. He hadn’t even tried to fight for it. 

“I’m sorry,” Vanessa whispered, moving slightly closer to Finral.

He gave her a sad, lopsided smile, and she realized his eyes were blurring with tears. It hurt to see him like that. 

“You should talk to them about it - later,” she said as she wrapped her arms around him. 

Finral leaned his head towards her and sighed heavily. His body trembled once in an attempt to not cry.

“I’ll wish them happiness when I’ve got more strength,” he promised. 

“I’ll be your strength,” Vanessa vowed quietly.

“Thanks.”

The next weeks saw a beginning and an end: Finesse and Langris began dating, slowly at first, and then after a few months they moved in together. Finral was outwardly supportive of them, but it took quite a few bottles and secretly shed tears next to Vanessa for him to get over Finesse. The wound couldn’t close, because Finesse and Langris were still a large part of their lives. The two of them weren’t slowpokes about it either. After having moved in, it only took two months for Langris to propose to Finesse. He said that she was the love of his life, the one that gave him the warmth he had been looking for in life. In return, he wanted to return that sentiment to her: to lift her up in life and make her happy. She accepted. That night Finral came home with quite a few bottles to “celebrate”. It was difficult to read whether he was sincere about it - because that was the worst thing, he might’ve genuinely been sincere about it - or whether he was faking it. Vanessa cooked the two of them a delicious meal and together they got plastered. 

“I’m never getting anyone,” Finral sighed afterwards, the alcohol having reddened his cheeks.

He spoke incredibly clearly even when drunk. 

“Still interested in Finesse?” Vanessa asked, her tone alarmed. 

“Pfft,” Finral only spluttered. “Forget about that.”

“You’re lonely, when you’re here, with me?” she demanded. 

Finral was lying on the sofa, with Vanessa leaning onto him slightly. They had been watching a movie. She hadn’t concentrated on it at all. She had just looked at Finral. 

“Everyone just sees me as a friend.”

“You’re a kind person,” Vanessa stated. “Of course people wanna be close to you.”

“Yeah, but that’s what I mean. They just want to be my friend. Nothing more. No one wants to live with me.”

“I do.”

“That’s not what I–not like that! They don’t want to do all those things couples do. Like - like supporting each other when the going’s tough, to cuddle and kiss, that kind of stuff.”

“I do.”

As if to accentuate her words, Vanessa flopped to lie on top of Finral. He opened his arms and hugged her close.

“Come on,” Finral half-laughed, half-whined. “You know what I mean. No one wants to love me.”

“I do.”

A silence followed those words. Vanessa wasn’t looking at Finral. She could feel the mood change. It had suddenly gone from light-hearted to serious. She felt the alcohol burn in her veins, as suddenly her heart started beating faster. Had she slipped up?

“You are joking,” Finral finally said, his tone confused.

“No, come on, you,” Vanessa slurred slightly. “We already live together, we spend almost every day together. Why wouldn’t I love you? Why wouldn’t you date me?”

He laughed, perhaps a tad bit nervously. She waited for his answer, not turning her head towards him. 

“I don’t - what? What are you saying?” he asked hesitantly.

“I’m saying we should date.”

“What if - what if it ruins it all?”

There was something somber in Finral’s voice, a sadness that permeated the thought. A fear. 

“What if we start dating and we hate each other then?” he continued.

“Get out,” Vanessa nearly cussed. “You said it yourself. We live together already. We talk to each other about everything, we support each other, all that. What could go wrong if we bring love into it?”

“It’s a lot of something.”

“It doesn’t have to be.”

“Just - let’s not do this now. Let’s just take it easy.”

Vanessa leaned her head against Finral in silence for a moment and closed her eyes.

“We’ll take it easy. There’s no need for confessions of love. It’s just attraction and mutual–mutual attraction–and like–” she stammered a bit. 

She was very tired. The alcohol was robbing her of her energy. 

“Let’s just kiss and see where it goes,” she ended her sentence.

Finral laughed a bit. She could feel it in the way his chest rose a bit, the laughter rumbling inside. Yet the sound of the laugh itself was rather dry.

“Let’s,” he simply answered.

Vanessa’s eyes were closed, so she couldn’t see his expression. She didn’t move, and neither did he. They were both exhausted. 

It was the last thing Vanessa remembered when she woke up from the sofa, still tangled up with Finral. Her back ached immensely as she pushed herself up, not to mention the headache. One was from the sofa, the other from the drinks. She had fallen asleep while waiting for him to continue. Drat. Hopefully he hadn’t said anything. Hopefully he had also fallen asleep quickly. It was possible. She got up, her muscles stiff from the horrible sleeping position. Vanessa navigated her way to the kitchen in hopes of fixing up some easy breakfast for herself. She picked eggs from the cupboard, failed to find bacon, and substituted it with some sausages left from last weekend. It’d be good enough. She cooked automatically enough for Finral as well - they usually ate similar breakfasts. She didn’t know quite how to take what had happened between them. Had her heart beat faster because she had been drunk, or did she feel something for him? Her headache intensified the more she thought about it.

Few minutes later Vanessa placed one portion of eggs and sausages on her plate and sat down to eat. She felt tense all over. Why had she said what she had? Was Finral really still sleeping, or just waiting for a chance to slip away from the awkward to-be-conversation? What should she say? She ate absentmindedly, forming potential versions in her mind. Eventually there was movement. Groggy, definitely half-asleep movement. Finral rose his head up with half-closed eyes and a grimace on his face. Evidently he was in pain as well from the night. 

“Morning,” he muttered, not shying away from her gaze.

“There’s eggs,” Vanessa answered, nodding towards the kitchen.

All the versions she had crafted in her mind had already been eliminated. None of them started with ‘morning’. 

“Thanks,” Finral said sleepily, and got up. 

Vanessa browsed her phone as he ate in silence, and then she headed to shower. The feeling of yesterday was washed away. When she came back to the room, she had a feeling that Finral had been waiting for her to come back.

“Hey, I–” he started. “I wanted to talk about yesterday.”

“Yeah?”

“Were you serious?”

Her heart clenched in an uneasy way.

“Yes. Maybe.”

“Oh,” Finral paused for a moment. Then–then don’t you think we should figure this thing out?”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s have a date.”

Vanessa looked at him with surprised eyes. He looked uncertain, unable to even smile. She laughed a little, involuntarily. Her head felt like all the stress was suddenly draining out of it.

“Sure,” she answered. “Let’s.”

Finral smiled brightly at her.

Well, that would be the first. Perhaps it would begin something completely new between them.

Or perhaps it would just strengthen what already was there.

[wlntrsldler]

Could you maybe do Love Story for George? I will leave the details up to you but I do love the way you write him.

PROMPT: based on love story by taylor swift (an installment of my taylor swift x harry potter series. to read more about it, click here) George has a crush on a shy Hufflepuff. 

WC: 1.6K+

HARRY POTTER MASTERLIST

-

love story (g.w one shot)

George didn’t know what it was about you that caught his attention first. It was like his life at Hogwarts was divided into two parts: before he met you and after he met you. It was like before he met you, after every prank, successful or not, he would bask in the cheers and laughter of every Hogwarts student. He and Fred had that in common- arrogant, at times, but never egocentric. Okay.. maybe a little bit, he’ll admit. He would walk through the corridors of the school, high-fiving all the students who worshiped his and Fred’s pranks. He loved it, to say the least. He loved looking into the crowd of people who loved him for doing what he loved to do. 

But after he met you, when he met your eyes for the first time as you stood towards the back of the crowd that formed around him and Fred for winning a Quidditch match, he found himself looking for you everywhere he looked. When he made his way to the Great Hall, his eyes searched for you at every house’s table. He’d zone out, ignoring his twin’s incessant chatter about their next prank. He even tripped on his own feet, more times than he’s willing to admit, because he was too focused on trying to find you. Eventually, Fred caught onto his crush, taking every opportunity to tease him about it. 

George wanted to talk to you. Godric, did he want to talk to you, but he didn’t know where to start. What if you didn’t like his pranks? What if you thought he was annoying because of his obnoxiously loud laughter? He didn’t even know what house you were in! Even worse, he didn’t even know your name! George mentally scold himself, cursing that he let years pass before he even noticed you. But now that he knew who you were, Merlin, was he going crazy. 

After a few weeks of obsessively searching for you in everything that he did, he finally found you. You were in the greenhouse, caring for plants with Neville. Truth be told, he probably wouldn’t have found you if he wasn’t sneaking around to pluck a leaf from a plant that Professor Sprout was caring for, for a prank he and Fred were going to pull on Filch.

He hid behind one of the pillars leading towards the greenhouse, watching as you helped Neville properly care for the plants. George watched you as you mumbled words of encouragement to the young Gryffindor, walking away to tend to your own duties. He saw the yellow tie you wore proudly around your neck. He couldn’t help but continue to stare at you, finding your movements so captivating. It wasn’t until Neville spotted him and raised an eyebrow in confusion that he realized how odd he must’ve looked. 

Blushing furiously, he emerged from behind the pillar and began to walk towards the greenhouse. He was thanking his lucky stars that your back was turned from him, not catching him. George looked at Neville, widening his eyes a bit and using his head to motion for the door. It took a minute for Neville to understand what George was saying but when he did, the boy giggled softly before removing his apron. 

“Hey, Y/N?” Neville asked. 

Y/N, George thought, even her name is gorgeous. 

“Yeah?” You turned around, expecting Neville to be the only one in the greenhouse. When your eyes met George’s, your jaw dropped a bit, not realizing you had company. You tucked a piece of hair behind your ear, suddenly becoming too aware of your disheveled appearance. You’ve been working in the greenhouse all day, you haven’t had the time to clean yourself up. “Oh, h-hi.” 

Neville discretely nudged George’s arm, already understanding that George most likely had a crush on you. He was glad, he knew George well enough to know that he was a good guy. You were the only one who was kind to him and helped him fuel his love for Herbology, stating that you saw a lot of yourself in him. George was one of the few people who stood up for him when he was being teased, so for that, he was eternally grateful. 

“I forgot I had something to do today, is it okay if I leave you a bit early today?” Neville asked, already half-way out the door. 

Reluctantly, you nodded, a bit suspicious with the boy. “Sure, Nev. Meet here on Tuesday?”

“Mhm!” He called out, closing the door behind him. Through the glass, you heard his muffled farewell, “Bye, Y/N! Bye, George!”

Your cheeks turned a shade of pink, realizing that now it was just you and George. You tried to flatten out your hair, trying to salvage a bit of your appearance. You snuck a quick glance at your reflection, grimacing when you realized that it didn’t help you much. Giving up, you smiled shyly at the ginger boy in front of you, who was watching you with an amused smirk on his face. You cleared your throat, “How can I help you, George?”

George’s eyebrows shot up in surprise when his name left your lips. You said his name so beautifully. The tips of his ears turned red and all of his found confidence quickly faded away, “Y-you know who I am?” 

“‘Course I do,” you giggled, turning back around to tend to your assignment, and to hide your blush. “You’re legendary, you know.”

George heard those words from other people before. He heard it nearly everyday, but when you said it, nobody else mattered. She thinks I’m legendary, a voice in his head sang. It took all of his being to not do a happy dance right then and there. But then he realized that you knew who he was- not just that he was a Weasley, but you could tell him and Fred apart. “How do you know I’m not Fred?” 

You looked over your shoulder, his words making you doubt your certainty. Your eyes raked over his body, stopping at the small indent on his left cheek, a defining mark of George Weasley. It was almost unnoticeable, almost. Your lips quirked up to a smile, shrugging, “I just do.” 

“Hmm, I’ll learn your wicked ways one day, Ms. Y/N,” he grinned, now standing beside you. 

You secretly hoped he’d never find out. It wasn’t really easy to explain that you’ve stared at him so much over the years that you’ve now learned their mini differences. You’ve had a crush on the younger twin for years, but being the shy Hufflepuff that you are, never once made a move. You’ve admired him from afar, opting to spare yourself from embarrassment. 

You cleared your throat, “What did you need, Mr. George Weasley?”

He began to explain his next prank to you, finding comfort in the way you burst out laughing by the time he finished. You placed a hand over your mouth, wanting to silence your laughter. George bit his bottom lip, trying to contain his smile. He loved the way he made you laugh. Your laugh was like music to his ears. Once you calmed down, you placed your tools down and walked to the other side of the greenhouse. He followed you like a lost puppy, stopping when you did. 

“What’s this?” he asked when you placed a leaf in the middle of his palm. He raised it up, twisting the stem between the pads of his index finger and his thumb. He leaned over and smelled it, “Hmm, not bad.” 

You smiled, “This is the key to making your prank successful. Mix it in with his food and he should be out like a light for a few minutes.” 

George beamed with excitement, using his free hand to raise a thumb up. “Brilliant, thank you, Y/N! I owe you!”

“It’s nothing,” you brushed off, returning to your work. “It’s an honor to play a part in one of your pranks.” 

“Let me make it up to you,” George argued, leaning against the glass walls. “Let me do something to repay you for your kindness.” 

“Truly, it’s nothing, George,” you said, waving him off. 

“Blimey, Y/N,” George groaned, marching over to you. He grabbed your shoulders and made you face him. His touch sent shocks throughout your body, making you look down at your feet. You couldn't bring yourself to look at him, embarrassed by the bright red blush you knew stained your cheeks. “You make it so difficult for a guy to ask you out.”

Your eyes widened as you looked up at him. Your jaw was hanging wide open, staring at him in disbelief. He stood there, hands on your shoulders, with a handsome smirk on his face. Did he really need to be that attractive? You questioned, “I’m sorry, what?”

“Dearest Y/N, I was trying to ask you out smoothly but your cute, yet oblivious self, was not catching onto my hints.” 

“I- what?” 

He chuckled, “Just say yes, darling.” 

You gulped, the sound of his laugh sending shivers down your spine. You looked down at where he held you, unable to hold back the smile that was threatening to come out on your face. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, you nodded, “I-uh, s-sure.” 

He let your shoulders go, holding the leaf tightly in his hand, “I’ll see you tonight!”

Shocked and at a loss for words, you barely managed to utter out, “Where?” 

George set you a look over his shoulder, “Quidditch Pitch at 11!”

You listened to his footsteps disappear into the hall, looking down at your feet with a large grin on your face. That night was the start of your very own love story. 

