#I was Reborn's age when I started watching anime | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

riverlikethelake · 2 years ago

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May the dead walk again

Summary: Your foster fathers, Max and Norm present you with an avatar, an early birthday gift and it feels like the weight of the world has been simultaneously lifted and placed on your shoulders. After running into a Na'vi boy, you're taken to the Omaticaya and given the chance to become one of the people, your friend's older brother being the one to teach you.

Pairing: Neteyam x Avatar!reader

Word count: 7.5k

Warnings/notes: mentions of death, depression, angst, fluff, development of platonic/familial relationships, Spider tries, Protective!Norm, foster family in the lab, the beginning was written when i was sleep deprived, slowburn, slight enemies to lovers, Neteyam and reader are in denial

series master list | Would stardust fix us? Part one.

The Na’vi say that everyone is born twice, it’s a metaphor for young Na’vi going through their iknimaya and earning their place in the clan, but sometimes you wish it was more than that. You pray to Eywa, a god, a mother you’ve never known, and doubt will ever feel, that when you die you will get reborn. Maybe you’re manifesting an early demise, but you cannot bring yourself to care.

You will die, everyone does, your death has just always been by your side, its weight enveloping you in a suffocating embrace, plaguing your life with its entire being.

So, you pray to be reborn, into a body with legs that will carry you across the planet you were born on yet never get to see, with a heart that will beat steady as you run, with lungs that will breathe in the deadly air that you crave to feel blowing on your skin.

You sit in one of the chairs, knees to your chest hunched over as you read one of Grace’s logs. You keep your eyes glued to the screen even as you hear the decompression chamber going off. You hear the chatter of your brother and friends as they enter the lab, you don’t have to turn around to know that the quick footsteps are Kiri running over to see her mother in the Amnio tank.

Large hands rest on your shoulders from behind as Lo’ak leans over to look at the computer you’re reading on. “Watcha reading about this time?” he asks, amusement in his voice. You rest your head against his forearm.

“Razor palm” you answer, you see him tilt his head in confusion out of the corner of your eye. “pxiut” you add. He thinks for a moment before shaking his head “px-iu-t" he drawls, showing you the correct pronunciation.

“pxiut” you state, correctly this time. He grins and pats your shoulder before pulling back and turning to lean on the desk. Spider walks up and glances at your screen, he leans in inspecting the image and shrugs. “My drawing was better” He grins.

You roll your eyes and smile “Oh definitely, the detail you had?” you tease, dramatically doing a ‘chef’s kiss’ motion. Spider playfully smacks the side of your head and backs away, turning to walk to Kiri. You turn your attention back to the screen, reading about the plant.

The world of Pandora always fascinated you, the plants and animals that resided on the planet captured your eye from a young age. You grew up staring out the windows of the biolab into the world beyond, once you learned to read, your birthday gifts were always wider access to all the files they had about pandora, from the process of its discovery to the day-to-day experiments Max runs.

You never stepped foot outside the lab doors though, you barely even stepped outside your room. When you were younger, you’d pester Spider about what he saw, making him describe each plant and animal in detail. He’d oblige you, staying up late telling you stories of his adventures, he even started drawing plants he found. It was the closest you got to the world beyond, your obsession with anything and everything Pandora growing with each moment you could feel the presence of what laid beyond the walls.

Lo’ak watches as you pay full attention to the screen in front of you, completely absorbed in your own world. He taps on the desk to get your attention. “So, the little hideaway is finally out of her room huh?” he teases, your eyes flutter to him before going back to the screen. “Don’t get used to it” you mumble.

He chuckles, “I haven’t seen you in a few weeks, what's new?” he leans forward, keeping his eyes on you. You shrug “Not much, I looked over the test samples Norm collected, nothing you’d be interested in though” you explain, leaning back into the chair as you looked at him.

Lo’ak scrunches his nose “It seems like that’s all you do now” you nod, he huffs “But you don’t even go outside, you’re so obsessed with the world, but you don’t even know what it looks like up close.” You give him a look before turning back to your computer.

You’ve heard him complain about your lack of interest in seeing Pandora many times before, it confused him how your brother couldn’t stay in the forest long enough while you were rarely seen outside of your room. Truthfully, all you wanted was to see the forest, touch the grass and soil like your brother does, climb through trees and hear the sounds of nature. It was something you desperately wanted but never let yourself indulge in, knowing that once you got a taste, nothing would ever be enough, limited by your very being.

But all you tell Lo’ak is you’d much rather research it than see it. He rolls his eyes and pushes off from the desk, you sigh in relief, assuming the barrage is over, but you yelp when Lo’ak grabs the back of the rolly chair and pulls you out and to the middle of the lab, spinning you so that you face Kiri and Spider.

“Sister! You cannot possibly be ok with Y/n living her life like a-… what does dad call it?” He leans over the chair, braids falling in front of you as he faces you upside down “A hermit.” he states. You frown swatting at his braids, beads clicking together as they collide.

“Lo’ak leave her alone” Kiri pushes at his head so he is no longer engulfing you, she places a hand on your shoulder for comfort. Lo’ak frowns “What? You have always been on my side about this”

Kiri rolls her eyes “Yes, and I still am, but this is no longer about Y/n going outside, this is about your pride and ego.” She states, pulling your chair forward, out of his grasp “seeing who can get the other to falter” Kiri was always a firm believer that you needed to see Pandora, but she took a much more careful approach than Lo’ak, telling you about it’s beauty and encouraging you much like a mother coaxing her child into taking their first steps.

You look up to Kiri who’s raising her eyebrows at Lo’ak, you hear Lo’ak grumble before she pulls back, satisfied with her victory. You look past her, making eye contact with Spider, you raise your brows, and he nods. He climbs off the tank Grace stays in and shoos Kiri and Lo’ak away, taking a hold of your chair and rolling you back to your desk.

Your friends weren’t unaware of your condition, but you didn’t like the faces they made when they saw it affect you firsthand, how they’d walk on eggshells around you. So, Spider would always cover you, finding some way to get the attention off you or get you out of the room.

“Just let Y/n do her thing, you’re gonna make her retreat back to her little hideout” he teases lamely, ruffling your hair. You stick your tongue out at him, but smile, placing your hand on his in a way to say thank you.

The past few weeks, whenever you stood up or walked, you’d feel like you were going to faint and would need several minutes to recover and stabilize, hence your lack of presence whenever the Sully kids visited. Of course Spider would brush off their worry and tell this it you were just being moody, wanting to be alone, or getting in a fight. But you could only be gone so long without raising suspicion.

You tune out your friends as they bicker, trying to read the rest of the report but your mind was flooded with thoughts. You glance to the corner of your screen, looking at the time. Norm and Max would be back at any moment, and they will throw a fit if they find you out of your bed.

You think for a minute, weighing your options. Norm wasn’t subtle about his worry for you, nor was he good at hiding your condition from others. If he came back now, there’s no guarantee he’d get the memo to keep Lo’ak and Kiri out of the loop. If you got up now, you’d no doubt cause worry, they’re already suspicious about your disappearance the past few weeks. But, Lo’ak and Kiri don’t actually know much about humans, you could always blame your adverse reaction on dehydration or not eating anything.

You thought for a moment before pushing away from the desk and standing up, you groan as you feel your head swirl, limbs suddenly feeling like jello. Within a second, Spider’s at your side, placing himself under your arm to support you.

You throw your head back groaning, Kiri and Lo’ak are at your side asking questions, running their hands across your arm and forehead. “M’fine, just dehydrated” you mumble as Spider starts to lead you away.

Kiri starts to fuss at you about taking care of yourself when you hear the decompression door opening. Before you can react, you hear Norm calling out your name. You groan at the loud noise, a lump forming in your throat. There goes your plan.

Norm and Max rush over, Spider transfers you to them, Norm fully picking you up in his arms. “What are you doing outside of your room? You know how unstable you are right now” He fusses. You groan “M’fine Norm” Your head is throbbing, your eyes screw shut and your tongue feels heavy and numb in your mouth.

“What do you mean unstable?” Lo’ak presses, stepping forward to inspect you. You open your eyes, frowning. “I’m fine Lo’ak, they’re just being dramatic” you swat at him, shaking your head.

“Y/n you look like you’re going to pass out, I don’t think you’re fine” he retorts, raising his brows. You look to Max hoping he’d help your case, but he just shrugs “You need rest Y/n” he explains. You roll your eyes and shake your head, pushing at Norm’s chest to be let down.

“I can take care of myself” you state, embarrassed at the commotion your foster fathers were making. Norm grunts and starts walking out of the room, ignoring the questions your friends keep asking. He makes it to the back of the building before you notice everyone following you, Spider catching up and telling Max something you can’t make out.

Before you know it, you’re being laid down on your bed and Max is making quick work of the medication and equipment kept by your bed. You sit up as Max wraps a blood pressure monitor around your arm, huffing as Norm places a hand on your forehead. He points Spider to the pack of water bottles they keep by your nightstand; he grabs one and hands it to Norm who quickly opens it and presses it to your lips.

“Ok ok that’s enough” you announce, leaning back away from the bottle. “I know you think I'm helpless but I'm not, I'm almost 18, not a baby” you state, glaring at the scientist. “Well Y/n when you can’t even stay in bed long enough to recover, what else are we supposed to do?” He retorts.

Your furrow your brows, rolling your eyes “I’ve been cooped up back here my entire life, I think one day outside of the room I haven’t left in three weeks is fine” you mumble, looking to Kiri and Lo’ak who are peeking in through your door. Norm follows your gaze, his expression softening when he lands on the Sully kids. He looks back to you as you avert your gaze, pursing your lips.

Sighing, he turns and walks towards the Na’vi kids. “Y/n is fine, she got sick a few weeks ago and we didn’t know what it was so it was a hard recovery” he explains “But we have a better handle on it now, she just needs some water and rest and she’ll be ok” he watches as they glance to each other, worry spread across their face.

They look to you before retreating, murmuring to each other. You bring your knees to your chest, burying your face into your arms. Spider crawls over you, sitting on your side, wrapping an arm around you.

You take deep breaths, pinching your eyes shut. After a moment Max takes the monitor off you and his hand takes its place. “Get some rest Bug, it’s the fastest way to recover” he squeezes your arm before standing up, he places a quick kiss on the top of your head and walks out.

Norm watches you for a second and sighs, ruffling your hair and walking out, closing the door behind him. You don’t lift your head even after they leave, so Spider rests his head on your shoulder.

Even as a kid you felt uneasy about others knowing your condition, there was no way to completely hide it so you settled with avoiding the topic all together. You were sick, yeah, but that doesn’t mean you’re gonna die if they breathe on you too hard or say something too loud. Hell, not even Spider knows the full extent to your condition. It already controlled every aspect of your life, the least you wanted was to have some sense of a normal social life.

After a moment you turn your head just enough to peak your eyes out to see Spider, he notices and makes eye contact, a soft expression passing over his face. “What did you see?” you mumble, barely audible. He chuckles, leaning back against your headrest.

“Well Lo’ak decided to ride a Pa’li, it was the first time i saw their resting place and there were so many pitcher plants, Pa’liwll Kiri says” he explains, quietly you repeat the name, running through the catalogs in your head for a visual. “Oh and we saw an ‘angtsik from above…” he continues, describing what seemed to be a once in a lifetime adventure for you when for him, it was every other day.

You listen as he laughs and gets sidetracked, making jabs at Lo’ak’s ability to ride a direhorse or shoot an arrow. You finally lifted your head to laugh when he told you about Tuk cursing in front of Neytiri, courtesy of Lo’ak not being able to keep his mouth shut. Spider took the chance to pinch your cheek, earning a slap on the hand.

“Oh and Neteyam was pissed at Lo’ak when he saw a scar on Tuk’s cheek” Your ears perk at the name, curious about the boy you rarely heard about. You had never met Neteyam, he had never come to the lab.

He was older than you but younger than Spider, and you had only ever heard offhand comments about him. Neteyam, the next Olo’eyktan and the golden child that outshined Lo’ak, the perfect soldier and a mighty warrior. He’s everything the first son of Toruk Makto should be, born with his life laid out before him.

You saw Lo’ak’s envy of him, how he slowly lost his desire to be like his brother, evident in the change from admiration to resentment when he spoke of him throughout the years.

You were once desperate to meet the brother your friends often spoke of, but as years passed and his presence stayed a ghost, you resigned yourself to only knowing him through word of mouth. When you were young, Lo’ak and Spider would talk about how cool he was, how fun and great he was with a bow.

Now, all you hear is how busy he is, how he just does his father's bidding and has abandoned spending time with his siblings for training. You take their word for it, how could you not? You’ve never met the boy and you can see the toll their strained relationship with their brother has taken on Kiri and Lo’ak.

But there's two sides to every story, you know that all too well.

“What does he look like?” the words slip out before you can have a second thought. Your voice is barely above a whisper, you hope that your foster brother didn’t hear you, but it’s crushed when you hear him hum.

“He looks like Lo’ak, but more like his mom. Ummm yknow yellow eyes and his hair is braided back, so it doesn’t hang down in his face like Lo’ak and Kiri.” He looks up to the ceiling, trying to recall the boy’s appearance as best he could considering it’s not something he actively takes note of. “he’s pretty tall, but then again all Na’vi are compared to us” he chuckles, nudging your side.

“Oh, and Lo’ak looks a little more human than him, his nose is flatter, and he has three fingers” he states, leaning against you. “uuuum yeah, he’s really stoic though, he doesn’t talk much and when he does, he’s so serious”

It makes sense, you think, being the Olo’eyktans first son and having a brother like Lo’ak, it wouldn’t be easy to be laid back. You tilt your head at the weak description your brother provides, he was never a great storyteller, even with years of experience, recounting every detail of his day by your bedside at night.

His words are interrupted by a yawn that escapes from his mouth, he continues on with his sentence, but you pat his shoulder, his words trail off. “It’s late Spider, you should get to bed” you whisper, a reassuring smile gracing your lips.

He searches your eyes for a moment, you haven’t had much time together lately and he always feels guilty about leaving you alone in the lab for too long. After a moment he nods, placing a chaste kiss on your forehead before leaping up and out of the room.

It’s been hours since the lab went quiet, the Sully kids long gone and your foster family asleep. Your eyes twitch, the lack of sleep weighing them down. You stare out the window, moonlight shining on your face.

For all your life you stared out this window, the shining stars burning into your skin.

You’ve memorized the stars, the patterns and the order, years of searing each star into your mind. You read about constellations when you were young, the ones visible from earth, it amazed you, the stories behind just a star. Every night you’d search the sky in hopes of finding a constellation, you found ones that were close but just not right. It upset you, you knew the story of Orion and Delphius like the back of your hand, you had drawn, and memorized Hercules and Perseus a thousand times so why could you not find them?

It all came a head one night when you tried to leave the lab, convinced that the glass of your window and the limited view were the source of your inability to draw the lines in the stars above you. Max caught you as you were trying to reach for the handle to the decompression chamber, oxygen mask thrown on flimsily and still in your pjs.

You whined about wanting to see the stars, insisting that the window was distorting them somehow, it took some prying, but he made the connection that you wanted to see constellations. You were upset to find out that those constellations aren’t visible from Pandora, but you were content, curious about what the skies of Pandora did hold.

You started to make your own, disfigured shapes and hours mapping out the stars. Each one was a story, a life you created, a life you wanted. Norm and Max knew of your hobby, even wanting to hear the stories you came up with, but you refused.

It was too personal.

It was something for you and just you.

You rest your head against the cold glass, eyes straining to the sky, avoiding the jungle that lay beyond the clearing.

You hear the footsteps, the way he hesitates to intrude before opening the door.

“Y/n...” His voice is modulated, quiet and clear. You don’t turn to look at him, keeping your eyes on the dots littering the sky.

Carefully, he walks over, sitting on the edge of your bed, placing a hand on your shoulder. “I was going to wait till morning to tell you but since you’re still up...” You move your eyes, looking at your foster father without making an effort to move your body, as if you’d crumble and break at any movement.

He holds your gaze, unsure of where you are.

“I’d like to show you something” He states, coaxing you out of your trance. Max stands in your doorway, making his presence known when Norm’s advances seemed to make no progress. You look down, fiddling with your fingers before leaning to Norm.

He takes your hand and helps you up. “It’s a surprise” Max quips in a sing song way as Norm places his hand over your eyes. Internally, you roll your eyes, your lips curling into a smile as you chuckle. You let the two lead you out of your room, you try to make sense of where you’re going but you get lost at just a few turns in.

You want to scold the two men, accuse them of purposely going slow when they come to a sudden stop.

you keep your eyes closed for a second, even after Norm takes his hands away from your face. “It’s a little early” Max breaks the silence “but we thought you’d like to put it to use sooner rather than later” Your confusion from his words quickly disappears as you open your eyes, your sight landing on an amnio tank.

You gasp as you take in the sight. An avatar floats in the tank, jerking and fidgeting. The face on the avatar was you. Your body, your face, molded into that of a Na’vi. You try to speak but your tongue falls short, mind racing and tripping over words.

“Happy early 18th birthday” they say in unison, amused by your shock.

“How” is all you manage to get out. A soft chuckle leaves the two men's lips. “Well, it took a long time, our tech isn’t as good as it was before the RDA left” Norm explained, patting you on the back.

“But we managed, your indifference to anything but your computer helped keep it a secret” Max added, chuckling.

Slowly you creep towards the tank, eyebrows furrowing as you take in the figure. It was surreal to see yourself like… that.

It’s you but it’s not, it’s a mindless avatar that you can take over, it will be you. You tilt your head as you circle the tank, taking in every last detail of the avatar. Max and Norm watch you patiently, expectant of the shock you’re feeling.

“Why?” You look up to them, you hand resting on the cool tank. They both walk over, Max standing on the other side of the tank, looking down at the avatar. “Well, you’ve been obsessed with Pandora practically your whole life” he says.

Norm stands next to you, placing a hand on your shoulder. “We also know how late you and Spider would stay up so he could tell you about the jungle and the Omaticaya” Max continues, Norm squeezing your shoulder.

“We’ll get it ready tonight and tomorrow you can take it for a test drive huh?” Norms voice barely cuts through the tension in your head. You didn’t know what to say, yes or no?

You’ve stared out your window your entire life, craving Pandora, reading and watching old logs over and over again to get a glimpse of what it might feel like. Now you’re presented with the opportunity, and you can’t bring yourself to say yes.

You don’t trust yourself to not give up everything for the world that lies beyond the walls of your home.

“I’m not 18 yet” you blurt out, coming up with any reason to refuse the gift. “Close enough” Norm shrugs. Max sends you a short smile “We’re sorry about freaking out earlier, you’ve been doing everything we said to recover, and it wasn’t fair to blow up on you like that”

You stare at him silently, hands itching. God, you have everything you’ve ever wanted right here at your fingertips, you’ve been obedient your entire life, content with what you have.

But now you have the chance to live.

Before Max can even finish his sentence, you’re throwing on the old avatar clothes they dug out and bounding out the door. The examination was grueling, the excitement and anxiety about to burst out your veins.

You feel the sun on your skin, and you close your eyes, basking in the light. Your breath hitches as you feel a cool breeze graze your skin. Fresh air fills your lungs, crisp and energizing.

“Now Y/n be care-“ Norm starts to warn you, but without a second thought you’re running through the field, jumping over railing and fallen logs. You can’t help the exhilaration that pumps through your blood, purging your mind of any previous anxiety or hesitation.

As you land you stumble, tripping over yourself. your heals dig into the ground and you throw your arms out to balance yourself, a second tics by and a laugh escapes your lips. You throw your head up and stare into the sky. Your lips hurt from how hard you’re smiling.

You look down at your feet digging into the ground, wiggling your toes into the soil. You whip your head around, smiling widely at Norm watching you from the door. You’re outside. Actually outside. Within seconds you're laughing, spinning around in an attempt to take in everything at once.

It was the same field and forest you had watched everyday, but it’s so different up close, so real. It doesn't take long for you to grow dizzy and fall flat on your butt, tripping over your own feet and loosing balance. It’s without a doubt embarrassing, later you’ll thank Eywa that only Norm and Max were watching you, but you can’t bring yourself to care as your sink your fingers into the ground below you, threading your fingers through thin patches of grass.

You bite your lip, giggling like a child with a lollipop as your swipe your hand across the ground, committing the course feeling of the dried up dirt to memory, how it sticks to your palms and how the path your hand took bears a faint mark.

You cant imagine how stupid you look to Norm as he walks up to you, you’re literally playing in dirt, but the look on both your faces show no proof that either of you care. He ruffles your hair, reminding you of how messy and unkept it is, before he hands you a choker-mic and earpiece. “It’s just the first day so I don’t want you going far, you know how badly that could have gone for Jake” his comment draws a giggle from you, knowing the story of the great Toruk Makto from the perspective of the science guys by heart.

“Check in every hour and keep an eye on your surroundings” He drones on with the safety speech he drilled into Spider as a kid, you listened but your attention is taken by the forest that lies just meters ahead of you, the edge just a glimpse of the world beyond.

It’s captivating, every movement and sound draws your attention. It’s so much bigger than you ever could have imagined, the towering trees pushing a subtle sense of dread in your stomach. You could get lost, lose track of time, fall in love, so easily.

You’re hypnotized by the sway of the leaves, the quiet movements and way the air shifts.

Can you do this?

You’re pulled out of your trance when he nudges your shoulder, you blink hard and look to him. “Were you even-? Whatever” he sighs “Just please don’t-” he hands you a knife “Don’t die, you’ll come back to your real body and it wont hurt you but it’s not a fun experience…” you take the knife, observing it.

It’s a common hunting knife, the netting wrapped around the handle is worn, basic weaving patterns. You look up to him, tilting your head. He smiles and nods to the forest “Be safe kid, I want you home before eclipse.”

You push yourself up and you take a moment to take in your sudden height difference. A smirk slips onto your lips and he rolls his eyes, biting your lip you turn to the forest. anxiously, you step forward, one foot in front of the other.

Before you can think, your feet are speeding up, pushing you forward into the jungle you stared at for 17 years. You break through the edge and you’re surrounded by trees and green, the forest envelopes you, the earthy smell sinking into your skin.

