#hi re: your other ask i got the image with it lol

[tlirswriting]

Me when you hint at upcoming They Colonised Mars

Kicking my feet and giggling like a sicko

[c0llisiion]

NUMB TO THE FEELING — j.jk

♡pairing : jjk + fem!reader

♡: not proof read, exs, idol!jungkook x idol!reader , fwb kinda? , smut , mutual masturbation - lmk if i missed any!

W/C : 1,162

Pt.2 , Pt.3

A/N : SORRY 4 DISAPPEARING AGAINNNNN! i js got too busy guys 😣😣😣😣 rqs are open! Send in your rqs and prompts ily <33 anyways here is a jk fic i wrote instead of finishing my other jk fic :3

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ MDNI. Please refrain from reading if the topics make you uncomfortable. ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

2 months. Its been 2 months since you broke it off with jungkook. It was all over the news, a hot topic for the k media. ‘BTS’s Jungkook and Y/G/N’s y/n ends 4 year relationship’, was still trending on naver. It happened so quickly. Knets are already placing the blame on you for the breakup, as they view you as a mean rebel idol who breaks hearts and messes around. A face of disgust was plastered on your face as you scroll through the endless amounts of hate comments knets put under the articles.

“Wow I always knew she was a bitch”

“She definitely cheated on him with another idol lol”

“What do you expect when you date a wh*re? Jungkook should have never dated her”

“She ruined his image”

Back and forth, people were calling you degrading names and putting Jungkook in a good light. They said all of this while not knowing a single thing about how your breakup unfolded. It was mutual. You both started getting busy with schedules. That simple. Maybe a few disagreements here and there. Maybe a few trust issues but the main point was it was mutual and you both broke up because of schedules. You got tired of the same comments and decided to turn off your phone but you got a new notification.

baby star candy 🤍

Hey

Tf is he doing at this hour?

Y/n

???

baby star candy 🤍

Is it okay if i come over?

Classic jungkook. Getting straight to the point. You stared at the text for a while not realising that you were leaving him on seen.

My baby star candy 🤍

Helloooooo?????

Its fine if you dont want me to

Y/n

Yes. Quick.

You sent your reply before his second text got to properly load. And there you were. Your phone turned off, biting your nails as you waited for jungkook.

It didn't take him a lot of time. Reaching your place in under 7 minutes and 13 seconds. You heard your doorbell and you immediately rushed to the door. You stood at the door for some time, avoiding the impression that you were eagerly anticipating his arrival.

You opened the door and see the tall bulky black haired man with his calvin klein hoodie and grey shorts. You stared at him before he brought you back to reality by snapping his fingers. You let him in before locking the door. You grabbed him by his wrists and took him upstairs to your room.

He quickly settled in your bed letting out a deep sigh, Relaxing and stretching his limbs out onto the bed. His arm was tucked behind his head as he patted the empty space next to him with half lidded eyes. You rolled your eyes before snuggling with him. Your tv was on and playing a random tv show you put almost an hour ago, forgetting to it turn off. You sighed and relaxed into his arm. The silence was comfortable. Jungkook was playing with the hems of shorts and you with the drawstrings of his shorts. You knew where this would lead to.

His hands started slowly massaging your thighs and ass in a comforting way. Its like he knew you were sad. And he did. “Im sorry” he spoke up. You looked up at him. His eyes were focused on the tv infront. “Im sorry about those comments. I should have said somethin’.” He said finally looking down at you. You shook your head and nuzzled into him closer “dont be. Its not your fault. Tbh i really dont gaf.” He chuckled at your attitude. He always liked your idgaf attitude. That’s what made him ask you out. “So you are not sad?” He asked his hands trailing up your shirt, cold fingers resting under your tits. “Hmm i was but then there is no reason for me to be. Maybe we should upload one of our sextapes to show those bitchy knets and completely appall them..” you giggled thinking about their reaction. Jungkook sighed and chuckled. “Yeah? Which one? Our old ones or the one we are gonna make rn?” His cold fingers squeezed your bare tits and tugged on your hard nipples. You hissed at the feeling. He grabbed your hand using his other hand and started using yours to rub himself through his shorts. He let out a soft groan throwing his head back. You bit your lip as you felt his hand lower into your shorts, quickly taking your sensitive bud in between his fingers, tugging it gently. You gasped and held onto his wrists as he continued abusing your bud. He was growing harder and harder because of your hands and the unholy sounds you let out every time he flicked your clit. You put your hands into his shorts and wrapped your fingers around his dick. Your movements were restricted by his shorts which opted you to pull his dick completely out. You stared at it. Oh how much you missed that monster. “Quit staring baby..” you felt yourself melt as he inserts two fingers into your sopping hole. A loud squelch was heard when he started fingering you. Your hands lazily worked up and down his shaft. Small spurts of precum already leaking out of his red tip. You picked up your pace and so did he. You twisted your wrists around his tip. You knew how sensitive he was there and continued. His eyes were squeezed shut as soft moans left his mouth. He started choking on them as he felt your hands squeeze around his length. God the way you had this man under your control with Just your hands was insane. He was quick to return the favour as two more fingers were added. His thumb rested on your clit rubbing it in circles furiously as he fucked your cunt with his long fingers. Loud noises accompanied by yours and his moans were the only sounds heard in the room. Your vision went white as you finally reached your end. Squirting all over his hands and wetting your shorts as well as your sheets. You let out choked out moans and your back arched off of the bed.

“Attagirl…” jungkook said with furrowed eyebrows as he kept finger fucking you. Your hand movements got sloppy which prompted jungkook to thrust into your hands. You picked up pace which made jungkook stiffen. You knew his orgasm was close from the his facial expressions and his voice. You stared at his face as you watch your ex boyfriend come undone under your grasp. He let out a final gasp before cumming all over your hands. You slowed down your movements finally letting go of his softening cock before bringing your fingers to your mouth, licking all his salty cum clean, staring deeply into his brown eyes.

Only you had him like this. No other woman will never come to your level ever.

A/n : HEHEHE sex tape part 2? 🤭🤭🤭🤭 ALSO SORRY FOR THE USAGE OF BABY STAR CANDYAJJEKAJWJA I JS HAD TOOOOOO

[ecrivainalene]

Leviathan Panel at Otakon 2024

I was OVERJOYED to be at the Leviathan panel during Otakon 2024! I'll do my best to recap it below, but if you want a more coherent play by play, this Twitter user did an excellent job.

I've got a handful of photos, recap of Sharp Gender Discussion, plus misc. things I remember.

Not everyone was up for the entire time, but I snapped this photo near the end when everyone was on stage! From left to right: Waki Kiyotaka (Studio Orange), Yoshihiro Watanabe (Studio Orange), Scott Westerfeld, Christophe Ferreira (Quibic Pictures), Justin Leach (Quibic Pictures), Katrina Minett (Quibic Pictures), and Diana Garnet (ending theme vocalist).

New concept art! Looks like Dr. Barlow, Klopp, Alek, and Sharp, right before the Germans attack the Leviathan.

More under the cut!

Alternative shot of that art bc I couldn't get my lighting right:

Clanker and Darwinist technology designs. Watanave explained that Studio Orange's early days were spent doing contract work on Gundam anime, so I can't wait to see how that translates to the Clanker machines.

Some more concept art:

By the way, the entire series is being adapted at once - so we'll get the complete story at once! That in mind, the second image here makes me think of that maneuver near the beginning of Goliath to pick up the cargo.

Sharp!!! Look at them!!!

I don't have much to say about these but I'm fairly sure I hadn't seen them before. I am wondering if they downsized Alek's crew for the sake of the story, or perhaps we just haven't seem Bauer and Hoffman yet.

We got some new character art! The panel was very cryptic about who the character designer is. Apparently they're pretty well known, but they can't share it yet!

Volger I am so sorry your photo was unfocused. Forgive me.

The panel jokingly described him as "Alek's dad," which feels accurate. And maybe I misunderstood, but it sounds like he plays an even more important role in the anime than he does in the books. I've always considered Volger to be a pretty important character, so I wonder what else he'll do in this new series.

Klopp looks exactly like how I pictured him in my mind!! They said if Volger is Alek's dad, then Klopp is like his mom. Which is very fair but also made me laugh a lot.

Dr. Barlow!! She looks amazing. There was a lot of talk about the dynamic between her and Volger and how they're often playing mental chess games with each other. I'm really glad they're leaning into that dynamic.

And one more concept art:

This looks like the visit to Istanbul, which I'm desperately hoping means we'll see my favorite chaotic bisexual, Lilit.

That's all of the photos I have! They also showed us a preview of the show plus a live performance of the ending song with Diana Garnet. No video recording was allowed and I don't break rules, but believe me when I tell you it was stunning. The world feels so full of life and adventure and I can't wait to see the final show.

Tbh I was too busy holding back tears of joy but one thing I remember distinctly is there's a shot of Sharp getting ready for the day, and we see a sheet of paper with a bunch of names written and crossed out before finally (I think) "Dylan" is circled.

Which actually brings me to the Q&A part. TLDR, between the use of "Sharp" for Deryn's name, Scott referring to Sharp as "she/he/they" during the panel, and the scene I mentioned earlier, I feel really hopeful about how they're approaching Deryn's gender and identity in this adaptation.

I asked a question about this at the Q&A and voice recorded it, so I'll try to transcribe it here as best I can because the audio is not great lol. I stumbled through my question so I trimmed it down here but I'll transcribe the response as clearly as I can!

Me: I just finished re-reading [the series] for the first time since I was probably in high school, and one of the things that interests me about this adaptation is the approach to Sharp's character... I guess I'm just interested, like, was there a lot of thought put behind, or what kind of thought was put behind how to approach their character in the anime, I guess as a chance to re-approach the story however many years after it was originally written.

Scott Westerfeld: Yeah, there's a lot to that. The "girl dressing as a boy" as a trope was something completely different in 2007 when I started writing this than it is now. And so we really approached Deryn's identity as what was at stake rather than just... rather than just her being in disguise, it's about their recreating themselves and becoming a different person and transitioning and, and so... but it's always been interesting to me that the words that I wrote back in 2009, 10, 11, y'know, as an old guy who grew up in Texas in the 70s - who was David Bowie fan! - but otherwise didn't have a lot of access into issues of gender, I'm amazed at how many people have been [able to?] adopt Deryn/Dylan as one of their own. I just got an email a week ago from a trans boy whose chosen name is Dylan. So it is amazing to me how whatever imperfections or whatever problematics there are in the text, people still find their way into what they need from a character. And as a writer, I can say that I always respected that character, I always respected their choices, I always respected who they were. I never tried to stick them into a dress and have everyone go "Ooh now you're pretty 'because 'cause you're in dress!" We didn't do that, and I think that what may be important for people and I think that's why it's still what's gonna work here, but it's been fun to be able to update it and everybody on the team's been really great about understanding that.

TLDR I don't want to get anyone's hopes up too high, but I'm really appreciative of the care that's being taken with Sharp's story and identity in this adaptation. It seems like Scott and the others on the team are taking that into account, and I'm excited to see how it plays out.

Other random things I remember:

THERE WAS AN ALEK COSPLAYER. I took a photo with them but I won't post it without their consent. Just trust that they looked fantastic.

Scott said one of the first things he was told was that Alek can't actually kill Nikola Tesla because he's too well loved by people in Japan, which I think is the funniest possible reason for a change to be made in an adaptation.

Diana Garnet (they/any) mentioned how much they love Sharp (don't we all) and also how they used to work at a Barnes and Noble and remembers selling lots of Westerfeld books!

Scott said his approach in writing Leviathan was taking everything he'd always wanted to write about and basically throwing it together, because he was just coming off of the success of Uglies and figured he could get away with it.

If I remember anything else I'll add on to this post! Overall, it was a wonderful panel and I'm incredibly excited for this project.

[woeswrites]

Yandere Will Graham

Warnings: Yandere themes, Obsessive behaviors, Brief mention of rape/rapist, Dubious consent (mention of sex while under the influence), etc.

Notes: I am trying to be active again (fingers crossed). Little posts like this are a really easy way for me to get the creative juices flowing. Don't be surprised if a few more come out after this one lol.

You were a recent survivor of an attack

No, it wasn't the Chesapeake Ripper

It was just some other wannabe serial killer trying to get his rocks off

He had a dumb, stereotypical name too

The midnight slasher? midnight butcher?

