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doomonfilm · 4 years ago

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Ranking : Gus Van Sant (1952-present)

I was somewhat familiar with Gus Van Sant prior into taking the deep dive through his catalog, but he was certainly a man that I thought I had a handle on. I knew he had more than a few amazing films under his belt, but the recent years had not been kind to him (see the shot taken at him in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back). I knew that he was from the Pacific Northwest (Oregon specifically), and his coming of age in an area that embraces weirdos and outsiders had an impact on him as a human and as a creator. I knew that films like Milk and Good Will Hunting had taken Van Sant to the highest heights, while the collective panning of films like Psycho and Last Days served as valleys in a career full of glorious peaks.

What I came to discover, however, was a man with genuine creative integrity, and lots of it. I found a director who understood his characters and actors on a human level, and shared them with viewers in ways that helped rich connections develop. I saw a director who was not afraid to make those that society often considers outcasts the emotionally rich and important centers of his narratives. I watched Gus Van Sant present, explore, develop and refine his style over deeply independent and infamously studio-driven projects, giving all experiences as much care and attention as he was able. I saw films I was familiar with find placement behind films I was new to, I discovered that his recent creative years have not been as kind to him as the first two-thirds of his career, and I can see that there still may be a bit of a smolder left in his creative fire.

Ranking directors is a labor of love, but by no means do I consider myself the definitive professional on film canon. I enjoyed all of the Gus Van Sant films I watched on some level, and as always, for those brave enough to interact, I’d be curious to see where you would make adjustments to the list. But enough introduction talk, let’s get into what you folks came for!

17. Restless (2011) There are things about Restless that I want to love without judgement. First and foremost, Mia Wasikowska is an absolute treasure who shines in this performance from the earlier portion of her career. The portrayal of Hiroshi is one of the more subtle, substanced and interesting ways of using a ghost within the film framework. As minor a thing as it may be to the casual moviegoer, some of this film’s technical aspects are astounding, specifically the costuming and the lighting choices. Where the film distracts me, and therefore drops in these rankings, is where it takes the YA approach to the romantic drama, with a healthy dose of manic pixie dream girl energy thrown in for good measure. When it comes to displaying romance on-screen, be it teenage or otherwise, there are no expectations, even for a director with a distinct style. Where my issues arise are in the way that death is handled in this film… while I do understand that not every film has to be a distinct statement for a director (especially a film written by another individual), Gus Van Sant had already established a very mature approach to the subject of death, and the way that death and the manic pixie dream girl aspects are intertwined feels more on the amateur side than I am comfortable with for a Gus Van Sant film. Maybe giving the impossibly troubled young man a muse with an expiration date as his way to find the best version of himself is a stroke of genius that provides a gateway for deep commentary on the concept of the manic pixie dream girl, but the film is so approachable and not the type to bare teeth (be it satirically or otherwise) that I doubt there is any subtext to its intention. For that reason, this film finds itself on the bottom half of the Van Sant canon.

16. Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (2018) After the critical and box office disappointment that was The Sea of Trees, director Gus Van Sant had quite the hill to climb with his next film, and with his adaptation of Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot, it seemed he was able to right those respective ships. Strangely, the film failed to connect with me, and as far as I can tell, it seems to be the victim of an “all sizzle, no steak” scenario. The film is certainly a showcase of a very diverse cast, and based on both the flashback-based and group therapy approach to the story, there are a wealth of opportunities to create memorable moments. Unfortunately, and perhaps due to an oversight on my end, I failed to find enough substance during my viewing of the film to prop up the parade of moments. What it felt like I was left with, sadly, was a Simple Jack-level approach to conveying a paraplegic-centered story, which undercut the fact that the film is actually telling the true story of cartoonist, artist and musician John Callahan. That’s not to say that the film doesn’t have it’s positive aspects, such as the John Callahan illustrations and the animated versions of his work, but those positive aspects feel sparse in comparison to how much the film relishes in what feels like Oscar bait. If nothing else, see this film for Jonah Hill, because it took me much longer than it should have to recognize him, partly due to his impressive weight loss and partly due to how dedicated he is to achieving the film’s period look.

15. The Sea of Trees (2015) Death is no stranger in the films of Gus Van Sant, but I don’t feel that it would be bold to state The Sea of Trees deals with death in the most direct manner. For those that subscribe to grief having stages, this film accounts for all of them in some way, shape or form during the course of the narrative as we watch Arthur Brennan fall apart and rediscover himself in the wake of losing Joan Brennan, his wife. Placing the film in Aokigahara (aka the "Japanese suicide forest") not only gives the film a sense of natural beauty, but a foreboding sense of dread and despair as well. The core cast is as strong as any found in a Van Sant film, with Matthew McConaughey, Ken Watanabe and Naomi Watts all turning in solid performances. Sadly, the film falters in one very core aspect : sympathy for the protagonist. I found myself feeling very bad for Joan Brennan as I watched her arc, and despite knowing nothing about Watanabe’s character portrayal of Takumi Nakamura, I found myself sympathetic to him based solely on what he was emoting. Arthur Brennan, however, is interesting in all the wrong ways… he is extremely cold and purposefully flat when introduced, the moments we share with the Brennans only seem to show Arthur finding joy at the expense of Joan’s pride, his view of the loss of his wife (and his world view in general) seem to be extremely self-centered, and when he does show heroic attributes they are rooted solely in self-preservation. Perhaps if Van Sant had not already made such eloquent reflections on death via The Death Trilogy and Paranoid Park, The Sea of Trees could have been seen in a different light, but when you set such a high bar for your work, returning to stereotypical storytelling can feel flat and uninspired.

14. Last Days (2005) Last Days is a film with a weird energy and aura surrounding it… in some ways, it feels like the most performative film not only of the Death Trilogy, but out of the entire Gus Van Sant catalog. At the risk of using too negative an adjective, it also feels the most exploitive, though neither of these observations are necessarily meant to be a knock against the film. The Death Trilogy could not help but be exploitive at its root, as each film was inspired by an infamous death event, and with Michael Pitt’s Blake meant to be an avatar for Kurt Cobain, it would be simple to take the film at face value for some sort of glamourized and idealized fictional retelling of his tragic final moments, not to mention a few stylistic nods to iconic Cobain-related imagery. What that viewer would be missing, in my opinion, is a film looking to make some familiar points on outsider culture (specifically alternative rock and roll counterculture and addict culture) minus all the glamour and shine. While Blake’s house is grand, it’s decrepit and in a state of disrepair… despite it being isolated, expected and unexpected guests arrive constantly, not to mention an intrusive ringing phone that connects Blake to outworld obligations… Blake has a number of people living with him, but he almost never interacts with them. Michael Pitt is done up to look so similar to Kurt Cobain that much of the narrative background is implied, and what we are left with is the Death Trilogy style implemented and fused onto a loose leaf narrative with just enough structure to let the supporting actors have isolated memorable moments while we watch Pitt’s Blake decay in the ways that many of us Cobain fans ruminated on in the wake of his sudden and tragic death at the height of his tortured popularity.

13. Gerry (2002) At the risk of sounding cliché, Gerry may be the most fascinating film in Gus Van Sant’s canon. It marks a clear and definitive break in convention from a director that seemingly never cared too much for convention anyway. Multiple aspects of this film make it extremely unique : both characters referring to one another by the same name (though Gerry eventually evolves into an all-purpose non-specific descriptor), a seemingly absent narrative, a shared goal between the characters literally referred to as “the thing” in order to purposely keep viewers in the dark and, perhaps most importantly, a deliberately methodical pacing that pushes even seasoned film lovers to the limits of their patience. The film is beautiful, and that is a fact that cannot be denied… the painterly shot compositions of our characters in the isolated desert, the unfathomably long tracking shots that pull us deeper off the beaten path and the sonic stillness (due to a largely absent score that is replaced with the sounds of nature) either commit you fully to the experiment or come off as massively pretentious. To view the film through that secondary lens, however, is to miss the point of it all. Once it is understood that Gerry marked the entry point for Gus Van Sant’s Death Trilogy, you began to realize that Van Sant, in tandem with Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, are giving us an understanding of how we should view the trilogy, and how open-minded we should be in processing what is given to us, like some early high-concept version of what Quentin Dupieux would later go on to master in a more abstract manner.

12. Mala Noche (1985) It’s fitting that this was a feature-length debut from a driven and working director, as it has a very distinct look and feel to it that immediately lets you know you’re dealing with an innate storyteller and someone who has spent time observing the human condition. In terms of visual and narrative balance, Gus Van Sant utilizes what feels like a mix of John Cassavetes and Jack Kerouac, respectively. Van Sant’s use of titles in the film is striking, specifically in terms of the handwritten opening credits and the Dr. Pepper ad copy used to subtitle the Spanish language dialogue. Focusing so heavily on immigration and homosexuality in 1985 is a bold choice, especially as neither group had yet to benefit (even if only minimally) from the onset of politically correct culture policing. While the film was more than likely shot in black and white due to budgetary constraints, the infusion of somewhat modern elements (for the time) gives it a youthful and forward-thinking energy. Having a film of this nature lean so heavily on multilingual and multicultural elements is refreshing, and even more impactful when examined under the boorish and (at times) tone deaf application that humanizes these elements. For all of these aspects of the film, however, when examined at the pure narrative foundation, what we find is a story about how love can blind us from the reality we inhabit, and how we often choose to ignore the obvious when romance and romanticism enters the picture.

11. Psycho (1998) Of all the films in the Van Sant catalog, perhaps the bravest, boldest and most baffling entry is his nearly shot for shot remake of the iconic Alfred Hitchcock thriller and cinematic game changer Psycho. Remakes were certainly not a new or unheard of practice at the time of the Van Sant Psycho release, but most directors opt to put significant twists or updates into their retelling of most remakes, and most films chosen do not hold the lofty stature and position that Psycho does when it comes to remakes. Van Sant’s approach not only made viewers keenly aware of just how direct the homage was, but in some places, modern touches were added in very subtle ways to make the movie more palatable for modern audiences, including more salacious references to sexuality, sound design choices in both the diegetic and symbolic realm, and even an update or two to iconic scenes meant to make us much more uneasy with the Vince Vaughn portrayal of Norman Bates. The actors cast were all famous and respected enough to keep the film’s timeless feeling in-tact, even if the remake could be taken as its own weird and warped project. Personally, I’ve always loved this remake, and taken it as an experiment on the highest commercial level, and a signal to all that Van Sant (at the time) was done with the traditional approach to filmmaking and concepting.

10. Paranoid Park (2007) While many movies centered around skateboarding spend their time and design budget trying to make the outsider nature of the practice look “cool”, Paranoid Park spends its time making sure that the isolation, deep focus and rebellious attitude that come with skateboarding were more authentic than they were appealing. High school is already a very taxing and polarizing section of juvenile development, and based on your perception at the time, the weight that the world unloads on you can feel wholly unbearable. Perhaps this is what makes Paranoid Park such a tense film… that natural teenage angst is already imprinted into the film (and amplified due to the casting of relative unknowns), but Gus Van Sant’s signature use of alternative film stocks, obscure soundtrack and expressive, layered sound design but you square in Alex’s head from the opening moments. As the narrative unfolds, we realize that Alex is not only dealing with standard-issue teen stress, but has unwillingly found himself involved in the type of events that change an individual’s world. This film plays well as the first film post-Death Trilogy, as it deals with the gravity of mortality head-on much like the aforementioned three films, but does so from an adaptive stance rather than one based on true events. If you’re a fan of skater flicks, movies with strong teen acting, or little-known Gus Van Sant gems, then Paranoid Park is a gem waiting for discovery.

9. Finding Forrester (2000) Gus Van Sant has always had a way with stories that dive below the surface of the human experience and condition, so it makes sense that his attempt at a New York-based movie about people living in “the hood” would cover an array of topics with masterful subtlety, specifically the topics of race relations, generational gaps and the blurry line between education and exploitation. The casting on this film is extremely strong… then newcomer Rob Brown gives a riveting and dynamic lead performance, it’d be harder to cast a more perfect curmudgeon than Sean Connery, and appearances by F. Murray Abraham, Anna Paquin, Busta Rhymes and a Matt Damon cameo all stand out. Speaking of Damon, Finding Forrester shares a similar energy to Good Will Hunting, but the proximity of release ultimately held Finding Forrester from finding its proper audience (no pun intended). I wish I had more to say about this film outside of my personal feelings and connections to the story (which I will save for a dedicated deep dive in the future), but Finding Forrester is one of those films that has no trouble speaking for itself.

8. Promised Land (2012) As of the point that this blog post was created, this film stands as the last of the great Van Sant creations. There is something about the Gus Van Sant approach to filmmaking that works best with “salt of the Earth” types, and with Promised Land being centered around the practice of fracking, much of that down-home nature is immediately baked into the story. Speaking of the story, the film was co-written by the characters who ended up being the protagonist and antagonist of the picture, respectfully, which created an electric main dynamic that served as the spine for many other strong dynamics present in the film. In terms of the cinematography, much of Van Sant’s bold approaches and stylistic shifts are absent, save for a few beautiful bird’s eye view perspective shots that give you a real idea of what rural America looks like. Van Sant is no stranger to stacked casts, but he gets some truly top notch names to take part in this affair, and true to the clout behind these names, the performances are as stellar as they are believable and natural. The film also touched a nerve with the actual oil industry due to some of its comments on fracking, despite it not having the reach or success of other Van Sant films. While possibly an indicator that Van Sant would be making a stylistic shift, Promised Land still manages to capture what makes Van Sant his best self in terms of not only presenting real people, but topical and important situations.

7. Milk (2008) Gus Van Sant is clearly no stranger to having representation for the gay community in his films, so it makes sense that one of the hallmark films in his canon would center around gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk. Much like JFK crystalized Oliver Stone, or Spike Lee was raised to another echelon by Malcolm X, Van Sant found a second round of Academy Award-level validation via this biopic while solidifying himself as a creative who could go back and forth effortlessly between big budget studio films and independent projects. With Sean Penn giving one of his signature chameleon-like performances and leading the pack, this Van Sant production is filled with tons of burgeoning talent who have since gone on to make names for themselves in the industry, including the likes of Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna, James Franco, Alison Pill and others, plus a standout performance from Josh Brolin (who also depicted George W. Bush in the same year for the aforementioned Stone). While it may not be the most technically marveling film of Van Sant’s career, it is clearly one of his most important, and the way that it handles the messages it intends to share is as confident as it is even-keeled, which is important for a film that could have easily become a soapbox for espousing personal beliefs and political agendas.

6. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993) This Gus Van Sant adaptation of the famed author Tom Robbins novel shares the same creative energy of films like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Natural Born Killers, Harold and Maude and so on in the sense that it is a very expressive film with a very specific idea it is looking to present. Where the aforementioned films explored ideas of free love taken to the extreme, the toxicity of media, love without judgement and so on (respectively), Even Cowgirls Get the Blues puts femininity and identity outside of the male gaze squarely in its crosshairs. Uma Thurman takes on the role of Sissy with wide-eyed zeal, floating through a series of hitchhiker-based adventures until her reluctant visit to the Rubber Road Ranch helps her find the missing piece of her puzzle. Seeing a bizarre, star-studded tale of a woman finding her agency sounds like it would work on the surface, but from what I could find, the film failed to make a connection with audiences and is considered a commercial and critical failure (which is probably why it was the toughest film to track down on this list). That being said, I’m a sucker for films that catch a bad rap, especially when the combination of such a unique director and visionary author are the foundation of it, because it makes me curious about why I find connection where others did not… who knows, maybe it was those extremely distracting rubber thumbs (the only real knock I can make on the film), or maybe the Tom Robbins style is tough to transfer from page to screen, but for my money’s worth, I can see the vision.

5. My Own Private Idaho (1991) Somewhere within the intersection of films like Midnight Cowboy and Fight Club lies My Own Private Idaho, an extremely personal and nuanced film that covers many topics with depth and an ease that comes with wisdom and experience. For example, when it comes to views on identity, we get two rich narratives that could easily both be their own film : Mike (portrayed by River Phoenix) is going through a crisis of identity based on a sordid history with his mother and absentee father that makes his search for love transform into a life of hustling as a way to find momentary intimacy; meanwhile, Keanu Reeves (who plays Scott) is an entitled young man awaiting an inheritance that decides to spend the time until it happens “slumming” with those many would consider the outcasts of society, much like the “tourists” spoken of by Edward Norton’s narrator in Fight Club. The struggle with masculinity in the face of homosexuality is all over this film, from its multiple male on male connections to the very toxic manner that the core group interacts with one another, when they are not grieving or putting their livelihood in danger via petty crimes. In terms of Van Sant style, the film is one of his most innovative (outside of the film holding the top spot) in terms of looks, with its unique range of colorful title cards, the pinhole vision that Mike uses on his road, or even the standout magazine rack sequence. The film is also a perfect follow-up to Drugstore Cowboy, and could easily double feature with it to this day. As someone not wholly familiar with Shakespeare’s Henry plays, I did not catch that My Own Private Idaho was an adaptation, so I will not only have to revisit it with that familiarity in tow, but I will have to take a look into James Franco’s re-cut, My Own Private River, as well.

4. Elephant (2003) Based solely on the nature and definition of a trilogy, a second film can make or break things. Gerry and Last Days share similarities in how quiet and isolated they are, so it makes sense that Elephant, part two of Van Sant’s Death Trilogy, would in many ways be the meat of the trilogy sandwich in terms of style and thematic substance. Elephant operates on several distinct levels based on Van Sant’s observations of the world going into the new millennium, as the film allowed him a foundation for both experimentation and examination by proxy. While the long takes and vast amount of distance traveled during said takes was present in all three films of the trilogy, Van Sant made a concentrated effort to make the shots look and feel similar to that of video games like the later Grand Theft Auto entries, hence a number of the shots being positionally locked during travel (often times a few feet behind the character at the center of that moment’s focus). There are ramp-downs of the frame rate to punctuate certain moments, and quite often the camera is thrown on a tripod and allowed to take in the array of high schoolers living their standard life. It is this mundane world-building aspect that not only gives the viewer a rapid but deep look into a handful of character’s lives, but it gives you a sense of the school’s social hierarchy while forcing you to reflect on where you once stood within it. Per the film’s clever title, the elephant in the room eventually appears in the form of Eric and Alex, the pair of school shooters meant to reflect the Columbine Massacre perpetrators. While school shootings weren’t an unknown phenomenon going into the 2000’s, Elephant became prophetic in its vision by releasing right before the numbers started rising at an alarming rate on these incidents. In that sense, Elephant holds the dual distinction of not only being one of Van Sant’s best films, but one of his most important. I will soon be looking into the 1989 Elephant film as well.

3. Drugstore Cowboy (1989) The power of Drugstore Cowboy as a modern-day narrative tragedy about the epidemic of prescription drugs, the dark allure of crime and the oddball way that broken people find solace in one another is immediately evident to anyone who has had the pleasure to see Gus Van Sant’s studio directorial debut. Where the film really stands out however, in my opinion, is the way that Van Sant is able to achieve his major studio look while deeply applying a very artistic and personal aesthetic to the cinematography and editing. The traditional looks are interspersed with the use of different film stocks, subtle blends of animation and flashes of stylistic edits that were almost certainly an inspiration for Darren Aronofsky’s “hip-hop editing” style. Add to this an incredibly intuitive and expressive core cast driven by the chemistry between Matt Dillon and Kelly Lynch (and a very early Heather Graham supporting appearance), plus a strong appearance by the always memorable Max Perlich, a fiery James Remar performance and an iconic cameo from William S. Burroughs. The jazz-influenced score not only makes key scenes livelier, but it is a symbolic statement on the drug use depicted in the film, while simultaneously playing counter to the soundtrack choices. Period, point-blank, Drugstore Cowboy is the kind of film that surely put the world on notice, and was a clear signal of the magnificent work that would follow.

2. Good Will Hunting (1997) If held up to the standards of what people consider to be good (or even classic) film, Good Will Hunting more than holds up to scrutiny. Visually there are a small handful of flourishes, and having Elliot Smith’s music accompany Will’s painful but enlightening journey has only become more of a bittersweet sting as the years go by. In terms of performances, everyone brought their A+ game to the table, be it the leading performances of Matt Damon, Robin Williams or Stellan Skarsgård, the supporting performances of Ben Affleck or Minnie Driver, or even the engaging nature of Cole Hauser and repeat scene stealer Casey Affleck. After a flurry of dedicated fandom viewings in the years following this film’s release, a very long period away from the film where I had leagues of personal growth, and a revisitation for this set of rankings, what I have discovered is that Good Will Hunting presents a wish fulfillment fantasy that was nearly incapable of being a reality in the pre-internet age for anyone other than a character like Will : an undiscovered genius with a degree from the school of hard knocks. In a world where people often wish they had the correct answer to every question, the looks and personality to be a social magnet, and the ability to back up any tough talk with stone hands, Will Hunting stood as an idealized example you wished you could peel off the screen and have some beers with. As the internet has invaded our lives, however, most everyone has turned into a keyboard version of Will Hunting, looking for fights online when not having briefly intimate Google sessions to flex our supposed knowledge. Much like Will, many people find that the knowledge minus the wisdom of worldly experience and vulnerability leaves you a shell of a person filled to the eyeballs with regret, and perhaps that is why this film only gets better as the years go by, and remains among the best of the Van Sant creations.

1. To Die For (1995) For the longest time, I avoided To Die For simply because I was not a fan of Nicole Kidman… the vast majority of her roles held no interest to me prior to To Die For (it took Eyes Wide Shut for me to really start paying attention to her), and because she was so key to the film, there was never a sense of urgency about seeing it. As time went by, however, I started to hear rumblings that To Die For may have been a bit ahead of its time, to the point that technology and social practices have caught up to some of the ideas presented in the film. I finally watched it for this ranking set, and man, I really missed the boat on this one. Plain and simple, this film is pure genius on every level. The presentation starts off documentary-esque, which not only allows for expedited distribution of backstory information, but immediately gives you an idea for the personalities of our key characters. Kidman’s portrayal of Suzanne stood as the textbook example for what has become commonly known as sociopathy, with her blind desire for fame and respect leading to a wake of human destruction. In terms of narrative pacing, the film proceeds like a match dropped at the endpoint of a long gasoline trail, slowly drifting towards the eventually point that everything blows up and damage must be assessed while blame and accountability must be handled, resulting in a truly powerful ending more than deserving of the heavy lifting that precedes it. The 24-hour news cycle was on the horizon in 1995, daytime talk shows and MTv’s The Real World had not shifted into the reality TV landscape that we know today, and while a few high profile cases such as the Menendez Brothers and Pamela Smart trial (the loose inspiration for this film) had happened, the bombshell and watershed trail that was the O.J. Simpson murder case was hot on the heels of To Die For’s release (the same month, actually). Stylistically, the film also bears striking resemblance to an updated version of Sunset Boulevard, be it knowingly or not. Long story short, the best films not only comment on the times in which they are created, but gain relevance as time passes, and To Die For handled both of these things phenomenally.

