#happy pride (from kaito)

[beekindtobees]

happy pride month !! wish gay people were real

[hayaku14]

kuroba toichi you need to stay dead or im going to fucking kill you myself

[ultimateplaylistmaker]

Got bored have a pride edits

Chihiro - Questioning

Togami - Gay Genderfluid

Maki - Demiro

Tsumugi - Pansexual

Kaito -Bi/Ace

Tenko - Bi Trans

[axenyan]

Hey!

I hope my ask won't come off as mean, I am coming here with genuine curiosity and love!!

I personally never saw the appeal in Ritsu and feel SUPER curious to see how other people (esp. ritsu enjoyers) see him! :0 What is it abt ritsu that makes him as appealing to you as he is! I have a hope that maybe reading someones enthusiasm and love for a character rambled on in text will help me find affection for the character too! :] (Happened with Leo.. tumblr made me a Leo enjoyer 😔)

- A huge kaito and zenji enjoyer

(Feel free to ignore this ask! I'm just curious <3 and again, sorry if this comes off as mean in any way ;;)

Hello!!

No no no, this didn't come off as mean! In fact, I'm super happy I received this ask🥺 I need more people to know how baby he is.

I'm not good at analysis, and English is not my first language, so this is just me rambling about why I love him. I also apologize for the grammatical mistakes I may have made >_< hopefully I can still get my points across!

Alright, let's go~!

I haven't posted the full pic of this art anywhere because it's an eternal WIP.

∘₊✧────────✧₊∘ How it all started ∘₊✧────────✧₊∘

A friend showed me Ritsu's introduction post because she thought Ritsu looked like the type I would fall for in terms of design, and she is absolutely right.

However, upon reading his quote, I was unsure if I would like his personality, so I took my friend's recommendation with a grain of salt.

∘₊✧──────────✧₊∘ Getting to know Ritsu ∘₊✧──────────✧₊∘

At the beginning of Sinostra chapter, I was still 50/50 about him because he is, ugh..... 😭 We never met him before, and yet he already had our info?! Not just ours, but everyone's?

Plus, bro keeps yapping and is also a bit forceful... That's annoying as heck. But then I remembered I have another favorite character with quite a similar personality: Sebek Zigvolt (Twisted Wonderland).

I tried to see if they had similar traits, and apparently, they did.

Apart from being in their first year of high school (baby!!!), they are resilient, pay careful attention to their appearance, talk a lot, and are keen on achieving their goals... but they're also a little obsessive about it, and the way they do their things could come off as annoying for other people.

And I was like... oh, hm. I'm starting to see a pattern here.

Then I continued reading the story and noticed several moments where Ritsu got flustered, for example, when Taiga called him out because of his handwriting.

It's one of the points where I realized he might be my next mistake... because I like characters who are difficult to handle and get flustered when being teased or when things don't go their way. 😭 Those characters make me say "I love you, you are so cute, but why are you like this??!" 😭 I feel like I can freely pinch their arm when they start being silly. 😭😭😭

After reading Sinostra chapter, I paid more attention to his campus dialogues and home lines. I had a discussion with my friend, and we concluded that he actually has good intentions, but the way he does his things is unusual. I think that's what makes him unique (albeit creepy at times 😭).

I'll take his affinity lv2 home line as an example:

“You’ve lost your notebook? Just a moment. …At 9:04 AM, it was inside the photocopier. Yes, I do have that information recorded.”

I mean, who the hell does that? I appreciate the help, but why does he know the location of our missing notebook just from his recording? Why?😭

∘₊✧──────────────────────────✧₊∘ Moments that make me go uefhuehgfu💞💞💞 ∘₊✧──────────────────────────✧₊∘

Being a little twerp aside, I like how he can be understanding(?) and open to new things.

He has a line like this. This is from the summer lines.

“You want to go and watch the fireworks? A rather childish request, but all right. So? Where would one go to view them?”

He thinks our request is childish but he agreed to go!!! Usually, a prideful character like him would just brush us off, but he didn't...

Another example is his ramen talk with Ren in episode 7. It seems he isn't used to eating food like instant ramen because he's been eating ramen at an actual ramen shop, but he is willing to try it. He even did his research before buying. 🥺

∘₊✧─────────────────✧₊∘ How I personally perceive him ∘₊✧─────────────────✧₊∘

Now that I've learned more about him, I think he is:

A good boy with a clear goal but a questionable way of executing his plan.

Adorable and round... I want to poke his cheeks.

Inspiring! I like how studious and organized he is. I even started writing more in my journal because of him.

Willing to try new things! I admire this about him!

Cute-- wait, I've mentioned that. Okay, he is silly. Please look at his action in episode 8 where he was mostly with Taiga. He did his best to keep a watch on his captain, literally doing everything he could, like using his stigma to be a doorstop 😭

In short, I find him endearing. I want to slap him at times but I still find him endearing. I don't know if it's a suitable word to describe it, but it's how I feel about him. `(*>﹏<*)′

Again, this is my very personal take on his character so I might be biased at some points, but I hope this could help you find a thing or two about Ritsu!

[its-dari]

The Son of Graces

Pairing(s): None || PLATONIC: Son! Wanderer & Parental! Creator! Gender Neutral! Reader

A/N: Some miscellaneous HCs surrounding this AU. Involving some things I can't stop thinking about.

This wanderer's name is Kaito! He uses "Oya" to refer to the reader as a gender neutral Japanese term for a parent.

Companion Piece to "The Loving Hands of God"

Still not taking any Genshin requests, this is truly the last of my brainrot.

honestly, he's such a baby, it's adorable though and it's funny how pouty he gets when you tease him about it

he has a whole floor to himself with your imperial temple and while he does enjoy occasionally studying and reading by himself, he much prefers having tea with your or sitting in the garden

when he has trouble sleeping, he always ends up in your room - though he can get quite flustered about how he feels like a young babe still sleeping with his parents

(don't worry, he grows out of it - though he likes napping with you)

he started growing out his hair too, starting to braid it as it grows - it's long and tight - thinner

you mentioned that it would suit him and he wanted to try, though it's clear to any bystander that he'd hate to disappoint you

super awkward when he started recieving offerings, taking them with dignity, grace, and modesty but forever is concerned over there being too many

he wears his diadem for special occasions, mostly because the both of you travel around orphanages and give food and money to the needy and well... he doesn't need it to signify his new position

when he first pricked his fingers and ichor came, he was amazed

while he knew he was given your grace during his crowning and he did have the ability to create; having bloomed plants from his palms and shaped rocks with his finger tips...

you tell him that he will grow strong as you in time and that you will teach him everything

he was truly of your creed and there is such pride in him, he's bursting to make something new to show you

and Kaito was so terribly excited to make something you would be proud of

so he begins research, specifically on flora and botany and herbs

it would be something he would make not only as a dedication to you but a gift to the people, his studying was intensive but he was careful to not spoil the surprise

his personal servants are unsure about lying to you but only do so because to defy Kaito was to oppose you

they thought it was quite precious that he wanted to surpise you anyhow so they were able to keep it under wraps

eventually, he finally creates a new, beautiful flower after bouts of trial and error

he wants it to be available in all types of climate so there was testing and adjustments made to it's needs

it was perfect, it grew in bunches and the color was your favorite

when the petals are harvested, they make a lovely tea that promotes better sleep

when the bulb itself is ground up, it makes for a balm that encourages faster healing

when he presented to you, he was terribly nervous

you had created so many large and beautiful things and this was his first step to show that you were not wrong in choosing him

unsurprisingly, you weeped at the thoughtfulness of your darling son

even after the world you made was so cruel to him, he could still find kindness to give to the people that need it

the flowers were beautiful as well and Kaito made sure you and your staff were the first to try both tea and balm

so moved, you hugged him right away and praised his intelligence and ingenuity, prideful and happy as can be

you softly tell him that he was doing right already and he feels himself welling up as you went on to call him the healing balm that your creation needed

with that, the pair of you headed out to make sure his new flower bloomed across the whole of Teyvat

... it was rightfully named "god's lace" once discovered by herbalists and you happily piled all the rightful credit onto your son, singing his praises to anyone that would stop and listen

like that, his popularity skyrocketed even more and people from all over would associate the flower with him

it makes something in his heart warm when he sees less people in hospitals and planters bustling with the flowers he made for you

you take care to put some in your hair and on some commissioned tapestries occasionally

he's done some good

you surprise him later with a very lovely set of earrings, with gems made personally for him and imbued with your godly essence

he rarely takes them off

the pair of you spend a lot of time together and unsurprisingly, he's never far from your side

you take to calling him all sorts of nicknames; he's partial to just his name but "nightingale" or "chickling" make him smile... he might be a bit old for the latter but who is he to deny his beloved parent?

he usually isn't too cruel but he sort of finds it amusing Baal was just so desperate to reach you, but you continue your rather curt disposition

you do not speak to her for anything other than official business, mostly as a formality and it is only a mix of your grace and Kaito's kindness was the reason she wasn't removed from the role of Electro Archon

you're polite at best, short and cold at the very worst

there is no heavier punishment then her seeing how sweetly you treat the son she'd abandoned

now the son of the creator, he needs no revenge past that - finding it useless in the grand scheme

his former minions are now so apart of your staff - seriously, they did not expect to move up in the world so high

they still attend to Kaito but now as the essentially a damn prince, he gets to pay them real well for the work they do

some now attend to being his guard but others deigned to hide among staff as seemingly unskilled civilians

this simpler life is much nicer and getting to attend to Kaito; now the Esteemed Son of the All-Creator is an honor they'll be envied for

Kaito is also much less bratty too

[x0401x]

Tsurune —Tsunagari no Issha— Official Fanbook: Character Highlights #2

Masaki's Highlight

A Long and Steep Path

Masaki at first attempted to tell Minato and the others why they had lost against Tsujimine, but understanding Tommy-sensei’s intentions, he decided to firstly let them reflect on it. In order to continue doing archery for a long time, Minato and the others must think, realize and learn from their mistakes by themselves. He aims to teach them not for a short-term improvement of their skills, but so that they will keep practicing archery throughout their lives.

For the Sake of His Pupils' Growth

In the past, the only thing he thought about was improving his skills in order to change his grandfather’s opinion of him. However, Masaki’s mindset changed as he watched from up close as Minato, Seiya, Ryouhei, Nanao and Kaito overcame their challenges through trial and error. He began to rejoice in the growth of his disciples as if it were his own, saying things like, “Right now, I’m just happy that they’re getting better.”

