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anoant-haikyuu-dump · 4 months ago

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The hyperfixation demons are screeching at me to write a comprehensive list of all the reasons I like Fukutora, so today I present to you "Ant ignores their responsibilites and spends several paragraphs explaining why Fukutora is peak despite them having roughly 10 seconds of shared screen time"

1. Contrasting Personalities In general their personalities fit together really well— Fukunaga barely speaks while Tora exclusively shouts at max volume and can't stfu to save his life, Tora's overly-intense and takes everything way too seriously while Fukunaga's cracking jokes in the middle of important games, they're even literal opposites on the court as the two wing spikers. Their differences compliment each other perfectly and because of that I think they'd grow a lot being together, Fukunaga would learn to open up and Tora would mellow out. Another good contrast is how Tora's all about looking cool and standing out while Fukunaga tends to blend into the background, which leads into my next point...

2. MY ROMAN EMPIRE (aka chapter 309) I know it's only two pages out of a 33 chapter match but i dont care, this scene makes me feral. I read the manga after watching Dumpster Battle, so imagine my suprise when my two favorite losers had a moment THAT GOT CUT FROM THE FUCJIGN MOVIE (I'm still salty, it should've been a full season).

Anyways these pages rooted their way into my brain because they show that even though Fukunaga goes unnoticed by most people (both in-universe and by readers) Tora realizes how great he is, and not only respects his play style but views him as a rival on the same level as himself. One thing I appreciate about Tora is that despite him being the stereotypical "strong manly athlete" type he doesn't think his methods are the best or only way of doing things; Fukunaga scoring points without "big fanfare" is just as cool as the shit he and Tanaka pull off. The phrasing "that I hafta surpass" could even imply that Tora sees Fukunaga as more than an equal, as someone who's ahead of him since he doesn't need to be flashy or loud to do amazing stuff.

Look at his smile on page two, bro's just excited to have someone who motivates him to keep pushing himself. And as we've learned from Kagehina: what's gayer than a rivalry?? All in all I think it's sweet that Tora notcies his efforts and admires him when few others do. Side Note, I've seen a translation of these that call them "Nekoma's Wings" and I think that's a sick nickname.

3. Bi Tora and Internalized Homophobia I love a good internalized homophobia arc, and characters like Tora that center so much around girls and manliness are some of the most fun to explore them with imo. You could say he's one of the least likely characters in hq to be queer since he's THE woman-lover next to Tanaka and Noya (and Yachi) but that's what makes it interesting—his gay awakening would hit like a tsunami and send him into life-ruining bi panic for months, especially since he's already such a mess when it comes to romance. He gives me the vibes of someone who has no problem with other people being gay but struggles when it comes to himself since it clashes with his conception of what it means to "be a man" or whatever. My point is he'd have the most intense no homo phase to grace this earth and I think that's both super funny and compelling for his character.

Also as a bi person myself it's kind of frustrating how bisexuality is treated online sometimes. It's annoying when a person's queerness is negated the moment they show attraction for the opposite gender, so headcanoning a character like Tora as a bi while still being openly into women makes me happy.

4. The Stage Play They're so silly in the stageplay. Why is he dragging him around by the feet? Why are they screaming at Kenma? Why is he constantly bopping him on the head in the background? WHY IS HE SERVING FACE IN THE PROMO PICTURES? So silly.

(Ignore how blurry these are lol) 5. Ant's Little Sister Bias This is a me thing, I like ships where one party has an annoying little sister who bothers them, sue me. Its cute. Akane and Fukunaga could have the most adorable friendship if you believe.

6. They Match Each Others Energy My first post about them was me rambling about this so just read that, TDLR they're both energetic menaces who match each other's freak.

7. Kenma's Forced Third-Wheel Purgatory Putting Kenma in a situation where Kuroo's graduated and his closest remaining friends are dating and constantly forcing him to third-wheel is just about the evilest thing you could do to the guy. He may be one of my favorites but this is well-deserved punishment for his crimes.

8. Baffled x Baffling Another ship dynamic I like a lot is when one person is unabashedly weird and the other thinks they're a total freak... but likes them anyways. They don't know why they like them. They can't explain it to anyone. Whenever the person does more weird shit they're like "why tf do I like you." But even so they're whipped as hell. Anyways Tora barely understands a single thing Fukunaga does and I think that makes for a funny crush to have.

9. Fukunaga's "Current Concern" Don't have much to add here, it's just proof to me that they hang out idc. Like why are you concerned about what he wants?? Kinda gay dude. Big fan of Fukunaga whispering to him and Tora answering at full volume so other people hear a one-sided conversation.

10. These Fics Before I knew this ship was even a thing I stumbled on these fics while browsing the Fukunaga tag, that's what got the gears turning:

• My favorite one, third-year shenanigans • Peak, need to be signed in tho • College AU • This one is mostly gen Fukunaga but the few moments they have are perfect (also really fun Nekoma interactions overall)

11. Other Miscellaneous Thoughts • Both of them being public figures/lowkey famous in timeskip is cute, like imagine them being each others' biggest fan before they make it big.

• Chef x guy who eats a lot is peak fiction. In this case they both eat a lot. Their grocery bill is a horror story.

• I know it's because characters are usually grouped by year and Kenma ditches them to sit with Kuroo but they're always together in the stands, pretty gay if you ask me

• I hc Fukunaga as genderfluid so Tora still gets his chance to be a wife guy. Him and Tanaka ranting to each other while Kiyoko and Fukunaga drink tea in peaceful silence.

• I think Fukunaga's the type to enjoy people watching and Tora's always doing something dumb. Observing him like a little bug under a microscope

• They're both so silly looking, cartoony ahh designs. I just think they'd make a funny couple visually, they're so square and stick to me if that makes any sense lmaoo

If you got through this whole post you're a real one, thanks for reading to my brain dump. I think about them every day and need more people to understand the vision

#im so passionate about them you don't even get it I DONT EVEN GET IT #It happened in a flash of lightning like a curse from the gods themselves #spent a whole afternoon on this cause i legitimately couldn't focus on homework till i got it out of my system #i need to get a psych evaluation pronto the ADHD is ADHDing #if you follow me for anything other than fukutora you're a saint for sticking around but also how did you get here #fukunaga shouhei #yamamoto taketora #fukutora #haikyuu!!#haikyuu #ant's rambling tag woo

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wttcsms · 6 months ago

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introverted, reserved reader x extroverted character who’s lowkey a bop is THE dynamic of the day. no, bc just imagine pro golfer!reader — right now, you are at your prime. perfect games, playing at peak performance, you’re number one in all of your tournaments. and you’re alone; there’s no one left in your league to really compete with + during your off season, there’s no one for you to spend your free time with. so you train. and you train. and then you train some more. but during a charity event game, you lose. horrifically. months before the start of a fresh season, you realize you are in a major slump that you can’t figure out how to get out of. it’s nothing physical, and your best friend/caddy/maybe only friend realizes that your block is all mental. there’s something bothering you & if you ever want to play well again, you need to figure it out.

so, your caddy takes you to a silly mini golf course, and while there, you meet character. he’s cocky and irritating and offers to help you on your swing & worst of all, he’s an athlete himself. how would he feel if you started mansplaining a kiddy version of his own sport? determined to crush him, you two compete against each other in mini golf and for the first time in forever, you realize halfway through that you’re actually smiling during the game. you can’t remember the last time you smiled while playing golf.

(you two enter a weirdly serious situationship where he’s too scared of fully committing bc he’s worried he’ll somehow fuck things up with you + you’ve never been with a guy ever, so you’re clueless on how a courtship should even go)

#this is such an atsumu plot but ITS NOT FOR HIM #only atsumu would look a pro golfer in the face and still challenge them to a mini golf competition

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katarandaa · 15 hours ago

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The Augmentor part 1

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Pairing: F! reader x Sevika

Set in season 1 between act 1 & 2.

Augmentor: Someone who specializes in augmenting the human body with mechanical or Shimmer-enhanced parts.

Summary: You’re a well-known augmentor in Zaun who - through your sibling Ran - take on a special commission to make Sevika a mechanical prosthetic after her accident.

CW: alcohol use, swearing, smoking,

Word count: 4.2k

AN: this is my first Arcane fic! It's a bit long, but I'm FINALLY happy with it after working on it slowly for WEEKS. This is basically just my MDD universe lol. (There will probably be a part 2). Hope you enjoy ~

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The music from your speakers was blasting in your workshop, you were bopping your head to the beat while working on a rusty prosthetic leg a customer had dropped off for you to fix. Smoke filled your nostrils as the cigarette you put out in your ashtray didn’t completely extinguish. You didn’t hear the elevator doors open and someone entering your workshop until the volume of your music dropped. You quickly turned around to face the elevator to see Ran through your goggles standing by the speaker.

“Ran!” You propped the goggles you were wearing onto your head and smiled at seeing your sibling dropping by for a surprise visit. “Didn’t expect to see you in here today. Your hand need a fix?”

“Hey, no, I actually have something to ask of you,” Ran said as they made their way down the steps into your shop. You put your tool down and spun around on your stool to face Ran, inviting them to keep talking.

“So, you need to hear me out on this one, YN - I need you to do a commission, -” Ran said and leaned on one of your workbenches.

“I don't know Ran; you know I don't really do commissions anymore. Just doing repairs is so much better,” you said the second you heard them say commission, turning your attention back to fixing the metal leg laid out on your workbench.

You had stopped accepting commissions after overworking yourself, and now you ran your business only doing repairs and occasionally some modifications for people who already had mechanical prosthetics. Doing commissions wasn’t easy work, it took months of work, long hours, loads of people involved and a lot of planning, so you decided to take a step back and work on a much smaller scale.

Ran walked closer to you. “It’s an important request, and I seriously need you to consider doing this job. I told them about your work. We really think you’re the best augmentor in Zaun for this job.” Ran flexed their prosthetic hand, which you had made for them several years ago. You sighed again and glanced at their hand before continuing your work.

