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bones4thecats · 1 year ago

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hi bon,

can you do Hades, Poseidon, Thor and Herac

husband and s/o just finish with gathering, when s/o been drag by Aphrodite

husband been drag by Zeus/Loki to Aphrodite new establishment

as husband enter one things they saw all the server wearing a cute sexy bunny outfit which husband don't care

then husband saw s/o been drag out by aphrodite while wearing those while said s/o trying to hide everything which failed miserably

s/o saw husband and have turn into mortified as their husband saw them in said outfit. husband outrage with aphrodite while zeus/loki used those as blackmailed.

in private husband said that s/o look cute in those outfit

A/N: This was an interesting request. Honestly, I can see all of this happening to them each, as I can see Aphrodite getting bored and yoinking their S/O just for something fun to happen. She’s definitely a teaser.

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💀 Well this was quite odd, Zeus never really visited him down in Helheim, and while Hades protested at the start, Zeus didn’t take anything

💀 He was dragging him to Aphrodite’s newest opening ‘restaurant’ in Valhalla

💀 Hades was very loyal to his S/O, so going there felt like betraying their trust, and he did not like that

💀 But, Aphrodite had taken his S/O away earlier that day, and he couldn’t let them see them there possibly, but Zeus’ hold was surprisingly good

“ Now, older brother. You are to stay here, I will get something to drink. “

💀 He watched confused as his brother left him at the table, and as he looked at the nymphs walking around in very revealing outfits, he looked at the ground like Poseidon always did

“ Oh come on, Aphrodite! I am not going out there wearing this damn thing! “

💀 Your voice? Why were you here? And what was Aphrodite making you wear?

💀 Looking up from the marble floors, he saw a familiar big chested woman holding you in place, and you… oh my Helheim you were wearing a bunny outfit

💀 You tried hiding certain parts of your body from the other Gods in the facility, and Hades was one of the first people you had seen

“ Aphrodite. They’re changing and going home. Now. “

💀 Aphrodite smiled and giggled before allowing your embarrassed form to go back to change

💀 He cannot lie though, seeing you in that? Woo

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“ No. “

🔱 He did not want to go in the slightest, but with how Zeus kept trying to blast him for being a buzzkill, he couldn’t take his whining anymore

🔱 Poseidon stood up and followed his younger brother as he walked through the fairly decent looking facility that Aphrodite had put together

“ Go ahead and sit. I’m gonna go get something at the bar, Hera can’t yell at me here! “

🔱 He sighed and sat down, opening the book he had grabbed from his study before leaving his and your palace

🔱 While reading, he could hear Zeus start speaking, or rather, flirting with another woman until the familiar slap sound echoed, making Poseidon smile for a second

🔱 But while that got him to react a bit, hearing you yelling at Aphrodite made him look up

“ I am not going out there in this, Aphrodite! Kiss your Christmas present goodbye! “ “ Oh come on, dearie~ I believe that someone out there will really like this~ “

🔱 Excuse me?

🔱 He stood up, summoned his trident and walked away, his book being sent back home to his desk as he strolled to the back of the building

“ I swear to you, Aphrodite! I will get Poseidon to end every connection with you if you make me walk out there with all of those lustful assholes! “

🔱 Poseidon saw you dressed in a bunny outfit and glared at Aphrodite, not making eye contact, but surely scaring her to the core

“ How about you change now? “ “ Thank the Gods. “

🔱 He’d rather you thank him but, it’ll do for now. And even he cannot deny, you looked fairly nice in the outfit…

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🌩️ Loki does not give in easily, and Thor knew that, he grew up with the God

🌩️ He walked behind Loki as he rambled about how nice the place appeared, and he only answered questions with a quick glance

🌩️ He had sat with Loki as he ate moussaka while Thor only looked out the window at the passing birds and people

🌩️ The thing that caught him out of his appearing trance was Loki whistling and his comment

“ Isn’t that your S/O? Oh, Y/N! “

🌩️ Thor looked up and he froze like ice when he had seen you, you were wearing a beautifully wove bunny outfit and because of how revealing it was, you were trying to hide certain body parts

🌩️ His cheeks glowed slightly red as he told you to go with him to change, glaring slightly at Aphrodite as you walked past her, she only giggled as Thor wrapped his cloak around you, hiding your form from certain Gods

🌩️ Once you changed, he looked at you and patted your head, saying;

“ While I did not approve of Aphrodite putting you in that outfit without your consent, I will have you admit, you looked nice in it. “

🌩️ You laughed nervously as he wrapped his arms around your waist, sitting you on his lap as he laid his nose in your neck

“ And I will have to teach you what happens when you look that nice for others~ “

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💪 His father wanted him to get out of the palace, to get out and about, have some fun!

💪 Ares and Hermes had decided to tag along, since he had nothing going on, and Zeus was happy to have both of his sons around, after all, now he can say he got drunk and hit on women for the environment

💪 A ‘guy’s night out’ as he said

💪 Heracles sat down and watched the other people walk around in outfits that were described by others, including his brothers, as ‘far to revealing’

💪 But, of course, their father liked it, how gross… damn old pervert

💪 He looked at Hermes as he called his name, and Ares’ face was frozen looking behind the demi-god

“ I believe you have a surprise behind you, it appears to me that- “ “ Y/N’s wearing a bunny outfit! “

💪 Ares’ interruption made Hermes glare at him and made Heracles snap his head behind him in shock

💪 It was true, you were wearing the ears, tail, outfit and all, and it made him get so flustered

“ Oh Heracles! I didn’t see you there, do tell, does Y/N look good or not? “ “ They- um… they look good… “

💪 Aphrodite chuckled and pat your head, saying you could change

💪 Well, this was going to be an interesting night, your husband was now very flustered, and he couldn’t stop imagining you in the outfit

💪 Help this poor boy!

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momentomori24 · 2 months ago

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[This has been sitting in my draft for a while lol]

When it comes to Curly's failings, I always see people bring up his obvious failure to protect Anya and him prioritising Jimmy, who was the rapist in that situation. Which is completely valid btw and we should rake him through the coals for that alone even more. But I also see too many people saying that Curly "didn't enable Jimmy" or playing softball for his actions. And I could maybe see where that comes from if that incident was the only thing we had to point to-- but that wasn't all he did, is it? Curly being indifferent or not taking Jimmy's mistreatment and belittlement of Anya seriously was hinted at so much earlier than that.

Namely, the very first time we play from Curly's point of view. Let's just skip the fact that Curly was putting everyone in danger by not taking his psych evals seriously and simply giving the same answers to pass them even tho he was shown literal minutes after this scene being clearly not-sane, and go straight to the point I actually wanna get into. Which is this:

These scenes in isolation wouldn't be that bad. From his pov, it's played off as comical and it is. Jimmy being a brony (not really lmao) and getting playfully dragged over it is funny. But unfortunately this is the first example out of many for Curly's complacency. Anya is complaining about Jimmy not taking his psych evals or her seriously, which is easy to believe considering how much he rags on her for "not being a good nurse" (she kept Curly alive on hopes and dreams how dare you). So he keeps making her do silly and inappropriate reports she clearly doesn't wanna do, which is kinda shitty (also borders on harassment). But rather than actually saying something about Jimmy's behaviour or even acknowledging how it sucks he says this:

Mate, that's not a good thing 💀 He's clearly aware that the problem is Jimmy's lack of respect for Anya specifically. He knows that if he, his friend and a man in power, were the one doing the evals Jimmy wouldn't try that disrespect. But it's Anya, a meek woman who ranks lower than him so he thinks he can get away with it (which he DOES), and Curly's shown as comfortable in knowing that. He doesn't chew Jimmy out for making Anya uncomfortable nor does he reassure her that he will do something about it. All he does is take it off her hands this once and helps Jimmy power through it to get a good diagnosis (even tho we know he's DEFINITELY not sane either). He doesn't even mention Anya's discomfort or confront him on his inappropriate behaviour, just teases Jimmy in good fun instead because he doesn't think of it as anything serious. It's subtle and pretty minor in comparison to everything else, but I think it's worth pointing out. Especially because this convo takes place after Jimmy had assaulted her, which makes this so much worse.

If you need any more evidence of Curly being an enabler you need not look further than Anya herself. And I'm not just talking about the way he failed her here-- I'm talking about Anya's own view of Curly and the way said view influences her actions.

Just look at her choice of wording. "What would you have done". This is in response to him saying that she could've come to him if she were feeling stressed, which she-- in his eyes-- didn't. The question itself implies that she had no faith in Curly to actually help despite his insistence that he would've, which I think is significant because it shows that she's very much aware of Curly's shortcomings when it comes to her situation AND it's one of the first (or the first time) she actually verbalised her lack of trust towards him or anyone directly. Prior to this scene she had told him about her rape and the rapist, presumably because she trusted him to handle it. And he dismissed her because the rapist was his best friend, and that evidently deeply scarred her. Enough so that she secretly took the gun and hid it someplace else and didn't even tell Curly were that was, because she knows that if Curly has access to it there's a so much greater chance Jimmy will have too, insinuated by the line "the least I can do is make sure he never gets it either". Speaking about the gun:

It sucks so bad that this perception of him isn't even inaccurate nor unjustified. That despite everything Jimmy had done to her and everything he could still do to her, he'd very likely still not allow her access to the gun for protection. Because that's exactly what he didn't do anyway. He didn't attempt to keep her safe from Jimmy, instead he just pretended that nothing was wrong and still let Jimmy's belittlement of her pass. He didn't give her the gun after the incident, because she wouldn't have hid the case if he had. Despite his desperate reassurance that he'd do anything, he did nothing but make it worse for her and she KNOWS that. It's so frustrating knowing he entrusted the axe to Swansea when he needed it but not the gun to Anya when she needed it too. Also this:

The fact that his knee-jerk reaction to her admitting that she's pregnant was "Who would you--" is so fucked, especially considering she's already told him what happened. "Who would you" what? Who would you fuck? Who would you have sex with? That choice of wording drives me up a wall-- SHE wouldn't and didn't do anything or anyone. That was JIMMY. The potential sentence implies that she had any choice or agency in her pregnancy. She didn't. And the fact that Curly had to ask "who" insinuates that he's been putting Jimmy's action out of sight and out of mind the whole time, choosing to not think about them or what happened to Anya at all. And considering he still made her do Jimmy's evaluations despite being able to do them himself and literally didn't even think of making sure she gets psych evals done too--especially AFTER getting sexually assaulted--that might actually be the case (I haven't seen anyone make a stink about that piece of info so I'm going to because what kinda colossal fuck up IS that??).

I vaguely had a post like this in mind but seeing so many people be like "well Anya did some wrong stuff too like leaving Curly alone with Jimmy but you don't get mad at HER for that so why is Curly not doing anything about Jimmy being alone with Anya so different??" actually makes me want to blow some people up. Jimmy's an abuser, sure, but Anya has no real reason to believe that he'd actually harm Curly. From her perspective, they were close, close enough that Curly would not only let Jimmy continuously disrespect her but also get away with assaulting her too. That, and she knows that Jimmy was closer to Curly than anyone and more likely to be civil around him than he ever was to her. She has barely any reasons to suspect Jimmy would harm Curly when they're alone. Curly, on the other hand, has every fucking reason on the planet to think Jimmy would harm her when they're alone. He knows he raped her (likely in her room at night too). He knows that he sexually harasses her. He knows that he doesn't respect her at all. And that was BEFORE the crash. Anya tried insisting on giving Curly his medicine, only for Jimmy to keep aggressively insisting that he'll take care of it despite her protests. Curly didn't try to keep them separate at all even though he was the Captain and had the power to do so. And this should go without saying, but leaving your rapist alone with his best friend that he was close to and enabled/protected him and leaving your friend alone with the woman he raped (and might have repeatedly assaulted given his free access to her) is NOT THE SAME and I'm going to start chucking some people down a waterfall because what the fuck is that argument 💀 Actually leave it to the fandom of the game where the rape of a woman is the catalyst for the events that unfold to use her trauma to defend the guy that enabled it in the first place. Bloody hell.