You slow down once you’re several meters past the edge, taking in everything around you. The leaves far above you sway in the wind, tiny critters crawl around on the trees and fallen over logs. The sound hypnotizes you, each noise and bustle piercing your ears. The forest envelopes you, every part of your being melting into the air, begging to become one.

You’re smiling so hard, your lips feel like they’re going to split, the ache in your cheeks forgotten before you can even bring yourself to notice.

You’re in the forest.

You take a moment to breathe in the air, the damp smell of wood and moss, soil and plants sprawling across the floor and trees. Vines wrap around branches, hanging down, some of the flowers move as if they were breathing, the sway of the grass in sync. Chirps and clicks echo, your head swiveling trying to find the source.

Your legs are moving unconsciously, your body in a trance. The feel of the ground beneath you is entrancing, the tickle of the grass on the bottoms of your feet, its disorienting how soft the soil is compared to the hard floors of your home. Except it didn’t feel like home anymore, it never did, this is what feels right.

The smoothness of the giant leaves you run your hand over, the flowers sprouting from vines and plants, leaves of plants grazing your legs, it all leaves you breathless. Names run through your head as you observe the plants, their names popping into your head, the properties and uses. Its surreal to see them up close, in real life.

I should take samples... You think to yourself but pack the idea to the back of your mind, another day perhaps.

The forest is enchanting, taking all of your attention, you forget Norm’s advice and just wander through the green aimlessly. You don’t even realize how far you’ve gone, how long it’s been, the pair of eyes that's been trailing you for at least a mile.

Neteyam doesn't understand you… you’re na’vi but wearing human clothes? Obviously, you must be an Avatar, but he’s met all the Avatar’s left on Pandora during the meeting with his father, and you’re careless, like a toddler who just learned to walk. Uncaring of where you are, where you’re going, clueless of your surroundings.

He considered you could be a Skyperson, the ones who returned, but his father and the scientists doubted that the RDA would fund an Avatar program after their last mission. You’re also defenseless, wearing old clothes and no gun, no soldier, no sign that you’re here maliciously. You’re not a threat. He still keeps his bow ready despite his certainty that you’re harmless, in case you make an unsavory move or a different threat makes an appearance.

He tilts his head as he watches you, you’re smiling and immersing yourself in the forest. The way you take it all in reminds him of his sister, but this is different. His sister has a natural connection, the forest being her home, you’re engulfed by it, if he hadn’t been keeping such an intent eye on you then you would have disappeared right before him.

Something about the way you walked, the delicate placing of your feet, the careful posture you kept to be able to turn and see all of the forest at any moment, he couldn’t just let you wander off. It’s his job as future Olo’eyktan to be vigilant and mindful, your presence, even innocuous, wasn’t something that could be acquitted.

So he followed you, tilting his ears to make sense of your whispers to yourself. He knows English, his entire family is fluent in it, but he still frowns when he recognizes you’re speaking it. He and his siblings will use it occasionally, but he often avoids it due to the distaste he feels about it, the association it has with skypeople leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

He doesn’t contemn skypeople as much as his mother or other members of the clan, but he never goes out of his way to speak or associate with them.

With a soft giggle, his entire attention locks onto your face. Your hand comes up to rest your fingers In front of your mouth as you smile at the bugs fluttering around a twirling plant after you tapped it.

Yeah… like a toddler…

He purses his lips to hold back the sigh that tries to escape his lips, how much longer must he watch you? The decision it up to him but he doesn’t know how to approach the situation.

He tilts his head, shifting his weight on his feet. He’s about to leave, deciding you’re not going to cause a problem, when an atokirina’ floats in front of his. It bobs through the air, seemingly aimlessly, before slowly descending towards you. His eyes follow it intently heeding Eywa’s mind.

The spirit drifts around you, catching your attention once it bobs around your head. You can’t help the smile that tugs at your lips when you notice the spirit, you take your hand off the tree it was resting on and cup it with your other, biting your lip as the atokirina’ floats down into the cusp of your hands.

It tickles at your palm and fingertips, your smile grows wider, such a being coming to you and making contact brings you endless joy, even if you don’t know the full significance of it. Slowly you bend down to rest on your knees, keeping a slow pace to avoid disturbing the being. Once you're sat, you shift to rest on the side of your thigh, humming as you bring the spirit closer and observe it.

He watches you for a moment, considering you before shifting to get down from his hiding spot. You gasp when he drops down from a branch from a tree opposite of you, you had the sense that you weren’t alone, but you attributed that to the bustling forest.

Your eyes are locked onto the Na’vi boy several feet infront of you, mouth agape and body frozen. There’s a heavy silence between you, observing eachother, unsure of what to say. You decide to say something, he hasn’t killed you yet so thats a good sign, but he beats you too it.

“Who are you.” He states, hs voice gruff and thick. You open your mouth, words jumbled in your throat before you blurt out “Y/n” his eyes are biting, pinning you to your spot.

He doesn’t say anything, observing every part of you. “I’m from the labs, um with the science guys” you offer, he tilts his head, furrowing his brows. You panic, realizing that you could very well be taken as a RDA sky person “The ones who fought with you, loyal to the Na’vi” you add abruptly, hoping to withdraw any possible suspicions or misgivings.

His expression remains unchanging, it makes you nervous, unsure of what to do or say. Before you can try and add anything, “Come” is all he says, nodding his head in the direction he turns to walk in. Realizing the woodsprite is long gone, having floated away during the interaction, you scramble up to follow him.

He’s quick, knowing of where to go, experienced in the trek of the forest. You clamber after him, trying to keep up with his pace while avoiding any obstacles. Your efforts are unsuccessful, your foot tripping over a vine like branch that caught on your foot.

You hiss at the sting of your palms that caught you, pushing yourself up on your elbows. You start to get up when the boy is in front of you, grabbing your hands and inspecting them. His expression is unreadable, but the way his eyes soften when he sees the minimal damage done to you makes a smile pull at your lips.

He looks up to you, repositioning his hands to be holding onto your wrists, he stands up, pulling you up with him. “Must i carry you?” He asks lamely, annoyed at your unwieldy coordination. Quickly you shake your head, heat rising to your cheeks from embarrassment. He nods and turns to continue his path, his hand loosely holding onto your wrist as you both continue foreward.

You don’t know how long you walk for, letting the boys hold on you guide you as you study the forest you pass by. Before you know it, his pace is slowing and you peak over his figure to see the village. A pit grows in your stomach, you fiddle with your hands, wringing your fingers as you walk through the village, eyes following your every movement.

You really don’t want to be here, no doubt much farther than what Norm and Max would have approved, but there wasn’t much you could do. You didn’t want to protest or run, overly aware of how easily the boy could overpower and kill you, but there was also the curiousity of the forest guiding you.

The Na’vi know the forest better than you ever could, you’d no doubt be safer with a stranger than on your own, it’s a chance to see and explore the forest without worry of getting lost or running into danger. And now being in the village? It’s unexpected, but you can’t deny the ecitment that swirls with the anxiety in your chest.

He walks up to a particular tent, you notice its larger than the others, not by much though. Na’vi start to surround you, curious about you and the boy, the whispers and eyes on you causing you to bite your lip nervously. The boy calls out to the tent, after a moment the flaps open and out walks a tall man adorned in intricate jewelry spreading across his shoulders and chest, a tall woman and an older woman stalking out after him.

Their eyes fall on the boy, then you, the woman’s eyes narrow, tilting her chin up. The man just seems confused, looking to the boy for an explanation. They start speaking in the language, you understand some of it, but you’re not fluent. You pick up “Eywa’s sign” “Harmless” “daughter of the sky men” ect. You can interpret what they’re talking about, but you can’t understand specifically what is being said.

The woman narrows her eyes, studying you. You resist squirming under her gaze until the man turns to you and speaks “So, you’re Y/n, Spider’s sister, right?” his English is clean, almost as if you were talking to one of the guys in the biolab and you mind makes the connection.

This is Jake Sully

Your eyes widen at the realization, but you keep yourself composed. Carefully you nod “Yes sir, they gave me this Avatar as an early birthday gift and I decided to look around the forest” you explain, you bite the inside of your cheek “I’ve never seen it before” you whisper weakly, averting your gaze to the floor.

The woman, who you assume is Neytiri circles you, surveying your appearance and self. She stops next to you, brushing her fingertips against your loose hair. “You have never been outside of that tawtute vessel?” she muses, curiously watching your facial response.

Your eyes dart to her, biting your lip you start to nod but the attention is drawn away when a familiar voice calls out. “Y/n?!” to your side, Spider, Lo’ak, and Kiri stand startled. Spider’s mouth twists into a grin before stepping foreward, he looks you up and down “So it was viable huh?” he asks amused, you tilt your head in confusion, you're about to say something before he continues “and they gave it to you early? And they didn’t even tell me” He feigns hurt, his amusement growing by the second.

“Wait Spider you knew about this?” Lo’ak asks, stepping foreword and grabbing him by the shoulder, pointing at you. Your brother shrugs, explaining that it was an idea they told him about a few years ago but never confirmed. Kiri steps foreword, a smile growing on her lips.

Her hands graze your cheeks as she observes every part of your face and body “This is amazing Y/n!” her eyes lock with yours “this is amazing” her smile bleeds into yours, a shy grin forming as she takes your hands in hers and laughs.

“Yeah now you can actually hang out with us” Lo’ak roughly places his hand on your head, the height difference not as drastic as before but still there. You shyly tilt your head, biting your lip at the excitement of your friends and brother.

The buzz seems to die when their eyes are drawn to the figure that steps closer behind you, out of your peripheral you see the older woman, the Tsahik, stare at them, communicating through their eyes before they take their hands off you and back up a few steps. A lump forms in your throat as you turn to fully face the towering woman. Her gaze is unwavering, strong, it makes you want to say something, anything.

“What is your purpose, girl?” She questions, the weight of her words pulling down on your every limb. What does she mean? It’s such an intense yet vague question, her firm expression not giving any help to your attempts to decipher what’s the right thing to say.

To live.

You’re out of the lab, face to face with someone other than a person you’ve known literally your entire life. You’re not confined to those walls anymore, you can breathe the air, walk and run without concern, see and live among what you’ve been learning about your entire life, yearning for it.

It wasn’t your intention when you stepped into the forest, and you’re sure it was Max and Norms either, but the opportunity is right in front of you. This is your choice, completely and entirely your choice.

“To learn the ways of the forest” you say carefully “the ways of the people” you bite your lip as she slowly looks you up and down. She finally meets your eyes and you straighten your back, keeping her gaze locked with yours. You can’t explain the relief that washes over your chest when her eyes twitch, the slightest softness creeping into her expression.

She glances to the boy then to Jake and Neytiri, again silently communicating with their eyes. After a moment she turns back to you. “I trust my grandson’s judgement” She states, your mind goes blank for a moment before she continues “both my grandchildren and the Great Mother see something in you, it would be foolish to reject you.” She turns to Jake and Neytiri again, looking to the people surrounding you all now.

“She will be taught the ways of the people” She announces firmly, she locks eyes with Jake, then glances down to the boy who brought you here. Jake breathes in before stepping forward, placing a hand on the boys shoulder. “My son is to be Olo’eyktan, he must be able to lead and help the people” He looks to the boy, his son “It will be his job to guide her, a great way to gain experience and prove himself”

Whispers move through the crowd, the way the boys lips purse makes your tail flick against your ankles unconsciously. You lock eyes with him, you want to curl into yourself at the way he looks at you. The intensity of his gaze hitches at your breath, reviving the weight pulling the strings of anxiety in your chest. You feel a pair of hands on your shoulders and a voice speaks right next to your ears.

“You and Neteyam stuck together huh?” Lo’aks voice is riddled with amusement “This ought to be good” he cackles, your brother nudging your arm as he makes similar comments.

The boy stands in front of you, eyes fixed on you, you swear you see the hardness of his gaze waver.

Neteyam… he’s more than you ever thought he would be

#avatar #avatar: the way of water #avatar twow #avatar 2 #neteyam imagine #neteyam fanfiction #neteyam x reader #protective neteyam #spider socorro #angst #fluff #x reader #reader insert #writer #neteyam sully #neteyam #avatar the way of water #neteyam x y/n #neteyam x you

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ikeromantic · 4 months ago

Text

Entwined, Ch 12

Part 12 of a multipart series. Mai has been reborn in the modern age after a full life in the Sengoku. The warlords as spirit animals find her again after 500 years of searching for her soul. Approx. 3300 words.

Chapter List

Mai struggled not to fall asleep. Exhaustion had her in its grip, but she wanted - needed - to see Mitsuhide before she let herself give in to it. The cold, sterile hospital air kept her alert as she sat waiting. The rabbit watched her with a disapproving gaze, its mismatched eyes flicked between her and the pillow on the other end of the bed.

“You can stop looking at me like that. I’ll rest after I talk to Mitsuhide,” she told the rabbit. Somehow, it didn’t feel silly talking to him.

The rabbit huffed and rubbed its face with a paw. Then it hopped over and snuggled onto her lap, placing its paws on top of her uninjured hand. It looked up at her with a serious expression, its nose twitching.

“If I didn’t know better, I would think you’re worried about me.” Mai stroked the bunny’s long, soft ears. “I guess that’s why you’re a good therapy rabbit, huh?”

“He probably is. I know I am.”

The unexpected voice made Mai do a little hop on the bed. She looked up to see a gorgeous, pink haired guy standing in the doorway. He held a bouquet of pink roses that nearly matched the color of his hair. “Ranmaru?”

He smiled brightly. “You remembered me! I am so glad!” The roses went onto the small table by the door as he stepped closer.

“Umm, of course. But . . .”

“What am I doing here?” He gave a slight shrug. “Well. I heard you were hurt. See, Kennyo - my agent - is old friends with Shingen and, anyway, it’s not important. What matters is, are you ok?” His gaze traveled over her, brows drawing together with worry.

Mai paused, not sure how to politely ask why a guy she’d met once on the train was in her hospital room. The question felt both completely unnecessary and pretty damn important. There was part of her that felt like, of course Ranmaru was here! And another that found it bizarre.

“I’m doing ok,” she said after a pause. “But, Ranmaru . . . who are you? Really?”

He smiled with wide, innocent eyes. It was the kind of expression that might completely derail someone’s thoughts with just how adorable he was. “I am so happy you’re alright. When we heard what danger that - that kitsune put you in -”

“Wait, we?”

Ranmaru blushed, and took a breath. “Mm. My manager and I. Anyway, look! I brought you a treat!” He pulled out a candy box in a colorful furoshiki. He handed it to Mai.

She took it but didn’t open it. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I told you who I am on the train. And you remembered me. My last name is Mori, but don’t tell anyone, ‘kay?”

She frowned. “That’s not what I mean. I mean . . . who are you to me? How do you know me?”

Ranmaru’s mouth opened, then closed again. “Umm. Is it ok if I can’t really talk to you about that just yet? Because I could never lie to you, Mai. But some things you have to be ready to hear.”

“I’m ready right now.” Mai crossed her arms and tried to hold onto her frown and her glare. It was hard because the sweet-faced Ranmaru looked as if he might start crying.

After a long, awkward pause, his shoulders fell. “Alright. I’ll tell you what I can. But you have to promise not to let Mitsuhi- ah!”

The man appeared behind Ranmaru as if summoned by his name. Mitsuhide’s slender fingers curled around Ranmaru’s shoulder. There was an audible pop and suddenly, Ranmaru was gone. Mitsuhide held a struggling white stoat in his hand.

“It seems you’ve been plagued by visitors without a chance to rest, little mouse.”

Mai was so shocked she couldn’t speak.

Mitsuhide’s golden gaze settled on the rabbit in her lap beside the sweets Ranmaru brought. “You should go. She is in my care now.”

The rabbit thumped its foot against the mattress, fur bristling.

“We can discuss your accusations later, Uesugi.” Mitsuhide’s expression was cold and his tone one of icy disdain.

After a huff, the bunny leapt down from the bed and loped out of the room.

Mitsuhide set the stoat down after it and closed the door. “There. Much better.” He smiled and sat down at the edge of Mai’s bed.

“D-did Ranmaru turn into a weasel? I saw him just - just -” She tried to make sense of it, but the only thing that came to mind were folktales. Stories that clearly weren’t true. Except what she’d just seen could have come from one of them.

“Is that what happened, little mouse? I think you may be more tired than you realize.” He set a warm hand on her leg, squeezing her calf gently.

Mai felt a knot of tension she hadn’t even realized she was carrying release at his touch. “I-I am, but he - you -”

Mitsuhide smiled, though the expression looked strained. “And you are on something for the pain as well. Perhaps things are not quite as they seem.”

“No. I want you to tell me now. What - what is going on? How do I know you? And - and the others? Shingen and Sasuke and Ranmaru and -” The stress and horror of her day fell on her all at once. She felt the most absurd urge to fling herself into Mitsuhide’s arms and burrow her face against his chest to cry until the tightness in her released. A tear rolled free from the corner of her eye and slid down her cheek.

He took her in his arms, careful of her injuries. His scent enfolded her as she pressed her face against his shoulder and let herself relax into his touch. Mitsuhide’s hand stroked her back, slow calming motions to ease her tired heart and mind.

“I want to - to be mad at you,” she confessed. “You never answer my questions. And something IS happening. Something I - I don’t understand but you,” she leaned back to look him in the eyes. “You are right in the middle of it.”

Mitsuhide’s expression was unreadable. His eyes glinted with hidden secrets and stories, and his lips were pressed to a thin line. “You’ve been through enough for tonight, little one. Why are you looking for more trouble?”

She took a shaky breath. “Is that what you are?”

“Trouble?” He chuckled. “I have been called worse.” He brushed her hair back from her face, his fingertips trailing along the edge of her ear. “I suppose I am.”

Mai took his hand in hers. “I want to know, Mitsuhide. Everything.”

He sighed and stroked a finger along the back of her hand. The sensation was like a candle flame that raced up the nerves of her arm and set her heart on fire. “Everything? I wouldn’t know where to start. And this is not the time for what questions you have.”

“But -”

“You will need to be focused when you speak to the police. They want your report of tonight’s events. I don’t want you to worry about . . . other things.” His thumb was a warm, comforting pressure at her wrist. “Trust me.”

“I do. I don’t know why but I do.” Mai didn’t want to think too long on that statement. It was irrational, mad really. She knew very little about Mitsuhide. And though he’d saved her, he also put her in danger. “Just please, next time you set up a clever plot, can you just . . . I dunno. Warn me?”

Mitsuhide stroked his finger along the line of her jaw, stopping at her chin. “I will. I promise.”

She studied his face, hoping for some sign of his thoughts. After a moment, Mai gave up the effort. “Alright. I’ll take that, I guess.”

“Good. Now, little mouse, you need to sleep.” His crescent moon smile returned as he brushed his thumb over her brows. “Your eyes are puffy.”

“You are so -” Mai felt at a loss for words. But his teasing really did make her feel better. “Just grrrr.”

“Mmm. Just?”

A laugh escaped her still-parted lips. “Yeah. Pretty much.”

Mitsuhide ruffled her hair. “I shall endeavor to be more. I’d hate to be relegated to a mere sound of frustration in your mind.”

“I wouldn’t say mere. Sometimes you’re practically a symphony.”

“Of more than frustration, I hope?” His golden gaze was impossible to look away from. The playful glint, the soft vulnerability in them intoxicated her.

Mai swallowed. “A - a lot more.”

“Then I will be satisfied for now.” He moved to stand, relinquishing his hold on her.

“Wait!”

Mitsuhide paused, an eyebrow raised.

“I - I don’t want to be alone right now. I won’t sleep if - if you leave.” It was a bit of emotional blackmail, she knew. But it was true as well. She didn’t want to be alone, and more than that, she wanted the company of one particular, infuriating man.

His thin smile stretched wide, a soft, resigned exhalation. “I have places to be, but there is a little time between. I will stay, just until you fall asleep. Is that acceptable?”

She nodded, feeling a little guilty.

Mitsuhide sat down again on the edge of the bed. “Lie down. All the way.” He gently took hold of her shoulder and supported her as she laid back. Then he tugged the blanket up to her chin and made sure her arms were under it.

“I’m not a little kid,” Mai pouted, feeling exactly like a child.

“No. You aren’t.” He drew a hand over her face, his fingertips brushed lightly over her. The light touch caused her eyes to flutter shut.

Mai found it hard to open them again. The thin hospital blanket felt warm with Mitsuhide sitting so close. Her body gave in to the need to sleep. The world drifted away, all her questions, all her worries, sliding away into a comforting darkness. “Thank you,” she murmured, “for staying.”

The last words she heard before sleep took her, “I have never been able to deny you, little one.”

***

A hawk sat on a bare branch of an ancient cedar tree, staring down imperiously at the other animals gathered there. A one eyed tiger striped cat sat on a lower branch, cleaning its fur while a white rabbit chewed furiously at a clover blossom below it. A squirrel perched, half hidden in the foliage, while a pig snuffled around the roots, ridden by a small, grey hamster. There were other even stranger animals - a kangaroo, and a white weasel, a peacock, and a wolf. In the center, at the base of the vast trunk, sat a single white fox with golden eyes.

“She could have died. Again. The kitsune’s worse at this than I am.” The kangaroo spoke, his voice loud enough to carry through the odd gathering.

The fox sniffed. “I wouldn’t have let that happen.”

“No? Because if this is your protection, the angel might be better off without your interference,” the bear rumbled.

“A true tactician would have considered the possibility of her arrival, and planned for it,” piped the small, grey hamster with violet eyes. His fur bristled as he glared at the fox.

Several other voices rose then, a cacophony of worry and anger. The hawk cut it short with a harsh cry. “Enough!” His piercing, garnet gaze pinned each of the animals to where they stood, sat, or perched. “Let the kitsune speak.”

The fox swished its tail once, a grin spreading over his face, but with fangs bared it was anything but friendly. “Thank you all for your . . . insights. The little mouse would be overwhelmed by your concern.” His red tongue lolled between his jaws as he turned his head to regard each animal with a hard, cold golden eye. “She may not be so pleased that you all think her cowardly or incapable.”