Living Through Bonds

Masaki had a feud with his grandfather and parted ways with him without ever being able to reconcile. However, the teachings of his grandfather, 8th dan Yasaka, live on in Masaki’s shooting. This is clear even to Mutou—Kirisaki’s advisor, who knew Yasaka’s shooting. The teachings connect master and students.

Eisuke's Highlight

Proving His Strength

Nikaidou is obsessed with winning in order to prove the superiority of the uchiokoshi-style shooting, which is what connects him to his uncle. At the root of this is his hatred for Saionji, who turned down his uncle Shigeru—and by extension, for Japanese archery itself. He intended to quit archery after winning the nationals and proving to people the strength of the uchiokoshi style. That is how strong his feelings towards his uncle and uchiokoshi are.

Undoubtable Skills as an Archer

Although his goal was revenge, he took archery seriously, enough for his skills as an archer to be regarded highly by Masaki and Motomura. He also keeps a keen eye on what the other members of his club need to improve in their shooting. Although they were receiving advice from Shigeru, the fact that members with little experience were able to participate in the nationals was largely due to Nikaidou’s leadership.

A Presence that Gives Support to His Heart

Since he was a child, Nikaidou has idolized his father’s brother-in-law, Nikaidou Shigeru (VC: Endou Daichi). Due to family circumstances, Nikaidou was often left in Shigeru’s care, thus Shigeru’s presence naturally became bigger in Nikaidou’s heart. His admiration for Shigeru’s form when shooting in uchiokoshi style was also the reason why he started doing archery. The greater his affection for Shigeru is, the stronger is his anger towards the unreasonably unfortunate events that befall him.

Koushirou's Highlight

Whilst Keeping a Distance

Fuwa is intrigued by how Nikaidou, who has a deft attitude towards everyone, does not hide his hostility only when it comes to Minato and Shuu. He realizes that Nikaidou is secretly burdened with something, but does not ask about it out of consideration for Nikaidou’s pride, and instead investigates it through the people who know his circumstances.

That Guy Who Tends to Hold Back

Fuwa is the only one who notices Nikaidou had bought equipment with his part-time job earnings. He casually hands Nikaidou some mosquito coils and insect repellent spray, saying they “were on sale”. He maintains an utterly frank attitude and observes how Nikaidou responds to it, making it easy for Nikaidou, who tends to be reserved about weird things, to accept his kindness.

[kaitowotd]

Kaito's Word of the Day: Asexual

Happy Pride month to all who celebrate! On a more personal note, admin is somewhere on the ace spectrum. It's difficult to explain where exactly I land entirely, but it's somewhere between gray and demi. My relationship with asexuality has always been complex, but I've found it's easier to explain it like this: My sexuality is like one of those phone chargers that only works if you hold it a certain way. It's not broken, it does still work sometimes of course! It just doesn't work all the time, which separates it from normal phone chargers. Sometimes there's a brief period of time where you'll have more success with it, and other times there's not. A couple of people really, really wanted to try and "fix" the phone charger so it worked perfectly every time, so they manhandled it in order to try and force it to work. To no one's surprise, this just made the phone charger work even less than it did before. But it still works, though very very rarely. I hope all those who have a similar struggle with their aspec identity get the same closure and self-realization I had with mine. Labels aren't an easy thing, and it's always okay to just say you're on the ace spectrum without being super specfic if it's more comfortable for you! (if you saw the fucked up word formatting with the colored text, no you didn't LMAO)

[x-v0id-x]

yaho! just discovered ur blog and omg i love ur sillies already heuhehheuheuheuehheee im so normal

what if ur ocs and darling go out in public, and when someone tries to flirt with them and darling just waltzes up to then all like "babe!! can we leave? i think we've finished everything we need to take care of here~" whilst giving the flirt a death stare teehee

Hihi!! Oh my goodness I’m super glad!! (n˘v˘•)¬ Being normal is in fact my favorite activity. But this is a great idea oh my gosh >w< 

Also I love your Shizuku pfp!! 

<3 This is so silly considering Milo and Kai are very aware of their surroundings nearly at all times. 

<3 Milo loves fashion, so they’d especially love going on shopping trips with you, which is exactly why you two were out together. But honestly they’d find any reason to get you to spend time with them (*-ω-)

<3 Honestly? They had seen that wretched person from a mile away. The second they got too close to you for Milo’s liking they were already thinking of all the different ways to make sure no one would find that body. However Milo doesn’t want to make their intent obvious, and of course they don’t want to scare you! Well at least not right now. 

<3 But then you completely dismiss the person! Not saying a word to them! Milo was only watching from the corner of their eye, so when they finally looked over, there you were in front of him!

<3 “Dear, I think we’re done here. Let’s leave, okay?~” Your voice made Milo melt every single time. 

<3 To say Milo was happy would be an understatement. Seeing you look at that person like the disgusting filth they were would honestly make them so giddy. You almost looked scary, if it wasn’t for how cute you were to them (つ∀<●) Though the thought of you being scary to him too made Milo go all pink in the face ♡

<3 They’d scoop you up and kiss you from your face to your neck, making sure to be as loving as possible in front of the person. I mean, it is their fault for flirting with you. They should’ve known better. 

<3 “Oh, of course, darling~ I’d want nothing more.” (ෆ’∀’ෆ) 

<3 He’d carry you all the way to the car, gushing about how sweet you were and how happy he was to have you, once you’re home they’re practically all over you for the rest of the night >< 

<3 Such simple things coming from you make Milo so happy（*’∀’人）♥

<3 Now Kaito on the other hand isn’t afraid to show this person what they’re messing with. 

<3 Kai isn’t one for going out often, but some new merchandise from a brand you really like came out, so of course he wouldn’t refuse going with you to check it out. 

<3 From the moment that idiot started to stare at you, Kai was already right behind you, constantly glaring back at the person. Though either they were too stupid to notice or too stupid to care. Either way it was not about to end well (^_^;

<3 But lucky them, you turned around, totally disregarding the person and now facing Kai. It was enough to make him pause and focus his attention on you. 

<3 “Babe!! We should go, I already checked out everything I wanted to see~” And you looked at the idiot with the meanest look Kai’s ever witnessed you have. 

<3 Kai had mixed feelings. On one hand he loved that you were shoving it in this bastard’s face that you were clearly with him. On the other hand, you focusing on that other person and not him was bothering him (❁≧_≦)

<3 You felt Kai’s hand on your chin, redirecting your head to look back at him, his expression the same as always. But there was a glint of pride in his eyes. You grinned back at him, leaning into his hand.

<3 “Whatever. Not buyin’ anything right?” You shook your head in response, and with that Kai grabbed your hand and began leading the way out. 

<3 Kai isn’t a fan of pda, but just before you left he made sure that fucker was watching as he kissed you against the wall of the store right before leaving (⺣◡⺣)♡*

<3 Once your guys were home, he wouldn’t let you out of his line of reach. You stayed in his lap the rest of the night while he held you close, his hands sometimes wandering below the waist (〃ω〃) But he wouldn’t do anything too big.

<3 Not unless you asked nicely ♡

[meimi-haneoka]

Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Chapter 74: Comments + JP-ENG translation differences

Here we are, welcome back everyone!! End of the month, time for another chapter leading us into this exciting finale for Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card!! I want to start this post with a little foreword before diving into the chapter itself and the eventual translation differences ✨ I just wanted to say that I write this post with a sense of pride but also with even more sense of responsability compared to the previous months. You've probably stumbled upon my recent report of the latest CLAMP Space, where the authors have talked about CCS Clear Card, and their support/blessing to "people addressing the translation differences in their monthly posts on their blog, because they felt uncomfortable about them". Although they never straight up gave names, I certainly feel like they were talking about blogs like mine. And so I'm humbled (and even a little nervous) to be able to keep doing this, since I've wondered multiple times if it was even proper for me to write these posts every month, as if I was leading a crusade against the official English translation. In fact, I'm not. And I hope that's clear enough. When the ENG translation respects the vibe and original intention coming out from sensei's words in the manga panels, like this time around, I always make sure to say positive things about it. But try to understand me, the irritation runs deep because these are years of translation differences accumulating and at times even changing the perception of the story. And then, you stumble upon English speaking fans on the internet who got the gist of the story wrong or disrespecting/failing to appreciate it because of such translation mistakes (we go from Sakura calling Syaoran "Li-kun" in one of the earliest volumes, to Kaito saying that he wanted to give magic to Akiho, wtf??). And I think it's such a pity. It's not fair. The fandom deserves to know what the script is trying to say with a meaning as closer as possible to the original one. I hope I'll be able to help in that regard, for what's in my possibility and with my limited skills, till Clear Card will be over. ✨

OKAY, now let's cut the chatter and see what happened in this chapter!! I'm happy to say that this time around, translation-wise, we don't have anything impairing the correct understanding of the plot, just nuances! As usual, before starting, we can't skip the gif of the month!!

The Color Page

Oh my gosh! Sakura! You look amazing here!!! Such a fierce stare!! She looks just like a powerful and respected magician and OMG THEY GAVE HER A BLACK OUTFIT!! JUST LIKE I'VE BEEN ASKING EVER SINCE THE BEGINNING! I don't know, maybe the veteran followers of this blog can remember, but I've always wished to see Sakura in a black costume/dress in Clear Card 😊 She looks stunning...and what's more, she's once again with the gears and clocks decorations, just like in the period of the Clockland play. But, heheh, this time the clock looks different. The big clocks that were featured during the Clockland chapters (with Sakura + Syaoran, Akiho and lastly Kaito) were often "strange". They all had the same design, the one with SyaoSaku was "regular", but the ones next to Akiho and Kaito had their numbers either in messed up order, or straight up wrong (what kind of clock got '0' as the only number?). I had already assumed by then that they had a significance we had to decode along the development of the finale. This one in this color page, however, really looks like the most classical clock with roman numerals. The order of the numbers and their position seems correct. So could this be a sign that Sakura is about to restore order into this mess that Kaito's desperate wish created? The text on the JP version is the classic incantation to release the Dream staff from the key (we haven't heard it in a looooong time because she manifests her staff immediately, by now!) I also want to point out that we *still* don't have any announcement of "Clear Card ending in next chapter" or "Clear Card ends in 2 chapters!" like it's custom in these serializations, so I can say with confidence that Sakura won't surely be over in chapter 75 (at the beginning of July) but probably not even in chapter 76 (at the beginning of August). Are they aiming at chapter 77 (beginning of September)? Double 7, it's a lucky number for CLAMP ✨ For those worried about "3 chapters aren't enough to finish this!!", please consider that it's not so much about the number of chapters, but the amount of pages. This chapter for example is already longer than usual, 35 pages. That's what really matters, and we could get even an epilogue or some additional pages in the volume version! And now onto to the actual chapter!

