#Please don’t give the child moly

[dawns-downpour]

who put him in charge of watching Telemachus

(Psst go follow my art blog for stuff like this the self promo never ends @dawnanimationsyt )

[viktorrights]

hello! i want to start off with thanking you for sharing coming home (but not to you) with us!

i was hesitant to read it at first, just because it’s not finished yet, but ofc i ended up giving in. best decision i’ve made :’))

aaaaaaaaaaa im in love with how you wrote them. gosh, the angst hits amazingly, i immediately ran to my friend to share it and told them to read this now!!! i’m a sucker for professors au (we’re lacking in it /sobs), slow-burn, angst, yearning, friends to rivals to friends to lovers again and your fic matches all those! and to top it off, your writing is amazing!

LOVER BOY JAYCE, MY FAVOURITE FLAVOUR OF HIM!!! fawk i just want to give him a hug and a pat on the back /becomes ximena for a bit to just do that/ lmao

and viktor huhuhu holy fuck how do i even describe what i feel for him? i think the best way to express it is /takes off mask/ i am jayce—jk dbdbdjd but yeah i love viktor a lot and i feel so much for him idk how to form the words�� he’s my favourite and i love love love the way you write him! i love how you were able to balance his confidence and insecurities so well i just want to squish him dhdhdhd i think at some point i was praying he stops being stubborn and let jayce apologize, but honestly it’s hard and i understand why he was very firm. gods the tender moments between him and jayce huhuhu i want to bawl my eyes—i love jayvik so much.

the highlights for me were the catnapping (love this scene), viktor’s mentorship with jinx (my two faves😭🩷), the sisters’ reunion, ximena (omg i love her so much, i want to be her child and get smothered by her love), and ofc, the apology scene😭🩷🩷🩷

this was supposed to be just a small thank you and then get to my questions, but i ended up gushing a bit ^^; i should have probably taken this to ao3 comments instead dbdhdhd

so moving on to my questions, please know you don’t have to answer them if you’re not comfortable! i’m just interested in knowing some of the process authors’ go through when writing fics! and the way they choose to interpret the characters and their relationships.

- what made you watch arcane and fall for jayvik?

- were there any troublesome scenes/parts to write?

- which dynamics were you excited to write and explore in cmbnty?

- were there scenes that you wanted to incorporate, but didn’t end up adding?

- and lastly, other than arcane and jayvik, what are some of your interests?

that’s all!! and once again, please free to ignore the questions if you’d like!

p.s i laughed so hard on your author’s note about jayce not driving a cybertruck😭

thank you so much again for sharing cmbnty!

<3

HOLY MOLY THIS IS SO SWEET AND THOUGHTFUL!!!! I LOVE QUESTIONS!! I'm going to take some time to answer this one so here. Also, I do get into the current chapter a little (no spoilers, obviously, but maybe some lil hints/teasers, so I hope that's cool)

thank you so much for your thoughts on my viktor and jayce! I've worked so hard on trying to make them just the right amount of difficult and flawed so I love it when people see that and says it hits <3

the catnapping scene was so fun to write - and I adore jinx - so I'm glad those two things also hit fo you <3

i first watched arcane when it came out in 2021 because I saw gifs of it on tumblr and was so thrown by how beautiful the animation was. (I wont lie, controversially, I almost gave up on it because the music was so..... choice to me). i loved jayvik at the time. i was really hoping caitvi was going to hit harder (another reason I got into it is I heard lesbians) but I didn't really connect with the enforcer elements of caitlyn's story (I love her but yeah I found it all a bit questionable and I'm very very sick of lesbian cops in media)

i was obsessed. but not 'its time to engage with the fandom' obsessed. for some reason the first season just didn't hit as hard then as it did on my re-watch.

fast forward to 2024 and sorry this is so personal - but I'm between hyperfixations and am very depressed (lethal combo DKSLFJHSD) and it was the perfect storm for me to get re-immersed in arcane after I saw the first trailer on my twitter feed.

jayvik itself hits a lot of buttons for me I just adore. they're both genuinely kind characters who are flawed but want to do good. they have a natural chemistry and I just love stories about people who hold certain gifts that may be isolating and then they find each other and it means that they become the only people who can really understand each other?

I'm also OBSESSED with scientist characters. something about the beauty of discovery. the passion. the way its so easy to create something with good intentions that winds up causing harm. i have close family in stem and did a lot of stem stuff in undergrad and idk. i just really love scientists. my ideal woman is some hot woman in stem DKFLJSHf.

viktor being disabled (which i also am) also added a layer to this for sure. and just. the immediate stakes of saving someone's life. connecting over a dream - that Jayce is just so graciously and immediately willing to share after like. a few hours alone together lmao. it all feels so intense and loving.

2. troublesome scenes to write

so many dfkljh.

the flashback in chapter 3 came kind of out of nowhere for me. i did not expect it to get so emotionally charged- and to feel so much when I was writing it. i left this note in chapter four - but I was sitting on the chapter for days and afraid to publish because I was so surprised by it. it wasn't so much troublesome to write as it was troublesome to edit/reflect on. i got really in my head. i was like this is fanfiction about league of legends characters. why did I write this? DLKFJSHD.

the flashback of their big fight in chapter 5

this one, I'm so glad I wrote this before getting eyes because I fear I would have been very tempted to sanitize it and make it less mean. even now I've gotten a few comments being like. :( jayce would never do that :(

in my opinion... he would lol and I stand by it. everybody is capable of being really ugly and horrible when pushed into the right corner/circumstances. and jayce very much did manufacture weapons on the show despite viktor's wishes - so its something I was really wanting to explore in a modern context.

its just something i had to think a lot about. how far did I want it to go? how could I make it get really nasty while keeping some sort of empathy alive for both sides, especially jayce. how to I make sure viktor doesn't become this innocent victim in it all? how do I make sure that mel, despite being a catalyst, isn't portrayed as like a villain who ruined everything and instead as someone with her own unique motivations and concerns that happened to deliver crucial information? i hope I did all of it well. I'm personally as happy with the scene as I'll get with anything.

out of all the scenes I wrote, this is the one that gets the most pushback, specifically relating to jayce. i knew that would happen going into it, because I think the fandom has an over-romanticized view of jayce's arc and actions in season 1. but oddly I'm almost happy with that? I'm glad that it challenges people. one of the things I find most compelling and beautiful about jayce is redemption. and redemption can't happen unless you do something that requires it - so I hate that people ignore how much fucked up shit he does in season 1 lmao.

mel and viktor's slay-off on the balcony

the end of chapter 11 where mel and viktor talk I just knew was going to be incredibly important. it was one of those moments I was leading up to the whole time, because I knew it would be very relevant in future chapters (wink wink) and because its such a culmination of everything that's happened so far.

on my first write of it, i think because I was afraid of it, I focused way more on the logistics of what was happening with noxus and the board etc etc. it took me a while to find a balance between plot and emotion I was comfortable with.

for some reason the entire time i knew they were going to wind up laughing together. that was very emotionally important to me. but getting there was uhh... hard. again. I'm not saying I did this (or the above scenes) perfectly like good god. but yeah this one was a hard journey.

very important/high-stakes scene in chapter 13

there is a very big scene that I've had planned the whole time that, after season 2, I found important to take in a slightly darker and more dramatic direction. a lot of reasons I was torn on this - 1 - allowing season 2 to influence my writing is something I'm hesitant about. but also this is FANFIC so I decided that's kind of the point.

but its very much been a very delicate balance of a few things - 1. how do I not get preachy and let my anger at the particular storyline in season 2 affect how I write this? 2. this deals with jayce and viktor being witnesses to other characters struggles vs being at the center of it themselves? so I have to deal with how much they can actually be present. (this was also a struggle I had when Vi and Jinx reunited) how much they would logically witness before it feels like they're only present so I can continue telling the story. 3. because its such a dramatic scene, how do I make the dialogue feel real? how do I not let a particular character speak their feelings too much while also giving people a good window into their psyche? 4. how high the stakes should be. (this I will elaborate on once its out)

i am incredibly nervous for this scene. more so than anything else I've written in this fic. I'm still working on my first draft of the chapter and am going to spend so so much time in the next drafts on it. it's going to be really hard to land this one - and I really wanna do it right.

the final scene :)

i still dont have my final scene. i know where its happening, what thematically I want of it, how we get there, and I know I'm writing it today.

there was a moment where I almost went in a direction I think people would like- but have decided against ultimately. it felt too... cliche and a bit unearned.

additionally, with characters like viktor, who really struggle with saying what's on their mind, I have to play a very careful game of giving him bits of dialogue that land and feel like growth, without feeling unearned or unnatural.

3. which dynamics were you excited to write and explore in cmbnty?

aside from the obvious, jinx and viktor (honestly after season 2, i wish i explored jayce and ekko more), mel and viktor, cait and jayce.

4. were there scenes that you wanted to incorporate, but didn’t end up adding?

there's nothing huge that jumps out at me. honestly, I think there are probably some things I could have condensed more looking at the word count. i think the only thing is I had an idea for a flashback last chapter that dealt with jayce in the aftermath of viktor leaving, but I couldn't find a way to make it relevant, and it ultimately felt very overindulgent and melodramatic in the outline in a way I really didn't fuck with.

and lastly, other than arcane and jayvik, what are some of your interests?

:) i'm really into film. i'm a bit of a film bro lmao. i like video games (huge bg3 fan). true to my ao3 name i love cats and animals in general. I'm fascinated with outer space, physics, astrobiology. I'm also a huge history nerd, especially "weird" and unheard of history.

my whole life is writing really. in a way that's probably not super healthy lmao but it is what it is.

I am so sorry for the insane yap session I just went on. hopefully it doesn't come off overindulgent or like self involved. i just love chit chatting haha and happen to be fully on a break from work for a few weeks so I have a ton of time on my hands dfklasjdf

[hannahwatcheshorror]

GERALD'S GAME (2017)

💁‍♀️Strong Female Lead

I won’t lie, this movie is a heavy one, the subject matter is tough, but if you are able to handle it this is a phenomenal film. I don’t know how Stephen King can write so well for women, but he slips into the role like Buffalo Bill into a suit made of women's skin. This movie is very true to the book, not making the mistakes of other King movies that deviate greatly from his writing and try for a new way of thinking. Gorgeous scenes of the eclipse that flood your senses as they would have Jessie’s. Really an excellent film.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

(Trigger Warning Sexual Abuse, Child Sexual Abuse)

To try and fix their marriage Jessie is handcuffed to the bed in their remote vacation home but the thing is, ladies, gentlemen, and otherwise, you gotta talk to your partners before employing crazy sex stuff because Gerald’s Game freaked Jessie right the fuck out and it wasn’t safe at all!  “We might die here today because of Gerald’s five inches!” Very quickly into Gerald's untimely death and Jessie’s subsequent imprisonment Prince the dog smells the blood and stops by for a bite. This drives Jessie into a madness where she envisions versions of Gerald and herself talking to her (and it is very well done).

Our first night is coming quickly and our best girl uses some quick thinking to get a drink of water before the lights go out. She wakes up to a spooky visitor and we cannot tell if he is real or in her imagination though and her imaginary husband posits that if the spooky visitor is imaginary then why did the real dog leave? This was very chilling. We also got to see what inspired Talk to Me’s foot sucking action, who knew demons loved toes? (We all did, that's why we never dangled our feet out of the covers)

We are brought back to Jessie’s past, the day of the total solar eclipse, the day her father sexually abused her. Then her horrible father tricks her into thinking that telling anyone would make her look bad so she promises him she won’t ever tell anyone. At this point she is convinced that the man she saw in her room last night is Death (or the Moon Man) and that he is coming back tonight to kill her so she has to act NOW. She remembers something else from the day of the eclipse, cutting her hand, which gives her an idea…

THE DEGLOVING SCENE IS SO BRUTAL. I have not been made physically ill by a horror movie in such a long time but here we are. My LANTA was that AWFUL. I had to pause it to take a break because I was thrown off by this scene, it was very well done but excruciating. (I don’t want to go back until the scary lady with the half hand is gone) I was trembling by the time she got the key to the cuffs and was getting a well earned drink from the tap.

She sees the Moon Man on her way out and gives him her wedding ring as a sort of payment, sort of like paying a coin to cross the River Styx only she gets to live. She drives her car, crashes it, but that leads people to find her. She recovers well but it is only months later that she discovers the spooky visitor she saw was a real man after all who was caught for robbing graves. She goes to his hearing and confronts him, telling him he looks small. She goes on to start a foundation to help anyone who has gone through sexual trauma like she did and tells her story everyday.

Um, this was incredibly true to the book and I loved that about it, they only did a few little things here or there to make the story flow a bit better but holy moly if they didn’t stick to the book! I am very pleased! The only thing that I would have LOVED is if she would have taken Prince the dog on as a pet but that wasn’t in the book and in fact they usually have to destroy dogs that have a taste for human flesh so… yeah… but I like to imagine it would be a very powerful move for Jessie to take the dog that terrorized her and have it become a companion cause the dog was just doing what it needed to to survive but maybe that is just me. Brilliant book, brilliant movie. Great job all around to everyone involved!

[starswirly]

Info dump on Saucer, please!!!! Give me all the information you want!! I want to know more!!

FEED ME

Also, if you want to, you can also info dump on the ship with Nightmare and Saucer! I think it’s called Rotten Apples, right?

Anon my BELOVED holy moly of COURSE I WILL AUGH!!! (And yes their ships is Rotten Apples :3c)

URGH MY SILLIES- I have slight issues and may have accidentally decided to create an entire alternate Dreamtale so my silly oc and Nightmare could have a tragic childhood friends to lovers arc, I promise I’m so so normal- I really really want to write it out in fic format one day, so I don’t want to spoil it but hmmmmm

Saucer lore- quick facts! From Dreamtale, came to the village when they were ~8 (which, there’s a whole lot for the Lore of this alternate Dreamtale [I’ve convinced myself there a lot i don’t actually know-] but basically the incident happens when they Apple Twins are in their later teens, with a much minor [but still impactful] incident happening when they were 6.) they had run away from home on a quest to become a healer, and met Nightmare that way (ish. Again, details.) the two bond and grow pretty close! Saucer is outgoing and a bit mischievous, but also socially awkward given their upbringing-

which is its own thing- Their parents are a human and a nature elemental, and had lived a pretty secluded life. Naturally, while Saucer is a very curious child, they aren’t great with people at times because of that!

Jumping ahead a bit, when the actual incident occurs, they technically die- their body is left in a limbo state thanks to Dream’s stone imprisonment (which effects the functions of the entire world. It goes wonky and the world outside of the village sort a just… deletes itself. The things left are left in limbo, slowly decaying away until the multiverse’s positivity surges and Dream escapes- breaking this world out of its purgatory.) Saucer isn’t the only one to survive, and they end up teaming with Dream to NOT die immediately after waking up thanks to still-pissed-and-vengeful …villagers? Again, details getting fuzzy, but you get the idea.

getting out into the wider multiverse, Saucer is dead set on finding Nightmare and figuring out what happened to him- a lot of time had passed and they wanted to know what happened to their friend. Dream and them part ways, as Dream is responsible for the positivity in the multiverse and as much as he wants to find his brother he also knows that it wouldn’t be good for him. He’s got his whole thing- Saucer actually DOESNT think poorly of him, just a bit disappointed.

Saucer and NM have a whole reunion/run in- and while a more canon-adjacent NM might’ve killed them, I’m a sucker for self-indulgence, and Saucer just says ‘yeah no you aren’t getting rid of me.’

Hence them becoming the eventual gang’s healer. (They tend to be much more loyal to people rather than actions- you aren’t getting rid of them if they’ve decided they’re going to be around you.)

