#actually cannot believe this’ll be the third time this year

[jackinalex]

Tomorrow, I’ll be driving four hours to St. Louis to see atl. I have soundcheck and even though I’ve had it before, I’m still anxious lmfao. Still, I’m hoping I have as good of an experience as I did last time. 🤞🥹

[eggtoasties]

Chapter 2: II. Adagio

Read Chapter 1: I. Allegro

Pairing: Kuroo Tetsuro x Reader

Word Count: 3.7k

Summary: Kuroo used to think the best sound in the world was a volleyball hitting the court on the other side of the net. Now, he has other things on his repertoire.

They were both called to the music room during study hall. As Kuroo walked towards Jouda-sensei, he watched as their teacher tried to cajole her into something, unable to catch their words at a distance. Arms crossed, she sent Kuroo an unimpressed stare making him respond with a nervous grin as he came to a stop.

“I was hoping to set you two up for lessons during study hall,” Jouda-sensei said, nodding between the two of them.

“No offense,” she said, quickly glancing at Kuroo, “but I’m paid to do this outside of school. Also, I don’t really have time to meet every single day—shouldn’t Daisuke be doing this? I’m sure he,” she jutted her chin towards Kuroo, “and I will both get called to other teachers and clubs during study hall so I don’t know if this’ll work out,” she huffed.

Eyebrows raised high, Kuroo said, “Wow, didn’t realize I was dead meat to you already, first chair,” resulting in a pout from Jouda-sensei and a glare from her which made him nervously snicker. He put his hands in his pockets, subtly wiping away at the clamminess of his palms.

“Aw, come on now, you know Daisuke-kun isn’t…” Jouda-sensei trailed off, trying to find the words, “the best at teaching. But,” she said brightly, “you’re the leader for a reason! And it doesn’t have to be every day—just coordinate with each other and other people to set up a rotation. I just want Kuroo-kun to be set up with good habits from the start.”

Sighing wearily and nodding, she faced Kuroo as Jouda-sensei left them.

Slouching in what he hoped was a nonchalant pose, he flashed a grin.

“So, are you gonna charge me by the minute?” Kuroo arched his brow. “Because I don’t really have the funds for that. Plus, I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to sell anything on school grounds.” Readjusting his backpack straps and slightly loosening his tie, his eyes met hers quickly before finding a place over her shoulder. “But, if you don’t have time or whatever that’s--” he stumbled over his words, “I’m sure I can figure something out.”

Rolling her eyes, she loosened her school tie. “Yeah, I’m going to charge a thousand yen a minute and if you don’t pay up, I’ll have my goons knock your kneecaps in.”

“Didn’t realize being captain,” she shot him an amused grin and he bookmarked it for later, “of the orchestra came with your own henchmen. Maybe I should’ve started way earlier,” he drawled.

“Yup,” she said cheerily, popping the ‘p.’ “They do all my coursework and bully people out of their lunch money so I can add it to my secret treasury in the cave underneath the school,” she said conspiratorially. “Also,” she began, facing fully towards him. “It’s nice to meet you—I really don’t mind helping you out, it’s just that with my last year of high school things are hectic with exams and applications and I really can’t commit to everyday,” she explained.

His shoulders relaxed with a breath he didn’t know he was holding, previous tension dissipating with her explanation. Kuroo nodded and held out his hand. As she grasped it, he raised a brow at the strength of her small grip and brightly painted nails.

“I get it.” Kuroo finally said. “I’m a third year too and it’s hard enough as it is without having to teach a newbie every day,” he said, semi-fondly thinking of Lev, “—all good.”

“Alright, well,” she said, swaying on the balls of her feet, “let’s get started.”

She had him play open strings so she could assess his posture and Kuroo was not accustomed to being the center of such intense concentration. Sure, he’s served a million times in games where he knew every eye was on him, but she seemed to scrutinize every aspect of his body. The distribution of his weight on his legs, the angle of his shoulders, the slope of his wrists, finger placement, and even his face—there was something to adjust. To be fair, she did say his face looked like he was constipated, but he figured it was because one should always look serene during such a cultured activity.

A gentle tap to the shoulder, a tap to his left inner wrist, her hands guided his body as he became accustomed to the instrument. She stood slightly behind him to his side at one point and gently held his right arm and set another hand on his shoulder to show him how the bow should move. He’s used to his body—Kuroo would say he has a better understanding of what his body is capable of than most people but, gentle movements to work with a foreign object was completely new territory. She’s not teaching him how to read a volleyball midair and figure out what the best millisecond worth of contact is. She’s not grabbing his lanky arms to show him how to position for a block—this is completely different.

He figured it’s one thing to adjust to new innovative plays mid-game and another to feel so entirely helpless and clunky. Although she’s only been patient and gentle, he can’t help but feel unsure and awkward in his body as he tried to follow her instruction. Maybe, Kuroo thought to himself, I should cut Lev some slack.

“Can you feel how your arm hinges at the elbow, but the elbow itself stays still?” she asked, lightly grasping his elbow and guiding his forearm. His skin tingled at the contact through his shirt and he repressed a shiver.

He’s used to physical contact—from his teammates. High fives, hugs, and fist bumps. But from a stranger…it’s different. He’s hyper aware of the calluses of her left hand when she taps the bare skin of his wrists and although each touch is light and fleeting, a part of him wished they’d linger for a little longer.

After a while, she grabbed her instrument and mirrored his movements, showing him the angles of her body in relation to the violin and bow. He stood in awe of the confidence of her actions, drawing a rich deep sound from the strings unlike the scratchy wobbly sounds he’d been producing.

She taught him two scales, explained basic music concepts he vaguely remembered from piano lessons and before he knew it, study hall was coming to a close. Head full with new information, shoulders a little tense, he absentmindedly fixed his tie while they packed up.

“Don’t feel discouraged during class,” she said. “Everyone around you has been playing for years longer. Just keep practicing and you’ll get there.” Adjusting the books in her hand she asked, “Why’d you decide to take orchestra?”

“I needed art credit. Can’t sing, can’t draw, didn’t want to do something on the computer and I didn’t know what band music was,” he shrugged. Immediately, he internally cringed at his explanation.

“Wait, actually--” Before he could try and amend his previous statement, he’s cut off by her laugh.

“You chose well,” she said. Then leaning towards him, she dropped to a faux whisper, “orchestra’s better than band.”

Kuroo felt heat creep up the back of his neck while she laughed so he tilted his head to the side and covered it with a smirk. “I don’t know about that,” he said cockily.

She snorted which did little to calm the confusing beating of his heart and he couldn’t help but feel disappointed that she didn’t take the bait. Oh well, he thought, better try harder.

“You’re the one who enrolled in or-ches-tra,” she said, over enunciating the syllables. “Unless,” she sing-songed, “you feed into the stereotype that athletes are,” she pouted and batted her lashes, “stupid.”

He guffawed at her boldness but revelled in the glint in her eyes and the smug way she held her head.

“It wounds me that you would insult my intelligence without even knowing me,” he sniffed and wiped away a fake tear while she stifled a giggle. “I cannot believe my music teacher—my classmate—my captain has a bias against athletes,” he frowned and tilted his head. Pausing for a beat in contemplation, he sighed and continued lazily, “You must have been one of those kids in elementary school who always got picked last in gym.” He shrugged before delivering the final blow, “So you had no choice but to turn to music.”