“It’s a request from Silco - Sevika needs a mechanical prosthetic,” your heart jumped at the sound of her name. “I know you heard of her accident. They know of your previous work, and they want you to do it; they specifically requested you. The pay is really good, it’s from Silco’s pockets, so you’ll be compensated for your time and hassle, and then some.” Ran really tried to sell you this gig, and you could feel the desperation in their voice. “And I know you have a thing for Sevika, you know-”

“I do not!” you interrupted Ran and snapped your head in their direction. “What makes you say that?!”

“YN, she’s totally your type, and I’ve noticed the way you look at her and act whenever she’s nearby - you get all stiff and nervous.”

You stayed quiet for a moment. “Is it that obvious?” You almost whispered.

“To me it is,” Ran smirked.

You had met Sevika several times at The Last Drop whenever you were out drinking with Ran or your friends. You had never really spoken, but you knew that she knew who you were; all the shared glances, the drinks sent to your table, thanking her by raising your glass in her direction, your blushing and fiddling. You had always been too nervous to approach her; she seemed to distant, and so unattainable.

“Fuck,” you muttered and couldn’t help but crack a smile. “ I don't know. It’s always too much work doing commissions - the clients always have way too high expectations, they never respect the timeframe I give them, they don't pay what they owe. It’s always such a hassle,” you explained, sliding the goggles off your head and running a hand through your hair. “Plus, if it’s for Sevika I’m gonna be all nervous, what if affects my work and I don't deliver her a good product?”

“YN, it’s gonna be fine. Just do what you’re good at. Please just come meet with them, have a chat about your conditions and the pay. I already told them I would talk to you and bring you in for a meeting tonight.”

You tilted your head back and sighed hard, looking over at Ran. “Ok, fine,” you said, and Ran quickly muttered a quiet “yes”.

Ran came running towards you and wrapped their arms around yours. “You’re gonna do great, I know it.” You wrapped your arms around Ran and squeezed before getting up, both of you disengaging from the hug. “And, maybe you and Sevika can get to know each other a little better-”

“Ran!” You interrupted them and hit them playfully on their arm. “Inappropriate! She’s my customer at this point.”

"Alright, fine,” Ran chuckled. “Just, don't promise them anything you can’t deliver. And don’t let them rush you.” Ran squeezed your arm.

“Don't worry, I won’t. Let’s just go.”

The atmosphere at The Last Drop was calmer than usual. The last time you visited was to get a few drinks after work with Ran on a busy night. The same night you had seen Sevika sitting at her usual table, cards in hand and a hefty sum of coins in front of her, the other men around the table looking stressed out with their heads in their hands.

Ran leads the two of you through the bar and up the stairs towards Silco’s office. Outside the door were two guards keeping an eye on the people passing by. They saw Ran and opened the door for the two of you, one of them following you inside.

Inside the office, Silco sat at his desk, and Sevika to your left, sitting on the sofa, a cigarette in her mouth and a whiskey bottle and a glass on the table in front of her. You also noticed that her hair was down, and not in her usual half up half down hairdo; it looked good - maybe even cute.

Ran greeted the two with a nod and closed the door behind you.

“Ran, good to see you,” Silco said from the other side of the room, a cloud of smoke swirled around him from his cigar. “This is the augmentor?”

“Yes, sir. This is YN. She’s agreed to come talk over some terms and hear more about the job.” Ran said and sat down at a round table to the right side of the room. You were stood in the middle of the room as you felt Sevika’s eyes on, leaving your stomach in knots.

Silco looked over at you and stood up from his chair behind the desk and walked in front of it. “Alright. What are these… conditions?” He pointed his hand, which had his cigar resting between his fingers, towards you for you to speak.

“Well, first of all, I’m gonna need to know exactly what you’re commissioning,” you said and put your bag on the floor beside the low table to your left. “I’m assuming it’s not just a mechanical prosthetic.” You crossed your arms over your chest and peeked at Sevika, your eyes met for a brief moment before you looked away, to her left arm, or whatever was left of it, which was covered by her cloak.

Silco quickly took the word: “You’re right. It’s going to be used for fighting, as well as just being a prosthetic. Enhance its strength with shimmer, in a way that makes it more responsive and lethal. Find a way for shimmer to be injected into Sevika’s bloodstream in small doses. Obviously it needs to be sturdy and durable; it needs to withstand blows and return them twice as hard. The attachment needs to be secure - no risk of it coming loose, but make sure it's flexible enough for her to move freely. You’re making a weapon, not an ornament. This sound like something you could do?”

You suddenly felt a little nervous having everyone’s eyes on you, waiting for your response. You looked at Silco.

“Of course, not a problem. But if I am to agree to this, I have a couple of terms. I have my own team of doctors and surgeons who are experienced with installing mechanical prosthetics. And if you want the commission to be done faster, I expect a supply of shimmer. I also want one month pay up front before starting the mech.”

Silco was looking at you as you named your terms, almost threatening. “And a few free drinks from your bar would be nice... Sir,” you added. You heard a light chuckle from Sevika at your last comment.

Silco and Sevika exchanged a look before Sevika broke the silence. “Sounds like reasonable terms to me, sir.” She took a swig from her glass, finishing her drink.

“I can get behind your terms. But I need to know an approximate timeframe,” Silco said as he took a puff of his cigar.

“Usually for mechs like this, the planning and design will take about a week, the manufacturing of the arm itself will take anywhere from three to six weeks. Then there’s the installation, recovery and physical adaptation, which I’m guessing in total will be about three weeks at max, but I’m gonna have to hear with my doctors on that one. So, in total, if everything goes to plan, about two months. But with some shimmer, I will be able to work faster and more efficiently, and Sevika’s healing period will also be sped up.”

A silence grew in the room. You could tell Silco was digesting what you just explained. “I imagine that you probably want this to be done much faster, but good work takes time. I promise you that I will make this commission my top priority moving forward. But I’m not going to rush this to a point where I feel like my craftsmanship gets diminished.”

Another silence fell over the room until Silco broke it. “Alright, you’ve got yourself a job, YN. Don’t disappoint me. I will supply you with shimmer. Don't forget that I want it done as soon as possible.” Silco voice way low, almost threatening. He turned his back to you and sat back down behind his desk. “When will you be able to start?”

“I can have you come over to my workshop tomorrow so I can have a proper look at you,” you said and looked at Sevika - she nodded in agreement.

“Great. You two have a plan. You,” Silco said, pointing at the guard standing behind you by the door. “Get the girl her pay.” The guard nodded and left the room, shutting the door behind you.

“I’m gonna need your address,” Sevika leant forward and looked at you with an intimidating look, taking a long puff of her cigarette and exhaling it through her nose. She looked really good. Fuck. You tried to push your thoughts aside; you had to remain professional.

“Oh! Right, of course!” Your nerves had gotten to you. You grabbed your notebook and pencil from your bag on the floor and scribbled down your name and the address, the name of your workshop, as well drawing a quick silly doodle at the end of it out of habit and handed the note to Sevika.

“You enter through what looks like a tinker’s shop, or a salvage shop, you’ll see a sign that says Junk and Joints and loads of scrap in the windows - can’t miss it. Just tell whoever’s in there you’re there for me and they’ll send you down,” you explained. You thought you saw a slight smile tug at Sevika’s lips as she looked at your note.

The door opened and the guard came back with two pouches in his hands. He walked over to Silco who was sitting at his desk reading over some paperwork. Silco looked at the pouches, squinted and waved his hand before looking back down at his papers. The guard walked over to you and dropped the two heavy pouches on the table in front of you. “Your pay.” The guard said and exited the room again.

“Ooh, thank you…” you muttered and looked inside them. In one of them was your money. In the other, vials of shimmer, looking to be enough to last you about two weeks. You put them in your bag along with your notebook.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she looked up at you and gave you a slight nod, her face back to being stern with her cigarette hanging from her lips.

Your heart fluttered for a second before speaking. “Yeah, I’ll see you.” Ran came up behind you and put their hand on your shoulder and walked towards the door. You quickly flung the now heavier bag over your shoulder and exited the office with Ran.

As you heard the door shut behind you, Ran turned to you. “You did good. They seemed to like you.”

“Were you concern they wouldn’t?” you said playfully as you walked down the metal staircase.

“No, not really, but they don't fuck around. You would know if they didn’t like you.”

“Shit ok, I’m glad you didn’t tell me that beforehand - I wouldn’t be able to keep my cool.” You walked to the front door before stopping and turning to Ran. “I’m gonna head to the shop and get started on some ideas. I’ll see you soon.”

“Good luck,” Ran gave you a quick hug. “See you!” You waved at Ran and headed out.

You were sitting at your workbench doodling in your notebook with a cigarette between your lips - your music was playing from your speaker, but this time it didn’t drown out the sound of the elevator arriving at your floor. You felt your heart race as you saw Sevika stepping into your workshop.

“This a good time?” she asked and looked around.

You shot up from your stool and picked your cigarette from your mouth. “P-perfect time! Please, have a seat in my so called - living room,” you stammered and gestured to the other side of the room; an old sofa and two armchairs, and a small run-down coffee table with a few old mugs, an empty wine bottle, a candle and an ashtray.

Sevika walked over and sat down on the sofa against the wall as you hurried over to your speaker to turn the music down, now barely audible.

“Alright, so, I’m gonna ask some questions and I’m gonna need some measurements after,” you walked over to ash your cigarette in the ashtray and took a seat in one of the armchairs, notebook and a pencil in hand.

“I got the whole ‘mechanical shimmer arm that deals possibly fatal blows’ shtick,” you waved your hands in the air as you spoke, “but do you have any other requirements that I should know of before I start?”

“The most important part is functionality. If it can’t win me a fight, it’s useless,” Sevika lit a cigarette, taking a long drag from it before continuing. “It needs to have some sort of buff to it.”

“Shimmer can help enhance the hits by hydraulic force, and as Silco requested, I’ll integrate a shimmer system for both injection, infusion and storage - so I don't think you can get more fit for fight than that.”

She nodded. “It also needs to be durable – I don't want you skimping out on the materials here,” she said in a demanding tone. “Don't have the time to constantly come in for repairs. I need reliability with this thing.”

You nodded your head and smirked. “Of course, only the best.”

Sevika scoffed and took another drag from her cigarette. “And it can’t be too heavy, I’m gonna be wearing it outside of combat as well. So don't go too crazy with your fancy mats.”

“Sure, no problem,” you spent a few minutes jotting down some more ideas in your notebook.

