#and also love mikoto more if that's somehow possible

[maukuja]

I'm 5 nanometers from being in Family Guy Death Pose on the fucking floor

[writing-for-life]

Sandman Sneak Peek Analysis

There is Brief Lives in this, but you’ll miss it if you blink…

Is everyone recovering? 🤣

So we obviously got our fill of thirst traps, but I wanted to analyse the sneak peek (click to watch) a bit more closely.

Many people were commenting they only see Season of Mists and Song of Orpheus in the clip, but I don’t think that’s true. We obviously don’t know what exactly they did to the arcs and what might have changed, but I still predict that the first batch will be Season of Mists and Brief Lives (with other stuff thrown in, I wrote about it here). [I think we also saw a clip from Thermidor in the sneak peek, and that Lady Johanna Constantine was in it, but that just as an aside.]

So let’s start with stills I think are definitely from

Brief Lives

I honestly think it’s this (they’re lighting his face from below for a campfire effect, there are candles etc):

Edit 22/09:

We sleuthed a bit more across several platforms, and some clever people pointed out this:

These two frames appear in different places of the sneak peak, so we can’t know for certain if they are from the same scene. It is possible though. And if they are: He is wearing his ruby on the one to the left. It’s hard to tell if it’s the same thing to the right, but it could be? If so, that would mean this could be from Song of Orpheus instead of Brief Lives.

He does wear a clasp in Brief Lives all the way through, so that’s also possible, but again: If these shots are from the same scene, which it honestly looks like, I’m now leaning towards Song of Orpheus, and this particular scene (there’s a fire there, too):

Plus, if you zoom in and squint really hard, he seems to be wearing something on his shoulder here, too:

What else?

We see Despair’s Realm. But we don’t in Season of Mists. So this is either Brief Lives, or they give us a bit of Three Septembers and a January (which I’d love tbh, but I’m not going to hold my breath).

Next:

I think this could be Ruby’s/Wanda’s death/the fire. It’s really hard to see, but that could be Indya Moore sleeping? Let me know what you think…

Then this one:

I bet my bottom dollar this is Suffragette City and Ishtar’s dance. Now, the bottom panel is a tricky one because in the sneak peek, it’s actually right after the shot of (presumed) Wanda, so my initial response was it’s the fire. But the curtains look exactly the same as in the one with Ishtar’s dance, plus I think the glass is also in both shots. Which makes me think they either just put those scenes randomly together in the clip despite them being separate, OR that they changed the arc a bit and pulled Wanda/Ruby and Ishtar’s dance together. Either way, we’re definitely in Brief Lives I think.

Over to…

Season of Mists

I cackled like a lunatic when I saw this. IYKYK, but I somehow didn’t expect them to give us that one. Hurray (or not, depending on whether you like spiders I guess 🤣)

Angels looking modern…

Shame really, I wouldn’t have minded a more comics accurate look, but hey. Also: Is that your man Edward, @marlowe-zara ? Hard to tell from this angle, but I think it could be?

That’s also Andre Flynn in the background (also an Angel then).

Shivering Jemmy with the balloon! 🎈 If she doesn’t dump it on Dream, I’m gonna riot!

These ones with Lucienne are hard to place, and they could be anything, but they somehow give me stronger Season of Mists than Brief Lives vibes, although both is possible.

I have a hunch it’s this one:

Then there’s naturally all the obvious stuff (Cluracan, Susano-o-No-Mikoto, the family dinner etc etc), but I don’t think I have to get into those because they jump out at us straightaway.

More in the realm of

Casting

I think that might be Ella Rumpf as Eurydice, @tickldpnk8 What do you think?

This is definitely Wil Coban, but who he? Fae (the ears suggest so much)?

So what’s everyone thinking?

[plus-i-miss-you]

I LOVED THE OREKOTO AND MIKOTO HEADCANONS AUUAU!!! If it's not a bother, could you pls write a prisoner gn!reader comforting mahiru, fuuta, mikoto and amane after t2? Sorry if this is too vague !!

Seeing them all tired and beat up made me miserable... they deserve a kiss on the forehead or smth

▷ listening to:

"but i still forgive you" (gn!reader)

⇆ㅤ ㅤ◁ㅤ ❚❚ ㅤ▷ ㅤㅤ↻ ılıılıılıılıılıılıㅤ

♪ note: HI HI ELI so sorry this request has been gathering dust in my inbox for more than a month.. i really wanted to write this but life be life-ing.. i really enjoyed writing this and i hope you enjoy reading this too! (also so sorry if i sound weird but i'm assuming you meant comforting them after t1? ^^'')

♪ summary: es may have done some.. pretty strange decisions and now not only the guard and the guilty prisoners, but everyone has to deal with it, including you. you can't help but feel bad for the guilty ones, and hopefully, you can offer them at least some kind of support.

♪ warnings: description of fuuta and mahiru being in pain because of their injuries, the reader character doesn't know about mikoto and john being a system, but still treats them as respectfully as possible, mentions of cults and religious trauma in amane's section. fuuta, mahiru and mikoto parts can be seen as both romantic and platonic, meanwhile amane's part is strictly platonic.

fuuta kajiyama.

♪ fuuta was.. in terrible condition, to say the least. his personality was so different from the fuuta you knew, too. sure, you've met him not so long ago, but seeing him act like this felt.. weird. you actually kinda missed the old fuuta, yes, he was kinda rude, loud and said things without thinking, but you'd prefer that than seeing fuuta in pain and not being able to say a word. you wish you could help him somehow, but.. what could you do? you doubt that convincing es to forgive him is possible..

♪ you tried to support him at least in an emotional way, even though you knew that might not work. it's highly possible he won't be able to see with his right eye ever again, of course, that's extremely traumatizing. he also got beat up by kotoko out of all prisoners, who actually seemed to be similar to him in a way. but you told him that if fuuta wanted to talk to you about anything, like complain about something or vent, he could always do that. fuuta found your kindness weird and even suspicious at first, but.. fine, he could use a friend in a situation like this. or at least a person who could hear him out.

♪ fuuta finds himself coming to you more often than he thought he would. it's not like he has that many people to talk to here anyway. he's grateful to kazui (even though he doesn't want to admit it), but.. he's not sure if there is anything he can talk to him about. haruka and muu are really close now, it honestly feels like haruka has forgotten about everyone else. oh, but surprisingly, fuuta's been getting along with amane lately- what do you mean, you "have a bad feeling about this", y/n?.. 

♪ you will never actually hear this from him, but you can feel that fuuta is glad to have someone like you here. he looks calmer with you around and if he can't open up to anyone else about something, at least he can open up to you. it's easier for him to fall asleep when you're next to him, so you may find him suddenly doing so with his head on your shoulder or your lap. just, uh.. be prepared for him to be really flustered when he wakes up and sees you.

mahiru shiina.

♪ she's honestly surprised that you want to spend time with her and help her feel better despite her being voted guilty. she immediately starts joking (or maybe half-joking?..) about falling in love with you because of your kindness and you just roll your eyes and ask if she's okay and if she's in any pain. you remind her to take her medications, you ask shidou for help if her condition gets worse and you help her move around with her wheelchair, so that she doesn't feel isolated from the rest of the prisoners. being in milgram is already isolating enough.

♪ you try to help her feel better by doing things that are small and simple to you, but very meaningful to her. you brush her hair, you paint her nails (even if you can only do so on one hand for now..), you tell her that she still looks beautiful, and every time you do that, it makes her smile. it's still different from that usual smile of hers, but it's a smile that shows even though she's still suffering, she appreciates you being around. 

♪ mahiru doesn't understand why you're still helping her. is this because you love her?.. ah, please forgive her, that's just her being her usual silly self. but still.. she wasn't forgiven, right? that means she was in the wrong.. but she doesn't understand what made es vote her guilty. all she did was love her boyfriend a lot, right? does that mean that her love itself is a sin?.. is she not allowed to love at all?.. you gently interrupt mahiru and say that you don't know why es refused to forgive her, but you personally don't think mahiru's love is a sin at all. in fact, it's a blessing.

♪ mahiru feels like the sun itself personified to you and you hope that she gets better soon, but you're also grateful for the opportunity to take care of her like this. she always gives so much love to everyone, you wonder how much she gets back. you softly pat her head while making sure it's not painful considering her injury and ask what she wants to do today, but it takes a while for mahiru to answer because of your words still ringing in her head, but in a good way.

amane momose.

♪ .. so why exactly es decided to vote a child guilty? you know you probably shouldn't say anything about the guard's decisions, but.. this just doesn't make any sense to you. just what did es see in amane's video? or maybe something happened during the interrogation? amane's behavior has changed a lot, but you don't blame her for it. of course she would start acting differently. she's a 12 year old who was voted guilty and almost got beaten up by kotoko, kotoko ending up not doing anything to her was honestly a miracle. of course she would be mad. she should be.

♪ you try to talk to her and she kinda ignores you at first. however, you're not as bad as shidou, so.. fine, maybe she can hang out with you a little bit. it's hard not to feel sorry for her though, because of how messy her hair is and how empty her eyes are. you try to cheer her up somehow, like maybe you can do something really cute with her hair or maybe you can cook something for her (while still respecting her dietary restrictions and not forcing her to eat something she's not allowed to).. amane finds your attempts to become closer with her strange, but.. maybe she could use some company.

♪ every time she mentions her "god" around you though, you try to change the topic. you like amane and you genuinely want this kid to get better, but you're not really feeling like becoming a part of a cult.. amane just sighs and says you'll understand it someday. sometimes you catch her mumbling something about being forgiven this time and es needing to make the correct judgement. you can't really help her much when it happens and you can't do anything other than say that es will definitely forgive her, but amane manages to turn even something simple as that into rambles about her god. you can't help but wonder what amane's life used to be like.

♪ you can't convince amane that her family wasn't as kind as she thinks they were. you can't convince her that the way she was raised was too cruel. you know she won't believe you. and you know you're not a therapist. but at least you can be her friend. at least you can gently guide her, while still giving her a choice, so that she feels more free. more free than she possibly ever was in her life. and even though amane never talks about it, she does appreciate it. she feels strangely warm when you're around. she wonders if it's okay to feel this way and if god would ever forgive her for that. 

mikoto kayano.

♪ you didn't know why mikoto suddenly started to act like this. you tried to get at least some information from others, including es, but nobody gave you a proper answer, even though you had a feeling like kotoko and es know what's going on. for some reason, this mikoto just didn't.. feel like mikoto to you. it's like it was.. different mikoto? no, that doesn't sound right. it felt like it was a completely different person. you couldn't prove it and when you tried to say it out loud, it sounded weird, but.. it felt like a correct answer to you. 

♪ when it felt like it was the mikoto you knew, you always made sure to tell him what's going on, what happened, basically all the information he needed. he always looked so lost and confused, you couldn't help but feel sorry for him. you assumed that it was probably because of the trauma related to being voted guilty. you actually couldn't understand es's decision at all. just why would they vote someone like mikoto guilty? was his video really that bad? it didn't feel like mikoto was pretending to be less smarter than he is. why would he even have to do that? you all are murderers here, there's no reason for him to try and trick anyone.

♪ when it felt like it was someone else, you still tried to treat him with kindness. you couldn't understand why everyone started to avoid this person so suddenly. yes, this person was.. quite different from mikoto, but.. maybe at least they could try to accept him? you actually found it surprising how quickly he calmed down after you showed him that you don't intend to hurt him or mikoto. maybe this was the only thing he needed: someone telling him that he's safe and that he's not in danger. or maybe it was something they both needed.