An Important Discussion

Yukito, Nakuru and Touya are leisurely spending time at Yukito's home, with a funny scene of Yukito feeding some mikan to Nakuru (and she seems delighted by the cozyness of Japanese kotatsu!). Suddenly, Touya announces that Sakura is coming over. Yukito worries about how it's getting dark and that maybe it'd be better to go pick her up along the way, but a grumpy Touya says there's no need for that: along with Sakura are also coming Syaoran, Akiho and even Tomoyo. Yukito and Nakuru can't help but being surprised, and Nakuru wonders "The all-stars are coming? What's going on?" 😂 I found so hilarious the use of the term "all-stars", which in Japanese usually indicates a whole cast of a performance composed of famous actors, and sometimes it's applied to sports team too. But the room temperature drops immediately when Yukito looks at Touya, with a very pensive face, and it's immediately clear that something serious happened and Sakura is coming to discuss that. Touya might not know exactly what, but as we can see, he's already got a feeling.

Sakura and the kids arrive, apologizing for coming so suddenly, and they sit down, all with very serious faces (save for Tomoyo. Tomoyo never loses her calm composure 😆). Sakura starts dropping the bomb immediately: "I want to talk to you about something very weird" and "I want everyone who knows about the Cards and magic to hear this". Sakura is dead serious, and she informs Syaoran (sitting at her left side) that she's just told everything to Akiho shortly ago. She also tells Kero and Suppy to come out of her purse, for the second time (since the first was halted by the rewriting of the forbidden magic) putting an end to the farce of Kero constantly needing to act like a plushie in front of Touya!! Remember when the fandom used to point out that it was weird that Kero kept hiding from Touya, despite saying himself at the end of the Sakura Card Arc (after Touya gave his powers to Yue/Yukito) that he was perfectly aware that Touya knew everything about them? That really felt like a "plot hole" (maybe at this point the only REAL plot hole) for the longest time, and I am honest when I say that I had already given up hoping to see an explanation for it, wanting to treat it like a "glitch" in the narrative and using suspension of disbelief to overcome it! Well well well, CLAMP surprised me again! Cause in this chapter they actually tried to give an explanation to that "discrepancy"! And of course, being this about Kero, the explanation is rather silly (confession - I didn't understand Kero's reasoning very well, but I'll give my interpretation of what he said): Kero saw that even after that event, Touya didn't try to interact with him and thought that maybe he didn't consider him a cute and gorgeous magical creature, but rather something else....(was he butt-hurt?) Suppy of course is spitting fire cause why the heck did we need to keep pretending to be plushies?? and Kero's reply is "Because I thought it'd be fun pretending to be plushies together when you came over!". Now, if you remember how difficult and taxing it was for Suppy to force himself to stay still, you can understand why he's so mad! 😂 Touya says, quite annoyed, that he simply didn't try to interact with him because he thought that Kero was getting a kick out of acting like a plushie! I feel like sensei have quite reached and almost broke the 4th wall with this scene, because Sakura here says something that I'm pretty sure many of us have thought in regard to this "discrepancy": "I did wonder at some point why you kept that up despite I was telling you multiple times that I had the feeling my brother was onto you". And it's true, we've seen that in volume 4! Well, to me it felt like a stretch, but eventually we got an explanation for that situation so I guess it's better to leave it behind us! 😂

Cause we have more important matters at hand. Sakura places her phone on the table, showing Eriol & Kaho in videocall!! NOW all the "stars" of this show are present! 😂 So Sakura starts her recount of the most recent events, saying "It's really weird...but I swear it happened". After everyone listened to Sakura, of course they're all surprised. Nakuru wonders if there's any magician who can really have the power to "rewrite" a world...Eriol says that as far as he's heard, there isn't any magician among the living ones who has that degree of power. However, if said magician had access to a "medium" able to use the "forbidden magic", then it's another story. And that's the Book Sakura told them about. Sakura confirms that the one who told her all of this is the Guardian of the book herself. And then, to Akiho: "The plushie shaped like a bunny that you cherished so much was the temporary form of that Guardian. You named her 'Momo' ". Here I have to point out that the way the ENG translated it infers that Akiho remembers about Momo ("You know that stuffed bunny you loved so much?"), but actually in the JP version it's mostly Sakura informing Akiho that she used to cherish a bunny-shaped plushie, cause Akiho has no recollection of it. In fact, right after, she answers "But that's the title of a book I really love so much!". THERE IT IS! I've mentioned this many times in my social media accounts, and even lately in my "literary references" post here on Tumblr, but it turns out this simple answer by Akiho kinda confirms that she might really have named Momo after that book. And it's not only a beloved book because of its story, but also the one she was reading when she met Kaito for the first time. I've always thought that having her most beloved plushie named that way, and having precisely that book when they met for the first time couldn't have been unrelated. So I'm really happy for this scene here and I hope it'll get eventually confirmed better later.

Sakura takes Akiho's hands (she'll do that a lot this chapter and I simply love it) and reassures her about something that I was SURE she was going to say:

JP: "The fact that we became twins is an effect of the rewritten (world), but the fact that you are an important person to me didn't change at all, Akiho-chan"

I've preferred putting the JP version here because once again we have the usual stuff that I complain about lately: Sakura in JP used 大切なひと (important person) to describe her relationship with Akiho, and this is absolutely coherent with all the previous times. In ENG they used "you're special to me", but the adjective "special" in Japanese (特別な) in relation to a person has been consistently used in the latest chapters to describe the person Sakura is in love with (and not only Sakura). So they shouldn't have used that adjective in particular. They should stick to the literal translation. Especially cause that "special person" will come up in a few pages. I know I sound pedantic with this separation between "important person" and "special person", but I mean, CLAMP sensei are consistently keeping that distinction so I'm convinced the translation should do its best to keep it, because it's a guide to lead the readers among the relationships of CCS. Which sometimes can be quite complex.

Touya teases Sakura again with the sis-con joke, and Yukito teases him back by saying "Are you talking about yourself now?" (I love how Yukito always teases the big and grumpy Touya 😂they're really made for eachother). Tomoyo comments that it's been "a sight for sore eyes" (the term used in JP is 眼福, ganpu, and it's used when you see something precious) to see Sakura in the role of the big sister and Akiho in the one of the little sister. Akiho is moved by the fact that, despite everyone knowing the truth now, nobody shunned her or rejected her presence, and exactly like I imagined, I'm 100% sure Sakura will keep thinking about her as a sister (not a blood-related sister maybe, but surely with the same importance of one) even after everything will be solved later. Cause the bond between her and Akiho was never a fabricated thing, but always been genuine from day 1. Even if they got close in such a short period of time, it's just what happens normally in real life too. Sometimes you bond very tightly with people over a short period of time, cause you feel you're so compatible.

So Sakura continues. She says that for this reason, she wants to bring (someone) back. She's convinced that what the Record Card showed to her is not everything. She feels like there is someone who is missing from both what the Record Card had shown to her and from this rewritten world as well. Syaoran is confused, "they're missing, and yet you're sure they're there?". Sakura understands that confusion and says "It's weird, right? I can't really explain how I know it, but I just do." And then, towards Akiho: "That person....is your special person, Akiho-chan". There it is, the infamous "special person" again. It's clear what Sakura is meaning here. "This is the person you're in love with, Akiho-chan". Of course Akiho's face cannot be any other than a dismayed one at hearing that. And then the pain comes, all at once, piercing her heart and leaving her speechless. Sakura says that the Record Card wasn't showing anyone with Akiho in one of the scenes, and yet she saw her extremely happy. That was enough for Sakura to know that someone was indeed there with Akiho.

I'm Always Searching For Someone

We're shown one of the most important scenes for anyone liking Akiho and Kaito (and their bond), the night that Akiho was so brave to confess her feelings to him through a covert (and very local) way, claiming that "the moon is really beautiful". And in the same occasion he accepted to spend some time strolling and talking to her. It was clear from the moment that scene happened that it would've become important later. And the readers who know what happened and what we lost are feeling probably the same pain Akiho is feeling right now, only that she's unaware of what is causing it. Akiho says "I'm really happy to live with you, Sakura, and everyone in the Kinomoto household, but...I've been in pain. Because I'm always looking for someone who's not there...". So Akiho did feel the effects of that void. The void that only your most important person can leave when they're gone. It's just that, we've seen her being so happy with her "new" family, and yet exactly like most of the fandom imagined, that didn't really work to fill the void Kaito left. It's impossible to fill that void because that person is just irreplaceable. This scene of course stabbed my heart but I had imagined that we would've seen it sooner or later. Sakura gets more confident with the confession of what Akiho's been feeling, and tells her that she thinks the one she didn't want to lose and the one who rewrote their world are the same person. "So I'm going to bring them back". Sakura announces with a smile, but Kero just wonders in dismay how she's going to do that. Sakura believes that the pocket watch in Akiho's possession will show her how. As if on cue, Akiho takes it out of her purse and places it on the table in front of Sakura's phone, where Eriol and Kaho can see it. They recognize it's a magical artifact specialized in time magic, but they also recognize that in order for a magician to be able to use it, they would need to have a tremendous amount of magical powers. Akiho suddenly panics. It dawns on her. I think the mental connection she's made is "if Sakura wants to use this to bring my special person back, she would need to achieve an amount of magical powers that could put her in harm's way". Aside, of course, from all the other dangers that a "mission" like that could pose to our heroine. And of course she'd never be okay with that. But Sakura reassures her. "You aren't making me. I want to." Sakura explains that both when she was dealing with the Clow Cards (and we see a scene of the Final Judgement, the one where Kaho gives her the Moon Bell) and when she was transforming them into her own Cards (they show us a scene from the last battle with Eriol), she was able to overcome her troubles thanks to all of the people who loved her and cared about her.