“I made an exception for you, y’know.” You broke the silence.

“That so? Why?”

You shrugged. “I stopped doing commissions, but Ran practically begged me to take this job. And when I heard it was for you, the decision was kind of a no-brainer – it seemed important, so I wanted to help.”

Sevika scoffed, smoke from her cigarette exiting her nostrils. “You and Ran close?”

“You could say that,” you smiled and kept your eyes on your notes. “Alright, if that’s all, I wanna get some measurements of you while you’re here,” you said as you stood up and walked over to your workbench to get some tools, as well as a whiskey bottle you spotted on your shelf.

“You want a drink?” you asked and held up the bottle.

“Sure.” She fumbled with the buckle of her cloak for a few seconds before getting it, she swiftly slid it off and left it on the sofa arm. Under her cloak she was wearing a tank top, revealing her broad shoulders.

You grabbed two clean cups from your shelf. “It’s nothing fancy, just some stuff one of my customers brings along whenever she visits for repairs,” you explained as you walked over to the sofa where Sevika was sitting and put the cups and the bottle on the table. You nervously sat down on her left side and poured the two of you a drink, Sevika immediately finishing hers.

Sevika shrugged. “Not bad. I’ve had worse.”

You took a sip of your drink before turning towards Sevika to finally have a look at her.

It wasn’t the first time you had seen an amputee; you had seen several people having lost anything from legs and arms, to hands, feet, fingers, even noses. Prosthetics was your most common request when you took commissions, and you keep repairing all sorts of prosthetics. But Sevika’s amputee scar looked different. The scar had healed nicely and it looked fine - besides the blue lines going from her healed wound up her shoulder and neck to her cheek, and over her chest, her tank top hiding the full extent of it. They looked like scars, and they almost had a blue shine to them. It kind of looked like she had been struck by lightning. You had never seen anything like it; it looked cool, but you would never dare tell her that.

Sevika leant forward refilling her cup with whiskey as you gently touched her shoulder, she briefly flinched at your touch and gave you a nasty side eye, but didn’t pull away.

“I’m gonna have to touch you, y’know,” you said, your voice almost a whisper.

Sevika scoffed and picked up her cup, bringing it to her lips. “As you please,” she muttered and glanced at you. You felt your cheeks go warm at her comment.

Her shoulder was stiff, but you couldn’t tell if it was because of the amount of muscles this woman had, or her being uncomfortable because she was showing you something vulnerable - or maybe a mix of the two. She probably wore the cloak for a reason.

You got on with the prep work, pulling out your measuring tool to measure her shoulder, jotting down the numbers as well as thoughts and ideas in your notebook, even things you might not even need, just to be sure.

“Could you stand up for me?” you asked and stood up, holding out your measuring tool.

Sevika looked up at you and hesitated for a moment before ashing her cigarette in the ashtray on the table and getting up. You almost gasped at her big frame and height as she stood up in front of you, she glanced down at you, waiting for you to do your thing.

Sevika kept her eyes on you with a stern look as you stepped onto the table to get better access.

“Hold out your arm for me?” you asked quietly. She obeyed, and you measured the length of her arm, as well as the width, quietly muttering the numbers so you would remember.

“How close?” Sevika broke the silence.

“What?”

“You and Ran.”

You chuckled at the fact that Sevika had been thinking about your earlier mention of the two of you being close. “Oh, we grew up together – we’re siblings. Their parents took me in when I was a kid.”

You wrapped the measuring tool around her neck and put your hand behind her to grab onto the tool, looking at the measurement.

“People often think we’re a couple. We don’t quite look alike, but if you know we’re siblings you can tell how our demeanors are similar. And we have the same laugh.”

Standing this close you could smell her; she smelled woody, like cigarettes and whiskey. So hot. You gave her a quick glance and saw that she was looking directly into your eyes, and you couldn’t help but feel a small smile tug at your lips.

You snapped out of the moment and stepped down from the table, grabbed your notebook from the table and wrote down the measurements.

You heard a sigh from Sevika as she sat back down. “What the hell are all these measurements for anyway? Aren’t you just making me an arm?” Sevika asked and grabbed her drink.

“A lot of these are just-in-case-numbers; I don't wanna be running around Zaun trying to find you in case I missed a measurement.” You sat back down and kept your notebook in your lap.

“You don't?” Sevika smirked and took another sip of her drink.

You could feel your cheeks get hot again. “Not really, no,” you chuckled. “But if you’re not running around doing Silco’s dirty work, you’ll probably be at The Last Drop.”

“You might be right about that.”

“But – to answer your question, there are a lot of things that go into making a prosthetic arm. I want to get the size of the mech right; don't want it to be loads smaller or larger than your other arm. And I’m gonna be making you a harness.” You took a swig from your drink.

“What am I gonna be needing a harness for?” Sevika asked, her tone was as sharp as usual.

“When you get your arm surgically attached, you’re gonna have to keep it in a harness for a few weeks while it heals. And the weight and feel of the arm is also gonna take some time to get used to - don't wanna fuck up your shoulder. It’s just for the first few weeks,” you explained, keeping your eyes on your notebook. “I don't doubt your strength, but it will get tiring, no matter your physique,” you pointed towards her with your pencil. “Especially if you’re gonna be fighting with this thing.”

“Guess you have a point,” Sevika muttered. “But I can’t be completely useless for too long. I have shit to do - business to deal with.”

“I know you do, but you have to take the healing period seriously. If it doesn’t heal right you’re just gonna make this take even longer.” Your tone was strict.

Sevika just scoffed and took a swig from her cup. Her hand was so big compared to the cup, her fingers to long and her fingernails pristine, which was kind of surprising. You sat there observing her for a few seconds before snapping out of your trance.

“I-uh, have everything I need from you, at least for now,” you put your notebook on the table. “I want you to come back when the first part of the prototype is done so I can make sure it’s a good fit for your shoulder before we commit to anything. Then you’ll also be able to have a look at the blueprints - see if you like the design and stuff.” You leant back into the sofa, putting one leg up, your knee to your chest.

“Sounds good. When do you think that’ll be?” Sevika dragged her cloak back around her shoulders and fumbled with the buckle for a few seconds.

“I think I’m gonna need about a week to design and plan all of it, and about one or two more weeks to make the first parts of the prototype, depending on how long the shimmer Silco supplied will last me.”

“You know how to reach me?” Sevika turned her head to look at you, her face stern, but not intimidating as usual.

“I’ll find a way, but I’m guessing I’ll find you at your usual spot at The Drop.”

“Oh yeah? My usual spot?” Sevika smirked.

“Yeah, I know where you like to sit. Seen you gamble and put some of those crude old men to shame,” you said and chuckled lightly.

“You calling my men crude?”

“Yeah, I am.” You smiled smugly.

“Hm. You might be right,” she grabbed her cup and finished her drink. “Guess I gotta get back to my crude men.” She stood up from the sofa, the weight of her moving shifting you slightly.

“Alright, you do that. I’ll see you in a few weeks!”

“See you.” Sevika gave you a nod and a smirk as she got into the elevator.

#arcane #sevika #sevika x reader #sevika x you #sevika arcane #arcane sevika #arcane fanfic #arcane fic #arcane fandom #sevika x female reader #sevika my love #sevika x y/n #fanfiction #fanfic

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hamliet · 1 year ago

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Hazbin Hotel Has Better Theology Than Most Modern "Christian" Stories

As a Christian who was raised in a fundie cult and escaped to now have a far healthier and vital faith, I genuinely really like this show. The songs are bops. The characters are well crafted and interesting, and likable too. The art design is bizarre but appealing.

And, as a theology nerd who studied theology as part leaving said cult and also has since gotten papers published in theology, I'm actually fairly impressed by the show's handling of theology.

No, I'm not expecting the story to preach or even like, be explicitly Christian in a lot of ways. But it's taking a lot of the really beautiful aspects of Christian theology and re-contextualizing them in a way designed to provoke thought: by juxtaposing them with the antithesis of what you would think, by making demons heroes. In my opinion, this makes the beauty shine brighter.

Yeah, yeah, it's designed to be offensive and obscene in a lot of ways. Yet, it's never (thus far) mean-spirited. On the contrary, it seems to have a big, beating heart at its core that is perhaps best embodied by Charlie Morningstar, its protagonist and the daughter of Lucifer and Lilith.

Critique of the Church, with Caveats

The story works best with an interpretation that heaven isn't actually heaven or God (who has been conspicuously absent), but instead as a critique of the church. Specifically, the evangelical American church, and specifically, white evangelicals. (Same as She-Ra's premise, actually).

God's absence therefore makes sense, because while Christians do believe God is present as a living reality among us, we also can't like, see him physically now. So, God being not even mentioned in HH makes it seem more like a mortal reality rather than an immortal one. Honestly I kinda hope God doesn't appear in the story, not only because I think it could cross some lines (which is admittedly personal), but also because I don't see that the story really needs it.

Adam in particular reminds me of every "theobro" on Twitter (I'm not calling it what you want me to, El*n). Basically a dudebro coopting his supposed salvation to flex in an often misogynistic way, who doesn't realize that he has absolutely no love in him and therefore is actually a worse human being than everyone he condemns on the regular.

(Which is kind of why I'm expecting Adam to wake up in hell next season...)

Think red hats. And Mark Driscoll. And, I have a list of pastors. Sigh. They advocate for how "simple" Christianity is, except they themselves make it ridiculously complicated and don't even examine what they suppose is "simple" if it requires them to take the planks out of their own eyes. "Shallow" is a better description of what they actually preach.

But what sends people to hell or heaven anyways?

Eschatology and Atonement Theory

Hazbin Hotel combines a lot of theories, throwing not only the idea of a physical hell (albeit mixed with Dante's idea of what hell is the Inferno, but to be fair a lot of the church has adopted that idea too) but the idea of annihilation, which HH calls "extermination."

See, in Christianity, there's a lot of debate about hell. Like, since 2000 years ago. The reason is because a lot of Bible verses seem to indicate hell, but others indicate the eventual redemption and salvation of absolutely everything in the universe, so you have Christian universalism tracing itself back just as long. But, setting aside universalism, people who do believe in hell tend to fall into one of two camps:

Physical hell, aka suffering for eternity, or annihilation: the idea that souls that aren't saved end up annihilated, or snuffed from existence. HH combines both of them, wherein everyone lives in hell but then every so often heaven "exterminates" a certain number of sinners.