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saltlampsasuke · 4 years ago

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Unfortunately, You Are Experiencing Symptoms of Falling in Love: Part 7

Having your long-term boyfriend cheat on you is pretty bad, but you're lucky enough to have a rich, pro-hero best friend who lets you move in with him until you get a new apartment. Except lockdown happens. And you can't look for a new apartment anymore, and you can't go anywhere anymore, and neither can your best friend, and you think you might be falling a little bit in love with him. Or maybe you've been in love with him all along.

The story of how it takes a nationwide lockdown for you and Bakugou Katsuki to finally get together, part 7!

wordcount: 2,239

taglist: @stargazerunlimited @luna-bloodrose @lov4kbg @fukyouthink

I'm back with an update (in less than a month no less)! I wrote this all in one night and stayed up rather late because I really enjoyed writing this chapter, so I hope that comes across in the work. Also, I wrote out a really detailed outline which helped me really get working as well. According the the outline, there should be around 7 chapters left, so I updated the work to reflect that. Of course that may change, but I will be sure to keep you all updated! This chapter might actually be my favorite I've written so far, and it does move the feelings along a bit, so please enjoy!

You had to admit, a part of you was more than a bit nervous about the prospect of spending the next weeks, or months maybe even (though hopefully not) with your best friend. Though he had always been nothing but kind and patient with you, a clear contrast to his treatment of almost everyone else, perhaps the constant exposure to you would irritate him and he would grow tired of you. Of course, you did have to give him credit. The past Katsuki might not have even let you into his house in the first place. And though he didn’t ever say it out loud, you knew he cared enough about you to at least not say anything if he grew bored or irritated.

Still, while you had originally been thrilled at the prospect of having less work and more time to relax, something you hadn’t had in a while, only one week in and you were growing bored already. It was odd to not be doing anything, even though not doing anything was actually the best thing you could be doing at the moment. Sure, Katsuki had set up a small workbench for you in your room so that you could tinker with things, but without access to the serious machinery you were used to constantly having available, you could only do so much. You were beginning to wonder if Katsuki would let you take apart all of his highly expensive watches so that you could reassemble them into a magnificent, one-of-a-kind watch. Instead, you found yourself in his ridiculously stocked kitchen making herbed focaccia so that you could feel like you were contributing in some way.

And honestly, it was pretty fun. Baking was sort of like making gear in a way, you assembled the parts and if it turned out wrong you were in trouble. Of course, if it turned out right you ended up with something pretty great. Depending on the results of your first real foray into the kitchen during your time in Katsuki’s apartment, you might just end up doing this more often.

Of course, besides the prospect of delicious bread, you had one other thing to enjoy as a result of your baking. The design of the apartment made it so that the kitchen island had a direct view to the workout room if you faced the right direction, and since for some reason Katsuki never bothered to close the door, while baking you had a complete view of him as he worked to stay in top shape. Honestly, it was like he was showing off or something. Not that you knew all that much about his workout routine, especially from a distance, but the amount and size of the weights he was using was truly mind-boggling. You had to give it to him, he was really in shape. You could see why he was consistently ranked among the top most attractive heroes.

Not that you were thinking about him like that, of course. It’s just that as his support technician, you needed to be aware of his body and its capabilities in order to design the best and most effective gear. And honestly, he couldn’t be leaving the door more open than it already was. And you had started making the bread first. Seriously, this was on him. His timing was weird. He was weird. He was… walking over to you?

Katsuki walked into the kitchen before you could really shake your previous unruly thoughts out of your mind and leaned over on the other side of the island. He was away from you but not quite far enough, arms flexing lightly as he grinned at you. He was wearing one of those black tank tops that he used to wear all the time back in high school, and you watched nervously as a bead of sweat rolled down the top of his torso to disappear between his pecs. You were almost scared to look at his face, but you forced yourself to meet his steady gaze. His grin widened wolfishly.

“Trying to take over my kitchen already, princess? You’re out of work for only a week and already you start going all housewife on me,” he says with snark, causing you to roll your eyes.

“Don’t make me move out on you, Katsuki, it’s not my fault I’m this bored. I can always go live in the workshop and tinker with gear to my heart’s content if I’m really bothering you that much,” you spoke back to him with equal teasing bite.

“But think of how lonely I’d get! Always nagging me about how I need to be more social yet threatening to leave me all by myself for who knows how long? I’m liable to go back to yelling at everyone I meet if you do that.” You laugh, and set your dough in the pan.

“At least you can admit to your past faults. Besides, I don’t think I could handle living by myself and being alone all day. No matter how much you bother me, I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.” Katsuki’s eyes flashed at your declaration, and he bounded excitedly over to you.

“Is that a challenge, princess? Because you know I always win whenever I set my mind to a goal,” he said grabbing you and throwing you over his shoulder with ease. You wiggled and hit his back, but to no avail.

“Put me down, you lout! I need to put the bread in the oven!” you complained, but he paid you no mind, instead throwing you down on his couch with a laugh.

“There you go, down, just like you asked.” You shook your head, moving to get up, but Katsuki grabbed your leg. “If you’re bored enough to make bread, why don’t we watch a movie or something? I’ll be honest with you since you can’t go and tell anyone else; I’m just as bored as you are. I’d kill to be out on patrol right now. Hell, I’d even file the paperwork after.”

That’s how you know he’s serious. You’ve worked with Katsuki long enough to know (to the eternal irritation of his secretaries) that he never fills out any paperwork unless absolutely necessary. So if he’s bored enough to do paperwork, he must be bored out of his mind. Of course, being in the same boat yourself, you can’t exactly make fun of him. And a movie might be nice.

“I guess we could do something, but I really do want to finish the bread first. You aren’t the only person in the apartment who can use an oven, you know,” you replied.

“I would hope not, since we’ll both be eating that and I’m not about to eat some shitty bread,” said Katsuki. “I pay for this apartment. Don’t waste my ingredients.”

“Like you would let me leave this apartment, no matter how much shitty bread I make. But I’ll admit that you were right, I am baking because I’m bored, just as much as you,” you disclosed reluctantly, not wanting him to think that you were unsatisfied with the apartment or his company when it was really nothing but the opposite.

“I’m always right, princess. You should know that by now at least.” He grinned, restraining you more tightly. The black tank top was really doing nothing to keep you from feeling the contours of his muscles. He was strong, no doubt about it. If he really wanted, he could keep you trapped here against him for as long as he wanted. Not that he ever would. Perhaps the only thing equal to his strength was his kindness, though he would kill you if he ever caught you thinking anything along those lines. You kept getting drawn into all these weird thoughts all of a sudden! His fault, of course, for being so clingy.

“What you are is sweaty, you lout! Go take a shower or something and stop making me all gross and sweaty just like you,” you fired back, to his amusement.

“Alright, alright, fair point. Guess I could use a shower. But seriously, do something with me. I feel like I’m going crazy here!” he whined. You had to sympathize with him. And you could have much worse company.

“Ok, we can do whatever, your pick, as long as you let me make this damn bread first. I’m not about to let you spoil all my hard work!” Katsuki let you go, nodding.

“Fair enough, I can take that shower you were bitching about while you finish up. But if I really get to pick we’re not just going to watch some dumb movie. You and I are going to swim in the pool. If I spent all this damn money on the shitty thing and never use it I’m going to be pissed.” You agreed happily. You had wanted to use the pool for a while, but you had never quite taken up the opportunity. You rushed back to the kitchen to finish your bread and put it in the oven.

Katsuki was done with his shower while there was about ten minutes left on the timer for the bread. He offered to keep an eye on it while you grabbed your swimsuit, which was just fine with you. At the very least, if the bread turned out horrible you could blame him at least a little. You rummaged through your drawers for your swimsuits, trying to think of the last time you had gone swimming. It was a while ago; Takumi had never really liked the water and so you never really went, seeing as all your free time was spent with him. Did you even have a swimsuit anymore? No way, you had to have a swimsuit, right? Right?

By the time the timer went off in the kitchen, you had accepted the fact that you just didn’t own a swimsuit, and would have to disappoint your friend. You moved slowly to the kitchen.

“Damn, well if you don’t look like someone ran over your childhood pet!” You shook your head sadly.

“I don’t have a swimsuit, Katsuki,” you said. He almost seemed to glare at you, bewildered.

“What do you mean you don’t have a swimsuit? Everyone has a swimsuit,” he asked in confusion.

“Not me. I just don’t have one. I’m really sorry, but it looks like I can’t go swimming with you tonight.” You felt awful. He had seemed genuinely excited to finally show you the swimming pool, and you had ruined his plan.

“Dumbass, just borrow mine. You’ll be fine.”

“I can’t just wear swimming trunks, Katsuki, are you insane?” He quickly cut you off.

“Calm down, you can just wear a pair of trunks and an old shirt, you’re overthinking things by a mile. Who’s going to see you? It’s just me.” That’s right. It’s just Katsuki. He doesn’t give a crap what you wear. You nod your assent weakly, and he quickly grabs you what he said he would.

You change in your room, pulling the drawstrings of the trunks tight to secure it. Even though the shirt was fresh, it still smelled a bit like him, all warm and smoky and comforting. You stepped out of the room, only to see him missing. He had likely headed up to the pool and you decided to join him.

Your guess had been correct, he was already submerged in the pool. The sun had sunk while you finished the bread, and faint stars glimmered through the windows while the moon shone down, reflecting off of the faintly rippling waters. Katsuki sat against the wall, and grinned brightly at you.

“See, what did I tell you? You look fine.” You looked more than fine to him. Seeing you wearing his clothes made him feel oddly warm, despite the slight coolness of the pool. As you carefully descended the steps, the hem of the shirt soaked up water quickly, clinging to the curves of your body in a way that was almost more revealing than it would have been if you had simply foregone the shirt. He knew he was staring, but he couldn’t help himself. You just looked too good in the moonlight, wearing his clothes like you had on the very day you arrived. He was feeling that weird pull in his chest again. Either he should never lend you anything ever again, or he should only ever let you wear his clothes again. He could definitely pay the people who did the laundry to “accidentally” burn all of your clothes. Yeah, that was a weird thing to think about. He wouldn’t ever want to force you to do anything. If you wore his clothes, he wanted it to be of your own free will.

The two of you swam mostly in silence under the half moon, but neither of you minded. The presence of the other was all that you needed, and when you finally went to be, you both felt recharged, and deeply grateful for the other’s presence right now.

That night, you feel asleep rather quickly. Katsuki, however, fell asleep less easily. Though he felt well at ease, for some reason, he kept getting distracted by thoughts of you. Remembering that you were only one room away finally helped him sleep, and when he finally did, you were in all his dreams as well.

#katsuki bakugou x reader #bakugou katsuki x reader #katsuki x reader #bakugou x reader #bakugou katsuki x you #katsuki bakugou x you #bakugou x you #katsuki x you #bnha x you #bnha x y/n #bnha imagines #bnha x reader #mha x reader #bnha #mha #bakugou katsuki #pro hero Bakugou #my hero academy #my hero academia

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askthedespairkids · 4 years ago

Note

Do you mind giving like a short sentence or so about why you ranked each arc where you ranked them. If that’s not too much

16. The Battle of Future Foundation Arc - What you guys ended up with, for a majority of the part, was not what I wanted to write for this so this arc is the furthest from what I had envisioned beforehand. The positives are the Hajime/Izuru reveal at the very least.

15. The Celebration Arc - This was just a filler arc for some fun, no actual plot significance so there wasn’t any reason to rank it higher

14. The Judgement Arc - Whilst I enjoyed focusing on Yui and Takumi this arc, it was part of a phase where I was writing stuff so I could get out of a rut so it always rubbed me the wrong way a litte

13. The Diseased Arc - Same as the above, especially surrounding Miaya’s reveal as the Kamukura project leader. I did it way too early and hadn’t completely fleshed it out, so I’d say this and the Judgement arc are a little interchangeable

12. A Crooked Arc - This arc was super short and was more of a set-up for the Twins arc. A positive was Masaru and Sora’s relationship, though for some reason I kind of never touched on it again after this arc

11. The Returning Arc - I wasn’t 100% happy with the confrontation between Fuyu and Natsumi so out of the arcs I have minor problems with, this one ranks lowest

10. The Sheltered Arc - It was the first arc so I was still kind of getting a feel for where I was taking this story. I kind of wish there was more time before all the other survivors of the fall of Hope’s Peak were rescued. I think rescuing basically everyone in the first arc was way too early

9. The Novoselic Arc - I was happy to give Sonia some time in the spotlight, though I wasn’t fully happy with how little I gave Kazuichi to do before killing him off, and I wish I did more for the relationship between him and Gundam and Sonia

8. The Twins Arc - The follow up to A Crooked Arc, I really enjoyed cause not only was Masaru captured, it opened up the Future Foundation to it’s 2nd base, started Ryuu’s development which I’m personally proud of as a writer, it also had Miaya blowing up a robot which is cool

7. The Dance Arc - For the most part was a super sweet and cute arc until about the last 5 minutes. Was the reveal of the real killer from the Trial Arc and was part of Yuuki’s unhinging when he forced Ryokai to revive Sadao while sacrificing Ruruka. I enjoyed this plot twist as a writer

6. The Exam Arc - Super fun fight scenes all around, some pair-ups that I wrote that I probably would never have written otherwise. Got to see all the branch head’s shine. Expanded the cast present at the 2nd base. All around, a fun fun time for me.

5. The Arc in the Big Apple - This was the big Izuru reveal and Yasuke’s return to the story. I got to do some world building by showing the New York resistance team and I got to write one of my proudest scenes, which was Byakuya’s sacrifice.

4. The Captured Arc - This arc had a lot of good things going for it, first proper introduction to the situation with the 79-B kids, got to see Maverick, albeit a little brief, and the HUGE reveal that Celes, Natsumi, Kazuichi, and Nagito had all been revived and were on the Despair’s side. I kind of understood the tone I wanted for DK by this point as well

3. The Trial Arc - I always love getting to construct a murder mystery so writing this arc was a personal favourite of mine. Got to see a lot of light shining on the 79-C class, and it was also the proper introduction with Ryuu as this was the arc he got his sprites! Loved this arc, a whole bunch.

2. The Leadership Arc - This was an arc I had planned for so long and it had been written almost exactly as I had envisioned it. Celes’ gambling tournament to take control of the Despairs, Junpei killing Suibuki, Kyouko vs Celes, Akane’s family, a lot of important moments for different characters in this arc and I was so happy to have written it finally

1. The Big Bang Arc - By far the best arc on DK, for me personally. All the different groups coming together to battle Chihiro, who was one of the highest members in the Despair group, Jataro showing up and attacking the 2nd base, possibly the highest stakes of any arc with the Black Hole generator Chihiro had built, and I knew exactly how I wanted it all to go down. It was great fun, I loved this arc and it was more than I even envisioned it being.

#Mod J #mod answer #anon #DR

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cannot-decide-on-a-fandom · 5 years ago

Text

@watchyourlanguagepeople Thanks for tagging!

Name your 10 favourite characters from 10 different fandoms

The names are gonna be messed up, some given names first others surnames first. It's a disaster.

But okay this'll be fun. In no particular order:

1) Haikyuu-Sugawara Koushi. I mean, this is a surprise to no one who knows me I think. Tadashi is so close behind, but Suga is a chaotic mess presented hidden in responsibility wrapping paper, and I love him. I don't know where that description came from.

2) Fruits Basket-Yuki Sohma. This was SO HARD! I really wanted to add Kyo, Tohru, Hatsuharu, and Hatori on here, and Shigure and Ayame are fantastic as well, but one from each fandom. Yuki is just so sweet. I want him to be happy and I want him to get hugs, even though for me it's...not exactly possible to do that. (I still ship Kyo/Tohru, but as a character, I can't not love Yuki)

3) My Hero Academia-Kaminari Denki. I've said a lot of things about MHA recently, but I do have some solid things to say about it. As much of a disaster as Kaminari may be sometimes, he's fun and caring and kind, even if he's occasionally a trash boy.

4) Danganronpa-Makoto Naegi. I had to do this after my recent posts. Although I think most people would expect me to say Nagito here. I do love him, though he's annoying as hell, and he's my favourite from the second game, but over all, I will likely never pick crazy but entertaining characters over sweethearts. Makoto is my boy and I missed him so much! (I haven't gotten to V3 yet, and Kokichi seems really interesting, so it could change)

5) Food Wars-Takumi Aldini. Food wars is...odd. It's not my favourite by any means, but it's one I'm including because I know my favourite character. There are anime like Stars Align or Anohana or FMAB (oh yeah, going for the emotional ones) which I loved more, but I don't have a clear favourite, they're all just amazing. So Takumi it is. I love how we meet him as this important rival guy, and then as soon as he does anything that could be considered unfair or disrespectful to his opponent, he's just like "wait, I promise I didn't mean that! I'm sorry!" And now he's just friends with Soma. It's fantastic.

6) Demon Slayer-Zenitsu Agatsuma. I'm honestly including this one because I see so much about Inosuke (he's great too, don't get me wrong!) but I never see much for my boy! He's another trash boy I love. He's fantastic.

Okay, I won't only include anime here. I really want to include Brooklyn 99, it's my favourite western series, but gun to my head and I still wouldn't be able to pick my favourite. It's too much of an ensemble cast.

7) Supernatural-Castiel. I'm actually really scared of including this one. I've not been vocal, but I've still talked about how I've had some really crappy experiences with the supernatural fandom. But I have to include him. I'm not actually caught up. I'm 2 seasons behind. But that doesn't change the fact that I still love the characters, and especially Cas.

8) Marvel (specifically the MCU)-Peter Parker/Spiderman. I have read some comics, but not enough yet sadly to make this about the comics, so I'm making it about the films. Tom Holland is my favourite in this role and I cried SO MUCH at endgame and infinity war. I'm sad now. But he's great. He's fun, he's just awkward enough, he's played in an interesting way, and I just love Spiderman. I know it's cliche, but he is my favourite superhero.

9) Harry Potter-Neville Longbottom. Okay, very important, I need to say it for clarity, I have a TON of issues with JK Rowling. I won't get into them but...yeah. It's difficult though, because these books were the first ones I read for myself, so not for a school thing, when I first learned English around the age of 7/8. So I can't just not care about the actual books even knowing the author. And I've already owned them for about 5 or 6 years now. And Neville himself deserves credit, because he's always trying his best and just having bad luck and being bullied. Then he succeeds and it's great. I also wanted to put Fred and George here but they're 2 people and I couldn't split them so I chose Neville.

10) Percy Jackson-Nico di Angelo. I LOVE the Percy Jackson books. They're so good! I enjoyed the two films too as flawed as they are, but they don't hold a candle to my love for the books. And Nico is just such a complex character. He's not bad by any means, he can't even be considered morally grey in my eyes, but he's so well written. Rick Riordan is just phenomenal

Thanks for the tag! Once again, if anyone wishes to do this, go ahead! I'm nervous with tagging others, but I'd love to see these!

#haikyuu #fruits basket #my hero academia #danganronpa #food wars #demon slayer #supernatural #mcu #harry potter #percy jackon and the olympians

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machinequeen4 · 5 years ago

Text

Fic rec bingo list!

I thought I’d fill out this fic rec bingo card, posted by @lightveils on Twitter!

It sort of turned into the History of MachineQueen in Fanfiction. All you unsung heroes who write and publish fanfic, I love you and remember your names.

Recs for Fire Emblem Fates, Fire Emblem Three Houses, Yu-gi-oh, Doctor Who, RWBY, Ace Attorney, Tales of Graces follow!

1. A fic you love without knowing the source material

Undone - codenamecynic, Dragon Age II, E rated, Fenris/Female Hawke, multichap 135k words

https://archiveofourown.org/works/482156/chapters/838851

I know nothing about Dragon Age and can’t remember why I decided to read it. TV Tropes maybe? From what I can tell it’s the events of the game with additional sex scenes. Hawke is witty, Fenris is a tragic broken bird, I was sold.

2. A fic with a premise that shouldn’t work but it does

Trial and Error - undieshogun, Fire Emblem Fates, T rated, Subaki/Takumi, multichap 15k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/6890677/chapters/15719992

Not so much a premise but a ship I wasn’t convinced on. But it had Subaki in it so I gave it a try. It’s really cute - Subaki tries to teach Takumi social skills, much to his annoyance.

This line alone is gold star characterisation:

"I couldn't tell you why Tsubaki has taken such a liking to you, but I do know that any time he wants to befriend someone, it's because he sees in them something he lacks."

3. A fic you’ve reread several times

Gratitude - GoldenThreads, Fire Emblem Three Houses, T rated, Hubert/Ferdinand, multichap 8k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20344273/chapters/48239686

The writing style is so beautifully layered that I find new meaning every time I read it. The scene where Ferdinand offers a hairpin for each story Hubert tells is gorgeous, one of my favourites to reread.

4. A fic you still remember many years later

A Song I Think I Heard Before - Scribbler, Yu-gi-oh, T rated, Mai/Jounouchi (Joey), multichap 40k

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5924028/1/A_Song_I_Think_I_Heard_Before

My favourite Mai fic. This gives her a backstory with Dartz based villainy and recontextualises her relationship with Jou (Joey in the dub, most YGO authors used the JP names to distance themselves from 4Kids’ added cheese). I was on tenterhooks waiting for each new chapter. It’s got real emotional depth, capturing Mai’s cynical nature perfectly. Also I still think about/use the phrase bumblefuck in the morning.

5. A comfort fic

just a little stuck on you (you’ll be on me too) - flowermoons, Fire Emblem Three Houses, T rated, Hubert/Ferdinand, one chap 33k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21875707

This brings the cast of FE3H to the modern world and drops them into reality TV show The X Factor. There’s no war or death angst, just a singing contest. I grew up with The X Factor on TV on a Saturday night so this was a delight. Like me, the author is cynical about reality TV which makes the fic even more engaging. Ferdinand mourning his long hair after he cuts it and Hubert running round London looking for him really made my day.

6. A catharthic fic

Long and Lost - Windian, Tales of Graces, M rated, Richard/Asbel, multichap 36k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/5357546/chapters/12372899

Listen game, you can’t spend 40 hours having the protagonist’s motivation as ‘save Richard’ and then pull a no homo on me! In this fic Asbel dutifully marries Cheria only for the whole thing to collapse in on itself when he realises he’s in love with Richard after all. The snow storm scene is something I’ll always remember.