The reason why this whole Curly discourse pisses me off is because it-- from what I can see-- ONLY brings up his failures 1-0 days before the crash and the Dead Pixel scene (or all the discussion around other points are drowned out by those two). Those scenes, while important to talk about, are not the only things he's done, and focussing on those as the only things is a mistake that comes short of understanding the issue. When it comes to Curly the main defences I see for him are "he was trying not to escalate the situation" and "he was trying to keep things under control the best he can" and "he was waiting for the right time to help Anya", but those don't work when you look at the bigger picture of everything he's done.

He half-assed through his psych eval despite clearly not being sane (and KNOWING he's barely sane, he literally admits it to Jimmy's face). He still continued to task her with Jimmy's psych evals. He brushed over Jimmy's sexual harassment of her as a joke. He didn't think about making sure she got psych evals done herself after being raped. He gave Swansea the axe but didn't give Anya the gun despite it being for "unrest amongst the crew" (whatever the hell THAT means). He let her assault slip his mind that she had to remind him. He's literally a blond man. He took no action to hold Jimmy responsible for anything, and prioritised how his violation of Anya would affect him rather than her. He ignored her demands for him to get rid of Jimmy. He still allowed Jimmy free reign of the ship as co-pilot even after he was openly fantasising about killing everyone and had a major motive and the means to do just that. He was potentially thinking of making her miscarry to cover up what happened. He was so accustomed to her sucking up being disrespected and disturbed that he didn't even notice a difference in her behaviour until she hid the fucking gun. There's so much other shit he's done and hasn't done, and not talking about them or glossing over them makes it so easy for people to argue that he isn't actually an enabler or just minimise the severity of his neglect.

And while I'm already dragging Curly through the mud, I might as well just drag Swansea too. I've seen too many people being like "Anya should've told Swansea instead" and "Swansea was the one that actually took responsibility". Like, y'all realise he's not that much better than Curly, right? He already knew about what happened to Anya-- he admits it to Jimmy's face-- but he didn't do shit. He knew, but he still got completely shitfaced for months despite her earlier protestation to that (for very understandable reasons). He knew, but he still let Jimmy have the axe AND be alone with Anya while having it. He knew, but when Anya locked herself in the Medical and Daisuke and Jimmy asked for his help he didn't budge nor really showed any care. He knew, but the reason he finally decided to do something about Jimmy wasn't Anya, it was Daisuke. Her suffering and her eventual death weren't enough for him to take action either.

This game, on top of everything else, is a great depiction of rape culture. It doesn't just include the rapists, but the people (mostly men) that stay silent, do nothing, make excuses for and protect the perpetrator for whatever reason, and Swansea and Curly (Curly way more so than Swansea) are both active contributors to the environment that allowed for evil to flourish and continue unhindered until it destroyed them all. And while that arguably doesn't make them evil themselves or as bad as Jimmy, they are so much more a part of the bigger problem than the fandom likes to admit.

[Ok since this is kinda gaining a bit of traction please consider helping these guys out here, here and here. Thanks!]

#mouthwashing #mouthwashing game #curly mouthwashing #captain curly #anya mouthwashing #jimmy mouthwashing #swansea mouthwashing #do not come for me curly fans i'm one of y'all i promise. kinda #if i had a nickle for every time i made a post dragging a blond man i'd have three #which isn't a lot now but that number will likely increase in the future lmao #seriously tho i'm so sick of seeing people be all “there's no evidence that he's an enabler” and “he did all he could” like screw you guys #the point of the whole story is that his inaction is what allowed for everything to happen #that his willingness to do nothing put him in a state where he can only watch the horrors without being able to do anything if he wanted to #it's about TWO captains who kept going on about taking responsibility and did anything BUT that #he's not as horrible as jimmy obviously but he doesn't need to be to do damage and be awful #you know what i very well may just be a lot meaner and uncharitable to him than i should be here #but i guess tumblr can be the judge of that. i still rest my case. now time to continue avoiding curly discourse like usual XD #normally i wouldn't care enough to make a post about the way the fandom treats him because it's nothing unique or anything #but something about this game and him being blond specifically made me unable to resist. i just can't be nice to him for that alone #pardon the typos i whipped this up in a hurry and am too lazy to go over everything right now #momento rambles

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wayfayrr · 1 year ago

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haiiiii can i get uhhhh... spiked latte with Peppermint brittle to take away :3 yan! sky fics are not a want they are a NEED- MOSS HELP ME PLEASE---

order up!! hope it's to your tastes <3

well @sketchyspook - I've got your yan sky here for you with him being a manipulative pos for reader while keeping up his soft facade so they can't really question it :D

[Event masterlist]

“I still can’t believe that link, I mean of all people to fall in love with, you chose the person who was playing through your game? You could have been with a literal reincarnation of your goddess. ”

“You know none of the others were real right? I’m the only one who was alive… as far as I’m aware or care.”

“Still, I can’t believe you don’t resent me even a little bit. I made you re-live your quest so many times and I didn’t even know you were alive.”

All I get in return for that is a playful eye roll like I’d told him a dumb joke rather than confessing how awfully I treated him when he was trapped. It’s rather unnerving how calm he is about all of this, but I really shouldn’t push it any more. I don’t think it would be a pleasant mess to clean up if he snapped and did realise everything he’s been through wasn’t right.

“Can’t this wait until the morning love? We’ve both been through a lot today so we should get some rest right?”

He’s still insisting on calling me that? I do like it, my childhood crush speaking to me like I’m his lover, but something about it seems so wrong.

“Sure, right, fine. I’ve got a guest room and some spare pyjamas you can borrow link.”

“Thank you [name].”

The feeling of something being off with his attitude only grows as he gently grabs my hand while I’m showing him where he can stay. He’s too possessive about this, too happy, even for getting out of a hellscape that his game must’ve been for him, it’s unnerving. My guest room is small and simple with a bed, a small desk and a wardrobe, all in all somewhat reminiscent of his old dorm room. But it should be more than enough for him.

“There should be some spare clothes in the cupboard, my friends tend to just leave them here for whenever they visit.”

“And they’ll be fine with me just using them?”

“They don’t need to know, I’ll wash them tomorrow when we go out to get you some of your own. Goodnight link.”

“Sleep well, love.”

He shouldn’t need my help changing, so I’m confident in leaving him in here while I go shower and settle down for the night too.

Having a hot shower works wonders for clearing your head, a good night’s rest should help to put everything regarding link into focus.

“Hey.”

“Huh? I thought you said you liked the other room? What made you want to sneak into mine?”

“I tried to sleep, but being in there on my own? I was scared I would wake up back in skyloft without you.”

Turning him away if this is true would simply be cruel to him, it doesn’t help the feeling from earlier crawling back though. That he’s possessive, unhealthily so, but I have to brush it off. Maybe I’m just overthinking, maybe he’s just getting used to being real still. It could be any reason like that.

“Move over so that I can get in as well then.”

“You- you’re really not going to ask me to leave my dove? I know theirs a reason I fell for your kindness… I’ll never let anyone else come close to having you like this.”

“What was that?”

“I said you’re not going to ask me to leave and go back to the other room alone?”

Okay, there is definitely something deeply wrong with him if what I think I heard is what he really said. He’s not going too like me questioning him though, and I don’t exactly have the energy for it either. Which I think he can tell, his arms are so warm and welcoming though, it’d be torture to peel myself out of them. Drifting off to sleep where he wants me is just the natural result of how comfortable he is.

“See [name], Isn’t it just so nice to be my lover? Wouldn’t you prefer for it to just be me and you like this forever?”

I’m not even awake enough to respond, instead closing my eyes and sighing against him.

“I knew you would… don’t worry my dove, you’ll never leave my side again. No matter what.”

Ending that haunting sentence with a kiss to my neck and a gentle hum, seemingly more content than he’s ever been. Just from holding me in his arms as we both drift into a deep sleep.

#moss✦writes #peppermint✦brittle #linked universe x reader #yandere linked universe x reader #yandere linked universe #link x reader #yandere link #lu sky #self aware au

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putschki1969 · 2 months ago

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Hi Putschki, how are you doing? I was glad to read your post about the concert you attended, it looked fun and the photos you took were so pretty! I have a question for you today that is a little nosy, so don't mind not answering if you don't want to. Have Kalafina ever mentioned the lgbt community/rights? Different Japanese artists have begun to talk about certain issues in the last years, a lot more compared to the past, and I was wondering if they've ever said anything about it 🌈

Hello there!!

I am good, thank you😊

As for your question, don't worry, it's fine. It's just a little complicated to write a comprehensive answer since there's some ambiguity involved.

Generally speaking, I would say, no, they have not really mentioned anything specific regarding the LGBT community/rights. During the Kalafina days, their public image was very well-curated so everything was rather restrained and maybe even a little conservative. Not in a particularly strict manner but there was certainly never any mention of political or social issues or really anything that could be misconstrued in a negative or problematic manner.

Occasionally, they have mentioned things in passing on a superficial level regarding overarching concepts such as same-sex attraction but I don't recall them ever explicitly talking or posting about LGBT issues. While they have a lot more freedom as solo artists (at least Keiko and Hikaru), I also don't remember them ever addressing such topics in recent years. Please keep in mind though that I regularly miss Hikaru's Wednesday broadcasts and I've only recently become a member of Keiko's Yodel app service so it's impossible for me to provide a definitive answer to your question.

I would also be curious to know what those other Japanese artists supposedly talk about... I am not really familiar with Japanese artists aside from Kalafina so I don't know in which capacity they talk about the LGBT community/rights. Is this something they do because of personal interest or is it more along the lines of performative virtue signalling to follow trends? I feel like with celebrities and other people in the public eye it's probably the latter so it's not something I would necessarily want our girls to do. Other people might feel differently about this but I am not a fan of all this performative stuff which has sadly become a common occurrence in today's social media world. If you ask me, it comes across as super disingenuous. I don't need anyone to talk about any issue just because it is a hot topic at the moment.

If it is indeed a matter of personal interest, then yeah, I am all for it and I wouldn't mind if the girls did that. I believe the Japanese Netflix show "The Boyfriend" was a solid step in the right direction of a more authentic representation and examination of selected issues but it still remained quite easy to digest/surface-level (so there's room for improvement).

On that note, I would like to come back to something I mentioned earlier. This is where the "complicated/ambiguous" comes in. Not sure if you are aware of this but since the beginning of time, there have been many rumours of Keiko being a more or less closeted lesbian. Obviously, nothing has ever been confirmed and as a general rule, I do not encourage speculations but there's no denying that there have been countless situations throughout the years where one could easily put two and two together in order to draw some conclusions. I have actually written a long essay on Keiko's rumoured homosexuality so feel free to check it out! While I personally don't feel comfortable labeling anyone as anything, I am not at all surprised that so many people are indulging in this sort of speculation. So yeah, there has not really been any specific talk about the LGBT community but I would say all the hints Keiko has been dropping certainly qualify as something....?