Sakura, JP: "Therefore I want to do what I can for my important person, too"

Again the use of 大切なひと (important person) in relation to Akiho. I think this panel in particular is pretty important (and the big font indeed suggests so). I feel like it's the core, the heart of Clear Card Arc. Sakura, whom until now was accustomed to be cherished and pampered in a protected environment by her loved ones, is starting to take the first steps towards self-assertiveness and maturity. Sometimes those loved ones would overdo it with the loving, and ended up depriving her of her own agency. Sakura is finding herself, she's starting to trust her instincts and capabilities more and more, and that leads inevitably to a question: "what do I want to do with these gifts life gave me and blessed me with? What can I do to give back to the Universe all this love I'm receiving?" Searching for her self-identity will inevitably make her step out of her comfort zone. She'll take risks. Even on herself. She'll need to assess situations, make decisions. And here she decided that she wants to use her natural gift (her magical powers) to help someone in need. Someone important to her. Someone dear who lost someone irreplaceable and lacks the means to bring him back. Sakura decides to step in, help her "sister", doing exactly what she herself told her during last chapter: if I happen to be good at something that you can't do, I'll help you out. That's the beauty of being all unique and different.

I've seen people often wondering what's the purpose of Clear Card Arc, if we really needed to this arc and such. Well, to me the answer was made manifest in this chapter. 🙂

But back to our story, Tomoyo understands that moment has finally come, so she says that maybe she can't use magic, but she felt it was best to bring along with her a certain big bag (that we all know what contains, right??). She also says that she had the feeling she had made an asymmetrical costume before, but when she went to check, she realized she hadn't made it yet...

Listen to me well, because this is the solution to the mystery of the cryptical thing Ohkawa sensei said in relation to one of Sakura's costumes, during the latest CLAMP Space! Basically, she hinted that there was a reason why we hadn't seen Sakura wearing officially (for a Card battle) this costume yet, and that we would find out why soon. I know the ENG translation here talks about "complementary outfits" (referring probably to how Tomoyo will later reveal complementary outfits for both Sakura and Syaoran), but that only shows that they misunderstood the word アシンメトリー (lit. Asymmetry). Tomoyo here was literally talking about asymmetry because the "costume she thought she had made, but didn't find in the end" was precisely the one Ohkawa was hinting at during the latest Space, the one Sakura was trying on in chapter 36 and 37! Tomoyo had a sense of deja vu, about having made an asymmetrical outfit before, but actually couldn't find it because...well, the forbidden magic had removed any reference to the Clear Cards! (including, apparently, the costumes!) So that goes to show that Tomoyo, despite not having a crumble of magic, was also subjected to the deja vu and weird feelings of "discrepancy" that such rewriting of the world would cause. But hold on tight, cause another reference is on the way!

Tomoyo continues saying that while she was sewing the sleeve of the outfit, she had the strong feeling that this costume would turn into a very special one. And what do we have here? OH YES, it's THAT sleeve, the one we've been waiting for so eagerly! The one that Sakura saw in a dream with MCF once! Sakura back then asked to MCF if they would meet outside the dream when she'd be wearing that outfit, and MCF only cryptically said that it would be "the beginning of the end". Considering now we know that MCF has been mostly a byproduct of Lilie trying to communicate with Sakura and inadvertently messing things up, I do wonder about that MCF. Was Sakura, by any chance, actually was supposed to see Kaito and she saw the robe instead, because of Lilie? Or is that an actual member of Akiho's clan? Only this finale can tell us the truth. Sakura will certainly meet someone, with that costume.

Sakura thanks Tomoyo, always so ready to show her support, and she does something very sweet, as a result of regaining all of her rewritten memories: she tells Tomoyo that she'll do her best to come back without getting the costume dirty, but if it eventually starts fraying, she knows that Tomoyo will be there to repair it.....yeah....doesn't it remind you of something?? Of course I bet any Tomoyo fan knows very well what scene Sakura is referencing with this line....

When Sakura told Tomoyo she repaired her torn costume with the Repair Card in chapter 40, Tomoyo expressed the wish to be her the one repairing those costumes, with her own hands. Because she had created them specifically for Sakura, so she would also want to be the one to repair them in case they'd get damaged. Basically telling her "I made these with all my love for you, and I'd prefer that a Card didn't take my place even when needing to repair them. I want the costumes that you wear to be made completely by my own hands". Always reminding us that making something with your own hands for your loved one is the greatest proof of love for any character in CCS (which is something I find truly wholesome and beautiful). Sakura here shows to have understood and accepted that wish fully, therefore acknowledging Tomoyo and her feelings. Tomoyo is uncharacteristically surprised for a second, and then with the happiest smile she confirms that of course she'll be there to repair it!

Sakura looks at her brother Touya, who only grumpily tells her to respect the curfew. Sakura is confused because they never had a curfew time at home, but her brother replies "Come back before dad gets worried. That's our curfew". (in ENG there's an additional part here, I guess to fill in a bubble that would be left empty) Sakura confidently replies "Got it".

Nakuru is all giddy, excitedly announcing that they decided to go to war and they need to decide the formation!! Suppy mocks her, telling her she's talking as if she were playing one of her warring states games (in JP the term used here is 戦国ゲーム - sengoku game - and I've found there's a specific game called indeed Sengoku, but it seems the same term extended to indicate all the war games set in the Sengoku era), but that doesn't deter Nakuru, who says that if she gets chosen, she will certainly participate actively (here the ENG uses game language from what I can see - not an expert - but good job!)!!

Sakura's plan is different, though. She says that tonight she'll be going only with Syaoran. She knows that if everyone could go with her, she'd feel more confident and reassured, but...

Sakura, JP: "If I want to find Akiho-chan's most important person, I have the feeling that it'd be better for me to go with my most important person"

Here we go. We temporarily leave aside the "special person" terminology to go back to the more famous and loved "my most important person" term, to indicate THE ONE person someone loves the most. 一番大切なひと (ichiban taisetsuna hito). The term we all learned because it's been so crucial to indicate the person someone was in love with during the old arcs of the story. The term Sakura eventually used for Syaoran at the end of CCS volume 12 to finally give a "definition" to the love she felt for him. Now she uses it to define Akiho's feelings for Kaito. This is "the" term that takes precedence over all the other terminology used, and also goes to show how important and solemn the moment is. Sakura's intuition tells her that in order to find Kaito, Akiho's most important person, she should go with Syaoran, her own most important person. This is probably because her magical intuition (let's remember that Sakura got the power to see the future) grasped that her bond with Syaoran will be absolutely pivotal in order to have a positive outcome for the mission they're about to embark on. They will probably have to put that bond at work....maybe to explain, show, help someone understanding something that he still doesn't seem to grasp perfectly? Or rather, a stubborn refusal to understand it, which caused them all to be in this situation they're in right now? What's for sure is that if Sakura and Syaoran manage to find Kaito, and if they'll also manage to free him from the Seal of D. + the artifact with all the magical books that Akiho had engraved in herself, their job won't certainly be over like that. Kaito needs to talk to someone. He needs to understand many, many things. Some of those things, Sakura and Syaoran can at least try to introduce them to him. Because while it's true that Sakura wants to bring him back for Akiho, she also needs to make sure that coming back is also Kaito's wish. Because they can't force him if he isn't 100% convinced himself. I'm sure this is a very important thematic for CLAMP, respecting someone's self-determination. And since his state of mind, last time we saw him, was that he was perfectly expendable and that he was absolutely not necessary in Akiho's life, they need to change that perception. And there's also the fact that, despite being so different, Kaito and Syaoran are pretty similar in several aspects too. So maybe the role Syaoran can have in "communicating" with Kaito could be very important and impactful. Maybe that's what Sakura's intuition was trying to tell her.

Here, the ENG translation decided to translate that "most important person" with "favorite person". I have definitely turned up my nose at seeing that (why not leaving the iconic term?) but in the end I decided to relax because, at the end of the day, the result is similar. It indicates a person for whom your preference and importance is above everyone else. What really *mattered* in this scene - and lo and behold, it seems ONLY the English and Portuguese versions got it right (let me know about the Chinese one, cause I can't read that one) - is that Sakura used the same term to describe what Akiho feels for Kaito, and what SHE feels for Syaoran. "I am aware that this missing person is for Akiho an existence of the same importance Syaoran-kun has for me. Therefore, I will do everything in my power to bring them back, because I fully understand that kind of bond and I understand the void they leave in your life when they're not there" She knows, to some degree, what it feels like to miss your most beloved person, due to the period she had to spend apart from Syaoran. And they could still have phone calls and writing letters. Akiho's situation can only be worse. Sakura's understanding of that bond is also what causes her intuition to suggest her to go only with Syaoran. It's all connected. So it's of utmost importance that the translations use the same term when both talking about Akiho and Sakura. Then, about this scene, we could also say that it was a beautiful demonstration of how much Sakura (but also Syaoran) has grown up, now fully confident to declare in front of everyone that Syaoran is THE most important person in her life. Without blushing and without any drama. It's just a fact. After all they've been through, I think Sakura can feel confident enough in her relatinship with Syaoran, and there's no shame nor embarrassment in stating that aloud.

The people present here can only accept and show their support, and Eriol encourages Sakura to follow her intuition (remember the whole discussion about listening to the stirring of your heart, the so-called intuition? Yeah, a great lesson from Mama Yelan which will also be applied to another character soon). Sakura tells Kero that if she needs him, she will certainly call, and the guardian beast reassures her that he'll certainly hear his master's voice, same for Yue.

Then, lastly, Sakura takes Akiho's hands and holds them tightly. They share another sweet forehead touch (seriously, I love them so much ❤️). Akiho is worried, so worried, but also very resolute. She wants this as much as Sakura does. Sakura tells her that there'll surely be a moment when she'll request Akiho to do something only she can do, and asks her to please wait here with everyone till that time comes.

I'll admit it, I was really disappointed when I've read this scene the first time around. Not only because I had imagined all kinds of scenes in my head (included Akiho wearing one of Tomoyo's costumes) and they shattered that possibility (but oh well, I am prepared to that), but also because I feel like this isn't a good choice from a character development POV. I understand it, I really understand it, this is Sakura's story. She's the one who gets to shine in the finale. And we've talked about it before, there's no doubt that Sakura in this story goes through a journey to find her identity and what she wants to do. So now it's time to let her do that. But Akiho has been slandered for the whole manga, accused of all kind of things because of prejudice, and one of those was "she's weak and passive, she does nothing". Seeing her "on the sidelines" once again, when we're talking about rescuing her most important person, feels extremely off. Letting someone else do "the job for her" doesn't even feel like Akiho.