7. A fic you’d like to print and put on your bookshelf

Revival series - MyAibou, Yu-gi-oh, T rated, multiship, many k

http://fanfiction.net/s/2681684/1/Revival-Prologue-Paradox

This is split into multiple parts and has another multipart followup. A continuation of Yu-gi-oh Duel Monsters with shipping and very decent original characters including villains. My polarshipping heart is in love with this scene on the clifftop in part 2 chapter 11 - a slow dance to the sound of the waves to help Mai remember she isn’t alone *melts into a puddle*

8. A fic you associate with a song

Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been - darkrunner, Yu-gi-oh, rated K+, Mai/Jou, multichap 9k

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4445992/1/Who-I-Am-Hates-Who-I-ve-Been

It’s titled after a song. This was one of the first fics I ever found, read and loved. I was way too shy to review but I loved this author dearly. Good old angst & hurt/comfort with a happy ending. A happy ending for Mai was all I wanted haha!

9. A fic that inspires you

Patience, Ponies and Pastries - GoldenThreads, Fire Emblem Three Houses, T rated, Hubert/Ferdinand, multichap, 27k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20722859/chapters/49231019

A shipping fic where the two characters being shipped spend most of the fic apart! This author is so good at characterising the pair, there are treasures hidden throughout. I never thought reading about horses of all things could make me so emotional...

And this passage from Ferdinand’s point of view:

As long as Hubert did not truly reject such affection, did not throw him in the stocks for his bleeding heart, then he did not require reciprocation. He required that Hubert be cherished, and that was that.

10. A fic that brought you on board a new ship

Marik and Bakura Go To Censored Town - Little Kuriboh, Yu-gi-oh, M rated, multichap, 24k

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6954805/1/Marik-Bakura-Go-To-Censored-Town

I spent most of my Yu-gi-oh fandom life wishing there were more fics about Mai and tended to avoid the big slash ships. However, Yu-gi-oh Abridged’s strongest pair were always Marik and Bakura. When I read this fic I realised yes, Marik being an idiot and Bakura being the straight man (not literally) makes this ship sing.

11. A fic you wish could be a movie

Denial & Deception - Bohemienne, Fire Emblem Three Houses, M rated, multichap, 74k (incomplete)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20895731/chapters/49671050

The setting of Derdriu is so lushly described that it would make a wonderful movie setting. Additional points for the masked ball chapters!

Hubert and Ferdinand infiltrate the Leicester Alliance using a fake relationship. It goes as well as you might expect. There is comedy, there is romance and the whole thing makes you want to smack Hubert round the face with a fish.

12. A fic that led to you making friends with the author

Past Future Continuous - HermitsUnited, Doctor Who, T rated, multichap 20k

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4917490/1/Past-Future-Continuous

We are not in contact anymore but we shared a love of Donna Noble. This shines through in all her alternate season 5 fics!

13. A fic you’ve gushed about IRL

Festering Under Your Skin - Bohemienne, Fire Emblem Three Houses, M rated, multichap 52k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20465312/chapters/48559553

My poor gf had to put up with me going on about this one. Lady Edelgard is dead and Ferdinand is a Blue Lion who spares Hubert. All of this is played for maximum dramatic potential. Special marks for the scene where Ferdinand accidentally poisons himself with Hubert’s coffee. So brilliantly in character for both of them. And excellently foreshadowed earlier in the fic where an imprisoned Hubert keeps asking for his coffee...

14. A fic you associate with a place

Heart of Defiance - battlemage15, RWBY, M rated, multichap 150k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7896874/chapters/18038116

I downloaded this to my phone and read it on the top deck of the number 6 bus as it bumped along the country roads of deepest Devon. I was on my way to job interviews in the city and the trip was 2 hours long. The fic itself is a Yang centric shonen power fantasy that goes to pretty dark places.

15. A fic that made you gasp out loud

Blood and Ink - ShowMeYourFury, RWBY, M rated, Cinder/Ruby, multichap 45k

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11754595/1/Blood-and-Ink

This fic is ruthless with Cinder’s villainy. Every time you think she can’t go any further, she does. I love it.

16. A fic you found at the right time

Forward - Lyricanna, Fire Emblem Fates, not rated, multichap, 34k (incomplete)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12747516/chapters/29075913

I love the concept of this fic so much. Subaki is selected to be a Hoshidan ambassador in Nohr and gets lumped with Niles as a guide. Neither is having a good time. There is a plot going on involving kidnapping and asassination that forces them to work together.

17. A fic that you would read fic of

The Obligatory Hot Spring Scene - Scribbler, Yu-gi-oh, T rated, oneshot, sub 1k

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6368612/1/The-Obligatory-Hot-Spring-Scene

Written as though the characters are actors and canon is a TV show. I love this concept and would read more in a similar vein

18. A fic that made you laugh out loud

Surrender To Your Peace - spiralpegasus, Fire Emblem Three Houses, M rated, Sylvain/Felix, one chap, 11k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20757260

“This is very unfortunate,” Dimitri says with a frown. “As the leader of this mission, I will take full responsibility and use the Swamp Bedroll.”

One does not simply sacrifice themselves to He Who Saw The Bottom Of The Earth And Lived with such a cavalier attitude. “You know your guilt complex doesn’t actually have to extend to sleeping in a gross swamp bag,” Sylvain tells him disbelievingly.

“I agree, Your Highness,” Dedue says, setting He Whose Stench Haunts The Dreams Of Man down on the ground with a delicate sort of distaste. “None of us need use this… bedroll.” He says bedroll the same way he says food when it’s Flayn’s turn to cook.

19. A fic with a line or two you’ve memorised by heart

one sentiment enlightens to another - newamsterdam, Fire Emblem Three Houses, G rated, Hubert/Ferdinand, oneshot 6k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21074840

Ferdinand rolls his eyes. “Of course I do, Hubert. I remember very well. I just— well. Perhaps I’ve overestimated you.”

Hubert, who has spent the better part of the past few weeks believing he constantly underestimates Ferdinand, bristles.

Not the exact lines but I always keep this in mind when writing the ship. I think these hit on the fundamental misunderstanding between the two characters. Hubert is only human, not some all powerful hero/villain. And Ferdinand isn’t stupid just because he’s honest and emotional. I think the two of them have trouble getting their heads round these concepts!

20. A fic that gave you butterflies

Ataraxia - Windian, Tales of Graces, T rated, Cheria/Pascal, 13k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7828981/chapters/17871247

"I want you," Cheria tells her, and the night catches like a rubber band. Her hands are in Pascal's hair, Pascal's arms around hers, her mouth on hers. Their kisses are sloppy and messy, noses knocking against one another, but it's everything and it's nothing at all like kissing Asbel.

When they break for air, Pascal tells her, "You don't know how long I've wanted to do this, Cheria."

Cheria asks, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I dunno Cheria, because you were gonna marry Asbel, maybe?"

It stops her in her tracks. Voice low, she asks, "What am I going to tell him?"

Pascal cups either side of her face. Kisses her, so hot and hard that Cheria's left seeing stars, clinging at the strings of Pascal's swimsuit like a shipwrecked sailor to a spar.

"Screw it. Think about it in the morning. For once in your life, do something you want."

21. A fic that embodies something you value in life

The Truth About Love - MistressAkira, Fire Emblem Fates, T rated, Niles/Subaki, 2k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12036081

This fic is experimental in style - the author descrbes it as a soliloquy. The sentiment I take from it is that love is compromising, inconvenient, illogical. Yet it’s still something beautiful and something worth fighting for.

22. A favourite AU

Mobius - SirTeateiMoonlight, Xenoblade Chronicles, T rated, multichap, 17k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17845748/chapters/42111473

Melia finds a copy of Xenoblade, plays it and knows exactly what’s going on in the story. She uses this knowledge to her advantage. It’s a slippery slope. By the end of the story she’s mercilessly torturing Lorothia against her brother’s wishes.

23. A fic you’ve stayed up late to finish reading

Dirty Sympathy - ideny, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, M rated, Klavier/Apollo, 130k on AO3 not sure on kink meme

https://bludhavens.livejournal.com/88397.html?thread=41790541#t41790541

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1075868/chapters/2160789

I stayed up reading this until 4am and for some reason (probably tiredness) confessed this to my not-yet-gf. She cites this as one of the moments she fell for me!

It’s a dark fic in which Klavier and Apollo are both in abusive relationships with villains. They concoct a plot to implicate the two of them in criminal activities to escape and fall for each other along the way.

24. A fic that made you feel seen

i knew you were trouble - Magepaw, Fire Emblem Fates, M rated, Niles/Subaki, 8k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19314568

First of all the title is one of my favourite songs. Second of all the dialogue is everything I want from the Niles/Subaki ship. Third Subaki’s pegasus makes her presence known. Fourth there is a gory battle scene and hurt/comfort gone wrong. And fifth, a happy ending.

Niles had to turn away, hand pressed to his mouth, before his own blush betrayed him. This was too good to last. This had to be the most embarrassingly vulnerable moment of his entire life, and of course the entirety of the Nohrian and Hoshidan military combined had to be there to see Niles go soft.

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tokidokitokyo · 5 years ago

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It’s summer! And even though I work full time, I want to be sure to make some time to read books. I have made my own personal reading list, and I wanted to share it with you. There is a mix of novels in Japanese and English, and manga in Japanese. This is by no means comprehensive but I hope to finish at least these books. If you have any additional novel or manga recommendations please let me know!

夏が来た！社会人なのに、本を読むための時間を作りたいです。自分の夏に読みたい本のリストを作って、皆さんに見せたいと思いました。様々な日本語と英語の小説、後は日本語の漫画がリストに入っています。これしか読まないという訳じゃないけど、このリストの本位読もうと思います。他のおすすめの小説や漫画があれば、是非教えてください！

Novels・小説（しょうせつ）

「１Q８４」（いちきゅうはちよん） Author: Haruki Murakami (村上春樹) English Title: 1Q84 Summary: The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo. A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled. My note: I’ve read this in English and I loved it, but now I will challenge myself by reading it in Japanese. It was originally published as 3 separate volumes in 6 books (each volume has a part 1 and part 2).

「犬と私の10の約束」（いぬとわたしのじゅうのやくそく） Author: Hare Kawaguchi (川口晴) English Title: 10 Promises to My Dog Summary: This is the story of Akari Saito and her dog named Socks. The pair supported each other as they grew up together. This story is closely tied to "The Ten Commandments of Dog Ownership", a list of ownership rules written from a dog's point of view. My note: This sounds like a tear jerker, but I honestly bought it because of the adorable Golden Retriever puppy on the cover. This is another novel for Japanese practice, but there’s a movie too.

The Catcher in the Rye Author: J.D. Salinger Japanese Title: 「ライ麦畑でつかまえて」（らいむぎばたけでつかまえて） Summary: The hero-narrator of The Catcher in the Rye is an ancient child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caulfield. Through circumstances that tend to preclude adult, secondhand description, he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days. The boy himself is at once too simple and too complex for us to make any final comment about him or his story. Perhaps the safest thing we can say about Holden is that he was born in the world not just strongly attracted to beauty but, almost, hopelessly impaled on it. My note: I wanted to read this because it is famous for being banned in US schools, but other than that I had no idea what it was about. After some light research I found out that it was banned for being about Communism and that there is a theme of teenage rebellion. So this is part of my effort to read books that are famous in the US.

Good Omens Japanese Title: 「グッド・オーメンズ」 Summary: According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner.So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon—both of whom have lived amongst Earth's mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle—are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture.And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist . . . My Note: My friend recommended this book, and the summary got my attention. I also found out there’s a series on Amazon Prime.

Manga・漫画（まんが）

「黒崎くんの言いなりになんてならない」（くろさきくんのいいなりになんてならない） Author: Makino (マキノ) English Title: Defying Kurosaki-kun (lit. I won’t become subservient to Kurosaki-kun) Summary: Kurosaki is nicknamed "Kuro Akuma" (Black Devil) and is feared by his peers. He demands Yu's "absolute obedience." On the other hand, Takumi, Kurosaki's best friend, is adored by girls and is called "Shiro Oji" (White Prince). He is very warm and kind to Yu. The two boys treat Yu in opposite ways. This is the story of a love triangle but also of friendship. My note: This is not a profound manga series by any means, but it’s funny and it drew me in when I picked it up in Japan last year. It’s classified as a romantic comedy shōjo manga series, but has some overt sexual overtones. I will be reading volume 12 only as I’ve already read the other 11.

「思い、思われ、ふり、ふられ」（おもい、おもわれ、ふり、ふられ） Author: Io Sakisaka (咲坂伊緒) English Title: Omoi, Omoware, Furi, Furare (lit. Loving, being loved, rejecting, being rejected) Summary: Yuna Ichihara is in the spring before her first year of high school and is pained to be separated from her best friend Sacchan who is moving away. On her way to the train station, she is stopped by a random girl who asks her for money for her train fare. Although Yuna is somewhat afraid and reluctant, she gives the girl money, who in turns give Yuna her bracelet as a promise she will meet her tomorrow to pay her back. On the same day, Yuna runs twice into a boy who looks like the idolized prince of her childhood. After the girl, named Akari, returns Yuna's money, they head home together only to find out that they live in the same apartment building. The girls instantly become friends. However, they find that they explore love in completely different ways, and Yuna may be in love with Akari's brother and Akari in love with Yuna's childhood friend. My note: This is a really cute shōjo manga series (I have a manga type) that is well written with some interesting twists and turns. The author has written many other famous shōjo manga series such as Ao Haru Ride/Blue Spring Ride and Strobe Edge. I will be reading volumes 9, 10, 11, and 12 as I was waiting for the final volume of the series to be published in June. There are plans for an anime movie and a live action movie in 2020.

「月刊少女野崎くん」（げっかんしょうじょのざきくん） Author: Izumi Tsubaki (椿いづみ) English Title: Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Summary: High school student Chiyo Sakura has a crush on schoolmate Umetarō Nozaki. When she confesses her love to him, he mistakes her for a fan and gives her an autograph. When she says she wants to be with him, he invites her to his house and has her help on some drawings. Sakura discovers that Nozaki is actually a renowned shōjo manga artist working under the pen name Sakiko Yumeno. She agrees to be his assistant in order to get closer to him. As they work on his manga Let's Fall in Love (恋しよっ Koi Shiyo, Let's Have a Romance), they encounter other schoolmates who assist them and/or serve as inspirations for his stories. My note: I’ve watched the anime series in January, and my husband bought me the complete series (except the 10th volume) for Valentine’s Day. Life got in the way and I haven’t read it yet, but I am ready to binge read it now. This is an ongoing shōjo manga series but I feel like it doesn’t flow like a typical shōjo manga, exaggerating some typical character types and making fun of the genre while telling an engaging story.

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shirleenshamsie · 5 years ago

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Shouta Aizawa x reader

You sighed as you pulled off your long black wig and set it on its stand. "hey Affi," you cooed as your cat jumped on the bathroom counter to greet you. "let me just take off my makeup and I'll get you dinner." You gave her a kiss on the head as you scratched behind her ears, making her purr loudly. You watched yourself in the mirror as you wiped off your lipstick and eyeliner, silently noting everything you'd have to change for tomorrow. It was your first day at UA and you'd be lying if you said you weren't scared shitless. You put food in Affi's dish and a little more water in her bowl before throwing together a lunch and breakfast-to-go and throwing both in your mini fridge. Finally, you stretched as you laid down on your bed. Affi jumped up and curled up against your side as you turned on light classical music to help you sleep and your alarms to make sure you didn't miss your first day.

You stood at the front gate with anticipation. You choose not to wear your wig and instead showed your short light purple hair. You wore a plain dust mask with the excuse of bad allergies and anxiety, but it was really to hide your face. You took a deep breath, hitched your backpack up and started into the building. Class 1-A. You waere a few minutes early, quickly finding a seat at the back of the room. You took out your notebook and a pen and waited with anticipation. You were surprised when the teacher walked in caring a sleeping bag. Jeez, he looks as tired as you feel, but there was a rugged charm about him that caught your attention. 'Shuota Aizawa, I like it. Wait, fuck, what am I thinking? I shouldn't even be thinking about that, he's my teacher, he just sees a high schooler and it needs to stay that way.’ You let out a quiet, frustrated sigh, mussing your hair under your hat so it covered your eyes more.

We were all led outside to do physical tests to test the limits of our quirks. Of course, you were at a disadvantage from everyone else, your quirk is mental. You effectively failed the combat part of the entrance exam but aced the written portion. You got pulled into a meeting after the entrance exams where your quirk was tested, and they accepted you. Now we’re supposed to use our quirks to show how physically powerful or strong we are? This is stupid. You gotta be honest, you’ve heard rumors that Aizawa is a tough but good teacher, but this is disappointing. How can he be a teacher here and not understand that not every powerful quirk is physical? Nevertheless, you held your own in most of the tests, you’re not a slob so you were above average in many areas so far. Mr. Aizawa’s words echoed in your head during these tests. ‘I was going to be expelled on the first day. Maybe if I can just do better than Midoriya…’

“F/N L/N.” Mr. Aizawa stopped you as you were walking up to take your turn on the long jump.

“Yes, sir?” You lowered your head but kept eye contact with his as he spoke.

“You don’t need to hold back your quirk in these tests, you can do what you need to do to perform your best.” He spoke in what we quickly learned was his trademark bored tone.

“With all due respect,” You broke eye contact and looked at the ground in front of you. “these tests are unfairly biased to people with physically powerful quirks. Not all powerful or useful combat quirks are physical.”

“What is your quirk exactly, your file only says ‘Soul capture’, explain it.”

“I can take someone’s soul out of their body and hold it captive in my mind. Conversely I can also force my own soul into someone else’s body and control it as my own.” The class filled with murmurs as people talked about your quirk, but you couldn’t quite hear what they were saying.

“Hmm.” Mr. Aizawa thought for a moment before turning to the class causing them to silence instantly. “Does anyone want to volunteer to lend Miss L/N their body?”

“Wait, what!?” You yelp in shock. The class stayed quiet for a moment before Iida stepped forward.

“I’ll do it, it would be very interesting to see personally how this works.” He said standing tall.

“Good, L/N, lets see what you can do.” Mr. Aizawa stepped back as Iida approached you.

“What happens to me when you . . . possess me?”

“U-um, it’s like going to sleep for you, you won’t remember anything. A-are you sure you’re okay with this? I mean, I can figure it out myself if you don’t fee-“

“It’s okay Y/N, just don’t kill me,” he gave a halfhearted chuckle, but you could tell he was a little nervous about this.

“I promise I won’t.” You reach up and put a hand on his shoulder, activating your quirk.

Third person POV

The class watched in anticipation as Y/N put her hand on Iida’s shoulder and her eyes turned black with glowing red iris’s. Without warning, Y/N’s body went limp as Iida effortlessly caught her in one arm before he looked at the other, balling his hand into a fist and stretching his fingers out again. He gently laid Y/N’s body on the ground before walking to the start line and quickly stretching his legs. The class watched him get in position, close his eyes with a deep breath, before running even faster than he was before and taking a leap. They watched in amazement as he jumped much further than his first jump, but it wasn’t really Iida, it was Y/N in there doing the jumping.

“Woah, she did better in Iida’s body than he did in his own body!” Uraraka exclaimed.

“Good, now give Iida his body back.” Mr. Aizawa stated as he made scribbles in a folder,

Y/N walked back over to her unconscious body and got down on her knees before Iida’s body slumped and Y/N’s body started moving again.

Iida groaned slightly before looking around. “Did something go wrong? Did it not work?”

“It worked just fine, L/N told you that you wouldn’t remember anything.” Mr. Aizawa stated before calling up the next person.

Reader POV

You told Iida what you had done while you were possessing his body as the rest of the class continued the long jumps. You explained the ergonomics of what you had done compare to his own jump as well as a few other tips to make his movements even more efficient.

“I never thought about doing it quite like that, I’ll be sure to remember that. Thank you, Y/N.”

Class finished smoothly after that, Mr. Aizawa didn’t pressure you to possess anyone else for the tests which you were thankful for, you don’t like possessing others unless you must. The whole class was relieved when Mr. Aizawa said he was bluffing when he said he was going to expel the student in last place.

“Miss L/N, I need to speak with you.” He stated as everyone gathered their belongings to leave. Well crap, that’s never a good sign. Even you knew that, and this is your first time going to school. You slowly approach his desk as the last of your classmates exit the room. “Relax L/N, I’m not going to bite you (OH WHAT A LIE!!! Sry). I wanted to talk to you about your quirk and this class.”

“Yes sir?”

“I want to make sure you realize you are going to have to work harder than your classmates in a lot of areas because your quirk is not physical. Are you going to be okay with that?”

“Yes sir, I know my quirk isn’t flashy or anything, but I’m still determined to stay at UA no matter what’s thrown at me. And you’re proof that you don’t need a showy quirk to be a pro hero.” I looked down as my face headed up. Am I blushing? Thank god for this mask! You look up and to your surprise Mr. Aizawa was trying to hide a light blush on his own face.

“Good, well as long as you know this won’t be easy for you. I’ll see you tomorrow then.” He stood up grabbing a stack of papers and left the room.

Did he blush at my compliment? He’s probably not used to compliments, he’s so cold to everyone they probably don’t try to talk to him much unless they need to. You wonder how he’d react to a more direct compliment, what would go through his mind? You shook your head and tried to clear the thoughts of him. You look at your watch. Yeah, I got time to stop for food before getting ready for work.

Aizawa POV

This has never been an issue for me. That felt like an honest comment of admiration which I don’t often deal with so directly. But what’s really causing me an issue is the feelings stirred inside of me, they’re unfamiliar and I don’t like that. Get your mind out of the gutter, I’m not a pervert or pedo, but something is different about her. She’s very… mature. She may look 15 or 16 especially with that mask and her shy act but there’s no way she’s actually that young. That mask somehow makes her shy act a lot more adorable… wait WHAT?? NO! Stop thinking about that you idiot and do your work!!

I grunted as I hit my head on the table before running my hand through my hair and pulling the stack of papers closer to me.

Your POV

You finish stuffing the food in your mouth as you slip into the bar, holding your long cloak shut and clutching your bag to your chest. The bar wasn’t open for the night yet, so you relaxed as you headed for the stairs.

“Oh Y/N” you hear the velvet baritone voice sing.

“Not now Haru, I need to get ready for work.” I called behind me as I ran down the stairs.

“Then I’ll help, darling we both know if I let you dress yourself, you’d look homeless.” He said as he followed.

Is it possible to be any more of a queen? You thought to yourself. “Fine, only cuz I don’t want to hear your comments all night.” You say as you took off your mask, hat, cloak and start undoing your uniform. You had no issues getting undressed in front of Haruto Takumi, I mean why would it bother you? He is your designated gay best friend after all. Plus, he’s right, you have no sense of style. He’s also the only one that knows you falsified records to get into UA and is all in with helping you lead your double life. You know full well it’s partially for selfish reasons though.

“Soooooooo?” He asks excitedly as he pulls out a monster truck shirt with a methodically torn back and a pair of ripped skinny jeans.

“Sooo?” You ask playing dumb.