THE SHIP THOUGH-

Oh I love them. They’re just. So much history. An understanding of everything you are and who you have been and still being loyal and loving each other because- well, it’s what feels right. Like- Saucer pretty much defying death and trekking through the multiverse to find some shadow of someone they once knew, who had been grieving over someone who should have been dead for centuries and who he never got to say goodbye to. Nightmare never having to say goodbye again- because they survived and didn’t want to leave. Just. Incoherent now, sorry, my brain is rotting-

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 287: Family Reunion

Previously on BnHA: The Tomura For One VS Deku And Pals clusterfuck reached new levels of clustfuckery as AFO possessed Tomura’s body and stabbed Kacchan and Endeavor. Shouto was all “good thing I leveled up offscreen so as to be able to fly around whilst carrying 400lbs worth of people”, and did just that and it was like, damn, son. Meanwhile Deku’s rage went Mach 100, and he kicked Tomura’s ass for almost two whole seconds, but in the process he apparently forgot that IF TOMURA TOUCHES HIM THAT IS VERY BAD, and so he stupidly let Tomura touch him and Tomura was all “GAME, SET.” Fortunately for Deku, his quirk plays by its own rules, and so the chapter ended with us cutting to the METAPHYSICAL OFA/AFO PARANORMAL DREAMSCAPE OF MYSTICAL BULLSHIT, where AFO!Vestige was all “lol Tomura y u mad”, and Nana!Vestige was all “SUP DEKU, YOU’RE JUST IN TIME, LOOKS LIKE IT’S ASSKICKING O’CLOCK.” I’m paraphrasing a bit, but that’s more or less the gist of it.

Today on BnHA: AFO is all “well if it isn’t Tomura’s grandmother who I murdered that one time”, and Deku is all “?”, and AFO is all “fucking vestiges, man, wild”, and Deku is all “??”, and AFO is all “ANYWAYS GETTIM TOMURA”, and OFA is all “NOT SO FAST”, and Deku is all “???”, and really, same. AFO then goes off on some wild tangent about how Deku is unworthy because he couldn’t protect everyone and needed help from OFA and got mad about his friends being stabbed, which is such a cold take it gave me hypothermia, but it ends up not mattering since Deku and Tomura both wake up seconds later with OFA still in the possession of its rightful owner, HOW ABOUT THAT. The chapter ends with the LoV approaching on Gigantomachia’s back with Dabi practically salivating at the mouth, and Toga trying to reignite an old fandom blood feud. Toga why would you do this to me. Toga.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS

[CROWD LOSING THEIR MINDS] FINALLY THE NANA HAS COME BACK TO BNHA!! IF YA SMELLLLL WHAT THE NANA IS COOKIN!!!!! [RINGSIDE BELL CHIMING WILDLY] [LOUD AIRHORN NOISES]

“chapter 287: mistake” omg. yeah I’ll say you made a mistake, AFO. I HOPE YOU ENJOY THESE FLEETING LAST MOMENTS OF YOUR SHITTY EVIL LIFE

(ETA: so in all seriousness this must be referring to AFO’s belief that All Might/OFA made a mistake in choosing Deku, right? “I can’t believe you went and chose this shounen manga protagonist as your champion, what were you thinking.” I’ll just put this out there: however many comic books AFO read as a child, it clearly was not enough.)

wow Deku how slow are you

yes you’re inside OFA you dimbulb, did you think your clothes suddenly vanished out of the blue and the ghost of Nana just randomly appeared in the real world by some freak coincidence?? can you believe this kid. breaks his arms a measly 10-15 times in a row and all of a sudden he can’t think straight, get it together Deku

but also brb having a moment at the fact that his thoughts immediately run back to Kacchan, even with all of this nonsense going on and Nana about to lay the beatdown on AFO’s potato-lookin’ ass. forget that noise, all he wants to know is whether or not Kacchan is all right. fuckin’ geez. AM I OVERREACTING HERE A BIT. probably

(ETA: ALSO!! the way he just trails off!! “Kacchan is...” and then he can’t bring himself to complete the thought. oh my god my heart.)

HOLY SHIT

okay,

damn but this man sure knows how to ruffle my feathers. as eminently detestable as ever!!

could it be any clearer here that AFO is not on Tomura’s side?? for a moment I thought he had actually grabbed him by the back of the head in order to get him to look. but nope, he’s just resting his pointing hand on top of his head instead while he’s all “HEY TOMURA LOL IT’S THE GHOST OF YOUR DEAD PATHETIC GRANDMA”

for those keeping track at home, this would be the first time that Deku has heard this information -- that Tomura is Nana’s grandson -- and possibly the first time Vestige!Nana has heard it as well. Nana died when Kotarou was still a child, so for all we know the Vestige!Nana didn’t even know she had a grandson, lol. TODAY ON “MAKESTE RANTS AT LENGTH ABOUT THINGS THAT WILL PROBABLY BE ADDRESSED WITHIN THE NEXT THREE PANELS”, anyway moving on

lmao for the record I fucking LOLed at this giant question mark immediately bubbling up over Deku’s head

no idea what AFO is about to ramble on about now, haven’t read that far yet. but let the record show that Deku’s immediate reaction to hearing “BTW NANA IS YOUR ARCHNEMESIS’S GRANDMA LULZ” is everything I could have hoped for

(ETA: fandom nailed the shit out of this one with the confused Mr. Krabs meme lmao.)

okay so now AFO is monologuing at length about how he would sometimes have “riveting dreams” about the previous owners of all the quirks he stole. but once he gave the quirks away they stopped bothering him?? holy moly let me just take all the notes

okay so he’s saying that Vestiges are created whenever someone has their quirk stolen by AFO. but if they then disappear when he gives the quirks away, does that also mean that whoever receives the quirks also gets the original owner’s Vestige bundled in every time?? that would be wild okay hold up let me read the rest of this

so he’s saying that the Vestiges are actually the “consciousnesses” of the original quirk owners, which have become embedded in their dna or something. SOUNDS INCREDIBLY DUBIOUS TO ME LOL but on the other hand this is a world where children can be born with airplane heads, so my disbelief can hardly afford to pick and choose what it’s gonna be suspended at! anyways though, how does he know he’s the only one who was able to converse with them? did you conduct detailed six-month follow-up interviews with everyone you gave quirks to or what

and if it really is the case that this ability was formerly exclusive to him, isn’t that more evidence than ever that OFA and AFO are actually THE EXACT SAME QUIRK oh whoops am I getting ahead of myself again, sorry

MEANWHILE TOMURA IS ALL, “GRANDMA?”

“WHY AM I HERE, WELL LET ME TELL YOU A STORY, GRANDSON. YOU SEE THAT MAN GROWING OUT OF YOUR RIBCAGE THERE? WELL IT’S JUST THE FUNNIEST THING, ACTUALLY”

WAIT SO IS HE SAYING THEY’RE SOULS OR NOT??

this makes it sound like they won’t ever get to rest, which sure sounds like a soul thing to me. well whatever, soul, consciousness, I guess it’s just semantics at the end of the day

anyways though, so this asshole is finally done talking (I’m sure that won’t last), so now we can finally have the heartwarming reunion we’ve all been waiting for

sigh

-- actually, no, not “sigh”!! you know what!! because Tomura says “whatever the reason”, but that’s only because he doesn’t actually have a fucking clue about the reason. like, I don’t know if the knowledge that AFO killed Nana would be enough to give him pause, but if he knew the whole story and knew that AFO was behind not only Nana’s death, but the rest of his family’s deaths as well... now that would be a whole different thing

anyway. but at least it’s becoming clearer now why AFO spent all that time raising Tomura up as his heir and brainwashing him even though he seems to have been planning this body takeover the whole time. it’s all because he loves making people miserable! yaaaaay

btw HAS NANA HAD THE EXACT SAME MOLE ON HER CHIN AS TOMURA THIS ENTIRE TIME WTF. am I just the least observant person who ever lived lmao

lol wtf

ground: [randomly starts exploding]

Deku: “ONE FOR ALL IS BEING ERODED!!!” LOL IS THAT WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE, OKAY THEN. I’ll take your word for it

y’all I cannot fucking get over this “AFO growing out of Tomura’s hip socket like a fucked-up ventriloquist dummy” shit though

you do realize that absolutely no one can take you seriously right now, right?? it’s important to me that you know this

WHAT’S THIS NOW

seems like SOMEONE has had it up to here with a certain SOMEONE ELSE’S bullshit lmaooo bye Felicia

I SAID GOOD DAY!!

you guys why is he not dying!!

-- OH DAMN

love how Deku is just lying there like “YOU KNOW THOSE DAYS WHERE YOU’RE LIKE, THIS MIGHT AS WELL HAPPEN.” poor Deku

(ETA: where in god’s name is OFA Prime standing. why are my thoughts fully consumed by this lmao.)

are Nana and OFA Prime even doing anything?? why are they sticking their arms out like that. wait hold up is this all a big metaphor for the back-and-forth going on between Tomura trying to steal OFA and OFA being all “actually no you can’t, please enter your password and click on all the boxes with bicycles in them to prove you’re a human first”?

OH SNAP OFA PRIME SAID NO THANKS

“SORRY BRO WE’VE ALREADY MADE OURSELVES AT HOME HERE”

I have only just noticed that metaphysical!Deku has the same scars as actual!Deku. and yet his arms are not currently broken! that doesn’t really seem consistent to me but whatever!! maybe he saved right before the boss battle, that would be smart of him

anyway, that’s great and all that OFA Prime is here helping out, but I really wanted to see Nana fight AFO in a one on one though so I’m a bit disappointed. also why is it only the two of them?? where are Banjou and the others. of all the times to be sleeping on the job

FOR FUCK’S SAKE, THIS MAN

WOULD YOU STOP. WOULD YOU JUST QUIT IT ALREADY

oh shit hold up

doesn’t this confirm that the reason he wanted to transfer his power to Tomura is because he believed it would make him strong enough to finally take OFA because of Quirk Singularity? jesus christ. and here he was so sure of himself. but it turns out he doesn’t actually know shit! you can’t just fucking take OFA like that ya dingdong that’s not how it works

(ETA: SO, A THOUGHT -- is there any sort of subtle hinting here in the way that he words this? “if your strength is combined with mine”, as opposed to “if my strength is combined with yours”? no idea if the admittedly-so-small-as-to-be-almost-inconsequential distinction between those two sentences exists in the original Japanese or not, but I find it very interesting that the English wording implies that he’s the one adding Tomura’s strength to his own, rather than vice versa.)

now he’s insulting Deku!!

excuse me sir WHO ASKED YOU anyway. and never mind that being consumed by an, AND I QUOTE, “unquenchable” rage is your protege’s whole THING, and that he also needed your help to avoid being burned to a crisp a short while ago. where do you get off I swear

(ETA: also just want to point out that in the panel before this one he says that he’s been “watching through Tomura”, which pretty much confirms that his consciousness or whatever is alive inside of him all the time. Tomura is definitely not getting rid of this guy any time soon.)

WOW

first he calls Kacchan useless, then he calls Deku a simpleton, and don’t even get me started with Nana. just, you guys. this man is just... a very, very rude man

NOW OFA IS ALL “THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT MAKES HIM SUCH A GOOD PROTAGNIST YOU BUTTMUNCH” AND OMG PREACH

“DESPITE HIS COMMON SENSE” sdfkllk my man he already has one brother roasting him, take it easy guy

AHH WHAT

IS THIS BACK IN THE REAL WORLD

YEP

hahaha nice try Tomura

so Deku’s all “I didn’t lose my power! BUT” and I assume the “but” is the part where his arms are still broken and shit, and meanwhile Tomura’s body is almost healed up now finally

they’re both wiped out and now AFO is again petitioning Tomura to let him take over goddammit

“you won’t lose your mind” yep, he sure won’t! scout’s honor!! pinky swear!!

meanwhile Deku is getting fucking desperate flkjl;k my baby. and Machia is going to show up any second now too, probably. what else can fucking go wrong at this point

oh shit I shouldn’t have asked

get ready to rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrruuuumble, probably

OH MY GOD

WELL AT LEAST SOMEONE HERE IS HAVING A GOOD TIME. jesus

so as soon as he heard Endeavor was there he got all, “TIME FOR THE BIG REVEAL”, is that right? WELL JOKE’S ON YOU TOUYA, YOUR DAD DOESN’T SEEM ALL THAT CONSCIOUS AT THE MOMENT, SO THAT’S GOING TO DRAIN A LOT OF THE TENSION FROM THE SCENE WHEN YOU GO ALL REVERSE DARTH VADER ON HIM AND HE’S ALL “ZZZZZZZZ”

meanwhile Toga is having unsettlingly quiet angst

jesus christ Toga this is all we need right now

“WAS JIN-KUN NOT A PERSON” sdkfjlk Horikoshi I swear. please have mercy on this fandom. this is the debate that refuses to die!!

but seriously ffs, the issue isn’t that Jin deserved to die, it’s that the countless people whom Jin would have either directly or indirectly killed didn’t deserve to die either. people don’t only become people when you attach names and faces to them! we all loved Jin because we’d gotten to know him, but that doesn’t mean his life was inherently worth more than the lives of all the people he would have killed. sometimes there’s just no good answer

like, it’s just crazy to me that because the heroes are all “we want to protect everyone!” but then aren’t always able to do so because that’s literally impossible, whereas the villains are all “we don’t care about anyone other than the select few people that we actually like!”, the villains somehow wind up getting the better PR. it just so happens that it’s infinitely easier to be loyal to the interests of a few people as opposed to ALL THE PEOPLE. like, no shit, it’s easier to stick to your moral code when you barely have a moral code. and so the villains can kill thousands and no one bats an eye, but if a hero fails to save even one person they’re hypocritical moral failures. like what the hell

BUT ANYWAY, sorry to go off on a tangent there lol, it’s not really a big deal. I’m just preemptively trying to stave off more discourse about it lol but who am I even kidding

anyways lol, but of course they won’t kill you unless they have no choice, Toga. but when it comes to catch-22 situations, it’s a bit much to infer that the heroes don’t consider the villains people just because they opt for the choice that spares more innocent lives. I sure as hell don’t want my babies out here killing people, but to say that they can’t no matter what or else they’re no different from the villains is just...

anyway so the chapter has now just ENDED, just like that!! on a shot of Ochako’s face!

I SENSE ANOTHER THROWDOWN COMING. and it had better not be a total letdown like the last one! NANA BARELY DID ANYTHING HORIKOSHI, WHAT THE FUCK. I started out with such high hopes lol

but I will settle for Toga VS Ochako, and Deku VS Tomura: The Sequel: Shouto’s Revenge! SPEAKING OF HEROES WHO HAVE NO QUALMS ABOUT MURDERING PEOPLE lmao

[mxrekai]

You see this tweet? This tweet right here?

It’s gross and I’ll tell you why, and I’ll break down the article as well because it makes me as angry as a bull.

You simply CAN NOT break these characters down to these (biased!) individual traits. And in Jason’s case, it’s not even a trait, it’s just damn slander with a photo of him dead attached to it, because DC still likes to push the narrative that it’s his fault he died. When in reality, he was a CHILD who was tricked and betrayed by his mother, and in the end still tried to save his mother who was responsible for his death. Joker and Sheila are responsible for this child’s death, NOT HIM.

These are all incredibly complex characters, with incredibly biased descriptions.

For Dick (the only one with his hero name for some reason), the oversexualized Robin by the fandom is more like it rather than ‘the cute Robin’. Which is kinda sad because he has a lot of depth that can be explored and stories that have been told that are really great (not Ric, screw that guy). Like his relationship with Bruce, his relationship with Damian, his relationship with his teams, his life outside of heroism, police life, dealing with his mental health, etc.

From what we’ve seen if I had to pick a single descriptor for him, I’d pick “The protective Robin” or “The first Robin”

Because he’s always willing to throw himself into harm's way to save others. Especially when it comes to his found family. Or the first Robin works well because he was the first. He started the whole Robin line.

For Tim, I’m sorry but I can’t really comment on Tim because I haven’t read his run yet, it’s on my to do list. But from what I have seen from other comics that include him, ‘the smart robin’ doesn’t fit very well because to be Robin they ALL had to be smart. And they all were smart Robins.

If I had to describe Tim, it would be “the detective Robin” because out of all of them, he is the best detective and is the most proficient at it.

For Damian... oh boy, I’m so sorry but he’s not my favorite Robin at all. But I know he’s complex and has depth. If anyone who reads this is a Damian stan, feel free to add onto this and tag me.

And last but definitely not least... Jason Todd.

This whole tweet and the article attached is Jason Todd slander (not what I pay for the DC Universe app for!) and a misrepresentation of his character.

