#I was mad about this pattern being too hard and looking for classes

[malomaximus]

TIL there’s a yarn shop about two hours north of me that doubles as a wedding chapel and I kind of love that tbh

[joydoesathing]

heres a challenge say everything you love about every single tnmn characters

BET ( but only some doppels will count and the rest don't)

Neighbors

Roman - I like me some serious no-nonsense/ i-am-done-with-life looking guy in accounting :). But he seems to also be actually someone with a soft spot for some things and is actually a really nice and chill dude

Lois - She's so pink and plump and has a beauty mark/mole (people with moles will always have a bonus in my book)

Albertsky - He gives grumpy uncle vibes. Looks like would probably throw hands without hesitation if the situation calls for it

Robertsky - He silly. Love the little quirks in his dialogue where he just greets the doorman "Hi." and says "I look as handsome as ever". Also, I love his outfit. Bro may have no eyebrows and neck visible, but his clothes slay so hard . Like there is no reason why his fit should have a fancy little blue scarf, but yet it does .11/10 XD

Angus - He's a devious looking little shit >:))). And he wears purple and is Italian.

Elenois and Selenne - They pretty women and have a mole

Arnold - His design is just SO CUTE. He reminds me of Jake from Adventure Time with his mustache. But mostly it's the eyes for me. I like to imagine that his eyes would kind of work like this

Gloria - Gives literal ✨Q U E E N ✨ (she could slap me up to the stratosphere and I wouldn't be that mad). Purple and has a mole. Her golden eyes are mesmerizing too

Izaack - His name's cool and he has the stare-into-your-soul blue anime ahh looking eyes

Margarette - Gives nice little auntie vibes and she knows how to make clothes. I would legit ask her for dressmaking tips just so that I could make historical clothes (I love fashion history)

Nacha - Honestly, when I first played the game, she scared the shit out of me because of the Stitchface doppel and I haven't seen her the same for a bit. But after I figured out she's a mom, she didn't seem that bad and I grew quite fond of her. And she cooks too (If you can see a pattern here, I like people who give of parental/familial vibes)

Anastacha - Girl literally gives the doorman attitude like she owns the place XD

Mia - Again, pretty woman. Love the style of her red dress with the pearls.

Dr. W. - Fucking nerd (affectionate)

Francis- The milkman fit looks nice with his face (but I still get war flashbacks from the plethora of thrists arts and the "save the cow, milk the milkman" line being done to death)

Steven - Here's me being a basic bitch rn, but I really, REALLY love them real rugged guy guys (military soldiers, firemen etc.) That, and also he's a tan boi.

Mclooy - Same reason why I like Steven + He's a DILF/GILF. Also I love to point out a little observation of how him and Steven are one of the most American and typically masculine people I can think of (it's quite endearing for me). A military guy and cowboy in one family? They've probably asked what a kilometer is at one point in their adult life.

Alf - He's so tiny and looks so polite. Posh looking lawyer. I love sweet old grandpas.

Rafttellyn - She gives marites energy (it's a Filipino term, you can go search it up) with her dress and style. No joke, she would low-key fit in with these people.

Even her name sounds Filipino to me with the -lynn at the end of her. I even jokingly pronounce her name as rap-ti-lin.

Others + VIPs

Henry: Looks like he really never signed up for the doorman job frfr XD

D.D.D : Amongus???????

Clown Mask: Silly face behind mask

Nightmare Clown: I like how the guy just gets so MAD and in denial when he loses the game in Unlikely, he phases out of the astral plane XD.

Keppler: He may not have a face or proper lore yet, but all I know is that he messed up big time and I wanna know how he's handling that.

42: Reminds me of that one time in science class when we were observing fingerprint patterns

Peach Peach: Probably one peach seed is his only brain cell that's floating around his brain space

Ghost Mask and The Flesh Nurse: Cool looking designs. Do they have lore???

Nightmares

Xezbet - Gargamel looking aah

Drugia - Arabian NIIIIIIGHTS ~~~~~ like Arabian DAAAYS~~~~~~. She looks like a genie :)

Barbatos- Chonky and spiky

Excel - Chonky and spiky, Christmas ham looking ahhh

Abducius - Well, he still has the little devious smile

Anazareth and Lilith - Pretty witchy ladies. Though I like Anazareth a lot more.

Chaugnar - *Siri, please play Ganesha by MASA Works Design". Also elephant <3

Nyogtha- Nice little details with her eyes

Zoth - I like his red robe (?)

Shub - Thick Medusa and she has a little heart shaped tattoo on her forehead

Yog - The fact that he was probably intentionally made to be a Great Value Edward Cullen by Nacho sama as an inside joke about Francis' simps

Quachil - Cute biblically accurate angel. And she floats

Yan - Ooh Chinese mythology reference.

Orcus - "Thirty years since all this happened, thirty years it took to rise. Blood on the floor and in their eyes, they took a bite and left it to die-". I had a FNAF phase before so this was a funny throwback

Ishtar - Goofy ass smile (affectionate)

Teutates - So, does he play in a band ??? XD

Ah Puch - Cutie pie that looks like a slasher villain. Also the surname tho? Gives me The Book of Life flashbacks

Dagda - Bug eyed scarecrow. He does have cool looking mouth stitches

Izanami - Ooooh Japanese mythology reference

[jakesuit0]

Wizard Battle Review

This one has a great setup. I love how nerdy Finn is over the wizards. It’s also cool seeing a bunch of wizards from different episodes return, it really adds to the worldbuilding of Ooo. We have Naked Wizard from “Memories of Boom Boom Mountain”, Bufo from “Wizard”, Forest Wizard from “Storytelling”, and other wizards wearing the robes from “Wizard”. There’s a bunch of new wizards that make their debut who will reappear throughout the series, most notably Laser Wizard, Abracadaniel, Flame Lord, Grand Master Wizard, and Huntress Wizard. Huntress Wizard has one of the coolest designs of any character in Adventure Time. In terms of silent background characters (for now), only Jungle Princess can compete with how sick she looks. So much so that she built up quite a reputation in the fandom long before “Flute Spell”. Doctor Princess tries to enter the competition, disguised as Science Whyzard. Totally in line with Doctor Princess’s pattern of faking her identities. She has a psychological disorder or something, I swear! Grand Master Wizard disqualifies her for using science, setting up the conflict in “Wizards Only, Fools”. Considering the prize, this could suggest her sexuality is something other than straight. HW cheers at the idea of kissing Bubblegum, which is hard proof that she’s bi. I also think it's hilarious that the audience consists of only a handful of people that are filled by the most random characters possible like LSP, who’s on her phone, and Phil (him being moved to tears by Abracadaniel’s speech later is really funny). 

Grand Master Wizard mentions eight schools of magic, which is a reference to Dungeons & Dragons. In D&D, they are abjuration, alteration, conjuration, divination, enchantment, illusion, invocation, and necromancy. Several of these are classes that Pep and Cadebra will take in “Wizard City”. The episode sets up the wizards’ strict isolation from outsiders. As Finn says, “only wizards allowed!” Ice King is a contestant. This builds on The Lich referring to him as an “ice wizard” in “Mortal Recoil”. It’s interesting which magic users can be considered a wizard in Ooo, seeing as Ice King’s magic comes from his crown. Finn and Jake are real dicks to him. Even before he says he’s going to cheat, they boo him and call him a loser. 

This brings us to….Princess Bubblegum. Her being a prize is just yuck, especially in the context of seasons two and three usually just using her character as a plot device. It’s totally out of character for her, even putting aside her hatred of wizards. Even Pendleton Ward has said he regrets putting her in this role. Jesse Moynihan and Ako Castuera, who boarded this episode, also felt weird about it. Too bad this still made it through. But yeah, this makes even less sense with her portrayal later in “Wizards Only, Fools.” Jesse Monyihan and Kent Osborne argued she’s there as a diplomat. I don’t think that’s enough to excuse her absolute disdain for magic society. Like, she doesn’t give a fuck about diplomacy with these guys in season five. Oh and I’m not even close to done complaining about PB in this one. Uhh, the straight women being mad about the prize, and Brain Wiz forfeiting because it's not an open mouth kiss was funny though.

Finn and Jake enter the battle dressed as wizards under Finn’s guise of saving PB from having to kiss Ice King. He really wants a chance at kissing Bubblegum again. He’s grown from his attitude towards smooching in “Go With Me”. Ice King testing how his breath smells by breathing on his hand is really funny. Ice King seems impressed, so maybe kissing him wouldn’t be so bad! Finn and Jake team up with Abracadaniel. He’s a really funny character, and I don’t think any of his future appearances are quite as funny. “Turn and push” is the funniest thing he ever says. Ice King battles the Flame Lord (our first “Frost & Fire”!) using nunchucks, referencing his ninja skills in “The Chamber of Frozen Blades”. I’m not sure why he doesn’t just use his ice weapons, which would be legal, but he’s crazy. 

Abracadaniel beats Ice King and Finn forfeits, presumably just to get Jake to stop teasing him about wanting to kiss PB. He can live with that, as long as nobody else kisses her. I love Abracadaniel’s excitement making him want to kiss Princess Bubblegum after all. Finn’s high pitched scream at this is also really funny. It knocks him out, making Finn the winner. Kind of messed up that he betrayed Abracadaniel! He really is the series punching bag, alongside NEPTR. Jake’s teasing of Finn continues to be funny, but it leads to a big outburst from Finn, who says he’s sick of keeping his feelings hidden. This is strange, as he was totally open about his feelings with Jake in “Too Young”. Jake continues to encourage Finn’s pursuit of Bubblegum, pushing him to go kiss an adult woman.

Finn and Jake are exposed. Princess Bubblegum thanks Finn for going through the trouble to save her from kissing Ice King. I can’t imagine PB would have actually kissed Ice King though, even with how out of character she’s written in this episode.  Anyway, she kisses Finn. Not her usual kiss on the cheek, but on the lips. This is a strong contender for my least favorite scene of the franchise. I don’t even think I need to get into the problem with an 18 year old (800+) kissing a 13 year old, but bad Adventure Time, bad! I hate that it hurts the kiss and meaning in “Too Young”. That was special and tragic partially because it was the one time Finn got to kiss her! In addition, it is completely contradictory of PB turning down Finn at the end of “Too Young”. That is supposed to be a big development for PB that will stay consistent in “Incendium”. I like that PB had a character flaw in the first two seasons with humoring Finn’s advancements, and how that eventually gets addressed in “Burning Low”. But, the development in “Too Young” was really important and I’m not sure why this one episode decided to ignore it. She slaps Finn for ruining the sanctity of wizard battle, something she shouldn’t care about respecting. She tells the wizards to get ready for next year. Despite the implication, I’m going to choose to believe she doesn’t participate in it again. The ending of Finn and Jake trying on the wizard glasses to look cool is cute and Ice King gets in a hilarious line to finish the episode on. 

This episode has a lot of good jokes, and I like parts of it. Unfortunately, Princess Bubblegum just ruins this one for me. She shouldn’t have even been in the episode. Finn and Jake joining the competition to stop Ice King from cheating is enough of a motivation. More focus on cool wizard battles and Ice King being Ice King would have made this a great episode. Instead we get easily Princess Bubblegum’s worst portrayal in the series. She is written badly on multiple levels. As a PB stan, I can’t forgive that. We’re also at the point where I want the series to move on from Finn trying to get with Bonnie. I don’t mind Finn still having feelings for her. He isn’t even over her as late as “Breezy”. But there’s no real reason to be invested in Finn’s pursuits after “Too Young”. I just want the conflict to be wrapped up so the series can move on from something that’s finally gotten tired. Luckily, we are almost there!

Grade: C-

[shrekgogurt]

WORDS

This is a sappy creative talking about being creative post. You have been warned. I did not proofread because I am nothing if not consistent in my personality.

I just got done watching Season 2 episodes 3&4 of the FX’s The Bear and I’m constantly inspired by their storytelling. The two episodes I watched really leaned into the creative process in a way that made me very reflective. I am terrible in a kitchen. However, I really saw similar patterns in my own pursuits.

I have a dear friend who studied brains in university and when I was at my lowest a few months ago she was telling me about how life is just skills. Things like IQ are bullshit. Everybody can do anything if they put the time in. It’s about just choosing skills and developing them. I get mad that I can’t draw. I get mad that I can’t play guitar well. Those are skills I’ve never worked on because the process doesn’t bring me joy, even though they are skills I wished I had. Meanwhile things like science or sports are areas I’ve never had much interest in cultivating anyway so the lack of skill doesn’t bother me as much.

I think about my skillset now a lot more. I think about how learning piano—while I’m frustrated by my lack of expertise—doesn’t make me literally cry while I’m learning. I embrace the challenge unlike something like drawing where I get so upset with myself it’s not fun anymore. This past fall while my confidence was totally shot (for a lot of reasons) I looked at my ability to sit at a keyboard and just play the same riffs from Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights over and over and over and over until I could do them. I learned I could do hard things. That maybe I’m not a total lazy piece of shit who gives up at the first sign of trouble.

And the beautiful thing is? That wasn’t always the case with piano. I’ve dabbled here and there throughout my life but when I first took piano lessons as a kid I HATED them. I didn’t enjoy putting in the work. But I do now because people change. And so maybe one day I will learn to draw but not right now. And that’s okay.

And then I start thinking about singing. There’s this sentiment that people are just naturally gifted, especially at singing. But at least for me that’s not the case. I’m good at singing because as a kid I loved it. I gravitated toward it. I sung all the time to the radio, mimicking the voices I heard. And I listened to SO MUCH music—partially because of my parents but also because I chose to always have the radio or a CD or my trusty mp3 player going. When I was playing with my dolls. When I was riding my bike. When I was in the shower. When I was at dance class. When I was dragged along to my siblings' sports games, I would build worlds while tuned into the nearest iHeartRadio station. (Airplanes feat. Hayley Williams. I loved it. I loved the storytelling. Pt. 1 but oh when the oh so rare Pt. 2 came through over the FM waves it was the best day of my life.)

Eventually, my parents put me into voice lessons. I learned how to sing rather than mimic. (Not that the latter is bad.) But I learned how to use it as an instrument. And I sang and I sang and I sang. In lessons. In choir. In church. That’s why I’m good at singing. It took me forever to learn how to harmonize. I was a soprano—it was always melody. But I’m learning that too as my voice changes. I can’t sing as high as I used to. I haven’t practiced notes off the staff since high school. Life is just skills. I was focusing on different ones. Like film (but we’ll get to that.)

There was something else always there. I don’t know how many people knew it—the extent. You had to live with me to see it…but I loved nothing more than I loved reading. 

I always had my nose in a book. Like a lot of kids who consumed books non-stop it was definitely escapism. But I read and I read and I read. The classic question in my family was “where is Mary?” And the answer was always “in her room.” And if I wasn’t reading a story I was creating one. With my dolls yes, but eventually with my tiny little acer computer and with my thumbs in the notes app on my iPod Touch. (I still maintain that the notes app is where the best art happens.)

It was May in my eighth grade pre-Algebra class when my friend told me what FanFiction was and about how she had an account on good ole fanfiction.net. I made one too. I joined a Divergent roleplaying forum that lasted two months. I started writing a long-abandoned backstory for my character—Antoine, named at intermission of the high school production of West Side Story I was watching. It was bad. But I didn’t know it at the time. I thought I was doing something important and I guess I was.

The Divergent forum didn’t last long but a few months later I would create my own. Welcome to Camp Half Blood! Join in! Make an OC! I brought my friends over from the old forum and even as Admin my authority was immediately usurped. We built worlds. And then we rebuilt them. And then our worlds had baby worlds. Generation 1, Gen 1.5 (you suggest a teen pregnancy plot line as a joke one time while on a choir trip in Yorkshire ONE TIME and then you wake up and uh oh two characters are actually teen pregnant), Gen 2, on and on and on. There’s a whole Google Sheets document. It’s deeply comprehensive and filled with all our faceclaims and timelines and playlists.

We rarely wrote action in our roleplay. We mainly talked. Dialogue and dialogue and dialogue for years. I get compliments now on my dialogue in fics. It didn’t come from nowhere. It came from cringe-y exchanges with my friends as we fell in love with each other’s self inserts over and over and over again. I stayed up on school nights until 2am quietly wheezing only to fall asleep in Algebra 1 over my scribbled cursive poetry on the graph paper. Life is skills. I was choosing which ones to build.

It was never math.

It was stories.

In the singing. In the dance (competition team—burned me out. I was never the best athlete. I was always the most expressive. I was telling the story.) In the theatre. And in the little fan videos I would make with my friends for our OCs over on fanfiction.net.

So my dumbass went to film school. And like with singing I learned about stories. How to craft them. And I wrote bad scripts. And we made bad low budget films. And I was so scared of cameras but I learned how to use them. And I directed and I got good at that especially with documentaries. Looking at all the information and chasing down the story. Telling people who were faster editors than me where to cut. Telling people who could make the camera capture what I saw in my eye what to film. God I fucking loved it. And I miss it.

Because my dumbass went to seminary. Why? Because there were these ancient stories that were really important to me that were being used to harm others. And I wanted to learn them. And I wanted to be able to show that there was a different way than the one that spews hatred. And as Phoebe Bridgers sings I “went looking for a creation myth ended up with a pair of cracked lips.” And I’m figuring all that out still. What to do with these stories that mean so much to me. How to tell them. How to Robin Hood theology.

And as my life and my faith were falling apart. I looked at my tiny little shithole apartment. And how I used to hide in my room where I felt safe. And I made that apartment feel safe. It was my room now. And I walked out to my bookshelf and I saw a book I had bought and opened it up. And on the inside of the cover there was a map just like there was in all the best books from my childhood. So I stayed up until 3am reading it. And then the next night. And the next night. And then I bought the sequel and I read about a boy who thought he was going to be something and then he wasn’t that anymore. And he was lost and angry and self-destructive just like me. But then in the last part of the trilogy he decided at the last second to try to figure it all out. And I’m still trying to do that too.

I had been writing all along—non-fiction. Papers. Essays. (Metas—really.) And I learned how to approach a text. How to analyze it in one million different ways. And I think I took those skills I learned from the Bible and I stuck them on some YA trilogy. And I thought and I thought and I had something to say.

And I wrote. And I keep getting better. Because life is just skills.

So I was watching The Bear and Will Poulter as a baker talks about how he used to see some other baker as competition. Until he decided he wasn’t and instead he just tried to keep up. And I want to keep up. And I watch these television shows and I read your fics and I get so fucking inspired. 

And I look at this stupid fucking soccer fic I love with my whole chest and I think about how life is just skills and they all have led me to be able to write it. And I know that in ten years when I’m 34 I’ll probably think it’s cringey just like I think that what I wrote when I was 14 is cringey. But GOD I’m so proud of it. And I think I always will be.

Because life is just skills and I’m really glad I chose these ones.

TL;DR I’ve never been the best “athlete” (had the best skills in a particular medium) but goddamn if I’m not a good fucking storyteller.

[hannahlovesluca]

I heard u do Nijisanji matchups can i have one please 🥺

Nijisanji male romantic matchup plz

Gender: cis female

Pronouns: she/her

Sexuality: heterosexual ally

Zodiac: Capricorn

Appearance: 5’2 African American hourglass body (although I’m more top heavy if you know what i mean) black curly wavy hair blackish brown eyes chubby cheeks wears glasses sometimes (im far sighted so it’s usually when driving in class or at the theater)

Mbti: infj

Enneagram: 2w1

Personality: kind smart funny motherly responsible empathetic anxious emotional moody perfectionist helpful people pleaser caring compassionate nerdy curious protective polite respectful indecisive fearful nervous introvert shy awkward clumsy low self esteem low confidence (more pertaining to my talents or personality then my looks) sassy sarcastic (I’m mainly these things with people i feel comfortable with like friends or family) soft spoken cute (my friends think im cute because i can be pretty innocent plus I’m small physically)

Likes: animals books reading writing fantasy magic sci fi anime music video games friends alone time learning personality quizzes sweets and bread helping being a part of something bigger than myself

Dislikes: spiders loud sounds people who harm others people who don’t take others into consideration (like make insensitive jokes or don’t consider the comfort of others or are mean just cause they can) people i care about not caring for themselves (im a hypocrite on this i take care of everyone else but not me) not being listened to weird holes and patterns math and tests (I’m being tested for a math disability and i have test anxiety)

Love language:

Giving: acts of service gift giving and physical affection (if they’re ok with it)

Receiving: words of affirmation and physical affection (although i can be shy about it)

Extra: i pace a lot i sing when im alone i talk to myself im a picky eater (mainly with textures) i have a cat i have minor ehlers danalos (a hyper mobility disorder) but it doesn’t hurt me like it does my sisters i get abdominal migraines which is basically like a migraine but instead of headaches it’s nausea

Thank you (lemme know if u wanna do a trade)

hello!!! honestly, you seem like such a great person!

i think you would do really well with…

Luca Kaneshiro!

Honestly, you guys have such diverse personalities that I genuinely just think you guys would get along great! Luca has stated before that he likes a more cat-like personality and shy people!

• He’s my oshi so im lowkey jealous but omg imagine him knowing about your disorder and carrying you/ giving you piggy back rides when you don’t feel so well or moving is extra hard for you <3

• he will make sure you’re always comfortable going on trips with him!! esp if youre a part of NIJISANJI and you have to go on a trip with him!!

