#{i think bitter old man + nice kid he adopted is a very real and powerful dynamic | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bigskydreaming · 4 years ago

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I’m literally in love with the way you write Dick and Jason’s dynamic

Thanks, glad to hear that! Personal preferences aside, I honestly do think it just opens up SO many more potential stories if you go with the idea that they did have a brotherly relationship before Jason died, just they didnt get together around Bruce because Dick was still hoping Bruce would make the first move in reaching out to him. Rather than just stick with the usual assumption that because it wasn’t seen on the page, they had barely any interactions and both resented each other for various reasons.

But those reasons all trace back to Bruce, and if you look at them as two people who are united by the common experience of being fish out of water, adapting to the same environment after coming from DRAMATICALLY different origins, able to connect over that and understand each other in a way nobody else really can because nobody else has ever really had to straddle two worlds as definitively as Dick and Jason had to in their formative years....

Like, the big sticking point for me in the Dick vs Jason: The Grudge theory was just that....at the end of the day, these are two boys who grew up with very few loved ones to start with, or having had to deal with the loss of those loved ones.....

But one way or another......are these two specific characters really ones that make sense as wanting to reject the possibility of more family?

They’re connected through Bruce, like it or not, that was never going to change even from before they ever met......and the idea that Dick Grayson and Jason Todd would each be content to waste literal YEARS never even TRYING to connect with the person who was probably most like him and who by all accounts was already his brother in most ways just by way of Bruce...not even to see if maybe they COULD actually be brothers? To have family beyond just Bruce and Alfred?

Me @ every fic or headcanon that says Dick had Only Child Syndrome and resented Jason because of that: right because Dick Grayson of all people is anti-family. He’s full up with that one guy whose legal guardianship of him has been expired for a couple years and who he hasn’t spoken to since long before then.....nah, why would he want any more or any other family beyond that?

I mean, I absolutely believe that Dick was upset and hurt that Bruce adopted Jason while he’d never even offered to adopt Dick......but Dick has never been one to pass around blame instead of focusing it on its true point of origin. That’s his and Bruce’s issue. And honestly, there are TONS of reasons for Dick to be upset about that, without making it about Jason at all.

There’s literally no reason for Dick to take it out on Jason ever, if his biggest issue or grievance is that like....it feels like Bruce was just so done with Dick and considered him so out of his life, something like “just added a new kid to the family” didn’t seem like relevant information he should pass on to Dick despite the tenseness between them. When you have to find out from the NEWS that your old family unit just full on up and adopted this kid you’ve never heard of before now without even so much as a phone call.....there’s plenty of cause to feel like this is a message that you’re not really considered part of that family unit anymore, so why would you need to know?

Or like, the fact that Bruce didn’t consider hey I’m thinking of adding another kid to my family that consists of me and the kid I’m so afraid to tell I think of him as a son in case he doesn’t feel the same way, that I’ve sat back and let things get this bad between us and fester.....hey maybe before I issue adoption papers for a second kid, I should think about putting in an equivalent effort at fixing things with my first kid first?

Or why not write Bruce thinking: “Hey if I can’t even fix things with the kid I raised for almost a decade and think of as my own no matter how long its been since I talked to him.....what on Earth makes me think I’m qualified to take on a SECOND child?”

Like....Bruce was the one who held all the power and all the options, Dick had no other option but to go along with whatever Bruce decided Bruce was going to do, and neither did Jason really.....so there’s no real reason in my head that should be a point of contention between them or a reason to resent each other instead of just stressing to them the importance of having significant family ties beyond just Bruce because history clearly showed even at that point that best intentions aside, the man is fallible.

If anything, that should have been common ground!

I think there was like, an initial negative reaction of maybe one night, the first time they met and Dick even though he was prepared for it still had to adjust to the reality of actually seeing this stranger he was irrevocably connected to now by both his names, even if neither was technically his anymore....like to actually SEE him standing there in his old role....that’s gonna hit anybody hard.

But he also would have clearly been able to see that whatever else he may have been, this twelve year old Robin was still a kid, and one who hadn’t had a lot of time to ever be a kid in the first place.....which again, instant camaraderie, because boy could Dick relate.....remember, Dick may have had a happy childhood with his parents before they were murdered but it was also a childhood where he WORKED. He loves being an acrobat, he loved being in the show, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t WORK, that his childhood didn’t consist of training as long and as regularly as any adult acrobat while everyone else his age was running around playing outside and making friends. And after Bruce took Dick in, most of Dick’s free time was spent being Robin, training as Robin, etc?

Which IMO would have made him take one look at this kid in his old costume, literally standing where he had once stood, stepping into his old shoes.....and I think Dick’s real honest reaction once he brushed aside any kneejerk feeling of pain or bitterness the way he brushes aside all the physical pain he feels when out as Nightwing but refuses to let get in the way of him doing what he has to, doing what’s right....

Nah, Dick would have taken one look at this tiny kid full of fire and bravado but also so clearly eager to please, to be praised, to be told he was doing a good job and even without that he was worth something, his life had value, the world was better just because he existed......

And I think Dick’s bitterness about the situation would have crystallized into him resentfully thinking well B’s not exactly the best about dishing out affection or praise so I’m gonna make sure this little Mini-Me standing there in my old colors looking just as young and small as I must have looked then even if I didn’t realize it at the time....I’m gonna make sure I keep him supplied with a steady diet of “Nice Words and Gestures That Kids Should Grow Up Receiving Regularly.”

Dick has always been a firm believer that the best way to make sure something gets done is to do it yourself.

So yeah, I honestly do think that back during those days, Dick and Jason were thick as thieves when their schedules allowed for it, with it being simultaneously painful and unspoken that they had to like....work around Bruce’s presence so Dick could avoid him, but somewhat softened by the challenge and thrill of two brothers scheming to pull one over on the Big Bad Batdad every time the older brother wanted to take the little brother to go somewhere or do something, like, even just to spoil him rotten.

Cuz really....isn’t that a lot more interesting than ‘oh they barely ever even met back then and it wasn’t great, that’s it, the end’? There’s so much you could do with even just that, from them sneaking Jason out for a fun adventure that’s layered with just a hint of poignant angst because of the unspoken why of him needing to sneak out instead of them just saying hey Bruce, we need some bro time, Jason’s hanging with me this weekend? Or you dial up the angst and layer it with lightness or literally anything between those two points on a spectrum.

There’s so much Secret History potential buried back in those years....adventures they had together and never told anyone about, secrets shared between brothers they never shared elsewhere.....maybe Dick opening up to Jason more than he usually likes to, but here felt it might be the only way to get Jason to do the same, with Dick thus offering up some painful tidbit from his past that he never told even Bruce or Alfred for some reason, if he thinks Jason’s upset about something and needs to vent but will just keep insisting he’s fine unless Dick leads by example and goes first.

There’s so much potential for in-jokes that only the two of them know and everyone else is ENDLESSLY curious about, because everyone always forgets that those two have so much history because it was literally kept out of sight, out of mind, so they could keep it free of the friction that was bound to come of adding Bruce to the mix before their father cleared the air with his eldest first.

So its an easy thing to forget about or overlook, especially since it rarely comes up....but everytime it does rear its head via some private joke only they know or a reference to some event back then that everyone else is kept boxed out of having any context for....that’s the kind of stuff that would drive a family of detectives craszy, because they want to know! What’s the joke??

And yet its likely they’d never ask, because as curious as they are to hear about the mysterious missing years of the first two Wayne children, back when there was literally nobody else present to ask for details.....they never can figure out HOW to ask those questions, not when they’re equally aware of the swiftly hidden expressions of pain or bitterness that flash across the two eldests’ faces after each unearthing of some long-buried treasure they shared between them. Unable to ever escape the fact that each of those treasured moments would forever be followed with an inevitable reminder of why there were so few of those moments, in the end.

Why those years ended far earlier than they should have, and why their reunion upon Jason’s return was hindered and complicated by Dick’s obligation to other siblings Jason hurt while dealing with Pit after-effects and the lack of a strong support system while swayed to League sympathies...

And of course, ultimately there’s the reality that after the Adventures of Young Dick and Tiny Jason were cancelled far ahead of schedule, and that several year long intermission....by the time everything else was gotten out of the way, the stars of those earlier adventures were as long gone as the adventures themselves. Dick and Jason were both entirely different people by now.....still containing within each of them enough of who they were back then that those memories are kept carefully protected and hidden away, all the more valuable for how few and sparse they are, and how rarely they’re brought out to look at and enjoy.....

But with those vaults buried deeply enough within who Dick and Jason both are these days, that there’s a lot of blood and loss and pain you have to cut through just to reach that vault. There’s no retrieving anything from it without a cost. A cost worth paying, given that they can’t help themselves from calling back to it every now and then, even though they know the inevitable result is going to be end negative and not end positive. But still high enough to give them pause before actually doing so....holding back sometimes so the toll is doled out sparingly and over time. Getting greedy and trying to bring out/back/up too much too fast is far more daunting than either can afford to pay at the moment.

So that’s how I like to view the two of them and their dynamic back during and because of those early years before Jason’s death. Bittersweet and shaded by nostalgia.....temptation and warning both, in how much they want to revisit it but how much they fear ruining what they’ve managed to cobble together now by bringing the past too much into the light, comparing past and present too clearly and risking that being reminded too strongly of the brothers they were back then, will just make it impossible to ever be content with anything but that bond replicated in full and they’re not sure it can be, are both too afraid too much has happened since then and trying too hard, putting too much pressure on the dynamic they’ve built now could risk shattering the relative fragile bond completely.

Pretty much everything I write with the two of them, unless I specifically state otherwise via context, is generally written through that lens, with me viewing that as the backstory for their dynamic that I’m running with.

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wallstoothin · 4 years ago

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Big Brother pt 0.5

Move over Sis-Con Banco, Joker is in town. Based on @soaptaculart child Mona art. What started as a 500 words stress reliver is gonna turn into a multi part writing-maybe. I hope you all like it, I would like to eventually post it on A03 maybe, still thinking it over. This is part 0.5 as a test post.

>I found him

>He has no home

>I’m a dad

No matter what he utters out of his mouth, Akira has a feeling that Sojiro won’t accept the fact that he brought a kid home after skipping class the day before. But what can he do about it. Ryuji can’t take him in, his mother is working double shifts at the hospital and he doesn’t want to burden her. Ann with her work and her empty home can’t watch over a child all the time. Akira was the only one left, beside out of the three of them Morgana seems to like Akira the most.

There’s no way Akira can say no to that face, his bright blue eyes shining in the light, his face into one big pout. Akira as a former member of a babysitting club thought he had seen it all. The ‘pretty-please’ and the ‘puppy dog eyes’ of the kids he took care of weaponized. He should be immune by now. But it was something about Morgana. Watching him stamp his feet as he curses out Kamoshida with G-rated “curses”, his little cat burglar outfit in the other world and with his weapon of choice. He called himself a thief in training and declared Akira his student.

How could he say no to that.

So here is here, sitting on the train on his way back to Yogen-jaya with Morgana sitting on his lap kicking his foot and hitting Akira’s shin with each kick, happily playing a game on Akira’s phone.

“What a cute brother you have there.” A nice old lady told him on his way out. He croaked out a thank you as held Morgana’s hand and step out of the train.

Morgana was very curious about Le blanc and questioned Akira about it while hoping from one foot to another.

“Hey Joker, what kind of place is Le Blanc.”

“It’s a cafe that sell coffee and curry.”

“Does curry taste good?”

“I think it would be a bit bitter for you.”

“No it’s not. Bitter is an adult taste right? I'm smart as any adult so I can eat bitter just fine!”

“If you say so,”

“Yeah I say so!”

Akira...did not give the best first impression to Boss. But it was not like he can say he was magically whisked away into another world and adopted a random cat boy. Boss already told him during the car ride that he took Akira in for the sake of money, there’s no way that Boss would let Morgana in without any monetary compensation right? At least, the adult he knew were somewhere along that mentality and from what he sees, Sakura-san is somewhere along that line. Akira winced at the thought of taking more money out of his savings. He’s already used a lot due to overpriced food and necessity, he’ll have to ration his own portion and find a part time job to make up for it.

He took several deep breaths in and out to calm himself down.What ever happens, happens. He’ll deal with the consequences later. He pushed open the door, the small bell overhead chiming with a happy ‘ding.’ Boss who looked like he was just about to wash the dishes. Sakura-san's attention went immediately from Akira to Morgana.

“Who’s that?” Oh boy, he sound mad.

“Hi! I’m Morgana.”

“He’s Morgana.” Akira unhelpfully added.

From the raised eyebrow Akira can tell just that is not cutting it. The options from earlier came back to his mind.

>I found him

>He has no home

>I’m a dad

Hopefully, Morgana won’t ruin it.

“I found him hiding in the school the other day.” He admits. “He told me he can’t remember anything from his past. I checked online for any missing children reports and he wasn’t there, I thought…”

I thought he was abandoned.

Metaverse magic and what not. The fact that Morgana was a child and left to fend for himself had Akira thinking of the worst case scenario of how he came to be. He heard, at least in rumors that Tokyo is filled with undocumented children. Children who don’t have insurance, who can’t go to school or even have a birth certificate, because of that it was easy for those children to fall through the cracks of society and end up getting picked up by the worst kind of people.

Even if Morgana can’t read between the lines, from the expression that Sakura-san is making he was sure that the older man can.

“I can provide him with things he needs.” He added. “I-I’ll get a part time job, I just need to know if he can stay here for a while.”

Sakura-san stared at him long and hard as if he could see Akira’s soul. Morgana took this time to tug on his uniform shirt. “Akira, I’m hungry.” He ruffled Morgana’s hair, the same way he would have wanted when he was six.

“Alright, He can stay. We’ll take him to the doctor tomorrow.”

“Thank you very much Sakura-san!”

“Yeah! Thank you boss.”

Sakura-san then gave them both curry for dinner and told them to go to bed. That was fine with Akira. Morgana sneezing non stop because of the dust in the attic. That was not fine. He’s going to have to do something about that.

Bedtime was another issue. He spent a few minutes fighting with Morgana. As the oldest he should take the couch and let Morgana sleep on the futon. But Morgana told him that the couch was lumpy and ugly and Akira won’t get enough sleep from it. In the end they both compromise and decided it was best if both boys slept together on the futon. It was nice, although it was spring, the night was still cold and the thin blanket he received probably would have contributed to an upcoming cold or something. The warmth that was radiating from Morgana felt nice. He wondered if this was what his classmates meant when they talked about living with their younger siblings.

Akira then spent the next few evenings without rest. Redecorating, clothes shopping, miniature wrestling trying to get Morgana to get his shots, paperwork, actual work, confidants and of course Kamoshida.

Morgana has been asking questions about Kamoshida. If it was up to Joker he would have never let the younger boy go anywhere near the castle. That’s why he leaves Morgana home whenever he goes to school. He doesn’t want to let the boy anywhere near real life Kamoshida. But there was no choice in the metaverse. Morgana was the one who tells the weakness of all the shadows, who tells him who’s low on health or if they are under some kind of a status effect. He’s one of a kind, which is why Akira wants everything to be done and over with as quickly as possible.

#persona 5 #P5 #kurusu akira #Morgana #bigbrotherau

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thought-42 · 5 years ago

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Clone Wars fic Day One

So @stoppit-keepout gave me 'Abdicate' as a prompt word, and this sprung forth, but SK I promise I will write you something else for a fandom you're actually in. Meanwhile, please enjoy the first chunk of a very random modern au featuring cody and Obi-Wan being goddamn disasters. Hopefully there will be a new slice of this universe every day until New Years, but who the hell knows.

Obi-Wan meets Cody at the Big Brothers Big Sisters Christmas party. He's there with Anakin, who has just been kicked out of another foster home and is clearly feeling celebratory as a result. Obi-Wan has given up asking about the experiences Anakin has that lead him to prefer group homes or sleeping rough, but he can make some educated guesses.

Ahsoka and Plo are there as well, having shown up early along with Wolffe to set up the decorations. They're all showing off the official adoption papers to whoever will stand still long enough to read them, and Wolffe and Ahsoka don't say anything to each other without including "sister" or "brother" somewhere in the 'address while Plo looks on like he's never realized his life could be this perfect.

"Hey, big brother," Ahsoka says, "is your cousin coming? I think Kix will like him."

"They'll be here as long as Rex's car can make it," Wolffe says. "They were going to pick up Jesse from his grandma's, so they might get stuck in bridge traffic."

"Rex's car is held together with literal duct tape," Anakin explains in an aside to Obi-Wan. "I keep telling him I can fix it, but he won't let me."

"I didn't know Rex's brother was going to mentor Kix," Obi-Wan says.

"It's not official," Ahsoka says.

"There will be a proper introduction," Plo assures him. "Cody has already been approved, but you know how Kix is."

"Smarter than anyone they've paired him up with?" Obi-Wan says, calmly. He's rather defensive of Kix, even not having a particularly close relationship with him. He's had to train himself out of his impatience with people who can't keep up with him, and he can appreciate Kix's unwillingness to waste his time. Qui-Gon would scold him for such thoughts, but Qui-Gon is currently half way across the country at some sort of plants and yoga retreat instead of spending the holidays with his wife or his step-father or his not-really son and the child who worships the ground he walks on.

It's fine. Obi-Wan isn't bitter. Tahl is spending Christmas Eve drinking wine with her coworkers from the library, and Obi-Wan and Anakin are here, and Christmas Day they'll all trek across the city to Dooku's disgustingly fancy mansion for an awkward Christmas meal and criticism of their life choices. At least with Qui-Gon absent everything should remain civil. Unless Anakin's teenaged bravado has developed further in the past year. Obi-Wan is doing Anakin the favour of pretending to believe him when he says he doesn't care about Qui-Gon's absence. He suspects Anakin is doing the same for him, which is uncomfortable for a whole host of reasons.

"I think Kix and Cody will get along," Wolffe says, tongue between his teeth as he carefully glues googly eyes on a felt snowman. Obi-Wan catches Plo snapping a photo, clearly amused.

Obi-Wan lets himself get dragged into the cookie decorating catastrophe happening on the other side of the room, and he remains entirely engrossed until Mace claps his hands and shouts, "Pizza's ready, I need two volunteers to go across and pick it up, who's going with Kenobi?"

Obi-Wan throws up his sugar-coated hands indignantly. "What have I ever done to you, Mace? Am I not a delight, a breath of orderly, reliable, and charming fresh air—"

"I'll go," someone says, and Rex appears out of nowhere to shove Obi-Wan toward the coat wrack. There's a dark-haired man already there, snow still caught on the collar of his jacket, clearly not having been inside long enough even to settle in.