“The Robin we’d like to smack some sense into.”

He👏was👏not👏a👏bad👏robin👏

He was a CHILD who just wanted to help and make a difference! He wanted to help the people in crime alley because he knew what it was like to be in that situation and he wanted to save people! When he first put on his Robin suit it gave him MAGIC. He had Robin magic but that Robin magic wasn’t enough to save him from getting beat to death by the joker.

Yes, sometimes he did not listen but that goes for EVERY robin, my girl Carrie Kelly included.

He had sense, he was also a child who made mistakes! Like all the other Robins!

Then he was brought back under the WORST possible circumstances, to come back and find out his death had little to no impact (unbeknownst to him of Bruce’s grief). Then go under some intense training, deal with pit madness, have his mind tainted with, then grow some problems with the man he loved who took care of him. His father.

If I had to pick a label for Jason? It’d be the discarded Robin. He was this boy who was thrown away by the fandom at the time by murder. Then like a broken toy, the writers proceeded to get a new Robin.

Or the redeemed Robin. When Jason was reborn as Red Hood, overtime he became a fan favorite in the DC community. Even won DC’s sexiest man. He was hated at first but is now loved by many.

Heck, maybe even that label because he’s grown from his first resurrection so much. Instead of being angry at the world, he’s now chosen to accept what happened to him and even reconcile his relationship with his family.

Or even the

Now onto the article...

Holy moly, this article sucked all the life out of me until I was left DCeased (get it?). It is way too obvious an angry stan wrote this.

Oh. My. God.

How is this in any way Jason’s fault? I don’t recall him having the ability to write his own comic book? This is the writers fault, not Jason’s.

Onto the second one.

Okay, sure it was rude to interrupt them, I’ll give them that one. But I’m also pretty sure Jason’s insert was for comedic effect. Tons of comic books have these moments.

I had to laugh at the “SO NATURALLY JASON TODD DID SOMETHING ANNOYING TO INTERRUPT IT” it’s just, damn. This article just reeks of bitterness.

This one confused me, so I went to go read the comic book that they were talking about. This, once again, was intended to be a comedic moment. Jason was simply expressing his excitement for going to go to the Gotham library so he blurts our “Holy Gutenberg!”. Bruce spins him around and tells him to never do that again. Even Jason’s confused on why he doesn’t like the reference. I think this is simply comedy, such as when he threatens to fire Carrie if she moved the batplane in the animated movie.

If a crowbar was right there Bruce NEVER would have grabbed it to hurt Jason over a REFERENCE. No sane person would.

Let’s look at the keywords here,

“Nightwing took a heavy dose of Scarecrow’s fear gas and had an extended nightmare about an alternate life.”

Once again, YOU WANT TO BEAT JASON UP FOR SOMETHING OUT OF HIS CONROL, AND NOT HIS FAULT? TO TOP IT OFF, NOT REAL?

Want someone to blame? Blame Scarecrow and the fear toxins for making Dick see all that. This was an alternate dream reality, no characters were in control or even there.

Yknow what, valid. Honestly, I’m pretty sure the heroes there have memorials elsewhere as well and Jason only got that robin suit on display (which was honestly more so to remind Bruce of his failure and make himself feel guilty), but fair.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, this better have been some abstract marketing (which I hope it was) for the new Death in the Family movie coming out.

All in all, the Jason slander from DC was infuriating and frankly unnecessary. He deserves so much better because once again, he is a complex character who deserves a deep dive. 

Please remember that this is just my two cents/opinion, and it is totally okay if you disagree with anything I said here. 

Have a good day :)

[tiramisiyu]

【未定事件簿】Tears of Themis: Main Story 5-29 Translation

--

Translated parts: Chapter 5 – Sounds of Falling Snow (Part 1, 2, 3): 5-1 / 5-3 / 5-5 / 5-7 / 5-9 / 5-11 / 5-13 ♦️ ♦️  5-14 / 5-16 / 5-18 / 5-20 / 5-22 / 5-24 / 5-26 / 5-28 ♦️ ♦️ 5-29 / 5-31 / 5-33 / 5-35 / 5-37 / 5-39 / 5-40 / 5-42 / 5-43

  Translation Masterlist: here

Video: (0:01) https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV15a4y1j7CW?

Stellis City Police Station

Tuesday morning, 7AM, Stellis City Police Station.

10 hours had already passed since the laboratory Heirson built at Rainbow River Village caught fire.

I could no longer remember how I was able to get through these past 10 hours.

The pictures in my mind were like stained glass that the sun couldn’t shine through. The colours were sharp, but they were blurred out of clarity.

Xia Yan: You must be tired. I’ll send you home first.

A thin and light blanket wrapped on my body. Unable to control myself, I toppled towards Xia Yan’s shoulder.

I was indeed very tired, from my heart to my body. Fatigue had chipped away my ability to think. For now, I just wanted to follow my instincts and find something I could rely on.

MC: Was there really nothing left in that laboratory?

Xia Yan: I’m sorry. I couldn’t bring out that bottle of samples.

MC: Xia Yan, I’m not talking about that bottle of samples. You being able to run out from the fire, safe and unharmed, is already the biggest comfort to me.

MC: Not to mention that you were able to catch Wang Han, who set the fire.

MC: I just think it’s a pity that some fire could actually burn that laboratory so thoroughly, leaving not a single bit of worthwhile information.

Xia Yan: It is true that Wang Han appeared outside the laboratory, but I think he was actually just finding out about our movements.

Xia Yan: With Wang Han’s ability, devising a plan on the spot to set some fire shouldn’t be enough to burn everything so thoroughly.

Xia Yan: This laboratory just might have a self-destruction mechanism. The fire might be an internal, self-starting installation.

MC: Either way, Wang Han has already been brought to the city police station. No matter what suspicious points there are, we’ll wait until we can ask him.

MC: We also don’t have to pretend to deal with him with sincerity. We can uncover all his lies in front of him. 

Xia Yan: Right, what’s up with Sun Heping? Why did he follow us to the city police station?

MC: He came to be an eyewitness. I really need to thank Grandpa Sun well, he helped me a lot.

--

[Flashback]

In the warlike turmoil and chaos, I finally finished the whole process of calling the police.

I took up my phone and kept dialing Xia Yan’s number, mechanically and repeating, just like a programmed robot.

MC: Xia Yan, pick up the phone… hurry and pick up, I’m begging you.

MC: Let me hear your sound - even just replying with a number is enough. 

All my attention was set on my phone, so I naturally wasn’t aware of the gradually-nearing danger behind me.

Sun Heping: Little brat, get smacked!

???: Ow!

The cry of pain coming from behind me startled me to consciousness.

I turned around, pulled out the lipstick tranquillizer gun that Xia Yan had given me from my pocket, shooting towards the man who was holding his leg and collapsed on the ground.

Just as Xia Yan said, within 30 seconds, that man lost consciousness.

Sun Heping: Whoa, the young woman brought a self-defense weapon. Not bad, not bad.

MC: Grandpa Sun, what are you doing here?

I looked carefully at the man lying down. It was an unfamiliar face.

MC: Who is this person? He snuck into the yard, wanting to… assault me?

Zhao Yuncui’s agritourism guest house was one floor, connected to the little yard outside. The yard perimeter was surrounded by plants. A grown man could’ve easily gotten past them.

The push-pull door connecting the house and the yard was wide open. It would have been as easy was blowing away dust for this man to intrude in…

Sun Heping: He’s Wang Han’s son, just called back from the city by his father.

Sun Heping: Your phone is right there, so call the police. I’ll go be a witness for you.

[Flashback end]

--

Xia Yan: So it was like this…

I thought that Xia Yan would be very angry after listening, but his expression was very calm – it was just that his tone when talking…

This expression of his looked extremely like the calm before a storm. He must not be thinking about personally teaching a lesson to Wang Han’s son!

MC: Xia Yan, you… though Wang Han’s son is pretty hateful, he didn’t manage to do anything…

MC: We live in a lawful society, so please don’t act rashly.

From when we were small to now, Xia Yan’s always been the person who is most defensive of me, but…

MC: Think about it - if you hit him and got taken into custody, that wouldn’t be worth it at all.

I suddenly had an “idea”, and what escaped from my mouth sounded as if it were missing something.

MC: If you got detained, then Peanut*, that one bird, will starve to death at home.

Xia Yan: …

MC: (What am I saying…)

Xia Yan: I didn’t think that if I got detained, then the one you would be worried about wouldn’t actually be me – it would be Peanut!

Peanut was a myna bird that Xia Yan raised. After going through professional training, it was very smart.

I thought it strange, why Xia Yan would raise a defense animal like a myna bird.

Thinking about his agent identity now, it must be some special reason having to do with that.

MC: You really have gotten more and more “mature” - splitting hairs with a bird.

Xia Yan: Alright, I know you’re teasing me.

Xia Yan: Don’t worry, I won’t directly do anything to Wang Han’s son.

Xia Yan: My mission is to protect the order and maintain the safety of society. How could I do illegal things?

Xia Yan: But…

He leaned close to my ear. The hot breath brushed over my ear, tickling it.

Xia Yan: I’ll definitely give him a taste of suffering and blow off steam for you.

MC: Okay, then I’ll look forward to it.

Just like in years of youth, how children will often mutually “shelter” little secrets about mischievous actions – this was Xia Yan’s and my secret.

Xia Yan: I should send you home. You really need rest.

MC: There’s no issue, I’m still fine…

Sun Heping: Didn’t you two say that you specifically planned to go to the village to find me?

Sun Heping: Why is it that I’ve been troubled for a day and a night, yet I still haven’t seen you ask me anything?

I hadn’t finished speaking when Sun Heping appeared from who knows what place. “Disappearing and appearing randomly” really is an apt description for him…

MC: (Grandpa Sun… it was clearly you who refused to talk, alright…)

MC: Your willingness to provide help really is great. How about we find a quiet place to slowly talk about it?

Sun Heping: No need, here is fine. This old man is open and candid. I’ve got nothing that I need to hide from people.

MC: (I just wanted to ensure that the investigation wouldn’t leak…)

Xia Yan: I just greeted Leader Yan. This office won’t have anyone come in for now, don’t worry.

MC: Okay, then let’s talk here.

INTERROGATION START

Sun Heping’s whereabouts that day

MC: Last year on September 12, did you not know Kong Moli was coming?

Sun Heping: No, I don’t really use cellphones, and I didn’t keep any ways of getting in contact with Moli.

Sun Heping: Originally, I thought that either way, I wasn’t going out of the village, so she’d be able to find me anyways. Who would’ve thought… ah.

Sun Heping: That day, my home suffered a thievery. I caught the little thief and went to the police station to create a record.

Sun Heping: Who would have thought that the thief wouldn’t admit it no matter what. We spent a good half of the day at the police station. Moli couldn’t wait, so she left first.

Xia Yan: Is the thief you are talking about Qiu Heng?

On the return road to the city, I told Xia Yan about the information from Zuo Ran’s investigation yesterday.

Sun Heping: It was indeed him. He even said that he thought that the mutated Rainbow heart fish was worth money, so he went to steal it, hah hah – you could clearly tell it’s a lie from listening to it.

MC: He even had the face to say this kind of reason…

MC: Do you know the reason Kong Moli left in a rush?

Sun Heping: I heard from Wang Han that it was for someone’s birthday. It should be the birthday of the child she adopted.

Kong Moli’s reason for coming

MC: On September 12, what was Kong Moli’s reason for visiting you?

Sun Heping: She wanted the mutated Rainbow heart fish I had raised.

Xia Yan: Mutated? What kind of mutations are you talking about – could you explain in detail?

Sun Heping: Mutated was actually just what Moli called it. From my perspective, those fish were just smaller than typical Rainbow heart fish, and were unable to grow large.

Sun Heping: Moli had taken pictures of the mutated Rainbow heart fish before, but according to her, those photos were stolen by people, so she needed the living fish as physical evidence.

MC: Stolen?

The stolen pictures made me think of Kong Moli’s notebook that had two pages ripped out.

Up to now, we still didn’t know exactly what the notebook was missing.

Sun Heping: Before that lawsuit of Moli’s, the paper mill was closed. Heirson also stopped operations. Both sides weren’t able to collect water samples.

Sun Heping: Without any way to examine again, the fish I raised was the only proof.

Youyou’s origin

MC: You know Youyou? That is, Mu Ziyou.

Sun Heping: I don’t quite remember the name. I just know it’s a boy.

Sun Heping: Kong Moli met that child the first time she went to the laboratory.

Sun Heping: No one knew who or where the child’s parents were. When we asked if he ran out of the laboratory, he also didn’t say.

Sun Heping: The only people from outside in Rainbow River Village were those from the paper mill and the laboratory.

Sun Heping: If it was a child lost on vacation, he would’ve been found much earlier.

Sun Heping: Thinking about it, that child most likely ran out of the laboratory.

Noticing Kong Moli’s death

MC: Do you know how Kong Moli’s accident was discovered?

Sun Heping: It was me who noticed it. It was also me who called the police.

MC: Weren’t you unable meet with her that day?

Sun Heping: It was because I didn’t find her, and I knew that she urgently needed those fish, that I thought about sending it to her in the city.

Sun Heping: I drove the house’s tractor to the passenger terminal at the bottom of the mountain. Halfway, I saw Moli’s car stuck on the guardrails.

Sun Heping: I didn’t see her, so I called police.

Xia Yan: At the scene of the accident, did you notice anything abnormal?

Sun Heping: No. I also didn’t dare to touch anything at the scene, fearing that I would end up causing trouble to the police.

[Got Sun Heping’s Testimony!]

Household situation

MC: We heard that you live alone. Your family members aren’t with you?

Sun Heping: …

Seeming to not expect that we would ask this, Sun Heping froze.

Sun Heping: The situation in my house doesn’t have any relation to this case. You two, don’t ask without grounds.

Looking at it, there really is no need to investigate Sun Heping’s family situation. I just asked casually. If he’s not willing to talk about it, then we’ll just forget it. 

INTERROGATION END

Sun Heping: I’m finished being a witness for the police, and you’ve finished asking the questions you need to ask, so I’ll return to the village.

Xia Yan: Grandpa Sun, I’ll send you.

Sun Heping: No need. If you have time, you should accompany your little girlfriend instead.

Xia Yan: …

MC: …

Sun Heping headed off, while Xia Yan and I had more, harder questions to solve.

Xia Yan: Combined with my investigation at the laboratory, I can basically guess where Mu Ziyou came from.

--

TL notes:

* “Peanut” in Chinese also sounds nearly identical to the Chinese for “Watson” (both are “huasheng”).

[aggressive-positivity-network]

People that are misrepresented and/or villainized that more people need to talk about:

1. Nuerodiverse people: My father said it best - “Equal doesn’t mean everyone gets the same thing, it means everyone gets what they need.” Our society is so against “lazy culture” that it believes any extra help is a blessing, not a right. You need more breaks at work because people physically exhaust you? Harper works twenty shifts a week PLUS overtime, so suck it up! You had a breakdown the other day, so you can’t come to lunch? Fine, I’ll just never invite you again, since you like being ALONE so much! You have a hyperfixation that isn’t normal, but you finally get to talk about it? Ew, no one likes [insert interest here], why are you into THAT? People are unique machines, and sometimes people just don’t fit what is expected of them. Of course everyone must make sacrifices, and they can’t do exactly what they want all the time, but for some neurodiverse people, that’s a given. They already give so much up or push things to the side. Why do they need to stretch themselves even thinner for YOU? Being held to a certain standard is one thing, but raising that bar higher than some can reach is one of the biggest problems in our nation. People shouldn’t have to hide who they are just because their stimming or panic attack is making you uncomfy.

2. Trans Women: Of course trans men get plenty of hate, and I am not denying that in the slightest. However, the fear mongering that people use to deny trans women’s rights is astounding, especially about bathrooms and women’s sports. First of all, when has a man EVER dressed up as a woman to commit ANY sort of rape or whatever you’re claiming they do? Second of all, do you think a psychopathic killer/rapist/kidnapper would be stopped by a measly sign? What sort of Harry Potter world are you living in where a sign will protect you from criminals? And, on the subject of sports, you claim that a trans woman can’t be on a women sports team, because men are inherently stronger than women. There are SO many women athletes that are MUCH stronger than a lot of men. It isn’t about biology, it’s about training. You don’t just come out a weight lifter, or a runner, or a swimmer! You’re just using their trans identity as an excuse to cry about how you got third place. Sorry you suck, but that is NO reason to deny a person their rights as a human being. Men are not out to get you, or to claw their way above everyone else. Not all of them are creeps, sexists, rapists, or psychopaths. So why are trans men any different?