• also, if you try to hide the fact that you’re not doing too well, he wont actually be mad, but he will pout and tell you to take care if yourself and run around the house doing things for you. (omg imagine him making you something to eat in a little apron AHHHHHH)

• Luca does NOT hide his feelings, he loves telling you just how much he loves you (although he will be flushged unless you’ve been together for awhile, even then he might still stutter), he has absolutely no problem with PDA and poor boy just wants to show the whole world how much he loves you - NIJI rules be damned.

• if he gets jealous, say another man is flirting w you or got you something NO HESITATION HE WILL WRAP HIS ARMS AROUND YOUR WAIST im kicking my feet oh my god

• SPEAKING OF WAIST. you have an hourglass body OH MY GOD HE LOVES YOUR HIPS SM. you guys are cuddling, his arms are wrapped around your hips. Waiting in line? Hand on your hip. ANYTHING - his hands are on your hips

• Luca does not understand how you genuinely like reading, however, he will absolutely let you read him to sleep if he cant sleep!

• speaking of sleep if he’s sick and you read or sing him to sleep he will actually melt oh my god please love on this man he will actually do anything for you

• “Y/N, why do you love me so much?”

I COULD WRITE SO MUCH MORE FOR THIS MAN PLSSSS IM IN LOVE

[superstarlena]

Facts about the Third Floor (Spoilers for Mad Rat Dead)

Imma be real with y'all, these few chapters were an absolute challenge to write, in both a good and bad way.

Attempting to novelize a rhythm game, especially one with Mad Rat Dead's mechanics is surprisingly hard. Writing a story that has a constantly ticking timer in the background, and spacing out that time lapse in a logical way depending on the events happening in the foreground is not easy. But at least the rewind mechanics was pretty easy to deal with.

Thankfully I had the various videos of MRD levels, plus the extended videos of the level and boss themes I used as a guide. Thanks to those I can better follow the tempo and see how much 'time' passes as the events of the story happens in real time, even accounting for 'cutscenes'.

I had to take some massive creative liberties when creating the levels, and accounting for how to fit Mad Rat's mechanics of movement and attacking to Peppino, and how to adapt the enemies' attack pattern into the mix. That's how I came up with the Beat Barriers, in order to represent an enemy or boss being vulnerable, then adding that mechanic to the Pillar. And to also make sure that he doesn’t cheese some of the tanker enemies by just bulldozing through everything.

I couldn't for the life of me find a way to add the Employees in the level itself without it looking too out of place. So I opted for shoving them at the end, with the progress being tied to how many Fragments are found.

I also had to take creative liberty for both the cameos and the enemies that Peppino has to face. In MRD, Mad Rat had to fight what are essentially hallucinations, these... 'creatures' in the form of colorful abstract shapes. I have no damn idea on how to write these in, especially since Peppino or anyone in Gloucester isn't hallucinating in any capacity. So I replaced those enemies with the denizens of that world; the Gloucester Police and the Rude Rats Gang. With both parties tying in with Geronimo's background, and for the latter case, a stand-in for the Lab Rats boss fight as the chapter's miniboss.

Speaking of, the Fourth Floor Guardian, Geronimo Despereaux, takes inspiration of not one, but TWO Rodent based characters. Both of them being hinted in his name.

The most obvious one, due to his appearance, is Geronimo Stilton from the eponymous book series. The color palette, the book that he uses for his spells (His ‘Pact Boon’ for all you DnD Nerds out there), even down to knowing Italian since the book series originated in Italy. Which is why there was some easter eggs from the books sprinkled throughout the last few chapters. One example being that there was 1 character in the series per trio of Employees, along with Mayor Petunia Prettypaws and Chief Hercule Poirat.

The second is based off of his personality and his weapon of choice, a rapier, which Despereaux from the book 'A Tale of Despereaux'. (Though technically it's a sewing needle due to his size.)

Geronimo is supposed to be a chivalrous hero willing to protect his people and home. Even going as far as putting their safety above his duties as a Tower Guardian. So the best way for Pizzahead to corrupt him is to reverse his priorities, forcing him to stay in the background and watch as civilians get hurt. Which for a hero like him, is a fate worse than death.

But there is a major reason for his choice of Classes. Being a Bard is a given seeing that he lives in a music-based world. As for being a Warlock, to finally provide the long answer to an Anon’s question:

Does Geronimo have any sort of sickness or medical condition?

Alluding to Rat God’s true nature in game as a virus in Mad Rat’s head, tricking him to get eaten by a cat in order to continue living.

To fully answer that:

Short answer: No

Long Answer: It’s to provide Rat God a role as his Patron, with this AU version changing her from an antagonistic living virus hellbent on staying alive, to a benevolent deity willing to look over the Ratfolk Race, with Geronimo as her Champion.

A thing that I'm beginning to do is to add cameos and minor roles from the media that each Floor is inspired from. Hell, after thinking of that and forgetting to do so for the First Floor, I'm half tempted to revise 2 Employees to add Lemeza and Lumisa from La Mulana 1&2 in there.

But after Geronimo's defeat, two heart to heart conversations with a Vigilante mention, and a Rat God cameo...

The Third Floor has been cleared.

However…

With a kidnapped Peppino forcibly removed from the party, Ella prepares to take his place to clear the next Floor.

[theforestwitch28]

Katherine's backstory Part 3: The training.

prev: https://www.tumblr.com/theforestwitch28/701029926813433856/katherines-backstory-part-2-the-taming?source=share next: x x x

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There was a process for each new reploid who wanted to become a hunter, the newcomers would get tested, their abilities and strength, to decide in what level they belonged, a new reploid who got approved to be a combat unit would be a rookie, and get a general training in weapons, classes to memorize protocols and answer properly to emergencies, who to follow and obey orders from, etc. This process would take a month of exhaustive training, and once passed that training, the rookies would be sent to continue their training being assigned to elder hunters with who they would share battle statistics.

Being a close combat reploid herself, it wasn’t a surprise Katherine got assigned to be Zero’s student.

The day Zero got to meet his new students, he smiled when he saw her between the other rookies.

-Alright listen up everyone! - said Zero, making the students stop their chatter and pay attention -I’m going to warn you from the start, I do not tolerate sloppiness in my unit, I’m very strict and I expect nothing but the best from all of you, do I make myself clear? -

-Yes sir! - all the students answered in unison.

Zero’s classes were tough, they practiced close combat with sabers (the rookies could only use metal rods to practice), the students tried their best to imitate the movements the red hunter made, starting to memorize patterns to attack and slowly moving in unison, until Zero didn’t had to guide them anymore and just walked around them, watching carefully and correcting if one was making wrong movements. They also trained close combat without weapons at all, throwing punches, kicks, using locks, etc, to quickly neutralize their opponent.

Katherine couldn’t help to be eager to learn, she had developed great respect for Zero, and looking how the red hunter was awesome and cool she wanted to learn as much as she could to be like him. She was always in time for his classes and did what the red hunter told without a second thought.

However, she started to notice something, and Zero noticed it too, she already had great experience in close combat, but for some reason, she had difficulty with the saber (metal rod). Sometimes it would just fly out of her hands and she would just lose grip on it and fail the patterns Zero was teaching, it made her gain a scold or two from the red hunter. But instead of getting mad or get disappointed, it just made her try harder, not wanting to disappoint Zero.

But no matter how hard she tried, she was still having problems with the saber, she thought maybe just needed more  training. So, she started to sneak out the room she shared with the other rookies at night when they were sleeping, and knowing past midnight no one was in the training areas, she started to train alone. She was really making an effort to get better, for about a week she was sneaking out at midnight to train by her own.

It didn't take long for someone to notice her night sessions.

One particular night, angry shouts and struggling could be heard from the training room, Katherine repeated the moves that were taught by Zero, again and again and again, but with no improvement, she was really angry at that point, angry at herself, what was she doing wrong?

-You know, you're going to end up waking up the whole HQ if you keep doing that-

Katherine froze at mid swing of her metal rod, recognizing that voice, and sure enough, when she turned around, she saw Zero entering the training room.

-C-commander Zero!- she let go of the rod, letting it fall on the floor.

This was the first time since she started to train alone at night someone had managed to discover her. Was Zero going to be angry at her? Maybe it was forbidden and she broke a rule? Was she going to be punished? Many thoughts crossed her mind at that moment, making her nervous seeing the red bot approaching, actually making her take a couple of steps back.

-Commander i-i can explain- she started saying.

But Zero's calm demeanor told her he wasen't angry.

-Settle down Katherine, it's alright- he said -It is aganist the rules to be awake at this hour tho, you know you need your battery charged for the next day, what are you doing here?-

Katherine lowered her ears -Well i was just... training, sir-

-Training? More?- asked Zero.

-Yes... i have been coming here late for a while now, to practice with the saber... i'm still no good enough with it, while my classmates are advancing, i'm stuck, i still can't master it at all, and i don't know why!- she starts raising her voice in frustration, but lowers it again, still angry -It just keeps flying out of my hands, and i can't control it, what if i made a mistake wanting to do this? And join the hunters?-

-Now now- interrupted Zero, placing both hands on her shoulders -Don't start with that, you're just having a little bit of trouble-

-But...!- she tried to reply, but the elder bot prevented her from doing so.

-No buts... now take a deep breath and settle down- he instructed her.

Katherine looked like she wanted to argue but had no option but to obey, so she took a few deep and slow breaths, just like he taught her during her rehabilitation, until she was calm again.

-There's a good girl- he smiled at her -Now... i know the basic training for my class is to practice with sabers... but that isn't the only weapon of choice you know?-

Katherine blinked -it isn't?-

-Nope... i personally don't think having an only weapon is really wise, that's why i know to use a lot more than my saber- he explains -Maybe the saber is not the right weapon for you-

Zero walked over to the control panel of the training room, pressing some buttons and putting some commands, Katherine stood in her spot, watching curious and wondering what he was doing.

-Hmm... i have a feeling this could be the right one...- he said, pressing more buttons.

Then, from the wall where the training weapons were stored, Zero picked a rod somewhat different to the one normally used for training, this one looked more like some type of hammer, or like an axe.

Zero picked it up and tossed it towards the orange reploid -Try this one-

Katherine catches it, looking at the weapon a bit confused, it was different from what she was used to train with, but obeyed anyways, adjusting it with both hands.

-It feels different- she commented, looking at the weapon -But how am i supposed to--

-BZZZZZT!-

Katherine's eyes widened when she heard the familiar sound of Zero's saber activating, and saw him charging towards her, with a surprised yelp, her instinct made her block with her new adquired weapon. There was a loud hit sound, she succesfully blocked the saber of the crimson hunter, she couldn't believe it!

-Now heads up Katherine, do what you learnt in your training!- he commanded, taking another swing at her.

-Y-yes sir!- she replied.

It was completely different from what she did during daytime training and midnight training, this time the weapon stayed in her hands firmly, her movements were more fluid and accurate, she barely had time to proccess the fact that she was moving much better and actually countering Zero in battle, even if it was just training.

After a while, Zero stopped attacking, Katherine just panted, eyes wide and with her weapon firmly gripped with both hands. Zero couldn't help to smile, both proud for her and amused at her surprised expression.

-You see?- he said -Not all reploids settle for one kind of weapon, and have to search for the right one... You can keep training with the axe from now on, of course, not right now, you must be tired--

-N-no, i can keep going- she told him.

Zero blinked - huh?-

-I still have energy left, i can keep training sir, i wanna be ready and able to keep up with your lessons... please-

Zero was a bit surprised, most rookies didn't let an oportunity to rest pass... and here he was, being asked for more... And of course, being him of all bots around, how could he let a chance for training slide? He smirked.

-Alright then, let's keep going, show me what you got!-

-Yes sir!-

Battle sounds and hits could be heard from the training room for at least an hour more, the more time passes, the more fluid and accurate Katherine's moves become, Zero didn't let up, slowly increasing the heat, taking mental notes of what she could do, what she could not and what she can work on to improve.

After a while, Katherine ended with a knee on the ground, still holding the axe, she was panting hard. She tried to get up but couldn't.

-Heh~ i admire your dedication, but you can't do much with a low battery, kiddo- commented Zero, putting away his z saber.

-D-dammit- Katherine panted, letting go of the axe, putting both hands on the ground -just when i was doing it r-right...-

-Hey, there's no rush- he said while approaching her -I think you advanced pretty much tonight, you will do just fine in the next classes- he kneels by her side -Can you walk?-

Katherine tries to get up again but no avail, her response was a frustrated sigh.

-And there's another lesson Kath, you can't let your battery run this low, always check on it and avoid your current state at all costs, it can be fatal during a mission- he slighty scolded.

Katherine lowered her ears slighty -Y-yes sir, i'm sorry-

The door of the training room opened, Zero getting out, while carrying a ver tired Katherine on his back, towards the rookie's rooms. Katherine was having a hard time keeping her eyes open.

-Sir... can i ask you a question?- she said.

-Hm?-

-How did you know i was going to do good with the axe?-

Zero hummed for a few seconds, still carrying her and walking.

-I had a feeling... while taking a look in your data back when you arrived, i saw all your past programming, about how you were built for rescuing missions... Of all the weapons i had... the axe was pretty similar to a pickaxe, which would be used to dig in concrete and rocks, when an avalanche or a collapsing building would require it... several parts of your programming can be used for missions actually, we just have to search a way to adapt- he explained.

Katherine remained silent as she prossesed what the older bot was telling her, she never imagined her older program could be used for combat, the doctor had altered it a bit, but, had to add new data to make her fight. The more she knew Zero, the more she understood why he was such a respected hunter, being able to come up with strategies like that...

Slowly her eyes drifted shut, hearing Zero talking about something like vibrations on the ground, but she wasen't listening anymore, her battery now very low... she went into sleep mode.

-...And who knows, you could even track enemies-- Katherine?- he was still rambling, but stopped both talking and walking at the lack of movement or response from her.

Zero turned to see, realizing she fell asleep leaning into him. But he wasen't surprised at all, he only sighed, a slight smile on his face as he entered quietly in the rookie's room.

-I'm glad you're trying so hard to do your part here- he commented quietly, opening a capsule and carefully laying Katherine inside -Moving on from what that maverick did to you...- he pressed some buttons on the panel, and the capsule closed, her battery starting to charge -... And i'll make sure to train you properly-

After that, the classes continued, now Katherine being able to keep up with her fellow classmates, sure it was weird she was the only rookie with a different weapon, but she did her job. They were training not only in weapons, hand-to-hand combat was also on the classes, so sparring was an usual sighting in Zero's lessons.

However, when the rest of the rookies were resting or doing other things that didn't require Zero's presence, Katherine started recieving extra lessons from the crimsom hunter.

One day, Zero took her to a special training room. When they entered, Katherine found herself in a big room half filled with packed snow.

-Ummm... sir? what are we doing here?- she asked, looking all over the room for something that gave her an idea, but she could only see snow.

-I want to test something Kath- he told her -and if this test is a success, this will be your new training... from what i gathered in your data, you were originally made for rescuing, in disasters like earthquakes, avalanches and landslides... you're supposed to be able to feel vibrations on the ground specifically to be alert of tremors after an earthqueake... also you're supposed to be able to listen when a human is trapped underground calling for help, am i correct?-

Katherine blinked, it was a while since she thought in her original programming, but not really understanding where he was getting at -yes sir-  

-Alright then...- he looked towards the snow -Somewhere down there is a training dummy, right now is playing a human's call for help and mimicking their movements, i want you to find it and bring it up here- he ordered.

Katherine looked at the snow and walked over it, the ears on her helmet shot up and she froze, looking at the snow, picking up something... she slowly crouched and put her hands in the snow, her ears moving slighty in random directions until they just pointed towards a spot, her sight focusing there too... she gasped when she heard a very faint scream and felt movement in her hands.

-S-sir i think i found it!- she said out loud, without taking her eyes from that specific spot.

-Ok then go for it, use your claws if you need to dig-

Katherine noded, and activating her beam claws, she started to dig in that specific spot, slowly making her way to the bottom of the room, and when she came back out, she was dragging the training dummy by an arm. Zero smirked.

-Not bad Kath- he complimented her, making her smile -Now... for the crucial part of this test-

Zero pressed some buttons on a control panel, Katherine wondering what he was doing, but remained silent, she knew he was going to explain soon.

-Normally, when a human is trapped underground, they remain in the same spot... but why don't we try tracking something that can move underground?- he explained, finishing with the control panel -This time your target is a micebot, they are not bigger than your hand, and can move under the snow... is not going to remain in the same spot like the training dummy, so you have to figure out how to get to the micebot fast before it detects you and runs away to another spot... is up to you how to approach it-

-B-but sir i have never tracked something that was able to move, a-and that small? i don't know if i can...- Katherine started to say, nervous.

-Hey hey- he approaches her -settle down, i know you can do this Kath, i have seen your data... you can even detect a human's heartbeat under all this snow...also, this is just a test, to check if this method of training can actually work for you... it's okay if it dosen't succeeds, okay?-

Katherine gulped, ears lowered, Zero seemed really hopefull of this test, even after his words... she didn't want to dissapoint him, so she took a deep breath and noded.

-A-alright sir... i'll try my best-

The crimson hunter noded, and went back to his place.

Katherine focused on the snow again, her ears perking up in every direction, her hands on the snow to feel any vibrations. Soon enough she detected something, there was movement alright, she could detect it and pinpoint it... but now the problem was how to catch it before the noise of the digging alerted the micebot and made it escape...

And she started her tries, first she tried to dig with her beam claws as fast as she could in the snow just above the micebot, but it failed and scurried away.

Next, she tried to dig even faster, but it ended in the same result.

Next she tried to use her axe but the snow cushions the hit and slows it down, making it impossible to reach the micebot.

Zero watched her try several times, sighing, she could pinpoint it but wasen't able to catch it, so maybe it was going to be impossible to train her like that.

Katherine panted, glaring at the snow under her feet, raking her CPU trying to come up with a solution...

That's when an idea poped into her head... she already tried several times, so, one more couldn't hurt...

She did her thing, focusing on the sounds and vibrations, tilting her head slighty while watching a random point in the snow, her ears pointing in that direction... and then... she jumped.

Zero was caught of guard, watching her jump and activate her beam claws in mid air, then landing head first into the snow with enough force to get herself buried with only her legs sticking out the snow. Slowly she moved and forced herself out the snow... with the micebot clutched on one hand.

-I DID IT!- she shouted triumpantly, waving the little micebot so Zero could see it, smiling brightly -I did it sir! i caught it!-

Zero smiled, clapping a couple of times when the girl brought back the micebot -Great job Katherine, you took your time but you figured it out~ you see? i told you could it-

Katherine giggled a bit, very proud of herself -Does this means the test was a success?- she asked.

-Of course, now we can confirm it, we can use your old programming for missions, you can detect and track enemies hidden underground- Zero explained -And not only that, you could even find underground structures and enemy bases if you train enough, but of course, this will count as extra training not included in the regular rookie lessons, so, do you want to continue with this?-

Katherine didn't even stopped to think about it, she was so eager to be able to help and get better and better, to be able to be a valuable hunter recognized for her skills.

-Of course sir!- she answered without heistation -I'll do my best and put effort on this so i can be even better, i won't quit anytime soon!-

Zero smiled, quite proud and happy to see her willing to train and learn. He gave her a couple of pats on the head.

-There's a good girl-

[brainlessrot]

Here you go @patterned-flannel !!! again, thank you so much for the request <3

| Part 1, Ace, Deuce, Jack |

| Part 2, Epel, Sebek, Ruggie | <

i got distracted while writting and ended up making epel and sebek’s different from the given prompt, sorry!

First years + Ruggie - They accidentally make you cry - part 2

Epel;;

You had asked Epel for help, since you had been allowed to go to a thrift store nearby, the headmage being “generous” enough to give you some pocket money, enough to buy a couple of clothes so you’d be more comfortable and a little bigger closet, having only some lost clothes that did not fit you that well and the old hand-me-down uniform you used.

So, knowing that Epel had gone under really… extensive fashion lessons from Vil, you trusted that he would help you choose something that would fit and look nice on you. But you were so wrong, so, so wrong.

Your first error was even thinking of him to help you, he absolutely hated going shopping, but he couldn’t reject your invitation knowing your situation, so he acted like a big boy and accepted, but you could see his mood sour the more you spent inside the store, and it made your interactions with each other much more awkward. And your second mistake was thinking that Vil’s hard classes would work, sure, Epel might fake his way around, but when you were the only one around that knew who he was, he let loose, acting much more rude and letting his country accent slip, not caring about, however, the things Vil had successfully drilled into his brain did not disappear, instead, they went from Vil’s harsh words through Epel’s brain translator, making the usually strict words turn into emotional damage.

“Ye really like that shirt…? ‘Kay, but ye better not come cryin’ to me if ya get thrown into yer rash by accident, ‘tis looks like absolute horse shit.” You hadn’t even shown him the piece of cloth you were looking at, and he was already crushing your style choices.

“Uggh, ye better not be lookin’ at those tremendously horrible pants right there, do ye want to look like a roach? ‘Cause you’d be doin’ it great with those.”

“Mmmh, ‘m not even gonna say nothin’ ‘bout that jacket, but you’d be better off settin’ it on fire to warm yer hands in the winter, ‘tis only works as fuel, and only if yer really desperate.”

“Oi, get yer grubby hands off them shoes, they look like-“ You had enough, even if he was annoyed because he did not want to come— even after he agreed— he should be at least emotionally mature to know that what he was doing was horrible. But who’re you kidding, you study at NRC, who has that much emotional maturity?