♪ both mikoto and this person seem to actually like you a lot.. well, it's not like they have much of a choice here, considering that other prisoners don't really want to spend time with them. but it looks like they don't mind it that much. yes, mikoto is definitely still worried about it and he doesn't seem to remember what happens when the other person is here, but the other guy doesn't really care about the other prisoners and the only thing that bothers him is how possibly dangerous they can be. and even though he still has his suspicions.. you don't seem that dangerous to him.

[belit0]

what if they meet the Uzumaki?

You went with a she so I'll go with that here.

Would her fiery personalilty and lack of discipline (as Uchiha's see it anyways) make her accidnetally prove everyone rightnor wrong about her

Yeah, in terms of x reader, I always go with female characters 💫

I only do male x male with ships (TobiIzu, etc,)

I think Mikoto would convince Itachi to come back, after multiple and diverse visits to Shisui's house, and at the same time talk to Fugaku, softening him up little by little. She raises how beneficial it could be to include Uzumaki blood to the Uchiha legacy, and tries to buy him off from a strategic point of view.

Fugaku, ideally, would want his son to be with someone of high status, elegance, and pretensions befitting the Uchiha legend, and he begins to entertain the possibility of perhaps the girl being so. It convinces him.

Sasuke on the other hand does not stop bragging about how he will scold his older brother to make him understand the offense he committed against the clan, still too young to empathize with the reasons of love, of the heart, the passionate impulses.

Itachi takes his time evaluating what to do and what not to do but ultimately decides to introduce her so as to calm things down. If they don't accept her for who she is, then he will completely disassociate himself from his family.

Mikoto is the warmest of them all, and greets them both at the door when they show up for dinner. She can see how nervous her son is, but also the loving conviction he has for this girl in his eyes. (Y/N), on the other hand, strongly reminds her of Kushina, a pleasant memory.

Her fiery red hair stands out madly in contrast to all the black-haired people in the room, and as soon as they enter the dining area, Sasuke jumps on the attack with aggressive words towards his brother.

Fugaku basically tells him to shut up and sit down, reducing the threat in seconds with authority, cryptically analyzing the girl in question. He turns pale when she smiles at him without a care in the world, failing with his attempt of premature intimidation.

(Y/N) converses quite matter-of-factly during the beginning of the meeting, most of the questions asked by Mikoto in front of a distraught Itachi out of concern and a Fugaku unwilling to budge.

For dessert, the father finally agrees to ask some controversial questions, hoping to put her on the spot when answering, catch her without replies or even make her angry, give him a reason to hate her as the clan legacy demands.

Sasuke falls in love with her at every answer and realizes she's even smarter than his older brother. Who starts the evening as an enemy, quickly becomes an ally, and Fugaku is left alone on his disapproving side.

(Y/N) doesn't let herself be beaten and answers every question boldly, shutting him down on any front he intends to use as an attack. The Uchiha leader ends the meeting highly frustrated and does not partake of the after-dinner tea, but eventually and as time goes on, the more he interacts with her the more he realizes his son made the right choice.

The girl is unconventional, breaks the clan rules, is outrageous, but somehow makes a perfect match with his pragmatic boy, complementing each other in all the areas the other lacks.

It is the perfect balance the two strike within their bond that leads Fugaku to respect her, seriously listen to her, and learn about the woman. In the end, Mikoto is always right.

[plaguelily-art]

I said I had an art idea for just Ikona, and somehow I managed to actually see that through...even if this took two months to complete (rip, my life has been busy lately).

So yeah! An official art of my design for Ikona. And, I have a handful of assorted headcanons for her as well:

I think she was a kinshi knight, because every one of the Hoshido siblings has access to kinshi knight as a class; also Hinoka's Legendary Hero alt. in FEH has Queen Hinoka as a kinshi knight, with an updated design that mixes the design of the kinshi knight (definitely not Sumeragi's) class and priestess (Mikoto's) class. For Ikona's kinshi knight design I merged the design for kinshi knight with archer/sniper, as I also headcanon that she originally wielded the Fujin Yumi (I know the lore states that the Fujin Yumi was passed down through the royal family, but given that it's a choosy weapon, it might have "chosen" Ikona after she married Sumeragi, or else she may have come from some far-flung branch family).

Ikona was the first person, probably, to show Ryouma, Hinoka, and Takumi the basics of archery, although Takumi took to it more readily. She would have continued to mentor Takumi as he grew older if she had survived long enough to do so.

Ikona shares her hair and eye color with Takumi, and Takumi was the only one to inherit these features (as Ryouma takes strongly after Sumeragi, and Hinoka and Sakura both inherited hair/eye color traits that both Sumeragi and Ikona had, but where recessive; I know hair/eye colors aren't Mendelian per se, but I promise this made some sort of sense when I was trying to map out how everyone's genetic traits might have been inherited). However, Hinoka and Sakura share Ikona's rounder face and eye shape; Ikona was also a bit shorter than Hinoka and a bit taller than Sakura. Takumi and Sakura also share Ikona's straight, silky hair, whereas Ryouma and Hinoka inherited Sumeragi's wild and unruly flyaway hair.

I think in terms of personality, that Takumi and Sakura's anxiety troubles probably came from Ikona (as did Hinoka's shyness as a child). As a notable noble, and later queen, Ikona would have found a way to mask her social anxiety, but it doesn't change the fact that she was much more comfortable around her close friends and family. Ikona probably came off as somewhat awkward or aloof at times as a result though, despite all her etiquette training and careful masking. If she had lived long enough, Ikona might have been able to pass down some techniques to Takumi and Sakura for handling their anxiety.

Ikona could have shared Hinoka's inclinations towards being a warrior, although Ikona would have had the etiquette training to balance this out and mask the fact that she was more comfortable in armor than silks. Ikona's desire to protect others probably led to her untimely death as well (I don't have a solid set of headcanons for this, although I think she probably died before Sumeragi did; stat-wise I think she would have had a glass canon build, with strong offensive capabilities, both physical and magical, and weak defenses--if she was a "dive in to save people" type, her weak defenses would have been Ikona's undoing).

I also think it's possible that either Reina or Yukimura were, at one point, one of Ikona's retainers. I know from a developmental standpoint that Orochi and Reina were originally one character (at least I seem to remember reading that somewhere), and therefore Mikoto would have had Yukimura and Orochi-Reina as her two retainers, rather than having three retainers. And I know Yukimura serves more as Hoshido's tactician rather than a retainer...but I figure if we have the characters to go around, that one of them could have served as one of Ikona's retainers, but survived her death (and made sure the Fujin Yumi returned to the royal family), and that her other retainer died with her.

Ikona fell in love with Mikoto first. I'm not entirely sure how their entire thruple thing worked out eventually, but I feel like Ikona was the first to fall in love. She would have been so awkward about it too.

Not a headcanon, but as an aside I originally planned to have her outfit's color palette feature more oranges, the way her yukata was orange in the first artwork I made of her, but uh...she ended up looking like an orange creamsicle. Using the strong reds that appear in most of the Hoshidan character designs made her look a bit like Inuyasha though, so I eventually settled on more muted pinkish colors. I might change the palette later if I can make the oranges or reds work, but overall I think I like how off this palette feels when compared to most of the Hoshidan palettes. It feels like Ikona was sort of a last-minute thought to the writers, which makes her feel forgotten in the story itself. Ikona having an unusual color palette reflects the fact that she ended up not really getting to be a part of her own family in life or death, and in time became something of an aside even to her own people.

So...yeah! As I've said before, I have a lot of thoughts about fictional dead moms who get shafted by the writers of the stories they're supposed to be a part of. Ikona is no exception, and I really enjoyed coming up with a design for her and trying to weave headcanons to flesh her character out a bit. I've been thinking about her since Fates released, and I'm sure I'll be thinking about her for years to come.

—————————————————————————

2024, Winter (Beginning of Year) Digital (Adobe Photoshop) Design for Ikona is my own. Ikona is a character from the Fire Emblem series, and belong to Intelligent Systems. Artwork belongs to me.

This image (published by the artist to deviantart.com/plaguelily, plaguelily-art.tumblr.com) may not be reproduced, copied, edited, republished, reuploaded, distributed, or redistributed in any way, and I do not give permission for the creation of any sort of derivatives of my work including the use of the work in datasets used for generation of AI art or any other sort of procedurally generated image program or software. Thank you.

[tokyogruel]

@mikomappi i would warn you not to instigate me but its too late.

also i know this was bc of a meme post but genuinely i cant get him out of my head, i need to talk abt him & scream

ok so heres the thing abt my interpretation of haruka: im insane

tw for mentions of SH and sui. i mean its. its haruka.

hes a dog who's warning signs have been ignored for so long that he bites anyone who comes near, he's autistic, he has dyscalculia, he has dyslexia, he has body dysmorphia

he has no impulse control, he bites himself when he's distressed, he just wants love but the moment he gets it, it terrifies him & he has to destroy it

he fears anyone who seems to have any amount of power over him.

in my opinion: he had a sister who he grew up being overshadowed by because he was older & amab and he detests her so much for his mothers actions, he no longer considers her to be family

he fears kids & he fears what he's capable of doing to other people, he doesnt want to destroy things but its all he thinks he's capable of, he cant cry anymore & he feels he used up all the tears he could possibly shed in one lifetime

he has blue hair & pronouns, he's gotten himself sick on expired medication because his mother never took him to the doctor, he whines when he gets a headache (often)

he is strangely attached to EVERYONE in milgram imo, in their own weird ways. we all know he's dedicated to muu but. if he was close to yuno he would see her as a mother, im fairly certain fuuta will intervene on his suicide attempt. he idolizes shidou for bandaging him up once or twice

he envies the affection mahiru doles out to others (& basks in the affection she gives to him) he glances nervously across the room at kazui & feels his chest tighten holding back non existent tears when 07 gives him a warm smile in return

hes not afraid of amane anymore but that only makes him avoid her more- he cant stand the thought of being responsible for hurting her somehow

he revels in how mikoto seems to mesh so well with everyone, & of course he notices 09s mood swings & temperment changes, its incredible that nobody else comments on it, when theyve pointed out when 01 has swings. he finds kotoko to be intimidating, but he's infatuated with how strong and confident she is, he wants to be more like her

he idolizes Es & craves their attention. he knows Es could care less about him, but he cant help but be drawn to them.

if he had an ounce of confidence he would be so unabashedly cringe & loud & would smother everyone with his feelings & love & attention

if he knew what a furry was he'd make a fursona & make being a gay dog fish dragon his personality

[muffinrecord]

Goodbye Storage was pretty good and I have some thoughts after finishing it-

First off, it's another example of how Magia Record will choose the most convoluted explanation whenever possible instead of doing something far more simple and understandable and SOMEHOW making it work. Additionally, it'll have like... a lot of exposition that you just can't look at too hard.

Like Mikoto starts off the first ten minutes with a billion revelations on how her new parasite-powers/witchdom stuff works. How the fuck does she know any of that. How did she piece that together while she's in a dark void. How.

But you know what? Once you get past those three minutes, it's all good. Hanna and Mikoto have such a good god damn dynamic, wow. There are moments with surprising heart and clarity. Moments that make you think, "someone writing this really went through something." Hanna and Mikoto feel like real people-- they go back and forth on things. Sometimes Mikoto will feel one way and then completely backtrack and feel another, and it's not in a character-breaking way, but it feels more like someone who is standing on unsteady ground, who thinks one way and feels another.