And then you also have Catholic purgatory, which is also adapted in HH in that... for most Christians, physical hell doesn't offer the ability to redeem yourself. Chance over, you're dead. But, Catholic Christianity, which draws on ideas of praying for the dead, has the idea that people can improve themselves or be prayed out of it and into heaven. This seems to be somewhat similar to the idea of Charlie's hotel, in that sinners can improve, redeem themselves, and rise to heaven.

And, I mean, it's already kinda worked. Sir Pentious acted out Jesus' words: Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).

But anyways, the branch of theology that deals with the afterlife is eschatology. And Hazbin Hotel takes on a related form of theology as well, a type of theology I've only seen covered in stories once before (The House in Fata Morgana): atonement theory.

Atonement theory is something I remember well from my theology 101 class, as in I remember sitting with a friend and her turning to me and being like, "okay, so we know Jesus' death and resurrection give us eternal life, but we have no idea how or why?" To which the answer was "basically, yeah."

Most of the white, American evangelical church is very "penal substitutionary atonement," but the reality is that this theory has only been popular for the past few hundred years. It's also, imo, somewhat scripturally unsound. But there are a lot of other theories, and sometimes the theories overlap. Here's a fairly decent summary. (I'm in general a believer in Christus Victor.)

So how does atonement theory tie into Hazbin Hotel? Well, essentially the scene where Charlie and Vaggie are debating with Emily, Sera, Adam, Lute, and others in heaven is them going over various atonement theories and realizing that they actually know nothing at all. How does one get to heaven? How is one saved? They don't know.

Sera criticizing Emily for asking questions was also very relatable, and I feel for Sera. She's genuinely scared but the truth will set you free, Sera. John 8:32. Anyways, the point is like... the angels are an organized religion, an evangelical church, that preaches about simplicity but mistakes shallowness for simplicity and discourages depth and discovery.

Anyways, the whole crux of theological study and atonement theories is that they should promote humility. We don't know for certain on this side of the curtain. That's okay. So what do we have to guide us?

Love. After all, God is love (1 John 4:8).

Charlie is Jesus

"Why would you endanger your immortal life for these sinners?"

Adam, the absolute worst, says the above to Charlie in the finale.

I mean... look. That's literally the premise of Christianity. That the immortal son of God comes down to earth, lives with sinners, loves us, and dies to save us. However that happens. Charlie even responds:

"They're my family!"

In other words, she loves them. Yeah, sure, they're destined for extermination, but they are going to be exterminated over her dead body.

In a lot of branches of Christianity, and even in some creeds--though I'm going to give into my pet peeves here and state that it is NOT Scriptural and relies on the faulty assumption that God is bound by time, when I think God exists outside of it--state that Jesus descended into hell after his death and took all the souls of people who were saved prior to his coming to earth to heaven. Again, I think that's small-minded at best. But, the idea that Charlie is working among them to bring them to heaven is pretty reminiscent of this idea. And I don't hate it lol.

Charlie sees worth inherent in everyone, and no matter what they've done, thinks there's a future for them. Honestly we need people like her on this earth.

Angel Dust

Angel Dust is clearly my favorite character. Bite back your shock, I know (I have a type). But his name is also a fascinating multi-layered pun.

Angel is clearly foreshadowing his endgame. Let's be real, we all know Angel is ending up as an angel. And "angeldust" is of course a name for PCP, and considering Angel's drug habits, yeah.

But, dust also has another meaning to it. See, when Adam was created in Genesis 2:7, the words in Hebrew are "apar min ha'adamah," which is translated literally as "dust of the ground." So the dust is what creates Adam, literally "ground."

In other words, I very much expect Angel Dust to end up being foiled with Adam even more so. Adam might be the first man, but Angel is the first sinner working towards redemption. And let's be real, for all Angel's flaws, he's already a better person than Adam. And if there's any hope for Adam (not that I particularly care if there is but) it'd be through realizing that he and Angel aren't actually different after all. Conversely (and not necessarily mutually exclusively), Angel might serve as a more symbolic "adam" in that he becomes the person all sinners look to for hope. Which, y'know, since "the last Adam" is also a Scriptural term for Jesus...

And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:45).

I fully expect Angel's arc, alongside Charlie's, to bring life and redemption for everyone around them. Maybe, maybe even the dramatic "all" of Colossians 1:20 (which means, literally, all, everything, everywhere, in the entire universe).

Closing Thoughts

But honestly, regardless of how the story ends--besides that it will presumably end happily because HH is at its core feel-good despite being profane--season one at least has got good theology. Why? Because it's digging into the questions that theology is concerned with. It's digging into the ideas of human nature, of what it means to be a good person, of what it means to redeem oneself, of affirming how precious each individual human soul is.

It doesn't offer cheap answers, and it specifically calls out the white American evangelical church for how it purports to be simple but actually just confuses people and punishes them for things they can't help, that creates more stumbling blocks than it does shine a light. And it does it in a way that is scandalous. Offensive to many religious people.

But, y'know, Jesus was pretty scandalous too.

So I really love the story so far because it emphasizes what I find so beautiful about my religion, and criticizes the parts that have also hurt me. I don't think it's remotely aiming to be a Christian allegory or anything like that, and I don't at all think anyone has to be religious to enjoy it or gain the core message of it, but I do think that it's doing a hell of a lot more good in the world message-wise than most evangelical movies of the past 30 years.

#hazbin hotel #hamliet reviews #theology #christianity #charlie morningstar #jesus #angel dust #angel hazbin hotel

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spidybaby · 2 years ago

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Wenassss.... Can I request something? Maybe just having a nice evening with his parents and brother while Pedri is being soft with you in front of them and they just love you and your guys relationship? Pleaseeee

It's okay if you don't want to do it, I'm just in need of fluffly Pedri, I'm having some mean cramps and I cant think of anything else but this🥴 also take your time, ten un buen dia/tarde/noche.

Baecation

Summary: Your boyfriend family loves the way your relationship is, always taking care of each other.

Warnings: none ❤️

A/N: Ay mami, I was supposed to post this a few days (weeks) ago, but I hope you're good and don't have cramps anymore. Btw sorry, I was MIA but now I'm not 💋 also special thanks yo my girl @gaviandgrizisgirl luv u 💛

"If you can be an animal for a day, what animal would you be?" You ask Pedro, you're drinking a piña colada while Pedro is drinking a strawberry drink. "I would be a shrimp."

"A shrimp?" Pedro laughs, he thought you would answer with a dolphin, an elephant, or even with a butterfly. Not a shrimp.

You nod, laughing at his confused expression.

You both are in Tenerife enjoying vacation. Well, you're enjoying vacation, Pedri is recovering and training for the pre season and the US Tour.

"Yes, my friend," you say, sticking your tongue out. He kisses your temple, thinking that maybe that piña colada is hitting. "So, you would be what?"

"I, my friend," he says, making fun of the way you call him friend. "Would be a."

"A donkey." Fer scream from the pool. Adrian and Paula laughed, and Pedri gave him the finger. "It was funny, admit it."

"You'll be the most cute donkey." You grab his hand, kissing it multiple times. "Fer would be a cookroach. Those are ugly just like him."

They all erupt in laughs. That piña colada was definitely hitting. "Oh, preciosa, you're the best." He pulls you to him, hugging you and kissing your temple.

"That was mean." Fer says. He loves making Pedro mad, even tho he wasn't the easiest to make mad. Pedro has this soft spot for him.

"It kind of was." Adrian joins the conversation, "but you were a bitch, Fercito." He hit Fer in the head and goes back to Paula, his girlfriend.

"I was mean," you admit. "I'm sorry, Fer. I think you would be a killer whale." You say. He thinks about it for a while and smiles happy about it.

"And you, golden boy." You bop his nose with every word. "You would be a panther." You joke knowing that since he saw Black Panther II, he mentioned he wanted a panther.

He shakes his head, laughing at how you can remember everything. "Would you be a panther with me, or would you be the shrimp on my plate?" He asks, lips on your neck.

"Noup, still a shrimp." You say, making him laugh even harder.

Fer looks at you, smiling. He's happy for his brother because he found somebody who loves him and cares for him. He knows your relationship is a healthy one.

"Pedro, those drinks are allowed for you?" Fer asks, since he's the chef for his brother, he knows the diet and restrictions Pedro has.

"I'm going to get one more drink, and I'm done." Pedro says, even tho he wasn't drinking alcohol like the rest, he was drinking more sugar than what he was supposed to.

"Let me go get you that." You say, stopping him from getting up. He kisses your cheek, thanking you for doing that.

You walk inside the house, finding Rosy and Fernando talking and helping each other with the making of dinner for everyone.

"Hi, do you guys need any help over here?" You place the empty cup, grabbing the strawberry mix and pouring more for your boyfriend.

"No, mija, you can go back. We're fine here." Fernando says, cutting some vegetables.

"Are you sure?" You ask again. "Let me take this to Pedro and I'll be back to help you."

Even they tell you that it's okay, you know they need some help. You grab the cup back and walk outside.

"Gracias, preciosa." He says, grabbing the cup. "Come sit, I want to show you something."

You shake your head no. "I'm going to help your parents in the kitchen, show me later?" Your hand in his hair, caressing his brown locks.

He nods, and you go back inside. Rosy and Fernando are talking about a new thing for the tasca. "I'm back, let me help you with the dip."

You chat with them for a while, they ask you about your classes and about your family. "Tell your mother I want that cake recipe."

When you met the González López you brought a cookie dough cheesecake. Rosy fell in love with it, well they all did.

"I can make it. We can get the things tomorrow and prepare it." You suggest, cooking with him was one of your favorite things. She taught you so much, and you were happy to bond with her with that. "Pedro might hate us for preparing it while he's on a diet."

In that moment, Pedro joined the three of you. "And what exactly are you making?" He asks, curious.

"No seas chismoso." Fernando laughs, patting his son back. "Venga, entra ya que iré a llamar a los demás." (Don't be noisy, get inside, I'm calling the rest.)

