#but that is easy enough to rectify. she simply thinks all of her opinions are facts

[rpvlix]

//trying to write Kym is so fun because ill come up with a sentiment i wish for her to express and then i have to strip it of all hope, joy, and overt expressions of opinion, because she has none of those

[fayevalcntine]

I don't actually think the show does well enough in terms of handling Claudia's backstory and internalized feelings re: a lot of what happens in the latter half of the season, but apparently that's an unpopular opinion of sorts in this fandom.

To put it simply, Claudia reminiscing about her past life prior to being a vampire in all but 6 lines is not a proper exploration of said life. In comparison to her parents getting a more expanded view of theirs (Louis thankfully had at least one episode prior to being turned while Lestat's backstory is even going to be repeatedly hinted at in season 2), she mentions a dead mother all but once (twice if you count an easy lie she tells in 1.06), an aunt beating her, having to deal with perverts at the rooming house she stayed in, and not having any more children to play with during the night because she's now a vampire. Again, all this is explored in less than 10 lines total. This isn't really us getting enough info on her so much as barely getting the most basic information that we can get on her past, and again, it's also not a proper exploration of a child suddenly going from an abusive poor household to a rich people's home, with two strangers that suddenly become her parents, and her becoming completely estranged to the life she once knew. Claudia remembers her past life in comparison to her book counterpart because she's 14, yet somehow I'm supposed to accept that she is completely fine with all of these changes until she suddenly isn't?

Subtlety is also not this show's Forte nor is it even the thing it's remembered by: we have Louis referencing books that are clearly meant for us to look up, we have a 10 minute domestic violence scene where the white vampire deliberately tries to kill his Black partner. This just makes the lack of info on Claudia obviously glaring because she is also raped, but her rape is never even talked about BY her. It's hinted at by Louis, it's nagged for more information on by Daniel, it's mocked by Lestat. The only time we even get Claudia referring to Bruce is in a scene that is clearly meant to serve as a not-so-subtle hint that Louis is being raped by his husband? So again, a hint of a moment that Claudia gives is again turned into a message about what Louis is going through. When a show has more men talk about this traumatic incident that happened to this girl than the girl herself, then yeah, it IS glaring and unless Rolin and Co. make some effort to rectify a general lack of attention they give her, or turn it into some commentary about how a Black girl's story is shaped and disfigured by all the men in her life that abused her, then it's still pretty glaring and lacking.

[hellmouth-manor]

nothing, in reality, would change. || trial 4.4 || elishama || re: hibiki, kamiya, nori

There's a lot that Eli's got to answer for.  But the sudden momentum of the trial is enough to overwhelm him.  Enough to…

Cause him to fall asleep where he stands. 

It's just for a few minutes, though, as he picks his head up with a start. 

“... You knoooow," he says, in between a yawn, "I did not get a good look at the time… however, it must have been Kamiya.  ”I'll get help”-- yes, yes, that was his voice, now that I think upon it.”

He twirls his hand in a circle, laughing to himself.

“Ah, I apologize; I've so many visions like this that it is easy to lose certain details.  Speak-ing of which.”

The lilt of Eli's voice takes a sudden, sharp dive into aggravation.  He turns his head sharply toward Hibiki, pointing a finger.

“Kindly allow me to clarify one thing before I continue.  Are you under the impression that I would lie about something so grave?  Or that, in the wake of a genuine murder, I would be use–  no, LESS than useless?  That I would be so wretched as to WATCH it happen, doing nothing to stop it?  Whatever behavior I have exhibited to give you such an opinion of me, kindly inform me immediately so I may rectify it, thank you.” 

With a huff, he decides he's said enough on that matter.  Wrath is such unfamiliar territory.

“At any rate.  By the time Minami arrived, Kamiya… I did not see him anywhere.”

His eyes lose focus again, as he glances to the side.

“... But, Minami… she… said something.  I believe it may have been… “we need to get out…” of somewhere… but it sounded as though, as though my ears were full of water.  She stood over me, and I told her… told her I could not find Mirai, and then… after she– well, I believe she must have helped me to my feet, because–”

With sudden recollection, he winces.

“... Something–  someone?  Struck her from behind.  It was a flat, wet sort of sound, and… and then she pushed me back, and… then I fell into a nostalgic sanctuary.  I lost my vision of all except for the colors engulfing me, but I could still hear.  The sound of flesh being punctured.  Once.  Twice.  Then… another voice.”

Hibiki asked him to speak up, so he resists the urge to mumble. 

“It was q-quiet.  One word.  It simply said… ”sorry”.”

[mobiused]

is there any lore about hyewon? feel free to ignore, i just have a hard time finding out if things are about lore or if people are mostly talking about the real-life relationships between the girls

This is so overdue I'm so sorry. But yes, there is. Let's do a timeline (using this term loosely because I don't trust myself enough to promise anything chronological) of Gohye (which is the shipname they picked for themselves btw cuz there's an existing Hyewon which is sometimes confusing) and I'll really try my hardest to take as few detours as possible...

The first time that Gowon & Olivia are officially associated with each other is in the Egoist MV, where Gowon appears in the same car park for a couple frames:

Doesn't this remind you of something? (And not the car park insert pictures from [#] album)

Why are all of yyxy in the car park though? Detour No. 1, but in my opinion the way the sequence is shot, and the way the [] one teaser is shot are meant to be evocative of each other, and is related to the theme of determinism, or more simply the inevitability of the girls leaving Eden and arriving on Earth. (I think the scene in Egoist was meant to suggest the other girls had already been here, on Earth, before, just like in the 'one' teaser, and Olivia was simply the last to get there.)

Next up is not a visual, but the song Rosy. This is the part that explicitly confirms romantic feelings between Gowon and Olivia Hye in canon. Originally (they neutered it after release to something less explicitly wlw) the song description in English was as follows:

Rosy is a song that talks the beautiful yet thorny emotions between 2 girls that draws them like a compass but wrecking them simultaneously without a place to escape to, in which they are being kind but chic, friendly but not close, have feelings for each other but finds it annoying to date each other.

The english is kinda scuffed and I'm mad cuz I can't find the original Korean text to translate either, but this shows that Rosy, sung by Gowon & Olivia, is describing a relationship between two girls who are romantically attracted to each other. Litell_Johnn provides his own take on the rectified/updated Korean description, though it doesn't really connect with the theme of the song at all. Notably, this doesn't suggest the two have feelings for each other.

We get more detail on what the story of Rosy actually is from the Lyricist Darly here, where Darly suggests the character of the 'Rose' is actually Olivia: "And in my mind Hyeju really seems to resemble a rose petal, so maybe for that reason, I think she really fit well with "Rosy"" You can read the full post (which also directly confirms that it's strongly related to the lore, where other b-sides might not be) but here's some edited highlights which I think expands on the nature of their relationship

The overall story is that I compared a woman to a "flower", and people get drunk on her beauty and try possess her and pluck her Towards the solitary rose, already hurt many times before, approaches yet another person The rose thinks, you're like all the others, you're just taken by how I look on the outside Looking at others, who are faking love but actually just drunk on the rose's beauty and only trying to possess it, I wonder how the rose feels? I'm sure you want me, she says, but come at me very carefully, so I won't prick you with these wounded thorns I like the way she says "It won't be that easy" too, because I think it reveals the rose's personality, alluring yet prim "I liked being alone with all my hurt, but wait, I guess I don't hate it when you come near me? What is this nervousness?" is the rose's confused monologue This person doesn't become afraid or fearful of the rose, and instead genuinely understands how the rose feels When the night falls, dangerous thorn bushes will come out of the rose to protect herself, like a habit. So she says hurry and run from me, before you get hurt, before you get lost. But the other person says "I know all of your wounds, so it's okay, I don't care if I get a little hurt". For the first time, the rose has met someone who doens't just want to possess her beauty, but truthfully loves her for who she is. In that way, the two people bloom beautifully into genuine love

That brings us to yyxy's 'love4eva'. Gowon & Olivia aren't shown to interact much, in fact, Gowon seems to find Olivia weird for unquestioningly swallowing whatever the institution is feeding her.

Also IDK if it's just Gowon's rbf but the way Gowon looks at Olivia when she walks in but that's pretty frosty (unless she's putting on airs in front of Yves?). Kind of a massive jump from the relationship that was depicted in Rosy. I guess just because Gowon takes part in ostracising Olivia, doesn't necessarily mean that Gowon doesn't like her...?

I always find the use of rose petals in love4eva interesting, because they're not the representative forbidden fruits, and rose petals are at this point associated with Olivia Hye (Lip's official flower being a rose doesn't really seem relevant in the yyxy arc and also seems like a retcon). All the three girls who leave eden partake in consuming the flower petals. Even though we see Olivia eat her forbidden fruit to leave, we never see her eat the rose petals - so what exactly are they meant to mean? Is Olivia the (nonliteral) sacrifice to leave Eden?

Then, of course, Gowon looks back at Olivia, who they're abandoning, and makes eye contact with her... but keeps running.

Ouch.

Olivia & Gowon don't seem to meet individually after this, but they have some parallels between their Butterfly Teaser arcs.

In So What era, Olivia finds herself in... somewhere that could either be Iceland (with Haseul's feather on the ground) or the Moon (which she set fire to). It's kind of vague, right? (I think it's meant to be Iceland but I'm not confident about it...) I wonder why Olivia would go to Iceland, and then wonder if she went to retrace Gowon's steps.

And then for Hula Hoop, it's just the two of them that get dressed up in their Eden clothes.

I'm wracking my brain trying to think of any more narrative interactions they have, but I really don't know how to finish this off. I might come back to this with a part 2.

[sleekervae]

The Neighbour [1.7]

Masterlist

Trigger Warning: kitchen smut ahead!!

Remington never found it so easy to write before, but writing about Eva came as naturally as doing a kickflip on his skateboard. And it wasn't often that Remington found himself able to write something of the happier genre, but it encompassed everything that Eva was about -- pure happiness, a dubious certainty about where he was heading in his future.

It also became obvious that Eva had all the inspiration she needed for her poetry, anybody could see that just be looking through her blog. Post after post rectified wild romances and reflected on soft mornings with coffee and slow kisses, enough to make any reader yearn for the solace and euphoria she had found in Remington. Just the other day, fans of both her and Remington exploded when she finally posted the finished draft of The Gallery.

Despite the Instagram stories, tagged posts and reactive comments under pictures, Remington and Eva had yet to come out as a public couple to the Palaye fanbase. Remington, despite loving his fans to the moon and back, knew that some liked to get a little too involved in his personal life, and he wasn't sure Eva was ready to be exposed to the flux of public opinion that was sure to whirlpool around them constantly. Eva expressed her emotions through her art, and despite being so open about her feelings she was still quite a private person; as well as little introverted, just like he was.

And having random people psychoanalyze everything about his relationship made him uncomfortable, nonetheless.

Though there was speculation in the Palaye fandom, the fans took to the Eva gossip well. She was a sweet girl with a beautiful heart, it wasn't hard for people to like her at all. She was beginning to get tagged in posts from fan accounts, some pictures screenshots of her with Remington in Caity's or Larissa's story, or the occasional selfie she would take of herself and re-filtered by another user.

"OMG they cute!!!"

"I ❤️ them!"

"She's so pretty"

"Rem looks so happy 😍😍"

Everybody was very nice, although, there were those who took to the idea of Eva not as happily as most did.

"Who the fuck is this bitch???"

"She looks boring 🤮🤮"

"Don't tell me rem actually likes her!!"

It was comments like that that made Eva want to throw her phone out the window. As much as she needed social media to boost her career, she also wanted to burn it in a dumpster fire and roast marshmallows of satisfaction over it.

"Did she pump her lips?! 🤥🤥"

It was that particular comment that had Eva tossing her phone on the counter, annoyed at the stupid side-by-side comparison some fan had put together of her for a non-existent conspiracy. She knew focusing on this media garb was pointless, but seeing total strangers scrutinize her -- simply for who she was hanging out with -- and reading all these derogatory comments tore a strip off of her.

Remington noticed how quiet she had been all morning, it started when they had gotten back from their breakfast outing and she was seemingly on her phone for the better part of the hour. He had a lump in his throat, having a pretty broad idea of what it was that was bothering Eva.

"Now remember, the phone can't fight back," he tried to joke. Eva forced a small smile, but feigned little reaction. Remington waltzed over from his spot on the couch, with Pluto being annoyed as the ear scratches had come to a sudden stop, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Eva shook her head, though her face told a different story. She wasn't so good about lying to Remington. He grabbed her phone, and despite her protests, opened the thread of Instagram comments. Nearly all of them were hating on Eva. He glared at the ugly words as though he could hear the slurs shudder through his ears.

"Did she pump her lips..." he read aloud. Eva crossed her arms over her chest, knowing exactly what Remington was going to think, "Eva, you know not to take this shit seriously, right? They're just bullshit haters,"

"I know..." she nodded, refusing to look him in the eye.

"And if they were really my fans, they wouldn't be saying that sort of shit about the people I love," he assured her.

"I know," Eva nodded again, taking back her phone, "It's just stupid words, I know. It just gets kind of hard to ignore when it's constant. And they keep tagging me in everything so of course I'll see it,"

"You can turn your notifications off, or better yet, just block them," he said, shaking his head, "I can tell you first hand how easy it is to let yourself get tied up in this sort of stuff, but it doesn't mean anything. You're worth more to me than any stupid comment,"

"Yeah..." She hummed as Remington's lips pressed against her hair, his words quiet but comforting as he started whispering, trying to convince her that she was indeed his everything. His arms wrapped around her waist as he held her, his skin warm against hers where they've touched. Her toes curled against the tiles as he kissed her neck, nose nuzzled behind her ear as he lightly grabbed her hips, fingers tangling into the hem of her shirt to playfully tug on it. Eva laughed against his lips when he kissed her, his hands sneaking under her shirt to pull her even closer to his own body, and she let him have his moment.

"You have the most incredible soul," he said, "And you're always the warmest and softest person. Those people will never know you the way I do,"

Her frustration was quickly replaced by ease, enhanced by lust simmering on the back burner in her brain, "You're worth more to me than I think you'll ever know, Rem,"

Remington lightly tickled her sides, teeth biting on her lobe as he whispered another set of flirty remarks in her ear, and she felt warm at his touch, his breath hot on her neck and face. It almost felt like he didn't know the effect he had on her -- he just needed her to know how special she was. His hands slid higher, still tickling and teasing. She felt the familiar feeling of her arousal as a finger lightly brushed against her nipple, palms sliding up to cup her breasts and lightly squeeze them. Rem chuckled as she pushed back, melting against his chest as he caressed her skin, his thumb circling around the hardening nub.