“Hey! We never said that,” growled a wolf, hackles raised. The bear beside him put a paw on the wolf’s back, smoothing the grey-brown fur.

“Oh? Is it not implied?” The white fox widened one eye as if to arch his brow.

The gathering exploded again in a mix of voices and bestial growls. Surprisingly, it was the rabbit that brought them to order this time. The white bunny thumped its foot hard against a tree root until the rest of the beasts fell quiet. “Make your point, kitsune. I am bored of talking.”

“My point? Hmmm.” The fox smiled again. “Only that you have all discounted how very capable my little mouse is. I could not keep her out of harm’s way before, and I cannot now. None of you can, because she is not a bauble to be locked away. She is brave, assertive. Independent. And I am proud of her, even as I regret the pain she suffered.”

A low murmur spread out from the tree then, a mix of approval and consternation.

“This was still your fault, Akechi,” the pig said, his voice laced with a sharp bitterness that seemed in opposition to his cheery demeanor.

“I do not deny that. I should have moved to secure Keiki more quickly.” The fox bowed his head.

Several animals spoke up then, all saying they could have protected her, kept her from harm. The hawk spoke over them in a tone that brooked no dissent. “Uesugi, Kennyo, Takeda and I will speak privately on this. Until then, none shall interfere with our little fireball.”

“None? What does that mean?” A small monkey poked its head from the leafy branch near the hawk, gentle brown eyes wide and unhappy.

“Leave her alone for now. She will need rest anyway, and that is best accomplished without company.” The hawk’s gimlet-eyed gaze touched every one of the host gathered there. They began to disperse, each to their own place. Some took man-shape as they left, while others stayed on four legs or kept their wings. Only the white fox stayed, head still bowed.

“Alone, hm,” the fox murmured. “As if, after 500 long years, I could turn away from her, even for a moment.”

***

Mai spent a few hours answering questions for the police the next day. They nodded and took notes, and left their cards for her questions. Once they were gone, the hospital discharged her. Asami and Kaiya came to take her home.

“I can’t believe that guy! What was he even thinking,” Kaiya shook her head.

“Probably something stupid, like hey! Why stop at embezzlement when I could add assault to my crimes,” Asami chimed in.

Kaiya sighed. “I’m just glad you’re ok. Who knew costuming could be so dangerous?”

“Right?” Mai gave her friends a tired smile.

“I guess this means you didn’t get to hook up with Mister Sexy from your past life, huh?” Asami’s smile was sly, though her gentle gaze told Mai she was still worried about her.

“Nope, but he rescued me so I guess that counts for something.” Mai shrugged, then regretted the motion. Her arm ached in the sling, and she wondered how long it would take to heal.

Kaiya gave them both an incredulous look. “What are you talking about? Past life?”

Mai and Asami filled their friend in on the way back to Mai’s flat. By the time they got there, Kaiya was shaking her head. “That is so weird. All of it.” She frowned at Mai. “Maybe it would be a good idea to see a - a therapist or something. And stay away from this guy until you get your head sorted.”

“Kaiya!” Asami looked surprised. “You don’t think it’s romantic? I mean think about it! They could have been lovers before, and now their souls are reaching for each other and -”

“Stuff like that only happens in rom coms and romance novels.” Kaiya took a deep breath. “I’m just saying, it all sounds pretty wild. But what we know is that you got really hurt yesterday, and this guy you’re crushing on - Mitsuhide? He was definitely involved, even if he didn’t hurt you. You might want to take a step back, just to make sure you’re ready for this, whatever it is.”

Mai didn’t like the advice very much, but it did sound pretty sensible. “I’ll think about it anyway,” she said after a moment. “It’s not like there’s any rush.”

“Right?” Kaiya agreed, just as Asami said, “You’re joking!”

The three of them looked at each other, and realized all at once how crazy their argument sounded. They burst into laughter.

Asami helped Mai upstairs, while Kaiya went to grab them lunch. It made Mai feel strange to be the center of so much concern, even with her close friends. Telling her family would be even worse.

“So did our past-life love bring you the candy and flowers?” Asami asked as she helped Mai sit on her bed.

“No. I got them from -”

“Don’t tell me it’s the one you broke up with? Hideyoshi?”

Mai shook her head.

“The hot chef guy?” Asami tried again.

“Nope.”

“Oh. My. God. You have another secret admirer?” Asami laughed incredulously.

“I mean, I don’t think so? It was kind of weird.” Mai told her about the hospital visits, though she left out the peacock and the way she’d thought she saw Ranmaru turn into a white weasel. She wasn’t ready for Asami to think she was that crazy.

Kaiya showed up about half-way through, so Mai had to start again while the three of them shared sandwiches and the box of chocolates from Ranmaru. Her two friends looked as confused as she felt.

“So, let me get this straight. The chocolates are from some guy you ran into on the train. And a guy you met once while on a date with Hideyoshi came in, with friends, including someone who’s invested in the theater program? And they brought you a support animal?” Kaiya sounded the most incredulous.

Mai nodded. “Yeah. It was weird. But they were all so nice! It kind of, I dunno. Felt like I knew them? Like it sounds weird but it seemed natural while they were there?”

“I think you must have got a concussion,” Asami winked to take the sting from her teasing.

Kaiya laughed. “Honestly, I can’t decide if you’re lucky or not. I’d freak out if a bunch of cute guys I barely know showed up and I was in a hospital bed.”

“Trust me, I was freaking out.” Mai grinned.

“This just makes me more sure you need to follow up with my hypnotherapist. I asked for you, and he’s got some openings this week.” Asami took out her phone and pulled up a text. “What are you doing Wednesday?”

“Hey, hold on. Are you serious?” Kaiya gave Asami a sidelong glance. “Hypnosis? That’s not even real!”

“How would you know? Did you ever try it?” Asami shot back.

Mai cleared her throat. “Umm. Hey, it might be worth trying. And anyway, Kaiya, I have a favor to ask you.” She fiddled with the hem of her shirt. She hated, absolutely hated asking for favors. “Would you be willing to help me finish out my current orders? I just don’t know - with my arm - how fast I can get them out? And I don’t want to disappoint anyone. I can pay you too!”

Kaiya held up her hand. “Mai. Of course I’ll help. It’s not a big deal. I was actually going to ask you if you needed me. I wasn’t sure how much work you’ve got going on right now.”

“You are my hero.” Mai gave her friend a one-armed hug.

“Mmm. I thought that was the Mitsuhide guy. Didn’t he save you from Mr. Theater-Stabbity-Stab?” Asami glanced up from her phone.

Mai giggled. “He did! But I don’t see him here offering to help stitch beads and finish seams.”

Asami grinned back. “Yeah yeah. I see how it is. Anyway, I booked you for Wednesday afternoon. I’ll come get you.”

“Thanks.” Mai tried to sound certain, though she felt anything but.

“And, I’ll come over and help with the sewing too. I can’t do much, but I can run deliveries or something, right?” Asami put the phone away and picked up her drink.

“You guys really are the best.” Mai finally relaxed and let herself imagine this wasn’t the disaster it felt like.

#ikemen sengoku au #reincarnated au #animal spirits au #ikesen mitsuhide #mitsuhide akechi #fanfiction #fanfic #otome #otome guys

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polyamorouspunk · 1 month ago

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Did I miss the isttvg analysis or is that just still in the oven?

My ISTTG analysis:

I Saw The TV Glow is clearly meant to be seen through the lens of a transgender allegory, however, what makes an allegory an allegory is that it is a story within a story. The Crucible is a story about The Red Scare, but it’s a story about the Salem Witch Trials. Animal Farm is about Communism and the “inherant dangers” of it, but it’s a story about animals taking control and ending up just like their oppressors. I Saw The TV Glow is an allegory for repressing your trans identity and having it kill you, but it’s also a story of someone who grew up with someone, and that person goes missing, and when that person comes back they start saying VERY strange and unusual things. The things that Maddie say sounding “so scary” are meant to represent how terrifying it can be for someone to accept coming out as trans to themselves: it can metaphorically feel like someone asking you to kill yourself and be reborn. But I’m a very literal sense this takes place in a world where although there are supernatural elements involved, it’s very much the real world. We, the audience, are supposed to understand that Maddie talking about how Owen needs to “die and be reborn” is a metaphor for coming out. However we are privy to this information. Owen is not. If we look at the story through Owen’s eyes, I think we can take another perspective on it: what if it is not only a metaphor for being trans and coming out but also a story of mental health. Watching the movie while I understood this was an allegory for being trans, putting myself in Owen’s shoes, as someone with the background I have, I interpreted a lot of Maddie’s behaviors and the things she was saying as psychotic. Maddie is at the typical age when she comes back into Owen’s life when people who are schizophrenic start showing symptoms. I think that there’s a much more surface story or analysis that can be told about Maddie, Owen, and the effects of someone you’re close to going through psychosis and trying to deal with it. Of course Owen entertains the idea of what Maddie is saying to some degree: Owen has seen things that would make one a bit more receptive to thinking maybe there is something supernatural out there. But I think it’s an interesting perspective to talk about how literal it is that Maddie wanted to bury Owen alive so that Owen “died”. Just because that was a metaphor doesn’t mean it was not real in the context of the story. She wanted to kill her friend so that they could “come back”.

TL;DR obviously the trans allegory is the overarching theme, but it’s interesting to look at the story with the perspective that Maddie has schizophrenia and how someone you grew up with can develop psychosis and how that can effect your relationship with them.

#punk gets mail #i saw the tv glow #isttvg #isttvg analysis #transgender allegory #schizophrenia #psychosis

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thecrimsonribbon · 7 months ago

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My SVE OC lores and stuffs

Ignore my typo and grammar mistakes 🤧

Let’s talk about my sve comic first. I was going to draw series based on Stardew Valley Expanded but since I don’t have much information about Castle Village, I temporarily cancelled it until 2.0 is released.

The SVE comic took place mostly in Stardew Valley, and will be told through Isaac’s POV. (Ridgeside Village is also mentioned)

Summary: Isaac happened met the Pelican Town’s florist, Myra, who looked exactly like his deceased lover, Elaine. After that fateful encounter, strange things started to happen in both the town and Castle Village, and Isaac find himself in a mission where he has to discover the mystery behind Myra’s pressence.

Character’s backstory (mostly headcanon and has nothing to do with the canon lore in the game/mod):

- Isaac:

Isaac is a skilled monster hunter at Castle Village, he is skilled in combat and swordsmanship, therefore he had earn the position as a monster hunter in Castle Village, this is where he also met his lover, Elaine.

Isaac had longed for a family with Elaine and planned to marry in the future. Isaac proposed to Elaine in Crimson Badlands, seconds after she took her last breath. Isaac still kept some of Elaine’s keepsakes such as the red ribbon she always used to tied up her hair, and her cloak. He has been mourning for her for 6 years, he shows no interest in finding somebody else to love.

- Lance:

This man kept everything about him a mystery. All we know that he was born from a noble family and he knows magic. Lance’s handsome face always has the smug look on it as if he knows something, a secret perhaps? He will never tells you.

- Elaine:

Elaine was born in Pelican Town with her grandparents, while her parent lived and worked at Suzu city. Elaine soon became a member at the Adventure Guild after she finds joy in keeping the valley safe from monsters.

She then moved to to Castle Village at the age of 23, and met the monster hunter Isaac. Elaine and Isaac soon got closer and started dating, they had been dreaming of having their own house in Ginger Island to start a new life as a farmer, but their dream was shattered not long after.

Elaine passed away at the age of 25, after sacrificed herself to kill Apophis completely, leaving Isaac to mourn for her passing for 6 years. Isaac has build her a headstone and scattered her ashes around Ginger Island.

- Myra:

Myrams origin is still a mystery, nobody knows where she came from, who’s her family and where is her old home. She came to Pelican Town on a stormy night and then begin her life there ever since, even doctor Harvey is unsure who is the mysterious man that brought her to his clinic that night.

Myra is seen as a very friendly, kind and generous young lady, it is impossible for her to make any enemies. Although the villagers feel uneasy whenever they visit her farm, as it’s always filled with void animals and creepy things, they always talk highly of Myra.

Lore heavy stuffs:

Apophis can’t die, when Elaine finally put an end to the monster, its soul morphed with Elaine after she passed away. Therefore, Elaine’s soul was trapped in Crimson Badlands. The Minister of Magic noticed, if Elaine soul fell into the hand of those who have ill intentions, Apophis will be reborn again.

Lance at the time happened to did research on resurrection spell, he then started to experiment on Elaine’s corrupted soul and successfully resurrected her with the help of the witches, wizards and the Ridgeside Mountain deity, Raeriyala.

However, Elaine’s memory was completely wiped out and Apophis’ soul still imprinted on her (explain why Elaine / Myra loves void stuffs) so she was given a new name and was brought back to Pelican Town, under Magnus’ watch in case something bad happened. (They kept this a secret from Isaac because Isaac would try to throw hands with them as he believedthey were using Elaine as a lab rat.)

In my sve comic, there’s a cult where people worship Apophis as their god and would do anything to bring back Apophis. If they had their hands on Elaine and her corrupted soul, she could be a vessel for Apophis’ reborn and cause chaos again.

Secrets and other stuffs:

In this sve universe, the color red holds an important part of the story as it’s held a lot of meaning and metaphors.

- red is the color of love and blood.

- it’s Elaine’s/Myra’s favorite color on clothes and flowers (Roses)

- red is the color of the butterfly that often flies around Isaac’s home the first 2 weeks.

- red is the color of the leaves, the Fall season where Elaine and Isaac met (Isaac met Myra during Fall too)

- red is the color of Apophis’ eyes.

Myra’s current appearance is what Elaine wanted herself to look like if she’s not a Monster Hunter.

Elaine is pregnant with Isaac’s son but neither did she or Isaac knows about it.

Elaine’s bloodline has connection with both Pelican Town and Ridgeside Village, which explains why Raeriyala helped Lance with his resurrection experiment.

#oc stuffs #sve oc #lore and stuffs

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mistresslrigtar · 4 months ago

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For @zelinkcommunity's prompt Reunion

Summary:

Link’s stride slows as he holds her gaze. “Would you care to play hide and seek with us, Princess?”

Zelda blinks down at him, feeling a flush creep from her breast to burn her cheeks. Did he just ask her if she wanted to play? No one has ever before asked her that question–either in her past life or this new one.

Read Playtime With Zelda on AO3 HERE or below the cut (approx. word count 3k):

Propping her elbow on the deck railing outside Impa’s home, Zelda rests her chin on her hand and gazes at the bustling village below. Lasli's strident voice carries through the air, calling to anyone and everyone who passes by the armor shop. The quiet murmur of Dorian’s and Cado’s conversation drifts up the stairs, their words lost by the time they reach Zelda’s ears. If she strains, the tips of her ears twitching, she can even hear the faint scratch of Pikango’s brush against his canvas as he sketches the waterfalls of Lantern Lake cascading down the sheer rock wall behind Impa’s house.

None of these are what she listens for, however. Instead, she tunes out all the background noise to hone in on the high-pitched giggles of a little girl and the warm accompanying chuckles of her guardian for the day. Zelda is fascinated every time she hears the soft lyrical sound of laughter coming from the one person she had never been certain was even capable of such light-hearted, carefree joviality. Link’s a product of the wild Hyrule he was reborn into – scrappy, resourceful, and rough around the edges. Irreconcilable with the reserved stoicism she’d been accustomed to a century ago. Zelda is having a difficult time wrapping her mind around the juxtaposition of her memory and this surreal reality she’s awakened to.

He’s four years her senior now as opposed to the one from a hundred years ago. A seasoned twenty-one to her timeless seventeen. Foolishly, the first thing she’d asked him after one hundred and three years and they’d finally defeated Calamity Ganon was if he remembered her. How utterly narcissistic of her. Had she learned nothing during her century of isolation and forced reflection?

She’ll neither forget his response:

“I’m fine, Princess. How about you?”

Nor the disarming smirk that graced his lips; or the way his impossibly blue eyes, sparkling with undisguised mischief, had watched her reaction. Until that moment, she can’t recall another time she’d ever flushed scarlet beneath his scrutiny. It had been discomfiting to say the least, and with a nervous clearing of her throat she’d replied in kind right before her knees had started to buckle.

Instead of the ground rushing to meet her, he’d moved more swiftly than she could blink, easily scooping her up as if she weighed no more than a feather. She was overwhelmed with the sudden warmth that enveloped her and his comforting scent of leather and wood smoke that had withstood the test of time, if nothing else of his previous self had.

“I didn’t think you expected me to literally sweep you off your feet, Princess.” His soft, teasing tenor in her ear was the last thing she’d heard before blackness overtook her.

When Zelda awoke several days later, she’d found herself lying on a soft pallet in the upper room of Impa’s house, the aged Sheikah chief’s granddaughter, Paya sitting nearby. From downstairs came the smell of fresh baked bread and soft rumblings of conversation in Link’s soothing tone, punctuated every once in a while by Impa’s hearty laugh.

Ensconced in a safe haven, surrounded by familiar scents and sounds, had a tranquilizing effect. It was enough to still Zelda’s racing heart after awakening, as if from an endless nightmare she feared would never end. She thought she’d dreamed the whole odd reunion with him, but when she emerged at the bottom of the stairs it was to find him regaling Impa with animated expressions and broad-handed gestures as he spun tall tales of his adventures. He’d paused mid-sentence and glanced over his shoulder at her, with fathomless blue eyes that once gazed out at her from a blank slate and now took her breath away with the depth of feeling she found herself swimming in.

Did he remember her? She still doesn’t know the answer to that burning question and it consumes her day and night. Where once upon a time she’d had little trouble speaking to him, she now finds it is she who’s at a loss for words when in his presence. Zelda thinks perhaps it’s the sudden difference in their ages, but she can’t say for certain, and she’s yet to summon the courage to ask him again.

Shaking her head from the reverie, she returns to the present in time to see a merrily screeching Cottla scamper by the two Sheikah guards.

“You’ll never catch me!” she sings-songs, glancing over her shoulder before making an abrupt left turn to skip between the Shuteye Inn and the Curious Quiver.

“Never say never, Cottla,” Link’s voice floats up to Zelda before he appears, loping a few steps behind his charge. Cottla’s father, Dorian, says something to him as he passes that has Link shooting him a crooked grin in reply, before he lazily looks up the stairs to where she stands.

Her breath catches in her throat when their eyes lock and he winks (WINKS!) at her, as if she’s no more than a common girl and not a princess with goddess blood running through her veins and the sole survivor of the Royal family. As she languished in the castle holding the Calamity at bay for a little over a century, she’d dreamed of how things would be if they proved victorious–heartfelt confessions, teary reunions–but never in all her wildest imaginings had she expected this nonchalant demeanor from her former appointed knight.

Link’s stride slows to a stop as he holds her gaze. “Would you care to play hide and seek with us, Princess?”

She’s turning the question over in her head when Cottla appears by the goddess pond, brown eyes lighting up upon seeing Link calling to Zelda. The little girl claps her hands and jumps up and down, the bun atop her head bouncing with every thump of her tiny feet. Zelda is concerned she’ll lose her footing and slip into the shallow pond surrounding the weathered statue at its center.

Using that as her excuse, she hurries down the stairs, sweeping past the guards and Link to Cottla’s side. “Careful, Cottla.” Gently placing her hand on the tiny girl’s shoulder, Zelda guides her away from the water.

When they reach Link’s side, he wears a mischievous smile and with knowing eyes dancing with amusement, taps Zelda on the shoulder. “You’re it. Close your eyes and count to ten…Zelda.”

Words fail her as she automatically closes her eyes on his command and begins to count to ten. She hears Link and Cottla bolt in opposite directions leaving her standing, bewildered in front of Impa’s home. Had her ears deceived her or did Link just call her by her given name? He’d never uttered her name without her title in their past life.

She’d been hard pressed to get many words out of him in those long past golden days before their calamitous end, and he’d only done so after much needling and cajoling on her part. Now words flowed from his lips as smoothly as honey drips from a spoon. Kind words for elderly Mellie who tends the plum tree orchard at the center of the village. Encouraging words for shy Paya as she goes about her daily chores. Jovial, almost irreverent words to wizened Impa perched atop her throne of pillows. And for Zelda? Teasing words that pull her from her melancholy, languishing in the past and into the here and now of a bright Hyrule, finally safe from harm.

A small smile graces Zelda’s lips as she reaches ten, and opens her eyes to turn a slow circle in the middle of the lane. While she’s observed Link playing hide and seek with Cottla, Zelda has noticed a pattern to where the young girl goes. Facing Impa’s house, she cocks her head at the two Sheikah guards and points up the long staircase. Cado chuckles and the crinkles that appear at the corners of Dorian’s eyes are all the answer she needs.

Tiptoeing up the stairs, Zelda avoids the one or two that will creak and give away her approach. When she reaches the upper deck, she quietly follows it around to the back of the imposing structure. At the corner, she pauses and pokes her head around the side to see Cottla huddled, back against the warm wooden slates of the house, covering her white head with her hands. Zelda laughs quietly to herself at the innocence of childhood that makes the little girl think in this position she’s invisible to the naked eye.

Cottla senses her presence when Zelda kneels beside her and lifts her head, a sad, puppy-dog expression on her cherubic face. “Aw!”

Zelda smiles, her heart filling with affection for the precocious little girl. Offering her hand, Cottla slips her much smaller one in hers and Zelda leads her back to the stairs. When they reach the front deck, Zelda surveys the village. “Now, tell me, Cottla, where does Link usually hide?”

“Oh, he never hides in the village, Ms. Zelda. Sometimes I find him there.” Cottla points toward a path to the left that leads to a quiet lookout that affords visitors a breathtaking view of Central Hyrule. She raises her head and sniffs, nostrils flaring when the faint scent of baked apples from the community kitchen beside Impa’s house reaches them. “Koko’s making honeyed apples!!”

Without so much as a good-bye, she pulls her hand from Zelda’s loose grasp and scampers down the stairs. Dorian scoops her up before she can bolt past him and swings her onto his shoulders. Cottla’s squeals of delight ring through the air as he carries her to where Koko waits with a tray of delicious sweets. By the time Zelda reaches the foot of the stairs, they’re already seated at a picnic table beside the warm cooking fire, enjoying their afternoon snack. Nodding a silent greeting to Cado, Zelda heads in the opposite direction of the trio and leaves the village proper to trudge up the slight incline Cottla had indicated she should look for Link.