He walks over you, you're finishing a dressing for his salad, he grabs your waist, positioning himself behind you, kissing your shoulder. "What is that?"

You explain all the dishes you helped Rosy prepare, and explain to him about the salad and dressing you saw on tik tok. It was good because it didn't break any of his diet rules.

Rosy paid attention to the too of you, loving how you cared so much about him to the point of remembering what can and can't he eat.

"And this chicken is made specially for you, it's less greassy for your salad." You finish explaining. Pedro, thank you and help setting the table.

Fer, Adrian and Paula walk inside, laughing at some joke Fernando told them. They went to change since they couldn't sit with wet clothes at the table.

In the end, Adrian and Paula ended up leaving. They were invited to dinner by Paula's family.

"I can't believe it." Fer says, acting hurt. "You're trying to take away my position as mom's helper."

You all laugh at how he says it. "Well, she's a really good helper and doesn't change the recipe." Rosy defends you.

"Plus," Fernando adds. "She's doesn't complain about chopping the vegetables."

"Es que ella es simplemente especial." Pedro, kiss your cheek. Making you blush. "Nadie como ella." (She's just simply special. Nobody like her.)

To you, it was still new the whole affection in front of his family, but to him, it wasn't. His parents were like that. Even his brother and his girlfriend were like that. You weren't as used to due to your family not being this affectionate with one another.

To them, you shouldn't be ashamed. They know how much Pedro loves you, always saying how special you're and how he's so in love.

Rosy and Fernando love the way you're with him, and obviously are proud that they raised a gentleman.

"I have to take care of you." You say as you pinch his cheek. "Now eat you salad."

"It's so unfair you guys have amazing meals, and I have pure salad and chicken." He says, even tho he's very disciplined with this diet and exercise, he's getting tired of seeing you all enjoying these amazing meals.

He told you that before, how sometimes he just wants to get a burger and some French fries, but he's focused on his goals to give up like that.

"Here, let's share some salad so you won't eat alone." You push the food Rosy prepared and grab a new plate to serve yourself salad and chicken just like him. "You see? Yummy."

The look Fernando and Rosy share is a surprise one, because not even them as his parents thought about doing that, not in a bad way, they always supported him in every way, but food is food.

"You must love this idiot a lot because I know you didn't just reject this whole delicious meal for that salad." Fer jokes. Making you laugh.

"We're a team, right preciosa?" Pedro ask you. Elevating his hand for you to high-five him.

"We are." You high-five him. Making his parents stare at you like aw. "Your mom and I are making a cookie dough cheesecake." You say to him.

The expression he has is a funny one. He can remember the taste and hate that he will not be able to eat it. "So unfair."

"I want to know." Fernando asks, looking at Fer and then at Pedro. "Which one of you is going to do the dishes?"

"Not me, I did them last night." Pedro says, lifting his hands. "It's his turn."

"I hate you. At the end you'll help me." Fer says, throwing a piece of bread at him. After that, the talk turned out about what's next for Pedro, the tour, the season.

You were about to help Fer with the table, but Rosy stopped you, telling you that you already helped enough in the kitchen.

She dismissed you, telling her son to take you away from the kitchen. "Vamos, tengo que mostrarte algo." He says, walking you both back to his room. (C'mon, I got to show you something)

You sit criss-cross on his bed. He did the same and pulled out his phone, "Look." He hands you some texts between Xavi and him about how you can go with him to the US Tour.

"No way." You say hugging him. "Pedro, no way."

The smile he has while looking at you all excited for going to the tour with his is one that can light up the whole sky.

"Es que eres increíble, gracias." You hug him again, laying on his lap and kissing his whole face. (You're so amazing, thank you)

"Everything for you." He says, kissing you back.

He knows you're not that used to public affection. Specifically around family, he remembers that one time you push him away because your little cousin walked into the kitchen.

The kissing session became more heated than expected. He was now on top of you, an unbuttoned shirt, and the straps from your blouse being down your shoulders are just the beginning.

His hands travel around your body, grabbing everywhere he can. "Eres hermosa." He humms before attacking your neck with his lips.

You try your best to silence the moans, not wanting his family to find out what you're doing. But the way he was touching and kissing you made it almost impossible.

Your nails scratch lightly on his shoulders, his shirt is on the floor now. It's now your turn to tease him. Kissing that soft spot that makes him crazy. "You have to be quiet, mi amor." You say.

His lips on you to silence the two of you. While your hands go to unbutton his shorts, his hands are pulling your shirt out of your head.

But three knocks on the door make the two of you jump scared. "Si?" Pedro is the one who talks.

"Mom and I want to show you guys something." His father says, "meet us downstairs."

Your heart is beating so fast that you feel like passing out. "We're so not doing this again." You say, walking to the bathroom to fix your clothes. "You need to fix yourself, Pedro." He buff, angry at the interruption.

Once you both calm down, you make your way to the living room where his parents are. "Did you call us?"

"Vengan, tengo unas fotos para mostrar." Rosy says, making room for you on the couch. "This is an old pic from our vacation." (Come here, I have some pictures to show)

You look at the pictures, finding them adorable. Both Pedro and Fer were so little and so adorable. "Back to the time when you used to listen to your parents." You joke looking at Fer.

Fernando laughs and gives you the reason. "Es que ere joyita, hijo. Hasta ella lo sabe." (You're something else, son. Even she knows it)

You love it when they share their memories with you. It makes the moments you spend with them so special.

"When we get time, we have to go print the pictures we took these days." Fernando says to Pedro. "We have to add them to the album."

"You'll have your first appearance in the album." Rosy tells you. "Don't repeat this, but Celine cried when she got into the album."

She whispers this so Fer couldn't hear it. Celine was Fer's girlfriend. She was so special and so lovely with all of them, even with you.

You're thankful for all the love they give you, always making you feel like one of them. "I'm so excited for my first picture on this album."

"Nothing to thank us, niña. We are the ones who had to thank you. For being always so special with our boy." Fernando says as he messed Pedro's hair.

"That's true. Thank you for loving our son so much." Rosy hugs you. "We know he can be a whole lot sometimes."

"Hey, don't give me a bad reputation." Pedro laughs. You grab his hand. Happy that you find your way with someone like him.

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brucebocchi · 28 days ago

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Ranking 2024 anime, Pt. 4: #20-11

hey, this post is also available on my ko-fi, so please check it out and consider tipping/donating as i do this for free and am currently between jobs. you can find part 1 of the list here, part 2 here, and part 3 here. thanks!

You know, I'd really planned to keep my re-reviews much shorter but I'm finding it harder to do so when I get into the anime I actually liked. Maybe that's a good thing.

And away we go.

20. Solo Leveling

Portal isekai, sad loser secretly gains crazy powers and instantly becomes a stoic gigachad, menu screens everywhere, entry-level power fantasy. You’ve seen it before. Honestly, Solo Leveling is total slop. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

If you’ve watched a couple isekai, like, ever, you’re not going to find much new here. There’s some interesting enough worldbuilding outside of the dungeon stuff; I did find myself intrigued by the level consideration given to how much this preponderance of portals would influence Korean economics and politics, and even moreso that much of the story so far revolves around how those corrupting powers can lead to hunters using dungeons as their own playgrounds for personal gain at others’ expense. There also seems to be a larger malefactor behind all of the menu screens driving protagonist Sung Jinwoo’s growth and titular leveling, so there’s the hook.

Even putting aside the few interesting parts of the otherwise boilerplate story, Solo Leveling both looks and sounds pretty darn good. The soundtrack is laden with Hiroyuki Sawano’s trademark build-ups and drops, and though the character art and dungeon designs aren’t always the most eye-catching (early on it did look like A-1 Pictures was going to default to “fuck it, we’re making money anyway” mode), the action animation goes absolutely bonkers in its best moments.

The second season is already up and running, and although I can barely remember anyone’s name outside of the protagonist (maybe that’s on me, I consume very little Korean media and am not great at retaining Korean names), I’m in this for the long haul. Great turn-your-brain-off action schlock.

19. Wind Breaker

At this point you could put a sign that says “DELINQUENT WITH A HEART OF GOLD” underneath a box-and-stick trap and I’d walk right in. I am not immune to your Josukes Higashikata, your Ryujis Sakamoto, what have you. The angry and violent type who will nevertheless stick up for what’s right and remain fiercely loyal to those they care about. Wind Breaker is rife with characters who fit that archetype, but it’s not exactly a delinquent anime so much as it’s a Dudes anime. More specifically, a Dudes Rock anime.

Yes, Wind Breaker’s ensemble cast is almost entirely Dudes, and they do indeed Rock. Protagonist Haruka is a self-inflicted outcast, and his tsundere ass does not appreciate all the positive attention he’s receiving after proving himself in street combat prior to his transfer to an all-delinquents high school. Nevertheless, he wants to fight his way to the top of his new environment, and if that means sticking up for the little guy along the way, all the better.

I love that Wind Breaker’s overarching messages of self-improvement and helping the weak without expecting a reward are basically anathema for the base power fantasies that largely come from light novels over the past decade and change, but even moreso that Haruka, loner that he is, keeps having to learn that he’s not going to get anywhere without surrounding himself with the right people and relying on their support. Battle shonen are usually pretty blatant with this stuff, but to see it spelled out so clearly in a series like this just hits right.

Wind Breaker looks terrific at just about every step, too. Every single thing I’ve seen from CloverWorks from the past few years has been a bop, which makes it that much more maddening that this is the studio that bungled the Persona 5 anime and supposedly botched The Promised Neverland in its second season. I get that not everything works out as planned sometimes but I find myself waiting for the other shoe to drop sometimes. I’m glad it’s been smooth so far, at least. Some pacing issues and a weird place to end the show, but I know for a fact I'll be there when this comes back in spring.

18. Laid-Back Camp, season 3

I am not immune to the Cute Girls Doing Cute Things genre, and when all is said and done I think Yuru Camp could very well stand alone at the top. A show this directly responsible for the uptick in camping culture and countryside tourism in Japan clearly holds some sway over pop culture, and it’s clearly deserved.