"Told you, you're warm and soft," he kissed her cheek again, fingers giving a light tweak to her nipples, "Well, except for those two,"

"You have terrible jokes," she giggled, biting her bottom lip as his palms squeezed her again, rubbing against the sensitive skin.

"And you have two very hard nipples begging for attention," he spun her around so his chest was pressed to her back, blew hot air against her ear, never stopping with his teasing touches.

He liked this game, pulling her close and making her beg for him as he grabbed and caressed her, his touches switching from soft to hard, from teasing to pleasuring. Eva never resisted his playful touches, and soon she would start pleading with him to give her something more. But she'd lost herself in the heady feeling as his fingers tweaked her nipples, thumbs circling around them, making them hard and peaked, his warm palms rubbing against them to soothe the feeling, only to start again and again.

Remington pressed his hips against her bum, and she could feel him hardening through his joggers, rubbing against her as he continued whispering in her ear, hands never leaving her breasts. He licked the spot where neck and shoulder met, sucking it gently while his fingers flicked her hard nipples, and in seconds Eva felt her knees buckle as pleasure ran through her body, making her grab onto the counter she was pinned against. Remington let out a moan paired with a quiet fuck, rutting himself against her as she trembled, suddenly feeling hot and out of breath, legs shaky as she chased the last waves of her orgasm.

"Fuck, babe, did you just come from a little nipple play?" Remington sucked her earlobe into his mouth, tugging it lightly with his teeth, "You just soaked your panties. I can feel it on my cock,"

She let out a pathetic whine and nodded, cheeks burning and feeling shy all of a sudden as Remington slid his hand from her shirt to unbutton her shorts and dip between her thighs, palm cupping her through her wet panties. His fingers stroked along the soaked fabric, a chuckle leaving his lips as he circled her swollen clit, making Eva whimper and push back against him again.

"You've made such a mess, babygirl," his fingertip pushed under her panties, running along her lips to gather some of her juices, only to pull back and find its way into Remington's mouth so he could lick it off, "I guess I have to clean you up now,"

He grabbed onto her hips and turned her around, hands sliding under her ass to cup her cheeks before suddenly picking her up and sitting her on the counter. His lips captured hers in a kiss as his fingers tangled into the sides of her panties, tugging them down her legs then sliding his hands back on the inside of her thighs.

"Spread your legs for me," he whispered his command against her lips, nipping on the bottom one, "Show me how wet that little pussy is after you came all over yourself from a little teasing,"

"Rem –" she whined as he nuzzled her nose, hot breath tickling her skin as he pulled her to the edge.

"I've said..." he pushed her knees apart and stepped between them, "Spread your legs. I'll take good care of you,"

He tapped her side and she did as she was told, face turning another shade of red as she  exposed herself to his eyes and touch. Remington groaned at the sight of her wet sex, his warm palms rubbing against the inside of her thighs as he leaned closer, thumbs spreading her lips. His eyes bore into hers as his tongue swiped between her folds, swirling around her clit before repeating his action, this time with a little more pressure.

"Delicious," he smacked his lips, giving another long lick to her, "You're fucking gorgeous, babe."

"Rem... please," her fingers tangled into his bleached hair, trying to pull him closer, "No teasing..."

"But that's the best part!" he chuckled, pressing kisses on her thighs, "How you start begging for me to eat your pussy. You know what to do, don't you?"

"Rem–" she bit her lip with another whine, cheeks heating up at his words.

"Darling, use your words," he whispered on her skin, lips pressing just above her clit, "You know how I like it,"

"Oh my God... please, eat my pussy, I'm begging you!" Eva let her words spill out of her as sure as it was a frantic prose, head thrown back and fingers tugging on Remington's hair, hips moving to try and get closer to him, "I want your tongue on me -- in me -- please Rem!"

"That wasn't too hard, was it?" he flicked her clit with his tongue, brushing his nose against it as he went lower, licking around her entrance, "You love begging for me, don't you? It got you even wetter,"

"C'mon! You  promised!" a frustrated huff left her mouth, still trying to wiggle closer. "Remington!"

"Did no such thing," he pinched her thigh, licking between her folds again at the same time, "But it's time to clean up the mess you've made,"

"You made," she corrected, and he pinched her again.

With this he dived back between her legs, fingers rubbing against her lips as he spread them, eating her pussy eagerly, tongue probing against her hole before going back to lick her swollen clit. Her fingers tangled into his hair, tugging on the messy locks and Remington moaned against her pussy, quickening the pace against her lips. He grabbed onto her thighs, pulling them over his shoulders to bury his face between them, sucking the hard nub between his lips.

Eva felt her thighs shake and tighten around his head as her next orgasm slammed into her, fingers pulling on his hair to push him away, but Remington was stronger. He grabbed her hand and held it next to her body as he licked her through the orgasm, not caring how sensitive she were from his previous teasing. He moaned against her again as he felt her relax for a second, only to double his efforts until he felt her body tense, bringing her to a third climax before she could even ride out the second one.

With shaking thighs and wobbly arms she sat up, pushing him back to make him stop, her body sensitive even from the lightest of touches. Remington chuckled as he leaned against the counter, pressing a kiss on her knee when she crossed her legs. She could see her own juices shining on his lips, and she felt her stomach do another little flip when she saw him lick them off with a cheeky smile.

"That good, huh?" he lightly rubbed her sides, fingers playfully tugging on her shirt.

"Shut up," she let out a laugh, hiding behind her hands, pretending to be annoyed, "You can't just lick your lips like that, and expect me to not get turned on again,"

"Fair argument" he pulled her up, making her wrap her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, and she moaned as he pressed himself against her pussy, his voice turning breathy, "Was it good?"

"As always," she grinned.

"Than believe me when I say this feeling you have is what I want you to focus on, not that other bullshit," he nodded to her phone, "You're absolutely perfect in every single way imaginable, don't let those fuckers make you think otherwise,"

Eva pushed her lips to his, "I love you... so friggin' much," and Remington smiled, his fingers tangling back in her hair.

He kissed the tip of her nose, her heart warming as she scrunched her nose and she giggled, "I love you more,"

Remington looked down at the cheap drugstore eyeliner, mascara and a basic eyeshadow palette with dismay, glancing at Eva as she sat patiently on the closed-lid toilet. She knocked her knees together to break the silence.

"Is this all you own?" he asked incredulously.

Eva nodded, "It's all I've ever needed," she replied simply.

He stared. pointedly at the tube of mascara, "You actually have no foundation, or highlight, o-or even contour?"

She chuckled sheepishly, "I mean -- I... no?"

When she had asked earlier if he would make her over before heading out, Remington was delighted -- not realizing the challenge that was ahead of him until he saw her three little pieces of makeup, "So, you just never experimented with makeup?" he asked.

Eva shook her head, "Never really thought about it," his continual stunned state made her nervous, "Is that bad? That I don't use makeup?"

"Absolutely not! I love your natural face," he told her, "I just -- when you asked me to do your makeup, I was expecting... well -- more to work with,"

"Well, I thought you would just do some pretty eye makeup? Like you usually do, just not too extreme," she shrugged.

"I can still do that," he picked up the eyeliner, frowning at the dull end that clearly hadn't been sharpened in eons, "I will need some of my tools, though,"

Eva licked her lips, following him out of her bathroom and he raced for her door, "Don't go away, I'll be two minutes," he pecked her forehead, "And first thing tomorrow, I'm going to show you an incredible store called Sephora,"

She rolled her eyes with a faint simper, going to sit on her couch, "I'll be here!"

He didn't take very long at all, rushing past Emerson as he read his novel without a word. And Emerson was none too pressed to ask his brother what the fuss was about, not like he had the time to as Remington was back out the door seconds later, a blank paper bag in his hands. He wondered if he'd remember that they were supposed to go the skatepark later?

Remington pulled out a variety of unfamiliar palettes and bottles Eva had altogether breezed past whenever she was in the makeup aisles. She was fascinated, picking up a small gold bottle with sparkling flakes inside.

"What's a primer for?" she asked.

Remington was gobsmacked momentarily, the innocence and wonder in her eyes enough to make his heart swell, "What's a pri -- oh my God! I have so much to teach you!" his own excitement was buzzing through his body and permeating hers, "This is gonna' be fun!"

Eva tried not to fidget too much as she sat on the sink of her bathroom, with Remington staring over his collection carefully, looking back at her own delicate face to make his decision. Eva was fortunate to have near-flawless skin and high cheekbones, and the sparkling crystalline hue in her eyes was sure to compliment any color he put on her eyelids. Her knee kept bouncing up and down.

"Are you nervous?" he asked endearingly.

"I wouldn't say nervous," she replied, trying to stifle a laugh, "I'd say more... anxious? Apprehensive?"

He smiled as he picked up his primer, his voice changing in pitch and thick with sass, "Darling, don't you worry. You're gonna' look so fabulous after I'm done with you!"  

Eva quirked an eyebrow, smirking to herself, "You're adorable,"

He then set to work, applying a thin layer of the cool gel from the gold tube and rubbing it gently into her skin. Eva's knee continued to bounce, and it wasn't so much of a problem until Remington tried to brush contour onto her cheeks and she kept shaking.

"I need you to stay still," he giggled lightly.

Eva's cheeks flushed -- with no help from the blush he had ready to go -- and nodded, putting both hands on her knees to keep them still, "Sorry,"

"It's okay," he wouldn't let her see her reflection until he was done, so Eva decided to focus her anxious energy on him; tracing the wrinkles in the collar of his shirt with her eyes, trying to count his eyelashes that batted slowly, the glitter and pale red color already on his own face painted on in such a way that so classically Remington. It wasn't too much, and it wasn't too little.

"Close your eyes," she did everything he told her to do; close her eyes, turn her face, suck in her cheeks, etc. His fingers were cold as he held her in place, dusting the brush over her eyelids with slow precision.

"How's it look?" she asked quietly, trying to look at her own reflection peripherally but only getting a glimpse of her hair.

"Very beautiful," he smiled, grabbing his own tube of liquid liner and giving it a quick shake, "I should use you to model more looks for me,"

"You mean like your makeup guinea pig?" she asked.

"I wouldn't call you a 'guinea pig'," he chuckled, "More like my little muse... in more ways than just one," he kissed the tip of her nose, instructing her to close her eyes and remain absolutely still again before he applied the cold black liquid to her eyes. Eva bit the inside of her lip, trying not to fidget at the chilled sensation running over the roots of her eyelashes.

"Are you done?" she asked when he finished applying the mascara.

"Almoooosst..." he drawled, brushing his favorite highlight onto her cheeks briefly, "There. Now we're done,"

"So I can look now?"

"Go ahead," he urged, standing back so she could hop off the sink.

Eva held her breath as she saw herself in the mirror, her hair held back behind her ears to show off the beautiful, glittering glow dusting her face. She looked beautiful, but natural, with white and rose eyeshadow complimenting the matte peach color painted on her lips. She was so cool, so pretty, with her makeover pushing her natural beauty to that extra mile. Remington stood just behind her, proud of himself for his work, yet teetering on uncertainty when she didn't say anything.

"... How is it?" he asked.

She smiled at him through the mirror, bouncing up on her heels, "I look so cool!" and she took his hands and wrapped them around her smaller body, pushing her back to his chest, "We look so cool,"

"Yes, we do," he grinned, briefly biting the lobe of her ear, "So you like it?"

"I love it!"

"Can I do your makeup more often?"

"Absolutely," she turned in his arms and went to give him a kiss, but he stopped her briefly when he remembered one important tool.

"Wait a minute," he grabbed a little black spray bottle and held it in front of her face, "Close your eyes," he instructed, spritzing a cool liquid over her face. It smelled sweet, like fruit and sugar.

"What is that?" she asked.

"Setting spray, so you won't smudge," he replied, pulling her back into her arms with a lovestruck grin, "And now I can do this without the guilt," and he kissed her gently.

[thumb3l1n4]

Thoughts on chapter #293 (AKA a very long post)

I made a post when chapter #292 came out and one person replied with "I love how everyone thinks that villain stans automatically agree with and condone the villains' actions". I don't think myself to be a villain stan, although I do love Horikoshi's villains, since they're all amazingly interesting characters. There are villains that I feel very compassionate to: Shigaraki, Dabi, Twice, Spinner and Toga. And I could instantly relate to Stain's philosophy, while being totally turned off by his actions. I don't think villain stans condone the violent actions of their favorite characters, I'm sorry if my previous post made people believe I do. But from the most recent releases I gathered that there is maybe a small fraction of villain stans that aren't really seeing the intricacies of the full picture. I don't mean this in a bad way: this is definitely the villains' time to shine and I know we were all waiting for the big Dabi-Endeavor showdown since theories were thrown around, so it's normal to be hyper-focused in what our favorite character is doing or what's happening with them. It's easy to forget that there are times and places where it's safe to show our compassion. I'm not gonna lie, I'm kinda annoyed that some villain stans seem to want the heroes to show compassion to Dabi right now, while they're in the middle of a battle that would decide the sorts of their society. Thanks to Dabi's speech, the civilian's faith in their "picture-perfect" system is crumbling (well, I hope so, because their society sucks on so many levels) and Best Jeanist, who was bashed for absolutely no reason all over Twitter last week, before the official translation was out, knew that that was Dabi's intention all along. Tōya could have told his own story right after Stain's video came out, if he so wanted. He chose to join the League, instead, because as we know now, he might have thought that he would have a better chance to kill Shōto, that way. I can't blame Tōya AT ALL for wanting and needing to see Endeavor, finally, rightfully, punished. However, Dabi throwing the compassion card around in the middle of a life-and-death situation (a situation where his main end-goal is to hurt people), is just peak manipulation...

... Which is awesome for a villain!