Obi-Wan sighs dramatically for the entertainment of the younger children, but the way he wipes the icing off his hands on Mace's jacket is entirely for himself. The dark-haired man, Rex's brother, he has to be, frowns severely at him. Obi-Wan smiles brightly.

He pulls on his coat and winds his scarf around his neck and over most of his face.

"I'm Obi-Wan," he says. "And yes, this scarf was a gift and I will be guilted terribly should I not wear it."

"Cody," he says. "I'm Rex's brother?"

"Yes," Obi-Wan says. "I had guessed as much."

"Present from your grandmother?" Cody asks, holding the door for Obi-Wan.

"The scarf? No, no, my... semi-absent father figure, actually. His step father bought him a book on knitting as a teenager and he has somehow maintained the habit without improving his skills over the past thirty years."

"Ahh," Cody says, uncertainly. "So have you been involved..." Cody waves a gloved hand uncertainly. "With this, I mean— this is the first time I've been to any sort of event—"

"No, no," Obi-Wan says, understanding the question because it is exhaustingly familiar. Because clearly only people with biological nuclear families have healthy and ideal childhoods. "No, I only got involved a few years ago. Qui-Gon, my... father, met Anakin at the food bank. Anakin was there with his mother and Qui-Gon was volunteering, because sometimes he remembers that he grew up rich and has week-long bouts of frantic guilt-induced philanthropy. Anakin became quite attached to him, and when his mother passed away we spent a great deal of time helping him through the fallout. Naturally, Qui-Gon lost interest shortly after, but by then Anakin's social worker had gotten us involved in BBBS."

"I presume he hasn't improved at emotional intelligence with age, either? Given his absence."

Obi-Wan laughs, startled. "Not at all, actually. And you, what brings you here? Did Rex wear you down?"

"He told me about Kix," Cody says. "Admittedly this isn't my first choice when it comes to giving back to the community, but I wouldn't feel right knowingly walking away from a job for which I'm uniquely suited."

"It's not a job," Obi-Wan says, sharply.

"I'm sorry," Cody says. "You're right."

They cross the intersection in silence. None of the sidewalks are shovelled and Obi-Wan swallows down his irritated rant.

"I said that poorly," Cody says, hunching his shoulders. "I only meant that this level of social interaction and engagement with strangers— I'm not good at it. That's all I meant."

Obi-Wan, who has never particularly experienced or understood this sort of struggle, smiles sympathetically. "Of course, very understandable."

Cody's eyebrows go up. "I'm sure. You don't need to lie to spare my feelings."

Obi-Wan jerks open the door to the pizza restaurant harder than he intends to. "I apologize."

"I wasn't offended."

Inside the heat is stifling in contrast to the chill of late afternoon. Obi-Wan huffs a breath through his scarf and steps up to the counter. "They need two minutes," Obi-Wan tells Cody once he's exchanged words with the person behind the counter.

They lean together against the wall, dishwater dull sunlight splashed across the tiles at their feet. A drop of sweat creeps down Obi-Wan's spine.

"You should take your scarf off," Cody says, after a moment, like he's been trying to stop himself.

Obi-Wan blinks uncertainly, then agreeably pulls the scarf of his face, loosening the loops around his neck and unzipping his jacket a few inches.

Cody stares out the window. "Sorry. You're obviously hot," he says. "It's boiling in here."

Obi-Wan doesn't know what to say, given that he has absolutely no reason to have left the scarf pulled up and thus has no leg to stand on when it comes to the oddity of the moment.

Back at the community centre they're descended upon by a rush of children and teens, stacks of pizza boxes snatched from their arms and vanishing into the crowd. Obi-Wan glances over to the cookie table, and is unsurprised to see the lack of progress.

It takes a few seconds and some bouncing up on his toes to find Kix, and when he does it's to see him curled up on a hard plastic chair in the back corner behind the water cooler, cell phone pressed to his ear, his other arm wrapped around himself and looking very much like he's trying to remain calm through an exceedingly distressing conversation.

Cody is standing very still, hands clasped behind his back, eyes darting around and clearly unsure what to do. Obi-Wan, who is a good person, says "Come on, then. While I recognize that it's meant to be the process of decorating the cookies that holds the value, I also am physically incapable of leaving a job half done, and now that the real food has arrived I suspect no one else will be doing it."

"Yes, ok," Cody says, quickly.

Anakin finds them five minutes later, half a piece of pizza in his mouth and a spring in his step. "Rex is gonna let me take a look at his car!"

"I'm glad," Obi-Wan says, and means it. He may not trust Anakin with a lot of things, but when it comes to mechanics Obi-Wan trusts him far more than any "professional".

"you guys should get some pizza before it's all gone," Anakin says. "Hi, by the way. You're Cody, right?"

"Yeah," Cody says. "You're Anakin."

"That's me. And now I'm a little worried that rex talks about me."

"Would you believe me if I said only good things?"

"I accidentally pushed him off the roof of the old theatre last winter," says Anakin. Cody nods.

"We're busy with this," Obi-Wan says, nodding to the cookies. "Besides, the pizza should go to the youth, not to us."

Anakin rolls his eyes. "Whatever, it's food, we're all here, don't make it weird."

"Busy," Obi-wan repeats.

Anakin waves a hand. "Hey, hey, I get it. You're finally getting to experience an extremely stereotypical holiday tradition that you never did when you were a kid, and it's nice because you've been all fucked up with Qui-Gon away."

"What?!" Obi-Wan snaps, incredulous, at the same time Cody says

"That's exactly what we're doing, actually. Couldn't have said it better myself."

Obi-Wan considers upending the container of sprinkles over Cody's head.

#commander cody #Obi Wan Kenobi #codywan #tumblrfic tag #star wars why?

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fly-pow-bye · 5 years ago

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What’s Airing On Cartoon Network (November 2019)

The Futon Critic updated with Cartoon Network’s listings for November, featuring the return of Apple & Onion, the return of Total Dramarama, a Craig of the Creek special, and more! See it after the break!

Apple & Onion

November 2nd:

Apple's Focus - Apple helps Onion achieve his dream of competing on a baking show. Includes special guest Sue Perkins (Great British Bake Off). (9:30 AM)

Lil Noodle - Apple and Onion must remain legit enough to be in their favorite rapper's music video. Includes special guest Timothy DeLaGhetto. (9:45 AM)

Gyranoid of the Future - Apple and Onion struggle to ride Gyranoid of the Future, the craziest roller coaster at the carnival. (10:00 AM)

Fun Proof - Apple and Onion want to become this week's "Most Fun People". (10:15 AM)

November 9th:

Whale Spotting - Apple and Onion need to join an exclusive club to see a rare whale. (9:30 AM)

Heatwave - Apple and Onion try to spread cheer during a city-wide heatwave. (9:45 AM)

Apple's in Charge - Apple is put in charge of the Dollar Store for the very first time. (10:00 AM)

Burger's Trampoline - Apple and Onion must find a way to use Burger's trampoline without making him feel used. (10:15 AM)

November 16th:

Baby Boi TP - Apple needs to acquire a lifetime supply of toilet paper to finish his modern art sculpture. (9:30 AM)

Not Funny - With their 6 month friend anniversary approaching, Apple has to find a way not to lose his best friend. (9:45 AM)

November 23rd:

Onionless - Apple tries to survive a weekend alone while taking care of Onion's plant. (9:30 AM)

Party Popper - Apple and Onion's party plans are interrupted by a grumpy guest. (9:45 AM)

November 30th:

Face Your Fears - Apple and Onion must face their fears while trapped in a pet shop, so they can save French Fry from facing hers. (9:30 AM)

Apple's Short - Apple needs to be tall so that he can be in love. (9:45 AM)

Bakugan: Battle Planet

November 3rd:

Happy/One Way or Another - Happy: The AO expect a fight in Brakistan, but soon discover that old enemies Lord Brakken, Magnus, and Nillious are unnaturally happy to see them./One Way or Another: In the heat of emotions, Shun convinces Lord Brakken that his usual enemies are the best allies he has to sequester a renegade Core Cell. (7:00 AM)

November 10th:

Stormy Weather/Who Can it Be Now - Stormy Weather: On a flight to their next Core Cell mission, the AO's plane falls under attack by Pyravian, who strangely believes the team to be Bakuzon./Who Can It Be Now: The AO find themselves in a battle against the Bakuzon forces of Tiko that upends everything they thought they knew about Core Cells. (7:00 AM)

November 17th:

In My Room/An Army of Their Own - In My Room: When the AO report that they've been fighting the wrong fight, they discover that Benton has been corrupted by the villainous Tiko./An Army of Their Own: The AO are forced to turn to Philomena Dusk for help, only to realize that they have led Benton/Tiko right to the AAAnimus Campus. (7:00 AM)

November 24th:

Calling All Parents/Nowhere to Turn - Calling All Parents: When the parents of the world are turned against their children and confiscate their Bakugan, the AO must seek out the Rowdy Reds./Nowhere to Turn: While the AO attempt to gain allies and warn other children, Wynton is confronted by Armstrong Tripp, who now works for Benton Dusk. (7:00 AM)

Ben 10 (2016)

November 2nd:

My Bodyguard - When Zombozo hypnotizes Grandpa Max's entire baking class it is up to Ben and Gwen to clean up the mess, but it gets even messier when Zombozo unveils his new bodyguard: Kevin 11! (12:00 PM)

Wheels of Fortune - Team Tennyson's thrift store shopping is ruined by the latest high-speed heist of LaGrange - who is now aided by a super-fast electromagnetic racing car - and Ben must convince Kevin 11 to help stop the speed demon's globetrotting robbing spree. (12:15 PM)

November 9th:

Heat of the Moment - After Ben easily dispatches the Weatherheads, Team Tennyson travels to a ski resort for some fun in the snow but when Ben runs into the Weatherheads yet again, this time they are a force to reckon with. (12:00 PM)

Vin Diagram - When Ben sees Vin Ethanol impressed with Kevin's automotive know-how, Ben's jealousy has him convinced that he has to out-do Kevin before the older boy influences Vin to embrace his bad-guy side at a charity race. (12:15 PM)

November 16th:

A Sticky Situation - All Ben wants to do is stop Queen Bee from robbing a bank, but when Kevin shows up to try and be the hero and take all the glory himself, Ben will need to save the day twice or end up in hot honey. (12:00 PM)

What Rhymes with Omnitrix? - At a poetry slam event, Charmcaster's reading of Kevin's poetry causes magical trouble for Ben and Gwen, causing mind swaps that have everyone confused as to who's fighting who. (12:15 PM)

November 23rd:

You Remind Me of Someone - Ben and Gwen look for the infamous Bojamboo (the Bigfoot of the South) and discover that it's actually the Forgeti, at the same time as Kevin 11, but when Ben and Kevin are blasted with the Forgeti's forgetfulness mist, they reverse roles and it's up to Gwen and Max to restore them back to normal. (12:00 PM)

Adrenaland Jr. - Team Tennyson visits the safety-neutered version of Adrenaland known as "Adrenaland Jr.", only to end up facing off against a bitter Kevin 11, out to destroy everyone else's good, and safe, time. (12:15 PM)

November 30th:

Steam Fight at the OK Corral - When Kevin convinces Steam Smythe to adopt a modern approach in fighting Ben, our young hero must resort to old-fashioned thinking to save the day. (12:00 PM)

I Don't Like You - Ben and Gwen's social media battle with Kevin 11 quickly escalates into an all-out war in real life. (12:15 PM)

Craig of the Creek

November 23rd:

Craig and the Kid's Table (Half-Hour Special) - It's a Williams Family Thanksgiving, which means it's time to reunite The Kid's Table! But when Bernard accidentally destroys dessert, Craig uses the power of the Kids Table to help save his brother from certain grounding. (10:00 AM, half hour)

Teen Titans Go!

November 9th:

Teen Titans Vroom (Half-Hour Special) - In this episode of "Turbo Titans Go Force" the Titans gain the ability to transform into cars. Then, in the exciting conclusion of "Turbo Titans Go Force" the Titans must learn to work together to stop Dr. Military. (10:30 AM, half hour)

November 27th:

Beast Boy's That's What's Up - Beast Boy goes to visit the Doom Patrol. Beast Boy, Negative Girl, and Robotman discover some crabs are up to no good. Cyborg becomes inseparable from Robotman. It's time for Beast Boy to leave, but the Doom Patrol try to get him to stay. (6:00 PM)

Total Dramarama

November 2nd:

Mutt Ado About Owen - After accidentally hypnotizing Owen into being a dog, Harold thinks he must reverse the hypnosis to avoid going to jail. (9:00 AM)

Simons Are Forever - Duncan and Leshawna try to take advantage of Izzy's love for the game of Simon Says. (9:15 AM)

November 9th:

Stop! Hamster Time - Owen takes over the job of caring for the class hamster and learns that he's evil. (9:00 AM)

Driving Miss Crazy - Duncan leads Beth to believe she's broken his battery-powered bike and makes her chauffeur him around in a wagon for the day as punishment. (9:15 AM)

November 16th:

Weiner Takes All - After forgetting to book a Hot Diggity Doggity Dog mascot on National Hotdog Day, Chef tries to pass off an Australian man dressed as a kangaroo as a substitute. (9:00 AM)

Apoca-lice Now - When Chef brokers a truce with lice by selecting three kids to "host" them on their heads, Courtney instigates a kid vs. lice war. (9:15 AM)

November 23rd:

Gnome More Mister Nice Guy - When the daycare gets taken over by evil gnomes, Duncan finds himself on the wrong team. (9:00 AM)

Look Who's Clocking - When Harold's warnings not to mess with the clock go ignored, the kids are forced to save themselves when Duncan tears a hole in the fabric of time. (9:15 AM)

November 30th:

Harold Swatter and the Goblet of Flies - After finding what he believes to be a magic wand, Owen accidentally turns Harold into a housefly. (9:00 AM)

Stink. Stank. Stunk. - When a skunk comes seeking its annual revenge on Chef, Duncan sees it as an opportunity to get a vacation from daycare. (9:15 AM)

Transformers Cyberverse

November 2nd:

Spotted - As the Autobots prepare for an attack, Cheetor struggles to find his place amongst the tight-knit group. (6:30 AM)

November 9th:

Secret Science - Shockwave kidnaps Wheeljack to help the Decepticons find Starscream, but he underestimates the wily Autobot inventor. (6:30 AM)

November 16th:

Infinite Vendetta - The Autobots and Decepticons are surprised by the sudden arrival of two bots locked in a millennia long feud. (6:30 AM)

November 23rd:

I Am the Allspark - Starscream unleashes the ultimate attack on the Autobots and Decepticons. (6:30 AM)

November 30th:

Escape from Earth - The Autobots have the Allspark! Now they just have to get it off Earth. (6:30 AM)

#fpb news #craig of the creek #apple & onion #bakugan battle planet #teen titans go #transformers cyberverse #ben 10 2016 #total dramarama

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ali-lie · 4 years ago

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SuperPotterCorp Part 3

Summary & Warning : The SG x HP fic no one asked for yet I’m posting. It’s pretty bad not to mention NSFW with lots of triggers and potential triggers like violence abuse and mention of all forms of assault. also starts off between season 3 and four Lena knows about Kara (obviously) [also agentreign] with the Bloody Brandy challenge.

A quick google maps search revealed that Harry’s address was just a 20 minute drive from Lena’s place. Though it was quite weird the address on the parchment was simply, Stone St, Diamond Apts, Top floor. at which Lena pointed out that maybe she’s bought out the whole floor, which in truth sounded ridiculous to the rest of the Superfriends except Lena, who stated that if she wants to hide an ability like Magic or something possibly nefarious getting rid of pesky neighbors seems like a good idea, this way no one can see something they’re not supposed to.

At first everyone was accepting of that idea till Winn put forth an additional possibility, that Harry had stolen that particular floor from someone using her abilities, which was quite plausible given how they have had seen people abuse their powers.

At 8.30 pm they arrived at the place, the building was a high rise tower that had been added to National city just a scant 3 years ago, they entered the lift as one and when they reached at the top floor they saw out of the lift there was a single corridor leading up to a door with a black sign board and Potter’s embossed on it in gold.

Alex rang the bell and they all waited with baited breaths for someone to open the door, their patience was rewarded when a teenage boy answered the door, it took Lena and Kara a single glance to mark similarities between the boy and Harry, which made them assume he was her son, he had the same bone structure and pale skin not to mention their eyes were the same emerald green, though there were quite some obvious differences too unlike his mother’s blood red tresses the boy sported a nest of raven colored mess on his head, and he was tall, his mother who Lena wouldn’t peg to be taller than 5′1″ or 2″ at most was quite diminutive compared to the 6′1″ young man standing in front of them.

Winn would later point out he looked very much like Harry Potter from the books sans the Lightning bolt scar.

He gave them a broad toothy smile and cheerfully greeted them, “Hello! nice to meet you! My name’s Casper like the friendly ghost, please come in, nice to meet you!” and then escorted them inside.

Meeting the cheerful boy the whole gang calmed down a little, the start was looking good and it looked less like a trap by the second, as they ventured in the house they noticed it was decorated in a simple manner, the inner entrance was painted sky blue with a few pictures of Harry, Casper and 2 girls of obviously different age, the older girl had dirty blonde hair with silver blue eyes, while the younger girl, who looked to be the same age as Casper, had raven colored hair similar to Casper but heterochromic eyes, her right eye was emerald green while the left one was brown.

As they entered the living room they were greeted by three girls, two were the girls from the photos and another brunette girl who was seated next to the older girl, all three of them glaring at the superfriends, an awkward silence ensued which was broken by Casper, “Guys meet my sisters, Macaria *pointing towards the blonde* and my twin sister Dandy *pointing towards the girl with heterochromia* short for dandelion, though I’d strongly advice you to not call her that.” he punctuated with a stern face.

“Also mum’s cooking so she’ll be with us shortly,” he added as an after thought.

Then he pointed towards the brunette and said, “She’s Mac’s - and consequently ours - childhood friend, and our found family, also the only one with a normal name around here, Buffy, yes after the vampire slayer.”

In turn the superfriends introduced themselves to the kids.

Macaria took a deep breath, and began, “So mom told us what happened, and just to let you know all three of us have powers and if you hurt her we’ll hunt you down. Periodt.”

Alex narrowed her eyes at the blonde and gave her a short nod of acknowledgement, then said, “Touché, but just a fair warning even we have powers, we won’t start anything but if you mother does we’ll be sure to end it. Periodt.”