Something like that

The media wasn't very creative with it

Whatever his name was, he'd clearly had a type

Young men

All of a similar stature

With the same hair and eye color

All known to be up at all hours of the day

It was a pretty open and shut case in Will's eyes

He was a plain and simple lust killer

Most likely white and in his 30s-40s

Classic closet case turned homicidal

He hadn't seen why the FBI was so stumped on the whole thing

The only real trouble was the lack of DNA evidence

He'd been real good at cleaning up after himself

Will knew he'd slip up eventually

This wasn't the type of guy to be so well organized for long

Well--

Does being murdered by your most recent victim count as a slip up?

Because that's exactly what happened

He was called to the scene with the rest of the team

The sight of you trembling, covered in blood, and standing over top of that creep was his first impression

You met his eyes and he was unable to pull away

Something about your tear blotched face held him captive

Jack tasked him with asking you questions about the events at hand

Normally this would have annoyed Will

He wasn't the talking type

Let alone someone sensitive enough to make such a traumatized person feel comfortable

But something in him didn't mind so much

Maybe it was the way you looked so vulnerable

Or the fact that no matter how much he pushed the idea away, he saw himself in you

An innocent man turned murderer under the right circumstances

"I'm Will Graham and I'll be asking you some questions."

"God, okay. I'm Y/n. Can't really say it's nice to meet you."

Will tried to start off slow

Ask the basics before moving onto the more pertinent information

You'd answer to the best of your abilities (considering the circumstances)

It took Will a second to jot down your responses

He'd get a little too caught up in your features to notice you'd stop talking

"Sorry, what was that? You got off work at 9?"

There was something admirable about your attempts to infuse your story with a bit of dry humor

Likely a coping mechanism

But Will found himself smiling a bit at your quips

By the time he'd finish up with you he'd felt a little attachment form

Sure the case was over on his end

But it didn't stop him from asking Jack about you

At least a couple times a week

"How's things going with that self defense case? Y/n's...?"

Will showed up the next day with your case fill on his desk

The sticky note stuck to it warned about annoying Jack with too many questions

He'd spend all night re-reading the details

Without noticing he began slipping in and out of re-enactment mode

Imagining you on top of him

Knife in hand

Crazed look in your eyes

He tried to shake the image away

He shouldn't be doing this

It wasn't right

You could've died that night

His guilt ridden thoughts did nothing to lessen the tent that had formed in his pajama pants

He tried to push the idea of you out of his head

Usually he'd have more control over himself than this

His resolve was strong at first

He'd hidden the manila folder away in the depths of his lower drawer

Telling himself he'd drop it

That worked for a couple of days

That was before he started dreaming of you

Events that he hadn't preformed himself took ahold of him

He became your attacker that night

He chased you

He ripped apart your clothes

He was the one who you fought off

He's the one who you thrust that knife into

And he loved every second of it

Wait--

No, he couldn't

This was just his empathy disorder

Yeah!

He was just in character

This definitely wasn't him

He would never want to do any of that stuff

And he'd prove it

He had memorized that file from front to back at this point

It wouldn't be weird that he'd known your address

He was an FBI consultant

It was basically warranted

Will found himself picking out his best clothes that night

His newest jeans, tailored shirt, the works

Not for any particular reason

And his bed was definitely not littered with rejected articles of clothing

This was just going to be a simple checkup, it's not like it really mattered what he looked like

He showed up on your doorstep with the nicest bottle of wine he could find

"Will? Is that you?"

"Uh, yeah it is. Would I be able to come in?"

You welcomed him in, albeit a little confused

"I thought my case was cleared..."

"That's not what I'm here for. I just wanted to check in on you."

You smiled at this

And Will felt his heart ache

You'd invite him to join in on your sorry excuse for a dinner

He'd never accepted anything so fast before in his life

It didn't take long before the two of you got into the wine he'd brought

It was innocent enough at first

Just drinking and talking

You'd mention how life was after the attack

Will shared a little about his experience with GJH

Its the first time he had ever felt so utterly connected with another person before

But then the two of you got a little more than tipsy

And Will found himself leaning in

One kiss turned into another and another

Will felt a sense of static overtake him

Every touch between the two of you sent shivers up his spine

He felt the strong urge to consume

Before either of you knew it your clothes were now in a heap on the kitchen floor

You woke up the next morning with a splitting headache

Oh-- and an FBI agent in your bed

Shock was an understatement

That was when the memories of the previous night flooded back

Will woke up at the loss of warmth

Last night was the best he had slept in years

You wrapped tight in his arms, bodies perfectly intertwined

His heart sank at the look of regret on your face

"We definitely shouldn't have done that. I think you should leave Will..."

He couldn't just leave now

Not knowing what he did

That you two were made for one another

He'd try to calm you down

"Y/n let's talk about this."

You weren't having it

Mentioning how inappropriate this all was

You'd shove his clothes into his arms

Will tried to console you

Not realizing why you were so worked up

You both did just have the best night of your life after all

You'd back away but he'd continue approaching

"C'mon I know you don't really want me to go. Let's just take a second before we make any rash decisions"

"We aren't doing anything. I want you to go. Now."

Something about him coming over while you were still recovering from your distress and it all leading to this...

It just didn't feel right

Will tried to approach once more but you pushed him away

He couldn't help the smile that made its way onto his face

"Push me. Go on, make it hurt."

You were absolutely bewildered

He reached out and grabbed ahold of you

His grip was almost crushing

Like he was holding on for dear life

"I won't leave you alone that easily. Fate brought us together for a reason. You feel it too right? We're one in the same. We're each other's destiny."

He looked crazed, sweat slipping from his brow

It felt just like that night all over again

The knife in your hand as your attacker bled out

Only now Will took his place underneath you

[zepskies]

Love Actually - Part 2

Paring: Soldier Boy/Ben x Reader

Summary: You and Ben steel yourselves in order to meet your crazy family for Christmas dinner.

AN: Here’s the requested Part 2! It got too long, so I had to break it up lol. There will be a Part 3 after this (final part). I also tried really hard to find an image/gif that would match this chapter better, but alas, there are only so many pictures of this scruffy guy. (And none in a real suit. 😂)

Read Part 1

Remember, this story is set in the same world as “Break Me Down,” and set before “Checkerboard.” But this can be read as a stand-alone! Hope you enjoy…

Word Count: 4,800 Tags/Warnings: Tense situations, bit of angst, lots of sexy fluff

Part 2: "Season’s Greetings"

Ben checked his watch again. 

He’d lost count of how many times, how many minutes, how long he’d been waiting for you to come down the goddamn stairs so he could get this night over with. 

You’d been getting ready for this dinner with your family for four hours. How long did it take you to slap on some makeup and throw on a dress?

Finally, he heaved a sigh and got up from the couch, adjusting the watch on his wrist. He stayed by the foot of the stairs and called up to you.

“Hey. What’s taking so damn long?” he asked. His brows were furrowed, mouth set in an aggravated frown. “I already told you. I’m not planning on being at this thing all night. So if you don’t come down here in the next ten minutes, I swear to fucking Christ—” 

Ben stopped short, as he heard your footsteps at the top of the stairs. When he looked up with expectant, pursed lips, his face subtly froze. 

“What? What’re you gonna do?” you teased. Tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, you grasped the guardrail and carefully made your way down the stairs. These heels were no joke. 

You had a black suede clutch tucked in your other hand, but Ben was drawn to the bright red of your dress. The color alone appealed to him. It called back a memory of a musty club, rich whiskey, and the dulcet tones of your voice.

But now, this dress was shorter. It also hugged your every curve and stopped just a few inches above the knee. He noticed a tantalizing little slit in the back, at the hem, leading his eyes down your sheer pantyhose and down to the tall, black heels.

His lips formed a teasing smile. “You sure you can walk in those?” 

But you could see the truth in his eyes; he liked what he saw. They raked back up your body, taking in the short sleeves, the slight plunge of the neckline, the red lipstick as bright as your dress, the soft sweep of eyeliner and dark lashes—and you hoped he noticed the way you’d painstakingly done your hair into soft, ‘40s style waves.

“Do I look shaky to you?” you countered.

Ben tilted his head slightly as he stared up at you. “Not one bit.”

He reached out for you on the last step of the stairs. You took his hand and gave him a grateful look, but your hand didn’t stop there. It grazed up the sleeve of his suit jacket as you took him in with a smile.

Not often one to don a simple black suit, Ben went with a charcoal gray against a crisp black undershirt. No tie though, leaving the first couple of buttons casually open. 

“Look at my man, all sharp and modern and sexy as hell,” you purred. He accepted the praise with a pleased quirk of his lips. 

Normally you wouldn’t try to feed his peacock-level pride too much. He knew he was a damn fine-looking man. However, you also knew he wasn’t totally into meeting the rest of your family tonight. You knew you needed to give him a (well earned) ego boost.

“Gotta match my girl,” said Ben. Though he fingered the ends of your softly curled hair with a more genuine glint to his smile. “Though you’ve gone a bit vintage.”

“Compromise.” You grinned, and you leaned up for a soft kiss. 

He met you there, even pressing his luck when his tongue begged entrance against your lips. You held his cheek and brushed your thumb there tenderly, but you soon broke away. 

“We’ve got somewhere to be,” you reminded him. Ben sighed through his nose, though his hands molded to your waist.  

“I didn’t realize you were that kinky,” he said. His voice was deep and suggestive. Your face started to heat up, even as your brows knitted with confusion.

“What?” you asked. 

“I know you’re not gonna make me wait all night to get a taste of this,” he said. And he leaned down to begin plying you with his heavy hands and his lips along your neck. “I gotta assume you want me to fuck you in your mom’s house.”

You uttered a shocked laugh. You batted his shoulder, even though it didn’t even make him blink. His lips curved as they grazed your neck. He inhaled under your ear, making a pleasant shudder run down your spine. He hummed in approval.

“Is that the perfume I got you?” he asked. 

“Mhmm,” you nodded. “I like it a lot. Makes me feel all warm and spicy.”

Ben chuckled into your neck. He did pull back eventually to thumb around the edge of one of your earrings—the second part of his Christmas gift to you. The white stone and silver filigree shone in the light. 

“They look good,” he remarked, giving you a charming smile. “Better on you than the catalogue girl.”

Now that was an image. Soldier Boy: browsing through a magazine of women’s jewelry. You smiled brightly at him. 

“Thank you, baby,” you replied. “They really are beautiful.”

Then you glanced down to find your gift to him on his wrist: a new silver Rolex. You turned his hand over to make sure that it fit him right.

“Not too tight, right? Not too loose.” you asked.

He shook his head. “Nah, it’s good.”

“Just good? Does it still need adjusting? We can go back to the store and have them fix it—”

“It’s perfect, sweetheart. Stop fussing,” he said. Your lips pursed as you looked up at him from the watch. 

“I just want to make sure you’re happy with it, that’s all,” you said. 

“I am,” he replied. But his smile, the hidden glint of something in his eyes, made you blush. Inside, you were warm and pleased.  

“All right, let’s go then,” you said. “I’ve got the rum cake, and the actual rum ready to go in the kitchen. And the presents are lined up by the door. Can you load those up in the car for me while I get the food?”

Ben obliged you, though he soon balked at the army of presents waiting for him by the door. When did you have time to get all of these? He didn’t remember you buying all this shit. 

Though he realized, this must’ve been how you filled your time after work, while he was gone for the past two weeks on that mission. 

As he loaded the gifts into the car, Ben reluctantly remembered that it had been…strange, to be away from you. For the past few months, you two had fallen into a rhythm. Waking up to each other, busy morning routines before work, sharing your evenings afterwards. 

You had also been making it your mission to find new things to do together. Like paintballing, of all things. Or comedy shows, new movies and restaurants, concerts, club nights with your friends. Though it was weird for him, sometimes, to go to a show without all the celebrity fanfare he used to get as Soldier Boy.    

Well, he was still Soldier Boy. He just wasn’t getting paid anywhere near the same as he used to. (But let’s face it, he didn’t need the damn money. He’d earned plenty in 40 years of fame and family inheritance.) 

People still knew his name, still worshiped him at times, but it wasn’t the same. He wasn’t part of Vought’s machine anymore. No one really told him what to do, but if he wanted this life—here, in upstate New York—he was forced to make efforts to color within the lines of the law (mostly). Hell, he actually worked for a living. Even if it was for the government.  

The point was, he was part of something. And it wasn’t totally shit, even if he was surrounded by morons on a daily basis…  

By the time you opened the passenger side door to interrupt his musings, Ben remembered to actually start the car. 

“You okay?” you asked as you clicked in your seatbelt. You were keeping a close eye on him tonight, trying to gauge his shifting moods. 