There isn’t anywhere to hide along the tall rock faces that border each side of the path, nor many places a grown man could hide at its end. As she walks past moss-covered rocks that mark the Sheikah graveyard, Zelda runs her hand along their curved tops worn smooth by the elements. An empty space between them allows anyone in mourning to kneel and commune with their recent or long past loved ones. It’s certainly not an appropriate hiding place and she isn’t surprised when she doesn’t find Link amongst the grave markers.

She turns away from the stones to face the large oak that offers shade in the tranquil setting, but Link doesn’t appear to be in evidence at its base. Scanning up the trunk, nothing appears out of the ordinary, so she moves to stand by the split-rail fence that’s in some disrepair. Surely, he isn’t hiding on the cliff side, but even the Link of old had a reckless side. Placing her hands gingerly on a rail, Zelda carefully leans over just enough to peer straight below.

No, all she sees are elk and mountain goats grazing in patches of grass, and off in the distance, the stunning view of Hyrule Castle. From here you can imagine what it must have looked like in all its glorious splendor, and her heart aches, briefly longing for those days before all was lost. She thinks she wouldn’t even mind hearing her father’s stern voice reprimanding her, if it meant turning back time in order to see their friends one last time.

It’s only when she emits a heavy sigh, does Link make his presence known. A shifting of feet behind her has Zelda whirling around to scan the area again. Finally she sees him crouched at the top of the tree, the red and green Hylian tunic and tan trousers he prefers to wear now the perfect camouflage amongst the leafy branches.

“You found me.” Without making a sound, he jumps from his perch, nimble as a feline to land on the balls of his feet beside her. His blue eyes sparkle like fine-cut sapphires in the late afternoon sun, and as always she sees the ever present hint of playfulness that is a new, and if she is being honest, pleasant character trait. Perhaps it had always been there, hidden beneath the heavy layers of duty and obligation.

“I had help,” Zelda admits, curving the corners of her lips into a small smile, as the melancholy she’d just been feeling fades.

“Cheaters.” His tone is light despite his exaggerated pout.

When Zelda laughs in response, he tilts his head toward her, a lock of blond hair falling across his forehead in the process. She has a sudden, inexplicable urge to reach out and brush it out of his eyes, and clenches her hands into fists to prevent herself from doing so. He must see a change in her expression, because the look in his eyes turns thoughtful as he studies her.

“That’s the first time I’ve heard you laugh since you returned.” He shifts his gaze to look out over the plains below and the castle beyond.

Zelda follows his line of sight and takes in the vista. It’s been so long, she can’t honestly remember the last time she’d laughed with genuine mirth. Perhaps the night before the end, with all their friends and she’d still held on to a small sliver of hope that all was not lost. “There wasn’t much cause for laughter before.”

“One hundred years ago… were we….?” He raises his eyebrows and waves his hands between them in a vague manner that could mean a little or a lot depending on how one decides to interpret it.

Zelda’s cheeks flame and she rapidly shakes her head, pulling her hair over her shoulder. “Heavens no! We were both far too upright for anything of the sort. Not even a peck on a cheek.”

His lips quirk into a mischievous smirk. “I don’t remember much, but from what I’ve heard and seen, it sounds like he was a real stick in the mud.”

So, he doesn’t really remember her, outside of the scant memories she chose to share with him to aid him along his journey. She feels a slight, illogical break in her heart for something that never had a chance of fruition. At least not then. “You were duty bound, and all eyes were constantly on us–judging, expecting miracles… it was nearly… overbearing at times.”

He nods, his expression turning introspective, and for the first time since they defeated the Calamity, he mulls over his next words before speaking. “You seem disappointed in me. I’m sorry I’m not the person you were expecting after all these years. I suppose you prefer him.”

Zelda’s momentarily taken aback by the frankness of his statement. So serious, and so like his previous self, and yet again revealing far more than he’d ever done in the past. In that moment, she realizes somewhere deep inside, he remains. It’s evident in the way Link still puts others before himself, when he could have easily refused the task she’d immediately set for him upon his awakening. She finds she doesn’t have a ready answer for something so profound.

“I can hardly say. It was only near the end that we truly began opening up to one another.” Zelda again feels the burn of tears prickling the corners of her eyes. Their final panicked-filled hours together was when his façade had finally broken. She can remember the exact moment she saw it shatter into a million pieces–when they reached Blatchery Plain and saw their escape route to Kakariko hopelessly blocked by a field full of patrolling Guardians. What must he have thought when Impa forced that final wretched memory upon him? “We never became unfettered enough to reveal our true selves until it was too late.”

“Ah, pity. When I look at you there is an echo of a feeling–warm, yet melancholy–but it’s distant and fleeting. If I try to pin it down to a distinct moment in time it slips away like smoke on the wind. Perhaps because there is no such visual memory.” He draws out a sigh, and squints, as if he’s trying to put himself in his old shoes.

After a moment Link shakes his head and his expression returns to the placid, soothing one he wears now. Zelda realizes it’s strikingly similar to his past stoicism, but without the inflexible rigidity that never allowed a crack to show. He turns blue eyes that always, then and now, delve deep to truly see her. “How about now, Princess?”

“Pardon?”

“Are you still too upright to consider it?”

“I…” Zelda has been so focused on the changes in him, she’s not stopped to consider how she is different. Despite her bouts with melancholy, there is a weight that has been lifted from her shoulders. She can say with sudden certainty that neither of them are the same people who began this journey over a hundred years ago. They’ve both lived through separate experiences that have shaped them into the two people standing on the precipice of what she can only hope will be a bright future.

Turning away, Zelda gazes out over the rolling landscape. The sun setting beyond the crumbling remains of Hyrule Castle paints the sky in brilliant shades of pastel pinks, purples, oranges, and yellows. Hyrule is glorious and beautiful, wild and lush once again.

“I could be persuaded to pursue it.” After all, with the defeat of Calamity Ganon and no disapproving eyes of the court watching their every move, there is no need for such stringent protocol now. A smile tugs at her lips when Zelda looks back at Link, and sees the echo of the boy he once was shining through the handsome face of the man he’s become.

He reaches for her and her heart quickens, when it seems he intends to cup her cheek in the palm of his hand. Her jaw drops when instead he taps her on the shoulder and says, “Then, tag, you’re it. Catch me, if you can, Zelda.”

Like a blupee, he bolts down the path, and another laugh bubbles from deep within her when she chases after him. The wind whispers of secrets yet to unfold as they race toward the village, whipping their hair about their faces. Bringing with it the peaceful sounds of Kakariko’s wooden wind chimes and the promise of a fresh beginning.

If you enjoyed this and have an AO3 account I'd really appreciate a Kudos given! Also, if you aren't already, consider following me on Tumblr? I have some other great stuff coming up soon! (At least, I think so 😅) I'm close to 200 followers. I'd love a reason to host another short story challenge!

#zelink week 2024 #zelink week #reunion #writing prompts #zelink #legend of zelda #the legend of zelda #breath of the wild #side quests #Playtime with Cottla

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screechingsandwichtriumph · 4 months ago

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HAVE MORE IDEAS, MY MIND IS BEING PLAGUED RN

idk if you've seen Wonder Egg Priority, but you if you have you can skip the anime description!

WEP is an anime about this teenage girl whose friend k1lled herself and she gets these special eggs that contain teenage girls who also k1lled themselves. the girl breaks these eggs and has to protect the girl inside from a "wonder killer", which is the personified and monster-fied version of their trauma/cause of suicide. the girl has a weapon thats a normal item (i think it was a pen? i dont quite remember) and it turns into a large, cool (and obviously lethal) weapon to fight these monsters. once the monster is killed, the egg-girl disappears and is reborn (oh, btw the main character is invincible while fighting the monster, but whatever injuries they get during the fight can affect them in the real world, but the fighting makes them stronger so its easier for them to heal...its easy to overdo tho)

imagine if the reader is in the same situation, having to fight all these monsters by themselves (the monsters in the anime are in a dream world, but lets pretend they can fight them in their dreams and in reality) and going to school with random injuries.

peter, being their stalker of course, is very confused as to how this happens. he watches them all the time, he even has cameras in their room! how could they possibly be getting hurt? natasha and clint are following them whenever peter can't (y'know, spider-man duties and school stuff), tony put a tracker in their favorite jacket. they should be absolutely safe!

one day the avengers, peter, and reader are all hanging out in the avenger's tower, watching a movie or something, when an egg falls out of reader's pocket and makes an audible crack. reader starts the breathe really fast, whispering curses at themselves while they try to move the egg out of the room and away from everyone as quick as possible.

everyone is confused and a bit concerned, bucky tries to calm them down by saying things like "it's okay, we've got plenty eggs in the fridge" and reader isn't acknowledging him at all.

a girl pops out of the egg. a full size, teenage girl, just around peter and reader's age. there are screams outside as a large, unidentifiable creature terrorises the crowd, making its way towards the tower.

reader grabs their favorite pair of scissors as they break apart, turning into two large swords that vaugely resemble what they once were and jumps out of the window, girl tightly held in their arms and determination radiating from them like the sun radiates powerful energy

i feel like up until this point, the avengers and peter greatly underestimated reader's strength. i mean, they were totally babied by all of them, as they all thought reader was just a normal civilian. what they don't know is that they've fought these monsters a lot and has won every. single. fight. by themselves.

sry for the drabble, i thought it would be much shorter! anyways, you can continue the drabble i wrote if you'd like, i'd love to see your addition to my rambling! <3

NO BC I STARTED WRITING THIS AND HAD DONE SOLID PROGRESS AND THEN MY PHONE CLOSED OUT OF NOWHERE AND IT ALL GOT LOST AND I WANNA DIE. I will write this but probably tomorrow:)

#x reader #fanfic #yandere #yandere avengers #avengers x reader #🕷️

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dreamieparadise · 12 days ago

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give me your favorite manga or anime of all time. NOW. like, the ones who changed you as a person in some way. if you are okay with questions like that!

Hi Charlotte!! Happy to see you around and in my inbox! Lemme answer this while I can. ♡

Warning: Super long! So it'll be under the cut...sorry I don't know what shutting the fuck up means! Is it a food?

Digimon Adventure: I watched this when it aired in my country in 1999! I was 7 and was hooked instantly. It helped me through dark times and kept me motivated, for that Digimon Adventure will always mean a lot to me! I'm still a Digimon fan and have been trying to get back into it (it's hard because it's so important to me that I'm stubborn tho lol) though recently I found out Junie is also a big fan so maybe I can take that plunge! :')

Sailor Moon: again I was obsessed with it since I was a little girl! I was a major Sailor Moon fan, and I remember actually having a figurine of her! I lost it as a child. I remember how I was strapped in the car seat when it fell down where your feet rest, but at my age I was too short to reach it so I cried for it and my dad said he'll get it for me! Surprisingly he couldn't find it? The car moving must have jostled it. I still think about it....despite that I think SM is BAD. LMAO like it's super badly written and I despise Usagi. However I adore the other scouts (ngl Haruka is also veering into annoying to me...) still the concept is so fun! And it's hella assthetic so I reblog and re-tweet it like mad. Lmao

Vision of Escaflowne: I LOVE THIS SERIES SOOOOO MUCH. It still holds up for me! I was obsessed as a kid and I watched it again during my second trip to Somaliland while I lay in agony lol (I was 23!) Like the show hits! I watched it...4 times? And I want to again! There are story beats that still stick with me. The art style can get some getting used to (it's the noses...) but tbh it influenced my style, haha. The movie looks better but the changes I heard made as made me vow to never watch it. 😒

Inuyasha: this was the first series I watched as a kid where I was like "this is foreign...this is...ANIME!" Because unlike the other anime they didn't give the characters English names nor did they make the openings and endings English! I'm actually a Rumiko Takahashi fan! This is how I got into her works but also again...like omfg it's embarrassing and not really good, like damn. She has this thing about toxic relationships lmao (except Maison Ikkou if iirc? That was just sweet!) I always have Hot Takes about Inuyasha but it'll always be a part of me.

Saiyuki: the first time I watched Saiyuki it was the movie, it was the middle of the night and I used my parents money to buy it on pay per view WITHOUT asking permission!! I fell in love instantly but was so scared and played dumb when they got the bill and was like "who paid for that!?" It took some time for me to properly get into it, it's dark and can be triggering but I really fell in love with the cast and story! It's very intriguing.

Bleach: it really spoke to me as a kid who's family has spooky ooky shit in its bg hahaha. That and how Ichigo is! As an older sister who'd do anything for my siblings and pushes themselves too far for that...Ichigo is just very relatable. Lol

Katekyo Hitman Reborn: I believe I was 16-17 when I finally got into Reborn? I knew of it vaguely because my two older brothers were into it before me! I don't remember how I started reading it (I have never properly watched the anime), but I did and got obsessed! I was all over this website called Quizilla devouring KHR works! This is how I stumbled onto Jojo! She wrote about the Varia, and I messaged her to gush about it. It's been 15-16 years since then!! I honestly think I'm very attached to KHR because of that. Sure there are fun concepts and I love how I can rotate the characters in my mind but damn it's...a mess. High key embarrassed when I admit to liking it to non-fans. 😭it's very "please don't think badly of me, I beg!!" LMAO

Princess Tutu: ABSOLUTE BANGER! I watched it 3 times and imma watch it more in the future, I know this. If you haven't watched it, you should!

Kingdom Hearts: hehe! Adding this because it has a manga that I've read parts of! Anyway this is so influential to me in art and storytelling...the latter is not good..it's so convoluted but what can I say? I'm a big Nomura Tetsuya fan!! He really inspires me and thus kh is super important....also fun fact as a child I was scared of the heartless and immediately stopped playing and didn't pick it up again for years lmao it's these little guys:

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: what if I told you I only got into this series because it has Jojo's name in it...still! I became obsessed. I love Araki's style of storytelling and art. It pushes me to be true to my own style, no matter what! It's definitely an influence for me.

Now I find them kinda cute...!

Card Captor Sakura: This is the series that got me super into Clamp. I'm adding this because despite the issues I have with their work, it influenced me greatly! It's the reason I'm working on my own universe the way I do. I also want to have a large cast of characters that appear in each other's works. :')

Golden Kamuy: No lie I think this is the tightest written weekly shounen manga ever. No if ands or buts. I think it's wonderfully written and incredibly compelling! It's also very silly? Reminded me of Gintama with how outrageous it could get 😭 still the core themes of the story are about imperialism and colonization so it's also got a lot of serious topics. If you get into it JUST READ THE MANGA! THE ANIME IS SO POORELY PRODUCED.

Dungeon Meshi: 🥰🥺😃😀😨😰 decipher this.

For all of these the plan is to buy either the DVDs or all the manga/light novels!!

#nimo's fantastical replies #charlotte #charlottepuddingsposts #lore drop I guess!?#could have wrote more but let me spare you 😭#the way that there are others that influenced me but they arent anime/manga...WAIT #adding it 😎#okay I'll stop now lmao

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fightingthetides · 6 months ago

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A series of small snippets that is like an imagination of how I would change some canon events for thread/characterization rework purposes for @signorinavongola's verse. Guest muses of mine: Hibari, and Haru, mainly. Mostly manga-centric but may have taken some inspo from anime. I did write a bit of some other characters I don't personally muse, so excuse if they seem off.

Word count: 6,400+ [made an edit somehwere and am too lazy to get an accurate word count]

[edit: 10/27/2024] Anything with a ❗ means that there is new/changed content.

[No chapter number. New conent: Reborn meets Yamamoto before he meets Tsuna for the first time]

“Oi, kid! Watch out!” Reborn suddenly emerged from some bushes he was using as cover as he was making his way to the Sawada household.

A ball was quickly approaching, and transforming the chameleon on his hat into a catching mitt, the child catches the ball with each, much to the surprise of the person. Reborn himself was quite impressed by the weight behind the ball he felt when he caught it.

‘This guy has quite the throwing arm.’

“Wow, you caught that? You’re impressive, little guy! Sorry about that, normally people aren’t in this area at this time of day.” Yamamoto admits.

“I’m a talented guy. Are you practicing your pitches?” Reborn asks, quite curious to see just how skilled this guy was. He looked to be around the same age as his future charge. He had to cut Dino’s education short in favor of raising the next 10th generation Vongola boss.

Seeing as he was practicing in a park nearby the Sawada household… there was a chance they were schoolmates.

“Yeah, I’m on the baseball team and I’m always practicing hard to not let my team down. We aim for Koshien, after all!” Yamamoto grins with pride.

There was some time before he had to arrive at the Sawada household. He was intending to observe her for a bit before starting the home tutor plan anyways, so killing some time with this kid wouldn’t be a problem.

“I can catch some pitches for you. Show me what you got.” Reborn tosses the ball back to the guy. “You can call me kid for now. If you learn my name, I’d have to kill you.” Was this part of his dry humor or was he being serious? Hard to tell with Reborn, sometimes.

Yamamoto takes it as a joke and laughs. “Sure, I’ll call you kiddo then! The names Yamamoto Takeshi by the way. Are you really going to be okay to catch some of my pitches?”

Reborn waves the green catching mitt in his hand. “I caught your first pitch, didn’t I? Stop asking stupid questions and get ready.”

“Aye aye!”

[No chapter number. New conent: Reborn continued to catch some of Yamamoto’s pitches in secret without Tsuna or anyone knowing.]

Reborn was sure of it after a couple of encounters. Yamamoto Takeshi was a guy of talent. His athleticism was impressive, and he had a pleasant personality.

A talented athlete and a pleasant personality was a formula for a popular guy, and that could only help Tsuna who was a ‘no good’ who had virtually no friends.

Having done a background check on the guy, Reborn found out that Yamamoto and Tsuna went to the same school, and that his father was a user of the Shigure Souen Ryu sword style. From his investigation, Yamamoto didn’t learn the swordstyle in favor of prioritizing his love for baseball.

More and more Yamamoto was starting to stand out as a candidate for a member of Tsuna’s future famiglia.

SIGH

“You see, I’ve had to travel a long way to help raise someone on the request of an old friend of mine.” Reborn starts to speak a little bit about himself, knowing that in doing so, he could catch Yamamoto’s attention.

He was a friendly guy, so befriending others was just second nature to him. Learning about someone was the easiest way to make new friends!

“Yeah? Where did you travel from, kiddo?”

“From Italy. I can see that my work is cut out for me, but I can see the potential she has.” Having faith in Giotto’s line, Tsuna had to have the potential.

Look at Iemitsu, after all. He was a force to be reckoned with, so there had to be some potential in Tsuna that would lead her to be an exemplary mafia boss in the future.

Yamamoto couldn’t imagine why someone would travel all the way from Italy to ‘raise’ someone. Maybe he meant something else? Bringing someone all the way from Italy must be expensive, and he didn’t think anyone in the immediate area would have the funds to do such a thing.

“What, are you a part of the mafia?” Yamamoto jokes because of Reborn’s penchant for always wearing suits and being from Italy. You know, those Godfather kinda movies? That’s the kind of vibe Reborn gave off.

“Exactly.”

EH?

Yamamoto dropped the ball that he was idly tossing up and down to stare at Reborn in shock. Was Reborn really a part of the Italian mafia? He came all the way here… to JAPAN to raise someone? That had to be a really big deal then, right?

“Ah… why are you raising someone? It couldn’t be something like finding a long-lost Don or something, right? That’d be like a movie.”

“Close. You’re intuitive.” Even though he knew that Yamamoto was just joking, it was impressive that he somehow got it right. Yamamoto gave off an idiotic vibe, but he wasn’t an idiot. It was clear that he simply used all of his time to focus on baseball.

That kind of drive was impressive and a desired trait for a guardian. Someone who could keep focus was important. If he could move some of that loyalty to baseball to his boss, then Tsuna would be safer from attack—and betrayal.

“She is going to be a future mafia don, and she’s been fighting me every step of the way about it.” Reborn sighs, a bit for dramatic effect to catch Yamamoto’s attention. “She has so much potential that she’s wasting, what a shame. I want for her to make more friends, ones who wouldn’t be afraid of her background.”

Yamamoto was all for making new friends, but there were obviously some circumstances to consider. What school did she go to, how far away did she live, did she even want to make friends with someone like him, etc?

It would be more convenient if they went to the same school, but considering how the kid didn’t give much else information about his charge, it was clear that he was being secretive for a reason.

‘Guess that makes sense, if she’s a future mafia boss, the less people who know, the better, right?’ It made all the more sense why the kid had yet to reveal his name yet. Knowing the name of the next mafia boss’s teacher was big information.

“Right, I think she goes to your school. She’s a good kid, not meant to be a mafia boss.” Reborn laments with another (fake) sigh. It was true that Tsuna wasn’t a good fit for the mafia as things stood now, but he was confident in his ability to raise good mafia bosses.

Look at Dino, he was a great student… if you ignore the fact that he’s useless if his famiglia isn’t around. Tch. It would’ve been fine if he had more time to train him.

Well, that’s history. He’ll be fine in time.

“Why does she have to be a mafia boss then? Can’t someone else take the job?” Yamamoto couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

“She’s the only one left who can take on the role. Every other candidate died. She’s our last hope, so I’ve been sent to protect her and raise her to be the next mafia boss.” It was a bit risky to reveal this information, but the results should outweigh the risks.

This Yamamoto guy seemed to be a righteous fellow. Knowing that a girl had no way out of a situation that was forced upon her and her life could be in trouble… it would stir something in him.

Chivalry never died, and he could tell that Yamamoto was worried by the way his eyebrows furrowed with the news.

“It’s that dangerous for her, huh?” The kid said that she went to the same school as him… so they should be around the same age, give or take 2 or 3 years. He couldn’t imagine a girl around his age being forced to train to be a mafia boss at such an age.

The fact that all the other candidates died was also worrying him, to know that she might be targeted next.

“If… fate has it so we cross paths, hopefully I can help you look after her. Maybe we can be friends.” It would be hard for him to do if he didn’t know her identity, though.