Both Kara and Casper frowned at their sisters, while the superfriends’ expressions said that they agreed with Alex.

Then Dandy growled towards Alex, but before the tension could escalate, Harry arrived from the kitchen wearing a white hoodie and faded jeans, she reached out to the super friends and began, “Nice to meet you guys once again, Just in case you guys don’t remember, I’m Harry, Harry Potter.”

Once again Winn was to the rescue by breaking the tension, “Like Harry Potter Harry Potter? Like the-boy....the-girl-who-lived Harry Potter? and is it short for something like Harley or Harriet?”

Harry laughed deeply at that and then waved her hands in their general direction to conjure some seating for the superfriends, thus proving the point that she had magic, or at least powers akin to magic, then she answered his question, “Yes and No, Yes because I am Harry Potter daughter to James Potter and Lily Potter née Evans, but I wasn’t hailed as the-girl-who-lived instead Neville Longbottom became the-boy-who-lived, as you can see there’s quite a few differences between the books and me, some obvious and others not quite so.”

Winn’s eyebrows furrowed, “So is Hogwarts real? and like how are you here?”

Harry gave him a short nod as she thought over how to reply to his questions then began, “Okay so to put it in short, the Arch way of Death in the ministry of magic, the one Sirius falls through in the books, is like a backdoor to the Multiverse, and I fell through it, then it was like being thrown around in a powerful water current, I had little control over where I was going, though at the end I luckily ended up here, in this universe nearly 16 years ago.”

Before Winn could continue his line of question Lena took over and asked about everything that had been bothering her since the morning, “That’s good, but i think we’re getting a little side tracked, can you please tell us what you meant by when you said we can’t annul our marriage? and how do you know that Kara’s Supergirl?”

Harry’s lips thinned but she gave Lena a short nod then she conjured a black chair similar to the one that she made this morning, taking a seat she began, “Okay, so as far as your first question goes, our marriage is magical in nature, the rings on our hands *showing the superfriends her ring* are magical in nature and they serve as a marriage contract, their nature depends on the kind of vow their user takes during the ceremony, which in our case was ‘Till Death do us part’ as such we are bonded in this matrimony until we die.”

Winn’s jaw dropped, James facepalmed Alex and John’s eyes narrowed at the woman, Kara winced, Lena closed her eyes and took a deep breath, mean while Sam frowned and then she posed a simple and logical question to Harry, “Then why on earth did you take a vow like that?”

Both Harry and Buffy chuckled at this, Macaria and Dandy started glaring at Kara and Casper sighed softly, then Harry began, “Oh the blame for that lies solely on Supergirl, she insisted that we vow ‘Till death do us part’ and then when I and Lena objected to it even in our drunken state she started crying that we hated her, and the next thing I know we’re screaming the bloody vows.”

Sam and Winn winced and the rest of the superfriends sans Brainy gave Kara an deadpan look, while the blonde looked like she wanted to crawl in a hole.

Then John asked, “Even if Kara asked you to take those vows why did you do it? I can understand why Lena would take those vows, though she’d have preferred to have been more sober, and I mean no offense by this but if it had only been the two of them rather than the three of you. Also something I’ve been meaning to ask why did you have those rings with you? I can understand that they might be family heirlooms but they don’t look like something someone, anyone, would wander around with especially when they’re going to get intoxicated.”

All three of them blushed in different measures, then Harry cleared her throat and began, “Well, during our last days together Sirius often told me to at least once get drunk and do something spontaneous, and yesterday I had entered the bar to fulfill that little promise between us...” she had a wistful look on her face and no one in the room had the heart to make a single sound that might disturb the peace that had spread in her posture.

Soon she snapped back to reality, back from the memories of what was once her happy place Kara thought, taking a deep breath Harry continued, “Well any ways, it was my first time getting drunk, so I think I do deserve some leniency,” as the superfriends’ face clearly expressed their disbelief, she gave them a small smile and said, “I am just 32 years old, and I adopted Macaria when I was 12, i was always afraid that I would be a monster like Vernon, and that led to me never getting drunk.” she finished with a bitter chuckle.

Most of the Superfriends had adopted an expression ranging from pity to horror as they remembered that, this woman was Harry Potter, and even if as she said some things were different from the books some others were still similar, like the Dursleys and their cruelty, but surprisingly or perhaps not so surprisingly Winn, Sam, and Lena had a look of understanding, understanding the feeling of not wanting to become the monsters and demons they ran from, of the feeling of wanting to protect your loved ones from even their dark shadows.

“And as far as the ring is concerned, I didn’t have it with me till before Kara suggested that we get married, so Lena objected to it first on the basis that we didn’t had any wedding rings for us and when she did that, in my intoxicated state I simply wished that I had some wedding rings and those rings suddenly appeared in my closed fist, from the Gringotts vault they were supposed to be in, all the way across that universe to this one.” she concluded with a dry look that said I rest my case.

Sam and Alex turned to their respective younger sisters and promptly face palmed.

A/n : sorry to leave this here, if anyone is even reading this, but kind of felt like a good end to the chapter. ciao,

see ya next time hope you’re safe and happy!

#supergirl #harry potter #kara danvers #lena luthor #fem!harry

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shellheadtm-a · 5 years ago

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i should move a list like this to my rules or 616 tony care manual but, for now, i realize i’ve never given a list of the most important runs to how i view tony. so we’re gonna do that now, so you comic-savvy folks, at least, have an idea of where i’m coming from. i should point out i’ve read (and reread) about 99% of nearly everything tony’s appeared in. so you won’t find just iron man comics on this list. these are kinda done chronologically timescale wise instead of date of publication.

hold on to your asses. this is long.

+ tales of suspense: for obvious reasons - it’s the origin story and his early adventures, and how he earned the nickname the golden avenger. + invincible iron man vol. 1: good insight to how tony viewed himself and iron man and the public face of tony stark in the early days. + avengers vol. 1: second verse, same as the first, formation of the avengers, their thawing steve from the ice, and all the ups and downs of the team roster. + captain america: man out of time: after finding steve tony introduces him to the modern world. steve wants out, realizes he’s been viewing the past with rose-colored glasses, and comes back to the present to help the avengers defeat kang. + demon in a bottle (iim 120-128): the start of tony’s issues with alcohol but by no means the last. the set up for his time being homeless. + doomquest (iim 149-150): firmly establishes doom as an iron man villain, on top of everyone else he bothers. also known as that time tony got to live his ultimate wet dream as a knight in king arthur’s court and fight alongside king arthur. + invincible iron man (163-170): covers tony’s fall from grace as he gets played by a honeypot and loses his company to obadiah stane, and he turns iron man over to rhodey. + invincible iron man (172): also known as that time steve found tony in a flophouse and tried to talk some sense into him but you gotta want to help yourself first and tony very emphatically did not (he was actually trying to drink himself to death so...). also also known as that time steve bridal carried tony out of a burning building like the cover of a cheesy romance novel but no homo, right, marble. + invincible iron man (173 & 178): tony hits rock bottom after skipping out of rhodey’s mom’s house. otherwise known as that time tony lived on the streets for months and no one knew where he was or if he was even alive and helped deliver a baby in a blizzard. + armor wars (iim 225-232): also known as that time tony’s tech got stolen and he went on a rampage to get it back, and also betrayed steve for really reals the first time. it’s okay, they make up (the pink superstar shirt). + onslaught (event): it’s a mutant based storyline i don’t even know where to start explaining this one. but it ends in heroes reborn - which is acknowledged but not written in on this blog. + iron man (early 00s): a darker, grittier iron man. also showcases tony’s utter self loathing, loss of hope for any form of happiness for himself, and the things he does to try to make himself not feel like such a waste of space. otherwise known as the time he had an artificial heart from the suit that went obsessive stalker on him and the birth of FRIDAY. one of my penultimate iron man runs, highly recommended but super dark. + avengers disassembled: wanda destroys the mansion and the avengers break up, seemingly for good. tony can’t afford to rebuild and no one has the heart to keep going after what happened. + new avengers: until there’s a breakout of the raft and steve decides it’s time he and tony put together a new team. tony can never say no to steve when he begs. one of my all time favorite avengers line ups, including wolverine, luke cage, spider-woman, spider-man, ms. marvel (carol). that time the avengers ended up in luke cage and jessica jones’s wedding photo. + extremis: that time tony could talk to computers in his head - how that came to be. also incredibly important: sets the stage for civil war. + execute program: definitely sets the stage for civil war and displays in a lot of ways how extremis is effecting tony. + civil war: self explanatory, i think. comic civil war was entirely us-based, did not involve bucky as a focus point (he becomes the new cap, after all, at tony’s request), and concerned the destruction of stamford due to the new warriors confronting a villain known as nitro. bitter is the war between brothers, etc. + fallen son & the confession: steve is assassinated (or...lost in time, more is the case) on red skull’s orders. tony stark completely loses his shit and falls the fuck apart. the confession solidified - i think - stevetony as a valid possible ship. + mighty avengers: explains tony’s reasoning for doing what he did concerning civil war - which was play damage control so people like spider-man didn’t end up on a dissection table instead of the negative zone. ultron gives him boobs. + iron man - director of shield: post civil war, tony’s time at the helm of shield, and having a few mental breakdowns, fighting the mandarin, and finding out fun new things about extremis. + secret invasion (event): skrulls have been infiltrating everywhere. tony gets uploaded with a virus that takes out all of his tech? and extremis itself. is removed as director of shield, osborn is put in his place. takes place in the middle of the fraction run of iron man. + invincible iron man (the fraction run): literally the absolute, hands down, penultimate you won’t find better iron man run and view of tony stark as a person. includes fear itself, dark reign, and the seige of asgard. cannot recommend this one highly enough. tony dealing with the aftermath of civil war, and then the brain wipe. we love a broken man. + avengers prime: tony and steve finally make up when the realms merge together. he and steve and thor have all kinds of fun adventures against hela, tony ends up naked, we find out that thor and hellcat did the do. good fun for everyone but also displays how much tony’s faking what he does and doesn’t remember, if you’re willing to dig a little. + invincible iron man (2013): tony’s vacation in space, discovering he’s adopted and has a brother, the return of the mandarin’s rings, inhuman fun, the test city that was really a giant iron man suit, and fun times with dark elves. this run is a ride and i love it despite everyone else hating it. it has some juicy tony characterization moments. + avengers 2013/infinity: look, you’d need a decoder ring to understand this shit without reading the whole damn thing. contains superior iron man and the incursions, the time tony used the infinity gauntlet, the illuminati...there’s a lot of unpack here but explains the weight the current tony stark is carrying from what he did - especially as superior iron man - during this whole timeframe. includes old!steve. + invincible iron man (2015): the lead up to civil war ii/secret empire (note: we don’t even look in secret empire’s direction on this blog). just a good little snatch of characterization (surprisingly by bendis). nice look into how tony views himself and how he handles his problems (which is to say he doesn’t handle them at all). + all new, all different avengers: tony and his tiny little team, comprised of a bunch of kids, the vision, sam!cap, and jane!thor. lead up to the thing we don’t speak of, but puts into perspective where tony sits at that moment post-incursions. + winter soldier (2018): he shows up in all of like three pages and is mentioned in a few more, but it solidifies that tony and bucky are close? that bucky trusts tony knowing where he lives and working on his arm, and it puts tony in a support role over being a main player. also rod reis did the art and it’s fucking immaculate.

this is pretty much where, right now, my full canon for tony ends. i do include some bits from the newest avengers run (up through the vampires - and possibly tony being tossed back in time, i have the feeling he’s gonna hook up with the prehistoric avengers). also from marvelous ms. marvel and captain marvel, and web of black widow. what it does not and will not include ever is tony stark: iron man. we don’t let slott into this house.

#constant //: ( about )#// i needed to do this #// this isn't everything obviously #// just the stuff i feel like is the most important to tony #// and how i view tony #// bc again #// i've read like #// 99% of his shit #// even if he only shows up in like one page #// there's some stuff in bucky's run as cap #// and in steve being deserumed that i didn't include #// that is still important but #// not as important as all of this so #// here you go

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justanoutlawfic · 5 years ago

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I Belong With You (You Belong With Me): Family Secrets

Summary: Belle learns exactly what she's inheriting from George's dynasty.

Also on AO3

The Enchanted Forest (One Week & 10 Days Before the Wedding)

Belle turned around the corner, a heavy book clutched between her fingertips. She had discovered it within her possessions and couldn’t wait to share it with James. It had contained some of her favorite poems and she was hoping they could incorporate them in their wedding programs. She wasn’t sure how much he wanted to be involved with the planning of the wedding, but she also knew he loved literature just as much as she did. Outside their dress fittings, Abigail didn’t seem to care at all about the weddings. A part of Belle couldn’t blame her. They didn’t choose either of these fiancés. At the same time, Abigail spent most of her time holed up in her room. She only got dressed when her father finally demanded so. Would she ever get used to the idea of marrying David? For both of their sakes, Belle sure hoped so.

As Belle turned the corner for James’ library, she heard a thud. She carefully approached the door, peering inside. James was backed up against the door with his father before him. His eyes were wide and there was something written on his face that Belle had never seen before. Fear. James raised his hands in defense. George’s back was to the door, his shiny forehead glowing under the chandelier. James didn’t notice her either, his eyes trained on his father.

“Father, I’m sorry.” His voice was shaking. “It was just a joke.”

“A joke?” George let out a bitter laugh. “You think this entire thing is a fucking joke?” He slammed his fist against the wall right by James’ head, which made the younger man wince. Belle’s body tensed. “This merger is going to save our kingdom. You’re not going to mess it up by “joking” with Midas.”

“I don’t think he took it…”

“You think you’re so hilarious, but no one thinks you’re funny. In fact, if you disappeared, no one would miss you at all.”

Belle’s grip on the book intensified. How could a father talk this way to their child? James was kind, intelligent and charming. Sure, he had a bit of dark humor but that only added to what made him, him. A parent was supposed to love their child for who they were. George seemed cold and standoffish, but she didn’t imagine he was this cruel. A tingling sensation rose through her body that she didn’t quite understand. Anger? Hostility? Could she go as far as to say protectiveness?

James’ eyes narrowed at his father’s comment, his chin jutting outward. “I think you would. I mean, without me, how else would you get all the gold you need?”

George scoffed. “I should’ve let you be raised by those farmers. You would’ve been dead by your first birthday.” He went to grab hold of James’ collar and that’s when Belle decided she’d had enough.

“Lay a hand on him and I’ll let this book dent your skull,” she threatened loud enough for him to hear.

George spun around; his eyes aghast. James looked shocked, yet a small grin was creeping up on his lips. His father quickly composed himself. He stood up straight and cleared his throat. Belle kept her glare on him with her book held up in the air. She ignored the ache in her wrist, not about to leave James unprotected.

“I’ll beg you to remember your place, Belle,” George said.

Belle shrugged. “And I’ll remind you of who you need for this merger.”

George licked his lips, shaking his head. “A match made in Heaven indeed,” he muttered under his breath. His eyes darted back to his son. “We’ll finish this discussion later.”

“Touch him again and I’ll make sure you don’t get an ounce of my father’s gold.”

George shook his head, walking out of the room. Belle dropped the book onto a side table and ran over to James. She put one hand on top of his and another on his cheek.

“Are you alright?” She asked.

James nodded, letting out a deep breath. “You saved me from the worst he could’ve done.”

“I just…” She shook her head. “I’m so sorry. No father should talk that way to their child.”

“You clearly have never met George.”

“Well, no, but he was wrong. About all of it…” She trailed off, some of his words finally registered with her. “What did he mean? That you should’ve been raised with farmers?”

James sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “You’re going to be my wife. I suppose you know our great family secret.”

********************

The private garden off the library was in full bloom. The azaleas showed off their pink as they danced in the wind. The cherry tree had lost its petals and instead had the sweet-smelling fruit instead. Multi-color rosebushes created a mini-maze. It had been lovely to look at in between reading Shakespeare and sips of honey tea. It was even nice for Belle to walk around with James.

“My mother always did what she could to shield David and I from George’s cruelty. She wanted us to be kind. Not the stereotypical princes you hear of. She read us stories; told us we didn’t have to be vicious knights if we didn’t have to.”

Belle ran her fingers over an azalea. “She sounds great.”

“She truly was.” He bit his lip. “But then she got sick. It spread quickly and she was gone before we really knew it. George put us into knight training almost immediately.”

“But you were only 5, right?”

James nodded and Belle frowned. “He didn’t care. He wanted us to be the perfect dragon slayers as soon as possible. David tried his best. He just wanted to please George so badly. I was scared, so I took off. I didn’t know where I was going but I managed to steal some money, pack a bag and went to Pleasure Island.”

Belle tried to picture James running away, but she was having trouble picture him as a 5-year-old. He just seemed totally broody and forever an adult.

“It was supposed to be a never-ending carnival but it was a nightmare. They turned kids into animals and once they got word I was a prince, they were after me. I didn’t last very long before a strange man appeared,” James continued. “He explained that I was his son.”

Belle’s brows furrowed. “What?”

James outstretched his arms. “Exactly what I said. He didn’t explain, but said if I went with him, we could go back to a farm. I could live a regular life with him and my “real mom” as he called her.”

“That had to be confusing.”

“It was. But at the time, it sounded nice. Animals, having a mom again…so I said yes.”

Guilt washed over his face. Belle touched his arm. “That doesn’t make you a bad son.”

“I know,” he whispered. “But I was so willing to give up the mom that raised me…”

“If she saw what George wanted to turn you into, she’d understand.”

James shrugged. He gently pulled away from her. “When we were getting off the island, George showed up. He tried to offer the man money but he refused. He introduced himself as my father. The two argued. It came out that the man, Robert, and his wife, Ruth, had me and David. They were too poor to raise us. They could barely keep their farm. So, Rumpelstiltskin showed up and made them a deal.”

“And they took it?” Belle tilted her head. She had heard some awful stories about the wizard.

“Robert says we were dying. He had gambled away money for our medicine. George couldn’t produce an heir so Rumpelstiltskin promised to find him one. In exchange for saving their farm, they would give up one child.”

“But both of you are with George.”

James sighed. “George revealed that Robert got greedy. He wanted extra money. So, he said they’d give both of us. Ruth didn’t want to, but he made the deal behind her back.”

Belle gasped. It seemed David and James had been screwed over in the fatherhood department on both ends. “Lords.”