Hanna does the anime trope thing of "I will be a villain to prove that heroism is right" which tbh I kind of hate because who the fuck does that irl. No one.

But it's okay, because honestly-- Hanna is not in a good state of mind here at all. Girl is clearly going through it. She had a horrible start to her life, still going through the horrors, she made her first friend then that friend BECAME A WITCH RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER IN A HORRID PAINFUL MANNER. THEN THAT FRIEND BECOMES A GHOST??? LIVING IN HANNA'S BRAIN??? LIKE. BRUH.

It doesn't surprise me that she's made her plan all convoluted. She's clearly not mentally well at the moment. I don't mean that in a diagnosis kind of way, but like the girl is traumatized and not thinking straight.

There's also all sorts of ways that you can dig into the event. It's straightforward on some stuff so you have a place to latch on to but it's ambiguous enough on other things so that you have enough wiggle room to have interesting interpretations and variances. Like;

Is Mikoto's presence making Hanna do things that she wouldn't normally want to do? Hanna wants heroism to win out. She wants to lose. Is that because, deep down, she's doing something she doesn't want to do?

I mean, Hanna has never been the nicest person either. It's possible she would have done this anyways-- but it's also possible that Mikoto's presence made Hanna even more extreme than she was before, or pushed her more than she ever would have gone.

There's just a lot of good stuff in it.

If you haven't watched it, I highly recommend it. It does have weak writing moments sometimes but it also has really really strong ones. I think it's def up there as one of my favorites now.

It's kind of a shame that both of them are dead, cause I really digged their dynamic. It felt very... earnest. Sometimes they yell at each other, sometimes they disagree and misread one another. They both want to make the other one happy, but they go about it in selfish ways that the other one doesn't want. But that's not a bad thing. It feels like it's because they're young. Like they need to make mistakes to learn how to love the way they want to be loved and to love another.

But that's the whole problem, isn't it? Mikoto is dead. Hanna will be dead soon too. They're not going to have a future where those mistakes build a foundation for them. This is it for them.

IDK. It's good bro.

[ridiasfangirlings]

anyone/different people from homra killing someone cuz they said something about someone they love

No blood no bone no talking shit about my boyfriend XD I like the idea of the more unexpected people being the ones you have to watch, like imagine someone mocking Eric and sweet, animal-loving Fujishima just quietly kicks the shit out of them. I think this would also be a little nice between Akagi and Bandou somehow, Akagi seems like a pretty even-tempered and cheerful guy so it would be fun to see him just turn on a dime the moment someone insults Bandou. Bandou I could see just going along with the complaints, like yeah that guy is always stealing girls I like, yeah I know right. The guy he’s talking to loosens up and starts complaining even more and suddenly finds a glowing red fist right by his face as Bandou is like no see only I get to complain about him. Dewa is similar with Chitose, he’ll kick someone’s ass for calling Chitose a dumbass and then just be like ‘Chitose you are such a dumbass,’ like it’s his thing alone okay.

And of course the Homra trio are the ones to watch out for. Imagine some guy decides to try and join Homra, he walks up to Mikoto’s room complaining about why that weak smiling guy is in Homra, he thought this was a place for real men not weaklings like that. On top of that what’s up with that bartender, he seems so uptight, this place really needs some cleaning up to be a proper gang. Mikoto just shrugs and grunts noncommittally, and oh gosh what a shame that guy failed the test and got burned to a crisp, oopsie. Totsuka has never killed someone (that can be proven) but imagine him scarily smiling people to death, like no Homra person (okay, except Fushimi) would ever insult Mikoto but anyone who says a word against Kusanagi will suddenly find themselves asked to participate in some very terrifying and possibly life threatening hobbies. Kusanagi meanwhile is much calmer than his friends and harder to rile up — but then one day a food critic came into his bar and proceeded to criticize the decor and the drinks and the wood counter and somehow that man never came back again and was last seen at the burn ward of the local hospital, strangest thing.

[kiigan]

@guidemetothedark asked: If Itachi had the ability to revive anyone he wanted to, without any consequences would he?

Very good question!

And the answer is... I don't think he would. But let me tackle this from a few different angles.

ㅤOne, from a very young age, Itachi became familiar with the notion of death and of its inevitability. Humans are born, and then humans die eventually. What matters is what you do in between these two moments, the so-called meaning of life. It's a cycle and a balance that is needed. If somebody, somehow, could live forever, then what would be the point? Would they even value such an existence? Dying is generally perceived as an undesirable thing, of course, and losing a loved one to death is one of the most painful experiences in life - but it is also part of it. You can't just remove it without provoking a possibly catastrophic cascade of effects.

ㅤTwo, and speaking of which, Itachi personally doesn't believe in the "without consequences" argument. Not even in a suspicious manner, rather in knowing that every action has a reaction and every behavior has a consequence. If nothing else, if he was to revive somebody who died, there would be consequences for that person. They would have to adapt, they would have to adjust. And what right does he have to make the choice for them, to assume that they would have wanted to be brought back?

ㅤThree, this ties into something else that is - how could he bring himself to choose who to bring back, to start with? We can think of his parents, it would be an obvious and understandable choice, but then how would he justify bringing back Mikoto but not Fugaku, or vice-versa? Not to mention, despite the tragedy that it was, both of them died on their own terms. They accepted that their actions had brought them to that outcome, and they could even find solace in knowing that their son was also making his own choices and forging his own path, no matter how painful. To bring them back, therefore, would disrespect their choice of accepting responsibility for their actions.

ㅤShisui is another similar example - in a way, he did choose his ending. Yes, he was going to die from the venom anyway, but he chose to take that step first and to make it his own decision to gift Itachi with the power of mangekyou. And, if he was to be brought back, wouldn't it be cruel to make him live in a world where the clan was massacred and all his loved ones (other than Itachi and Sasuke) were gone? And the same reasoning applies even to Kisame. Which, in fact, is a topic very special to them given their chat during their first meeting. No matter who you are, you do not know what kind of human you are until the very end. Something that stuck with Kisame so much that it's what he returned to right before he offered himself to his sharks. Again, wouldn't bringing Kisame back disrespect the choice he made and belittle his growth and development?

ㅤFinally, this can apply also beyond having to choose only one loved one to bring back. Itachi would think, for example, what right does he have to bring a loved one back from the dead when nobody else can afford the same? When thinking of Naruto, what right would he have to choose to bring back, say, Mikoto or Fugaku, but not bring back Kushina or Minato? Even when thinking of a completely random stranger, what right would he have to bring back family or friends for himself but not for that stranger? Why should he be worth more/deserve more than anybody else? Itachi very much believes in a world of justice and equality/equity for all, therefore he would never place himself on a pedestal so to speak.

ㅤAnd... even if he was offered the chance to bring back everybody who once died, to make it fair, I don't think he would have accepted that, either. Because, again, that would have disrupted the natural order of existence and would have been no more than a seemingly perfect world built on a fallacy. In a way, it wouldn't have been much different than the Eye of the Moon plan. And Itachi very much also believes in a world of free will and personal agency, even with the suffering it inherently brings.

[thealmightysimpren]

Since K Project is part of your requests list: do you think you can do Mikoto and Totsuka and something like where they realize/start to realize they're in love with the other? 👀👀

OFFCCCC! Thank u for being the first person to respond to my post, and I’ll try my best!!!😁😁😁.

okay so I need the ppl who read this to give me as much fed back as possible. Piz and thxxx u.

✨It was a normal day for the HOMAR gang Totsuka was sleeping on the couch of the bar misaki and kamamato were fighting as usual with Mr. Kusanagi in the background looking pissed off and we can't forget the beautiful Anna who was looking at her red beads. ✨*YAWN* (guess who decided to wake up) rubbing his eyes lazily Totsuka stretches and stands up “man~ that was a good nap!” “Well well well look who decided to get up, want a drink?” Says kusanagi while cleaning a glass cup. “No thank you, but I do want to go to the convenient store, anyone wanna come with?” Totsuka asks with a silly smile looking around the room. After a few moments Totsuka sighs in defeat “guess I’ll go all by my lonesome..” “wait a damn minute I need some more cigarettes while ur there” says the beautiful mikoto!!! “Yay I now have a shopping buddy!” Tosuka yells gleefully. At Totsuka s word mikotos face contorts into a scowl “that’s now what I meant idiot” “huh? Then what did u mean?” Makato stays silent for a few seconds before speaking “ya know what never mind I need a few other things from the store” mikoto says while looking to the side.

✨✨✨✨✨✨Time Skip✨✨✨✨✨✨

✨it’s been several days since then and the HOMAR gang has noticed that mikoto and Totsuka have slowly been spending more time together. Totsuka has noticed this as well and he thinks he knows why…it’s because…..mikoto is LONELY! (jk jk Totsuka isn’t that dumb ….I think?) he has a feeling that mikoto likes he and he can say he doesn’t feel the same way I mean what is there to not like about him he’s caring in his own way, sexy, and is a big tsundere basically a big ol’ bear. But these feelings aren’t really knew or surprising he has always had a small gut feeling that he likes mikoto. ✨mikoto on the other hand isn’t quite sure of what he’s feeling and doesn’t really understand why he wants to hang out with Totsuka so much lately but he isn’t TOTALLY oblivious he knows he thinks Totsuka is cute and the way he acts like a idiot on purpose is annoying but also adorable. so he decides to confirm his feeling but just as he was thinking of a way to do this Totsuka bursts into his room and shows a posted to mikoto “ Hey King let’s go to this festival together!” Mikoto agrees without a second thought knowing this is his chance. “Yay time to go shopping with the king!!!” Totsuka says grabbing mikotos hand starts to drag him around catching mikoto off guard but he still lets himself get dragged away. ✨as the two are shopping they get more close to each other and their feelings grow.

✨a few days later it’s time for the festival and Totsuka and mikoto are walking side by side in their new kimonos that they just bought, and you better believe it was a pain in the ass to get mikoto into that kimono it was like going through all 7 rings of hell back and forth but in the end the gang finally got him to wear it somehow. As the night went on they stopped at many food stalls and game stalls one in particular was a little fishing stall, once Totsuka saw this stall he was in love and dragged mikoto to the stall while holding hands. It was finally the end of the night and both were now certain they had feelings for each other but did know if they should make a move so they continued this relationship for a while.

bro I need help with tags lol

[chattegeorgiana]

I admit I didn't really like SasuKarin back then but I decided to give it a chance after reading On Sasuke Uchiha and his bonds with Itachi Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, Karin Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno and your posts concerning them. I still don't ship them but my opinion has changed of it a lot and I actually think those two had a better chance at becoming a pair. But I think what raised my respect for it even more was their fan children. I have a soft spot for fan children so it's not really a surprise, but they are all so cute and beautiful! My personal favorites are Akari Uzumaki and the U-Twins! Speaking of the U-Twins, you and Pumiih did an awesome job on them! They look so cool and mysterious just like their parents and I love what they are meant to represent! They're hairstyles also remind me of Madara so that's funny to me lol. I also really like the idea of Sasuke growing his hair out into a ponytail to honor Itachi. The side shavings on his hair makes him even cooler in my opinion. I also noticed something. I don't know know how to properly explain it but I'll try. We see more male Uchiha clan members than female (despite there being some such as Naomi, Izumi, and Mikoto) and we see more female Uzumaki clan members than male (despite there being some such as Ashina, Nagato, and Naruto). It's almost as if those certain genders hold the more importance. So I think it's interesting that it's reversed with the U-Twins. Sorry if I didn't explain it well (couldn't really find the right words) but all in all, I'm excited to see what you'll do with them in the future, make sure you don't rush, take your time and rest, and again, awesome job! 💜❤️

Anon, I don't know who you are, but first of all THANK YOU for your kind and introspective message.