TAGS:

@rexorangecouny

A/N: i have sooo many requests to get through but i promise i’m working on them! sorry they’re taking a while. 

[thehoneybeast]

Reconnecting

Ok sooo.. I have been a little obsessed with this great show and had the inspiration to write and actually finish! a fanfiction because apparently I am n love with a stupid cartoon monkey called Hugo.. so here we go! Maybe some find a little joy in this.

Warnings: mention of death, maybe trauma, stupidly dramatic

Pairing: Hugo/Scarlemange x Reader because why not

Okay a little rant from me first. Spoiler! I couldn't just accept that Hugo dies at the end of the series so I had to come up with a stupid way in which we could save him. This came from the same storyline in which he wouldn't die. If my motivation is big enough, I might continue this, but for now this is all I have. Also, the story is a little straight forward, no gentle start or anything. Enjoy!

He smelled the sweat on your skin, mixed with the earthy note of dirt before he recognised your own scent underneath. He let go, held your head between his hands and smiled widely. Your hair was a mess, dull and mixed with leaves but it held the same beautiful colour that he remembered you with. Your eyes stared at him with confused happiness and he felt his heartbeat quicken. It had taken  him  years to find you, to finally see you again. You had grown, your features had become more firm and you were confronted with the same sense of astonishment as him. Last time you had stood in front of Hugo, he had been the same hight as you. He always looked a little shy with his rather small frame. Now you stood in front of a mandrill the size of a gorilla, his shoulders broad and hidden underneath a fancy costume of the old France. You could feel the enormous strength in his arms as he held you, the intimidating strength of a mute.However, you couldn't comprehend the fact, that he was alive. After what felt like forever, you finally found a known face and one that you held a special place for in your heart. It brought tears to your eyes, which caused his grin to falter, instantly letting go of your head. "Are you hurt?" the question came out quiet as he let his eyes search your body for any signs of a wound but you just shook your head smiling, wiping your tears away. "I'm so happy to see you are alive-" was all you could say, before a wave of emotions hit you and you let your head sink, ashamed of causing a scene, but he just went to embrace you yet again. "No need to shed tears, you are save now." His words were quiet, just loud enough for you to hear. "Nothing will hurt you as long as you stay with me." You held each other, enjoying the familiar company. When he let go this time, he made a few steps back suddenly filled with energy, spreading his arms. "You are now part of my kingdom! Everyone will know not to touch you, unless they wish to face the strength of my army! " he announced, proudly taking in the view of the humans behind you. He felt his heart flutter as you watched him with big, beautiful eyes.It brought him on a high he hadn't experienced in a long time. He turned around and motioned for you to follow him before he stalked ahead. "Let me show you around!" he more or less ordered and you needed a second to get of the ground and hurry after him. While rushing to his side you couldn't help but notice the people behind you. You didn't recognise them because of their masks but you felt something was off about them. He tangled his arm with yours as soon as you reached him, grinning and leading you through his place. It was way bigger than you would have imagined, overgrown by nature in many places while still holding a sense of luxury. You understood immediately why he had chosen to stay. He was obviously proud of his home and trying to impress you. He had to slow down a little for you to appreciate what he was showing you and it took him a little self control. You were overwhelmed by the new surroundings and even more by him. It was odd seeing your sweet and gentle childhood friend so very proud and outgoing. You felt a little arrogance in the way he acted but you didn't really care for now. Just being around him made you feel younger and filled you with more energy than you had have since the breakdown of the borrow. It was good to see him healthy and all grown up and you really embraced the warmth which whom he met you. His enthusiasm was infectious and while he was rambling about the great meaning behind paintings and decorations, you listened with wide eyes, completely forgetting about your confused feelings and the rush of fear that you had experienced before you had recognised each other. You didn't think of questioning anything over your joy, until you reentered the great hall you started from. He lead you to his grant piano which was placed on  a platform in the middle of the room and as he talked about the music he adored, your gaze shifted trough the room, coming to a halt at the group of humans standing perfectly still. You tilted your head irritated. "What's the deal with them?" You asked Hugo who had paid no mind to your audience. You realised that you didn't really ask yourself why none of them had introduced themselves or even bothered to say anything when you were brought in or after that. Were they even real beings? "They're my peasants." He answered nonchalantly sitting down, starting to play a walz on his piano. You looked at him in confusion, wanted to ask him where they came from, what was going on but as he snapped his fingers, you began to understand. To your horror, the motionless people started to dance. They didn't speak, they didn't laugh or sway mindlessly, they danced as if hanging on strings, as if programmed just to dance. Hugo laughed while you could only stare, slowly processing what was going on. You remembered why they had kept him in a cage back then. You remembered when your father had told you to stay away. It was his sweat. That hypnotic influence it had on primates. You felt your heart drop to your stomach, the easy feeling of home coming disappearing behind the maniacal laughter of your friend. There was nothing odd about the humans dancing in front of you, it was Hugo. He had changed more drastically than you could ever have imagined. He continued his play joyfully, not taking notice of your uneasy expression until you carefully put your hand on his, stopping his movements. Confused and angry he glared at you before he saw the way you looked at him. You tried to smile, suddenly scared of angering him. "You play beautifully, but please don't make them dance." Your voice was gentle but he must have heard the trembling underneath. His grin grew back, this time more evil than welcoming. "Oh you don't have to pity them. This is one of the only things they're good for anyways." You didn't know what to say. There was hatred in his eyes and you bit your lip nervously, looking back and forth between him and the people. His hands were still hovering over the keys of his instrument, his gaze fixed on you, waiting for a reaction. "Please don't-" was all you could mutter before he turned to the people and waved one of them to step closer. Hugo watched with amusement as the man walked over, a wide and unsettling smile on his face. He enjoyed it. When the stranger arrived Hugo snapped his fingers again and the poor guy started to uncontrollable stepdance. You made a step back, feeling sick watching him. "You don't have to worry, you are my guest. As long as you follow my orders willingly,  there is no need for this." He motioned at the man his voice filled with pride and authority. You stared at him. Your breath became short and your heartbeat fastened. He watched his peasant do as he pleased. He didn't know why he had felt the need to demonstrate you his ways, after all you had never made any attempt of running yet, but as soon as he had seen your curiosity for the other humans, he had felt anger. You had been separated for so long, he didn't know you anymore. Maybe you had never missed him, maybe even forgotten him until now, maybe you had even become like them. There was jealousy in his veins but he chose to not let you see that. After all, who knew what your motivation was at this point. It wouldn't hurt to show you, who was in control. Better to introduce you to his new world in a way that you wouldn't dare to question him. When he turned to you again you had brought quite a distance between the both of you, your body reacting to the fear rushing trough your bones. You had lived quite some time out there, all alone. Your instincts had saved you most of the time but you felt your scars tingle as they reminded you of the times it had not. He could do the same to you. You felt hatred crawl into your eyes and run over your cheeks. The hate wasn't directed onto him but rather onto the entire world. This world had made him like this. Your heart ached, wondering what had scarred him so deeply that he felt the need to put others under his control. You realised, that he had most likely wanted to put you under his spell as well until he had recognised you. Hugo, or what he would soon teach you to call him, Scarlemange, watched the war behind your eyes. He managed to look unscathed on the outside while inside he was slightly scared of the decision you would come to. He wouldn't let you leave, he couldn't loose sight of you again. Part of him regretted his little show but he reminded himself, that he could not just trust you to know your place. He wouldn't put you with the rest of them, maybe even let you wander around once he trusted you enough to not try and flee. He yearned for your acceptance of the situation so he could try and rebuild the connection the two of you had shared so many yeara ago. You wiped the remains of your tears of stress away with the hem of your dirty clothes and he instantly wished that you hadn't. It made you look more like a dirty dog and he only realised now how wore down you were. You had been a little chubby as a child, not overweight but a healthy amount of flesh on your bones. It occurred to him, that you might have had to fight for food, maybe falling asleep hungry sometimes. Over all, your body looked strained, he could see muscles under your skin but also bone where he didn't want to see it. He felt himself getting softer by watching you, now more alert than you had been before. "How about something to eat? If you're done throwing a tantrum. " His voice was weaker than he had intended it to be, but he couldn't help himself but worry about you. Of course you weren't allowed to know about that, after all you could use it to your advantage. Your shoulders were stiff your eyes narrowed, trying to see the intention in his eyes. It was sad how quickly the atmosphere around the two of you had changed. It now seemed like a short dream where things had been how they used to be. The reality had hit you hard and brought your mind back into a state of survival. You stood a few feet away from the monkey, meeting his glare unimpressed. "Well?" he tried again, his tone now harsher and more demanding for an answer. You sighed heavily before nodding  scared that your voice might break if you tried to speak. He smiled grimly offering you with a gesture to walk beside him. Of course it wasn't really an offer and rather a demand. You looked up at him more disappointed than angry and let him lead you to the other hall where you had come along the giant table. You felt naive for hoping he would be the same and you struggled to decide whether it made you want to leave or stay. He clearly had lived through something that made him like this but you weren't sure if you had the strength to put up with his very dangerous new side in order to help him find back to a healthier view on the world. You had been through quite a lot yourself and thought it unfair that you would have to suppress your own happiness and safety for his sake. So far he hadn't put you in too much of an inconvenience but rather just scared or threatened you. To your surprise he didn't lead you to the dining room but made his way up the stairs to the second floor. It occurred to you, that you could probably run from him, try to escape but you decided that if you were going to do it he shouldn't be expecting it, what he was surely doing at the moment. Instead you followed him slowly,  taking in the view of the room while getting higher. Your hands slid carefully over the old wooden stairhandle and you noticed a bitter feeling of hope in your heart when you turned your head in Hugos direction. He was waiting at the end of the stairs and smiled. It was almost charming if you just could have brought yourself to forget what just had happened. "You will change before we eat. I will not have you smelling like a wild animal while dining." He didn't leave room for an argument but you didn't feel like you had the strength for that anyway. "There is a bathtub in there, ready to be used. It was meant for me but you can have it. Clothes will be brought in when you're done." He already headed off, leaving you in the doorway of a lightly lit room which was filled with the smell of flowers. "I hope you don't expect me to wear something like you..?" You asked, facing the big old bath but he was already back on the stairs throwing you a confident grin before he stalked away while you slowly entered the bathroom. A warm bath sounded rather appealing and would maybe help you relax again. The water was hot, a comforting feeling on your skin and even though you couldn't stop feeling sad about your experience with Hugo, you did enjoy the feeling of the dirt getting of your skin. You washed your hair, your face and looked carefully at yourself when you were done. There were scars you didn't recognise and others which causes you would never forget. There was a big towel hanging at the wall, big red and fluffy and you curled yourself up in it. A content sigh passed your lips when you sat down on one of the puff chairs which stood around the room. You didn't want to face him again. Not when he had become like a possessive tyrant. You burried your head under the towel and thought back to a better time. A safer time. You jumped slightly when the door opened before a big wooden box was pushed into the room and the door closed again before you could see who had brought it in. You stared a few moments, debating whether you should play along or not. Sighing yet again, you slowly walked over and lifted the top so you could take a look at the the fabric inside. Of course he hadn't brought you normal, simple clothes. No, it had to be the same old school fashion that him and his 'peasants' were dressed in. You rummaged through the box on the search for something more comfortable than that and found a rather normal looking leggings with ruffles on the outside but decided it was good enough. For your upper body you took one of the white dress shirts two or three sizes too big so that it would hang loosely over you chest. As happy as you could be with your outfit you walked over to the mirror again and took in your form. Your scars were hidden, your hair clean and after you had found a brush and forced it into a more presentable look, you were surprised how good it felt to feel like a human again. The door was opened again, this time all the way and a gorilla peeked inside his hand covering his eyes while he asked in a deep voice: "If you're dressed, please come outside. Scarlemange awaits you. " You frowned hearing that name. You had nearly forgotten who it was you were brought to. Not Hugo, whom you had mistaken him for but the monster you had heard many mutants talk about. After debating with yourself if you should insist on calling him Hugo, you made the decision that it wouldn't bring you anything good to be stubborn right now. So instead you answered with a gentle "I'm coming!" and followed the gorilla out the door. He brought you to the Hall as expected and upon seeing the giant table, now with plates of fruits and fancy dishes, you felt your body scream for food. Hardly keeping yourself from rushing over to eat with your bare hands, the gorilla seated you on the other side of the long wooden table so now you were facing Hu- no, Scarlemange a few feet away. You could see his eyebrows narrow as he took in your new look. "You could've picked something fancier." He scolded loudly to reach your ears over the distance but you just shrugged your shoulders. "I didn't feel like dressing up. Comfortable is better than pretty." You answered nonchalantly, trying not to stare at the meals in front of you. Scarlemange noticed the hunger in your eyes and laughed slightly to himself. "Please, be my guest and treat yourself." He motioned over the table and that was all the invitation you needed. You devoured every bite you took, enjoying the feeling of your stomach being filled to the brim. When you were done, your belly hurt a little but you felt happy and content. Sighing you leaned against the back of your chair. Scarlemange, who was used to eat regularly, took his time, eating with elegance and you couldn't help but smile over the way he was so serious about looking pretty while eating. You had grown a little tired but also braver. Deciding that you didn't want to scream for him to hear you, you eased out of your chair and made your way over to his end of the table. He stopped in his movement watching you through squinted eyes. You reached the chair to his left, pulled it out and sat down, smiling sheepishly at him. "So now you aren't scared of me anymore?" he asked bitterly and you rested your head on your hand, still looking at him. "Surely you understand why I am a little cautious after your little show off with that man. You did it to scare me, didn't you? But you are rather nice to me. You let me clean myself, you feed me. You also tried to intimidate me. I'm not quite sure what you want with me, but I'm willing to give you your time to express it." He raised his eyebrows unimpressed and continued eating while you watched him closely. He had earned some scars himself. Tho they made his colourful face even more interesting. You hummed to yourself as you took your time taking each of them in, wondering what may have caused them. He looked older, more masculine. "You've become rather handsome." It left your mouth without intention and as you noticed what you had said, heat crawled into your cheeks. To your surprise he just laughed evily and glared at you. "What, do you think flattery will make it easier for you to fool me?" There was mistrust and anger in his eyes and you realised that he didn't believe you, which frustrated you. "Nah, I think a poor peasant like me couldn't fool a majesty like you, since you are oh so great and scary!" You huffed angrily. Your anger reflected in his eyes and you took a deep breath, trying to calm the situation. "Seriously. Even though I don't like these clothes on me, they do look good on you. It fits the colour of your fur." He just stared at you, now more confused than angry, which made you continue. "You found your theme and it compliments your personality. I'm just being honest here." You saw his look shifting uneasy and knew that you had flattered him, probably the first to do so in a long time. Maybe now he would answer some questions. "Look Scarlemange, I don't know what happened. I'm pretty sure you don't want to tell me so I'll leave it alone. But I will not just sit and wait, so please do tell me what you are planning to do with me. Am I your prisoner? Your pet? Will you kick me out when you are bored by me? I just want to know what to expect. " For a moment he was quiet. He put his dish aside, keeping his eyes on you, his glare unbroken. "You are a human. You belong to me. I will not let you leave." That was what you had expected but it made you shiver, once he had said it out loud. "However," he continued in a generous tone, ignoring your nervous gulp, "you have the privilege of good memories being connected to you so I will give you the chance of earning the right to keep your own will, just like I told you before. Don't misbehave. Don't betray me or you are going to join the others of your kind in serving me." His tone was firm and emotionless. He wanted to stand up but you stopped him. Your grip wasn't harsh but he stopped in his movements. He wasn't angry with you this time, just wanted for you to say what you had to. "I understand that." You looked down at your hand now covering his and had to fight the urge of getting too upset. "But you get that it is a lot to ask to just demand that I stay here, right? You treat this as if it should be obvious when I have hardly even told you how I feel about it. This has been a very onesided interaction so far and as much as I am happy to see you, we can't go back to being friends if you're not willing to listen as well. You changed your name, your personality. I as well have nice memories of us two playing silly games and spending our time with each other, but the way we lived then was different. Our world was different. We changed a lot. You are not the shy little body I had befriended back than and neither am I the stupid little child." You raised your gaze, afraid  of his reaction but he didn't seem upset yet. Instead he took his hand back from yours and talked in a voice like he was teaching a child. "You are right, we lived in another world back than." Now he raised from his chair entirely, walked a few steps and turned his back to you, locking his hands behind his back. "I realised that the world wasn't as we saw it. I had to wake up from that fantasy world of a 'family' and did what helped me survive in the real world." His voice had become spiteful and you felt pain in the words he said. You felt you chest tighten and stood up as well. "Yes, this world is scarier than in the burrow." You interrupted "I had to face that fact as well when the burrow was gone. The life on the surface is hard. It left it's scars on me too." He looked over his shoulder at you, doubt and mistrust in his eyes. " Why did you leave the new place then? If you think the surface is so scary, why come out? To explore it? Are you telling me you had no choice? Do you think I am that stupid?"He stopped in his rant when he saw your eyes go wide. "New..New home? What are you talking about?" He saw genuine shock in your eyes and he was taken a little aback by that. "The place you flet to? The place you all took of to when the burrow broke down?!" There was a heavy silence between the two of you before you could talk again. "So.. That is why I never found anyone after that. I thought-" you stopped yourself sinking back into your chair. Scarlemange squinted his eyes watching you, trying to decide whether you were lying or not. Your performance was pretty believable. "Why would they leave you behind?" he questioned and your heart ached thinking back to that day. You didn't have anyone to talk to about what happened that day so you chose to push it into the back of your head, ready to be forgotten. The trauma would have prevented you from surviving, you didn't have the room for a breakdown when you had to be on guard all the time. But now someone wanted to know, someone knew what had happened and the memories flooded back. You burried your face in your hands, shaking it, trying to stop the emotions from overrunning   you. It had been suppressed for so long. Scarlemanges face softened, seeing you react so emotionally. Maybe you were telling the truth. He came closer, not really knowing how to calm you down but also wanting to know. "Please, tell me what happened. " His voice was gentle and more quite than before while he slowly placed a hand on your back. Your words were small, chaotic and he had trouble understanding what you said. "The day the burrow broke down..My father- He was hit by the collapsing roof... The bricks burried him underneath them and he... He was still alive. I couldn't reach him.. Everyone rushed to leave, they were all in panic.." You paused to take some heavy breaths and he felt your body beginning to shake. "I couldn't leave him.. Some tried make me leave with them but... I stayed with him for two days until.. Until he stopped answering me-" You hick uped and your throat was too thick to continue. Images of the chaos flashed into your inner view and the sickening screams of your father. Your whole body started to stiffen up and when Scarl reached over your shoulders for comfort, you turned and clung to him for dear life, crying heavily into his shoulder.There you were again, hugging him, now out of grief instead of joy. He didn't know what to do so he just let your small frame cling to him, carefully wrapping his arms around you. He could only listen to half of your story, though he felt that the rest was rather easy to guess. You had stayed behind for your father and once he was dead you had been left alone with nowhere to go. Even if they had noticed you missing, they most likely assumed that you had been killed like your father. No one would have risked it to come back and search for someone presumed dead. He felt guilt for having brought back those memories and anger as he realised that you as well had been left behind. You must have felt even more lost and scared than him, he at least had been somewhat capable of defending himself. He vowed to himself to try and trust you a little more, especially now that you shown yourself so vulnerable to him. It was the first time that He had embraced someone since his life in the burrow and the fact that it was you filled him with gratitude. Maybe there was a chance for a new friendship between the two of you. If only you were going to understand that he was in control. After all, Hugo was no more. He kept you in his arms until your body started to calm down. The shaking disappeared and your breathing softened. As he looked at your face he saw your red puffy eyes and nose, tears still running down your cheeks. It made his heart ached that you searched for comfort in him and he tried to accept the fact that he wouldn't be scaring you any more. You looked much more exhausted and weak than when you had entered his home this morning and he felt a biting feeling that it was partly his fault. He decided that you had been through enough for today. Not saying a word he heaved you into his arms bridal style and passed through the dining room, up the stairs and to the end of the hallway where his bedroom was. When his servants, the mutated ones, looked at him questioningly, he motioned for them to leave. You didn't move much, your head was hurting and everything felt dull and heavy. Only the heartbeat against your ear and the warmth of his body gave you comfort and when he moved to lay you down and leave you whined like a child. He had put you down onto his king sized bed with comfortable red sheets. "I think you deserve some rest, don't you think?" His eyes were back to the way they had been when he first recognised you. There was no fear, anger or mistrust, only worry and warmth. You reached out for him, taking his hand and pulling it in. It felt mesmerising to be wanted by your side but he looked at You uncertain. "Are you sure? I take up a bit of space." The grin on his face was gentle and you felt a piece of hope return to your heart when you nodded. "I don't want to be alone. I think I have enough of that for quite some time " your smile was sad and your eyelids felt incredibly heavy. He gently pulled the blanket up to your neck and walked to the other side of the bed. He thought back to the Times you two had have sleepovers where you would stay in his little room when your father would allow it. It were some of his most treasured memories, innocent and pure. To think that he could relive them someday was incomprehensible to him. When he layed down you were already at his side again, having turned around under the sheets and cuddled up to him, your body heat welcoming him under the sheets. He felt blood rush to his face and he was glad that your eyes were closed while he returned the embrace once again. No, he wasn't reliving memories, this was different. There was something new within him and he realised that maybe, just maybe he didn't only want a friendship anymore. He listened to your peaceful breathing and found himself relax in your arms, a feeling of comfort and home that he hadn't experienced in a long time.