3. Furries: Okay, okay, one of these things are not like the others. After all, you CHOOSE your interests. But imagine if you made this painting, right? And you spent hours just pouring yourself into this work of art. You looked over every detail, learned and gained from past mistakes, and brushed every centimeter of paint with artistic scrutiny. You finish, and you step back. All of your hard work paid off. The painting looks immaculate. You decide this is good enough to share on social media. Reddit, Instagram, TikTok, whatever. You are so proud of your accomplishment. Comments start flooding in. However, instead of congratulating all your hard work and money and time you put into this painting, they are only talking about one aspect: the bridge you had put over the river. It’s front and center, and each piece of wood was drawn with excellent detail. But they aren’t impressed...no, they’re disgusted! They claim that you have a fetish for bridges, that you built it wrong, or that no bridge looks like that. But OTHER people paint bridges, you cry. Why am I not allowed to paint them?! Well, the comments reply, they’re in the background, where they belong. And they actually look NORMAL! That’s what furries/fursuit makers have to deal with ALL THE TIME! Not only that, but they are blasted on the internet, made the butt of every joke, and hated on to no end. Why the hell would you cheer on your favorite football mascot but call furries freaks in the same breath?

4. Single/stay at home fathers: Moms aren’t the only ones who take care of the kids! Holy moly! Dads are fully capable of raising healthy, happy children, and being fully in tune with their emotions and needs. They aren’t babysitting, or giving mom the day off, or pedophiles staring at children in the playground. And when they get angry at their children, which is bound to happen, people think that the father is being abusive or incompetent, when, in reality, the child is just being a little crap, as children do. There have been instances where people grab a dad’s child because they picked the child up and were mistaken for a kidnapper! Um, hello?! Don’t you think a child would cry or something if a complete stranger picked them up, or yell for help? Kids aren’t completely stupid! They know who their daddies are.

There are so many more! Please, feel free to reblog and talk about people who need to be represented!

[scurvgirl]

Live

Holy moly I actually wrote something. And while in grad school no less.

Zevran/Male Surana; my boy’s name is Faleris (Fal)

Synopsis:  A mage's phylactery is a leash, and they are done with leashes. All they ever wanted was to live, free of the Crows and of the Circle. Fal freed Zevran from the Crows, and it's time for Zevran to return the favor.

Warnings for: Blood, self-harm (for blood magic purposes), near death experiences, implied sexual content

This is also available on AO3 under the same title.

Please remember that reblogs and comments make a content creator’s world and will prompt content you like!

__________

It did not escape his notice that of all the buildings to sustain damage during the battle, Denerim’s Chantry was one of the least hit. Not to say it wasn’t damaged, but it wasn’t rubble. There was a smudged but clear ring of darker dirt surrounding the abbey, marking the place where so many people decided they would die fighting to protect the Chantry. He could contemplate the sadness of the loss of life, but now was not the time. Rather, it was fortunate for him and his purposes this night.

Zevran slipped into the Chantry, quick and unnoticed, the shadows concealing him like a familiar coat. His steps made no noise, his eyes were quick, his decisions quicker. Not so long ago, he would have been reveling in this, the knowledge he was in a place he wasn’t supposed to be, about to do something many did not want to happen, but also something some did want. So much had changed in a short amount of time. He wasn’t that man anymore, and thank the Maker for that.

“The elvhen word for love is vhenan.” Fal whispered, gently running his finger down Zevran’s arm.

“A pretty word,” Zevran murmured sleepily.

“I think...I think my father was Dalish, because he would say that sometimes. I remember him saying my name and that. Vhenan.”

“Amor…”

“And this word, I want it for us. I want it for you...vhenan.”

The corridor was lit with the bare minimum number of candles, casting large shadows that made this easy. None of this was easy though.

The door he wanted was located in the Revered Mother’s quarters. Zevran happened to know she was currently occupied at the palace, praying over the brave souls who risked their lives during the battle. The Chantry had unfortunately been too small to house all of them, and the newly minted King had graciously allowed the use of the palace to serve as an infirmary.

Zevran opened the door with the key he had swiped from the Mother earlier in the day. The door lead to a dark downward sloping staircase that Zevran descended swiftly. There were no sounds of activity, but there was another barrier he would need to pass in order to reach his destination.

His ears pricked and he stopped, listening carefully.

“I love your ears,” Fal purred, nibbling at the sensitive lobe.

Metal scraped against stone - Templar. A lone one given the limited sounds and the fact that he knew that the Templars were largely called to assist in other areas of the city that had sustained significant magical damage.

Relying on his hearing and hands, Zevran finished descending the stairs. The landing was small and the templar stood guard at a wide, metal door. There wasn’t much room to maneuver, but Zevran was nothing if not skilled. Leveraging all his quickness, Zevran rounded the edge of the room, maintaining himself in the templar’s blindspot. He dropped to the floor behind the templar, struck out with his legs, knocking the guard to the ground.

“Oomf!” Zevran grabbed hold of the helmet and slammed it into the ground once, twice, until he was sufficiently knocked unconscious. There. He’ll wake up with a nasty headache and bump on his head, but he wouldn’t be dead unlike many of his fellows.

Zevran picked up the key loop from the templar’s belt and went to the task of opening the door. There was a total of four keys to open the damned thing, but he was determined.

“You’re quite talented, you know,” Fal said, fully clothed in broad daylight, watching Zevran sharpen his knives.

Zevran quirked a brow, “I am happy to show you my talents.”

Fal rolled his eyes, “Outside of lovemaking and death. I mean, your mind, you’re clever.”  

The door swung open and there he was, standing inside a vault full of blood, but he only wanted to find one.

“I wish I wasn’t a mage sometimes,” Fal confessed, his body turned away from Zevran’s.

“Why? Your magic is beautiful, and quite enjoyable.”

“It’s a leash. No matter how good I am, how much I try, they’ll always hunt me down if they so much as think I’ve stepped out of line. An elven mage? We’re hunted.”

Zevran turned over and wrapped his arms around Faleris, holding him tightly, angry at a world that seemed determined to villainize his lover. “I won’t let that happen.”

There were thousands of vials, hallways full of racks of blood with neat labels. His skin itched from the magic permeating the air, making him angry at the hypocrisy. It was blood magic, using a mage’s own blood to track them, not that the Chantry would ever admit it.

Fal relaxed in Zevran’s arms, “When I don’t dream of darkspawn, I dream of them. I prefer the darkspawn.”

As clever as Fal believed him to be, Zevran had no idea how the vials were organized. He started with the obvious thought, alphabetical, but it there were only clusters of alphabetized vials. There were no consistent...wait, there. He gently moved a vial to the side, finding a plaque reading “9:1 Dragon”. Of course, they were organized by the year each mage was harrowed. Fal had told Zevran of the Harrowing, how they stuck demons inside of apprentices and expected them to resist it otherwise they were killed. Or even worse, they weren’t even Harrowed and were made tranquil.

Zevran moved through the racks faster after that, checking the dated sections, going further back and to the left until he found a half-full section labeled “9:30 Dragon.” This was it, Fal’s phylactery had to be here...and there it was. There weren’t many phylacteries for the year, given the state of affairs, but there was Fal’s - a small, glass tube that looked like every other vial in the room. The blood was bright red, the stopper laden with magic.

“I want you to feel something,” Fal whispered, leaning over Zevran, already naked and wanting.

“I already feel it -

“Not that, silly! But this.” Fal ran his hands down his sides, incredible pinpricks of energy and pleasure sinking into his skin. Zevran gasped then groaned.

“It’s my magic, for you. I want you to love it like I do.”

Zevran flipped them over, kissing Fal deeply, “Oh I love it.”

There was no pleasure with this magic, but the prickliness was familiar. The blood was familiar too, though he wouldn’t have known it if it were not for the label. All blood looked the same, but this...this was taken from Faleris when he was just a child, to be tracked if he ever deigned to leave the confines of that prison they call a Circle. Or if he dared to use magic they deemed wrong.

This was it, Zevran thought, this was how he died. It was terrible too, just when he had decided to live again, when he discovered what it was to love and be loved in turn.

“Vhenan! No! No! You can’t, you can’t!” Fal...he was crying and screaming.

“Shh, shh, amor, it’s alright.” He tried to speak, but there was too much blood in his mouth. He knew they were out of the healing poultices. He knew that Fal had no real skills as a healer. He was so gifted in his magic, but healing...it wasn’t one of them. And Wynne wasn’t near.

“Vhenan, I...I won’t lose you. Just...just hold on for me, please.” How could Zevran not do as Fal asked when he sounded like that, when he looked like that - broken and crying, the dirt and blood on his face making his hazel eyes stand out even more?

Fal reached down and pulled out a knife Zevran kept on his belt, and before Zevran could process it, Fal was dragging the knife across his palm. Forbidden words slipped past his lips and the blood spilling from his hand began to move. The pain in Zevran’s body faded slightly, and Fal cut himself again. More pain faded. Another cut. Less pain.

It took five cuts for Zevran to find the strength to reach up and snatch the knife away.

“You will not kill yourself because of me!”

“I’m...fine.” Fal collapsed in Zevran’s arms, bloody and exhausted but alive.

Back at camp, Wynne healed them both and she thankfully said nothing about the obvious carnage done to Fal’s hand.

Zevran left the vault with the vial tucked into his cloak. He had “accidentally” knocked over a couple of the other vials in the vault to make it less obvious that Fal’s vial was missing. After everything Fal had done for the world...the world owed him his freedom at least. Zevran knew that the world wouldn’t give what wouldn’t be taken, so he took it for Fal.

He sneaked his way back into the palace, up to the private bedrooms where a specific elven mage lay unconscious and healing.

He closed the door to the bedroom behind him and took off his outer layers, palming the small vial.

“I know it’s late, mi amor, but when has that stopped us?” He asked the silent man.

“Mm, yes, the Deep Roads. You hated it there, never in the mood for anything fun if you couldn’t feel the sun the next day.” He climbed onto the bed and kissed Fal’s temple gently, careful not to touch any of the bruises that still colored his body.

“I love you, how can I...even if I liked that, how...would you forgive me?” Fal asked, pain clear on his face even in the low light of the fire.

“Mi amor, you have found a way to live. I beg you, live.”

Fal had taken Morrigan’s gamble, and still he was here in this bed, nearly motionless, breathing shallow, and barely clinging to life. Zevran would have hunted the witch if he didn’t know that even this much was a miracle thanks to her.

Zevran crawled into the bed, careful not to jostle Fal. He took Fal’s right hand, pausing to run a thumb over the ugly scar that marred his palm. He kissed the scar for what felt like the  hundredth time, hoping it wasn’t his last. He took the vial out of his shirt pocket and pressed it to Fal’s palm.

“You’re free, amor, they won’t ever be able to hunt you. You’re safe.” He kissed Fal’s lips, his heart hurting terribly in his chest. “Now, please, live. Live. ”

[batbobsession]

So I saw the Hunchback of Notre Dame to alleviate the isolation...

Spoilers ahead.

With @lumiereswig‘s recent reblog of her Hadestown experience, I thought I’d share a musical that I saw virtually—the Hunchback of Notre Dame.  This was not a Disney adaptation, I repeat, they took the good stuff from the movie and then told the story straight from the book.

And oh my gosh, it got dark, so spoilers ahead.

Frollo got humanized and it makes him more terrifying.  First off, he’s played by Patrick Page, who, thanks to my recent research, plays Hades in Hadestown, and if that doesn’t draw parallels I don’t know what will

Anyway, Frollo has a brother who is actually a good person and elopes with a Roma woman.  Frollo finds him dying and he gives Frollo his child, who is disfigured, and Frollo, giving us the first reason why we should hate him, tells his dying brother “wow, this thing is a monster because of your sins” and then his brother dies.

Of course, they sing the Dies Irae directly after—an indirect foreshadowing of Frollo’s death by Quasimodo’s hands

“The saints blessed him and the monsters protected him.” my GOODNESS what a line!

And my gosh, the way they introduce Quasimodo is so freaking genius.  Michael Arden comes out like any regular man and then SMEARS HIS FACE WITH BLACK PAINT as Frollo ties the hump to his back (THE SYMBOLISM THERE OMG) and the bells descend from the curtains above as the chorus swells.

Also the chorus plays the statues and each one has its own personality.  It’s so obvious that the statues’ voices are all Quasimodo’s inner psyche tugging him one way and then the other, and every time they speak they use small bells or cymbals to accent their words.

Also Quasimodo can barely speak…UNTIL HE SINGS.  Arden has such an amazing, youthful voice, and I could feel his anxiety for freedom in “Out There.”

And then Frollo comes upstairs and RUINS EVERYTHING.  He uses this kind but CONDESCENDING tone that just makes me want to throw something. Instead of ABC’s, Frollo tells Quasimodo the story of the flight into Egypt, when Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus fled from the persecution of the firstborn and were protected by St. Aphrodisius—MORE FORESHADOWING.  But they are so RUDELY interrupted by the Feast of Fools, and on that note

Phoebus is actually a cocky SOB—like sure, they sent me in just in case the festival goes awry, but all I’m really here for are the ladies, rest and recreation!

AND THEN CLOPIN SHOWS UP and introduces ESMERELDA and she dances and Phoebus is like “I’ve seen the face of an angel! I’ve been forever changed!”

With Quasimodo’s arrival they announce the contest for the king of fools, and that scene is pulled straight from the movie.  Aside from a few little details, they didn’t change much.

And after all that Esmerelda chases him down and tries to apologize, but is stopped by Frollo, who’s like “ew, I know your kind, you practice dark magic” and Esmerelda’s like “if I had magic, I’d use it to save my people!” and Frollo is like “well shoot she’s smart” and then gets tempted

Esmerelda says something very Christian-like and Frollo is like “oh, you wish to be saved? Stay until the end of the service I’d be happy to teach you” and leaves and she sings “God Help the Outcasts” and holy moly does Ciara Renee have a voice or what

But at the end of the song she sees Quasimodo watching her and runs after him, and the statues are yelling at him to find a place to hide, quickly, quickly, she’ll see you

But she finds him and finds out he’s nearly deaf because of all the bells he’s been ringing all his life. He tells her he was talking to his friends and then berates himself, and Esmerelda’s like “No, that’s wonderful, I like your friends.”  And Quasimodo’s face just lights up and immediately starts ringing the bells and telling them to sing for her—if that’s not the most wonderful show of affection I don’t know what is.

They both sing “The Top of the World” and throughout the whole thing Quasimodo slowly realizes that she’s not going to berate him like Frollo would and you just see him become more and more animated throughout the song.  At the end of the song she kisses him on the cheek and you can tell, you can tell that’s the first time he’s been kissed at all

And then Frollo comes upstairs and RUINS EVERYTHING. “Quasimodo what were you doing ringing the bells off-schedule?” He turns and sees Esmerelda and is all like “oh, I thought you had left! I can still teach you the ways of the church, just stay here forever.” And Esmerelda, bless her soul, actually turns him down politely.  “I don’t think this is a good idea.” Frollo reaches for her hand and she backs away.  “I see the way you look at me.”

Frollo jumps back like he’s been stung by the most overdramatic wasp in the world ���hOW DARE YOU! Your soul is so unclean you can’t see goodness in others!” And calls the guards on her.

And then he berates Quasimodo for having impure thoughts and the gargoyles whisper around him, like snakes in the shadows as Quasimodo promises to never again think about her.

AND THEN STALKS HER TO A TAVERN. Okay, it’s indirect but stalking all the same.  And watches Esmerelda and Phoebus fall in love.