“Robert said he felt guilty. He was sober and he wanted to make things right, he wanted Ruth to forgive him and he thought the only way to do that was to bring back one of the kids he sold. So, he wanted me.”

James braced the edge of the bush. A delicate flower crushed under his grip, causing him to wince.

“George ordered his execution. It was as if he were ordering a new rug for the main hall.” His glassy blue eyes stared off at the castle. “The guards carried him off and he was gone.” James swallowed, shaking his head. “If I hadn’t agreed to go with him, if I hadn’t run off…”

“James,” Belle returned her hand to his face, forcing him to look at her. “This isn’t your fault. None of it is your fault. Robert chose to go there that night. He knew he was kidnapping a royal child. Regardless, George didn’t have to do what he did, especially in front of a 5-year-old.”

James’ lip trembled. “I never told anyone about that. Not even David.”

Belle tilted her head. “Really?”

“On the ride home, George ordered me to secrecy. He told me that no one was ever to know, especially not my brother. If I ever breathed a word, I’d have a grave next to my biological father.”

“What a burden for him to place on your shoulders,” she whispered. “I am so sorry.”

James shrugged, wiping at his eye. “There’s so much damn pollen in this garden.”

Belle took a step back, not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable. So much made sense now. The rumors about a vicious prince, a lady killer. It was all to appease his father. The dark humor was from years of abuse and protecting a family secret. So much was weighing down on James and yet he kept that devilish grin on his face most of the time.

“Do you ever think of reaching out to your biological mother?” She asked.

James shook his head. “No. Even if George would allow me, it’d be out of the question. She had to pick one of us and she chose her favorite originally.”

“James, I’m sure that’s not how it worked…”

“I had a mother, Belle. She read me to bed every night, she snuck me treats in my lessons and she kissed my wounds when I was hurt.” James straightened up. “We may not share the same DNA, but she was all the mother I needed. I don’t need to find the woman who gave me life.”

Belle stared at him for a minute. A part of her wanted to push, while the other understood. She wasn’t adopted but she had a mother that she loved more than anything in the world and not because they shared the same blood. If she found out tomorrow that Maurice and Collette hadn’t actually brought her into this world, it wouldn’t change how she felt about them. James’ mother was Serafina. She was all he needed.

“I think you’re right, you’re happy with your choice,” she finally said.

James nodded. “Thank you.”

“But David didn’t get to make his. He’s had to live in the dark for years, not knowing any of this. I’m not saying he should know anything, but doesn’t he deserve the truth?”

“What? That our biological father sold him for booze money? No, I think that’d hurt him even more.”

“And what about the mother that wanted him and didn’t get a say? I know you’ve tried to protect him all these years James. Maybe I don’t know everything about this, but I do know that he deserves to have all the facts like you do.”

James sighed, running his fingers through his blonde curls. He looked down at Belle. Their eyes interlocked and she got that warm, relaxing feeling in her stomach yet again. “I hate when you’re right.”

“You might as well get used to it,” she said cheekily, plucking an azalea off the bush and handing it to him. “Happens more than you might think.”

James rolled his eyes. Yet, that smile started to return. Why did he have to look at her like that?

Why did he have to make her fall for him?

#i belong with you you belong with me verse #prince beauty #prince james #belle french #king george #ouat #once upon a time #ouat au

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afangirlwashere · 6 years ago

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Come rant with me about Endgame

So.......... I saw Endgame yesterday and I have some opinions, feelings and thoughts... Also a story about me being an idiot after trying to get home from the cinema but I’ll leave that for a bit later. Anyone who wants to talk about Endgame feel free to hit me up about it ‘cause I got nobody to talk about it with rn.

I’ll talk about the characters a bit more and afterwards, I’ll talk about plot stuff.

So... Thor

I have seen people complaining about what they did to him in this movie. I personally did not expect them to take this route with him but I wouldn’t really say it was completely out of character for him. He lost a lot. And there is no real threat, nothing to really protect for him anymore apart from his people who he feels like he failed. He feels like he failed everyone and at everything and I can understand that feeling veeeery well. And it was nice seeing them actually stick to his new figure and not giving him a stupid montage how he got fit again. No! He was worthy no matter what because it’s what's inside that matters. His hair, beard and glowing eyes 10/10 Kinda sad and mad there was no talking about Loki though... Felt like he should have brought him up somewhere in there. I’m super excited for him to join the Guardians. It’s gonna be a riiide.

Now we can move on to Natasha and Clint

Let me just tell you... The second they started talking about having teams and going for the stones I was like “But Vormir? Who the fuck is going to go to VoRmIr to get the fucking soul stone?! WHOOO?!!!!” and I kind of expected it to be Natasha and Clint. And I kind of expected Natasha to be the one who sacrifices herself because Clint has a family + after seeing what she did for those 5 years it made sense for her character to be the one who sacrifices herself. I did not cry at this death I guess because I suspected it but I was VERY sad. I’m a little disappointed that they didn’t do something similar for Natasha as they did for.... y’know... our boi. I guess the reason I didn’t actually cry could be that when she was lying down there I think she was in the exact same position as Gamora and there has been talk about it that it could mean something (you can watch the SuperCarlinBrothers Endgame review they talk about it a bit) but when I saw her there... It looked just weird man. Like logically she probably would not fall and be in the same position AS Gamora and I got the picture of Gamora just lying down there literally burned in my memory since I’ve seen it like billion times over the past year. The CGI on it was just... It looked weird okay? Otherwise, I was super happy about seeing Clint again. I missed him as much as I will miss Natasha. She did good and she will forever be remembered ❤️ 🧡 💛

Ant-Man a.k.a. my boy Scott Lang

He peaked in this movie. Truly. I had such a good time watching him do stupid shit, be funny but also serious. He’s just always so much fun. Loved him a lot. I was a little confused when Cassie was all grown up I thought it was her mom who was at the door first but then Scott was like “Cassie?” and I was like “OH SHIIIIIIT THAT’S THE KIIIID!”

Bruce... honey...

Don’t have much to say about my boy Bruce. Cool seeing professor Hulk. I really liked the scene where they were trying to figure out time travel. I could relate to him just not knowing what he was doing but doing it anyways ‘cause... same. Also, thank you for doing the snap. Good job.

America’s ass Steve Rogers, Cap, whatever you want to call him

Soooooo... I’ve seen theories of his ending actually like.. before this movie came out. I’ve discussed him time traveling to be with Peggy with my cousin and we both agreed it would have been the best ending and that we would really want it for him. BUT when we discussed it we hit this big thing that would kind of not make sense for his character. BUCKY! He would never leave him be tortured for years and years on if he knew Bucky was alive and that he could actually do something about it. He would want to do something about HYDRA in S.H.I.E.L.D. as well! It’s not like him to just stand around and do nothing. He said it himself that he could not possibly do that. Like many people on the internet, I’m just... Not happy about this thing. Also, did they talk about it beforehand? Did Steve offer Bucky to go with him? Did Bucky say no? If they explain it in the future (they better) I hope that they mention Steve going for Bucky who was still being tortured WHEN he was with Peggy in the past. I hope that we will get Bucky’s and Steve’s talk after he finished talking to Sam. We could potentially get all these answers in the Falcon & Winter Soldier Disney+ show. I hope we do because if we don’t I’m gonna be hella mad. I wanted to shed some more good tears about Steve and Bucky but they didn’t talk... I’m not bitter. Trust me. Not. At. All. (they could have maaaybe cut the scene of them talking because: time) Steve picking up Mjölnir was some good shit. I knew it was him the moment that hammer moved a bit. I got the flashbacks to Age of Ultron and I was like “Is he gonna..... Is it.... It’s..... YEEEAAAAHHHH!!!! IT’S FUCKING CAP!!!” That was truly some good shit we got right there. Also, I was kind of bitter that Steve and Tony never really talked over Civil War. Hail Hydra scene? Perfection. YeAh I know- scene? Perfection. That is America’s ass scene? Perfection. Overall Steve had some great scenes. I just missed the Bucky in them. No real reuniting between them either... I just don’t know man. I wanted more from that. Bucky played a huge part in all three CA movies (one was literally named after him say what) and we didn’t get... anything.

Nebula and Rocket

I was very pleasantly surprised by both of these characters. I hope they’re gonna be a bit closer now that they spent 5 years with each other. Everybody say thank you Mr. Rocket for actually following the plan and getting the stupid fucking stone we needed. Nebula kind of fucked up everything even though it wasn’t her fault. But when she literally killed her old self? I felt that. That was powerful shit. Also loved her and Tony a lot. She’s a great addition to the Guardians.

Gamora

Sweet summer child. Obviously, they set up a plot for Guardians 3 with Quill trying to find her at the end of Endgame.

Carol Damnvers Danvers, Cap Marvel, my lesbian hero

Underused. But I get why. She is truly OP. Her haircut? Thank you Marvel gods? Her meeting Peter? I’ve never related more to Peter in my life because I too would be crawling in dirt and curled up on the ground if I got to meet this queen. AND THEN THE SCENE? THE SCENE WHERE ALL THE MARVEL WOMEN FUCKING STAND UP AND GO AGAINST THANOS?! I felt that. It was really funny seeing Peter get surrounded by all of them. He is protected by the lesbian queens. Also her fucking up Thanos? Good shit. Little sad her and Fury got zero scenes in there.

Wanda motherfucking Maximoff

Another OP women. Loved her to pieces. Seeing her almost rip Thanos apart was truly inspiring. Fucking legend. Get that revenge for your toaster girl.

Falcon

I don’t have much to say about him because there was not much of Sam in Endgame. Loved the “On your left” thing. Great call back to WS. But I wanted to tell you guys something that happened in the cinema that I saw coming. There was this group of boys around 17-19 years old sitting right behind me and when Cap was giving Sam the shield and basically making him the next Captain America.. I think ya’ll know where this is going. These fucking dudes had the audacity to scoff and out loud talk about it like “A black dude is gonna be Captain America? The fuck?” I was trying not to sob in my seat because EMOTIONS and I felt the fucking rage that went through my veins at that moment. I can’t believe people still do this shit. Why, why, why the fuck do you think that it’s not okay? I wish I could go back to that moment and just throw my water bottle in their faces. Assholes. It really ruined the moment for me and I’ll never forget the fucking disgust I felt when I heard that coming out of their mouths. Really wish I told them something but the state I was at... I was just not in the shape for calling them out on their bullshit.

Um.... I feel like it’s time we address the elephant in the room. THEM.

Dad Tony was really fucking me up good in this movie I gotta tell you. The I lost the kid scene? Good shit. (In our subtitles they translated it to “I lost Peter” which was like.... Ummmmm.... kill me nooooow) The I love you 3 000? Good shit. The shit scene? Good shit. The bedtime story? Wish we got some Peter in there but still. Good shit. Any scene with Morgan Stark in it? Good shit. I just need her and Peter bonding in some future movie and I’m satisfied. Anthony Edward Stark really is that bitch, isn’t he? He made time travel happen in like 4 hours.... We love a true legend man. I wish we could have seen him talking to aunt May (that is if she didn’t die in the snap we still don’t know). I just kind of hoped that we could have seen him getting over losing Peter and stuff... even though he never really got over it. I’ve also seen people blaming Peter for Tony’s death??? Umm? How? He did not jump out of that fucking picture and tell Tony to save him. He did not force Tony to care about him. Tony just did because he has a serious issue with adopting sad ki-I just don’t understand how anybody could blame Peter for his death. Tony decided totally by himself. Seeing him go off on the team when he came back from space was... just wow. I felt that. I was genuinely scared of him for a bit. Also how skinny he looked? :) That shit hurted. All of his dialog? Gold. Actual gold. There isn’t a scene in which he did not excel. The talk between him and his dad? That shit hurted. When Peter came on the screen... Man I was WAITING when all the guys from Titan started showing up I was at the edge of my seat like “whereishewhereishewhereishewhereishe” and then when he fucking jumped in there the music got all epic and when he took off the mask he looked so fucking adorable and happy and the hair and ghdakskguarieogs- That was truly the first time I cried in that movie. That is what he does to me. And WE GOT THE HUG FOLKS! Him rambling and being all OwwwO and Tony just looking at him. Cried like a crazy person. I’ve waited for that a long time. And then Peter jumping around and protecting the gauntlet and meeting everyone and Carol and... I just can’t even. He was perfect. It was perfect. But then it happened... The moment Strange gave Tony THE look I knew shit was going down for real. I was crying like a little baby. Seeing Thanos fade away was very satisfactory but right after that seeing Tony just... do THAT. And by THAT I mean fucking DIE. Yeah... Rhodey was the first one at his side and he just kind of pet his head... But then fucking Peter got to him and I- that was truly painful as all hell. Seeing him cry and break down because that’s his father figure, that’s his mentor, that’s his Tony. And now he’s just.... gone. Go watch the Far From Home trailer that’s a lot of fun now :--)))) Pepper telling him that he can rest I- think I never cried more in my entire cinema experiences. When the reactor turned off it was over. I was trying so hard to not sob and be loud in my seat but I actually have no clue if I was loud or not because I was that deep in. Didn’t bring any tissues. That was a mistake I am never making again. The funeral was beautiful. The cheeseburger scene. Great. I actually had a burger yesterday and... It’s the first time I cried over a fucking burger. I still can’t believe it happened. My brain is still not comprehending it. I just can’t believe... I was SO convinced that Cap was the one who’s dying and I was SO convinced that they could not just get rid of Tony. But they did... They did that. It’s the end of an era. Truly. And Morgan is going to grow up without a father now :---))) just end me.. This is fucking hell. I’ve never cried this much in a cinema. Fuck Endgame.

Okay so now I wanna talk about some plot stuff

The time travel I don’t fucking get

Okay but can somebody explain to me how the time travel works? Maybe after I watch it a few times I’ll understand it better. I have some kind of idea how it probably works but I’m still veeery confused. They made such a big deal about returning the stones back to the realities they borrowed them from. Okay. But how did they return them back in the way they were before? The reality stone aka Aether was in Jane Foster, right? Tony, Thor or someone must have figured out a way how to put it in its stone version but can you put it back in Jane Foster then? So that nothing changes? Can you? Or do you have to? How much do we have to follow the rules of how things have been when we return them? Can it be given back in the stone form? Same thing goes for the space stone. It was in the Tesseract. How did they put it back in the Tesseract? Did they have to? How. Does. This. Work? And what about the soul stone? We know that Red Skull is the protector of it on Vormir but he is not the one who put the soul stone in there. So who did? And can they put it back? How did Steve put it back? He couldn’t have just given it to Red Skull right? Then Red motherfucking Skull would have the stone and it would fuck up some other reality. Just like when Loki took the Tesseract. I just don’t exactly understand this. Also if we made a huge deal out of the stones what about Mjölnir?? When Thor took it right before the dark elves attacked? Don’t they have to give it back as well? I get that he took it so that we could see Cap with Mjölnir but.... ???? I don’t remember if Steve had it with him when he was returning the stones he might have but he also had it when he was old sitting on that bench. He could have given it back just like the stones and maybe call it to himself when he needed it (which would probably confuse Thor a bit). I suppose Thor could still call it back when Steve had it in the past but that would mean there were two Mjölnir hammers at one point right? Because Steve went back to Peggy and at that point, Thor still had his hammer because Hella did not destroy it yet AND the thicc dummy Thor hasn’t taken it yet either. So what if he called two hammers? Wouldn’t that be just really weird? Also what happens with that reality where Thanos is dead? It’s 2014 Thanos. I would think they have to put him back as well so that the whole snap can still happen. I’m just super confused with EVERYTHING about this. But the thing that is the weirdest to me personally is old Steve??? Like... Did he time travel from his own reality back to ours with the shield and Mjölnir? Because he couldn’t have been in OUR reality right? The things they do when they travel to the past do not affect the present. No butterfly effect right? Which means Steve couldn’t have lived in OUR reality with Peggy because in our reality Peggy had her own husband, children, and life. So he must have traveled from our reality to the one where Peggy did not have a family yet and then when he wanted to go back to Sam and Bucky he must have traveled from that reality where he was with Peggy back to ours or this doesn’t make any sense. So why did we not see him in the time traveling suit? That must mean in some other reality we have Peggy’s and Steve’s kids but not in ours. So does that mean there are two Steve’s in some other reality? Because Steve is still stuck in that iceberg. IDK man I’m super confused how all of this worked. The stones, the hammer, and Steve.

I hope I made at least some sense in this. I highly recommend you to watch the SuperCarlinBrothers review they talk about some of the stuff I talked about here. If any of you who actually read this whole thing (wow kudos to you) want to chat about it you can message me or something IDK. I have no one to talk about this movie with rn so if you’re in the same situation you can definitely hit me up if you have some opinions, theories, and emotions.

Also the little story I promised.

I went to see Endgame on Thursday and I had to take a train that was leaving around 9:53PM to get back home. There is this park that I have to walk through to get to the road that leads to the train station. It’s basically like at least a 20-minute walk from the cinema to that train station. So I got lost.... in the park. It was dark as fuck in there. I was in a city I barely know, heartbroken over THAT movie and I had to catch the train. In the middle of all of that my mom called me and I was like barely holding back tears because THAT movie, I’m also lost in a dark motherfucking park in a city I don’t know, somebody is laughing loud as fuck in there and the train is leaving in like 15 minutes. My mom later told me that I sounded weird like I was crying or something (which I almost was) I was panicking as FUCK. I eventually made my way out of that park but I did not catch the train. I even RAN to catch it. Still didn’t make it. Had to take a bus to get home. It was a disaster. I also sat outside of my apartment just looking at the dark sky around 11PM and cried my eyes out because TONY. So that was a stressful journey home.

In the end... The movie destroyed me. I’m not sure I am completely satisfied with everything that went down and how it went down but I still think they did a very good job with it. I will forever miss Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff. It will never be the same without them. Thank you for everything.

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taotrooper · 6 years ago

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In fine feather: chapter 1

On AO3

Title: In Fine Feather Characters: Mainly Wei Wuxian. In this chapter, Jiang Fengmian, Jiang Yanli, and Jiang Cheng Pairings: eventual wangxian down the road Genres: Wingfic, Fantasy AU, Youkai AU (sorta), Modern AU with Magic, Fish out of Water, Family Dynamics, Comedy, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Adopted Siblings, Changelings, Misunderstandings, Coming of Age, Slice of Life Summary: Wei Ying thought he was a normal orphan boy until one night, while still a child, a pair of black wings burst out from his back. After he discovers he's a member of a race of spirits and is taken by a family of winged beings, he has to adapt to a new culture and species which isn't easy. Always charming and clever, he gets to heal his traumas and be loved by his new relatives, he learns how to fly and cast magic spells, he makes friends with other kids his age, he confuses everyone with his references from the human world. Most importantly, he learns his own worth. And much later as he grows, he finds love in a friend, and eccentric ways to bridge the mystical mountains with the good things he left behind Notes: CW references of children being violent and abusive towards another kid. It's not that graphic, and beyond the first couple of chapters I doubt this will come up again, but still merits a warning

When little Wei Ying came to his senses, he wasn't on the ground anymore.