[shihalyfie]

“The 02 characters didn’t get any character development”

Yes, they did.

“But -- “

Yes, they did.

Having had the gift of having rewatched 02 recently, I have to say that it still really, really confuses me how the hell people get this impression. It’s not even “I’m trying to see the best out of this” but that I genuinely do not get it, because as far as I’m able to see it’s pretty much literally right there!! This isn’t even tinfoil hat tier!

But in case you have any doubts, sit down because Shiha’s gonna sit here and write a meta about the 02 kids, and how they are perfectly reasonable characters that developed properly fine over the course of the series.

(All below translations of 02 dialogue are by PositronCannon.)

So the first thing to understand about 02 is that it is fundamentally made with a very different writing approach from Adventure in the first place, and therefore it is not meant to be compared in a one-to-one fashion.

This is a point I’ve said many times over and over, and I think it’s to the point where it shouldn’t even really need official clarification, but I’m just going to go ahead and bring up the words from Director Kakudou himself:

For instance, we had the prior series stick out in terms of its points about “what it means to be oneself”, and for 02 we made it so that you would pay attention to “the relationship between yourself and other people”.

Right, so: 02, by design, does not use Adventure’s character development methodology of “self-awareness”. It is built from the ground up by having its characters and character development predicated on relationships instead of singular characters. This might seem a bit odd on its face, but no man is an island, and, in fact, changing the way you interact with other people and with the world in general does speak a lot about one’s personal growth in its own way. And this also means that if you try to analyze 02 by holding it to Adventure-based standards of “character focus episodes” or the like, you’re already on a losing battle.

This means that character growth in 02 is not presented in a way where it’s up-front and center, but rather something you have to glean over the natural course of the series. We’re working off relationships, so you have to actually pay attention to the natural interactions between the characters or what they say even during “off-hours” -- the focus-episode format used by Adventure doesn’t apply here anymore. And it’s something apparent enough from how “evolution” is a metaphor for “personal growth” in this franchise -- in Adventure it was via the Crests, which meant self-awareness, but 02′s key evolutionary trump card is Jogress, which relies on the strength of relationships.

One thing I have to say in terms of my experience as a 02 fan is that I’ve found I actually appreciated it significantly more as an adult than I did as a kid, and that, in general, a lot of the things to appreciate about 02 are things that you really viscerally feel and understand when you’ve gotten that degree of life experience under your belt. Unfortunately, this is kind of a double-edged sword, too, because it ends up becoming the kind of series that often risks going over the heads of the very audience of children it was supposed to be targeting. It’s got a lot of very nuanced depictions of mental health and the childhood experience that are maddeningly subtle, to the point of possibly going over one’s head or even coming off as illogical without sufficient life experience, or simply just not being as visceral (the entire theme of “parents stroking their own ego with their kids’ achievements” hits the hardest when you’re college age).

So what this means is that 02 doesn’t exactly hand its themes or character development to you on a plate. But it is there, once you actually start looking for it.

Let’s start off by talking about our main core cast of characters. Adventure and 02 prided themselves on the fact that they tried very hard to not be adherent to anime tropes, but rather to portray well-rounded, nuanced characters that felt more like actual kids you might meet at school. So how does the 02 cast fare in not being pigeonholed anime tropes?

Daisuke: Even though official freely admits he has “the most anime-like personality”, it’s hard to say he actually falls that much into the generic shounen archetype. For one, he’s actually shockingly humble and polite in certain situations (he’s consistently polite with his elders, and is very quick to admit his own limitations). Actually, he comes off as a surprisingly friendly and deferential person -- it’s just that he happens to have somewhat of an abrasive exterior, and even then it’s implied heavily in the first half that this stems from a lack of validation and purpose. (He actually “deflates” really easily, so you can’t even say he’s all that arrogant past the surface.) Certainly he’s simple-minded, and kind of an idiot, but his abrasive exterior is actually pretty deceptive.

Miyako: Miyako floats an interesting duality of simultaneously being aggressively feminine and being aggressively un-feminine -- not necessarily in the sense she tries not to be feminine (on the contrary, she absolutely embraces it), but more that she’s also an aggressive, “inelegant” mess in ways atypical for a lead heroine in a shounen show, who are usually either cute or “badass action girls” and not...a mess. Despite that, she is also consistently portrayed as capable of heavy emotional depth and being very genuinely kind and concerned about others, which are not in any way diminished by the fact she happens to be an aggressive mess with a severe case of foot-in-mouth syndrome. It’s an interesting mix of character traits that you don’t see often.

Iori: “Designated young characters” usually fall into the “cute” archetype a la Adventure!Takeru or Tomoki, so it’s interesting that the youngest one is actually the most mature one, and impeccably polite at that (having been raised by a family that emphasizes formal manners and propriety). Even more interestingly, nobody actually treats him like he’s that much younger, and he’s given the weight of respect in a sense that has nothing to do with his age (think about how there are indeed quite a few kids who simply just get along better with older kids). Yet the series doesn’t shy away from his youth, and his overly black-and-white view of morality is portrayed as immaturity in its own way, along with the occasional “slips” in his facade or manners indicating that it’s still something he has to consciously focus on.

Ken: Ken’s development goes without saying (it’s one of the most consistently praised aspects of 02), but it’s also interesting to note the unusual way the series plays his redemption arc. Instead of making him a typical “jerkass anti-hero who learns to get a bit better”, the series completely blindsides you by revealing that Ken is, in fact, a naturally soft-hearted and kind boy, and then plays up the mystery of the severe kinds of trauma that would lead him down that path. And ultimately, even though the cause is revealed to have supernatural influence, the series also makes it clear that it doesn’t matter -- that, whether it was his conscious “fault” or not, he still is responsible for what he did. And on top of that, it also scorns the usual “redemption by sacrifice” mentality by pointing out that it’s a cop-out -- it doesn’t actually solve the problems that were caused, and, in fact, a much better way to make up for things is to fix them going forward.

Takeru: Takeru had the “designated young character” role in Adventure, and it turns out that once one of those gets a few years older, they’re naturally not going to be nearly as pure and innocent! The “sweet child” from Adventure has now grown into having slightly pettier emotions, even to the point of grudge, and things he won’t let go of. Oh, and also, trauma from three years prior is still going to have impact on an eleven-year-old kid. Who would have thought.

Hikari: Adventure’s most infamously inscrutable character also seems to have gained some individualized, not-quite-innocent traits of her own (observe how she deals with Daisuke’s advances), and, moreover, it turns out that her deferential humility and refusal to open up about her problems is...not a good thing! when it starts to actually bite her in the rear in front of her friends. Yeah, it turns out that being the “quiet cute girl” actually has its own mental health drawbacks. Oops.

We’re doing pretty well, actually! At the very least, they certainly feel like they already have the Adventure/02 brand of character nuance, where their personalities are inherently varied and nuanced enough that you may not quite find characters like them elsewhere. On top of that, we definitely get to see what makes these characters “tick” -- we get a lot of depth into their thought processes and what their likes and dislikes or strengths and weaknesses are, and that’s something 02 still completely beats out a lot of other kids’ shows or even certain other Digimon entries with.

But here we’re talking about character development. So what do we know about them at the very beginning of the series?