I want to say this is one of the messages that definitely won my heart because you SAW what I meant to do. You explained everything PERFECTLY! That's exactly what I wanted to do. A "gender roles swap" to show that change that is meant to bring in more ways than one.

Because while I do express these changes through my preferred ships, I never really forgot about the CORE elements of what made the Naruto story so beloved, and one of that is the clans & the shinobi system.

Their design have a thought about element from the very strand of hair to their overall design... I don't know if you know me for a long time or not, but one of the things I'm obsessed about is symbolism. So when I create something, there's a symbolic meaning behind almost everything!

When studying Literature, symbolism has been one of my favorite parts. I just love how one can transmit certain themes, ideas, beliefs etc in a symbolic way.

I feel as if this manages to stay with the reader/viewer better. It somehow enters your soul.

Being part of the Shinachiku Kosen team & doing Kaika myself, I can tell you that both Akari & the U twins have a great deal of symbolism behind them & were created with much love.

I know people don't taste SK that good, especially given how the great metas of the past about them has been lost. I only touched in that analysis you mentioned like a small, surface-level way.

If you would've been here in the past when Skania or Homusubi wrote their metas (both great known names in the SK fandom), you would've at least been able to understand where the SK fandom comes from. Or came. There aren't many left anyway.

You don't have to ship them, ofc.

I didn't particularily do it either in the beginning, but then when I saw the symbolism that was building up, Sasuke awakening such power to protect Karin and their similar backgrounds, I couldn't help but fall for the possibility of it. Plus, the comedic act of it. It was something different about them. But alas...

Once again thank you for your kind and introspective message! I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. And trust me, as a writer-wanna be, it lit my soul on fire to see someone properly getting the "underneath beneath the underneath" I was trying to show there. Gives me a lot of mood to keep pushing through this, even if I'm so late with how I planned for the project to go & all that. But hey, adulting will somehow do that with your plans lol. This year has been quite busy on a personal level for me. But now things start to look up, so I should be able to soon get back to it & bring about all this vision I had in my mind to life. So thank you once again for your message and your interest in Kaika! All the best,

Chatte.

[nex-u]

BTW I WOULD ALSO LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT ALL YOUR ENSTARS AUS especially the saint spell one if you couldnt tell...i am So interested

Most of the stuff I have planned out at the moment are just the roles but this still ended up being somewhat long because of formatting so everything is undercut

The St Spell's one hasn't been that thought out yet, I literally just came up with it yesterday. I'm thinking about whether to keep the original St Spell's character, or to make it Ensemble Square but, it's been replaced with a magic school (I have no idea how else to word this)

Thinking up some stuff at the time of writing this

I could see Koga, Shinobu, Jun, Rinne, and Wataru as Animas

Valkyrie and fine as Clockhearts (Originating from what, I'm not sure yet)

Undead as Nephilims?

The witches could have a magic skill related to something in Enstars (Natsume would definitely be a witch, I could see him take as many magic classes as possible and practice it with Sora and Aoba in the forests)

Yeah I'll figure this all out somehow

The MILGRAM one is something I worked on with two friends. We decided to have their backstories the same with some differences so there's a reason for the fact that they're in prison (Haven't figured out the crimes yet but the roles are done)

Es: Anzu Jackalope: Daikichi Haruka: Mayoi Yuno: Arashi Fuuta: Koga Muu: Aira Shidou: Tatsumi Mahiru: Niki Kazui: Madara Amane: Tori Mikoto: HiMERU Kotoko: Souma

Sadly no Smoker Gang in this AU

Alien Stage roles are

Mizi: Makoto Sua: Hokuto Till: Rinne (I decided to remove the whole Till likes Mizi thing ((I mean, it's an alternate universe, so)) Ivan: HiMERU Luka: Izumi Hyuna: Still kind of trying to figure this one out

I'm working on a Makoto and Hokuto edit for this AU but I don't know whether to draw Hokuto with long hair or not

Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun roles

Hanako: Kohaku Nene: Aira Kou: Hiiro Teru: Rinne Tsukasa: Tsukasa

This one is also still a work in progress. I'm thinking of writing a fic that follows the TBHK pilot so roles will probably be finalized by then

Anddd last but not least, takt.op Destiny (This is one I'm currently working on)

[C]: Conductor [M]: Musicart [O/R]: Other/Relative

Takt: Leo [C] Cosette: Tsukasa* [M] Anna: Arashi [O/R] Charlotte: Izumi [C] Extra character I added to be Izumi's Musicart: Ritsu** [M] Lenny: Madara [C] Titan: Kohaku [M] Schindler Valkyrie's Conductor: Shu*** [C] Valkyrie: Mika [M] Sagan: Eichi [C] Heaven: Nagisa [M] Hell: Hiyori [M] Kenji (Takt's Dad): Leo's Dad**** [O/R]

*: Something funny I realized this morning was that Tsukasa and Destiny are both sweet tooths

**: Charlotte isn't actually a Conductor, she doesn't have a Musicart, she works as an employee in the technology development department of New York Symphonica. I decided to give Izumi a Musicart in this AU to add all of Knights

***: Schindler doesn't have a Musicart (Despite working with Schindler, Valkyrie hasn't formed a pact with a Conductor), so instead of using a solo unit and separating a member from their unit I made it so Enstars Valkyrie replaces takt.op Valkyrie and Schindler

****: I don't know if Leo's dad has a name or not so I might end up using Kenji's name (So his name will be Kenji Tsukinaga)

That's a, pretty long list. If you read through all this thanks a lot, I'll be planning more and might make some art for these so I'll eventually dump some of it on here in the future

[eternally6pm]

I think I am going a little mad 

from thinking too long about how Takumi is quite possibly depressed, 

and Mikoto’s death has triggered a very severe exacerbation of it. 

His family love him, but his older sister and brother aren’t the greatest at handling someone quite so sensitive (they were never shown how, and likely subconsciously recognise it from a distance as lack of discipline, impatience, weakness)

and Sakura is his best bet at finding emotional support, but he’s her older brother - he cannot bring himself to burden her with anything. 

Contrary to what some of his dialogue would have you believe, Takumi is profoundly thoughtful - in fact, he may suffer a little from overthinking, and tends to drive himself into mental corners, self-defeating cycles of hope, denial, regret.

Meanwhile Camilla is also more than just some ridiculous armour, a sister complex and a yandere tendency. 

There is a melancholy to her that feels like a deeply embedded sort of mourning for the childhood that she was denied, 

alongside an unhealthy helping of Venting with Violence. 

I find her violent in many ways: violently affectionate, violently sensual, violently physical. 

To an extent, I think this to be a sort of mirror of Takumi’s behaviour. Both of them are brash, but while 

Takumi is deliberately alienating, Camilla is determinedly possessive. 

Takumi lashes out, while Camilla attempts to nurture, 

and both do this in response to the traumas they carry with them, but also as an attempt at absolution, and if you’re still with me somehow I have another 45 minutes of straight up stream of consciousness about how this makes them perfect for one another in their similarities and complementary ways, but also sometimes horribly toxic in their inability to cope with the extreme emotions they are saddled with but have never been given the security to properly

[thechibilitwick]

dude the main au i also always think about is a non-milgram domestic one too... power of domesticity to combat the horrors of reality i suppose

i do have a few others tho i don't think about them as often, which is mainly some random mermaid au, a dungeon meshi one, and a csm one n a kny one but i don't think about either as often (just know that kazui is cat themed in both). i also recently randomly thought of some weird ass alien one but that's just cuz i kept listening to aitai-liens and i wanted shidou to be an even bigger freak. i do kinda wanna expand on it cuz it includes 0610 too....

anyways i will now try to pull as many hcs as i can out of my mind (but they will probably mostly be in a domestic normal au setting)

kazui's love language is physical touch, but he isn't very big on pda. even just holding hands makes him all nervous cuz internalized shit and he thinks it's embarrassing ("haha why is this old guy holding hands with another guy. that's gay.")

when they are in private tho i'd like to think he'd be clinging onto shidou whenever he possibly can and he'd be by his side. simple things like hugs or leaning on his shoulder. giving him lil kisses or ruffling his hair

n then shidou's love language is acts of service n quality time. he always insists on doing chores or menial tasks even when he is very obviously exhausted. and then when he has the time he takes kazui on outings like walking through a park, eating out, going shopping, etc. and holds kazui's hand throughout (i want 0507 aquarium date to be real SO BAD)

they thrive most in domestic silence tho. like taking showers or watching a movie together or just sleeping. they barely say anything and just appreciate the other's company. the whimsy of simplicity and mundane life sigh

even inside of milgram i feel like they'd just appreciate the other's company a lot yet never actually say anything... like they just gravitate towards each other and don't mind being close with only the nagging feeling of "uh oh what if i like this guy... nah..." then they make out

also the smoking one... augh.... smth smth now smoking for the other instead of for themselves... do you think they would shotgun..

i also think cuz of work shidou is rather disorganized at home (he said it himself... mr. "i'm quite careless in private"). stuff like leaving stuff lying around or forgetting to do the dishes n yadayada so kazui helps him with that stuff despite how stubborn shidou is

n i love freak shidou too... kazui being less insecure cuz shidou is freaky... he'd comfort him n compliment him n pick up his hand and give it kisses. also shidou moles i think he has a ton and kazui likes them eheheuhe

hrmm other silly ones are probably shidou leaving little notes if he leaves for work before kazui wakes up, or texting each other using stupid gifs or stickers, or the whiplash kazui gets from shidou calling him his partner, or how shidou would probably play neko atsume or smth and get kazui into it. how shidou likes going to arcades and winning stupid little plushies and he blows all his money to get them little matching plush keychains...

also they meet through mikoto somehow. he invites them to a dinner party or smth idk i need to flesh it out more 🥹

but yeah i'm pretty normal about 0507...

while the 0507 brain worms are still active i am curious if you have any headcanons for them... or maybe even aus perhaps. if you do i will be nodding my head so attentively (i have some of my own as well hehe)

the idea of 0507 aus r so damn funny bc the only ones ive ever fantasized abt r just. domestic. like these two out there living semi normally bc god knows theyre going thru the horrors as we speak

anyway hcs rapidfire GO

shd is a lightweight drunk but straight up does not get hungover in the mornings while kzi handles his drinks well but is Gone after waking up (they take turns caring for the other when one half is too intercepted to function)

they canNot smoke w/o the other, like no chance of even trying. smoking time became solely bonding time at some point

shd freak rights i think. like kzi wld be attracted to shd for sure, definitely find his face pretty n all, but i want shd to actively check kzi out whever he can. kzis got the arms n the build n the stomach,,,. methinks shd shld have the right to be madly into that 😋

theyre both the insta reels/facebook content/tiktoks sender to each other. their dms r just full of That and pics of whatever they see in the day

speaking of txts, kzi shld be an emoticon user. shd texted bluntly as shit for some time b4 subliminally adopting the emoticons kzi uses. now his txt r just as blunt but w a hint of whimsy

beyond that ive made a non mgrm au b4,, smth abt them meeting in the same hospital post hinako situation were kzi to bring her to the er (call that a meetcute (sorry)).... i did try to draft concepts for it just bc it made me insane for a while but that went nowhere, i can try again tho :3

[atl4ntxc]

hii!! can i request milgram fuuta x fem reader headcanons where they start a relationship in prison?? im sorry if this sounds weird LMAO btw i love ur danganronpa stories so much, you have a great writing style <3

#fuuta relationship hcs

RELATIONSHIP IN JAIL, headcanons.