You left the shoes on the rack with enough strength to make it shake, the sound of the vibrations not too loud— but enough to make him shut his trap.

You only side eyed him, your gaze being enough to make the strongest magician of the world shit their pants, and who wouldn't? The prefect's wrath was terrifying to anyone who knew who you were.

The rest of the day went in silence, Epel following you like a lost puppy, hiding his tail between his legs. It left him to his own mind, repeating his own words as if it was a broken record, the more he thought about it, the more he felt like an asshole, and he wasn’t that far off.

You ended up grabbing what you liked, not even sparing a glance back at Epel, checking out the few items you bought on the way out, he pulled at the sleeve of your uniform, now too flustered at his own wrongdoings, a full 180º from his actions beforehand.

“Prefect, just wanna say, ‘m… ‘m very sorry.” He twiddled with the hem of his own sleeve between his fingers, looking down at your feet. “I was acting like a dipshit, I did not want to make yer day awful, Granny would be very disappointed in me, and ‘m too. I’m sorry I made ye mad.” You stared at him for a while before agreeing with him, he had acted like a dick, and you had gotten really mad. However, you felt that he was truly apologizing and felt bad at how he acted, so you accepted his apologies— but you told him that he was on thin ice, and the only way that he would be safe would be that the next time his family sent some apples, he’d give you some. To which he agreed, promising you that you would not find a less than perfect apple from the ones he’d give you.

Sebek;;

Oh, the mighty (half) fae Sebek, who had decided to make your day worthy of living by giving you the honor of his presence. Which would be appreciated if he wasn’t such an annoying ass.

He had seen you studying outside, completely alone, and decided that you, even if a mere human, deserved some of his help. And don’t get me wrong, he could be a good hand, after all, he studied hard and it showed in his grades. But the problem was that, first of all; he doesn’t shut up, ever, the second thing is; everything that comes out of his mouth has something to do with Malleus or how great the Thorn Valley is, and last, but not least; his volume is too loud. You could ignore him if his voice wasn’t quite as strong and potent, but alas, that is just wishful thinking. His loud demeanor couldn’t be ignored, the sound finding its way in your bones, inside your skull, vibrating through your brain. But it did not enter from one ear and leave from the other, oh no, that was impossible. And thanks to this, you were now even more stressed than before, great!

“HUMAN, you have done that equation completely wrong, from start to finish! But oh, what can you expect from a mere human?! After all, they are all low in comparison to Sir Malleus! Did you know that he is a legend in the Thorn Valley because, when he was only a couple of dozen of moons old he managed to defeat on of the top wisest sages-“ Every word that he mustered felt like a rock, falling onto your brain, making its own indent, and every hole it made, every time his words squashed your brain, you were closer and closer to losing it. “HUMAN ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?! Surely you must know about this story, right?! …You… You don’t? How can you lack the most basic of the basic knowledge from the Valley?! UGH! I can’t be even surprised, you are a lowly human after all.” That’s it, the last rock that managed to tilt the scales off, your brain going into overdrive. You closed the book you were currently using with enough force to create a pretty loud sound, making Sebek flinch and look at you with confusion.

Before he could even muster another “HUMAN” from his lips, you threw the book at him, as he was sitting in front of you, rather close because of the tiny table, you managed to hit him square in the chest.

“HUH?! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING HUMA-“ You shushed him with an accusatory finger, you got off on him, telling him that if all he was going to do was to be an annoying and racist brat he could go fuck off and follow Malleus around like the mutt he is. Your furious stare, looking directly at him, mixed with the way your voice was dripping with venom, left him without words, something that didn’t happen everyday.

You got up from your seat, grabbed your bag and walked around the table to grab the precious book you had thrown, you could sulk about possibly damaging it later. You started to walk off without telling him another fuck you in a hushed tone.

You ignored the heavy footsteps that followed you. The way you could physically feel the way he was brooding, right behind you. You didn’t want to talk to him any longer, or tears of frustration would fall from your eyes soon.

But after some minutes of following around and muttering something under his breath, just as you reached Ramshackle dorm, he spoke up.

“Huma- Prefect,” He stood stiffly at the end of the stairs that led to the main door of the dorm, arms perfectly straight and parallel to his torso, a forced position, perhaps out of nervousness or just familiarity. “I am extremely sorry.” He bent forward, almost forming a 90º degree angle, his hair fell forward, his gelled back hair sticking out as if they were glued together, how much did he apply every day? “I have wondered about my actions, and I have come to the conclusion that I was not acting in an adequate way towards you, so I offer you my sincerest apologies.” Even his apology felt as stiff and forced as his stance, perhaps he meant what he said, but his words were not… well, his.

You asked him that if he wanted to be applauded, and he only looked at you in confusion, shouldn’t you have accepted his apologies? He had done it exactly as shown in books, why wasn’t it working? You told him that even if he apologized, he still was an annoying cunt, and that you were not happy with him. That made a grimace appear on his face, had he been that bad? Yes, yes he had.

“I… I accept your words of rejection, however,” You rolled your eyes, this was making your head hurt. “I still stay by the fact that I did not intend to berate you willingly, Prefect, after all… you once called me a… friend, and I wish to remain in that position if you’d let me.” You sighed, that felt better, even if it was not enough for what he had pulled beforehand. You told him to shut up and get inside, as payment, he was going to help you with your studies, and ONLY with studies, you did not want to hear a single word that did not have nothing to do with the books.

Ruggie;;

You looked at the sad remains of money you had left after buying Grim food, you had put a limit of money you’d use for each day, since your funds were running low, and single handedly Grim’s tuna took a huge chunk of it. With the little madol you had, you could only afford a sandwich from the cafeteria, one of those that were more bread than anything, but at least you wouldn’t have to go the rest of the day without any food in your stomach, which was better than nothing, but still quite depressing.

You stood in the queue for a while, waiting as other students brought the sad cafeteria food the ghost prepared, it was not their fault, they were wonderful cooks, and managed to make the best of the things the headmage gave them as supplies, which was very little, so you respected the hard work they put into feeding the bunch of messy teens at NRC.

When your turn came, your stomach was already growling, furious that you hadn’t put anything on it until now. You bought your little sandwich and left to one of the tables, Ace and Deuce had taken Grim away, since you did not want to make the little guy see you eating that sandwich, since he would probably feel guilty, even if the start of your relationship had been rocky, the little monster had gotten quite attached to you.

You sat at the uncomfortable bench, looking at the food in your hands, you were hungry, but even then, the sandwich looked quite unappetising in your eyes.

“Shie-hehehe,” You recognized that laugh almost immediately, but who wouldn’t? Everytime you heard his laugh you got flashbacks from the incidents that surrounded Savanaclaw a while ago. “What do we have here? Why are you so alone, Prefect?” You deflected the question with another one, asking him if he was here to buy Leona anything, since he usually didn’t buy food from the cafeteria. “You’re quite bright, yes, I have his wallet right here.” He played with the wallet in his hand by throwing it in the air and catching it with ease. “But what do you have there?” He ogled the sandwich in your hands as if it was the best of the best, made by the most popular chef that ever existed, when in reality it was two slices of bread with two pieces of lettuce, and some strange matter inside. “What do you think… shouldn’t you share?”

You didn’t even notice your hands extending forwards, presenting the sandwich to Ruggie as if it was an expensive present, you tried to resist his magic, but it was too strong, and you couldn’t get out of his control. He snatched it out of your hands, taking a huge bite out of it. You stared in disbelief for a couple of seconds, your soul crushing. You had used every madol you had left for the day for that miserable sandwich, and now you stared at Ruggie, happily munching away at your conquest.

Warm tears started to drip down your face, leaving a shiny trail behind, you weren’t being overdramatic, as some would say, your body demanded food, and you could not listen to it, since it had been stolen.

Ruggie stopped biting the bread the moment he heard you sob, eyes wide and ears pulled back in worry. What happened? Why were you crying? He tried to ask you, but you hid your face in your arms, laying on top of the ugly cafeteria table. He shook your arm, the half eaten sandwich forgotten in his other hand.

“Prefect?! Are you okay? What happened?!” When your breath calmed enough to allow you to speak, your voice was quiet, breaking from the tears still spilling from your eyes, you told him that that sandwich was your food, the only food you could afford for today, since you had used every other madol to feed Grim. He felt his soul crush, you reminded him of what would happen daily back in his hometown, and he felt horrible for being the reason you were hungry and sad,

“Okay, hey, look at me,” You sniffed, wiping your eyes so you could see him properly, without the blurriness the tears added. “I’ll fix this, I'm very sorry for what I just did.” He put an arm around your shoulders, rubbing circles with his thumb on your shoulder, his soft voice as he tried to console you. “If I had known I wouldn’t have stolen it, but I’ll make it better, okay?” He quietly chuckled, turning your head to look at him. “I have an idea, but please calm down before we do it, yeah?”

You nodded, and after your breathing evened out, he walked with you, interlocked elbows, towards the register.

“Here, choose whatever you want, I’ll pay,” He winked, playing with Leona’s wallet. “Leona’s treat.”

[broken-everlark]

Okay, so my whole draft is gone. I just got off work so I didn't forget our conversation.

It just annoys me that, apparently, being a straight ship is wrong. Or it makes me homophobic in some way. I just want them together. I don't care what sexuality they are, honestly. I don't think about things like that, I just enjoy the character & their personality. I don't hate anyone, but any toxic shipper will make it about racism or homophobia somehow.

You are right. Both sides do this. I've gotten hate from wylers & wenclairs & waviers and lord it's starting to feel as toxic as the Marvel fandom. That I had to get out of because I couldn't handle it anymore. I didn't like the person I was becoming in that fandom. I used to argue constantly, but I can't do it anymore. It's not healthy and it's not okay.

Lmao, just the way you said that. "I took off the makeup & went home🤣" Honestly, how I feel, too.

Honestly, I've been hated more by people who will just claim that I'm racist or homophobic for an opinion or my ships. Like I've lost fandom friends & readers to my fics to that bs, and I'm over it🤣 people are so petty and automatically think like that girl said to you. "Straight people can find any man and woman and be able to ship them." Girl, I can't believe she said that. Just can't believe that. Nevermind nevermind let talk about good things.

I hope we can try and watch it together. Or maybe find a week we're we both have decent times to watch one episode & count how many times we find her checking him out. I definitely think Wednesday knows the effect she has on him and definitely uses it to her advantage. Honestly, that'd be cute if she does it to make him nervous.

I hope Joel isn't the stalker he better stay in the 91 series. I mean, I don't hate his character. He was adorable with Wednesday, but honestly, I feel like he was cute with that version of Wednesday & more of a puppy love.

Xavier getting mad at wyler was the best part of the show, tbh🤣 like he's so grumpy. And no one cares. I don't understand how people like Xavier. He's so plain, but even if I HAD to give him personality traits. It's petty, acts like he's better than everyone (found a word for it. -- Egotistical/cocky, hates the working class, thinks Wednesday needs to fall at his feet and automatically be in love with him & can't fathom the fact that she likes someone else.

Exactly she knew what she was doing when she went into the Weathervane that day. That's the best fuck you to Xavier I've ever seen and I love it🤣

I SWEAR the Rave'n dance scene that Wednesday does is a bird like mating dance to Tyler because her movements match most birds matching patterns. I know it's a call back to the og dance, but.. the fact that she's doing that dance towards Tyler and only LOOKING at her boy!! Like I love it. And I absolutely love how he tries to mimic her movements but eventually realizes he can't and just continues to watch her in amazement. 🥺

Well, the fact that Biancas' mom uses the same manipulation tactic on her that Xavier did is sad. Because biancas mom said the only thing she's good for is luring unsuspecting men to her cult. While Bianca is trying hard not to be that way. Xavier uses the same bullshit excuse and excuses her of using her song on him. When I guarantee she wasn't. Since she's trying so hard not to be like her mother.

I have a whole rant on why I hate Xavier 🤣 him being a dickhead to Bianca is just the start of the rant🤣

YESSS Enid and Thing are the cheerleaders that are the perfect word to describe them. I need more Thing schemes. I need him to keep helping them in private. Sneaky little bugger. Enid definitely just wants Wednesday to be happy. & I'd love that in season two, maybe Enid has a scar or two from her fight with Tyler, and Tyler has those two long scars down his face from Enid? But I guarantee she'd be besties with him & gossip about their monster forms if Tyler gets redeemed and goes go Nevermore.

I love the Galpins. They are so sad & and tragic, but I love it because it builds their characters. Donovan will definitely be absolutely wrecked when he learns what his son has gone through and then learns that his son broke out from the van at the end. It's definitely sad that he even told Gomez that Tyler is exactly like his mother. Turns out he truly is even with the Hyde. It must've been so gut-wrenching for Donovan to see his son as a Hyde. Especially since what he most likely had to go through with Fran. Seeing her most likely go through mental trauma and suffering insanity from the Hyde.

I'm hoping it goes well with writers, and they keep with the storyline they wanted. Not listening to obsessive fans who I can barely call them fans when I feel like they didn't even watch the show. They just need to stick to their good story building & character development.

I hate when Jenna goes on about hating ships, then supports the most random and the least sense making ship. I don't know why she hates Tyler when all Hunter does is praise Jenna on her acting, or how he said in one interview that the acting was the easiest part since all he had to do was pretend he loved Jenna which was easy. I don't remember hearing Hunter say anything about Tyler being evil. All I've heard is that Hunter absolutely loves playing Tyler, and it's one of his favorite roles. And that he can't wait to see how it goes. Hunters recent podcast, he said Tyler and Wednesday had a sexual tension. Which I love. Thank God the writers are still hinting at wyler. I'm just praying they stick to it.

Emma wouldn't address the real-life shipping. Actors tend to ignore it because it stresses them out. Fans just need to stop shipping two 20 year old girls, and it's just weird. Let them live their lives. And if Emma or Jenna end up straight or bi or lesbian (not with each other, just in general), then those fans need to respect them and stop pushing this narrative on them since they are very young and still have a whole life to live.)

I absolutely loved that Emma defended Tyler. It was just amazing to finally see someone other than hunter do it.

Wenclair is definitely not the way they were going. I hope they stick to the storyline they were wanting and if they have to get rid of ships it better be all of them and not just wyler because that's ridiculous if they get rid of wyler & petroclair in place of wenclair to please the toxic fans

Sorry it takes me forever to respond. Tumblr format is weird, so I have to read one paragraph at a time and respond

Can we talk about how Wednesday was in the most none triangle love triangle ever? Like, Wednesday and Tyler were doing their own thing meanwhile Xavier was just kind of there. Now if Wednesday liked Xavier too that would be a proper triangle, but that’s not what played out. She was always upfront with him that she was there for Tyler. He was just guy on the side who had a thing for a girl who’s into someone else. It was never a triangle. It almost confuses why anyone calls it a triangle at all.

[pastxlscorp]

Bully! Mitsuya Fanfic (pt.3)

Chapter III: Abidance

✿ Word Count: 3.2k

✿ Pairing: Takashi Mitsuya x reader

✿ Topics covered: (Eventual) Enemies to lovers trope, Hakkai POV, Y/N POV, Mitsuya POV, tsundere-Mitsuya, bully! Mitsuya, fem. reader, minor manga spoilers, slight angst

Awakening from his slumber, he found that the woman was no longer taking up space in his bed. He heaved a sigh of relief, only to, unfortunately, see a message from an unknown number on his phone saying “Text me when you’re free ;)” Ignoring the text, he found he had a message from Hakkai and remembered that he had abandoned him to sleep with that damn woman. However, Hakkai didn’t confront him about it, but instead acted as if nothing happened.

🗨️ Hakkai: Is the party still on for today? (Sent 2:00am)

🗨️ Mitsuya: Yeah, sorry about yesterday. I wasn’t feeling my best, I should have let you know. (Sent 10:00am)

🗨️ Hakkai: No hard feelings. Ya feeling better now Taka-chan? (Sent 10:01am)

🗨️ Mitsuya: Not really, but it’ll pass. What’d you end up doing yesterday after I left? (Sent 10:02am)

Picking up on the subtle curiosity of Mitsuya’s text, it became clear to Hakkai that he did see him with you. As much as he admired Mitsuya, the anger building inside of him got the best of him. Therefore, in response, he chose a reply that he knew would get Mitsuya boiling.

🗨️ Hakkai: Caught Y/N outside of your class, had a wonderful lunch with her! She’s so nice, Taka-chan! Why are ya so mean to her? (Sent 10:04am)

Vigorous fingers typed in reply.

🗨️ Mitsuya: Why the fuck were you hanging around that slut? She’s just gonna try and get in your pants. What did she say to you? (Sent 10:04am)

🗨️ Mitsuya: Hakkai? Hello? (Sent 10:05am)

🗨️ Hakkai: Sorry Taka-chan, I’m back. She didn’t say nuthin bad, actually she was so sweet. She saw I was alone and we both had some tea together back at her place. Ended up sleeping over, I’m still here actually! (Sent 10:05am)

🗨️ Mitsuya: BACK AT HER PLACE? I told you, she’s just trying to get in your pants and you let her win! I can’t believe you let a whore like her win you over, Hakkai! Where the fuck is your brain? She probably was enjoying every minute of your sorry ass. (Sent 10:05am)

🗨️ Hakkai: Who said we slept together, Taka? (Sent 10:05am)

Silence enveloped the room.

🗨️ Mitsuya: Sorry… I just assumed that’s what you meant by sleeping over. (Sent 10:07am)

🗨️ Hakkai: Awh, it’s okie Taka, I know you were only looking out for me. (Sent 10:07am)

Absolutely, looking out for Hakkai. That’s what this was, that’s what he was doing. There couldn’t have been any other reason why he was so upset at the thought of you sleeping together. He was just being a good friend.

-----

┃ “Y/N!” the hoarse voice spoke to you, feeling the smooth cloth of his jacket pressed against your face as you bumped into him.

You looked up only to recognize Hakkai, kind thoughts flooding your mind, diminishing your anger stemming from your interaction with Mitsuya moments before. He grinned at you giddily, eyes relaxing any sort of tension left in your body. You slowly began to forget why you were mad and allowed yourself to indulge in his presence.

┃ “Good afternoon Hakkai! Waiting for Mitsuya?”

┃ “Mhm, you takin’ Designer 101 too, right?”

┃ “Yup! How come you aren’t taking it? You’re very fashionable, y’know?”

┃ “You’re too kind,” He giggled, his grin beginning to somehow grow wider on his cheeks as he raised his hand to pat your head.

┃ “I’m serious! Why don’t you join the class? It’s not too late, the second semester is about to start!” You eagerly pushed on, rejoicing in the positive energy he emitted.

┃ “ ‘m not really into making clothes, just showing them off...” He let out a hefty chuckle before getting cut off by you.

┃ “You don’t have to be good at making them! Some students choose to learn how to stylize different clothing and patterns, it’s all about the latest trends.”

┃ “Really?” He went silent for a few moments, smile morphing into a straight line as he contemplated your words carefully. Not to fret, as his smile quickly returned as he said: “Well then, might have to ask Taka-chan to help me sign up!”

You both shared a laugh and began to discuss the enrollment process in order for Hakkai to join the class-- if he were to drop another class, what class would he drop, or would he simply add it to his current schedule? While your conversation was nothing more than an innocent developing friendship, unbeknownst to you, Mitsuya had witnessed it all and declared it once more another betrayal. You were such a slut, flirting with anyone and everyone. Irrationality began to consume him-- instead of seeing your interaction with Hakkai for what it truly was, a genuine developing friendship, his brain refused to comprehend your behavior with other men. He never got to the level of comfortability you had with Takemichi, and he had lost the sense of ease you had with him to Hakkai and god, god did it piss him off. Unfortunately for that kohai, she was just another doll for him to play with just until he could get your attention again. Even a single drop of your attention, your attachment, it was enough to drive him for weeks just to be able to be near you again. Your kind words squeezing his heart tighter and tighter the more you spoke, your laughter ringing in his ears at a corny joke he told you during club meetings, it enveloped him into infatuation which later developed into a larger feeling. Such a large feeling over the progressing months that when he began bullying you, when your lack of presence and absences during meetings began to grow, an emptiness began to root in his heart, waiting for you to touch it once more and let it grow.

He could go on and on listing things about you-- the way he loved your sense of fashion, the way he loved your sense of humor, your compassion to helping others, your intellect that allowed you to read everyone like a book, everyone except him. Why couldn’t you see that he didn’t hate you? Oh, but that jealousy, the first time he’d admit that it was jealousy, it gripped him so tightly around his neck that it felt suffocating. Every shove, every clasp of your hand, your wrist, your chain, your chain, it made his heart shutter seeing that dead watery look in your eye, but your attention was like a drug that he just had to keep getting more of. It would never be enough to satisfy him, not until he could call you his and you would call him yours. He pitied using them, he really did, but he needed someone to satiate his needs. He was a womanizer, after all-- if one left he would just charm another into his bed. They all had high respect for Mitsuya, his intellect, his charm, his skill, and his kindness. Yet no matter how hard he tried, all those women, they were never you and they could never try and be you. He found that he no longer sought sex for his own pleasure anymore, but for your own, pretending so desperately that the one trembling out of pleasure beneath him was you. Imagining, no, fantasizing that he was making you happy and leaving you satisfied.