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a clear night sky and stars that flickered like freckles of light in infinity. It was daytime when he had fallen asleep in a forgotten corner, in a lonely alley, yet this wasn't the strangest part. How was he even seeing so much sky, not blocked by a single building or part of a ceiling? Yet no, it was all wide and endless.

The cold wind hit his face immediately; it made his back pain worse, but it refreshed his burning skin. He was moving somehow and his body was slowly swaying up and down like a boat. He then realized there were arms that held him tight, on the crook under his knees and carefully around his shoulders.

He couldn't see the face of the person well. By the size, it had to be an adult. Alarmed, the boy tried to get away —which hurt plenty, in his state—, but when he looked below he changed his mind and froze his brusque movements.

He saw shiny city lights below. Not only that, they looked distant: he was meters and meters above the land. Neither ground to stand on or feet were visible.

Scared and too sore to jerk again, he raised his head to take a look at what he imagined was a kidnapper. The face was obscured by the darkness, but he could perceive two things. First, long hair and broad shoulders. That wasn't much to work with, but the next observation made him forget these features.

Something flapped behind the figure. Wings! Wings like a bird's on his back!

"Relax," a soothing masculine voice came from the face's direction. "Don't stir or you'll fall. You're safe now."

Was this real or a dream? Was this a delirium from his fever? Was this a personification of death coming for him?

Or was this man... someone like him?

The arms still retained his back, still made indirect contact with the fuzzy origin of his pain.

Wei Ying was too weak to ask, too sleepy to worry, too sick to think. He closed his eyes again without noticing, and dozed off for the rest of the flight.

*****

The next time the boy opened his eyes, he was on a soft bed and lying on his stomach. Sunshine filled an unknown room and birds could be heard singing outside. His head, propped upwards by a tall pillow underneath, felt lighter and refreshed. His back still pulsed in a deaf pain, but not remotely as severe as before. There was a pressure that restricted his movements: he felt the bandages across his torso and backside that someone had dressed him with. He also wasn't wearing his dirty ragged clothes or blanket anymore, but some sort of flowing robes with big sleeves.

He tried to turn on his side to get up, but it was uncomfortable. They had bandaged those things too, completely immobilized.

Still partially asleep, and not knowing exactly what had happened to him and what had been a dream, he felt goosebumps across his arms and panic swirling in his stomach. Was he in danger? Should he run away? Could he run away?

He didn't need to make a choice, since the door opened slowly and a girl came inside with a tray in her hands and a smile on her face.

She was probably a couple of years older than Wei Ying. She had long hair braided in two elaborate buns and wore a pretty hanfu dress. But what really drew Wei Ying's attention was the two feathered wings folded behind her back. They were of a beautiful shade of purple, iridescent feathers like a hummingbird's.

"Oh, you're awake!" she beamed, as though Wei Ying was someone precious and him being there was a blessing. That confused him, but his defenses immediately went down against his will with her aura. "Hi, how are you feeling?"

"...Better?" The boy rested his chin on the pillow to see her with more clarity. Then he waited until she grabbed a chair and sat down, resting the tray on her thighs. She put a hand on his forehead, like Miss Shu used to do to measure temperature when someone had a cold. "Uh, who are you? Are you an angel?"

The girl tilted her head. "Oh, sorry, you must be so confused. My name is Jiang Yanli and it's very nice to meet you! What's an angel?" She put down the lid on top of a ceramic bowl. A good, comforting smell reached his nose. "You must be starving, the poor thing. Please don't get up or move from there, I'll feed you."

Jiang Yanli grabbed a spoon and took a spoonful of soup towards Wei Ying's mouth. He lifted his torso as much as he could and opened his jaw wide. It was the most delicious broth he had ever had. She giggled after seeing his satisfied expression.

"Let me explain. My father found you and took you home three days ago."

"So that winged man was real!" he gasped.

"Of course he was." She kept refilling the spoon and giving Wei Ying more food. He licked his lips after each time. "You had a fever and an infection and one of your wings was broken. Well, still is. The doctor said you have to stay in bed until it heals."

"But I'm..." He swallowed his original argument along with the lotus root he was offered since it was moot: they had those things on their back, just like he did. They wouldn't think of him as a monster if they were just the same as him, right? But was he even worth staying in such a pretty house? They even called a doctor. They were spending money on him. Assuming they used money at all.

"No buts. Please be a good kid and rest. Here, drink this medicine."

Softly but firmly she gave him an elixir that was also on the tray. It was bitter and ruined the taste of pork and lotus roots in his mouth.

"Um," he finally said. "I don't have any money or gold or bird seed or whatever you use. I can't repay you. Is it really okay that I stay?"

Without saying a word, Jiang Yanli placed her hand on Wei Ying's head and caressed him, tousling his short dark hair with her fingers. He felt a pang in the chest that was unrelated to the tight bandages, and before he knew it he felt tears running through his cheeks. How embarrassing.

"Don't worry about that. Just focus on getting better, okay? If you need to cry, go ahead. I won't tell anyone!"

She kept comforting him for a while until he let go of all the sadness and loss he had felt in the last week or so.

"Thank you, big sis. You're so kind," he said between sobs, moved. "Are you sure I didn't die and this isn't Heaven?"

"Not at all, you're in Yushan, the Feather Mountains," she said with a serious tone but still with a smile.

These bird people aren't really that good at names, Wei Ying thought. Then again, the same could be said of him, as he remembered how he called his old toys. Maybe that's where he got it from.

"Dad should be back in the evening." She raised the tray and got up. "He knows the whole story and he'll be better at explaining everything. So just rest and sleep until he returns."

"Okay, okay. Got it. I'll be a good boy for big sis. And the soup was the best I've ever had!" He also smiled.

"You're already a good boy, A-Xian. See you later, okay?"

After a pat on the head, Jiang Yanli left him alone in the big room with more questions than answers.

"Wait, why did you call me A-Xian?" he asked out loud.

He felt like the room, so illuminated and warm while the girl barged in, suddenly turned darker with her absence.

*****

Wei Ying didn't notice when he had fallen asleep again. The then almost familiar pain kicked in at full force again and he bit his lip. He realized he was probably given a painkiller and the effect must have passed already. He felt sharpness like knives where the wings met his back's open skin, and even the most infinitesimal move in his body made him wince. It made sense, though. Those were deep cuts after all. Even if these bird people had patched it in, it was still a wound.

The broken wing also throbbed underneath the bandages, but it wasn't as bad as his back.

The boy was bored out of his mind. All he could do was examining the room from his fancy bed. The furniture, the window, the door, it all looked old-fashioned and traditional. There were no electric lamps or appliances, much less a TV set or a radio to entertain himself with. Even hospitals had those sort of things. This patient was going to die from a different condition if he couldn't find a distraction.

All he could do was reliving that night in his head, over and over. The agony and impotence at the pain. The blood he couldn't see but felt dripping down his back. The terrible sensation of those things bursting out of his flesh, his skin and muscles feeling like torn part by the new limbs all of a sudden. The deafening screams got louder as bones he shouldn't have grew and formed, covered in bloodied feathers.

The faces of horror and nausea of his roommates and friends echoing and amplifying the emotions in his chest. Yells, tears, hands dragging him out of the bunk bed. Poor Miss Shu, staring with wide eyes and covering her mouth with her hand before running to call for help, not knowing what was going to happen when she left them alone. Then... the insults, the punches, the kicks coming from the older boys. The pain getting worse, not only on his back but in his heart. Escaping as fast as he could.

Even inside that room, even after he met others like him, he couldn't shake that fear and hatred away yet. Every pang since that night was a reminder he was not human anymore. Had he even been a human being at any point, he wondered?

Oh well, he couldn't do anything about it if he was a monster. At least he wasn't the only one!

Later in the afternoon, the door opened again.

A child around his age charged in, his posture upright as if he owed the place. Or at least Wei Ying though he was a boy because of his outfit and scowl, since his hairstyle —long and tied in a bun— was not something he had seen yet in children of his gender outside of TV. While he also wore hanfu clothing, they looked masculine and he was wearing trousers unlike Yanli and her flowing dress. Everything and everyone in that house seemed like they came out of a period drama.

But that wasn't the most shocking part about the kid: He had no wings.

"Huh? There's a human here?" Wei Ying blurted out and blinked.

The boy in hanfu reacted as though he had been slapped in the face.

"What did you say? Who are you calling a human?!" the boy cried.

"Well, aren't you? I mean, you don't have wings like that guy and that girl."

The boy rushed to stand in front of Wei Ying's face and crossed his arms.

"I see, so you're not only rude and dirty but stupid as well."

"What? Why? Who are you calling stupid?"

It was Wei Ying's turn to pout and get annoyed. Why was he the rude one when the other boy was the one insulting his intelligence? In fact, he had been one of the cleverest kids in the House and prided himself from not having to study much or at all for most tests. He had the multiplication table memorized up to 12 perfectly.

"Don't call me a filthy human or I'll break your other wing!! I'm as much as a dianshen as you are. Even more!"

Wei Ying blinked again. "I'm sorry, a what now?"

"That's the name of our people." The boy rolled his eyes. "You really don't know anything, do you?"

"Ah, I thought we were just bird monsters or demons or something." He hadn't heard the words well, but the first part sounded like heaven, tian, and the second as god or spirit, shen. "Are we... gods?"

"Hmph, do I have to explain even that to you? No, we're not gods, but we're so much more than humans. We're high-leveled spiritual beings."

"Oh, spirits? Like fairies and crap?"

"Yes, but we're much cooler than the other fairy species." The boy grinned and raised his chin.

Wei Ying hummed. Well, it was nice to be told exactly what kind of creature he was. "Okay. But if you're one of those tianshen things..."

"DIANshen!" The kid stomped his foot. "Spirit of the mountain summon!"

"Yeah, whatever. Show me the characters later. If you're one of those, then why don't you have wings?"

The boy hit his forehead with his palm.

"No one is born with them, idiot. You didn't have wings until now, remember? We grow them when we're between 9 and 11."

Suddenly everything made sense. He was nine years old. "...Ah! That's why!" Instinctively, Wei Ying tried to rise up, and he felt a terrible cramp in the wound at the root of his wings.

The boy suppressed a snicker and sat on the chair by the bed. "I should wing any time soon, in any case. And mine will be stronger than yours."

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say." After that boast, even though he didn't like his wings at all and one had been broken, Wei Ying wanted to accept that challenge just to show him. In any case, the guy being all proud at tiny things was cute, and insults aside he was amusing when he was angry. Wei Ying wouldn't mind becoming his friend, considering he had lost all of his previous ones. So he smiled at him as warmly as he could with his backache killing him. "Hey, let's start this again. I'm Wei Ying. What's your name?

"Jiang Cheng, courtesy name Jiang Wanyin."

"Ah, Jiang like Jiang Yanli, the cute sweet sister with the delicious soup."

"Yanli's my big sister." Jiang Cheng seemed pleased by the fact Wei Ying liked her.

"Ah, you're the young lord of the house? Ahahaha! Nice to meet you, Jiang Cheng."

"Can't say the same, you're kind of rude and dumb."

"Pffft. Don't be such a sour bird."

It took Wei Ying a big effort, but still lying down he reached out with one arm, hoping to shake hands with the other boy. Jiang Cheng just stared at the offered hand and didn't take it.

"See, to me that's rude," Wei Ying retorted without losing his good humor.

"What do you want me to do? Stretch my arm too?"

Wei Ying suddenly understood the problem. That was a modern human custom imported from the West. Of course these vintage Chinese fairy bird spirits would not know how to deal with it.

"Ah, right. Grab it and squeeze it," he explained. Jiang Cheng sighed and did as told, and let Wei Ying move his hand up and down a couple of times.

"That's a bit silly," Jiang Cheng said. "Besides, you're the one who should learn how to greet our way."

"Of course, I'll do that. But for that you gotta teach me how, dude," Wei Ying beamed wider.

The boy closed one hand in a fist and touched his other hand's open palm with it. Then he made a bow. It looked incredibly old-fashioned from Wei Ying's point of view, just like the decoration and the clothes.

"Pardon my manners. I want to do it, but I'm in pain and I don't think the bandages would let me bow," Wei Ying said with honesty.

Jiang Cheng glanced at Wei Ying's back even though it was covered by the bedsheets. It looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end he sighed and never did.

"I should get going," he muttered instead. "I have a lesson coming up now and I'll be late."

"Aww, too bad. Can't you skip class? I'm so bored here... And I need help to pee..."

Jiang Cheng shook his head. "I'm not getting in trouble with my mother for someone this dumb. And I doubt I can get you up! I'll send someone to help, pain killers, and a book because you certainly need more culture."

"Thanks, dude. Do you dianshen have comic books?"

"I have never heard of those," Jiang Cheng got up.

"Fine, a normal book will do. I actually like those too, believe it or not. Thank you for everything, young master." Wei Ying tapped his palm with his fist without folding his arms or bowing, the best he could.

"You're learning fast." Jiang Cheng's grin as he opened the door felt less cynical than before.

*****

It wasn't until the sun was setting down that he met the enigmatic winged man again. He arrived with a bright lamp which he set on a table. Wei Ying wondered how it worked, since a candle would be dimmer and he doubted they had any electric batteries.

"Good evening, young master Wei" he said as he sat at the border of the bed to check on the bandages. "I heard you finally woke up."

If his children looked like extras in a wuxia movie, that guy could be one of the main characters. His hair was long with parts tied up in a topknot and two perfect side braids. If the bird men had shampoo commercials, that length would be perfect for one. His outfit was quite fancy, too. His face was good-looking, but most importantly it irradiated serenity. Also, now Wei Ying could see his wings were violet. Not as shiny as Yanli's but the hue was still a cool color.

"Um, hello," Wei Ying stammered.

"Hello to you too, I'm happy to meet you at last." He gave him a tender smile. "My name is Jiang Fengmian and it's a pleasure."

"Same here." Wei Ying did his best to do as much of the greeting as he could.

"Ah, don't overdue it. I'm afraid you'll have to rest and move very little for days to come." Just as he had feared. Since the boy looked sad, Jiang Fengmian continued. "So I heard you already met my children. You seem to have caused an opposite impression on A-Li and A-Cheng."

With that comment, Wei Ying knew that Jiang Cheng had described him to his father as stupid and rude. He was not surprised. He wondered if he should say something to disprove it, like reciting the hardest multiplication tables, but he felt unusually shy around this person. And he had so many questions as well.

"A-Xian, you must be confused. Please tell me what's on your mind, and ask me anything you don't understand, no matter how small."

In that case... "Yeah, well. How did you find me in the middle of a city? Why did you save me? Where is this place? Why are you guys calling me A-Xian? How come the cameras on satellites have not caught dianshen flying on video?"

The man laughed, but not in a mocking manner.

"I cannot answer to the last one unless you give me a translation, but let's start with the others. Do you... Do you remember your parents?"

Wei Ying stirred inside the bedclothes. "Not really. When I was little, they found me with a wound in my head in the middle of nowhere. It was pretty weird. All I could remember was my own name. I was told they notified the cops but there was no report of a missing boy with my name or description, so I was sent to the closest orphanage." As he went through the earliest memories he held, he started to tie things together with the knowledge he was not human. "Did I, um... fall from the sky or something?"

"That was indeed the case," Jiang Fengmian sighed. "I can enlighten you but unfortunately it's not going to be a happy story."

It already wasn't, so Wei Ying shrugged.

"I knew you and your parents. Your father was Wei Changze and he was my best friend since childhood. Your mother was Cangse Sanren. They were good people and they loved you, their only child, very much. Your family liked to travel and meet new places. You were even born during one of those trips. I think your family was likely happy and free."

Wei Changze. Cangse Sanren. Wei Ying repeated the names in his head a few times, hoping he wouldn't forget again.

"But something happened," he said.

"As much as we can predict and sometimes even control the weather, sometimes it's too much even for us." Jiang Fengmian's face showed distress. "A hurricane knocked your traveling carriage over. We managed to track Changze-xiong's whereabouts but it was too late. Madam Cangse was found miles away and passed away before we could move her. But you, Wei Wuxian, were not near either of your parents' bodies. The whirlwind must have tossed you away from them and quite far, considering you ended up in a human city."

He felt chills down his spine. He wasn't expecting it to sound so tragic.

"Oh, there it is again. A-Xian, Wuxian. Why?"

"Our kind uses two names, my boy. Wei Ying was your birth name. Wei Wuxian was the courtesy name that your parents had chosen for you once you had your wings."

Jiang Fengmian took an object from his pocket and gave it to him. It was a silver bell with a red tassle, the three characters of his courtesy name engraved on its round surface. He twirled it between his fingers. Wei Ying's heart started to ache as an echo of his wings', for those parents he couldn't remember anymore.

"We couldn't find you until now. A dianshen's spiritual energy is not strong enough until we are truly complete. The tracking spell started to react as soon as you winged, as soon as you had magic in your body we could locate. I must apologize, though. I wasn't fast enough and had to wait until nighttime to search in town. You were hurt and sick."

Wei Ying opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again.

"Why do you apologize, sir? Just the fact you arrived is... I don't deserve this kindness."

"You do. And I owe it to my friends as well."

Jiang Fengmian ruffled Wei Ying's hair. Then he examined his broken wing more closely, with a serious expression.

"May I ask how it happened?" he inquired.

Wei Ying stiffened.

"Um, I don't remember well," he lied, "these days were a blur. It was totally my fault, though! I think I fell down on my wing and it twisted with the weight."

He just couldn't tell him the truth. What if this massive fairy bird man went to the House and tried to kick the boys' asses? Or even worse? He just couldn't allow it, no matter how cruel their treatment had been or if they deserved it.

Jiang Fengmian didn't look convinced, but he didn't push it. He just seemed lost in thought for a minute before he shook his head.

"You should be more careful, as newly formed wings are delicate." After covering Wei Ying's body with the bedsheets again, he got up. "Don't worry about anything, A-Xian. Your only concern should be staying put and resting so you can heal faster. Just say so if there's anything you want."