Then we get into Heaven’s Light, and Quasimodo has seen the true face of God, because there is a human down there who isn’t afraid of him, who touched his face and suddenly the darkness is filled with light, a light so bright it must be from Heaven…

And the next song is literally the flipside of Heaven’s Light; while Quasimodo sings about how pure and open Esmerelda was to him, Frollo clutches Esmerelda’s scarf and sings of Hellfire.  And I mean, Hellfire was the most dramatic part of the movie for me, so this part was a little underwhelming…but Page carried that entire scene.  My GOODNESS his voice.  And him stumbling around as the saints look down on him and berate him while Frollo just keeps repeating “It’s not my fault!” Like, you can tell he believes what he says but he knows there’s evil in him now (I mean, there was evil in him before, but the sneaky kind) as the lights slowly change from blue to red, closing in on him until everything is bathed in a hellish glow…

And for the rest of the musical he wears a black and red cape over his otherwise white robes, showing how he has fallen and is acting on his own urges.  

He visits the prison—literally swoops in like a bat from hell with his new cape—and King Louis XI is there overlooking the prison and he just looks at Frollo and goes “oH! My astrologer told me I would have an unexpected guest!” Frollo just…. dies inside.  I lost it.

Anyway he manipulates the king to give the church military power and now soldiers are going left and right searching for Esmerelda; they come to a brothel and the women refuse to talk and Frollo’s like “fine, burn it down.” and Phoebus is like “whoa, hell no.” and Frollo shrugs, stabs him in the back, and blames Esmerelda

We interrupt this moment to remind you that everyone in the chorus is literally an angel and together they sound like an actual cathedral choir, thank you for your time.

Meanwhile Quasimodo’s like “oh shoot, what do I do? I want to protect her” and the statues tell him to go after her, find her and protect her like St. Aphrodisius protected Mary. Quasimodo is still unsure, but St. Aphrodisius himself comes out of his stained-glass window and gives Quasimodo his blessing (and a bit of unneeded comedy along with it).

Esmerelda makes Quasimodo take care of Phoebus, Quasimodo lies to Frollo for the first time, and Frollo’s like, well, we found her hideout, we attack at dawn.

Phoebus and Quasimodo have the same chemistry in the musical as they do in the movie.  “You can barely speak!”  “You can hardly walk!” Their arguments are funny, but just like the movie, Clopin finds them and is like “well, they’re gonna hang!” Esmerelda stops it, and Frollo shows up and RUINS EVERYTHING.

Frollo has her locked up, he confesses his love in literally one of the most horrifying ways a person can confess.  He starts out soft, believing that he can save her, rescue her from dark magic and be her sanctuary forever.  He says Esmerelda has made him feel human…and then tries to force her to kiss him.  She strikes him. “Help, a demon! Help me, please!” (FINALLY, someone shows him the respect he deserves)

Phoebus and Esmerelda grieve over what’s going to happen, and when they sang “Someday” I cried.

But the song that shook me to my very core was “Made of Stone” where Quasimodo is tied to a post while the statues plead for him to do something and Quasimodo yells back, “I’ve wasted my faith believing in saints of plaster, but the only one worth believing in was my master”

“Take all the dreams you’ve sown, take all your lies and leave me alone!”

“All right, Quasimodo, we’ll leave you alone All right, Quasimodo, we’ll trouble you no longer You’re right, Quasimodo, we’re only made of stone We just thought that you were made of something stronger.”

And when he sings the last line….HOLY. HELL. I just…I don’t have words for that.

But he quickly changes his mind and rescues Esmerelda from the fire.  The choir swells again, singing the Dies Irae, as Quasimodo lays waste to the crowd outside Notre Dame with giant rocks and molten lead.  Phoebus rallies the crowd into rebellion.  As chilling as this scene is, I think “Oh, now it’s gonna be like the movie, right?” NO.

She dies.  The smoke got to her or something.  But she definitely dies.  And Quasimodo’s talk with Frollo doesn’t end with Frollo pulling a knife. It’s sad, and slow, and Quasimodo finally comes to the terms with the abuse he’s been living with while they both grieve over her death in different ways.  The shock on Quasimodo’s face as Frollo repeats the same pious talk of sanctuary just after killing someone…at this point, I want Frollo dead, obviously.

And so does Quasimodo. He stands up straight for the first time and we see…he’s taller than Frollo, and that scares him.  “The wicked shall not go unpunished,” he says.  “The wicked shall not go unpunished,” echo the statues.  The Dies Irae swells one final time as Quasimodo drags Frollo to the balcony, lifts him up—“I told you, master.  I am very strong.”

“You don’t want to hurt me!” Yes you do, whisper the monsters.

“Quasimodo raised his two huge hands, and with a great bellow threw his master over the edge of the roof and into the abyss below!”  And I am chilled to the bone.  Thanks for that.

And then Phoebus arrives cuz he missed everything. He can’t even lift her up, and they’re both grieving.

Then the chorus—they are seriously the best chorus in the history of ever—approach Quasimodo one at a time, smearing black paint on their faces and hunching over.  Quasimodo sets Esmerelda down and turns his back to the audience. The ghost of Quasimodo’s mother sings for him. Esmerelda gets up and walks through the doors to eternal salvation. She turns back to look at him. He stands up and faces the audience, no longer hunched over, not a speck of paint on his face. 

“What makes a monster, and what makes a man?”

And the chorus swells, and they all bow, and I want to see it again.  So I watch it again, because that’s the beauty of the digital age.

[noncommited-writer]

Ok if ur still doing drabbles: King!Tony and pining servant!peter. Would be amazing. Wow u write really fuckin well. Holy moly. I’m a big fan.

Ahhh! Thank you so much!!! 😘❤️😊I appreciate it!! Sorry for the lateness though!

--

People will say that King Stark is ruthless, cold, calculating and unforgiving in every aspect. Stemming from how he handles his legendary battles and leads his charge with unwavering strength and confidence, he can be easily misconstrued as a warmonger, out for nothing but blood and power over all lands. People will call him the ‘Merchant of Death’.

However, many people within his kingdom will say otherwise. His own people hail him as a peacekeeper and benevolent king, who wants nothing but his kingdom to move forward and succeed.

It’s the reason why Peter, son of Parker, a measly new loyal servant to the kingdom, is infatuated with his king. Serving under his rule and ready to listen to commands, Peter finds himself eager to be the new servant to the Stark castle. However, being trained under his harsh supervisor, Hogan is both exhausting and daunting. He only accepts people who are prim and perfect, strict to all the trainees under him as the household expects nothing less.

So imagine his surprise when he surpasses the other trainees and gets pushed into the dining room, carrying trays of King Stark’s dinner to him. He’s thrown into the fray without getting a second to get his head on straight.

His hands are shaking when he carries the trays over to the unoccupied seat, awaiting the man to come from his chambers for dinner. It must be the nerves from working for the first time, not because he’s intimidated by the king. Definitely not that.

He sets out a steaming bowl of soup with a side of garlic bread, a cup and a bottle of red right next to it. Peter settles down in the corner of the room, as per Hogan’s instructions. He’s supposed to be at King Stark’s beck and call, every second ready for any command, hence why he’s scurried off to the corner, out of the King’s sight but always ready.

The moment the King enters the room, Peter feels his breath taken away. He’s seen him many times all over the castle, but he’s never had the guts (or even the right) to go up to him and introduce himself, even if his attention is the only thing he’s wanted so badly ever since he saw the king circle his rounds around the kingdom.

The king likes to be in touch with his own people, get into the root of problems and gain trust amongst his domain. How can Peter not swoon for a man who spends hours at orphanages and helping poor townsfolk on streets?

The man takes a few steps into the room and almost instantly—like a metal attracted to a magnet—his warm brown eyes go to Peter hidden in the shadows. Gaze piercing, his movements are regal and fluid as he walks over to the table, eyes not once straying. The poor servant can do nothing but blink and bow his head awkwardly in respect.

He only looks away when he pulls the chair out for himself, settling down in the intricately carved wooden chair.

The king looks down at the food, silent. Peter nearly jumps out of his skin when he hears a snap.

Peter holds his breath.

Peter is waiting for the moment the ruthless king appears, the one who comes out during fierce battles and brutal meetings between different kingdoms.

Peter is waiting for the man who’s powerful enough to rule a kingdom and countless acres of land.

The king has his hand up, a finger gesturing for Peter to walk over to him. “Come here.” His voice is nearly emotionless.

Peter swallows hard. Getting to his feet, he quickly approaches the table.

“Yes, King Stark?” he asks, looking over the food to see if he missed anything. When the king doesn’t reply, Peter looks up. What he sees makes his heart skip a beat. He meets friendly, warm brown eyes and a small smile.

“I have not seen you around the castle before,” the man states, too handsome for his own good with his brilliant eyes and neatly groomed beard. Peter nods once, “I am new here. Sir Hogan has been training me for the past few months, your Majesty.”

The king smiles wider at that and for the second time, Peter finds himself breathless. His smile became even more dazzling, lines crinkling at the corners of his eyes, white teeth flashing under his pink lips. The king actually laughs, like an improper child who’s merely spending time with his friends. “I nearly can’t bear the title ‘King Stark’ from my own people, so please feel free to drop the ‘your Majesty’. Treating me with such respect isn’t necessary when you already clean up after me and heed every order.”

Peter blinks. Sir Hogan did not train him enough to handle the king himself. “What do you mean, King Stark?”

The man glances to the side, and raises a hand to the chair for Peter to sit. The younger man frowns. He was trained to not sit in places he’s not supposed to, but he is not supposed to go against the Kings order either.

“Sit. I could hardly care less if Happy trained you not to.”

Peter pulls out the chair and takes a seat, deciding to follows the king’s orders. “Happy?”

“Sir Hogan,” he clarifies before reaching out to take the bottle of red. He uncorks the bottle and pours himself a cup, eyes glancing over to Peter who stays silent and waiting like the good servant he’s trained to be. “I merely meant that treating me like I’m better than you isn’t really proper if you already do things for me without much prompting.”

Peter flushes, “It is the job, your Majest—” he hears a disapproving click of the tongue, “King Stark.”

King Stark closes the bottle and places it down.

“It is your job, yes, but I think it is only fair I treat you and others with respect.” King Stark cocks a brow, as if challenging Peter, and brings the cup of wine to his lips. Peter doesn’t move or give a reply, scared of saying the wrong thing to the king on the first day.

“How long have you been in the castle?”

Peter perks up, “Only four months.”

The king furrows his brows, “Surely I would have seen you somewhere? I usually know all of the people living under my roof.”

Peter purses his lips, looking down at his knees. “What’s your name?”

“Peter, son of Parker, King Stark,” He says, loud and clear.

“Why haven’t I seen you around, Peter?” At that, Peter feels warmth crawl up his neck. How can he tell him every time he sees the king nearby, he runs in the opposite direction? Always terrified at the idea of meeting him.

“I-I don’t know. Maybe you’ve just been kept busy.” Peter looks back down to his lap, unable to handle the heady gaze King Stark directs at him.

“No, I don’t think I have.”

A pause. And a clink from the cup being put down.

“It’s odd, because every time I come down to the servants’ quarters to meet with Happy, I always see this young man run in the opposite direction. I never get to see his face.” Peter whips back up. King Stark is smiling, a teasing grin on his face. Peter sits up in his chair, his hands flying around, “I don’t understand what you’re talking about—oh!”

Peter knocks over the cup in his flurry of motion, red wine splashing over the table and running down the edge, pouring down onto King Stark. Peter feels his heart drop to his stomach. The poor teenager, in fear of seeing anger, scrambles out of the chair to kneel down in front of King Stark, a handkerchief from his back pocket now in his hand.

“My-My king, I apologise for any inconvenience I must have cost you, I’ll—I’ll pay for everything,” Peter splutters, red blooming across his cheeks in mortification. He dabs his hankie quickly on King Stark’s wet thigh, stained shirt and ruined fur coat, red seeping into his very expensive clothes. He slowly looks up, meet King Stark’s eyes; they are peering through him, a twinkle of something not unkind within them. He doesn’t seem angry or upset. In fact, he seems more amused.

“Good to know my servants can move quickly.” He laughs, looking down at Peter without a hint of malice, who just flushes even brighter, frozen on his knees. King Stark stands up from his chair, and pulls Peter up by the arm gently.

“Come help me choose my clothes.”

Peter squints, unsure if he heard him correctly. “It’s the least you can do for spilling wine all over me.”

Peter frowns, “I think the least I can do is to wash the stains out or clean the wine.”

King Stark chuckles, pulling him along to the corridors, “I doubt you’d make a dent in these stains.”

He guides Peter through the hallways of the castle, getting closer and closer to King Stark’s private wing. Peter doesn’t struggle or disagree to anything he says, even if it goes against the rules Hogan put into his head. Besides, it’s not like he can. The king has his hand wrapped around his wrist, dragging him quickly like two young teenagers sneaking out in the dark.

It certainly felt like it. With King Stark chuckling every time he looks at Peter’s baffled face, the way they’re rushing down the halls as if running away from something. Like a secret between the two of them.

They make it to the room, and Peter takes a moment to marvel at how gorgeous and luxurious everything in the room is. King Stark zips straight to his closet room, opening the door to a large room filled to the brim with clothes. Peter can see all sorts of expensive pieces, silks, furs, and fancy suits he sees King Stark wear at formal events.

The older man turns on the spot, a smirk on his face as he throws his arms wide. “Choose. Anything at all.”

Peter stares at him, timid but excited. When he does nothing but cock a brow, Peter finally lets himself relax a bit. He trudges slowly to the wall of blouses, glancing back to see the king gracing an expectant smile. Peter scans the shirts, all ranging of different colours.

One certain shade catches his eye and he reaches for it. A look burgundy blouse that seems to match King Stark’s golden rings. He takes it in his hands, looking over it with an appreciative glance. He turns around, only to squeak when he comes chest-to-chest with a shirtless King Stark.

He only cracks a grin, taking in Peter’s startled expression. He nods to the shirt, “Is that your choice?” Peter meekly nods. King Stark reaches out, and their hands brush.

They look up at each other.

When he stares at Peter, his eyes are still the kind pools of brown, deep and understanding. Peter feels like he’s dropping down into an abyss when he stares into the enveloping darkness of his eyes, with no way of knowing how long he’ll fall. It’s inviting.

Slowly, King Stark’s smile falters, orbs becoming glossy the longer he stares at Peter’s face. Only then, Peter looks down to see that King Stark’s gentle large hand is still touching his own. At that, King Stark takes the shirt and pulls away.

Clearing his throat, the moment vanishes. And Peter is left off-kilter.

“Great choice. Now I know which servant to go to when I need an outfit. I really wouldn’t mind having someone qualified to choose my clothes for me,” He says, as he shrugs on the shirt. Peter is relieved to see that he’s already changed his pants when he turned around.

Watching Tony button up his shirt brings up an indescribable urge in Peter. Without knowing why, Peter steps in his space, nudging his hands away to button the shirt himself. He can feel King Stark’s eyes glued to him, but he keeps focus on the buttons.

Once done, he leaves his hands flat on his chest, looking at the small expanse of skin peeking out from his collar.

King Stark swallows hard and mumbles, “Call me Tony.”

Peter peers up at him, lips gaping. He nods fervently.

King Stark—Tony beams.

Suddenly, they both have a feeling this won’t be the final time Peter will be in his private quarters.

[mcousland]

5 & 10 for elide/tyrus and maeve/ilya? :O

Ilya belongs to @mollymaukerie! I’m gonna just toss some Thoughts out here kite, feel free to chime in with any of your own!

5) How did they decorate their baby room?

Elide & Tyrus — They both agreed on yellow for the walls without even discussing it, but Elide insists on making it the Accent color alongside a more neutral one (”Because it’s pleasing to the eye, darling! Don’t question me, I’m pregnant.” “Yes, dear.”). Warm tones everywhere, stemming from their matching tastes. Tyrus and Elide’s papa, Mikael, build all of their furniture themselves (the crib, wardrobe, bookshelf, surprise rocking chair for Elide, etc.) and then let her decide on where to place it all. The crib decorated with a handmade blanket by Elide, waiting for the child’s name to be stitched into the corner and officially be Theirs. (Don’t,,, mention all of the baby clothes. Elide has a problem but don’t call her out on it, she knows.) An over-sized stuffed dragon and wolf tucked into the corner, looking like they’re guarding the toy chest.