—character(s), kajiyama fuuta.

—genre, pretty fluffy if i do say so myself, but with a touch of little angst.

—notes, it came out okay lol. personally, i think it could've come off better, but i was having a little writer's block during this request lol. Took me around 2 days to actually think about what to write.

also, thank you so much for the compliment!

• you're the 11th prisoner and probably did the worse crime of all of them. idk who you murdered, but your spending time there

• you guys met in.. jail?? what

• when you first met, he was an angry gremlin, and you were just staring at him like "tf..."

• i headcanon that he likes to literally get mad over nothing and would explode at the mere mention of him being in 'jail'

• i also think there is a cafeteria in you know, JAIL.

• so you guys probably met there.

• he was sitting beside haruka that was eating, literally on his phone, probably scrolling through Twitter (lmfao pls- get a job)

• "can i sit here?"

• "no-"

• "yes sure!"

• yuno quickly put a hand over his mouth and interrupted him. (best girl ugh-)

• so, you sat beside him. It was awkward at the beginning but you saw him play a specific video game that you were particularly good at

• "is... is that (insert game)??"

• he looked at you, surprised and rose a brow.

• "It is. Do you play it or something?"

• you said yes and now he communicates more often with you. And as time passes on, he grew more fond of you, to the point where he developed feelings.

• okay, at first, he would deny having feelings for you, even with the constant teasing of Kotoko and Mikoto (they're teaming up against him lol)

• He would be flustered when he sees the corner of your lips curl up at the sight of him, and it really makes the teasing worse.

• Since Mikoto could be an idiot sometimes, he tends to make you avoid talking to him so that his 'idiocy doesn't spread'.

• but in truth, he's just envious of how close you are with him.

• how he'd confess would probably be unintentional, during an argument between the both of you

• you guys argue over small things and would often apologize to one another (most likely you because his pride and ego is too high up lol)

• but this argument was big, to the point where it brought tears to your eyes. Amane had to hold in her cries and pray.

• Guard Es DID try to stop the both of you, but it... didn't really work. (please stop fighting and give Guard Es a break :( )

• "It's because I love you okay?! What- Shit, I said that out loud, didn't I?"

• yeah... You did : ) .

• as cliché as it sounds, he snapped at you with a reasoning that none of you— nor any of the other prisoners expected, a confession.

• you either a) went up to hug him, which led to him hugging you back and burying his face in your neck, letting you cry on his shoulder.

• or b) run away in a state of panic, which resulted in him running after you and apologizing face to face, making you punch him in the stomach lightly and gripping on his clothes, crying in his chest.

• and at that point, is where your dating journey begins !!! Woohooo

• it's clear that he is a tsundere.

• any sort of affection from you would have him blushing, but he would lean onto your touch

• since you're both in prison, no cuddle session will take place :(

• BUT if the both of you somehow managed to be voted as "forgive" in at least two of the three trials, you're free to get out and the first thing you both would do is cuddle at home and have a celebration.

• he's overprotective.

• FUUTA would definitely make you avoid all the guys if possible

• but if you like both/any genders well... he's going to be staring at you both conversing from afar, making sure that the other person won't make moves on you

• but you still hang out with Mikoto and Shidou lol

• I think that Shidou and you would be pretty close friends, since he is a literal doctor, it would be natural for you to be interested in how medic works

• For Mikoto... It's pretty self-explainable

• The most suggestive and extreme thing you guys did was making out— nothing more happens than that.

• It happened due to him getting too jealous lol

• You're the only person who can make him calm down from all the rage fits, so consider that as an achievement!

• But overall, a stable and nice relationship. No complications :D

[pinky-the-elephant-room]

Restart

AN: Ok so I’ve been gone for a while but I’ve hit a milestone in my followers and I decided to write one for my original anime hubby. He’s an oldie but a classic. Everyone loves Kakashi-sensei. Anyway It’s a long one so I hope you enjoy!

Warning: Implied smut but fairly SFW. 

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

Everyone has read the Fanfiction, and everyone has read the stories. Someone mysteriously dies and gets reborn in a new world. Only to train and become a badass before eventually getting their favorite character to fall in love with them. All while changing the story to prevent people, they’ve never met from dying. It was a wish fulfilment story and it works as entertainment. But real life is so much more difficult than anyone realizes.

Because in the end the person I was before never really changed even when I was reborn into a world of ninjas.

My first memory that I can clearly remember is eating ice cream outside my parent’s farm. I was born in a mundane village a few miles from Konoha. Ice cream was a rare summer treat that my parents occasionally indulged me and my five siblings in. It was on this rice farm where I spent the first five years of my childhood. I went to a civilian school that taught me to write and read before spending the rest of my days helping my family. I remembered nothing from my previous life. Just flashbacks and deja vus that left reminiscent feelings lurking in the back of my mind. Kanji was unexpectedly hard for me versus my sibling who picked it up with ease. Yet, when I finally grasped the language, I kept journals of writings not knowing that it was a passion resembling my former self. I also never understood my connection with cats. I was known as the resident cat girl that went around picking up stray cats to bring back to our farm. And the cats formed a bond, only tolerating me and hissing at everyone else who dared to approach them.

The peaceful years unfortunately didn’t last. Over the years war and bandits took a toll on our quiet town and maintaining a farm was no longer profitable. So, my parents made the decision to sell off their land and move to Konoha. Though, my parents were apprehensive, me and my sibling were ecstatic at living in a shinobi village. Everyone knew of shinobis, the legends surrounding them. Tales of bravery, heartache, and loyalty, it fascinated the residents of the village.

We moved into Konoha early August just before winter arrived and were citizens after 3 months. The process was short due to our lack of shinobi lineage and arriving from a civilian farm town. It was in Konoha that I really got my first exposure to what shinobis actually were. Seeing them jump off the roofs while my father tended his produce stall was mesmerizing. Playing ninja with the rest of the kids and constantly being surrounded by the hype eventually got to the point where I wanted to become a ninja myself. Along with two of my younger siblings, I begged my parents to attend the academy. They eventually relented when they realized the village offered funding for civilian children to attend. I was the only one out of my siblings to pass the entrance exam. I was the only one physically fit enough where they thought I had potential. when I left for that first day, it led to some tantrums and pouting from my siblings who didn’t make it. They eventually overcame their jealousy. They loved to hear about each and every new jutsu that I learned.

It was at the academy when I first saw him. It was him who destroyed my delusions and awakened my suppressed memories. It was Itachi Uchiha. Yet, despite his young age he kept up with the rest of his older classmates. He was only 5 years old, a prodigy amongst prodigies. When I saw his cherub, cute face for the first time, it gave me a headache. It started off as a numbing sensation on the side of my head. I collapsed on my bed from the exhaustion, closing my eyes because the blurred vision made the pain that much worse. I slept off my headache for the rest of the day. And all my previous memories were unlocked.

I was a boring human being. A lazy person who had a multitude of mental issues that barely survived off my paycheck. Got married to an equally mundane individual and by the time we were 30, the passion had worn off. We never got divorced, too afraid of dating again and leaving our two children without each other. The only happiness that kept me grounded was my writing and my hobbies. Growing up I loved anime and lessened as I grew up with more and more responsibility. But Naruto was my childhood and coping mechanism when I got bullied. And out of Naruto was my favorite character, Itachi Uchiha.

I don’t think I need to explain why anyone likes Itachi. From his tragic background and his love for his younger brother. Once as a naïve girl, I wanted to find someone like him or at least wished for a brother who loved his younger siblings like he did. And now somehow those desires came true. Because he sat only 3 rows away. Coupled with my new body’s memories of admiration for the young boy and along with my love and knowledge of what he was going to do in the future, made me yearn for him.

Not in a weird, sexual way. After all, I was still only 8 and he 5, but I wanted to be his friend. I wanted to be his confidant and most of all I wanted to save him.

When I spotted him alone at a lunch break, I decided to go introduce myself. This was going to be the new beginning of a friendship and hopefully more down the lane.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves before approaching the quiet boy.

“Hello, are you Itachi-kun? Nice to meet you! I’m L/N Y/N and I sit behind you,” I cheerfully said and waved at him excitedly.

He blinked slowly and stared at me for a few minutes.

“Yes…. Nice to meet you too,” he uttered.

He stared at me for a few more minutes, making the situation more and more awkward. I let out a nervous chuckle and shuffled my feet at his intense gaze.

Itachi raised his eyebrow as if asking if I wanted anything else.

“Well I-“ I began, but was interrupted by a loud screech.

A boy collided with Itachi and knocked him over. The two tussled for a few minutes, the unknown boy laughing gleefully. While Itachi just sighed and dodged his rambunctious friend.

“Oy! Itachi, did you bring an extra bento that Mikoto-sama prepared?” The boy looked up and I stopped breathing.

It was a clearly healthy and alive, Shisui Uchiha. After a few minutes as the boys conversed, Shisui finally noticed me standing awkwardly in front of them.

He looked at me curiously and asked, “who are you?”

“That’s just my classmate. Anyway, Shisui I have my bento over there. Come,” the solemn boy said. The two boys then left while I just watched wide eyed.

Ok, so the first introduction didn’t go as I planned but I tried multiple times. However, each attempt was just as awkward as the first as I stammered and squirmed in front of Itachi’s inquisitive gaze. Apparently, my inept skills at talking to boys had somehow labeled me as a fangirl, I overheard the young boy tell his cousin.

Once after class, I watched a pretty Izumi clutch a content Itachi as he conversed with Shisui. The three Uchiha unaware of the turmoil in my heart as they went home for the day happily. I realized that day Itachi didn’t have a place for me. This world had no place for me because I was never meant to be here. This story wasn’t mine and it was never going to be.

I never tried again to attempt a conversation, too embarrassed by being called a fangirl. Before I knew it, the year was over and Itachi had graduated early along with his talented cousin. Farther away from my reach than ever, I again realized the difference between myself and the genius. I was still stuck in the academy at 9 years old with my peers. Most of all I knew in the depths of my heart that I couldn’t save him from his fate. Reality was much more bitter than anyone realized.

As for me I finally graduated on my birthday and my parents took us all out for yakitori at a restaurant. I was still going to try my hardest to be the best shinobi I possibly could be. At least if I couldn’t save Itachi and the Uchiha from the inevitable, which I doubt most people in my place could.

Unfortunately for me, my hardest didn’t amount to much. My sensei was a young impatient Genma who ironically had a toothpick in his mouth instead of a senbon. Let me summarize it for you, my team failed. Miserably. I stood there in horror, watching as my hopes and dreams for the future dissolved right in front of me. I rushed after Genma, pleading, and begging for another chance. Even resorting to full on ugly crying while he stood looking painfully uncomfortable.

“Please! I just wanna make a difference!” I begged as tears dripped down my face.

He sighed. “Fine! Just please stop crying. You’re embarrassing yourself and me.”