Upon seeing your interaction, he quickly left with his kohai for their own exchange, leaving Hakkai unfortunately confused as he waved you goodbye, patiently waiting for his friend to meet him. You were still on campus because you had taken additional extracurricular activities to build up your transcript to make up for your absences in Mitsuya’s Home-economics club. At first, you attempted to make it through the club meetings but he made every single one as unbearable as possible. The second semester, could it come any sooner? Hakkai, too focused on organizing his schedule with you previously, had failed to notice Mitsuya leaving with a woman. He waited, he waited, and he waited, coming to a good hour until he realized Mitsuya wouldn’t have left him waiting for this long without a heads up. He looked at his phone, expecting some sort of contact-- a phone call, a message, anything. All that awaited him was several unread messages from group chats and friends, none of them from Taka-chan. He sighed, placing his phone away just as he noticed your presence once more, planting a fake smile on his face to disguise his obvious disappointment. Unfortunately for him, his smile only instantly alerted you something was wrong.

┃ “Hakkai? Why are you still here, weren’t you supposed to be meeting Mitsuya?”

┃ His phony smile stood in place as tears began to fill his eyes. He croaked: “T-taka-chan left me. Do you think he’s mad at me for sumthin’, Y/N? I don’t ‘member doin’ anything.”

You instantly rushed over to comfort him, witnessing what appeared to be an intimidating giant become undone into a fragile teddy bear at the thought he had upset his best friend. Your disdain only kept growing for Mitsuya, first it was his lack of maturity during class, and now he had abandoned his best friend for whatever reason it was. Hakkai was a sweetheart, you couldn’t imagine what he may have done to upset someone. Therefore, you came to the conclusion Mitsuya had thrown a tantrum of sorts and took it out on him. It irked you, however, Mitsuya always remained respectful and loving to his best friend in addition to Yasuda-san, so you couldn’t help but raise your brow wondering what got him so upset for him to entirely ditch his friend. Pushing those thoughts aside, you placed all of your focus on bringing a smile back to Hakkai’s face, gently rubbing his back and placing your forehead against his temple as he crouched over in defeat. You desperately attempted to think of anything to cheer him up.

┃ “Ah, how about some tea?”

┃ “...Tea?”

┃ “Listen, I have absolutely no idea what you like and I want to calm you down so-”

┃ “Tea sounds good.” He said softly, a small smile returning to his face.

You escorted Hakkai comfortably back to your dorm, located on the east wing of the campus. Women and men could go to each other’s dorms, they just had gender-separated wings because it was just easier to contain the chaos if everyone was allowed to sleep with their girlfriend or boyfriend. The boys had their dormitory on the west side, thus you noticeably got some glances as you strolled with Hakkai. Mitsuya was always surrounded by Hakkai and Yasuda-san, so obviously most of your classmates were shocked to see you hanging out with his right-hand man. Were you both sleeping together? Ooh what a scandal (not). Although you didn’t mind the glanes too much, Hakkai on the other hand made sure to shoot down them all with a nasty side glare, quickly causing them to turn their cheek. It was a cute sight after all, seeing how you subconsciously had reached for his hand and began to rub gentle circles on it in order to ease him, which succeeded in doing so. Once you arrived at your dorm, you opened the door and gave him a show of jazz hands as you toured him around your dorm. Your dorm wasn’t the largest compared to his and Mitsuya’s dorm, which made him realize the privilege of not having a financially aided dorm. Your queen bed comfortably rested on the right side of the room, covered with a curtain and fairy lights on the wall behind it. Your desk was not too far away, maybe a good 15 feet across your bed, not too messy but not too neat. It was obvious you were working on something, as there were papers still out and scattered but the rest of the desk had the pens, pencils, and stapled papers sorted in a clean pile. Your pinboard was half-covered with your calendar, cluttered with small sticker reminders while the other half was your schedule, nicely decorated with washi tape sticking it to the board. Next to your bed was a wooden closet and you led him into the cramped kitchen that made him gasp, seeing how you make such a tight space so comfortable and presentable. You had a small glass coffee table in the middle, a small fridge cramped in the kitchen underneath a cupboard and next to a cabinet holding the sink on top. Next to that was a stove with a microwave on top, both color-coordinated black, contrasting the white of the room. You guided him over to the table and motioned for him to sit and he obediently did. Walking over to the countertop holding an old-school kettle, you used it to strain and brew the tea. Gleefully, you dropped a few ice cubes in his glass and carefully poured his tea and then your own, sitting across from him at the table. He took a sip of the tea you had placed in front of him, smiling not at the delightful taste but the awaiting face you had fixated, putting your hands under your chin waiting for a response.

┃ “This tea is delightful, thank you Y/N.” He said warmly and you basked in his praise.

┃ “Ah, sorry if I made you uncomfortable with the staring. I don’t… really get visitors. It’s nice to have someone over.” You replied, your face beginning to glow a light pink as your lips formed into a slight frown, embarrassed to admit how you had no friends.

┃ “Mm, I should be the one thankin’ you,” The softness in his voice made your crouched posture fix itself as you looked up to him. “You made me sum tea, opened me to your home, all ‘cuz I was sad and overthinkin’. You ain’t hafta do that, but you did anyway. I appreciate ya!” His iconic grin was now back where it belonged as his eyes glazed over you in pure adoration. You smiled in return, both returning to take a sip of your tea.

Hours passed and he was still at your house, you both gossiping and talking like old friends. You discussed your classmates, praising them and disapproving of the behavior of others. He began to confide in you about what he witnessed during his time as the second-division’s vice captain. You eagerly listened to him as he described to you his tales with his brother and his amazing sister Yuzuha, anything and everything was up for debate. At least, almost everything. Despite being the main reason he was so upset, you and Hakkai had not discussed Mitsuya’s treatment of you. He was mentioned in a few gang stories, but it seemed as if Hakkai was opting out of speaking about him out of respect for you. However, his head began to slump, implying he was tired. You grabbed your phone, which had been placed upside down on the coffee table, and looked at the time and saw it was well past midnight. You leaned over to rub Hakkai’s shoulder and you gasped when his head turned back upright, alert as if he just remembered something. Drunk on drowsiness, he began to speak:

┃ “Mmh, y’know Mitsuya used to talk about you a lot. Always went on about this pretty girl who was awfully sweet, really smart…” He trailed off, fighting off the sleep that clung desperately to his eyelids. “He never gave me a name but after club meetings when I woulds wait for him, he would tell me about his conversations. I always saw him looking at ya. What did ya do to make him so pissed off?” Although he had no malicious-intent in his questioning, it was enough to cause goosebumps all over your body.

┃ “I didn’t do anything, ‘kai. Really, nothing different happened that day. All of the sudden, the next day during his club he humiliated me in front of everyone and then made me stay after hours to yell at me even more.” You went silent for a moment, before your curiosity got the best of you and you questioned: “He used to talk about me? Are you sure?”

┃ Ignoring your question, he replied to your initial response. “You didn’t do anythin’ different at all that day?”

┃ You contemplated his question carefully, before realizing the one event that was an outlier to the rest. “I was waiting for my friend outside campus gates that day. He offered to wait with me but I insisted he didn’t, mainly because my friend had said Mitsuya wasn’t very fond of him so it was better if he didn’t see him.”

┃ “Who’s the friend?”

┃ “Hanagaki Takemichi.”

┃ The tired man in front of you took a full minute to process your sentence before bursting out and crying of laughter a few moments later. You looked at him, pure confusion coating your body as he continued to sob. Finally, after a few minutes, he wiped his eyes and sat back up, gleaming at you. “Well that’s your problem, Mitsuya fucking hates Takemichy. Probably spied on ya because he was worried, saw Takemichy, and boom-- he got jealous AHAHA!” He went back to crying of laughter, leaving you a few moments to yourself to process his words.

It was embarrassing to admit how Hakkai was half-asleep in front of you and somehow managed to put together your puzzle of confusion together months after said incident had happened, in under 20 minutes. However, you couldn’t find yourself disagreeing with his theory. Suddenly, Hakkai stopped laughing and looked up at you, all serious.

┃ “Now wait… that’s not funny! He’s been pushing ya around all the time just cuz he’s jealous of you being with other guys?! That’s fucked up! ‘M gonna beat his ass, Y/N! Just for you!”

You now began laughing, taking Hakkai’s hand in yours over the glass countertop and tapping it gently.

┃ “That won’t be necessary, ‘kai. How about we come up with a solution?”

┃ “My solution is beating his a-”

┃ “A non-physical solution.”

┃ He went silent for a few moments, looking away from you to the window to think. You could tell he thought of something when a smirk began to plaster itself on his face. “How about we test our theory?”

┃ “Elaborate.”

┃ “If that pain in my ass is done with whatever it is he’s doing, there was supposta be a party tomorrow. Not at our dorm, but our friend’s. You might have heard of him, Manjiro Sano?”

You responded with silence.

┃ “Mikey. The Invincible Mikey.”

┃ “Not ringing any bells.”

┃ “Brother of Emma Sano. Brother of Izana.”

┃ “Emma Sano is so nice!”

┃ “Captain of the Tokyo Manji Gang, Y/N.”

┃ “Oh.”

┃ “Point is, he’s having a party tomorrow. We could get some revenge, I bring you as my date~”

┃ “Won’t that make him angri-

┃ “That’s what revenge is.”

┃ “Why don’t I just talk with him?”

┃ “Has he tried talking to you?”

┃ “...no.”

┃ “I rest my case.”

Silence enveloped the room once more. It wasn’t an awkward silence, no, it was quite a comfortable silence actually as he patiently awaited your response and allowed you to process and think.

┃ “When is the party exactly?”

✿ tags: @haiq-trash @blackmysticalsimp @the2ndl @bren-heron @delicatejudgecopcowboy @skiwalkers

✿ a.n. // First of all, thank you so much for 102 followers <3 I appreciate the support being given to me! I would like to address one thing, however, please don't rush me to write! I've gotten very kind messages of support but others have been demanding more of me and it's important to remember that I have classes, chores, a social life, and many other things happening. I love writing but rushing me makes it unenjoyable and it won't be my best work. My goal for this ongoing fanfic is to post weekly. Just a little ted-talk there, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter though! I had such a fun time writing it :)

[azalea-in-wonderland]

In the Heights Daniela/Carla “little details” Obsession Masterpost

I have become completely obsessed with the Daniela/Carla RS from In the Heights, and since they don’t really have all that much screen time, I’ve been poring over every single frame for all the little details that can be gleaned about them, all the things that are easy to miss on a casual viewing. I thought I would post this list of canon stuff I've noted (mixed with a lot of my own observations/opinions/speculation/headcanon) for other fans, and it might be handy for other fic writers too. And please feel free to reblog or reply and add details that I missed, or just your own headcanons!

In the bedroom scene from the opening number montage, Carla’s pajama t-shirt has a rainbow pattern on it. Daniela’s has palm trees. Carla has a reading light on her side of the bed, and flowers on the nightstand. Or that might be a desk right next to the bed. It looks like their bed is only a full size, not even a queen size, which means they don’t have the space or money for anything bigger but also means they’re fine with sleeping *really* close together, which is lovely. And I love that the actresses genuinely weren’t wearing makeup, looks much more authentic. And weirdly, they both look younger without it.

I think we can assume that Carla is a morning person and Daniela is definitely not. Carla also seems to have assumed the wifey role of turning the alarm off, probably getting up first to get the coffee started and letting Dani sleep a bit longer, then trying to get her out of bed in a good mood to start the day. (And given how amazing they both look at work, you know it's gotta take them a long time to get ready in the morning.)

When they come into the bodega, Carla holds the door open for Daniela. While Cuca gets their 3 coffees, Dani gets a box of chocolate doughnuts and Carla gets like 4 candy bars, a few of them might be granola bars? I really love that they just eat junk food for breakfast like normal working class people. (Don't be mad, I say this as a lifelong poor person, these are mi gente.) Carla hurries past Dani toward the door so she can open it for her again. Her little "bye!" is so cute, right?

Carla really likes to stick her tongue out at random moments, huh? I approve. I wholeheartedly approve. I counted at least 5 appearances, there might have been more. Somebody please gif all the tongue cameos.

If Daniela's salon has been open for decades, she must have started her business when she was pretty young. Driven with a vision, so sexy.

When Carla is talking about the guy bouncing between two girls houses and the customer says "we need to have a better standard" and Carla goes "that's what I'm saying!" all I could think was that's such a typical lesbian superiority moment, lol. You know she was thinking "If you really had a higher standard you'd find yourself a woman like Dani. But you can't have Dani because she's taken."

It’s kinda hard to tell because she doesn’t even have that many lines of dialogue, but I think Stephanie is actually doing a Queens accent for Carla -- the Latin version, not the Jewish or Italian version. ;) It’s a nice little touch.

And related to that, I love love love the way she made the character her own and instead of playing Carla as just the sweet and ditzy salon girl, she’s also kind of a spoiled brat and drama queen, like any good Queens princess should be. Those little moments where she throws a tantrum after not winning the lottery and after losing at Bingo, her whining and moaning about the car being hot, sulking when Dani dances with that guy, and dramatizing the blackout to whoever she’s talking (singing) to on the phone, so funny and cute. You just know Daniela finds it adorable and totally indulges and spoils her.

At the sink where she's working there are 2 pics of dogs stuck in the mirror. Are those her dogs or just random dogs?

Carla's automatic clapbacks and aggressive support of Daniela's speech about how the customers can suck it up and take the train. She goes from that hilarious scoff to the offended "uhscuse me?" to standing right next to Dani in solidarity to just looking turned on as fuck by watching her girl take the piss out of everyone. If Nina hadn't shown up I think she would have dragged her to the back for a quickie. 

Even though it was funny in the stage version too, Carla’s “I don’t think I know what you mean” and “As long as he keeps it clean” lines are just soooo much funnier with the character being gay. Especially since by the second one, Stephanie is playing it like she’s caught on to exactly what they’re talking about, but she wishes she hadn’t. (Edit: the song script notes in the ITH book confirm Carla does know what they’re talking about. “Carla gets it.”)

And if we want to be really really dirty-minded about this (and of course we do) you can add that with sex toys like strap-ons it’s very important to wash it after each use and “keep it clean,” so maybe Carla was just applying her sensible lesbian logic to Benny’s limo.

And apparently the actress did confirm on social media that Carla is indeed capital G gay, not bi or anything else. I’ll take her word for it. 

When the salon ladies are pushing Nina’s rolling chair across the floor, instead of pushing the chair Daniela has her hand on Carla’s lower back. Any excuse!

Let’s just assume that since Nina went back to Stanford, Dani and Carla really will be getting front row seats to her graduation. And they would absolutely be the people to ignore the “don’t cheer until the end of the ceremony” rules. Nina will be so embarrassed, but also love them so much.

At the end of Vanessa’s song when she turns the woman into a cockatoo, Dani and Carla are hanging out in the background having a quiet conversation about something. In my mind it’s not work related, just a little moment to check in with each other.

And I’m so sad they cut out the part from the stage show where Daniela gets impatient waiting for her soda and bellows at the bodega, “VANESSAAAAA!! I’m thirsty, coño!” It would have been even funnier with the realistic set to see her hollering from across the street.

Seeing this crowded, bustling salon I can’t help thinking that the pandemic would have been really brutal on the two of them. Salons were some of the earliest businesses to close and the last to reopen, and you can tell from the run-down and outdated look of the place that they’re just barely getting by at the best of times and probably don’t have a lot of savings. And after just moving to the Concourse and probably taking a dip in customers while they get the place established, it couldn’t have come at a worse time. I wonder how they made it through. Someone should fic that.  (This is getting long and I’m not even halfway through, so I'll do the read-more break.) 

Just casually hanging out resting with her head in her wife’s lap at the pool, sighhh. So cute. Not sure why Cuca is also leaning on Dani, but I like to think she’s like their adopted little sister. She’s not altogether necessary in this movie, but I’m guessing it was one of those “rule of 3″ things, where in a visual sense it just looked better to have 3 women than 2. Like the 3 Schuyler sisters, the Unholy Trinity from Glee, etc. It fills out the musical numbers. And I’ve loved Dascha Polanco since the first ep of OITNB, so I can’t be mad.

Notice that the towels they’re laying out on are kind of old and faded, that’s a nice little touch of class authenticity.

It’s funny how a line like “if it’s just between you and me?” was originally written for platonic best friends and yet can be transformed into one of the sexiest moments in the movie just by the flirty way they use their body language. You just know there are many many things that are only between the two of them.

The fact that Daniela’s wildest dreams for riches involve nothing more exotic or extravagant than Atlantic City and a rum cocktail makes her such a precious lil bean.

When they’re checking their tickets and Dani is pulling them out of her top, Carla says “let me have one” and then just reaches down into Dani’s shirt to look for one herself. Nbd when it’s your wife. Mis tetas son tus tetas.

When they’re trying to unfold that last ticket (the one that makes Carla have a tantrum), Daniela has her arm literally through Carla’s arms and pressing up against her boob. She also keeps gripping Carla’s wrist like she really instinctively wants to hold her hand in that moment, but Carla needs her hand to open the ticket.

(Sidenote: My favorite favorite moment of the movie for total OTT extra-ness was the bit after 96000 when everyone was checking their lottery tickets FROM THE POOL. It was so completely ridiculous and I love it. You just know that during filming at some point, somebody had to have been like, “But would all these people really have their paper lottery tickets with them in the swimming pool??” And someone else was just like, [giant shrug] “I don’t know bro, it’s a musical.”)

At the dinner at abuela Claudia’s, they’re so cute running through the door all excited and goofy, calling greetings to everyone. Also, Carla is definitely one of those girls who gets louder and louder the more she drinks, isn’t she? Lol.

And the fact that they can’t wait more than a few seconds into that bolero to start dancing, even though nobody else is. So wrapped up in each other and so oblivious to everyone else in the room, like they all just disappear for a minute. Abuela Claudia gives them a fond look at one point, and since this is the last night of her life, it’s sweet she got to see some happy romance in her home. Vanessa looks jealous of what they have, Usnavi looks kind of awkward but affectionate, like seeing his sister in an intimate moment and not knowing where to look.

Carla just pounding the stereo to fix the skipping record, ha! Most people would nudge the needle, but you do you, baby girl. Daniela was proud of her, that’s all that matters.

Carla’s encouraging responses to Abuela’s dancing, “Woowww, sexy!”

When they eat, Carla fixes a plate for Daniela. Daniela is sitting plateless by Kevin listening to his story about his shoeshine business and Carla comes in carrying two plates full of food, and then next frame Daniela has one. That is such an intimate and quintessentially WIFEY thing to do, I can’t handle it. “No, just go sit down and relax, I’ll get it.” You have to know someone so well to be able to make them a plate.

In the ITH: Finding Home book it mentions that during the dinner scene, Daniela is very impressed and supportive of Kevin’s decision to sell the company. As a business owner herself, she gets it and understands why he had to do it. You can hear her saying “Felicidades” (congratulations) a few times.

All the little concerned glances and looks they keep giving each other during Nina’s story about being searched. It’s obvious they can communicate without words.

Carla looks really uncomfortable when Kevin starts yelling, she even seems to jump a little. Maybe she had an overbearing dad herself.

After the emotional father/daughter scene where Nina storms out, Carla is the first one to pick up her fork and start eating again. Like she’s thinking, okay, that was horrendous, but this food is getting cold and we’re still gonna eat it, right?

The part where they’re both singing in overlapping English and Spanish during Blackout is so compelling and musically addictive, I can’t figure out why it sounds so great but I’ve watched it a hundred times. That is peak Lin-Manuel Miranda with the way the rhythms intersect. If anyone can’t make out the words clearly, Carla is telling someone “Oh God, so much panic, the crowd was manic, with everybody screaming and shoving and shouting and slapping, and everyone was frantic, what’s happening with you?” Daniela says (in Spanish) “Look love, do me a favor, wake Abuela up and see if maybe she has candles. I was dancing when the blackout hit, there are people here but I don’t know who they are.” I’m assuming Dani was talking to Sonny or Usnavi, maybe Nina? And I’m gonna say Carla was talking to that guy who works at the salon, whose name we don’t know.

And by their words I guess it’s safe to say they had some scary moments when the power went out at whatever club they were at. I think they’d both be extremely protective of each other, but especially Dani (even though she’s so much smaller) bc she probably thinks that her most important job in life is keeping Carla safe.

Carla’s mischievous look at Dani when she was taking her bingo cards, like “yes I’m taking 5 and you can’t stop me.”

And then even with 5 she still loses and Daniela wins with just one, ha ha. I love the way she flings her cards away and yells “I quit!” And Daniela says “Bingo motherlovers!” instead of “motherfuckers” because she’s in the presence of an old lady, and she has class.

The fact that Usnavi instinctively yells for Daniela when he wants someone to call 911 shows how close they are and how important her role is in “the family.” You can hear Carla saying a shocked “What?” and “What’s happening?”

The hand hold and squeeze while they’re waiting to hear the news. And then Carla with her arm around Dani and hand on her shoulder when the stretcher comes in.

During Alabanza they’re holding hands when they’re walking down the street, and then it’s harder to see because of the angle and how dark it is, but when they stand up from the stoop with the raised torches, they have their arms around each other’s waists. And before they stand up, Daniela reaches out for Carla’s hand like she needs her support.