Ben hesitated, but when he glanced over at you, he reached over and thumbed at your chin, under those ruby red lips. It made you smile. 

“Yeah,” he replied. Though he let out a subtle breath as he faced the road and took the wheel of the car. Ever perceptive though, you sent him an assessing look. 

“You’re not nervous, are you?” you asked. His brows furrowed slightly.

“Why would I be?” he asked, his voice a bit sharp. Defensive, you interpreted. 

Instead of answering, you leaned over and laid a hand on his thigh.

“Look, my mom already likes you. Louisa’s going to come around,” you said. Your mouth edged into a smile, of sorts. “I just need you to stop me from killing my aunt with a ladle.” 

Ben snorted in response. “All right.”

When the two of you arrived at your mother’s house, she opened the door to her home and greeted your boyfriend like a long-lost son. 

“Oh, Ben! Come in, please,” she beckoned, grabbing his arm and guiding him inside. “You look so handsome, my goodness!” 

Ben couldn’t help offering a smile. It was infused with his usual charm. 

“Marie,” he greeted with a nod. You shook your head, despite your own smile. Ben liked attention—along with a bit of praise and fanfare went without saying. And you knew your mom wouldn’t be the only one to play into that tonight. 

“Hi, Mom,” you said pointedly, with a hand on your hip. Marie turned to you with a bright smile. 

“Oh! Honey, there you are. Merry Christmas!” She brought you in and hugged you tight. She then fairly gushed as she took in your dress and touched your hair. “Oh, you look so beautiful. I wish you’d come earlier though. I need you to help me and Trina. Come on.”

Marie glanced up at Ben again. “Oh, you too, hun! We can introduce you to everyone.”

Ben nodded. He followed your lead behind your mother, and you inwardly steeled yourself on the way to the kitchen. The familiar smells awaiting you brought you back to the better parts of your childhood. Ones that were filled with music, laughs, and good food.    

And if there was one redeeming quality about your Aunt Trina, it was that she could cook her ass off. Since your mom had always been more of the “boxed meal” variety cook, Trina always took over at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and just about every other family gathering. 

She was putting the ham in the oven while your sister sat at the kitchen table with your Grandpa George, peeling potatoes. The bigger table in the dining room was currently set up with appetizers and wine. 

But the sounds of chatter and pots and pans and cabinets closing—it all stopped when you and Ben entered the kitchen. You felt his hand at the small of your back, and whether he meant it to or not, that familiar touch stabilized you. 

Even Trina stopped giving Louisa directions on how to correctly peel and cut the potatoes for boiling. Her mouth opened when she took in the sight of Ben, from head to toe. 

“Good evening,” he said, if only to break the silence. 

But you knew the rest was up to you. You curled a hand around his solid arm and gave him a smile, before looking to your family. 

“Hey, guys. Merry Christmas!” you greeted. “This is my boyfriend, Ben.”

Trina squealed in excitement. She came over (with a wooden spoon in hand) to give you an enthusiastic hug and kiss. She held your arms and looked between you and Ben. 

“Your mom said you were dating a superhero, but I had no idea…” she twittered. “I mean…it’s Soldier Boy. He’s in my kitchen!” 

“It’s Mom’s kitchen, actually,” you muttered. Trina’s excitement dimmed slightly as she rolled her eyes at you.

“Ever the smart mouth,” she said, playfully whacking you in the ass with her spoon. 

Ben smirked. He certainly agreed with your aunt’s assessment. He turned to her to offer something in greeting, but before he could, Louisa’s voice cut in from across the room. 

“What should we call you? Ben, or Soldier Boy?” she asked dryly. 

You frowned, gave your sister a look. Meanwhile, Ben didn’t quite make it to a smile, but he was civil when he answered her. 

“Ben’s fine.”

You remained in the kitchen to help out, while Ben migrated to the living room with your grandfather. Ben grabbed a large glass of wine on his way there, along with a few mini quiche to tide him over until dinner. 

He then noticed an old woman sleeping on the leather recliner. 

“Who’s that?” he asked George. 

“Oh, that’s Great Aunt Sylvia,” George said. “She just took an oxy for her hip. She’ll be passed out ‘til dinner.”  

Ben blinked at the casual mention of oxycodone, but he wouldn’t mind a few of what Sylvia was having. Oxy gave him such a nice buzz. 

But instead, he and George sat on opposite ends of the couch while Sylvia snored away. 

For a moment, it was quiet, save for the soft crooning of Nat King Cole playing (and Sylvia). The music came from a small round speaker on the coffee table, Ben noticed. You’d told him about Alexa and Siri and all those techno bitches out there now, controlling people’s houses. He didn’t trust it. 

“You like baseball?” George asked as he turned on the TV. Ben nodded, and the other man put on a game. Mets versus the Cubs, three to one. The men were silent for a while as they watched the game. 

Unfortunately for Ben, that peace couldn’t last. 

“So,” George started. “You’re a supe, huh?”

Ben inclined his head, sipping at his wine. This was what he fucking hated. Small talk. 

“I remember you,” George said. “My wife and I liked that movie you made…King of Kings. With Charlton Heston. What a classic that guy was.”

Ben smiled. “He was a good time. Drank like a fucking fish.”

George raised a brow. “Did he? Well, we all need a glass every now and then.”

Ben nodded, taking a pointed sip of his wine. 

“Heston. One of the few celebrities I gave a shit about when he died,” George said with a shake of his head. “Wasn’t long before my wife’s passing.”

You’d told Ben a lot about your grandmother. When your parents got divorced, she’d insisted that you, your mom, and your sister live with her and George. She didn’t want to take any chances with your dad, who’d been more than unstable at the time in his drinking. 

Ben didn’t often pray. But he drank then with a silent toast, that good ole’ Jon was getting hot coals up the ass right about now. In hell.

Ben then considered your grandfather’s musings, realizing he hadn’t thought about his old pal Heston in a long time.  

“How’d he die?” Ben asked. George glanced over at him.

“Well, official case was pneumonia. But it wasn’t all that clear,” he said. “However, I think he had a flare up.”

“Of what?” Ben asked.

George gave him a wry look. “The fate that all men fear. Ass cancer.”

Ben raised a brow, his mouth twitching. He had a feeling he knew where your sense of humor came from. 

“You probably don’t have to worry about that,” George waved a dismissive hand. “You’re still young. Well, sort of…I mean, being superhuman and all that. I’m sure that comes in handy with the normal stuff, like the sniffles and whatnot…and hey! At least you won’t have to worry about your asshole fallin’ out.”

Ben actually smiled. Now he knew you were related to this man. 

In the kitchen, you were trying and failing to dodge a game of “Twenty Questions” with your aunt, while you and your sister finished cutting potatoes. All of the questions were predictably centered around Ben. Luckily, you had a plate of mini quiche, cheese, and salami between you and Louisa to keep you pacified. 

“Well, you’ve done well for yourself, I’ll give you that,” Trina said. “But why on God’s green Earth didn’t you tell us you were dating Soldier Boy? How the hell did you even meet him?”

Shit. There was more than one reason you hadn’t told the rest of your family yet, and this was partly it. How the hell were you supposed to explain this? 

Louisa shot you a knowing look, along with a raised brow. 

“Well, I was actually assigned to find him after he…went missing last year,” you said, keeping things purposefully vague. “We met and…things just kind of took off from there.”

Your mom and your sister didn’t even know all the details, but they knew this much. After Soldier Boy used his nuclear power to end Homelander, he’d escaped in the aftermath. 

You’d been working a year in Surveillance at Supe Affairs, but you’d been a private investigator by trade, previously working at your father’s firm. You’d even worked at Vought for a few years, before joining the S.A. 

You were then recruited by Grace Mallory to track down Soldier Boy, along with Butcher and his team. 

…And that’s where things got complicated. 

“But isn’t Soldier Boy the one who killed Homelander?” Trina asked. She stopped in her stirring of the cranberry sauce to look back at you. And you met her stare directly. 

“Yes. He was partnered with the CIA on that.” Sort of. You added, “Homelander wasn’t the hero you all thought you knew, remember? He was a raging psychopath.”

Trina huffed at that. 

“So was your father. And you still worked with him for years,” she remarked, even off-handedly as she went back to stirring.

Your entire body stilled. Inside, your temper was a lit fuse, preparing to ignite. You stuffed a mini quiche into your mouth to stop you from exploding. 

And your mom and your sister recognized the danger. Louisa frowned tightly and touched your arm. 

She had been too young to form a true relationship with your father by the time your parents were divorced, and your grandparents (and later you) hadn’t allowed Jon to interfere too much with Louisa's life. So Jon’s death, a mere seven months ago, hadn’t truly affected her as deeply as it had you. 

And that in itself was complicated. 

Marie paused in preparing the sweet potato casserole to give her sister a warning look. 

“Trina, that’s not fair,” said Marie. 

Your aunt shrugged. “It’s the truth, isn’t it?”

Slowly, you stood. You grabbed a hand towel and brushed the velvety remains of potato skin from your hands. You also took the plate of cheese cubes and salami with you. 

“Honey, she just means—” 

“I know what she meant, Mom,” you said. Your mother wasn’t confrontational. She would never tell her sister to shut the fuck up when she was being out of pocket. 

But you had no problem doing so. You walked over to Trina, who saw the look in your eye and actually relented, realizing that there was, in fact, a line, and she had crossed it. 

“Look, I’d like us to continue having a nice evening,” you told her. “Mention my father again, and it won’t be.” 

After a moment, Trina nodded. 

“You’re right. I shouldn’t have said that. Don’t mind me,” she said. But then, she smiled. “I’m really happy for you, sweetheart. You’ve got a superhero! Who knew you’d pull that one off, huh?”

Your flat smile remained. “Oh, yeah? How do you mean?” 

Trina faltered. Apparently, she hadn’t expected that. 

“Oh. Well, you know…”

“No. I really don’t. Can you clarify for me?” you asked, using the same even tone you employed with testy co-workers on the Surveillance team. 

Trina sighed. “Oh, honey. You’re a beautiful girl, but…”

“What?” you challenged. “Just say it.”

Behind Trina’s coil of dark hair piled on her head, Marie looked worried. Louisa was also on tenterhooks, gripping the kitchen table. She slowly got to her feet though, in case she needed to intervene. 

“Well, I wasn’t gonna say anything,” Trina said. She gestured to you, after grabbing a cheese cube off your plate. “But your hips, hun. I mean, I enjoy a snack. A bon bon. A chocolate eclair. The occasional croissant, but the weight don’t come off easier as you get older, does it?” 

You were officially burning like a tea kettle.  

“And with a man like that…” Trina fanned herself with the discarded, empty bag of cranberries. “Mother of God. He’s gotta be beating ‘em off with a fucking stick.” 

Your mom pursed her lips at the salty language, giving Trina a sharp glance (for multiple reasons). 

Trina noticed, but she only popped another piece of salami into her mouth. “Sorry, hun.” 

But then she turned back to you. 

“And have you talked about kids yet? That’ll be some serious weight gain.” 

You let out a sharp breath and raised your gaze heavenward, pleading for mercy. 

“Jesus Christ,” you muttered.  

“I’m just sayin’!” she said. “He might have forever, but you certainly don’t.” 

Now that one struck a nerve. Perhaps not the one she intended, but it cut deeply into you all the same. You and Ben had agreed to pin that conversation for now, but the fact was, he would continue to age much slower than you. 

At your steely glare, Trina again raised her hands. This time in placating defense. “I’m trying to help you, is all I’m saying.” 

You gripped the edge of the kitchen counter so tight you thought a manicured nail might break off. You’d reached the end of your tether. 

“I’ve been here for all of five minutes—” 

“Okay, you know what?” Louisa finally stepped in and grabbed your arm. “I need your help. Let’s find the red tablecloth so we can set the table.”

She led you out of the kitchen and into the hall, but you stopped short so fast that you skidded a bit in your heels. You took deep breaths and braced a hand against the wall.  

You turned to your sister. “Why doesn’t she attack you like that?” 

“Oh, believe me,” Louisa said, rolling her eyes. “I had my turn before you got here. I’ve been locked in with these clucking hens all morning.” 

A grin twitched at the corner of your lips. 

“My condolences,” you said. But then, you look at your sister a bit harder. “And you. What’s your problem, huh? How long are you going to give Ben a hard time?” 

It took her a moment, but Louisa eventually sighed. 

“I mean, Aunt Trina’s an asshole, but she kind of said it. He’s literally a century-years-old,” she said. “How do you not have a problem with that?” 