Maeve & Ilya — I’m not saying that it’s,, A Lot in there. But it’s a lot. Not as in you can’t find a path to walk because it’s so full, but you look at an item and can tell that so much thought and care (and probably money) went into it. The blankets are all different shades but beyond soft to the touch and clearly worth more than most make in a month, the art on the walls (directly on them and not in frames) was clearly commissioned by a talented artist to display scenes of adventure and wonder, the little bookshelf is filled with so many titles that anyone could tell Maeve spent hours deciding over, etc etc. Without a doubt there’s a reading nook covered in pillows and furs where they can sit and read with the baby. 

10) What type of personalities do their kid(s) have?

(slaps hands together) STRAP IN, BABES.

Elide & Tyrus — Before getting into them separately, one thing that all of the pups (loving nickname for the children because of the rhogar’s house sigil of a wolf) have in common is their absolutely Love for the stories mama and papa tell them about their adventures, which inspire them all to do good things in the world (no matter how small they may be, every act counts as mama says). 

Sansa — insanely smart at a young age and knows it, prefers time with the adults, very sensitive yet hides it behind the famous Westenra Face, the biggest protective older sister energy even when she’s trying to hide it behind feigned annoyance with her siblings.

Dorian — a soft boy who just wants to follow his mama around the workshop, epitome of “*choking back tears* wanna fight”, the mama’s boy who listened to all of her stories about adventure and bravely declared he was to be a hero like her and papa over supper. 

Elaine — wants to Fight all the time and Will throw-down with her siblings without notice, loud and unafraid to tell everyone what she’s feeling (even if it hurts someone), takes after her parents side with a desire to Protect everyone from a young age, only 4 years old and already done with boys.

Elijah — ANOTHER AND SOFTER BOY, spends as much time as he can with mama and grandpapa mikael when they’re working on clocks because he’s a Nerd, must be protected at all costs energy with the dark curls and big glasses, can and will give a hug to people at any given time.

Eloise — author of the “how to give mama a heart attack in 0.5 seconds” guide, f e i s t y beyond belief, the parkour legend who will scale to the top of the estate’s greenhouse and proudly proclaim this (before promptly trying to shrink away from mama’s shouting in the distance), big heart; bigger courage.

Alexandra — is essentially a little Mini Elide but with the dark rhogar hair, ends up with massive bard energy because of her adoration for mama’s stories, very soft and very loud about it please listen to her explain why she’s upset thank you, learned right quick that she inherited her mama’s Emotional Whirlwind vibes.

Greer — BIGGEST papa’s girl on the planet like holy moly, inherited the impulse control of whatever unhinged ancestors can be found in the rhogar line because she Jumps at everything, oblivious to a lot of people’s emotions because she’s feeling her own too deeply to notice. 

Cormac — second to last born but somehow still radiates the biggest big brother energy, a Soft and Sappy boy that’s just here to hold his mama’s hand and make sure his twin greer is not fighting another kid twice her size, wears his heart on his sleeve and isn’t afraid to let others know it.

Julian — the! babey!! who perfectly fits the definition!!!, generally very quiet and tends to keep to himself, but Always on the lookout and notices everything that others overlook, takes after his mama with the ability to see people’s souls with his insight abilities, spoiled beyond belief but somehow not affected by it.

Maeve & Ilya — Mmmmmm, okay. They may have more but?? I’m gonna go with the base of them having a boy and a girl here. I’m imagining that they both fall in love with that storytelling of Maeve’s, but maybe the boy moreso?? Because I am an absolute sucker for the idea of a boy who is the spitting image of Ilya, but he goes around with the personality of his mother and is dying to share stories with people at every opportunity he can find. A buff bard that can knock a guy out, then turn around and write a line of poetry he thought of while doing so,,, Beyond entertaining. And then a darling girl who looks like a mix between the pair of them, yet leans more toward the quiet and withdrawn tendencies like Ilya. Shockingly empathetic and has those Eyes at such a young age that look like she’s seen so much. (She hasn’t, she’s spoiled and has only known Happiness and Light. Maeve asks Ilya constantly how the hell she manages to have that look to her.)

[neverwatchedonepiece]

611-612: "A Small Dragon! Momonosuke Appears!" and "A Deadly Fight in a Blizzard! the Straw Hats vs. the Snow Woman!"

Caesar’s Minion: “Wait... Didn’t Vegapunk leave a man made Devil Fruit here.”

Felt the pace across this pair of episodes was a bit slower. Not a problem, though, because all the loose ends must be tied up. To to this, all plot threads must be lovingly prepared and set in place before the final, arc-ending knot is tied.

So far, Oda’s been great at that, so I’m not worried. Even if some threads are left loose, they’ll just be woven into a future plot because he planned it that way. At least Momonosuke, the last outstanding plot point, has finally wound his way onto the stage. All that remains are those elusive sea prism stone cuffs.

But there was one Huge Reveal here...

MAN MADE DEVIL FRUITS.

THEY ARE A THING.

WTF?

Your Dad Talked Through His Farts

I loved this weird little meeting between Luffy and Momonosuke.

Luffy worked on his past experience with talking dragons on Punk Hazard. First, he thought  Momonosuke would be edible (nooooooooo!) Then, he figured the child’s voice was coming from someone who was stuck on the dragon’s body and maybe Momonosuke was talking with his farts.

“How rude!”  Momonosuke seethed. These samurai are very proper people, Luffy. Gotta show some class around them, I guess.

Then little  Momonosuke’s tummy rumbled and Luffy realised the dragon kid was starving. That was sad. Instant empathy for dragon child right there.

But Momonosuke was a samurai child. They did not get hungry after only ten days of fasting. (Only ten.)  He asked who Luffy was and why he was there. When Luffy introduced himself, Momonosuke didn’t think he could be a pirate, as pirates were “all big, heavyweight men. More violent and strong-looking.”

I guess he is from an isolated island and has never seen Buggy the Clown and Galdino: the Dream Team.

Once they talked a bit more, Momonosuke said he wanted to get out of the garbage dump to help save the kids trapped in the labs. Why? He overheard Caesar saying something shocking.

On the kidnap ship bound for Punk Hazard, the other kids tried to make friends with shadowy Momonosuke. But he was a samurai type and didn’t appreciate their attempts to “give alms”. Crucially, this meant Momonosuke did not take any of the candy Caesar and Monet offered. (Nice one, Momonosuke.) In fact, he escaped and wandered the lab corridors, looking for an exit, because he had something he needed to do in his home land.

He happened to wander into the Secret Room (that everyone knows about, lol). Starving, he spotted a suspicious looking fruit in a glass cabinet. He took one look at it, smashed the glass and scoffed the fruit.

I knew it was a Devil Fruit. It was purple and had those spots on it. But I was not prepared for what Caesar’s minions would reveal.  It was a Man Made Devi Fruit constructed by none other than Vegapunk himself! The minions heard it was a failure. Obviously, that wasn’t the case, as Momonosuke morphed into a dragon, freaked out and scarpered. Maybe like Caesar’s drug, the man made DFs only work on kids? Or Caesar was lying about the fruit being a failure (seems more likely, knowing Caesar).

But... this is huge.

Man made Devil Fruits. This could turn the whole power structure of the OPverse upside down. Rich pirates could demand and receive whatever power they want. Hell, the WG could have whatever power they wanted at their disposal.

I imagine a man made Devil Fruit could go pretty wrong too. Maybe some wicked side-effects.

Caesar has some world-shattering stuff in that lab. Now I get why he has such a great booze collection. He’s probably swimming in cash from Doflamingo, who is the one who’s managed to secure his services.

And now I know what you guys were talking about when you said to look at the texture of the fruits.  Momonosuke’s man made fruit was SMOOTH. The true Devil Fruit, the one Smiley had eaten, was swirly and textured.

Luffy listened to Momonosuke’s fruit tale and was like, “You’re a Zoan type. Why don’t you just change back?”

Momonosuke didn’t know he could do that. (Maybe he can’t with the man made type?) Still, it wasn’t a priority. He had to get out to tell the other kids what he’d heard.

Caesar Makes People So Angry They Morph Into Popeye

As Momonosuke was skulking about in his new dragon form, he walked past an open door and heart Caesar and Monet talking. 

“We have another group of obedient kids. The others are growing bigger without problem. But after all, this is an experiment to see the limitations of drug dosing. I don’t think they can take it that long. I assume they’ll all be dead in five years.”

“So we’ll need more kids?” Monet asked.

“Well, experiments come with failures. It’s a necessary sacrifice. Those stupid kids can help the world’s greatest scientist and do good for the world. Even if it’s a short life, they have to be happy with it.”

Holy. Moly.

Those poor kids. It’s lucky Chopper and Nami met them when they did. Hopefully, Chopper will help them get off the drugs and they’ll be well enough to go home. I wonder about the giant kids, though. Will they be giant all their lives? Probably.

Flash forward again and Momonosuke finished his tale. All he wanted to do was save the other kids. He thought Caesar was a doctor but he was a bad man who would let kids die. Momonosuke was on his way to save the kids but fell into the trash heap. It would be a disgrace to his honour as a warrior to not help them.

Luffy’s eyes were shaded. You know when that happens, he is maaaaaaaad.

He decided to climb out of the garbage dump and take Momonosuke with him.

Luckily, he didn’t have to climb anything. Momonosuke had a weird, triggering moment when Luffy said, “Stay with me...” which unleashed a Goku/Monkey style golden cloud power. (Everyone knows from DB and Monkey that you can walk on golden clouds. “Born from an egg on a mountain top. Funkiest Monkey that ever rocked. If you’ve never watched that show, hook yourself up with an episode. It’s hilarious.)

The luck, alas, did not last. Momonosuke came to his senses and they fell back down into the heap. At least Luffy is stretchy, right?

BREAKING NEWS: Caesar Sets Morality Bar Even Lower!

Meanwhile, Caesar had kicked back in his lab, waiting for the bottleneck gas chamber carnage to unfold. Little Mocha was tearing away from the other kids, who wanted to attack her for the candy.

Naturally, she was distraught. The people she had thought were so nice: Caesar and Monet, turned out to be the worst pieces of actual shit ever.

The flashback of Caesar from Mocha’s point of view actually made my jaw drop.

Every time I think, surely Caesar can’t sink any lower? No, it’s not possible.

In true scientist fashion, Caesar continues to push the boundaries of possibility.

Mocha was one of the first kids to be transported to Punk Hazard, including the blonde kid who’s name I forgot. (Sorry, blonde kid.)

Caesar came to meet them personally when they arrived. He ramped up the charm and faux-concern, of course. “I’m glad that you made it! Good to see you. My name is Caesar Clown. Call me Master. (First red flag right there, imo.) You two are a part of my first generation of patients. I’m looking forward to working with you.” Brief interruption for a hug. I cannot believe he even hugged those kids. He is such a SNAAKE. xD  “I bet you were scared and worried when you heard you were sick out of the blue. But everything is okay now. You don’t have to worry about anything. I will treat you at any cost!” (Technically true but, kids, you will not like the treatment.)

Then he dropped the bomb that actually made me gasp.

“To tell you the truth, I lost my only son to this disease. I never want to see another child suffer from it. I don’t want to see another parent lost their child and have to grieve like me! Oh... Oh, I’m sorry. How embarrassing. I shouldn’t cry in front of you.”

I just... 

I can’t even.

I mean, Caesar is a great villain and all, but damn, Oda,  that is low.

The morality bar has not only been lowered. It is buckling under the sheer weight of Caesar’s evilness and will snap at any moment.

Why Has Zoro Not Yet Kicked Ass and Taken Names?

Monet pretty much said what I’m thinking right now. She wasn’t sure she could beat Zoro: a swordsman who uses Armament Haki trained by Dracule Mihawk himself. But for some reason, Zoro hasn’t made a move. All he’s done is parry and protect the other Strawhats.

Then again, it is a dangerous environment with a lot of friendly fire concerns. 

The Biscuit Room has devolved into a freaking riot. There are crack-candy addicted kids charging about. Mocha, the one kid who is off the candy, is an ally, so they need to be extra careful around her. Sure, they’re not in the Biscuit Room any longer, but collateral from the fight could take them out. Sanji and his G5 army of fans have appeared. Nami, Robin and Chopper are still around and have been sealed in the room by Monet’s ice wall. 

Plus, Monet is no slouch. She has some blade skills and a good logia fruit to boot.

Nami could be an asset in this fight. The Heat Egg attack has been the only one that’s really put the hurt on Monet so far. (Zoro, use that haki please.) If Nami could power up a strong heat attack, she could take out Monet.

I loved it when Monet was monologuing, debating with Chopper about her being responsible for the kids. Who planted that rebellious spirit in Mocha’s mind? Then Zoro mercilessly cut her short. He does not respect villain speeches. xD

Monet called out the Strawhats for acting like pirates. “Every day we treat the children nicely and allow them to live in great comfort. What you people are trying to do is take away these treasures from us foster parents. You people are like pirates.”

Laying aside the awful issue of gaslighting children,  experimenting on them and claiming you are anything like a foster parent (that could be an entire post in itself), Zoro’s reply was ice cold and straight to the point.

“So you have no problem with it, right?”

There’s the awesome main-character grey morality again. I really do love that about One Piece. Zoro is like Luffy in that regard. The Strawhats are pirates. They will “kidnap” kids if they have to. Though this time, the Strawhats are on the right side of the moral divide. They’re counter-kidnapping the kids to return them to their parents.

But Zoro had better hurry up and make that move against Monet if he wants it to happen any time soon.

The G5′s Grand Entrance

And I totally was not expecting a comedy gold moment to interrupt a boss battle.

Just as things were getting serious, Zoro heard the sound of Sanji’s voice in the distance. Obviously, this turned Zoro’s head and he was greeted with the sight of Sanji leading a charge of G5 soldiers.

“WHY ARE YOU LEADING THEM?” Zoro yelled.

“Oh, there’s Zoro!” Sanji shouted. “Alright guys, stick out your lower lip and make fun of him.” xD

But Zoro knows Sanji inside out, so he said, “Oi, Nami and Robin went that way.”

Unfortunately, Monet, the feathered siren, proved a distraction. Monet’s flirtatiousness is a big part of her character (she flirted with Law and Luffy for fun). It must be pretty lonely being stuck in Punk Hazard with Caesar, so it made sense that she enjoyed the attention for half a second before getting back to business.

She burned through a couple of fodders with her Ice Form (freezing and biting a chunk out of one’s shoulder was savage).

Then Tashigi made *her* grand entrance.

And she can use haki.

That was a revelation.

She has always been several steps behind Zoro. Teaming up with him to take down a villain might boost her confidence. I sure hope so, anyway.

Meanwhile...

Usopp, Foxfire and Brook (or should I say “Corpse-dono”) are still charging about, hunting for sea prism stone cuffs. Shinokuni gas is now following them, so they’ll be caught up in Caesar’s bottleneck gas chamber plan.

I’m guessing that’s where they’ll find the cuffs. If Tashigi and the G5 also end up there, Usopp could pilfer or borrow some cuffs from her. I’m just assuming captain-level Marines carry cuffs on them here. The fact Usopp willingly initiated a “let’s split up” plan and offered to work alone was pretty brave of him. Usopp definitely has got stronger and more confident in his abilities.

Must also say there was some really nice art in the Smoker vs Vergo short update in episode 611. Not an artist myself, so I don’t tend to notice or be very good at critiquing these sorts of things. But even I noticed the quality this time. Good job, whichever team worked on it. :)

There goes the morality bar again, slip slidin’ right into hell...

[hellanoragami-blog]

Chapter 78 Thoughts

Holy moly. A short chapter doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s not much to talk about. In fact, there’s a lot to talk about. (Also, I apologize for the delay! I got mega distracted while writing this.)

We start out seeing Yukine helping Daikoku repair the roof from Take’s abrupt visit. Kofuku was nice enough to make them some lunch, which ends up being Russian roulette onigiri. The pair come down to talk, and Yukine admits that he has no idea where Yato is, and begins to admit that he’s feeling a little worried, despite the fact that he probably shouldn’t be.