Reborn smiles. Excellent, all according to plan. He’s gotten Yamamoto somewhat interested in joining the mafia for Tsuna’s benefit. “Thanks. We won’t force you into anything.”

Tsuna wouldn’t tolerate it if another person was forced into the mafia against their will and he didn’t want to act against her wishes.

Still, it was good enough that Yamamoto was willing to consider helping out, even if a little bit.

“Alright, you rested enough. Let’s practice your swings next. Let’s see if you improved from the last time.”

“Yes sir!”

[Chapter 4- Gokudera attitude change towards Tsu-chan]

It was only just a day and the new transfer students attitude towards Tsuna changed. It was like night and day with him starting off by kicking over her desk and now…

“Good morning, Juudaime!” The guy suddenly bows respectfully towards her. The whole class is understandably shocked by this change in development.

Yamamoto couldn’t help but think that the way this Gokudera guy was acting now was almost like… a dog? Maybe something like a Lonewolf who decided that it was okay with joining your pack.

Hearing some of the hushed whispers around him, he notes that it was mostly coming from the girls. Probably the jealousy. The girls had banded together and made a fanclub for Gokudera within a day and some girls were already seething with jealousy over how Gokudera was pouring all his attention into Tsuna.

The athlete makes a mental note that he may look out for her for a while, just to make sure that the girls wouldn’t go too far with their jealousy. The hazing or the bullying that some girls go through because of guys wasn’t new to him, but it wasn’t something he liked.

It may have been the reason why his own fans were more tame in comparison to Gokudera’s fans. They knew that he wouldn’t like underhanded methods and getting caught put you on the fastest track of Yamamoto having a bad opinion of you for the rest of… well… forever!

‘Ah… so Gokudera doesn’t have a filter when getting mad at girls, does he?’ Yamamoto mentally laughs to himself at how the transfer student was getting peeved at the girls. ‘Maybe he’s sensitive to attention? Could be that he’s just crabby 24/7. He needs to get more calcium in his diet.’

This Gokudera Hayato guy is real interesting. A real funny guy.

With that, it made Tsuna interesting as well, considering it only took a day for the two to become friends…?

‘Juudaime, huh? I wonder… is the girl that kiddo is training, Tsuna?’

[Ch. 5 So I did discuss it before that the rooftop scene would have to change for several reasons, but it could be kept if we take into the account that I changed how Reborn and Yamamoto met. Seeing as he knows that Reborn is tutoring Tsuna and trying to make her into a mafia boss, and how he says that she has potential, Yamamoto has the understanding that she has secret skills. He thinks that she is hiding her potential and therefore may understand some of his struggles with baseball. As such, he could still ask her casually about some advice, and that leads him to overtraining himself and hurting his arm.

We talked about how Tsu-chan can save him when he accidentally falls from the rooftop as it happened in canon. This will solidify his interest in Tsu-chan and have him gain respect for her because of her willingness to go that distance for someone. It’s not easy for people to jump in to save another person at the risk of your own life, so he would respect her for that.

Additionally, seeing that her… clothes… yeah, after the dying will bullets are used on her, he’d probably cover her with his jacket and lead her to the nurses office so she can get changed into any spare clothes that she probably has with her (maybe a spare outfit, or gym clothes).

This would be very Tsuna conversation heavy and I won’t godmod a muse’s speech, so I chose to write a synopsis instead.]

[Ch.10 Slight change in how Yamamoto reacts to meeting Reborn for the ‘first time’ due to changes in this verse]

“Hey, Gokudera… what’s up with calling me out and having a silent stare down?” Yamamoto still wasn’t very well acquainted with Gokudera yet, but he would answer to summons because curiosity got the best of him.

He was called out to the field by Gokudera, not knowing it was because Gokudera was somehow unsatisfied with Reborn’s plans to add Yamamoto to the roster of Tsuna’s guardians.

“Dude, you should have some milk. Ill temper is usually caused by a lack of calcium.” Yamamoto truly thought he was giving Gokudera some helpful advice, telling him to consume more calcium. It should help him with his temper.

Before Gokudera could even react by lighting his dynamites, Tsuna arrives with Reborn in tow.

“Ciaossu.”

“Yo, kiddo.” Yamamoto glances between Reborn and Tsuna. He’d had his suspicions but they weren’t confirmed until now. “I thought so, Tsuna is your charge you’re raising, huh?”

“That’s right. You said you’d be willing to be her friend and help out when you could.” Reborn answers calmly, ignoring whatever Tsuna and Gokudera had to say. He saw the potential in Yamamoto, and he wasn’t going to give up on having him join the famiglia for Tsuna’s sake.

Not only that, a healthy dose of competitive spirit between guardians promoted good growth, so having someone who could make Gokudera feel threatened was for the best. If he doesn’t continue to hone his skills and better himself, then the right hand position could easily go to the amicable and skilled, Yamamoto Takeshi.

There was indeed methods to his madness.

Gokudera was still strongly against Yamamoto joining the famiglia while Tsuna was mostly confused about how Yamamoto and Reborn knew eachother, but when did he ever need to explain himself to her?

Just like he would with Lambo, he ignored her questions in favor of putting Yamamoto (and Tsuna) to the test. It’s important to not only test his skills but to also see how well he can work in tandem with Tsuna.

“You did say that I have the option of backing out if I want to, right?” Yamamoto confirmed with the arcobaleno.

“That’s right.”

Well, Reborn didn’t have any intention of letting Yamamoto go. If the guy starts having doubts, Reborn had his ways of making the guy change his mind, so that he’ll never want to back out. It wouldn’t be a lie in that case.

Reborn hops onto Yamamoto’s shoulder, “Tsuna is my charge, the 10th head of the famiglia. Gokudera is a subordinate.”

“Sounds good, count me in for now.”

“Good. First thing’s first, time for the famiglia entrance test.”

[Ch.11 Haru’s introduction chapter- which obviously has to change because of the premise of them being childhood friends who were apart for a bit of time due to school and other reasons]

One morning, Reborn and Tsuna were strolling to school as they normally would in the morning, but they get stopped by a familiar voice (to one of them).

“Hold it! Haru had been observing you for some time now, and Haru needs answers. Tsu-chan, when did you have a new brother and not tell me about it?” She should know how much Haru adored children, so not telling her about a new brother… sacrilege! A betrayal! So mean-desu!

Not only that, “Haru also noticed you play mafia all the time. What kind of bad games are you playing with such a young child, Tsu-chan? Are you being forced into it by some of the neighboring kids?” Though it’s been some time since they last met, Haru and Tsuna were still childhood friends and she liked to believe she understood her friend well.

This wasn’t a kind of game that she would play with a kid, so there had to be a reason behind it. Maybe she was being bullied into it. If her friend needed someone who would sternly tell the bullies ‘no, we won’t play a game that is a bad influence on kids’ she’ll do it! She’ll be the first to volunteer!

“If you’re struggling to tell the bullies to stop playing the mafia game, Haru will do it for you to stop playing such a dangerous game with the baby.”

Reborn decides to act in Tsuna’s stead. “First off, I’m Tsuna’s tutor. It’s my job to raise Tsuna to be the 10th boss of the mafia. I cannot be separated from her until then.”

“… You’re taking the game too far! Tsu-chan, I can’t believe you!” As always, Haru was a firecracker when she was angered. She always acts or talks first and only when she’s calmed down would she listen.

Her phone beeps, and she quickly says her farewells before heading to school.

[New content alert!: Yamamoto consulting with Tsuna after noticing something is off about her]

“Hm? You had a fight with a friend?” Yamamoto couldn’t think of any friends Tsuna had in class aside from himself and Gokudera.

He listens to her recount what happened and the history that she had with her friend. So she had a ‘fight’ with her childhood friend. “To me, it just sounds like she misunderstood the situation because she doesn’t know the full details.”

Understandably, Tsuna didn’t have many friends, so it must be scary to think that she could lose one of her only friends. From what Tsuna had to say about this Haru girl, she seemed to be a smart and friendly person.

She had strong convictions and she was always ready to get mad at bullies on her behalf. Tsuna was worried about Haru finding out about how she is at school, so she put some distance between them. It worked out because as first years in middle school, they were busy adjusting to a new school.

“I dunno her, but from what you had to say about your Haru friend, she sounds like a good person who cares a lot about you.” Haru didn’t seem to care that Tsuna wasn’t the smartest, nor the most athletic. “I think, if you tried to talk to her again, she’d be willing to listen to you.”

This Haru girl liked Tsuna for her personality, so she should be willing to listen after her initial anger wears off. Surely she’d be willing to listen once she cools off? That’s Yamamoto’s theory, anyways.

He pats Tsuna’s shoulder, comfortingly. “How about this? I’ll get up earlier to walk with you to school tomorrow. I can give you support as you talk to her tomorrow, okay?”

Yamamoto Takeshi, the best support.

❗ [Back to regular scheduled programming. Haru confronts Tsuna and Yamamoto at the bridge]

“Good morning. It’s come to Haru’s attention that Reborn-chan is indeed a hitman and he is in fact training you to become a 10th generation mafia boss. Haru will put aside the fact she’s disappointed that you didn’t say anything to Haru.” Was she not your childhood friend?

Do childhood friends not talk to each other about important things in life? Was finding out you’re an upcoming mafia boss not big news to tell your childhood best friend? HM??? Haru would tell you if she fell in love for the first time (and it wasn’t cake)!

“If all that is true, then that means he’s been training you to be strong.” Haru has always known Tsuna to be a bit timid and weak to confrontations. She didn’t like to have fights with others and she’d much rather let things go than to confront someone.

That didn’t seem like a good quality to have for an upcoming mafia boss. Of course, Tsuna had a good heart. She cared for others and wanted things to be fair. She didn’t like to see others be hurt. That was what Haru liked about her… but… the mafia is different from her nature, isn’t it? Would she be able to fit in?

Did she have what it takes to truly be a mafia boss? (Bianchi may have ‘forgotten’ to mention that Tsuna was against being the next mafia boss and was actively trying to get out of it.)

“Haru understands that the mafia has to be strong and sometimes be cut-throat. If so, you may have to fight against old friends turned foe. Haru doesn’t want to, but-! As a friend, she will test you!” That would explain why she was wearing a suit of armor and holding a hockey stick in the morning.

Haru Miura was always so dramatic and… weird. Yamamoto was looking between Haru and Tsuna worriedly. It was good that it seemed that Haru now understood the situation, but… was Tsuna going to be okay with fighting her friend?

To him, it looked like Haru was very concerned with Tsuna and wanted to make sure her friend had the backbone necessary to be a boss. Otherwise, people would only walk over her and not respect her.

Well, that’s his theory anyways, given how she looks like she’s going to cry as she resolves herself to test her friend.

“Nyahaha! Lambo-san arrives! Reborn, I found you! DIE!” Another kid comes out of nowhere and throws a few grenades out.

Everyone took cover, but Haru couldn’t move so quickly with the bulky armor she had on. She was launched off the bridge and into the water below.

Surprisingly, before Yamamoto could think of how to react, Tsuna had already jumped into the water after her friend. It was reminiscent of how she also jumped off the rooftop to save him when he accidentally fell.

Not wanting for Reborn to shoot her with a bullet, resulting in her clothes being blown off, he jumps in right after them both. The armor looked heavy, so it would be too much for Tsuna to bring Haru back to safety.

He pulls the both to safety and helps them both dry themselves off. Haru changes into the spare clothes that she had hidden away nearby, and Tsuna changed into new clothes as well. A habit because of her clothes always being blasted off.

SNIFF

“Haru is sorry… she was just worried about you, and she was scared that you wouldn’t want to stand up for yourself if anyone disrespects you. Tsu-chan has always been too nice and timid to fight for herself.”

That was a fact that no one could deny. Haru had a pretty good understanding of her friend. She wasn’t well suited to be a mafia boss, but it didn’t seem like there was a choice in the matter.

“Haru thought that she could give you some of her own fighting spirit, you know? Maybe then you’ll be able to handle things… but… Haru sees that you do have a lot of bravery that you show in your own way. Thank you for jumping in after her, Tsu-chan.” Haru smiles, feeling proud of her friend.

She jumped in so soon after Haru was blown off the bridge, so she must not have hesitated. That took a lot of courage to do, and if she had that much courage… surely she’d be fine even if she had to be a mafia boss.

“Haha, I’m just glad that things turned out okay in the end. Usually, Tsuna goes into this crazy wild mode and her clothes go missing, leaving her in her underwear.” Yamamoto explains why he jumped in after the both of them so that Reborn wouldn’t have to act.

“Hahi! Your clothes disappear? That’s no good! If only your underwear survives… perhaps you could consider sportswear underneath your uniform?” That would at least offer a bit more modesty than being in only your undergarments.

She had yet another reason to be worried about her friend now. What girl would want to be found almost naked out in public where people could sneer and oogle? Not on her watch! “It’s settled,” Haru grabs Tsuna’s shoulders, “we’re going shopping this weekend. We’ll find clothes you can wear under your uniform so it’s less revealing. Haru isn’t taking no for an answer.”

The arcobaleno was watching over them chatting at the bank of the river from the bridge after having finished punishing Lambo for his stupidity.

“Hm… she looks like she’ll be a good influence on Tsuna. The necessary feminine touch she needs and a good friend to use as emotional support.” Reborn was impressed by the fact that Haru had recovered so quickly after being blown off the bridge.

Not only that, she accepted the fact that Reborn was a hitman and that Tsuna was a next generation mafia boss, but she still confronted her friend. That took a lot of guts. “She’d be the perfect example of a strong wife to the mafia. Tsuna can learn more from her example, about her guts.”

Of course, Tsuna and Haru’s situation would be different. Haru could marry a mafiosi but Tsuna would eventually marry someone into her famiglia and retain her position as the matriarch.

Still, she could learn a thing or two from Haru’s guts.

Guess he was going to look into inviting Haru to more things so she can rekindle her friendship with Tsuna again.

“Juudaime! What happened? Was it an attack? Who the hell is this? Get your paws off her, woman!”

“HAHI! WHO IS THIS RUDE RUFFIAN!? Tsu-chan do you know him?” Haru hugs her friend close to her and hisses at the new person who ran up to them. “Haru is Tsu-chan’s childhood friend, you ruffian! Bother Tsu-chan and you’ll answer to Haru!” She hisses again.

Gokudera wasn’t the sort who bowed down to anyone (minus his boss, of course, but that’s just a given)! What was courtesy and chivalry? Was it something he could eat or use to survive in the cutthroat world?

Spoiler alert: No.

“Childhood friend or not, you can’t keep me from Juudaime, you idiot woman!”

If there was one thing Haru has never been called, it was STUPID. Don’t you know that Haru is a Midori girl? You dare call a girl from an elite all girl’s school STUPID? She takes offense to that! “Haru isn’t stupid! Tsu-chan, who is this?” Haru’s gnashing her teeth together in irritation.

It was readily evident to everyone involved that Gokudera and Haru both had tempers that weren’t the most compatible with each other.

Yamamoto laughs, “Maa maa, let’s calm down. What matters most is that the both of you are okay after falling off the bridge.” Well, being blown off the bridge was more accurate. “Despite how he looks, Gokudera is a decent guy, you know? He’s one of Tsuna’s friends. You can trust him.”

Haru makes a face, to suggest she 100% did not believe Yamamoto. He was the savior of both her and Tsu-chan, after all… but still… she turns to glare at Gokudera who only glared at her back in return. “Haru is okay with you being her friend… but that one… Haru isn’t so sure. He looks like a yankee.” In that moment, Haru vowed to visit Tsuna more often to make sure Gokudera wasn’t being a bad influence on her. “Haru doesn’t know if she can trust a yankee.”

The day Tsuna starts smoking, gets tattoos, or anything, she was going to start a fight with this Gokudera punk.

“THE HELL WAS THAT? Better than trusting Juudaime with someone who had to be fished out of the river wearing full armor! You’re sooner a liability than anything.” Gokudera scoffs, offended by the fact that this Haru girl was insinuating that Tsuna couldn’t be trusted around him.

Sure, there was a time that he was a lone wolf who answered to no one. Yeah, he was quick to blow anyone up if they so much as looked at him funny, and SURE, he had a long way to go to even be a useful and reliable subordinate of Tsuna’s. It was something that he understood well, and it was something that he worried about.

That’s why he hones his skill and studies hard to figure out ways that he can make Tsuna’s life easier, but that doesn’t mean he wants someone else to say it! Screw her!

“HAHI!? Say that again, you PUNK!”

“Stupid woman!”

“Maa maa… come on, you guys. We have class to go too. How about we break things off here?” Yamamoto gets in between the two bickering teens.

[Ch.16 Just a small lil thing for when they meet Hibari for the first time in reception room. Mostly to highlight a small change in some dynamics- this will be canon to my portrayal of Hibari if we do thread with Tsu-chan and Hibari.]

The trio of friends were eating their lunch atop of the rooftop, discussing how summer vacation seemed to come and go so quickly that it felt sad. Supplementary classes really didn’t help with the matter, of course.

That’s when Reborn comes in and suggests that they make some kind of a hideout for themselves. A secret base of sorts, which both Yamamoto and Gokudera were in favor of. The sun arcobaleno suggests the reception room as prime real estate for their hideout.

The view is excellent, the geographical location was convenient, and there furniture placed inside the reception were good quality.

“Hee—I didn’t know we had such a good room.” Yamamoto is the first to open the door to look in.

What he and the others didn’t know was that Hibari was already in the room, a dangerous viper ready to strike at the first sign of inconvenience or disobedience.

Still in a bad mood from the previous annoyance from before, Hibari’s patience meter was already teetering on the edge of nonexistence.

Just earlier in the day he’d had to bite a few students for thinking they could gang up against him with their numbers—but this was a lesson Hibari doled out dutifully as the disciplinary committee president.

Did they think he was the ruler of the delinquents for no reason?

“Who are you?”

Yamamoto pauses, recognizing him right away. It was understandable for Gokudera to not know of him yet, even daring to step past him. “Who is he?”

The athlete does try to stop him, “Gokudera, wait…”

“Won’t you put out your cigarette in front of the disciplinary committee president?” He was readying himself to act within a seconds. “Well, either way, I won’t let you get away.”

The tumultuous storm always had a volatile temper and he argues back, which was quickly met with Hibari snuffing out the lit cigarette with his tonfa. With his swift movements, he’d managed to cut the cigarette just shy of taking his nose along with it.

“Put it out.” The gall this student had to smoke on school grounds, and the absolute balls of steel to do so in front of him.

Quick to react, possibly due to his history of being on the streets, Gokudera jumped back.

With how swiftly Hibari acted against Gokudera, Yamamoto knew that this upperclassman was in a league entirely of his own. The reputation preceded him, a guy who would beat up anyone with his tonfas regardless of who they were.

“I really hate weak herbivorous animals that form groups. Whenever I see them, I really want to bite them to death.” It was always the weak animals that thought the answer to their problems was to band together and overpower the strong with their numbers.

Troublesome students would band together with their numbers to challenge his decrees as if they had any power over him.

Tsuna, who was behind both boys wanted to walk past them to look at the reception room herself, but both the boys were highly alert to how much of a threat Hibari was. One could simply chalk it up to chivalry or a sense of duty to protect a girl, neither of them allowed her to get past them.

Hibari had already noticed there was yet another herbivore who had yet to announce themselves to him. What coward had hidden themselves away behind the two bigger herbivores? “Which herbivore is hiding behind you?” He asks casually, which quickly ignited the tension in the room.

In particular, Gokudera was the first to react, his dynamites at the ready. No one would harm his boss while he was still standing, and Yamamoto wasn’t one to let his friend go in on his own, preferring to act as supplementary back up.

With swift movements, Hibari made quick work of Gokudera by deftly sidestepping past him and swiping him across the face with his tonfa. “One.”

Seeing his friend injured, Yamamoto is angered, easily getting into the concentration mode to allow him to dodge past some of Hibari’s attacks, that weren’t made in seriousness (not that he’d know).

Hibari made the quick assessment that Yamamoto Takeshi was the more ‘fun’ of the herbivores that dared encroach his territory. He had good speed, good reflexes, but… it was obvious to his eye that he was protecting his right hand.

Right, he was a favored member of the baseball team who had recently caused a stir within the student body with his rooftop stint. “Are you injured? You seem to be protecting your right hand.” He taunts the baseballer.

That moment of hesitation on Yamamoto’s part gave the elder student the opening to kick him into the all across the room. “Two.”

Cold eyes finally flit over to the final student standing in the doorway. A girl. One who was still in shock over how quickly he dispatched her two friends. No, perhaps they were something akin to bodyguards?

“They won’t be waking up any time soon, I made sure of that.” Hibari walks over to grab Gokudera and Yamamoto by the backs of their shirts.

There was no amusement in beating a terrified and unwilling ‘combatant’ if she could even be called such. As she’d yet to step into the reception room, she was granted amnesty in being spared from disciplinary action.

Not to say that he wouldn’t be against fighting and punishing a female if the situation called for it, but he didn’t see the need to punish someone who hadn’t explicitly warranted such an action.

Dragging both unconscious guys behind him, he walks over to the opened window. It was readily evident that he had intentions of throwing the two out the window, much to Tsuna’s aghast surprise.

Then, a baby appears suddenly, shooting the female student, to Hibari’s surprise. How a baby managed to climb to his floor was surprising enough, but to have also evade his detection until now was another thing entirely.

‘Public indecency?’

+1 to the accruing charges of trespassing, crowding, AND now stripping out of her clothing, screaming loudly about something inane. With those charges stacked against her and her rushing at him, Hibari uppercuts her chin to render her immobile in the quickest way possible.

The shock would be enough to take her out of the fight, and he’d made sure to control the output of his strength as to not crush her chin.

It may leave a bruise, however.

Turning to address the fallen boys, Tsuna gets up and smacks him twice with a slipper, taking him by surprise.

“…” Taking a moment to process what had just happened, he concludes that some herbivorous animal had bared her teeth at him and landed two hits with a rudimentary weapon- a slipper. Looks like he’d underestimated her. “Hey… can I kill you?”

“That’s enough. You’re strong after all.” The baby from before interrupts them.

“I don’t know who you are, but I’m very irritated right now. Would you sit there and wait for me?” No, not even babies would be spared from his ‘tyrannical might,’ so Hibari strikes against the arcobaleno, to only be halted.