"Um, quick question. Is that lotus root and pork rib soup too expensive? Because that was really good."

"A-Li will be glad to hear!" Jiang Fengmian smiled. "There should still be more so I'll tell her to bring it to you for dinner."

"Okay... Ah! Can Jiang Cheng skip his stupid classes to come and hang out longer?"

"Ah, A-Xian, my wife won't allow it." That mysterious lady of the house was starting to scare him a bit. Every guy seemed determined not to upset her and that couldn't be a good sign. "I'll tell him to come by daily, but not at the expense of his lessons. Is that okay by you?"

"Probably not by him, but alright," Wei Ying laughed. Jiang Fengmian stared at him, stunned. It was probably the first time he had smiled at him. He returned it with a soft chuckle.

"Just be patient, boy. You'll get out of that bed soon."

Before he left the room, Wei Ying called him back: "Uncle Jiang?"

"...Yes?" There was a light in his eyes when he heard the way the boy had called him.

"I... Thank you very much for... dunno, everything. And sorry." His cheeks blushed.

"Don't mention it." The man smiled and closed the door.

Wei Ying stared at the silver bell and then collapsed his face against the pillow, letting out a groan of pain and annoyance. He felt burdened with wings he never asked for, a past he couldn't remember, and parents who hadn't abandoned him. Things were much simpler before he woke up.

Orphans usually have this dream. A dream that someday, a person who was a relative or connected to their parents would swoop in, assure them they had been loved, and take them to a big house with lovely people to live happy forever. So Wei Ying was a monster fairy spirit thing, sure, but that fantasy came true or so it seemed for the time being.

Then why didn't he feel happier? Why was he hollow inside?

And he had more questions than before! What kind of miracle had happened so he had survived a hurricane, and one that killed two adults, with only a head injury? Did he understand Mr. Jiang correctly and these birds had flying carriages? Tracking spells? Were his wings something that showed up in a fairy radar? Where did they get lotus roots and pork for that soup? How did that rectangular, traditional-looking lamp in the corner of the room even work?!

Was the Jiang family going to kick him out after his wings healed?

Putting the bell under his pillow, he just closed his eyes and took a nap until dinner time. His body and his heart were fragile and weaker than his mind. Unable to keep up with his confusing thoughts, he dreamed about old times when he could run and laugh with friends.

*****

Extra

A young man was sitting in front of a mirror and humming a song. Gray stormy eyes looked at his own hair while a comb danced through inky black that continued down to the middle of his back. He grabbed two tresses from each side of his head and joined them together, to then tie the hair between them all up in a half ponytail with a striking red ribbon. He looked at the result but, not satisfied, he undid it and started again. It took him three tries for the hairdo to look symmetrical.

He turned his head to each profile to make sure. Finally pleased, he stared at himself and practiced a wink and a seductive smile. Yet he couldn't stand it for long and ended up laughing at his own silliness.

"Good, now that's a handsome wuxia hero in a shampoo commercial," he teased himself for his vanity. He was wearing his favorite black and red flowing robes, the ones he affectionately called his 'cool leather jacket for bird fairies' —to most people's confusion.

Wei Wuxian went on a gait through the hallway. By then he had lived half of his life in that cozy big mansion in the mountains. Soul and wing had healed long ago even if there was still a tiny crack in both he did his best to ignore. He could still fly better and smile brighter than most people despite the crooked wing tip and sad memory that remained. All he could do was to embrace the past and forgive.

He reached the living room area where his two siblings sat in peace.

"Wei Wuxian, are you finally ready?" Jiang Cheng got up with a sneer. "Why do you either take like an hour to groom or just go outside the same way you got up in the morning, never in between?"

"The duality of man," he chirped. Then he turned around to the young lady. "Sis, do you want to come? We're having dinner with the gang in town. It'll be fun!"

"I'd love to, A-Xian, but I have a date tonight."

"Bring your peacock fiancé, then! The more, the merrier!"

"You always say that, but you end up almost punching Jin Zixuan every time," Jiang Cheng covered his forehead with his palm.

"Hey, there was one time when you almost did, too! Wen Ning is my witness that he had to stop us both from ruffling serious golden feathers."

"It was one time and he wasn't in love with her yet." He grabbed Wei Wuxian's shoulder. "Honestly, let them spend time alone. The less boyfriends my siblings bring, the less it ruins these relaxing nights."

"Bad news then: Lan Zhan is coming."

"The problem isn't him coming, it's you both acting annoying!"

Wei Wuxian wasn't planning to stop saying shameless things or displaying his affection just because his brother was embarrassed or possibly jealous. Besides, Lan Wangji was part of his social circle (or The Flock, as he liked to call his boys) regardless of their current relationship.

He pushed Jiang Cheng towards the front yard, hands on bright purple wings, ignoring protests.

"Let's not dawdle with your protests. Let's go, let's go!! Bye, sis!"

"Have fun, A-Cheng, A-Xian!" the girl smiled and waved goodbye.

"Hey sour bird, do we go downtown or do we go to the Nies' place first?"

"Screw Nie Huaisang, I say. He takes even longer to get ready than you."

"Fine, then let's leave..." A cheeky smile was on his face. "Last one who gets there is a winged monkey!"

Quickly, he spread his black wings and took off to the dusk sky. Behind him he heard Jiang Cheng's loud curse and the sounds of feathery flaps approaching fast. He chuckled and flew faster, not minding that the wind was tousling his hairdo.

Notes:

The dianshen (巔神, forgive me if it makes no sense in actual Chinese) are made up for this fic and don't really exist in Chinese mythology but take inspiration on several legends like mainly the Japanese tengu (which is why I tagged it as youkai even though it's not quite), with some of the Chinese shen, the fae, and even an air to Buddhist immortals. Yushan, obvious name and all, is an actual place in legends, though!

#mo dao zu shi #wei wuxian #jiang cheng #jiang yanli #jiang fengmian #$fanfic #wing au

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deepest-dope · 5 years ago

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Joliceur D. Grigori age 29

“Father Iron” age 60

this is my ex cp9 oc, he is actually 40 for most of his time in my story that he spends with my main ocs but this is the gist of what he looks like under readmore if youd like to know more about him

Backstory: Joliceur D. Grigori was born on an island in North Blue to an absent father and a half dead mother, she did not survive long enough to raise him beyond his first few days of life. he was raised in a relatively wellfunded orphanage and was as well fed as a D. trapped in a house with 50 other kids who also very much need food can be.

he got a lot of supplemental food by either fishing and foraging it for himself or more reliably, helping old ladies out around the city he lived in and eating with them multiple times a day, occasionally becoming closer to them than their own children/grandchildren. he spent most of his days dogging after older people on the island, whther elderly fisherman at the docks or grandmothers in the market, he was for most of his younger childhood a much beloved pseudo grandchild to every over 50 citizen of his home island.

occasionally in seclusion hed sing to himself or whatever stray animal that happened by and stayed to listen, and dream of one day becoming a somewhat well known musician. sadly this would not come to be however after a small pirate crew targets his home, and ravages his city for 3 weeks until he gets well and truly sick of waiting for the marines to show and takes matters into his own hands. at the age of 8 he takes a boat out after them into the night and “resolves” the conflict. in other words he manges to beath captain and first mate in single combat and terrify the much weaker crew into taking him back to his island and turning their former superiors in. this incident is what getts him the attention of cipher pol 9.

a few months after the pirate business blows over he is “adopted” by a man named spandine, taken to the island guanhao and never heard from agin by any on the island in north blue. this is where is decade long career as an assassin begins.

he spends the rest of histime as an 8 and 9 year old mastering rokushiki at a prodigous rate and eventually is deemed ready to be sent on missions at 10. by his early 20s he is dubbed the human buster call, or among his colleagues buster. he is...not quite depressed but not happy either. he spends most of his work time in a semi dissociative state and his off time rifling through missions lookingg for a job that doesnt seem as taxing as all the rest.

age 27, he is sent on an easy undercover mission ment to serve as a punishment for multiple failures to take out gold roger and silvers rayliegh. it is as an orphanage caretaker and he is meant to keep watch for orphan dealers and slavers, as well as scout for new cipher pol agents on the side.

he is meant to take it as retribution for failure. the job is supposed to grate on his nerves. the lack of action is supposed to frustrate him. being forced to care for 50+ children of varying age and volume with only 2-3 adults to help him is supposed to stretch his patience paper thin. he is meant to spend a year there in penance and come back eager to succeed at offing his marks without fail.

the experience is more rewarding than any of his training or missions he has ever done in his life up till that point. successfully coralling children into meals or games feels more like victory then getting one over on rayliegh ever did. the admiration and attention of a small hoard of grade schoolers is more rewarding then praise from his boss and colleagues ever was. he discovers that he is very very good at teaching and his singing voice is even better than it was as a kid, having dropped into a surprisingly soothing tenor somewhere in his teens. he finds that he very much likes taking care of others.

he gains a reputation as a hard worker, kind older brother figure to any child that will approach him. he is for the first time in his life well liked for things aside from his combat ability. its a rewarding job and he loves it. it ends by the very next year.

he returns to his house on guanhao. he tries to go on with work as usual. he takes time volunteering to train new recruits on his days off. he tries to go back to his same old missions. its all very grating in ways it never used to be and he hates it more than before when it was all he did and he hadnt known he could still sing or soothe kids or love any of the people around him.

eventually at age 30 he is sent on a mission of high priority: hunt down the beginnings of a revolution in east blue and quash it before it can truly take hold. it should be easy enough. all he has to do is find the right kind of people, express the right opinions and eventually one of them will lead him right to the nest.

he finds that he rather likes it there. not quite as much as caring for the kids in the old orphanage. its both not quite as good and better than before. hes not quite as good with the adults as he is with children but he gets along well enough. the mission goes well and not-quite-as-planned. he ends up doing a lot to gain the trust of the revolutionary army and in the process ends up sabotaging the cipher pol and the marines in equal measure.

still he does pretty well and manages to gain the trust of the more prominent members of the army, namely one bartholomew kuma. he eventually establishes himself as friend, via calculated use of the truth in small increments. he tries not to outright lie to anyone, by omission of key details if he must.

he plays a role of marine deserter on the run for a time with his history he cobbles together with his favorite parts made real by believable dustings of The Bitter Truth.

i m gonna cut this part short. he fesses up to kuma and by extension the revolutionaries. he gives them the whole story and they help him quit his job by faking his death in a show of dragons power. set him up on a nice quiet little island in one of the blues where he gets to own an orphanage/school and raise and teach kids quite happily until my Protagonist washes up on the island at the ripe old age of 6 gets adopted by him and makes trouble for the whole toen until shes finally old enough to strike out on her own as a woman of the seas.

Personality: he is an ice king for most of his life in cipher pol right up until he is steadily defrosted by the kids he looked after and bartholomew kuma. age 35 onwards he is pretty open and honest with everyone leaving out his personal history and all that. hes quite jovial by the time my main character comes into his care. hes big on cognitive compassion after extended exposure to dragon and kuma and does his best to teach kids the Good Morals. though with a broad and loose sense of whats good and what isnt. as an assassin he doesnt have a particluarly strong set of morals. more accurately hes got 3 strong morals in total, which are slavery bad wipe slavers out on sight, rapists bad kill on sight, pedophiles bad kill them when you see them, everything else is try not to steal or kill people if you dont have to, he masquerades as a priest for most of his life with like zero guilt because he does not like women or men and doesnt want them hitting on him for reference. he has kids to focus on leave him alone he doesnt care about how you think he looks or how you want to date him he has 40 plus children with varying problems to look after he doesnt have time to sabotage your first date with him just to make you happy he at least ~tried~ bitch hes got ex slave children to work through therapy for.

Appearance: brown hair when young, salt and chocalate? in his 40s, full white by 60. grey eyes. aquiline nose. used to shave while working for cp9 stopped a while after joining up with the revoltion and has never shaved since. hes had that patchy ass beard most of his life at this point. used to wear his hair in a really tight bun in cp9. stopped wearing his hair up around the same time he stopped shaving. has never cut his hair in his life, but his hairs thick and curly as fuck so it usually only touches the edge of his mid back towards the end and he can wipe his ass without fear unlike some of my other ocs. was toned 20s to 30s but stopped caring so much about staying in perfect shape after taking over his orphange, so still definitely muscular but more dad bod when hes older. he retains tekkai and kamie throughout his life can still geppo and soru but its more straining than when he was younger. doesnt stop him from moonwalking onto slaver ships to steal their child slaves to raise as his own and leave the slavers for the marines.

Miscellanious: he collects rosary and gives a basque ring rosary from his collection to protag-chan before she sets out on her own as a good luck charm/memento. while half the reason he decided to disguise himself as a priest is to use the vow of chastity as a way out of romance he also chose it so he wouldnt have to pick out clothes every day. he doesnt officially run missions for the revolutionary army but he does do things like take in ex slaves and let army members use his church/orphanage as a hideout/waypoint. he rebuilt the church he operates out of himself. he has armament haki and observation haki by age 30. if he has conquerors hes never unlocked it. all his knowledge about priests comes from kuma and he just bluffs through anything hes not sure about.

#ocs #oc stuff #my ocs #one piece #cp9 #jesus fick ive been writing for 2 hours

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theonlyfoolishquestions · 6 years ago

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The Class of 2019

Brief Summary: Kai visits the now former Colonel Shikishima in his ‘retirement’. As the evening falls, the two have a long fireside discussion about their home. (Spring 2027)

“Drink?”

The bearded man didn’t even wait for an answer before producing a bottle of sake from behind the log he was sitting on. Not noticing the beaming smile of the young man sitting opposite him.

“Holy…” Kai had to hold himself back from snatching the bottle right out of Shikishima’s hands there and then.

“Wow…I don’t even know how you got that stuff all the way out here.”

As he handed the bottle over, Shikishima asked “You are actually old enough to drink now, right?”

“Yes, for the fiftieth time.” Kai retorted in mock frustration as he gleefully took the bottle and poured a sizeable amount into his flask, before adding. “Anyways…it never stopped me before.”

Kai couldn’t help but briefly marvel at their surroundings. The two were sat separated by a small manmade firepit, not too far from a modestly sized cabin. This overlooked a rural town from a gradual hillside vantage point. There were only a few light sources which illuminated the settlement. In many ways, it seemed as though this place was almost untouched by time. The snow-capped mountains in the distance, the sheer amount of greenery and the cleanliness of the air all stood out to him.

“Y’know...you really managed to pick the nicest place to go into exile, Colonel.”

Shikishima simply glanced at the town, slightly sneering.

“I think I needed a change of scenery. And please, don’t call me Colonel. I’m no soldier anymore.”

Kai was about to apologise but was cut off by a loud and somewhat shrill shout from the adjacent cabin.

“SHIKISHIMA!!!”

A figure poked out of the cabin window, an extremely old man with wispy long white hair, a lab coat and glasses. His expression seemed rather frustrated.

Shikishima rolled his eyes. “What is it? I’m talking to Kaisuke.” He completely knew the question that was about to come his way.

The Scientist barely allowed Shikishima to finish before quickly shouting back. “Yeah, it’s about him! Did he bring any smokes?”

Shikishima looked back towards Kai, who simply smirked and shook his head.

“No!”

“Oh.”

The window slammed shut as the dejected figure retreated back inside.

“Strange, you usually bring cigarettes along for him.” Shikishima stated, as he poured himself some of the sake. Recognising how Kai typically went out of his way to give the Scientist some of his beloved cigarettes every time he visited.

Kai’s smirk became a full-blown smile.

“I did. Slipped em into his back pocket earlier tonight. He’s gonna get a nice surprise later.”

He looked back across towards the cabin, smile getting even wider. While Shikishima heaved a small sigh that may just have stifled a chuckle.

“I have to admit, they’re a different breed. Those scientists.” The older man remarked, semi-aware of the irony of that statement.

“Seriously, I couldn’t imagine living with one. I got enough on my plate at home already. Well...Kaneda and Kei do too I guess…” Kai’s response tapered off slightly towards the end.

He received a look from his companion almost hinting at him to continue.

Kai hesitated but pressed on regardless. “Well, we got the kids to deal with now, the boys.” He noticed himself feeling rather nervous to actually say that out loud, strangely.

What he failed to notice was Shikishima’s complexion change, eyebrows furrowing. Seemingly coming to some form of realisation.

“They didn’t...?” He wondered aloud.

Kai immediately interjected, realising that he may have just insinuated that Kaneda and Kei have had kids.

“Wha-OH no!” He blurted, not even letting Shikishima finish his thought. “Adopted, I guess is the right term. Two brothers, Azuma and Takeo. Good kids.”

He looked across towards Shikishima who nodded his head understandingly.

“There are a lotta kids out there who got nobody else you know?” Kai concluded. His tone becoming more serious.

This shift in tone was noticed by his compatriot, who let out a tired sigh. He knew that Kai assigned great importance to human life, much like himself.

“There always are...” He added solemnly.

Indeed, Kai himself was one of those kids who had nobody else for a long time. Shikishima was aware of this, as had learnt odd bits of information about Kai’s past through his numerous visits over the past few years. Kai had been coming to see him since just after his seventeenth birthday, the very first visit came at a time when he was finding life with Kei and Kaneda in Neo-Tokyo to be particularly hard. He needed a break, and fortunately over the last few years the two had developed a rapport.

That being said, Kai still didn’t know too much about Shikishima’s own past. As he had not allowed his mask of stoicism and unflappability to slip despite their encounters. In many ways, he was the opposite of Kai in that regard. Kai wanted to change that

“Did you lose anyone in all this?” Kai ventured. Thinking very carefully before he asked that question.

This was unchartered territory for the two of them, and the sensitivity of Kai’s query brought a sudden degree of tension to the atmosphere. Shikishima himself paused, as if deep in thought over whether he would even answer the question. He recalled certain instances of a tired Kai, who would speak for what seemed like hours about his old friend Yamagata and how he died. Most of the time, those nights would end in Kai barely holding back tears. Before the two separated for the night and he would hear stifled sobs from Kai in the other room. Perhaps Kai’s trust and honesty deserved a small amount in return.

“I didn’t have anybody to lose.” He finally responded.

Kai let out a sigh of his own. “I see. Well...I’m sorry all the same.”

Shikishima arched forward, resting his chin on his knuckles as he spoke. “There was...a saying my old sergeant used back when I was in training, after the first Akira disaster. ‘Everyone does his duty, dead or alive.’ I suppose he was right.” He concluded, a distinctive hollowness to his tone that betrayed a hint of mourning.