He kept his face neutral as he studied her reaction. Her eyes narrowed at him and he broke out into a grin.

“It’s okay to admit it, I promise I won’t ask you to do something impossible like catch a ball or something,” he said, waving a hand placatingly. He caught the corner of her lip twitching despite the deadpan stare she tried to maintain.

“Give me your number,” she said, pulling out her phone.

“Woah, woah,” he said, dodging her attempts to force her phone in his hands. “If this was all an elaborate ruse to ask me out,” he dodged a jab to his side, “you didn’t have to get Jouda-sensei in on it too, who would’ve thought our little prodigy had it bad for the volleyball captain?”

“First of all, study hall is ending, but it seems that you were too preoccupied with trying to flirt with me to notice,” she said as Kuroo crossed his arms indignantly. Was he trying to flirt, he wondered. “Also, you’re forgetting that you’re the one who needs violin teachers,” she explained impatiently, finally getting him to accept her phone.

“Plus, if anything this just shows that you’ve been planning to confess to me for the past three years, but you were too nervous so you used your arts credit as an excuse to talk to me when everyone knows there are easier ways to get the credit,” she rambled as he punched his number in. “Also, you have a stand partner and a section leader—both of whom are not me, so I bet you,” she pointed an accusatory finger, “roped Jouda-sensei into this cozy little arrangement,” she said triumphantly.

Kuroo stuttered. “Maybe you should be a writer—what is up with your imagination?” he asked disbelievingly.

“No, no,” she said breezily, waving a hand absentmindedly, “I just figured you out, no need to feel embarrassed.”

Shifting his weight to one foot and running a hand through his hair, Kuroo’s lip quirked. “Guess you caught me,” he shrugged nonchalantly, extending their jest, “I’ve been in it for the long con, but,” he dropped a little lower to her height. “I never lose.”

Kuroo wanted to stab himself. It’s one thing, he mentally berated, to say those lines in the shower. Another thing entirely to say them to a human being? So used to provoking people just before they really got annoyed, he figured he got too comfortable. While his friends were used to his sarcastic quips and little agitations, not many people threw it right back at him. Should I apologize? Am I going to fail orchestra? Yamamoto was right, I should’ve taken sculpture I should’ve—

He was broken from his internal panic when she gently pushed his shoulder. “Well, seeing that the volleyball team has never won nationals, that seems to be a lie.”

Completely forgetting his previous anxieties, his mouth gaped open. “W-we’re definitely making it to nationals and we’re definitely going to win this year!” he nearly yelled. “A-and since when do you keep up with the volleyball team! This is more evidence that you’ve been trying to get my number for the past decade!”

“Who said anything about the past ten years!” she screeched. Kuroo watched his phone in her hand with concern as she waved her arms in disbelief. “And Yaku’s in my homeroom, idiot. He talks about the team constantly,” finally shoving his phone back to him.

Sighing a little in relief he checked his messages. “If I’m so wrong about you lusting,” she rolled her eyes so hard all he saw was white, “after me for all these years, what’s this!” he exclaimed, presenting his phone screen to her face.

It was a message from her that read: “Tetsu-chan, I think you’re so, so, so, so, sO cute!!” with several brightly colored heart emojis trailing after the message.

She immediately lunged for his phone to which he responded by smugly holding it above her head, pouting a little when she wouldn’t try and jump for it.

“Y-you planned this!” she yelled, making a move to grab at his sleeve.

“Nope,” he said languidly, smoothly side stepping her advances. “You just think I’m so, so, so, so, cute!” he said brightly as he placed his phone in his back pocket.

“I’m going to break your kneecaps in your sleep,” she grumbled.

As the bell rang and study hall ended, he sent her a little wave as he walked to his next class.

“Looking forward to it!”

.

Nearing his next class, he felt a short buzz in his pocket. Pulling out his phone he grinned at the texts. Nothing like riling people up on a Tuesday morning to get his blood pumping.

After he had left her standing in the music room, cheeks tinged pink and arms crossed, she sent him several texts. Many of them listed the ways she was going to abuse his kneecaps—he wasn’t quite sure why she was so fixated on them—poking fun at athlete stereotypes, and how he’d better practice every day.

They spent the day sending each other sporadic insults without heat which eventually devolved into actual questions about each other.

How did you start playing the violin? When did you start volleyball? Do you play in orchestras outside of school? What’s your position? How should I practice? What are sports practices like? What class are you in? What’s your favorite food? What’s your favorite color? What do you mean you bought a chemistry set for fun?

Kuroo was in his history class when he realized he was barely paying attention to the lesson. Expecting his usual meticulous notes when he looked down at his notebook, he saw he had hardly filled half a page of information. Too preoccupied with the little thrill of excitement that came with each text, he couldn’t help but discreetly check his phone every few seconds. He tried paying closer attention to the lecture, but tapped his foot restlessly, itching to see how she responded.

.

The school day ended in a blur and he found himself in front of the club room door. Violin case in hand, he swung open the entrance and proudly stated, “I learned scales today.”

“Fukunaga and I took choir last year and learned scales too,” Yaku responded. “Stop looking so proud about it, it’s literally a basic,” he commented offhandedly as he put on his uniform.

Chest still puffed, Kuroo didn’t let it deter him. “I’m reading music!”

Kenma grimaced over his phone when Lev seemed impressed and Fukunaga tried to stifle his laughter behind his hand.

Pulling top from behind, Kuroo asked, “Yaku, do you know the concertmaster?”

“The, huh?”

“The first chair violinist. Our year, in class 3-B?” Kuroo clarified. “She’s about this tall,” indicating with his hand, “her favorite color’s blue and she really likes fruit tarts?”

Ignoring the questioning glances from his teammates, Kuroo waited expectedly. Yaku paused. Eyes widening in recognition he brightened.

“Yeah! She’s been in my homeroom for the past three years, she’s nice. Smart, big on music, does a bunch of music competition thingies!”

“Thingies?” Kuroo mocked. “How old are you?”

“Shut up you glorified bean pole! I don’t know what she does in her free time, why are you so interested all of a sudden?

“She’s my violin teacher! I just wanted to make sure she wasn’t a serial killer or something,” Kuroo mumbled, tying his shoes a little forcefully.

“Okay,” Yaku drawled out, not believing his teammate. “I know the theatre club always asks her to be in their pit orchestra, but man their funding really got cut over the years, I wonder how they’re going to build the set this year, I mean they’re really trying to out-do themselves and—”

He stopped when he noticed the rest of the team staring at him in varying states of confusion and disbelief.

Yaku sniffed. “I have other interests and friends outside of volleyball, thank you very much…” he said, turning his head.

“Wow,” Yamamoto said, slowly shaking his head from side to side. “Yaku-senpai doing Shakespeare or something, could you imagine?”

“Yaku-senpai would definitely play the jester or something,” Lev chimed in. “But he’s so small would the audience even be able to see him on stage?” He wondered out loud.