#kalafina #reply #lgbt #keiko #gay keiko #speculation

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pain-in-the-butler · 7 months ago

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How was the rest of the Kuroshitsuji panel? I'm curious lol

I'm so glad you asked! I was actually planning to make a post on this regardless of interest, so it's convenient that someone will actually already be curious to hear lol. Here is the long version of what happened at the panel:

Before CDawgVA, the directors, and Daisuke Ono came out onstage, they had a hype man going around and interviewing cosplayers in the audience/giving them random Crunchyroll prizes. He would ask the cosplayers to tell him something about their costume. My favorites were the Sebastian who cut their wig just that morning and the Ciel who left their neck bow at home, so they improvised one out of tissues and it actually looked pretty good. Here's my picture of it on the big screen:

I guess I'm an outlier who never watched a CDawgVA video, so seeing him in person was actually my first time seeing him ever. He seemed like a nice guy and happy to be there, I can see why people like him. He did a pretty good job inviting the guests onstage and asking them questions -

Producer Yoshito Ito and director Kenjirou Okada both received applause when they came out, but the crowd fuckin exploded for Daisuke Ono. He clearly has a lot of experience in working a room, he did a little theatrical bow when he walked out, and I think he said "yes, my lord" or something like that, I don't remember exactly. I'm actually not much of a fan of his, but I still joined everyone else in cheering loudly for him -

All the guests spoke Japanese and as far as I could tell the translator did a really good job up there, he was quick on the draw every time. I could tell the fan next to me spoke some Japanese and he seemed to think it was accurate -

To break the ice, CDawg asked the three panelists about what they thought of Los Angeles. I can't remember what the director and producer said, but Ono went to see a Lakers game and had a good time even though they lost -

Then CDawg (do people call him that or Connor? I actually don't know, sorry if I sound like a pleb) said that because Sebastian likes cats so much, he wonders if any of the panelists would like to have a cat. I believe it was Okada who said he had a cat two years ago when he lived with his parents, but when he moved out, his mother told him "The cat is staying here." Ito said he would rather have a dog, and Ono said he would also prefer a dog, but he would definitely name the dog "Sebastian" -

The panel was scheduled to be under an hour, so I was kind of glad when CDawg moved on from the goofy questions and asked about the anime. Ito and Okada talked about location scouting a little bit in England. They said the oddest thing for them was how there weren't mountains and that they could see the horizon even when they weren't near water. They said if they hadn't actually visited England, they probably would have put mountains around Weston...... -

CDawg also asked them about the food (and apologized for its taste before they could answer lol). Ito and Okada said that they enjoyed the fish and chips, but were surprised that afternoon tea did not live up to the hype. They didn't like the scones with clotted cream, which surprised CDawg, who said "clotted cream is the only good food we have" lmao -

Ito and Okada also talked about how they initially turned down an offer to make a new season, supposedly because they didn't think they could hold a candle to the earlier seasons. They said they later changed their minds when they realized that there were still fans of the series who wanted to see what came next. I personally don't buy that answer, but not for any reason other than it sounds fake. Maybe there's some truth to it (maybe) -

They also talked about how they really went into the Public School arc hoping to create something that felt different from the previous seasons. That was interesting to me, because it didn't really feel like that's what they were going for when I watched it, but okay I guess they were -

Ono said the most exciting thing for him about working on the Public School arc was that he was granted permission to give a more emotional performance this time. He believes that Ciel and Sebastian's experience fighting Undertaker on the Campania was a turning point in their relationship and that it changed the way he voiced Sebastian. He really did seem pleased with this fact, though it seemed to me that he could not remember Book of Atlantic very well lol—but that could have simply been due to the way the translator referred to it as "that cruise ship" -

I think that was when they took another little break to play a game CDawg came up with where the panelists had to guess what a few words in British slang meant. The first was the Welsh word "cwtch". We weren't supposed to take pictures but your girl took one anyway

"Cwtch" is pronounced "cootch" and CDawg said "Here's a hint: when you see Ciel, you want to give him a cwtch." Through no fault of the Welsh, CDawg clearly picked this word to sound like an innuendo, and some people in the audience were shouting "Kiss? Kiss?" I can't remember who, but either Ito or Okada's guess was something the translator apparently "Couldn't say out loud" with the impression that their guess was sexually inappropriate? Ono and the remaining director/producer guessed the word "hug" which was close: "cwtch" means "cuddle." It was such a bizarre moment, I stg when will we stop making sexual jokes about this child character. That includes you, Yana 🫵 -

The next word CDawg had everyone guess was "chuffed", with a picture of young Vincent celebrating his cricket victory. The hint was "you feel this after you win a cricket match." Both Ito and Okada correctly guessed "happy" and Ono guessed "like you want to drink a beer." CDawg said that that was truly in the spirit of English culture -

After that we got the Green Witch trailer, which was another bizarre moment, this time for the reason that we saw no new animation and we basically knew it was coming. Still, the audience went wild and it was fun to experience it together. We also got the 2025 release date so I guess that's cool -

Next, Ito and Okada talked about the upcoming season a little bit. The only thing of note that I can recall is that they said they weren't going location scouting this time because Sieglinde's village wasn't a real place. However, they said they planned to take a lot of inspiration from the manga itself. These points struck me as disheartening and obvious in turn, but I guess at least they were honest -

Ono said he was excited to give a darker performance this time around. He also said, mostly likely to drum up the crowd, that he was a little nervous but that he could do anything with "Ciel" (Maaya Sakamoto) by his side, and yes the audience did eat it up with more applause -

After that, CDawg raffled off what looked to be a drawing of Sebastian, possibly by Yumi Shimizu, signed by Daisuke Ono. They had given us these tickets before the panel started and the person with the winning number got the prize. Shockingly, I did not win -

Next someone came and took a picture of the panelists and the audience in the background, then Daisuke Ono did this thing where he waved at everyone and got us to wave with him, and finally the panel ended after roughly fifty minutes

Overall, I give the event a 6/10. We didn't have a lot of time, so I understood that they couldn't go too in-depth and that they wanted to keep it lighthearted too, but I personally would have appreciated some more interesting information on season 4 or something juicy about season 5. As it was, it felt like a lot of what we learned was entirely unsurprising. But it was nice of everyone to come all the way from Japan and the UK, and I guess it's kind of cool to say I've seen Daisuke Ono live now, even though he's only my third favorite Sebastian. My expectations were low, I went just to say I was there, and what I mainly gained was a bit of whimsical joy at being in a room full of Kuro fans, which is no bad prize at all.

#kuroshitsuji #asks

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vro0m · 4 months ago

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Do you think people immediately jump to conspiracy theories because we're just not used to seeing Lewis struggling with a car/not winning? Or is it more a nature of 2024 social media (or a combo of both).

Thank you so much for calling out the bullshit though, I was starting to feel like the only well-balanced Lewis fan on my dash.

I don't know these things are multifactorial and very complicated. Here are some factors I think may play into it from the top of my head.

Lewis has been pinned the victim since ad21 (imo rightfully) and I think some people are struggling to move past that. Now everything that happens that doesn't go his way is just a confirmation that people have it out for him. It made some level of sense early on (we saw how the sport at large reacted to the idea of his 8th title in dts in particular and many of them didn't make it a secret that they would rather he didn't win it) and now it's becoming harder and harder to find him a bully as we move away from the original event and so it's becoming more and more absurd. It was Masi's fault and then Max's and then George's and then Toto's and then the team's in general and now it's his own mechanics and engineers' or whatever... We're five minutes away from people saying Bono himself is sabotaging him. (Actually nevermind we're already past that he's been accused of not giving him the info he needed that one time George changed startegy or something like that.)

I do also see it as a trend for fans in general to try to make up story lines even when there might not be any. That might be in part due to dts but more generally to the fact that I believe a lot of people are watching F1 like a show rather than like a sport. Like I once said, this isn't Hollywood, stories in real life rarely wrap up definitively and prettily with a bow on top, there's no such thing as redemption arc, and because your fav has been done dirty at some point doesn't mean he's necessarily gonna come out on top afterwards to balance it out. There's no such thing as deserving a win or deserving a good car or deserving a proper farewell. Because it's not a story. It's reality. And reality is messy. But a lot of fans will rather weave a plot together to try to make it make sense to themselves and try to find that happy ending at all cost or try to explain why it's not a happy ending in any possible way that has a narrative rather than accepting that that's life at the end of the day. Which is human to some extent and we all do the same thing with our daily lives btw. It's a normal coping mechanism to put events together into something that resembles a coherent story even when that implies disregarding some parts of said events to make them fit together like we want them to.

I think a lot of Lewis fans (including me) are very frustrated with the way things have gone because it's truly annoying and it makes us more prompt to point fingers and try to make the problem simpler than it is by pinning it on someone or something specific because it's just easier to deal with that way than admit that F1 just like the real life that it is, is fucking complicated and "unfair" (in that no guaranteed happy ending way I described earlier).

And honestly that's fine I too vent my frustration during races and jump on things that make me tick and only afterwards think them through but the fact that Lewis has to make such a post to tell people that no, his team isn't sabotaging him, and that yes, he did relent to their tyre suggestion, shows that's it's been indubitably been taken way too far for everyone's comfort and his own first and foremost. And that's just honestly kinda embarrassing for us all imo.

#vro0m's asks

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js589 · 24 days ago

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So, my husband and I just finished The Dragon Prince, and...

We're mad.

(There is a lot I love about TDP, and about season 7, but it gets very little mention here. You have been forewarned.)

Like, this final season was just coming at us with everything it had for most of the first 8 episodes. Sure, there were filler-y bits every now and again, but there was a pretty good buildup. Episode 8 especially was just like oh wow, we're going here. (As much as Karim just never learning was frustrating, it made his fate very fitting. I was both horrified and impressed.)

But it seemed like the final episode, rather than serving as a fitting ending if there isn't further media, reminded us of all the plot threads that are still dangling, some from much earlier seasons!

The whole show had moments of "okay, this was an unnecessary bit" and "okay, when are we going to get back to this thing that seems to be really important?" but Mysteries of Aaravos was definitely much worse about it. The baitlings/glowtads, for example, probably should have been relegated to side materials.

And Harrow-bird... I have multiple misgivings. First of all, it should have been much clearer earlier on if this was indeed going to be A Thing. There's no way it resolves quickly, but it could have been spaced out through the seasons. And the unseriousness of the reveal really felt like it cheapened the emotional impact of Ezran deciding to forgive Runaan even though he doesn't know how to yet. That could have been an amazing exploration, and instead, it's moot because Harrow arguably hasn't actually died. Like, Callum could bring him back. Easily.

And while this is a show aimed at children, Ezran not actually using the nova blade after it got hyped for so long felt kind of like a pale imitation of AtLA, but Ezran's peaceful ideals never actually got confronted the way Aang's did. In TDP, Callum had to face up to his inner darkness multiple times, but God forbid Ezran not get saved from actually doing anything remotely controversial. I mean, Avizandum and Zubeia's sacrifice works, IMO, but it just feels like anytime Ezran has to confront big, scary things, it turns out he didn't need to and it's actually all kind of okay somehow.

But above all, the arc title is now too fitting. A lot of those mysteries of Aaravos are still mysteries, and they didn't need to be! If this is the Aaravos arc, then it should have had an actual resolution and not a "we'll circle back in 7 years" ending. Like, they'd better put it together and just keep Aaravos from coming back in that case. Seriously, Aaravos gave humans dark magic. Why did the Startouch council not intervene the way they did with Leola? Why did they not intervene when he returned? If he'd done something to incapacitate them, you'd think he'd have said so, but he appears to not have exacted revenge yet. Other questions: does the book that uses the key still exist? Is the key actually important? Can Callum use it to forge connections? Is (as my husband jokingly theorized) dark magic just star magic with a different source?

What about Claudia? I'm left wondering why she still serves Aaravos. I'm assuming it's because she understands his desire to avenge Leola and she doesn't care about who else gets harmed along the way, but I feel like that doesn't really square with her characterization? I dunno...

Finally, as much as I love Rayllum... yeah, it got a little too much focus. Not as much undue focus as other elements, but it was definitely overdone. (But I did actually appreciate Rayla readying to kill Callum. Like, dude's got plot armor up the wazoo, but she doesn't know that.)

Overall, I'm just really dissatisfied with all that's left open. Mysteries of Aaravos had massive pacing issues. I believe that the story could have been told in its entirety, and I wish it would have been.

#the dragon prince #tdp #the dragon prince season 7 #the dragon prince spoilers #the dragon prince season 7 spoilers

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i-heart-hxh · 2 years ago

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Who do you think fell in love first, Gon or Killua?

Thank you so much for asking! Sorry for taking so long to reply, I've been busy, but I've been thinking about this since I received it!

I don't think this is a simple thing to gauge, but I think ultimately Gon started having feelings first. This is a great meta that I agree with on the topic and it goes over a lot of the more objective reasons to think this is the case.

Both of them gravitated towards each other fairly equally in the Hunter Exam (although Gon does have friendships with Kurapika and Leorio as well, vs Killua's primary focus being on Gon), however because of Gon's personality, in my opinion he was more prone to simply like and admire Killua with no complication right off the bat, and without the need to examine or confront those feelings. Whereas with Killua it takes him a bit longer to let himself trust and care about Gon fully, due to the complications of how he grew up and what he was taught to believe about making friends.