Then, as hours passed by, I thought...

Maybe Sakura wants to take care of the first part of the mission, because it'll certainly be the one where it's most likely to encounter some magical danger (dragon-chan???). And Akiho wouldn't be able to defend herself from that, devoid of magical powers as she is. She could potentially end up risking her own life. And then all of this would've been for nothing. And then I thought, wait, maybe Akiho knows that. She knows it very well, since she's a girl with a pretty good understanding of herself and her own limits. And this is certainly a limit she does have. So what she can do is to wait safely at home, as hard and painful as it can be, for the REAL, big moment when her presence will be absolutely necessary. Sakura said it with great confidence so it's 100% sure it will come. Therefore, as an Akiho fan, I will swallow this pill and wait together with her. 🫤

But the chapter isn't over yet, as Touya and Yukito go outside in the garden while Sakura and Syaoran get dressed for their departure! Yukito teases once again Touya, telling him that his face is scary and that Sakura's earlier statement ("most important person") must have caused him "damage" (still seemingly talking in game language). Touya of course doesn't reply, so Yukito continues, giving finally confirmation to the suspicion I've been having ever since this "rewritten world" started: Touya did notice something was off. He didn't know precisely what, but he knew it had something to do with Sakura. Yukito also gives us the opportunity to see just how kind and generous Touya is: he purposely didn't go back home often because he wanted to reduce his presence around Akiho as much as possible. Not because of negative feelings, quite the contrary: he was worried she'd get even more hurt if she established a bond with him, only to end up finding out that they weren't really brother and sister. (Meanwhile, we see a very cute panel of Akiho talking to Kero, Suppy and still in videocall with Eriol and Kaho!) And then, to follow the leit-motiv of this chapter, very centered on calling back stuff that had already happened in the original world, Touya says that he won't allow anyone to hurt his close ones (they used "family" in ENG, but the word 身内 can indicate also friends and such, the common characteristic is that they're very close). Got the feeling you've already heard these words, especially with the use of the word 身内 ? Yes, of course, it's vaguely the same threat he made to Kaito back in chapter 54, during the double date! 😂 Hmmmm, I have the feeling that if they manage to bring Kaito back (of course they will!), someone will want to have a word or two with him....let's hope he'll just stick to words! 😂 Jokes aside, it's very heartwarming to see how even Touya warmed up to Akiho, and took her under his protective big brother's wing! In fact, Yukito can't just miss the new opportunity to tease him (stop flirting so shamelessly in front of us, Yuki! 😂), telling him he's so overprotective for his sisters!!

The two lovebirds have finished changing their clothes, and we're all left staring at them agape, together with Nakuru: they look stunning, in their complementary outfits!! Sakura even got heels ❤️ And yes, dear readers, as already hinted when Tomoyo was speaking, this is IT, THE costume with THAT sleeve that appeared in Sakura's dream! It is the biggest indication that it's finally time for the last confrontation. Both Sakura and Syaoran look so resolute and ready to make a mess of space and time to bring Kaito back!! 😂 As many have noticed, Sakura got her Dream Staff with her, despite the Clear Cards have disappeared: my theory is that the Key was never removed by the forbidden magic, only the Cards, or maybe that the key came out now that Sakura got her memories back.

And this is where the chapter ends, with another huge cliffhanger!! Will we see Kaito, next time? Being a chapter number ending in -5, and being in the very last volume, I expect big things from it! Chapter 75 will be published on CLAMP's Youtube channel on July 1st, while the relative Nakayoshi magazine will be released on July 3rd (by the way, we'll have Sakura ONCE AGAIN on the cover and ANOTHER Sakura furoku!!). As usual, when I have less translation mistakes to talk about and more space for my feelings towards the chapter, I go overboard! Another freaking long post 😂😂 So I'll just leave you here, as usual I'll wait for your asks in my inbox! Bye Bye!!

[thefinalcinderella]

Tsurune: Irodori no Issha Episode 5: A Woman’s Heart is Difficult to Understand?

I was too busy last week to translate this so here

Tsurune translation masterpost here

Nanao: Let’s see, we bought steak, we bought garlic. Oh, the butter?

Kaito: I bought it. For rice, frying it in butter rather than cooking oil makes it taste better by far.

Nanao: Is it? You’re so fired up since it’s been a long time since you were in charge of dinner

Kaito: It’s also been a while since I went to the shopping mall. 

Kaito: Hmm? Hey.

Nanao: Oh, it’s really Ryouhei.

Kaito: He’s looking at some sparkly and stylish items?

Nanao: ......Hmm? No way!

Kaito: Hey, Ryouhei

Nanao: Ah, Kacchan!

Ryouhei: Huh? It’s Kaito and Nanao! Are you two shopping together?

Kaito: Yeah. We’re buying stuff for a dinner party. Are you buying scented candles?

Ryouhei: No, it’s not for me. I’m picking a present

Kaito: For who?

Nanao: It doesn’t matter who it’s for! Right, Ryouhei?

Ryouhei: My sister’s birthday’s coming up

Kaito: Sister

Nanao: Oh, so it was for your sister~

Kaito: What were you saying before!?

Ryouhei: I give her one every year, so I’m all out of ideas. I’m having trouble

Nanao: I get that~

Kaito: You give your sister a birthday present every year...!?

Ryouhei: Oh, that’s right. You guys also have sisters. Can you tell me what birthday presents you give them? I want suggestions!

Nanao: Okay.

Nanao: My sister is in her second year of middle school. It seems that she wants stuff that looks good on social media. So I give her accessories and stuff like that. Cheap ones, though.

Kaito: For a middle schooler, she’s way too mature for her age...

Ryouhei: Accessories, huh.

Ryouhei: I don’t think my sister wears those too often.

Nanao: So our sisters are divided into the “wears accessories” and “don’t wear accessories” factions, huh~

Ryouhei: What about you, Kaito? You have two older sisters, don’t you?

Nanao: The oldest, Yuu-neechan, is 19, and the second oldest, Minami-neechan, is 17

Ryouhei: My sister is also close to their age. Tell me what you gave them before !

Nanao: Tell him, Kacchan

Kaito: ......I forgot.

Ryouhei: What? Even though it’s two times a year?

Kaito: Um, well, is remembering your sister’s birthday even a thing in the first place?

Kaito: Do you just live your life everyday, and then you suddenly think, “Oh, it’s almost my sister’s birthday. What should I give her?”

Ryouhei: Yeah.

Nanao: Yep.

Kaito: No!

Ryouhei: Eh~???

Nanao: Hey, Ryouhei. I’ll add onto Kacchan’s lacking answer. 

Ryouhei: Mmm?

Nanao: Ryouhei, you love your sister, don’t you?

Ryouhei: Yeah, of course

Nanao: Then, your sister's love for you is double yours. 

Nanao: No, she loves you three times as much. 

Ryouhei: Is it like that?

Nanao: Yep

Nanao: So, in the Onogi family, there’s the big sister, big sister, and Kacchan.

Nanao: Kacchan’s the youngest and the only boy

Ryouhei: Right

Nanao: That’s why if Kacchan decides to give his sisters birthday presents...

Kaito: The woman at our place will just make a huge fuss over it, including my mom

Ryouhei: Doesn’t that mean they’re happy?

Kaito: Being happy isn’t a calm reaction. It’s like tossing a lump of meat into a pride of lions

Nanao: I think it was the year before last~ When Kacchan gave Yuu-neechan hand cream, she told all our relatives, “Kaa-kun gave this to me,” and passed it around for them to put it on

Kaito: Don’t make me remember that...

Nanao: For Minami-neechan’s birthday, you gave her dumbbells, she got angry at you and said, “Are you saying that I’m fat?” We had a hard time calming her down~~

Kaito: She keeps saying she got fat everyday, so I gave her dumbbells, so why did she have to get mad at me?

Nanao: Your sister’s still a girl, you know? Diet-related goods as a gift to girls are very risky, you know?

Kaito: Hah? Stop talking like you know everything. That part of you is problematic. 

Nanao: Kacchan, you can’t straightforwardly accept the love from everyone, so I think you’re the one with problems here~

Kaito: Ah? You wanna go? 

Ryouhei: Hey, don’t fight! How about this, then?

Ryouhei: I’ll buy an accessory, hand cream, and dumbbells, and I’ll have my sister choose her favorite from them! 

Kaito and Nanao: You love her way too much!?

[takaraphoenix]

20 Questions Game for Fic Writers

Tagged by @blairwaldcrf ! Thank you, dear! <3

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

As of right now, 1214 works! Damn, I've been busy :D"

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

Currently at 9,167,371 words, slowly inching toward the 10 million mark!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Oh gosh, the total list is so long at this point, with various one-off kind of deals, or fandoms I've moved on from.

I am currently considering myself an active writer in these fandoms though: Shadowhunters, Percy Jackson, Detective Conan/Magic Kaito, DC Comics.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Sorted by kudos, my top 5 fics are:

How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (Marvel, Loki/Tony), with 7,945

My College Boyfriend (PJO, Nico/Percy), with 6,353

The Lion's Pride (Voltron, Shiro/Keith/Lance), with 6,163

The Ghost King of Summers High (PJO, Nico/Percy), with 5,600

Percy Jackson, Ambassador of Hades (PJO, Nico/Percy), with 4,985

Which actually looked really fucked up because yeah sure there's four super popular multi-chapter fics of mine. And then there is My College Boyfriend, which isn't just a oneshot, it is a oneshot with under 3k words. What. What.

And the, quite frankly frustrating, part here is that this oneshot only has 24 comments. Not even every 100th reader felt the need to leave a comment. That's just... so sad. Like. Genuinely, I think the kudos system broke commenting because the convenience of pressing a button beat actually expressing yourself genuinely through words and from the bottom of my heart, I find that depressing as fuck.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Always. Every single one of them. Because comments mean something. Someone took the time to tell you, with words, that they liked your work and maybe even what they liked about it.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Ooof, multiple contestants from back in my day when I wrote German fics for the Beyblade fandom and wrote about... darker themes. Not all fics used to have happy endings. I wrote some fics that ended in a suicide, so I guess those.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Impossible to answer, because for as long as I've been active in English writing, all my fics have had happy endings. The guy gets the guy, the girl gets the girl, and they live happily ever after. The world is saved or the evil defeated, maybe there's even an epilogue of a next gen in there. That's my standard, it ends happily. So that makes it impossible to pick one that somehow ends happier than the rest. xD

8. Do you get hate on fics?

loool

Right. Sorry. Yeah. Yeah, of course. Funnily enough, never on the things you would assume attract hatred - the incest, the explicitly non-con stuff.