Facing away from his bickering teammates, Kuroo hid his flush in the collar of his warm up jacket and willed for the heat to subside. He thought about what Yaku said—not about him being secretly into theatre, which Kuroo would definitely use in the future—but about having other friends outside of volleyball.

He knew he wasn’t as shy as he used to be, thank god, but he realized he had always kept his inner circle small. Not entirely on purpose, but those he spent the most physical proximity to tended to also become close friends—thinking fondly of his parents forcing him to meet Kenma.

He remembered how he nearly threw a tantrum when his Tou-san told him they were visiting neighbors down the street and that they had a son his age that he could play with. The thought of leaving their home—which hardly felt like home at the time of their move—to meet some stranger had filled him with such trepidation he had promised he’d practice the piano harder if he could just stay home.

However, his Tou-san gently grasped him by the shoulder and made him carry the box of oranges to Kenma’s. Multiple hours of awkward stuttering and silent game playing finally bloomed into a tentative friendship with the introduction of a volleyball and Kuroo figured that now Kenma’s more of a brother than anything else.

Outside of his team and casual school acquaintances, Kuroo thinks of Bokuto. A pleasant surprise when they met at a Tokyo training camp. With Bokuto came Akaashi and with Kuroo came Kenma and Kuroo never felt the need to expand beyond his core group. But meeting her—is different.

Different in that she stumbled into his life outside the court and he’s not sure if his fingers had ever been this sweaty from texting all day. He wondered if she’s a sign that he should actively try and meet new people but he quickly discards that idea and chalks it up to serendipity.

“—hey cut it out!” Kai yelled at Yaku lunging for Lev who was holding a volleyball in one hand, “To be or not to be, will Yaku-senpai ever grow again?”

Snapped out of his musings, Kuroo raised two hands to the group, “Alright, alright,” he tried to placate while Kai held Yaku back and Yamamoto cried tears of laughter.

“Keep going, Lev!” Yamamoto egged on.

“Too sleep, perchance to dream,” Lev continued, “that Kuroo-san will finally fix that rooster’s head of his.”

Amidst the collective roar of laughter, Kuroo snatches the volleyball from Lev’s hand and throws it at him.

.

Head lolled back against the train window, grimacing at the pull of his worn muscles, Kuroo stretched in his seat. Next to him, Kenma absentmindedly scrolled on his phone, sporadically showing Kuroo funny tidbits to pass the time on their nightly commute back home.

“Kuroo,” Kenma said as quick fingers typed out a text, “why are you taking this orchestra credit so seriously?”

Pausing for a bit, not-so-subtly reading Kenma’s text, he responded.

“I had a lesson earlier today and it seems like,” he ran a hand through his hair, “I don’t know, a disservice,” his voice rose up as a question while his brows drew together, “if I don’t give it my best shot when everyone else is so much better.”

Kuroo shrugged at Kenma’s contemplative nod.

“Anyways,” Kuroo continued, “she said thirty minutes of daily practice for a beginner will go a long way and she said we’d only really focus on the stuff for the concert so hopefully I can manage by then.”

Pausing his scrolling, Kenma looked up at Kuroo and blinked at him.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Kuroo narrowed his eyes at Kenma, having a growing suspicion of where his friend’s thoughts were, but ignored it in favor of watching him scroll through his phone.

Other passengers shuffled around them, coming and going onto their train and Kuroo looked out the window, frowning slightly at the last remnants of sunset fading away to cool indigos.

“Y’know, Kenma, I don’t think I want to just do volleyball for the rest of my life,” Kuroo said softly, breaking the stillness between them.

“No shit,” Kenma responded instantly over the animated beeping of his game. “Your joints definitely can’t take it for the rest of your life.”

Scoffing, Kuroo rolled his eyes. “Please--I mean, I’m going to go to college and still play, but,” he shifted his gaze towards the ceiling of the train car, “I want to learn more things.”

“Yes,” Kenma said slowly, “that makes a lot of sense.”

“I like learning new things, I always want to know more and I don’t know,” he pulled at his shirt collar. “With violin--it feels like I haven’t sucked at something for a while.”

With that Kenma snorted, thinking of when Kuroo tries to play video games with him or that horrendous volleyball club promotional poster Kuroo made that yes, he did take a picture of before crumpling and throwing it in the trash.

Kenma’s game pinged as Kuroo hugged his violin case between his legs.

“Plus,” Kuroo continued, “she said music is kind of like math with the rules and the counting, and when it all comes together like pieces of a puzzle it makes your hair rise and I feel like that’s kinda like volleyball too.”

“You get goosebumps when you solve a math problem,” Kenma repeated slowly.

“Missing the point there, but yes.” Contemplating a bit he added, “More when I balance a chemical reaction, but yeah, why?”

Kenma paused his game and set it on his lap, lips twitching.

“You’re not allowed to judge me,” Kuroo complained.

“I am,” Kenma responded quickly.

“Well quit it.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

Kenma popped the knuckles of his fingers and unpaused his video game.

“No.”

They sat there for a beat, each thinking about the unknowns--the unknown power of this new boss guarding the princess in the tower and the unknown of the near future, where game plays are traded for textbooks and the hopeful future of featherlight, fleeting touches and sweet, sweet melodies.

[twoidiotwriters1]

Just one chance (Diego Hargreeves x Fem! Reader)

A/N: I'm really excited because a lot of people liked Diego's previous one-shot so ... here's another one. it has nothing to do with the other, I hope you like it, thank you soooo much for reading. <3 - Val

And btw, Thank you very much for the 300 followers, REQUESTS ARE OPEN ONCE AGAIN !!   Check the post we made for the celebration.

Words: 3,035

Diego walks through the corridors of the house. He sighs, taking courage, and knocks on the door. When it opens, his sister Vanya is at the other side.

“Hey, Diego,” She says with a smile.

"I need your help, it’s urgent," He answers nervously. She frowns and lets him walk into her room.

"What's up?" Diego sits on the bed and plays with his hands. "I've never seen you so nervous…”

"Nervous? Me? Please,” He scoffs.

"What? You’re in trouble?" Vanya stands in front of him and crosses her arms.

"Something like that," he finally says.

Vanya knows what her brother does at night. Using his skill with knives and the arduous training everyone had in their childhood, Diego takes it upon himself to aid helpless people.

"Do you need me to call the police?"

"No, not that kind of problem,” he says wiping his hands on his pants.

“Okay, I don't mean to sound rude, but you're not giving useful information. So maybe you better ask someone else for help?”

"No!" Vanya startles, pulling away a bit. "Shit, I'm sorry– I didn't want to scare you, just that- uh, I-" He growls. “You're the only one who can help me, Vanya.”

The relationship she has with her brothers is somewhat complicated. With Diego, she’s sure that she’s not Diego's first choice when he needs help, so this is confusing.

"What's going on?" She sits next to him on the bed.

"I'm not good at these things,” He answers through gritted teeth. "But I’m desperate, this’ll be my last try,” Vanya raises her eyebrows. “I have problems with... girls?"

Both of them are silent for a few seconds.

"Since when? How come only I can help you?"

"Oh come on, you're the only one with a stable relationship!”

She can't help a little smile.

"Sissy is not my girlfriend.”

"But you haven't ruined it yet, you're the one that has lasted the longest out of all.”

Maybe that's true.