In the earlier parts of the Hunter Exam, Killua clearly is interested in Gon, but it almost seems like he's testing him to see if they can be friends. Killua keeps throwing out edgy facts about himself, which, while they're true, the way he uses them almost as quips seems like he's pushing to see if Gon will stop wanting to associate with him. Of course, Gon is an unusual guy and isn't fazed by anything Killua throws at him. He simply accepts whatever Killua reveals to him, and it doesn't lower his opinion of Killua.

Then in the later parts of the exam, Killua feels slighted that Netero ranked Gon above him, and during the Gon vs Hanzo match it seems like he's essentially assessing Gon trying to figure out why rather than having much emotional response to what Hanzo does to Gon (as the meta I posted above said, violence towards children is also normal in Killua's household, so there's that as well).

By the time Killua makes his big declaration of wanting to be friends with Gon to Illumi, he's clearly made up his mind, but it seems like a new revelation, and of course after that he's busy dealing with the situation with Illumi.

As soon as Gon hears about what happened with Killua, he marches up to Illumi and breaks his arm in the middle of the lecture, and then he puts aside his goal of finding his dad, his entire aim and purpose for his journey, because he feels he MUST rescue Killua and be with him again. He even tells Illumi he'll never see Killua again. I don't know if I'd say he's fully in love with Killua at that point, but...he's definitely a good few steps in that direction.

The Zoldyck Family arc is instrumental to the formation of their bond on both sides. Even with how naturally stubborn and self-sacrificing Gon is, I do think it's worth noting how Gon does absolutely everything in his power to get Killua back. He demands Killua back at every turn. I think knowing Gon went to those lengths for him is a huge thing for Killua, and from that point on Killua's feelings for Gon change and grow. But it seems like Gon had already reached that point before Killua did--it's like Killua needed that final push.

I personally see Gon's feelings as ones that have been growing all along and he knows they're there and they're different from his feelings for his other friends, but he's likely not entirely aware of the full context around them or what exactly they mean because he hasn't bothered to pick them apart or try to place them in the right context. (Previous answer on this topic here.) Whereas with Killua, because of his more introspective personality and the fact that Gon is his main focus and connection, his romantic feelings for Gon are something he's more aware of and they're more at the forefront of his mind, particularly from Greed Island onward.

I think they have mutual crushes from the Zoldyck arc on (Gon's perhaps starting a just bit sooner for the reasons I wrote above), and the actual love is something that's more challenging to pinpoint. They adore each other so much from the beginning and in the narrative it seems both of their feelings only keep growing as time goes and they spend more time together. I certainly think that by Greed Island they're quite committed to each other. There are so many milestones for these two realizing how much they care about each other, it's incredibly sweet and it makes it hard to narrow down some sort of specific timeline. I could probably write a book length post trying, haha.

In spite of how differently the two of them may experience and think about their feelings, I believe they love each other to a similar degree. One of the differences is that, while Gon has several other areas of focus and quite a few friendships, Killua's focus up until now has been unhealthily weighted towards Gon. In Chimera Ant Arc, even amid Killua's intense infatuation with Gon, we begin to see this change--with Killua befriending Ikalgo and Palm, then later rescuing Alluka, accepting Nanika, etc. The separation may give them each a chance to focus on the parts of their life that they were lacking--for Gon, introspection and better understanding his own feelings and figuring out what he wants to do now, and for Killua, expanding his focus and friendships to others besides Gon so his life isn't only Gon all the time.

I hope that's at least somewhat satisfying. Thanks again for asking and waiting for me to respond!

#hxh #hunter x hunter #killugon #gonkillu #gon #killua #meta #my posts #this is such a complex question to answer #like always it feels like there's a lot more I could say #but hopefully this is a good start and I can explore more later!#ahhh every time I write hxh meta I feel like there are 10 other related things I want to write about it as well #one of the reasons I love this series so much

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danieyells · 8 months ago

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I asked bc some people are touchy with baby trap! Hshs either way I was thinking. VERY likely it's ooc but it's a thot

The mc manages to be freed by the curse but for some reason the matches don't work so darkwick is already like 'sure, finish studying here but you have to go on missions' I'm imagining that something like the Jiro dubcon fic happens but with some changes

like rather than just touching over their clothes he gets bold enough to slide inside them, and that the anesthesia is strong enough for the reader to barely remember it as a wet dream if at all. He ends up cumming inside thinking it would be alright bc he can give you some anomalous b plan pill, but during the while it takes the reader to wake up he warms up to the idea lightly, he wouldn't mind having to take care of your prenatal care. Maybe you could teach him how families work and feel

A few weeks later the reader is in a check up because of general sickness and soreness and Yuri notices something weird in their blood work like hCG so he questions them like "are you sexually active and you didn't think it was important to disclose?" "Mh? Nope since I came to the academy I didn't do anything" but Yuri doubts them bc that only means pregnancy!! So he tells them away and bitches to it with Jiro

"i'm the closest thing they have to a doctor, can you believe they lie about things like that?"

"I can take them next time"

"why do you care? " He starts leaving when Yuri figures something "jiro... Were you two alone two months ago???"

Either way next check up the mc is given a bs explanation about a wild mosquito anomaly that causes pregnancy when biting two people back to back and Jiro being bitten too. Nobody could believe it other than the mc hshshha

re: dubcon jiro fic

That's fair! Like I said, I have no squicks or triggers worth noting, so i just 'p' at just about any thought hahaha

DAMN ANON I DIG THAT the reason Jiro didn't go further in the fic was ultimately because that was part of anon's idea haha and i wanted it to have more of a dubcon and dubious feeling where it was kind of ambiguous if he actually did anything or not, but I feel like I definitely failed to give it the proper feeling of blurred reality lol. . .I think i was in too much of a rush to get the ideas in my head out and in the end I didn't entirely make what i wanted lolol

I think the matches not working could plausibly be explained away by the ring. Just a side effect of its defenses--it tried to protect them earlier after all! It wouldn't want the champion's memories altered further!

But yeah I. I like that a lot lol. . .it's a lot softer and less cruel than I usually like my babytrapping, but it kind of fits Jiro I think(or the Jiro in this fic anyway--)

(sort of kind of in and out writing and musing under the cut. It's like 1am as i write this, don't expect much--also doesn't entirely meet the idea but. /shrug) no written smut in this one.)

The curse is something mundane and silly that they already have the cure for. But they need to be put to sleep for it to work--maybe it's a simple curse where their body won't be able to sleep without outside interference, at which point the curse ends after a good night's rest once something puts them to sleep. Something utterly simple. But they're completely unconscious, at most a faint awareness of being touched that may not even be real. So unconscious that they couldn't wake up from the feeling of their cunt being broken into if they thought it was real. If they were even aware of more than pleasurable pressure at most. It's just a dream like many others. If they had a dream at all. By the time they wake up again it's just fuzzy, blurry, bubble-like thoughts, floating up and popping out before they can really be analyzed. They feel an ache in their abdomen, but they're aching all over and haven't eaten in a day due to the treatment. They can stand, they can walk, they can return to the Cathédrale Terminale. And they can sleep properly and don't feel anything but the ache of a particularly difficult mission, meaning the minor curse they experienced was gone. The days go by as usual, training with anomalous tools to be more useful on missions and studying various fields to help each house.

Jiro almost forgot about it when they come in one day feeling nauseous. It'd been weeks. Yuri had scolded him after reading the detailed medical log. But he, too, was too curious about the results to suggest they cancel his little "experiment" before he was caught.

They both agreed that sometimes ethics weren't worth considering when it came to experiments--or one's own strongest desires.

The anomalous emergency contraceptive he had considered administering after his rather untoward act of unprofessionalism had been placed back in its cabinet.

Injected along with medication to discourage side effects of the curse's healing, was an experiment of Yuri's that had been tested on several anomalies, increasing fertility and successfully allowing for some otherwise unnatural breeding patterns.

He'd drugged them and raped them and cleaned them. And after that, he'd all but guaranteed their pregnancy.

He couldn't imagine being like Yuri and being granted the privilege of acting like a spoiled child.

Perhaps the best way for him to experience 'family' would be to have his own.

That was the real reason the inspector had arrived, nauseous, to Mortkranken. But they weren't going to tell them that. Yuri scolded them for unsafe sexual practices, which they insisted with tears in their eyes they hadn't done despite the presence of hCG in their blood and urine. They had no idea how they could have become pregnant--surely there was an explanation? Yuri clicked his tongue in irritation, as though he suspected they were truly lying. Perhaps still somewhat annoyed by Jiro's misdeed, he said that they couldn't have simply been assaulted in the night by some scoundrel.

Jiro resisted the urge to snort.

In the end an explanation had been concluded--one rooted in some myth but hard to prove or disprove.

There supposedly existed a type of demon called a concubus. These demons feed on sexual energies and fluids. While they might typically seduce humans into feeding them, others were more 'shy' and would do so in the night while one slept. However many were infertile and these were able to impregnate humans using borrowed human sperm, as doing so provided them greater sexual pleasure and thus a more satisfying meal.

A female concubus(typically called a succubus) would have sex with a male human, take the semen, and have sex with a male concubus(typically called an incubus) who would absorb the semen from within the succubus, before impregnating another human with it. While the resulting child would still be human, as they were made only using the genetic material of human parents, the humans need not engage in intercourse to reproduce as a result.

Aside from the circumstances through which the conception occurred, it was an otherwise normal pregnancy with little to be studied.

Although such a horrifying conclusion shook them, they vaguely remembered wincing as Ritsu recited Japan's laws relating to abortion to a sobbing student some time before--surely this counted as rape and the pregnancy could be terminated? But with the way the ghouls were treated and restricted, something told them they wouldn't be allowed to leave campus for such a thing without reporting whoever had harmed them as proof.

And they'd been in Mortkraken long enough to know that no medical procedure would be normal here.

"You have some time to think about it." Is what everyone told them. Ritsu in particular gave them the exact amount of weeks.

Two things convinced them to carry the child to term.

The first was the realization that perhaps these demons would return to the scene of their crime--if they could be captured, the knowledge gained could help a great deal of people, especially the ghouls. Especially Luca, searching for his brother, and ghouls like Kaito, Haku, and Rui, who wanted to return to being human.

The second was the way Jiro placed a strong and heavy hand on their tummy, stoic expression somewhat curious. The way he looked at them and offered to help them. He didn't know much about babies or families or family planning, and he was a little scared to do more harm than good with his freakish strength and tendency to break fragile things--but it would be helpful to have a doctor nearby, right? And to not go at this alone?

"Even if it's not anomalous, a baby is sort of like an infectious disease." Was his comment that made them laugh for the first time the whole day.

(Yuri protested that Jiro handle this, as Yuri insisted he was the only real doctor present. Jiro managed to reassure him that surely an ordinary pregnancy would be uninteresting and unremarkable, and that the inspector wouldn't be willing to have their fetus subject to Yuri's experiments. If anything of interest or concern were to happen, Yuri would be the first to know besides Jiro. But surely he had more interesting subjects to examine?)

A matter of weeks later and the real shock came(for the scholarship student, although Jiro had forgotten, himself) when they ran a paternity test--Jiro had been 'struck by the demons' as well, and his sperm had been used to father the child.

". . .Huh." He was far worse of an actor than Yuri. Fortunately he wasn't one for big reactions to begin with. ". . .I guess that explains how I woke up a while back."

"Do you. . .still wanna help with it?" They asked in an uncertain whisper. "I understand if not. If you'd rather I not keep it. . . ."

"I kind of want it more." Jiro shrugged, continuing to mill about their checkup. "Is that weird? It's mine, so I don't think that's weird. Especially since it's with you."

They gripped their patient gown in their fists, feeling their face heat up from embarrassment. It was a bit of a stretch, and perhaps it was the sensitivity from the pregnancy talking, but that felt as close to a confession as they'd ever gotten from Jiro.

Perhaps these demons weren't all bad. Perhaps they were simply trying to help what they saw as a pair of lovers who needed a little push.