It's less awesome if you're standing on the Heroes' side and you're hearing about all the years of abuse that a colleague of yours put his family through, for the first time. I want to note that not a single Hero, till now, has said that they do not believe Dabi (not that I recall, at least). I saw one comment on Tumblr saying they didn't like that Best Jeanist used the word "dirty laundry", the chapter before, but I don't think the Hero said it in disrespect. I think it had more to do with Dabi's intentions behind revealing his truth, than Best Jeanist not believing him, or worse, dismissing him as a victim. Dabi's truth was called "dirty laundry" because Tōya didn't use it to seek justice, for himself and his family, but rather to get revenge on everyone, to create chaos and to excuse his own criminal actions. It's a truth tainted by hatred, not in the sense that fans of the manga and the Heroes should just forget about it: his past and pain are very, very real and Dabi and the rest of the villains need help. But the Heroes cannot take the time to feel sorry for their enemies, right at this moment, because if they do, that's the end. That's kinda what happened between Toga and Uraraka: she needs to stop Toga because while hurting people might come natural to the villain, that's not a healthy way to live. Toga didn't ask to be the way she is, and as a Hero, it should be Uraraka's job to give her the chance to get the treatment she didn't get as a child, that would teach Toga how to deal with her natural urges in a way that is not harmful to anyone. Mind you, Toga didn't seem to like the idea of conforming herself to anyone else's expectations, so she might not want the therapy. Uraraka would still need to give her all to stop the villain, no matter how sorry she actually feels inside for her.

If the villains win, the Heroes will not be able to rectify their society. Only after this fight ends and villains are taken into custody, it would be safe for the Heroes to show their honest reactions to Dabi's revelation. Only then we can hope to see them caring for the villains' health and their truths and possibly demand that Endeavor turns himself in (I actually want him to do so on his own, without external input). The Heroes aren't being heartless, if that's what some villain stans are thinking. They simply do no have the luxury to let Dabi's words manipulate them into feeling bad for him during a fight, because innocent people's lives are at stake here and just because Tōya had a horrible childhood, it doesn't mean that he's gonna care and let those innocent people be. Dabi wants to see the WHOLE world burn.

Onto Deku, now, the second character in two weeks accused by some, of being an abuse apologist.

He's the first character EVER to confront Endeavor on his treatment of Shōto, after seeing how his own classmate was spiralling and hurting himself, because Shōto didn't want to use HIS OWN Quirk to prevent himself from quite literally freeze to death, all because of Endeavor's abuse.

Deku has always wanted to follow All Might's steps and like All Might, he wishes to be able to save everyone in need. Toshinori, however, already told him that that's not realistic and Deku accepted the fact that he can only save the people in need that he's able to reach and as we saw with Shōto, Kota and Eri, he's ready to lay out his own life and break every single bone in his body to do so. He's so determined to save people, even against the worst of odds, that he can twist fate. I think it's exactly this determination of his that made him speak out this time, not only for Shōto, but for Endeavor, too. Do I like that Deku cares? Yes, I'm glad that people like Deku exist, people that genuinely care and wish and pray for criminals to regret what they've done so they can have a chance to right their wrongs and become a better person. Do I think Deku would stop Endeavor from turning himself in or defend Endeavor in front of the other Heroes so they don't take him away and bring him to justice? I might be wrong, Horikoshi can still make a fool out of me, but I don't think so. Deku knows the years of abuse are there and they will never go away. Deku is also the guy who told off Natsuo for trying to make Shōto feel resentful towards their father, when Shōto was somewhat past that and only wanted to heal. Deku recognized that the siblings have all different ways to deal with trauma and told Natsuo that his feelings are valid, but he can't push them onto Shōto, because Shōto's feelings on the matter are just as valid, even if they don't align with those of his big brother.

Just like villain stans can feel compassion towards Dabi because of his past, while being repulsed by his criminal actions in the present, Deku can feel repulsed by Endeavor's abuse of his own family and still see that a part of him (no matter how little it is) wishes to be a better human being. Deku didn't say that Endeavor should be automatically forgiven for his past actions, no one can deny that the abuse still has serious repercussions for every Todoroki involved (yes. EVERY). But the thing with Deku is that once he's seen this tiny, barely-even-there, light in you, he will fight to save you. I don't think that the people calling Deku an abuse apologist are giving his intuition or insight enough credit.

Dabi's not Endeavor: this means that Deku hasn't seen anything in this fight that might hint to Tōya wanting to be saved. Again, the same thing happened between Toga and Uraraka. And sadly, even Twice and Hawks (Hawks miscalculated sooo bad there). It's unfortunate that phrases like "you can only save someone if they want to be saved" and "you cannot help someone who refuses to be helped" still apply to this world, but that's the ugly truth and I'm sure that to someone like Deku that's a very hard and bitter pill to swallow. Endeavor said he wants to right his wrongs: in my opinion, he's still got a lot of work to do, since he should have really started it all off by being honest to everyone about his actions and let justice do its course. During this battle I'm forced to recognize (like Deku does) that Endeavor might actually be able to reedem himself, after actually atoning for his crimes. I cannot say the same for Dabi, because he doesn't want to atone for the bad things he has done. I didn't see Deku's speech as him excusing Endeavor's abuse to his victim or conceding the point to Tōya, that Heroes don't care about villains. I saw it as Deku telling Dabi to stop using his own abuse as an excuse to hurt other victims (Shōto, Natsuo, Fuyumi and Rei) because as harsh as it sounds, Tōya can't demand compassion for his own pain while being uncapable of showing compassion to his own little brother. Maybe Tōya doesn't actually know everything that Shōto has suffered through, maybe he thinks that his little brother got lucky with his Quirk and didn't have it as bad as he did. That's not his place to say. Dabi is making a contest out of their family's pain, trying to declare which Todoroki got it worse (clearly believing that it's him and that that allows him to do whatever he wants to, now), so I reiterate: he can't ask for compassion in the middle of the battle and the Heroes are actually doing the right thing, not letting themselves being manipulated like that and basically forfeiting the fight.

AFTER this arc ends, I truly hope to see the Heroes showing their compassion for the villains. I hope they would get rid of that obnoxious Hero Ranking and that the society would stop festering the idea that only certain Quirks and their users are strong and valuable and deserving of a voice. I hope they could change their world so that people like Tenko, Tōya, Jin, Himiko and Shuichi are able to ask for help AND BE HELPED before it is too late.

[knchins]

congrats on 1k!! i’m looking forward to all of your writing 🥰

can i request a male matchup for haikyuu and fire force? i use she/her pronouns.

i’m a 5’2 female with long golden brown hair and light brown eyes. curvy figure. baby face with long eyelashes. i’m a gemini and an INFJ if that helps. i’m quick witted and clever. i have a very sweet disposition, but when i’m irritated or upset, my bite is extremely sharp. typically patient and slow to anger. i’m a bit too realistic and i don’t sugarcoat anything. i enjoy sarcastic humor and love playful battles of wit. i really love meteorology/storm chasing, and i’ve been a ballerina for over a decade.

thanks so much for doing this event! i hope this was enough info for you. 💖

Additional matchup for @kaylacinderella​ because I’m a dummy and read BNHA instead of HQ! Lol thanks for being a good sport about it, sorry again my brain just read bnha for some reason. I must have switched my cranberry juice with bimbo juice lmao.

Anyway! I match you with...

The salt king definitely needs a sarcastic queen that can handle his attitude!

Tsukki constantly makes fun of your height and baby face. He simply can’t help himself, it’s just too easy. But trust me when I say that it is totally out of love and not malice. He finds you incredibly attractive and let’s you know in his own playful way. If his jokes ever make you feel insecure then he is quick to rectify it. Though he doesn’t outright apologize he does make it clear that he thinks you’re the most beautiful person in the entire world and that he loves you for everything that you are.

That being said, Tsukki’s favorite thing to do is to aggravate you until you snap. Sometimes you say harsh things to him when you lose your temper but he takes it all in stride. Tsukishima can take anything you throw at him, which is kind of a godsend for an asshole like him.

Tsukki definitely doesn’t like when people sugarcoat things for him or for others, so he quite likes your honestly. It’s a bit of fresh air for him. He knows he can ask you your opinion on something and you will be truthful. He really admires this about you because not everyone is able to do that. He himself is kind of cynical sometimes so your realistic nature is a blessing in disguise for him.

He also quite enjoys talking about meteorology with you! The two of you often get into discussions on how meteorology had an impact on the dinosaurs because he can be quite the science nerd when he wants to be, despite doing his best to hide it.

Perfect date for you would be the science museum! Particularly when they have a good meteorology exhibit or guest lectures on storm chasing. It’s not necessarily a romantic date, but afterwards he’ll take you out for dinner at your favorite restaurant while you talk about what your favorite part was.

Event Page

[almasidaliano]

Almasi for President

so in about 12 to 16 years, i am running for president. i do not believe the world will have ended then, though i do believe things will be different. hoping for better, not, not expecting worse. our system is broken. all of the systems are broken. the government is corrupt. the justice system is corrupt. those in charge are turning blind eyes, covering things up, and allowing the fall of our country. i will not be surprised if a civil war commences; although i'm also thinking they are going to really create and push for a purge. we are in real trouble then. that just goes back to what i said, are you standing for something or dying for nothing?

people were excited for biden to win. and i have to say, i was not one of them. biden seems like another puppet to me. obama was a puppet. he was his vp. crazy how biden is president and he has a black female vp now. that sounds like a win huh? wrong, she contributed to the failed prosecution of the officers who murdered Oscar Grant. that went over everyone's head during the election though. trump was just so bad had to get him out. biden is anti LGBTQ+. everyone wanted to put it on trump folks getting rowdy and such however, biden won and nothing changed.

trump's slogan was "make america great again." personally, i think he could have. trump's a businessman and to say the least, entertainment. they gave trump four years, why do you think they didn't renew his contract? because he was playing them. trump is a classist. he doesn't like poor people. personally, i think he just believes hardwork pays off, his did and so he just holds everyone to the standard he held himself. there are circumstances, however i think that's fair. he said all this racist shit everyone got mad. yet, he won by a landslide because the country said they would still rather this "bigoted, racist, sexist, classist asshole" than a woman. then the country complained the whole time. he exposed america and instead of society shining light and doing something they continued to do what we have been doing; pointing blame.

the system has failed us. the system failed us a long time ago. all trump did was present a call to action. the one thing i can give rednecks is they patriotic as fuck. they want the america they invision type shit. i feel like melanated people in general struggle with that because america never felt like home. america never wanted us here. but the fact of the matter is, this all we know. this is home now. there are 3 real options. 1. go back to where your bloodline stems. 2. sit and conform, hope they dont get you. 3. defend your rights, your home, and your people; come out on top or die trying. you have to pick something though. we have to do something because they those set to protect us are out to get us.

we do not have a democratic government not even a representative democracy like we once thought. sorry if you were today years old when you found out. we operate out of a republic; a constitutional federal republic. what's the difference? in a democracy, all that voting that we do, matters.  even if it was a representative democracy. we would have representatives to disclose our decisions. the electoral college makes final decisions on elections.

a constitutional federal republic means that the constitution which is the law of the land governs the land. if this is the law of the land, why do we have sub laws? the constitution needs to be amended. want to fix the race and inequality issues? let me tell you how, real easy fix. call a convention. take out any amendment that gives rights to people AND reword the beginning anyway folks see fit so that women and americans from all ethnic backgrounds get the same level of respect and rights. there will always be an unspoken division until things like that are rectified. before black people got rights we were not even counted as complete people, simply 3/5s of a person. life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. these are unalienable rights. my very existence guarantees me these rights.

the judicial system coupled with the criminal law system are hopeful, and still in need of reform. prisons are privately owned institutions, which are supposed to be forms of rehabilitation. instead, they are condemning people and treating them inhumanely; creating the same environment they were in on the outside, on in the inside conditioning them to be stuck in these ways as means of survival and then continue to place blame on them. officers need to take crimes more seriously. people are people, bias, prejudices, and profiling have no place in the workplace. officers are corrupt, arresting kids for selling, who just are trying to help their mother with the bills, then turning around and selling it back out on the streets. officers are wrongfully convictind and killing predominately (as far as the media is broadcasting) though not only melanated people. on top of that, they are walking free. lives are being lost and they arent even losing their jobs. tax dollars are going towards keeping them safe. however, if a civilian shoots a cop. up the river for them.

lawyers aren't fighting hard enough. especially defense attorneys. it is fairly simple to get a conviction with the right information, proving innocence is always a bit more complicated. the problem is that attorneys get too big eyed. they looking at how to get their clients off, accountability is another taboo in this society. there are a multitude of people who are innocent behind bars, as well as those who received heinous outrageous sentences. that is not right.

people factor more than necessary when trying to make a decision, yet they ignore the things that remind them a person is human. its this art contest over who can paint the best picture of the defendant. which story is easy for a jurors bias to sway? how people look matters. and it shouldn't. our government since the building of america, has created dividing markers.

just like with royal kingdoms, the wife couldn't have things of her own. her role was cleaning, cooking, taking care of the kids, and whatever else was asked of her. if there was a divorce, the woman got nothing. they had no rights. imagine being the first born as a female in a royal family and being told you can't have your kingdom, correction you can but you must marry to get it. then if you get married the new king running things not you. what is that? its called patriarchy. our government is run off a patriarchy as well.

so i never really believed there could be like a true separation of church and state because every law and decision made was based on people's morals and beliefs. there is supposed to be a separation of church and state yet, due to people's religious beliefs gay marriage had to get legalized, despite there being no law for heterosexual marriage. would that not make it illegal? since gay marriage had to be legalized though there was not a law for it either? then on top of that, how do you make it a law, and still for religious reasons, ministers and such can refuse? there are always stipulations and hinderances for the rights of those who are not white men.

ABORTION: i really do not know why we are still having this conversation. its literally conversations like this that have me looking at americans like--- seriously? once again there should be a separation of church and state. so religion cannot be a reason to outlaw it. how can you put out a law that dictates what someone can do with their body? all of life, i mean every part of life should be pro-choice. its just that simple. Pro-Choice. i am all for the right to decide for yourself. and men want to feel a way about women making that decision on their own. and while i do stand behind the fact that ultimately it is the womans decision, that does not mean she can't listen to an opinion. it is a part of the woman, literally grows inside of her an entire being. and fathers can just dip out and folks will just look at the mom and suddenly she should just become super woman. the pressure that comes with having a child is enough on its own. like thats a being that is dependent on you. some people are honest with themselves and know they arent ready or dont want it. all they need is support. the mental toll life takes on us is huge as well. still people do not consider that at all.

there is no point of incarcerating people, if they have still lost a chance at a decent life once they get out. jail is for rehabilitation. they go, do their time and then they are supposed to be allowed to try again. our government knows nothing of redemption, that's why all the top leaders go through so much to hide their dirt. they crucify civilians trying to make themselves seem superior, really they are just like you and i. almasi for president. im going to save the world.