Nah, I got death threats and words that were somehow worse than death threats on my Oliver/Felicity fics in the DC fandom... a... straight canon ship... but not the canon ship from the multiverse that these vile assholes liked, so, ya know. Threaten the fans who love a ship you hate.

Also over the years, lotta nasty general homophobia for Nico/Percy in the PJO fandom - I have been writing in this fandom since 2010, and yes, there were really a lot of people especially in the earlier years who just hated the idea of making either Percy or Nico gay.

And the dumbasses who declare Jace/Alec incest and thus hate and threaten this ships fans in the Shadowhunters fandom. But still, inexplicably, like Alec. Even though, in canon, he's the one who was in love with Jace. I don't know, but if you claim the nasty, nasty incest is The Bad Thing, I think you should hate the character with the nasty, nasty incestuous feelings, instead of the fans who write perfectly tagged and filterable fics. But that's just me, I guess.

So yeah, top three of hatred I got over the years - but if you wanna read a highlight reel of bullshit hate mail I got, feel free to go and check out my Dear Anonymous Shitheads tag!

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

All kinds of smut? I don't know how to answer this question, to be honest. xD

I've written oral, anal, vaginal, mlm, wlw, m/m/f, rare m/f ships but usually either she pegs or it's ABOverse and she's an alpha, I generally pepper in some flavors of BDSM into it, I've written dub-con and non-con before, bestiality, double penetrations. I have written a lot.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve ever written?

Oh, that is absolutely going to my first ever crossover. Because my usual crossovers are, ya know, that Big Four animated movie crossover verse (Tangled/Brave/HTTYD/RotG), or "I like these two fandoms, how would A's characters fit into B's world/how would B's characters fit into A's world?" for... essentially all my fandoms, and I wouldn't call any of these crazy - because the Big Four crossover is a beast of an own fandom so it's not really "original" or far out there to write for it, and in all my other crossovers, I do pride myself on making it work, like, not just throwing characters together but fitting their backstories and special powers into how the other world works.

So the craziest one is absolutely A Hundred Times Over, which is a oneshot sequel to my first-ever English-written fic and was written as a celebration because it was my 100th fic back then.

The original fic was already a crossover between Detective Conan and PJO, so for the celebration I thought "okay so what if I throw in my current obsession - Doctor Who - and my first ever ship - Shere Khan/Bagheera?". So, yeah, this crossover between Detective Conan, Percy Jackson, Doctor Who and Jungle Book has to be my craziest so far.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

So often. So, so, so, so often.

If you see my fics on watpad or any other platform that isn't AO3 or Fanfiction.net - and if you see them on those two but posted by an author that ISN'T Takara Phoenix - then please, let me know. Drop me a link wherever you can, I always greatly appreciate being told that my fics have been stolen so I can report that person and have it taken down.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No. All of the stealing of my fics has made me incredibly uncomfortable with the idea of my fics flowing around on other people's accounts or other websites, especially since the first like four or so stolen fics I had were translated.

Someone took my fics, translated them into Spanish and Russian, and posted them on other platforms, without ever asking my permission.

I don't want thieves to more easily slip through the cracks in between authorized repostings of my stories, so I have the blanket policy to not allow translations.

If you see my fics in other languages, tell me.

(There is one story that has been translated, but I'm not sure how far it counts, because I did the translating myself, and that's Lass Uns Etwas Dummes Tun/Looking For Something Dumb to Do. It is a PJO fic about Nico/Percy that I wrote in celebration for Germany legalizing gay marriage in 2017; I wrote it in German first, due to that, and then decided to translate it into English since I know my core-audience are English-speakers and not German-speakers.)

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yeees!!! With my wonderful, amazing, lovely @kimmycup!!! ^-^

We've written a total of five fics together so far.

Three Shadowhunters fics: Hurting and Healing, a Magnus/Jace oneshot, Three Times the Boys Felt Left Out, a Jordan/Simon/Jace oneshot, A King By Any Other Name, a Alec/Jace oneshot.

A Vampire Academy oneshot about Mason/Christian: The Chance at a Happily Ever After.

And, our pride and joy, our 51k multichapter Shadowhunters/Vampire Academy crossover fic about Mason/Christian and Simon/Jace: Double Puppy Dare.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

That's such a hard question to answer for me as a multishipper.

But to be quite honest, I think I would have to go with Kaito/Shinichi from Detective Conan/Magic Kaito?

It's the ship I've been the most consistently been faithful to and that, whenever I see it, sparks joy. That has proven that even when the fandom's gone dormant for me for months or years, it can reignite into a wildfire, where other fandoms just fizzle out and disappear from my interests then.

These two get me, they've been getting me for one and a half decades now and I doubt they'll stop any time soon.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

All of my unfinished German fics over on Animexx. When the German Beyblade fandom started to die, I tried to cling on, but at one point... when all your favorite writers, all your friends, have moved on? And then I started reading fics in English and soon after, also writing them in English. I feel bad about it, but it's just been far too long now.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Personally, I'd say world building. That's also my passion. I love creating elaborate worlds for my stories to take place in - I mean, damn, for the book series I'm writing, I developed my own language, religion and drew a map of the city it takes place in, among other things. A well-developed world is so important.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Oh, fight scenes and action and other things that...

When a character is good at a thing that I am not good in or know a lot about?

Like, when a character is super quippy and funny, but I am not really a one-liners-person so now I have to come up with quippy one-liners to capture his personality?

Or fighting or science, when a character is an expert in a field that I know nothing about and would not understand jackshit about even if I tried because it's not my wheelhouse? Those things, I really struggle with.

Also, I hate action and fight scenes. Like. That's the parts when I check my phone usually to avoid that my eyes glaze over from boredom. So, naturally, writing these things? Not fun. Not good at it either, imo. But certain fics - or rather, certain characters too - require action and fight scenes.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Painful if you have to use Google Translate. If you know the language? Yeah, go for it! If you have to resort to Google Translate? Maybe just write it in italics and note that it's in x language. It spares both, the native speakers who will die from second hand embarrassment, and the non-speakers who... won't understand it anyway.

But in the cases that I use foreign languages (and usually when I do, it's just... pet-names. Things you can't really fuck up that much and things that people would say in another language even in English-main-dialogues), I always put the translation right behind the sentence, because it's a special brand of obnoxious when you have to scroll ALL the way to the end of a chapter or fic to see what tf you just read, and then scroll back up again.

Hate doing that, so I won't do that to my readers.

19. First fandom you ever wrote for?

Oh, that's Yu-Gi-Oh!, with a hurt/comfort Kaiba/Joey fic.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Can't answer that, it always depends on my current mood which of my babies I love the most ;P

Tagging @kimmycup and @justonemorechapternicercy and @fallenqueen2 for this fun! And anyone else who wants to do it! <3

[catgirl-catboy]

How do you feel about how DRv3 handled the whole "fiction vs reality" debate?

Well, from a fandom only perspective, I wish it wasn't a thing because it made my Danganronpa fandom experience not very fun.

I feel like that if that is the big twist the writing team was leading up to from the beginning, then they picked the most boring survivors for it.

Himiko already has her "magic is real shtick", and thus can suspend her disbelief about if she's real or not.

Maki's emotional arc hinges upon her feelings for Kaito, so having those feelings be 100% fake cheapens the narrative. I like where they went with it, but it wasn't a good concept.

Shuichi could work since his fatal flaw is that he's dependant on other people. If Kaito and Kaede weren't the paragons he thought they were, then he accomplished a lot of what he did on his own! But it was more about the morality of killing games than the conclusion of his arc.

There are characters in v3 that would work really well for this twist, but they all got murdered before it was revealed!

Look me in the eye and tell me you don't want to hear about Ryoma maybe having people that cared for him pre-game, people he definitely wants to make amends with. Is everything is fake, that means his motive video must be fake too, right?

Tenko's sexist worldview being completely shattered. Imagine the Maki crush plotline going to her. That the only reason she was obsessed with Himiko was to get Himiko further in the game and give her a plotline. Imagine literally being an accessory in someone else's story with no happy ending planned for you.

Imagine Kirumi having to grapple with the fact that for the first time in her life, she did something people would consider selfish. That all of her pride was misplaced. If everyone in the outside world wants her to be a fictional character, isn't it her job to be one?

Kiyo is finally in one of the myths he adores so much. He's larger than life. Why aren't his friends happy, the way he is!

That is so much more interesting to me than "Killing game bad". I feel like the survivors were at odds with the story, if that makes sense.

[gaoau]

in cycles and in doubts

earth rots wood warnings — none. word count — 2.2k

next.

the first thing [Name] notices is the familiar scent of vanilla and sugar. the second thing is Kaito's face as he opens the door. clearly out of order, but she smiles at him anyway, bouncing Lucy up in her arms to fix her grip on her. he sighs, already used to his cat's mischief, and wordlessly takes her from [Name]. unsurprisingly, Lucy doesn't lash out, instead letting Kaito hold her up to his chest. he moves to close the door after a quiet thanks, but he catches [Name]'s eyes straying behind him.

he raises a brow. "Nanao's not here, by the way." the words leap out of his tongue before he can hold himself back.

[Name] scrunches her face up in confusion. "yeah, i know, i live right next to him."

"ah." his gaze averts as he scratches Lucy behind the ear. "i thought, since you were…" suddenly, he doesn't have any more words to act on impulse. he grimaces to himself, his assumptions making his face burn. he doesn't seem to learn despite always making the same mistake.

[Name] brushes it off. with a chuckle, she tries to find his eyes. "is Minami-san baking cookies again?" she once more glances inside the house. vanilla and sugar are more than familiar smells coming from the Onogi kitchen, especially with Minami being so stressed lately. 

Kaito groans quietly. he figures it'd be much easier to crawl into a hole in the ground and die. "do you wanna," he starts, hesitating, stopping briefly to swallow his pride, "come in? play Mario Kart?" it's the best apology he can muster.

"what are we betting?"