Maybe being a parent with Jiro wouldn't be so hard.

#danie yells writing #danie yells at tokyo debunker #suggestive #noncom mention #danie yells answers #danie yells with anons #between distractions and actually writing i finished this at almost 4:30am. way too much time for what it is.

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ingravinoveritas · 2 years ago

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Don’t know why but anytime Anna posts on Twitter her little quotes of her and Michael I just immediately cringe. Your telling me she didn’t know from the start she’d be in Staged? Like it was a last minute impulse decision to put her in it like we didn’t know from the start that she probably weaseled her way into the show because she was in the house with Michael when he’s filming and she had forced her way in. PUH-LEASE!! Like girl if your going to be lying in your tweets at least make them believable. I don’t think anyone who saw that tweet and knows who she really is and how she acts believes for a second that she didn’t know she was on the show. Another thing too, she just has to keep mentioning that she was on the show. Like girl if she didn’t keep talking about it every second of every day we wouldn’t have noticed you honestly. That’s how invisible and plain you really are. She just blends into the background and putting her in with David and Michael in the promo pics in staged 3 was definitely a choice that wasn’t executed as good as she had hoped cause she immediately blends in with the background and all I see are the two guys and not her. Literally why she’s called APAT. She’s plain and tall those are her only discernible qualities

I read you loud and clear, Anon. It's the funniest (though not "ha ha" funny) thing, too--in my post earlier, one person mentioned how AL only posts pictures with her and Michael/none of David, and I specifically talked about her posting the same recycled pictures in her Insta posts promoting Staged...and then only a few hours later, she made this post on Insta with the same exact pictures. And sure enough, one of them was the promo picture you just mentioned:

I agree with your assessment, Anon: My focus also went to David and Michael, and AL immediately faded into the background. Part of this could be because of the forced perspective of the picture--i.e., AL looking farther away from the boys than she actually is because of how the picture was shot. But I think it's mainly due to her lack of presence--mainly in the third season of Staged overall, in which she not only had less screen time than Georgia, but less screen time than in the first two seasons of the show altogether--as well as her lack of on screen "presence" in general.

(I did have to laugh at her caption on Insta referring to her, David, and Michael as a "detective trio" in this picture--maybe a reference to Crowley/Aziraphale/Muriel?--but completely off base and rather ludicrous here. Also, interestingly enough, The Telegraph chose to use this picture of all things in their negative review of Staged 3...)

Turning to the Twitter comments you mentioned, here is the exchange that the Anon is talking about (between AL and Simon), for those who might not've seen it:

Obviously this is deeply cringey, but in the interest of accuracy, I think it's important to note that Michael/AL/David/Georgia did an interview about Staged in Radio Times in 2021, and if what was said there is true, it does appear that it actually was a last-minute decision to cast her in the show:

With that said, however, it's also possible that two things can be true: 1) That AL knew a pilot was going to be filmed and tried to passive-aggressively push her way into being in it; and 2) That she actually didn't know she was in it until the last minute.

From my perspective, it's actually worse that she was cast in it so last minute. Because either Michael didn't consult with her/confide in her about the show at all until he had to, or he resigned himself to her being in it purely out of "practicality." It makes it look as if it wasn't that Anna was the best person for the show or that Michael or anyone was excited or thrilled to be working with her--it was that she was just there. So if AL was lying, you'd think she would've come up with something that makes her and/or her and Michael's relationship look a lot better than it does.

And it does appear that AL seems to talk incessantly about Staged in an effort to emphasize/remind us that she is actually in it. I don't know if anyone remembers the TV show Married...With Children, but it reminds me a great deal of Al Bundy scoring four touchdowns in one game of (American) football and spending the next several decades talking about his "glory days" in high school. I don't think anyone is saying AL can't promote a show that she was in, but it's the very fact of needing to remind everyone by repeatedly posting the same pictures and interjecting the same types of comments on Twitter that makes it start to become obnoxious.

(Also, we've seen Simon compliment Michael/David/Georgia's acting in certain scenes, something they brought to a particular moment in the show, and yet in his response to AL he chose to compliment...the charcuterie board. Make of that what you will...)

So yes, hopefully this helps to straighten out a few things, but as I said above, I agree with pretty much everything you've written here, Anon. Thanks for writing in and sharing your thoughts! x

#anonymous #reply post #michael sheen #welsh seduction machine #staged #or 'brokeback mount him' which is what i am referring to staged as from here on out #so much happening here #i don't even know anymore #'Simon writes what he sees'#that seems more and more accurate as time goes on #anna lundberg #discourse

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kay9leo · 5 months ago

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At First Glance...Part XII

Chapter 11 <<<||| Chapter 12 ||| >>> Chapter 13

...At Reality

“A sarcophagus. This must be Marmaduke.” MC said as they found the tomb of said Dale member and the creator of William Dale’s beet feet curse. MC frowned as she got close to the open sarcophagus. “I can’t believe that this is the tomb that cursed Dale. Or how much envy Granum –that’s this guy’s older brother and the eldest in their family– had that he would be willing to curse his own family. Even their decedents!” MC tsked as she wingardium leviosa-ed the stone top to close the sarcophagus.

“I’m still not over how William has beets for feet.” Sebastian chuckled before MC elbowed him.

“Owe! What was that for!” He grumbled as he glared at his best friend as he thought, While I may be in love with you, I definitely didn’t deserve that elbow.

“It might be funny, but I rather not make fun while we still have an active curse going.” She narrowed her eyes before shoving something into his hands. “Now here, place this crest on top of the sarcophagus.

“Why me and not you? Are you trying to not get cursed yourself?” He teased with smirk, partly because he felt honored that MC would bestow the honor of breaking a curse to him and partly because he couldn’t help himself.

There was something in how feeling her hands –even if just a moment when she handed the Dale family crest to him– made his insides jitter and hands sweaty. It was as if realizing his feelings for her was a curse in itself – one that made him more self-conscious in everything that he did now in relation to her.

“No. It’s because I know you’ll do the job right.” She paused before frowning as she crossed her arms and looked at her boots. “That and my shorter height will make it a bit more difficult for me to place it properly without out having to climb up onto the sarcophagus.” She mumbled before looking at him with a rather unusual bashfulness in her eyes. “So, will you, do it? For me?”

Sebastian mouth open and closed, as if he was a fish breathing underwater before nodding.

“As you wish Ms. Troll-slayer.” He bowed as if greeting a deity. His personal deity.

“Pfff, don’t put me on a pedestal Sebastian.” MC waved her hand, as if knocking away the very thought. She crossed her arms as she rolled her eyes. “I couldn’t have taken any of those the three down without you.” She stated with a smile as her eyes met his.

“Nonsense. Despite being taken down, I saw how you finished that fight with the first troll we dealt with in Hogsmeade.” He frowned as he stared back. “You also took down the second troll by yourself signal handedly. And this third troll we just faced, you let me have the finishing shot! You don’t need me. Never did.” He stated, feeling his own words spit out his mouth, leaving bitterness on his tongue now that he stopped to think about their earlier victory, his insecurities and her own words she said last night taking hold of his mind.

“Honestly, I know did more harm than good at times. What good was I in that first fight when it knocked me out? Or the second fight? That was all you. I felt like this was the first time I was more of a help than a hindrance like the other times.” He scowled as he stared down at the Dale family crest.

It was even nicer than his own family crest; held more details and color despite its old age. The Sallow crest was simpler with a litera–

“I don’t appreciate you talking about my partner like that.” MC spat, voice sharp and harsh, like nails on a chalkboard.

“What?” He whipped his head up to see MC’s eyes narrowed before she slowly started marching towards him. Once she was in arm distance, she pulled him down with his tie, so they were meeting eye-to-eye.

He never seen her so angry like that before.

“You heard me Sallow. Don’t talk shite about my partner.” She huffed. “You’re talking about the same guy who decided to stand by my side when a troll came after me despite barely knowing me. The same one who leapt in front of me to defend against Rockwood and Harlow despite knowing how dangerous that was or how the odds were against him. The same guy who helped me to sneak into the Restricted Section, took the fall for me, joins me in my insane-at-times quests despite his hesitance, fear or abhorrence for some of the things we have to do.”

She snorted like a bull, pausing to take another breath before speaking once more.

“My partner,” She said as she poked his chest, “has endlessly helped me to try and understand my unusual magic. I know we both had our rough moments, and I know a rather large portion of it is due to his wishes to save his sister, but when I needed him the most, he always has my back.” MC stated, teeth bare like a dog giving its last warning before it would bite.

“I was scared. Fucking scared.” She swallowed before she took in a deep breath. “Yet every time I look back, he is there. Sebastian has my back. That’s why I could take those first two trolls down. That’s why my ancient magic skill had continued to improve. It’s why the very thought of him cheering me on in Crossed Wands is enough to push me to survive and beat those stupid keeper trials when he isn’t around. I’m new to this world. You’re right. I am ignorant.”

He flinched, but MC continued as if she didn’t notice it.

“It’s true. I am ignorant to the magical world. I’ve only been here a couple of months compared to your lifetime of fifteen. There is so much that I don’t know.” She shook her head with a sad smile. “But regardless of everything, of all the danger I get myself into, some unintentional, some willing, Sebastian always has my back. It’s true that I don’t need you. We both saw it in that month break in our friendship.” MC frowned. “I don’t need you. I want you. You’re one of the most important people in my life.”

She sighed as she released his tie and took a step back, neither taking their eyes away from each other.

“I mean it when I said it. Don’t talk shite about my partner.” She glared at him. “Sebastian Sallow is more than whatever image you’re trying to give off. More than what his Uncle Solomon thinks of him. More than what even he thinks of himself. That’s why I’m giving him the honor of breaking someone else’s curse.” She said as she held his hands between hers. “Because I want him to know that we can do it. That we are more than the sum of our parts. That we are a team. We got each other’s back. Don’t think that you’re all alone in this world. We got each other.” She stated as she shook their hands before stepping back.

“Now go let my best friend place the crest back into its slot. That should reverse the curse. Hopefully.” She stated with a smile.

Sebastian opened and closed his mouth like a fish before he nodded with a smile.

If there were tears in his eyes, surely MC would understand why with how dusty the tomb was as he placed the Dale Crest back into its home.

“There.” His voice cracked as he looked at her. MC gave him a grateful beaming smile. It was enough to make his stomach do backflips as his heart pounded with joy just seeing that smile towards him.

For him.

…

“Samantha will be glad to hear that the crest has been returned. I certainly hope it reverses the curse.” Sebastian smiled at her as they returned to the Dale tomb entrance.

Highwing was lightly dosing off, laying down at the top of the stairwell. At least she was until MC whistled. The white hippogriff stood up and stretched like a cat with a yawn before walking out into the open air with the two Hogwarts students behind her.

Once outside, Highwing bent down for easier access for MC to jump on. Without words, Sebastian motioned her to stop before he jumped on. Once he was seated, he offered her his hand.

MC took it and jumped up as he pulled her onto Highwing’s back.

With another whistle from MC, the Hippogriff flew off with Sebastian holding tight to MC’s waist as they flew into the afternoon sunny skies with the wind blowing on their faces and the sun kissing their skin as they flew home.

…

Actually, scratch that. They went to Hogsmeade instead.

The two decided to take a quick afternoon detour at the Three Broomsticks for a quick bite to eat.

MC hid Highwing in her nap-sack before they made their way to Hogsmeade village. Very little was said, in part due to hunger but mainly due to the comfortable silence. It was homely really.

Life was blissfully peaceful and content with MC by his side.

Nothing needed to be said with how they knew just from a nudge of the chin, lifted eyebrows and a smile as they both immediately knew where their next stop would be.

They enjoyed listening to others’ banter as they waited for their food in silence and a shared smiled between them. They only really started chatting once there was food in their belly and glasses half-empty as they started talking about anything and everything under the sun.

With each minute he spent with her, the more Sebastian could see himself doing this every night. At every meal. In any moment MC was willing to spend with him.

When the sunbeam landed on her eyes, Sebastian’s breath froze.