Having watched 02 in Japanese a few times and being very used to the core cast’s latter-half characterizations, rewatching the early episodes always strikes me really hard in the face with genuine shock at how shallow the kids -- especially Daisuke and Miyako -- start the series off as. It’s understandable in terms of the context of the series -- unlike the Adventure kids, who were thrown into a “survival, need to get home” situation off the bat and thus already understood the need to be wary, these kids started off having comparatively easy access to home at any time, and didn’t have a constant sense of danger and survival looming over their heads. It naturally took a lot of time for the gravity of the situation they were in to start really hitting them, and so even the relatively straight-laced Iori didn’t exactly take it all that seriously at the beginning.

Yet while it took them a significantly more delayed time to understand what they were dealing with and take it as seriously as they needed to...they started cultivating something else in the meantime.

02′s first half is especially full of “random banter conversations” that seemingly involve nothing in particular, but, in fact, that’s actually part of the point. One thing I have always been quick to point out in regards to 02 is that it is rather unique among Digimon series in how it goes out of its way to portray its core cast as having become friends even in pure daily-life social friend terms, even if it had absolutely nothing to do with Digimon incidents -- these are kids who genuinely enjoy each other’s company even in the most mundane of situations. This was something that wasn’t the case for the original Adventure kids -- having been a group of kids thrown together by necessity, even though they most certainly kept in touch and trusted each other as fellow Chosen Children deeply, they started floating back into their own different social clusters after the events of 1999. Relationships are multifaceted, after all; you can still have a deep relationship and bond without necessarily being friends on a social level.

But already, off the bat, Miyako brings food for her new best friends, and it’s implied that she’s the main ringleader behind holding the picnic -- a picnic that started off having no intended relation to the Digital World territory war -- in episode 6. And, to be quite honest, can you really blame these kids? Even the Adventure kids wistfully entertained the idea of a long-term fun adventure through the Digital World in Adventure episode 54, wanting to enjoy its beauty and fun in a situation where they weren’t constantly running for their lives. Now that this luxury is actually available, why not take advantage of it -- and bond further with the others in the process? And for the rest of the year, these kids actively end up spending mundane conversations together and bonding to the point that, by the time we get to the end of 02, these kids have just genuinely bonded so much that they really come off as a cohesive, inseparable unit that would actively choose to spend time with each other if given the opportunity. In fact, even going through all of the TV Digimon series that exist as of this writing, I would say Appmon is the only one that really competes with 02 in portraying its core cast in this manner.

Again, remember: this is a series where characterization is dependent on how the kids treat others and interact with them, so you do actually have to pay close attention to these interactions and see how they change over the course of the series.

So once the episodes start coming in play, we actually learn a lot more about what happens when the characters start breaking away from their shallowness. For instance, episode 8, one of the first key episodes to understanding Daisuke’s character:

Daisuke: He'll be a great opponent. We didn't face off in the last tournament. Takeru: If you had made it to the finals, you would have, right? Daisuke: Don't remind me... Hikari: Can you win? Daisuke: It's not about winning or losing. Right now, all of the boys who play soccer in this country want to be like him. Just thinking about playing against him makes me excited!

For all Daisuke initially seems to be arrogant, he’s actually not that incapable of humility. Far from it, actually; he does have a genuine love for soccer and the spirit of the game, and, when completely and obviously unmatched, fully admits he has no chance and is set on enjoying the most he can out of it anyway. I feel like Daisuke’s surface-abrasive attitude really does throw off the fact that he’s a lot more genuinely humble than he’s given credit for. In the end, he’s satisfied enough with the accomplishment of pulling off one sliding tackle against Ken, and is able to enjoy that -- a foreshadowing of how the latter half relies so much on the fact that he’s capable of enjoying simple pleasures and being straightforward about them.

I find that this scene is really underappreciated, too (mainly because it gets lost in all of the other major things in this episode) -- while Daisuke jokes about his accomplishment, it only takes a single comment from his respected senior Taichi to shut him down.

There’s a huge reason I constantly emphasize that Daisuke respects his elders -- this part tends to get lost in translation a lot (especially the American English dub, which just smashed this aspect out of him wholesale, among other things) due to it being a bit reliant on Asian senior deference and cultural propriety, but Daisuke is respectful not only out of societal obligation but also because he genuinely respects his elders! The way he looks up to Taichi and chases after his approval is genuine, and even his interactions with the other Adventure kids have a major hint of him having genuine respect and deference to them. Daisuke is just a deferential person in general -- note that while his crush on Hikari tends to manifest when he’s at his most shallow, he’s actually the one putting Hikari on a pedestal (considering it his own responsibility to impress her), so he’s not actually as assertive as he tries to come off as. The first half of 02 arguably has him deflating more often than he actually stands his ground...and this is a trait of him that starts to actually change quite a bit over the course of the series.

Miyako comes to terms with the fact that maybe she’d been taking this whole Digital World adventure thing too lightly in episode 10, indicating that she actually does have a good sense of priorities when they become increasingly clear! This is actually very important, because it fleshes her out as someone who’s emotionally sensitive -- too emotionally sensitive, to the point that “emotional sensitivity” is just as much of a driving point behind her later breakdown in episode 18, this time from taking her duties too seriously. Miyako is a very id-driven person, and so a lot of the early series is her struggling to find a proper balance on how to adjust her emotions in an increasingly escalating situation. Her heart is in the right place, she’s just not someone with an inherent sense of preparedness to deal with this kind of problem.

We get into the secondary Digimental arc, and there’s a noticeable consistent thread that all of them involve admission of personal faults. This is something that tends to throw people off at times -- wait, having bad traits about yourself is what awards you? -- but the point is that this isn’t like Adventure’s Crests, where things came from proof of exercising the virtue, but rather admitting that there are ways you need to improve, and showing a will to improve in that manner. In the end, people are not perfect human beings, and sometimes even understanding that you’re deficient is half the battle -- after all, the second half is all about a certain character named Ichijouji Ken coming to terms with some very, very serious personal problems.

In episode 11, Daisuke completely admits that he doesn’t feel he understands the concept of friendship the way Taichi and Yamato et al. see it, also latently admitting that he doesn’t see himself as worthy of the Digimental of Friendship. Beyond betraying a lot deeper issues within Daisuke that he seems to have actually had a background lacking in friends and sources of validation, he actually acts very self-effacing when admitting his issues to Taichi and Yamato, ultimately culminating in him calling himself pathetic. Or, in other words, he does want to be a better friend and to understand the concept better, and is harsh on himself for not doing better (which, of course, ultimately leads to how he eventually does gain better relations with the rest of the group and reaches out to Ken).

In episode 14, Miyako admits that she’s shallow and judgmental and tends to jump to conclusions based on first impressions. Recall that she’s comparing herself to Mimi in said relevant scene -- Mimi, whom she admires, and actually spends part of the episode trying to understand and empathize with the mentality of. This is not a statement of Miyako being proud of herself. Rather, this is Miyako being very straightforward about the fact that she needs to try harder to see through the essence of things and to see through to the emotional core of. Again, something she actually does start developing over the course of the series.

In episode 16, Iori gets his first major lesson on the limitations of being too stuck on principles in his attempt to be honest. Recall that Iori’s later character arc is very dependent on him realizing that his own view of the world is too black-and-white. It’s great if you could never tell a lie to anyone, ever, but in the end, that’s going to reach limitations of practicality -- after all, as Jou points out, what Iori did ended up not actually hurting Jou in comparison to the incredible amount of hurt it would have caused everyone by being too stubborn, and thus Iori would have failed to keep his responsibility to help the others because of one narrow-minded principle.

Hikari even gets in a bit during the infamous episode 13, where we learn that her “passive” attitude is biting her in the rear. In Adventure, Hikari’s passiveness and reticence had mostly been used as satellite development for Taichi (his insecurities as an older brother and his obligations to her), so this is actually the first time we get to see a proper perspective from Hikari’s side, and it turns out that his overprotectiveness has actually caused her to get dependent. But even though Taichi is the one the episode actually focuses on, the larger focus is more specifically on the fact that Hikari is too passive -- that she sees being taken by the Dark Ocean as an inevitable thing that’s just going to happen unless someone else steps in on her behalf. Takeru, of course, is having none of it.

Once that’s out of the way, we go back to taking a look at the subtleties of everyone’s interactions. While everyone generally tends to focus on the second half of episode 17, it’s also pretty interesting to see how the 02 kids react to hearing about their seniors’ adventure in the first half -- remember that this is the first time the 02 kids are actually given any real depth about the degree of 1999′s events that’s not just random points of hearsay, and the way the new kids react to it indicates that they’re thoroughly floored. It’s later established that they didn’t even get the full story (it may not even be possible, given that the Adventure kids’ experiences may well have gone even further beyond what we got to see in 54 episodes), and yet the new kids are overwhelmed. 02 itself does not shy away from the fact that the younger kids really have no qualms about deferring to their seniors if need be, and treating them with utmost respect.

Another minor note, which I pointed out in my Daisuke meta earlier, is that the beginning of this episode is pretty much the last time Daisuke ever shows outright hostility towards Takeru for his relationship with Hikari -- it’s something you have to glean by squinting, but the implication is that the insecure and clingy Daisuke actually got to learn this episode that the two of them had a pre-established shared experience that he himself may not understand, and that it wasn’t just Takeru randomly swooping in and snatching away the closest thing he had to a friend for no good reason.

Once the Kaiser infiltration arc begins, episode 18 ends up being one of Miyako’s funniest episodes, but it’s a bit distressing that a lot of people in the fanbase often never let Miyako live this incident down, when in actuality this was explicitly not a good mental health day for her. (This is basically the equivalent of pinning Mimi as a conceited, self-centered jerk based on the fact she was one for a fashion in Adventure episode 25.) The beginning and ending of this episode establish that this is basically a result of Miyako...trying her hardest. She’s scared as hell, but she also learned in episode 10 that this is something she needs to take seriously, and the stress puts her into a mental breakdown. This is why she ends up having a heart-to-heart with Hawkmon at the end; her heart is in the right place, but she needs to find a way to channel her emotional sensitivity in a way that doesn’t make her into a complete mess.

And note that her own voice actress, Natsuki Rio, even pointed out that Hawkmon’s actions had enough of an influence on Miyako’s character that she had to play her differently thereafter.

At first I always played her with Maximum Excitement, and I kept thinking “someone, please, stop her,” but the more straight-laced Hawkmon did his best to pull her in and hold her by the reins (laughs). Thanks to him, Miyako became a lot more of a put-together person…thank goodness Hawkmon is her partner!

Episode 19 has two interesting things of note that I want to point out -- first of all, starting from the very beginning of the episode, everyone ditches Daisuke because they’re independently going in to infiltrate the Kaiser’s base. Note the complete lack of a plan here whatsoever -- everyone’s just going in on their own -- and the fact that everyone expects Daisuke to come up with what he wants to do on his own. For all it’s worth, even though Daisuke may have a designated protagonist aura to him, within the story itself...nobody actually sees him as a leader at this point in the series (and, to be fair, he’s never really tried to claim the position, either).

It’s similar to how Taichi was never recognized as a particular leader of the Adventure group until Adventure episode 28, but in regards to the full team dynamic, it’s actually inverse -- the Adventure kids were capable of making tactical plans together as early as episode 20, but fell apart emotionally in short order as soon as Taichi was gone, whereas here, the kids are fond enough of each other to hang out socially and support each other emotionally, but they take a while to get any real cohesiveness as a fighting group.

The other is that Iori personally witnesses Takeru’s sudden whiplash into his grudge against the darkness and the Kaiser, and it scares the hell out of him.

Takeru eventually laying a punch on the Kaiser is a pretty awesome moment (and, really, Ken kind of deserved it, so it’s hard to not cheer for him), but it’s also important to note that within the context of the series, this is not a good mental place for Takeru to be in. Iori, the person who should by all means sympathize with hatred of evil things at this point of the series, is still extremely unnerved by Takeru’s actions here, because he’d always seen Takeru as a mature person who’d always kept his composure, only to show a drastically different side of him that he hadn’t even shown a hint of before. That kind of “two-facedness” and emotional repression -- and this way of venting trauma in general -- cannot be good for Takeru at this point in time, and it’s also an important moment for Iori when he later admits during the two’s Jogress arc that he’s having a bit of a hard time understanding him.

And so episode 20 comes, and Chimeramon pretty much takes out the entire party, leading to this conversation.

Takeru: Let's escape. Daisuke: Escape? Takeru: We can't fight anymore. Our mission has failed. We'll retreat and wait for another chance. Hikari: You're right. We have no other choice. Iori: Understood. Daisuke: No. Miyako: Daisuke? Daisuke: We can't just say "another chance" like that. If we leave now, they'll keep attacking anything in sight. We don't know if we'll be able to get into the fortress again. So this is our only chance! Hikari: That's crazy... Iori: Exactly! Miyako: They're all back to their Baby forms... Chibimon: Daisuke... Daisuke: But...didn't you all see it? Destroying those towns...and all we could do was watch quietly. I don't want to see that ever again. I won't let them do whatever they want! So I'm going, even alone. I won't give up now. After getting this far, all I can do is go forward!

Why is this moment important? This is the first time Daisuke has actually stood a firm ground against anyone else in the party -- and not only that, with the entire party standing against him.

Recall that I mentioned earlier that, in spite of Daisuke’s abrasive attitude suggesting otherwise, he actually has a tendency to “deflate” pretty quickly when people tease or criticize him. He spends the first half of the series having a lot more bark than he actually has bite. Earlier in the series, if the entire party were to go against him, he’d be more likely to begrudgingly go along (while complaining) -- in fact, he actually did just that at the beginning of episode 7! But now that push has come to shove, Daisuke’s own sense of morals and bleeding heart have won out. (While his decision here is definitely a bit reckless, he does have a point; if they’d retreated, they might genuinely lose any future chances.) Even with the entire party telling him to pull back, he refuses to accept what they want him to do, and pushes forward.

This is where Daisuke first starts to really make strides towards what becomes his eventual major role in the group as “the one who pulls people forward”. It’s a moment after which the rest of the group themselves also start to treat him with more respect now that he’s proven he’s not just a doormat, and that when it comes to there being a real problem with real priorities, he does have the resolve and initiative to keep going.

Also, a very important point is that he immediately says he’ll go alone if he has to. He doesn’t begrudge the others for wanting to fall back, and has no condescension towards them; he just can’t stand the fact that he himself is being asked to sit it out.