Returning to the present day after the 2022 film gave us a look at the Outdoor Club in adulthood, Yuru Camp’s third season gives us exactly what we wanted: More of the same. We largely focus on the solo expeditions of Rin, Nadeshiko, and the latter’s hometown friend Ayano as they trek to their collective meetup spot, and as the seasons change we get the entire gang together for some springtime hanami. It’s cute, it’s funny, it’s whimsical, it’s Yuru Camp. You know what you’re getting into at this point.

With studio Eightbit taking over the series in its third season, Yuru Camp still largely looks the same, and wonderfully so, but it can be a bit off at times: CGI vehicles look far more distractingly out-of-place, and for as gorgeous as the background art was in the first two seasons and movie, it can come across as a bit more uncanny this time out. I don’t know whether some of the shots of sakura branches were traced or run through some kind of AI post-processing from archival photos, and I hate to speculate on that, but given that this is the same studio that bafflingly under-animates the money printer that is Blue Lock, I can’t exactly put it past them.

Production quibbles aside, I can’t really complain about more Yuru Camp. It’s a bit lighter on plot than previous seasons, but this is a series that was light on plot to begin with. We get to spend time with these goofs, learn about camping and the Japanese countryside, and then maybe go touch grass ourselves. That’s a good message for a Cute Girls Doing Cute Things series to have: Go do your own cute things.

17. NieR: Automata Ver. 1.1a, part 2

The second half of this adaptation was going to be the metric by which fans of the 2017 action-RPG judged the whole work. The first half in 2023, covering the game’s A and B routes, was a solid if troubled production that did a good job of covering the narrative and action, even implementing surprising easter eggs from NieR Replicant along the way. Sloppy CGI integration in early episodes and a COVID-induced delay hampered things, though, so there were some nerves about the show’s return.

Any fears were quickly allayed once the second half of the series began, covering the real meat of the story in routes C-E. Ver. 1.1a immediately looked exceptional, with expressive character animation and fluid action sequences. Real pathos was instilled into the route’s early tragedies. Most welcome of all was the serious work put into expanding A2’s character and role in the story (as well as her backside). It felt like she’d gotten the short end of the stick narratively in the game, so it felt right to spend more time with her, tie her story in the present back to the past that was hinted at in the Resistance flashbacks, and just get to see her be a tsundere a couple times. I’m gonna have to go back and rewatch the whole series dubbed because I just know Cherami Leigh crushed it.

I’m of two minds about Ver. 1.1a as a whole: On one hand, this is just about as good an adaptation of the game as we probably could have gotten. On the other, a big part of what makes the NieR games’ narratives work so well comes from the fact that they could pretty much only be told through the framework of a video game. While Ver. 1.1a does a perfectly fine job of delivering the game’s narrative and providing its own take on the game’s extremely video-game-y ending, much of what makes NieR’s tragedies so impactful is the player’s agency (and occasional lack thereof) in these matters.

Nothing can replace actually playing NieR: Automata as a means of experiencing its story, but Ver. 1.1a is a darn good companion piece, and one that may even hint at the future of the Drakengard/NieR franchise. Now if only Yoko Taro would focus on something other than gacha games and death game anime for two seconds…

16. Train to the End of the World

The writer/director duo behind Squid Girl came back to give us one of the best and most bizarre original anime this year. Train to the End of the World is overtly and unapologetically weird, and that’s the way I like ‘em.

This weird and wonderful trek across a warped and wildly varied landscape dazzles the eyes and rots the brain in unexpected ways, but it’s a stellar character comedy through and through. Shuumatsu Train’s oddball protagonists are goofy, galaxy-brained, and sometimes flat-out mean in ways that only teenage girls can be. The dialogue is expertly written and some of the punchiest I’ve ever seen in anime. The girls bicker, mess with strangers, and engage in the kinds of inane conversations you only have when you’re the most bored you’ve ever been in your life.

While rarely laugh-out-loud funny, Train to the End of the World is intrinsically hilarious. The sheer absurdity on display is the kind that leaves you just shaking your head in disbelief. One episode they’re playing House of the Dead to get out of a real-life zombie situation, and in another they’re acting out their favorite fictional anime that you, the viewer, are just expected to know about already. It’s a stupid show in the smartest ways; a classical Homerian epic with ruminations on the future, but also one where the girls threaten to wipe out a Lilliputian colony by peeing on it. It’s both eschatological and scatological. With the recent discourse over modern adaptations and interpretations of The Odyssey, this anime might as well be the nuclear option.

Train to the End of the World was a standout in a strong spring season, but it didn’t shake out super high in a long and darn good year of anime. That’s fine and all, but I really hope it ends up attaining the cult hit status it seemed destined for.

15. Mayonaka Punch

This one had been distant on my radar for a couple of weeks after it premiered, but as soon as I found out it was a P.A. Works original, I picked it up immediately. Any original series by the studio that gave us Akiba Maid War’s glorious gut-wrenching insanity (as well as last year’s exceptional Skip and Loafer adaptation) is going to get my attention, and although Mayonaka Punch doesn’t quite reach the same highs as Akiba Maid War, it does try to match the latter’s most madcap moments.

I don’t have a better pitch than “Canceled YouTuber starts up a new channel with a house full of lesbian vampires,” nor do I really need one. Mayonaka Punch’s comedy largely revolves around the personality clash between the disaffected, avoidant Masaki and the pushy, hyperactive Live (who definitely wants Masaki for more than just her blood), but the whole cast is a riot. Throwing in a baby day trader, a taciturn fujoshi, and a big-titty pachinko fiend are just the right spices to make this a particularly tasty stew.

Chaos naturally ensues, and watching these women try to channel it into a successful YouTube channel is an easy recipe for comedy. Everyone has terrific chemistry and I was rapt with attention every time we got to learn more about each of these vampire girls’ history. What came as a huge surprise, though, was how potent some of the emotional hits ended up, even when it involved characters outside of the main pairing. The fact that the biggest one came in just the fourth episode was a masterstroke; I was already on board for the comedy but just like that I was fully invested in a character other than the one who wants to suck the protagonist dry. I’m not rephrasing that.

This one absolutely deserves to be a cult classic, and the door is left open just maddeningly enough at the end that I can only pray for more. Mayonaka Punch is a boatload of fun and deserves way more attention than it’s gotten. You can change that. Right now. Watch this show.

Prior to writing this, Fairouz Ai (Live’s voice actress and a huge presence in a handful of the shows I’ve already discussed) announced that she would be taking a hiatus from VA work following a PTSD diagnosis. I wish her all of the time, recovery, and support she needs.

14. Urusei Yatsura (2022), season 2

The opening salvo in the ongoing Rumiko Takahashi revival (weird thing to say about a mangaka who’s still alive and working, I know) returned this year for the second half of its “all-stars” run, marathoning us through retellings of the classic manga’s greatest hits, the oddest of its many oddballs, and its spectacular, heartfelt conclusion. More Lum is always a good thing.

I’ve written plenty about Urusei Yatsura’s remake following each cour except the first, and I don’t have much more to add at this point. It’s a classic for a reason and it laid the foundations for dozens of jokes, tropes, and standards that are fundamental to comedy in anime to this day. Even when some of the jokes may come off as trite or tropey, it’s easy to see just how and why it made Takahashi so successful. The exaggerated slice-of-life hijinks, outsized slapstick, and time-and-space surrealness are just as much of a treat as the deep, eclectic cast. And to top it all off, here’s Ataru and Lum being a couple of freaks who deserve each other.

Even though the 46-episode run certainly feels truncated compared to the 191 episodes, six films, and ten OVAs that came before it, David Production did a fine job of putting a modern touch on such a classic work and highlighting its strengths. And even though most of the run was an abridged run through the greatest hits, I’m really glad the studio made sure to dedicate the last few episodes to the manga’s final arc, bringing Lum and Ataru together in a beautiful and (briefly) satisfying climax.

And even for as satisfying as that ending was, it was nearly overshadowed by…

13. Ranma ½ (2024)

…the revival of Takahashi’s biggest hit.

Yes, right on the heels of the ending of the remake of her landmark romcom classic, came the announcement that her even BIGGER landmark romcom classic was also getting a remake. Ranma ½ is one of the hallmarks of 90s anime writ large, working late-80s Japan’s fascination with Chinese martial arts (partially due to Dragon Ball’s success) into a romantic-comedy framework that also accidentally served as the genesis of the harem genre. I’d somehow never actually engaged with Ranma prior to the remake, so I was happy to get in on a new ground floor and I was immediately sold.

As the youngest daughter of the Tendo Dojo, Akane Tendo is put in a predicament when her father betrothes her (at her sisters’ urging) to his friend’s son, Ranma Saotome. Though both are skilled fighters and a good match in that regard, Akane is a bit of a hothead and doesn’t much care for boys, so she’s not a fan of this arrangement, but it’s made all the more bizarre by the fact that Ranma is also a girl sometimes. Thanks to a bizarre accident in China, Ranma turns into a girl when soaked with cold water and back into a boy when hit with hot water. Shenanigans ensue as Ranma and Akane’s contentious relationship hits innumerable peaks and valleys, all the while fighting off an ever-growing menagerie of powerful, fight-happy suitors gunning for the hands and lips of Akane and both versions of Ranma.

MAPPA of all studios being the one to re-adapt Ranma came as a surprise, and you probably could’ve convinced me David Production took over this Takahashi adaptation as well. Ranma’s remake adopts several of the same visual flairs you’d see in Urusei Yatsura, including the Ben Day dots, color inversions, and manga-style onscreen onomatopoeias. On the other hand, while most of the moment-to-moment character animation is pretty much what you’d expect from any given anime, several of the action sequences are very well-animated to MAPPA’s typically high standard. I just hope the animators weren’t getting the Chainsaw Man or Jujutsu Kaisen treatment.

Ranma ½ is as hilarious as ever, but it can get a little wonky thematically when it comes to gender politics, boundaries, and expectations, as I’d been made aware before ever engaging with the work. I also knew from the Urusei Yatsura remake that this was basically Takahashi’s wheelhouse, as there are a couple of pretty genderbendy characters in there as well. Several of the male antagonists in Ranma are more than a little pushy when it comes to women who catch their eye, and a lot of the humor around Ranma’s gender swaps revolves around how their male socialization affects the lack of modesty with which they present their female form (more on that later). People who are much better versed in gender matters than myself, both academically and personally, can speak on the positives and negatives of these things much better than I can, and it’s too early in the series for me to really make a judgment call. I do think it’s odd, though, that even with the central romance, Akane doesn’t seem to remotely entertain the thought of getting involved with Ranma’s female side, and unfortunately I don’t really see that ever happening. So far, all of these things just come across as flat-out silly and more of a product of its time than anything nefarious.