Haru dramatically throws the clothes down on the bed as you head to the bathroom to ready your wig. “Did you get to see him? All Might? Is he as breathtaking in person? How tall is he? How big is he? Not down there, I wanna find that out on my own, I mean like his muscles, his pecks, are his abs really like a washbo-“

“DUDE! You really need to get yourself a boyfriend. Seriously, I’m not answering those questions for you.” You say, stepping out with your long, wavy black wig now secured on your head.

“Ugh, can you at least get a picture with him so I can get an idea?”

“He’s five foot four in real life.” You state bluntly as you pulled the shirt on.

“WHAT?? NO, THAT’S NOT POSSIBLE!” Haru looked heartbroken for a second before you burst out laughing.

“We haven’t met him yet, but you should have seen your face just now.”

“You bitch. You can finish getting yourself ready for that. You know you have to sing tonight right? Did you get the setlist?” He asked from the door.

“Yeah, thanks.” You grumbled. You really love singing and music, but you’re expected to sing a specific … kind of music (think in this moment, blood, whore, sick like me, ect.). You have fun performing but you wish the music was almost anything except that stuff, it grinds at you after a while not to mention the strain on your voice to scream all the time. Your primary job here is security, with your efficient hand to hand combat skills not to mention your quirk, the owner was practically begging you to work for him after seeing you in an underground fight. ‘You’re pretty, you look pretty harmless, and you can quickly take down a bunch of aggressors, exactly what I need.’ Was more or less what he said. You said sure and started working there after your 18th birthday so it was all legal. That was almost two years ago now and you couldn’t believe it. You hummed to Affi as you put your lip ring back in and applied makeup before giving her a small snack and heading to work.

__________

If you want to read more please go to my wattpad, I’m going to try to continue the story there.

https://www.wattpad.com/866712246-yours-truly-first-day-of-school

Thank you :)

#mha #bnha #aizawa shouta #bnha shouta aizawa #aizawa x you #future lemon #aizawa #bnha x reader

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nanigma · 5 years ago

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Leon Fanbook Translation: Questionnaire Results

Link to the Takumi Fanbook

Introduction

Profile

Famous Lines

Relationships

Leon&Kamui + Words of Love

Daily Routine + Cooking Showdown

Fashion Check

Dream Change

Interview

Sorry for the wait, but there was just so MUCH text involved in this update. I think I spent about 10 hours total translating this over the past weeks. It had even more text than the Takumi version, since they added some additional comments and reader answers. Just one more update to go after this one and I’ll have finished it. Gonna take a break from translating for a while after I get back to the promised translations I couldn’t do in the meantime.

Part time job is still going and paying decently well. Still, more always helps, so if you’d like to support my work, consider buying me ko-fi or two.

- All the photos on this post were taken by the lovely @zaziki7

My comments in italics

Questionaire Results

Pages 40-41

Page 40

The part were you and me talk about Prince Leon!

When we commemorated the release of our Prince Leon magazine, we also send out a questionare through the official Nintendo Dream twitter account. For 10 days, from July 13th 2018 to the 23rd, we accepted 560* filled out questionnaires and will now publish the results. We will convey the intense and simply overwhelming love that Leon's fans have for him, their explanations for it, and the heartfelt well-wishes towards him.

*Interesting to note that Takumi had 627 questionnaries filled out.

Questionary Demographic

Gender = Backed overwhelmingly by women!

Graph

Women: 89,5%

Men: 7.3%

Unspecified: 3.2%

Age = Over 80% in their teens and twenties!

Graph:

Twenties: 50.4%

Teens: 28%

Thirties: 16.5%

Unspecified: 2.8

Fourties and older: 2.1%

These are the results. The percentage of Leon's female fans almost reaching 90% is a deviation that surpasses all imagination. Surely the percentage of women is as high as it is, because we were asking for a magazine. Conversely, isn't it sort of unfair that male fans of „Fire Emblem“ do not have a character fanbook appealing to them? At least that's what we think... Gentlemen among fans, raise your voice!

They already get 90% of the figurines. I think they are more than compensated.

Q1. (Of course Leon's most attractive feature is that pretty face of his!)

“What about Leon do you like? Please choose three options.“

Graph (no actual numbers given, so I'll just approximate)

His face: ~325

His voice: ~200

His heart: ~225

His outfit: ~75

His behaviour: >75

His strength: ~125

His retainers: ~25

Everything: ~250

Q1. Picking out the other answers:

“The way he uses magic!!“

Zola: “I-is this my cue?“

Odin: “Not you. Sit down.“

Other answers: How he feels inferior to his older brothers. It's quite human./ His slight clumsiness/ When he acts like an older brother/ How he is sweet to his brother or sister, even when facing them as enemies/ How he is kind to both his family and subordinates/ His lower eyelashes/ (English comment passing through) Smart, condescending, well written character, and a great unit to boot. His design with the black and purple designs reflect light beautifully/ How he always does his best to use his wits to approach others with nonchalant friendliness and to dodge the scrutiny of his opponents./How he is the kind of man, who, while not always used to flirting and occasionally showing surprise, will take the lead when it comes down to it and spoil his partner./ First answer repeats here for some reason/ How his character, face, magic and entire existence make him the very image of a stud. But I also like his less icy character traits a lot.

Q1. Picking out the other answers:

“His lower eyelashes!!”

Aqua: “Yes... Leon's eyes are quite sharp.”

Zero: ”That’s not what you should be paying attention to...”

Page 41

Q2. (Cute? Cool? In either case, he makes you want to protect him!)

“How would you describe your feelings for Leon? Please choose 3 options.“

Graph

Cool: <400

Cute: <450

Strong: >150

Healing: ~250

Want to snuggle up to him: <150

Hope to interact with him: >50

Beautiful (and other answers): <5

Other answers: Even though he is an excellent take on the old-school, collected hot guy, I always love it when his collar is inside out./ I want to spoil him/ I want to worship him/ I want to pat his head/ I want to support his feelings for Camilla/ I want to see his sleeping face/ I want to watch him from afar/ I think it's very human how he appears to be able to do anything, yet there are many things he cannot do/ etc.

Leon ol’ pal, there is actual support for your darkest secret out there...

Q2. Picking out the other answers:

“I envy your popularity!!“

Marx: “Who? Who could have left this answer....”

Macbeth: “W-Why are you looking at me?”

Q2. Picking out the other answers:

“I want to marry him!“

Elise: “Eh, then I want to marry him too!”

Camilla: “My... stealing isn't nice, alright?”

Am I really supposed to believe Elise is in her teens? Also, what is this family?

Pages 42-43

Page 42

Q3 (Those fleeting moments, where he breaks from his cold-hearted and unfeeling persona show Leon's true self!)

“Tell us which one of Leon's scenes and lines is the best of them all.“

1st Place (at 34.8%): Birthright Chapter 18 – Prince Leon of Nohr: His scene with Kamui after the map is cleared.

“... I lied, sister. I lied about hating you.“

2nd Place (at 20.5%): When doing a critical attack.

“Turn to dust already!“

3rd Place (at 18.2%): Prologue Chapter 1 – Nohrian Brethren: Scene with Kamui

“Eh!? My collar is inside out!? T- Then say so already...“

Other answers: Birthright Chapter 18: “The true blackness will paint over everything... your life, your future, it will all come to nothing...“/ Birthright Chapter 18: “That's quite the thing to say. If you keep looking, it should become obvious soon enough. Come on, I am already... this close after all.“/ A-Support with Odin: “It doesn't matter which world you go to, you'll always continue to be my retainer.“/ A-Support with Elise: “Yeah. Even if we only share half of our blood, even if all we are doing comes to naught.... so long as we accept each other, our bond will not be torn.“

Q4. (With the way it makes his pale skin shine, the Dark Knight outfit is far and away the most popular!)

“Tell us which one of Leon's possible classes (outfits) is your favourite!“

Graph:

Dark Knight: 79.7%

Sorceror: 0.6%

Butler: 0.4%

No percentages from here

Strategist

Dark Flier

Grandmaster

Others

Below graph box

Overwhelming approval for the Dark Knight! Straddling his horse adorned with golden ornaments, the armour carrying the elegance of the night sky, and the garments lightly dancing around his figure proudly represent the official outfit of Prince Leon! It's befitting of a king!

Translating this made me come close to crying from frustration.

Page 43

Q5 (The bond between master and servants are strong! Zero and Odin come at number one and two!)

“Tell us which character is your favourite besides Leon.“

1st Place: Zero (at 111 votes)

2nd Place: Odin (at 61 votes)

3rd Place: Elise (at 57 votes)

4th Place: Marx (at 45 votes)

5th Place: Camilla (at 38 votes)

6th Place: Takumi (at 36 votes)

7th Place: F!Kamui (at 32 votes)

8th Place: M!Kamui (at 30 votes)

9th Place: Foleo (at 21 votes)

While within the story, the bonds between the Nohrian siblings run deep, the popularity of Leon's group in general is superior even to that. But Zero has the most overwhelming support of them all. When adding in his personal history, one can't help but grin at seeing the viscously distant Zero having close banter with Leon. Surprisingly (?) big brother Marx beats out Kamui and gets into 4th place.

Pages 44-45

Page 44

Q6. (Most think he seems the type to join a social sciences type of activity like the student council! On the other hand, many also believe he wouldn't join any club at all.)

“If Leon went to a modern day school, what kind of club do you think he'd join?“

Graph

Student Council: ~70

None: >50

Literature/Literary Club: <45

Chess Club: ~35

Equestrian/Horse-Riding Club: >25

Science Club: >25

Gardening Club: <25

Wind Instrument Club: >20

Book/Reading Club: <20

Astronomy Club: >15

Tennis Club: ~15

Shogi Club: ~15

Chemistry Club: >10

Supernatural/Occult Club: ~10

Fencing Club: ~10

Art Club: 10

Other: History Club/ Basketball Club/ Board Game Club/ Mathematical Research Club/ Soccer Club/ Light Music Club/ Magic Club/ Theater Club/ Debate Club/ Broadcasting Club/ Science&Engineering Club/ Newspaper Club/ System Appliances Club/ Go Club/ Conversational English Club/ Table Tennis Club/ Tomato Appreciation Club/ Handicrafts Club/ Swimming Club/ Biology Club

Most answers we received weren't about any club activities, but the school council!! No matter the circumstances, he still gives off a regal image. On the opposite extreme, many were opting for him to not join a club at all, probably reflecting his attitude of wanting to make his own path without being tied down by other people. The other answers referred to his demonstrated rationality and reasoning with clubs such as the literature and literary clubs, or his desire to raise tomatoes with the gardening club. Within the 'Other' answers, there was certainly a theme centering around the „Debate Club“ (likely because Leon is skilled at fighting with words alone).

Q7. (So Leon really is the the indoor type? Books were his key item* all along.)

“You are going on a date with Leon! Where do you think you'll go?“

*dating sim reference

Graph

The library: ~70

An art gallery/museum: <50

Some kind of tomato plantation: ~45

A spot from which to gaze at the night sky: ~35

A high-class restaurant: >30

The cinema: ~30

A stylish café: ~25

An aquarium: <25

A planetarium: >20

A theme park: <20

Some Nohrian place: >15

His place: ~15

Others: ~140

Other answers: Watching a play at the theater/ The park/ The cinema (this was already in the graph?)/ A forest/ His home/ My Room (as in the Fates one)/ A flower field/ An antique shop/ Exploring the castle/ A place from which to watch the night sky filled with stars/ We'd have walks from the Sakurahommachi station in Nagoya, where I would drag Leon, who hates getting his feet wet, to the beach. We'd visit the Landmarktower in Yokohama and see the whole city sprawled out below from the viewing platform. Then finally, while riding a ferry's wheel, I'd want to watch as Leon would blush and become embarassed at failing to work up the courage to congratulate me on my birthday by the time we reached the top./ To an orchestra performance/ A botanical garden/ A horse ride/ A curiosity shop for tomes/ A haunted house

Some have clearly put more thought into this than others...

Leon love for tomatoes is carried by a deep knowledge of them! Speaking of, the library, art galleries and museums, are places that do the most to challenge his intellectual mind. Next is something normal people would never have thought of: A tomato plantation. Probably to go gather tomatoes. Enjoying your favourite person's favourite together must be a very fun activity. It makes us imagine Leon with a carefree smile on his face.

Page 45

Q8. (While his image is all over the place, the common feature happens to be the intellectual elite!?)

“If Leon were to enter the modern workforce, what kind of job do you think he would have?“

Graph

Something IT-related (including management): ~60

Scholar/Researcher: ~30

Lawyer: ~25

Company President/ Member of a Company President's family: <25

Company Employee: >20

On a Tomato Plantation: <20

Secretary: ~15

Teacher: <15

Company Manager: ~10

Marx's Confidant: <10

Government Employee: <10

Company director: <10

Librarian: <10

Doctor: <10

Bureaucrat: >5

Others: ~190

Other answers: Accountant/Whatever it is, he'd be wearing a suit/ Strategist/ Flower Shop Owner/ Human Resources/ System Engineer/ Diplomat/ Public Prosecutor/ Model/ Greengrocer/ Actor/ Employee at a pharmaceutical company/ Policeman/ Administrative Scrivener*/ Day Trader/ Playing in an Orchestra/ Bank Employee/ Designer/ Investor/ Translator/ Real Estate Agent/ Publisher/ Bartender/ He'd come from a good family, graduate from a famous university, find employment at a leading company and be a very promising newcomer there./ Idol/ Astronaut/ Free-lance Designer

*From Wikipedia: Administrative Scrivener(行政書士 Gyōsei shoshi)is a legal profession in Japan which files government licenses and permits, drafts documents, and provides legal advice around such interactions.

What overshadows the minority opinions are results strongly influenced by Leon's reputation as a schemer. He, who even during the plot stuck to his own methods and views, would surely acquire expertize the business world of our time and establish himself with his own abilities in the blink of an eye. Futhermore, most people see Leon at the top of some kind of organization, rather than below someone like Marx, when our previous impressions of him saw him as someone's number 2.

Q9. (The impression of him having a preferance for scientific subjects is strong! It's surprising to see English were it is... we assumed it would be German.)

So it's semi-officially confirmed that Nohrians are meant to speak German?

“If Leon was a teacher at a school, what kind of subject do you think he'd teach?“

Graph

Math: >100

Natural Sciences: >75

Chemistry: ~55

English: >45

Physics: ~45

Science: >25

Japanese ('Native Language'): ~25

History: <25

Biology: ~20

Social Studies: <20

History/World History: >15

Others: <30

Other answers: Economics/ Ethics/ Philosophy/ Civics/ Music/ Art/ Geography/ Magic

The impression that Leon is the science type was certainly shared by many, so as a result Math and the Sciences all stand at the top. His Strategist class (That is a tactician. Many have pointed out that in our age it would propably translate to being an expert speculator) also left quite the impact on these results. Although it's possible to say his love for books within the story has certainly been noticed, even when considering at answers for subjects like socials sciences, Japanese and English, the overwhelming majority still leans towards scientific subjects. While strict his methods would also be precise, so there can be no doubt he'd make an excellent teacher.

Pages 46-47

Page 46

Q10. (This is a bit biased, but it's the cool Leon we are talking about, so we want to hear his whispers full of sarcasm.)

“Tell us the one line you would want to hear from Leon.“

1st Place: “You really have the worst luck.“

2nd Place: “Turn to dust already!“

3rd Place: “I love you“*

*It shows both „Aishiteru“ and „Daisuki“ here, both of which are commonly translated as „I love you“. However, Aishiteru is a lot stronger in meaning than Daisuki. You wouldn't say that in everyday life even to your spouse of 10 years. It's inappropriate for all but the most dramatic situations. Like 'someone is dying' dramatic. This has been a language PSA.

Other answers: “How foolish“/ “My collar isn't inside out, right?“/ “My collar is inside out“/ “... Good grief, you really can't be trusted without me around.“/ “Jeez... looks like I have no choice. I'll protect you.“/ !You are pretty lucky.“/ “Eh... Sister you are sca-... Too close! You are too close!“/ “Do you want to eat tomatoes with me? Sister?“/ “I love you“/ “Are you stupid“/ “Despicable fool.“/ “Death shall be your redemption.“/“Look only at me, think only about me.“/ “I love you.“/ “Can I hug you?“/ Upon telling him his collar is inside out: “Ugh, say so earlier!“/ “I'll destroy you with black arts.“/ “Jeez, I'm no match for big brother.“/ “Pull yourself together, sister.“/ “Feel free to become Foleo's wife“/ “It's a lie that I hate you.“/ “That was well done.“/ “Welcome home.“/ “I want to eat your miso soup.“ *chokes*/ “Thank you for cleaning everyday“ (Maid setting)/ “How clumsy.“/ “You are always hard at work. I expect much from your services.“/ “Aren't these clothes inside out? Eh? That's how they are designed? Uhh...“/ “My collar is inside out!? … Tell me that sooner!“/ “Huh...?“/ “Traitors are a disgrace to the Kingdom of Nohr. Death shall be your redemption.“/ (In English) “I love you so much, please love yourself.“/ “You really can't do anything without me.“/ “Do you also want a tomato?“ (as in eating one)/ “Let's eat tomatoes together.“/ “I love it when you turn redder than a tomato.“/ “Don't say I have a woman's face.... I'd rather have you say that I'm cool instead of cute.“/ “Isn't your coat inside out as well? … Hehe, I'm kidding.“

Everyone's love is bursting from these answers. We can fully understand both the group that wants to be disparaged and the group that wants to be treated gently. Seeing just how many fans aren't satisfied with just a tsundere, but desire a cheeky little brother who verbally abuses them, we get the feeling we have found Leon's true appeal.

Kinkshame 100% appropriate.

Page 47

Takumi VS. Leon!!

Just like in this book, we also made a questionary to celebrate the release of the „Prince Takumi of Hoshido“ fanbook. Both of the questionaries included 5 questions pitting Leon and Takumi against each other. Although it appeared mostly like a popularity contest, we also gathered many responses and explanations that were overflowing with love. Although we have obviously published these answers in the Takumi fanbook as well, we will be publishing the comments that came with choosing Leon only in this magazine.

Q11. (Their popularity is almost exactly the same! Those who answered with something else mostly commented about how they „wanted to watch team X from afar.“)

“If you had to choose a side between them, which one would you pick?“

Graph

Leon: 45.1%

Takumi: 43.9%

Others: 11.0%

Q12. (Although they share many of the same habits and outlooks, it seems Takumi came out on top on this one.)

“Who do you think makes for the better father?“

Leon: 48.8%

Takumi: 51.2%

Reasons for choosing Leon: He praises Foleo from the dephts of his heart. He is able to truly accept him./ He hasn't known love from either of his parents, so he seems to put great effort into raising his child/ He seems very good at giving out praise!/ As a strategist he seems like he's be great at planning out child-rearing and lifeplans./ Because he seems to have an understanding of his child as a human being/ After apologizing to his son for rejecting him without even listening to his side, he is able to come to a mutual understanding with him/ Because he seems great at applying the carrot-and-stick method/ Because he is someone who holds his family dear. Together with his child he is able to learn from both success and failure and grow as a person./ Since he knows what he wanted for his own childhood/ He seems great at calming people down/ He seems the type to help his kids with their studies

Q13. (Just like with Question 12, Leon comes up short in the results. Could it be that he is a bit of a complex father figure?)

Could it??

“Whose son/daughter would you want to be?“

*I orginally translated this question wrong in the Takumi fanbook. The additional ansers here gave it context. I’ll correct it there as soon as I get around to it.

Leon: 43.6%

Takumi: 56.4%

Reasons for choosing Leon: While he is strict, he seems like he'd take care when teaching magic arts./ Although I also want to be Foleo's sibling, mostly I just want to be praised by Leon./ If I conveyed my love for him all sweet, I am sure he'd be grateful./ I'd have a beautiful daddy/ Because I could support Foleo no matter what his dreams were/ He seems very cold, but I think his love runs deep/ Because he seems the type to passionately devote himself to helping me study/ Human nature/ I want him to praise me by saying „That's my child!“/ He seems like he'd be a good hugger when he is in the mood to spoil/ He'd probably be a doting father/ Although he seems like he'd be a very careful father, I want to be there to see him be careless at times/ I want to see how his usually calm presentation as a father gets disrupted by his subordinates/ Because Team Leon has Zero in it/ Although he'd deny it at first, someday he'd become a father who understands his love for his child./ Because I want to have a knowledgable father/ Although cruel, he is nice to his friends and family/ It'd be fun being around Zero and Odin from a young age.

Q.14 (Their popularity is the same here, leading them to share perfectly identical results! There were several heated comments explaning the decision!

“If you could have one of them as your own child, which one would you choose?”

Graph:

Leon: 50%

Takumi: 50%

Reasons for choosing Leon: Although he'd be a bit careless, I can see him becoming a son worth boasting about./ I want to coddle him/ He'd be an obedient child growing up. Also, since he's grow up to be very beautiful I would want to dress him up a lot./ He would probably need to be helped out a lot, which is just too cute!/ Because I want to spoil Leon!!/ Because I want a well-mannered child/ I want to watch over him with a smile whenever he is clumsily rushing through life/ Because being both smart and friendly is very cute!/ Because I want to defeat Leon's unbelievable loneliness with praise!/ I want Leon to have more confidence in himself/ Until I die, I want to continue seeing Leon as an irreplacable presence in my life, more valuable than anyone else./ I hope to decrease Leon's inferiority-complex even a little/ Since he is starved for motherly-love, I want to be the one to show it to him/ Because I want to feed him lots of delicious tomato dishes/ So we can read lots of books together/ He seems to be the obedient, quiet type/ Since Leon's relationship with his mother can't be called good, I want to raise him lovingly this time around./ He|d be a smart, hard-working son to boast about/ Because I want to have him enter a boy's choir group/ He is just so cute!

Anyone else get the feeling some of these people would be better served with a doll than a child?

Q.15 (An indoor type like Leon can't hope to compete in this with an outdoor type like Takumi...)

“If you were stranded together on a deserted island, who do you think you could rely on most?“

Graph

Leon: 39.1%

Takumi: 60.9%

Reasons for choosing Leon: I bet he could do something with Brunhilde (such as harvesting fruit)/ I think Leon would be better at staying calm and make the right decisions during such circumstances. Then he'd use magic to light a fire, dig a waterway, cut down trees and gather materials to then use them to build a house/ I think he'd be able to stay calm about it/ Utilizing his vast knowledge, he'd likely be able to provide safe water and food./ Because he can grow apples/ Either of his retainers would give it their all/ Unlikely to panic, he'd be a calm guide/ He can make fire with magic/ As he is called 'Gravitymaster', he can manipulate the earth as much as he likes and provide a lifestyle that way./ Having magic that can manipulate gravity seems useful/ No matter what happens, I am sure he'd be able to use his knowledge to get by somehow. Plus, I am sure big siblings Camilla and Marx would rush in to the rescue.