So, you know. Episode 21 happens. Ichijouji Ken goes through some real trauma as Wormmon dies in his arms. And all Daisuke has to say is...

Daisuke: You should go home. There are people who are worried and waiting for you! Go home!

Remember when I pointed out that 02 takes a very unique perspective on Ken’s redemption arc, pointing out the futility of being too trapped in the idea of symbolic penance and focusing more on actively taking steps in the future to make up for and fix things? Here’s our first major sign of this, and Daisuke’s eventual approach to Ken -- Daisuke does not choose to scorn or lambast Ken for what he’s done, even though there are a lot of things Ken deserves to be harped on for, but rather instructs him to take the first active step towards fixing his mistakes, in this case fixing things with his family.

Episode 22 is Daisuke’s own “fanbase will never let him live this down” moment, but there’s still some interesting things to note here. Firstly, Daisuke’s “relapse” happening exactly when it seems like his duty to the Digital World is done and there’s nothing to do besides community service doesn’t seem coincidental, especially when this exact episode actually dedicates a full scene to Takeru, Hikari, and their partners going “...now what?” Secondly, as I touched on earlier, note that Daisuke’s never really seemed to have any resentment against Hikari for not responding to his affections -- in fact, he still considers it his own (and V-mon’s, by extension) duty to be the one to impress her. It’s a surprisingly refreshing take on the “shounen hero with a crush on a girl” trope, because in the end...Daisuke isn’t actually all that possessive of her, he just really wants validation from her, and respects her a lot.

More importantly, though -- note the way Daisuke handles this topic. He’s not actually mad at or resentful of Takeru anymore. In fact, he’s mulling on the topic and wondering what he could do to be on that level. Yup, even when Daisuke’s being shallow and jealous, he’s still learned to handle this issue ever so slightly more maturely than he would have at the beginning of the series.

This is also important because only one episode later, once Daisuke becomes disappointed again at Takeru and Hikari walking off on their own, Miyako intervenes -- not only so that Takeru and Hikari can have their space, but also so that Daisuke can have some genuine fun and something to do. This is a very blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in episode 24, but it makes it very clear that Miyako was looking out for Daisuke’s welfare, too, and I think it’s very important in light of the events of the prior episode. Miyako, who had always been fumbling on what to do with her emotions, is starting to properly channel them into managing the dynamic between the team and checking in on how everyone’s doing, and that starts to guide her actions and relationships for the rest of the series.

The next episode (25) is where we kick off not only the Jogress arc, but also the arc where we start going into everyone’s attitude towards Ichijouji Ken. This is important not only because Ken happens to be the effective central figure of 02′s story, but also because -- well, remember, 02 is fundamentally founded on the concept of relationships, so it’s only natural that the other kids’ relationship with the “team newcomer” will be a key aspect of the second half, and in relation to their own characters.

Remember how I said that Daisuke’s first-half character involved him being extremely deferential and often deflating whenever he was criticized or someone stood against him? At the time of episode 25, once again, pretty much the entire team is standing against him -- he’s the only one who’s this level of open-minded about getting Ken into the group, and everyone else is showing differing levels of opposition. But while Daisuke doesn’t begrudge the others for thinking this way, he also doesn’t back down, either, and reaches out to Ken on his own because he still really believes in what he’s doing. Now that he’s settled into what it means to be a Chosen Child, he’s started to gain a proper idea of what he wants to do, and what he feels needs to be done.

So, let’s recap everyone’s stances on Ichijouji Ken at the time of this episode!

Daisuke: Forward-thinking and optimistic; willing to believe that Ken should be given the chance to make up for his mistakes and that they should put everything behind him, even to the extent of believing that there’s probably a good reason for the more suspicious aspects about him (prior to the events of episode 25, it was unclear whether Ken was being a bit too callous about killing Digimon). Also the most actively aggressive in reaching out to Ken and trying to get him to join them.

Miyako: Forward-thinking; she openly states at the beginning of the episode that she thinks Ken’s learned his lesson, she’s just worried about whether he’s going to keep doing questionable things in the future (killing Digimon). Once it’s on the table that he’s not just doing this callously, she immediately is on board with him (to the point of even being the first in the group to use given name basis with him), but her stance on what to do with him is more on the edge of “give him space and wait for him to come on his own terms” (she ends the episode saying she’ll be waiting for him to come).

Takeru: States in the episode that he does believe that Ken’s changed, but doesn’t really know what he’s thinking (i.e. too inscrutable to really be sure about). The later episode 35 implies that Takeru was inclined to be a bit more sympathetic than you’d think otherwise, because he understands the trauma of losing a Digimon partner.

Hikari: Wants to wait a little longer and see how things play out. (Remember that Hikari has a known, consistent thread of taking a very passive approach towards things.)

Iori: Absolutely against it on sheer principle.

It should be noted that none of these stances are wrong. Iori sometimes gets a lot of flak for being the one with the most infamously cold stance towards Ken, but when you really think about it, Daisuke and Miyako are very lucky that their hunch about Ken was right and that he actually did happen to be a very kind boy who had a little too much trauma and some supernatural influence. The fact that Ken is a very emotionally withdrawn person for the rest of the series meant that the two of them ended up breaking through to him the most, but there’s nothing wrong with Takeru, Hikari, and Iori’s skepticism; Ken did some pretty shockingly horrible things in front of their eyes for the first half, and it’s entirely within their rights to determine how forgiving they want to be with him.

In any case, we get to episode 26 (the first Jogress), and most of that episode goes without saying, but I do want to emphasize Daisuke’s lines right before it happens.

Daisuke: If you die now, you won't be able to accomplish anything...I don't want that! Ken: I don't want that...There are still many things I must do.

Daisuke urges Ken not to go for the “suicidal penance” route not only because it sucks, but also because, as symbolic as it may be, it’s also counterproductive to the whole point of doing penance to begin with. If Ken really wants to make up for his mistakes, he’s only going to be able to do that if he’s actually alive to do it! There’s only so much you can do by drowning in self-pity by going “because I did this, because I did that” instead of actually taking responsibility for your actions.

02 itself is deliberately ambiguous on how much Ken’s transformation into the Kaiser was Ken’s own conscious will and how much of it was Dark Seed-induced supernatural influence, but one thing it’s consistent about is that it doesn’t really matter. Regardless of what the cause was, Ken did what he did, and it’s his responsibility to make up for it, and the only way to actually do that is to keep moving forward. The fact that Daisuke is so able to viscerally and directly address what Ken needs the most right now is what fuels their first Jogress, and why Daisuke becomes Ken’s closest friend through the rest of the series.

People have pointed out that 02 has a lot of moments of physical hits, but, notably, other than Takeru punching the Kaiser in episode 19 (which he really deserved, honestly), all of these hits are done with the express intent of bringing the other person out of a very, very deep mental abyss (Yamato punching Taichi in episode 10, Daisuke slapping Ken in 26, Miyako slapping Ken in 30, and Miyako and Hikari’s mutual slaps in 31), because they were in a state where words would no longer reach them otherwise. These are all circumstances of the kind where the person on the receiving end understands that they really needed a drastic wake-up call because of how deeply they’d fallen (and these aren’t some average mental abyss problems these kids are getting put through, either). It’s actually hard to imagine any of the 02 group getting in the kind of genuinely angry and vicious fistfights Taichi and Yamato would in Adventure, because of how close they are (the closest being Daisuke and Takeru grappling in episode 11, but it never got near that level) -- in fact, these kinds of things are done with the implication that they’re doing it because they trust the other person to not hold it against them (and in fact, the fact Yamato does this with Taichi in this way is intended to be read as a sign of how much better they’ve come to understand each other).

So, moving on with the series! The Giga House incident in episodes 28-29 is the first time the group works together in an organized effort, which is notable not only because it’s their first time coordinating with Ken, but also because it’s their first time properly coordinating at all. Remember when I mentioned that, back in episode 19, as much as the kids were pretty fond of each other and were great friends, they still hadn’t figured out how to actually fight as a team? Here we are, with them actually having started to figure that process out.

We then get to episode 30, where there’s actually quite a lot of interesting things to unpack.

Miyako: What's wrong with you? Daisuke: E-Eh? Mi-Miyako-san? Miyako: It feels weird when you add the "-san". Daisuke: Shut up! Man, you're all the same!

Miyako and Daisuke’s relationship is often misconstrued considering that they’re the two most chaotic in the group (their temperaments are very similar at times, which causes them a lot of friction), but I also think this blink-and-you’ll-miss it moment is pretty much their actual relationship in a nutshell. They fight a lot, and they’re ostensibly vitriolic, but they’re actually two of the most like-minded in the group -- they banter because they’re comfortable with each other. Recall that I mentioned that Daisuke is normally respectful with his elders, yet he’s the only person in the group who won’t use the -san honorific on Miyako (even though she’s the oldest)...but the one time he gets flustered and uses it on her, she tells him that it’s weird and he needs to cut that out. Or, in other words, “it’s not like you to be weirdly respectful of me like that, we shouldn’t have that kind of distance between us, stop it.”

(It’s also pretty notable that Miyako has never seriously used -kun or any other honorific on Daisuke, even right after meeting him -- the only other person she dropped honorifics on was Iori, whom she’d known prior to the start of the series, but she seems to have deemed Daisuke enough of a fellow disaster child that he merited dropping it.)

This is especially because, right after that, she recruits Daisuke into her plan to get Ken and Iori to get along -- in the end, when things really get serious, the two are incredibly like-minded (look at how in-sync they are when they scheme together).

30 is actually a surprisingly Miyako-centric episode, despite not ostensibly being one. For one, it says a lot that right now, her biggest priority is to get Ken and Iori to get along -- something that has absolutely nothing to do with herself. In episode 14, Miyako freely admitted that she had a tendency to jump to conclusions about people, and that she was shallow about aesthetics, but this is a very different Miyako from the one who harassed Daisuke for Ken’s autograph in episode 8, or immediately became distrusting of Digitamamon in episode 14. Instead, she’s simply just genuinely invested in seeing people she considers friends get along, and in a selfless manner -- one that has nothing to do with herself. She just really, really cares, a lot.

After all of the first-half hubbub of Miyako really having no idea of what to do with her emotions, the second half has her start channeling that energy into what’s always been one of her biggest strengths: checking on, connecting with, and caring about her friends. Daisuke may be an aggressive forward-thinker who can push everyone in the right direction, but unlike his predecessor Taichi, he doesn’t actually have particular charisma or leadership skills that can necessarily hold everyone together. In the absence of that ability, Miyako fills in for him, checking on the moods and feelings on everyone in the team and making sure everyone’s doing well. And that’s why she loses her temper and slaps Ken late in the episode -- because, really, she’s reached her limit on her “give him space” philosophy when he’s abusing it to be standoffish in a crisis situation, and, on top of that, she really, really did have a huge emotional investment in him.

Moving onto more Miyako in episode 31, her Jogress episode with Hikari, we get to see a little bit of the old emotionally compromised Miyako again, but -- much like the second Digimentals arc -- it involves the two of them acknowledging that both of them are not going about things the best way, and that there are things they can learn from the other.

Hikari: Miyako-san, you're a handful sometimes. Miyako: I knew that's what you thought of me... Hikari: But...I've always envied that. Miyako: Huh? Hikari: Because I can't be honest and say I'm scared or scream like you.

Miyako’s tendency to lose control emotionally results in her being insensitive much of the time, which she calls herself out on multiple times during the episode, and she can’t always be as “kind” as Hikari is -- but, on the flip side, her antics are something that can be a “light” (pun not intended) towards those who are falling in a bad mental state or into the darkness, and Hikari even acknowledges this when one of her trains of thought makes her break out into laughter. Miyako ultimately manages to get through to Hikari this way at the end of the episode, which results in a Jogress and mutual growth for both of them -- Miyako puts more thought into how to approach others (it’s pointed out at the end that she’s still thinking about understanding Ken and Hikari better), and Hikari gains more resolve and determination to fight against things instead of passively accepting her fate (she tells Takeru very directly at the end "I’m fine now. I’ll never go there again.”).

Iori and Takeru's Jogress is a little more complicated to the point where it spans multiple episodes, but a lot of it ends up having to do with the fact that the events of the BlackWarGreymon arc start really putting Iori's black-and-white principles into conflict -- it's wrong to kill something that's been proven to be alive, but it's also wrong to be evil. Putting a huge nail in that is that there's a stake in him forming a relationship with Takeru, but he doesn't really understand Takeru either -- the "two-facedness" he witnessed back in episode 19 scares even him, and he's so intimidated by Takeru that, in episode 35, he goes to approach Yamato about Takeru's past instead of asking the person directly. Takeru, hearing about this, complains that he could have just asked directly, but admits he understands why Iori did so.

By the way, I should point out that episode 35 is the last time within the TV series that Daisuke is portrayed as having a particular interest in Hikari, and it’s just in terms of being slightly more excited that Hikari is joining his meeting. At this point, there are actual important things happening in the Digital World, and he needs to take care of Ken, too, and so...in the end, once again, Daisuke proves that he’s actually capable of putting aside those kinds of more shallow things when he really needs to.

On top of that, this is when the kids start actively working with Ken in the real world (and, if post-02 materials are any indication, continue to hang out with him even for social outings). The choice to have Ken live in Tamachi instead of Odaiba facilitated his isolation from the group during the Kaiser arc, and during around the third quarter they were all grouping up in the Digital World anyway, but the fourth quarter actually has the kids make an attempt to include Ken in their real-world outings despite the distance. Tamachi is not temporally far from Odaiba (approximately half an hour by train), but it’s a bit of a nuisance to get to, requiring crossing a bridge to/from the Tokyo mainland and paying extra for the Yurikamome. But at this point, he’s an important enough friend to them -- and them important enough friends to him -- that they’ll make it work.

At the end of episode 35, Iori finally decides -- to the point of recklessness, something that would have been previously very uncharacteristic of him -- to try and appeal directly to BlackWarGreymon to get him to stop destroying the Holy Stones so that they won’t have to fight. It’s emblematic of Iori’s heart being genuinely torn, because he’s having such a difficult time rationalizing all of these conflicting feelings. This comes to a head in episode 36, when Iori loses his temper at the rest of the group for “playing around”, but Armadimon snaps him back to reality to remind him that they’re tired and hungry, and this can’t be neglected. Iori himself ultimately becomes the one to proactively suggest that they take time to sit down and eat, indicating that -- little by little -- he’s starting to shift his thinking a bit, after being so incredibly stubborn for much of the series.