The original Ranma ½ adaptation remains a seminal work for a solid generation and a half of anime fans, so of course a remake was going to be met with some criticism. Some didn’t appreciate the more muted color palette compared to the late 80s/early 90s Studio Deen version, and while it’s certainly missing some of the flair of the hand-painted backgrounds and saturated lighting effects the medium has missed since that era, I personally like the softer hues; I find them a lot more reminiscent of Rumiko Takahashi’s own colorations for her art outside of the manga. It’s not as technicolor as the Urusei Yatsura remake, but I think that actually helps set the new Ranma apart rather than riding the former’s coattails.

The main difference people seem to be complaining about, however, has more to do with boobs. Takahashi has never been shy about including nudity in her manga, and in an era where uncensored bazongas were perfectly fine to publish in boys’ manga magazines, she was typically more matter-of-fact about the female form instead of pursuing titillation. As such, a story like Ranma’s, in which its title character is typically blase about presenting their female incarnation modestly, had a lot to work with on that front, and the original anime played along.

Not so with the MAPPA version. Nipples are conspicuously missing in scenes that legitimately do call for nudity, and an ass crack appears to be missing from an early scene as well. Personally, I don’t mind the Barbie doll treatment, and as I’d been reading the manga as the anime’s story progressed, I didn't find all that much missing in the transition from page to screen. Weebs tend to convince themselves they’re the most oppressed people on earth, so of course there were cries of censorship, which is a claim I don’t really care to entertain. These are different times, broadcast regulations in Japan are almost certainly different from what they were 35 years ago, and Netflix and/or MAPPA likely didn’t see the need for it. Could be any of those things. I’m not losing sleep over it.

And with that, I’m done talking about Rumiko Takahashi (for now). I’m grateful for everything related to her work, even tangentially, that came out this year, and my life is richer for it. I’m glad to have gotten into her work in earnest this year, and I can say with all conviction (hot take incoming) that she’s one of the greatest mangaka ever. I look forward to diving further into even more of her work.

12. The Elusive Samurai

I’d have been perfectly happy if Wind Breaker had been CloverWorks’ only beautifully-animated oddball shonen hit this year, and then they went and outdid themselves the very next season with this one.

The Elusive Samurai is a gorgeous, timeless-looking piece of historical fiction beginning at the very end of the Kamakura period, following the last survivor of the Hojo clan, the young Tokiyuki, as he’s urged by an eccentric priest to lead a pack of freedom fighters and take revenge. Despite coming from a prominent family within the shogunate, Tokiyuki was an impertinent kid and preferred to play hide-and-seek instead of attending any combat training. The priest, Yorishige, receives a vision of the future that predicts that Tokiyuki will fell his family’s usurper not by becoming a powerful warrior, but by doing what he’s already best at: Being a squirrelly little shit.

I just gushed about how good this show looks three months ago, and even now I’m thinking back fondly on how well it blends whimsy with brutality. You can have Yorishige and the kids goofing off and cracking jokes one minute and vibrant crimson beheadings the next. Even little Tokiyuki makes a joyful game out of slicing a bandit’s veins to ribbons later in the season. It feels like a callback to anime films and OVAs of the 80s, with the film grain effect to match. Almost every single thing about this show looks and sounds incredible.

Of course, there’s the CGI. I really don’t like complaining about that sort of thing, but it was such a blatant and unnecessary cost-cutting move that it almost cheapens the rest of the show. Look, I get that horses can be a pain to hand-animate after a while, but having characters’s CGI models speaking while riding on horseback is just enough to take me out of the show, especially when they already look as bizarre as, say, Sadamune. How that passed muster with the rest of the show’s standard is beyond me.

So, maybe I did dock it a spot or two for that, but I see that as a wrinkle that can be ironed out. The Elusive Samurai is absurdly promising, and its debut season is a tremendous statement. Can’t wait for more.

11. Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines!

As I made clear last year by putting 100 Girlfriends’ debut season in my top ten for 2023, for as much as I love a good straight-up romance story, I have ample room in my heart for trashy dipshit romcoms as well. Makeine shares that affection and forges its own identity from it, establishing its own throne atop a hill of garbage.

This is not a “yeah it’s good if you can look past the tropes” show. Makeine is firmly on its bullshit, and it is firmly about its bullshit. It’s not nearly as off-the-wall as 100 Girlfriends, few shows are, but it’s well aware of your expectations and leaves you guessing whether you’ll have them expertly subverted or just thrown right back in your face. Even the protagonist, the light novel fanatic Nukumizu, is calling out the tropes as they happen, but it’s been a fun time watching him learn that he’s more than just a wet-blanket LN protagonist. He thinks he’s just along for the ride like any other blank-faced self-insert in these stories, as gets roped into the personal lives of these poor girls and learns that, yes, they are real people and that, yes, he is too.

I could go on and on about Too Many Losing Heroines’ idiosyncrasies and offbeat characters and punchy dialogue, but I did that plenty just a few months ago. Instead, I want to call attention once more to just how freakishly well-made this show is. A-1 Pictures had zero reason to go this hard on a goofy, trashy light novel romcom adaptation, and yet here they were, throwing their A-team at the whole project. Character animations are intricate, background art is sumptuous, lighting effects immaculate, and music on point at all times. The OP is an earworm (and one of a surprising number of ska intros and outros I’ve taken in this year), and having each of the main titular heroines perform her own story-appropriate ED was a masterstroke. Even the visual gags are perfect and allowed to land on their own.

I already cannot wait for more of this. If A-1 has given us all we’re going to get of the Kaguya-sama anime, then I’m as all-in on Makeine as they are. Not the best romcom out there, but easily one of the best-made out there.

#anime reviews #solo leveling #wind breaker #yuru camp #train to the end of the world #mayonaka punch #urusei yatsura #ranma 1/2 #the elusive samurai #makeine

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thenewbuzwuzz · 8 days ago

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I have linked to this from here, but hadn't crossposted it directly yet.

✨Obsessed With You✨

This short Spike POV video is a tribute to two flavors of early Spuffy: best enemies in denial and Spike's feral gremlin era. The Spuffy ride wouldn't be nearly as fun without these humble beginnings and unhinged detours. :')

ETA: shoot, I forgot to include a shoutout to @acaseofthewiggins for beta-watching this when I originally made it for Seasonal Spuffy, and making sure I don't imply that Buffy only has 1 friend. :) Also, you can find the rest of the song here. It's a bop.

#btvs #i made a thing #spuffy #the music is credited in the video

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cheriladycl01 · 1 year ago

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Better than me - Charles Leclerc x Reader P5

Plot: You are a rookie in your first f1 season, adding to the ever-growing amount of Brits performing in the grid.

You were nervous for the race today, you wanted to hold P5 from qualifying however you had many more experienced drivers behind you.

The line up was:

P1: Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes

P2: Charles Leclerc - Ferrari

P3: Alexander Albon - Audi

P4: Max Verstappen - Red Bull

P5: Y/N Y/L/N - Audi

P6: Lando Norris - Mclaren

P7: Lance Stroll - Aston Martin

P8: Oscar Piastri - Mclaren

P9: Logan Sargeant - Williams

P10: Zhou Guanyu - Williams

P11: Yuki Tsunoda - AlphaTauri

P12: Pierre Gasly - Alpine

P13: Daniel Ricciardo - AlphaTauri

P14: George Russell - Mercedes

P15: Liam Lawson - Alpine

P16: Valtteri Bottas - Haas

P17: Sergio Perez - Red Bull

P18: Kevin Magnussen - Haas

P19: Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin

P20: Carlos Sainz - Ferrari

So not only would you be attempting to overtake 3 time world champion Max Verstappen. But also your own teammate in P3, the Current World Champion from 2025 in P2 and a 8 time world Champ in P1 having his last win in 2024. Whilst defending from Lando Norris who was next to you on the grid lineup and then Lance and Oscar who were behind both of you.

It would be a hard race, but you were always willing to push yourself and the car to the max.

You stood by your car, headphones in and up to the max bopping your head so you couldn't hear any other the other noises that were going on right now. Dua Lipa was playing and you were chewing at one of your nails.

A tap of your shoulder wakes you up from your musical trance, you take one air-pod out, the song pausing.

"Race time, in the car" your manager directs you making you nod. You jump into the car over the halo, sliding down into the low seat. Your handed your helmet and balaclava which you put on making sure to tuck away your loose fly away pieces of hair so they are out if your face for the race.

After you are ready, they hand you the wheel which you push in and make sure your radio is getting back to the garage okay.

Your in your position on the track, your hands on the wheel as the fourth light comes on, and your put lightly resting on the pedals ready to launch the car into a start the minute those lights went out.

Max had an awful start, meaning you slipped around on his inside, leaving him behind you to defend Norris who had a good start as well.

The rest of the race went well however, you ended behind Lando and finished P6, Alex had moved too P2 so your team did amazing for a double points finish with a P2 podium finish.

You really couldn't wait for the day that it was you and Alex up there together and you just hoped he would stick around for a few more seasons as your team-mate.

You watched on as Lewis, Alex and Charles took their podium. They sprayed the champagne while you and Lily hugged and cheered Alex on. As a joke you'd placed your Audi cap on Lily, and SkySports had of course captured the adorable moment between you guys saying how you and Lily had one of the best friendships in the paddock between a driver and a wag.

As you were wondering around the paddock, greeting fans and taking pictures you spot Charles who you hadn't had a chance to congratulate on his win today.

"Charlie!" you exclaim running over to the tousled haired male.

"Y/N!" he smiles, stepping away from the person he was talking too.

"Well done on your win today! Ferrari have an incredible car this year!" you compliment, some mechanics whistling to you as they pass in appreciation making you giggle.

"Well, its not just the car now is it ma cherie" he jokes jabbing his elbow at you.