You crossed your arms, though you knew you didn’t have a good answer for that one. 

“Age is…relative.” You struggled against a wince. 

“He lived through the damn Dust Bowl,” Louisa deadpanned. “He’s fucking ancient.” 

You glared back at her. “Okay, enough. What’s your real problem, huh? I mean really.”

Louisa let out another sigh. Her hands went to her hips. You hadn’t had a chance to tell her, but she looked pretty tonight too in her black dress. It flared at the waist and reached her knees, and she’d paired it with some chunky red heels. She was a little taller than you normally, but not by much. As the older sister, you enjoyed finally being taller than her for once in your higher heels. 

Still, you were annoyed with her right now. You sensed she had something deeper against Ben, and it wasn’t all about his age. When she eventually answered, it just confirmed your suspicions. 

“He’s dangerous,” she said at last. “He’s so fucking dangerous.” 

That disheartened you. Your lips pressed, and you held onto your own arms a bit tighter. 

“Not to me,” you replied. Louisa’s frown deepened as her brows knitted together.

“Especially to you,” she said. “He kidnapped you.” 

You gave a wan smile. “Not technically.” 

That had been one of his subordinates, who’d taken you outside of Ben’s orders…

It was a long and complicated story, but basically, it had worked out for both of you in the end. 

Louisa gave you a more incredulous look. “He’s got an atomic bomb in his chest.” 

“He’s working on controlling it,” you insisted. “He’s gotten a lot better!” 

Louisa threw her hands upward in exasperation and turned to leave you in the hall. You stopped her with a hand on her arm. 

“Look, I get it,” you said, meeting her gaze directly. “You’re worried about me. But here’s the thing…you don’t have to do that. I’m the one who looks out for you, remember?” 

Once again, she frowned at you. “Why, just because you’re older?” 

You gave her a teasing smile. 

“Well, yeah.” Still, you grasped both of her arms, now crossed in front of her chest. “Lou, haven’t I always taken care of you?” 

“Okay, yeah,” she said. “But who takes care of you? Who makes sure you’re all right?” 

You gave her a patient, if knowing look. 

She grimaced. “Oh, don’t you say it.” 

“Honestly, Lou. He does take care of me…he makes me feel safe.” You bit your lip, and your eyes began to well up with the sting of tears, emotion rising in your throat. “I’ve never had that. Ever.” 

Your sister released a heavy sigh. “I know.” 

“Then can you actually try to get to know him? Please?” You rubbed her arms, pleading with your eyes. You wanted your family to like your boyfriend, but it was so much more than that. You didn’t want to have separate worlds. Everyone in this house was part of your family, and that now included Ben.

The longer she looked into your imploring eyes, Louisa’s grimace lightened, just a touch. “I’ll think about it.” 

You smiled then, warmly as you hugged your sister. You then kissed her on the cheek, leaving the bright red imprint of your lipstick.

When you went back into the kitchen, your better mood was ruined pretty quickly by watching your aunt run your mother around the kitchen with demands and instructions. You decided to jump into the fray, taking a large serving bowl out of Marie’s hands before it tipped over.

“How’s the ham doing?” you asked. 

“About half an hour or so, I think,” Trina said. “Maybe forty-five.”

“Okay, and what’s left?”

“Let’s get the desserts ready.”

While your help sorely relieved your mother, it was actually a terrible idea for your mental health. When you could take no more of Trina’s irritating, commanding voice in your ear, you had to take a breath (as well as down a full glass of wine). 

You wordlessly asked Louisa to tag in for you before you traveled into the living room. 

There you found Ben immersed in a baseball game with Grandpa George. Both men only looked up at you when you stood near the couch with crossed arms. Your nerves were on edge, your blood still just short of boiling, but you took pains to look pleasant.

“Who’s winning?” you asked.

Ben quirked a smile at the sight of you, while George gave his more freely.

“5 to 3. It’s close on the Mets,” he said. You realized then that you hadn’t even hugged your grandfather yet. 

“Oh my God, Grandpa! I’m so sorry,” you said with a frown. You went over to hug him. “Trina has me all out of whack.”

George chuckled and patted you warmly on the back. “Why do you think I’m out here?”

You sighed with a wry smile. You then turned to Great Aunt Sylvia, who was still passed out in the recliner. 

“Aunt Sylvia?” you tried. You went over to her and touched her arm. 

“Leave her be, hun,” George told you. “Only the smell of food’ll rouse that woman.” 

Your smile deepened. Then you turned to Ben, who’d been watching you with reserved interest. He’d never seen you with the rest of your family before.

You went to him on his side of the couch and asked, in a tone deceptively light, “How about a tour of the house? You haven’t even seen it all.”

He could admit, it was a fairly big house for just your mother, but he was more interested in the game. 

“I’m watching this,” he said, gesturing at the screen. However, when he saw the tight press of your lips, he knew something wasn’t right with you. You were trying to tell him something with your eyes, he just didn’t know what.

You leaned down, subtly grabbing his thigh.

“I need you,” you whispered in his ear. “Now.” 

The tone of your voice set his blood alight with new interest.

Ben’s resulting smirk was subtle, but edged. 

“A tour it is.” 

AN: Just when you thought you'd seen the last of my BMD cliffhangers. 😏

How'd you like Ben's introduction to his girlfriend's family? I also sincerely hope you don't have an "Aunt Trina" in your life. 🙄

Next Time:

He grabbed your arms and meant to kiss you, but you stopped him with your fingers against his lips. 

“Two rules: this lipstick doesn’t come off. And no. Ripping. The dress.”

Keep reading: PART 3

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[garbinge]

SO SIMPLE (4/?)

Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw x F!Reader // Word Count: 5.4k Summary: After meeting Rooster (and some people in his life), you two walk on the beach and share some things with each other. Warnings: All my fics are 18+ regardless of content. Angst re: heavy topics. Mentions of parental loss/grief. Mentions of lifting reader off the ground. A/N: For some reason this was really hard for me to write lol. I feel like it's filler without being filler? If that makes sense lol. I do have a rough plan for these two that'll probably span over a few more fics! Thanks to everyone whose enjoyed this! Appreciate you all <3

📲 Bradley: You busy? 

💬 You: Depends.  

📲 Bradley: What if I told you I’ll be shirtless?

💬 You: I’m free. 

📲 Bradley: I’m more than just a pretty face, you know.

💬 You: I know, you’ve got killer abs too. 

📲 Bradley: I feel objectified. 

💬 You: It’s not objectification if you enjoy the attention. 

📲 Bradley: You got me there. 

💬 You: So what are these plans where you’ll be shirtless?

📲 Bradley: Beach in front of The Hard Deck, 4PM.

💬 You: Do I need tickets? 

📲 Bradley: Tickets?

💬 You: To the gun show.

📲 Bradley: Admission is always free for you. 

Smiling, you put your phone down and looked at the time, there was about an hour until 4. With a sigh, you opened the laptop in front of you, adjusting yourself in the office chair that was large, leather, and brown, not your style at all, until you were comfortable and looked over to your right. The image of your family sat dusty and in the same position it had always been in, right next to the few medals and pen stand. This was the one spot you knew you’d be able to write what you needed to. 

You were right, because before you knew it, the sun was shining golden through the window behind you and you realized it was definitely past 4. 

“Shit.” You shut the laptop closed and pushed your phone in your pocket before grabbing your bag and heading out the door. 

Walking up on the sand, you saw the large group of pilots playing football. They were laughing, tackling, yelling, dancing all while you brought your hand over your eyes to take the scene in. Your eyes scanned over them all, first seeing your brother, pointing at someone with a large grin before the play was called out. Your glance jumped around to see Rooster, sunglasses on–of course, his tongue hanging out as he caught the ball and landed a touchdown, following it up with a dance as he threw the ball to the ground. 

You let out a laugh, which caused someone to turn around to your left. As your eyes caught it in the peripheral, you turned, seeing Penny, the owner of The Hard Deck with a bunch of notebooks out on the table. 

“Sorry.” You moved the back of your hand that was shielding your eyes from the sun to your mouth to muffle the laugh as well as physically show your apology for the startle.

“No need.” She politely spoke, pointing to the table inviting you to sit. “I could use the company.” 

Joining the woman, you sat down so you were facing her, but your head couldn’t help but move to look out at the team having a good time and she was doing the same.

Eventually, she introduced herself, you gave her your name following it up with some pleasantries about the bar so she knew you were well aware of who she was even without the introduction. It was then that she put a finger on who you were. “Your Rooster’s friend, right?” 

That was new for you. Everytime you’d come home, you’d be referred to as Admiral Garcia’s daughter, Lieutenant Mickey Garcia’s sister, but never Rooster’s friend. 

“I am.” You agreed and looked over at the team tackling one another again, your eyes searching for Bradley. “Can I ask you something?” With your head moving back to Penny, she looked up from her paperwork and nodded. “What’s it like being back here?” 

Her confused look held strong for a few seconds which made you elaborate. “I might not have spent time at the bar, but I know the news around here, read that you spent some time here on base when you were younger, your father was an Admiral, then after some time you came back and bought the bar.” 

“Didn’t know my reputation preceded me like that.” Her smile grew and she dropped her pen and her hands intertwined with themselves as she stretched them across the table. 

“I like to read the paper.” You rolled your eyes slightly embarrassed and shrugged. 

“It’s…” Her voice trailed off as she thought of the right word. “It’s different. While having these incredible moments of the same feelings.” 

You nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. But she still took the time to discuss the details on that. 

“I’m different, right? I’m not who I was when I was here all those years ago. I have a kid now, a business, but even more than that, I’ve learned so much and grown so much. But then there’s these moments where I feel like I’m that person again, or something feels exactly like it did back then.” 

“Do you hate it?” 

“Not even for a second.” She smirked, her grin glistening as the sky continued to get golden as he day slipped away. “Is it hard being back?” 

Now it was your turn to be taken aback. 

“I read the paper, too.” Her eyebrows raised and then fell as you could tell she was thinking of something until it finally came to her.  “Life in Brief, I think it was called? Written by the girl who grew up in Fightertown USA.”

Now you understood and let out your own chuckle. “It is. But some things make it easier.” You turned again to watch the pilots lift up one of the guys you knew was Bob up in the air and let your grin grow wider. “But sometimes, being here is hard. The memories you know? Not all of them are the best. It’s easier to get past them when you’re not drowning in them.” 

Penny nodded and let a few minutes of quiet pass before picking her pen back up with a shrug. “Maybe you’re back so you can learn to swim.” 

That was something you never thought of and when you continued to marinate on it, you liked the sound of it. Feeling more in control of something that you thought you really had no control over at all these last years. You were about to answer her, get more in depth about what she meant, but instead another voice was filling the conversation. 

“Didn’t think you’d show.” Rooster was running up to you, sweat glistening all over his body, pushing his sunglasses up his nose as he bent down, leaning his arm on the table to prop him up so he could place a kiss to your lips. 

“I’m sorry I lost track of time.” Your left hand extended up to catch his face as he was pulling it away, bringing it in for another kiss which he happily obliged to. 

“Writing?” His face still twisted in a smile as he pulled away, hopeful he was right. 

You nodded, hiding your excitement behind a muted smile that quickly turned into an open grin as he thrillingly threw you over his shoulder. Letting out a few cheers, he twirled you around as you laughed with a bit of nerves as the twirling continued. 

“Rooster put me down!” It was spoken through your laughs and the occasional grip around his body to make sure he didn’t drop you. He listened, placing you down but it didn’t stop him from whirling you around and bringing you close to him, against his bare chest. 

“This what weekdays as a Top Gun Fighter Pilot look like?” You were now wrapped in his arms, looking up at him dropping your head to the right where the crew continued to play football. 

“Team building.” 

It was all the explanation you needed. “Go team build then, I’ll spend some time with Penny.” You were untangling from his arms until he caught your hand for a brief moment and pulled you closer to him in one swift motion and chuckled as he caught you against his chest. Placing one more kiss to your lips, this time deeper than the first letting his tongue move around your bottom lip, his hand was still grasping yours closer to him not wanting to let you go anywhere. 

You hadn’t known Bradley long, at this point it maybe was a week and a half, but what he said that night of your first real date was true. Things move fast when you’re on base. Days felt like weeks in some cases. It helped that every free moment he had, he’d share it with you. If he wasn’t on base training, he’d be at your place or at The Hard Deck with you. Now, you weren’t a stranger to dating. There was a fair share of relationships in your past. A couple serious ones that ended for one reason or another, a few more shorter ones that didn’t go past a few months, and a few more than that when it came to first dates and one night stands, but nothing felt like this. So simple. 