-Almasi

[chikkou]

I'm not sure if you've been asked this already, but I finished death note today and I was wondering about your opinion of Misa? since you give her so much love

this is a very fun and sexy question and i thank u for asking it! (im also gonna answer it publicly, i hope u dont mind)

the short version of how i feel about misa is, essentially, that she is THE most important character in the story, bar none.

firstly, she possesses a level of social awareness and people skills/emotional intelligence that light simply does not have. he looks the part, sure, and he does have a certain level of charisma, but his interactions with other people - especially people he considers “lesser,” which is pretty much everyone for mister god complex - are stilted and awkward, meaning that no one ever fully trusts him. for example, the only reason misora was bested by him (in-universe, anyway) was due to his connection to L, someone she DOES trust - she knew that light was off somehow and even gave him a false name at first to protect herself. in a more meta sense, it was shitty writing on ohbas part since it was basically a crap excuse to get her out of the story, as i think everyone knows that misora wouldve solved the case in 2 seconds had she been allowed to live.

misa, on the other hand, is VERY easy to trust, because everyone she encounters underestimates her. its easy to see why - shes ditzy, not very book smart, obsessive of light, and overall pretty flighty. but her initial conversation with light and her manipulation of higuchi later on make it very clear that she isnt really like that. she knows how people view her and uses that to her advantage. she messes things up for the detectives on purpose and uses her “brainless celebrity” persona to justify it. but working as the second kira, her actions are completely calculated and well thought out.

to circle back to why shes the most important character, its pretty simple - if she hadnt come in when she did and killed ukita, light would have gotten caught right away. its that simple. L already knew light was the killer, and only had to gather the evidence to prove it before arresting him, which he was already on his way to doing (due to the murder of lind l taylor isolating him as living in kanto, his intimate knowledge of the criminals in custody identifying him as someone with ties to the police department, and his “killing schedule” identifying him as a student). misa coming in and killing ukita without knowing his name and in such a public, messy way was actually a massive boon to light, as it threw the detectives off his trail long enough that L was no longer able to act using the same information as before. in spite of that, no credit is given to misa for basically allowing the series to happen, and she tends to be cast to the wayside by fans because of it

this is an overarching problem with ohba as a writer. its well known that death note has absolutely ABHORRENT writing for its women characters, and is just deeply misogynist in its content. although misa is basically indispensable as a character, shes treated as superfluous due to ohbas views on women, similarly to takada (who, in fairness, is much less important to the story than misa) and misora, both intelligent characters in their own right who instead get pigeonholed into their connections to some of the male characters. but instead, shes one of the most interesting characters in the entire story, with a backstory that actually explains why she’d want to work with someone like kira and a personality that makes her much more sympathetic than light as a main character. instead, she gets delegated to “gothic lolita eyecandy”. 

the anime adaptation tried a bit harder to rectify that by making misa more classically troubled and sad, like with the addition of her song showing her doubts about light, but the manga really couldnt decide what kind of personality they wanted her to have. they flipflopped between useless ditz misa and cold calculated killer misa (one of my favorite misas by the way) so often that its clear they couldnt figure out what to do with her. she had such an incredible amount of potential to be the storys breakout character due to her subtle influence on everything, but ohba hates women so much that all potential for it was completely squandered! it infuriates me to this day and i will never forgive death note for how it treated misa. ok thats it LMAO

tl;dr misa good

[imagine-loki]

Pride and Prejudice

TITLE: Pride and Prejudice CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 21 AUTHOR: wolfpawn

ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki was raised on Jotunheim as Laufey’s son after the war, but an agreement was then made that he would wed Odin’s daughter so Odin could secure the alliance of Jotunheim through the marriage. Loki, in turn, was raised to be king of Jotunheim, but how he views Asgard is far different from how Odin’s daughter is raised leading to a clash of cultures as well as uncertainty between the pair of betrothed youths.     RATING: Mature   NOTES/WARNINGS: Forced Marriage, not all fun and games. My first real step back into the Loki scene in over a year.

Tags - @skulliebythesea @asimovethroughthisworld @blackcherry26-blog @we-shadowhunter2901

“Could you repeat that?” Arden looked at Loki in shock.

“Was I unclear?” Loki smirked.

“How do you know this?” Laufey sat forward and watched his son, highly intrigued by what he told him.

“It appears everyone, you included, underestimated my wife, Father. She is well versed in the goings-on of the Vanir court, and upon my telling her of their recent discussions with us, she was able to inform me of that of which they will most likely wish to acquire and that of which they have that we will wish to obtain.”

“This is your reasoning for speaking more with her? To obtain this information?” Laufey looked at his son with both disappointment and impressed shock.

“No, that was not the reason we ate together. I did that so to spend time with her. I am, of course, supposed to be trying to make amends, but whilst I was informing her of Vanaheim’s recent discussions with us with regards an invitation there, she informed me of what it is that they will most likely wish to get from us.”

“And she told you this, all of her own free will?” Byleistr asked. “I am not sure if I would believe it.”

 “Princess Ella does nothing that is not for the betterment of Jotunheim, I would not think it a trick.” Laufey dismissed his oldest son’s thoughts.

“But she is of their line.”

“She is of this line now. How many times in her life do you think she has even been in the company of King Wilheim? She has been on Jotunheim longer than she has ever been in his company, I have little doubt. He cast his own sister to the Aesir king the day Odin Allfather made mention of a possible alliance when she was even younger than her daughter and the Allfather over a millennium older than her. No, I see no familial duty to be held there. The princess does this for us.” Beside him, Arden nodded in agreement. “If the conversation was not even spearheaded by Ella, if she had no previous knowledge of it, it is not premeditated.”

“But didn’t the Allmother send her a letter after she insisted on staying?” Helbindi pointed out.

“It was a messenger who recited the message, and he did so in my presence,” Arden informed him. “There was no mention of Vanaheim whatsoever. Alfheim, yes, but not Vanaheim.”

“What else was said?” Loki asked, not having been told any such news.

“Nothing of importance. That she respected the princess’s decision but that she was concerned for her. That when she is finished with them, she will give her daughter the scrolls she has from the Garden of Tyrell to read. She wishes to see her soon but understands that after everything that has occurred, time needs to pass before she may visit and so forth.” Arden recited boredly. “Nothing of note.”

“So, there is no reason to suspect foul play by the princess,” Laufey repeated. “We use this information wisely. That will be all for now.” He dismissed, causing his sons and his advisors to leave the room. “Loki, a moment.”

Loki remained in place until the room emptied. “Yes, Father?”

“I wish to state I am elated by this news of you taking dinner with the princess. This will better everything, I can sense it. With a strong marriage, you will rule Jotunheim better than I ever could and with an able wife by your side, her information will be priceless.” He stood wearily from his throne. “I see already that she is becoming friends with many very swiftly since that little bit of misinformation was rectified. Ensure those with ulterior motives do not get too close to her, it would not do to have her hurt and then suspicious of everyone as a result. What bonds she makes will be imperative when you are King. When you have a few mates, you are likely to have the majority of the court covered, with one, she needs to be well-liked. I already hear that she is well received by most, but we must ensure some of less reputable favour get too close.”

“Of course, Father.” Loki bowed.

“Good.” Laufey nodded as he spoke. “She is an incredible asset to our House. For one born to Odin Allfather, she is a wonderful being. I guess a monster can sire a good soul.”

“I think her to have made a deal of some manner with Hela, herself,” Loki confessed.

“Why so?”

“Any that makes Heriff laugh is not without some manner of power or magic not of the Nine Realms.”

Laufey chuckled at his son’s words. “That is a fair argument.”

*

“Arden mentioned that the Allmother sent a messenger after your illness. I would have thought she would prefer to see you, considering?” Loki did not know if he should mention her mother to Ella but braved doing so at their next dinner together.

“Yes, she will have a lot to attend to after over six weeks in the Garden, so it would not do for her to not be present for longer after that,” Ella stated, eating some more of her food.

“I would have thought her to be concerned for you?”

“She is, I have little doubt. But she is also of the impression that if I do not severe ties with Asgard fully, I will not find my place here, so she will do everything she can to ensure I do not spend all my time mourning my childhood realm.”

“It comes across as incredibly callous.”

“I suppose it does if you look at it from an outside perspective. She is doing this of her own previous experiences. She told me as a child that the hardest time is the first year after you marry. As the wife, you are expected to go to his realm, be immersed in your husband’s life and though Asgard and Vanaheim are somewhat similar, so too are they different. She loathed it, but her mother did the same, as she went between realms for the first few years of her marriage and it did her no favours in the long run. My grandmother did not repeat her mistakes with my mother and apparently it was easier then. Or so I am told. I will have to take their word for it. What she does, she is doing out of not wanting to see me suffer.”

“Were you close to her when you were being raised?”

“Yes, I saw her almost every day. If she went somewhere off realm I did not see her, obviously, but when we were in the palace, she ensured we were in one another's company daily. We spoke often and she always tried to answer any questions I had on any matter. I was very fortunate.” She looked at him sadly. “I see how things are here. How involved a mother is in the raising of her child. I cannot imagine it was easy for you to not have your mother growing up when your brother’s had theirs.”

“Helbindi and Byleistr share a dam. She, Faurbauti, was miraculously able to carry two to term, but seven hundred years apart. I came in the intervening years, through Nal.” He looked sadly at his food. “Yes, not having any memory of her does not always sit well with me. Faurbauti and my father’s other mates speak highly of her and were very happy to tend to me as they did my brothers, but not having her took its toll in other respects.”

“I am sorry you did not have her. From the manner I hear the King speak, she was very dear to him and with the manner he sees you, it is clear he sees you similar.”

Loki nodded. “My father cares for us all.”

“He is a good King and a good man.”

“I would have thought you would dispute such, considering the war.”

“Men make mistakes, as do women. It is whether or not you learn from them that is important. We cannot hold onto people’s past actions if they show remorse.”

“What of justice for their actions?”

“You mean, how my father killed so many Jotnar, where is the justice for you all?”

“Yes.”

“And what is the justice for those Midgardians frozen because of the actions of your father and his army on Midgard?” Ella asked politely. “Do we hold everyone to different punishments for loss of life?”

“We suffered because of the loss of the Casket, what did Asgard lose?” Loki growled.

“Not enough.” That caused him to look at her in shock. “Trade deals and a few allies is not fair, I agree with that. But to state that my father cost life here then not see how Jotunheim cost life elsewhere is hypocritical.”

“Your father is such.”

“My father is not what you should hold up as an inspiration. I love him but he has not always been a good man. You, on the other hand, from what I see and hear, are far better.”

“Is your opinion on me changing?”

Ella looked at her husband in an analytical manner. “Perhaps a little, now I get to meet the man you hid from me before now. But time reveals all, including whether this is a facade or if I am really being treated to the true Loki.”

“You are very sceptical.”

“May I remind you which of us thought the other a spy simply because they bothered to learn about the other’s realm?”

“I know plenty of Asgard, thank you.” Loki retorted.

“Yet you never ask anything of it?”

“There’s very little I need to know after so extensively studying it through the years.” Loki shook his head. “I have little interest in knowing more. I doubt your brother will care too greatly to strengthen ties when he is named king.”

“And if you are wrong?”

“I am rarely wrong.”

“You have been incredibly wrong about me, perhaps your prejudice makes you wrong about him too.” She smirked.

Loki studied her some more. “You have an arrogant streak in you.”

“Recognise a shared trait in us, have you?” She laughed almost playfully in return. Loki gave her an abashed glare. “I see a few shared traits between us really. It’s a pity that most of them are negative.” Loki’s brow rose in bemusement, causing her to laugh again.

To his startlement, he did not loathe the sound.

[wolfpawn]

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 21

Story Summary - Based on an idea I had that I submitted to Imagine Loki. Imagine Loki was raised on Jotunheim as Laufey’s son after the war, but an agreement was then made that he would wed Odin’s daughter so Odin could secure the alliance of Jotunheim through the marriage. Loki, in turn, was raised to be king of Jotunheim, but how he views Asgard is far different from how Odin’s daughter is raised leading to a clash of cultures as well as uncertainty between the pair of betrothed youths.

Chapter Summary -  Loki discusses what Ella told him with his father before he discusses certain topics with her, only to get some truths he's not so sure he can handle.

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Tags - @peppermint-j @damalseer @perpetual-fangirl @tinchentitri @inspired-snowflace @raphaelaisabella @alexakeyloveloki @caffiend-queen @devilbat @nonsensicalobsessions @skulliebythesea @majoringinlife @salempoe @lotus-eyedindiangoddess

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“Could you repeat that?” Arden looked at Loki in shock.

“Was I unclear?” Loki smirked.

“How do you know this?” Laufey sat forward and watched his son, highly intrigued by what he told him.

“It appears everyone, you included, underestimated my wife, Father. She is well versed in the goings-on of the Vanir court, and upon my telling her of their recent discussions with us, she was able to inform me of that of which they will most likely wish to acquire and that of which they have that we will wish to obtain.”

“This is your reasoning for speaking more with her? To obtain this information?” Laufey looked at his son with both disappointment and impressed shock.

“No, that was not the reason we ate together. I did that so to spend time with her. I am, of course, supposed to be trying to make amends, but whilst I was informing her of Vanaheim’s recent discussions with us with regards an invitation there, she informed me of what it is that they will most likely wish to get from us.”

“And she told you this, all of her own free will?” Byleistr asked. “I am not sure if I would believe it.”

“Princess Ella does nothing that is not for the betterment of Jotunheim, I would not think it a trick.” Laufey dismissed his oldest son’s thoughts.

“But she is of their line.”

“She is of this line now. How many times in her life do you think she has even been in the company of King Wilheim? She has been on Jotunheim longer than she has ever been in his company, I have little doubt. He cast his own sister to the Aesir king the day Odin Allfather made mention of a possible alliance when she was even younger than her daughter and the Allfather over a millennium older than her. No, I see no familial duty to be held there. The princess does this for us.” Beside him, Arden nodded in agreement. “If the conversation was not even spearheaded by Ella, if she had no previous knowledge of it, it is not premeditated.”

“But didn’t the Allmother send her a letter after she insisted on staying?” Helbindi pointed out.

“It was a messenger who recited the message, and he did so in my presence,” Arden informed him. “There was no mention of Vanaheim whatsoever. Alfheim, yes, but not Vanaheim.”