"No of course the almighty Leclerc who drove today was the reason" you nod in agreement with sarcastic undertones that has him gasping in mock horror a hand rosining up to his chest dramatically.

"How dare you!" he exclaims.

"Are you mocking my driving?" he laughs again as you remained quiet.

"No, definitely not. You were incredible today. Really, i hope to be able to share a podium with you some day" you smiled at him, and a huge grin comes onto his face as well.

"Well, you never know what might happen in Suzuka" he grins rubbing up and down your arms before pulling you into a tight hug.

"I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come with me for dinner tonight. I've never been here and don't want to leave it down Silvia to find me and Carlos a place to eat!" he asks and your eyes travel from your shoes on the floor up to meet his eyes in shock.

"I mean, I've never been here either so I don't know how much better I'd be than Silvia" you joke, you didn't realize it now but this was actually Charles trying to ask you out on a date. Not only were you an amazing driver, but you'd seen and helped him in such a vulnerable moment and hadn't said anything bad about it, he liked you more than he would care to admit.

"Okay so its set then? Me you Carlos, Becca, Lily and Alex will all go for food. Oooo we should probably invite Lando and Oscar as well, god knows they'll end up in a McDonalds against the orders from Kim and Jon" you sigh shaking your head.

"Oh yeah, with Carlos and the others yeah sure. Erm can i trust you to find a place?" he asks and you nodded, your PR manager came over a hand on your shoulder explaining you were needed for media duties.

You were walked off to go interview individually with SkySports where Jenson, Natalie and Nico were all waiting for you.

"Ahhh my favorite driver has arrived" Nat says pulling you into a hug that you return and kiss her cheek before taking the mic from her hand that she extended out to you before shaking hands with Jenson and Nico.

You knew Natalie better, Jenson and Nico as Ex-Drivers intimidated you as they were drivers that you looked up too when you were a little kid.

"So, your pretty consistent with P6 so far. First two races of the season in Bahrain and here in South Korea! How are you feeling?" Nico asks and you smile shyly.

"Yeah, i guess everyone says consistency is key. Obviously having now 36 points between myself and Alex is amazing for the team and yeah I cant wait for Japan. I'm feeling confident with the car, my team have done an amazing job with the car and I'm excited to see what we can bring to the tables in the years to come" you answer.

"Yeah I agree with Nico completely, its been incredible for you and hopefully a podium in sight soon?" Jenson teases making you laugh a little attempting to stifle the sound.

"I'd like to think that. However there are so many great and amazing drivers out there on the grid right now who deserve the wins in comparison to me" you smile nodding.

"And what's it like to have Alex as a team-mate" Natalie asks.

"Alex is the best, and I'm not sure i could have had a better person as my team mate in my rookie season"

After a few more questions about the car and your driving smile, you are thanked and told goodbye. Alex finds you, confirming that he and Lily were excited about dinner. Which sent you into a small panic, and he could tell by the look on your face.

Lily and Alex helped you research Yeongam and the surrounding areas, you found a golf course that you Lily, Alex, Carlos and Lando would all visit tomorrow.

"Hmmm how about here? I cant say the name though" Alex says looking at the restaurant he just found. You take the name punching it into google.

"Nope, definitely not" you say sighing befroe going back to looking at the map.

"What, i thought this was a good one, you judged that so quick!" Alex frowns trying too see what you'd seen that was so bad.

"It's literally a fish bar Alex, poor Lando wont eat there!" you say knowing the boys immense hate for fish.

"Okay here we go this is perfect for everyone, its an Italian/Korean restaurant. Everyone will be happy here, me you and Lily can try some new foods while the princesses have their safety foods" you grin showing them the picture of the warm and glowy restaurant on the screen.

"Yeah that seems good!" Lily smiles, checking it out on her own phone. Okay, now let me go find Lia and see if she'll book us a table. I don't think my Korean will translate too amazing over the phone.

Booking the table with Lia was easy enough when they found out that it was a group of F1 drivers looking for a table, they got you into a nice private room according to Lia. You'd sent out texts to everyone who was coming making sure they'd be ready to leave at 6.

Y/N: Got a place for food tonight, don't worry I saved you from Alex's choice of a fish bar! Be ready at the lobby for 6 :)

Lando: Have i ever told you I love you and you are my bestest friend?

Y/N: You have now!

Y/N: Hey! Make sure you and Becca are down in the lobby by 6pm for dinner, found a nice place and have a table.

Chilli: Thank you for booking it, glad I don't have Silvia Trivagoing where Charles and I would have eaten!

Y/N: Most welcome!

Y/N: Yo be there or be square for dinner @ six! Lobby stat.

KoalaB: Where is there?

Y/N: Oscar, READ! THE LOBBY DUH!

Lord Perc: Did you find somewhere for dinner?

Lord Perc: If not the hotel food was alright, I just thought it would be nice to get out

Y/N: DW dinner sorted, just meet us in the lobby at 6 :)

Lord Perc: of course <3

Dinner flew by, between the waiter playing with you guys and doing bottle tricks for the table when Soju was ordered, or Lando choking on an olive, or water spilling onto Charles lap making it looked like he wet himself and you attempting to dry it without thinking where you were rubbing the napkin and looking up seeing a bright red faced Charles.

You couldn't help but think how embarrassed he must have been, so you patted his red cheek explaining it was an accident and actually your fault for him spilling it. He sat there quiet and looking down for the next few minutes while you all waited for the mains to be served.

You were staying in Korea until Wednesday, you had massive plans for the rest of the week. You were to play gold tomorrow with Lando, Carlos, Lily and Alex. Then on Tuesday you'd get the train to Seoul and were sight seeing with Charles who you asked to come with you as Alex and Lily were leaving for Japan early and Carlos and Lando had plans already. Wednesday you'd fly straight to Japan ready for the media duties on Thursday.

Life on the road as an f1 driver was stacked but the memories you were making here with you friends severely made up for the exhaustion you felt until the gaps in between races came about.

Golfing with everyone was fun, you sucked and Lily tried to help you as much as possible. You'd think as a professional f1 driver you'd be a natural athlete and be able to pick up other sports relatively easily. But lets just say that you would be pretty jobless without Formula One.

After a long day, you checked out of the hotel in Yeongam and met Charles, you guys had an eventful evening where you got lost in the train station in the middle of South Korea. You attempted with your small knowledge of the language to communicate that you were lost.

Now at this point, your probably thinking, omg so silly just use google translate but you really really didn't want to look like one of those pretentious tourists who shove phone's in locals faces without even attempting a lick of their language.

Luckily your Korean was enough to get the man to understand you were lost and looking for the train to Seoul. He was kind enough to take you and Charles all the way to Seoul with him. He turned out to be a mechanic for the Kia racing team. You explained that Charles and you were racing drivers and he nodded before laughing explaining he knew who you were.

You and Charles felt so bad, that you ended up offering a drink to this man which turned into him showing you all his favorite drinking spots in Seoul and introducing you to people he worked with.

You both went to the new hotel rather drunk on a bus.

"Charlie" you complied as you flopped onto one of the beds in the room, the one you just had claimed.

"Yes" he asks looking through his suitcase that management kindly had transported earlier over in the day for him.

"I'm hungry and you know what I've always wanted to do" you ask looking over him.

"What?" he asks, trying to make himself less spacey and more focused on you.

"I want to go to one of those convenience stores that sell those cups of ice and then the really cool drinks and then they have all the really cool premade food and the noodles and I wanna go can we go before i go to my room" you beg kneeling on the bed and placing you hands together.

"It's like 2am, Y/N they wont be open. Let's call it a night and we'll go tomorrow" he smiles patting your shoulder.

"No no, its Korea bro, they are like 24 hours. It'll be open i swear" you say making a cross over you heart. That doesn't seem to fill him with confidence so you move to the puppy dog eyes which he cant seem to say no too.

"Fine, but if your wrong and you've dragged me out for no reasons, I'll make you DNF this weekend" he hiccups pointing an accusing finger at you.

"Hahahaha I told you!" you say seeing the brightly light shop.

"Fine you were right" he says holding the door open for you, you walk in first greeting the teenager behind the till with a small hello in Korean.

He gasps in shock before running up to you both with a paper and pen and pointing at his phone. You ask if he's like a picture and he nods enthusiastically thanking you furiously as you take the phone. You all basically have a mini photoshoot in the store before he helps you make the food, saying he didn't want you to burn you hands on the hot water tap which you thought was extremely kind.

You and Charles eat, before tipping the young man and leaving the store where you both go to your joint hotel rooms passing out with the door connecting the rooms unlocked and open.

TAGLIST:

@littlesatanicassholebitch @hockey-racing-fubol @laura-naruto-fan1998 @22yuki @simxican @sinofwriting @lewisroscoelove @cmleitora @stupidandunnecessary @clayra-g @daemyratwst @honey-belden @moonypixel @lauralarsen @vader-is-hot @ironcowboycopnickel @itsjustkhaos @the-untamed-soul @beebo86 @happylittlereader @ziejustme @lou-larcher5 @thewulf @purplephantomwolf @chasing-liberosis @chillyleclerc @chanthereader @annoyingmoonballoon @summissss @evieepepi08 @havaneseoger08 @celesteblack08 @gulphulp @fandom1ruined2me @celebstories @starfusionsworld @jspitwall @sierruhh @georgeparisole @dakotatankbig @youcannotcancelquidditch @zzonsbeek @tallbrownhairsarcastic @mellowarcadefun @ourteenagetragedy @otako5811 @countingstacksandpanicattacks @peachiicherries @formulas-bitch @cherry-piee @hopexcroc @mirrorball-6 @spilled-coffee-cup @mehrmonga @bigsimperika @blueberry64857959 @eiraethh @lilypadlover @curseofhecate @alliwantisadonut @the-fem1n1ne-urge @21stcenturytaegi @dark-night-sky-99 @spideybv28 @i-wish-this-was-me @tallrock35 @butterfly-lover @barnestatic @landossainz @darleneslane @barcelonaloverf1life

#f1 imagine #f1 x reader #formula 1 x you #formula 1 #formula one #formula one fanfiction #charles leclerc #charles lecrelc x reader #charles lechair #charles leclerc fanfic #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc fluff #charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc fic

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