I want to marry MC one day. He thought as he watched how the light danced around her. I want to grow old and be with her till the very end of our lives.

At that he froze once more.

Thankfully, the universe had decided to spare him. Not even a minute later after that thought popped into his mind, MC had to leave for a quick bathroom break, leaving him a moment to himself.

It shouldn’t be surprising really…Sebastian thought as he started at his butterbeer. No other girl I’ve met has been that compatible to me like MC is. Or keeps me on my toes. I enjoy her company. And no one else has been there for me like she has…or cared for me that much like she did. We barely knew each other when we first fought that troll the first time around…he thought as he took a sip of the bubbly beverage before gently placing the wooden mug down.

…She was so worried for me and tended to me, just like that! And MC had never thought less of me before…all this time…I’ve thought of her above me with her power and wits…I’ve never thought she would have thought of me as impressive as well… He frowned as he stared into the creamy foam of his drink.

While I may be a great duelist, she far outclasses me…MC defeated me like it was child’s play and knocked me flat on my arse…she doesn’t need me…yet… He thought as he looked up towards the hallway to the restroom where MC went.

“You heard me Sallow. Don’t talk shite about my partner.”

“Sebastian always has my back. It’s true that I don’t need you. We both saw it in that month break in our friendship. I don’t need you. I want you. You’re one of the most important people in my life.”

“Because I want him to know that we can do it. That we are more than the sum of our parts. That we are a team. We got each other’s back. Don’t think that you’re all alone in this world. We got each other.”

Sebastian glanced toward the foggy window, watching how the sun had already started its decent into the underworld while his own pensive reflection stared back at him. Judging him. Questioning his worth. Wondering if he, Sebastian Sallow, could match up to the girl he realized he loved more than just friends.

…we’ve been great partners in Crossed Wands and greater friends outside of it. She’s a fantastic duelist and I certainly met my match when she knocked me down flat on my arse. He snorted with a frown. But what good is being a fantastic duelist if I can’t even take down a troll to protect her? She never needed me. He thought as he glanced down to his butterbeer.

“I don’t need you. I want you. You’re one of the most important people in my life.”

Her voice echoed in his mind as he started back to the window, taking a second look at himself as her voice continued to speak in his mind.

“Sebastian Sallow is more than whatever image you’re trying to give off. More than what his Uncle Solomon thinks of him. More than what even he thinks of himself. That’s why I’m giving him the honor of breaking someone else’s curse.”

“Sebastian always has my back.”

Sebastian sighed before feeling his lips slowly lift as her words continued to echo in his mind.

I’ve had her back when it mattered to her…I know that I’m more than what my uncle thinks of me…more than what most people think of me. And I know she’s not going to leave me when she has her needs fulfilled…she wants me. I’m one of the most important people in her life. Said it herself. He thought as he saw his eyebrows narrowed as he came to a final conclusion with a small smile.

Maybe I do have a chance.

Sebastian nodded to himself, to his mirrored reflection and gave off a charming smile to MC as she returned to the table with a rather nervous smile. A flutter of pixies danced in his stomach.

Alright Sallow, it’s just MC. Take your chance and tell her how you feel.

But before he could, MC’s lips opened and said:

“Hey Sebastian…you can say no if you want, but would you want to go on another quest with–”

“Yes.” He spat with a grin.

“You sure? Don’t you want to know what we are doing?” MC frowned.

“Whatever it is, I’m sure we’ll succeed if we are together.” He grinned as he slammed his hand on the table. “I’m in.”

…

Maybe I should’ve wait for MC to tell me what we were going to do for this quest. He thought as he quietly gulped at the number of giant spiders that suddenly popped out of the ground and started attacking them relentlessly.

Even if the pair of them were great duelist, even this was too much for them. Every time one would be killed, two more would pop out of the ground like some metaphorical hydra.

“They’re even more aggressive than I’d expected.” MC growled as she stepped behind him. He immediately recognized the telltale sign of her ancient magic coming into place as he felt the very air hum with energy and the hair at the back of his neck and arms start to rise as he cast a quick protego! for MC to do her thing.

Thunderbolts stuck down, hitting every single overgrown spider, even the ones just coming out from the ground, paralyzing them enough for Sebastian to get a few confringos, diffindos, and glacius!

He frowned at only hearing his voice as he turned back to MC, who was on all four on the ground.

“MC, what’s wrong?!?” He spat, hoping that she didn’t hear the quiver in his voice as he turned back to continue firing shorts at the stupid arachnids.

“Just…just g-give me a moment…I th-think…I m-might’ve overdone it.” MC panted before she looked up to him, face panting as if she had ran a marathon, blood running down her nose and lips.

“I’ll say! I never seen you drained like that before. I think we should abort the mission this time MC!” He frowned as he glanced back to her before re-focusing his attention to the spiders around them. “Just give me a moment. I should be able to–”

“NO!”

“No!?!” He spat as he glanced back to look at her.

MC was still on the ground, panting before she took in a deep breath in and shakily stood up. When she lifted her head up, Sebastian had to force himself to hold his ground when she looked up to meet his eyes.

Her eyes were completely blue.

Not like before where her iris would change color as she used her magic and at times, even turn her pupils blue.

No.

Her ENTIRE EYES –from the sclera to the pupil– glowed blue like her magic. Like lightening trapped in a glass bottle.

If blue defined her ancient magic, her near-reach to godhood, her red blood that was rolling down her nose, over her lips and down her chin, dropping onto the ground onto her boots was a reminder of her humanity.

“MC, whatever you’re doing, you need to STOP! NOW!” He screamed, heart in his throat. He easily took note of how despite the forceful feel her ancient magic emitted as it greeted his with the gentleness of a rampaging graphorn at first, it soon than cuddled his own magical core it with the softness of a newborn kitten.

It wasn’t enough to calm his nerves despite its magical demands.

This was powerful magic she was releasing.

Too powerful.

Sebastian could still see how she was shaking. Could see her unsteady breaths. Could see how her nose was still bleeding, dripping red blood down her face and onto her boots as if it was rain. It was too much for her physical body to release at once.

God-like magic she might have, but she still abided by mortal rules in the stress she was placing upon her human body by releasing that MUCH magic at once.

Is she going to release all of her magic at once?!?! Sebastian thought with fright seizing him still as the humming sound grew all around him to the point even the giant spiders paused, noticing something was amiss.

It wasn’t uncommon to hear how a person would sacrifice themselves to defend their loved one if push comes to shove when there was no other option left by releasing their magic all at once to the point that their magic would tap into their life source in the center of their magical core for their last stand.

Death would be the only one to greet the user afterwards, seizing them after their honorable death.

It was the main reason why Anne stayed at home, barely practicing magic with how weaken her magical reserves became.

“MC YOU NEED TO STOP! NOW!” Sebastian screamed as terror seized his heart, recognizing the telltale signs of magical drainage.

MC narrowed her eyes and held her arms out. She dropped her wand and held her fingers spread out before she took a deep breath.

Three things immediately happened.

MC threw a powerful protego over him with a flick of her hand.

Another flick later, a score of thunderbolts slammed into the ground, its sounds joined by screaming spiders, all muted by the protego shield bubble.

Then MC fell down a second later after they all went silent.

She landed first on her knees, before falling on her hands and then collapsing completely as her eyes fell shut with a groan.

And yet all the while, her protego shield never let up – the only thing that gave his panicked mind some assurance that YES. MC is still alive.

“MC, drop your shield!” Sebastian yelled as he slammed against the shield bubble around him, hitting it with everything he got within him before deciding to make a body-slam run for it. Before he could even hit the shield with the only two steps the shield bubble gave him for a running start, it vanished.

He ended up tripping, landing on his hands and knees right next to MC.

Who still wasn’t moving save for the rise and fall of her chest.

At least she’s breathing…. Sebastian frowned as he gently rolled her from a prone to supine position.

Her face was covered in blood and dirt.

He took a handkerchief out from his back pocket and placed the tip of his wand against it, muttering aquamenti to moisten the cloth. Once he squeezed out the excess water from it, he placed the moist handkerchief underneath her nose before wiping it down over her lips and down her chin and neck.

“That by far has to be the stupidest thing you have ever done MC.” He softly growled as he removed the last of her blood around her neck and started removing the dirt on her face.

“But it worked.” She mumbled cheerfully

If anyone asked (not that anyone would even know in an empty town filled with dead spiders with only him and MC as the sole human occupants), he didn’t scream and jumped back in fearful surprise.

Sebastian was just excited. That’s all. They were screams of joy at the fact that his friend wasn’t dead!

“Any louder and I’m certain they’ll be able to hear your scream by Hadrian’s Wall.” MC frowned as she slowly sat up, acting as if she didn’t nearly greeted Death like an old friend. Instead, her bright eyes –which was the complete opposite symptom of magical drainage– greeted his with mirth and cheerfulness.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting for my comatose magically drained friend to suddenly speak. Especially not after THAT STUNT YOU PULLED!” Sebastian spat, anger suddenly fueling him as MC leaned back with a frown.

“What the FUCK were you thinking MC! Do you even know what the FUCK you just nearly did?” Sebastain hissed, his own breathing staggering in and out like an aggressive bull.

“Well, from what it seems to me, I just killed a town full of spiders with a magical thunderstorm.” MC stated as she threw her arm out towards the town –now filled with dead spiders. “Not the first time I called down multiple thunderstrikes. I just over did it; that’s all.” She said as she got up and offer him her hand to help him stand up.

He stared at her.

Her eyes were bright. She wasn’t staggering, wasn’t panting or any of the sort that would come with magical drainage. Nor was she unconscious; one of the last stages of extreme magical drainage before death without proper intervention.

“Are you going to take my hand or what?” MC nervously smiled; that same one he saw on her when he realized that she had vaporized a troll way back during their first trip to Hogsmeade.

Sebastian nodded and took it, letting her help him stand up despite the reasonable anger he felt

“Why are you so angry? It’s not like this is the first time I fainted from going all out.” MC said, rolling her eyes as he froze upon realizing what she said. “The fact that it took me two tries is impressive by itself since–”

“Excuse me, by what do you mean you fainted doing this before?” He stated slowly as he felt his own magic shimmering underneath his own skin like the angry buzzing of bees.

MC must’ve noticed it too with the way he felt her own magic responding in kind. But instead of the buzzing anger of bees, her magic greeted his like the gentle caress of sea foam greeting the sandy beaches at low tide.

She frowned when she realized he refused to let his magic be calmed by her own.

“Explain.” He narrowed his eyes.

“I figure I would get some practice in right now before I would have to face another Keeper trial.” MC stated as she released her hold and crossed her arms. “It isn’t the first time I took down a horde of spiders during one of my own solo practices. Nearly fainted as well. Took me a while to master it when dealing with five spiders. They would usually go down after one thunderbolt. I never had to deal with as many spiders as we did here, and I wanted to see as to how far I could push my limits knowing that you’re here. I rather not do that when I’m on my own as I would have no one watching my back in case I overdid it.”

“Well, you did.” Sebastian hissed as he crossed his own arms in response. “Do you know how fucking dangerous that is MC? Pushing your magic to your limit like that? Do you know why Anne isn’t at school practicing magic like the rest of us? Do you know how fucking close you are to greeting Death when you do that?!?”He growled as he got right up into MC’s face, hands on both of her shoulders.

“No, but I survived it before.” MC frowned. “I need to practice doing that – using my ancient magic to take out multiple enemies at once Sebastian. It might be just the thing to keep me alive when I–”

“IT MIGHT JUST BE THE THING THAT KILLS YOU!” Sebastian yelled, throat tight and eyes stinging as he stared at her.

Now he was the one who was trembling.

“Do you understand? You can’t die! You just CAN’T!” He yelled, unable to say the real reason why. Why this girl in front of him, the one who somehow managed to sneak her way into his heart and steal it couldn’t die.

Her death would somehow kill him too. It would take away the little light he had in this world.