So what do you think of the results of these 15 questions? We truly thank everyone who gave their answers within such a limited time. Although we think that there were a lot of unexpected questions relating to our modern way of life, but do you not agree that in this way we were able to more clearly solidify our image of Leon? If all of you continue supporting and showing your love for Leon... we can only call that the correct result.

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

Next update will finally be the last. It may take a bit to get out, but it should happens faster than this. I just realized I’ve spent over half a year on this project...I want to sleep 100 years..

#nanigma translates #fire emblem fates #fe14 #leon #fanbook #fire emblem leon

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fire-emblem-heroes-supports · 6 years ago

Text

M!Corrin/Selkie C-A+ Support

Written by auraphoenix1500

C-SUPPORT

Corrin: Selkie!

Selkie: Hm?

Corrin: Selkie! Selkie, is that really you?

Selkie: ‘course it is! Who else would it be?

Corrin: Ah…yes, of course - you’re right. I’m just…so happy to see you here!

Selkie: Aw…thanks! You’re Corrin, right?

Corrin: …What?

Selkie: Eh? Did I get your name wrong? Was it Corn? I thought naming someone after a food was weird, but I don’t know a lot about humans…

Corrin: Um…

Selkie: Or was it something weird, like, uh…”Kamui?” …Nah, no way.

Corrin: Selkie…

Selkie: Yeah?

Corrin: You…really don’t remember me?

Selkie: Whaaaat? Of course I do! You’re Lord Corrin – or Corn, still not sure which one – you’re the brother of Ryoma the lobster guy, Takumi the pineapple-head, Hinoka the flying lady, and Sakura, the really cute one!

Corrin: Erm…(what’s with those descriptions?)…and?

Selkie: Uh…you’re pretty nice, and…oh! That’s right!

Corrin: Yes?

Selkie: You can turn into a dragon! That’s why you’re here, right? You want to turn into your dragon form and have me turn into my fox form so we can play together! Why didn’t you say so earlier? I’m always up to play!

Corrin: …Anything else?

Selkie: …No? I don’t think I missed anything…why?

Corrin: Um…it’s nothing. Forget it. I, uh, have to go. To the…uh, bathroom. I…promise I’ll play with you later, okay?

[Corrin leaves.]

Selkie: Huh…He seemed kinda down about something? I wonder why?

[Corrin and Selkie have reached support rank C.]

B-SUPPORT

Corrin: *Huff* *huff* Did I…did I lose her?

Selkie: Gotcha!

Corrin: WAAAAAUGH!

――――

Corrin: Selkie…could you…please get off?

Selkie: Nuh-uh! What gives!? You promised you’d play with me, but whenever I see you, you run away!

Corrin: …Look, I’ve been – uh – busy! Very busy, yes!

Selkie: With what!?

Corrin: Well, you see, uh… there’s the… and there was…

Corrin: …

Corrin: Alright, you got me. I’ve been avoiding you, and I’m sorry for that. Will you —

Selkie: Apology accepted, buddy! Now let’s play together!

Corrin: —Wha?

Selkie: I said let’s play!

Corrin: Wait – you’re just going to…accept my apology like that? No asking for the reason why I’ve been avoiding you? No demanding anything of me for breaking my promise?

Selkie: Well…yeah! I mean, it’s not like I don’t want to know, but something’s been bugging you, and if you don’t want to share, that’s fine with me.

Selkie: Besides, you didn’t break your promise yet – it’s still “later,” isn’t it?

Corrin: …Oh…I suppose you’re right, aren’t you?

Selkie: Yup! So, you ready to play now?

Corrin: …Yeah. I think I am.

Selkie: Great! What should we play? Tag? Hide-and-Seek? Annoy-Karel-As-Much-As-You-Possibly-Can-Without-Getting-Stabbed?

Corrin: Annoy – What!?

Selkie: I said, Annoy-Karel –

Corrin: No, no, I heard you. …How about Hide-and-Seek? I used to play that a lot with my siblings when they visited me in the castle.

Selkie: Great! I’ll hide, you seek – and no running off this time, okay? Okay, see ya!

Corrin: Selkie, wait!

Corrin: And…there she goes. Not even waiting for me to close my eyes or anything.

Corrin: …Heheheh. Selkie, no matter what world we’re in, you never fail to surprise me.

Corrin: I promise…I’ll tell you why I’ve been avoiding you one day. Just…not now.

[Corrin and Selkie have reached support rank B.]

A-SUPPORT

Corrin: …What!? You’ve been behind me the whole time!?

Selkie: Haha, yup! Didn’t expect that, didja?

Corrin: I can most certainly say I didn’t. How did you pull that off? I didn’t even hear you!

Selkie: Well, when you’re hunting, it pays to be as quiet as possible. And according to daddy, if there’s one thing we kitsune are great at, besides having incredibly soft and fluffy fur, it’s hunting!

Corrin: I suppose so…

Selkie: Also, I’m pretty fast, so whenever you turned around, I would be already behind you again! Or on the floor.

Corrin: On the floor?

Selkie: Well, how else am I supposed to keep out of your sight when you turn around really quickly?

Corrin: …You could hide. That’s kind of the point of hide-and-seek.

Selkie: Mm…you’re right, I guess. Anyway, next round!

Corrin: Selkie, wait.

Selkie: Hm? What is it? Do you need to use the bathroom?

Corrin: Erm, no. It’s not that. Listen, I need to tell you something. About…why I was avoiding you a few days ago.

Selkie: Oh, you’re ready to share now? Okay, shoot!

Corrin: Selkie, do you see this ring?

Selkie: Yeah, it’s really pretty! I think you’ve been wearing that since you got here, right?

Corrin: Yes. I wear this ring because, well…I’m married.

Selkie: What!? Really!? Who’s the lucky lady? Come on, tell me!

Corrin: Selkie…it’s you.

Selkie: …What? Wait, what!?

Corrin: Well, in my world at least. May I explain?

Selkie: OH! In your world…that’s still weird to me, but okay. Alright, I’ll listen.

Corrin: Thank you. Now, I’m not sure if you know this, but for the majority of my childhood, I lived alone in the Northern Fortress in Nohr.

Selkie: Alone?

Corrin: Okay, well, not COMPLETELY alone. I had my servants – Felicia, Jakob, Flora, and Gunter – and my Nohrian siblings would visit me as often as they could, but I couldn’t leave the fortress at all. I had little to do other than train, study, and explore the fortress - and even that got old after a year or two, despite how big the fortress was.

Selkie: That sounds horrible! You mean you couldn’t ever play outside for your whole life!?

Corrin: Yes. Eventually one thing led to another – I found out about my Hoshidan heritage, the barrier around Hoshido broke, and Nohr began their invasion. Torn between my two families, I refused to side with either one. I built up an army of my own to stop the war, and although I knew my cause was right, the stress weighed heavily on me every day.

Corrin: Then one day, Kaden and his wife, Azura, left for a bit – only a day or two. And when they came back, they brought with them another kitsune – someone he called “a friend of his from the hamlet.” …And that was you.

Selkie: Wait, why’d he call me his friend? He’s my dad!

Corrin: Well…I’d later find out that they didn’t spend just a day or two in the hamlet– they spent a couple of years in a Deeprealm. …That was the oddest after-marriage party ever.

Corrin: Of course, I didn’t know that at the time. What I did know, though, was that this girl he brought was bright, cheerful, and loved to play – and I ended up spending much of my free time with her.

Corrin: [sigh] From a world trapped inside the confines of a castle, to the stress of running an army, the world she showed me was amazing. It was beautiful. And most of all, it was fun. When we were together, all the stress, the boredom, the troubles – they all just…washed away.

Corrin: And that’s how I fell in love. I eventually had a ring made, and after the war, I proposed – and we had a beautiful daughter together. And although I’m in another world right now, I’ll never forget to go back one day – and I keep this ring on as a reminder – of both the world she showed me, and the world we created together.

Corrin: …Selkie? You’ve gone really quiet – I didn’t make you fall asleep, did I? I get that I rambled for a bit, but…

Corrin: Oh Gods, are you crying?

Selkie: *sniff* *sniffle* N…no? I’m not… *sniff* cr-crying! It’s just…you finally…got to play… and you get to play forever! I’m just so happy for you!

Corrin: …Thank you, Selkie. But yes, that’s why I was so shocked when I saw you – and when you didn’t recognize me. I thought you were – well – my wife, and that you just forgot about me – and I couldn’t believe it. I’m sor–

Selkie: No!

Corrin: Eh?

Selkie: Don’t you dare apologize to me, mister! You thought you found the love of your life again, and even after you found out she wasn’t from your world, you still made friends with me, and played with me! You don’t get to apologize, because you’ve done nothing wrong!

Corrin: Selkie…

Selkie: But…if you really wanna make it up to me…well, I’m hungry, so…Race ya to the mess hall! No stones allowed!

Corrin: Selkie–hey, wait up!

[Corrin and Selkie have reached support rank A.]

A+ SUPPORT

Selkie: *Pant]* *Pant* So…tired…

Corrin: Want to take a break?

Selkie: You…you don’t look…tired at all! And didn’t we…run around the castle…like, three times?

Corrin: Well…I have built up some pretty good endurance. Having an incredibly active family helps with that a lot.

Selkie: And you’re fast! You were on my tails the whole time! All 9 of them!

Corrin: Well, when I don’t have any weapons on me, I’m pretty quick on my feet.

Selkie: I swear, I’m getting like, five, no, ten more “training sessions” with you than I do with Daddy! And that’s saying a lot!

Corrin: Well…please don’t underestimate your father. And I’m hardly amazing. My wife is much more amazing than me. And Kana isn’t as fast and doesn’t have as much endurance as me or her yet, but she’s catching up so quickly I think she’ll surpass us both by the time she’s a teenager!

Selkie: …

Corrin: …Hm? Something wrong, Selkie?

Selkie: Corrin, can you promise me something?

Corrin: …What is it, Selkie?

Selkie: One day…take me to meet your wife!

Corrin: Wha–?

Selkie: I wanna meet her! Whenever you talk about her, she always seems like this ultra-amazing person who can do anything at all! And I’m not like that at all, but I want to be someday!

Corrin: Selkie–

Selkie: And what’s more, I’ve always wanted to meet other kitsune – especially ones from other worlds! And I mean, sure, she’s another me, so it may not be exactly what I’m looking for…but I still want to meet her anyway!

Corrin: Selkie–

Selkie: And so, pleasepleaseplease take–

Corrin: Alright.

Selkie: –Eh?

Corrin: As soon as we’re able to, I’ll take you to my world. You’ll meet my wife, and my child, and we can all play as much as we want. I promise.

Selkie: …Okay, I really wasn’t expecting you to agree right away. But okay! I’ll look forward to it!

Selkie: …But right now, I’m all rested and ready to go! Let’s go for three more laps! And last one has to do the other’s chores for a week!

Corrin: You’re on.

Selkie: Okay, let’s–Hey! Get back here!

Corrin: Ahahahah! PAYBACK TIME!

Selkie: Why, you–

Selkie: Heh. Hahahaha! Let’s do this!

[Corrin and Selkie have reached support rank A+.]

#fire emblem fates #male and female heroes #male corrin #selkie #male corrin x selkie #submission

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sailor-cresselia · 6 years ago

Text

Zi-O 18: Well that sure is a thing that’s going to happen.

Hey, so, Zi-O’s gotten good, you guys.

(lol watched episodes 15 through 17 again to prepare)

(insert cut here)

Woz’s summary this week can be… well, summarized as: “What in the actual heck just happened?!”

Also, I love how he runs into frame. It implies he’s running to his clock room from the scene we left off in last episode.

… have… have we ever seen the hands on that background clock move before this? It just advanced by one minute. It’s always been ticking, right? But it’s never actually been seen to move before, I don’t think. The closeup on the hand clicking forward has to be significant somehow.

2019!Rentaro is in a whole lot of pain from being kicked out of his Another Rider transformation… and I don’t think that’s something that’s really happened before. It could be because RiderWoz’s attack was pretty brutal, or… it could be related to the sequence breaking – if he’s supposed to be Kamen Rider Shinobi in 2022, but was turned into Another Shinobi here in 2019, that’s multiple different variants of ‘out of order’ right there.

You swine. You didn’t even acknowledge Tsukuyomi’s presence. You absolute cur.

Pre-show sponsor segment is… Jets of flame!

(I’m getting a kick out of keeping track of this, okay?)

(happy sounds) Future tech! Future tech! Tsukuyomi gets to use her tablet! ^.^

Geiz doesn’t seem to know what to think of this whole ‘savior’ business. Aww, bud, you don’t actually want to take Sougo out anymore, do you? You’re trying to keep him from becoming Oma Zi-O now, more than the ‘seeing if he will become’ that you were before.

You know what that is? Good character development.

(Now, Tsukuyomi’s turn!)

Geiz rolls his eyes at Sougo’s suggesting that they give the Wozes nicknames, but immediately jumps at the chance to torment BlackWoz.

Wait, our time travelers can’t go to alternate futures, so they can’t get the Shinobi Ridewatch, and thus can’t defeat Another Shinobi… who are technically the same person, which is worrying.

But Schwartz… got the Another Shinobi watch from that alternate future. What is your game, sir? And I do use that moniker loosely.

Heure is on his guard, which is fair – WhiteWoz is incredibly into murder threats.

So yeah, it is the same Rentaro, and sequence breaking abounds.

“!DANGER! CAN NOT GET DOWN” … pft. That is one of the best error messages I’ve seen in a long time.

OH SWEET MORE REALLY WELL DONE ENGLISH. I’ll be transcribing that in here after I finish the episode.

… I have now finished the episode, and come back up to this section to transcribe. Line breaks are as per the Time Mazine display, as are square brackets. Parentheses ( ) are where I can’t make out what the screen says – it gets too pixellated and blocked by the error message at that point.

“From the scientific point of view, the concept of time travel has been pointed out various problems [2]

and in fact it can not be realized with the current scientific power.

The type of time travel is based on the concept of “past-future asymmetry” and “flow

of time”, but “time travel” is drawn variously depending on how to handle these premises. On the other hand, while making (illegible) entertained

authors will draw on issues such as building stories so that viewers do not (test/feel) logical collapses, drawing (as if?) (illegible) have a dream [3]

It is a general thing as a fantasy story [fiction] and many works dealing with time travel have been (produced/denounced) (illegible) both in Japan and abroad.”

... I feel like they definitely sourced this from somewhere, but I can’t be bothered to go look it up.

WhiteWoz is OP and the worst. Ugh. The guy has the definition of a Slasher Smile.

This whole discussion with BlackWoz and Sougo… mm yes more please.

BlackWoz thinks that interacting with the Another Shinobi situation can only get Sougo’s Path To The Throne thrown off course. Of course, we know that Sougo’s not entirely here for the whole Evil Overlord thing as is, but he also doesn’t really have a choice in going – we know that WhiteWoz summoned him with his book.

Sougo thinks that Rentaro could still become a Rider in the future… hold on. What was it he said about Altered!Sento and Ryuuga, way back in episode 2?

Ah, yes. Right after he gave ‘Takumi’ and Ryuuga the blank watches…

“Even if history changes, Sento will choose to become Build, and Ryuuga will choose to become Cross-Z. That’s what I think.”

Hm. Interesting.

(Also I just found out that I’ve got O-T’s 480 versions of Zi-O 2 and 4, instead of the 720s. Whoops. Rectifying that now.)

Back to the Sougo / BlackWoz conversation…

Woz: You know this is probably a trap, right?

Sougo: Yeah, but at least I’m going in knowing that I’m going into a trap.

Woz, once Sougo’s left: Please do not.

I can’t exactly argue with either of their logic on that last bit… but better the trap you know exists, right?

Right?

Sougo’s trying to talk Rentaro down. He knows that Rentaro can do better, he’s seen him do better – although, how he had that dream is concerning, but that’s for a bit later, really.

“Is this really how you wanted to go about helping people? Because it doesn’t look like it is to me. Also, being a king is actually kind of overrated, 1/10, would not recommend except in last-ditch scenarios.”

The Another Shinobi watch is really taking it’s toll on poor Rentaro, isn’t it?

Ooo, clever. Sougo made it look like his sword was knocked out of his hands, but he used his now very empty hands to bar Another Shinobi’s, and thus those claw blades, and then. He just. He headbutts him. Okay.

Hey, it’s been a while since we’ve seen Sougo’s Personal Rider Kick, hasn’t it? Nice to see that again, after seeing Woz’s during the last episode.

Ah. I get it. WhiteWoz couldn’t create the Shinobi Watch unless Shinobi at least has the potential to exist. He can’t jump ahead to things that can’t happen, can he?

Nice limit to find. Still super OP, since he can influence people with that book, but he can’t cut his way straight to the top. He has to find a way to work… ‘adjacent’ to the events that are still unfolding.

The BeyonDriver’s voice is going to drive me up a wall soon.

And yes, as a matter of fact, that ‘driver/drive’ pun was intentional.

Haaahaha, fight the shadow-diving ninja with some shadow-diving of your own… or, well, technically his own, but you know what I mean. And then Another Shinobi joins Woz in his own shadow and that is the first time I’ve seen anyone think of that tactic.

WHY is that the first time I’ve seen anyone think of that tactic to fight that sort of technique?

I mean, it turns out poorly for Another Shinobi, he’s still on the losing end, but it’s clever.

Hey, remember that Build Arc comparison I made a few scenes ago?

Sougo, re: Shinobi: “I’m sure he’ll obtain power to do good, in the future. By his own choice.”

*.* I like when I might have actually spotted things.

HEY, REMEMBER THAT FACTION LIST I MADE LAST WEEK?

Because BlackWoz does.

“Everyone is trying to alter the future of Oma Zi-O except the two of us.”

Hate to break it to you here but, uh, I’m pretty sure you and Sougo aren’t aiming for the same overlord ending. It’s pretty clear that he’s not down with your version of events, has not been for some time, and is overall pretty sick of the whole ‘demon king’ variant you’re pushing.

Geiz isn’t quite into WhiteWoz’s ‘savior’ variant of events, is he? Winning on his own power, yes, I understand that completely… but Geiz doesn’t buy that he’s any sort of savior.

He’s a soldier, after all, and one who went soft at that. One who is becoming friends with his target.

And, yes, I know I say this a lot in these liveblogs, but… it needs to be said again, since they are actively bringing it up now.

History is written by the winners. And nobody has actually won yet.

#kamen rider zi o #sailorcressy says #in which i overthink everything yet again #sailorcressy looks way too much into things

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bookblogbake · 6 years ago

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The annual end-of-the-year survey is hosted by Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner. I’m so glad she puts the work into making this every year because it’s always a highlight to look back over my reading and blogging for the past year!

**2018 READING STATS**

Number Of Books You Read: 94 Number of Re-Reads: One. Wow. I thought it was more than that, but apparently not. My one re-read was THE GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO VICE AND VIRTUE, which I re-read twice. Genre You Read The Most From: YA contemporary. That wouldn’t be surprising normally, but especially considering I judged round 1 of the YA Fiction category this year for Cybils.

1. Best Book You Read In 2018?

Overall favorite 2018 release: Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake

Best middle grade: Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake (. . . sensing a pattern here?)

Best adult fiction: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Best Comic/Graphic Novel: Check Please! Book 1: Hockey

Best Middle Grade

Best adult fiction

Best 2018 Book Overall

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Allegedly by Tiffany Jackson. To be fair, this came out in 2017, and I read Jackson’s 2018 release, Monday’s Not Coming, first. Allegedly was a let down though because I loved Monday’s Not Coming so much, and Allegedly didn’t quite stack up for me.

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?

Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram. Based on the summary, it didn’t look like my typical kind of book, but I thought it was beautifully written and I loved it. A rare five star read for me.

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

Sadie by Courtney Summers. I tend to push Courtney Summers books anyway but Sadie seems to be an easy sell (and for good reason–it’s FANTASTIC).

5. Best series you started in 2018? Best Sequel of 2018? Best Series Ender of 2018?

Best series started-Check Please!

Best sequel/companion – Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire

Best series ender– The Way I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2018?

Well, considering she wrote my overall favorite book AND my favorite middle grade of the year, it’s safe to say that’s Ashley Herring Blake.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough. I don’t typically like novels in verse, but this was FANTASTIC and fierce and moving and emotional and ugh, I loved it.

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

I stayed up waaaaay into the night to finish Monday’s Not Coming.

9. Book You Read In 2018 That You Would Be MOST Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Well I always like to start a new year by re-reading my favorite book of the previous year (that’s why The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue was my one re-read of the year), so clearly that would be made Girl Made of Stars. But just so I don’t answer this book for every single question, I’ll also mention I’m very likely to re-read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2018?

I’m sure some people would find this one off-putting because of the bright yellow, but I love the cover of Pulp by Robin Talley and how vintage it looks!

11. Most memorable character of 2018?

I have to go with Sadie from well, Sadie. I just found her fascinating.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2018?

Oh man, this one is hard. I think I have to go with Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2018?

Ghost Boys by Jewel Parker Rhodes

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2018 to finally read?

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters. I only read one Sarah Waters book this year, but more will definitely come in 2019 because this book was excellent.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2018?

Even girls made of stars are captives, bound at the wrists and traded like property. Even girls made of stars aren’t asked, aren’t believed, aren’t considered worth the effort unless they can offer something in return. Even girls made of stars buy into those lies sometimes.

Yes, it’s from Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake, aka the book that has been my response to at least 50% of these questions.

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2018?

longest– Green River, Running Red by Ann Rule

shortest- The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill

17. Book That Shocked You The Most

I think it’d have to be I Stop Somewhere by TE Carter (a completely underrated book, by the way)

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

(OTP = one true pairing if you aren’t familiar)

Jack/Bitty from Check Please!

And then, not quite OTP status but romantic relationships I rooted for in books this year: Alice/Takumi from Let’s Talk About Love and and Steffi/Rhys from A Quiet Kind of Thunder.

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

I really loved the relationship between Clara and her dad in The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo.

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2018 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

I have a couple: Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire, Ghost Boys by Jewel Parker Rhodes, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli.

Best adult fiction

21. Best Book You Read In 2018 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure/Bookstagram, Etc.:

Well, I would have never read it for it not been for Cybils judging, so I’m going with Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2018?

Don’t have any! Maybe if I had read more adult romance. . .

23. Best 2018 debut you read?

I’m going with Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough for this, but just know Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram was a very close second.

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

I’m going to say the old-school Hollywood glam setting in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was very vivid.

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

So for me I think graphic novels really took the cake here this year. Yes, Check Please! which I’ve mentioned several times, but also The Tea Dragon’s Society by Katie O’Neill and Moonstruck volume 1 by Grace Ellis.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2018?

I have two, both of which have featured heavily on this survey so far, not surprisingly! Those are Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake and Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Okay, since I don’t want to say Girl Made of Stars yet again, I’ll have to go with. . . Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World. Yes, by the same author as Girl Made of Stars. I had favorites this year, y’all.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram. I know, I know, it appears once again!