This is what leads to Iori and Takeru’s Jogress at the end of the episode, now that Iori is flexible enough in thinking to understand the emotional id behind Takeru’s mentality. And likewise, Takeru’s started to loosen up by 36, too --

Takeru: Sure, darkness is frightening, and we would feel at ease if we could get rid of it completely, but I'm sure that's impossible. Ken: Impossible? Takeru: Where there's light, there's always darkness. Hikari: The brighter the light, the darker the shadow, right? Takeru: Yes. That's why I think it's important not to lose sight of the light inside you, no matter how dark it is.

The thing about Takeru is that while he deceptively seemed more open and playful than Hikari for most of the series, he was actually bottling up a lot of emotions in a way not entirely different from the way she did. (Note how, despite how tied at the hip the two constantly are, they almost never actually talk about their thoughts on each other; it feels like a relationship where they implicitly trust each other but are practically reliant on that implicit trust to maintain that close of a friendship at all.) And he’s been keeping those emotions bottled up until they exploded in less-than-healthy ways, initially distancing himself from Iori. But being a lot more open about his thoughts on the matter allowed them to connect better, and eventually Takeru came to embrace a somewhat more reasonable stance on the matter after observing Iori.

It also doesn’t seem like coincidence that this is the episode that ends with Takeru’s first major act of goodwill towards Ken.

This leads into episode 38, the Christmas episode. Fun things to note!

The episode opens with Daisuke and the other younger kids giving a “Christmas present” to their seniors in the form of letting them reunite with their partners. Remember how I said that the 02 kids always admired their seniors and looked up to them? Even this late in the series, the series does not shy away from the fact you’re supposed to see the 02 kids as their deferential juniors.

The Christmas party is, of course, notably, the first major moment of reconciliation between Iori and Ken, with Iori having gone through major harsh lessons about morality in the last few episodes, and Ken opening up more to the rest of the group. Said party is also yet another notable example of how much of a priority it is for the 02 kids to be “social life friends” and not just friends working as a Digimon incident team -- after all, having genuinely emotionally present friends is what Ken needs most in his life right now, considering that the party is treated as the first time he’s been truly happy in a long while.

This is followed by episode 39, which is notable as the time when Daisuke finally commits to switching to given-name basis for Ken, and actually opens the episode standing against Taichi -- because he's so worried about Ken that he needs to go join him. This is something that's lost a bit in translation, but although Daisuke stands down against Taichi, he's not rude nor does he overstep his boundaries with his respected senior (he even opens his statement in polite-form Japanese) -- he's just saying, firmly and politely, "I'm sorry, but I can't go, I have to go help my friend." It’s a notable moment because while Daisuke has been becoming increasingly assertive and aware of what he really wants to do, this is the first time we’re actually seeing him refuse to defer to the very senior he’d spent so much of the series idolizing and looking up to.

We get to episodes 43-45 (the Demon mini-arc), which is also the culmination of the 02 kids having to face the limits of pacifism. This tends to throw off people who are coming in from Adventure, since the Adventure kids ended up killing Digimon with a lot more ease in the original series, but it’s also important to make note of the fact that the episode itself deliberately portrays a gap in mentality between the Adventure and the 02 kids -- with Hikari torn between the two. It also creates an interesting subversion of expectations when Hikari, the one you’d expect to be more on the pacifist side, is the one who’s already accepted that it may be inevitable, whereas Miyako, the more aggressive and belligerent one, is the one staunchly against it.

The reason for this “paradox” comes out of a single line from Hikari in episode 44:

Hikari: You’re the one who saved him, Miyako-san.

The Adventure kids never liked killing. They were never enthusiastic about it -- it was just that they were almost immediately put in a situation where the entire fate of the multiverse was at stake thanks to some unambiguously evil Digimon who wanted nothing but wanton destruction. Even then, it was pretty clear that they never enjoyed it -- Takeru professed a desire to avoid fighting in Adventure episode 12, and the pacifist Mimi went through a breakdown in Adventure episodes 45-50 trying to avoid casualties. But one of the most important lessons Mimi learned at the time was that pacifism has its limits -- there’s no point if it ends up in more deaths than it saves, because at that point you’re adhering to moralistic principles more than you’re actually saving lives.

The fact that the Adventure kids and the 02 kids have a “different mentality” isn’t just happenstance, but outright embraced. Daisuke, Miyako, and Iori never had to actually deal with a conscious Digimon that was unambiguously evil for most of the series, and Archnemon revealing that her motives were pretty much nothing but wanton destruction in episode 29 was the first major warning signal to Iori that his pacifism might have limits. And during this Demon mini-arc, it’s not like these Digimon are threatening multiverse destruction or anything -- it really does seem like a constant “glimmer of hope” that maybe, just maybe, they can save people non-lethally. Alas, they can’t.

Daisuke, being someone who’s inherently practical-minded, starts entertaining the idea that push may come to shove as early as episode 25, and finally makes his first statement about practical limits in episode 43. But the more emotionally caught-up Miyako and Iori end up taking another episode to swallow it, and they don’t take it well. Most of the attention in 44 is given to Miyako, and it reconfirms that, despite her aggressive exterior, she’s emotionally sensitive and empathetic -- and while killing LadyDevimon is framed as truly the only thing that could have been done in that situation, Miyako is not faulted for being emotionally compromised, nor is Iori likewise when he faces a similar situation with Takeru and is forced to confront the people whose lives were at stake.

Episode 45, when Ken opens the gate to the Dark Ocean, doesn’t really have much to add on top of what’s already there, but this is basically “the point of no return” when everyone confirms their own emotional investment in Ken and understanding that he’s not just reformed, he’s genuinely struggling under the pain of what’s been happening -- and this is before they find out about the truth behind the Dark Seeds, and that Ken’s transformation into the Kaiser may have been supernaturally influenced, too.

It’s also interesting to see the different ways each kid reacts to Ken as they support him:

Hikari, the most outwardly compassionate, goes to support him the second she notices him in physical pain; Takeru notices that it might work, realizes Ken needs the support, and joins.

Iori and Miyako reflect on how Ken’s putting all of his efforts in, and lambast themselves before joining. Interestingly, given the circumstances behind what’s happened up until now, Iori and Miyako criticizing themselves take a different meaning -- Iori, who’d been scornful of Ken until recently, seems to be regretting that he distrusted him when Ken had been trying so hard, while Miyako, who had been open to him since episode 25, seems to be upset that she’s sitting there and not doing enough when he’s in all of this pain.

And Daisuke, of course, the most “forward-thinking” of them all, gives Ken a speech about what he’s done so far and reminds him that he’s already done more than enough for “atonement” -- which is, of course, what directly reaches Ken the most.

And when we get to episode 46, and the kids, now knowing about the Dark Seeds, hold a roundtable (and emotional support group) to discuss what to do about the Dark Seeds, Daisuke’s the one with the most spirit and energy about it, but...

...the one actually leading the roundtable? Miyako.

Miyako: Sorry, that's all I can think of. Ken: Please don't worry about me. Miyako: (nods)

It’s subtle, but the scene in question does actually make a deliberate move in indicating that Miyako’s continuing to channel her emotional sensitivity and desire to go out of her way to help Ken -- of course, they all know how traumatic this is for him, but she’s the one who’s actively calling attention to how he must feel about it first and foremost.

Episodes 47 and after end up becoming yet another major wake-up call for Iori (seriously, I do not understand why people claim he had no character arc when this wasn’t even remotely subtle) when he learns that Oikawa, whom he’d pinned as “evil”, has a deep relationship with the father he’d grown up idolizing so much, and it completely flips his world around -- even though he had started to get a bit more open-minded, he’s still trying to rationalize what should have been, in his mind, two diametrically opposite things. It fuels his confusion and desperate desire to understand more, not just about Oikawa, but about everything he’d thought about morality and why people turn to evil.

So we get to the final arc of the series, and it involves a confrontation with BelialVamdemon -- but said finale is heavily dependent on talking to the Dark Seed children and inspiring hope back into them. This results in a conversation where everyone talks about their career dreams, and Daisuke admits that he wants to be...a ramen chef, which completely blindsides even his friends.

What’s with this arc?, you might think. And moreover, why is Daisuke ending the series still kind of an idiot? Even Miyako still seems to be a bit of a mess and chaotic. Weren’t they supposed to be growing into dignified heroes, like Taichi and his friends were last series?

Well, here’s the thing -- the fact that the 02 kids end the series comparatively “undignified” is actually very inherent to the core theme of 02 itself. There were more than enough episodes that established that said kids are heroic in their own way -- caring about others, fighting on others’ behalf, and learning important lessons about what’s important to fight about. That doesn’t mean they don’t get the right to continue being disaster children while they’re at it.

Why?

Let’s look at a few official statements behind the creation and intent behind 02 as a series. From producer Seki Hiromi, from the Digimon Animation Chronicle:

That came from an idea I had while reading a newspaper article. I read a story about a nine-year-old boy going to Columbia University, and I thought, “This boy is going to college because he’s considered a genius, and everyone around him will be in their twenties, and he won’t get to have any friends his age. What kind of life would this boy end up having?”

Or some very interesting statements from head writer Yoshimura Genki from the 02 Blu-ray box:

When I was writing Ken Ichijouji, the main idea for him I used as a basis was the conflict between “the self that has to be a well-behaved child when adults are watching” and “being able to be oneself”, and the pain that came from it as a result. So for instance, in the same way as the Pinnocchio fairytale, or the short story A.I. that was adapted into a movie, or many other works, there are probably universal worries that all children feel as they grow, but also, there were ongoing unimaginable, atrocious incidents happening with children at the time, and perhaps it was those social conditions that gave me a hint on what to do. I think I had some thoughts that I wanted to convey to the children who were living through that time. I was given the opportunity to put those kinds of feelings, as much as I liked, into episode 23, and I am truly grateful to all of the staff, including the director. ... Also, this is about Daisuke’s character, but I believe I paid particular attention to making him “a child who could be himself”. He has no special talents, and although he’s clumsy and scatterbrained, I wanted him to be someone whose strength was in his straightforwardness, and wrote him that way. 

Lying underneath the entirety of 02 itself is a theme about “children who are not allowed to be children”. Or, in other words, the pressure placed on children to be “talented” and “dignified” and “well-behaved”, often imposed on them by well-meaning parents who are unfortunately taking the opportunity to stroke their own ego, robbing them of the happiness and mental freedoms they should have as kids.

Ichijouji Osamu and Ken, who were placed under the pressure to be “genius children” and cracked under the pressure to please their parents. Oikawa Yukio, who was cut off from the Digital World in childhood by a well-meaning Hida Chikara, worried about his son getting into “foolish” talk. The Dark Seed children, who also fell victim to similar pressures that Ken did, and lost hope for life unless they could force themselves into that mold.

Takeru: If you want the Digimon to exist, if you believe in that, they will. Just like our feelings...Just like every child having the power to make their dreams come true. Keiko: That's just childish. Daisuke: You all have dreams for the future, don't you? Noriko: Dreams for the future? Takashi: I've forgotten that stuff. Daisuke: No way! You must have one! Takeru: It's nothing to be ashamed of. Takashi: Then, what's your dream? Daisuke: Mine? Mine's a ramen shop. I love ramen! I'll become the world's best ramen maker! Ken: I had no idea... Noriko: Well...actually, I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher. Hikari: Me too. Daisuke: What about you guys? Takashi: A baseball player! Keiko: I really want to be a pastry chef. Hiroshi: When I said I wanted to be a manga artist, everyone laughed, so I gave up... Takashi: We all had aspirations, and at some point we thought that wasn't allowed...But we were wrong, right? Daisuke: Let people say whatever they want! Noriko: You're right, we should be free to dream. Miyako: Not just dreaming. If you work hard, your dreams will surely come true!

Notice something about all of these careers mentioned? They’re all the kind of “overly childish” “wild dream” “undignified” “too simple” kinds of dreams that an average parent might be uncomfortably quick to shoot down because that’s “not good enough”. These are the kids who willingly accepted the Dark Seeds; they, much like Ken, probably grew up under parents who prioritized school performance and other “societally dignified” things that ended up eating away at their happiness.

02 has a lot of different themes, but the one that lies in its undercurrent from start to finish is “so why does a child have to be this way? As long as they still understand what’s important, do they have to be dignified people? Why can’t they just be free to have dreams and be themselves?” And Daisuke and his friends are there specifically to stand up against this mentality, and to remind Ken and the other victims of it that it doesn’t have to be this way -- that it’s okay to be your true self, and be a child, and not succumb to all of those arbitrary, shallow standards people put on you. Even if that means you’re still a bit of a chaotic disaster at the tender age of eleven.

Digimon, in the Adventure and 02 universe, have always been treated like a part of the self (they were literally conceived as a physical manifestation of the soul), but in 02 they gain an extra meaning of representing “the inner, deepest part of yourself that represents your wildest ‘childish’ dreams”. The symbolism of Ken spending the first half of the series trying to reject Wormmon for being “weak” -- in other words, rejecting his own kind-hearted self for not being the kind of “strong” entity he was pressured and groomed into being -- is not lost, nor that of the Dark Seed children gaining partners when they reconnect with their dreams and wishes, nor Oikawa finally, finally meeting his partner when he comes into contact with the past he’d really lost (and especially not the fact that his attempt to reclaim shallow reminders of said childhood involved trying to make his own Digimon).

And notably, the series’s finale (prior to the epilogue) ends not on Daisuke but on Iori, escorting Oikawa to the Digital World despite how completely impossible it would have been for early-series Iori to even entertain the idea, finally coming to truly understand what happened with him and being most personally impacted by his death.

But in any case, where are we with the characters? We’re here to talk about how they’ve grown and developed over the course of the series. Let’s recap:

Daisuke: Started off the series as an abrasive kid with more bark than actual bite, constantly deferring to others and easily deflating, relying on shallow sources of validation like wanting attention from Hikari; gradually gained an ability to identify what was important and put his foot down for it, embraced his forward-thinkingness to reach out to a heavily troubled child as a friend, and ended up surrounded by a friend group that loves and respects him.

Miyako: Started off the series as a shallow, flighty girl with poor control over her emotions and difficulty in appreciating the gravity of things; came to channel her emotional range into empathy for others and compassion, bringing other people together and taking care of them.