"dishes next dinner together."

there's a moment of silence before [Name] laughs. she knocks her fist against his shoulder as she invites herself into the house. "alright, you're on." Lucy hops off Kaito's arms to follow after her. he watches them both disappear into the kitchen, where [Name] doesn't waste a second coaxing a few freshly baked cookies from his sister.

he leaves them to chat while he heads up to his room to set up his console. he's a little tired of having to do the dishes every time she stays over to cook dinner with him. (he loses anyway.)

the same way people flock to Nanao like moths drawn to a flame, animals love hanging around Kaito. he's probably more familiar with [Name]'s bedroom than [Name] herself simply because he enjoys hanging around her pets just as much. with a parakeet perched on his head and a tabby curled up on his lap, he manages to win a round of Smash against [Name].

she groans, throwing her head back to glare up at him sitting on her bed. her back hurts against her bedframe, but her legs have long grown numb. "twenty-three out of forty-five?"

Kaito squints at her. "don't you get bored of this?" he considers, for a moment, taking her up on her offer. he's never had this good of a win-streak.

"beating your ass?"

"you just lost."

"we're tied." it's easy to notice the way his face scrunches up as he swallows his words. [Name] raises a brow, waiting for him to elaborate his question further. when he doesn't, she turns back to the screen. "do you think i'm hanging out with you 'cause Nanao-kun's on a date?"

a grumble slips past Kaito's lips. it's quiet and [Name] can't pick up what he's saying, but judging by how he sets his controller down, she guesses he's not interested in a rematch. "you're his friend, though." his eyes avert down to Longko on his lap. he scratches the cat under his chin, hoping [Name] doesn't turn around to face him again.

fortunately for him, she doesn't. she simply hums in thought. "you don't sound very happy about that."

"he's the people magnet."

"oh, i know," she snickers, finding it more amusing than intended, "he attracts a lot of attention, it's insane."

he takes the opportunity to veer the conversation. there's not much veering when the only topic of conversation is Nanao. "yeah, he got bullied a bunch as a kid." the sentence slips from his tongue before he can bite it. it's only when [Name] whips her head back that he realizes what he's said.

she blinks, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "didn't say it was good attention."

"i'm…" Kaito figures [Name] is okay. she's Nanao's friend, after all, and he trusts his judgment of people a lot more than anyone else's. it's simply thoughts he's had by himself. there's nothing wrong with telling someone else—someone that isn't the person in question. "i've had enough of chaperoning him, but i'm still the only one who can, you know, look out for him." 

[Name] chuckles, mostly because she's heard Nanao say something similar about Kaito. she hides it before he finds offense; he's quick-tempered and more sensitive than he pretends to be, [Name] knows. "i could tell," she laughs, "you really didn't want me around when we met." four years ago seem extremely distant now that they're both lounging around in her room.

but Kaito lets it get under his skin anyway, even if it's already been long enough for her to forget he ever tried to shield his cousin from her. "that's 'cause…! you're always going along with him and i…" it makes his face burn. he's not sure what excuse to come up with and his tongue trips up by itself.

it's sometimes endearing. [Name] turns around, setting her arms up on her mattress as she scratches Longko's head. she lets the topic go before Kaito consumes himself from the inside out in embarrassment. "yeah, i guess it's a little worrying."

"i wasn't worried…"

she looks up at him with a raised brow. he's always worrying to some degree, always overthinking. "well, if it comes down to it, i do know a thing or two. i can just fuck people up for him." so she offers him peace of mind to the best of her abilities.

he hums as he contemplates her words. the same way she's attended his kyudo tournaments, he's been to some of her judo matches. he's completely aware [Name] can put up a bit of a fight. "yeah, i guess so." finally, he manages to look her in the eye. it's not that he doesn't trust her— "do you think you can flip people over your shoulder or something?" —it's just that he's awfully hesitant to leave something so crucial to somebody else.

"sure, i can do that." she shrugs, sitting up so her bedframe stops digging into her side. her legs tingle when she stretches them out. "i can probably flip you over my shoulder right now."

"no, there's no way."

"yeah, i can actually."

there's a few seconds of silence as they both stare at one another. Kaito's eyes slowly narrow while [Name] blinks back at him with a blank face. Longko complains with a disgruntled meow when Kaito picks him up off his lap as he starts getting off the bed. Meulén takes the hint and flies away from his head. he rises to his full height, tapping [Name] on the leg with his foot to have her stand up as well. wordlessly, she follows, readying her stance because she can practically read Kaito's mind through the look on his face.

it doesn't take her a single moment of hesitation to grab him by the wrist. she turns, hooking her arm beneath his and tugging. tall people are easier to throw off-balance. it's only when Kaito is flat on the floor and groaning in pain that they begin talking again.

"rematch, i wasn't ready," is all he declares. he doesn't waste any time getting back on his feet.

[Name] chuckles and waits for him to recompose himself. "are you ready this time?" she asks, maybe a little smug, but she takes it from him. 

"yeah." albeit stubborn, Kaito recognizes when to quit. he tries making himself heavier, but [Name] manages to flip him over her shoulder effortlessly with nothing but polished technique. he stares up at her with a twitching brow. "…okay, fine, i get it."

taking a seat beside her cat, she offers Kaito a reassuring smile. "i honestly don't know how you do that whole Kacchan barrier thing—" she sees him cringe as he sits up, "—but i can figure something out. if you'd like, i mean." because giving him options and choices is the best way to get anything out of him.

he seems rather hesitant when he answers, "yeah, sure, you can do that," while shrugging nonchalantly. [Name] nods and drops the topic altogether as she moves to power off her console. Kaito hangs his head back, finding the ceiling to be insanely interesting and listening to her hum to herself quietly.

it's not necessarily strange, but he does wonder why [Name] treats him so carefully. she's Nanao's friend, after all. the only reason he's sitting in her bedroom is because Nanao thought to share her the moment he met her, unlike him who keeps people he finds to himself. maybe it makes sense that [Name] has learned to hang out with him when it's only them two. but he still can't shake off the feeling that their friendship revolves solely around a third-party.

"Stuck in the Middle?" [Name] prompts, scrolling through Kaito's phone. her arms are getting tired, but with Lucy sleeping soundly on her chest, she doesn't have much of a choice other than holding the screen up in the air.

he glances over at her, taking his focus away from his rubber band grip. sometimes he forgets Japanese is not her mother tongue—neither is English, but when she speaks it, there's not a trace of a foreign accent and it throws him for a loop. he frowns, humming in thought as he tries to remember which song she's talking about. she takes it upon herself to refresh his memory and plays the track.

it takes him six seconds, but his face lights up in recognition. "oh, yeah." he restarts his footing as [Name] adds the song to their shared playlist. "and the other one."

"elaborate, maybe."

he clicks his tongue. admittedly, he's not as confident in his own languages. "i don't remember the name."

she hates to give up on Lucy's comfort, but she rolls over anyway to give her arms a break. the cat doesn't seem to care as she curls up by her stomach. [Name] keeps scrolling through Kaito's Spotify, reading title after title to figure out which one he's referring to. if she were to take a guess, knowing just how similar their music taste is, she'd go with, "The Way Back?"

Kaito can feel her eyes scanning his face as he furrows his brows to concentrate. "…yeah, that one," he answers, more hesitant than intended. [Name] squints at him, watching him push on the grip, smoothing out kinks in his form.

"you've no idea, do you?"

"can you just play it?" he sighs, shoulders sagging as he drops his arms.

[Name] laughs, but taps on the track and lets it play. when she turns her attention back to Kaito to gauge his reaction, he's looming over her and stealing his phone back from her hands. he does, in fact, recognize the song, but a voice in the back of his head tells him [Name]'s guessing game feels too much like his cousin. rather aggressively, he adds it to the playlist.

meanwhile, she rises from the bed—and Lucy finally has had enough and hops off—to let Kaito crash down beside her. he scrolls down the collection of hundreds of songs the two of them have been putting together for the past month. [Name] is more than fully aware of his personal bubble, so she simply watches as he quietly browses Spotify. getting close to someone like him is already tough mentally, let alone physically.

sometimes, [Name] thinks that if it hadn't been for her casually mentioning her taste in music, Kaito would have never bothered talking to her. coincidentally, Kaito thinks the only reason [Name] hangs out with him is because of his cousin. (Nanao is nowhere around them.)

"no, not that one, that one makes me cry," she blurts out when she catches his finger hovering over a specific title.

Kaito snickers, "i know, that's why i'm adding it."

she smacks him on the shoulder, laughing. and seeing him still add the song makes her think that she used to be stupid for ever assuming Kaito would stay closed off forever. he's become louder with her, almost as loud as when he's shooting on the range, and he's come to share more of his interests unprompted. after all, he's the one whose face lit up while explaining what the tsurune was.

[universestreasures]

He had locked himself in his study for weeks again, a habit he often took to doing when difficult matters arose. Things had become increasingly complicated since he learned of Ray's engagement to one of his close allies, the crowned prince Seto Kaiba. Reiji was no fool. His father wouldn't arrange for his favorite daughter to be in an arrangement such as this without a damm good reason. His father loved her too much for that. However, that left him with the task of trying to figure out what he was plotting and how to stop it, a monumental task for a teenager who was already very overworked.

Running the organization of Pandora. Maintaining his allyship with the royal family and other noble houses. Conducting his research. Keeping up appearances here. All of this kept him in a constant state of busyness that did not allow for any sort of healthy work-life balance. He barely slept, ate even less. If it wasn't for Reira, Shun, and Nakajima, he probably would have gotten severely ill from the lack of focus on his well-being.

Even on his own birthday (a day he never really celebrated) , he continued to work, his current focus being on developing a neutralizer for his father's tech. Reiji's since realized that the dragons his father allowed into his home were valuable pieces he needed to ensure wouldn't be captured by the king of this house forever. Plus, the dragon brothers would be excellent allies in his mission, even if he hasn't let them in on it just yet, at risk of those reckless boys messing things up before the right moment to strike.

Being magicless himself, he had to rely on Reira solely to test his prototypes and see how they interacted with strong magic. Having his sibling fulfill this task was a necessary one, for none of his other allies in this house had magic, but one he hates to do all the same. It...It made him at points feel like he is no better than his father, even if the young one insisted they help him out.

When the tiny human makes their presence known outside his door, he is certain he came to see if his help was needed once again. And considering the recent change he's made to the device's circuitry, one that resulted in a mini explosion of electricity that made his hair stick up for a few moments, a field test would be good to see if any more modifications needed to be made. Though, as soon as he got up from his desk and opened the door, his hypothesis was instantly proven wrong as the smell and sight of Reira's offering hits him all at once.