"And Allison? She’s still with Raymond.”

Diego makes a face and scratches the back of his neck.

"She wouldn't help me for this.”

“Why?" Vanya now understands the big problem. “Oh… Are you sure you want to try?"

"You already regret wanting to help me?"

“No, it's just that- well… are we talking about Y/N? Allison's best friend?” She asks.

They met Y/N when they were twelve years old and since then she and Allison have been inseparable, actually, they all like her and over time she’s gained the trust of the Hargreeves.

"But doesn't she hate you?"

Diego nods, feeling hopeless. It’s true that for his last -perhaps only- opportunity, he needs Vanya's help and her attitude is not helping at all, or at least that’s what he thinks.

Vanya grins and Diego looks at her in disbelief.

"I'm not laughing at you, idiot,” She smiles. "I thought you’d already given up with her.”

"I guess I can still attempt something, but this is my last try,” He says.

From the moment Diego saw Y/N, he thought she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen in his life, but every time he tried to talk to her the girl would walk away or try to avoid him, so the only solution a 12-year-old could think of was to tease her; from pulling her hair, making fun, throwing knives at her -without hurting her- and as they grew older insults were added. In a way, Diego's plan worked, Y/N noticed him more, but it was only to yell at him. All this caused Diego's feelings for her to grow faster. He explained it to Vanya and she laughed again.

“So, all those bruises, yelling and insults were because you like her?” She says.

"Hey, I was just a kid!” He defends. "Now's different and I really want to do things right."

His sister is surprised, this is not a game, Diego’s asking her for help to conquer a girl and Vanya thinks it can work.

"I just want to add, I always believed you’d be a good couple.”

Diego's eyes light up.

“You'll help me?"

“That's right, brother. But you have to follow my lead…”

"I promise. Thank you, Sis! " he hugs Vanya very tightly making her squeal.

Later the doorbell rings, Allison's voice sounds soon after.

"Oh, that's right,” says Vanya with a smile, looking at her brother. “Y/N'll have dinner with us.”

Diego's breath hitches and his muscles tense.

"Oh.”

"First lesson, Diego."

***

After a few hours, they are whispering in the main hall, Diego’s about to panic as Vanya tries to reassure him.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"First, breathe,” she says. “It’s only dinner, relax. You can start with compliments, maybe of what she’s wearing, things like that.”

"Ok, ok, I can do that,” answers Diego.

“Well, let's go.”

Vanya takes his hand and they both enter the dining room, the other members are already waiting. Luther is the first, and on his left side are Allison, Y/N and then Ben, opposite to Luther is Klaus, then Five. Vanya tells Diego to sit across from Y/N and she sits at the end of the table.

Diego feels his legs shaking when he sees the girl for whom he’s trying his best not to scream. She’s laughing at something Allison said, the boy can't help but smile when he sees her happy. He sits down and waits patiently for dinner.

For a few minutes he only allows himself to admire her without saying anything, everything that Vanya said to him disappeared and he can't help but think how great it’d be the reason why she laughs, to take her hand under the table, whisper in her ear and kiss her cheek…

But his fantasies are interrupted by Vanya, who clears her throat to get their attention. While Luther helps his mother serve food, the others talk different things.

"It's good to see you again, Y/N,” says Vanya looking at the girl and she smiles at her.

“Same here, Vanya. How’s Sissy?"

"She’s fine, actually, we've thought about going to see a movie, any recommendations?"

Vanya could remember that Allison's best friend wanted to see a movie, and she had no one to go see it with, because none of her friends liked it, but she knew a certain man that would be willing to go without problems. The girl's eyes lit up, but then she grimaced.

"Oh yeah, they released a good one, but I'm not sure you’ll like it.”

"Are you still crying about it?" Says Five entering the conversation. Y/N looks at him offended.

"Shut up, I thought you’d be my salvation, but I only suffered from your betrayal!”

"That rhymed!" Klaus claps and Five rolls his eyes.

“None of your siblings want to go, but if you do, can I go with you? I don't mind being third wheeling…”

That's Diego's chance, but he doesn't say anything, so Vanya lightly kicks his leg.

"I could go with you!”

Everyone at the table looks at him in surprise and Vanya just wants to hit him again. Apparently yelling wasn’t part of Diego's plan. Y/N raises both eyebrows and huffs.

“Yes, right. I don't want you to be throwing popcorn at me during the whole movie, Diego. And surely you’d be talking all the time,” She rolls her eyes and Diego lowers his head. He knows the reason why she thinks that. It wouldn't be the first time that a movie went wrong because of their arguments.

Ben could notice how uncomfortable his brother is, so he decides to change the subject and now everyone forgets what happened. Vanya leans over to talk to Diego.

"What the hell was that?"

"I don't know, your help was useless!”

“You have to slow down, Diego. Baby steps, come on, give her a compliment!”

"Yes, okay,” He says nodding and they both turn to her.

Diego takes the time to think through his next move. Everyone has finished eating. When Diego leaves the dishes in the kitchen, he returns to the table and sees Y/N alone, perhaps waiting for her friend, so he approaches a little and notices her outfit.

He clears his throat to get her attention and smiles, hiding all the anxiety he feels.

"Hey, that blouse suits you very well, it matches your eyes,” While Diego expects a positive response, he receives the opposite.

"If that's your way to check out my breasts, let me tell you it's a pathetic attempt.”

Diego straightens up.

"No, no, no, no, n-o is not what I- uh, I didn't mean to," He stutters and behind him comes a laugh.

"My pathetic brother,” says Allison reaching her friend's side. Y/N huffs and they both leave the house.

Diego is startled when he feels a hand on his shoulder.

"Ok, that went wrong,” says Vanya. "Maybe you can offer to take her home?" She tries.

 “She'll probably think I'm going to kidnap her," he says with a grimace.

***

The next day Diego and Vanya talk for hours about all the possibilities in which his comments can go. After last night, Diego can't take any risks.

"Hey, it's not my fault that your favorite hobby was teasing her."

"I know! I know I was an idiot, but I didn't think this was going to happen,” He says.

"Now we can only hope for a miracle."

Diego complains again and hides his face with a pillow.

"Vanya, have you seen my skirt?" Klaus says entering the room. "Trouble in paradise, Dieguito?"

Diego restrains himself from throwing a knife at his brother.

"No, Klaus, I haven't seen it, are you going out?"

"Oui, mademoiselle. Y/N and Allison invited me to a party- Oh! There it is…”

Klaus grabs the skirt from the floor and leaves the room and as soon as the door closes, Diego sits on the bed and takes off his pillow. Both siblings share a hopeful look.

***

“Now, tell me how the hell am I going to be able to talk to her if she's with an idiot,” says Diego speaking louder so that Vanya could hear him above the music.

"As soon as she’s alone, you must go at it,” she answers.

These days have been stressful for the boy, he cannot believe his bad luck and he’s not used to this. Normally he has no problems with girls, he’s dated and even had a serious relationship with Patch, why is it so difficult with Y/N?

Hours pass and it comes to the moment when Diego is left alone on the balcony of the host's house, cursing every happy couple that passes by, and snorting every time he sees Klaus with a different drink. But everything changes when he hears a voice complaining near the balcony.