His remark somewhat puzzled Kai. Whilst he recognised that Shikishima was clearly still dealing with loss of his own, the statement about duty irked Kai. The notion that death could perhaps serve as a “duty” for select people didn’t sit right with him. Before he could stop himself, he responded quite harshly.

“That what you think about those kids? They did their duty?”

The edge in Kai’s tone was noticed by the older man, as was the fact that Kai was referring to Numbers 25, 26 and 27. Kiyoko, Takashi and Masaru respectively.

“They did the right thing.” He retorted, attempting to not be drawn into a debate with Kai.

The attempt didn’t work.

“I mean, I don’t think that the millions of dead people think anything done was right, to be honest.” Kai fired back almost instantly. His bitterness about 2019 incident still evident. Also evident was his clear resentment of how the psychics were poorly handled by the government and military, who he thought did nothing but exacerbate the threat to the innocents of Neo-Tokyo.

Shikishima grew slightly frustrated by Kai’s small outburst. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t spent his whole professional career trying to protect the people of his city from that exact danger. He replied in kind to Kai, in a decidedly firmer tone than before.

“Then that’s something you have to learn about the real world, Kaisuke. Compromise. Neo-Tokyo is a city that has lived and died on compromise.” He knew this better than most. “We were remnants of the past, the children and I. They did what they judged to be right, I did too.” Shikishima paused, weighing up whether or not he would continue to explain himself. “A time may come where you must face the same situation. I still hold out hope that you won’t have to.”

“Why?” Kai wanted to know what might be in store for him.

Shikishima’s diverted his gaze towards Kai, although it was almost as though he looked straight through him.

“To spare you from the nightmares, the regret…the shame.”

Kai’s brows furrowed, he huffed as he once again responded in a pointed tone.

“You’re not exactly alone there, you know? We all lived through the same shit.” Kai could sense that he was getting legitimately angry, his unresolved issues about what happened practically presented themselves. “And I’m pretty sure I got a decent enough grasp of ‘the real world’ when I saw my best friend murdered right in front of me.” He hissed. With a slight hint of shakiness in his next breath.

“I don’t mean to disrespect you but, I’m talking about something entirely different here. Something you and... those like you never had to deal with.” Shikishima fired back. The two had debated in the past about certain things, but this subject was closer to the bone than any other.

“Which is?”

“Responsibility.”

Kai huffed, throwing his hands in the air in incredulity.

“You make it sound like we had a choice.” He barked, half laughing. “I knew my city, as good as anyone else.”

However, Shikishima remained cool. Merely shaking his head slowly. “Kaisuke, please. So much happened in that city. Things you have no idea of.”

“Try me.”

Stroking his beard, Shikishima started. “Very well. After I took my position within the Project, my attempts to learn everything I could about people with supernatural abilities were exhaustive. I saw it as my duty to safeguard my home, so I accessed past data files and tracked down as many sources or witnesses as I could.” He paused, looking up at Kai’s face contorting in mix between curiosity and anger. “One particular time, I found a man who had personal experience with psychic entities before even the numbers began. He spoke about one particular incident. A gas explosion in an apartment complex, in the days of the old city. With a crazed old man, and a girl.”

Kai had spent some time in the last few years exploring some of the old government buildings still standing across the city. Including the headquarters where Tetsuo, Kaneda and Kei were all once detained. Kai, along with Kei thought it very important that they learn as much as they could from the now defunct Akira Project. Often times the two would spend almost full days searching, and their persistence had yielded results from time to time.

So, hearing Shikishima use his knowledge of past incidents as a stick to beat him with in this debate was rather infuriating.

“Is this shit supposed to shock me? That crazy coverups were going on even so far back as before the Akira Project?”

“No, it’s meant to illustrate that there’s a reason why so few people carry the burden of knowledge. It makes you afraid, and it forces upon you the responsibility to do something about it.” He really wasn’t trying to demean Kai, or lessen his experiences. It was just that he viewed the position he had held for years to be something of a poisoned chalice. That knowing alone, the dangers that faced the city and how ill prepared those in power were to combat them, was a burden so heavy that it would envelop your entire being.

Kai felt a searing need to respond. To tell someone like Shikishima, the former Colonel and member of the very establishment that held up the city, how he really felt.

“I guess you’re right. I was too busy dealing with the lack of ‘responsibility’ of being alone from the age of 7, in a tiny apartment, cramped in with hundreds of sorry saps in the same building exactly like me. Seeing the fucked-up shit that happened to people, real people. You don’t know what people like me had to try to get away from. But I made it, I made friends…” He stopped, and had to chuckle at the irony of it all.

“…and then one of those friends ends up destroying the whole city.” Kai smiled wistfully. “You talk about the burden of knowledge, man. I knew him.”

Kai didn’t speak like a man barely out of his teens. For Shikishima, it almost felt as though he was speaking to someone of his own age, his own experience, a survivor. This gave him brief pause for thought, he could feel himself beginning to reconsider his point. He looked at Kai and perhaps for the first time in his life, he saw someone he could relate to. Someone in close proximity to him, no pretence of professional courtesy or military etiquette to muddy the waters. A legitimate peer, some would even say a friend. Not Shikishima, not historically anyway.

“Alright…”

“What?” Kai snapped, clearly expecting Shikishima to try to shut him down again.

The older man simply raised his hand, as if to usher in some unspoken truce. Or at least to calm Kai down.

“I admit, I had punks-” He never was good at this kind of thing. “people like you…and Kaneda figured wrong at first. Perhaps, I still do. We share a lot in common.”

Kai’s face immediately brightened up, a more genuine smile adorned his face. He knew this was the closest he’d get to a concession from Shikishima.

“Guess you turned out to be a way better guy than we first though too. I mean, Kaneda and I used to call you the Skinhead. Guess you kinda reminded us of Mr Takaba too, real nasty gym teacher who used to knock our teeth out when we stepped outta line.” He smirked. “But uh…we still talk about you sometimes. If Kei wasn’t so busy, she’d come along here too. Kaneda is…well Kaneda about you. Still calls you the Skinhead, fuck knows what he’ll call you if he gets wind of your new beard.” Kai laughed at the thought.

Surprisingly, Shikishima actually laughed too. A short but nonetheless noticeable chuckle. He knew that there would be some juvenile Santa Claus reference Kaneda would surely come up with.

“I did say your youth was your greatest weapon…” He responded as dryly as he could.

By this time, the small fire that separated the two men was beginning to die out. The initial drops of an oncoming raincloud threatened, and the cold of night was about to set in. Kai and Shikishima looked at each other in mutual understanding that it was probably time to get inside for the evening.

Instinctively, Kai helped the former Colonel to his feet. Passing him his crutch as he stood up and grabbing his own backpack in the process. Shikishima still held some permanent wounds from the incident in 2019, which would stunt his mobility.

As the two slowly made their way back to the cabin, Kai elbowed Shikishima in the side to get his attention.

“And despite everything, one thing I gotta say about my life in Neo-Tokyo. I was never a puppet.”

Shikishima simply smirked. He liked that answer.

“AH! It’s a miracle!” A voice from inside the cabin bellowed out victoriously. It appeared a certain scientist had found his cigarettes.

#Akira #Kai #Colonel Shikishima #here it is #it is LONG #lots of easter eggs too #but yeah #they're both good people #just very damaged #this was hella hard work so I hope u all enjoy!#if the read more link doesn't work then just visit the blog

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undrtheivy · 6 years ago

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( kaylee bryant + cis female + she/her ) / who’s that rustling through the trees? oh, it’s just you, LISA LIDDELL. i happen to know that you’re a TWENTY year old STUDENT. while you’re from PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA, you’re currently staying in CABIN SIX. i think that you’re POLITE & COMPLAISANT but my mama says you’re FEEBLE & BITTER. is that CHELSEA MORNING by JONI MITCHELL currently playing on your spotify? well, turn it down please, you’re disrupting the peace. ( admin velouria + 25 + she/her + est )

it’s velouria back with child number two. she’s a lot less terrible than my son but she’s got her moments lmao. a real heather mcnamara.

tw: murder, harm against children, ableism

born in bainbridge island, washington, on january 14th, 1999, as lainey novak. she had two older siblings and one younger brother. her parents, craig and justina, were high school sweethearts. they were just two dumb kids when they first got pregnant and shortly afterwards, they were married.

they lived off of craig’s minimum wage salary as they had another child only a year after the first, and then quickly after that, lainey arrived. the children were relatively calm and happy, but things were very strained between craig and justina, as the bills piled up and justina became frustrated with her life.

with their last child born and their older children becoming school-aged, justina got a part time job as a receptionist at a local newspaper office. over time, justina started to fall in love with a reporter there, fantasizing about a life with a strange man and no children. while she loved her kids, she began to resent them for ‘stealing her youth’ away, while craig was none the wiser.

after two years at the newspaper, justina had built up her fantasy so much that it began to bleed into real life and she started an affair with the reporter. however, he wasn’t interested in anything serious, especially not a woman with multiple children, and justina eventually decided she needed to get rid of her children to be with him. justina shot her four children, blaming the incident on a home intruder. the incident ended with all her siblings deceased, lainey the only one to survive.

lainey was sent to a foster home as her mother went to trial and was eventually sent to prison for life for the murder of three of her children. lainey was adopted a short time later by the liddells, renamed lisa for privacy, and moved down to california in petaluma.

lisa, only a small child when all of this occurred, adjusted well to life with the liddells. though she had vague memories of her family before and the incident, lisa became convinced those were just dreams. it wasn’t until her late adolescence that lisa realized it really happened. the liddells didn’t hide what happened from lisa, but they were careful about it, in case word got out and unwanted attention came to them.

lisa got along well with her adopted siblings and did well in school, though was a pathological people-pleaser. she easily got swept up into popular crowds and their bad habits, though she was the ‘nice one’ out of the popular crowd she hung around with.

lisa got into stanford, just a stone’s throw away from petaluma, where her older adopted sister jamila already attended. thinking she’d have a fresh start, as none of her high school friends were going to stanford, she quickly fell into old habits once she started to rush omega beta zeta.

there, she became part of the ‘popular crowd’ once again, though they were much worse than anything she encountered in high school. (think the heathers, lisa being the mcnamara.) while she was, once again, the ‘nice one’ of the group, she began to feel more pressured into doing things that she’d usually resist against, and lisa discovered she had a meaner side to her than she thought before.

in her sophomore year of college, lisa has grown tired of being part of the omega beta zetas and the fierce foursome, but she loves her best friends and truthfully, the attention she gets from being part of them is nice. still, lisa has become a bit more passive aggressive, and fights back in subtler ways. she doesn’t like herself when she’s around the foursome, but she doesn’t who she’d be without them, either.

lisa has come to crescent lake as part of her vacation with her best friends, though it quickly got bigger until even her adopted sister jamila has tagged along. she was expecting a quiet, relaxing vacation with her girls but really, who was she kidding? this was only an excuse to party... or is it? does someone else in the group have nefarious reasons for bringing them all to lake crescent camp grounds?

wanted connections.

a townie that’s caught lisa’s eye. usually lisa keeps to herself, rather shy, but this muse is just so alluring that lisa is finding herself drawn to them.

townie friends. lisa’s never been to crescent lake before but she’d likely meet them at a party and they’ve decided to bring lisa under their wing and show her around crescent lake while she’s here.

idk i’ll add more i’m tireddddd

#axed.intro #this sucks i'm sorry lmao

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csjolly · 6 years ago

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Hello! For your prompts I’m a real sucker for CS adopting a child. :)

ok I know this is pretty out there and LOOSELY follows the prompt so please forgive me! I’ve been wanting to write this for ages. Hope you enjoy :)

“Bite your tongue, pet. I’m walking you home, whether you like it or not.” Emma huffed at Killian’s stubborn tone, rolling her eyes as he shouldered his leather bag and extended his arm. A chill ruffled her hair, the cold October weather finally getting to her.“Fine,” She eventually conceded, without batting an eye at his possessive endearment, “I’m not some damsel in distress, though.”

The top of his ears turned red as he blushed, glancing briefly at his crooked arm, which he had offered to avoid her tripping on the iced-over stairs.

“I don’t need help down the stairs, Jones, no matter how high we are up Fall’s ass.” She continued, pushing past his hand and stepping down to the sidewalk that wrapped around the campus library where she worked.Killian scratched behind his ear and grinned obnoxiously. He shook his head, chiding her playfully, “Oi! That’s professor Jones to you.”

Emma held back a smile of her own, batting at his shoulder as he descended to her level. “I’m not your student. I’m not even a student,” She reminded him.

He shrugged. “As long as we work for the same university, I think you’ll find my title stays.” “And what if I want to call you by your first name, instead?” She turned to him coyly, finding his hand and intertwining their fingers. In response, he craned his neck down to pull her into a languid kiss, his wrist pressed against the small of her back. He gently gripped the fabric of her red leather jacket, his right arm finding the curve of her jaw and pressing her closer.

The red-brown scruff of his cheek brushed against her fingers and she hummed into his mouth. That got him to pull back reluctantly, tapping her on the nose.

“You’ll have to ask nicely, I suppose.” He murmured against her, and Emma laughed, pushing off of him.

“Yeah, yeah, Casanova.” She giggled, shaking her head as he trailed behind her.

The two walked in a comfortable silence down the empty streets, only pausing once to tie Emma’s shoe (“Honestly, Swan, why do you bother with those boots? I’d much prefer you in heels”/“You couldn’t handle me in heels, Jones”). The darkened road to Emma’s place ran beneath the metro underpass, a heavy stone bridge that towered over the slums of Boston. Her house was a block or so past it, a tiny little bungalow hidden by big metal fencing and walls of foliage. Emma was an expert in budgeting, not having a degree to back her up for a higher-paying job, and not having the money to go back to school to get one. The discount fencing was to keep out the drunks that stumbled through the back alley that her garage laid along, and the foliage had been a nice touch of her own. She had always wanted to live somewhere green, with flowers and bright colors, and she had been piecing her way towards that year by year with each potted plant she added to her yard serving as a souvenir.

Beyond her cool and guarded demeanor, she was a soft and gentle person, emotional in nature and kind in heart. The dismal mentality she grew up with was slowly tumbling away, whether it was at her own hand, or at the hand of a scruffy and rugged brit who smelled of coffee and vanilla, grumbling about the way she drove and embracing her tightly and protectively, as though each touch was his last.

The little homestead with chipped blue paint lacquered over dulled wooden paneling and a dirt stained porch was all she could really hope for. It was dusty and odd, but it was unique and so very alive. She could feel the calm energy that buzzed through the windowsills and chilled the dew droplets on the grass each morning. Emma knew the warmth and love that she had put into the property, and the same affection it gave back.

Her financial situation was one she had always struggled with. Her affinity for books and charismatic personality had earned her a spot at Boston University’s library, which was certainly a blessing, but didn’t quite make for a luxurious status. She certainly had been offered help from her friends. There was always the librarian who picked up Emma’s shifts on her off days, Belle French. She had her friend Mary Margaret, an English Professor whose husband David worked as a deputy for the Boston Police Department. Even her best friend and boss, Regina Mills, had offered to lend Emma money. She refused, though, each time. She didn’t want pity cash, and she didn’t want patronizing looks. She wanted the be recognized as someone who could take care of herself. Killian had always respected that, offering to cover dinner and give her rides to the store but graciously nodding when she refused.

The one thing he was a stickler for was walking her home. She didn’t live far from the University, only a few blocks- but he never failed to accompany her after her shifts, muttering something about ‘good form’ (“So you’ve decided to be a gentleman today?” / “I’m always a gentleman, love”). She had to admit, despite her perfected ability to hold her own in a fight, his protectiveness was endearing. Each time he put his arm around her shoulder under the bitterness of the night and the fluorescent street lamps, she felt a sense of safety and contentment that she hadn’t known in years.

That’s not to say she didn’t manage on her own, though- upholding her dignity atop muscled shoulders and and maintaining her quality of life on a head of blonde hair. In fact, her stitched-together abode even served as refuge to some of the scrap-starved kids that frequented the underpasses and tunnels near the train station.

Growing up in foster care, Emma knew the loneliness and fear that went along with the life. As unofficial as it was, she had managed to supply a home to some of the runaways around the Boston area, providing what food and shelter she could give, as well as all the love her heart might hold.

She and Killian had been together for nearly 10 months, and he had well managed to gain her trust enough to let him around some of the kids in her charge. Most of the teenagers drifted in an out of the area, stopping by for days at a time every few months. The youngest of the bunch, though, a 13 year old named Henry, came by Emma’s the most.

His last set of foster parents had been a nasty two- a neglectful and cruel couple who hadn’t even seemed to notice that Henry had run away. The boy himself had spent the last few weeks on Emma’s couch, but eventually decided to return to the home to make sure the other kids were okay. She’d given him his own key for his 13th birthday, and he’d been using it ever since (leaving notes of thanks on the fridge or leaving his comic books strewn across the living room floor). Over the months she’d known him, she’d even managed to teach him some manners, and he’d taken it upon himself to take out the trash and wash the dishes whenever he could. Every once in a while, he’d bring some younger kids from his foster home back for dinner, raiding Emma’s fridge and showing them all the old Disney movies Emma had packed under the coffee table.

Since Killian had started coming over, though, they’d found their interests in listening to tales of his travels (being an ex-navy man turned history professor, he had his fair share). Emma might have particularly enjoyed brushing the black strands of hair out of his face as he recounted his adventures, pressing a light kiss to his temple and fetching blankets for the kids huddled on the worn-down couch. She’d usually indulge them in steaming mugs of hot chocolate (with cinnamon on top, Henry insisted), and when she had saved up enough for the given month, they’d pile into Killian’s car on voyages to the aquarium or the marina. The older ones, who were more concerned about necessities like caps and gloves for the harsh winter, particularly enjoyed when she’d take them to the store and let them pick out a few things each.

Killian had grown attached to an older boy who shared his brother’s name. Liam was 17 and as nomadic as they came, only stopping by a few times a year or when he was in the area. He had fallen into a bad crowd, and despite Emma’s urgings to get himself straightened out, Liam had been impossible to get through to. That was, until he’d met Killian. The two had similar backgrounds- lost their mothers at a young age, deadbeat fathers- and were immediately inseparable. Killian had even managed to convince Liam to stay with him for a a while. After about three months of living with Killian, he had worked up enough to combine with all his savings to get himself his own place. The last that Emma and Killian heard from him, Liam had enrolled in the police academy in New York and was attempting to right some of his past wrongs.