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2018?

All of This is True by Lygia Day Penaflor. I did not necessarily enjoy it, but I can say it was very unique.

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

Okay, so first I was going to say The Perfect Sister by Jessica Knoll, which I did NOT enjoy one bit, but then I thought about it, and. . . The Universe is Expanding and So Am I by Carolyn Mackler. I’m particularly mad about that one because parts of the books are good, but I find the entire premise flaw and really upsetting. Also, it deals with a sister coming to terms with the fact that her brother committed a rape, and it’s hard when my favorite book of the year had a similar premise and dealt with it SO MUCH BETTER.

1. New favorite book blog/Bookstagram/Youtube channel you discovered in 2018?

I’m ashamed to say that going back over my subscriptions, none of them were new this year.

2. Favorite post you wrote in 2018?

I mostly wrote reviews (and I really want to get back into doing discussions and other features!), but I’m really proud of my review for Blood Water Paint.

3. Favorite bookish related photo you took in 2018:?

Again, something else I didn’t do very much of this year!

4. Best bookish event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, etc.)?

I didn’t really get to participate in any bookish events this year, but hopefully 2019 will change that!

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2018?

I have to say being a round 1 Cybils judge! It was a lot of work and reading, but it was such a worthwhile endeavor.

6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

Just finding time! I haven’t been nearly as active as I wanted because I graduated grad school, which I THOUGHT would give me more time, but then I moved from one end of Texas to another, started a new job, got settled in, etc. It’s just been a LOT.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

Well, my most popular post was from a few years ago: What do Do with Books You Don’t Want Anymore. My most popular post actually written this year was my review of Girl Made of Stars, which is not surprising since I’ve basically been yelling about this book for months.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

I posted one Saturday morning cup post this year, and I definitely wish that one had got more loved.

9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

Hmm, well, I got to visit The Strand in New York City for the first time so that was definitely a fun bookish discovery/adventure!

10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

I didn’t really set any challenges or goals, and I’m glad because this year was busy enough without those!

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2018 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2019?

The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir. Not because I’m super excited about it (I mean, I want to read it, but it’s not a book I was anticipating), but because it’s due back to the library in eight days.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2019 (non-debut)?

Well, considering two of her books were two of my favorites this year, I’m gonna have to say The Mighty Heart of Sunny St James by Ashley Herring Blake.

3. 2019 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

I have two: I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver and These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling.

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2019?

In A Wayward Dream by Seanan McGuire. I’ve loved every installment in the Wayward Children series, so I expect this to be no different (and perhaps one of my goals this year will to be re-read the series).

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2019?

Blog more! I’ve missed it.

6. A 2019 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone (if applicable):

I’ve only read an ARC of one 2019 release, but I do recommend it! I read We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia and was enthralled.

2018 End of the Year Survey! The annual end-of-the-year survey is hosted by Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner. I'm so glad she puts the work into making this every year because it's always a highlight to look back over my reading and blogging for the past year!

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streetlights-was-taken · 2 years ago

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stole this from twitter because I wanted to answer it too :P

1. do you re-read your own completed fic? if so, which one do you re-read most often?

the only completed fics that I have are oneshots. but yeah, I re-read my fics! I think I re-read staccato the most. it's a decade old so it had plenty of time for me to re-read it the most. it has a special place in my heart because I trusted myself to write more experimentally through it.

2. are there any unintended motifs or themes that show up a lot in your writing? how about ones that are intended?

unintended motifs: bittersweet pining, I think? I'm very comfortable with writing that sentiment and it comes up in a lot of my fics across fandoms. the kind of pining where the character has accepted the longing and the circumstances; the kind of longing where the person says, "I'm not happy, but it has to be this way" rather than "I wish it could have been different." I think there's power in acknowledging that some things are out of our hands, or perhaps it's just not the right time. we can be sad about it for as long as we want, and we should recognize that sadness, but our lives don't have to stop because of that regret.

intended motifs: I'm very fixated on the idea of playing around with non-human perspectives. I love characters that are androids, immortal, supernatural, etc. but have to otherwise act like humans. and I like emphasizing that. how they're not human, and the effort it takes to be human.

3. have you ever started to ship something after writing it? developed any new kinks after writing them?

I'll answer this for both romantic ships and platonic interactions. after writing long live the long life, I think dorian and mona would make a cute pairing, and that kunikuzushi and klee would have a cute sibling relationship. in forgetting is so long, I was happy to explore the friendship between erina and takumi.

unfortunately, I'm not brave enough yet to write explicit sex scenes in fics. but I already have too many kinks from reading, so I don't think writing would give me a new one lol. I think I'm pretty open-minded when it comes to that stuff anyway.

4. when (if) you re-read your fic, does it evoke the emotions it's supposed to in you? i.e. are you able to experience it not as the person who wrote it, but as you think any other reader might?

I wouldn't say emotions, but I definitely want to achieve certain vibes. sometimes I read arrhythmia and think, yeah the vibes in this fic are immaculate.

5. when you're writing, how often/how intensely do you actually feel the emotions that the characters in the scene are feeling?

these days... not that much. but that's a me thing lol. I'm not a very emotional person in recent years. I write very logically too. I write in themes and sequences and less in emotion. the most emotional fic I've written is probably forgetting is so long and it was really hard because takumi is very sentimental but also very prideful, and I wanted to strike the balance between that. though that was a sort-of breakup fic, and I wrote it after my own breakup. so that helped! (lol)

the only other truly emotional fic that got me was probably chapter four of the syllables melt away. well for one, it took me two years to write that chapter, so the frustration of getting that chapter to work was so real lmao. but there's something tender and vulnerable about that chapter that does speak to me whenever I re-read it. it's one of the hardest things I've ever written tbh.

6. what's the biggest risk you've taken with a fic?

hm, I have several I'm thinking about.

I think staccato was my first "risky" fic because it was my first time writing in a non-linear and experimental way.

long live the long life has a lot of risks for me. for one, I have never written such a long fic like this before. I usually just write oneshots lmao. so the planning for this fic is pretty new to me. for another, I'm doing a case fic for the second story arc and I think case fics are really hard to do. so I hope it turns out well.

this one is currently a WIP, but I'm writing this fic called time is a vinyl record. it's a little bit like a longfic version of staccato but for a different fandom. I'm playing with mixed media writing a lot -- the fic consists of prose, but also letters, transcripts, chat logs, photos, and a lot of other scattered "media" that collectively make up the narrative. it's a very fragmented style of writing. I'm using everything I've put in this workskin sandbox, so this fic requires a lot of work! I don't think it's an easy fic to read. but when I finish it, I hope someone finds it enjoyable to read anyway.

7. is there one (or more!) fic(s) where the process of writing it diverged wildly from your usual method? what was your experience like?

time is a vinyl record for sure! it's still an ongoing process, but I'm enjoying writing a "fragmented" fic and not just relying on prose. it forces me to think of the story through the perspective of different characters, since the letters and transcripts can come from different people, whereas my prose writing is usually stuck in limited third-person. I also have to continuously tell myself to trust the reader. I think I explain enough through prose, but I have to trust that the reader can figure out the story even through the non-prose sections. well, I'll find out if I'm right or not once it gets posted in the future lol.

8. what do you think is your comfort zone in fic? the one type of scene/trope/dynamic that you feel cofident you can nail every time?

oh this is easy! anything in the twewy universe. um, but I guess in general, "modern setting" and "snarky smart character who is fed up with another character" and "character study" fics are my comfort zones. I know this because I never have problems writing fics centered on neku from twewy. I also know this because I'm having a really hard time writing genshin fics (high fantasy worlds are not my comfort zone; urban fantasy worlds are okay though) but I just power through it lol.

while writing long live the long life, I had an easier time writing dorian because he's the snarky character who is fed up with albedo, and I had so much fun writing kunikuzushi because, well, he's very off-putting to a lot of people. I'm very comfortable with writing these kinds of characters.

I enjoyed writing arrhythmia for the same reasons. in genshin, I'm very comfortable writing albedo and kunikuzushi the most, probably because their way of thinking and feeling is more relatable to me. which is funny because I've written more words on venlumi than anything else, but they're actually very hard for me to write! their characters are so different from me, SO unrelatable, but so fascinating.

9. do you figure out the worldbuilding stuff like backstories before you start writing or on the fly?

a little bit of both?

if I know the fic will be long, I figure out the characters and setting in advance. but I leave myself room to improvise while writing. sometimes ideas don't really come out until you start actually writing.

but if I know the fic will be short, I just write on the fly and fully trust the discovery writing process. for shorter fics, I usually just want to go through a certain concept or vibe, and care less about plot.

10. do you like to share fic ideas as they come to you, or do you keep them close to the vest until they're done?

tbh I don't share fic ideas that much... sometimes I try posting about them on twitter or on my main blog but the actual sharing/posting doesn't really do anything for me lol. I do have this writing blog though, I guess, but it's really more of a writing diary for myself so I don't think this counts?

11. what's usually the first piece of a scene that comes to you? a bit of dialogue? a setting? emotions? sounds? etc.

I love this question, but I'll answer it a bit differently.

for the overall story (or a oneshot), the first piece that comes to me is a situation or a theme. for example, in arrythmia, the only thing I got going for me was, "a character study comparing the beloved puppet who doesn't understand love (albedo) and the unloved puppet who has a lot of love to give and no one to give it to (scaramouche)". lately, I'm really into setting up narrative foils, so I'm trying to rely on that more to guide my writing.

for specific scenes within a story... it depends? as I plot a story, I have these Key Moments that I want to happen, and they usually show up as images. so taking long live the long life, for example, one of the Key Moments I knew had to be included was this image of "a god praying" (venti wishing upon a star), "gods worshipping each other as their acts of love" (venlumi) and "a disgraced god in a battlefield, looking up for salvation from another god" (barbatos and lumine in tatarasuna island in act i). so I plot around those moments.

but as I write, I do have to write the scenes that build up to those moments. for those kinds of scenes, I actually write the dialogue first and then fill in the blanks from there. with character studies, I rely more on theme or dialogue to guide me through.

12. have you ever had to write something you really didn't want to (a scene, conversation, etc) because the story needed it to work?

yeah of course. I never want to write action scenes ever but sometimes characters do stuff and not just say stuff lmao. generally though, if I feel bored with the scene I'm writing then I don't write it into the story. if I'm bored then that means it's not worth writing or reading. action scenes are difficult to write, and I don't like writing them, but they aren't boring to write.

13. ever had to cut something you loved out of a fic because it wasn't working?

a lot of things!

in long live the long life chapter four, lumine was supposed to meet aether in inazuma, but I decided that it doesn't make sense for them to meet and then go on their separate ways again. in chapter five (interlude), I was going to write a scene where signora meets albedo and diluc in dragonspine. I don't think it belongs in the interlude before the detective arc starts, but I'll think about shuffling it to the later chapters.

in birth of a butterfly, I wrote a scene where venti plays poker in the shadier taverns of mondstadt, the ones that the knights turn a blind eye to. the scene was there so he can talk about luck and scams, and also to show that he has his ears on the ground since he's looking for intel on the abyss. I removed it in favor of the scene where venti plays cards with the tsaritsa instead.

in the syllables melt away, I rewrote chapter 4 so many times that it's really different now from what I first envisioned. joshua was not supposed to ask neku to be his conductor but uh. that happened and that one question kinda changed the trajectory of their relationship.

I've cut two twewy WIPs and stopped writing them because they weren't working. those two WIPs probably have 20k+ words together. I'm still kinda sad about them. maybe one day I'll find a way to write them again, especially the one where neku is the composer and joshua is the human who forces his way to the underground because he wants to be god (I have these ideas tagged in the main blog as twewy au: role reversal). I'm still very fond of that fic idea, but my twewy muse hasn't visited me in years. :(

because of this question though, I'm going through my drafts for the role reversal au. I don't think I can commit to the fic but... maybe I can try finishing one chapter of it at least. we'll see!

#postscripts

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buildridernews · 6 years ago

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[Review] Kamen Rider Build - Episodes 38-41

It's time for an actually timely review for once! I seem to be bucking the whole "I'm consistently halfway into the month when I decide to catch up on last month" trend.

Episode 38: "Mad World" (マッドな世界)

So we ended last month on two big cliffhangers. For starters, Evol now has what he has declared is his final form, which is kinda neat - typically you only see the "final form" term applied to the main Rider, and its origins are with the final boss of a video game, so here it's 100% on point.

But we also discover that having Sento be possessed by Evolt resulted in his brain being kind of jumbled back together, meaning he remembers being Katsuragi Takumi. It seems like this would be an obvious thing to have come up at some point, in retrospect, but of all the times for it to happen...

As everyone makes a hasty retreat from an overpowered Evol, he decides to take a moment to do some kind of ssspace magic, turning some Fullbottles into these black and gold variants - thanks to magazine reveals, we know these are called Lost Fullbottles...

Anyway, Katsuragi proves to be an unsettling one for everybody to be around since he doesn't entirely trust Ryuga, he makes half-hearted apologies to Misora for using her, and he has a real emotional argument with Gentoku which I'm sure will be elaborated upon in the Rogue spinoff. This scene was interesting since they do some cool editing to alternate between showing Sento's actor and Katsuragi's actor in the same outfit.

When it comes to the whole presentation of Katsuragi being "brought back", there's ways this could go that could be a little bit... clunky, and I don't know if I can properly put into words why. I guess the best explanation I can think of is, it'd be real weird to me if this involved his face turning back to normal as well, because then you'd have to figure out a reason for why he'd want his face changed back that isn't insulting to Katsuragi (since the point of this subplot is to redeem him). Basically I'm glad we just got Sento's actor with a different personality.

So what the hell is Evolt doing right now? Well, to keep that actor involved, Evolt just decided to take on Soichi's appearance because I guess he can do what he wants. That's probably gonna be used to trick us at some point. He's decided that Namba has an ultimatum to answer to: Let him rule the world as a whole while Namba is just a prime minister of Japan, ooor he dies. At the same time, he gives Utsumi an offer to join him since he's a very useful scientist... which both seem like things that wouldn't meet in the middle, but just you wait.

Things get interesting as Utsumi tries begging for help from Gentoku, everyone else (minus a bitter Kazumi) is getting involved, and Katsuragi is staying in the lab working on the block item Sento pieced together before. When it comes time for Utsumi to approach Evolt in Pandora Tower about the ultimatum, Utsumi instead unleashes some Hard Guardians, the gear bros, and suddenly even the other Riders show up! I gotta imagine this was in reference to the talk he had with Gentoku since Kazumi is indeed nowhere to be found. I would have liked to see the moment where Katsuragi agreed to all this but it was interesting to see him try fighting. Especially since he specifically had trouble with a form SENTO invented. Cute.

Then something unexpected happens: Evol takes out the gear bros! They got powered up earlier in the episode with the implication they would die from any further nebula gas dosage, but I figured this was a seed planted for several episodes from now. Nope, one falls, the other switches into Hell Bro mode, then takes a hit from Evol to protect Great Cross-Z. He dies realizing that fighting for the sake of others actually feels pretty good, after seeing how Cross-Z seemed to be stronger for a previously unknown reason.

So, I feel like the gear bros are characters I can completely see others getting attached to, and I HAVE seen that, but they ultimately didn't do much aside from look cool. And if I'm being critical, I'd say they have 3 things that make for a weakly written character: If you make them too cool then they're flawless and boring, if you make them too stoic then there's not much room for personality, and if you focus too much on them being a duo then they have no idividuality - they're just the gear bros, which I've always called them since I can never remember their actual names. They had their moments, as few as they were, but I kinda leave these two deaths with a shrug and "Huh, didn't see that coming."

Then shortly thereafter, Evol kills Namba! And it's so beautiful becaue not only does Utsumi watch it unfold in terror on a tablet, where he can't do a thing besides watch from the camera Namba was recording from, but Evol also fakes him out with a laugh and a hug then turns him to fucking dust. It's so brutal, enough to make a man crack.

And I think he might've, considering Utsumi's memories of being a brainwashed Namba boy flash before him as he laughs maniacally and gladly joins Evol. With a duplicate Evol Driver, he uses a clever pair of Fullbottles to transform into Kamen Rider Mad Rogue, which we will see in more detail next episode! But it's a real cool suit. It's basically all of Night Rogue's suit with color changes, which makes for an interesting Rider suit. Plus, y'know, bringing us aaall the way back to when people found the BatEngine sound on the belt and wondered if Night Rogue would become a Rider.

Episode 39: “The Genius Can’t Be Stopped” (ジーニアスは止まらない)

And so, Mad Rogue takes on everyone with pretty great ease, which isn't surprising since he's a new Rider. Despite not wanting to take part, Grease shows up to help them escape, and once we're back at the cafe/lab we see that Katsuragi still isn't trusting of Ryuga. He's pretty much decided that Ryuga is part of Evolt, and even though Ryuga keeps telling him he's now fully human... he has these strange visions that appear to be from Evolt's memory of destroying Mars. Which is weird since one of them is from the perspective of someone seeing Evol. But maybe that's intentional.

Katsuragi has created what he believes is the ultimate bottle, combining the ingredients of all 60 Fullbottles to form the Genius Fullbottle. Misora isn't impressed, however, because Katsuragi lacks a certain heart that Sento had, which bothers him. He's left with even more to think about as a weakened Gentoku tries desperately to move so he can go fight and redeem himself for his sins.

Katsuragi goes out to fight Mad Rogue, but as he tries using the Genius Fullbottle, it won't activate - something is stopping him. As he takes a quick beating, Great Cross-Z jumps in, giving a wonderful speech about Sento was A DAMN HERO OF JUSTICE and making Katsuragi really come to terms with what Sento had that he doesn't. It's something that will use the Rider system for good, and put a stop to Evolt, so he has no choice. With Katsuragi literally standing face-to-face with Sento in his head, he puts his trust in this person to do what's right. Sento's back, baby.

With his new gadget, Sento transforms into Build's final form: Genius Form. A suit covered in 60 Fullbottles, which happen to be uniform enough to make one red side and one blue side. Super fun transformation.

So, Genius Form has grown on me, and it's certainly had time to. The form got leaked like 6 months ago, and... man, I dunno how that happened since we didn't get proper confirmation that it was legit until more toy catalog stuff came out. That was a leak that made me go "Oh I hope no one got FIRED for that".

Anyway, next episode.

Episode 40: “Ending Revolution” (終末のレボリューション)

Once Mad Rogue tries to fire away at Build, he finds that he's severely outmatched. Build is damn near bulletproof and can move at speeds he can't keep up with. Not only that, but we learn that Build's new bottle can actually get rid of the effects of the nebula gas, which I assume is what he does here to weaken Mad Rogue - otherwise I dunno why they showed it. He unleashes a finisher, then is rescued by Evol. But not before Evol randomly hits Kazumi just to take the Fullbottles his former comrades used to transform into Hard Smash.

So this is a thing we got mention of in episode summaries a while back. These episodes deal with "Lost Bottles", which is a term also brought up in the show by Evolt. I THINK what's going on here is some miscommunication between the show writers and toy developers, because the black and gold bottles are officially called Lost Fullbottles in promotional material for the summer movie and are being called Lost Bottles here. The reason why I think it's miscommunication is simple: Katsuragi referred to the Genius Fullbottle as the Genius Bottle. I'm decidedly going with what sounds like the proper designations.

Back at the cafe, everyone is still processing the fact that Sento is Sento again. He seems to remember all of Katsuragi's memories up until the Skywall incident, so there's that. Gentoku is going through some identity crisis of his own as he has decided to become a gag character - he's dressing informally for once and-- I kinda like him better this way. And I'm glad the sound mixing department knew that the scream from his transformation item was made for comedy.

After a whiplash change in tone, Sento is thinking about the Lost Fullbottles that Evol referenced, when suddenly the voice of Katsuragi pops up in his head with some answers - Katsuragi never made these bottles, but they were made by his father. Sento decides to go to Hokuto, and it just so happens Kazumi also wants to go there to sneak into Faust and retrieve his comrade's bottles. Ryuga, for once in his entire life, recognizes these are all stupidly risky ideas and just gives Kazumi his (apparently now repaired) Dragon Sclashjelly in case he needs it.

While at his mother's old house, Sento finds an odd photo in his father's belongings: A woman by the pier with a boat. I thought this woman was familiar, and it's because she's one of the victims from one of the first episodes who smuggled them to another location by boat! I remember how nice it was to see a victim used that way. However, Sento finds it odd that his father had a photo of this woman in his belongings since he SHOULD be dead, and a Guardian - which would not have been around at the time he was alive - is seen in the background.

Meanwhile, Kazumi does something stupid and sneaks into Faust in disguise, only to be caught and be given more nebula gas - enough that he might die if he loses a fight. He manages to escape, but is cornered by the Hokuto prime minister, who's become Evolt's latest experiment: A Lost Smash. This is a combination of a Hard Smash and some Clone Smash, and he considers it to be this monsters' final form - so it's cool we get that kind of lore for these monsters! She uses Kiba's old Fukurou Fullbottle to transform and beat the crap out of him, only for Build then Mad Rogue to enter the mix.

As Grease feels like he's on the ropes, he thinks about the idealistic speeches Build always gives and about how he's letting it get into his head - using the Dragon Sclashjelly in his own belt, he suddenly gains TWO Twin Breaker weapons, along with a significant power boost!

So, this is another talking point, because if there's anyone that fans wanna see with a new form, it's Grease. He is truly the Necrom of this show, except Necrom's eventual power-up was a whole new weapon, whereas Grease just gets two of the same weapon he had before. So that's a little disappointing. But hey, Necrom did get a new form in some post-finale material - here's hoping they keep the V-cinema thing going and you get a Grease movie!

So, Grease overpowers Mad Rogue, sending him running, and Build uses the power of his bottle to deliver a Rider Kick to our new Lost Smash to safely defeat her and undo the effects of the nebula gas. After she wakes up, it seems like she's come to her senses and the effects of the initial Skywall incident have worn off, so she's become a decent person again. Evolt shows up, however, to proclaim that he's going to use the Lost Fullbottles to create a new world!

And then we get a most unexpected twist if you didn't think too much about the previous photo of the boat woman. She talks with Ryuga and Sawa and she remarks that she did indeed know Katsuragi's father, because he was just there the other day... which means he is very much still alive.

Episode 41: “The Best Match Truth” (ベストマッチの真実)

Picking up where the show left off, Evol tries taking on Build in his new form, and Build manages to catch him before he can switch to his strongest form, which gives him an edge. He does some kind of change to Evolt's body genes, but we don't know why just yet - all we know is he's excited about it.

Hot off the heels of the realization that Papa Katsuragi is alive, the boat lady passes on a USB device to give to Sento, which contains several documents on his inventions, but for now we're getting details on the Lost Fullbottles. I did a post about it, so I'll just say the key parts here: Gathering 10 of the black Lost Fullbottles causes something that defies the laws physics, which certainly raises the stakes. Also later we learn about the origin of Best Matches which is beautiful and tragic, but I also talked about that in a post. Good stuff.