“What else was said?” Loki asked, not having been told any such news.

“Nothing of importance. That she respected the princess’s decision but that she was concerned for her. That when she is finished with them, she will give her daughter the scrolls she has from the Garden of Tyrell to read. She wishes to see her soon but understands that after everything that has occurred, time needs to pass before she may visit and so forth.” Arden recited boredly. “Nothing of note.”

“So, there is no reason to suspect foul play by the princess,” Laufey repeated. “We use this information wisely. That will be all for now.” He dismissed, causing his sons and his advisors to leave the room. “Loki, a moment.”

Loki remained in place until the room emptied. “Yes, Father?”

“I wish to state I am elated by this news of you taking dinner with the princess. This will better everything, I can sense it. With a strong marriage, you will rule Jotunheim better than I ever could and with an able wife by your side, her information will be priceless.” He stood wearily from his throne. “I see already that she is becoming friends with many very swiftly since that little bit of misinformation was rectified. Ensure those with ulterior motives do not get too close to her, it would not do to have her hurt and then suspicious of everyone as a result. What bonds she makes will be imperative when you are King. When you have a few mates, you are likely to have the majority of the court covered, with one, she needs to be well-liked. I already hear that she is well received by most, but we must ensure some of less reputable favour get too close.”

“Of course, Father.” Loki bowed.

“Good.” Laufey nodded as he spoke. “She is an incredible asset to our House. For one born to Odin Allfather, she is a wonderful being. I guess a monster can sire a good soul.”

“I think her to have made a deal of some manner with Hela, herself,” Loki confessed.

“Why so?”

“Any that makes Heriff laugh is not without some manner of power or magic not of the Nine Realms.”

Laufey chuckled at his son’s words. “That is a fair argument.”

*

“Arden mentioned that the Allmother sent a messenger after your illness. I would have thought she would prefer to see you, considering?” Loki did not know if he should mention her mother to Ella but braved doing so at their next dinner together.

“Yes, she will have a lot to attend to after over six weeks in the Garden, so it would not do for her to not be present for longer after that,” Ella stated, eating some more of her food.

“I would have thought her to be concerned for you?”

“She is, I have little doubt. But she is also of the impression that if I do not severe ties with Asgard fully, I will not find my place here, so she will do everything she can to ensure I do not spend all my time mourning my childhood realm.”

“It comes across as incredibly callous.”

“I suppose it does if you look at it from an outside perspective. She is doing this of her own previous experiences. She told me as a child that the hardest time is the first year after you marry. As the wife, you are expected to go to his realm, be immersed in your husband’s life and though Asgard and Vanaheim are somewhat similar, so too are they different. She loathed it, but her mother did the same, as she went between realms for the first few years of her marriage and it did her no favours in the long run. My grandmother did not repeat her mistakes with my mother and apparently it was easier then. Or so I am told. I will have to take their word for it. What she does, she is doing out of not wanting to see me suffer.”

“Were you close to her when you were being raised?”

“Yes, I saw her almost every day. If she went somewhere off realm I did not see her, obviously, but when we were in the palace, she ensured we were in one another's company daily. We spoke often and she always tried to answer any questions I had on any matter. I was very fortunate.” She looked at him sadly. “I see how things are here. How involved a mother is in the raising of her child. I cannot imagine it was easy for you to not have your mother growing up when your brother’s had theirs.”

“Helbindi and Byleistr share a dam. She, Faurbauti, was miraculously able to carry two to term, but seven hundred years apart. I came in the intervening years, through Nal.” He looked sadly at his food. “Yes, not having any memory of her does not always sit well with me. Faurbauti and my father’s other mates speak highly of her and were very happy to tend to me as they did my brothers, but not having her took its toll in other respects.”

“I am sorry you did not have her. From the manner I hear the King speak, she was very dear to him and with the manner he sees you, it is clear he sees you similar.”

Loki nodded. “My father cares for us all.”

“He is a good King and a good man.”

“I would have thought you would dispute such, considering the war.”

“Men make mistakes, as do women. It is whether or not you learn from them that is important. We cannot hold onto people’s past actions if they show remorse.”

“What of justice for their actions?”

“You mean, how my father killed so many Jotnar, where is the justice for you all?”

“Yes.”

“And what is the justice for those Midgardians frozen because of the actions of your father and his army on Midgard?” Ella asked politely. “Do we hold everyone to different punishments for loss of life?”

“We suffered because of the loss of the Casket, what did Asgard lose?” Loki growled.

“Not enough.” That caused him to look at her in shock. “Trade deals and a few allies is not fair, I agree with that. But to state that my father cost life here then not see how Jotunheim cost life elsewhere is hypocritical.”

“Your father is such.”

“My father is not what you should hold up as an inspiration. I love him but he has not always been a good man. You, on the other hand, from what I see and hear, are far better.”

“Is your opinion on me changing?”

Ella looked at her husband in an analytical manner. “Perhaps a little, now I get to meet the man you hid from me before now. But time reveals all, including whether this is a facade or if I am really being treated to the true Loki.”

“You are very sceptical.”

“May I remind you which of us thought the other a spy simply because they bothered to learn about the other’s realm?”

“I know plenty of Asgard, thank you.” Loki retorted.

“Yet you never ask anything of it?”

“There’s very little I need to know after so extensively studying it through the years.” Loki shook his head. “I have little interest in knowing more. I doubt your brother will care too greatly to strengthen ties when he is named king.”

“And if you are wrong?”

“I am rarely wrong.”

“You have been incredibly wrong about me, perhaps your prejudice makes you wrong about him too.” She smirked.

Loki studied her some more. “You have an arrogant streak in you.”

“Recognise a shared trait in us, have you?” She laughed almost playfully in return. Loki gave her an abashed glare. “I see a few shared traits between us really. It’s a pity that most of them are negative.” Loki’s brow rose in bemusement, causing her to laugh again.

To his startlement, he did not loathe the sound.

[raendown]

Sort of an entry for the @kakashirarepairs Bang Event. Doesn’t actually fit either of their themes but it gave me a push to write this sequel I’ve been saying I would for like two years so I ran with it. 

Also tagging @madakaka so my wife doesn’t yell at me. xD

Pairing: MadaraKakashi Word count: 7149 Rated: T+ Summary: Sequel to Chapter 88 of the Soulmate Story Collection. After countless years of waiting Madara has finally found the soulmate he was always meant for and once again begun the process of aging. But more importantly he has a chance now to experience the honor - and the challenges - of watching Kakashi grow in to a man.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the header!

Ages Turn (You Were Always Perfect)

12--

Obito’s surgery was going well and it looked like there was a large chance of a full recovery – or as full a recovery as was possible when half of one leg and a portion of the same arm were missing. Kakashi knew this only because he overheard the nurses gossiping with the assistants popping in and out of his own surgery.

It was strange being awake for this and Kakashi rather wished they would just knock him out or something. The light was too bright on his retinas, his body was nearing chakra exhaustion, and they had discovered he was unable to deactivate the Sharingan currently under inspection. He understood, however, that the medi-nin needed him to stay awake so that he could answer their questions. Not to mention they probably also needed him to stay awake to deal with the seething mass of sulky protectiveness lurking in one corner of the surgical theater.

Kakashi was still barely able to wrap his head around the fact that he’d found his soulmate. It was incredibly hard to continue staring at the people examining his eye and not let his gaze drift continually over to where Madara stood, ragged and wild, like a savage beast contained within a human shape. He was tall and even his chakra itself was loud and heavy yet Kakashi had seen a layer of gentleness in him when he’d been pulled in to the man’s embrace for the first time. Right now there was little of that gentleness as he hovered menacingly, giving the impression of a pacing cat even while staying perfectly still. His eyes followed the movement of every person near Kakashi in a silent warning that one single twitch in the wrong direction and he would act. Violently.

He appeared to be making the medical staff nervous, which Kakashi thought was rather unprofessional of them. Really, if they didn’t do anything wrong then they had nothing to worry about. Did they think themselves so incompetent?

It took another hour before he was declared as patched up as possible. Rin distracted herself from worrying about Obito during that time by basking in the praise for her field transplant, lapping it up like a purring kitten. Kakashi supposed it must be nice to have the focus on herself for once. Usually she allowed either of her teammates to stand in the spotlight and it wasn’t until today that he’d thought to wonder if she had ever minded. The moment his head was free Kakashi turned his own attention at last to the man waiting impatiently in the corner. As soon as their eyes connected Madara was moving, seeming to float across the floor as though he were a part of the gathering evening shadows. When he reached Kakashi’s side he lifted one hand, gently tracing the edge of soft white bandages.

“Are you still in pain?” he asked. Kakashi shook his head.

“I’m fine.” Madara narrowed his eyes and Kakashi huffed with as much attitude as he still had the energy for. “Fine. I have a headache but it’s not bad. It’s just because I’m so tired.”

“You should rest, Precious One.”

Kakashi’s face threatened to burst in to flames, red spilling over top of his mask. “I’m not precious!”

“You are to me,” Madara said, unrepentant even as Kakashi blushed harder.

“Well…that’s…anyway I can’t rest. I have to make sure everything goes fine with Obito.”

Madara hummed in a way that said he wasn’t particularly interested in Obito’s fate himself but that he would happily wait for anything that was important to Kakashi. The younger looked down at his fidgeting hands, baffled. They had only just met. Sure they were soulmates and even he could feel the instant connection. But to be called precious? He couldn’t imagine being precious to anyone. Even kind Minato-sensei surely saw him as a bother more often than not, or so he assumed. He’d spent enough time pushing everyone away from himself he was honestly surprised to still find himself with any friends at all.

Kakashi tried not to think about it too hard, concentrating instead on the wonderful feeling of freedom when he was finally allowed to escape the surgical theatre. Madara trailed after him as he wound through the hallways and settled down beside him when he plopped inelegantly on to one of the benches in the waiting area outside the room where Obito was being tended to. His body was tired and clambering for rest but Kakashi had only just confirmed that Obito was his friend. He wasn’t about to abandon the other boy now. Maybe leaving wouldn’t have been quite the same as abandoning him but it would have felt the same and so he stayed.

Still, it only took ten minutes for the events he had gone through to finally catch up to him all at once. Before he even had time to realize what was happening Kakashi was slipping down in to blank unconsciousness, falling sideways against Madara’s shoulder as he gave in to exhaustion at last. Madara smiled down on him more gently than most would believe him capable of. Not wishing to disturb the lad, he wrapped one arm around his tired soulmate and simply held him tightly, reaching over with his other hand to close the jaw which had fallen comically open when he slumped over without warning.

Waiting was something Madara was more than familiar with. He had done his fair share of it over the past several decades and yet he found that he had just enough patience to wait a little more. Finding his soulmate was a blessing he had long given up on and he was happy just for the chance to sit here and observe the lad.

To his eyes, Kakashi was the most perfect creature he had ever laid eyes on. Silver hair the color of the moon, skin so pale he feared it might turn translucent if it got wet, and the beginning of what would surely be a jawline to kill for once he grew in to it. From the short time they’d had together he had already seen enough hints that the boy’s personality would keep him delightfully on his toes as well. He could already tell that he would never be bored. All in all, even after only one day Madara was already confident that the wait, long as it had been, was entirely worth it.

He would need to find a way to make Kakashi understand that. The poor lad didn’t seem to have a very high opinion of himself, something Madara intended to rectify as soon as possible.

Perhaps five hours had passed by before anything significant happened. Energy sang through his veins and Madara was tingling with the need to move yet he remained as still as possible, not wanting to disturb the precious gift still dozing against his shoulder. Despite the demands of his own body he was still just a little disappointed when Kakashi was awoken by the opening of the surgery doors.

Kakashi was upright and wide awake in an instant when he spotted the doctors coming through the door. It took Madara gripping his arms to keep him upright, however, since his knees threatened to buckle with sheer relief once he heard that everything had gone well. The doctors gave them the number of Obito’s recovery room, side-eyeing Madara in a worried manner as they did so, and Kakashi took off down the hall the moment they had finished speaking. Perhaps a hundred years ago Madara might have remembered his manners and thanked the doctors for their service. At the moment, though, the only thing which mattered to him was the boy rapidly disappearing down the hallway.

 13--

Life in this future world was confusing. Madara might have been alive and well for the past several decades but he hadn’t bothered to peek in on the rest of humanity in any significant way for most of them – and he certainly hadn’t bothered to examine how day to day life might have changed.

There were so many new gadgets to play with that his soulmate merely took for granted. It took more than a week before Madara caved and asked what the white box was that seemed to prepare food in mere minutes. Kakashi called it a ‘microwave’ and started explaining something about radiation and energy transfer but Madara stopped him when he was uncomfortably reminded of his best friend’s little brother. It hadn’t helped that Kakashi sort of looked like Tobirama, his hair just a few shades darker.

Some of the other new inventions were incredibly useful, however. Madara particularly enjoyed the television box in the living room. Not so much for himself but mostly because it kept Kakashi entertained and perfectly still for hours at a time, leaving him easy pray for fingers that wanted to play with his hair or idly sketch the profile he made against the sickly artificial glow of the screen. Sometimes if he was very lucky Kakashi would fall asleep watching some terrible show and Madara would be treated with an opportunity to curl up beside him on the couch and sleep with that soothing chakra right next to his own where he could reach out when the nightmares woke him in the night.

One piece of what Kakashi called ‘technology’ that Madara absolutely did not like was the doorbell. Loud and clangoring, Madara hated the sound of it but he hated even more the horrors that always followed. Rin he didn’t mind, a calm and respectful young lady who seemed to understand how much he detested having their time together interrupted. Obito was annoying yet survivable, his brash nature offset by the periodic waves of gratitude that still popped up even now a year after Madara saved his life.

But the green one. It was the boy in green that had Madara shuddering every time his voice sounded over the incessant ringing of that hated hidden bell. For the third day in a row Madara clapped both hands over his eyes to block out the noise and glared balefully at the entrance to the apartment they shared. As a registered citizen of Konoha once again he would be within his right to make a noise complaint. It would be against his own apartment and Kakashi would be the one to get in trouble as the only name on the lease but surely he could bribe someone in to letting that infernal beast of a child suffer whatever punishment was due.  

“KAKASHI MY RIVAL! LET US TEST OUR STRENGTH ON THIS GOOD DAY!”

“If he shouts any louder I’m getting him a muzzle,” Madara grumbled, arms folding more and more tightly to his chest as his body sank lower on the sofa. Beside him, Kakashi only smiled.