It was one surprise after another!

A girl who surprisingly had more bite to her, and a baby who had an impressive amount of skill. “Wao. You’re amazing.”

“Let’s break things up.” Reborn reveals a bomb in his hand and it sets off, allowing Tsuna and the rest of get away safely- for now.

❗ [Ch.22 I REFUSE to allow for them to forget about Tsuna’s birthday for the ‘comedic effect’. If Haru is childhood friends, she’s going to remember and change that. HMPH!]

“How exciting! It’s almost Reborn-chan’s birthday? Of course, Haru would love to help with the preparations for it!” Haru is enthusiastic about the invite to join in the celebrations of Reborn’s birthday.

Haru thought it was odd that Tsu-chan wasn’t the one informing her about the surprise, but then she realized that with how close their birthdays were to each other, this had to be a joint birthday celebration!

With how busy Haru was on the daily, her schedule was always very hectic, and the same could be said for Yamamoto as well, who was busy with club activities and training. They sometimes crossed paths by mere coincidence, when she got out of tutoring and him out of practice.

That was likely the reason why he brought it up to her, being the first one to come across her.

Looking from side to side, she ensures that Tsuna isn’t nearby for the rest of this conversation. “Ne, Haru is just asking out of curiosity, but why are all the plans Reborn-chan related? Shouldn’t you also plan around Tsu-chan as well? What about her interests?” Seemed pretty unfair to cater the entire joint-party around Reborn.

She could understand how some parents would tell the older children to make concessions for the younger siblings, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of feeling neglected and ignored on their special day.

The look of confusion on Yamamot’s face made Haru squint her eyes skeptically. Surely even Tsuna’s mother wouldn’t have forgotten her own daughter’s birthday…? She must have brought it up at least once?

‘Maybe she’s just been so busy with caring for all the kids that it slipped her mind?’

Understanding of how busy Nana could be, maybe that was the reasoning behind it… but it still didn’t sit right with her. “Tsu-chan’s birthday is the day after Reborn-chan’s birthday. Planning two consecutive parties is a lot of effort, so it would make sense to celebrate them together, right?”

Haru Miura is not one to forget important dates, and Tsu-chan’s birthday was one she always remembered every single year. If they couldn’t find the time to celebrate together in person, Haru always made sure to send a small package with a gift to the Sawada household, so it wasn’t like she’d suddenly forget for this year.

“Ah, is it?” Yamamoto laughs awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. He had no idea that it was also her birthday so soon. They’d only been planning the party for Reborn, but they could probably make some changes to the plan to account for Tsuna’s birthday celebrations as well.

Then again, he remembered something. Gokudera had occasionally gone out window shopping, trying to find a gift, but the shops he’d look into didn’t seem to be something that was to Reborn’s tastes. Knowing Gokudera, it made sense that he’d know about her birthday- but he should share the bountiful harvest of knowledge!

‘He probably wanted to hog the knowledge to prove how loyal and dedicated he is.’ The guy had some selfish tendencies that would only make some sense when you knew that Gokudera was a lone wolf for so much of his life.

Back to the topic, no one would want to feel left out or forgotten, so plans were going to have to change. Without Haru saying something, Tsuna would’ve felt disappointed or hurt by them forgetting about her birthday as well.

“That’s the great thing about childhood friends, huh? You’ll make sure to have Tsuna’s back. Let’s think of some ideas to propose to the others to incorporate Tsuna as well to the plans.”

“Hahi! Haru would love that! Ah- but is Gokudera-san going to be attending the planning sessions as well…?” Haru asks quietly.

Yamamoto chuckles, noticing how easily Haru showed her emotions on her face. It was clear that she didn’t get along with him and was hoping that the answer to the question would be ‘no’.

Then again, with how often they bicker whenever they’re in the same room, it was understandable that she didn’t like him very much. “Yeah, he’s going to be there too. He’s pretty excited about it, I think.” Yamamoto could tell that Gokudera had a bit more energy and interest in the plans than he normally would in regards to something he didn’t care for, so it was safe to say that he was excited.

Haru’s nose scrunches at the news, but, she knew that Gokudera was a person that Tsuna cared for. He was one of Tsuna’s first friends at Namimori, so Haru will relent on the ‘anti-yankee’ feelings of hers.

[A tiny time skip because I can. I don’t feel like writing out the entire planning process lol The time skip is of the actual party itself. Also, a vague reference to ‘Bomb Bambino’ is included.]

The party was going smoothly and Haru was so happy to see that both birthday people were enjoying the day. Reborn was being celebrated as was Tsu-chan! She was glad that she said something to Yamamoto so they could remedy the fact that they almost threw a surprise party for just Reborn and not Tsuna.

As it turned out, Nana was worried that Tsuna wouldn’t want a surprise party thrown for her because she could be pretty shy about things. It was perhaps more accurate to say that because she didn’t have many friends to begin with over the years, it may end up being more hurtful than anything- but after the behest of everyone, she agreed to also celebrate Tsuna at the same time as Reborn.

She already had plans to celebrate as a family in case Tsuna would rather a more private affair, but with how adamant all the young teens were, she felt that it was safe to trust in these kids to make her daughter’s birthday a special one- and a special one it was!

Reborn had such an interesting idea for party games! It was something about ranking gifts? Reborn had said something to the effect of, “Tsuna, you won’t be able to objectively rank the gifts/performances so sit out this year. You’ll only give everyone a ranking of 100 points.”

The party was certainly a lively event with lots of delicious food, laughter, and the occasional threats. Reborn and Tsuna both got presents or fun performances to enjoy, and Nana could rest easy seeing just how happy her daughter was. All of Tsuna’s new friends were good kids, and she was happy to see Tsuna enjoying life more with her new friends by her side.

Haru wasn’t a new friend, but she came back into Tsuna’s life once she got used to her new school. Nana went back into the kitchen to cook up some more food in her excitement. Bianchi had gone into the kitchen to aid her.

The only thing that could be considered weird about the party was the fact that Haru couldn’t stop looking at Gokudera with squinted eyes throughout the duration of the party. When it was his turn to give Tsuna a gift or a performance, he’d requested that he give her the gift later.

Suspicious.

When Gokudera left the room after Bianchi, Haru followed him out into the hallway to confront him. Slamming her hand against the wall, “what’s up with you, Gokudera-san? You were fine with doing a performance trick with your dynamites for Reborn-chan, but for Tsu-chan, you tell her to wait?” That had to be a bit embarrassing for her, wasn’t it? What, discriminating against her friend?

You think she won’t smack you for that? She will! Still, Haru is a fair person and she’ll at least wait for an answer- Hahi? Why was he a bit red? Why are his green eyes darting around nervously?

“Yeah, he’s going to be there too. He’s pretty excited about it, I think.”

‘Could it be?’

“Are you… being shy?” What was so different between Reborn-chan and Tsu-chan? What was there to be shy about? Was the difference… in the way that he felt between the two individuals? Maybe there was something special about Tsuna?

‘Does he like her? WELL HE’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!’

Really, no one was going to be good enough for her gentle friend, especially not some yankee punk!

Gokudera felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise when Haru hit the nail on the head. Yeah, he was nervous! It wasn’t like he hadn’t attended birthday parties when he was a young master of a mafia famiglia when he was younger, but it was the first time he’d attended a party of someone that he liked and admired.

The lone wolf had finally found a place to call home and it meant so much to him, but he didn’t know how to actually convey it properly. He knew that sometimes he was a bit much with how intense he could be and it troubled Tsuna, but he couldn’t help it! Tsuna was the person who saved his life and the sole boss that he’d ever risk his life for!

He was really excited about the party, but when the time came for it, he suddenly grew really awkward and shy. It was the first time he’d been invited to a party to celebrate someone… someone that he actually cared for. He had a thought in his mind: ‘Do I even deserve to be here? Am I even good enough to be here? What if… by my being here I cause more trouble for the boss?’

Of course, he was still overjoyed to celebrate Tsuna’s birth anniversary, even if he didn’t particularly like to celebrate his own… because it doubled as the anniversary of his mother’s death. He had some mixed feelings about birthdays.

When Haru confronted him, he felt irritated that she somehow got it right so quickly. “S-shut it! I’m not feeling shy or nothin’! I-I’ll just give my gift later! It’s special!” Gokudera couldn’t prepare anything fancy or expensive, because he was struggling financially on his end.

He lived on his own, and he worked part-time to pay for his rent and other stuff. The gift he picked out wasn’t anything grand or anything, but he did spend a lot of time carefully picking something out and he hoped she’d like it.

Haru squints her eyes skeptically, stepping in closer into his personal bubble to stare into his eyes. “Haru won’t comment on whether the gift is special,” Yamamoto did say something about how Gokudera seemed excited about the party… so he probably put some thought into the gift.

“That Gokudera fellow, he’s come all the way from Italy to meet Tsuna, the rumored heir to the Vongola name. He’s always been a lone-wolf, even if he was under the watchful eye of the Vongola, though he wasn’t a part of it.” “Hahi? Gokudera-san wasn’t a part of the Vongola to begin with?” Haru almost expected that he was born into the Vongola with how avid he was about supporting Tsuna to becoming the best Vongola boss she could be. “No, he was around, so he could be watched after he made a big mistake that Nono fixed for him.” If not for Nono acting fast after Gokudera’s confession, they managed to prevent the bombs from going off at the concert hall that would’ve killed everyone inside, including Carlo the performing pianist… and his young son Niccolo. “Why are you telling Haru this, Reborn-chan?” It was weird that Reborn would be telling her anything about Gokudera, knowing how often the two butted heads. “Just letting you know that he’s got a past. He’s been on his own since he was 8, so it’s not easy for him to relate to the rest of you. Cut him a bit of slack.” “Haru can try…”

“Are you nervous because you aren’t sure if Tsu-chan will like your gift? Tsu-chan would appreciate and treasure anything you got her.” Haru had all the faith in her friend that she would care for the thought that went into the gift than any monetary value.

Just knowing that a friend gifted her something made it worth its weight in gold to her.

“I don��t need to explain myself to you, you stupid woman!” Gokudera growls, and for once, Haru didn’t launch her own attack instantly. Instead, she only squinted her eyes even further, her eyebrows furrowing into the center of her forehead.

She didn’t hang out around the Namimori students that much, but she had noticed something in the times that she had- Gokudera cared about Tsuna more than anything, and he really didn’t know how to socialize with others in a meaningful way. Piecing together that he’d been on his own since he was 8… what socialization did he really have when he was probably trying to fend for his own life?

Being under the watchful eye of those that he didn’t view as friend or ally… he could only grow up being on edge. No wonder he was such a prickly cactus! There was probably something deep down where he did worry if Tsuna would like his gift or not… but the biggest thing that bothered him was probably…

“Haru has known Tsu-chan since we were really young kids. If you give her your gift, telling her happy birthday with a small smile, that’ll make her happy. It doesn’t have to be exuberant or anything. Sometimes, simple is best.”

Whether he would appreciate her words or not, it didn’t really matter to Haru, but she hoped that it could help him a little bit.

Before he could say something, “Hayato, stop causing such a ruckus on a good day.”

“Gah! A-Aniki!” Gokudera doubles over, holding his stomach in pain.

“Hahi! Gokudera-san is down!”

The gift would have to be given to Tsuna later, after the party was over. The poor guy was out like a light for a few hours. He had found one of those alarms that girls use when creeps are around and gifted it to Tsuna after he customized it a little bit.

It’s moments like this that it sinks in that he really was a genius to be able to tinker with the device to make some small changes. The moment he heard the customized alarm, he’d come running. It was his way of showing his devotion to his boss and also his consideration.

She may not think too much about her safety now because of how safe Japan was in general, but with the other heirs dying such deaths, he couldn’t take any chances with Tsuna’s safety.

[I decided that this is a pretty good place to stop. For the most part the rest of what goes on in the daily life arc probably stayed the same or didn’t change much for me to want to highlight it. Mostly manga-centric but I may have took some inspiration from the anime in some areas.]

#Signorinavongola #Neo drabble #Lady Boss AU #((Kinda just a lil thing I wrote for fun but to also kinda help me figure out his characterization in this verse better))#((Also is like a spoiler of sorts I suppose for you so you can see what he should be like))#((I think for the most part I've figured out the initial interactions in the daily arc))#((From there I have most of his actions/thoughts figured out I think))#((I think it's obvious to say but only Lexy is allowed to reblog this. No one else))#((Decided i'm too lazy and tired for icons. Ahaha let me rest after writing all of this in a single day))#NeoRequest Muse only

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tomyo · 1 year ago

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Oshi no Ko and Celebrity (more specifically child celebrity with a large tangent on being a public persona)

So in my seasonal anime catch up, I finally watched Oshi no Ko.

Admittedly I was kinda not expecting something that great after they kill off their best character right away. Ai is left to be this great discovering mystery of who was she really when she wasn't being the perfect idol. I can't say I found it extremely profound but if there's something I do like, it makes clear some aspect of the focus on youth in the idol industry.

So like, there's a little bit of ick at points in the series. We meet our adult main character obsessed and possibly in love with a 16 year old idol. Ai herself is quite off putting being treated with some sense of adulthood despite being a teen mom. I still don't know how I feel about Ai overall, she talks in her last moments about wanting to have her kids join her in the industry that quite literally killed her on the day she became an adult. Initially I didn't think much of that aspect until we start to see more characters get added.

We meet characters like the adultified Arima who's already gone through a career fallout by highschool, Minami who is a gravure model (more or less soft lewd photos) already by her freshman year of high school (therefore pressumably started in middle school), Akane who is partially a victim of evil editing, and Memcho pretending to be a teenager to be in the industry (The 20 year age cut off was up until recently the age of legal adulthood in Japan). We see these unusual circumstances where we are meant to recognize these characters as children in questionable situations.

The small arcs Aqua follows in this first season basically all cover where an adult has failed. Questionable agencies trying to hire Ruby, uncaring directors on a show Arima cares deeply about, Akane being unsupported by the adults when she's a victim on online harassment, and so forth.

Aqua is played off as a character with only one goal in mind, to find out who is his biological father so he can get revenge of Ai's death. He's already been long worn down by the industry possibly from a mix of being a reborn adult, growing up with an idol mother, and then after working is the industry in the background while trying to learn of it to find out how to find his father. In contrast to Ruby's eye spark of naive hope for the industry, his eye tends to be sullen and turn black, particularly when he is manipulating the industry for his results.

However, Aqua tends to have a secret secondary goal that he himself isn't fully conscious of which is to not let someone else fall into the situation Ai found herself in. He will avoid connection while also leading change when something harms the other youth talent around him such as flipping the script to give Arima the performance she wanted for her favourite scene or organizing Akane's redemption PR with her castmates. Side note, plenty of talent industry stories tend to focus on ideas that performers hold beef and rivalry with each other all the time where thus far, Oshi no Ko has made that more of an outlier rather having cast members being extremely supportive of each other's work while the higher up are more so the problem. Even things like the maybe one good adult, Yoriko (the mangaka) still wanting to appreciate the adaptation of her series even if it was a subpar production shows how meaningful these relationships tend to be on a human level. Either way, it is always satisfying to see how Aqua try to foster a healthier industry with his more mature understanding.

So manga spoilers from here on out.

Akane's analysis of Ai was the first moment it occurred to me that Oshi no Ko had anything decent to say about the entertainment industry. Ai always gave off the energy of an unrestrained child which is actually what she turns out to be. She is a product of parental abuse who was scouted at the vulnerable age of 12 and quickly was hailed as a major success in that industry, certainly nothing short due to the fact she puts on an excitable and childish personality. She treats her pregnancy with coy jovialness as being described that she might be too small to naturally birth children. She has to be taught concepts like it's okay to say "I Love You" even if you don't mean it. When I play through her scenes, all I can feel is this weird contradiction of childish naivety mixed with disciplined skill. At home she dresses in this motherly way while acting very ditsy while being fully in control as an idol. She somewhat reminds me of the weathernews idol Saya Hiyama, ironically who is in her own scandal right now. If I were to picture Ai's smile in real life, I would imagine it the same as Saya Hiyama's with the always perfectly v like smile showing off her yaeba teeth. Giving this false sense of vulnerability with the watcher when she makes a mistake when she makes a mistake on the weather is somewhat I see Ai to be like except with a more mischievous air.

For another [long] side tangent, being in a personality industry, its interesting to see how fans fail to recognize a curated persona. Back when I spent more time as a cosplayer, I had learned how to act out a persona not only to be in character but also to attract others to you. Maybe the slight ill feeling this series gives me is the reminder of my own experiences as a teen to early adult delicately balancing a believable relatable image while showing only part of myself. There was some sense of that emptiness I felt like Ai's where there was disconnect between the loving emotions I would portray to reality of how unattached I felt (now I know I have BPD though). My relation to the characters lies somewhere between Ai and Memcho. Ai being more like my younger self where as Memcho hits pretty close with her tomboyish look, the bleached hair with the roots growing in, and the bubbly personality and bone structure that helps you get away with appearing younger. It's been a joke among my friends the last few years that I get mistaken for still being in my early to mid 20's despite nearing 30 in a few months and moreso, as an underweight 20 year old, I had experienced a lot of leering eyes determined to believe I was as young as 14 for bizarre and creepy reasons. Some aspect of that perceived youth gives me haunting memories and frustration of arrested development where I struggle to be treated as an adult while on the other side it is in fact part of my current business. One thing that is less thought about artist alley is that you do in fact make choices weather to buy or not based on the seller as well. It's not too rare to see kawaii artists invoking the same energy their art gives in how the present themselves. It's come to the point where I tend to spend a few hundred on a dye and cut right before a new show as well as there being a select wardrobe I pick from every trip I go on. I have a makeup bag always on the ready of some easy to put on products I rarely use outside of events and often a much more larger amount of hair tools to get something of a proper styling. These are things I wear because I love them but they are also almost exclusively used to match the appearance of my booth. Likewise, there is a semi exaggerated persona put on to create a welcoming air to my customers that is tweaked to match the energy of different types. Over Sakuracon, there was an embarrassing moment where I called out to a tiktoker while still switched into a more boisterous energy from a previous customer that I had yet to switch out off and horribly scared them off. It also tends to be easier to pull of this energy during or right after talking to fellow artists as it helps build up the approachable personality, its like we are all doing warm ups together. When I see people like Saya Hiyama pull off multiple instances of being so embarassed that she trips over her words with a big giggly smile, I truly admire the persona but am a bit shocked how much people have bought into it being fully real. Especially in the internet age, its very interesting to watch the gap between the viewpoint of creators and fans/consumers. While I'm much more of a smaller niche online personality, I do have behind the scenes experience with instragrammers in the 70k-160k range and the various parasocial experiences they have gone through. It's also a space where you get so accustomed to the mentality of an influencer (for lack of a better word) that it's hard to deal with someone not versed in that space; either from people who take internet clout as a vanity hobby or those who are actively seeking online privacy. Ai's double nature of being seen as the genius idol while feeling like a deceiving liar resonates pretty deeply on this front. There is a lot of sacrifice in identity that you give your fans in order to in return earn their respect and by extension business. Like Ai, I try to keep some note of regulars I meet at events but with going to multiple back to back events, it can get hard to keep hold of all that information.

Tumblr told me enough of this tangent so we'll move onto the short manga talk I meant to give.

From reading the wiki, It turns out that the twin's father is another actor who was molested in his childhood and in fact birthed a child at 11 as a result of that rape. Seeing as he is also the big bad, it points to the fact the focus on the story is not just the trauma industry workers go through but more specifically the abuse of power younger workers tend to face. While Aqua at current seeks revenge, I would not be surprised if the end goal is to process the line of trauma that has been dealt through out the show. Even if Aqua is a teenager, his previous life is thus far the oldest in terms of lived experience and possibly even older than Aqua's father at the present. He's had the most lived experience and the most chance to also live outside of entertainment that others have more so grown up in. The twin's father is currently an abuser most likely from the result of his own unprocessed abuse and to allow a new generation to grow up in a better industry than he or Ai did, it starts with stopping the past from repeating. Ultimately I think the best end state for Aqua is likely going to be some form of Manager or talent public relations keeper. The show doesn't necessarily show any sign of something like that but that would be the best route for such things.

Ultimately Japan's idol culture in reality needs to change as well as checking our parasocial expectations of celebrities. It's fair to have some critical views on celebrities in terms of say ethics but it's also important to keep in mind that anything put out in the world has some biased narrative, especially if its any form of production. The reality Ai portrayed as a dedicated idol was a lie, the reality LoveNow showed of Akane being a selfish girl was a lie. Maybe the most important lesson I've learned is not to put stock in anything that revolves around the presentation of a real person. Often I will admire and adore fictional creations but not it's creator for this reason. Those images of people you've never met on a personal level never hold up to the truth and can be hurtful on both ends. People are not myths, they are humans.

#oshi no ko #tomyo says shit

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synamartia · 7 months ago

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❖ Call me Syn, Syna, or Raina, or whatever comes to mind when you think of me~ ( be nice, there ain't none of that negativity here ! ) I'll also respond to Smut Santa / Saint Dickolaus! 😉

❖ I'm 29, about to be 30. I'm afab and use female pronouns. Happy mama of 2 beautiful babes~ They come first before anything else, so if I don't get back to you in a timely manner or like... at all... that's why. Or maybe I just don't like you. ( nahhh that's not it ... ? )

❖ Previously went by Taqsyq, but after YEARS of being out of the writing game and just off of tumblr in general, I've decided to start over fresh. I started Taqsyq when I was like sixteen or seventeen, still in my nerdy emo girl phase fuck I still am, and there is a shit ton of things that I just wanna run away from when it comes to that blog/username, including some very bad memories that I'm not going to discuss publicly. Plus, again: seventeen, nerdy emo girl phase. Everything I wrote on that blog was the highest form of OOC cringe like you just saw a stripper accidentally slam her hoo-ha on a pole bullshit for me. The only reason I'm not deleting it is because I'm a memory hoarder and despite all the bad, I want to keep it for all the good that happened there as well. Besides, it's the account that I ran imagine-reborn (an imagines blog for Katekyo Hitman Reborn) under and I figured, if nothing else, I could get a few laughs and maybe even learn a thing or two from how god-awful teenage me was at writing.