The boy walks away from the railing and toward the doors, only to find Y/N yelling at the boy she was with earlier. Diego doesn’t know what is happening, but he can get an idea of ​​how it will end, especially when he sees that the boy takes Y/N by the neck and forces her to kiss him. Anger runs through the boy's body and he's about to go and hit the jerk, but halfway he stops totally shocked.

Y/N steps away from the idiot and punches him hard on his nose, causing him to fall to the ground and scream covering his face with his hand. Everyone around him reaches out to help and see what happens. The girl takes advantage of the opportunity, runs out of the scene, straight to the balcony passing Diego without noticing him.

The boy follows her, he can see that she’s holding her wrist and complaining, so he runs around the house and gets a bag with ice as if they were chasing him, he returns just as fast.

“Hey,” He catches her attention and she looks up with teary eyes.

"Diego, please, not now," She says in a tired voice.

"I brought you ice, for your hand,” He says quickly.

She looks at him and nods raising her injured hand. Diego gently takes it and puts the ice on it. He tries to ignore the chill that runs through his body at feeling her soft hand.

"Does it hurt too much?" he asks trying to distract her.

"I've never hit someone before," She says with a grimace. Diego smiles sideways, he can't help but be proud.

"Maybe I could teach you one day, I'm an expert in punching and receiving every day…” He says without much thought and she laughs slightly.

"I've only seen you fight with your brothers, but something tells me that you are not lying," She adds with amusement.

"It was a great blow, surely he deserved it.”

"Some people don't know what ‘No’ means" She sighs.

"I think it’s clear to him now.”

"I didn't know you liked parties," She replies, looking at him.

"Today I had a good reason to like them,” He shrugs.

"A girl?" When he nods she laughs again. "I think it's the longest conversation we've had without insulting each other…”

Diego laughs too.

"In my defense, I've tried to have a civil conversation with you for a couple of days, but you weren't helping much,” She frowns.

"I know you well, Diego. You always try to make fun of me.”

His smile disappears.

“I don't want to do it anymore, Y/N,” His serious face confuses her.

"What are you talking about?"

Before Diego could answer, Allison reaches his side and checks on her friend, pushing her brother away. Y/N assures her that she's fine, mentioning Diego's help, but Allison doesn't care.

"I'm glad but– uh, we have a problem.”

"I'm not in the mood to have another one,” complains the girl.

“Ray’s car just broke and we have to go with some friend of his, I have to take Klaus before we lose him and Vanya and Sissy left already, so... there's no place for you,” says Allison with a grimace, “Sorry.”

Y/N complains taking the ice from Diego's hands.

"Are you serious?"

"I'm sorry, really, Ray said that he offered his place for you, but you know he lives far away…”

Y/N doesn't live very far, but she can't go alone in the dark and Diego knows that.

“I'll take you home,” He offers.

“Diego…” starts Allison, but he cuts her off.

“It's not a game, I promise. Come on, I can't let her walk alone, I can watch over her,” He puffs out his chest.

"Okay, but if something else happens, I won't hesitate in saying the magic words to you, brother,” threatens Allison. The boy stirs uncomfortably knowing very well what the magic words are.

Both friends say goodbye and Allison returns to the party. It doesn't take long for her, her boyfriend, and brother to leave.

"Do you want to go?" Diego asks shyly and she nods.

***

The two of them walk slowly towards Y/N's house in a slightly awkward silence. She keeps holding her wrist.

"What did you mean before?" she asks suddenly.

"What?"

"When we were on the balcony, you said you didn't want to make fun of me anymore.”

Diego fortunately remembers Vanya's advices: ‘Don't be too hasty’, ‘Tell her how you feel when you get the chance’, ‘Don't scare her’, ‘Be honest’, ‘No, you can't just kiss her and then run away’.

He shakes his head and keeps walking.

“Sorry for being an idiot all these years. You may not believe me, but I want to try to fix things with you.”

"How?"

"Good question,” He replies with a grimace. “I don't know, these days I've tried to be nice to you, but you think I'm still playing– I don't blame you!” He raises his hands. “You have many reasons, but– I just want to say that…” He sighs. “I don't want to continue with that.”

She frowns in confusion, but also wants to know more.

"Why do you suddenly want to do it?"

"It's not something spontaneous, I- uh…” He fidgets. "Since I've known you, I wanted to be your friend and I thought you were beautiful and all,” He says with honesty. "But you always did your best to ignore me, so I did all those things to get your attention.”

Confession takes weight off his shoulders. Y/N stays silent, thinking about Diego's words. Without realizing it, they both arrive at her house. The girl steps forward a bit, but Diego takes her free hand and draws her.

"Listen, I know it's a lot to think about and you might not believe me, but I really want to be with you."

She knows that he’s not lying, Diego had never dared to talk to her like that, but there’s still something that prevents her from trusting him.

"What are you really asking me, Diego?"

He thinks about it and smiles sideways.

“I’m asking for an opportunity. Just one, you won't regret it.”

Y/N laughs at his confident demeanor, then he gets a little closer, looks directly into her eyes and puts a lock behind her ear with gentl e fingers.

"When we were kids,” She says, taking a step back. "I used to walk away from you because I thought you were cute, I liked you, but when you wanted to talk… I’d get nervous and run away,” She admits. "Then you started teasing me so I thought you hated me and eventually I gave up,” She shrugs.

Diego can't believe what he's hearing and feels stupider. He could’ve had the girl of his dreams much sooner if only things weren't wrong. They’re both silent, she waits for an answer but Diego continues to panic. Finally she sighs again.

"One chance, Hargreeves.” She points out and Diego's eyes lit up.

"Only one,” He says avoiding the urge to jump for joy. She shakes her head, but smiling sweetly.

Y/N goes up the stairs of her house and before opening the door she turns back to find Diego doing a very strange dance. As soon as he notices her look, he stops and smiles innocently.

"Good night, angel," He says, smirking.

"Good night, Diego.”

Would you like a second part?

[loghainmactir]

On Mages, Anders and Trench: A Comparison/Breakdown (1/5)

Lemme preface this by saying I honestly don’t know what I’m saying at any point ever, so this might be a huge waste of both of our times. But hi! Welcome to part one of Alister’s Incredibly Unnecessary and Lengthy Breakdown of twenty one pilots’ Album Trench in Relation to Anders and the Mage Rebellion.

I’ve been thinking about this at least a month now, but I finally kicked myself into gear when I saw drellvhen’s solavellan/Africa breakdown (link), so thank you so much for the inspiration lmao.

Parts of this, of course, won’t match up timeline/context wise (Trench seems to be more of a “modern” story and explicitly mentions the band/relationships/their fans, after all lmao), so some of it’ll need a little bit of flexibility when imagining what I’m trying to say; just bear with me. Often, it’ll also be very, very literal. I’m not good with metaphors, lmao.

This’ll also be long, because I love Dragon Age and twenty one pilots a LOT, so grab some water, a snack maybe, and let’s get started with a brief explanation of Trench!

Trench is twenty one pilots’ fifth studio album; it’s a concept album exploring mental health, suicide and doubt (themes featured heavily in their other albums, too), and it’s set partially in the fictional city of Dema and partially in the valley that surrounds it—“Trench”, which the album’s named after.