“He’d probably take that as a challenge to yell just as loud with it on.”

“Ugh.”

On the other side of the door Gai banged his fist again and cried, “I HAVE THE MOST YOUTHFUL CHALLENGE FOR YOU!”

“I should get this over with,” Kakashi said.

“No.”

Looking over at him in amusement, the boy actually had the gall to smirk. “Aww, what’s the matter?” You gonna miss me while I’m out slinging boulders or whatever dumb thing he wants us to do?”

“Yes,” Madara admitted simply. “I always miss you when you are not here with me.”

“O-oh, um, okay. Well. I’ll try not to be away too long, I guess.” Kakashi flushed and practically leapt off the couch as though if he moved fast enough he could outrun his own emotional responses. Madara let him go without any further protests despite the fact that all he wanted to do was call the other back and spend the day alone together.

In general that was the only thing he ever wanted to do.

He could hardly be blamed, though. Kakashi was his soulmate and in the year since they had finally met he’d come to the conclusion that the universe really did have a good reason for making him wait so long. He would have waited another hundred years if he needed to if Kakashi was the prize at the end – although he would eviscerate anyone who dared call the boy something so demeaning as a mere prize. The point was that they were well matched in his opinion and they would only become more so as more years passed them by.

Still only thirteen years old, Kakashi held no sexual or romantic attraction for him. Madara was more than aware that many adults in the village had worried about that but the very idea was laughable. He was a child! What draw could there be for a man finally allowed to grow to twenty-one years old in a child who hadn’t seen even a quarter of the years that he had? No, the only attraction Madara felt was a bone-deep pull that told him Kakashi was precious.

Watching his soulmate leave to spend time with someone else was as hard today as it was every day but it had already been more than twelve months since they found each other and Madara was long used to the necessity of that pain. Kakashi was a young thing and desperately in need of socialization. As much as Madara wished he could, he knew he couldn’t make up for an entire social circle and so he watched with sad eyes as the boy slipped out the door to spend time with that green beast of a stretchy human. If he were so inclined he knew he could have gone along but Madara had seen quite enough of the outside world already, most of it filled with darkness and disappointment.

He was much happier to while away the lonely hours here in the place his beloved soulmate called home, watching shows on the television box that he didn’t understand and waiting patiently until the missing piece of himself came home again. Kakashi always came home again.

 16--

Three years was more than enough time to find a job and what better employment for a man of Madara's skill than to rejoin the shinobi ranks he had once commanded. So thought the walking sunshine known as Namikaze Minato, at least.

Lifting one eyebrow in blatant disinterest, Madara considered throwing the contents of his teacup in the man’s face for the sheer pleasure of watching him scream. All that stopped him was knowing this over-bright perpetual smile was somehow precious to his soulmate and that Kakashi would give him a lecture to end all lectures if he hurt this man. For as many times as he had courted with danger in his life Madara had no intentions of angering his soulmate again.

The last time he’d gone without any hugs for a solid week, not an experience he wanted to repeat.

“I am content with my place,” Madara stated firmly, knuckles white to retain their grip on the cup he was very carefully not throwing at anyone.

“You could be so much more than content,” Minato insisted. “You could serve your village again. If the history books are right then the village was your idea in the first place, an idea no one had ever dared to entertain before. Wouldn’t you like to protect it?”

“Did he really say that?”

“I’m sorry?”

Madara's grip loosened and his eyes grew distant, cup lowering to rest gently on the table. “I’m surprised Hashirama would have told anyone that. He was always fond of forgetting that an idea was not originally his. How odd…to be the subject of a history book. Suddenly I feel very old.”

“You are old,” Kakashi chipped in as he entered the room, heading straight for the fridge without bothering to greet either of them.

“Now, now, that wasn’t very nice.” Long used to his role as father-figure, Minato shook one finger in reprimand. Kakashi blithely ignored him and continued pouring himself a glass of juice.

With a deep breath Madara shook away the ghosts of his own past. “Whatever I am, I am no longer a shinobi.”

“Once a shinobi, always a shinobi,” Minato countered. “It’s in our blood.”

“Not mine; not any longer. I served my time already, Yondaime-san. When the first buildings were raised I pledged my allegiance to the first Hokage and I did my duty protecting this dream we crafted together. So many years later I should think you would be thrilled by my decision to take a seat on the council instead of insinuating that it isn’t enough.”

“You input is invaluable, there’s no one who would disagree–”

Madara cut the man off before he could go in to anything else with a sharp, “Excellent. Then it’s settled, I will continue to enjoy my retirement and a life that is finally not reliant upon any sort of conflict. You will go back to the office that was built for a bigger man than you and bother me no more about this.”

Across the room, Kakashi sighed.

“Bigger man than I?” Minato asked in a quiet, serious sort of voice. Madara was the opposite of scared.

“Hashirama was much taller,” he replied airily.

Clearly he hadn’t fooled the other man but to call him out for such a petty insult would only make Minato look even pettier. He made the very smart decision to drop it instead and turn to catch Kakashi’s attention for the real reason he’d come, something he needed clarified from the last mission his protégé had come back from.

After he had what he needed Minato declined any offers of staying for tea. He left boisterous goodbyes, his usual humor returned, and Madara made sure to stick his tongue out at the man’s back as he went out the door. Then he jerked as a pale hand swatted him upset the hand even as another one set a glass of juice down in front of him. Kakashi was rolling his eyes when Madara looked up at him with a baleful expression.

“What?” he demanded.

“Can you be a little nicer?”

“No. I don’t like him so I don’t have to be nice to him.”

“He’s the Hokage,” Kakashi pointed out. “And he’s my sensei – well, before you started teaching me he was.”

Madara looked away. “He steals attention from you that could have been mine. And time. And affection. I don’t like any of them. You should spend all of your time with me, obviously.”

He didn’t really mean that – well, not entirely. It would be nice to have Kakashi all to himself at all times but he understood that wasn’t healthy. And he could tell Kakashi knew that he didn’t mean it when the only reaction he got was a roll of one gray eye and a bony hand reaching up to tangle in his hair.

“Possessive bastard,” his soulmate accused him.

“Of you? Yes. You’re clearly the superior being above all others, can you blame me for wanting to keep you all to myself?”

Kakashi laughed and the sound cracked high and low unevenly. Neither of them commented. He was getting so big, taller than Madara already which truly wasn’t fair.  Watching him grow in to the man he was always meant to be was a bittersweet sort of honor that Madara usually chose to reminisce on when he was alone. But in moments like this when an unexpected touch left him relaxed enough to lower the very last of his guard he couldn’t help but let his mind return to the one thing that had been on his mind ever since a few months before when Kakashi had finally found it necessary to learn how to shave.

What would it be like when he grew in to adulthood and wanted his independence? How many years did Madara have left before the only precious person in his life discovered the draw of romance and sex, before he fell in love and wanted a place of his own to nurture a new kind of bond? The very thought was as terrifying as it was thrilling. Of course he would want nothing more than for Kakashi to be happy.

But what of the bond he had spent nearly a hundred years waiting for? Madara looked up at the young man who it seemed only yesterday had been a child and wondered. He wondered how much it would hurt when he was no longer the most important thing in Kakashi’s life.

And he wondered if he should start keeping his declarations to himself that Kakashi would always and forever be the most important part in his own life, that he had been years before they ever met.

 19--

Madara had a problem. Generally in the case of social issues he tended to sneak out of the house when Kakashi left on a mission and find a moment to shamefully demand that the young Rin explain to him what he should do in certain situations. Neither he nor Kakashi were very good at people things and they were both lucky to have someone patient enough to deal with the two of them, though both had sworn her to secrecy.

This time there would be none of that and without that avenue of clarity Madara found himself at an utter loss for what to do. He couldn’t bring such a sensitive issue to anyone else – didn’t even have anyone else to bring it to – but that left him with only the horrible option of figuring this mess out himself and thus he was brought back to the same conclusion every time he tried.

He had a problem. A big one.

With each year Kakashi grew older and taller, smarter and stronger. All of this he had noticed since the first day and had no problems with. It wasn’t until late in the year after Kakashi turned nineteen that Madara's traitorous mind thought to notice that his soulmate had also grown rather handsome with the years gone by. Considering that he had started aging again once they met that would make him exactly eight years older than Kakashi. Governments and courts the world over had been ruling since his own era that the time spent without aging did not make one older, only more experienced, but it wasn’t something he had thought to look in to in all the time he’d been living here in the current age. Would those around them find it wrong of him to grow attracted to Kakashi now as he grew in to adulthood?

More importantly, would Kakashi think him wrong? The idea that his own beloved, the other half of himself, the better part of his soul, could ever find something in him truly disgusting was not something he wanted to dwell on for long. Yet it seemed that he could think of little else these days.

The attraction hadn’t really started as an attraction. It had started as a comment overheard from a stranger passing them by, a young woman with little enough shame that she felt the need to comment loudly on the curve of Kakashi’s rump. Madara had glared at her until she fled and thought to himself absently that the shape of Kakashi’s rump was nowhere near as important as the shape of his beautiful heart – although he did have quite a pert little bottom. Just an innocent thought, a mere observation, but after he had noticed once he couldn’t help but notice again and again until he was forced to crawl out of his bed one night and spend a few hours sitting on the cold tile of the bathroom floor, stolidly refusing to touch the problem that had risen in his pajamas.

Sitting awake that night had been the first time he realized he was developing what some might call a crush. A ridiculous term – what he felt for Kakashi could never be reduced to something so simple – and yet it was painfully apt as well. He was sure that if Kakashi ever found out about these new feelings he would balk and Madara would indeed be crushed.

Obviously there was no point in twisting himself in to knots over whether or not Kakashi might feel the same but oddly that was not the most difficult part of the whole situation. Rather it was the feeling that he was lying somehow by keeping this information to himself. Since they met he had been entirely honest in all facets, answering any questions Kakashi had about himself, sparing no detail even when it probably would have been healthier to do so. Now his secret burned under the bones of his ribcage. Worst were the quiet nights like tonight when Kakashi suspected nothing, leaning in to him for a bit of contact and playing absently with the tips of his fingers while they both watched television.

Madara wanted to take his hand back. He wanted to weave their hands together. He wanted to blurt out everything that was on his mind. He wanted to stay silent, bury the feelings down where even he could forget them. Inside his head was such a muddle he almost missed it when Kakashi spoke.

“What was that?”

“It’s just so obvious,” Kakashi repeated. “I don’t know why no one else can see they’re in love!”

“Who?”

“Them!” As he gestured the television screen focused in on two characters caught in a moment of ephemeral almost before someone else blindly interrupted them.

Madara cleared his throat. “You think they’re in love?”

“Duh! I mean, are we even watching the same show? They belong together!”

“Maybe they do,” Madara whispered. He determinedly kept his eyes focused on the screen to watch one of the characters get pulled away with the man she had agreed to marry several episodes ago. “But maybe it just isn’t right.”

Kakashi immediately went off on a rant about how love was always right but Madara tuned him out. It was too painful to listen to when he had no idea if Kakashi would hold to that value if he ever had it tested by discovering Madara's secret. Something things were better left to the land of make-believe. And some secrets were better dealt with by simply letting them be, he decided.

He was falling in love with his soulmate. Whether that love was ever returned was in another’s hands now and Madara would have to be grateful for what he had even if he never had more. A hard fate but, as he had ever believed, Kakashi would always be worth it.

 22--

After so many decades it felt strange to bleed again. Of all the many times he had contemplated what it be like to join the battlefields once more Madara had always assumed that it would be just like picking up an old habit, that the burn of pain would be just as easy to ignore as it had been in his prime.

It was not.

Having a sword pushed through one’s chest was never a pleasant experience but although he could say this was not the first time he had suffered such grievous wounds he could say it was the first time he had screamed. Pain flood his senses until all he could think were two singular, overwhelming thoughts. ‘I am going to die’ and ‘but Kakashi cannot’. Despite the conviction in that second thought it was harder to bring his rusty skills to bear than he imagined it would be. His arms were lead and his legs were shaking. Vision tunneled and ears hearing the ring of battle as though from underwater, it took only one more blade sinking in to the flesh of his shoulder for Madara to go down.

What a titan of history, he couldn’t help but scold himself, to fall in the first battle he joins since the fifth decade of his twentieth year. All those years spent locked away in a cave by himself had taken more of a toll than he thought. Sparring and exercise were no substitute for the true chaos of a real fight. He should have stayed with the other council members when the alarm sounded to warn of an attack on their western gate; his pride and his body would have both been spared a wound.

Nothing could have prepared him for the sound of Kakashi’s own scream as he leapt down from a nearby rooftop only to see his soulmate slumping to the ground with silver shining amongst the blood pouring from his body. And it was a lot of blood. Madara understood that his thoughts were beginning to scatter due to the loss of it all but he couldn’t help wondering if the last time he had taken a similar injury produced this much blood or if it only looked like so much because he was already covered in the lives he had taken today.

Strong hands lifted his head, soft lips against his forehead, and Madara opened his eyes to discover that he had drifted for an undetermined amount of time. The men who overwhelmed him lay in pieces to one side and Kakashi knelt on the ground with him, both eyes wide open with tears gathering in the corners.

“There you go,” his soulmate murmured in broken, choking syllables. “Hey, no, keep your eyes open. Don’t you dare. You can’t die the day before my birthday. That’s just the height of rude.”

“Always been rude,” Madara managed to get out with blood bubbling his words. A quiet sob escaped Kakashi’s lips before he wrestled himself back under control.

“Not to me. Never to me. Stay awake, come on. You’re not allowed to die.”

Madara found it in him to smile. In the arms of a loved one had never been the way he thought he would go but it was definitely much better than most of the other ways he’d pictured. Through the confusing mixture of burning and numbness he could feel Kakashi’s hands holding pressure on his wounds and pulsing chakra in to him with the brute force of someone who knows only rudimentary healing.

“You just have to hold on for a little bit more. Rin is coming this way, she’ll save you. Rin can save anyone. She has to. She has to save you.” Kakashi paused to swallow and Madara wanted to close his eyes but he didn’t want to look away from the beauty above him. “You can’t…you can’t go. I didn’t have enough time.”

When he opened his mouth Madara found there was too much blood to speak loudly enough for the other man to hear him from so far away. He gestured with one dripping hand and Kakashi bent immediately. Mentally apologizing for the stain, Madara pressed a kiss against that pale cheek he could trace the shape of with his very soul.