Genma recommended me for the Genin corps. It wasn’t where I wanted to be, but I also didn’t want to go back to academy. I figured if I spent a year on the corps, I could eventually find myself a Genin team before advancing onto Chunin.

However, once again what actually happened was far from my expectation. I didn’t spend a year or 2 years. I spent 7 years on the Genin corps. S-E-V-E-N. Years. I even spent a year on a Genin team when I was 13 only to realize my potential compared to my peers was very low. Don’t get me wrong my reincarnated body was ten times healthier and in shape than my previous coach potato one. I could barely run a mile in my previous life whereas now I could run 3 miles. However, that achievement paled in comparison to the average ninja. No matter what I did, whether it was taijutsu, genjutsu, or even ninjutsu was dull compared to everyone else. My punches lacked force, I didn’t have enough chakra for the higher level jutsus, and I couldn’t even tell the difference between a basic genjutsu to a complicated one.

Basically, I sucked, so I stuck to Genin corps. For the money of course, it paid pretty well in comparison to civilian jobs. I bought an apartment at 15 and I was able to provide for myself. But the crushing truth took a toll on my mental health. I just spend the time where I wasn’t working in my bed. I barely had energy to feed myself. I didn’t snap out of until I got straightened out by my mother.

“Y/N! When was the last time you took a bath or had a proper night sleep?!” Okasan yelled when she made an impromptu visit to my apartment.

I shrugged and took a bite of my rice ball that Okasan so nicely prepared for me.

“Look, I know being a ninja was your goal. But not everything in life works out. And not everyone has to be a shinobi to have a good life!” she said as her eyes softened.

“But what else am I supposed to do? I’ve been training to be a shinobi since I was 8 years old and none of the other jobs pay so generously,” I replied dully.

Okasan reached over and patted my hand. “Well, you don’t have to quit being a Genin just yet. Try new things or figure what else you want to do before you retire. Hell, when was the last time you had a hobby? You don’t even write like you use to.”

I considered it, maybe I could take up calligraphy or start writing again like I used to. I haven’t written anything down since I made Genin.

“Alright, I’ll think about it. But I’m not promising anything,” I grumbled.

“As long as you snap out of this funk and start taking care of yourself is all I ask for, Y/N” Okasan said with a soft smile.

It took a while after that conversation, but little by little I started to put in effort again. I cut my shaggy hair into an acceptable style, showered every day, and ate my meals on time. I even adopted a little stray off the streets that made itself home in my small apartment. One night coming home after my late shift, I stopped by a bookstore to buy a sturdy journal. I started off by journaling my daily life before letting my creative mind drift. In my previous life, I was a self-published erotica writer that basically did it for fun. Maybe it was something I could attempt again.

There were many drafts before I settled on a topic that I felt passionate about. In the Elemental nations, they idealized a woman who waited. Just take the bestselling Icha Icha novel for example, it involved a ninja who abandoned his wife because he was scared his enemies would target her. He spent the entire novel hoeing his way through the countries, only to realize he was still in love with his wife. The wife, who by the way, spent years celibate and faithfully waiting for her husband. That novel made me infuriatingly mad because it highlighted the double standards of the world I was born in so well. Hell, even in the future Sakura and Hinata would waste their lives, faithfully waiting on the men they love to reciprocate their feelings.

So, for my novel I decided to juxtapose those stereotypes by writing a novel about a woman named Sayaka whose boyfriend would break up with her, unknowing she was pregnant with his child. She spends her life trying to provide for her child, only for him to be kidnapped because he had a rare keikei genkai. She hires a local mercenary (Mahiro) except he’s not interested in her money but rather her. The rest of the plot was not decided yet, but I would see where it goes and plan accordingly.

The more I wrote the better I felt and the disappointment that was my career no longer felt like a death sentence. Without a laptop or anything to help me write, I had to resort to buying a used typewriter. Still I would rush home each day, excited to write another chapter. Or to get lost in the filthy world of the mercenary and desperate mother. There weren’t a lot of people I could trust to edit so I spent months editing and reediting until I had the best version of my novel. And then when I was done, I had no idea what to do with it. Did I really want to become an erotica author in this world? As violent as it was, the Elemental nations were still conservative regarding sexuality. There were many female readers who loved Icha Icha but didn’t show it in public because it was seen as a dirty book for old men. After much deliberation, I decided to contact publishing agencies that weren’t affiliated with Icha Icha.

Waiting for their responses took months and many rejections before my novel was picked up by a small agency that mostly published Nonfiction. The agency would send an editor to talk about contracts and the novel itself to Konoha. So, by my 18th birthday, I was anxiously awaiting where else fate would take me.

The editor and I had decided on a family restaurant to meet up and I dressed in my best clothes to give off the optimum impression. I really wanted this to work out for me. For once.

It didn’t take long before a harried young man in a suit came in and looked around anxiously.

“Nino-san! Over here!” I called out and waved my hand to get his attention.

He looked at me in surprise and sat down across from me.

“Uh, hello. Excuse me can you tell when Y/N-san will arrive? I’m kind of on a deadline.”

I looked at him weirdly. “Um, I’m Y/N. Nice to meet you,” I said cautiously.

He stuttered wildly, blushing as he pointed at me. “B-be serious! No way are you her! You’re way too young to be writing such a – “

“Filthy, dirty novel?” I finished wryly.

He shook his head vigorously. “No! I meant such a hardcore erotica! I-I’m so sorry that came out wrong.”

I just laughed. “It’s ok. I’m a shinobi, we age faster than we look due to the trauma.”

We spent the next hour talking about the novel itself and how it would be promoted.

“So, Y/N-san. Our agency usually doesn’t deal with erotica. But your novel has a good chance to sell well if someone promoted it correctly. We want this to be known as the Icha Icha for women.”

I felt my eyebrows furrow. “Isn’t that a little presumptuous? Won’t I just get hate if I don’t live up to the expectations?”

The man let out a chuckle. “That’s true but I don’t think most people will be disappointed by it. Besides it’s very important for new authors to get their name out there. Maybe for future sequels we can tone it down, but for the first one we want to start off with a bang! Any publicity is better than none,” he reasoned.

Realizing the editor might have a point, I agreed and signed a contract with the publishing agency. The novel was due to be out December which is 6 months from now on. For the first time in a while I had achieved my goals. I had managed something without it going terribly wrong.

I got a small sum of money when I signed the contract, but I really wouldn’t be to collect royalties until the book was published. So, for the rest of my time I diligently did my job as a Genin by delivering messages and other nonsense jobs that were left over. As I avoided the shinobi bars that were filled with accomplished Chunins and Jounins, I promised myself that I would never again be embarrassed to walk these streets again. For the past few years, I had kept my eyes down as I walked through the villages as I got older and older, yet I still remained a Genin.

‘Please no more. Give me something to be proud of.’ I begged in my mind. Even if it meant a trashy porn, I was so low on self-esteem, anything would be worthwhile.

Luckily for me, it seemed like 18 years of bad karma was finally going to be turned around as the date to publish my novel got closer and closer. The agency hadn’t lied, they promoted my novel almost aggressively. Every bookstore had huge advertisement declaring the next big hit. Though, I had giggled almost manically when I saw the book’s cover for the first time. It reminded me of the many trashy novels from my previous life with the man’s shirtless abs on display with a beautiful woman clinging. However, for my novel it was obviously a rogue shinobi with his chest on display as a young girl clutched his biceps. Scarlet Heart series was the name I had chosen, and it stood out on the erotic cover. I saw many curious women fluttering around the display, almost shy in showing their interest. I even saw a man pulling away his pregnant wife as she read the synopsis, muttering angrily to himself.  

When the launch of the book occurred, I holed myself in my apartment. I tried to relax and keep myself busy so I wouldn’t be too occupied with the reactions. I even took an entire week off from my usual work, feigning sickness in my family. I hung out with my oldest brother and his newborn son, trying to reacquaint myself with the siblings that I had long neglected.

I met up later with my editor to discuss how the book was faring, hopefully it did decent enough that I could have reason to continue my story. We met up at the same restaurant as before and Nino gave me a brilliant smile that quelled my fears.

“Y/N-san, your book’s sales did amazing in Konoha followed by Iwa and Kumo. The marketing towards women paid off because most of the sales came from women in their 20s to 40s. Heck, there were even a substantial amount from men who were curious. I think you should definitely continue this series. Do you have an idea where you’re going to take the story?” he gushed with excitement.

I sighed with relief, “I’m glad. I was so worried about the response I didn’t even go near any bookstores! As for sequels I have an inkling. I still have to work out everything, but I want to introduce Sayaka’s ex-boyfriend and maybe dabble in a proper love triangle.”

Nino-san nodded and said, “you should be careful how you write that triangle though. Some love triangles can get tedious and annoying, but it does play its part well in keeping the audience’s interest.”

Nino-san and I eagerly discussed the future for Scarlet Heart. I felt a flutter in my heart, knowing that for the first in forever I had something to look forward to.

 Time Skip~ 1-year Kakashi POV:

Really with everything he had endured in his life, you would think the world would be willing to give him a break, right? Nope!

Most think it started with Obito’s death, but he thought it started with his father’s suicide that really began the downward spiral. Nevertheless, after his teammate’s death, he and Rin had rushed into a presumably “relationship”. But really it was a way to keep her close, so he didn’t lose anyone else. They never even kissed though he knew Rin desperately wanted to do all the things that couples do. But he remained closed off in those four months before she was killed. By him no less.

Afterwards included him coping with his trauma by joining Anbu (and for a short while Root). His sensei became Hokage; but even he would pass away along with his wife, leaving behind a tiny blond sacrifice for the village to turn their resentment against.

But he was getting ahead himself months before Rin’s death Jiraiya-sama had approached him with a gift.

Jiraiya gave him an exaggerated wink and giggled. “Here gaki. You’re so depressed that Minato and Kushina keep thinking they might have to stage an intervention. But what you need is a distraction and I have just the thing!”

He had handed over a book with a bright red cover before hopping roof to roof all the while laughing obnoxiously.

He took it with a surge of curiosity, emotions he hadn’t felt in a while since Obito tragically passed away (AKA crushed by a boulder, but he digresses).

That started his love, well more like obsession, with the Icha Icha series. First, he was revolted and ashamed, eager to find the Sannin and perhaps show him the effectiveness of his Chidori. But over time his curiosity couldn’t be contained, and he finished the naughty book in two days. He noticed how when he was occupied with the book, he hadn’t once thought of Obito and everything that was wrong with his life. Of course, he had a girlfriend then so he couldn’t risk being seen with the book outside of his humble apartment. But a year after Rin’s death, he ventured out with his hobby. The reactions of the general public had amused him beyond belief and a strange sense of vindictive righteousness set upon seeing his Anbu kohais’ reactions.

The reactions only encouraged him to read everywhere and anywhere. He even managed to piss off Gai once as the incensed man ran away to do a 100 more laps around the village. It didn’t last long before he reappeared to challenge Kakashi once more, but Kakashi appreciated the brief reprieve.

Anyway, the point of this rather tragic flashback wasn’t to gain sympathy for himself, but to showcase the real injustice that occurred at his tender age of 25. His beloved Icha Icha had a rival apparently. Which was bullshit, obviously. He wasn’t blind to the errors of the pornographic novel. The plot was simple, characters were paper-thin, and as more novels debuted in the series, the more apparent the similarities between each novel became. But the series was fast moving, the sex was incredibly detailed and arousing, and the series was frankly addicting. Once someone became a fan, it was impossible not to reach for the next one.