❖ My rules are simple. Be kind to all: this is a safe zone for EVERYONE. I would like to keep it that way. I don't have a list for what I will and will not write (yet), so all I can tell you is: ask. My inbox is always open. If I don't feel comfortable writing something, I'll let you know!

❖ Minors: as of right now, I don't think I'll be posting anything that is safe for your consumption, so I would very much appreciate it if you did not interact. If you are not a minor and do not have an age indicator, this rule applies to you as well. I check my follower list daily and I WILL block anyone that does not adhere to this rule.

❖ Requests: Closed ( not for long. I promise ;D )

❖ Currently, I only write for Hazbin Hotel. But I'm open for discussion on anything else on my list down below! I'm always looking for something new to watch/read, so if you have any recommendations, fire away!

❖ Series ; Current Hyperfixation: Hazbin Hotel

Anime : Naruto ; InuYasha ; Death Note ; Bleach ; Hellsing ; Soul Eater ; Fruits Basket ; D.Gray-Man [ Original / Hallow ] ; Kuroshitsuji ; Katekyo Hitman Reborn ; Ao No Exorcist ; Yu Yu Hakusho ; Full Metal Alchemist ; One Piece* ; Shingeki No Kyojin ; Kimetsu No Yaiba ; Jujutsu Kaisen**

* Still trying to catch up. This is a massive anime, and I've spent the better half of this past year trying to watch it all. I've made it to the Raid on Onigashima, the part where Yamato got his bracelets removed. Love him, by the way! <3

** Nanaminnnn~! I am not okay about anything with this man. <3

Manga / Manhwa : Everything mentioned above ; Noblesse ; Bloody Cross ; Area D

TV : Hazbin Hotel ; Helluva Boss ; Game Of Thrones ; Vikings ; Avatar: The Last Airbender ; The Legend Of Korra ; Supernatural

Books : A Song Of Ice & Fire ; Twilight Saga why did teenage me think it was the greatest series ever shoot me now fucking christ

Video Games : Final Fantasy Series + Individual Prequels, Sequels, Movies, Remakes* [ 7 / 9 / 10 / 13 / 15** ] ; Tales Of Series [ Legendia / Zestiria / Berseria / Arise ] ; Devil May Cry Series ; Kingdom Hearts Series*** ; Star Ocean Series [ Till The End Of Time / The Divine Force ] ; The Legend Of Zelda [ A Link To The Past ] ; Sonic Series ; Spyro Series ; Shining Force Series [ 1 / 2 ] ; Lufia Series [ Fortress Of Doom / Rise Of The Sinistrals ] ; Diablo 3 ; Lunar [ Silver Star Story Complete ] ; Infinite Undiscovery ; to be updated as I remember / play.

* So far, I've only played the first installment of Final Fantasy 7 Remake because I currently do not own a PS5, but I'm working on it. The Compilation of Final Fantasy 7 is my absolute favorite series of all time. I could watch Advent Children ( original and complete ) on repeat, and I've played the original release so many times that I don't even need a guide to get a 100% on a brand new save ( Obsessed much? Yup ). I'm a completionist at heart, and this game is amazing and it provides a massive sense of nostalgia for me.

** SLIGHT SPOILER (maybe? You've been warned) Another amazing installment in the Final Fantasy series, this game is so well written in my opinion. It stays away from the bigger cliches you see in most RPGs ( eg : the guy gets the girl, friendship is the key to saving the world, etc. ), the characters are so individually complex, the villain technically wins and reminds you how easy it would be for you to become the same type of monster. Plus badass women that fix your car, lights up entire cities, wakes up the fucking Gods to fight on your side, takes the entire mercenary army they led and defects to your side? IN HEELS? YES PLEASE. It has one of the best enemy turned ally characters in the FF series; I'm just disappointed we didn't get to see much of Aranea after everything in Tenebrae. Also Ardyn has some serious daddy vibes, and I would literally give my left tit just to lick Aranea's boot ( oh, the things I would do to these two, phew~ ).

*** Let's be real here. The Kingdom Hearts Series makes zero sense if you didn't play all of them and you didn't pay attention to each and every detail, and I did neither. I played 2 and 3 when they originally came out, but in my defense: it doesn't look like a series that follows a singular story, something that I did not know at the time, and usually the series I play have an entirely different story per installment ( eg : Final Fantasy and Tales Of ). I tried to piece together the story from online synopses and second hand game play ( I watched someone else play ), and it just didn't work out. So, suffice to say, my knowledge of Kingdom Hearts goes about as far as basic facts regarding Organization XIII because they were my whole reason for trying the games in the first place. I'm still open to discussion about it, though! Just keep in mind my side will be very limited. Sorry!

To Be Read / Watched / Played : Phantasy Star Series ; Final Fantasy Series [ 1-6 / 8 / 11-12 / 14 / 16 ] ; Diablo 4 ; Black Clover ; Hell's Paradise ; Fairy Tale ; The Seven Deadly Sins ; My Hero Academia

❖ Look out below for a face reveal!

#about me #synamartia #syn speaks

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sakuplumeria · 11 months ago

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Hello, I am using my main account since I can't ask questions with my sideblog. Thank you again for the questions choices, they were all awesome: 2), 4), 8), 17), 32), 38), 46), 52), 61), 67), 73)

Thank you for the ask!! Interesting choices~

2) A character in Saiyuki that grew on you

I always like Goku. I don't know why I liked him when I was little, but the more I know his story the more I like him. I'm quite sad when people see him like a child, he sees so much more than it seems. I'm thrilled to see how sensei developed his character, specially in Even a Worm arc, and how sensei drew him much more mature in Blast. Not only Sanzo, but he's like the sun to me too :3 There are many characters that grew on me as I spent more time with Saiyuki, Sanzo, Koumyo, Tenkai, Jikaku, Gat…

4) Favorite member of Kougaiji’s group

Is Zakuro part of his group? Yeah? No? Then Instructor Wang it is. I'm… oddly attracted to eccentric old men lmao.

8) Which character do you really dislike?

This is a hard question, I never really dislike a character as they all have their background stories… If I have to choose though, Li Touten, probably, for using Nataku like that :/

17) How long have you enjoyed Saiyuki?

I watched Reload and Reload Gunlock on TV when I was in elementary school, and you know they used sensei's art for the ending songs? I was so captivated that I searched for the manga. That's the first time I really worked myself to search for something. I just realized it's been around 20 years… omg

32) Do you enjoy writing/drawing/creating fan works for the Saiyuki fandom?

Absolutely! I write and draw and make covers, also translating the songs to English. I used many websites and you can see them here. I wish I have the energy to create more… at least to finish the ones I started..

38) Do you binge read the entire series or read selected chapters?

Sometimes I binge read, sometimes I read selected chapters. Mostly I read selected chapters when I'm in the mood!

46) If [character] died, what do you think they’d be reborn as?

Since you didn't give me the character, I'll go with Goku for the next two questions. By the way, I don't think Goku will die soon, I headcanon him aging very slowly… I wrote a fanfic about this, where Goku lives in the modern world lol. But anyway, I kinda imagine him reborn as a celestial being, much like Jeep, with powers and big responsibility for the world. A dragon maybe? I never thought about this before actually so I just type whatever pops up in my head lol

52) What are 3 tropes that describe [character]?

Amnesiac Hero :(

Innocent but Powerful

Bottomless Pit, as they always say

61) Do you seek out spoilers or avoid at all cost?

I don't mind spoilers, sometimes it helps me to get into the story better.

67) What’s something you think would improve the series?

Remake all the animated versions, with quality. Let's say, by Platinum Vision, the one who produces Reload Blast. Honestly, I like Saiyuki so much, but I don't rewatch it that much, besides Burial, because of the quality of the animes… It's also the reason why it's so hard to tell my friends about Saiyuki. People tend to watch rather than read, but I don't really want people to watch Saiyuki with the quality they have now. So yeah…

73) What character is still a mystery to you?

I wanna say Koumyo but well, I'm more interested in Tenkai and Taruchie. They're the ones with connection, connecting Ibun, which I see as the oldest story of Saiyuki on earth, and Blast, which will be the ending of it. Even though they're not the center of the plot, I believe they took an important part in it. That also brings me to Sai Tai Sai... but I guess we'll find out about Sai in the future. I hope to see Tenkai and Taruchie lore as well :3

#thank you for the ask!#saiyuki

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ikeromantic · 1 year ago

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Entwined, Ch 10

Part 10 of a multipart series. Mai has been reborn in the modern age after a full life in the Sengoku. The warlords as spirit animals find her again after 500 years of searching for her soul. Approx. 3500 words.

Part 1

Previous: Part 9

Mai sat on the park bench, people watching. Her mind was crowded with all of the things she might say when Hideyoshi arrived. Tossing one phrase after another. Too generic. Too cruel. Too ambivalent. Was there any good way to -

CLANG

The sound shook her out of her thoughts and back into the moment. She could see a light pole, and a man on the ground beside it. Mai went to check on him. It sounded like he crashed pretty hard.

“Are you ok?” She got a good look at him as he lay there. Despite the stunned expression, he was very attractive. Young-ish but with gray hair and astonishingly violet eyes. He had a book clutched in one hand.

“Oh! Hey! It’s you!” He smiled up at her, his face almost angelic with the change in expression.

Mai was pretty sure she’d never met him, but she nodded. “Yep. It’s me!” She held out a hand to him. “Let me help you up.” There wasn’t any blood, but she thought he’d have a pretty good bruise on his cheek.

“Thank you.” He took her hand, but didn’t really use it as he stood. She tried to let go once he was standing, but he kept hold of it, still smiling brightly at her as if they were the best of friends. Or lovers. “It’s great to see you again. I wanted to go visit you but Mitsu-”

“There you are!” A shorter, blonde guy walked up and grabbed his arm. “Come on, fool. Stop bothering that idiot.” He glared at them both. “Did she catch you walking into a pole again? What have I told you about reading while you walk?”

Violet-eyes let go of Mai finally, and she took a step back. These guys were weirdos. Cute but bizarre.

“I did, but Ieyasu! Look who I found!”

The blond turned his glare full-on to Mai. “Yes. Some girl. Great. Come on, Mitsunari. I don’t have time for this. We have lectures to get to.”

Ah, they were either students or professors. Mai relaxed a little. “Hey, it was nice meeting you. You should um, put some ice on your face, ok? I’ll just . . . go . . . sit . . .”

“Thanks for checking on this idiot.” Ieyasu held out a hand to stop her. “It’s - it’s nice to meet you. I’m Ieyasu, and this guy is Mitsunari.”

“I’m Mai.”

Mitsunari smiled brightly. “Let’s have lunch together, Mai.”

Ieyasu let out an exasperated sigh. “She literally just met us. She isn’t going to just go somewhere with strangers.”

Mai let out an awkward laugh. They bickered like an old, married couple, she thought.

“But Ieyasu, we’ve known-” Mitsunari started to speak again, but his friend turned suddenly, knocking the book from Mitsunari’s hand. He immediately went after it with a murmured ‘oh no’.

“Actually, I have some time before I meet up with a friend. I’d be ok getting coffee or something, if you like. There’s a stall just a little ways from here.” Mai wasn’t sure why she felt so comfortable around these two. They just seemed nice.

The blond looked as if he might say no. His lips were turned in a firm frown, a little wrinkle between his brows. “Alright. Let’s get it over with then.”

She wasn’t sure how to take that response, but had no time to change her mind. Mitsunari had already recovered his book, and now linked arms with her.

“Ummm . . . alright. But you know you don’t have to? I thought-”

“Come on.” Ieyasu set off toward the coffee stall with a determined gait.

Mai followed after with Mitsunari, uncertain how she felt about this turn of events. But at least it was a nice distraction from her thoughts. “So, you two are students? Or -”

“I’m a guest professor,” Mitsunari smiled at her. “I teach project management. Sometimes I do consulting work too.” He shrugged as if this was no big deal. “Ieyasu teaches and runs a compounding pharmacy.”

“I could have said so myself,” Ieyasu shot back over his shoulder.

She held back a smile. “What do you teach, then?”

“Organic chemistry. Biochem.” He frowned. “Why do you care?”

“I was just curious. Sorry.” Mai wasn’t sure how to react to him. He seemed at turns to really dislike her, and at other times, friendly.

Ieyasu sniffed. “You shouldn’t apologize so much. It’s fine to ask questions.”

Mitsunari laughed and patted her hand. “He’s so excited to spend time with you again. You’ve really unsettled both of us.”

“A-again?” Mai raised an eyebrow. “Have we -”

“There it is.” Ieyasu grabbed her arm and tugged her away from Mitsunari. “What kind of coffee do you want?”

Mai studied his face. There was something about his bright gaze that felt so familiar. She could recall his voice speaking her name with gruff affection.

“Stop staring at me like that. If you don’t tell me what you want, I’ll get you a plain, black coffee.” Ieyasu grumped at her.

“But she likes sweet things,” Mitsunari spoke up. “I bet her favorite isn’t even coffee. Let’s get her a strawberry milk tea!”

“I do really like those,” she said after a pause.

Ieyasu nodded. “Great. Perfect.” He pointed to a nearby park bench. “Mitsunari, go sit with her there. And don’t say anything stupid.”

Mitsunari nodded. “Thank you for reminding me, Ieyasu! You are such a good friend.”

The blond gave a tired sigh and turned away to get in line.

“Is he always like that? I feel like he is,” Mai said as she let Mitsunari lead her off to sit down.

“Hm? Oh yes. Ieyasu is always so kind. He worries about the people around him all the time.” Mitsunari gave her an angelic smile. “It’s good you remember that about him.”

There it was again, Mai thought. She couldn’t place them, but she felt like they’d met before. She was about to ask when Ieyasu arrived with their drinks in hand.

“Here.” Ieyasu handed her drink over and sat down next to Mitsunari.

No one said anything for a few moments. They sat in companionable silence, sipping their drinks. Mai studied them over the rim of her milk tea. She knew that she knew them. There was a sense of it, like a song lyric just forgotten. Out of reach, but only just. She felt sure if she asked the right questions, it would all come back to her.

“Do you like your drink?” Mitsunari noticed her gaze and gave her another angelic smile.

“Mmm. Yes. It’s very good. Thank you again, Ieyasu.”

He gave her a nod in reply, not making eye contact.

“I did have a question for you. Mitsunari.” Mai smiled back at him. “This is going to sound like a weird thing to ask but, do you know a guy named Mitsuhide?”

“Of course.” Mitsunari chuckled. “He’s -”

“An actor, right?” Ieyasu interrupted. “I think we saw him in a production.” He flashed a warning look at his friend.

Mitsunari seemed immune, or perhaps hadn’t noticed. “Oh, yes. I’ve seen him on stage several times. You even perfo- ow!” Mitsunari jumped. “I think something bit me! Ieyasu, did it get you too?” He rubbed at his leg.

Mai decided to try a different tack. “Ieyasu. I know that I’ve met you before. You and Mitsunari and Mitsuhide as well.”

His jade green gaze widened before he shrugged and looked away. “So?”

“So where do I know you from? I feel like . . . we were friends?” She couldn’t help the pleading tone of her voice. “It’s like I’m losing my mind. I keep having these - these memories of places and things that . . . aren’t . . . normal. And meeting people like you two. People that seem so familiar but - but I don’t -”

Mitsunari took her hand in his. “You’ll remember it all eventually, Mai.”

“Right. So quit trying to push. You’ll just hurt yourself.” Ieyasu added gruffly. He nudged Mitsunari. “We need to get to the lecture hall. Come on.”

“But, wait! You can’t just say that and then leave. I need to know. Where did we meet? When? How did we know each other? Why do you remember but I can’t?” Mai felt a surge of frustration and helplessness.

Mitsunari gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I promise you’ll remember it all. And until you do, we’re all here, watching out for you.”

Ieyasu gave a curt nod. “We’ll be around. But don’t use that as an excuse to do something stupid.” He stood and began walking away.

“I have to go now. But I’m sure we’ll talk again.” Mitsunari’s gentle gaze made Mai feel slightly better as she bid him goodbye. She still felt confused and out of her depth, but reassured too.

She spent the next hour sipping her milk tea and wandering through the park, thinking about the last several weeks. Her life until now had been uneventful. The usual ups and downs, full of laughter and tears. She hadn’t considered that there could be more to it. Memories, friends, lovers from another life in another time. It seemed too incredible to be true.

In the end, Mai decided it didn’t matter whether it was too incredible or not. She knew she felt these things, and her vivid recollections from other times felt like real memories. She didn’t need to know how it worked or why it was. She really just had one choice to make. To believe these things were real, or to refuse. Simple enough . . .

“You look lost in thought. Everything ok?” Hideyoshi’s voice took her by surprise, though he’d shown up more or less at the agreed time.

Mai gave a half-hearted laugh. “Yeah. You know how it is sometimes. When you just go around in circles?”

Hideyoshi smiled and reached to tousle her hair, but stopped short. He cleared his throat, suddenly awkward. “You said we needed to talk?”

She realized as she looked at his nervous posture that she really didn’t want to break up with him. He was such a nice guy. Even now, he was more concerned with her comfort than his own. But it would be cruel to say nothing and so she took a deep breath and nodded. “We do.”

He let out a breath. “Alright.”

Now that the moment was here, Mai wasn’t sure what to say. She struggled for a moment, trying to find the words to express what lay in her heart. “I really like you. It’s just . . . you’re more like a big brother. Or - or a good friend. Comforting and kind and -” Mai stopped herself from saying more as she took in Hideyoshi’s pained expression.

He sucked in a breath, “I suppose I deserve that.”

“What? No!” Mai drew back. “You’re honestly the sweetest guy. It’s me, you know? I have a . . . a lot going on.” She felt a sudden urge to spill the whole thing to Hideyoshi. Her weird dreams and sense of deja vu, her confusion over Mitsuhide and her feelings for him. But that wasn’t fair to him.

Hideyoshi stuck his hands in his pockets and fixed his gaze on the ground. “It’s not you, it’s me, right?” He made a sound that might have been laughter or tears or both.

“Oh, no, that’s - that’s not what I meant. I-”

He shook his head, looking at her again. “You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve told a woman she’s like my little sister. Knowing how she felt about me. Using my responsibilities to - to keep people at arms’ length.” Hideyoshi’s lips twisted in a small, sad smile. “Kind of ironic to have it turned around on me now. With the - the one -” He stopped talking and took a moment to look out at the park, staring at nothing in particular.

Mai felt her heart twist in her chest. She wanted happiness for Hideyoshi, but she knew he wouldn’t find it with her. Not the way he wanted, anyhow. It just killed her to see him hurting like this. “I’m sorry. I really am.”

“You shouldn’t apologize.” He pushed his hair back from his face, trying to master his emotions. “I’m glad you told me. You were - are - so honest. I’ve always admired that about you. Even if it sucks to be on this end of it.”

“Hideyoshi.” She wanted to hug him, but he looked so brittle in this moment, fragile. And even worse, she felt as if they’d been here before. Navigating this space between friendship and romance.

He forced a smile though his eyes were damp. “Would it be alright if - if I still text you sometimes? Just as a friend?”

Mai nodded. “I’d like that. I meant what I said. I care for you.”

“Good.” He cleared his throat. “I don’t want to lose you.” He rubbed his face as if to banish the unshed tears. “I might go quiet for a little while though. Just to - to give us both some space.”

“Sure. That’s probably a good idea.”

Awkward silence fell between them, with neither sure of what else to say. Mai wanted to cry, but she felt like that would be wrong. Afterall, she broke up with him. But seeing the vulnerability in him, the openness, the hurt . . .

“Is it ok if I hug you?” Hideyoshi held up his hands as if to show her they were harmless.

“Yeah. I’d like that.” And then she was enveloped in his arms, her cheek pressed to his warm, firm chest. His hands rested on her upper back, cradling her gently. She knew she was crazy to give him up - any girl would be lucky to stand beside him. But she wasn’t any girl. She was - my little mouse - Mai, and she knew her heart was elsewhere.

After a moment, they parted. Hideyoshi looked better for the brief embrace, though he wouldn’t meet her gaze.

“I think I’ll just go now. This is a good spot to end.” He gave an uncertain half-smile. “See you around?”

“Yes.” Mai nodded. “Definitely.” She wanted to apologize again, to tell him what a great guy he was and how sorry she felt to cause him heartbreak. But he was right. This was a good way to end it. More words would spoil their goodbye. So she waved and watched as he walked away, leaving an ache in her chest that made the afternoon feel colder and more empty.

After he was gone, she took out her phone, itching to talk to someone. Her finger hovered over Mitsuhide’s icon but then she scrolled past to text her friend, Asami. They’d grown up together and if anyone could make her feel better about dumping an absolutely perfect guy, it was her.

They met up at an ice cream shop - Asami’s idea - to split a brownie sundae.

“Trust me, warm caramel will make us both feel a lot better. Me, because I am forever alone, and you, because you’re drowning in hot guys and can’t make up your mind.” Asami grinned as she held the door open for Mai.

“Oh my god. I am too making up my mind! That’s why I talked to Hideyoshi.” Mai stormed past, feeling a little put out by her friend’s carefree smile.

Asami laughed. “Don’t pout. I’m only teasing. I know that couldn’t have been easy.” She gestured to a table. “You save us a spot. I’ll order.”

Mai forced her mouth out of the moue it was making and nodded. She knew her friend was just trying to cheer her up. And she was right. Any girl would be happy to have the problem of too many cute guys in their life. It was just less fun when it was you, and the guy you liked was Mitsuhide. Because he was -

“Here.” Asami put the sundae down on the table. It was immense. Three scoops of ice cream piled high with whipped cream, chocolate and caramel sauce, cherries, and rainbow sprinkles sat on a giant, soft, chewy, cocoa brownie. Decadent. Ridiculous. Exactly what a girl needed after a teary eyed breakup.

For several minutes, there was just the sound of spoons clinking the glass dish and happy sighs.

When they’d done a fair amount of damage to the ice cream and dug into the brownie, Asami asked, “So. What happened? I thought Hideyoshi was the perfect guy? Is he, like, secretly eating babies or something?”