Now, some background on Dema; it was inspired/based on a concept within Zoroastrianism. The “Tower of Silence” (which is what Dema literally means) is a place to dispose of dead bodies by having vultures eat at the corpses; they were inspired by the “sad and intriguing concept of a dying religion”. Vultures and religion are two big themes within Dema, and they actually play similar roles within the “story”.

The album’s Dema is ruled by nine “bishops”, headed by an entity called Nicolas Bourbaki (which, in real life, is a group of [largely] French mathematicians– no, I don’t know why Tyler decided to name him after the Bourbaki group, and I’d hesitate to say we might never know properly). 

Nicolas (who we’ll call Nico for short) is known by another name in this world: Blurryface. He is, in fact, the very same Blurryface from their 2015 album (of the same name)– for context, Blurryface is a character who personifies Tyler’s insecurities, anxieties and depression. There’s nine other bishops, as well, but they’re not as relevant– at least here, where we’ll largely be focusing on Nico/Blurry.

The bishops use the vultures as “protection” within Dema; they (as far as I can tell) act as watchdogs (birds?) for the bishops, telling them who’s trying to escape. The bishops then retrieve them, and they “smear” them– kinda irrelevant to our comparison, here. Those who HAVE successfully escaped are known as Banditos; they wear yellow, and they try to liberate others within Dema.

Dema and Trench is all a metaphor, of course, for a place where you’re knees-deep in mental illness (Dema), and the in-between where you have control (Trench), but there’s always that risk of being dragged (in Tyler’s character’s case, literally!) back to shit creek. Banditos are a metaphor for people who’ve been there, done that (so to speak, anyway), or people close to Josh and Tyler.

Now, just reading this, there’s immediately a few REALLY apparent comparisons you can draw:

Dema can be compared to the Circles in the sense that they’re both incredibly oppressive places framed as a safety net (we learnt this about Dema through the introductory character, Clancy, pre-album release; he “wrote” letters with these details in them). People want to, try to, and fail and succeed at escaping them. They’re also huge depressing towers:

 (That’s Dema. Gives off some sad, grey Kirkwall vibes, right?)

The bishops and the vultures can be compared to the Templars and the Chantry: watching for escapees, rebels, trying to catch them and taking them back. That’s pretty self explanatory.

Banditos, then, are the mages, the mage rebellion and Anders (and blood mages too). They’re trapped in the Circle, and while a good many of them are fine with (or are too scared/worried to do otherwise?) remaining in the Circle, the mage rebellion are the ones trying to liberate the rest of their people from oppression.

Trench is Kirkwall in relation to the mage rebellion; the no man’s land where the mages are free and in control once out of the Circle, but ever in danger of being caught by the Templars.

Really, it’s super interesting when you dig deep into it; I wonder if Tyler’s ever played Dragon Age 2. I doubt it (though it’s always possible), but it’s bizarre how you can compare the main locations and factions even at a base explanation level.

Either way, we’ve finished the introductions and the who’s who in this comparison; now for breaking down the lyrics and putting my thoughts to them. For reference, I probably won’t be doing all songs/every lyric ever– there are some, obviously, I can’t draw comparisons to (partially because we don’t get enough info on Anders’ mage rebellion, and partially because… there’s no link, lmao), so I’ll be leaving some out. 

This’ll be organized by track: each song has a title to point out where each begins. I’ll also put links for each song in case you want to listen along!

So, without further ado, we begin with:

Renegade Coat, Cover Me!

Jumpsuit is our very first song (link here) on the album; it was the first single for Trench, and the music video was the first time we ever saw Nico, the Banditos, and how Nico’s influence works (and subsequently how the Banditos can save people). 

It’s also the first song that made me think of Anders: Tyler’s yellow and green jumpsuit vs Anders’ renegade coat is a really neat comparison! This’ll be a short one, because the lyrics are pretty straightforward and can be taken really literally.

I can’t believe how much I hate Pressures of a new place roll my way Jumpsuit, jumpsuit, cover me

We begin Jumpsuit with an Anders who has just arrived in Kirkwall; he’s looking for Karl, Justice has become Vengeance, and he is so, so full of this brand new anger. “Pressures of a new place roll my way” is easily seen as the fact that Kirkwall is full of Templars and blood mages, even so early on in the game; it’s swarming with them. It’s a brand new place, he’s surrounded by Templars and doesn’t want to be found by the Wardens. The pressure is on him to hide and stay low.

I crumble underneath the weight, Pressures of a new place roll my way

Really simple: Anders finds himself crumbling underneath the “weight” of the Templars’ oppression in Kirkwall, under the injustices done to the people there.

Spirits in my room, friend or foe? Felt it in my youth, feel it when I’m old, Jumpsuit, jumpsuit, cover me, Dustin’ off my-- jumpsuit (cover me, oh!)

Here, the ‘room’ is Anders’ head/body. Anders has only just merged with Justice, and now suddenly he’s Vengeance: is Vengeance a friend? Or is Vengeance a foe? ‘Felt it in my youth, feel it when I’m old’ can be taken as lyric that’s almost looking to the future: Anders is young, in his late twenties/early thirties, but Vengeance is going to be there presumably forever. He’ll feel it, then, when he’s young.

As for “dustin’ off my jumpsuit”, I’m imagining an Anders who comes to Kirkwall in clothes that aren’t his own: his Renegade Coat is kind of, erm... well, it’s got fucking feathers on the shoulders, c’mon. “Dustin’ off my jumpsuit” can be seen as Anders and Vengeance deciding that Kirkwall’s injustices cannot be ignored: he’s putting on his Renegade’s Coat, he’s going to help.

I’ll be right there But you’ll have to grab my throat and lift me in the air If you need anyone I’ll stop my plans (I’ll stop my plans) But you’ll have to tie me down and then break both my hands If you need anyone

Now, this (to me) is the most interesting thing to compare to Anders: it would be referencing both Awakenings Anders and Dragon Age 2 Anders and his reactions to the mages’ treatments. “But you’ll have to grab my throat and lift me in the air/If you need anyone”: this reminds me of Anders and Justice’s conversation in Awakenings:

J: Why do you not strike a blow against your oppressors? Ensure they can do this to no one else? A: Because it sounds difficult? J: Apathy is a weakness. A: So is death. I'm just saying.

It also counts for the dialogue after it, when Justice says Anders has ‘an obligation’: Anders, in a way, is forced into acting through Vengeance. He needed someone to force him into action in Awakenings, so to speak. Anders in DA2, however, is the EXACT opposite: to stop Anders from acting out against the Circles/Chantry/Templars, you’d NEED to tie him down and break both his hands. He’ll fight against them until he can no longer.

You could even go so far as to compare the song’s slow rise from soft and sung to loud and screamed to Anders’ fury, too. The rest of the song repeats from here on out, so now we have....

Danger In The Fabric Of This Thing I’ve Made

Levitate! Levitate (link) is a short track, and there’s no singing in this; just rapping. I don’t actually know if they’ve got another song like this-- they tend to have a mix of both. It’s also the song that I LOVE in relation to Anders and the mage underground: it is SO, so fitting it’s almost scary. The video is actually the third and final story in the music video’s orders, and shows the Banditos escaping with Tyler, and finally jammin’ out at the Bandito camp (and then the end, lmao, which Happens).