There was also the fact of the matter that you hadn’t been in any of those situations since your father died. It was probably why Mickey was so hesitant to play any typical protective older brother role once he found out about you two.  But Bradley was different. You just felt different around him. 

“For good luck.” He whispered in your ear after he kissed you. 

You picked back up where you left off with Penny, your conversation continued with little lulls and many laughs. It wasn’t always deep, she would tell you stories about Amelia, then about some of her favorite patrons of the bar. Currently, she was talking about how many people leave their phones on the bar when one of the culprits of just that came up to the table. 

“Sorry to interrupt, ladies.” An older, tall, dark-haired gentleman was approaching from the game as he placed his shirt back on. As he got closer, you realized you recognized him, you couldn’t put your finger on where exactly but you knew it probably had to do with your father. There had been quite literally thousands of naval pilots you had met over the years in passing. As he got closer, Penny introduced you to the man, letting you know he was the instructor for the team at Top Gun School. He leaned over to shake your hand, hearing his name–Pete Mitchell, sparked a little bit of your memory. 

“Captain.” Is how you greeted him back, while you didn’t refer to many of the other pilots by their rank, you were raised to show respect where you felt it was needed and this was one of those moments.  

“Pete, please.” He responded with a warm smile. 

“This is Rooster’s…friend.” Penny trailed off at the end of her sentence, judging by your display of affection before she was well aware you were more than friends but wasn’t going to assume your relationship. Lord knows she wasn’t exactly sure on what hers was at this moment either. 

Pete’s face got a little taken aback, his smile dropped just slightly, something maybe not everyone would notice but you learned to pay attention to little details like that. It’s what made your articles stand out, you’d be able to write a full paragraph based on a sparkle in someone’s eye or in this case sudden drop of a smile. Pocketing that small piece of information, you focused more on the conversation ahead of you with him.

“Where you visiting from?” He was trying to bounce back from his initial reaction all while he sat down next to Penny.

“Kettner Boulevard.” You were waiting for his eyes to widen and they did, you could tell because he lifted his sunglasses up like that was going to make what you said clearer or repeated to him. It was obvious he was searching your face for some familiarity trying to place you like a database running in his mind. Doing him the honor without needing to ask, you laughed and continued to talk. “I grew up here, Mick–Fanboy is my brother.” You pointed over to him. “Ad–”

Pete cut you off, “Admiral Garcia was your father, I’m sorry I didn’t realize. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” 

“I didn’t realize until you said your name.” You tried to make him feel more comfortable, speaking through a curt smile. “You were stationed on the USS John C. Stennis with my dad, right?”

“USS Ranger, actually. We were both on it when it got decommissioned.”

All it took was that one word to be spoken for it to snap into place. “That’s why you look familiar!” It had finally hit you, and your voice was drenched in satisfaction and excitement as you remembered. “You hacked the powerpoint montage at the decommissioning ceremony to show those hilarious videos from the guys on the ship over the years.” 

“Cujo is the one who actually hacked the slideshow, I’m the one that gathered the footage.” He remembered it like it was yesterday. All the white uniforms in the crowd trying to hold in their laughs while the music played through the speakers and videos of crewmates dancing in their bunks or sneaking into the freezer to eat from the tubs of ice cream filled the screen. 

“My dad loved to tell us that story, kept the photo of your group at the ceremony in his office, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile so much, especially after being put on a new assignment.” It was true, every time your father got put on a new assignment, he wasn’t exactly thrilled. It meant figuring things out like how long he’d be away from his family. It’s what made the jump from Lieutenant to Admiral easy for him. 

“That and he decided to make the jump to Admiral that year.” Pete remembered it well, because he was one of the many that had rallied for him to get the promotion. All of that was so long ago, and as it all came back to him, the memories, the years that passed in between, it was then that he realized it was only a handful of years ago that the Admiral had passed. “I was sad to hear of his passing.” It was his way of offering condolences. 

“Yea.” You nodded in agreement. “Thank you.” Your eyes moved to the water, it was hard to look at Penny or Pete, or anyone really, as you thought of your dad. “The service was nice.” 

Pete shook his head, picking up on your change in mood. Penny as well, and she was about to change the subject but Pete jumped in. 

“Are you Mickey’s older sister?” 

That comment brought you back from your thoughts with the widest grin on your face. “You just made my day, Pete.” 

With a confused smirk, he tilted his head looking for some sort of answer from you. 

“I’m the middle child. Mickey’s the oldest and we have a younger brother.” The noise of the pilots who were currently tackling one another in a dogpile called the attention of the table over. Your brother was jumping on top which made you wonder. “How’s Mickey?”

You never got the chance to ask anyone but him about him. And while he wouldn’t lie to you, he also wasn’t one to complain much, he’d tell you about his day when you called, any big plans that the future held. In fact that’s what brought you to come home when you did, while things lined up perfectly with your contract at The Washington Post being up, knowing your brother was going to be on base for a bit made it more convincing for you to visit. But when it came to this part of his life, being on mission, in training, being one of the best of the best, you didn’t know much. 

“He’s good, balanced–level headed as hell. Sometimes, you can tell when one of the guys is waiting for the other shoe to drop, you can see their anticipation, but not Mickey. He’s ready for whatever direction the shoe is dropping. Sometimes he’s even able to catch it.” Now it was Pete’s turn to look out at his team of pilots before turning back to you and shrugging. “Plus he knows his stuff.” Pete grinned at that and you did as well. “If I got a question, I know who to ask.” 

“Sounds like Mickey, they don’t call him Fanboy for nothing. Him and my dad were the same way, every detail embedded into their brains.” 

“He’s a good kid.” Pete nodded. “So how do you know Rooster?” That was the question you could tell he was waiting to ask you when it was appropriate. His face had hardened, just slightly, but again enough for you to notice. 

It was what happened next though, where you really picked up on something. 

“You ready to head out?” Rooster’s voice wasn’t in its usual tone. The straight lipped expression he was sporting and his eagerness to leave was enough in itself to show you there was something big in the air that you weren’t privy to. Not to mention that you hadn’t seen Bradley anything less than content in the time you had known him. 

It took you a minute to respond, trying to rack your brain around whatever situation was brewing here. “Yea, sure.” 

As you grabbed your bag and moved it over your shoulder, you offered a glance over at Pete and Penny. “Thanks for keeping me company.” As you climbed out of the bench, you shot a look over at Pete knowing he was going to love what you said next. “Keep Mickey on his toes, he might seem like he knows it all, but he’s got some pockets in that brain of his.” 

“Long walks on the beach, smooth move, Rooster.” Hangman was calling out to Bradley from only a few feet away as he tossed one of the footballs in the air while you two began to stroll on the coastline. He was one of the last pilots on the beach, everyone else had either gone back to their places near base or made their way into The Hard Deck for a drink, but not Hangman. “Don’t let the tide wash away all your ego, already got you sitting on the sidelines enough, don’t think we can take any more.” 

All Rooster did was raise his hand and flip Hangman off as you two continued to walk along the waterline. 

“Bird from a bird.” It was the last muffled thing Hangman said, or the last audible one at least. 

Now it was just the two of you, occasionally bumping shoulders as the water lightly brushed up your feet, rinsing sand off of them while simultaneously bringing more to them. Neither of you had said anything since he asked if you were ready to head out. Sounds of waves, seagulls, and cars were the only thing filling your ears. But your mind? Well that was filled with a lot. Questions mainly. In the short time you knew Bradley, asking him questions never felt as hard as it did in this moment so you spent the silent minutes passing convincing yourself to say it. 

“What’s the deal with you two?”

“Hangman? We’ve been at each other’s necks since The Academy. Just your usual nice guy vs. dickhead story.” That usual smile was on his face as he joked but you knew it wouldn’t stay there long with what you were really looking for an answer for. 

“I told you, I don’t want to talk about Hangman.” You served the comment with a side of a smile, to let him know you weren’t trying to be rude. It was something you said to him the first night you met, and you still meant it. 

It worked because he smirked from the side of his mouth before frowning and asking you what you meant then. 

“Pete.” 

It was one word. Four letters. But you would have thought you spoke a plethora of uncivilized and vulgar comments with how his face tightened, his jaw bones clenched, his chest tensed, all while his eyes did what yours did whenever you remembered anything surrounding the thought of losing your father–danced. They’d dance around looking for something to stare at, something to focus your energy on instead of the thought. 

Without thinking, you moved your hand into his, intertwining your fingers and leaning your body into his. It could have backfired, you had been in this situation plenty of times where you didn’t want to be touched, the feelings of heavy memories weighing you down enough that you didn’t need the weight of anyone else on you. But you’d also had be in the situation where all you needed was someone to grab you, pull you out of the mess that was your mind. You’d hope that this was that sort of moment. 

Rooster looked at you, something that he found extremely hard to do at that moment. It was always hard to look at someone when he was running through each thought about Maverick, about his father. The memories. And the thing was, they weren’t all bad, a lot of them were even good. But that was the thing, not only did those few bad ones sit a little more fresh and a little clearer than the good ones did– but the good ones almost felt like a reminder of them too. It’s why he’d always look away when someone mentioned it. Find his eyes searching around for something that would be on his side. Another reason it was so hard to be looking into your eyes right now, because he knew you would be on his side but your eyes also spoke forgiveness, the one things he was not ready for. But behind that, he saw someone who was just looking for answers to who he really was, which is what allowed him to open up, just a little bit. 

“He pulled my papers at The Academy.” 

You hated to follow it up with another question, but there wasn’t really room for any other words. “Why?” 

There were those dancing eyes again. Why. That was the weighted question. One that was too much Bradley. 

“You seemed to know him, with how you were talking with Penny and him earlier.” He didn’t let go of your hand, which was enough for you to know that while he didn’t want to answer your question, he wasn’t pushing you away either. Despite him not really asking you something specifically, you knew the information he was looking for. 

“Pete knew my dad. They were stationed on the USS Ranger together back in the 90s.” 

Rooster nodded at that, his jaw still clenched tightly again. 

You stopped walking, your hands intertwined is what pulled Rooster’s focus back onto you as his body turned back to see what you had stopped for. His eyes were scanning you up and down for an answer, searching your body for an injury or your face for some information. 

“I have to tell you something–well, want to tell you something.” 

“What’s up?” His jaw had loosened, the look of concern now filling his face as he searched your eyes for any hint to what you meant. 

You could have warmed him up to what you were going to say. Started out slow, explained the story in full, but something in you wouldn’t let you. Maybe it was because the story was hard to tell, with everything you knew now, the weight of all you knew before was heavier, harder to sift through. 

“I’m adopted.” 

His immediate reaction was on his face, a small twitch of his right cheek bone as his eyebrows moved together as the words processed in his brain. 

“That’s–that feels like a big deal.” 

Your lips curved slightly at that and your head barely moved in acknowledgement of it. 

“I just mean–that I’m surprised I didn’t know before.” He wasn’t mad, at all. He was racking his brain around it. 

Being adopted was something you recently felt sat differently with you than before. Now over the last few years as you grieved the loss of your dad, things just were different. There was a disconnect and you hated it. Hated to think of the detachment you felt. It started out as anger, searching for something that kept coming up short. You cried, a lot. Pushed people away. You remember when you showed up at your little brother’s doorstep out in Nevada, you didn’t call, hadn’t reached out in months, but you went there because he was the one that never pushed. Mickey called, alot. He was a problem solver. Griffin, he was an understander. You sobbed to him, told him what you thought, what you felt. How you didn’t feel like a Garcia anymore, you didn’t feel like you were able to keep your father close to you anymore. Then you buried all of it. Because it was too hard to revisit. 

You sat down in the sand, tapping the spot next to you for him to join you. Obliging, he plopped down, his eyes still on you waiting for you to talk while you looked out at the horizon. There were only a few minutes left of golden hour, and you felt the same ticking clock against the words you wanted to share which is why after a large exhale, you spoke before you talked yourself out of it. “I was 5 when I got adopted. Don’t remember too much before that besides jumping from a couple shitty homes for a bit. But that’s never really been the hard part for me–it’s now.” 

This was the most attention you had given these feelings in a while and suddenly it felt so easy to just let them out. 