“No,” Mai giggled. “He really is damn near perfect. I just . . . he doesn’t . . .”

“Ohhhhh. I get it. No chemistry. When he kisses you, no zing. No juice. No -”

“Oh god, Asami! Stop it! You’re so dirty!” Mai was blushing now, her face hot with embarrassment.

Her friend gave her a knowing look. “But I’m right, right?”

“Yeah,” Mai admitted reluctantly. “It’s like, I care about him. But not as a lover. I can’t imagine him in bed. Or, I can? But I don’t want to.”

“Pfft. I’d imagine him in bed. My bed. You should give me his number.” Asami grinned, then her expression fell, becoming serious. “It’s hard to tell a guy he’s friendzoned. I’m sorry you had to do it. But you got it over with, and it sounds like he took it well.”

She nodded. “I almost wish he’d yelled at me or something. I feel like I kicked a puppy. And,” Mai paused, “this is going to sound weird but, I kind of feel like I told him that before?”

“Deja break up? Weird.” Her friend tilted her head. “But didn’t you tell me you have all kinds of feelings like that with the Mitsuhide guy? Like you knew him before and stuff?”

Mai took a breath. She hadn’t told Asami everything. It was too strange, and she didn’t want her friend thinking she’d lost her mind. But . . . “Do you believe in reincarnation?”

Asami raised an eyebrow. “For real?”

“Yeah.”

After a moment, her friend shrugged. “Sure, I guess. I mean, something has to happen when you die. So why not? Wait.” Asami’s other brow shot up. “You think you were with him in another life? Mitsuhide or Hideyoshi?”

Mai swallowed. “Both? Like I knew them both? And not just them.” She spilled everything over the rest of the sundae. Her dreams and feelings and all of the strange moments she’d had. It felt so good to tell someone she trusted. To just let everything out after worrying over it alone.

When she finished, the ice cream was a memory and Asami was thoughtfully tapping the licked-clean spoon against her lips. “Well. Either you’re insane or reincarnation is real and for whatever reason, you’re drawing these people back to you from your former life. Or lives.”

“That’s not much help. You’re supposed to make me feel better.” Mai tried to frown, but she honestly already felt better just talking about it.

“Hey! I’m the honest friend. You want blind reassurance, ask somebody else.” Asami stuck her tongue out.

“I would, but Kaiya’s too honest as well, and everyone else is either involved or not a close enough friend. So it’s on you.”

Asami laughed. “Fair enough.” She set the spoon down. “I don’t think you’re crazy. So I guess that means we’re stuck with the reincarnation theory. The only other thing I can come up with is some kind of conspiracy but that seems like a lot of work to date a seamstress. No offense.”

“None taken.” Mai smiled.

“So. If that’s the case, then why don’t we try to make you remember? Then you’ll know who these guys are and what they mean to you. Include your hottie theater friend.” She winked. “Want to make it happen?”

“I . . . yeah. I do. But how?”

Asami pulled out her phone. “I know a guy. Does hypnosis and stuff. I don’t know if he’s helped with this past life stuff, but supposedly he can help you diet and quit smoking so it’s worth a try.”

Mai wasn’t sure about that, but she nodded anyway. “If you think he might help, then I’m down.”

“Great. I’ll see what he says. And in the meantime -” Asami pointed at her. “No moping. If you start to mope, I’ll call Kaiya and we’ll both show up at your place.”

“No moping,” Mai agreed. “In fact, I think I’ll swing by the theater tonight and take a few shots of the stage. I want to do some color match and contrasts with the -”

“Oh. God. It’s always work with you.” Asami laughed and rolled her eyes. “Sure, fine, whatever helps you get through. But I know the real reason you want to drop by.”

Mai tried to look innocent but she knew she was failing as Asami’s smile widened.

“There might just be some hot, golden-eyed, platinum haired guy who needs a little help with his co-”

“Asami!”

“What? I was going to say costume. Obviously.” Her friend’s smile was mischievous and gave the lie to her ‘obvious’ statement.

Mai felt a rush of love for this friend that had been there for her every time she needed it. She grabbed Asami’s hand and squeezed it. “You’re the best. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. Just remember that on my birthday. I was looking at this phone -”

They both broke into laughter, the emotional moment passing.

Chapter 11

#ikemen sengoku au #reincarnation au #entwined #ikesen mitsuhide #ikesen mitsunari #ikesen ieyasu #ikesen hideyoshi #fanfiction #fanfic #otome #otome guys

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nightflower-stuff · 2 years ago

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🤖 Supa Strikas AU: Cyberpunk + Future life 🧬

Headcanon time!😊

I draw him in Cyberpunk AU & his future life. Sometimes, the past 2000s are getting old city & destroy by their enemies but it's too late for saving the city 😭. What happened to all family members are both died in 2000s. The humans, robots & creatures are created the electronic robotics, rebuild their city & planet as they pray the earth 💖. His future life was in 2077 as cyberpunk

Meet Miko (The 2nd). He looks absolutely like him in the past life. He's the descendants of his family histories 💗

What do you think?

I hope you like him 🥰

Description:

Name: Miko (Successor & after his past reincarnated's first name, Reborn)

Age: 19+

Birthday: ???

Sexuality: Pan, Trans & Poly

Nationality: Japan

Species: Immortality dragon

Family:

- Itsuki & Terry (Great great 5x grandfathers)

- Miko Chen I & Steve (Great great 10x grandfathers)

- Sarvente (Great great 5x grandaunt) + 10 siblings (9 brothers, 1 little sister) + Chen, Nakama, Gray & Porter (Ancestors)

Other description:❤

• Wears his headphone because he loves listening 🎧 , his family are secretly richest in the Cyber Japantown, his great grandfather works at the Buddhist & his aunt works at the noodle restaurant 🍜

• draw his artwork on his sketchbook when he's start college

• Watch the night time then trained by his uncle

• His favourite animals are dragons, foxes, rabbits, gorillas, etc... (Loves petting them)

• He rides his motorcycle as he's just vibing 🏍️

• Boys & girls are simping him (you will know) 👁️👄👁️🙊

• He likes reading the JTTW books & manga comics

• He has many besties (Also you will know 🤫)

• He has a little pet friendly & He has two cousins in different places 💗

• He's play soccer for a bit seconds ☺️💖

OC/Canon AU:

Miko (II) (My 9th OC, Reincarnation of Miko Chen I)

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medea10 · 2 years ago

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My Review of Ascendance of a Bookworm

Okay, time to hit up another isekai. After watching a heart-wrenching anime like 86, I need something light-hearted to watch. No…I’m not reviewing 86. Sorry. Okay, let’s get to it!

This is Myne. But not really! You see, Myne was once a librarian named Urano Motosu with a love for reading books. But an earthquake struck and she was crushed by a mountain of books. With her last breath, she wished she could be reincarnated again and read more books with her new life. Now she is reborn in a frail five-year old named Myne. Myne is in a new world, new time, and with a new family. Only thing is, she cannot obtain a single book. Books are hard to come by, especially if you aren’t a noble. And in Myne’s case, she’s at peasant level. Even materials for writing are hard to obtain.

Before one can walk, one must crawl. Myne will go through a lot in order to preserve stories on the printed page. Will this bookworm survive without reading?

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: This one strictly belonged to Crunchyroll and the dub was filled with a lot of people I don’t think I ever heard from before this. So, hearing many of these folks is kinda a new experience for me since I decided to watch the entire thing dubbed. My experience with it was okay until I hit season three. I felt a little thrown off with the pronunciation of one of the characters. Myne’s mother Effa. We clearly hear her name being pronounced as “Eva” in the first 2 seasons. Now all of a sudden, they’re changing her name’s pronunciation. Okay, sure. Why not?! Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Myne is played by Yuka Iguchi (known for Crusch on Re:Zero, Tsukihi on Monogatari, Mine on Fruits Basket 2019, Mea on To Love Ru, Yuu on Sakura Trick, and Index on Railgun/Index)

*Lutz is played by Mutsumi Tamura (known for Kobayashi on Miss Kobayashi, Kanamori on Eizouken, Ermes on Jojo’s Pt. 6, Young Jintan on Anohana, and Young Ali Baba on Magi)

*Ferdinand is played by Show Hayami (known for Juan on Pokemon AG, Aizen on Bleach, Wolfwood on Trigun, Azami on Food Wars, Gakuhou on Assassination Classroom, and Ichiya on Fairy Tail)

ENGLISH CAST: *Myne is played by Reba Buhr (known for Nikaido on Dorohedoro, Cattleya on Violet Evergarden, Aoi on Demon Slayer, and LLENN on SAO: GGO)

*Lutz is played by Jeannie Tirado (known for Norman on The Promised Neverland, Riko on Love Live Sunshine, Fana on Black Clover, Kanae on Tokyo Ghoul :re, and Zera on Fairy Tail)

*Ferdinand is played by Armen Taylor

DISLIKED CHARACTER: I think it goes without saying that I hate that high priest with a holy passion. After his unsavory debut in the first season, I wished he could have died from his injuries when Myne’s mana went haywire. Sadly, he’s still around. And whenever he shows up, nothing good can come from it. He’s the reason why Myne wound up with disrespectful retainers when she started her apprenticeship at the church. I know the high priest is the go-to punching bag for most people. I am inclined to agree. It’s mostly a bias I have against certain individuals that claim to be a servant to the lord and do shady-ass shit. Yeah, he’s right up there with the Catholic Church, Mike Pence, and Judge Claude Frollo. He’s that bad!

I would have let certain things slide in season two like giving Myne unruly retainers or petty vandalism in the library. But then season three happened and there’s just no forgiveness for what this fat fuck did. I’m just happy he’s finally going to get some much-needed comeuppance.

SHIPPING: Myne x Lutz.

*sigh* I know it’ll never happen for many, many spoilery reasons. And I know it wasn’t canon or official or anything like that. I just want to enjoy their moments in season one and somehow ignore what happens at the end of season three.

AN ANNOYANCE: At the end of each episode, there’s like a chibi/4-panel style short that airs. I wouldn’t call it a preview for the next episode as there is never any mention of what happens next. It’s just random fluff. That doesn’t bother me all that much. Yes, I realize the first season had Ferdinand shown in those moments and we were never properly introduced to this character until like 10 episodes in. What bothered me the most came during the third season. There was one of these segments where Gunther and Myne were talking and he brings up that Myne’s mother had several miscarriages prior to having Tuuli and Myne. Okay, I feel like this sort of thing could have been said during the episode and not put in the passing fancy with the end of the episode LOL fluff. That’s my take on that matter.

END OF SEASON ONE: Throughout this season, Myne has been creating certain items and catching the eye of several key people. Semi-nobles like Frieda and her family have caught wind of Myne’s hair accessories. And a gentleman by the name of Mr. Benno decides to give Myne a chance with items she creates (for the right price). Unfortunately, there’s only so much Myne can do in so much time. Myne has been sick from day one and when really sick, she’ll spend days or even weeks in bed. Mr. Benno seems to think that she has mana (that is only reserved for nobles) and it’s eating her from the inside until she dies. It’s called “the devouring”. Meanwhile, Lutz has been becoming suspicious of Myne. It’s been bugging him for quite a while, but he finally confronted her. Without letting him know about her past life, she does reveal to him that she’s not really Myne and was only Myne for over a year now. Thankfully, Lutz accepted this fact and continues to help Myne pursue her dream and current ambitions.

Myne has been revolutionizing the world she’s living in with products she was able to easily make like hair shampoo, cute hair accessories, and even sweet treats. She did sell those invention ideas, but was able to keep some for her own. On top of which, she’s inching closer and closer to getting her paper goods to be successful. It’s just that her sickness (the devouring) is getting worse and worse. Her friend Frieda was able to suppress one of her attacks one night with the use of a magical item. It’s temporary, but it helped prevent something tragic from happening this time. There’s no guarantee for next time though.

With the way things are, Myne only has one year at most to live. It was a lucky break that Myne was able to get an item because her friend is semi-royal. Unfortunately, all Frieda gets are knock-offs because she isn’t really a noble. But that can all change once her coming of age ceremony comes and becomes a concubine for a noble. Myne’s coming of age ceremony is coming up and being married off to a noble might be her one solution to surviving the devouring. For now, Myne just wants to stay with her parents and if there’s time, set up her paper-making studio with Lutz and Mr. Benno.

The day finally came for Myne to have her coming of age ceremony. At the church, Myne got intrigued by all of the ancient books, scrolls, etc. We also meet Ferdinand outside of the preview setting. He is the head priest of this church. Myne was ready to jump ship and join the church just because they had many books. Let’s just say nearly everyone in Myne’s inner circle objected to that tenfold. Her employer Mr. Benno hates to lose Myne to anyone, especially to the church. And Myne’s parents worry that being in the church can be detrimental to her health since she couldn’t live at home anymore and won’t get a steady income since only nobles in blue robes obtain that and everyone else is just a gray orphan.

Things get a little more complicated when the church learned of Myne’s devouring disease and wanted her even more. Myne is full of overflowing mana and this is something the church wants. This could work to Myne’s advantage if she gets the church to agree to her own terms. Mr. Benno told her to prioritize letting her continue with her studio works, live with her parents, and help with her health. Meeting the high priest of the church went really bad. He didn’t like the fact that Myne’s parents were not of nobility and threatened to take Myne from them by force. This led to Myne’s father beating up church guards. And then Myne went demon-possessed on them all!

Throughout this season, there were moments when Myne’s eyes would go rainbow and has this anger aura surrounding her. This would usually occur when she would get really upset or angry, like in the early episodes and she would try to make clay tablets and they got destroyed. This of course is because of the devouring. Her mana is overflowing and controlling her body. This time, this power affected the high priest by almost killing him. Ferdinand helped calm Myne down and de-escalated the situation that just went down. He agreed to all of Myne’s terms and agreements. In return, Myne will become an apprentice priestess at the cathedral. She will dawn the blue robes meant only for nobles and when she’s not doing that, she will continue to help Mr. Benno. And best of all, she could stay with her family.

Ferdinand will be there quite a bit to keep Myne in check at every moment. Especially, when she gets angry and her mana goes berserk. Because if she harms any higher-up like when she attacked the high priest, dire consequences will be passed down to Myne. But that’ll be a matter for another section of this review.

SIDE STORY: There were two short stories that were aired a month before the second season’s debut. One story was revolved around one of Ferdinand’s men from the church to spy and learn about Myne from the townspeople. The other was Myne, her sister Tulli and mother Eva visiting the fabric maker Corinna.

SEASON TWO: Myne is officially an apprentice priestess. Unfortunately, things in the church might serve to be difficult for her. The high priest has it out for her and is willing to make her life a living hell. This includes giving her retainers (Delia and Gil) that give her nothing but grief. Not just him, but everyone (excluding Ferdinand) hating on Myne because she’s not a noble, but is wearing noble clothing. Let’s just say they’re not fond that a little girl like her got to surpass many of them.

On the positive, part of her job is to read over the royal scripture. A book is a book, I guess. At least Myne made it to a point where she got her hands on the printed word, no matter what it is. Myne does get the idea to make children books during this season. Because her mother is going to have a baby in the coming months, Myne wanted to make children books with the paper goods she’s been making.

END OF SEASON TWO: Myne has to step up her game at the church to prove that she is truly worthy to wear the blue robes despite being a peasant. For starters, she has to prepare for some upcoming events that’ll require her attendance and assistance. Unfortunately, that means Myne will have to stay at the church during the duration of the winter season. That does cause a bit of a hiccup as Myne’s father is fully against it and Myne kinda wanted to stay at home a little more to help out her pregnant mother.

Myne ends up assisting Ferdinand with a mission against some out of control trombe. As demonstrated in earlier episodes, trombe can be dangerous if not controlled and cut down. Such a dangerous entity, but useful in Myne’s mission to making paper goods. This trombe however caused more trouble than normal for Myne. This time it wasn’t her fault in a sense. One of the guards Ferdinand assigned to keep Myne safe was a real shit-head and put Myne’s life in danger and lied about it. This guy put the fact that Myne’s a peasant over Ferdinand’s order. Yeah, he’s in trouble. And then Myne showed him up with the amount of mana she possesses for someone like her. After all of that, we kind of get this scene that I wondered about since I started this series.

This scene was the very first scene from the first episode of the series. Myne with something on her head and Ferdinand going to find out things once and for all. And that’s exactly it, they’re linking minds with magical items so that Ferdinand can lay his worries and fears about Myne to rest. Ferdinand got a first-hand look at what a library looks like in modern-day Japan. Myne got to see her old adult self before she died. And also, Myne almost had a breakdown after seeing her mother and wanting to say goodbye but never got the chance. That scene was pretty rough to watch, along with her hugging Ferdinand. That’s why Myne decides now to say how thankful she is for this family. Gunther, Eva, and Tuuli aren’t the family she knew back before Myne came to this world, but she’s happy for them.

Oh, and we get a scene of Ferdinand and Karstedt discussing Myne and planning to have her be adopted by a noble. Okay, that’ll be a story for season three.

SEASON THREE: Things take a bit of a violent turn in the first episode. In the previous season, Myne was seen asking about alternate inks for the book she wanted to make. The ink guild saw the book and got serious. They came to Benno’s shop and were very scary. And then, these ruffians assaulted Lutz in the street. It is now best that Myne have her winter stay at the church happen now. Meanwhile, it looks as though one of her own retainers can’t be trusted…AGAIN! It’s Delia. Of course, it’s Delia. Gil’s on Team Myne and its going to stay that way. Delia on the other hand is an informant for the high priest.

Myne’s life is about to get a little worrisome. Ferdinand told her that he thinks that Karstedt should adopt her and it was met with harsh rejection from Myne. Ferdinand decided it is best that at age 10 she be adopted by a noble. And at that age if she isn’t under the care of a noble, she will be at risk due to her amount of mana and everything she’s done up to this point.

ENDING: This season we’ve seen the good and the bad. I’ll start with the good. The book that Myne came up with was finally done. She had a lot of help from her retainers, the children from the orphanage, and other allies in the church. Myne was able to spend some quality time with her family as this may be the last years she can be with them. Along with that, the birth of her baby brother Kamil was worth celebrating. But then we delve into the seriousness here when an orphaned baby comes to the church and has the devouring disease like Myne, things take quite the turn for the worst. The high priest is at it again really causing trouble for Myne and just being an all-around fat dick. The high priest invited a noble man to take the baby and use him as a servant. Then, force Myne into a contract.

This plan led to Myne almost being kidnapped, Tulli almost being killed, Delia being deceived, Gunther and Fran injured, and an all-around magic showdown at the church. Myne went into berserk mode when her friends and father were injured by the high priest and this dick-head noble that wants to use Myne’s mana for his selfish wants. It wasn’t until Ferdinand came in the room that things settled. Unfortunately, Myne assaulted the high priest and a noble. They overlooked that crime at the end of season one when her mana caused her to go berserk. This time, Myne, Gunther, Fran, and the rest were to receive punishment for this. But a twist arose.

During this season, Myne met a man named Sylvester. He’s a bit eccentric and can be a bit of a headache. But he gave Myne a charm to form a blood seal if she were to come into trouble. What she didn’t know was that this blood seal was to form a contract with Sylvester. This means instead of being adopted by Karstedt in two years, Myne is to be adopted by Sylvester right now. If this happens, Myne and everyone else will avoid punishment because her status as Sylvester’s daughter will surpass that of the high priest and dick-head noble. Myne agrees. Add to the surprises, Sylvester is the lord of the land, the nephew to the high priest, and half-brother to Ferdinand. Sylvester laid down some much-needed punishment here as that shady noble was to be incarcerated and the high priest got the death sentence for harming Myne.

Sylvester made it official, but with some unfortunate terms. Myne is to be adopted by Sylvester. She will be a noble officially. However, she is to give up her name and her family. She will no longer be known as Myne and the commoner known as Myne will be legally dead. She may never again be with her father, mother, sister, and brother again. If they were to see Myne, they must treat her like a noble and not like a part of the family. Myne’s company and work will continue as paper goods and books are necessary. Myne will now and forever be known as Rozemyne. Rozemyne swears that she will protect those she loves and gives them a special blessing before bidding them goodbye.

This is the end of Myne’s tale as you see with her tombstone. But Rozemyne’s story is just beginning.

We just don’t know because nothing has been green-lit as of yet. But we got a “To Be Continued” at the end. That’s hopeful!

Oh, I loved this anime. I think this was one of my favorite Isekais to come as of recent. Probably up there with Mushoku Tensei and Re:Zero.

I’m going to go off a bit on something I was pondering about for a long time and how I feel about it. This mostly has to do with the story itself and not the anime at all. During season two, I got curious and read some spoilers. Once I finished season two, I really got upset that Myne was to be adopted by nobles and have all communication from her family cut off. The reason behind me being so upset is because at the end of season two, we got that sad scene where Myne is back in her modern world in her original body and her wanting to say something to her mother before she dies. So, learning about Myne’s separation from Gunther and Effa made me really upset. Myne was distraught remembering her mother in the previous life and swore to always say that she loved Effa. But now that I sat through season three, am I still upset by the circumstances? Hell yeah. But I understand that there really was no happy outcome where all parties could be satisfied. Myne was still going to be adopted whether now or in two years like originally planned.

Never mind me prattling on about this crap about adoption. This has been a fun watch and an educational one too. Isekais can get creative with new languages, items, and customs. I always enjoy learning about new worlds in anime. But not just that, I learn something new when Myne brings up something invented in her original world. We learn something new every day. By the looks of things, the light novel is still in publication, so I expect to see more content with Rozemyne and her continuing ambitions surrounding the printed word. Anyways, full recommendation from me!

If you would like to watch Ascendance of a Bookworm, Crunchyroll has every episode (along with the side stories and recaps) available to stream.

Man, I hate to think what I’m going to watch next. The anime following this one must be fucking bullshit.

It is.

*gasps* FINALLY! I GET TO WATCH IT!!!

*This stupidity aside, Medea is really enjoying Carole and Tuesday*

#anime review #ascendance of a bookworm #myne #lutz #ferdinand #honzuki no gekokujou #benno #frieda #gunther #sylvester #bezevance

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