“Every day,” he whispered, “was a gift, my Precious One”

“Then stay awake and let me give you more gifts, damn it! No no no no no! Hey! Wake up! Hey!”

When the last of his strength gave out Madara did not fall unconscious immediately. His body slumped, his eyes closed, and no matter how he screamed at himself in his own mind he had no fight left in him to tell Kakashi that he was alright, that this was the best death he could have asked for. Instead he was forced to lie still and listen to his soulmate scream for a help he seemed to think was coming. Madara wished he could close his ears to the sound even as he cherished what he thought were the last words he thought he would ever hear his soulmate say.

 23--

“I hate you.”

Despite the venom in those words it was hard to believe in them when Kakashi voice came muffled against his chest, the length of that wiry body pressed against his own in what Madara assumed to be one of the rickety hospital beds. That certainly looked like a hospital room ceiling above him when he opened his eyes.

“Somehow I doubt that,” Madara said, filled with wonder that he was able to say anything at all when the last thing he remembered was steel through his chest. When, he wondered, had he agreed to reverse their roles? Always it had been him fretting over the day he would lose Kakashi. It had never occurred to him as a possibility that Kakashi might lose him first. The entire idea of death itself has stopped occurring to him altogether, likely a symptom of such a long life and probably something he should talk to a professional about.

He wouldn’t. But he probably should.

“No, I really do hate you. You’re a jerk.”

“What else is new?”

“I almost watched you die.” Kakashi’s voice warbled and it awoke something feral in him that wanted to fight whatever it was that had hurt this man. Except it was him. He had done that. “You owe Rin such a big thank you. I’m sending her a fruit basket every day for the rest of her life. She saved yours.”

Madara blinked at the ceiling, still a little fuzzy. “My fruit basket?”

“No! She saved your life you idiot!” Kakashi’s face was tear streaked when he came in to view, Sharingan covered but both eyes sporting deep circles underneath. He was frowning. Madara's concentration slid away from whatever they were talking about to concentrate entirely on the tragedy that was the fact of Kakashi frowning.

“You should smile,” he mumbled. Contrary to what he was hoping for, Kakashi frowned deeper.

“What part of ‘you almost died’ should I be smiling about?”

“Dunno. Like your smile. You’re very pretty.” When Kakashi’s eyes widened Madara's did too. “Oh I didn’t mean to say that. Don’t tell Kakashi I said that!”

Silence hung deep and heavy between them for a few moments.

“Alright. I won’t tell me. You must be incredibly high right now; I suppose they do have you on the good stuff. Rin said you might be a little funny when you woke up.” His soulmate sighed and ran a hand through his hair, greasy in a state he only ever reached after several days without a shower.

“It’s a secret,” Madara insisted.

Kakashi dropped his hand and cocked his head to one side. “What, that I’m pretty? I would have said handsome but…”

“No, everybody knows that!” Madara declared vehemently. “It’s a secret that I think so too. Don’t tell. I don’t want you to know because that’s…is it bad?” Were he sober he would have been utterly mortified of the small hesitance in his voice, the lack of surety that had haunted him in the first few months after they met each other when he questioned every so often if Kakashi truly wanted him there.

His question was met with a bewildered gaze. “Why would it be bad if you think I’m attractive?”

“Because then you would know.”  

“Know what?”

“That I love you.”

“Of course you love me. We’re soulmates. I love you too, obviously.”

Madara's heart leapt inside his chest with such vigor the heart monitor beside him went wild. “You love me too?” he asked breathlessly.

Before answering Kakashi narrowed his one visible eye with what looked like a great deal of concentration. As he waited Madara couldn’t help but be very nervous. Why was he not answering? Finally he sat back with a curious little hum and shook his head but before Madara could experience heart failure he muttered under his breath.

“Something tells me we’re not having the same conversation at all but I can’t say how. All you said was that y-…oh. Oh you said…Madara…you love me.”

“Yes but you can’t tell!”

“No I mean you really love me. Like you’re in love with me!”

“Obviously!” Drugs clouding his mind, the loneliness of the caves barely more than a decade behind him, Madara let slip what was probably the most pathetic sound he had ever made as the isolation and the yearning came back to him in a terrible rush. “Of course I’m in love with you! I waited so long for you and then you were there and you were perfect and I already loved you like a part of me but then you grew older and you got tall and handsome and it’s not fair! You shouldn’t get to be everything I ever wanted if I can’t keep you!”

Kakashi gaped at him.

“W-why won’t you get to keep me!?” he cried.

“Because you’re going to fall in love with someone else and make me go away!”

After nearly a solid minute of more flabbergasted staring Kakashi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he let it out and drew in another one. Madara recognized the technique he had taught his partner a long time ago for keeping himself calm when his emotions threatened to overwhelm. Only once Kakashi deemed himself calm enough to talk again did he open his eyes again and pull his face in to a semblance of a serious expression.

“That is the absolute stupidest thing you have ever said. And you once tried to convince me that wearing anything other than a fundoshi as underwear was a dishonor against my ancestors. Madara I love you too. Of course I love you too.”

“But you don’t–”

“Yes. I do. I don’t just love you, I am in love with you the same way you are in love with me. I would very much like it if you stopped sleeping in your own bed and slept in mine. I would love it if you could be sober so we could make out and be gross right here in a hospital room. Get the picture?”

Madara furrowed his brow and gave that some thought. If Kakashi was in love with him too that would solve every problem he had. For the first time in his life he would be completely happy. His smile may have been a little lopsided when it spread across his face but he was still a bit too loopy with sedatives to care very much. All that mattered to him was that Kakashi was smiling back and that Kakashi loved him.

“I like that picture,” he murmured. “You know something? You…were worth waiting for.”

“Was I?” Kakashi asked teasingly and sounding strangely out of breath.

He nodded enthusiastically to make sure his point was not refuted, not understanding that he was being teased. It felt very important that Kakashi know how grateful he was that he hadn’t given up and taken his own life. Sure he’d gone a little crazy and it had taken a while to smooth out some of his more feral edges, reintegrating him back in to society had been an adventure for every poor soul he came in to contact with for the first half a year, but in the end he’d had Kakashi and it was more than everything he had ever dreamed of.

Chuckling a little, Kakashi pulled himself a little farther up the bed so that their faces were close enough for him to count all the barely there freckles that danced along the line where his soulmate usually wore a mask. Madara liked the mask. He liked that such a beautiful face belonged only to him. The freckles were so distracting he didn’t think to question why they were getting closer and closer until-

They were kissing. Already foggy and muddled, Madara's drugged up mind emptied even further until all that was left was the perfect silence – the perfect moment of completion – of their first kiss. He whined shamelessly when Kakashi pulled away, not ready for the moment to end, and was immediately pulled in by the sound of happy laughter filling the room around them. He could live without another kiss for a few moments just to listen to that laughter. Such an incredible moment felt as though it should be marked with some kind of grand words but as he wracked his brain Madara could think of only one thing to say amidst the empty joy.

“Happy birthday,” he said. And then he was confused when Kakashi’s laughter only grew louder.

“Maa, my birthday was three days ago. You’ve been asleep for quite some time.”

“Oh. But I like your birthday. You always get older and you’ll never know what it is to wait. That’s…I’m glad that you don’t have to know that.”

At last the laughter quieted as Kakashi subsided to gift him with a very soft look. “So am I.”

“I’m very tired. Do all injuries feel like this in the future?” Madara tried to squirm but it felt as though his body were made of lead, heavy and sinking down in to the mattress. “I can understand why you don’t like hospitals.”

“You should go back to sleep. We can talk about this again when you’re not high and you actually have a chance of remembering the conversation.”

Madara nodded obediently even as his hands reached out to pull Kakashi down for another lingering kiss that made both of them give matching purrs, though his was slightly more feral. Some habits were hard to break even after eleven years of being properly socialized again. He didn’t really notice how hard the drugs were hitting again until a snort of amusement broke through and he realized that they were no longer kissing but his eyes were still closed. Trying to open them again felt like a battle when he tried and for the first time in his life he decided that he could surrender without a fight.

Something soft brushed against his forehead, a kiss of benediction, and then Kakashi’s voice whispered in the space above him, soothing him down in to the dreams that called so enticingly.

“I love you,” his soulmate whispered. “Sleep now and I will still love you when you wake again – and every day after that too.”

He couldn’t be sure if it was the sedatives or his own imagination but Madara almost thought he could feel Kakashi curling in to him once more to rest there with him. The nurses would be angry to find them like that. He didn’t care. With Kakashi watching over him it was even nicer to let go of reality for a little while, safe in the knowledge that no dream could possibly be as beautiful as what he would find when he woke again.

A future with Kakashi growing older and building a life together. For a man who had lived the same day again and again and again year after year growing old sounded like a grand adventure; he couldn’t wait to experience it with his soulmate at his side.

[bezzuba]

hey stingray.. u should.. talk about.. ur opinions about how hiccup and toothless grow together as a pair over the course of the movies... and also perhaps ur thoughts (again) about how the third movie agrees with or conflicts against ur views on their friendship and their development..

the httyd films do a wonderful job when it comes to showing how hiccup has grown over the course of his friendship with toothless, and it is very heartwarming to see. toothless’ growth, however, isn’t as explicitly displayed and it is easy for many to mistake what is arguably character development / progression for character degradation / deadlock. in this essay, i aim to rectify that by pointing out a few of the many things toothless has learnt and become for the better through his friendship with hiccup.

flskdjf no but for real thank you for sending this in julie! i feel like…a lot of people equate toothless’ ‘softening’ over the years he spends in berk to Domestication™ ( he’s tamed / trained / made accustomed to humans / literally any other related word that is not ‘domesticated’, lads…i’m no expert and maybe it’s just a case of semantics but domestication is an inborn rather than acquired trait that appears over the course of many generations, lads… ) and like. it makes sense! toothless isn’t a human so him acclimatising to living with them sure would count as Domestication™ but. consider this…dragons aren’t humans…but they’re sentient…self-aware…not as much as humans maybe but they’re clearly on a similar level. that softening? to me, it’s not ‘taming’ so much as it is toothless learning that trust and empathy are just as powerful + effective as domination and apathy.

i’m not saying that toothless isn’t not, to some degree and by human definition, tamed. living in a dragon-receptive, enriching environment like berk has absolutely had some effect on things like hunting style, reactions to threats, and cognitive processes in general; the shift in focus from surviving each day to actually doing more than just surviving + the fact that environmental enrichment has been proven to promote brain activity through increased synaptogenesis means toothless literally cannot think like a typical non-berkian dragon. i just. strongly dislike how people think of toothless more as an animal than someone who is simply non-human. the distinction is hard to explain but like. from what i’ve seen, for them, emotional and cognitive growth is Bad. toothless can’t not be the wary, mysterious dragon we see in the first film. he can’t be ‘downgraded’ into a playful nerd who doesn’t immediately harm every human that approaches him.

it. says A Lot about their Edge ( “a character opening up to literally anyone? unacceptable!” ) + their understanding of interesting and realistic characters. like? opposing qualities in a character aren’t? mutually exclusive?? a toothless who is an adorable fucking dweeb and a toothless who is majestic and takes no shit from anyone aren’t! mutually exclusive! they can be! the same toothless! a character! can have more than one (1) facet! god just. this notion that toothless trusting hiccup + berk’s humans enough to be vulnerable around them is somehow inferior to toothless Being Wild And Alone Forever is so! overrated! let jaded characters learn how to be soft and trusting you cowards! let characters who have been lonely for their entire life learn what and how it is to be connected you cowards!

maybe i’m looking too deeply into toothless. maybe it’s because i write him and toothless ( as anyone with self-awareness would ) sees himself as a person, not as an animal distinctly separate from a human. i don’t fucking know but i don’t appreciate it when people narrow toothless, a lovely character with an identity outside of ‘dragon who was befriended by a human’, down to literally just that.

flkdsjg okay enough complaining…more expanding on + gushing about how Best Tier this interspecies friendship is. i’ll try to leave my headcanons out of this but if i happen to not succeed in doing that you can’t blame me for doing what canon was too afraid to do ( which is explain things and make sense )

so first off! can i just talk about how important hiccup and toothless’ bond is, not just to people like me who would fucking kill for more media content with a strong emphasis on platonic soulmates, but also to the characters themselves? i have seen a lot of people make very logical, very probable inferences about toothless being hiccup’s first actual friend but please also consider the idea that hiccup might be toothless’ first actual friend, too!

we don’t know a lot about toothless’ past in canon but there are some things that can be confirmed for sure / with 99% surety:

he was separated from fellow night furies at a young age.

i say this with 100% certainty lmao there is no other way to explain his estrangement with his ‘night fury side’, which in httyd3 is depicted as his keen unfamiliarity with his species’ mating dance.

not the best depiction but i’ll give dreamw.orks a reluctant pass for that because although courtship rituals are genetically hardwired ( i.e. toothless inherently knows what ‘steps’ to take and what to do ), if he hasn’t ever seen one initiated before he probably would not know what to do when one is initiated to him ( i.e. he has no context for these ‘steps’; he doesn’t actually know that they’re a part of a courtship ritual ).

ig there’s also that thing about him not knowing he can harness lightning or whatever, but the fact that the first thing that popped into my head was that mating dance scene when i thought about how httyd3 depicted toothless’ disconnect with his ‘night fury side’ probably speaks something of how much they handwaved away any explanation for that phenomenon + consequently lowered the mnemonic impact of it

he was as much of an outcast in the red death’s nest as hiccup was in berk.

this is said with less certainty than the assumption above it but like. in the first film, hiccup says toothless “never steals food, never shows [himself], and…never misses” and we see toothless destroying human weapons / constructions. it all sets toothless up to be this Ultimate dragon to humans but can you imagine what that looks and sounds like to a dragon who is part of the red death’s flock?

“never stealing food?? what the fuck, courts danger?? do you want to die??? the queen’s gonna eat you what the fuck!”

i hc that she doesn’t eat toothless because she associates his presence in raids with more dragons coming back ( as she should because destroying human contraptions that trap / kill dragons makes it harder for them to. y’know. trap / kill dragons ), which equates to more food being brought back

so she makes one (1) exception for this quietly defiant but very amusing flock-subject

and everyone’s probably aware of that but they’re also like WHAT IF THIS IS THE DAY SHE CHANGES HER MIND BRING SOME FOOD BACK I DON’T WANT TO SEE ANOTHER EATEN!!