“I don’t feel as connected to the family anymore–my dad especially. These last few years have just been coasting along this fuckin’ numbness. Mickey– he has,” you pointed to the sky and towards the base, “this.” Shaking your head you continued, “he’s Admiral Garcia’s son, you know? He gets to keep him close with that. Honor him with that.  My little brother, he’s Trainer Garcia’s son, got his own business out in Nevada training dogs. His love for it comes from everything my dad showed us.” Another head shake as you felt the tears starting to swell in your eyes you blinked a couple times and looked away, wiping them clean and free from your face paired with a couple muttered euphemisms as you tried to get out the hardest thought of all. “And me? I thought I had that. When he was alive, I felt so fucking connected. Not a single fucking doubt or anything you hear about kids who were adopted wondering about their biological parents or what their life could have been. I felt like I belonged. Like this was what was meant for me.” You swallowed and it tasted like salt water which meant the tears you wiped away before were letting loose on your face despite your previous efforts. “And then he died. And my whole fucking world crashed.” Those words were spoken at a higher octave as they rushed out in between a subtle cry. “I felt like I had nothing left of him here. Mickey had the Navy, Griffin had his business, and I had nothing.” 

You took a minute to take a deep breath, wiping your tears away and pushing all that feeling back where it came from. Rooster looked like he wanted to swoop in and hold you, like he could take the reason for your tears and strangle them until there was no chance they could come back and haunt you. His eyes though, they looked knowing. Like he knew the profound impact losing someone so close to you could do, and that even though he’d never understand the exact burden you faced, he wished he could take all the pain away from you and keep it for himself instead. 

Bradley was about to open his mouth to say something but in your effort of trying to mask it, you cut him off with a quick laugh. “I know I don’t have nothing, I’m not an idiot.” You smiled at that to let him know you weren’t completely woe is me right now. “I just mean, it’s why it’s hard coming around to writing this book. I’ve realized that I have this story–my story. And I don’t want it to be over.” 

“And if you write it, it’ll be over.” Bradley began to fully grasp the big picture and the gravity of what you were saying. It was honestly the best thing he could have said at that moment. You didn’t want pity, condolences or sorrow, you wanted someone to simply get it. 

“And when it’s over, I’ll be back in this limbo.” A mindless shrug came from your left shoulder because that was the end of it. The end of your unpacking. 

“Will you, though?” 

Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe that’s where you always ended it. Feeling like you hit a wall when there was just a few more bricks to tear down before there was more to think about. Rooster questioning you wasn’t something you weren’t expecting. It was proof that you were still learning things about him.

“I hear you–totally hear you, but it doesn’t have to be this whole once you finish the story stops. If anything I think it gives it a place to live, it gives it this bigger purpose.” 

Bigger purpose. Wasn’t that what you were looking for this whole time? Between this and what Penny said earlier, you felt like today opened up a whole different viewpoint for you.

It was then that you were looking at him with this look–a new one for both of you but especially Rooster. It was one he couldn’t read off the bat and was squinting as he tried to search for some hint. 

“Who are you?” It was a joke, clearly you took his words to heart, opening your mind to new thoughts and perspectives. This was the second time in such a short time frame that Rooster managed to do this. He was standing up now, extending his hand out to you in an effort to help you up off the sand. 

“Some call me Bradley.” He tossed his arm over your shoulder once you stood up, bringing you snugged into his embrace, “some call me Bradshaw,” now a quick kiss was being placed on the top of your head as you both started to walk again, “some Rooster,” a modest shrug came from his shoulders as he spoke his call sign, “but all who know me know I am a master of wisdom, an enlightened mind, some might even say philosophical guru.” 

It was impossible not to laugh at his words, tucking your arm around his back as you cuddled in more to him, hearing his voice echo against his chest as he continued to boast about his grand sage. 

The silence eventually grew back over the two of you and you could tell that Rooster’s mind was wandering. Something was still hanging in the air and both of you knew it, but one of you was ruminating on it while the other was letting it go. For one of you the sound of the waves was amplifying the words bouncing around the brain while for the other, it was washing away expectation. The seagulls calls were poking at one of you, begging to speak the words out while for the other, it was a patterned song that drowned out the noise. 

You could tell that for Bradley, it was getting loud in his head because he spoke the words out so urgently. 

“Pete knew my dad, too.” 

Your neck snapped up to look at him. That clenched jaw was back and in action as he continued to talk to you, less urgently now and more just sorting through it all. You remembered when you told Rooster you wanted to know everything. How hard it was for him, and it ended up being what made you fall for him. He was this complex guy, who had been through things so similarly to you and was still figuring it out. So that’s what the two of you did as you walked along the California coast. He told you everything. About losing his mom, growing up without his dad, and then he told you about Maverick. Then the two of you just sat in those emotions that you both harbored for so long, and suddenly they didn’t feel so heavy for once. It felt simple. So simple.

Dividers by: @cafekitsune :3 🛫Top Gun Maverick Taglist:  @drabbles-mc @justreblogginfics @kmc1989 @writing-until-i-drop @jtheteenagewitch @meera10 @winchester-whiskey (let me know if you’d like to be added! I'm using my all writing taglist right now!)

CHAPTER INDEX <- where you can find previous chapters to this fic!

[linnetagain]

I hope you are doing well and thank you for writing some difficult parts of The Season for us. I am so nervous (in a plot-related way) and excited to see what you have in store!

I have a question which I wonder about every time I listen to one of the playlists or read chapter 5. In it, Gale says:

"“There's maybe two songs that I really do associate with particular moments, but that's all,” he says, when the song finishes. “One of them is a Taylor Swift song, too.”"

I am pretty sure that one of them is Slipping Through My Fingers by ABBA, judging by how he skips the song when it plays during training in ch 4, the first day of school photo in the corridor in ch 3, and what he says when Hessie has left the house in ch 17 about how she'll grow up and one day not need him anymore. I bet her first day at school was really difficult for him. They grow up so fast!

Now my question is, assuming Slipping Through My Fingers is one of them, should I be able to work it out from the text so far? I feel like I might just be being dense. It probably doesn't help that I am not that familiar with Taylor Swift's full catalogue (please don't come for me Swifties).

I am not asking for spoilers - in fact if it's going to come up in the story then please don't spoil anything 😂 - but it's actually driving me a bit crackers that I might be missing something.

Thank you so much again for all your hard work and dedication to The Season, it's wonderful, and I feel very privileged to be able to read it ❤️

Oh god I'm nervous too haha!! I'm so flattered that you've been re-reading and paying such close attention omg.

I don't think you'd have been able to work it out don't worry, and tbh I hadn't thought about it in a while!

Gale left Mystra for the last time in late 2022 early 2023 I believe (I don't have the exact timeline off the top of my head and rn I can't remember where I have it written down lol) - so exactly when Midnights was everywhere. I was thinking of that kind of memory you have when you go through a very specific time of your life around a time when a particular song or band are very prominent, and how they end up associated forevermore regardless of whether you intended them to be or not. I'm not a swiftie either but I do remember her voice everywhere that winter!

I don't think I'll ever write the scene, but I have this very clear image of Gale trying to do something normal like standing in a supermarket figuring out how to feed himself, and Bigger Than the Whole Sky playing over it. Especially living in London if you get taxis the cabbies play the radio a lot, and he was being hounded by paps, so the few times he went out cabs would have been how he got between Wyll and Ali's place and the new house when he was buying it and having it done up, and of course the courts. Just imagining that everywhere he went he was followed by this very successful singer when he's wondering if he's just thrown his whole career away, and the 'goodbye goodbye goodbye' refrain over and over. He wasn't in love with Mystra then, but he was definitely still bound up with her and caught up in thinking that he should have been able to save their relationship that had once been everything to him.

And yes, 'Slipping Through my Fingers' reminds him of Hessie.

There's actually a lot of other songs that I listened to while writing particular scenes that didn't get mentioned in the chapters haha. When I eventually finish it I might do a final chapter where I list them all for anyone interested!

[i-am-the-oyster]

Hi there, I also have a quick question about this post (Paul's guilt about hurting John, possibly evidenced in song notes during the making of RAM, and its source—that he left John, despite having promised not to).

Are you saying Paul felt guilty towards John, and knew why, during the making of RAM? And, if so, how would you square this with Paul's notorious 'grief rant' phonecall with Hunter Davies shortly after John's death, where Paul appears not only upset by the idea that he hurt John, but also unaware of what he could have done to cause this hurt?

"But what had really got Paul upset that day was an interview with Yoko in which Yoko was quoted as saying that Paul had hurt John more than any other person. Paul thought they were amongst the cruelest words he ever read." (Hunter Davies grief rant fun)

Was Paul bullshitting Hunter? (Go, Paul)

Was Paul being defensive and angry b/c Yoko blamed him for hurting John in public?

Was Paul not surprised to hear he'd hurt John (after all, they hurt each other often), but struck by the 'more than any other person' part?

I don't mean to say you're right or wrong. I'm just curious to hear you elaborate on this. Meaning, your take on Paul's guilt, and how accessible it was to him consciously. I've long been thinking about him hearing this claim, 'you hurt him more than anyone else', and how different that would have landed, depending on how aware/guilty he felt.

(Whether Paul was right to feel guilty or not is a completely different matter, and doesn't play a role on my question.)

Thank you for the wonderful meaty (sorry Paul!) ask!

I think Paul *did* feel guilty at the time, but I wouldn't exactly say Paul was bullshitting Hunter. The thing that always jumps out at me from that transcript is where Paul says:

There's only one incident I can think of that John has mentioned publicly.

(emphasis mine)

Isn't that an interesting distinction in the context? It makes me think that there were deeply private things that they each did to the other but Paul feels certain that those things would never end up the subject of public discussion.

I don't buy the image of Paul as lacking self-awareness or self-reflection. BUT he is extremely good at re-framing things in a positive way "so many times I had to change the pain to laughter" AND he is a very contrary person. He seems to often instinctively push against whatever narrative the person opposite him is proposing, especially where the topic needs some nuance. (eg the one time he approaches the topic of Jim's violence is in response to Stern pushing Paul's own "idyllic childhood" bit).

So back to the version of their story that had in mind when I made my original post. (Which I'm not married to, but seems like a plausible scenario worth exploring). Paul and John are in a codependent relationship, John has clearly expressed his terror that Paul might leave (as he did with Cyn). John's behaviour has become erratic and (at least borderline) abusive. Paul knows that if he lets go John will "take a tumble", but he's exhausted and Linda is teaching him to take his own desires and needs into account in a much healthier way. (Not to suggest Paul was never selfish in the 60s lol, but he wasn't practicing actual self-care).

John is spiraling, and pushing Paul away in that heartbreaking pattern I call "see I knew you were going to leave". (I'm sure there must be a name for it in psychology). Linda doesn't yet realise the depth of feeling she's dealing with. Paul knows how terrified John is, he's promised he won't be like the others, he won't leave. But he can't do it any more. John finally convinces him that he actually wants him to leave, he bawls his eyes out in front of Mal, and he disappears to Scotland.

I think he would be absolutely wracked with guilt.

And then I think as part of his recovery from that depression he would reassure himself that he did need to leave, that it was the right choice, that he and John could continue to care about one another deeply and move on.

I think Yoko's statement was unnecessarily cruel hurt him, and triggered that contrary response. What's she even talking about? What did I do? The worst ever?!

Thanks again!

[ultra-violet-heart]

THE 2018 DENGEKI BUNKO INTERVIEW WITH 86--EIGHTY-SIX AUTHOR ASATO ASATO

Disclaimer: This translation is made by me for fandom purposes only. This interview, conducted in 2017, gives major insights on how the sci-fi mecha series 86--EIGHTY-SIX was conceived and written before it eventually won the Dengeki Novel Prize back in 2016.

Please ask my permission and credit me+this post if you will be re-translating this to other languages. PLEASE DO NOT REPOST ON YOUTUBE AND TIKTOK AND PLEASE DO NOT REPOST THE IMAGES ON THIS INTERVIEW. Please take the fan translations here with a grain of salt. 

Credits to @Yashamise from Twitter for copies of this Dengeki Bunko Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi magazine.

Erratum: This interview was conducted and printed in 2017, but this Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi magazine is dated 2018 as an advance issue of sorts. This interview has been summarized here. My apologies for the title.

I’m posting my Ko-Fi here as currently, I’ve been having financial trouble regarding my medicine, so if anyone can donate, I would be much grateful for the help, thank you very much.

AN INTERVIEW WITH 86--EIGHTY-SIX AUTHOR ASATO ASATO

“I wrote what I liked, in the way I liked them,” this author says. This tale is filled with the grief from war, the ugliness of racial discrimination, as well as the romance of mechas and of garter belts! In this interview, she reveals to us everything about its roots and its appeal! 