"Hot...chocolate...?" Reiji quickly deduced, using both his smell and picking up on it from the context clues of the young one's words. It was obvious they were referring to Kaito, who often made the hot beverage for his own brother. Reira often visited those two when they were not with him as well, according to Shun.

Before he can move to do anything further, he is stopped by the the tiny words of the one before him. They were quiet, as most of the kid's words were, but they had...an emotional quality to them he hadn't witnessed before. They had brought him a birthday gift, a gift meant to make him happy on a day he didn't really celebrate, to begin with... Did they...propose this idea all on their own, just for Reiji's sake? That was the only logical explanation for this since he can't imagine Shun or Nakajima bringing him something like this, birthday or not. Perhaps Reira's sense of self was developing more quickly than he first thought...

"Reira." He approaches, taking the warm cup with one hand and placing the other on their purple locks to do a light patting motion. "I thank you for thinking of me today, even if gifts for my birthday are not necessary. You are...a very kind child."

Reira proving his father's assumptions wrong filled him with a sense of pride. His faith in them had not faltered and, in fact, was only strengthened by their actions today. What more could he ask for?

"It's...good." He says after taking a sip. While it was a bit too sweet for his tastes, he could appreciate the effort it must have taken to take it down here and prepare it to begin with. The hand holding the drink is then placed in front of the other, offering Reira to take it. "I think you should have some as well. You didn't try it, did you?"

「 @universestreasures​ | Reiji Akaba」 Happy (totally not belated) Birthday, NIISAMAAAAAA

It was another rather cold night at the Akaba estate. The number of open windows didn't really help with that-- It was something that became a normal occurrence now that the dragonic brothers lived within these walls. The opening of windows, no matter the weather, started as something the purple one called Yuri would do to give his plants access to the outside amenities. Now it was something that everyone but Yuri would do to air out the halls from the plants overwhelming fragrances.

But the plants kept that one happy enough to not cause trouble, so after this long most everyone had learned to live with it. Even down here, where Reira now stood in the hall outside Reiji's rooms were freezing. The warm ceramic cup held in both their hands helped keep the shivers at bay.

But the longer Reira stood there, not moving in the face of their brother's private study, the quicker that warmth was going to fade before they could share that warmth with him.

Earlier that day Shun had helped advocate for Reira when trying to ask his friend Kaito how he makes the magical elixirs they've seen him share with his own brother. It was something they've been curious of for a long time, and was something Reira wondered could also cure what ails Reiji too.

It was actually a pretty simple elixir to create with the help of someone big enough to reach where the ingredients were. But Kaito had said it was important for the receiver to drink it while it was warm for the best effect. So they had rushed this way with Shun in tow. But now that they were here, Reira had froze. And the elixir had went from scorching hot to borderline lukewarm. They didn't have much more time.

That's when Shun had reached over them, and knocked on the door twice before turning on his heel back down the hall. In reality he didn't go far at all, leaning his back against the wall after rounding the corner. Close enough to listen and react if need be. But far enough to give Reira room to stand on their own. This was their idea after all, it was on them to go through with it.

The gears were now put in motion, and Reira swallowed hard at hearing the sudden commotion from behind the door. A sudden burst of energy overcame them, as if the joy of seeing their brother made them forget the hesitation they felt just moments prior.

❝ ...B-Brother? ❞

In the short moments it would take Reiji to reach the door, Reira could still feel the cup in his hands losing it's healing properties to the cold air around them. Reira's small grip on the cup tighten in hopes that they can retain even a small bit of warmth for their brother's sake. Even if it was only one tiny sip, Reira wanted to make sure it got to Reiji before it was too late..!

❝ Shun's friend... ❞ Reira then holds the cup out, presenting it and all it's magical properties to Reiji so it would be the first thing he'd see upon opening the door. ❝ He helped me make this for you. ❞

Reiji was working hard, harder than ever, and it was beginning to worry Reira greatly. They saw more than most; and they could see the stress was starting to affect their big brother in ways Reiji was willing to deal with in favor of getting work done. And perhaps right now Reira couldn't do much more than this. But Reiji made a point to believe in them before, so Reira wasn't about to let him down now. If they made it right, this elixir should be a huge help, they were sure of it.

❝ A...And... ❞

Suddenly their voice then went small. But their eyes never turning away as they often would with anyone that wasn't Reiji. It would seem Reira's other reason for doing this wasn't to remain secret for long.

❝ H-Happy birthday, brother. ❞ -

[oceanspray5]

Thinking of post Winter/Stars Above Adri with her riches that Cinder graciously granted her through allowing her to keep Garan's patent and how she'd undoubtedly make a lot of money off of it but it would ultimately do her and Pearl absolutely no good because Emperor Kaito is a petty bitch who hated Adri for Cinder without even knowing what she had done just cuz Cinder disliked her so the minute he finds out what Adri has actually done, he's beside himself with the desire to murder her with his own hands or throw her in prison.

Except Kai can't really do that being the diplomat he has to be and all so instead he Very Pointedly does not invite her to the Annual Peace Ball (despite Linh Garan's invention being... yknow... the reason they have peace). Naturally people have questions because there is a song specifically announced to be played in honor of a Linh Peony and Kai mentions Linh Garan by speech but Linh Adri and the living daughter Linh Pearl are noticeably absent.

Someone asks Kai and all he does is pleasantly respond, "We will not be sharing their company." It's a very abrupt sentence. No "unfortunately", no "pleasure of their company", not even a "tonight" to imply this is a one time deal. So naturally people have even more questions when this continues to happen. At every single ball Emperor Kaito ever throws.

Its well known that Queen Selene of Luna is very tight lipped about her life before the revolution and refuses to answer questions about it which drives Kai up the wall cuz Adri takes every opportunity to capitalize on having "raised the Queen of Luna" but Cinder is too busy to actually bother with Adri anymore.

That's when Iko steps in. Cinder may be content to stay quiet and forget Adri exists but Iko most certainly will not let that vile woman get away with everything. She openly declares in great, as the personal assistant and longtime trusted friend of Queen Selene, that Adri's stories are bogus and even adds some incriminating evidence from her data bank as proof. Iko figures she'll deal with the fallout from Cinder later except Cinder really doesn't care if Adri is being slandered all across the galactic media.

But things take an even more dramatic twist when Princess Winter Hayle-Blackburn uploads a video addressing the revealed information. She's sobbing loudly at the injustice her dear cousin suffered and how horrible it is that Cousin Selene "escaped one Levana only to go and be thrust into the arms of another". The Lunars are in an uproar. Their beloved Princess is crying and their beloved Queen had been living a life of misery even on Earth! Winter denies any maliciousness on her part with an innocent smile. She was simply so overrought with emotions at learning of how cruelly her beloved cousin was treated that she had to express them to the world.

Emperor Kaito, being such a paragon of truth and champion of honesty, decides to stir the pot further by declaring his own observations of having first met Queen Selene and admits that while he never got to see her treatment first hand, he did see the toll of that treatment on the Lunar Queen. He also opens up the very much open secret at this point: as emperor he cannot in good conscience invite the perpetrator of Queen Selene's miseries to any happy occasions thrown by the crown as they directly oppose his views on how to show gratitude for the brave young woman who saved them all. Earth is an uproar too at this point having grown fond of Cinder and especially the Eastern Commonwealth who take pride in the fact that Queen Selene grew up in their country.

Adri is besides herself. Her business keeps running, grudgingly as ever customers keep buying Linh Garan's invention. But she is a social pariah and she and Pearl are never again seen as respectable in proper society for the abuse she heaped on Cinder. Meanwhile, Peony and Linh Garan (alongside Michelle Benoit and Logan Tanner) are honored for their sacrifice by the world for helping Cinder become the revolutionary to usurp Levana.

Cinder, personally, is not entirely on board with her life being so exposed but then again it already was pretty well known to begin with. She can't help but love Kai and Iko and Winter (and the Rampion crew cuz i know they'd join in yet idk how yet) for caring about her so much they refuse to let Adri have any ounce of respect despite the parting kindness Cinder offered to her. They let her keep her hands and heart clean while defending her and she'd be lying if she said she didn't kick back with a popcorn bucket now and then after some far too stressful meetings to read some netposts by angry Lunars and Earthens about how much they hate Adri.

[onyxonline]

SOUL! Pretty Cure

Fan made pretty cure team but they’re boys fighting against toxic masculinity with the power of friendship, love, and borderline homosexuality.

pretty Cure! Unlock My Soul!

Yoshida Akio / Cure Heartbeat (pink) : a 15 year old boy that is attending an all-boys private school, he’s you’re happy-go-lucky boy that has a love for pastels, but must hide it from his disapproving family. While attending school he meets a little black cat called “Moony” who was being attacked by a monstrous being called a Testomera. He unlocks his Soul Pendant by rescuing the cat, becoming Cure Heartbeat and saving the day.

Fukumoto Ren / Cure Ember (orange) : a 16 year old boy attending the same school as Akio, and also his best friend, a flamboyant and passionate boy who does not hide his pride for passion. He instantly accepts the call for help from Cure Heartbeat, embracing the power and becoming Cure Ember. He will make sure the Testomera will not hurt his classmates or friends!

Aoki Kaito / Cure Tidal (blue) : a 17 year old swimmer, forced into sports by his family, Kaito is a bit more secluded and doesn’t share much about his life and passion. He struggles with processing his emotions correctly as it had been drilled into his head since childhood that boys don’t cry”. He actually loves ballet but keeps it hidden away to not be laughed at. He unlocks his pretty cure powers by himself when he watches Cure Ember and Cure Heartbeat struggle against a Testomera.

Takao Hotaru / Cure Thunder (green) : a 16 year old jock and captain of the soccer team, despite his tough exterior, Hotaru is actually a bit of a softy. He takes care of his team mates and wants nothing more but their well being. This same mentality applies towards the pretty cure team. His power was unlocked due to his desire to help being so strong. He also struggles a little with his emotions too, more on not knowing when he goes too far with his jokes.

Fukushima Kyoshi / Cure Sunray (yellow) : a 17 year old artist and the softest of the group, suffering from anxiety, Kyoshi really doesn’t want to stand out, and this often frustrates his peers and family. This makes it hard to make friends due to having low self esteem. He admires the precure team for their bravery and confidence, and soon is able to join them when he defends his classmates from a Testomera attack. He’s still trying his best, and that’s what matters