“what! are! you! shooting! at! it’s just weird dead-bark and metal! and that’s dead-bark and still-fire, what the fuck at least shoot at human dens if you’re gonna shoot at dead-bark!”

it’s very obvious to us humans what most of the contraptions we see in berk are used for but to dragons? dragons who don’t have the same cognitive processing and are probably too busy trying to gtfo with some food to figure out what this weird human shit does?

listen. we see toothless disarming humans. the dragons see toothless doing something they don’t understand for reasons they don’t understand.

HM DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR

okay he probably wasn’t an outcast per se but he was. definitely avoided.

basically, toothless was alone just like hiccup was!

so yeah. they changed the world with their friendship but their friendship absolutely changed their worlds first. that fact alone is delicious enough but then you look at what their relationship is actually like and god! finally_some_good_fucking_food.jpeg

i love! the comfort! the faith! the trust! the ease in which they touch and calm and talk to and fly with and sleep on and just…be with each other. we don’t see it much in httyd because duh, prologue but. there’s this sense of…complete and utter security in their bond by the time httyd2 comes around. they know each other so well. they love each other so much.

hiccup, completely unafraid of the plasma blasts detonating dangerously close to his fairly immobile, very vulnerable form. hiccup, trusting in toothless’ faith in him as he splays a simple hand out to stop him. hiccup, “TOOTHLESS!” / “HEY! you left my dragon back there! he can’t fly on his own! he’ll drown!” / “we have to head back for my dragon!”

toothless, willing to support hiccup’s decisions even if they are stupid af. toothless, trusting in hiccup’s judgement and ability to defuse situations where he would have exacerbated them. toothless, so ready to shield hiccup from harm from anything or anyone.

hiccup, terrified for toothless even as he grieves for his father. hiccup, ignoring drago, ignoring the bewilderbeast, pleading one more time for toothless. hiccup, willing to die reaching if only to have toothless reach back. hiccup, “please. you are my best friend, bud.” / “my best friend.”

toothless, sensitive to hiccup’s upset and wanting so badly to make it go away. toothless, waiting as the haziness becomes clearer, waiting for the touch, the face, the voice. toothless, willing to fight “the strength of will over others” to reach back. toothless, “he’s challenging the alpha!” / “to protect you!”

god there’s so much more but if i listed every single detail about their friendship as observed in httyd2 this answer wouldn’t be ready for posting for like. at least a week

and even before they reach that stage, those decisions in httyd that go from hesitant to confident…

hiccup, tentatively trusting this dragon to eat the fish and not his fingers. hiccup, sticking around because he’s got no better place to be in and no better company to be with. hiccup, reaching and reaching and reaching.

toothless, wary and mistrustful but willing to give this human a chance. toothless, mimicking hiccup rather than completely disregarding him or chasing him off. toothless, slowly…cautiously…hopefully…reaching back.

hiccup, throwing his cheat sheet to the wind and relying on instinct and trust alone. hiccup, standing tall under astrid’s doubt and saying with full conviction: yes. hiccup, casting his helmet and viking status aside because he can’t not see a bit of toothless in every dragon now. hiccup, jumping onto a burning ship with no goddamn fucking hesitation to free a trapped toothless. hiccup, falling into the fire of his own creation, into the end of a centuries old war.

toothless, putting his faith in this human who has never once flown in his entire life and then putting even more faith in this human who quite literally throws caution to the wind. toothless, climbing out of the cove not for himself but for hiccup. toothless, going against instinct and swallowing his fire because hiccup screamed “NO!”. toothless, terrified for his hecking life but willing to “stay with me, buddy, we’re good, just a little bit longer” and “hold, toothless…NOW!”. toothless, falling into the fire with hiccup, determined to make this the end of one thing only.

PLUS SO MUCH MORE. these are only from the first two films alone; gotnf gives us even more Good Content and i’m just! fuck! i love two dweebs! i love hiccup and toothless so much!

and now for specific character growth / developments that i will never get over…i won’t talk about hiccup because i am nearing 2000 words BUT TOOTHLESS…LISTEN. toothless never used to drink “have mercy on others” juice. he never used to drink “don’t shoot or maim or otherwise injure when provoked” juice. he never used to drink “give others a chance because everyone deserves a chance” and “not everyone is out to kill you or hurt you or take everything you love and cherish away from you” juice. but after bonding with hiccup? he’s hooked! he’s so hooked! he is more willing to lean into faith rather than doubt! he is more willing to believe in an after rather than a never! he is more willing to compromise rather than overlook! he is more willing! to empathise!! i’m so emo!

i already talked a bit about how he comes to trust enough to be vulnerable ( i.e. not constantly guarded / cautious ) around berkians and like…can you imagine how big of an achievement that is for someone like him? for someone who has been alone for so much of his life? for someone who knows what it’s like to be forced to be vulnerable for someone they don’t trust at all? I’M SO! EMO!

HICCUP FINDING STRENGTH IN TOOTHLESS? TOOTHLESS FINDING STRENGTH IN HICCUP?? MmMmMm that’s some good shit ( Good Shit ) right there!!

i have…a lot more screaming about their friendship + love for each other to do but i’m tired and you can tell so i’ll wrap this up with some more opinions on httyd3′s Bad Tier handling of toothless’ character and the consequent portrayal of his bond with hiccup! i know you’ve already read it julie but if anyone who’s read to this far hasn’t already seen it…maybe take a peek at my first essay™ here…

i haven’t seen the final movie in a while so my memory of it might be a little shit but i’m glad that they at least maintained some element of that gentle ease / security / comfort we see in httyd2. definitely not as much as i’d hoped, but i would’ve been able to deal with that — maybe even justify it — if they hadn’t also insulted hict.ooth’s friendship for the sake of a ‘love at first sight!’ romance i can’t get behind multiple, multiple, MULTIPLE times.

i failed to address this in my first httyd3 critical post BUT LIKE. the way EVERYONE acts like and states that toothless ignoring / dismissing hiccup was a very natural, logical consequence of him being interested in the light fury ( which he. defs would stop being after she nearly killed what is literally half of him oh my goOoOod ) was so! fucking! insulting! to not only hiccup + toothless’ bond, but also to almost everything this franchise stands for and the characters themselves!

after six years of seeing hiccup and toothless interact with + love each other, do you really think HICCUP’S FRIENDS would say “well, what did you expect?” to toothless leaving?? do you really think that they would imply that toothless only stayed with hiccup because he didn’t have a choice? ‘maybe they don’t understand the weight of their bond, stingray’ AFTER SIX GODDAMN YEARS OF SEEING IT DEVELOP AND DEEPEN??? and maybe they don’t but surely they understand how important toothless is to hiccup and wouldn’t make a callous comment like that RIGHT?? god i’m so ready to throw hands at dreamw.orks for having astrid say “he didn’t have any reason to” to hiccup’s “he didn’t leave before” i am sO r e A d Y

also just the fact that IT’S IMPLIED THAT TOOTHLESS ONLY STAYED WITH HICCUP BECAUSE HE DIDN’T HAVE A CHOICE / ANY REASON NOT TO?? it’s so gross what the heck dreamw.orks why bring gotnf up if you’re just going to retcon it i don’t understand!

httyd3 is a good movie in that it is very evocative, has an insanely lovely colour palette + insanely amazing soundtrack, and tries its best to give a satisfying ending to “the friendship of a lifetime”. i love it and will absolutely be rewatching it so many times when it’s released on blu-ray, but it’s not perfect and i could go on and on and ON about the tragedy that is toothless’ characterisation.

flskdjg okay i’ve run out of steam now so tl;dr:

thank you so much for asking for my opinion so respectfully julie this was a delight to see in my inbox + a delight to answer

i love toothless and hiccup

I LOVE TOOTHLESS AND HICCUP

I LOVE! TOOTHLESS! AND HICCUP!

i am never getting over my love-hate for httyd3

[liljaysmom-blog]

Peter Pan quotes

There is much to be said about Barrie’s characterizations, and of Peter and Wendy in particular (in my opinion); it is their quotes or descriptions that I will refer to the most.

It is entertaining to me how Peter is so much like a boy (his goal) but he also displays some manly characteristics and knowledge at times.  When he first meets Wendy and inadvertently hurts her feelings, he rectifies his mistake by flattering her--as wise men will--saying that “one girl is more use than twenty boys” (34).  He eventually explains that it is his desire to never grow up.  “I want always to be a little boy and to have fun” (36).  Although this may seem childish, he is smart enough to understand that adulthood is not all that kids usually think it is cracked up to be.  I love it when the lagoon story is being told and Peter cannot simply wait for the pirates to leave before rescuing Tiger Lily because “he was never one to choose the easy way” (116).  We may have differences in our opinions as the whether this is a trait of boys, men, or both.  Throughout the book, he goes back and forth between such examples of both boyishness and displays of manly wisdom, which I find extremely interesting.

I think that Wendy is less of a complex character than Peter; although a child, she consistently displays characterizations that tell us her main goal is to mother all those who need mothering.  Not only does she literally jump out of a window for the chance to become the guardian of the lost boys, but she is also sympathetic to all who need a mother’s love including Hook’s lackey pirates.  When Smee asks what a mother is, “she felt that if you could have a pet pirate Smee would be her one” (120).  How insanely precious is that?!  However, Wendy does not just show her warm, soft side of motherhood, but we also see evidence of some of those little quirks many moms have.  When the mermaids would lay on Marooners’ Rock, “combing out their hair in a lazy way that quite irritated her,” I couldn’t help but laugh a little (112).  The girl is just a child, but she already can’t stand laziness; I love it.

[nequittezpaswrites]

Thoughts on Wayward Sisters

Here be spoilers, if you haven’t seen it already, though nothing major.

What I thought going in:

I will be perfectly honest: I didn’t have high hopes for Wayward Sisters going in.

I can understand why people are interested in a Supernatural spin-off, especially focusing on women. The show hasn’t had many woman characters who got much screen time or even survived for very long. While I’d prefer to see that rectified in the actual show, rather than in a separate spinoff, it’s still nice to see that a concept like Wayward Sisters can get serious consideration.

But six women? Six?

It feels like the writers said, “You want girls? Oh, we’ll give you girls. All the girls!” It’s too many characters, and I’m not invested in all of them. Six main characters is a big jump for a show that’s always focused on the bond between two brothers, for me. (Not to mention the fact that Patience and Kaia are too new and underdeveloped for me to really care about them yet.)

To demonstrate what I mean, here is the key dynamic in Supernatural: Sam and Dean.

There are other characters, of course, but the strongest bond has always been between these two, and others are secondary. Even if you add Castiel into this mix as a third main character of arguably equal importance, what you get is still a nice solid triangle. Easy to follow, easy to care about each character’s relationship to each other.

Now you have Wayward Sisters, with a cast of six.

That’s a lot more to keep track of, isn’t it? I’m sure, given enough time, you could explore each of these relationships and what makes them unique and interesting, but it’s a lot tougher and a lot more unstable than the Supernatural dynamic I’ve outlined above. There’s just too many moving pieces.

My other bias going into watching WS is that I do not. Like. Claire. But I’ll go into that further below.

What I liked:

Let me be clear: while I had serious doubts, I also love Supernatural, and I love Donna and Jody, so I tried to set aside my preconceptions and give this episode, and possibly this series, a shot. And while I have a lot of complaints, I don’t want to go into them without giving the episode props for what I feel it did well.

What did it do well?

Donna, bitches.

(As an aside, Donna was also my favorite companion on Doctor Who when I followed that show. Is it the name? Are women/characters named Donna simply better than the rest of us lowly humans? This topic demands further investigation.)

DONNA, I LOVE YOU AND I WANT YOU TO BE MY BEST FRIEND FOREVER. I feel like Donna has grown in the episodes we’ve seen her in, and she has even more room to grow. I love her relationship with Jody, and if this show was just about Jody and Donna in a buddy-cop monster-hunting show where they had to deal with ignorant and even sexist local sheriffs and policemen while trying to fight the supernatural and keep their jobs, I’d be all for it.

What I didn’t like:

Most of it, unfortunately. I’m sorry, I wanted to like it. I wish it had surprised me, but I basically got what I expected. You just can’t make me care about the relationships between six people, two to three of whom I barely know and one I actively dislike, in 44 minutes.

Especially when Claire seems to be shaping up to be the main character, and I can’t stand her.

The reasons why are a mix of things: the way her character is written, and her dialogue, is cringe-inducing. (I literally said, out loud, “UGH” several times watching Wayward Sisters.) I’m also not a fan of the actress’s performance, which feels pretty flat, but I’m willing to be charitable and say that might also tie into the writing.

My biggest problem with Claire, though, is that she is a teenage girl. And not just a teenage girl, but the sort of stereotypical self-centered, overly dramatic teenage girl that gives all teenage girls a bad name with her stupid hair braid and eyeliner and pointless rebellion.

I didn’t like teenage girls even when I was one, and I certainly don’t like them any more now that I’m in my mid-twenties. Supernatural has plenty of drama and angst, but it’s never been teenage drama and angst, which to me always feels forced, unnecessary, and uninteresting.

And I could handle disliking Claire, actually, if she were treated/portrayed differently. There was a bit where Claire and Kaia bonded over their various scars. I would have liked Claire a lot more if I could see her getting the shit kicked out of her by monsters and learning hard lessons, but I didn’t get to see any of that learning and growth. It all happened off-screen, which means as far as I know, Claire is just the same whiny brat I’ve seen before, but now she can kill monsters.

Even though I don’t like Claire as a character, I think I could have grown to like her if I was able to watch her make mistakes, get in over her head, and have to call Jody for help. Struggling with wanting to be independent, but not being strong enough yet to stand/hunt on her own. Nearly getting herself killed, or nearly getting Jody killed with her carelessness, and that being the wake-up call she needs to be more aware and less reckless.

So Claire’s not irredeemable, in my opinion, but all the growth I want to see in her, the adventures of hers I’m most interested in seeing, happened off-camera somewhere.

She has a scar on her ankle from a ghoul bite. SHOW ME THAT HUNT PLEASE!

Verdict:

Meh? My complaints with it are pretty structural, so I don’t know how much of it can be fixed. It doesn’t seem like a show that you could enjoy if you aren’t already invested in Supernatural, either, and while it’s not a prerequisite I feel like spin-offs should be able to stand on their own.

If it does get picked up, I’ll give it a shot, though. For Donna.