Text and Composition: My Street 

Illustrator: Shirabii

Translator’s Note: For purposes of this interview translation, the interviewer will be labelled as “MS” for My Street, since they layouted and probably conducted this transcribed interview. Also, for words that have brackets or parenthesis:

{} = implied by context                             

() = given emphasis/given parenthesis in the interview itself

[] = included in the footnotes/translator’s notes

A robot lover as far as she could remember

MS: Thank you very much for your time today for this interview. It was surprising to learn that the author {for 86--EIGHTY-SIX}, Ms. Asato, is a woman.

ASATO: I get that a lot (haha). My family says the contents of my work is just “the usual {for Asato}” though. I think my Afterwords have the impression they’re written by a woman, and I never hid that in particular (haha).

MS: This year {2018}, 86--EIGHTY-SIX placed first in the New Works category and second in the bunkobon {paperback} category overall. How do you feel about this now?

ASATO: I’m very happy. I knew of KonoRano’s existence [1], so I was hoping {86--EIGHTY-SIX} might be listed there somewhere, but it was a surprise that it placed higher than expected. As I said in this interview’s foreword: “I wrote what I liked, in the way I liked them.” I’m thankful that many readers found it interesting.

MS: For readers who haven’t heard of 86--EIGHTY-SIX, can you give us a summary of this work?

ASATO: It’s a lively, filled-with-clanks story of the protagonist Shin, his merry band of thieves, and their remotely-working-class-president Lena. [2] (LOL)

MS: 86--EIGHTY-SIX is your debut work. Can you tell us about the time you started writing this work?

ASATO: I’ve been writing ever since I can remember, and I started with writing manga {scripts}. I switched to writing novels around before I started junior high school and have been writing them ever since.

MS: You’ve been interested in robots and military-related things ever since elementary school, is that right?

ASATO: Yes, that’s correct. My mother liked {Space Battleship} Yamato [3] and Gundam, and as I have a younger brother, I got into watching and reading anime and manga targeted at boys. I was rarely exposed to anime and manga targeted at girls. We had the Mobile Suit Gundam movie trilogy [4] at home (which I’ve seen many times), and I also watched The Brave Police J-Decker [5] and The Brave Express Might Gaine [6], as well as other shows in The Brave [7] series. The only anime I had watched that is {targeted at girls} is Magic Knight Rayearth [8], which is another story with robots fighting in it (haha).

MS: I reckon such an environment led you to writing 86--EIGHTY-SIX. Can you tell us about your writing process?

ASATO: I originally submitted {works} to the Kadokawa Beans [9] Bunko Newcomer Awards. I avoided the Dengeki Novel Prize as it was rather {too hard to enter} due to the large number of entries [10] there. The novel entry I made on the 21st year of the Dengeki Novel Prize (2014), however, was totally not aimed at women at all, so I didn’t have any other choice but to submit that to said contest, as it has the closest deadline. It was a sci-fi fantasy work, with a theme of redemption, set on a time before and after {a} revolution. At that time, I thought, maybe I can go past beyond the 3rd round of screenings and unexpectedly, maybe placed on a good spot? However, the evaluation I got from the judges were “This is a 100% a work targeted at girls” and “Next time, we hope you will submit a work that should be Dengeki Bunko-like”. As Dengeki Bunko [11] is an all-kinds-of-genre publication, I didn’t know what ‘Dengeki Bunko-like’ even meant. I thought about it a lot but couldn’t figure it out, so I just kept on writing and finished my next entry, which is 86--EIGHTY-SIX.

MS: How did you come up with the idea and structure of 86, a war drama where unmanned drones and “unmanned manned drones” battle each other?

ASATO: I once read a newspaper article whose main message was “It won’t be good if a country sends its citizens to war, but it shouldn’t be a problem if they made an army of foreigners fight in their stead.” In that case, I felt very afraid that other people will be forced to fight instead of us, with the idea of “those aren’t people, but drones” justifying this and everyone just allowing it {to happen}.

MS: As written in Volume 1’s Afterword, looking back at history, it. is true that racism and racial exclusion existed to no small extent. So, why did you decide to incorporate “racism” into your work?

ASATO: Ever since I started writing novels, I have repeatedly written about boundary lines between “human beings and those who are human but not treated as human beings”, with 86--EIGHTY-SIX being in a similar vein. One of the bases for this is probably the class discrimination found in Final Fantasy Tactics [12], for example. A character there, Argath, who is an aristocrat, tells a commoner character: “But the gods have no eyes for chattel! [12]” This line has stayed with me ever since. After that, I continued to write with the motifs of “human beings and livestock in human form” and “human and those considered not humans”. I think BLACK/MATRIX+ [13] influenced me as well. This game deals with ethnic discrimination, set in a world where black-winged people are ruled over by white-winged people. In there, those who were discriminated against were treated harshly. They were treated like livestock, with the game having this line of, “Why is a mere slave like you wearing clothes?”

MS: Do you often play games?

ASATO: When my gaming consoles weren’t connected yet to the Internet, I used to play a lot of RPGs. I’m not good at action games. I did play a lot of Final Fantasy, like Final Fantasy VI, Tactics, VIII, IX, and X [14].

MS: Are there other works which influenced you? I wonder if there’s something similar like the war situation in Knights of Sidonia [15], which was mentioned in Volume 1’s afterword.

ASATO: I often watch a lot of robot shows, Knights of Sidonia included. In addition to the Gundam series mentioned earlier, I also watched Full Metal Panic [16] and Gunparade March: A New Song for the March [17]. It’s not a robot series, but I also have read Battle Faery Yukikaze [18] over and over. I like {literary} structures where the protagonist side is overwhelmingly inferior while the antagonist side is the superior one. I want to see the flow of emotions from the characters more than the fight scenes themselves. I think emotions such as fear, resignation and desperation show more in situations where {characters} are hopelessly in a big disadvantage. Winning a battle by domination can be exhilarating, yes, but those other emotions don’t show as much during that. That’s why I prefer for the protagonists to win through unrefined and tenacious means, rather than them winning by outsmarting {enemies}.

The work’s influences from horror films and in-depth military research

MS: The Legion are getting more ominous, and the deteriorating situation for Shin and his group is putting them on a very big disadvantage, if I’m not mistaken.

ASATO: 86--EIGHTY-SIX has been influenced more by horror movies than robot anime, with it being based on movies such as The Mist [19] and Screamers [20]. Mist is a horror story where the protagonists get trapped in a supermarket due to a mysterious fog and monsters, and the people gradually lose their ability to make rational judgments as they are unable to defend themselves or escape, without any rescue in sight. This horror movie has a great ending, so I’m inviting you all to watch it without further spoilers. 86--EIGHTY-SIX was initially set as a novel about a fog of nanomachines covering the walls outside of the Republic, and the “Legion” being an aggregation of said nanomachines. However, that kind of thing couldn’t exactly be defeated by conventional weapons, so it was rejected at the setting phase. These elements from this setting, however, were retained in the form of Volume 1’s final boss character and the appearance of those electromagnetic jammers clouding the sun.

MS: It’s rather surprising this came from a horror setting.

ASATO: The other {inspiration mentioned earlier}, Screamers, is a sci-fi horror film where autonomous war weapons evolved on their own and went out of control. In 86--EIGHTY-SIX, the Self-Propelled Mines, which look like wounded soldiers, are based on Screamers. The work is rather interesting as one has no ideas who their enemies are and everything else looks suspicious.

MS: So you have a situation like this, and you applied what kind of emotions you want to be shown in that situation, correct?

ASATO: Yes. Looking back, I think I was strongly influenced by the novel Chaos Legion [21] {in this regard}. Shin’s Personal Mark, which has a shovel on it, was influenced by his special ability as well as his role being the “Undertaker” responsible for collecting the fragments of his comrade-in-arms’ {Feldreẞ} units.

MS: The more I hear about it, it seems this work is really packed full of things {you} like.

ASATO: While I was writing this, I played the Black Hawk Down [22] movie repeatedly instead of just background music. It’s also a favorite {movie} of mine.

MS: I would like to ask you about military-related matters. What kind of material did you use for your research?

ASATO: I borrowed all relevant materials I use from the library, so I don’t have any specific references… About racial discrimination, I read materials about Nazi Germany [23], the internment camps in US as well as the 442nd Infantry Regiment [24] and Scroll of Agony: The Warsaw Ghetto Diary [25]. As for the weapons, the Juggernaut and the Legion are based and patterned from tanks, so I’ve read materials dating back from World War II [26] as well as the Gulf War [26], where 120mm tanks were the main weapons used. The Juggernaut’s 57mm cannon wasn’t used very often, so I had a difficult time finding research material for it. The unit itself is based on the M551 Sheridan [27]. This airborne assault tank has aluminum alloy armor, but the Juggernaut reflects the pitiful aspect of said flimsy armor which explodes upon impact by any stray attack.

MS: Why did you make the Juggernaut and the Legion multi-legged tanks?

ASATO: Because it’s romantic! I love multi-legged tanks! My first exposure with them is the X-ATM092 [28], a spider-shaped mobile unit from FFVIII. The loud, resounding footsteps it produced as it chased you away was very scary, and it left this impression of being a symbol of a very powerful weapon. I also like Ghost in the Shell’s Tachikoma [29] and the Tobigumo from the Swallowtail novel series [30]. In reality, multi-legged tank units aren’t really fast enough, and there is too much ground pressure for those to actually carry a 120mm cannon… but I make up for it with my imagination (LOL)

A character that embodies the idea of “to be human” walks alone

MS: Concerning those people called “Eighty-Six”, what do you think it means “to be human”, which you tried to depict in Volume 1?

ASATO: What I tried to depict in this work is “to respect other human beings, and to live without regrets.” However, I don’t think everything I wrote in this main part is actually correct. I think this is the answer the “Eighty-Six” came up with due to the environment they lived in. In Volume 2, the stage now shifts to the Federacy, so the theme there is now what will happen if said environment has changed.

MS: In Volume 2, I see this as a story where the “Eighty-Six”, who managed to get safety for the time being, nevertheless still returned to the battlefield. I think this sentiment was portrayed very well.

ASATO: Volume 3 will focus on what happens inside {Shin’s head} after he made that choice, so please look forward to that. After all, they don’t feel safe even after coming to the Federal Republic of Giad. And the war against the Legion isn’t over yet. Since the Eighty-Six think they will not survive if they don’t fight, I think they will continue to fight until the Legion disappeared. Then… what will they do after the Legion are eventually gone? …They will certainly have to think about that in the future as well.

MS: Do you have a favorite among all the characters?

ASATO: It’s Raiden. Of course, I love the two protagonists, Shin and Lena, but Shin isn’t really a very cooperative character with me, so I have a certain attachment to Raiden, who provides much support. Instead of simply just crafting the plot, I write in a way that captures how each character would act in line with {the type of} world I've created. That’s why I do not know what the characters think, what goals they have, or what pasts they bear unless they “talk” to me. Shin is not the type {of character} to talk about anything in particular, and he doesn’t even say anything much except for his name. It wasn’t until I finished writing that climax of a battle in Volume 1 that I realized what he was fighting for. After I wrote it, I was like, “Huh?! So, this is it?!” and was surprised as the author (LOL).

MS: So, you didn’t think about Shin’s background at first?

ASATO: Yes, that’s right. During that climax, I finally understood {everything} concerning Shin, so I went back on that part and wrote the details that I then added. 

MS: So even at the plotting stage, you haven’t put together the {setting and background} for each of the characters?

ASATO: To begin with, when I wrote Volume 1, I haven’t even made a plot. I didn’t even have a story structure in particular, and just wrote while letting the characters act. The first time I finished this volume, the last two pages were still missing, but Shin brought them to me, saying, “Sure enough, write up to this far.”

MS: What happened after Volume 2?

ASATO: I have submitted the plot… but stressed on the important scene that “I won’t know everything until I write it” then submitted it. As a result of this, only the boss character from Volume 3 remained in that plot I submitted. {I caused} my editors a lot of trouble.

MS: How did Frederica (the character) come to be?

ASATO: Frederica is a character with a part further on in the series, so I intended to debut her in Volume 2. As I was writing her, however, it seemed she and Shin have similarities on what they carry on their backs. Since then, she acts as a mirror to Shin. As Shin is a character who is not very good at grasping his own emotions, {I had Frederica} serve as the one who verbalizes those emotions. I wondered then, what does it mean to have a 10-year-old verbalize {another person’s feelings}? (LOL) I simply wanted to show a little girl. In Volume 2, the heroine, Lena, is absent, but I can’t have another girl the same age as her as this volume’s heroine… and so, under this pretext, I brought out {Frederica as} the little girl heroine.