Sebastian knew that he was in too deep, knew he was too in love with this girl that her death would leave him no better than an Azkaban prisoner after a dementor’s kiss. He was already becoming a husk with Anne’s absence and his own guilt over how useless he has been towards finding a cure, a treatment even to keep her alive and pain-free! Anne was withering away before his very eyes while he kept on living. His friendship with Ominis had been on rocky waters ever since Anne had been cursed, with his best friend pulling him out of more trouble than he liked to admit.

Sebastian wasn’t living. He was just going through the motions of school, personal hygiene and play, acting as if everything was alright in the light of day. In the shadows of night that slowly started creeping into the shadows of day, he had a one-track mind to not lose the little that he had by researching, looking for something to save Anne.

Then he met her.

And he was literally knocked off from his feet as MC reminded him of what it was like to live. To laugh with your best friend.

To love.

Sebastian swallowed that tightness that was building up in his throat.

“You can’t die MC.” He repeated. “If you push your magical reserves to it limit –to use all the magic that you have, it will pull from your life force until you have nothing left and you. Will. DIE.” He exhaled with a staggered breath, trying to prevent the stinging that was affecting his eyes reach his throat or voice too. “Regular magic, ancient magic, it all has a limit. I can’t lose you. Please promise me that you’ll never do that again. Promise me that you’ll retreat if it comes to that.”

“I-I can’t.” MC stated as she placed her hands on his cheeks. “I can’t Sebastian. The Keeper trails are much worse than this. That’s why I need to master this. To know what’s my limit. You know that I have more power –that my magical reserves goes so much more deeper than your average witch or wizard. I need to master my magic to survive the Keeper Trials solo–”

“Then take me with you.” He stated as he placed his hands over hers, never losing contact with her eyes. He pulled them down, until both of their hands were at his chest as he then placed them over his heart. “Take me. I promise you I got your back. You don’t need to face them alone. I got your back.”

“Sebastian, you might die there!” MC shook her head with narrowed sad eyes. “I nearly did myself and you don’–”

“Take me with you.” He stated.

“You don’t even have ancient magic like I do to surv–”

“Take me with you. I promise to have your back.” He stated once more, never wavering in his stance.

MC sighed, as if the wind was taken from her sails.

“Let…let me think about it.” She said, breaking eye contact first before taking her hands back.

Before Sebastian could even give another argument as to why she should take him, MC hugged him instead.

He hugged her back.

They stood there, in the shadow of their friendship that loomed over them, hugging in silence of all of the things unsaid with this physical comfort as their only current answer.

…

He failed to convince her to abort the mission to look for Mary Portman.

Instead, Sebastian decided that if MC won’t leave this mission, he would have to show her why she should take him with her on her next Keeper Trial.

…

With the directions that Crispin Dunne at The Three Broomsticks gave her, they went into the house that MC was certain belonged to his friend.

“Oh no. This must be Mary. Poor woman.” MC stopped as the two of them stared at the human-sized spider web cocoon it was warped in. Sebastian noticed a sheet of paper, sitting on a table nearby and flipped it over.

H-

I have delivered the spider venom as requested. Prompt payment is now due.

The new cluster of spiderlings in my cellar workshop have almost hatched. I can provide more venom soon – once, of course, I have been compensated for the last delivery.

Mary Portman.

“Is there something wrong? I can feel your magic harshly reacting to that letter.” MC said as he looked at her. Her eyebrows were pulled in together, eyes staring at him in concern.

“Poor woman? Ha! I think you might want to rethink that MC after you read this.” He frowned before glaring at Mary Portman being trapped in her own web of doing.

Literally.

Breeding giant spiders? What was she even thinking!?!

“Shit. If Mary was breeding these things in her cellar – that means there are more underground!” MC hissed as she looked up at him. “I’ll need to destroy every last spider in that cellar if this is to end.”

“I think you mean to say, WE need to destroy every last spider.” He said as MC blinked back at him.

Sebastian sighed.

“I’m coming too you know. You should know that I’ll never abandon you, though I do wish you stop and take a break.” He frowned.

“Nothing a bit of Wigglewend won’t fix.” MC grinned.

“And that cockiness of yours could cost you if you aren’t careful, even if you had some Wigglewends to energize you again.” Sebastian spat before sighing at the unpleased look at MC’s face. “That potion can’t fix everything MC. Resting is important too, you know.”

“I promise you that I’m fine Sebastian. I swear, that if I feel like I can’t move on, we can abort this mission.” She said as she lifted her fisted hand towards him with only the pinky reaching out to him. “I pinky swear.”

“You pinky swear?” He pouted, confused by her action.

“Think of it like a muggle version of an unbreakable vow, only deeper since we only have our words and not magic to trust it by. It what I used to do with my muggle friends as kids whenever we made serious promises to each other.” MC said as she showed him how to do the muggle version of the unbreakable vow with both of her hands, hooking the pinky fingers together before shaking on it.

She then unhooked her pinky fingers before offering her right one to him.

“I swear to you, Sebastian Sallow, that if I feel like that I’m going to faint, we’ll abort the mission and come again another day to complete it.” MC said with bright eyes and a sincere smile.

Sebastian sighed and couldn’t help but smile back as he hooked his own pinkie with hers.

If it reminds you to keep yourself safe, I’ll do all the pinkie promises you offer me MC. He thought as they shook upon her muggle vow, relief filling his mind. His very core really.

“Now let’s find that cellar.” He grinned. “We have some exterminating to do.”

…

“If this was where Mary bred the spiders, they’re not here now.” MC said as she took a few steps forward, wand out, ancient magic emitting strongly enough that his own magic greeted it back like two wolves howling at each other during a hunt.

“If we’re lucky, you might have killed them all already above ground.” He hummed, his own wand at ready as MC took lead.

“I doubt it.” MC sighed as they took a look around at the expanded cellar that Mary Portman made. A look in one of the open rooms had MC sighing once more. “Well, this isn’t a good sign. These spiders have gone somewhere.”

In one of the corners of the room, dirt was shoved aside, as if they had dug towards a deeper level of the underground. Sebastian could only imagine that it must have been after MC’s thunderstorm she called down.

MC shook her head with a frown, mumbling, “There must be a way down there.” She then took off. Sebastian followed not a moment later as they went down another corridor where to his displeasure, MC found another lead.

“A ladder.” He frowned as he stared at the unnatural hole in the ground where the ladder started. “Not sure I want to know where this leads.” He grumbled.

“Incendio.” MC mumbled. Flames jumped from her wand towards the spiderwebs that semi-covered the hole. In an instant, they lit up and dissolved into ash.

“Let me go down and have a look first.” Sebastian said as he squeezed her shoulder, slowly maneuvering himself in front of the ladder.

“What happened to you not wanting to know where it leads? Or even, ladies first MC?” MC joked. She can be light-hearted all that she wanted, but he saw her concern in how her eyebrows narrowed or how tight her smile was.

“Are you questioning my dueling capabilities?” He smirked at her as he started lowering himself onto the ladder, pleased at his ability to distract her to take the lead into danger for once.

“No, but–”

“Then don’t worry about it. I have your back, you have mine?” He grinned, giving her a wink and the good ole’ Sallow charm to calm her nerves, but mainly to prevent her from facing trouble first for once in her life.

“Fine.” She huffed. “Best be ready for whatever’s down there Sebastian.”

“I’ll be fine.” He smiled. “I had your back, you’ll have mine. We’re partners after all. Thick as thieves.” He grinned.

MC paused, blinking at him before a soft smile covered her lips.

“Uña y carne.”

At that he froze.

“What? Since when did you know how to speak another language?” He felt his jaw drop as he dumbfoundedly blinked at her. “What does that even mean?!?”

“I’ve already told you Sallow, I’m not originally from London.” MC grinned. “It literally means nail and flesh in English and means the same thing as that idiom you said. Now come on Sebastian! Time to go down! We have some spiders to kill!”

“As you wish.” Sebastian said with a shake of his head and a smile on his lips as he went down.

It was only when he landed on rock bottom, after telling MC it was safe to come down, did he frown at the new thought that popped into his head.

How much do I really know about MC? He smiled once more as he offered his hand to help her jump down onto the ground. She knows so much about me than I do of her.

“Thank you, Sebastian.” MC said with a smile as she met his eyes. “Ready to go?”

“Always.”

...

Chapter 11 <<<||| Chapter 12 ||| >>> Chapter 13

#sebastian x mc #sebastian sallow #“Beeting” a Curse quest #samantha dale #Tangled Web quest #Mary Portman #hogwarts legacy #kay9leo fanfic #at first glance #I'm stilled annoyed at Sebastian for extending his story against my will...#...but also at the same time considering what happened in this chapter #he definitely deserves some peace for the next chapter 😅#“Uña y carne” to better word it means fingernail and flesh due to how close they are

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bungakusyoujo · 2 years ago

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Zettai Karen Children final thoughts

I read the entirety of the manga in about three weeks, and enjoyed it very much. It’s been a while since I last read a manga that was so consistently high-quality (for the most part, at least). I have a few minor complaints, but overall, this was unexpectedly a very well-written, captivating story.

The good:

The art. It starts off as simple "retro" style, but considering that the manga ran for over 15 years, it's not surprising that it eventually evolved into something much more polished and impressive. Comparing the first chapters to the later ones, I still think both styles are good-looking and distinctive.

The manga is obviously very long and depicts the main cast in three major stages of their lives, yet there are no actual time skips. You watch the characters grow in real time, which allows for very natural development.

Another thing I liked is the pacing, particularly how the plot is comprised of smaller independent stories which are marked by common titles. While the overarching story arc definitely exists, dividing it in such a manner keeps the story digestible and not overly info heavy per chapter. (This is less prevalent in the final story arc, which I will address later.)

The characters. Almost every single one of them is likeable, believable and interesting; their psychology also feels very convincing, particularly the depictions of trauma. The main cast is charismatic and nicely developed, while side characters stay relevant throughout the story. The author often draws from known tropes and archetypes, but still manages to give his characters distinguishing qualities that make them stand out.

The comedy. It’s not easy to make me giggle, let alone laugh out loud, but this manga did both on frequent occasions.

The fanservice is not too much in your face and doesn't distract from what's happening. Most of it is focused on female characters, but it’s also worth noting that the manga doesn’t shy away from showing shirtless men.

The bad:

Towards the end of the manga I noticed an increasing amount of repeated panels, namely closeup panels being copied from other bigger panels. They appeared up to a few times per chapter, which I don't think should be happening to this extent (or at all, preferably), though I can imagine the reasons why the author resorted to that solution (deadlines, most likely).

Spin-off characters (Andy and Yuugiri) received really weird treatment. Their mother story, "the UNLIMITED", requires no prior knowledge of the ZKC manga, yet if someone was to read the last arc without watching "the UNLIMITED" first, I feel like they'd be very confused with the Blue Star Foundation. It gets even worse that the organisation and its members have very little impact on the manga story, which is SUCH A SHAME. It could have been a great opportunity to expand on these characters after rather poor development they received in the spin-off (yes, they were main characters and I still feel like they got nerfed by a bad script). The Foundation should have their own IMPACTFUL story arc. If you aren't going to do that, why put them in the manga in the first place? They contributed nothing. (Let me guess, Andy was a very popular character as reflected by the popularity polls, so they wanted to spike up the sales?)

Related to what I said earlier about the pacing, the final arc suffers from changing the formula at some point. It drags for too long before we finally get to the bad guy. If the main villain is supposed to feel threatening, we should have more story related to him than just a few glimpses (it was well executed in the second arc where Gilliam had enough screentime to be interesting, but for some reason the final arc neglected him in favour of having him brainwash everyone, so most of the time is spent on fighting the brainwashed allies instead of the actual enemy).

That one time every main character got a nice summary of their role while Aoi got reduced to having small boobs. Yeah, I didn't enjoy that part.

#zettai karen children

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catsafarithewriter · 6 years ago

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Day 2: Pirates

A/N: Day 2 of the TCR Birthday Bash was Pirates, so I decided to go with that little pirate au we have floating around. This is set after Baron has been brought onto Haru’s ship and is just getting to grips with his situation.

One of the first rules about getting kidnapped by pirates was to remain calm.

(Baron was fairly sure the very first rule was not to get kidnapped at all, but it was a little too late for that.)