So, when he heard about this supposed series that was going to rival Icha Icha, he had scoffed and rolled his eyes. Many contenders claimed the same thing before they faded off into oblivion when everyone realized the superiority of Icha Icha. The first four months of the series’ debut he made it his mission to ignore all the hype and kept rereading his collection. After all, when the next issue of Icha Icha released, everyone would forget the hype of this wannabe.

Unfortunately, the world never adheres to his expectations and loves to fuck him over every chance it got. Kakashi, once again, had failed another Genin team because Hokage-sama thought he had potential as a sensei. He must have been smoking that pipe too much lately. The rest of his fellow Jounin invited him to a bar where he reluctantly agreed and was dragged off by Asuma.

They settled in and ordered some drinks, while Kakashi read his book, half listening to the conversation around him.

“I’m telling you this book is really good. I know people say it’s for women, but it’s so much more than that.” Kurenai persuaded Genma who just looked skeptical.

“Even Asuma liked it!” She pointed to the smoker who just looked embarrassed at the sudden attention.

Asuma cleared his voice a couple times. “Well, it’s not that bad at all. It kept me busy for a couple of hours for a few days.”

Kurenai rolled her eyes at him. “He loved it. He told me he did.”

Kakashi’s interest peaked and he lowered his book down.

“Wait, are you talking about that new series that everyone’s losing their minds over?”

Kurenai’s eyes lit up and she looked eager rather than the calm, collected Jounin she usually was.

“Yeah, you read it Kakashi? I never thought for once you would put down that trash and try something else.”

Kakashi felt his ire rise and his single visible eyesmiled at the red eyed kunoichi.

“Why Kurenai doesn’t that book also have porn in it? Doesn’t that mean you read trash too?”  

Kurenai’s cheeks heated up. “Well, it does but it’s also about a betrayed woman who learns to love again and honestly it’s much more nuanced than whatever Icha Icha achieved in its six sequels.”

Kakashi felt his eyebrows rise. He highly doubted that, but he couldn’t help but add in.

“And how do you know what’s in Icha Icha?”

The blush on Kurenai’s face deepened. “I might have read it but only because Anko forced me to. To ‘loosen’ up or whatever that means.”

Their fellow Jounin chuckled as Kurenai tossed back a drink as she tried to cool her overheated face.

The conversation moved on mercifully for the embarrassed woman, but Kakashi also lost his interest and he returned to the passage where Misaki was educating her lover on the preciseness of oral sex.

Kakashi hoped that would be the last time he ever heard of that book. But again, the hype for this novel continued. He spotted more women with erotica in their hands than he ever did in his lifetime. Even kunoichi seemed to have lost their minds as the book was the hot topic no matter where he went. Even the Hokage’s secretary was seen reading the porn while she was on the job. He was sick and tired of hearing about this supposedly incredible book. Kakashi just wanted to read his book in peace can’t the village go back to a time where it wasn’t consumed by porn?

Kakashi sighed as another day passed and yet another Genin team failed. When will Hokage-sama finally get the message he just wasn’t cut out for teaching? He sighed with relief as he flipped the entrance banner of Ichikaru Ramen and sat down on one of the stools.

“Just a miso ramen. Thanks,” he called out tiredly. Kakashi looked around the restaurant and was surprised to see another person at the other end. He barely noticed her; her chakra presence wasn’t much. She was just in a plain white t shirt and some pants. A civilian he guessed. Kakashi turned back when his order was placed in front of him. He stealthily looked around the restaurant and saw no one was paying attention to him. He pulled down his mask and started eating his meal. It was nice not to eat in big gulps for once lest someone saw his face.

When he was halfway through his meal, he heard the sound of someone turning pages and muttering. He turned around to see his neighbor writing in her book and she seemed to be fairly frustrated. Just as Kakashi was about to turn around and mind his business, he noticed that the book was the infamous Scarlet Hearts. He internally groaned. Really? Just how bad was his luck?

“Is the book any good?” He called out to the young girl.

Oh, damn why was he getting her attention? Abort!  Abort! This day didn’t consist of making polite conversations with a civvie.

Just as he was about to maybe perform a last minute shunshin, the girl looked up at him and stared at him in surprise.

He felt nervous when she just kept staring at him for a while. Did she recognize him as the “friend killer” and infamous “copycat ninja”?

“Uh- Hello?” He waved his hands in front of her face.

The girl looked startled and flushed. “Oh, sorry. I got lost in thought. What was your question again?”

Kakashi pointed at her book and asked, “the book, is it as good as the hype says it is?”

She just seemed even more startled by the fact that he was asking about her book. “W-well, I’m not sure about other people’s opinions. But it’s worth reading just for curiosity’s sake. I found it pretty good.”

Kakashi stared at the awful book, wishing he could set it on fire just by glaring at it. “See, I don’t see why people are comparing it to Icha Icha. It can’t possibly be that good!”

“I kind of have to agree on that. The marketing really didn’t do it justice,” the girl muttered.

Kakashi tilted his head towards the younger girl and sent a relaxed smile her way. “Ah, thank you. Finally, someone who understands.”

The girl shook her head. “I meant trying to compare the two books wasn’t a good idea. They’re two different books, the only thing they have in common is that they both have explicit scenes.”

Seeing the confused look on his face, the girl further elaborated. “Icha Icha is intended for a one type of audience and it does its job well. There’s nothing wrong with that after all it has an ardent fan in you. But I feel like Scarlet Heart can be enjoyed by any mature individual. And for me what’s the most important thing is that it portrays its women realistically. Icha Icha is based off this fantasy, ideal type of woman who doesn’t have any drama of her own and goes around solving the male character’s issues. Or she’s a passive victim in the overall story for the hero to win over. This heroine in Scarlet Heart is cynical, hard to get to know due to her past. The male character is a typical chauvinistic guy who thinks he can have anyone he wants. But over time as they get to know each other the layers fall apart to show two lonely people who’ve been waiting for someone to connect to.”

Kakashi looked at the girl critically who sent a tentative smile to him after her long explanation. Her features were quite plain and at first glance she wasn’t anything exceptional to look at. But her smile lit up her entire face.  He thought over her words, no one had ever explained the book quite like that. But then again, he never gave them the time to explain either. Perhaps, he was wrong to do so.

“Here maybe you would like to form an opinion yourself and see if it holds up,” she said as she handed over her own copy of Scarlet Heart.

He grabbed it from her grip, touching her soft hands by accident, quickly pulling away. “Are you sure? Weren’t you writing in it earlier?”

With a cute prominent blush, she replied, “it’s fine I bought that paperback copy to write in. I have another one at home. You can keep it. If we meet again tell me what you thought of it.”

Kakashi nodded and put the book with his Icha Icha in the weapon pouch on his hip.

“Mah, I’m sure we will. By the way what’s your name? After all, when I see you next time, I have to thank the person who will put up with my complaints.”

“Oh, I’m L/N Y/N. Nice to meet you,” she said with another bright grin aimed his way.

Ignoring the unconscious shivers that erupted on his body, he returned it with another one of his patent fake smiles.

“Hatake Kakashi. Nice to meet you as well, Y/N-san.”

The conversation died a few minutes later and he paid for his meal before leaving for his lonesome apartment. Maybe today the lonely dwelling won’t be so bad to deal with, what with new reading material the night might just pass by really quickly.

   Return to Reader’s POV

You know when I began my porn writing journey in the Naruto world, I never for a second thought I would attract Kakashi’s attention. I mean I knew he read porn, but I honestly thought he would stay attached to Icha Icha forever. In the anime, he still read the book even years after Jiraiya’s death, so it just goes to show how much of a devoted fan he was.

When I met him accidently in Ichikaru Ramen, I was in a state of shock. I’m pretty sure he thought I was just another weird fangirl. ‘Just like Itachi.’ I couldn’t help but think.

But him asking about my novel and actually pouting about the attention it gained made me giggle even hours later. Still giving away the novel I was rereading to spot mistakes and plot holes was bold. I genuinely hoped he liked the novel; it would be a huge compliment if I managed to change his perspective. I know I wasn’t ever going to change his mind about Icha Icha, but he had plenty of money to support both series. I probably wasn’t ever going to see him again, but it was nice to interact with a canon character for once without entirely embarrassing myself.

I shook off the excitement from interacting with the scarecrow sensei and tried to focus on brainstorming my second novel. The love triangle was going to become much more integral in this part and I was going have to work extra hard to make readers sympathize and like Shoutaro. Because many of my readers were already enamored with the hotheaded, flirtatious mercenary with a heart of gold, Mahiro. The best way to build the triangle was to showcase pros and cons of both men. Thereby making the triangle stronger and give readers something to root for. While there would be only one man who would get the girl, I wanted readers to feel conflicted between the two men. However, to keep the choice from happening out of nowhere, I also had to hint throughout the novel why Mahiro and Sayaka was the best choice. So, by the third novel when Sayaka made her choice, it wouldn’t seem like it happened out of nowhere. Indeed, the sequel was harder to write than the first one because I had high expectations to overcome this time. Brainstorming even took longer than normal. Though, it was challenging, I decided needed a break and took a trip to the markets to finally restock my empty fridge.

Slowly I made my way through the vegetable stalls and tried to pick out the ripest ones. Most people usually tried to barter the prices. However, since the massive royalties I had more money than I knew what to do with and so I paid the full amount at each stall. Most of the produce stalls were run by elderly couples and they needed the money for their livelihood.

I bowed to an obasan and thanked her when she gave a few extra tomatoes after I paid.

“You know most people would try to barter the prices down to a fair price,” a deep voice interrupted just as I was about to walk away.

I jumped and almost dropped my produce. A steady hand gripped my hips and set me right. I looked up to the masked, silver haired Jounin. I blushed, feeling his strong hands on my body. His single eye widened a bit before he relaxed and let go of me.

“You ok?” he asked.

“Y-yes, thank you. Hatake-san,” I stuttered and bowed my head.

“Ma, no need to call me Hatake-san. That makes me feel older than people think I am.” He said as he waved off my gratitude.

“Hai, K-kakashi-san then. What are you doing here? No offense but I didn’t realize that elite shinobis had time to shop and cook for themselves.”

It was true from what I heard. All elite shinobi, especially men, rarely cooked for themselves relying on easy to make or restaurants meals to get them through the day. Some even ate rations to forgo meals in a rush.

Kakashi raised his eyebrow at me. “Well, I was actually looking for you. I’ve finished the book you loaned me after a week. It’s only right to return it.”

I shook my head. “It’s alright. I told you to keep it didn’t I?”

I felt my head get hit lightly by something. I looked up to see it was my paperback novel. When did he pull that out? Did he have it on him all this time and I didn’t noticed it until now?

“You’re quite stubborn, aren’t you? Let’s just say I needed an excuse to find my partner in crime and tell her my opinion of the book.”

I sighed, realizing that I couldn’t get away from his rant that he will no doubt tell me with relish on how much he hated the book.

“Alright, but I have to put my groceries away.” I said lifting my bags.

“It’s fine. As long as it isn’t milk or meat it wouldn’t be spoiled for a few hours. Come on, I’ll treat you to some dango.” He walked away slightly slouched and relaxed with his hands in his pockets.

I looked after him helplessly, hesitating on whether I should follow or not.