This episode also provides us with a proper recap of the show so far, with the meta commentary I love from the cold openings, and it kinda tosses out a fact I hadn't even caught onto: Every Smash has been a person connected to the group in some way, be it a loved one, a possible witness to an event, or even one of them, like Sawa. But that brings into question who the guy from episode 1 was.

We don't have to wonder for long, as Sawa manages to get enough info on him to know that he was connected to Katsuragi's dad. Sawa arranges a meeting between him and Sento, which he hopes will get him closer to his father.

Meanwhile, we've learned just what effect Build's new form had on Evolt, as he tells all to his masked ally in Faust's lab. It seems that up to this point, Evolt has just mimicked human emotions, but Build's attack has basically caused him to gain actual emotions. Now he's feeling high on life and it seems like he's just being quirky... but there's some implications to that.

Sento meets with the man, but he reveals that he was sent to attack Sento as another Lost Smash, proclaiming that he'll be killed if he doesn't follow orders. Build finishes him off safely, and he starts to learn the truth, until Evol shows up and kills him instantly, then explains that Build's attack gave him emotions. Then Evol attempts to turn Build into a Smash using a bottle he has, but Build's form neutralizes it, allowing him an upper hand. As he successfully starts overpowering our main villain, Evol's rage begins to build up, then he disappears.

That's when Build makes a sudden realization, which the show pretty quickly passes by despite how alarming it is: If Evol has emotions now, that means he can gain a higher Hazard Level and become stronger and stronger.

Finally, Evolt returns to Faust's lab with two more Lost Fullbottles taken from Build during their fight, which means he's up to 6 - only 4 left to go before something unfathomable happens. Then we end on the proper face reveal for Evolt's lab buddy: Katsuragi's father... who I will probably have to start calling by his first name eventually. BUT NOT TODAY.

So that was one hell of a month of episodes! And this latest one tells all, what with the Lost Fullbottles and the motifs of the Best Matches explained. It's actually kinda sad the show's almost over... only a couple more months now.

Next review, however, will be something different.

Yeah. See you Next Build.

#kamen rider build #reviews #feed

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gascon-en-exil · 6 years ago

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I Liked Fates Before It Was Cool!: Conquest Part 2

Prologue

Opening Chapters

Conquest Part 1

Chapters 15-20, in which there is finally a goal, and it is stupid.

Chapter 15

a.k.a. the teaser for Revelation.

Don’t get me wrong, I like that Valla has some visible presence outside of its dedicated route, and the otherworldly visuals and shadowy enemies do a lot to sell the mystery of the place and make the player want to learn more about it. Also, this chapter isn’t just randomly dropped into the middle of Conquest’s plot, but rather a culmination of events that begins in Chapter 9 when Azura returns to Nohr. She then meets Garon, tries to exorcise Garon but only succeeds in giving him a really awkward public orgasm, and then turns to Plan B which is apparently to go dimension-hopping for a one-use plot device.

But yeah, that part is absurdly contrived and deserves all the scorn it gets in the fandom, relying as it does on two separate magical plot trinkets - the aforementioned crystal and the Hoshidan throne - and building unearned tension between Corrin and the Nohrian royals via a strange set of contrivances. Azura couldn’t have waited to use the crystal until they were all together...why, exactly? Because it can only be used once, and only at the Bottomless Canyon, and only if someone with special magic or dragon blood touches it, and then you can’t talk about it without vanishing...gah. It’s an epic pileup of lazy writing. FE10′s Blood Pacts have nothing on this moment.

At least the chapter is fun, being a big change of pace that reduces your party to three replicated units and gives you a choice of two objectives. And Gunter’s not dead, and (we assume) not evil on this route even though his situation is basically the same as it is in Revelation. That’s nice of him.

Chapter 16

What an original way of creating a timed chapter - and as a bonus I get the image of Xander and various other guys pinching the cheeks of random Nohrian soldiers! That’s just adorably weird.

What’s not so adorable but still weird is how we’re meant to believe that Shura can pass for a Nohrian until he tells everyone otherwise, because isn’t there supposed to be a noticeable racial difference between the two main regions of Fates’s setting? Maybe not apparent to the player (unless you’re intimately familiar with anime art styles, or so I’ve heard), but it’s logically supposed to be there, so...what’s up with that? Logical inconsistencies aside Shura is an interesting aspect of this chapter and an interesting character in general for how he straddles that regional divide and provides exposition both here and in Birthright that Hoshido’s not all it’s cracked up to be. In this route he reveals that Yukimura contracted him to kidnap Azura in retaliation for Garon kidnapping Corrin, adding a devious dimension to a character who is in other respects extremely underdeveloped. This is also the only route where Shura can potentially get his revenge against Mokushu, so his presence here feels timely...unless you opt to kill him and take his Boots, that is.

More on that next chapter though, because the sting of the previous’s one absurdity lingers in spite of Shura and Xander and some genuinely pleasant sibling banter (tempered by the allusions to the concubine wars and Azura’s rough treatment in Nohr that are mostly reserved for supports). No explanation is ever provided for why Garon decides to commence the invasion of Hoshido now, after devoting his forces’ time and energy to quashing a series of only tangentially-related rebellions. It feels too convenient coming as it does right after Azura explains her plan to Corrin, a means of saving Corrin from having to push for the invasion themselves. I really wish they’d done something to that effect. Corrin would shock Azura even further with their newfound ability to lie while also making a move covertly motivated by a desire to end the war as quickly as possible and so with as few lives lost on both sides. One less contrivance certainly wouldn’t have hurt, either.

Chapter 17

Everyone wants revenge against Kotaro, even NPCs. After slogging through a ninja-infested cave with spikes and a bunch of Dragon Veins that can throw you off if used at the wrong time I sympathize wholeheartedly.

What I have more trouble understanding is the moral position of the lead-up to this chapter. Corrin and co. are fine with accepting help from Kotaro until it’s revealed that he’s captured Kagero in an attempt to force the Hoshidans to surrender. The dialogue doesn’t make it sound as though they plan on killing her, but because Kotaro claims that Garon would approve of his strategy it’s suddenly horrible and deserving of immediate retribution. Corrin’s objection here runs contrary to their desire to end the war quickly by whatever means necessary including subterfuge, so aside from the knowledge gleaned across all routes that Kotaro is a self-centered opportunist who’s personally wronged both Shura and the Christmas ninjas it feels like a stretch that this is what leads to the Nohrians breaking off their strategically useful alliance with Mokushu. It’s a flimsy excuse for a frustrating chapter that doesn’t really come with a payoff later from Saizo, so I can’t say it’s one of my favorites from any angle.

Oh, and Azura apparently soloed a bunch of Hoshidans offscreen. That got a laugh out of me.

Chapter 18

Ship tease and moral dissonance for all! Well, sort of. The Ryoma/Xander stuff is funny (why does Ryoma retort that he’s more attractive? Hmm...) and Camilla gets in a quip in preparation for her final showdown with Hinoka, but all in all it’s a strange, tense moment. The fight against the renegade(?) Nohrians led by Zola provides the moral dissonance, and even though Leo provides a practical explanation for doing his usual thing and killing dark mages in cutscenes it is a bit strange to imagine that Garon wouldn’t notice all these allies and underlings of his mysteriously dying.

I find it interesting that the meeting between royals is something that occurs in Conquest but not in Birthright. As with Chapter 15 this is another example of this route doing substantially more to sell the basic premise of Revelation than its counterpart did, which makes more sense if the two of them were indeed written at about the same time after Birthright. It also provides some necessary development for Corrin’s relationship with the Hoshidan royals, something that can’t be taken for granted as it is with the Nohrians in Birthright as they didn’t grow up together. That’s all the more important to get out of the way now since they all confront Corrin one right after the other in the endgame without much time in between to really explore them as much as they ought to be. Takumi’s arc in Conquest is pretty good, sure, but the sisters are fairly static and Ryoma’s character is plagued with presentation issues on this route. I actually wish this scene could have gone on a bit longer and added a bit more to each of them, but this is what we’ve got.

Don’t really have anything to add about the chapter. It’s a recycled Birthright map that’s only interesting because you have to beat three bosses in a turn limit. Zola’s role here is minimal, as is Izana’s which is entirely a good thing.

Chapter 19

What I like about this chapter: It’s got a pretty autumnal palette not seen anywhere else in Fates that I can think of (exacerbated by the fact that this map is unique to Conquest, meaning you can never use it for skirmishes). The setup is also much stronger than the equivalent wolfskin chapter in Birthright. No Iago here - Kaden outright entraps Corrin’s army and plans to kill them all on the possibility that they might be poachers. Hoshido really benefits from having some viciousness like this of its own.

What I don’t like about the chapter: I don’t know if it’s a mistranslation or I’m just misunderstanding the game’s explanation for this chapter’s gimmick, but it clearly doesn’t work the way I first thought it did. The text blurb states that kitsune illusions (units with the green symbol on them) can neither attack nor be attacked by your units, and while it’s true that your units can’t target them they can and do attack you on the enemy phase. I don’t mind the idea of units with a single turn of player phase immunity, but it’s frustrating to feel misled into thinking it was something else entirely.

Anyway, Corrin kills all the kitsune and is sad about it, and then Azura waxes philosophic on how all routes carry sacrifice and moral greyness and it’s pretty obvious that she’s leaning on the fourth wall here. On the plus side when one considers all the named character deaths in Birthright and even the handful in Revelation it feels less like the game is specifically berating the player for choosing Conquest this time.

Chapter 20

So, uh, quick question: how are the few little huts in the desert seen here and in Birthright and the massive complex of intricately-crafted terraces and stairways that appear in the other two routes both representative of the Wind Tribe? Is Fuga loaded while his people live in squalor?

He’s certainly a sadist, because this chapter earns its infamous reputation with its frustrating wind manipulation. I find that, not unlike FE4, this is one of several Fates chapters made easier if you’re fielding a bunch of units with holy dragon blood to use the Dragon Veins scattered throughout the map. Behold the power of kinky interspecies sex.

Similar to Azura’s musings in the previous chapter, Fuga provides Corrin with his knowledge of the Yato along with the confidence that they chose a morally righteous path after all. As with Corrin’s pacifism something like this is near the top of the list of things not to do in a villain campaign, but the writing has long since stopped trying for that angle. It’s been repeatedly reinforced that Garon and his loyal minions are the real enemies of this campaign, and the Hoshidans are the innocent(?) victims who have to be sacrificed in order to expose Garon for what he is and end the war. Fuga sends Corrin off with his blessing to kill however many Hoshidans it takes to earn peace, including potentially all of his late BFF’s children.

...Yeah. Fuga really is kind of an ass when you think about him.

Next time: Conquest Chapter 21 - Endgame

#Fire Emblem #Fire Emblem Fates #Fire Emblem Conquest #FE14

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lisatelramor · 6 years ago

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Not Left To Stand Alone: Epilogue

AN: Done in the style of the extras more or less ^_^; Thank you to everyone who’s read this and commented/liked/kudos’d it along the way. It’s made working on this story that much more worth it <3

Takumi’s Birthday

The table was filled with people; Takumi had been sure to invite his friends, Aoko and Kurenai from the police force, Chikage, and Saguru on his birthday outing with Kaito. Which could have been a horribly awkward scenario despite how Aoko and Kaito were trying to get along. But Takumi chose a sushi restaurant for his birthday dinner, and Kaito looked like he was having a very quiet meltdown in the corner. Saguru, sitting across from him, discreetly leaned closer.

“Do you need to leave?” Saguru whispered. The rest of the table was having a wonderful time, sharing sushi platters that were coming from Kaito’s tab and generally falling into the celebratory mood. Anywhere else and Kaito would be in the middle of it.

Takumi had made a point of ordering shirasu, tiny whole young anchovies staring from the pieces of sushi more than enough to keep Kaito quiet and picking at his decidedly vegetarian selection in the corner.

“I can’t,” Kaito said, prodding a piece of omelet with his chopsticks. “I have to stay. If I can make it through a day at an aquarium, I can make it through a meal at a sushi place.”

A pair of chopsticks grabbed one of the shirasu pieces and Kaito shuddered. He’d kept his head down as soon as he’d noticed the chef in the corner carefully slicing meat from whole fish.

“Would it help to have your back to the room—”

“I appreciate the concern, but it’s not helping.” Kaito stuffed a piece of inarizushi into his mouth to end the conversation.

Saguru sighed. At the other end of the table, Aoko caught his eye and shrugged. There was no helping Kaito’s phobia. Shiemi also glanced Kaito’s way a few times as the meal went on before leaning over to Takumi to whisper something.

Takumi glanced around and said, “After we should get dessert.”

Kaito’s eyes glazed over a bit like he was seeing something terrible and long in his future.

Takumi looked at Kaito. “At the ice cream place down the street.”

Kaito slumped. “Oh thank goodness.”

“I’m not that mad at you,” Takumi said. He took the last piece of shirasu, removing fish staring at Kaito at any rate.

Saguru reached across the table to pat Kaito’s shoulder. He’d be forgiven eventually. At this point Takumi was mostly seeing how far he could push the boundaries of guilt.

“That better be some good ice cream to make up for this,” Kaito muttered to himself.

Saguru finished off another sushi roll and stayed out of the drama.

So that’s ALL the Secrets, Right?

Saguru lounged on Kaito’s living room sofa, lukewarm tea in hand as Kaito finished explaining how he’d become Kid at his side. Takumi, who had long since abandoned his own tea, had spent most of the explanation tucked up in the couch across from them with his arms crossed like if it wasn’t a good enough story he’d take personal offense. By the end of it though, he was watching Kaito as intently as Saguru was. It was fascinating to finally hear the whole story instead of just what Kaito had implied and Saguru pieced together.

“Once I knew what I was looking for, that helped some, but it’s pretty clear that knowing you’re looking for a gem that might or might not be mythological doesn’t really narrow things down a lot in the long run.” Kaito shrugged, more relaxed now than he’d been at the start of the explanation. His socked feet were almost in Saguru’s lap as Kaito commandeered the other half of the sofa. “At the time, it seemed like it wouldn’t be too hard. Make a spectacle, draw out the people who killed Oyaji and keep them from getting what they wanted. I didn’t realize how big a group they were then or how hard a gem could be to find.”

“And so Kid stuck around,” Takumi said. He’d hugged a throw pillow to his chest at some point—around when Kaito mentioned being shot at the first time—and he didn’t look like he’d be letting go of it any time soon. “You know it doesn’t really make any of this less crazy, right?”

“I know. But I come by crazy honestly,” Kaito said with a wry smile. He was trying to invite Takumi to smile with him, but they weren’t there yet. “I mean, Oyaji saw Kaa-san when she was a thief and just up and became a thief himself, so they started the crazy.”

“I still can’t believe Obaa-san is a thief.” Takumi grimaced. “Is still kind of a thief. How the heck did I even get born, a family of thieves marrying a family of police officers.”

“Opposites attracts?” Kaito said lightly.

“Or something.” He flicked a glance at Saguru, probably thinking something along the lines that Kaito was predictable in his taste if he went for a detective as well as a police officer. Saguru could admit to the irony of it. “So.” Takumi reached for his tea, took a sip and immediately put it back with a disgusted expression. “Um. That’s all the secrets, right? No more bombshells you’re waiting to drop?”

Kaito opened his mouth, hesitated. “Um.”

Takumi slumped. “What. What did you do?”

Kaito glanced at Saguru. Saguru raised an eyebrow. Even though he was here listening, he was mostly staying out of it. This was Kaito mending bridges, not Saguru having a field day with possibly getting to ask his own questions and have them answered.

“I know you’re dating Hakuba-sensei, and that’s...a little weird still, but that’s not really a secret,” Takumi cut in, misinterpreting the look. “To be honest you guys were already giving off dating vibes so it’s actually less awkward and I’ve mostly gotten over that.”

“No, it’s not about Hakuba.” Kaito ran a hand through his hair, looking up at the ceiling like it had answers written on it. Or maybe wishing it would fall and erase how tense this conversation had been so far. “How do I say this?”

“Please tell me you didn’t kill someone.”

Kaito scowled. “Why do you go straight to that?”

“Because what darker route is there to go?”

“I’ve never killed anyone, for goodness sake. I’ve seen more people die than I’d like, but no, no killing. Do I really seem that capable of murder—don’t answer that. I’d like to keep thinking that I don’t seem that cut-throat.”

“I don’t know what to think of you,” Takumi said. “You hide a lot so...”

“You have sisters,” Kaito said, blurting it out before it could go further down the path of him hypothetically murdering someone. “Two half-sisters. Don’t freak out, it was after Aoko and I were divorced. They’re six years old.”

“What?” Whatever Takumi’d had in mind for further secrets, possible siblings hadn’t been on the list. He stared, something between horror and incredulity on his face. “With who? How?”

Saguru cleared his throat. It was technically still the Kudo family’s secret but with clearing the air... “Three, maybe.”

“Three?” Takumi parroted blankly.

“Three?” Kaito said. “Wha—no. They’d have said.”

“I didn’t confirm it, but...Chikage-san’s eyes.” Saguru met Kaito’s eyes, noting all the little facial details that lined up. Kaito wasn’t exactly like Kudo no matter how close they looked.

“Yukiko-san’s got maybe a quarter—”

“You’d know the timing better than I would.”

Kaito twitched. “That’s... That’s...damn. Probable. What the hell?”

“So I could have three half-siblings,” Takumi cut in, horror rapidly edging toward disgust. “Tou-san, what the hell?”

“Okay, before you get too angry, the twins were IVF babies; I’m just the sperm donor. A...friend wanted a child and asked if I’d be the other half of the genetics.” Saguru snorted. That was one way of putting it. Kaito dug his heel into Saguru’s thigh in retaliation. “And clearly I had no idea of...of a maybe third either, what the heck? How did you notice that if I didn’t?”

“You weren’t looking for it,” Saguru said, patting Kaito’s ankle.

“You were looking to see if I had possible illegitimate children?”

“No, I was looking for answers to a question and that was a possible explanation.”

“Wouldn’t they tell me?”

“Would they have been able to?”

Kaito opened his mouth. Closed it. “Hm. Maybe not at first. But there would have been chances. Were chances.”

“Can we get back to the whole three half-sisters bit?” Takumi hissed. “Seriously, what the hell?” He threw the pillow at Kaito’s head. “Self-control?”

“Oi.” Kaito tossed the pillow back. “I just said that two of those siblings were because a friend asked. The third was... an accident. I don’t go sleeping around left and right, you know that.”

“Apparently I don’t know much, so why not that too! Just because you don’t date doesn’t mean you don’t sleep around!”

“Well I don’t! I’ve been with maybe five people since I got divorced, Takumi, and two of them were men! I didn’t exactly have time or energy to throw myself at people!”

Takumi gestured at Saguru. Saguru raised both hands defensively. “Please leave me out of this portion of the discussion.”

“That was different!” Good lord, Kaito was blushing. Saguru stared. “That was overtures of friendship to bridge a rocky past. Not. Throwing myself at anyone.”

“Wow. So convincing.” Takumi ran his hand through his hair just like Kaito did, his hair a wild mess. “Okay. So do I get to meet them or are they just...out there?”

“The twins aren’t interested in a family relationship,” Kaito said. “That was part of the whole...thing. She didn’t want me involved closely, and I respected that and I’ve met them, and they know who I am, but for now at least they don’t want anything more than that and I’m not going to pressure anyone about that because they’re not obligated to care about a genetic donor.”

Takumi made a face somewhere between a grimace and a scowl. “Okay.”

“The third...”

“You’ve met,” Saguru said, taking pity on them. “Kudo Midori.”

A bunch of expressions flashed across Takumi’s face. Shock, confusion, anger, disbelief. “Tou-san, she’s married.”

“You say that like I went behind her husband’s back!”

“...you didn’t?”

“No!” Kaito threw up his hands. “I respect Kudo! And Ran-san. It was all very open except they didn’t know my real name and face.”

Takumi stared at him for one long moment before smothering a frustrated sound into his hands. “Well I guess that explains everything in why they had no problem taking in Kaitou Kid.”

“We still don’t know for sure that Midori’s mine instead of Kudo’s,” Kaito pointed out.

“But there’s enough chance that I’m just going to...accept that as fact,” Takumi grumbled. “Better than being in denial. Tou-san, Shiemi is going to have words with you later because she’s going to be so disillusioned.”

“Do you have to tell her?”

“Would you rather I talk this through with Kaa-san?” Takumi asked, pointedly.

Kaito paled. “Go ahead. Tell Shiemi.”

“Kaa-san will find out eventually. She always does.”

“Yeah, but I like living.”

“At least you waited until you were divorced,” Takumi muttered. “She doesn’t actually have a reason to be pissed off since you weren’t with her. It’s just shitty that you didn’t take responsibility for them.”

“How?? How could I when one doesn’t want me involved and I didn’t know about the other?”

“Make up for it now?”

Kaito flopped into Saguru’s side, all the tension starting to unfurl as Takumi didn’t out and out explode at Kaito or storm out. “Maybe Kudo wouldn’t mind with Midori. I’ll leave the twins to make their own choices though.”

“You don’t want to be involved?” Takumi asked. That was the sticking point, it seemed. That Kaito wasn’t involved with them, perhaps especially because of how much effort Kaito put in staying involved with Takumi’s life.

“What I want doesn’t matter because that’s not my call.”

“So you do want to.”

Kaito shrugged. “I knew what I was agreeing to.” He sighed. “Kudo’s family is different though. I think I would like to be involved. Maybe as a sort of uncle figure. If they’d let me.”

“...Do you think they’d mind if I got to know Midori-chan more?” Takumi asked, so quietly Saguru almost didn’t hear him.

“I think they wouldn’t say no to a babysitter-slash-brother-figure in their children’s lives,” Kaito said.

“I think I might want that.” Takumi uncurled from his spot on the couch, looking tired. “The heck, I’m an older brother. Younger me would be so jealous.”

“You wanted siblings?” Saguru asked.

“Once upon a time, yeah. That was a long time ago though.” Takumi sighed. “This is so weird. I mean, this is a lot more normal of a shock than finding out your dad’s Japan’s most notorious thief. But still.”

“On the upside, I don’t think there are any more secrets that I can think of that even hold a candle to those.”

“So there are more secrets,” Takumi grumbled. He looked like he was trying to merge with the couch, limp against its cushions.

“If by secrets you mean the kind where you overheard things you weren’t supposed to or didn’t tell people that it was you who borrowed that shirt they were missing and ate the last chocolate in the cupboard, then yes,” Kaito said, “I still have secrets. The ordinary, non-life-changing kind of secrets.”

“Oh. Okay then. I don’t want to know all those kinds of secrets. Not unless they impact me.”