Still, he eyed the captain and her first mate - the latter built like a mountain and the former seemingly tiny in comparison - and did his best to appear nonchalant. He wasn’t sure he managed it.

“If you’re planning on demanding a ransom,” he said, “you should know my sister has always wanted to be an only sibling.”

“Ransom?” the captain echoed, a note of disapproval in her voice. “Whoever said we were ransoming you?”

Her first mate grunted. “Ain’t a bad idea though.”

She tutted. “We have bigger fish to fry, Muta.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Baron glanced uneasily between them. They hadn’t seen fit to tie him to his seat, so either they were very confident in their abilities or very stupid. He decided, for his own safety, to side with the former. “So...” he said slowly, aware he might not like the answer, “if you’re not ransoming me, then why kidnap me?”

“Kidnap?” the captain repeated, and she sounded almost amused. She looked to her first mate. “Oh no, I wouldn’t call it a kidnapping. I would call it... How did I put it earlier, Muta? I believe I said something rather good.”

“Borrowing without permission, yer said.”

She snapped her fingers. “That was it.” She grinned. “We’re borrowing you to help with a little job we’ve got going.” She swung down into the seat opposite Baron, close enough that the cutlass at her hip was almost within his reach. She had to know that. You didn’t become captain of a pirate ship without being aware of your surroundings. He assumed. “Tell me,” she continued, “how much do you know about your ancestry?”

He tore his attention away from the cutlass. He saw the first mate watching him carefully, and realised he’d never had a chance. “You kidnapped me to talk about my family tree?”

The captain raised a finger. “Ah, ah, ah, what did we agree on?”

“Borrowed, then,” Baron amended, deciding against pointing out that he had not agreed to one iota of this madness. “If you wanted to discuss bloodlines, you could have achieved that without going to all this effort.”

“And that’s why we need you - bloodlines. More specifically, your blood.” She leant forward, elbows on knees and chin resting on her hands. “Your great-great-great...” She hesitated. “Muta, how many greats was it?”

“Does it matter?”

She clicked her tongue. “I suppose not. Anyway, to put it bluntly, your Great Grandma Ethel was a very good pirate who stole a lot of treasure and sealed it away with blood magic. We found the map to her loot, and now all we need is a little blood from a direct descendant to crack it open.”

“You’re going to kill me?”

She looked at him in disappointment. “Of course not. We’re not savages, you know.”

“No. Just pirates and kidnappers.”

She raised an eyebrow, but didn’t bother to correct him this time around. “We just need a little of your blood. A few drops. A spoonful. A thimble’s worth.” She paused. “Maybe a pint.”

“What?”

“Your grandmother was somewhat loose on the details, and the translation’s kinda shaky,” she admitted. “But we promise you that - save for a little necessary bloodletting - no harm will come to you while aboard my ship.”

Baron pointed to the first mate. “He knocked me out!”

“No more harm will come to you,” the captain amended. She extended a hand. “So, do we have a deal?”

Baron stared. “Why on earth do you think we have a deal?” he asked. Somewhere, in the far reaches of his mind, he was aware he was no longer sounding calm. “Why would I agree to any of this? You stole into my home, knocked me out, and are holding me captive!”

“Captive seems a little harsh.”

“Can I leave?”

“We are currently in the middle of the ocean, so unless you plan on swimming...”

“So I’m trapped,” Baron said. He motioned curtly to himself. “Captive.” He motioned to them. “Captors.”

“If he’s so eager to be a captive, I say we throw him in the brig,” the first mate said.

The captain held up a hand to quieten her first mate, but she didn’t seem wholly dismissive of the idea. “I’m sure we can come to some sort of agreement, would you say, your lordship?” She tiled her head. “How does one address a baron?”

“You can just call me Baron.”

The captain beamed. “There we are - we’re already on casual name basis. Unless you’d prefer to go by ‘Humbert’, in which case we can accommodate that.”

“Just Baron will do fine.”

“I like it. Simple. Easy to remember. I’m Haru.”

The first mate’s face soured. “Chicky...”

“What? I’m being nice. I’m very good at being nice. And friendly.” After a pause, punctuated only by silent expressions passed between the two pirates, the captain sighed. “Fine. Baron, it’s Captain Haru to you, and you’ll do well not to forget it. Muta? Would you like to go by First Mate Muta or just Mr Renaldo Moon?”

The first mate grunted. “Don’t care as long as he stays out of my way.”

Captain Haru nodded. “Okay then.” She looked back to Baron. “So, have you decided how you’ll be travelling with us?”

“My options being...?”

“The brig,” the first mate said.

Baron paused. “Is there an option B?”

“Staying as our guest,” Captain Haru answered.

“There really isn’t an option C where I get to go home, is there?”

“Oh, you’ll go home,” she said, “but only after we’ve found the treasure.”

Baron thought it over, although there really wasn’t much choice. “You’ll try the droplets of blood option first, right?” he asked eventually.

“It seems only fair.”

He let another couple of heartbeats pass by.

“Then,” he said slowly, “I guess you have yourself a guest.”

Captain Haru beamed, and in that moment she was beautiful. “Welcome aboard the Spring Wind, Baron. We hope you enjoy your stay.”

#tcr birthday bash 2019 #tcr birthday bash #day 2 pirates #pirate au #the cat returns #in which I also realise i'm borrowing a little of the banter from treasure planet #'how did i put it earlier i believe i said something rather good' is definitely borrowed #haru is far more playful than i was expecting #it's because she has muta's gruff humour to bounce off #also she knows muta looks hella intimidating #huh this turned out shorter than expected #ah well #enjoy

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hyperfixated-gvf · 2 years ago

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Santa Baby

On the seventh day of Tropemas, hyperfixated-gvf gave to me:

One very flirty mall Santa...and that's about it!

Christmas Song Pairing: “Santa Baby" by Eartha Kitt

Trope: Falling In Love With a Mall Santa

~~~

Pairing: Jake Kiszka x Reader

Warnings: None!

Words: 1.3k

~~~

“I think Santa is trying to hit on me,” you whispered to your friend, meandering down the busy corridor of the mall, just window shopping as you watched last-minute gifters scramble to find what they were looking for.

They looked around, not seeing any jolly old men in red suits leering at you. Or at all, really. “Um…what Santa?” they stage whispered back, arching one perfectly-sculpted brow. “Please tell me you’re not talking about the window decals, because I don’t know how to provide that kind of mental support.”

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head before taking another sip of your drink. “No. Back there by that phone case cart. He definitely winked at me.”

The lip-purse of disbelief made you stick your tongue out at them, and they laughed, putting their hands up in defense. “I’m pretty sure Santa winks at everyone. Isn’t that part of the gig?”

And, well, that definitely could have been the case, now that you thought about it. “Maybe,” you sniffed haughtily. Any other time, you’d have let it be, gone on your way, and not spared it another thought. But you were bored and had nothing to do – no time schedule – so you hooked your arm in your friend’s and did a u-turn as they laughed at your pettiness.

“I believe you!” they giggled, and you smiled but didn’t stop your beeline back to where you’d locked gazes with a warm-eyed Santa Clause.

They didn’t seem to be around when you got back to the spot, and you figured they must have meandered off to spread Christmas joy someplace else until you heard a low, “Ho-ho-ho,”From behind you, and you turned around to find the same mocha stare you’d caught sight of earlier. Something about this mall Santa was captivating, and it was made all the more noticeable now that you were faced with him.

But he didn’t seem to be looking in your direction. Instead, he was looking at your friend, asking them what they wanted for Christmas.

For a split second, you were disappointed. But then you remembered that there was nothing to be disappointed about: this was a stranger who you had no clue whether or not was a good person or a creepy old man or just doing their job.

The disappointment dissipated as soon as he was done chit-chatting with your friend, though, because you knew flirting. Body language was practically your job, after all, and the slight tilt of his head, the way he took a half-step in, the way his voice dropped – this man was flirting with you.

Hard.

“If there was a chair around, I’d ask if you wanted to tell me from my lap, but what would you like for Christmas this year, beautiful?”

Your friend’s eyes widened, and they had to turn around slightly to keep from laughing out of shock, and you immediately embraced the smug sense of satisfaction that you’d been right.

You hummed, pursing your lips in thought as you watched those brown eyes dip in the direction of the movement, then meet yours with a mischievous twinkle that seemed rather off-brand for Santa’s usual innocent sparkle that all the stories talked about. “I don’t believe in Santa Clause anymore,” you said. “Ask me later, maybe.”

The man’s eyes crinkled with a smile and, still doing his best to seduce you in the middle of the mall, hummed. “Does that mean I have permission to climb down your chimney tonight?” he asked suggestively, although the humor was clear in his voice. Had it not been, this fun, flirty exchange would be much creepier, and you’d likely report him to a mall security guard.

But, luckily for him, you were quite invested in the short conversation, and were willing to play along. “Why do I get the feeling you’re not looking to eat only the cookies I’ll put out?” you mused demurely, and your friend gagged out of the corner of your eye.

Before he could answer, a group of children with parents that were encouraging them to go up to the mall’s attempt at marketing the season entered the frame, and Santa had to slip back into the much less suggestive role he was supposed to be playing. “See you later, Santa.”

You turned and flounced away, your friend at your heels. “I am…never doubting you again,” they laughed, following you all the way into another section of the mall, where you knew there was a store you liked.

“What happened to, ‘I believe you, Y/N!’ huh?” you asked dryly, and they flicked you in the arm for the attitude.

“Yeah, yeah, oh great Santa whisperer. Be careful of that ego – too big and it won’t fit your husband’s hat. And besides,” they sighed, looking into the windows of the shops you walked past, “If you had believed that I believed you, I wouldn’t have had to listen to that gross little exchange between you and the fat man.”

You laughed, and that particular strand of conversation fell off naturally as you entered the store and began to browse the tables, chock-full of Christmas discounts. Neither of you really had anything to buy, but it was fun looking at everything that hadn’t been snatched up by other shoppers. Still, though, every shop had its ending, and this one’s came in the form of your friend sidling up to you with puppy eyes.

“I know we just got drinks a little bit ago, but I’m hungry now. Will you come with me back to the food court?”

And far be it from you ever turning down a trip to the food court. So, back on your way you went, across the mall again to reach that sweet heaven of fast food and smoothies galore. “You get the good stuff, I’ll grab a table?” you asked, searching through more filled tables than not – all the shoppers obviously having had the same idea as you and your friend.

You finally caught sight of an empty table near the center of the food court, and listlessly made your way over to it, not really paying attention to the other patrons around you. That’s why, when a random hand darted out and caught your wrist, you tensed up, ready to use what little self-defense skills you had. But Miss Congeniality had taught you enough about the four target spots on a man’s body that you felt confident you could hit at least one.

“What the–”

“I found a chair, beautiful. Ready to tell me what you want for Christmas?”

Though he sounded a little less sure of himself now without the fat suit and beard combo, you recognized his voice right away, and that was followed by those baby-cow brown eyes that now looked up at you from a handsome face.

“Santa!” you exclaimed, demeanor shifting once you knew it wasn’t a creep trying to assault you. “You found me!”

“Jake, actually,” he chuckled, motioning to the food on his tray. “I’m not on the clock, and if I have to answer to ‘Santa’ one more time today, I’m gonna turn into the Grinch.”

Studying his face, you admired his high-set cheekbones and the way his long hair, tied up in a bun, framed his face with the fallen tendrils. Breathtakingly handsome. You knew he wasn’t a creepy old flirt under that damn costume.

You hummed, noticing that there were three extra seats at his table. “But that would mean I couldn’t touch you even with a 39 and a half foot pole,” you pouted.

“Then get a 40 foot one and I can whisper my number through it that way.” Jake leaned back, and even if he wasn't dressed as Santa any longer, his lap still looked mighty tempting to sit in.

Across the food court, you saw that your friend only just got to the counter – you figured you had some time, and it wasn’t every day you accidentally fell in love with a mall Santa, so you sat down across from him, looking him dead in the eye. “You know, I think I’d rather take my chances.”

~~~

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