“You better follow him, jou-chan. He’s quite handsome,” the obasan said as she helped another customer. A few giggles slipped out from the customer and I felt my cheeks go hot from embarrassment. I bowed and thanked the elderly lady again before following the Jounin.

I caught up to him in no time, we both walked silently before we came onto the small stand that was selling the sweet.

Kakashi told me to take a seat on a bench nearby as he grabbed the sweets. I put down my groceries near me as I waited for my companion to return.

He came back with two skewers of dango and handed me one while he held onto the other one.

“So, what did you think of the novel?” I asked as I took a bite of the dango.

“I hate it to admit it but it’s good. Not better than Icha Icha of course, but it’s better than some of the others that tried to ride the coattails of Icha Icha.”

I felt a burst of butterflies inside my stomach and I leaned forward eagerly. “Really?!! What did you like it about it specifically?”

He seemed amused at my enthusiasm. “Ah, well I liked how the author built up the romance. They didn’t have sex right away, but when they did it made sense-“

I felt my heartbeat increase and my ears felt hot when I heard the word sex come out of Kakashi’s mouth. How did I ever not know how nice his deep voice was? I bet he would be really good at dirty talk—Ahh, nononono. That was not a good topic to think about while you’re talking to the man. I bit my lip to concentrate on what Kakashi was trying to tell me.

“And I like how the female characters made smart decisions and acted cautiously instead of getting kidnapped all the time. It made them seem like real people instead of plot conveniences.” He finished with an eyesmile.

I returned his smile, liking that he appreciated the portrayal of the female characters. Some of the detractors apparently didn’t like the more rounded characters and felt they should just be used as sauce instead of being the main dish.

“Do you prefer the woman in Scarlet Hearts or Icha Icha?” I asked playfully.

He narrowed his eyes at my tone. “Weeeell, the women in Icha Icha are much more beautiful, but the women in Scarlet Heart are more attainable than the ones in Icha Icha.”

I let out a laugh. “That’s nice to hear. But I’m pretty sure that Sayaka isn’t a real person. Sorry, Kakashi-san.”

He let out a disappointed sigh. “I guess I will have to safeguard my heart until I can find someone close to her then.”

I snorted knowing Kakashi would remain single even at the end of the series where everyone was getting married and having kids.

“What? You think it’s hopeless?”

I just sent him an innocent smile and said,” I have no idea what you’re talking about Kakashi-san.”

Me and Kakashi stayed for a few more minutes before I decided to head home. Kakashi stuck close to me, telling me he would keep me company until I arrived. He looked surprise at the neighborhood I was living in. The small apartment I was previously inhabited was now upgraded to an upscale three-bedroom apartment. It was a safe neighborhood that was occupied by wealthy merchants and high-ranking shinobis. I ignored his reaction and continued to walk toward my apartment.

When I had trouble trying to juggle my groceries and trying to grab my keys from my purse, Kakashi stepped in to grab my bags. I thanked him and opened the door. He casually walked in and left the bags in the kitchen at my directions.

“Would you like some tea? I think some tea would be good with the sweets we just had.” Kakashi just nodded in agreement as he looked around my apartment. The tiny stray who I adopted became a giant, fluffy monster who was now sniffing Kakashi’s feet and rubbing against his legs.

I giggled and left to make some iced sencha green tea. I tried not to let my excitement that THE Hatake Kakashi was standing in my living room, distract me from being a good host. I filled the glass with tea and dropped some ice cubes in it before putting it on a tray and bringing it out to the living room.

“Kakashi-san? Here’s your tea,” I called out happily and looking up to see Kakashi’s back.

I furrowed my eyebrows when he didn’t respond. “Kakashi-san?” He was still turned around and looking at something.

I put the tray down on a coffee table and approached the unresponsive Jounin. I looked down to see papers in his hand and felt my face pale drastically.

“A-ahhh! That’s not for your eyes!” I laughed hysterically and snatched my papers from his hands. I quickly took all my notes and notebooks which I brainstormed in and dropped them off in my bedroom. With a head full of excuses as to why I had Scarlet Heart’s sequel on the sofa, I made my way back to Kakashi.

“You’re the author of Scarlet Heart?”Was the first thing he asked when he saw my face. I felt my face heat up.

“U-um, no! That was just me amateurly writing as to what I think will happen in the future!”

He shot me a serious look. “Do you think I’m stupid? That was the first chapter all neatly written down. And the character profiles of future characters like her ex-boyfriend are all filled out accurately. Plus, you’re a single young girl that’s living in such a rich neighborhood which many people can’t afford unless they have some serious cash. Cash from a recently released erotica maybe?”

His intense gaze made me sweat profusely and I couldn’t hold eye contact for more than a minute.

“Yes. Yes, I’m the author of Scarlet Hearts.” I whispered, looking at the ground.

I quickly gazed back at him when I heard a snort. Kakashi gave me an incredulous look.

“I can’t believe it. Even though I saw it with my own eyes. You’re so young! How old are you, 16?”

I pouted, puffing out my cheeks. “I’m 19! Besides you’re a shinobi what does age even matter? You’re a legal adult when you’re a Genin!”

Kakashi let out a chuckle and softly patted my head. “I know that but you’re a civilian so it’s different.”

I bit my lips deciding whether to tell him I was actually a former Genin corps. Deciding I didn’t need the genius looking at me in pity, I didn’t correct him.

“Well, now that you know. Please keep this a secret, ok? I just want to live in anonymity and write my books. Hence the pen name.”

Kakashi agreed and messed with my hair some more.

“You got it, Y/N-chan.” I blushed at the added chan in my name.

He downed his iced tea in a hurry when an Anbu appeared at the window with a mission for him. I watched with amazement as Kakashi disappeared with a shunshin and then scowled heavily looking at all the leaves on the floor of my apartment.

“Note to self. Do not let elite shinobi shunshin in and out of my apartment,” I grumbled to myself as I swept up.

Kakashi’s POV 2

You know how once you find out something about someone it changes how you look at them. He was now intensely curious about Y/N. He figured she was a normal innocent girl, but boy was he wrong about everything. How was he supposed to know that the sex scenes that had him riveted to the point that he took a shower to calm himself before he resumed reading was written by a cherub slip of a girl? After his discovery Kakashi was unable to leave her alone. He frequently took time out of day when he wasn’t on a mission or training his helpless cute team (he had a team now!!), he was spending time with Y/N. It was kind of weird at first after all he went out of his way to avoid human contact, but in this case, he wanted to know what made her tick. All her favorite things and her habits. Kakashi wanted to know what made her sad or what made her be flushed with happiness.

Most of all he wanted to know how she came up with all the scenarios in her novel. But even he knew that if he asked her bluntly, she would no doubt kick him out of her apartment and refuse to speak to him again. It also didn’t help that his imagination went wild each time he saw her. All those scenarios would inappropriately pop up in his head and she would star in all of them. The blush on her face gave him a good idea on how she would look with her eyes dilated and with him on top. Whenever that happened the excitement coursing through would become prominent and he had to take a few breaths to calm him down. Imagining Gai in a bikini always did the trick for him.

Kakashi, after months of speculation, came to one conclusion as why Y/N was so fascinating. He wanted her. He wanted her in a way that men who were attracted to women did. In a way that meant commitment and all the mushy feelings. He groaned at that idea, Kakashi so didn’t want to act like Minato-sensei whenever he was around his hot-headed wife.

He could just ignore the feelings; he was quite good at ignoring all the turmoil inside of him. But his crisis shinobi therapist said he could no longer do that. He had to solve his lingering issues if he wanted to move forward with his life like his survivor’s guilt and his unresolved issues with his dead father. So that meant he had to make it obvious to Y/N that he liked her. Should he shout his youthful love on the top of the Hokage mountain at early in the morning like Gai would do? Kakashi chuckled at the novel idea. Ok, he was trying to get her to date him not run away from him. Luckily for him, fate decided to not be a bitch this time and give Y/N a nudge.

Kakashi was inside of her apartment like he usually was nowadays with her round monster of a cat on his lap. He absentmindedly patted the feline as he purred away like no one’s business. His ninken weren’t happy with him lately, but they will have to put up with it because Y/N was going to be around him for a long time if he had anything to say about it. He looked at Y/N who was hard at work on her second novel, typing away at the machine she called a typewriter. No matter what Kakashi did today, he wasn’t able to get her attention. She was intensely focused on the sex scenes apparently, which was a shame. Because he was right here, and she could be doing much more than just imagining it.

A mischievous idea popped into his head.

“So, Y/N-chan,” he called out.

She responded with a distracted “hm”.

“Do those explicit parts have any truth to them?”

That got the attention of Y/N and she turned around with a confused look.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean most people write about what they know. So, I’m asking if you have attempted anything from the books you write?”

Kakashi had pride within himself for the many ways he made Y/N blush. But the flush on her cheeks, ears, and her neck had no rival with the way her eyes seem to swirl with embarrassment.

“Kakashi-kun! I-I-. You can’t just ask that!”

“It’s true though. Everyone does research for their novels. Especially Jiraiya-sama,” he stated nonchalantly despite his eyes beaming with amusement.

She pressed her hands against her overwhelmingly hot cheeks.

“I’m not like that Sannin! I’ve never had sex before! I’m still a virgin. I just write whatever pops into my head,” she mumbled out.

Kakashi got up and made his way to Y/N. He leaned into her face as Y/N tried to scramble back, trying to get some space in between them.

“Y/N, if you ever need inspiration for your book. I’m right here and I’m happy to volunteer for such a good cause,” he said cheekily.

Her eyes widened and she gaped at him. She blinked several times as if she couldn’t believe the words that came out of his mouth.

Kakashi touched her cheeks, breaking her out of the stupor she was in. As he stroked her soft skin with one hand, the other pulled down his mask to reveal his face.

Y/N let out a squeak and gazed hungrily at his exposed face. Kakashi never considered what people thought of his face honestly but her reaction was gratifying.

He leaned in even closer and her eyes fluttered closed at his proximity. Knowing she was anticipating as much he was, Kakashi wasted no time in connecting their lips. She tasted heavenly and she let out a moan when he gently nipped at her bottom lip. He’s kissed plenty of willing partners, but none excited him the way she did. Her scent and the way her breath hitched when he brought her into his embrace intoxicated him further. It was obvious from the way she was responding; Y/n didn’t have a lot of experience. But he held her face gently and slowly swirled his tongue around hers, guiding her through what might be her first kiss. When she got the hang of it, Kakashi removed his hands from her face to her hips. Not wasting another moment, he gripped her ass tightly and appreciated the thickness he had been admiring for a while. She was an eager little thing and greedy. Every time they separated for a breather; she came back with more intensity than before. It’s like he awakened something, and she was willing to take whatever she could get. Unfortunately for Y/N, he didn’t just want to spend his time kissing. No, he wanted to inspire a very, very naughty section that would light the imagination of every woman in Konoha.

Kakashi pecked her pink, swollen lips one time before removing himself. She looked earnestly at him, trying to reconnect.

“How about you and I head to your room. And I could show you the benefits of a chapter on oral sex,” he huskily whispered.

Apparently, Y/N didn’t need further prompting because she dragged him into her room and swiftly closed the door.

Kakashi spent the rest of the night fulfilling his promising words. And when the second novel of Scarlet Hearts came out, chapter 13 became infamous amongst all. And all the practitioners of oral sex cursed the author because they could not live up to the fantasy that chapter inspired.