The fact that on Vanessa’s application under employer, she just listed “Daniela” with no last name. It’s like Daniela is so well known and such a pillar of the neighborhood that the Heights residents forget that not everyone in NYC knows who she is. They’re just like “you know, Daniela. FROM THE SALON.”

While Cuca is eye fucking the moving truck guy, Carla is so totally oblivious to his existence and so focused on following right behind Daniela that she literally runs into her when Dani suddenly turns around, ha. It’s cute how Dani kind of gently redirects her toward the car.

“Oh God. [sob] It’s hotter in here.” I LOVE HER SO MUCH

Probably of no significance, but in the dinner party scene Carla is wearing an army green jumpsuit with sky blue earrings, and in the Carnaval scene Dani is wearing an army green romper with a sky blue bracelet and blue striped shoes. It’s just an odd color combo that they apparently both like.

The RAINBOWS. Carla has rainbow stripes going all the way up the sides of her pants and shirt. She’s also wearing special Pride-themed Reeboks that have a tiny rainbow flag on them. Such a perfect touch for a gay character in a movie that’s both based in June and came out in June.

Her hoop earrings say “Baby Girl” and Stephanie liked a post on Instagram asking if they were a gift to Carla from Daniela. That’s canon and they can’t take it away from us.

And I’m assuming she’s feeling particularly in need of religious consolation following Abuela’s death, hence the double cross necklaces and the WWJD reference. Since Dani also crossed herself when they were scared for Abuela, safe to say they’re both at least somewhat religious.

Edit: A few sharp-eared people have noticed that when Carla is in the car, and it cuts back to Daniela standing on the sidewalk, you can hear Carla say, “Mi amor, qué haces?” (My love, what are you doing?) And so of course she jumps right back out to come and see what Dani is looking at, because that’s the kind of supportive wife she is. 

It’s so sad that nobody turned out to say goodbye to them. When Carla sees how sad Dani is and gives that lil offended “hm!” sniff down her nose at the sidewalk guys, aww. I’m glad Daniela hunted the neighbors down. I think that may actually be my favorite non-musical moment, when she bursts through that steel door and bellows BYE PEOPLE!! Backed up by Carla’s sarcastic “Bye!” Carla is so cute stomping around after her with her hands on her hips, so devoted and supportive of her woman.

“Mi amor, cálmate.” I think this is actually the only reference in the script to the fact that they’re a couple, isn’t it? I wish they hadn’t left the job *entirely* to the actors and director, it would have been nice to have at least a few little changes to the book. It’s telling that Carla used Spanish for that moment instead of English, it feels more intimate.

Is it just me or did Daniela give kind of a saucy spin to the “Do I look like Jesus to you?” line by the look she gave Carla, like “honestly, with the stuff I do to you in bed? are you kidding me?” She even glances at Carla’s boobs TWICE as she’s saying it, to make the point really clear.

What’s with the woman in the pink tank on the other side of the bench at the picnic table, she looks very flirty and winks at Daniela. I’m gonna hc that she’s an old flame who Carla doesn’t know about. (Edit: It was pointed out in the replies that the pink tank lady is also Jessica from the salon, and now I'm even more convinced she and Dani had a thing, based on the familiar/exasperated way they were talking to each other. "My lunch break's not long enough for that trip, Dani." "Jessica, swipe the fare card." I bet they were a cute couple but too much alike to work out long term.)

Carla’s megawatt smile and enthusiasm when Dani starts singing and dancing, she can barely contain how much she loves watching her.

Until the guy shows up to dance with Dani, then you immediately see her in the background jump from baffled to concerned to an alarmed “that’s enough of that” in just a few seconds. The way she just pushes him aside like, “No. Not for you.”

The look Carla is giving her once Dani starts dancing all up on her has to be the sexiest thing between them in the movie, right? Stephanie conveys “turned on” like no one’s business. It’s funny to watch the neighbors in the bg, watching them dance. They so jealous.

The little ass slap of encouragement! You just know that Daniela is the top in that relationship, at least most of the time. (But it’s always good to switch it up occasionally.) Dani is so cute cheering Carla on while she sings, she looks so proud and happy to show off her girl.

Based on Carla’s background, I’m assuming she’s supposed to represent 2nd or 3rd generation immigrants? Because if she’s that mixed, that means her grandparents probably were the ones to immigrate, one each from DR, Cuba, Chile, and PR. That would mean her parents could also be American born. And she has a New York accent, not a Spanish accent, so English is her first language, but she seems to speak Spanish with perfect fluency and can switch back and forth no problem. Clearly Daniela’s first language is Spanish and she grew up in Puerto Rico, but I’m sure is 100% English fluent by now. In some scenes she had a stronger accent than others -- it was stronger in the salon scene than at the dinner party. Maybe Daphne hadn’t quite decided how strong she wanted to play the accent.

Daniela not buying Vanessa’s “friend” remark, ha, I just love how she’s so obsessed with everyone else’s love lives. And Carla’s “now that you mention it” -- she hadn’t even noticed that they had a thing going on, I mean, of course she hadn’t, it involves boy stuff, lmao.

While they’re still teasing Vanessa Carla puts her hand on the back of Dani’s shoulder and kind of grips her shirt.

Carla standing there with her arm around Dani while Usnavi is making his announcement, they literally just can’t keep their hands off each other. And then gripping each other in shock at his news. And I like how he calls them out as a couple, “Daniela, Carla, pack up the carro, I’m bookin’ a flight for DR tomorrow.” I’m a little confused about what he means though, since they’ve already packed, and what does their packing have to do with him leaving? Does anyone get this? Is he giving them Abuela’s furniture or something? 

I love how Carla is not afraid to just freaking GRAB both Vanessa and Nina when she’s teasing them, ha ha, she’s so handsy. She leaves Dani to dance with Benny, she’s like “Imma go grope Nina.” And her goofy laugh when Sonny says Nina was his babysitter is a gem. One of those moments where I remind myself “this actress is also Rosa Diaz,” but my brain still refuses to process it. I know objectively that it’s true, but my mind just can not accept it, it does not compute.

When Carla jumps down from the picnic table to let Usnavi get up there, and then Dani jumps up there too, Carla is staring at her with this wide-eyed open mouthed shocked face, I don’t know if she’s worried about her or just hella impressed and proud..

The last 30 seconds of this number are such an emotional climax and the characters look so deliriously happy, I can’t even believe they brought that much energy and joy and stamina given how many times they probably had to shoot this. These actresses are both older than me, and I would kill to have that level of energy.

In Carnaval, the split second scene before Daniela stoops to hug Carla there’s a scene of Daniela interacting with Vanessa and Carla has her hands on Daniela’s back and they’re both on the table, must be an editing mistake.

The hug at the end. I mean, tbh, this is the moment when there really should have been a kiss, it would have been the PERFECT time for it. But I can’t be that disappointed bc the hug is so wildly affectionate and ecstatic, like they just can’t get close enough.

The scene with the car driving away and Carla calling “we love you!” from the window makes me sad, partly because it’s the last we’ll see of them other than the closing number cameo, but also just knowing that for the characters, once that car leaves the Heights it’s never going to be their neighborhood again. They’ll come back to visit all the time of course, but it won’t ever be the same.

And I’m going to assume for my hc that Cuca is going along to help them unpack and set up the salon, but I don’t think there’s any real pressing reason for her to have to move to the Bronx herself. She’s just an employee, so she can take the train to work. It’s not the same as being a business owner and having to go in early, stay late at night, drop in at random moments on the weekends -- Daniela and Carla really need to live right by the salon, otherwise they’d spend outrageous amounts of time coming and going from it. Since the Heights salon abuts what looks like an apartment building right behind and next to it, I’m assuming they probably live right over the salon and only have to come downstairs to go to work.

During the closing number, I like that Carla is the first one to start singing, and that she gets to duet with Dani for that one bar before Piragua Guy comes in. They sound so good together! Also, it’s interesting (considering this is like a dream sequence) that Carla is wearing the same outfit from the dinner party, whereas Dani is wearing the outfit she wore in the opening number. It’s a little sad that they don’t get to be there for the grand finale, like in the stage show where everyone comes back out for that last climactic “home!” But for the movie it just wouldn’t make sense for them to be there, and Benny and Nina aren’t there either. But I’m sure they all see each other often and little Iris spends plenty of time being babysat by Aunt Dani and Aunt Carla. I bet she has so much fun running around the salon, listening to all those details she’s not old enough to hear.

And now just a few random things that are my own personal headcanons, but I’m just adding them here bc I don’t want to make a separate post. Others will no doubt have wildly different takes on some of this.

I’m getting the sense that they’ve been a solid, established couple for a good long while, based on how comfortable and familiar with each other they seem, and how the entire community seems to think of them as a two-shot. I would be shocked if they had been together for anything less than 5 years, could be as many as 10, especially since they’re both over 40. They might be married, or just living together.

And on the age topic, I’m personally just going with the easiest solution of having the characters around the same age as the actresses in my fic writing, about 40 and 50 respectively. But I’ve seen a few people making Carla significantly younger. My instinct would be to raise her age a bit, not lower it, since that would bridge the age gap more. Not that it’s even that big, but women are more sensitive and insecure about that stuff than men are. But I’m in my 30s so it’s no issue for me to write older characters, I can get why it would be more challenging for a much younger writer to write characters that are significantly older than yourself.

Re: family, I haven’t worked out a firm hc on this topic yet. I think probably a lot of Daniela’s family is either still in PR or has passed away, so her friends and Heights community are her family. I’m leaning toward thinking that Carla grew up with 3 older sisters and very conservative, religious parents, but she was nevertheless spoiled and a Daddy’s girl because she was the baby. Until he eventually found out she was gay, that is, when her parents pretty much rejected her. They refuse to meet Daniela at all bc they think of her as the woman sending their daughter to hell. (She’s still close with 2 of her sisters, the other one is a nun.) Carla doesn’t allow it to make her bitter, she just keeps trying and visiting them alone and refuses to give up on winning them over. Daniela wishes she would stop bc she thinks it’s useless, but she also doesn’t want to see her get her heart broken.

Finally, on sexuality: My hc is that Daniela had some experience with men before she realized/accepted she was gay, probably in her late 20s. She knows how to interact with men, she knows how to read them, how to flirt and charm them to get what she wants, and she knows which ones can be pushed around and which ones it would be a mistake to try it with. Carla OTOH seems like a gold star lesbian, like she realized she was gay when she was 12 and never had even the slightest interest in boys or men at any point. She mostly just seems oblivious to their existence and avoids them whenever possible, which is tricky bc she’s drop dead gorgeous and probably attracts plenty of interest that she doesn’t want. She doesn’t know how to read men or how to sense a threat and she never knows when to shut up, and it’s only a problem when they’re out late at night and they run into the kind of macho guys who like to hassle and challenge them, as if the very existence of lesbians is some kind of insult to men. (Y’all know the type.) If Carla has been drinking she can get pretty confrontational and bring that Boricua candela attitude, bc she’s like an attack dog when it comes to Daniela and their relationship. And it scares the hell out of Dani, because her deepest fear, the one she has nightmares about, is that one night on some dark street Carla will start shit with the wrong guy and that Dani won’t be able to protect her from the consequences.

Damn, that kind of ended on a dark note, didn’t it? Sorry about that. And please, let me know anything I missed! This is probably always going to be a very small niche fandom, we’ve got to help each other out. :)

Editing to add a compilation of interview quotes from the writers and actors about the relationship. Might as well have it all in one place!

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With Camila, I just wanted to be able to focus on Nina's story a little bit more. So if she was in conflict with her dad [Kevin, played by Jimmy Smits], it helped focus that story. When we lost Camila, I therefore had to balance it out and really do work to elevate Abuela Claudia [Olga Merediz] and Daniela [Daphne Rubin-Vega] to even more powerful matriarchal positions on the block.

Speaking of Daniela, was her and Carla's coupling always meant to be more of a wink, or was there more initially intended for them as queer representation in the film?

It may sound counterintuitive, but actually it's like marriage representation because when I cut the character of Camila, I just didn't want any critic anywhere to be able to say they all come from broken homes. So I was like, I need a married couple because I don't want anyone to try to spin that on me. And so I was like, oh, Daniela and Carla. They're the married business owners, and they've invested their relationship and their marriage in building this business together. And so that just felt very easy.

https://ew.com/movies/in-the-heights-writer-quiara-alegria-hudes/

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From In the Heights: Finding Home (book)

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LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA OPENED UP ABOUT HIS NEWEST PROJECT, IN THE HEIGHTS.

Gayety editor Caitlynn McDaniel sat down with the cast and creators to discuss filming in New York City, authentic representation, and a few new queer characters.

“Really it’s nothing more dramatic than Daniela and Carla, the women who co-own the salon, we just send them home together at the end of the night.”

In the original stage production, Daniela and Carla do not have a romantic relationship. But after Camila Rosario was taken out of the film adaptation, the creators wanted to make sure there was a healthy family dynamic still in the show. Miranda credits the change to the screenplay writer, Quiara Alegría Hudes, who chose to make Daniela and Carla a couple.

“It was a relationship that was already strong and already wonderful in the stage version of the show and we just kind of canonized that relationship and made them life partners in addition to business partners.”

https://gayety.co/lin-manuel-miranda-in-the-heights-cast-talk-queer-characters

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The two characters were portrayed as close friends in the original musical, though the sexuality of the two characters was not explored.

Daphne Rubin-Vega, who plays Daniela, told Broadway.com of the additions:  “Carla and I are girlfriends; we’re partners…. we cohabitate, it’s safe to say.”

Jon M Chu, who is directing the adaptation, confirmed to the outlet: “We’re doubling and tripling down on that [storyline]!”

Referencing a song from the show, Lin-Manuel Miranda tweeted: “Tell ‘em something they don’t know…?‍‍?‍?”.

https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/12/13/hamilton-creator-lin-manuel-miranda-lesbian-twist-in-the-heights-film/

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MW: In the Heights has so much to say and show about community as a family, the family that you’re born to as well as your chosen family. What is the message that you take away from the film about the families that we make and love?

BEATRIZ: Well, you actually said it best, the families that we make and love, because some of us are lucky enough to be born into families that accept and love us as who we are, and some of us have to find our way to those families. But I think for those of us lucky enough to experience unconditional love from, whether it be blood relatives or friends or people that you’ve invited into your life that love you unconditionally, having that community, that family, that chosen family, really buoys you up as a human being.

The thing we all recognized after the last year and a half of struggling globally through this really difficult time was how much we really rely on human connection and other human beings. And so this film, it’s so strange, the timing of it, but I guess it’s a universal and timeless theme, this idea of family, connection, humanity, and how much we need and rely on each other. I’m so excited for audiences to see this film at this moment in time.

MW: Carla and Daniela obviously are a family unto themselves. Something I appreciate about their part in this story is that they’re fixtures in the community. They’re not in need of refuge, they provide refuge, they provide comfort to people.

BEATRIZ: Many times in media we are presented stories that are about queer characters that automatically connect with dramatic events or sometimes traumatic events, and just one way of seeing people is not all that they are. For example, as someone who is bisexual and grew up with not that much varied bisexual representation in film and television and media, what I thought of as bisexual was, “Oh, no.” I had this idea that, “I can’t possibly be this, because this is over-sexualized, hyper-sexualized, villainous, duplicitous. I’m none of those things, and yet I feel that I am and identify as bisexual, and yet the characters that are presented to me in the media that I’m consuming reflects back to me that I’m bad. That somehow, at my core, there’s something wrong with me.”

What’s really cool about [In the Heights] is that in this very subtle way, you see these characters that are this functioning, happy, loving pair that are pillars in their community, and, in each other’s company, they are the best version of themselves, and other people actually flock to them because they make other people the best version of themselves. How lovely and thrilling to have that be gently sewn into the fabric of this entire community. Abuela Claudia accepts and loves them, Usnavi accepts and loves them, all of the characters take them for who they are. There’s no judgment, there’s no questioning, there’s no, “Eew, I don’t know.”

There’s none of that, which is so refreshing to see that on film, because that’s what my life is mostly like. Most of my friends accept and love me just the way that I am, there’s no questioning or weirdness. Maybe there’s some curiosity, but there’s never any drama or trauma around it for me in my chosen family. In its subtlety, it’s so special.

MW: It seems subtle to me because I wake up with a man, but it won’t be so subtle to everyone that we meet Carla and Daniela waking up together, which is really great.

BEATRIZ: Waking up together, yeah. It’s so lovely to see. It’s so, “Oh,” it establishes it so perfectly, so beautifully, so quickly, and so clearly.

MW: The film diverges from the stage musical in several ways that we won’t spoil here, but one way is that Carla and Daniela were not presented as a couple in the stage show. So, especially as somebody who identifies as queer, how important was that change in the film for you? Would you have been as interested if Carla and Daniela were cousins or best buddies?

BEATRIZ: I didn’t know that that decision was made until I was already cast, so it was something that I was really excited about once I heard that Quiara Alegría Hudes, the writer [of both versions], was thinking about this idea that, “Well, they’re already partners at work, what about if they were life partners as well? They’re such a unit.” It made sense to her in this new iteration of the story to make them a couple. And, like I said, I was already cast. I wanted to be a part of this film really badly because it is such an incredible piece of art, and it was like a dream to think, “I could work with Jon M. Chu.” I just think he’s such a special, incredible filmmaker. I saw Crazy Rich Asians too many times in the theater. I just think what he does is so special, and only he does it that way. He’s got such a magical lens through which he views the world. And so when I found out that Quiara was thinking about making this change, I was so excited and so supportive, and just fucking pumped that there was a possibility that they might be a gay couple, and the fact that they ran with it, it speaks volumes to the filmmakers, the producers, everyone at Warner Bros. that trusted that [the] storyline fit in this world.

MW: How much did it help that for a lot of the work you were doing, you’re in partnership with a master of musical theater in Daphne Rubin-Vega?

BEATRIZ: I found out that she was cast the same day that I found out that I was cast. My agents told me on the phone, “Daphne Rubin-Vega is going to be playing Daniela,” and I lost my shit. I mean I absolutely lost it. I had pictures of her all over the back of my bedroom door when I was a teenager. Rent was one of the first times that I really understood that there was a possibility that I, too, could be an actor, that I could do this as a profession and succeed, because she was so phenomenal in that role, and it was this worldwide moment where her talent — the talent of everyone in that show — but her talent and what she brought to the role by being herself, everyone saw it. Everyone acknowledged that that was a seminal moment in American theater and in American theater history, and it just made me feel like it was possible for me, too. She was an idol of mine.

I was a fucking mess the first day of rehearsal. I was just like, “Oh, no,” because I was so — I don’t want to say intimidated, because she’s not an intimidating person, but I was just so nervous to meet her. It was meeting one of my idols. And then to work with her was so amazing, awe-inspiring, eye-opening. She has a very different process than I do, but I learned a ton by watching her. She’s incredibly professional, and her voice sounds just amazing in this film.

I’m so excited for her to have this moment on film because she is so good, and she’s so good in this role. It’s really amazing. It’s like watching a priestess or something at work. You’re just watching something that you’re like, “I don’t understand how you’re doing this, but I can’t take my eyes off of you.”

MW: The word that came to me as you were describing that was “undeniable.”

BEATRIZ: Undeniable, yes. She’s an undeniable talent, presence, human being. She’s incredible.

https://www.metroweekly.com/2021/06/stephanie-beatriz-brings-queer-representation-to-in-the-heights-and-bids-farewell-to-brooklyn-nine-nine/

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Stephanie Beatriz is intimately familiar with the power of media representation. Growing up, she was inspired to become an actor by Daphne Rubin-Vega, who was the first Latina on Broadway she connected with. Now, because the universe has a wonderful sense of humor, she’s starring as Rubin-Vega’s partner in what’s sure to be the movie of the summer, Jon M. Chu’s In the Heights, based on Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes’s Tony Award-winning musical about a Latinx community in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood.

“The soundtrack of Rent [in which Rubin-Vega played Mimi] really provided me a doorway in to see the musical,” Beatriz remembers. “My family didn’t have money to go take a trip to New York so I could see a Broadway show, but I could get the soundtrack at the library and listen to it over and over.”

Unlike in the stage version of In the Heights, in the film, Beatriz’s character Carla is in a lesbian relationship with Daniela (Rubin-Vega), the owner of the salon she works at. For Beatriz, it was a full-circle moment.

“I grew up with a poster of [RubinVega] on my wall,” the bisexual actress confesses. “I had the cover of Newsweek that she was on with Adam Pascal taped to the back of my door in high school. And to me, she’s really legendary. So to make the jump as an actor to being in love with her was not hard for me at all, because she’s charming, very distinct, specific, beautiful.”

Beatriz adds, “I layered that in as much as I could, especially if Daniela is talking.” So it wasn’t difficult for Beatriz to portray her character Carla as “enraptured, glued, like it’s a master class, just watching it all unfold, watching Daniela’s personality take over the space of a room and the ambiance.”

She continues, “Any time Daniela might have a doubt, it’s Carla who steps up to the plate and tells her, whether it’s in her ear or out loud to everyone in the room, ‘You got this.’ I just loved that very much because I think that’s a real characteristic of a healthy relationship — one in which your partner sees the possibilities in you, sometimes when you don’t even see them yourself, believes that you are incredible, amazing, talented, the Lady Gaga list.”