Oh, I know how to levitate up off my feet And ever since the seventh grade I learned to fire-breathe And though I feed on things that fell You can learn to levitate with just a little help Learn to levitate with just a little help

Like we were with Jumpsuit, we’ll take this literally and metaphorically: Anders learnt magic at a young age, but he also began to his escape attempts almost immediately; he was brought back to the Circle at twelve years old, and he had his first escape attempt six months later. How old are seventh graders? 12-13 years old (this actually wasn’t something I realized until literally just now and it’s weird how well this song aligns with Anders, honestly).

If learning to ‘levitate’ and ‘fire breathe’ is learning to resist and defy the Circle, Templars and the Chantry, ‘Though I feed on things that fell’ refers to Anders and Vengeance growing angrier and angrier with every mage that can’t escape (through death, tranquility, or other general fuckery, honestly). This is also a partial cry to mages who are maybe unsure of whether or not a rebellion is the right choice, or if they can: Anders and the rest of the apostates are “just a little help”.

Come down, come down, Cowards only come through when the hour’s late And everyone’s asleep, mind you Now show up, show up I know I shouldn’t say this But a curse from you is all that I would need right now, man

Just as the chorus is a callout to other mages, this verse in particular would be directed at Templars. It’s well documented that Templars abuse mages, both outwardly and in secret; “Cowards only come through when the hour’s late and everyone’s asleep, mind you” can refer to this abuse happening behind closed doors (and therefore takes on an incredibly sinister undertone), but it can also refer to the Harrowing. 

While the Harrowing can come at any time, the one time we do specifically see the Harrowing, it’s in the middle of the night: you wake up the next morning with Jowan worrying about you. The Harrowing is also when mages can be made Tranquil; therefore, it could be saying that they only come through when the mage is defenseless and alone. 

But it could also be referring to the other mages/mage sympathisers: Anders feels as if they aren’t doing enough to progress their liberation from the Circles, and he’s calling them cowards for only working to free people through the night when Templars might be otherwise busy or whenever they’re not working.

Hooking back to the Templar callout, ‘a curse from you is all that I would need right now, man’ is another fairly self explanatory line: Anders doesn’t need much to be pushed into his big, final plan. At this point, with the repetition, it’s almost like he’s asking for them to ‘curse’ him-- for the templars to do something that’ll tip him over the edge, if you will.

Danger in the fabric of this thing I made I probably shouldn’t show you, but it’s way too late My heart is with you hiding, but my mind’s not made Now they know it like we both knew for some time I’d say

This is my absolute favourite line in this song with reference to Anders. I think it sums up his and Hawke’s relationship (whether romantic, friendly or otherwise) REALLY well. While Anders didn’t start the mage rebellion, not by a long shot, he IS one of the catalysts for the Mage/Templar war; Anders knows this. The whole ending of DA2 relies on the fact that Anders is scared and doesn’t want to tell Hawke about his plans. But “it’s way too late”-- he’s already set these plans into motion at the start of Act 3. 

“My heart is with you hiding, but my mind’s not made” refers to this idea, again, the idea that Anders is completely behind Hawke, completely willing to along with their own personal goals, but he’s not sure of how they’d react, what they’d think. His mind’s not made on whether or not to include them in his plans. HOWEVER, “now they know it like we both knew for some time I’d say” refers to the fact that Anders’ anger/willingness to skirt around direct action has clearly begun to rapidly disintegrate by the time Act 3 comes around. 

There is no way Hawke doesn’t suspect something’s up, and anyone who knows Anders knows he’s going to do something. Here, “they” could refer to anyone, but it makes the most sense when referring to Hawke’s companions. Almost everyone in the group makes a comment on Anders’ state. They all knew it was going where it winds up.

They’re smirkin’ at fresh blood, they’re circling above But this is not enough, yeah, this is not what you thought No, no, we are not just graffiti on a passin’ train

This is in reference to Dema’s vultures and bishops: they’re waiting for the Banditos (and Tyler) to slip up. Here, it’s about the Chantry, Templars and the mage rebellion: it’s about how Templars are everywhere in Kirkwall, how they’re under the belief that the mage rebellion can be crushed and the mages can continue to be controlled. But the rebellion is not a passing phase, not just something minor that can be brushed over.

Now, I know what you’re saying: “Alister, there are no trains in Dragon Age. Duh. Shut up.” To which I say: you’re absolutely correct, and I’d love to shut up, but I’m physically incapable of doing so! However, imagine with me for a second: mages leaving signs and graffiti around Kirkwall to tell others of their presence, and as soon as one is erased, more is put up in it’s place. Little signs and messages of the mage rebellion. Rad, right?

This culture is a poacher of overexposure, not today Don’t feed me to the vultures, I am a vulture who feeds on pain

These lines play on the idea that things come and go within our culture really, really quickly; when comparing it to Templars and Mages, you can absolutely say that this is referencing the culture within the Circle (made by Templars, mind you) that encourages very little exposure to the outside world. Templars crush and reject any idea or desire to leave the Circle or to have their own autonomy; they’re the poachers of overexposure to the outside world.

“Don’t feed me to the vultures, I am a vulture who feeds on pain” is a REALLY interesting line re: Dema and the character in this song, but it’s pretty straightforward to Anders and actually loops back to “And though I feed on things that fell”-- Anders, here, is asking those he knows to keep him hidden in darktown/Hawke’s estate, and he’s, again, someone who’s anger and sense of “I need to do something” is fuelled by the pain of other mages.

Sleep in a well-lit room, don’t let the shadow through And sever all I knew, yeah, sever all I thought I could depend on my weekends On the freezing ground that I’m sleeping on Please, keep me from, please keep me down from the ledges Better test it, wooden wedges under doorways, Keep your wooden wedges under doors

This bit is a little harder to relate to Anders. It could absolutely be thought of as him referencing pre-Kirkwall, but post-Awakenings days; it could be a reference to sleeping, literally, on freezing ground (and sleeping on the streets before he gets his clinic) while he struggles to understand what Vengeance has become and dealing with dark thoughts as a part of that. 

‘Sleep in a well-lit room, don’t let the shadow through’ could be along a similar line to “cowards only come through(...)”; Anders is saying that to keep the Templars out, to keep them safe, mages use “wooden wedges” as unreliable, low-effort ways to keep free mages safe. 

The implication of it then, especially with the repetition of the chorus at the end of the song, is that the mages need to take a different approach to keep themselves safe-- not just use ‘wooden wedges’. Especially when you take the video’s end into account, you could totally draw that comparison; Tyler gets taken by Nico, and similarly, many escaped mages get caught and found as Dragon Age 2 progresses. The rest of Levitate is fairly straightforward and it’s more difficult to include Anders in it; it deals with Tyler’s insecurities re: creating something new and original.

If you’ve reached this part of the post, first thing’s first: thank you so much! You’re an absolute champion. This really is just the most self-indulgent piece of ‘meta’ ever, honestly, lmao. 

Part 2 will hopefully come soon, and it’ll deal with the next two tracks on Trench, Morph and My Blood!