And that was simply Killian’s character: headstrong, determined, nurturing, wise- everything Emma had wanted to model for the kids. Having her boyfriend around had certainly made her job a lot easier. Henry, though- he had always been more in tune with Emma, despite Killian’s unfaltering adoration.

Emma unlocked the gate and turned around to Killian. His dark hair was disheveled from a wind and his cheeks were rosy and pink. He smiled brightly, and kissed her on the cheek.“Have a good night, love.” He told her softly, but she grabbed his arm before he could turn to leave. “Why don’t you stay tonight?” She suggested through a yawn, tugging on the lapels of his heavy coat. He chuckled, and slid his arms around her waist. “You seem a little too tired for that, Swan.” He drawled mischievously lifting an eyebrow.

“You got that right, pal,” she snorted, “But I don’t want you to take the metro home this late. I’d feel a lot better if you’d stay over. Neither of us have work tomorrow anyway, so we can sleep in late.”

He nodded, bumping his nose against hers.“I’d love nothing more.”

The two stumbled through the enclosed front yard, tripping over pots of plants and little garden-gnomes. “Bugger me,” Killian swore as he caught his foot on the jagged porch step. Emma laughed at him, and helped him stable himself. “I swear, Emma, you have to allow me to install garden lights as soon as tomorrow’s sun renders this death-trap of a lawn visible. You simply must.”

She just rolled her eyes at his whining, and fumbled with her keys to unlock the door. “You could just move in,” She suggested, “Then you’d have full authority over what do do about our death trap lawn.”

It wasn’t as though they hadn’t talked about it before, they knew they were a permanent thing and both wanted to take the step. The only issue was the location. Emma didn’t care if the house was falling apart. She’d make whatever repairs were necessary; it was her home. Killian, on the other hand, wanted to give her the absolute best that he could, and worried that the house was in a dangerous neighborhood for their potential kids to live. Emma argued that kids already did live with her, and she didn’t want to leave the only home she’d known.

“I think I could live with that.” He told her, and she looked back to him questioningly. “Really? But I thought-” He shook his head.“Emma, you know that I love you. I’d live with you in a bloody rubbish bin if you wanted to.” He stepped forwards, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. A grin broke out onto his face, “Besides, David says you’re the best I can do.”

Emma laughed and smacked him on the chest. “Hey!” She defended, and he smiled broadly back. “I’m only joking, Swan.” He hummed, leaning down to kiss her. Before he could though, a loud thud sounded from inside the house.

Emma startled and quickly unlocked the door, rushing inside as soon as she could. She wasn’t quite sure what she expected, but a tumbling Henry collapsing under the open living room window was certainly not it.

Killian was at his side in an instant, pulling him to his feet and brushing him off.“Are you alright, lad?” He inspected Henry for any injuries, finding only a blotchy purple bruise forming on his cheek.

Emma cupped the boy’s chin and tilted his head to get a better look. “Who did this to you?” She demanded as Killian closed the open window.

Henry averted his eyes and shook his head free. “Sorry for coming through the window. Didn’t wanna risk tripping on all the crap in the yard.” He mumbled, and Killian would have sent Emma a pointed look about porch lights if the boy didn’t look so sad.

“It’s okay, kid,” She told him, pulling him towards the couch, “Sit down, I’ll make you some hot chocolate.”

Henry nodded, pushing a mess of tangled brown hair out of his eyes. “Due for a shave, aren’t you?” Killian asked as he took a seat next to the boy, hoping to lighten the mood. Henry’s mouth nearly twitched into a smile, but it was gone in an instant. Killian sighed lowly, helping Henry shrug off his jacket. The boy’s shoes were drenched in mud and dirt, soaked through to the socks.

Henry hissed as he took them off, tossing them onto the mat in the corner of the room that Emma always insisted he wiped his feet on. “Bloody hell, lad, how many puddles did you jump into?” Killian asked Henry as he wrapped the nearest blanket around his shivering form. Henry shrugged, teeth chattering. “I dunno. I was running too fast to keep track.” Killian nodded solemnly and put his arm around Henry, pulling the boy into a hug. Henry leaned immediately into the embrace, burying his head into Killian’s shoulder and clinging tightly to the blanket. Emma met Killian’s worried glance over Henry’s head as she set down a mug of hot chocolate in front of him.

She rubbed the boys shoulder as he sat up, quickly wrapping his fingers around the drink and gulping down as much as he could. “Henry, slow down, you’ll choke.” She softly reminded him, and he set the mug back down on the table.

“Can we watch a movie? Pirates of the Caribbean, maybe?” He asked, his eyes pleading with her. Emma nodded and combed his hair with her fingers. Before her resolve crumbled, she reminded him, “You know the rules, though. You have to tell me what happened, first.”

Emma had a few of these, set just to make sure everyone was safe. The kids had to tell her their real name (no aliases allowed), explain where they got any bumps and bruises, and promise not to steal anything. Emma’s intuitive lie detector (a nifty skill she picked up that the kids had affectionately deemed her ‘superpower’) prevented anyone from escaping the rules, and made for a safe and open house.

That didn’t mean the kids always liked it, though. Henry huffed and turned his gaze to the floor. “I went back to check on the others,” He began, and Killian’s arm tightened comfortingly around his shoulder. “Everyone was okay, but…” He choked up a little bit, trying to hold back tears. “Violet got transferred to another house.” Emma patted his hand sympathetically, knowing how upset he must be. Violet was his best friend at the house, and had been his main reason for returning. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye.” He sobbed out, finally letting his tears fall.

Killian let go so Emma could hug Henry tightly as he shook, murmuring words of comfort as she patted his back. The boy unwrapped his arms from around her and sniffled, finding his voice again. “She forgot her necklace- the one her dad gave her. I was trying to get it for her, so if I saw her again I could give it back.” He shook his head angrily and bunched the blanket up in his fists. “Then that dickhead Peter took it from me.” He spat, and Killian grimaced.

Normally, he’d scold Henry for his language, but this was a special exception. Peter was a bit of a bully at the home, and Killian had encouraged Henry to stand up to him. That had earned Henry a punch to the ribs, and Killian had felt so guilty about it that he bought the boy three different kinds of ice cream. Henry had laughed it off and accepted the ice cream, but still tiptoed around Peter like a scared deer.

“He flushed it.” Henry eventually choked, glaring daggers at the hot chocolate. “And landed a solid punch,” He finished, motioning to his cheek. Emma examined it briefly and hummed. “Want me to kick his ass for you?” She joked, and Henry broke his sadness to giggle a little through tears. He sniffed again and nodded, picking his mug back up and drinking the rest of the hot chocolate in one big swallow. “I don’t want to go back there. Ever. The stupid parents didn’t even notice I was gone.” He bit out.

Killian cleared his throat, standing to fish the Pirates of the Caribbean DVD out from under the table. Emma turned to the young boy, nearly taken aback by how much of herself she saw in him.

“So don’t.” She told him unwaveringly, and Killian froze. Henry tilted his head in confusion, and blinked his tear-blurred eyes.

“What do you mean?” He asked her, and though the system had beaten down much of the hope he should have had, Emma was proud to admit that she could see a flicker dancing around in his stare.

Killian looked to Emma for confirmation before finishing her thought. “I believe the lass is asking you to stay here, my boy,” Henry whipped his head to look at him with wide eyes as Killian clarified, “Permanently.”

Emma saw the slight tremor in Henry’s hands and grabbed them firmly. “I know it’s a big jump, and you’ve only really known us for a year or so,” She quickly told him, “But I love you, kid, and I want to take care of you. For real.”

Henry slowly leaned back, wary and a little nervous.“But what happens when social services finds out? They’ll make me go back.” He trembled, and she shook her head.“Not if I’m your legal guardian.” At his awed expression, she forged on, “I mean it, Henry. If you’ll let me, I’ll get the papers, do this all the right way.”

He nodded enthusiastically, flinging his arms around her neck. Henry was getting tall already, nearly 5′7, but he was tiny enough that Emma could still use her weight and leverage to drag him up into a standing hug.

When Henry pulled back, he glanced curiously between Emma and Killian. “Will you two… I mean…” He started, not quite knowing what to ask.

Killian grinned broadly, looking proudly at Emma. “I’ll be here, too.”

“Actually,” She cleared her throat, making her decision, “None of us will be here. I think it’s time we go somewhere new.” She sent Killian a shy look, and whispered conspiratorially to Henry, “What do you think about a little house by the marina?”

Pirates of the Caribbean ended up discarded on the coffee table, and the mug ended up unwashed. After all, Henry was much too busy to do the dishes, bouncing around the house excitedly with an icepack pressed against his cheek. Killian couldn’t do them, either, for he was on a very important phone call with his landlord about when the lease would be up, and if he knew how easy it was to obtain a marriage license. Emma was busiest of all, certainly, comparing her savings account to a sweet little cottage by the marina, painted in blue with lawn lights.

#mine #asks #ahhh this was so fun

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tumblunni · 6 years ago

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hey uhhh YKNO WHATS GOOD brainstorming potential headcanons for a character you know NOTHING ABOUT

i guess its less headcanons and more like.. wishes? hopes? what i think would be cool to do with this dude and like ALL I KNOW is that he is a cool dude and apparantly he doesnt have a backstory or sympatheticness SO consider what if he did and maybe thatd be cooler. like dude he owns THE SINGLE BEST BOSS BATTLE THEME IN ALL VIDEOGAMES EVER and that is ALL I KNOW ABOUT HIM and i just want him to deserve it, yo. also if he turned good i could be his friend and some of the badassness would rub off on me

ANYWAY

COOL SQUID PRESIDENT

i would vote for this man as squesident

seriously the design is SO GOOD!!! how did they manage to get such a cool colourscheme out of his entire Thing being that he has no colours?? like damn i like white being used as an evil colour for once, thanks. it symbolizing emptyness and emotionlessness is like BIG YES and i really hope thats what they were going for cos apparantly the wiki says that all the yokai who join his “we should never be friends with humans” gang turn colourless to match? but like the dude himself is less plain white and more very light shades of blue, grey and gold. MAYBE REFLECTS THAT HE IS A MANIPULATIVE DOUCHE WHO MAYBE DOESNT REALLY CARE ABOUT YOKAI AND JUST WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD PERHAPS dammit why does everything about him scream “great 100% evil guy who is very scary” when man I WANT TO LIKE HIM, DAMMIT!!

ALSO SERIOUSLY the visual effect of the wild spirally red yellow eyes against an otherwise “peaceful” colour whose entire point as an evil is “peaceful” taken to a bad extreme. it REALLY immediately sells that “tries to pretend to be calm, collected and fancy but is actually an angry mofo at heart” vibe i got from his theme song??? I REALLY HOPE THATS ACTUALLY HOW THIS COOL BOSS BATTLE GOES DOWN cos man the best villains are smug asshles who Always Win and then when you FINALLY win you get that much of a better ending!!! but AGH another part of me is like “i hope im wrong because he looks like a Cool Dad and i want him to be good”. Maybe his true design concept was to betray me personality with using all his cool dad power for evil...?

ALSO im not gonna spoil you guys on it cos it is JUST AS AMAZING AS HIS SONG but i was toooootally right that he has some sort of super intimidating second form and its got THE COOLEST DESIGN EVER HOLY SHIT! and also apprantly there’s a recoloured bonus boss called Minister Squisker who’s like a colour swap in a really creative way?? it swaps him being all “blank” themed with scary bright eyes and instead his entire body is a wild ye olde mythological illustration style paint job in every colour ever. okay COOL HEADCANON NUMBER ONE thats actually the regular colour of the species and mckraken is the white sheep of the family lol

also UHHH i dunno it seems kinda weird to me that theyd have this dude running a goddamn political party about humans being bad yet he doesnt seem to have any motivation whatsoever for it? unless it really is just supposed to be ‘he only pretends he wants to protect yokai from humans so he can manipulate and rule the yokai’. but like HYPOTHETICALLY in some universe where he actually lives up to his Grumpy Dad Who Has A Hidden Soft Spot potential, maybe he has an understandable backstory that raises legitimate concerns about how humans are destroying the natural and mythological and forgetting their roots, or other reasonable reasons why yokai could think humans are dangerous and all. i mean we ARE dangerous, we’re just a wide group of people that contain evil bastards and also good people, yknow. And thatd resonate well as a plot probably, cos well the whole point of the series is “in real life ur scared of yokai but theyre actually all goofy pranksters who will be your best friend forever”. Both sides being afraid of each other could lead to some good plotness! and it could be really effective and sad if after hours of joyous childhood wonder the protagonist bumps into the first yokai they couldnt befriend. the first one thats scared of them. the first member of this weird colourless political party who accuses them of committing crimes against yokaikind, of obviously only enslaving these yokai friends cos you have an ulterior motive, just like all humans! it could be effective if its something that shakes up the whole way you saw the world and establishes that hey its not all fun and happiness, and there’s some people you are powerless to convince. maybe even some people you are powerless to save...?

ANYWAY possible idea for ‘what if the dude originally had a sympathetic motive but it got twisted over time and now he’s just a fuck BUT maybe he could still be redeeminated someday ok thanks” What if he’s the spirit of.. like.. ocean pollution? Like there’s some yokai who are ghosts of a mortal person but theres some that are just nature spirits or personifications of concepts. What if he’s the personification of the dying screams of all the wildlife killed in a particular tragic oil spill? hence squid = thematic, and blank white colourscheme = even more thematic reflecting the stain the oil would leave on a pristine ocean and also the blank emotionlessness he was left as after witnessing that tragedy. Cos like his entire Purpose would have been born out of avenging anger but i mean he was just a kid, the only one left alive on a ruined beach and seeing just how powerful humans were and how pointless it would be to try and fight them with his weak power. like he was born to avenge all these souls and he just keeps failing!! his entire reason to live and he’s just too small!! so he ends up becoming bitter and cynical and learning how to use his silver tongue to manipulate others into becoming his weapons, and he vows that someday he’s gonna come back when he has the power he needs to complete his mission. and he’s just forever had this anger seething inside that he’s been unable to get any catharsis from, so when his cold and collected persona cracks he’s really damn scary with all these years of a man who’s grown old fearing he’ll never be able to avenge his ocean friends and just AAAAAA! itd be really good cos itd be a way he could still be intimidating and high stakes as a boss fight but also sympathetic!! also it could make sense why he’d only be redeemable after defeating him? like this entire time he’s been hidden behind a million layers of politics and minions and stuff and its very easy for him to not see the reality of the fact that he’s terrorizing human children just like how humans scarred him as a child. so like his whole big second form transformation super anger mode time would be sort of a last ditch attempt to deny what he already knows, the doubts that have been eating away at his soul now he’s getting close to the end of his life goal. but also like.. he doesnt even know who he IS, under the lies! its been his entire purpose for existing. like he probably uhh.. didnt have much plans after his victory. he probably wouldnt have much will to live left. so yeah you basically beat up this guy’s emotional walls and make him face the face of the people he’s been hurting, when he’s been trying to avoid it for so long. and he gets to see how much all the other yokai genuinely trust you and how much youre personally sacrificing to protect them so maybe you really arent just lying about being a good person...

oh also i was thinking about the inherant hypocrisy present in the fact that this guy is a big spoopy REALLY WELL DESIGNED squid monster that spends all his time in a depowered humansona instead, despite his whole Thing being hating humans. and, yknow, ‘i’ll solve this using a carbon copy of human politics instead of any more traditionally magical way of fighting the humans’. Yeah. So THEORY of SADNESS maybe he like never actually met any other yokai for a long time? I dont think it really makes sense that he’d be hypocritical because he secretly likes humans or something, that wouldnt jive with this backstory idea. So im thinking another explanation could be that he genunely doesnt know much about yokai culture? Like cos of his backstory he just poofed into existance on this destroyed beach in the human world and spent the first few centuries of his life completely alone except for the terrifying monsters that haunted every second of his life, and the knowledge that it was his purpose to defeat them but he didnt know how. And he was a nature spirit of the sea but his sea was empty of everything except death, so he couldnt even hug a cute fish sidekick or something- OH GOD WHAT IF HE DID HAVE A CUTE FISH SIDEKICK AND IT DIED COS OF HUMANS!!! very tiny sad squid monster child holding a dead pet, oh god why did my heart did this to meeee!! so yeah he didnt even know he was a yokai or wtf yokai are, he didnt know anywhere outside the tiny rock pool he would hide in on this barren beach. And then someday he gets found by an older yokai and adopted and like he feels like he owes them so much cos they gave him a reason to live, and a connection to the nature that he was supposed to protect, and.. well.. any companionship at all ever. So thats how his directionless “humans are bad” turned into “yokai are good and i need to protect them from humans like i failed to protect the beach” which turned into “i need to get more power to do this” which turned into manipulating other yokai and seeing them as nothing more than tools to take down the humans, his revenge consuming him until he barely remembered the reasons he originally wanted to do it...

and blablabla thats where we bring in the recolour bonus boss also, and say thats the nice grandpa figure who adopted him when he was all lost and trapped in the human world. and cos he was sorta adopted into nobility thats why he’s so over the top with his pompousness, its like a hint of IM LOVV MY GRANDEPA shining through his grumpface. ALSO maybe a sad situation where the gramps saw his kid growing up into this scary extremist and he tried to reason with him that humans dont need to be destroyed and that led to them fighting and him getting sealed off in recolour bonus boss land. and mckraken sees it as the biggest betrayal of his life and it totally threw him off the slippery slope to feel like the one man he trusted the most was a traitor to yokai all along. but even at his most evil he couldnt bear to actually kill his beloved gramps so he just imprisoned him and tries to stop thinking about it but like THE CONSTANT SPECTRE OF THE GUILT HANGS OVER YOUR HEAD THAT YOU DID YOU GRAMPS WRONGGGG So yehmaybe protag could find the gramps guy and hear about the sad backstory via him and then defeat mckraken and make him realise he was wrong and he apologises to his gramps and atones and all the humans and yokai are friends again and BUNNI CRIES FOREVER the end

cos seriously man this guy’s design is too good to be wasted on a hateable!! srsly he’s like that archetypical goofy big beard chubby pirate dude BUT INTIMIDATING AND BADASS AND COOL FASHION AND DAVY JONES SQUID BEARD SQUEARD I LOVE HIM he is too round to be 100% evil

*slams fists on the table* IF YOU DONT LIVE UP TO MY EXPECTATIONS I AM GONNA CRY

aaa i need to stop just sitting here theorizing about this game and actually friggin play it lolllll

#bunni plays yokai watch #*looks at any villain of mediumly adequate dadliness* mine now

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