Beatriz is especially excited to play a queer character in a movie where there’s no homophobia. When you see scenes with Carla and Daniela together, especially in the salon, you see, “lots of different shades of people, lots of different shapes of people, and different sexualities, and different expressions of self. That’s a safe space,” she says. “I think in many communities, the beauty parlor is a safe space, especially in Latino communities.”

It’s refreshing for the film to invite viewers into the life Daniela and Carla have created where everyone around them is accepting, “whether or not we know about their extended families is not the point of this,” Beatriz says.

“It’s really the family that they’ve created, the home that they’ve created in Washington Heights, is an accepting, loving place where they thrive.”

https://www.out.com/print/2021/6/09/stephanie-beatriz-helping-queer-latina-visibility-reach-new-heights

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But Chu and screenwriter Quiara Alegría Hudes have also crafted another new, inclusive element with two beloved characters.

Beauty salon owner Daniela and hairdresser Carla, while portrayed as coworkers and gossip buddies in Lin-Manuel Miranda and Hudes’ stage musical, will also be romantic partners on the big screen. Rent Tony nominee Daphne Rubin-Vega and Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Stephanie Beatriz play the two, respectively, in the movie.

Chu and Rubin-Vega had previously confirmed the evolution of the characters’ dynamic. At a recent press event celebrating the release of the latest two trailers, Beatriz discussed the significance of the decision. “What was so gratifying to me as a person who is queer is to see this relationship in the film be part of the fabric of the community,” Beatriz says, “and to be normal, and be happy and functioning, and part of the quilt they’ve all created.”

She continues: “So much of this film is about where home is and who home is to you. And for Carla, Daniela is home. Wherever Daniela is, that’s where Carla feels at home.”

https://www.playbill.com/article/in-the-heights-stephanie-beatriz-on-introducing-queer-element-to-the-movie-with-2-fan-favorite-characters

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Rubin-Vega said she had no interest in playing any trope of what one might think a lesbian Latina might look or act like, noting that the queer experience isn’t monolithic, while expressing that the role offered her a newfound freedom, especially with regard to being present in the role and in her everyday life.

“Spoiler alert! I felt like not wearing a bra was going to free me. Did I get it right? Am I saying that gay women don’t wear bras? No, it was just a way for me to be in my body and feel my breasts. To feel my femaleness and celebrate it in a more unapologetic way,” she said, laughing. “To be honest, I was really looking forward to playing a lesbian Latina. It’s something that I hadn’t really explored before. Latinos [can be] very homophobic as a culture, and I wanted to play someone who didn’t care about homophobia; I was gonna live my best life. That’s a bigger thing. It’s also like, maybe I’m bisexual. Who knows? Who cares? If you see that in the film, that’s cool too, you know?”

https://encoremonthly.com/hitting-new-heights/

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Let’s talk about your characters, Daniela and Carla. In the original Broadway production they ran the beauty salon together but their relationships has changed a bit for the movie hasn’t it, what do they mean to each other?

Stephanie: “They live together, they’re partners at work, they’re life partners, they love each other. To put a real clear stamp on it, they’re gay as all get-out! They’re gay, they’re queer, and they love each other and they’re this functioning, happy couple that work together, live together and have made a home with each other, for each other, and in each other. I personally love that it’s layered so subtly into the film because I think many times when we see queer characters, gay characters, we’re focusing on the stuff in their lives that’s hard for them and in this film, I think we’re focusing on the fact that, there’s hard stuff in the community for everyone, but there’s also joy and the ability to celebrate life, even though that hard stuff is going on around you.”

Daphne, as Stephanie mentioned it is quite subtle and I like that about it too. As their relationship isn’t explicitly addressed in the dialogue how did you express their love for one another and that intimacy through things like the body language and the dance as well?

Daphne: “Like Stephanie said, we were just a couple who care about each other so I think that that reflects in the body language. It was really wonderful to be able to have the freedom and ability to portray a character that loves who she loves without all of the sort of social stuff around it. They had to deal with adversity and challenges but being gay is not one of them.”

“Their gayness is also is not an issue for Abuela Claudia or Usnavi, or anyone else in the community. These are women who are loved and trusted, and respected; they’re protectors of their community, and kids are allowed in the salon, as are trans folks, whoever you are, if you want to get a weave, you can get a weave or nails, and who you sleep with, it’s so not about that.”

https://thequeerreview.com/2021/06/08/exclusive-interview-daphne-rubin-vega-stephanie-beatriz-on-their-queer-in-the-heights-characters-lgbtq/

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Daphne Rubin-Vega is Daniela, the pint-sized ruler (with a massive-sized voice) of In the Height’s Washington Heights block. Perched from the top of her five-inch tacones as she delivers hot gossip and a loving touch in equal measure. In the original stage production, Carla (Beatriz) is Daniela’s comedic sidekick, working alongside Cuca (Orange is the New Black’s Dascha Polanco) in Daniela’s beauty salon. In the film, Cuca and Carla’s antics remain, but Carla is also re-developed as Daniela’s romantic partner with quiet, lived-in moments across the week of one block’s summer heatwave.

So the three of us got together as the sun was setting on the East Coast to talk about the history of Latinas and lesbians in musical theatre, welcoming the ancestors into our space, and finding love in the small moments of the everyday. (We talked over each other a bunch, but if you’ve ever sat across from a table of your tías and primas on a Saturday night in the summer, you already know the vibes.)

Carmen Phillips:  First of all, I just wanted to say before we got officially started, I mean, I’m just beyond myself to be able to meet both of you! It means just the most to me. Daphne — I saw you in Rent when I was 12 years old and it was something that changed my life, which I’m sure you hear all the time and it’s not unique anymore, but it did.

Daphne Rubin-Vega: [brings hands together] Thank you. It’s a pleasure.

Carmen: Hi. Okay. We can start!

Daphne: Hi!

Stephanie Beatriz: Carmen. I’ve literally done the same thing to her. I feel I might’ve done it on the first day I met her. I was just…  [is at a loss for words]

Carmen: I feel probably lots of people tell you that, but I will never get a chance to tell you.

Daphne: No, you’ve gotta tell me! Yeah.

Carmen: Thank you.

And obviously, Stephanie. I mean, you’re a huge… Autostraddle is just a very big fan, all the time, so you already know that. Thank you both.

I wanted to start this interview at sort of the beginning of the process. I’ve been trying to read what you have said thus far about playing Daniela and Carla but I haven’t seen anyone ask this.

Obviously both characters are presumed straight in the original stage production of In the Heights. When you auditioned or otherwise introduced to the roles, were you already aware that they were being re-imagined as queer women? Or was that something you found out after? What was that process like?

Stephanie: I found out after!

I found out that it was even on the table — it was, “This might happen” — And I was so excited! And I voiced how excited I was IMMEDIATELY! I was like, “I think this is a great idea. I absolutely support it 100%. If you try to do that, I’m 100% in support.”

Daphne: Yeah. Yeah. For me, I had already gotten the role and so Daniela’s sexuality didn’t factor into a performance at all. Her humanity certainly did.

So after I got the role… Quiara [Alegría Hudes] called me and said, “How would you feel if Daniela… Instead of Carla just being her business partner, she’s her life partner as well.” And I remember being jolted by the change and thinking, “Yeah, fuck yeah. Of course.”

Quiara never ceases to amaze me with her elevation of the storytelling and humanity in its different incarnations.

Carmen: I think this really brings me into this next question. Daphne what you were just saying — for you, it was about elevating this humanity. And in one of the interviews I’d been reading, Stephanie had the chance to talk about [the relationship between Daniela and Carla], and she said “So much of the film is about where home is. And for Carla, Daniela is home.”

Stephanie: Yes.

Carmen: That got me thinking about what a moment this is that you’re both of entering into.

I did some research in our database and from what we can tell, in all of film history, there’ve only been 18 movie musicals that have had lesbian or bisexual characters. Period. Not even 20!! And of course, when you start thinking about…

Daphne: I was in three of them.

Carmen: Oh You sure were.

Daphne: Oh, whoa.

Stephanie: That’s… I just…

Carmen: And there’s nothing like In the Heights, when we shift our focus to think about the history Latinx film. And I’m sure you all know, the entire community’s buzzing, right? My mom is going, it’s the first movie she’s going to see in a movie theater in 18 months.

People are just dying for it, and I think going back to the conversation about what home is… I’m wondering what it feels like, for both of you, to be kind of sitting in this historic intersection, right?

This is going to be a film that really is going to exist on a planet of its own. And we’re going to see queer Latinas represented in that moment. I wondered if that’s something you’ve thought about? Or if it’s not even a thing that’s on your plate at all.

Stephanie: I’ve thought about it a lot!

I’ve thought about how this moment means something — but it will be so much more meaningful in 5, 10, 15, 20 years, when even more titles are in that database. Even more of these films have been made, even more of these stories have been told. Even more of these characters have been represented on screen, in television, in film, in all types of media.

It’s very exciting to think that we could possibly be a part of… a moment of someone looking at these performances or this film and going, “Oh, of course. Oh yes, yes. Of course. Why not? What was I thinking? Of course that exists in the planet.”

That’s a really thrilling thing to have the privilege of being a part of.

Daphne: Yeah. I fully agree. I mean, as an actress, it’s what we do. It’s my calling to embody characters that are not like me, to represent the humanity of who they are. And I think, that’s a really loaded thing for me, in my culture [Rubin-Vega is Panamanian]. Not my culture, in Latino culture, in particular.

In my country of origin, I find it’s struggled very much with homophobia and racism. Colonization, it changed the entire country, right? That’s our history. So without putting judgment on it, I think it’s really incredible, what we’re able to do here.

And Stephanie said it before, how queer stories, or stories of people who were marginalized, are made to be othered in certain ways. The stories of those who aren’t centered are then either shown as dramatic or traumatic, she said.

And in this instance, it’s neither dramatic nor traumatic! It’s so regular, it’s so basic, it just is. It’s just… “Yeah.” Yes, and it’s really not that deep and so we’re not playing queer characters, we’re playing human.

Stephanie: Also queer.

Daphne and Carmen in unison: Yeah!

Stephanie: There are people who miss it, honestly! I’ve definitely had the experience where I’m perhaps reading a review or I’m listening to someone’s experience about watching the film and they’re not even… They’re not even… [gestures like a plane flying overhead]… “Whoop.” It just flew by their face.

Whereas, for those of us who were paying attention because we’re trying to find ourselves on film, we see it immediately.

Carmen: I mean, this interview will run the day movie comes out, so I don’t want to reach too far into spoilers. But there’s a scene! It’s before the opening number, right? It’s before “In the Heights” begins. It’s intimate, playful. And I zeroed in right away, I was like, “Oh, we’re really here.”

And I think… so much of the movie is moving in ways you don’t expect, because it is so the everyday. But we never get to see OUR every day on screen. You know what I mean?

Daphne: Yes.

Carmen: And Stephanie, the question I wanted to ask you is, obviously you are very aware of how, again revered — which is why I say these last two questions for last! — you are in queer women’s communities. There’s the iconic Rosa Diaz in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. And I think one of the things that everyone, at least everyone I know, is really excited about is to get to see you play a queer Latina again.

I was personally excited because it’s just a different way to use your comic timing. Carla’s very different from Rosa. I was very curious about what that felt like for you to create these two really distinct queer Latina characters.

Stephanie: That’s really kind, first of all. So thank you for saying that.

I think, one of the things that’s been really fun for me about the process of shooting In the Heights — and creating my iteration of that character — was that it brought me back to the feeling that I used to have in Repertory Company, when I did a lot of theater. And I’d have a season where I was playing a bunch of small roles in a funny, new comedy by Culture Clash. And then I also was playing Maggie the Cat in Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Carmen: wow.

Stephanie: And then maybe the next season I was Isabella in Measure for Measure and also playing another… I mean, Rep Company really teaches you… It can teach you how to use yourself in all of these different kinds of ways. And it’s one of my favorite things about being an actor is kind of using different facets of myself to help create these characters and bring them to life. And turning up the volume on certain parts of my personality and turning it way down on other parts, right?

I’m really excited for audiences to see me in a different way, I guess, it’s cool.

And I’m pumped at the confusion factor that comes along with that, right. Because I think people get confused when they meet me in real life sometimes because they expect Rosa Diaz.

Carmen: Right.

Stephanie: And I’m excited for the confusion factor that will come with, “Wait, that can’t be the same person that plays that character, right?” I love that, I live for that. I live for the confusion of, “Wait a minute, what?”

Carmen: I knew you were going to kill it. When I heard you got cast as Carla, I was, “Oh, that’s perfect.” Because, I mean, I really think your gift for comedic timing, it’s unparalleled.

Stephanie: [mumbles to self] Thank you very much.

Carmen: And Carla’s a small part that, I mean, is already memorable. It’s a small part with a big bang. You know what I mean? Like that is… [Carmen and Stephanie crosstalk, there’s never enough crosstalk].

Stephanie:  I’m lucky, I’m very lucky.

https://www.autostraddle.com/daphne-rubin-vega-stephanie-beatriz-in-the-heights-interview-daniela-carla/

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Who was your first celebrity crush? 

First celebrity crush was actually Daphne Rubin-Vega, from Rent. That was a cool, NOT AWKWARD moment when I met her for the first time ever, in real life. I was sweating, I was like AHH YOU’RE SO AMAZING AND BEAUTIFUL I USED TO HAVE A PICTURE OF YOU ON MY WALL, I’M SO SORRY THIS IS WEIRD. But it was also awesome. Of course I mentioned to Daphne that she was my crush. And I did it in the most awkward way possible, which is just, you know, right up my alley. I was like DAPHNE I LOVE YOU, right in her face. Which was awesome, and made for a really, really NOT AWKWARD rehearsal environment, at all. She likes me now, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK7YLaUULG8&ab_channel=BuzzFeedCeleb

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Beatriz’s career is soaring to even greater heights this June, as she’s stepping into Carla’s shoes in In The Heights, which sets itself apart from the musical with a few key changes such as the decision to have Carla and salon owner Daniela (Daphne Rubin-Vega) be in a committed relationship. Beatriz considers it a “brilliant shift” to the original storyline. “To have Carla and Daniela be gay and layered into that community and be totally accepted, not struggling to be heard, or fighting because they’re out, or not being accepted by the people they love, but just part of the family, I just love that,” Beatriz explains.

It’s through LGBTQ+ representation in TV and film that Beatriz believes art can usher in positive change. It’s a discussion she is trailblazing with her refreshingly honest and nuanced portrayals of LGBTQ+ characters, like Rosa and Carla. “Art is the way to move humanity forward,” she says. “When you create art, there’s a possibility for creating empathy in other people. That’s really what it’s all about. You can’t start to see someone as your equal, or as a fellow human being that deserves all the same rights as you do, if you don’t see them in the first place. If you don’t see them anywhere around you, how will you know that they’re just the same as you? ... We really want all the same things in life: to feel happy, to be seen, to feel safe, to feel love. And we all deserve them.”

https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/stephanie-beatriz-pride-advice-pregnant-brooklyn-99-in-the-heights

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Rubin-Vega says that incorporating the queer story, emphasizing the plight of Dreamers, and focusing on brown and Black communities is “decolonizing cinema" and she's here for it.

“What other way are we going to address the structural oppression that has been perpetuated? How are we going to move it?” Rubin-Vega says of storytelling as a tool. “It’s an honor to play a character that has a lot of life,” she says of Daniela. “As you know, when I was just starting in theater, these roles didn't exist.”

“To play a woman that loves another woman is an honor to me. The symbolism of the salon. It's like the spiritual liberal hub. It's also like the gossip hub,” she says.

“We're just finding the language with how they would dress. You know, having to stop the stereotyping right [of queer women and queer Latinx people]? Musical theater is so extra. What a wonderful way to have extra-ness. And you know, and not be offended by tropes that use tropes as a way in,” she adds.

“We [Daniela and Carla] love each other … [it’s] ordinary, not extraordinary. It's just normal that these women get to be fully unapologetically in a community that we know has baggage around all the phobias, baggage around all the cultural trauma.”

Miranda’s story has always been about the beauty of a community and home — Rubin-Vega likens his rhymes to the impact of Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter.

In an interview with Broadway World, Beatriz says, “So much of this film is about where home is and who home is to you. And for Carla, Daniela is home. Wherever Daniela is, that’s where Carla feels at home.”

Rubin-Vega concurs. “I could not put it more beautifully than Stephanie. We didn't talk about our relationship. We just had the relationship,” she says. “Not only am I a fan of her work, but I'm a fan of hers. After knowing Stephanie, it's just like, Yeah, that's my girl. That's my boo. I feel that relationship ownership. I do have that I can honestly [say].”

A theater and film veteran who’s starred in Rent, Jack Goes Boating, Anna in the Tropics, and so much more, Rubin-Vega discusses the role of LGBTQ+ allyship.

“People in my life are [the] gay people in my life, like, a lot of people. I also have a bit of a hard time with the word ally because it is a verb, it's not a static noun. And [being an ally] is a constant behavior. It is a way of being in the world that is like breathing. And it's a consciousness for some of us more than others who have had been in so much privilege and living in supremacy.”

Daniela is presented as an integral piece of the Washington Heights community in Miranda’s story and Chu’s film. But the implications of that representation run deep. And Rubin-Vega has thought long and hard about it.

“Playing a lesbian — I can honestly think [about] my family legacy and just wonder how many unhappy ancestors I had,” who perhaps couldn’t live their authentic lives because of stigma, she says. “It's not something to get depressed about. It’s something to live toward when we represent our fullness.”

https://www.advocate.com/exclusives/2021/6/10/heightss-daphne-rubin-vega-ushering-queer-characters

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In “In the Heights,” Rubin-Vega plays Daniela, co-owner of a neighborhood hair salon with her life partner Carla (Stephanie Beatriz). The two were made queer for the film after being portrayed as straight co-workers in the stage show. Screenwriter Quiara Alegría Hudes called to tell Rubin-Vega about the updated relationship. “She’s like, ‘How do you feel about that?’” Rubin-Vega recalls. “I’m like, ‘I’m loving it.’

“Daniela is a high priestess of bad-assery,” she continues. “She’s a part of the person that I aspire to be, which is fully herself, making no apologies for who she is. She probably has earned her right to claim her fullness — self-empowered, self-employed, she has her own business. She touches other people’s heads, which is kind of a sacred thing in our culture, that we let people touch our heads.”

https://variety.com/2021/film/columns/in-the-heights-daphne-rubin-vega-1234991860/

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“Yes. Carla’s my life partner. There’s not a plot line about us being partners, but it’s very evident. Like, we’re just human beings that have chosen each other. So that there’s a representation."

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/the-scene/new-york-live/dishing-with-daphne-rubin-vega/3063551/ 

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Beatriz is also playing salon worker Carla in the new film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony Award-winning musical, In the Heights. Beatriz, who is openly bisexual, is excited that her character is in a same-sex relationship with fellow salon worker Daniela (Daphne Rubin-Vega), in the film -- a change from the Broadway show.

"In the original production, Carla and Daniela were simply work partners, but in this iteration, [screenplay writer] Quiara [Alegria Hudes] and [director] John [M. Chu] and [original playwright] Lin-[Manuel Miranda] all felt really strongly that they should be life partners are well," Beatriz shared. "What's really great for me as someone who is queer, as a member of the queer community, who is bisexual, is to see that rep in a film where it's just layered into the community, sort of in the background. And they're this really functional, fun, happy, funny couple that just happen to be gay."

https://www.kmov.com/stephanie-beatriz-teases-what-brooklyn-nine-nine-fans-can-expect-in-shows-final-season-exclusive/article_208dd9b5-dde4-5814-9c17-2b5e3e8defac.html

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What do you find most interesting about Daniela?

Every shred of me was excited about playing this role. I'd worked with Quiara in Miss You Like Hell, and because of my history with Quiara and Lin, I knew about In the Heights and saw it. Daniela is such a powerful character. She's diminutive, but you can feel her presence whenever she walks into a room. It was interesting to further explore her relationship with Carla, her life partner and business partner, and her dynamic with Cuca and the rendition of the salon in a filmic way. There were no restrictions with Quiara, Lin, and Jon.

Women often have an ambivalent relationship with ambition, so it's interesting to think about it within the context of the movie. Was that something you thought of when you were shaping your take on Daniela?

I don't know if ambitious people call themselves ambitious. I consider myself ambitious, but what's the ambition? The ambition is to live a full life. The ambition is to live a complete, free, unapologetic life where I can love who I want to love and live where I want to live, do what I love to do, wear what I want to wear, and have friends I want. If that's ambition, isn't that the American way, the pursuit of happiness? I think that Daniela, because of her appearance, her attitude is amplified, but if she looked different, she'd be a regular strong chick. Her choices wouldn't be questioned; she'd be pragmatic. She's priced out of the barrio that she loves. She'll be present in some ways, but her business will be gone.

https://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/news/interview-daphne-rubin-vega-on-portraying-daniela_92380.html

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MW: Yeah, Carla is not Rosa at all. I would also say that your characters tend to sound distinctly different. How do you find a voice for a character?

BEATRIZ: I think that’s part of the fun. I spent a long time, as a kid, with lots of time on my hands. My parents worked a lot, and my sister and I would often come home and watch ourselves, and one of the things that we did at home was we had this Fisher-Price recorder. It was a little tape deck, and I don’t know where we got it, but you could put a tape in and record yourself. We had a few blank tapes, but we also taped over a lot of my mom and dad’s music — sorry, Mom and Dad — but we would record ourselves doing shows, like radio shows, where we would do different voices, we would interview ourselves, we would interview each other, we just screwed around.