Saguru sipped at his now-cold tea. That could have gone a lot worse.

“So do you have the Kudo’s phone number or should I just show up one day since that’s what they’ve come to expect from our family?” Takumi asked after a few moments.

“I’ll give you their phone number.”

“Cool.” Another pause. “You’d better not have any more random children in the future.”

“I don’t plan on it.”

Saguru patted Kaito’s shoulder. “Now that that is settled, I was thinking we might order in for dinner. Suggestions?”

“Pizza,” Takumi said immediately. “I need something horrible for me to counteract how the world has shifted under my feet again.”

“Pizza’s good,” Kaito said.

Since neither of them seemed inclined to move, Saguru pulled out his phone. “Pizza it is.” This had definitely gone better than anticipated. No screaming, tears, or accusations of betrayal. Takumi was halfway toward accepting it already and hadn’t left the room at any point. Good. They’d figure things out from there. There was no shortage on time so long as Takumi was still giving Kaito a chance.

Saguru’s Trade

The first time Saguru ran across a random mugging, he didn’t think twice about it; sometimes these things happened, and in this case he was at the right place at the right time to do something about it. He hadn’t even thought twice about disabling the attacker with his cane before calling the police.

Being at the combini as it was being held up less than a week later was...well, not improbable, but it was a bit surprising to run into trouble so soon after the mugging. Saguru’d been in Japan months and these were the most criminal activities he’d run into outside of Kuroba’s shadow organization.

Catching a purse snatcher on the train on his way to work two days later had Saguru feeling suspicious, and by the fourth time he’d called the police that month for an attempted break in across the street, Saguru was sure there was a pattern.

It was like crime illogically was attracted to wherever Saguru was. Or perhaps it was the other way around; Saguru was drawn to wherever the crime was about to occur—it wasn’t as if he ordinarily got meals from the convenience store or took a train an hour later than his usual time.

It was only when Saguru found his face plastered in the news a few days before November for talking down an armed robbery attempt when he and Kuroba happened to stop by the bank that Saguru really started to feel concerned.

“I think I’m cursed,” he said to Kaito, patching up a few scrapes from where one of the robbers had smacked him into a teller station in a moment of desperation. “Is this what Kudo feels all the time running into murders? Because this is unpleasant.”

“Well it definitely resembles Kudo’s brand of luck,” Kaito said, holding bandages at the ready. “When did it start?”

“Hmm, not long after the first wave of arrests following the events at Hiroto’s workplace. It started with finding a slew of lost objects over the course of a week and a half, actually. Or maybe before that?” Saguru hadn’t thought much about finding a purse or wallet on the train to turn into the station staff in hopes of finding its owner before it became a daily occurrence. “Then that got rarer and more criminals started popping up.” It was going steady with at least one crime a week at this rate. Saguru was going to end up on first name basis with the local officers if it continued like this.

“Huh.” Kaito put a bandage over a scrape on Saguru’s arm, tsking over the bruise near his elbow joint. “That’s going to be bad.”

“It will heal,” Saguru said, resigned. He’d had an uptick in bruises and other minor injuries as the crime rate ticked higher as well. An unpleasant correlation, but not exactly surprising. “I’ve never run into cases this often. I mean as a detective, cases appear a lot more often than they would for the average person, but even then I had to actively seek most of them out. This is different.”

“At least you don’t have corpses falling from the sky like Kudo,” Kaito said. They both winced at a recent case Kudo had involving a man who’d fallen from the top of a skyscraper. It hadn’t been a pleasant crime scene. If any crime scene could be considered pleasant.

“I hope there isn’t a ‘yet’ in that statement.” He could do without corpses and bloodshed.

Kaito hummed. “Hey, Saguru, what exactly was your deal with Akako-hime again?”

Saguru froze. “Oh.” The timing would fit, wouldn’t it? He’d traded for Kaito’s safety, traded in metaphysical and impossible—improbable?—levels beyond his comprehension. So far Kaito was unscathed and...and Saguru was having more and more run ins with random criminals while Kaito had none with the organization that he’d screwed over.

“Saguru?” Kaito looked worried now. “What did you trade her? Because it might technically be fair on some cosmic level but that doesn’t mean it won’t screw you over in the process.”

“According to Koizumi-san, I traded...essentially my quiet, unobtrusive life I believe. Her exact words were that I wouldn’t be able to go unnoticed again.”

“Oh.” Kaito looked...sad? Regretful? “You gave away your peace. Why would you...?” Kaito knew exactly how much the spotlight wasn’t comfortable to Saguru these days. And yet Saguru would take having his face in the papers again, take all the random encounters, if it meant Kaito was safe.

“It’s worth it,” Saguru said.

“...I gave up ever becoming a stage magician to her,” Kaito revealed after a moment.

“What did you trade it for?”

“Healing. The healing when I most needed it because I didn’t think I’d live through it otherwise.”

Kaito gave up his dream. He didn’t look regretful though, merely thoughtful.

“I thought being on stage brought too many flashbacks,” Saguru said.

“It does.” Kaito shrugged. “I think part of Akako-hime’s magic works with what’s already there to make things slide into place and costs take effect. I always had a bit of fear and unpleasant memories attached to being onstage. It just...ensured I can’t compartmentalize it or easily overcome it like with everything else. I can’t pursue it because my own brain won’t let me, therefor fulfilling the cost or some bullshit.”

“The path of least resistance.”

“Pretty much.”

“That is good to know.” Still, it was going to be annoying in the long run. How did Kudo stand it?

“Hey, do you think that’s what happened with Kudo?” Kaito mused. “Some deal with a death god or something? Or maybe one of his ancestors made a deal and cursed his whole family line.”

“Or maybe it’s uniquely Kudo.”

“Or that.” Kaito packed the first aid kit away as Saguru put one last bandage on a scrape.

“Now that that mystery is solved,” Saguru said, “let me say that this is going to be inconvenient at best. Why do you think there was a delay?”

“Best bet?” Kaito stood on tip toe to slot the kit on top of the bathroom cupboard. “Most of the cost was going into your effort to help catch the organization. You are less involved with that, the universe starts throwing other problems at you to solve.”

“Very inconvenient,” Saguru muttered again. “I was almost late to work the other day. I probably will be late as this goes on. They’re not going to be very sympathetic in the long run.”

“You’re planning to teach next year right?”

“I was going to. Now I have to wonder if it’s the best idea. Yumi-sensei is planning to return from maternity leave this spring after all. I was planning to apply for the science teacher position opening up, but if this continues they might not even give me a second glance, no matter how many recommendations people put forth.”

“Maybe you could be a substitute teacher? You have the credentials to teach more than English. And it would let you have an irregular schedule.”

“Maybe.” Saguru sighed.

Kuroba nudged him until he could get at Saguru’s back, his skilled hands easing tension from Saguru’s neck and shoulders easily. “”You have time to think about it. And hey, it will even out. There is a point where it will stop getting worse and just be a constant level. It just looks like it hasn’t found it yet.”

“At least I’m not Kudo.” If it were bodies dropping into his life at random, he’d go off in a bad way, surely. A thought occurred. What would happen if his and Kudo’s odd fortunes crossed paths? Would one cancel out the other or would they feed off each other until something truly catastrophic happened? “Kaito, remind me not to spend a good deal of time around Kudo in the future. Or not anywhere in public.”

“Huh.” Kaito paused his massage. His fingers drummed absently on Saguru’s neck. “Yeah, that would be interesting. In that case would it go from theft related things to murder, or would you just end up with a killer thief? Assuming your luck is theft related, it’s too soon to say for sure.”

“So long as it doesn’t end with a death count I believe we can call ourselves lucky.”

Second Chance

Saguru stood in front of pre-packaged cereals, debating what was a rather dismal and overpriced selection. While he had a craving for bran flakes, nothing in stock matched anything like what he was used to in London, and he was beginning to wonder if satisfying an urge to eat half-soggy carbohydrates swimming in milk was worth the hefty price tag that went with them.

“Is granola that interesting?” a familiar voice said behind him.

Saguru blinked, tearing his eyes away from an odd rendition of Tony the Tiger. “Aoko-san.”

Aoko smiled at him and looked at the cereal selection as well. “There’s so much sugar in these,” she said, picking up a box that had “Sugar Pon” written right across the top. “Kaito used to get that one with the monkey on it—Koko?” She nodded at a box toward the bottom. “Get those when he had an exam because he said the sugar gave him a boost. I always would point out that he’d just end up crashing halfway through, but that didn’t stop him from eating it.” Aoko set the box back with a little shrug. “He’s still a sugar addict so clearly he hasn’t learned. Were you looking for something in particular?”

“Bran flakes,” Saguru said. “Raisin bran, perhaps. Something not sugar coated.” The smiling tiger looked down on him from the box of frosted cornflakes. “I was hoping for something different for breakfasts this week.”

“Hmm, most of what they have here is for children or to put on ice cream,” Aoko said. “There’s a larger store a train stop away that might have them.”

“Thank you,” Saguru said, though he doubted he’d go the extra distance for a whim. Perhaps he would have jam and toast for a change up instead. Or maybe, since Kaito had been making him breakfasts every few days, Saguru should find ingredients for a proper British breakfast and return the favor. It was all a bit more effort than he generally had energy for first thing in the morning though. Saguru eyed the box of chocolate cereal Aoko had pointed out. Or he could get a cereal Kaito liked and endure excess sugar because Kaito would enjoy it.

Beside him, Aoko let out a soft laugh and reached past him. “This is the one Kaito occasionally got when he wasn’t trying to get a sugar high,” she said, guessing Saguru’s train of thought.

“Oh, lovely. That’s marginally less sweet.” It looked like a rip-off of honey Cheerios, in a thick flake form, but that was infinitely preferable to chocolate sugar coma.

“Doing both your and Kaito’s shopping, then?” Aoko asked.

“Not exactly.” They’d been sharing a lot lately, their apartments interchangeable where they ended up, and consequently, a lot of their kitchens’ contents were blurring the lines. Saguru had Kaito’s favorite biscuits in his cupboard and Kaito had managed to find Saguru’s favorite British tea somewhere and had a tin of it tucked in with his own tea selection. “We’ve been sharing breakfast a lot recently.”

Aoko had a small, amused smile on her face. She looked better than the last time they had run into each other shopping here. Calmer. Less like she was skirting the edge of a breakdown and more like life was finally starting to reach a balance. Her hair was pulled back today, showing off earrings that had to be new; she brushed them twice in the last minute like she would a loose strand of hair. It was a nice look for her. Altogether, she looked the most relaxed Saguru had seen her since he returned to Japan.

“It always surprised me that Kaito was capable of cooking when he put his mind to it,” Aoko said, “considering how often he’d bum meals from me in high school. He’s not bad at it though. You look happier.”

Saguru smiled back, a bit self-conscious because so many people had said that lately. He hadn’t realized he looked so unhappy before. “I am happier. The last few months have been nice. You look better as well.”

Aoko snorted. “I’ve finally got a week’s worth of good sleep. Work might be hell with the investigations going on, but it’s amazing how much less stressful it’s been now that Kid retired. Everything else seems so much simpler in comparison.” She grinned suddenly. “Of course it also helps that I’ve been making more time for myself. And to go on a date or two.”

“Did you ask Kurenai-san out or did he ask you?”

“Which do you think?”

“I think that once you decide on something, you do your best to make it happen.”

Aoko laughed. “You’re right. Kintaro’s not pushy enough to ask. But he was more than happy to comply when I said I was interested in dating him. It’s been nice.” Her smile was soft, fond and warm as she thought about her partner. “He’s nice.”

“I’m glad. You deserve to be happy.”

“I don’t know about deserve, but I’m not going to chase this chance away,” she said.

Saguru felt the same way. He was lucky once with Mel and he was lucky again now with Kaito. It was the sort of thing you didn’t take for granted when you found it again.

“Hey,” Aoko said, “would you like to get dinner sometime and catch up?”

They’d missed each other the other times they tried to connect so far, but Saguru was glad for another chance to keep trying. “I’d like that.” If nothing else, they had Takumi and more positive past memories of Kaito to share.

“Great!” Aoko grinned. “I’ll message you later and we can find some time when we’re both free. Right now I’d better finish up shopping.”

“Of course.”

“Oh,” Aoko said, before she took more than a step away, “Kaito also likes kuri dorayaki and persimmon mochi if you were looking for something seasonal. And weirdly corn KitKat, though that’s not really something you could get here.” Her nose scrunched. “He has strange taste sometimes.”

Saguru laughed. That last one wasn’t something he would have expected. “Thank you, Aoko-san.”

Aoko waved the thanks away. “Might as well pass on some of the random things I know about him. More use to you than me. See you later, Hakuba-san.”

Saguru watched her go, light inside. Another chance to be her friend, and perhaps a sign that Aoko’s small steps back toward friendship with Kaito were actually going someplace. He made a mental note of her suggestions before moving on with his shopping. Kaito surprised him often enough; it was nice for a chance to possibly surprise him with something he would like.

Christmastime

There was a knock on the door. Saguru paused in his teenage bedroom, one more box of his things from London open among many. “Come in!” he said, brushing dust off his hands—this box held Mel’s collection of playbooks for performances he’d been in up through college. It had probably just been dumped into the box, dust and all, and hadn’t been touched otherwise since they’d been put on the living room shelf a decade ago.

Kaito poked his head around the door. “Hey, just checking in. You’re missing out on all the holiday baking. We’re doing gingerbread men right now.”

“Sorry, I just wanted to go through a few things while we were here but...” Saguru waved to the mess of his room. All of the boxes had been moved in there about a month ago when he decided he might be able to go through his old things without feeling like he was either reliving or throwing away memories.

“I get it. I probably still have a box somewhere from when I moved out of Aoko’s house stashed at my mom’s place.” Kaito had a dusting of flour in his hair and a smudge of batter on his cheek. Saguru reached out to brush it off absently.

“Yes, well, I don’t want to put it off indefinitely. It’s just amazing how much stuff you can amass in a decade. I don’t even want to think about how much it cost to ship all of this here instead of leaving it in London to go through later.”

“Do you still have a London home?”

“Technically yes, though I suppose the flat Mel and I shared is probably desperately in need of upkeep by now. I’ve been making payments for it this whole time and someone checks in once a month but....” One more thing that he would need to take care of eventually, though it still wasn’t pressing. He could afford to pay for a flat he didn’t use a bit longer. The boxes in his room were maybe half of what he and Mel had owned so he’d have to go back and clean the rest out eventually.

“We’ll have to go come spring,” Kaito said, hooking him into a hug. “I’ll be moral support while you take care of things.”

“Thank you. I’d like that.” It would be a bit bittersweet, but he would like to show Kaito all the things that had been important to him during his years with Mel. It might not be what was in his life now, but it had been part of most of his adult life. “Now, did Mum kick you out of the kitchen or were you just being nice coming to get me?”

Kaito grinned. “I may have started making some unconventional gingerbread men. Takumi was too, but apparently he can get away with it and I can’t.”

“Naturally,” Saguru said like gingerbread men were a serious thing indeed.

Kaito nudged him with an elbow. “C’mon. Come bake with us. Put that perfectionism to use and made some top-tier, uniform baked goods.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Saguru dusted his hands off again, glancing back at the boxes. He’d found more pictures and a collection of tickets and programs from Mel’s plays. It would be a shame to leave all these in boxes. Maybe he’d take a bit of time and make a scrapbook of them or something. Kaito’s fingers slotted between his in a loose grip. Kaito tilted his head, an invitation to talk if he needed it. Saguru shook his head, smiling. “I’m fine. Just thinking that I should do something to preserve the memories I had rather than leaving everything to molder in boxes.”

“That’s an idea.” Kaito smiled. “I was kind of thinking about doing something similar with Tou-san’s stuff. Maybe write a book about how he did his tricks. To keep in the family of course,” he added.

“Of course.” Kaito, like many magicians, took the methods of his craft very seriously and their secrecy most of all.

“Maybe I’ll do one for Kid too,” Kaito continued. “A scrapbook of all the heists and their coverage with methodology of how we pulled it off... For posterity’s sake.”

Saguru squeezed Kaito’s hand gently and Kaito squeezed back. He’d been a bit lost without Kid in his life, but he seemed to be finding himself lately. He’d been doing small performances at parks on weekends, rediscovering his love for being a magician. Kaito didn’t talk about it much, but with each new wave of arrests trickling in through their police contacts, he relaxed a bit more. One day he might actually feel safe again.

Aoko was on her way to a promotion lately between leading internal investigations and the positions opening up when corruption was found. Meanwhile Chikage seemed to be done traveling for the moment now that her goal of exposing the global level of the organization had been completed. There was a woman living with her who Saguru swore he remembered from a movie. Whoever she was, she made Kudo incredibly uncomfortable. Saguru hadn’t been able to get the story from him yet, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.

And Mel’s case was officially closed. With the documents Hiroto had found, they’d been able to track down the assassin and arrest him and quite a few others. There were still months of work left for the police, but for Saguru at least, everything he had hoped for had been reached. It was the closest he’d been to at peace in over a year.

Kaito tugged on their joined hands, pulling him toward the door. “Come on. Mum said we’re going to be decorating the Christmas cake next.”

“Oh dear.” That always meant the alcohol was going to come out and that baking was going to get significantly sloppier from there. He’d already decided that Mum’s Christmas cake was the only deviation from not allowing himself anything alcoholic that he would make, and even then it was more of an...acquired taste for people who hadn’t grown up with it.

“What all goes into a British Christmas cake anyway?”

“It’s nothing like the ones you have in Japan, that’s for sure. It’s a fruitcake for one, and a heavily alcoholic one at that.”

“You give that to children?”

“Not usually? Depends on the parents. I think we had sticky toffee pudding more when I was young, but Mum likes fruitcake and the alcohol bit was excused once I was a teenager.”

“Huh. Sounds different.”

“If you don’t like it, we won’t be offended.”

Kuroba shrugged. “Well, it’s rare I’ve met a drink I didn’t like, why not a cake?”

In the kitchen, Mum was making marzipan, the cake tin already opened up on one counter and most of the rest of the available flat surfaces covered with bowls of colored icing and armies of gingerbread men and tree-shaped biscuits. Takumi was squeezing blue icing on a small army of gingerbread men that were shaped suspiciously like Kaitou Kid. Mum had to behind that. They were too uniformly shaped to not be from a special pastry-cutter.

Surprisingly, Otou-san was there too, patiently decorating trees. It felt a bit surreal as he’d never been a part of Saguru and Mum’s baking rituals growing up, but maybe it was a recent thing since Mum moved in with him; the years she spent the holiday in Japan, Saguru hadn’t been there to bake with her.

“Good, you found him,” Mum said. “Saguru, wash up and give me a hand mixing up the frosting for the cake while I finish up the marzipan.”

Saguru obediently got to work.

“Question,” Takumi said as he watched Mum pause in her work to dribble a bit more brandy over the cake. “Do I get to have any of this cake?”

“That’s up to your father,” Mum said, plopping the marzipan onto the counter to roll.

“A small slice,” Kaito said. “And maybe one to take to your mother.”

“Cool.” Takumi held up one of the Kid biscuits. “So, what do you think? Did I get a good likeness?”

Kid’s caricature grin took up most of the head with a jaunty white-icing hat. Its hands had tiny dollops of icing in gem-bright colors like Kid had stolen the contents of someone’s jewelry box and made off into the night.

“Very funny,” Kaito said. He held up one of the ones he’d done earlier. It also had a caricature face, but it was much more precise and detailed. “I think mine has more dignity.”

“What dignity? Kid runs around in a suit like he was rejected from a wedding magazine.”

“You’re thinking of Tuxedo Mask.”

“Tuxedo Mask, Kaitou Kid, same difference.”

Kaito stuck out his tongue. Takumi stuck his out in return and deliberately drew a ridiculous face on the next one. Saguru’s father was clearly pretending he wasn’t hearing anything, as he had whenever Kid came up. Saguru loved his family.

“Both are all well and good,” Saguru said, joining in the spirit of it, “but they’re both a bit lacking in holiday cheer.” He took a bag of icing and decorated a Kid of his own. This wasn’t something he did often, but...it seemed he still had the touch. His Kid got a tiny sprig of holly in his hat, a red and green tie, and candy-cane striping for the hat band. As an afterthought, he added a white Father Christmas beard to the mix. “There, now this is a holiday Kid.”

“Now that just looks silly,” Kaito said.

“That’s the point.”

Takumi snickered. “Ok, if you made the suit red....”

“Nooooo,” Kaito groaned, “that would look even weirder. It’s not even Kid then.”

Takumi looked his father in the eye and squeezed a glob of red icing onto the next Kid-shaped biscuit.

“Saguru?” Mum said. He hurried over to help her lift the marzipan into place. She smoothed it with a practiced hand and gave him the bowl of icing. “Just between you and me,” she said, “I went a bit lighter on the brandy this year. Since we will be having a minor eat some.”

“I’m sure it’s appreciated.”

“And if anyone wants more alcohol it’s not like we don’t have more,” Mum said pragmatically. “It’s worth the good peach brandy.”

Saguru snorted; Mum did love an excuse to bring out good alcohol. While Saguru spread icing on the cake, Mum took the time to roll marzipan scraps into tiny shapes—cardinals that she would paint red, and a snowman that Saguru would add icing to, to make it more convincingly snowy. Mum hummed as she worked, Christmas carols that they both knew the tune for but always mixed up the words.

Saguru hummed along with her out of habit; the number of times they’d done this together had him falling into the pattern easily enough. Part of him half expected Mel to come out of nowhere with a tin of his grandmother’s toffee and singing the words to the songs Saguru and Mum never remembered. It was a bittersweet feeling, a mix of nostalgia and regret despite the warmth of the room and the people filling it, but when Kaito’s voice joined theirs, actually singing in smooth, practiced English, the feeling melted away.

Kaito grinned cheekily when Saguru looked his way. There was a smear of blue icing on his cheek and Takumi looked like he was recreating the Grinch story with Kid-shaped ginger biscuits hoarding all the gift shaped ones beside him. “I only know a few songs,” Kaito said when he finished to Mum’s applause. “So don’t expect me to sing that many.”

“I’m surprised you memorized any English Christmas songs at all.”

“Well they do play everywhere, even in Japan this time of year.”

Fair point.

“I should have put on music,” Mum said. “Then we could sing along.”

She always said that and they never remembered, too caught up in baking and making to think to put something on.

Takumi held up his phone. “I have you covered.”

Music filled the room and they went back to finishing their tasks. It wasn’t the same as years before; there was no Mel and Otou-san was there and there were more people. But it was just as warm and Saguru knew that this too would become a tradition. It was nice.

When Kaito pulled him away from smoothing the icing one last time to dance around the room just because they could, Saguru went with a laugh.

#nltsa #not left to stand alone #detective conan #magic kaito #fanfiction #my writing #it's been a good ride guys #this story's one near and dear to my heart #so thanks for reading it <3

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