He takes a handful of the rice balls and says that he has somewhere to be. Daikoku isn’t too far off the mark, saying that he must be going out to feed a stray cat, or something. The way he words it implies that a few days--at the very least--has passed since Yato’s been gone.

It’s revealed that Yukine’s been taking food to Nora. But Nora sees this as pointless, because she’s dead. She doesn’t need to eat. She even goes on to say that it’s silly for the dead to behave like the living. Nora explains that she doesn’t believe that what she had with father and Yato was family. She acknowledges that they were merely acting the part, but they’re not family, in reality. They were simply tools to spread depravity. She mentions how Yato started rebelling, and how she was not to get in the way of it. But secretly, she hated him for it.

Or... did she? Maybe it was possible that she envied him.

Yato was getting freedom, and he was probably the only good thing she had in their family dynamic. She didn’t want to lose that, but she probably felt helpless to stop it because she didn’t know how. So yes, she was probably angry about losing him as a brother, but envious because he was gaining more freedom to do as he pleased and she felt like she was not able to do the same. Instead, she kept vying for Father’s approval because it was what she had left.

Obviously, this is where she feels like she’s saying too much. I think she’s scared of facing her feelings in that moment. But Yukine steers the conversation to the obvious, that she just kept doing what Father told her to. It’s pretty obvious that Nora feels like she doesn’t have the right to think for herself. But she yearns for a ‘family’, hence the feeling that something is missing.

Maybe she was most happiest when they played house. Or when she got to play with Yato. Because she had purpose in that moment, and a feeling of belonging. It’s something that she wasn’t able to get, no matter how many names that she picked up. No one truly wanted her for her, or wanted to love her as their own. Except for Father, but even still, he uses her more than actually treating her like a daughter.

And there’s something interesting about Nora, as well; if you recall her past, she stopped wearing her kimono the way a living person would somewhere between Sakura’s undoing and Yato’s adolescence.

left over right (living)

right over left (dead)

Father said that Nora knew how she died, not that she knew what her real name was. But at the time of Sakura’s death, it looked like Nora knew what a God’s Greatest secret was; or, at least she had an idea. Yet she seemed shocked that telling a shinki their real name was all it took to destroy them. Up until Sakura, Nora just didn’t seem to think about her own mortality. So she had to have learned about it shortly before that.

(Maybe when Father ‘punished’ her? I’ve considered this. Maybe he hammered the fact that she was dead into her, and this was when they stopped playing that little game of house. Maybe it was after that, that she started wearing her kimono as a dead person, because she thought that it would keep Father from being upset with her. That, or something similar.)

Even Yukine realizes that she just wants to have that, though. She wants to have a real family, and to be loved without her usefulness being the first thing people looked at her for. Family doesn’t have to be by blood; so dead or not, Yato and Yukine aren’t just playing house. They are a family. They made it themselves, and are both content with this.

Nora just... wants that. And there’s no shame in it, contrary to what Father has put in her head. Yukine struggles with his feelings and cheers her up via his own embarrassment--even at the expense of biting into a toothpaste-filled onigiri--and even gets a smile from her. I feel like she genuinely enjoys Yukine’s company, in the end.

But this isn’t all good, from Yukine’s end. There’s no way to know if he’s continued looking for Yato or not, but from the sound of it, it seems like he’s been spending time with Nora instead. But he shouldn’t be giving up the search just yet.

Maybe he feels that Yato isn’t in immediate danger, because Nora is no longer being used as a weapon by Father. (In other words, the guy isn’t a threat if he doesn’t have a weapon.) This is kind of a flawed thinking, though.

Sooner or later, Father will show up to get him. And Nora will have the choice to defend him, or let it happen. It’s hard to say what she would do. On one hand, defending him would be the right thing; he doesn’t deserve it. But on the other hand, if Father named Yukine, then that would give her the opportunity to foster a bond with him. Something that she no longer has with Yato.

Still, I hope that when the time comes, Yukine would have shown her enough kindness to sway her decision.

Then the scene shifts to Yato, who is naming a shinki who suspiciously looks like Kazuma, at first glance. (I see what you played, Adachitoka. But also, thank you for not having Yato name him.) The shinki turns into a pair of scissors, which wouldn’t be useful in battle. So Yato turns him away.

This is interesting, to me. Given Yato’s history, it seems like he’s had a pattern of getting weapons as regalia. Even Sakura, who was a kind and gentle spirit, became a short sword. And Yato even says, every shinki he’s named has just been ‘dollar store junk’. This actually gives me the impression that maybe Yato’s spirit is the one that has changed; he’s become a God of fortune and happiness, one whose goal is to help people. Not much need for a weapon, in that case. It’s hard to say whether or not even Kazuma would become a weapon for him.

Speaking of Kazuma, though... oof. He shows up to once again hound Yato into naming him, which Yato refuses because he knows Kazuma. He’s fond of him, and he doesn’t want him to be touched by a God’s Greatest Secret. But come on, Yato, you’re on a mission to name innocent souls just to get them killed. You’re doing the same thing you’re shaming heaven for. I hope he comes to this realization, soon.

After parting, it is next revealed that Kazuma has a ‘premonition’ of sorts. He intercepts Hiyori, who is out searching for Yato and has no idea where Kazuma has been or what he has been doing up to this point. Naturally, she tells him that everyone is waiting for his return, and that Bishamon would want him there with her. But Kazuma is honestly too far gone to listen.

He recognizes Hiyori’s feelings for Yato, and tells her that Gods and Humans can never be together. That being in love with a God is considered a sin. Which, I just really don’t think is the case. Why would it be? Daikoku and Kofuku are very obviously in love, and there has been no sin to come of it.

Plus, Kazuma wasn’t direct about his feelings, at all. Even if he had been, though, I think he knows that Bishamon just doesn’t have those kinds of feelings towards him. She sees Kazuma as one of her children, and nothing more. She loves Kazuma, but she’s not in love with him. There is a big difference.

This isn’t to say that Kazuma isn’t special to her--because clearly, Bishamon holds him higher than the Ha clan. Kazuma is her last surviving child from her previous family, so of course she would hold him in a different light of appreciation than her other shinki. Maybe Kazuma just misinterpreted these affections.

But there is another thing that separates Bishamon from, say, Kofuku or even Yato, here: Bishamon is an Amatsu-kami, and Kofuku and Yato are both (probably) classified as Kunitsu-kami. Amatsu-kami are heaven-dwelling Gods. Kunitsu-kami, however, are earthly Gods. It seems to me that these two different types of Gods follow different principles in life and love. Kunitsu-kami tend to understand human empathy and emotion more, and they don’t lack the ability to connect with their shinki the same as heaven-dwelling Gods seem to.

I think Bishamon sits somewhere between the two, though, and that’s what makes it so difficult for her. She understands human empathy just enough to have different values than the Amatsu-kami.

I also just really think that Yato would get it, if Hiyori were to tell him that she loved him. But whether he would allow himself to return those feelings is another story. (He does love Hiyori, but he knows that she is technically still a child, at this point. He wouldn’t accept her feelings yet, in that case. People tend to equate love with sexual attraction, but the two are also very different.)

I just think that the way Kazuma’s feelings have been perceived is his own fault. Then Kazuma literally throws Hiyori off the roof with a borderline, just so she can’t get too far. He says that he is going to try transferring his feelings to her, and that he is cursing her to never be satisfied with just pretending to be a family with Yato, and telling her to never go near Yato again. (A bit weird wording, since the scenario had always been called ‘playing house’, not ‘pretending to be a family’.)

I first thought that maybe this curse was metaphorical, like a jinx or something. But one speculator has said that the words were pretty straight-forward and that it was probably an actual curse. (I also shot a question to fast-moon to confirm or deny this, but I haven’t gotten a response yet.) If it is in fact a real curse, what exactly will happen to Hiyori?

She finally confronts her feelings, and starts crying. I think this is because she knows that there really is no going back, now. She can’t just pretend that those feelings aren’t there, because--as Kazuma said--they will never be enough. She’ll either have to be rejected or accepted. (And, even after rejection, it takes a long time for those feelings to fade. And even yet, they may never unless she forgets Yato entirely; doomed to always feel like there is something missing.) 

What’s worse is the fact that Kofuku tied their plaques; will they never be at peace with each other? Was Kofuku’s act what lead to this? It’s hard to say.

In the last panel, Hiyori’s tail appears to be missing. I formulated every conceivable way it would be positioned based on her posing, and unless it’s just curled into a spiral under her back or something, it would be shown, I think. 

Obviously I don’t think she is dead, but I do think something happened. I don’t know what to think, at this point. I really hope that Hiyori will be fine. She’ll survive, one way or another. But will she actually be okay?

And as for Kazuma... I’m upset with him, but I want to understand. Maybe he got too close to Tsuguha when he killed her, and he’s being affected by the God’s Greatest Secret? (They did say that it had the capability of spreading.) Or maybe this was just something a long time coming.

Maybe he’s so erratic and desperate to keep Bishamon safe because someone he loved while alive died protecting him. I dunno, but something changed him and he’s been on a downward spiral for a long time with no sign of stopping. 

Anyway, that’s my own take on things! I hope we get some more answers in the next chapter.

[peachyhyvck]

some of my favorite pics of mark lee

author's note: yes bitches, I'm back with another!! this one’s a tad bit different from the last, and its got almost double the amount of pictures,,, but I hope you still enjoy it, nonetheless! this pic set includes waayyy too many categories to list off so you're just gonna have to look through them and see for yourself! (’; sO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, HERe are,, my favorite pics of mark lee:

cute mark:

okay, but mark’s selfies are always so damn precious and they never fail to put a smile on my face

I LOOOVVEEEEE THIS PICTURE WITH ALL MY HEART!!!!! THE WAY HE GRADUALLY COVERS HIS FACE MAKES MY HEART MELT HOLY MOLY

everything about this picture is just perfect... his smile is so facking cute, and do you sEE THAT LIL DIMPLE???? ADORABLE.

I honestly don't know what the hell is going on in this picture, but his facial expression is so fucking cute that I'm squealing like a damn pig rn so,,,,

never mind -  E V E R Y  FACIAL EXPRESSION HE HAS IS JUST SO PRECIOUS AND I REALLY NEED TO FIND SOME NEW WORDS CAUSE IM JUST REPEATING MYSELF OVER AND OVER AGAIN AT THIS POINT!!!

I remember watching this for the first time and,, I kid you the fuck not,, I actually threw my phone across the room

wow..... I've never been sO soft!! for someone in my entire life.......

these might just be my 2 favorite pictures of mark lee....?? I mean, I say that about every picture, but these 2??? utterly flawless.

candid mark

I looovveee his damn hair so so sooo much in these last 4 pictures and if sm fucks with it in any way, shape, or form,,, you best watch the fuck out........ (lmaoo this was before sm went and fried his hair aGAIN but tbh I expected nothing less from them,,,)

he looks so smol and innocent in this picture and I'm barely keeping my shit together!!!!

he looks like a motherfucking prince in these photos!!!!!!! I mean, am I right or am I right ??!?!?!!?!%@$^&

idk man I just really love his smile and it truly brings happiness to my poor, dysfunctional, bitter soul

these pictures are THE definition of ethereal!!!!!!

I'm gonna take a moment to interrupt the ““cute”” theme I've got goin on to insert this (?) gem because idk what the fuck he’s doin but it really made me laugh so I thought I'd share

I think I just heaved the biggest content sigh in history because I just really, really love mark lee

disrespectful mark

idk who gave mark permission to be this blatantly rude but it sure as hell wasn't me!!!!

alright I'm really gonna need him to stop because I feel all shaken up and I'm Not okay with this at all

props to the camera person for holding their composure cause I sure as hell would’ve dropped Dead under such an intense gaze

“mark” and “tough” don't really fit together all that well, but looking at this picture I'm absolutely, 100% positive he could beat the living shit out of me

I HATE THIS PICTURE WITH EVERY DAMN OUNCE OF MY BEING!!!! DO YOU KNOW WHAT KIND OF TORMENT AND CHAOS THIS FUCKING PHOTO PUTS ME THROUGH??!??!!?!? IT IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF DISRESPECT AND I DEMAND THAT IT BE PUNISHABLE BY AT LEAST 5 MORE YEARS IN NCT DREAM!!!!!!

dunno what he’s doin but veins really fuck ya girl up and his arm in this photo is really testing me,,,,,,

he looks so good???? but like,, too good?????? idk. I disapprove. NEXT

these polaroids are both a blessing and a curse and the fans who got these are honestly the luckiest bitches on earth cause damn y’all really snatched yourselves a couple of winners!!!!

no no non no on Ono nono. what do you think you’re doing. stop it right now and put the fucking jacket back on!! and no more tank tops..... my heart can't handle such things........

honestly, I don't even know anymore..... I'm literally speechless......... I just don't know how its humanly possible to look That FUCking gOOD!!!! everything about this picture is messin with my head and he’s reaalllllyyyyy startin to test a bitch,,

boyfriend mark

well, damn. he’s really out here just servin us these boyfriend looks, isn’t he???

tbh it might just be because his back and chest look so Broad in these photos, but I'm pickin up some major boyfriend-ish vibes!!!

awww boyfriend mark impatiently watching the clock tick by as he counts down the minutes until he gets to see your beautiful face ((((’:;;::;

oh damn,, boyfriend mark waiting to pick you up outside your job :^]

can you just imagine walking next to mark and looking up to find him staring at you like this I'd funking DIE!!!!!

boyfie mark carrying your backpack for you as the two of you walk home from school together (((((((’’:

boyfriend mark staring at you from afar while another guy shamelessly flirts with you ;o

tbh this is how boyf mark would look whenever the two of you get into a pretty heated argument... expect the silent treatment and some intense glares

“oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! I'm late for our date!! gotta run, gotta run, gotta ru-”

shopping with boyfriend mark!!!!! (peep dat arm doe,,,,)

yeah, yeah. I know it’s just a picture of his back - but like... just picture yourself walking up to that and giving him the warmest, tightest, most affectionate backhug you could......... cause same

boyfriend mark goin to pick ya ass up while trying not to draw too much attention to himself,,, shhhh!!

pre-debut mark

okay but mark was the cutest damn child, and like,, that's a fact

LOOK AT THE INNOCENCE IN HIS EYES!!!!!!!

I just wanna tuck him into bed and read him some bedtime stories )))’:::

k I think we can all agree that mark’s mirror selfies are LEGENDARY. NEVER LET THESE DIE. EVER.

why does his outfit remind me of something justin bieber circa 2012 would wear lmao

don't come at me but like,, why do these 2 pics remind me of seventeen’s vernon......... i mean im jus sayin........

this picture? is so? precious??? caN I JUST SWADDLE HIM PLEASE??????

oh look!! this must’ve been right around the time when sm stopped allowing mark to get even the slightest bit of rest!!!

he looks like such a lil man here dear lord

the many hairstyles/colors throughout mark’s career

starting off with the 7th sense debut, we have marks.... questionable.... black, choppy, bangs-cut-too-short hairstyle!! it truly is one for the books....

moving onto fire truck era, sm kinda dropped a bomb on us with the multi-colored hair. but as crazy as orange and purple hair sounds (and kinda looks) mark actually pulled it off pretty damn well???

buT THEN IN THE MIDDLE OF PROMOTIONS THEY DECIDED TO DYE HIS WHOLE HEAD PURPLE AND BLESS US ALL!! like, I have a hard time picturing mark with extremely bright and extravagant hair colors (like hyuck or chenle) but lemme tell ya mark looked so damn good with the purple holy shit sm brinG THAT BACK!!!

and then at the end of promotions (obvs prepping mark’s hair for dreams debut) they decided his scalp hadn’t been through enough, so they bleached it and made him blonde (((’::::

dreams debut!!!!! whoop whoop!!!! they dyed mark’s hair a rose gold tinted color and honestly?? he looked hella good???? idk what I was saying earlier about not being able to see mark pull off bright and extravagent colors cause my boy absolutely slayed orange, purple AND pink!!!

now we come across the holy period that was mark’s dirty blonde hair during chewing gum promotions,,,, let’s all just take a moment of silence because of how damn Good this look was..... the color and the haircut itself were so fucking nice and tbfh i have a special place in my heart for this look

whelp..... here comes limitless!!! the BOP of the century, but also the fucking disaster of the millennium that was marks perm........... sm did my boy so dirty with this one..... as if his hair hadn't been through enough torture, they go and do THIS? sickening.