But, in doing that, it was us finding funny and weird voices and stuff. That was the beginning of me acting, I think, playing around with that tape recorder by myself. And I think it’s just a really fun thing for me to do voiceovers and voices, and find my way into a character through sound. It’s one of the things that was so fun about being in In the Heights, was the music and finding my way into the character musically, and basing character choices on what Lin had already written in the music. I think that’s so fun. And the musicality of language is something that I’ve always been drawn to and interested in.

https://www.metroweekly.com/2021/06/stephanie-beatriz-brings-queer-representation-to-in-the-heights-and-bids-farewell-to-brooklyn-nine-nine/

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The beauty of upper Manhattan is on glorious display at a hair and nail salon featured in the movie musical “In the Heights.”

Daphne Rubin-Vega, Stephanie Beatriz and Dascha Polanco help capture the culture and values of a Latino neighborhood in Washington Heights through the women who run the popular salon.

“They provide an example of how people in your community can become part of your family, really your chosen family, and that those people are deeply invested in not only seeing you succeed, but really seeing you thrive as a person,” Beatriz, 40, told the Daily News.

“They also provide this incredibly safe, loving space, particularly for the women in this story, but really for all of the characters. ... It’s this incredible place of celebrating beauty of all kinds.”

The salon serves as a central hub of the film premiering Wednesday at the Tribeca Film Festival before arriving Thursday in theaters and on HBO Max.

Adapted from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical, “In the Heights” brings back the fan-favorite salon ladies Daniela, played by Rubin-Vega, and Carla, portrayed by Beatriz, while introducing Polanca’s Cuca as a new character.

The stars agree the salon represents much more than a place to get a makeover.

“It symbolizes dreams,” Polanco, 38, told The News. “Small-business owners. What we like to call iconic figures within our community. They’re like hood celebrities, legends, what can I tell you? They’re there, and they have everybody’s back.”

“In the Heights” takes viewers inside the colorful salon during the lively song “No Me Diga.” But the women are also depicted outside the salon as significant figures within a neighborhood where every resident strives toward big goals.

Daniela, Carla and Cuca kick off the standout song-and-dance number “Carnaval del Barrio,” during which characters sing with reverence about their homelands.

“It’s a celebration of life in the face of all kinds of adversity,” Rubin-Vega, 51, told The News. “This determination to be joyous, and how powerful that in itself is. Yeah, it is beautiful to see flags flying and everybody going, ‘Oh, there I am!’ But more than that, it’s just that feeling of belonging.”

The “In the Heights” stage musical introduces Daniela and Carla as work partners, and the movie updates their relationship to be life partners as well.

“It’s just part of the background of the film, and that’s really vital, I think, for [LGBTQ] audiences to see themselves be part of the fabric of the film, and not necessarily have their stories always be coming-out stories or always be tragic stories or always be stories that are fraught with drama,” Beatriz said.

The actors felt personal connections to their characters. Beatriz, who was born in Argentina, remembers her mother befriending fellow customers and staffers at the salon she went to after moving to the U.S.

Polanco recalls her visits to a local salon when she was young, and loves how “In the Heights” covers that aspect of the community.

“It’s what instills confidence. It’s what instills trust, and amongst these three ladies, that’s what they give back to everyone else,” Polanco said. “In this community of Washington Heights, this is where they go to release, to motivate, to express, to get advice, to make harsh decisions, to console. It’s a revolving door of what I [call] noncertified therapy.”

https://www.wyomingnews.com/features/movies/in-the-heights-stars-share-what-the-movie-s-salon-ladies-represent/article_e2f853ed-978a-562d-8aaa-fc48b73b709f.html

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(Not specifically about the romantic relationship, but a great article about Daniela, Carla, and Cuca.)

Stephanie Beatriz, Dascha Polanco, and Daphne Rubin-Vega Are the Holy Trinity of In the Heights“

We were the witches with a cauldron, stirring the pot,” says Rubin-Vega of the trio, who reunited to chat about dance numbers, bodega orders, and the best kind of gossip.

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/06/in-the-heights-stephanie-beatriz-dascha-polanco-daphne-rubin-vega

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I love that your character is a part of this trio of neighborhood divas that are just so much fun. What was your relationship like with Stephanie Beatriz and Dascha Polanco and how much fun did you guys have together?

RUBIN-VEGA: Oh my goodness! Doing nothing with them was fun. Ad-libbing was fun. I don’t think anyone’s funnier than Stephanie and Dascha, and when they’re together, it’s just nonstop. There’s also a realness. We all come from places and spaces where we had to outlast the negativity to get where we got, so that creates a certain energy in a human being that is irresistible because we’re really happy to be here.

https://collider.com/daphne-rubin-vega-in-the-heights-interview/

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Salon Squad

“I could do those costumes for the rest of my life and still find new things to do with them,” Travers said about designing for Daniela (Daphne Rubin-Vega), Carla (Stephanie Beatriz), and Cuca (Dascha Polanco). This adaptation has added a romantic dynamic between Daniela and Carla, which Travers incorporated in costumes he envisioned Carla had borrowed from Daniela’s closet — “maybe it was a windbreaker she had from 20 years ago; now it’s vintage to  Carla.” One reference point for the salon owner, he says, is Sex and the City designer Patricia Field. “Pat is such a fearless risk-taker when it comes to her own personal style and also her body of work is quite fearless,” Travers explains. “We took a light inspiration from Pat herself, just in terms of that risk-taking and the combinations of high and low.” Daniela’s powerhouse status includes a nod to Rosie the Riveter for her biggest musical number and Travers also points out that while this character’s wide-leg leopard print pants felt like a risky move at the time, “of course, now, fashion is all about the big pant.”

Meanwhile, Carla has “much more of an Instagram sensibility” with a Nikita Dragun influence. The streetwear-inspired sneakers, bike shorts, and crop top athletic spirit go further than “dress for likes” on social media, “there is heart in it.” Rounding out the trio is Cuca who wears a “head-to-toe [look] Monday through Sunday.” Describing this character as “unbelievably fun to dress,” he explains that if she is wearing a printed dress then her fanny pack, socks, and scrunchie will match. Travers’ favorite salon squad costume moment was creating a weekend nightclub look that resulted in a strong unifying motif: “Three women in jumpsuits — no dresses — just jumpsuits going out. I had such fun as a costume designer getting to express a similar idea through three very different sets of eyes.”

https://www.vulture.com/article/in-the-heights-costume-designer-interview.html

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Behind the scenes pics from the In the Heights: Finding home book:

https://azalea-in-wonderland.tumblr.com/post/656073091546529793

Behind the scenes pics from cut scene of Daniela, Carla & Cuca -

https://azalea-in-wonderland.tumblr.com/post/656283840034357248

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

And another list from, @kevaaronday. These are their all time faves! (if you are interested in doing a list please IM me)

Our Kind of Nuts by ericaismeg

(1/1 I 22,553 I General I Sterek)

Stiles doesn't know that reaching out to Erica, a girl from his Psych class, is going to change his entire life. All he wanted was a quiet place to study. Suddenly, he's becoming best friends with Erica, getting a tutor from Boyd, going crazy over this guy who is quite passionate about Pride and Prejudice named Derek, being supportive to Lydia, finding some weird peace treaty with Jackson, and inviting Erica's best friend to live with him, Scott, and Jackson for a bit.

He didn't expect things to turn out like this, but hell, he's not complaining one bit.

Bicycle Flavored Ice Cream by words_reign_here

(1/1 I 29,083 I Teen I Sterek)

Derek finally has everything where it should be. His pack is good, strong, back from college and they are a cohesive team. Other than the occasional witch, hunters and blip in the road, this is what it should have always been like. A pack in the Hale house, watching out for Beacon Hills.

Possessiveness, Miscommunication and Jealousy by Moonbeam (luvsbitca)

(14/14 I 51,789 I Teen I Sterek)

Some people from Derek’s life before the show come to visit and none of the pack are happy about it, especially when one of them starts picking on Stiles.

Those Are The Days That Bind Us by s_a_m

(5/5 I 52,171 I Mature I Sterek)

His father wasn’t stupid. He was an officer of the law, trained to look for patterns. He confronted Stiles about werewolves and they shouted and Stiles tried to explain but his father was so, so, so mad, more mad than Stiles had ever seen him, ever in all his life and then his father looked at him and said,

“It’s like you’re not my son anymore.”

And Stiles broke.

The Quickest Way to a Man’s Heart (is Through His Bottomless Pit) by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella)

(1/1 | 54,167 | Explicit | Sterek)

Pulling open his apartment door, he let out an involuntary shout when something was quite literally thrust into his chest hard enough to have him almost tip backwards. He managed to right himself while keeping hold of what had been shoved at him and looked up in time to see his neighbour striding back towards his apartment.

“You’re going to fucking kill yourself.”

His door slammed.

Stiles blinked at the other man’s door, utterly confused, and looked down at what he was holding.

It was a plastic bag, full of what felt like tupperware, which made no sense to Stiles because when had his neighbour broken into his house to steal his tupperware?

stuck in reverse by crazyassmurdererwall (smartalli)

(1/1 I 65,656 I Explicit I Sterek)

Look, Derek is the worst. Everyone knows that. Their fearless leader is a total and complete failwolf.

Which means the rest of them? Are kind of the worst too. They’re a ramshackle, slap dashed, sorry excuse for a pack that’s about a half second away from getting one of them killed. And this is a problem, because Stiles would really like to survive high school. Thanks.

Still, nobody deserves what Derek has gone through. Nobody.

And it’s about time somebody told him that.

Seeing Wolves (Where There Are No Wolves) by MellytheHun

(16/16 I 71,305 I Explicit I Sterek)

Or otherwise known as "Derek Goes to the Doctor," wherein Derek gets the therapy he so desperately needs and gets healthy. The clearer his head gets, the more room it seems to have for Stiles.

The Unkindness of Valravn by TaliskerMortem

(28/28 I 72,899 I Not Rated I Sterek)

They are rare, almost unheard of. Only Lydia seems to recognize the word. Valravn. The Raven People. They descend on Beacon Hills in their hour of need. Obliterating the enemy. At their head? A man dress in black. A man covered in tattoos. A man they all knew.

OR: The one in which Stiles hasn't been back to Beacon Hills in seven years, during which he visited Europe, was attacked by a raven and turned into a shifter, has lots of tattoos and is now the Alpha of his little ragtag group of Valravne.

Divided We Stand by KouriArashi

(29/29 I 156,742 I Mature I Sterek)

Derek is being pressured by his family to pick a mate, and somehow stumbles into a choice that they didn't expect and aren't sure they approve of....

Indelible Marks by billtheradish

(87/87 I 275,695 I Mature I Sterek)

The house never burned. The pack is strong. Derek will never need to be the alpha, and his sister is a troll. (Actually, most of his family is like that.)

Derek is an apprentice tattoo artist, and Stiles isn't old enough to get ink of his own yet. But that doesn't stop him from being interesting...

[deadprocess]

Hide Away Part 2 (The Trickster x Male!Reader)

//Hi there! A lot of you requested more Male!Reader and I had some Inspo. Enjoy!

T.W: NSFW, Violence towards Reader, mention of alcohol//

Your mouth hung open, fists gripping soft lilac locks as the popstar bobbed his head. Ji-Woon's eyes were closed, cheeks flushed and hallowed with every upward movement, gagging softly when you pushed your hips forward to force more of yourself into his mouth. God, he was beautiful sucking your cock on his knees in some elaborate black harness getup, makeup smudged and hidden away behind a clothing rack back stage.

It started six months ago when he first shoved you into the wall, kissing you with such vigor and desperation that you were instantly hooked. You understood the secretiveness. The hiding in the shadows, a quick rendezvous in your dressing room, the private meetings in a tinted limousine with the driver being bought into silence. You were very much so his dirty secret and you really did feel some ounce of sadness deep down, but it never managed to surface.  You couldn't find it in you to care too much when he fucked himself on your dick or had your legs high on his shoulders.

It was the thrill, the passion and the pleasure. The whirlwind that is Ji-Woon and his lifestyle.

xx

"Do you love me?" The question knocked the wind out of you as your thrusts came to a stuttering halt, balls deep with the Korean man nearly bent in half under you. Your face stayed buried in his neck as you caught your breath, trying to decipher if what you heard was correct.

"What?" The popstar pried your face away from his neck, forcing you to look into his eyes. Today's colored contacts were an icy blue.

"I said do you love me?"

Your face must have been a mess of emotions as you thought about the question. Panic, shock, confusion...you hadn't really thought about the relationship between you two. Neither of you had even brought up the subject of dating, but you did have feelings for the other man. With a few months of constant touching and flirtatious behavior, who wouldn't? You two spoke nearly everyday either in person or on the phone except for the few times he would inexplicably disappear just to come back, apologizing for the lack of response before cheerily announcing he has a new song in the works.

"I...yes. I love you." you said dumbly, unable to place the emotions inside your heart which quickly began hammering in your chest as a grin broke out on the popstars face.

"Of course you do, how could you not!" his cocky laugh rang out and you shoved him hard into the mattress and scolding him for springing that on you, his laughing turning into a high pitch moan when you rolled your hips. You set a brutal pace, burying your face in his neck once again to hide the disappointment and shame evident in your expressions. He didn't say it back.

xx

He wanted it rough most days. His requests went from mild to hardcore within the following month. He wanted to scratch your back hard enough to draw blood, hear your screams, be choked till he passed out, chain you up and whip you...It was manageable for awhile before the the final straw came.

"No," your eyes narrowed and focused on the blade in his hand, "you're not coming near me with that."

"Come on, I promise you won't even feel it! You'll be too busy feeling me bounce on your dick to notice!" you closed shut your eyes, releasing a shaky breath. You could imagine that feeling.

"I said no."

When you opened your eyes again you were face to face with the other man, clear anger splayed across his face as his pink contacts seemed to glow brighter with said displeasure. You'd seen him mad before, of course. The long hours in the studio, the plummeting sales, the meddling executives weighing in on his creative freedom...but you had never seen that anger directed at you before.

"You can't say no to me, you stupid boy," his hand fisted the front of your shirt into a ball, the knife glinting in your peripheral vision, and for once a genuine feeling of fear struck you, "you love me, remember?"

Ji-Woon was dangerous.

"Of course, sweetheart," you kept your tone level, loving and gentle, bringing your hand to cup his face. You brought the k-pop star close, beginning to rock side to side, "I do love you. How could I ever say no to you?"

A sweet kiss was enough to temporarily disarm Ji-Woon and the minute his grip loosened around the knife, you ducked out.

You sprinted out of the unlocked front door, scrambling to make it down the stairway, the sounds of furious screaming and clattering behind you as the other man gave chase. You barely managed to disappear within the crowds once you stepped out of the building. Your saving grace was the flood of paparazzi that swarmed your pursuer, blocking his path.

You would see a disheveled Ji-Woon on the front page of Seoul's popular tabloid within the next few days, questioning headlines about why the popstar was half undressed in the front of his apartment building and cursing at the top of his lungs. Most popular speculation was drugs.

You would claim it was an unofficial breakup after that day. You resigned from your position as a dancer for The Trickster, sold your apartment and moved to the states. You never told your folks or friends what happened, not that they would have believed you anyways. You left it all behind and never spoke to the hurricane of a man again.

Well...you at least never answered back. Ji-Woon messaged you at least twice a day. From simple "hey, how are you doing?" to short snippets of his cock deep in some girl's pussy.

Other messages were aggressive. Telling you that he could easily find where you ran off to and it would be nothing to drag you back to Korea by the hair. But the ones that truly dug into your skin were the audio messages. Most were of similar nature: conversational, lewd, abusive...then there came the desperation. He would audibly sob into the phone, pleading with you to come back or at least answer him once. Listening to his wailing almost broke your resolve.

You deleted the past chats and every new one that arrived from then on. The only message that made you pause before erasing was a virtual invite to his performance for the Mightee One committee; a VIP spot and a first class round-trip plane ticket scheduled for next month.

You obviously didn't go and when the news broke that a mass murder had taken place at said concert, you could only feel a pit sickness forming deep inside you.

It was reportedly a slaughter, all victims in attendance were confirmed dead. However, the bodies Yun-Jin Lee and Ji-Woon Hak were not amongst  the confirmed dead. They were nowhere to be found.

You did manage to move past those terrible events within the following year. Hell, it was somewhat easy to now that Ji-Woon wasn't ringing your phone everyday. Part of you had always wondered if he was acting the entire time, only messaging you so he could be sure that you wouldn't forget him. Another part of you thought about his disappearance.

Was he alive? Was he okay?

You swirled your drink, sinking deeper into your couch. The tv played some old show but you couldn't be bothered to pay attention. Your mind replayed some old memories that crushed you with a peculiar emotion you couldn't place. Allowing yourself to drop your head back against the top of the cushions, you tried to relax and move past those painful times.

Flashes of Ji-Woon interrupted your peace. Your body entangled with his, hands delicately tracing patterns in your skin and noses touching from the close proximity. The city's colorful lights peaked through the window blinds, illuminating his figure to you. Yellow contacts piercing in the dark as you held each other, mumbling sweet nothings.

Your eyes closed, bleary with the drunken reminiscing of the past.

You didn't see the fog rolling through your room.

xx

"Did you love me?" you gurgled out.

The Trickster kneeled to your level as you sat crumpled against the rotting wooden palette.

Your body seized slightly as the trauma to your head began to override adrenaline, your eyes trained on him to the best of their abilities but the darkness began to seep through. A hand reached out to tilt your head back up. The killer (your killer) held your stare, admiring the horrific beauty of your broken iris caused by the harsh strike to the side of your temple.

"Of course, you stupid boy." The Trickster chortled, thumb softly tracing circles into your cheek. You were fading fast, but there would be no relief or solace in your fast coming death, "I still do."

You closed your eyes as he leaned forward, pressing a kiss to your forehead.

You didn't want to see him. You didn't want to see those yellow eyes.

"If I didn't, you wouldn't be here. I loved you so much that it brought you to hell for me."

The abyss took you and all you could do was accept the momentary peace of transition before you were thrown back into his hands.

There was no more hiding. No more prying eyes nor spotlight. Just him and you, interlocked permanently in this game that even death could not do you part.

[just--another--daydreamer]

How they realize that they are in love

» Katsuki Bakugo // Shoto Todoroki // Izuku Midoriya x gn!reader (no pronouns used)

» Genre: Fluff & Angst » Summary: Just some HCs about Baku, Todo & Deku (seperately) and how they realize that they are in love » Warnings: fighting, death, injuries & swearing (Bakugo) implied abuse (Todoroki) panic attacks, overthinking & mentions of fighting (Midoriya) » Words: ~1.7k » Author's Note: These were fun to write, if you’d like to see them for any other characters, feel free to ask! This was inspired by @/costellos, check their stuff out

You can find a link to my Masterlist etc in my bio and pinned post

⋘ ──────── ∗ ⋅◈⋅ ∗ ──────── ⋙

» Katsuki Bakugo:

Bakugo realizes that he is in love with you when you put yourself in danger to help him

Usually, Bakugo would be furious if someone else saw him as a person in need of help and tried supporting or even protecting him in a dangerous situation, but this time it feels different

Instead of anger boiling deep within Bakugo, close to making him explode, he feels an unusual numbness at first, while he watches your body fall to the ground after taking a hit for him. Even though he is often unable to identify his own feelings and is out of touch with them, he notices that change withing himself

The numbness quickly gives way to fear. He tumbles forward as he screams your name. For the first time in a while he is not sure what to do; he wants to check if you are alright, if you are alive, if you are still with him. But he also wants to charge forward and rip the person who hurt you to shreds

He feels helpless, unable to decide and unable to push those sudden overwhelming feelings aside. Instead, shock is freezing his whole body, only allowing his arms and legs to tremble. His mind is racing and screaming and calling him weak. Weak for needing your help, weak for not being able to protect you, weak for not killing this damn bastard in front of him

“Bakugo!” Your voice is feeble and barely audible over the sounds of the fight, but he can still hear you. You reach him through the clouds in his mind, through his own voice in his head tormenting him

He regains control over his body and it only takes him a few blows to knock out the enemy

In the next moment, he is cowering next to you, pulling you close, checking your vitals. Once again, his fingers tremble. You are alive, but in dire need of help

Bakugo hates being afraid and he pushes the feeling down with full force, trying to let his anger take over once again. The anger that numbs his senses, makes him care less about the people around him, makes him unapproachable and lets him keep everyone at a distance

“You damn fool!” His voice cracks. “I didn’t ask for your fucking help!” You look up at him with half-lidded eyes. “Baku-” “Shut up!” The pain in his throat from screaming is a welcome one. “Just shut the fuck up! I didn’t need you to save me, dammit!” A lump forms in his throat, taking his ability to speak. He can feel tears in his eyes, but he wipes them away before they can fall

Bakugo leans down and puts his arms under your body to carry you to an ambulance. Under his breath, he mutters, “I’m so glad you’re alive.”