Iori: Started off the series as a straight-laced but too principled child who stuck to “rules of what’s right” not only in morality but also in way of acting; started to appreciate the emotional nuances and heart behind why people do what they do and how it’s possible to be more flexible in “doing good”.

Ken: Well, his character arc is pretty obvious, but -- again, while his arc of learning to forgive himself is well-known, less often pointed out is that it centers very heavily on not only having penance but also not being too hung up on the past, and the futility of drowning in self-pity and regret instead of choosing to take responsibility and act more productively going forward.

Takeru: Started off the series as a seemingly mature but deceptively inscrutable character whose duality made him hard to approach; eventually opened up with the help of others and showed a capacity for being more flexible with his personal grudges.

Hikari: Started off the series emotionally repressive and passive to the point of self-destruction; eventually embraced connections with her other friends and became more active in taking a stand for herself.

Hey, not bad!

And, again, this is not a series you should be reading in terms of “self-awareness” in the same way Adventure was, but in the sense of their “relationships” and how they interact with others. By being less abrasive and more assertive, Daisuke gained the respect of his other friends. By putting her emotional capacity into caring about others, Miyako became someone who holds the group together. By learning to think a little more flexibly and be less stubborn, Iori arrived at a position where he could more easily sympathize with others in the group. Takeru and Hikari both moved from their previously relatively inscrutable positions to ones who could more effectively interact with and open up to others. And Ken, of course, became someone who managed to integrate himself into a group of true “friends” despite everything he had done against them in the first half.

This, in the end, is how you get what’s one of the tightest friend groups in Digimon history. In the end, the relationships themselves are almost like characters of their own that got development -- I say very often that you could take two of the characters and have an excellent scope of how they’d interact and play off each other by the end of the series. And although they end the series as possibly one of the most shameless, undignified disaster groups out there...they’re certainly still heroic, and in any case, given the lessons they learned throughout their own series, they probably wouldn’t have it any other way.

[shyrose57]

2nd part.

Other: Both groups understand they have different ways of showing affection and closeness. Though Charles does hesitantly ask Jackie if Ran ever shows affection, to which Jackie answers that he does he just isn't a very physical person. 

After Ran first attacks and injuries Ranbob, and once the groups get the two separate, they sit down and talk. The Gladiators go first, saying they've never seen Ran that aggressive and angry before and ask what Ranbob could've done. To which the Fishermen tell them (to an extent. Somethings they leave out as its best for Ranbob to tell them) and after sharing, ask what Ran's relationship with Ranbob was. Where Watson says Ran said before he had a brother, and they then connect the pieces. So in summary, the Gladiators know about Ranbob being controlled by Dream, what Ranbob as done, how it affected him, and what the Fishermen have done to help him out and the progress Ranbob has made. While the Fishermen know that Ran has said he had a brother (Ranbob said it too), Ran having to survive on his own for years, And Ran having nightmare's but don't know what they are about. 

The Gladiators are skeptical of Ranbobs story, but after reading a bit of a dairy Ranbob recorded the experience in when able to, and both picture and multiple eye-witness accounts they eventually believe him. 

He ran from the hunters for around 4 years, he also lived alone and learned to survive during his time, while being constantly on the move. Multiple times the brothers have said something concerning, either jokingly or very casually, but both ways the brothers groups have responded with utmost concern and basically interrogating them until they find out the events behind what they said. Where they then either leave it be, or there's more talking, comforting, and maybe even cuddle piles. 

It happens once during the trip, when Ranbob just isnt having a good day at all, when he relapses he immediately tells the Fishermen (as he has grown to do), who then go to comfort him and do a sort of therapy. Ran immediately uses the relapse as evidence that he shouldn't be trusted and that he is still the same person he was before. While Watson, ignoring him, goes to see if he can do anything to help, while Grievous and Jackie try to lead Ran away to cause less stress for Ranbob. 

It is confusing at first for them, and when their finally able to, they (both groups) ask eachother what different instincts their enderman friend has. And after exchanging it they just kinda leave it be then and accept it. Sometimes Cletus will laugh when he just randomly sees Ran carrying someone around and mocks them, but Ran tends to growl at him when he mocks the person he's carrying, so he doesn't mock em often. 

He was only able to eat crackers, nuts and seeds, and dried out vegetables. So when he first goes to the Fishermen's house he's only able to keep down stuff like soup and again crackers. Though he's able to slowly work his way up to eating meat, which then he's able to keep most things down. 

The gladiators are overwhelmingly happy about no longer following such a strict schedule and can spend their time doing whatever they want. The fishermen are at first a bit hesitant at adventuring, seeing as they never really adventured outside of their home to much before, but are still very excited to see new places and get new items. Cuddle piles are sometimes shared amongst the groups, but strictly when neither of the brothers are nearby, other habits like telling bed time stories and sharing supplies and food are shared amongst the groups. While a sort of therapy sessions type habit are only in the fishermen group. And making and testing weapons are only in the gladiator group. For nicknames, Ran- Tall man/Tall bastard, Jackie- Jack, Shorty(teasingly/jokingly), Watson- Dad, Grievous- Ugly, John, Gri, Ranbob- Bobby, Benjamin- Benny, Ben, Charles- (Just Charles), Cletus- Wildfire, Little shit (Isaac only calls him that, Benjamin doesn't like it though), Isaac- Saac (pronounced as Isaac without the I, or just Zack).

The fishermen live a calmer, more quite life. Where the most active they've gotten is going to Mizu and getting Ranbob and a few attempted robbing. While the gladiators live a very active and fighting filled life, with only a few breaks where they can do whatever they want too. The fishermen are more accepting of outsiders and willing to give them a chance in their group. While the gladiators, you need to prove you can earn a place and are more tight in their group (Which is partly why it means so much to Ran and shocks him when his haunting welcomes Ranbobs group into their group). The fishermen are more freewilled, not having to follow a schedule. While the gladiators do follow a schedule and typically don't get much freewill.

They originally wanted to live in Mizu. But after the discovery of the Dream Mask Benjamin stated that it was far too dangerous to stay, much less live there. So they instead just went and looted the area then left 

As of now I do not plan to add anymore characters. Maybe they'll meet some while traveling but im not positive yet, if they do meet someone later on though it'll probably be either Wilburs decendent, or if I include other Tales I'll include them probably. 

It is very hard to convince Ran for a good while that what happened to Ranbob was the truth, but when he does finally accept it he's horrified. He feels incredibly guilty about leaving his brother and doing nothing during this whole time other than making it harder for him to recover. And immediately does what he can to make it up and help him out. And to the relief of the others, the brothers start to grow closer again, although there's still some problems. It took multiple tales of Mizu and Dream from all around the world, some very old records about how manipulative Dream was and how it seemed he had supernatural powers, and even finding Ranbobs journal and deciding to read it for safety reasons (where its recorded Ranbobs deteriorating mental state and all of the events where Dream came in, and even Dream wrote in it sometimes, comparing it to Ranboos Memory Book.)

Personalities (More may be added later): Ran- Secretive, protective, quite, joking when gotten close too, patient, serious mostly. Watson- Kind, very approachable, the father figure, logical, has a very comforting presence. Jackie- Playful, joking, mean at times, teasing, loud, energetic. Grievous- Very kind, energetic at times, quite, prankster, hard to trust someone. Ranbob- Quite, shy, well-meaning, clumsy, hesitant in things, very eager to please someone. Benjamin- Truthworthy, comforting presence, kind, approachable. Cletus- Chaotic, mean at times, prankster, loud, confident, energetic. Isaac- Leader figure, kind, logical, playful. Charles- Quite, shy, anxious, smart, logical. And idk if you want him too but Porkius- Confident, arrogant, hard headed/stubborn, hard to talk with, but extremely willing to make changes and call off events if serious injury to anyone is threatened. 

Sorry if some answers are dull, I had trouble coming up with answers and wording some of them. But as a bonus I thought of something that could happen while traveling (while they've been traveling for almost 5 months now). Maybe a thunderstorm is coming in and the group is trying to find shelter and they find it mostly in time, but the brothers start to really get into a verbal fight during the searching and so start to lag behind. And just as it starts to storm more Ran screams and yells "YOUR NOTHING MORE THAN AN MURDER! NOTHING YOU EVER DO WILL MAKE UP FOR ALL YOU'VE DONE!"(or something similar) Which just really breaks Ranbob, and the two stand across from eachother in the rain, before Ranbob chokes out a heartbroken agreement and runs off. Ran almost going to chase after him, but deciding not too, and going to meet up with the group.  Also Ranbob having a nightmare about when he first saw Ran again and is terrified in the nightmare, as no one is there to actually stop Ran this time (this happens before the thunderstorm part). So he does actually begin to kill him, and during the dream he keeps seeing glimpses of he and Ran as kids, being so close and laughing and everything. Then just before he wakes up he sees a younger, tween Ran directly next to the Ran killing him, and the Vision Ran's face is frozen in a scream of terror and heartbroken look in his eyes, and his eyes are filled to the brim of tears (which is the exact moment a Ranbob controlled by Dream turns the blade on Ran suddenly). Which just completely breaks Ranbobs heart, and when he wakes up, with tears frozen on his face, he can't look at Ran for days without seeing the terrified face of his younger brother. 

1: So they’re pretty chill about it. Alright. 

2: Fairly skeptical, but still willing to help out, and eventually coming to agree. Interesting. Ranbob has a diary? From before? That must be quite the interesting read. How much did young Ranbob understand was going on? How did he feel about it? Just how much does his diary show of his mental decline? Does he still have it? Were the Gladiators supposed to be reading it, or is it more of a ‘I found this, let’s see what’s inside’ thing? And I know the eye-witness accounts are probably the fishermen, but what are the pictures? Of Ranbob before Dream, back in Mizu? Of Ranbob when the fishermen found him?

3: Casually drops trauma on them, huh? What kind of things have been said? How much of it do these two traumatized gremlins think is the norm? Does Ran have any particular enemies with the hunters? Was it hard for him to settle in one place again?

4: What do these relapse consist of, exactly? Ranbob becoming aggressive? Trying to run? Can’t imagine Ran’s too happy Watson ignored him about it. What was the aftermath of this event? Does Ran know what a relapse means, or does he just overhear and assume?

5: So Ran totes people around, and Cletus occasionally makes fun of them. How long before someone points out that Ranbob, as you put it, follows them around like a lost puppy, in retaliation? 

6: The more I hear about Ranbob, the more I kind of want to wrap him in a warm blanket, give him cocoa, and go threaten Dream with bodily harm. That kind of food isn’t exactly great nourishment. If that’s the kind of thing he was eating, and only once every three days, I’m not shocked the Fishermen managed to force him into a room. Or that his house kept falling on him. Poor guy must be a malnourished noodle-stick. Honestly, he sounds light enough Cletus could probably carry him around. Or a breeze could. Hopefully he gets a little more weight on him, he needs it. 

7: Sounds like the first few days of the trip are probably pretty chaotic, with everyone adjusting. But they sound like they’re having fun, so that’s good. What kind of things are the two brothers doing to be gone long enough for their groups to be able to cuddle pile for a bit? Gathering supplies? Do they just know, and do their own thing for a bit so their hauntings can chill together? And Bobby, huh? Sounds an awful lot like what Ran used to call Ranbob. Who exactly revived the nickname, and what was both Ranbob’s reaction to it being brought back, and Ran’s reactions to hearing it again? 

8: The clash between lifestyles seems to be a pretty big one. The gladiators are a bit more willing to jump into things, and the fishermen are generally more open. Seems like they’ll contrast nicely once things settle down. So it’s kind of a big deal for the gladiators to just welcome the fishermen? You said they have to prove themselves. Do the fishermen ever end up doing something like that, or are they just an exception? Or is it that what they’ve already done proved themselves? 

9: They just loot the place, huh? Do they keep what they find or sell it? What’s Ranbob’s feelings about that?

10: A Wilbur descendant? Interesting. 

11: Oof. Well, at least they’re figuring it out. So there’s records about Dream and such? Do they just happen to find them, or are they led there? Who wrote those records? Does Ranbob notice when they find them, find some himself, or is that part of the trip he doesn’t know about? And Dream wrote in Ranbob’s journal too? Yikes. That must have been terrifying for Ranbob to experience. He compared it to Ranboo’s memory book, huh? Did that mean Ranbob figured out that something similar was happening to his ancestor? If so, how did he feel about it? And how does Ran feel about Dream’s part in all this? What does he do once he finally accepts it? Hug Ranbob? Apologize? Try to murder Dream?

12: Sounds like quite interesting group there. Charles and Ranbob both being shy sounds adorable honestly. Porkius sounds like he knows what he’s doing, and does it well.

13: They don’t seem particularly dull to me. But thank you for the heart-crushing scene, I’ll cherish it forever. Do the fishermen chase after Ranbob? How do the gladiators feel about that whole thing? Does Ran feel a bit guilty about it?

[pokemonswshbutionlyplayedsword]

How about headcanons on the galar gym leaders' teams?

This is gonna take a while bc there are so many pokemon in the League. I’m gonna make one headcanon for each pokemon. Hope that’s okay. And also only the team when you challenge the gym because that would be too many pokemon otherwise.

Here’s a quick overall headcanon:

Gym Leader’s teams are officially documented as battle pokemon. They are rotated out all the time. And almost every gym leader has pokemon outside of their teams that they train for events that allow them to use different teams than their official gym team.

Milo:

-Gossifluer is a bit of a brat. He’s picky and will throw a tantrum when Milo changes his food.

-Eldegoss is a very nurturing pokemon. He likes to wrap his cape around people he likes.

Nessa:

-Goldeen is Nessa’s favorite pokemon to model with that’s on her team. Very arrogant.

-Arrokuda is constantly in trouble with Nessa because she likes to chew on Nessa’s shoes and hair.

-Drednaw, as well all know, is a big baby. But they also consider themselves the protector of the team. If the other pokemon is in danger (outside of battle obviously), Drednaw will step in to help.

Kabu:

-Ninetails is a pretty girl and much smarter than Kabu’s other pokemon. She likes to mess with them and look good while doing it.

-Arcanine is a ball of energy and loves anything that will pet him, play with him or feed him. If he hates you, give him a treat and he will be your best friend immediately.