NOW WE’RE BACK ON OUR GOOD STREAK!! after the perm settled down a bit they finally realized that they needed to make up for their horrendous mistake, SO they put a lil pink in the mix and BAM!! we got our lil cotton candy baby (^=

and then the pink started to fade )))’:: leaving him with cute little pink tinted curls!!!! (((’::

MFAL (what an era.....) if im being completely honest, mark’s mfal hair is my religion. it’s not nearrlllyyy as poofy and untamed as it was before, and the little blonde curls really worked for him rip...

not to mention when they straightened it and we got our royal prince lookin ass mark lee!!!!

head shot pop,, cherry bomb was another holy era for marks hair. it had been sooo long since we’d seen dark haired mark that it pretty much threw the whole fandom into a frenzy when it happened.

tbfh his we young hair took a little while to grow on me. i’ve always loved the longer, shaggier bangs on mark, and the short bangs were giving me war flashbacks to t7s era,,,, and the shaved sides were so!!! different that idk. it just took me a while to adjust...

but I would later come to Love his we young hair because it eventually grew into this fucking beauty - which is also my faVORITE DAMN HAIRSTYLE ON THIS BOY,, HOLY SHIT!!! HIS HAIR JUST LOOKS SO PERFECT AND I JUST WANNA RUN MY FINGERS THROUGH IT AND PLAY WITH IT AGGHHJJHBPWUEB

**sigh** but then sm went and did what they always do and fucked with something that was already perfect ///: I mean, although i am pretty distraught over the loss of quite possibly the best hair style of his career, he does look mighty fine with the honey blond color so its all good (((;;

anD THEN!! THEY LITERALLY BLEW ALL OF US OUT OF THE DAMN WATER WITH THE FUCKING BRIGHT, STOP SIGN, TICKLE ME ELMO LOOKIN ASS RED!!!!!!!! NAAaahhhh I'm just playin :”)) i’ve said it so many times already, but he really can pull off just about any color and i must say, the red is really workin for him,, uh huh, uh huh, yes sir!!

the lil duck face pout

idk why he Always does this but it’s fucking hilarious and it never fails to crack me tf up

cute stage persona

LOOK AT THAT BIG ASS SMILE!!!!!!! THIS IS THE KINDA SHIT I LOVE TO SEE!!!!!!!!!! HE JUST LOOKS SO FLUFFY!!!!!!!!

y’all, i dont even know. he’s in the middle of dancing but he just looks so cute and squishy!! i had to include it

again... I have no words other than his smile is fucking. flawless.

I SHOULD BE CRINGING (AND TBH I KINDA AM) BUT HE’S SO DAMN PRECIOUS THAT I DON’T EVEN CARE!!!!!

I can totally picture in my head the dorky lil dance move he did along with that face to whoever was taking the picture and honestly,, I can’t help but smile

WHY DOES HE DO THIS?? DOES HE WANT ME TO SUFFER??? CAUSE HE’S LITERALLY MAKING MY INSIDES TURN TO MUSH!!!!!!

I have no clue what the hell he’s doing, but i could care less!!! i’m just gonna go with it!!!!!!!

omfg he’s like that one nerdy friend who tries to act all cool but just ends up embarrassing himself ((and looking hella cute while doing so)) gaAAHHhHHH

rude stage persona

mark is always facking adorable!! but the few times he decides to act all rude, he makes sure to have absolutely zero fucking mercy on us, and its Not fair!!

don’t give me that face istg imma smack the shit outta ya!!!!

he’s literally just rapping but i feel highly offended and i would appreciate a sincere apology

mark is smiling 95% of the time, but the other 5% that he’s not, he’s making faces like these^^ and im real fuckin tired of the blatent disregard for my feelings!!

I don't approve! I don't approve at all!!!! the look on his face is throwin me off and I'm confused!!!!!!

BOIII THIS MIGHT BE THE RUDEST FUCKIN PICTURE I’VE EVER SEEN AND I SHIT YOU NOT MY DAMN STOMACH JUST DROPPED!!!!!!! MY ALREADY WEAKENED HEART CAN’T HANDLE THIS KINDA SHIT, MAN!!!!!!!!! I NEED TO GO LIE DOWN,,,,,

HE’S GOT NICER ABS AND NICER UNDERWEAR THAN I DO, GOD DAMN!!!!

THE FUCKING SLEEVES ARE ROLLED UP - ABORT MISSION! I REPEAT, ABORT THE FUCKING MISSION!!!!!!!!

mark + hats = A Look I'm here for

first up, we got them bucket hats!!!! if ya ask me, mark can pull off almost any hat, and he kinda looks adorable in the bucket hats (especially with his blond curly mops fallin out of em!!!!)

now onto the snapbacks! a very typical look, yet he still looks breathtaking ((’::::

and now we’ve got the floppy hats (?) and tbh he kinda looks adorable in them???

AND WE’RE AT BEANIES ALSO KNOWN AS MY FAVORITE FUCKING HEADWEAR ON MARK LEE!!!!!! BOY CAN PULL OFF A BEANIE BETTER THAN I’VE EVER SEEN ANYONE DO IT EVER!!!!!!!!!

and finally we've got..... whatever the fuck this thing is lmao kinda reminds me of a chef hat but my boy still looks hecka fly so its gucci!!!!

BONUS: MARK IN A HEADBAND!! HEY SM, PLEASE DO THIS LOOK AGAIN!!!!!

BONUS BONUS: THE HOLY LOOK THAT IS MARK WEARING A BANDANA!! HEY SM, MAYBE BRING BACK THIS LOOK AS WELL, K THNKS!!!!!!!

idk, but I need to rant about it !!

not only is ya girl emo as helllllll because he successfully graduated high school despite his fucking insane schedule, (yeah,, I'm lookin at you sm... fight me), but these grad pics are the definition of heavenly !!!!!!!!

this boy video took me for all that I'm worth.... he just looked so? fucking? good??? like I wanna know who the fuck he thinks he is just lookin all fine and shit,,,

y’alls..... i honestly didnt even know which category to stick this beauty under because i was honestly just?? blown the absolute fuck away??? with the perfection of not only this photo, but the boy in the photo, as well??????? like,, the dark, shaggy hair along with that lil smirk are really doin some fucked up shit to ya girl and i just dont know anything anymore (((’=

not much to say about this one.... I just think he looks hella adorable crouched down into a lil ball ((’:

maRK MOTHERFUCKIN LEE HIDING BEHIND RANDOM ASS OBJECTS WHENEVER HE GETS EMBARRASSED MIGHT JUST BE MY FAVORITE FUCKING THING IN THIS UNIVERSE!!! IT MAKES ME WANNA HUG HIM TO DEATH AND NEVER LET GO!!!!!

first of all: no

second of all: No

third of all: the hell you think you lookin at?

last of all: N O

(like for real, who gave you the right to look all grown and shit?? cause I'd like to have a few words with them......)

and last, but certainly not least, we've got this golden picture of mark dressed like a middle aged, white, suburban dad.... do with it what you will (((’:::::

**all pic creds go to their rightful owners

[chris-evans-imagine]

Mistletoe

Prompt: Hey, can you do an imagine where y/n and chris meet at Chris Pratts bbq party after not seeing each other for a very long time and he finally asks her out. They've been friends since they've made a movie in 2005 and they've never been single when the other was single, so they were no good timing.. ☺️

 A/N: I struggled a little to write this because i had a lot on my mind during this but i loved the request. Therefore, I wanna thank my beta readers because they helped me a lot, you’re amazing! @macca-mcsexy @avasimaginesblog

Warnings: Fluff, Chris!Daddy.

2005

“Hey, Chris, who’s him?” y/n asked his brother. He was on the BBQ, while everybody were about to go watching the game inside the house.

“A friend, his name’s Chris Evans. Met him on auditions, so I invited him…”

“Oh, he’s cute” Chris Pratt looked at his little sister. She had that naughty smile on her face, curtesy of the Pratt heritage.

“Seriously?”

“I’m just saying it to annoy you, big baby” Y/n knew that part of it was true. She actually meant it, but the moment she met his eyes, holy moly! She felt her heart racing. It was a cliché when people say that fireworks happen when you look into the right eyes. She felt the fireworks, the volcano exploding and the universe colliding.

After the game, everybody was leaving, y/n was on the kitchen, at her 22 years old, she was the youngest child of the family, sometimes she hated she was still the baby for all of them, but when it came to responsibilities, she was the one facing them, like cleaning up the mess after a party. She was carrying some of the garbage bags when he walked in.

“Oh… hi” he smiled. She smiled too. Inside she was terrified.

“Hello, you must be the other Chris” he nodded amused by the girl standing in front of him.

“I guess. I’m Chris Evans”

“Nice to meet you, y/n Pratt.” You must live one of this moments in your lifetime, when you just feel… magic.

“Oh, I was looking for your brother to say goodbye but let me help you” since she was glimpsed by him, she accepted the help. He took the bags as she walked in front of him, guiding the way.

“Thanks… hum, I don’t know where Chris is” she added.

“It’s fine. Hey, hum” she looked at him, paralyzed, her hands on her pockets “is that a dog?” he pointed the front park, she nodded. Damn. Her husky must’ve escaped again.

“Yes, that’s Fenway” she didn’t know if she pushed him and began running, after the dog. What she knew was the run wasn’t by herself, he was next to her. He whistled and Fenway stopped. She yelled at him and he stood there, almost laughing at the humans.

“So… Fenway?” she nodded as both of them knelt.

“He’s very friendly. And yes, my dad gave it to me when I was 18, I wanted a cool name, so he was nameless for the first days” they walked together and sat on the sidewalk, Chris caressed Fenway but kept looking at her “and one day we were watching the news, the name came up and he barked… so, that was it” he smiled. She was funny, nice and… something he couldn’t explain.

Suddenly both of them were touching the dog and then, their looks met. The space between them felt like the sea, it became shorter and shorter. He felt her sweet breathing, she was dizzied by his manly smell.

“They found him!” she heard her brother yell breaking the spell.

***

2009

Her brother’s wedding was beautiful. Something happened when he saw a blonde, tall guy as she walked down the aisle. What the damn hell? Something shut down the moment she realized he wasn’t by himself. There was a gorgeous woman sitting next to him. She needed to keep it together.

When Chris saw y/n, he experienced something he has only lived once: his heart skipped a beat. The first time it happened was the moment their sight met at the BBQ. She was beautiful. The years had been good to her. Suddenly, he felt the hands of his companion and sighed.

***

2013

Against all odds, he could make it to Jack’s first birthday!

He rang the bell, funny how universe works, y/n was nearby and heard it. She was barely able to walk by now but she made her way towards the door. She opened to meet the reason of her younger fantasies.

Chris’s jaw almost hit the ground. Her hair was lighter, her cheeks pinkier and her belly swallower. She was radiant.

“Chris, hi” she spoke. He smiled.

“Wow… you’re beautiful, y/n” she smirked back. And shrugged.

“Thanks, come on in”

“Thanks, I didn’t know you were pregnant”

“Yeah, I got married almost a year ago and now… well, this” she pointed. Y/n didn’t know if it was her son kicking or butterflies flying inside her belly.  

“I’m really happy for you”

***

2017

A few months after y/n gave birth to Samuel, Chris became a father himself. He didn’t got married to her daughter’s mom, but still had a great relationship with her. Ava Evans was his entire world, at age 3, she was already taking all over the world.

Today was a regular day, were Chris was invited to spend New Year’s at the Pratt’s place. Ava was almost asleep on the backseat. He didn’t mind. He knew his daughter was independent and smart. She reminded him to another girl he had met long time ago. Despite the years, he still experienced the purity and the pleasing moment they had the very first day.

Once there, he thought on the odds of seeing her. He wondered over the years of her as a mother, of her as woman.

Chris Pratt opened the door and invited him a sparkling wine, which he denied since he was driving. The main reason he’d agreed going there was that his friend was struggling with his first holidays being separated from Anna. It didn’t cross his mind that through the decorations and the lights, she’d be there. y/n was pointing at something, a little boy was standing next to her. He looked a lot like her. She lifted up her sight to meet his.

“Daddy? Can I go play?” Chris nodded, speechless, Ava denied with his head, daddy didn’t help to take off her coat, and she did it anyway. “Wait… who is she?”

“An old friend, come one, sweetie, I want you to meet her” Chris and y/n had that connection, where the whole world could be falling apart and they’d be still looking at each other. Chris was different than she remembered, he looked older. But so much more handsome, if that was even possible, that beard made him look… interesting. If it wasn’t for the naughtiness that sparked on his blue eyes, she would’ve imagined he was with a little girl.

“Hey, Chris” she leaned to kiss her cheek. The little boy almost hid behind her, Ava was holding her daddy’s hand.

“It’s so good to see you, it’s been what? Four years?” she nodded amused. “Hum, this is my daughter, Ava. Ava, this is Y/N and her son Samuel”

“Oh, it’s really nice to meet you, you’re so beautiful, Ava”

“You’re really beautiful too, y/n” Chris was quite surprised, Ava was really jealous when a female approached too much.

“Samuel, come to say hi” Samuel smiled, was pretty much the opposite of Ava.

“Hey, Jack’s upstairs, there’s the nanny. I think they’re watching a movie” her sister came to instruct the kids’ entertainment.

“Can we go, daddy?” Ava held Samuel’s hand and since Chris nodded, made their way upstairs.

“So… how’s my baby sister?” the older brother asked trying to host the evening. She shrugged. But before she could say something, he excused himself, leaving them alone.

“I was very interested on your answer, you know…”

“Oh, well. I’ve been investing, since I became a mother I wanted to have more time for Ben and I decided that business was my thing. So I help little enterprises to grow and it’s going great. I got divorced almost a year ago and that’s pretty much what you missed of my life” she grabbed her hair and put it behind her ear.

“Oh, it sounds amazing! The… business thing, not that you got divorced, I’m sorry about that”

“Well… that’s stuff that happens, sometimes you love a person but you’re not happy and it’s for the best, I think. What about you?”

“I’m starting to direct movies, which it’s a whole new world that I love. I have the most amazing partner in crime”

“Oh” she murmured.

“Yeah, Ava is great” he added.

“Oh, I thought you meant her mom or… never mind, I’m just jumping into conclusions”

“You don’t have to apologize, y/n” he added amused by her red cheeks.

“Yeah. I think I’ll go the kitchen to check something”

“I’ll go with you, if you don’t mind. I don’t know many people” she felt her muscles tensing. It wasn’t a big deal, right?

He help her checking some stuff. They talked about a million things, from one moment to another, it was almost time. They had talked about their kids, their relationships, families and work. They were inside they’re very own bubble, until two little kids came to pop it.

“Mommy?”

“Hey, sweetie, what’s going on?”

“I told Ava that we should come to give you a hug because it’s the last hug of the year!” Chris smiled at the sweet picture. Ava was already on his lap and Samuel on y/n’s. Both kids hugged their parents. The little girls whispered at his father’s ear.

“I like her and you like her, and Sammy likes you too, here” she handed her a mistletoe. And winked. That girl was pure sassiness and attitude.

“Where did you watch this, honey?” Chris asked almost laughing.

“We saw it on a movie earlier” she shrugged, kissed his cheek and took Samuel with her to the way back. Chris was smiling.

“I’ll go walk them” y/n disappeared and in that moment, he felt his heart racing. Yes, it was an innocent thing. After all this years, was that what he needed to kiss those red lips?

She was standing on the frame of the door when he saw something above her.

“Don’t move” she arched her eyebrow. He walked towards her, grabbed her neck before proclaiming her lips as his. He kissed her slowly, testing her sweetness. She sighed against his lips, the sensation was worth the almost thirteen years they had waited.

He took his time, exploring her mouth, using his tongue on her lower lip. Y/n had her arms around his neck, his hands were on her lower back. His touch was just like he had imagined it after all those years. They were there. Singles, with a kid each, but… there.

“What was that for?” she asked. He smiled against her lips.

“Mistletoe... and two little rascals”

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