  » Shoto Todoroki:

Todoroki realizes that he is in love with you when you are patient with him

Most people in Todoroki’s life expect a lot from him, if not way too much. His father expects him to be the perfect hero and successor to him since the day his quirk awoke, UA expects him to always be one step ahead of everyone else and he puts those expectations on himself as well. Even though it is not hard for him to be all those things at this point in his life, having someone around who is patient with him and does not care if he fails or lets himself go from time to time is a relief

Like on most days, Todoroki and you walk home together after class, since you have to go into a similar direction. Most of the time both of you walk in silence or you try making conversation with Todoroki only to be met with silence or short answers

Todoroki knows that he is not the best person to be around at all times, that he does not always get jokes or acts distant with people – he just does not know what to say and how to react to certain things

Having friends is hard for him. Either he overshares about his past or keeps people at a safe distance. Todoroki needs time to figure out this new thing called friendship for himself. Can he even call his classmates friends? Can he call Midoriya, Iida and Uraraka friends? Can he call you a friend? What do you and the others call your relationship from your perspectives?

He has known you for a while now and you walk together every single day and you talk and you text, so you are his friend, right?

“Todoroki?” you catch him a little off-guard. “Hm?” “Would you like to hang out some time?”

He looks up at you and tries reading your expression. A friendly smile, waiting for his answer. It is his decision. You are not deciding for him, you are not demanding anything from him. Not many people have ever asked him to decide things for himself in the past. Everyone always decided in his place, especially when it came to big things like becoming a hero. It is a simple yes or no question over a small thing, yet Todoroki has trouble coming up with an answer

You seem to notice his hesitation. “It’s totally fine if you don’t want to hang out,” you calmly tell him. There is no undertone in your voice, only genuine kindness. “You can take your time deciding, you can take your time getting comfortable with having friends, or even just the idea of it.” Did you have another secret quirk that allowed you to read minds? Todoroki pushed that thought away. “Take your time. I promise that whatever you say, I won’t be mad or hurt by it. Alright?”

Even though you do not say anything to compliment or embarrass Todoroki, he feels himself blushing. Just a little, but he turns his face away to not let you notice. You are patient with him. You want him to be comfortable with you, you do not want to push anything on him. A warm feeling spreads through his body and for a second, Todoroki thinks that he is losing control of his fire quirk, but he quickly realizes that it is something else – something nice and good

“Yes, I’d love that, actually.” “Okay, great! I’ll text you then?” “Yeah.”

The two of you part ways but the warm feeling stays

  » Izuku Midoriya

Midoriya realizes that he is in love with you when you comfort him

Whenever something goes wrong during a mission or a patrol, that he goes on during his internship, Midoriya is quick to blame himself for what happened. He himself and everyone around him makes him think that he needs to be a perfect hero even though he is only an intern and a student

It starts with overthinking his steps, replaying the scene in his head again and again, and sometimes even ends in panic attacks. Most of the time he tries to deal with those things alone and disappears in his dorm room, but over time you have learned to see the signs that Midoriya is not doing well and you have been trying to find ways to comfort him

You both sit on his bed as Midoriya talks about what happened earlier. The civilians that got hurt, the villain who got away, his own inability to save everyone and stop the bastard. His voice is weak, tears run down his cheeks and sobs shake his body every now and then

He goes on and on about the mistakes he made until you interrupt him

“Midoriya.” Your voice is soothing yet insistent. “Not everything that happened today is your fault. Maybe even nothing. You are still in training, there are adults who are responsible for you. Putting someone as young as you and me out there is a risk, because we make mistakes. But that’s a way to learn. We learn from our past mistakes and become stronger. The next time you are in a situation like this, you’ll be able to handle it just fine.”

Some more tears run down his face, so you pull him into an embrace. Midoriya appreciates your words. He really does. But for now, he has lost his ability to speak

“You are not alone with this. And it’s not your fault.”

Another choked sob leaves Midoriya. He hugs you back, clings to your shirt and buries his face in the crook of your neck. The way your hands draw patterns on his back soothe him until he eventually stops crying. But he does not want to let go just yet

“Thank you,” he whispers after a while. “Thank you so much.” He is not alone. He knows that he can talk to you about this, about anything. He just wishes he had the courage to open up more often

You stay like this until it gets dark, until all the other lights have gone out. Until everything is silent and Midoriya can only hear your and his own breathing. He feels oddly warm and safe in your arms, so he hopes that you will never get up to go to your room, but he knows that you have to, eventually

Suddenly, one of your hands is on the back of his head, your fingers running through his hair. Midoriya has a hard time stopping himself from leaning into your touch more. “I hope you know that I’m here for you, Izuku.” You never call him by his first name. Midoriya’s heart skips a beat and heat rises to his cheeks. He is glad that you cannot see his face right now because he is sure that it is as red as a tomato

“The same goes for you.” And he wholeheartedly means it

You linger there for another moment before finally pulling away. Midoriya does not want you to, he wants you to stay there, with him, forever. But he cannot have that. Not yet at least. And even though the circumstances that lead to this are not the best, he wishes for this to happen again soon

[scriibble-fics]

Magic

Excerpt from a new Jily seventh-year one-shot that has ballooned dramatically, to the surprise of no one. There's more to come!

As January slips by, days pass without a kiss at minimum, although they’re few and far between. On the other hand, they don’t waste a single day without some form of verbal interaction—laughter in between classes, or banter at mealtimes, or bickering at prefect meetings that almost always serves as a precursor to snogging. Increasingly, new activities join these pastimes that have somehow become cherished. Lily grows closer to his friends, and James makes quick inroads with hers, although sometimes her mates look a little too flattered by his attention for her liking. He requests her help in Potions, and they spend long hours together in the dungeons accomplishing more than just snogging, although that comes with the territory as well. In turn, he insists on aiding her in Transfiguration after Sirius offers continued help, and the way Sirius winks at her when James turns his back has her convinced that he’s pleased for reasons beyond escaping the extra work of tutoring her. Truly, Sirius surprises her more and more as the days melt by, because he easily detaches himself from James’ side to allow for the quiet, private conversations that begin to happen organically between them in the common room, and he even distracts her friends so it can happen. None of her friends complain about this new arrangement that secures Sirius’ attention, but Marlene seems perhaps the happiest of all.

She and James have talked before these conversations, of course. They’ve been housemates for years, after all, and he’s never shied away from paying her attention that she typically hasn’t wanted. Yet most of that attention has erred on the side of either endless banter or endless bickering, and the quiet, fireside chats that happen with more and more regularity feel worlds apart from either of those things. Sure, they still laugh and they still argue, although the laughs are quieter, and more smiles than harsh words accompany the arguments. He watches her plait her hair or rub her neck while they talk, his eyes soft as they discuss their respective career aspirations, and trade gossip about fellow students, and whisper secrets about their friends, and recount memories of the past and hopes for the future. He tells her about his brilliant potioneer father and brilliant herbologist mother, and she can almost picture them as he talks, his father’s spectacles and messy hair and his mother’s rigid posture and kind face. In turn, he asks probing questions about her own family, until she reveals bit by bit about her jolly, constantly-teasing dad and loving caretaker of a mum. Eventually, she even tells him about Petunia too, although it comes even more difficultly than any mention of her parents.

“I didn’t even know you had a sister,” he says one particularly chilly night as wind whips past the common room windows. She feels her shoulders shift outside of her control, and he catches the subtle change. He always does. “What?”

She’s trying, just like she’d promised Marlene, and it doesn’t come easily. “I’m sure her friends have said that to her about me.”

He takes that in for a moment. “Maybe,” he says eventually. “She’d be stupid not to claim you, though. Besides—” It sounds like he’s carefully counting each word. “Family isn’t about blood. It’s a choice. I mean, look at Sirius.”

He means it metaphorically, not literally, but they both look towards where Sirius lounges nearby, laughing with his friends and hers. It’s late, and particularly late for a weekday, so Sirius’ laughter sounds especially loud in the near-empty common room. Watching him throw his head back in amusement, it’s nearly impossible not to smile with him, and James does.

She doesn’t. If anything, Sirius’ laughter triggers something even sadder inside her, and for reasons she doesn’t fully understand, not at first. “It’s not fair,” she says quietly, words spoken without thought, and it all clicks together abruptly, like a radio station suddenly in tune. Her throat burns, and she clears it as she looks towards the fire. “Sorry. Sorry, I—” Her explanation falters and then dies in her mouth. There are probably words express it all—the sudden clarity in Sirius’ constant gregarious nature that he uses to win people over like his life depends upon it, her own people-pleasing ways, the ease of their bond that she’s never understood before—but trying to find them hurts too much to even contemplate past a couple of painful seconds.

James reaches for her hand, which has clenched into a fist atop her lap. Somehow, the slow stroke of his fingers eases the tension that has turned her knuckles white. Her hand opens, and his thumb caresses each of her knuckles as color returns. “Save your apologies for the next time you piss me off,” he says, and he turns her hand over in her lap.

She watches as he presses their palms together, his fingers dwarfing hers, and her mouth smiles before she catches herself at it. “It seems like I’ve been pissing you off less lately.”

He returns her smile, his fingers lacing through hers in a brief, warm squeeze. “It’s hard to get mad at you when you’re getting me off all the time.” Something shifts in his voice, something that squeezes her insides.

“Same, but don’t take that as a challenge to piss me off.”

He chuckles softly. “You know me too well. Well, I’m glad we finally figured out how to get you to tolerate me.”

His hand remains locked in hers, his thumb once again slowly brushing over her knuckles. She’s not sure which is more difficult to look at: their hands, fitted so neatly together, or his face, which radiates more warmth than even moments before. “Tolerate,” she repeats, skeptical. That hardly sums up the things he does to her body—and to her mind, and, increasingly, to her heart—on a regular basis. “The same goes for you.”

“Evans.” Her name comes out chidingly, and he waits until she looks at him before he goes on. “I don’t just tolerate you. And I��d—” He takes in a deep breath, eyes flickering back and forth between each of hers. “Your sister is stupid,” he says again, but it sounds entirely different somehow. “Anyone would be lucky to claim you. I told you—you’re magic.”

It’s not the first time he’s declared as much to her since the train, but it’s the first time that it sounds like something other than heated talk spoken against her mouth or skin. For the first time, she catches a glimmer of what he means—or a glimmer of what it means to her, at least, since she has no way of knowing if he feels the same. Something stretches between them, a moment that’s brief but heavy and undeniable, and she wants to look away, but she can’t. She’s suspended in time, held entirely in place on the other side of his gaze.

It’s magic, what holds her there, a magic unlike any she’s ever discovered.

“Thank you.” Her voice comes out soft and a little small. She sounds nothing like herself.

He doesn’t call her on it. He moves closer to her, shifting towards the edge of his armchair until their knees touch, and his other hand joins where he’s still holding hers atop her lap. “I’m rather good at palm reading, you know,” he says, and the magic between them snaps as the fireplace crackles, and so abruptly that she jumps a little. Before she can blink, things settle back into familiar patterns, from the lazy smile on his face to the teasing in his tone to her own immediate banter in return.

“Don’t insult my intelligence. You dropped out of Divination fourth year. I haven’t forgotten.”

“Flattered you remember my movements so closely.” He releases her hand so he can pull it into his own lap, and he traces a fingertip along her palm, drama exuding from every pore. “If you’re too scared to know your future—worried who might be in it, maybe—”

“Go on, then.”

The future—as told by James—holds things she expects and things that she doesn’t.

She expects him to predict a long life. She expects him to predict a continued close relationship with her friends. She expects him to predict a prosperous career in brewing, because she’s confided those dreams in him. He tells her all of those things as he tickles her palm with twisting caresses.

Yet she doesn’t expect his long description of her handsome future husband, a man who will allegedly propose many times before she’ll finally accept. She also doesn’t expect his recounting of all the children she’ll have, enough for an entire Quidditch team.

She’s laughing by the end, and he’s laughing with her. “That’s too many kids,” she says. “I’m not doing that to my body, and I can’t imagine that this wonderful husband of mine—”

“He’s handsome too, don’t forget.”

“Right. I can’t imagine that this wonderful, handsome husband of mine will expect it of me.” She wiggles her fingers. “Look again, will you?”

He obliges with all the seriousness of a seer, and his hair falls in front of his face as he bends in concentration. “Maybe not quite that many, but at least two, maybe three. It’s a lonely existence, being an only child. Your husband, he’ll feel pretty strongly about that.”

Thank god he’s looking at her hand. Thank god he’s looking at her hand and not her face, because—

All banter and faux predictions aside, she’s tempted to start practicing for those babies with him right then and there.

Accidentally or on purpose, she’s falling in love with him, and it’s all his fault.

[keerishima]

HELLO! I saw you were a new blog that needed requests and I was wondering if you could write head-canons for todoroki, bakugou, and kiri (separately) with a s/o that has a witchcraft quirk? TY

well hi! thank you for the request, it was so cool to write! now i’m assuming you mean like a quirk that works like potions and herbs/crystals and spirit summoning and spells which is the road i’m taking i hope that’s okay?

now this boy is

excited

when he first saw the mist swirling around your fingers as you fought the robots in the UA exam, a shock went through his body

what was that? 

okay he didn’t mean to stare- considering he was in the middle of an exam- but the way you moved and the glints of a crystals around your body was just so cool

time passed and he got closer to you, during the dorm competition your room was the only room he wanted to see and boy did he love it

the green ivy and plants in your room, the pots and white smoke curling from diffusers and shelves full of powder and inks organised in a neat row

your room felt like a whole new world- like magic

literally after everyone had left he was still in your room looking around like a meerkat assessing it’s surroundings

fast forward; you guys are dating and he was VERY curious as to how your quirk worked, and you explained how your spells and energy came from the crystals and jewels

each crystal gave you a different energy, which converted to your power!

kirishima literally watched in awe as you pointed at all the different coloured gems and jewels and the symbols on your walls

he even asked to touch some of them and asked where you got them

he also asked to see them in battle, and asked if you had any similar to his own quirk!

the both of you engaged in LOTS of different mock battles, which almost always ended up in a play fight rather than real training- just because he ends up enjoying watching you use your quirk too much to actually focus

once you two had engaged in a long, breathless make out session against one of the walls- what can I say? you wanted to see what it felt like to kiss kirishima in his red riot form and have him melt back to normal under your touch

yeahh...it was a bad idea to do that in the school gym, where half of class 1-B caught you two mushed together against a wall

back to the hc!

he asks SO many questions

sometimes just sits on your bed for ages and asks one after the other after the other, to the point where aizawa has to come and send him back to his side of the dorm

let me tell you now: if you are 1) planning to get anything or 2) NEED anything, don’t let him find out

you once let it slip that you were considering getting pouches to carry these crystals, and the sweet, sweet boy went out and bought BUCKETS of bags

yes buckets because he didn’t know if your crystals would be affected by material or size of the bag or- god forbid what if it did and he ruined your quirk in battle?! 

he’d never forgive himself.

ever.

like literally he’d be on his knees ready for punishment of how you saw fit because of his mistake

what can i say? the boys dramatic

but its endearing :,)

it ended up being the cutest date of you cuddled up on his bed wrapped in his blankets like you were drowning in them,

whilst he sat on the floor, presenting each little bag and pouch to you, all teleshopping style.

‘and THIS 🤩 gorgeous article comes with not just 1😱! not just 2 😱! but THREE 🤯🥵🥳🥳 buttons to clip close to ensure a tight, secure hold of your 😏 special package’

yeah he made a sleazy face

yeah you threw a plushy at him

all of them were bought with your costume in mind and how could you not keep some of the bags? with kirishima watching you with the biggest eyes and slightly-pouting-lips-but-he-would-never-admit-it there was no way you didn’t keep the most useful ones

you asked him to return the extra bags so he wouldn’t have wasted his money, whilst you repaid his kindness with lots and lots of kisses and cuddles

;) or more depending on how you want it

todoroki is uhh...

emotionally constipated

but thats not his fault

#fuckendeavour

sometimes it comes off that he’s not interested in your quirk in a general sense, but it’s only because he doesn’t know how to ask without seeming pushy

he gets shy (but doesn’t show it) but with time that decreases to a sort of dry affection

i’m not saying he’s a dry boyfriend but he definitely isn't as spritely as someone like Denki might be

the way you’d see that he wanted to know more was if he asked you to come and fight with him, train with him and study

this is where he asked about your quirk

he didn’t ask to the extent of kirishima, who said everything that came to mind, he asked precise questions that gave him all the information he was desperate to know because you are so cool it makes his heart burn needed

and he also knew you would add more information as you explained, which he loved because he loved hearing you talk so passionately

this time your quirk allowed you to control people to an extent, depending on different plants and herbs you used

the plants each had a special line, muttered as you dropped the herbs anywhere on your opponent for it to activate

best believe todoroki asked for one to knock endeavour out, literally out of nowhere💀

once, one night you had been laying on your bed, and todoroki had popped over to see you. it was still quite early on in your relationship so you weren’t expecting him to cuddle up beside you and tuck into your smaller body, chin hooked onto your shoulder whilst his eyes bore into yours from below todoroki loves eye contact

‘Do your plants have meanings?’

that’s it, that’s all he softly whispered in your ear

‘What do you mean?’ You whispered back

‘Like...like roses mean love...do your herbs have a meaning linked to what they do?’

okay now he was blushing, very gently because he didn’t want to annoy you, or ask you a question you’d never thought of and make you feel silly or insecure about his quirk

YOU on the other hand were smothering a dopey grin. you knew your boyfriend and his boundaries, and you knew that him asking you in such an intimate setting meant he was trying hard for you

you also knew that he’d just given you free reign to ramble however you saw fit

so you explained, how each herb did this, how if you mixed them they did that, if you made a liquid infused with them it helped with your application in battle and so much more

todoroki listened silently, but his eyes were gleaming

literally glowing in the darkness- I mean was that even possible? it had to have been considering how todoroki looked at you that night

after you were done, he replied with a similar thing about his own quirk, and both of you had a long long chat that went from quirks, to schooling, to life, to aliens and more

todoroki had the weirdest humour, he never knew he was being funny until your quiet giggles morphed into full blown laughter- and caused a knock from the next room over because you were being too loud

he would let out his own little chuckles and smirks, seeing you enjoy his company so much

it was a while after that day when something new happened

you’d sent him a message, whilst he was sitting right next to you, and your contact name flashed on his screen suddenly, catching your eye

‘my calendula’

you looked at todoroki

todoroki looked at you

you both blinked

‘calendula?’ you asked

‘yes’ todoroki replied

‘why calendula?’

‘because,’ todoroki blushed deeply, eyes flickering away from yours

‘because you said calendula means joy...you’re my joy. arent you?’

and god help anyone who tries to say you aren’t todoroki’s joy

because you would literally throw them to the ground

your heart soared at how todoroki loved you and your quirk so much

even though it wasn’t blatantly obvious, it was the little things he did for you 😍

he originally going to call you his basil until Bakugou came round behind him asking him if he was writing the dorms grocery list. safe to say that plan was aborted immediately :D

oho

sorry I just

*pfft*

bakugo amuses me, he really does he’s so entertaining

okay sorry back to the headcanon

I headcanon you’re REALLY strong

like STUPID strong

Remember bakugos reactions to all the students quirks and he was like ‘shit I cant beat them 😨’

And his reaction to todoroki? yeah he’d literally see you use your quirk and just

no I’m joking

but I feel like as your s/o he’d be super obsessed with your quirk

he’d always want to train with you, he’d see it as an amazing part of you that he wants to help hone so you can be the best of the best

not better than him obviously but the best anyway

not that he’d SHOW all of this awe and pride to you, it’s normally delivered in a bunch of bakugo sentences:

‘oi your form is shit. do this instead.’

that means he’s realised a new way you can throw this punch, with much more force

‘tch, go train. you need the training.’

he wants to train with you. again.

‘....finally. took you long enough to learn that.’

you’ve just done something successfully and he’s trying so hard not to blush at how well you did it.

here your power is more destructive

you can create sigils using a your finger in the air and they create attack power

this with bakugos quirk makes a formidable duo, and if he doesn’t get partnered with you he will most likely throw a fit

but not a long fit more of a like ‘oi why is she over there we work better together’

but he realises as heroes you need to work well with anyone you meet, so he’s not too fussy

because of the fact that you draw the sigils, you have a habit of tracing out patterns and new symbols and any sort of designs subconsciously

this is done normally on any part of your skin, with a pen

bakugo being old man bakugo 🙄 got mad at you

he told you off for almost giving yourself ink poisoning and ruining your hand and making it all dirty drama queen

but throughout all of this bakugo had been clutching your hand, and best believe he wasn’t letting go

he used the hand he was holding to pull you along and sit comfortably, dropping his own palm into your lap and mumbling something that kind of, sort of, might have been along the lines of ‘use my arm dumbass’

now you had bakugos arm to scribble on to your hearts content.

you used this when you were stressed, worried that your nerves were causing you to forget things or simply because you wanted to hold bakugo close

in fact, bakugo himself had adopted this habit, and you’ll notice I said arm instead of hand

bakugo got nervous around you, and therefore sweaty, which therefore lead to tiny little explosions in his palms when you were near

but this habit had started to make him feel comfortable with his hands around you, it made him trust himself more

he knew his power was strong and he didn’t want to hurt you, your quirk was something that helped him with that

and he wouldn’t tell you that but he was grateful. VERY grateful

he once asked why you used pen, and not your finger on your skin considering the pen ink is toxic

you answered very quickly, by pulling out a sheet of people and sliding your finger across the surface in a sigil shape

promptly the paper burnt into a cinder :)

and bakugo never asked again

and that is the end! I hope you liked it and I did the idea of Witchcraft justice 😅 please do send some more requests!

god I loved this so much they’re all so cute :,) thank you for this request!!