[pokefriendsimagine]

I present to you another PokeOc of mine, Tenshi

achment worth feeling hurt

Tenshi doesn’t remember anything before age seven (She is 18 currently). What she remembers first is waking up in a large tank full of teal liquid with scientists surrounding her. She couldn’t hear much, but what she could gather is that she was a project.

Project Mew was an attempt to splice the DNA with a human in order to give them boosts in power similar to pokemon. And what better pokemon to try than the legendery one itself? They found a girl (she can’t say kidnapped because for all she knows her parents willingly gave her up) along with others and only she was the survivor. Along side Project Mew was the cloning project, I’m sure you know what was the results of that.

Fast forward to Viridian City, while Mewtwo was off training (read; beating challenger’s pokemon into the ground) Tenshi was trained in the use of her powers and the lessons of a trainer. She was never allowed to leave the city; why on Earth would they want one of their weapons to slip through their fingers?

A few weeks passed and she finds out that Mewtwo has escaped and left her behind which hurt her deeply. At night, she slipped away and ran off.

Managing to become an actual registered trainer, she decided to take on the Kanto Gym challenge, not really a smart move considering where the final badge was and who was the gym leader. She barely managed to get away with her life.

She fled to Johto where she tried to start over only to end up running into the Rockets again. She didn’t get away scar free, those pokemon were ruthless, but nonetheless she escaped and ran to Hoenn. Apart from a trainer (May/Brendan) fighting against Team (Aqua/Magma) her life was pretty normal…well as normal as it could be for a paranoid trainer.

Not feeling safe enough, she went to Sinnoh where she met her best friend/adopted sister Dash (a friend’s character) who traveled with her. She fell in love with Oreburgh’s gym leader, Roark (that has a happy ending, don’t worry) but at the end of their journey, they parted for the time being as the two girls were heading to Kalos (yes I know I skipped Unova, but we were playing XY so Kalos it was) sometime after Roark joined them and things were fine.

Fast forward two years, in those two years they had traveled to Unova and went through that region before coming back to permanently live in Kalos due to making friends with Lumiose City’s gym leader, Clemont and his boyfriend/(at the time) fiancee Ash (yes, we did mix anime and game and we do ship diodeshipping) It’s winter now and Dash is acting strangely, often disappearing and avoiding her friends.

Tenshi confronts her about it and finds out that the other girl was actually in love with her (I didn’t plan that, my friend did -shrug-) and it was causing conflict. Dash literally died because her body couldn’t handle her broken heart. Tenshi lost her best friend mere days after finding how deep Dash’s feelings ran for her. (She’s back now, thanks to some ghosts and psychic types but yeah)

Now things are better and Tenshi decided to head out to Alola after hearing how great it was from Dash who had traveled there earlier and that’s why my hybrid girl is in Alola.

------------------

Alright. Now we’re getting into the thick of it. You’ve given me a lot to look at and I have a lot to say. ModGruntcle won’t be partaking in this post because he tells me you guys have already gone over it.

I’ve talked it over with him now here’s what I think. Hold onto your hats.

~

OCs that involve experimenting on humans are normally met with tough skepticism here. Normally it comes off as an excuse to give someone powers so that they feel more important and special and removes any trace of them being relateable. I’m of the strong opinion that you should focus on making a character a person first and foremost, someone with emotions and trials that are easy to connect to for those who might try to become invested in your characters (again, depending on what the fancharacter’s fandom is as well.)

Tenshi... pulls it off well. I was definitely concerned at first because I tend to not like experimentation as the backstory for a Pokemon trainer but you’ve done well by giving me a lead-in with Mewtwo (Gruntcle helping me out by also adding, “Considering the scientist who made Mewtwo was trying to clone his daughter, it's not unfeasible that they were trying this too.”) You built her up well. Unlike many other times (not just in this fandom) where a character is an experiment this seems like something that could actually happen. The way there are conspiracies in our world about experiments like this I could imagine them existing in the Pokémon world and honestly? That's believable. Maybe they adopted the baby Tenshi along with other orphan infants in mass. Maybe it was the unwanted offspring of staff. Maybe she was outright donated with the promise of financial gain. Maybe they killed her parents for an unrelated offense to their organization and kidnapping and experimenting on her is just their way of pissing on their graves but “classier.” We don't know.

First problem: It wasn’t established in this description how she came to be close with Mewtwo. At first I was skeptical of him becoming endeared by a human but given they have similar enough roots I think that’s actually passable enough for him to view her differently. Still, I don’t know how they were close and I don’t know when they had the time to get close so I’m wondering when she had the time to grow attached enough to warrant feeling hurt.

When she registered as a trainer did she give herself the name Tenshi then? I’m curious about how that went since I figure to some extent that’s like social security related stuff in our world in a way since everyone kind of goes through it eventually. That means falsifying some stuff here and there I’d imagine. I might be overthinking this so feel free to ignore that.

Small Intermission here: My philosophy is to question everything and I pick at things because I like them. If I ask questions it’s because I’m trying to see both how covered all your ground is, because I am interested, or because I see a lot of good and really want you to reach full potential. Not asking questions? Rarely does it mean I think you’re flawless (rare, it does happen though.) Normally it means that I feel that there’s such a massive mess before me that I don’t know what to even do. That being said if I have no questions after going over why I like them then you’re probably good. I figure this’ll just be good to know. Just in case someone gets offended that I don’t totally worship a given character like the Second Coming. End Intermission

I like that she has feelings for Roark and I’m intrigued. I’d like to know more. Maybe I’ll have a new Pokemon x OC ship, bringing my number to four. (Who are the second and third? You’re going to find out in not too long at all.) I’d like to know how and why she fell for him, if it was a slow burn or an immediate crush that became something deeper, how he feels about her and views her and if/when he finds out about the circumstances of her life, what does he feel about them? Anything you can tell me about this ship, please go ahead and lay it on me. For the time being though? Nice, Tenshi. I like your taste. You have a good eye for guys.

Now we come to something that I’m absolutely staunchly critical over: Dying of a broken heart? It’s tough going from praising the authenticity, from how believable things are to... dying of a broken heart. Even in a world with giant rock snakes and electric rodents I cannot suspend my disbelief at all for that one. I’m sorry.

It’s not the romantic love and heartbreak itself I mind at all. I eat that for breakfast with a side of unresolved feelings and lack of closure... especially when it’s your best friend and sister sister who fell in love with you? That’s fucking rough and I love it VERY very much. (Sounds a little familiar if you know what I mean. I know Mod Gruntcle does.)

From here is literally where you started to lose me. Not only was there not very much detail in how Tenshi reacted to the love proclamation or the resolution before dying of a broken heart occurred but then it was just half-heartedly thrown out there that she came back. How. No really, how? Is she a ghost now? Is she an experiment of sorts now too? Is she the same as before she died and is she suddenly okay with her unrequited situation? Satisfied with platonic/familial love being better than no love at all and learning to be supportive like she always was of Tenshi before?

And one final thing is I don’t believe her powers are ever once explicitly mentioned and it’s very troublesome considering how much being an experiment has to do with who she is and seems to be her primary drive as a character - wanting to just have a life that’s her own, yeah?

That being said... how’s it goin’ in Alola?

~ Mod Opal