-Centiskorch is constantly a meme. He always looks weird on camera, which means that there’s a new meme of him every month. And they’re all hilarious.

Bea:

-Hitmontop is actually a new addition to Bea’s team. He was added to Bea’s gym team only a few months ago.

-Pangoro actually came from Spikemuth. He was causing problems in the town and Piers was struggling to handle the situation so he called Bea in. As a reward, he let her keep him, and Bea saw a lot of potential, so she started to train him, asking Piers for advice because its a dark type.

-Sirfetch’d spent a looooong time being trained by Bea before he became a part of the gym team. He struggled when he was younger to keep up with Bea’s other pokemon, but eventually he got it and is now basking in the glory of being a battle ready pokemon.

-Machamp is Bea’s assistant pokemon as well as her ace. She uses her to help train her other pokemon. Sometimes, Bea will send them all out on their own and Machamp can train them herself.

Allister:

-Yamask is a very young, yet overly powerful pokemon. Allister doesn’t usually use first evolution pokemon on his team, but this Yamask is oddly strong and he hasn’t gotten the chance to evolve him yet.

-Mimikyu is Allister’s first pokemon. He has been by Allister’s side for years.

-Cursola is the only pokemon that Allister actively sought out. They’re rare in Galar and Allister was fascinated when he read about it, so he went looking for one. It took a while, but he managed to get her and he’s glad he went through the effort.

-Gengar was originally going to attack Allister when they first met in a graveyard. It wasn’t until Allister confronted him that Gengar was like “oh wait I like this kid.” And he was a Ghastly at the time.

Opal:

-Opal’s Weezing is pretty old and grumpy. She bites anyone who’s not Opal. Not hard, though.

-Mawile was not very well known until Opal added her to her team. Then they spiked in popularity around Galar.

-Togekiss was a gift from an old friend. For a long time, Opal didn’t plan on training her for battle, but things changed when a pokemon from Opal’s past team had to retire.

-Alcreamie was Opal’s first pokemon, back when she was a Milcery. Opal spent a long times reasearching Alcreamies to make sure she got the variant she wanted. Also, because she wasn’t allowed to train pokemon due to being a girl when she was a kid, she snuck out into the woods and just found Milcery. It was a long time before she got a chance to catch her.

Melony:

-Frosmoth was a new-ish addition. Melony was peer pressured into adding a really strong Snom to her team as a meme, but then she evolved live on TV, which was wild.

-Melony was really unsure about Darmanitan. She didn’t think she wanted a pokemon that was so volatile and able to become a fire type. However, she was proven wrong, and with Kabu’s help, she’s able to train Darmanitan really well.

-Melony only chose to train an Eiscue because she’s funny looking. She never intended to add Eiscue to her team, but she proved to be a very powerful battle pokemon.

-Lapras met Melony when Gordie was very young. They took a vacation to a nearby warm beach once, and Gordie was swept away by the waves. While Melony was scrambling to get to Gordie, Lapras found him and brought him back to Melony. Lapras followed them around the rest of the day, so Melony decided to add her to the team.

Gordie:

-Barbaracle makes Gordie nervous still. He’s not used to working with him and he’s a bit scared of all the hands. But there’s no denying that Barbaracle is very strong.

-Shuckle, of course, is only there for the meme. He’s also a bit of a secret weapon, though, to Gordie. He has trained this little guy so much that he’s actually one of the strongest pokemon Gordie owns. He uses the power of underestimation against his opponents.

-Stonejourner is a gift from Milo. Who knew he would be so strong? Milo’s very happy that Gordie uses his pokemon on his Gym Team.

-Coalossal was a pokemon that made Gordie realize he wanted to be a rock specialist. He appreciates that it’s also fire type, because it’s a little extra push against being an ice type specialist.

Piers:

-Scrafty hoards Piers’ pillows. Anything soft he can find, he makes a pile on his bed and keeps them. Piers has to wrestle them away from him, and no matter how many pillows he buys for Scrafty, he just wants more.

-Malamar is definitely the ring leader. He’s a psychic type and a lot smarter than the rest of Piers’ team. He likes to use this influence for evil. He’s a jerk, but Piers still gives him scratches under his beak (his favorite <3)

-Skuntank is pretty much a cat. He climbs on Piers whenever he gets the chance. Easily found asleep on Piers’ lap while Piers is idly petting him. Good thing Skuntanks only smell when they’re distressed.

-As well all know based on my fic (shameless self promotion, what about it?), Piers met Obstagoon when he was very young in a dumpster. However, something I haven’t mentioned yet is that when he was a Linoone, he would constantly try to be Piers’ neck pillow.

Raihan:

-Torkoal has bad eyesight. Raihan often has to pick him up and carry him places because he can’t see well and he moves slowly.

-Raihan uses Goodra to present to kids. He does educational presentations about dragon types, pokemon training, and pokemon safety to students in schools. Goodra, because she’s so friendly, is Raihan’s go to for this task.

-Turtonator is actually very shy. He likes to hide in his shell whenever he can. The only time he’s confident is when he’s in battle or training.

-Flygon is Raihan’s personal transport. Faster than any Corviknight. Also makes for a really cool entrance.

-Duraludon loves attention. He loves being Raihan’s Ace and he loves being given all that love. Raihan shows him fan content of people loving him and it makes Duraludon stamp around and make happy building noises.

Leon: (And I chose Sobble so he has Rillaboom, I do make the rules and you cannot change them)

-Aegislash was a gift from Rose when he became Champion. Rose said that Leon needed a pokemon fitting of his title.

-Raihan and Leon were rivals since they were kids. Leon got Dragapult simply to compete with Raihan at first, but they now have a very strong bond.

-Haxorus actually came from a distant friend from another region. He’s also very hot-headed, which makes it risky but rewarding to train him.

-Rhyperior came from the Isle of Armor. Leon caught him while training at the Dojo. One time, while at the Isle of Armor, Hop got in trouble with some Wild pokemon. Rhyperior broke out of Leon’s pokeball and saved him before Leon could react.

-Rillaboom, as well as the other starters, came from Leon’s status. They’re only available in captivity and are very hard to come by. Luckily, Leon is the Champion, so they were the perfect gift for his brother. He was secretly hoping he’d get to keep Rillaboom, so he’s happy with the outcome.

-Charizard came from Mustard, of course, but Leon was originally going to pick Bulbasaur. Right before he made the choice, though, he left to think about it and ended up lost and in trouble. He didn’t have his pokemon with him. It was Charmander that wandered off and found him. After that, Leon had no choice but to pick him.

[kryptsune]

Souly Damned Saturdays!~

🌼 Heya! Today we are going to look at the King of the Infernal real, Nas. Along with this info we will be looking at some interesting forces in the Souly Damned universe! Today is Nas day X’D. Let’s get to it! As always my ask box is open!

~King Profile:~

~Prince Profile:~ True Name: Nasaros Alias Names: N/A Nicknames: Nas Soul Flower Type: Narcissus (daffodil)         Color Type: Orange/magenta with burnt edges Infernal Hierarchy: King Age Order: Eldest Familiar Form: Lion/ Stag (Phoenix) True Form Appearance Description:         ~Skeletal in appearance         ~Prominent fangs         ~Wears a twisted metal crown         ~Fingers with clawed tips         ~Orange tongue         ~ Spaded almost arrow head like skeletal tail         ~ Three sets of wings   

Human Form Physical Description:      ~Hair Color: Ashy      ~Hair Style: Short with a longer “tail” in the back that falls to his mid back      ~Eye Color: Orange/Magenta Heterochromia      ~Skin Tone: Pale      ~Contract symbol mark placement: N/A      ~Height: 6’2”

Special Abilities or Powers: All his brothers have and more

Before the Fall: 

The Infernal Realm has always existed alongside the Celestial and first Mortal Realm. Originally it was nothing but a prison for creatures of pure evil the same ones that are still considered legends. In this realm are also the imps, infernal blooded monsters with a taste for mortal kind. The Infernal bloods and Celestials have been warring for centuries. A realm closed off from the rest. In essence it is the true Hell. Darrius and his kin used to be the Celestial elite, directing the others. They were revered and looked up to before Darrius turned against his brother Sidriel believing that they should rule the mortal realm as well. His pride and arrogance would eventually be his downfall. 

Darrius’ Reign: 

During this time period  Darrius presided over his son's new territories in the mortal realm. There were no rules, no consequences; they were just able to do anything that they pleased. The Infernal Realm was split open causing chaos to stain the world. Even as his sons were stricken from the mortal realm they found a new refuge in the Realm they used to loathe. The same one that they had once fought wars over. Now they were the rulers of this damned realm. They locked away the Infernal beasts into the depths and took over and with the help of their incredible, yet corrupted, Celestial power the Infernals and their new king began to worm their way into the new mortal realm. Under Darrius they continued their old ways even with the new restrictions placed on them.

The King of The Infernal Realm:

Nasaros is the current king of Hell being the eldest son of his father. Just like his father his angelic blood makes him stand out above his younger siblings. He seems gentlemanly and rather laid back for someone of his status but do not let that fool you. Due to Nas’, blood, he is just as harsh if not more so than his fallen brothers. He is not actually a demon either but rather a fallen angel. He has a silver tongue keeping to flowery language. Nas has an egotistical air about him but it is more subtle. He has an extreme distaste for the Infernal kind as he does not consider himself one of their ilk. Therefore he is not tolerant of any kind of infraction. Demons that do not follow the rules are quickly dispatched without mercy. His abilities are not as well known as the brothers but it can be assumed he can utilize all his siblings abilities as well as some more Celestial ones. 

He tends to wear white in the majority of his clothing leaning more toward tailored tail coats and suits. An almost denial of what he has become. He has three sets of wings though they are rarely seen indicating he used to be a seraphim. In his younger years before he was crowned King he was the Prince of the Kingdom of Lust. He began to question the motives of his father asking himself if this was truly the path he desired. When he came to the opposite conclusion, not embracing this new hellish order his father was furious. In an effort to keep his eldest from “infecting” his younger siblings with his ideology he split his son's soul into two separate entities. One as the embodiment of the negative side of his sin and the other the more positive. This creates Naos and Saros. 

Unlike his father Nas seems to attempt to reform Hell in a way adding rules and regulations to the more unruly of his subjects. These rules mostly extend to those souls that are wrongly labeled as damned. He knows that any impurity leads the Celestial Realm to shut its gates on some of these souls with no hope for survival. Under Nas’ decree these souls are to not be harmed.   

Naos: Out of the two Naos is the more gentle. He tends to be very shy when interacting with others only making his presence known when necessary. He is not the flirty type but rather the romantic if you manage to catch his affection and favor. His appearance causes him to wear darker colors like black. Unlike his unruly brother, Naos enjoys the peace and quiet. He is easily flustered. Sometimes he will sit in the garden and sing a soft little tune. His personality is very soft but he is also very possessive and overprotective.    

Saros: If there was a complete opposite to Naos then Saros would be it. He is haughty, prideful, lavish, and over the top. His outgoing demeanor causes him to throw lavish banquets and parties surrounding himself with the elite of Hell. Saros is the negative aspect of lust. He is needy and uses pleasure as a manipulation tool. He drinks and sleeps around not giving it any thought. He is also possessive though it is more treating something like a trophy then someone to be treasured. He is the true embodiment of carnal pleasure and debauchery.

These two Princes, though two halves of one whole, eventually become one once more. This only happens though when Darrius is usurped and Nas takes the crown. He then goes on to reform the old Infernal ways impressing an almost Celestially similar level of organization and rule of law.

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The New Order:

The new shift in power causes some unrest among the denizens of Hell. Their old order was to corrupt and damn souls for all eternity no matter the cost. The spilling of blood was of no consequence. That however changes when Nas comes into power. His decree is that demons (his brothers included) should be conducting themselves with more decorum then they used to. No more earthly rampages. No more innocent deaths. The souls not meant for Hell are put under his protection. He cleans up Hell by holding demons accountable for their more sadistic tendencies. The humans have long since forgotten their presence. To them they are nothing more than superstition and Hollywood fabrication. The new global ability to communicate in mere seconds leaves them with a poor reputation. 

Nowadays they are known for making more deals. In fact under the royalty the most prestigious job in Hell are the deal makers. The demons that are associated with soul collection t is one way to gain more power as a demon. The more souls the stronger and potential more abilities gained as well. These demons appear on earth offering their services disguised as humans tempting wayward souls. The Dukes, Lords, and even Princes also do deals of a higher caliber though they rarely leave Hell (currently). It would take a very powerful soul for them to gain any interest even if they are summoned. An example of this would be during the 1920’s.

Each demon of high status also has a specific sigil used to summon them. It is, as stated previously, very dangerous and usually only 30% effective. Some demons, Crimson as an example, will gladly show up for a little bit of carnage or to mess with souls. Contrary to mortal belief demons do not take to sacrificing lightly in fact it is highly frowned upon. Any mortals of an occult stupid enough to try and summon any of them usually end up choking on their own blood. 

The Red String of Fate:

The Red string of fate is a constant in the world that has consequences when altered. It is very similar to the idea that our destinies are intertwined with others and if that string is cut it creates a butterfly effect. Demons tend to do as they please but when it comes to altering the course of humanity it is a very harsh offense. Under the Prince's father this offense was minor but when Nas took control of the throne that sentence increased. A demon tampering with or severing the string of fate is exiled, banished, or executed. If one string is severed it is possible to re form however multiple could cause an apocalyptic event of biblical proportions. Contrary to human belief demons have no desire to obliterate earth. They rather like their little playground. Anything that would jeopardize the fate of either Hell or Earth is grave.

The Blood of the Innocent: 

Innocent souls subjected to the selectiveness of the Celestial elite are thrown into the Pit just by association with any type of demonic ritual. Innocents sacrificed for summoning are branded as corrupted and therefore unworthy to enter Heavens gates. These souls are considered pure and are housed in the Capital away from any demons that may cause them harm, especially that of children. If a mortal is sacrificed to a specific demon then that Prince is made responsible. This occurrence however is rare as the horrors that befall those that try this kind of act… are too horrible to describe. It takes someone really greedy or stupid to even attempt such a thing. 

Pure souls are constantly in danger as demons feel their power and have an almost instinctual desire to devour it. This is an outcome for those types of souls but the process is painless (if the demon in question desires it). It is better than living an eternity in Hell anyway. Some are kept at the palaces if a Prince sees fit though that is an even rarer occurrence than the former.

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