MS: For some reason, I thought there’s other many works featuring little girls in the battlefield.

ASATO: If this were about a real battlefield, it would have been filled with old men. I like older men soldier characters, so that would have been fun to see, but I don’t think readers would find that interesting. Cute little girls adding a touch of color {to a work} is important (LOL).

MS: Did you decide on the setting from the start?

ASATO: The setting was generally decided from the beginning. The scenes were written out as needed. For example, regarding the battlefield, the Legion are ground-based weapons, and it would be troubling if they’re easily eradicated by aircraft weapons. That’s why {I had} the Eintagsfliege, a Legion unit which has jamming, and restricted the use of aircraft and communication devices. This, however, would have prevented Shin and Lena from communicating with each other, so I then devised the special communication device called the Para-RAID.

MS: How deeply did you think about this world’s setting on itself?

ASATO: The necessary scenes have been chosen in detail, otherwise, the rest of the details aren’t fixed. For example, it’s not in the main story, but the Republic’s population has already been decided upon. It’s the reverse with the countries on the edge of the continent that aren’t scheduled to appear, as they might have a Chinese-like culture… that’s all I thought of it right now. There’s also this “sensory tuning”, which hasn’t been written in the setting yet, but is scheduled to be involved in the future part of the plot. However, as I said just a short while ago, the story {as a whole} is influenced greatly by how the characters act, so it depends on them to make the best use of the setting. From this point on, who will survive and who will die… is something that I still don’t know.

MS: Is it still unknown how the war against the Legion will move forward?

ASATO: The basic points {for that} have been decided, with the foreshadowing being built onto step by step. However, it is up to those two, Shin and Lena, if they will follow suit. (LOL)

MS: What about the Legion, then?

ASATO: About the Legion, the setting about them has been solidly established, including the future boss characters. However, I can’t say anything about them yet. Details about them have been foreshadowed little by little. I write hoping the readers will be surprised by this later.

The love for garter belts explodes! A talk about eroticism

MS: Changing the subject, what it is about your particular fixation towards garter belts [31] and pilot suits [32], both of which you spoke so passionately about in your Afterwords?

ASATO: About the pilot suits, on the outline for volume 2, I wrote "I don’t want men’s pilot suits paired with ground-based armaments!!!" using half of the A4 outline paper and submitted that (LOL). I’ve wondered whether pilot suits are really necessary, apart from space or aircraft or even ground battles. I’ve my doubts about it, and with said doubts I don’t want {characters} just wearing pilot suits, even in a robot thing. I do agree with the editor-in-charge about “Female pilot suits are justice!” so Lena wearing a pilot suit is scheduled to appear in the future [32]. After all, the garter belt shows a good place between sexy and cute. I think the eroticism {from the garter belt} dwells in its self-contradictory element: it’s just one additional item {in a set of clothes}, and somehow manages to show more skin―I think that’s the charm of the garter belt. In particular, if the color {of the garter belt} contrasts strongly with the skin color {of the wearer}, the impression of bare skin is more emphasized in spite of the wearer. Because of this, I think it’s wonderful that Shirabii colored the belt part {of Lena’s garter belts} black.

MS: It’s amazing the garter belt drawn by Shirabii has the functions of both a belt and a ring, isn’t it?

ASATO: Furthermore, Lena’s military uniform, a garment that is very much seen in public, has garter belts, which are usually private items, and I think that adds further to her ambivalent charm even more. As a matter of fact, at first, I argued that it would be better if {her} thighs were not visible all the time but could be glimpsed at occasionally, but after a 2 AM discussion with the editors-in-charge while looking at the rough draft of the cover art, they convinced me that “That ‘occasionally’ should be now!”, and we settled on its current form. The ideal situation {we have} was when {Lena} lifts her legs up and a glimpse of the black lace garter can be seen through the slit of {her} dress. However, as Lena is a prim and proper lady, the only situation I can think of where she lifts her legs while wearing a dress is when she is about to wear heels… I’ll have to ask Shin to do his best on this one.

MS: Rather a difficult situation, isn’t it?

ASATO: It’s Shin, after all. Also, a military uniform with pretty boy shorts + sock garters is also cute, and as Theo hasn’t appeared with his military uniform yet, I’m thinking to add that to his outfit now… (LOL). However, middle-aged soldier uncles shouldn’t show their bare legs with shirt garters! (Editor’s note: Please Google “shirt garters” for more info)

MS: Are there any {role/inspiring} models for your characters?

ASATO: Basically, none. However, as mentioned earlier, Shin is partly inspired by Sieg Wahrheit [33] from Chaos Legion, while Lena is partly inspired by General Garrison [34] from Black Hawk Down. In the film, {Garrison} is placed on a situation where he could do nothing but only communicate with his subordinates in adverse circumstances, and this inspired Lena’s position {in the series}. In Black Hawk Down, many characters died before we even understood them, and I think that influenced 86--EIGHTY-SIX as well.

MS: That’s right. They die when the chapters change. When you are writing, you’re writing without knowing who is going to die, isn’t it?

ASATO: There are some characters whose manner of death came to mind as I was writing them. I think they’re good kids, but I have no choice but to let them face their fates (oops).

MS: If the names of the Eighty-Six characters were names of Japanese people, would they still make good names?

ASATO: Yes. All their names can be written in kanji. For example, Shin’s surname, “Nouzen” is from the kanji of the Chinese trumpet creeper (凌霄花) {pronounced as “nouzenkazura”} [35].  I actually like the arrangement of the kanji {from that plant} within the kanji for “surpassing the sky” (霄を凌ぐ) {pronounced as “sora wo shinogu”}. If you use the same kanji and put the honorific (君) {pronounced as “kun”} on it, you can form the characters for the Eurasian goshawk (凌霄君) {pronounced as “ryoshoukun”} [36]. This is also a reference to Shin’s image, as he does resemble a hawk.

What’s next for this series? There’s so much more to write about!

MS: What will happen in Volume 3 of 86--EIGHTY-SIX? [37]

ASATO: It will be properly connected to Volume 1’s Epilogues, so please don’t worry about that. The battle scenes, which were limited in Volume 2, will be much increased here. It might be even tragic.

EDITOR KIYOSE: This paperback series will, of course, continue to be serialized, and the series will also be expanded into various adaptations such as comics [38] and other various media. This work will have a lot of side stories, so we hope you will all appreciate this series as a whole.

MS: Can you please tell us about the future developments of 86--EIGHTY-SIX?

ASATO: The stage has shifted to the Federacy from Volume 2, and as the war situation gets more violent, the environment surrounding the Eighty-Six and the others is about to deteriorate further. There will be new enemies for mankind to face, and their own numerous personal conflicts standing on their way one by one. However, they have survived far difficult circumstances up until now, and since Lena will join them in earnest by Volume 4, I think they will still survive, stubbornly, shamelessly, and boisterously. However, I really wouldn’t know what would happen unless I write them. (LOL)

MS: How many volumes does this series will have?

ASATO: Currently, I'm thinking of around 13 volumes. The war against the Legion has a general flow and an ending in sight already, so I'd like to get to that point first. In addition to that, I’d like to like to write a side story about Raiden and Shin when they just first met, if I have the opportunity [39]. There’s so much more I want to write about. From Volume 4 onward, countries other than the Federacy will be related, and there’s plans to stretch out the stage even more. The Queen's Knights [40], led by Lena, will also make their appearance. I think there might be some slight surprises about Shiden, who first appeared in Volume 2.

MS: Lastly, any message for the readers who have supported you and the series?

ASATO: I was never active on the web at all, and I was totally an unknown newcomer writer. I believe the reason why I and the 86--EIGHTY-SIX series have come this far is due to the readers who picked up the books and supported us. So, everyone, I will do my best to write bringing Shin and Lena and the Eighty-Six’s battle to conclusion, so from this point on, I look forward to your continued support!

{End of Interview}

Translator’s Notes (Most of the blurbs here are taken from respective relevant Wikipedia articles, and the notes also include the Magazine Notes from the actual interview):

[1] Kono Light Novel Ga Sugoi: Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! (このライトノベルがすごい!, lit. This Light Novel is Amazing!) is an annual light novel guidebook published by Takarajimasha. The guidebook publishes a list of the top ten most popular light novels according to readers polled on the Internet and votes from critics, influencers, and other people related to the light novel industry. 86--EIGHTY-SIX ranked 2nd and 5th in the bunkobon category here in 2018 and 2019.

[2] Lena is the class president of Class 2-E in the 86--EIGHTY-SIX Operation High School spin-off side stories and the manga. This is probably among the first references to said spin-off.

[3] Space Battleship Yamato: one of Japan’s most influential sci-fi/mecha series, a Japanese science fiction anime series produced and written by Yoshinobu Nishizaki, directed by manga artist Leiji Matsumoto, and produced by Academy Productions.

[4] Mobile Suit Gundam: The first series in this very popular Japanese military science fiction media franchise, it was re-released into a film trilogy in 1981.

[5] The Brave Police J-Decker: The fifth installment in the Barve series.

[6] The Brave Express Might Gaine: The fourth installment in the Brave series.

[7] The Brave mecha and sci-fi series: a Japanese toy and anime franchise Brave series made by Takara and Sunrise, and currently owned by Bandai Namco.

[8] Magic Knight Rayearth: a mecha, fantasy and isekai shoujo manga series made by the all-female manga artist group CLAMP.

[9] Kadokawa BEANS Bunko Award: The contest launched by Kadokawa’s female-focused light novel imprint, Kadokawa Beans Bunko.

[10] Dengeki Novel Prize: a literary award handed out annually (since 1994) by the Japanese publisher ASCII Media Works for their Dengeki Bunko light novel imprint, spearheaded by parent company Kadokawa. It is among Japan’s largest light novel contests, with more than 4500 entries submitted annually. 86--EIGHTY-SIX won 1st place in the Rookie Awards category in 2016, launching it to the spotlight.

[11] Dengeki Bunko: a publishing imprint affiliated with Kadokawa’s ASCII Media Works. Many anime adaptations from light novels were published by Dengeki Bunko, including 86--EIGHTY-SIX.

[12] [Magazine Note 1] Final Fantasy Tactics: A tactical simulation RPG released in 1997. The socially conscious storyline, which tackled friction between nations and the gap between the rich and the poor, became very much a hot topic during its time.

Please take note I used the Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions translation here as contextually I believe this translation has more in line with EIGHTY-SIX than the translation of the actual game Asato played, which is the original Final Fantasy Tactics. Also, Argath vs Algus :3

[13] [Magazine Note 2] BLACK/MATRIX+: A tactical simulation RPG for Sega Saturn, with the PlayStation port released in 1998. It has a unique setting where virtue and vice are said to be reversed.

[14] Final Fantasy: a fantasy anthology media franchise, first and mainly developed as RPGs, owned, published, and distributed by Square Enix. Currently this franchise has 16 main series game releases. One of these games, Final Fantasy VIII, has its main soundtrack (“Eyes on Me” by Faye Wong) featured on the Afterword of 86--EIGHTY-SIX Volume 7: Mist.

[15] Knights of Sidonia: A sci-fi/mecha seinen manga, made by Tsutomu Nihei and ran from 2009-2015 in Kodansha’s Monthly Afternoon magazine. Its anime adaptation, which ran for two seasons, was produced by Polygon Pictures and aired from 2014 to 2015.

[16] Full Metal Panic!: a series of mecha light novels written by Shoji Gatoh and illustrated by Shiki Douji, published by Kadokawa’s Fujimi Fantasia Bunko and ran from 1998-2011. Its anime adaptations were produced by Gonzo, Kyoto Animation and Xebec respectively, from 2003 to 2018.

[17] Gunparade March: A New Song for the March: The anime adaptation for the Playstation video game Gunparade March, produced by J.C. Staff and aired in 2003.

[18] Battle Faery Yukikaze: a Japanese military science fiction novel series written by Chouhei Kambayashi. Its five-episode OVA adaptation ran from 2002-2005.

[19] [Magazine Note 3] Mist: A 2007 film based on the award-winning science fiction horror novella by Stephen King.

[20] [Magazine Note 4] Screamers: A 1995 futuristic science fiction horror film, based on Phillip K. Dick’s novelette “Second Variety”.

[21] [Magazine Note 5] Chaos Legion: A mixed-media action RPG released in 2003, getting a novelization by Tow Ubukata.

[22] [Magazine Note 6] Black Hawk Down: A 2001 war movie. Based on a non-fiction work about an actual urban war between international forces and guerillas that occurred in Somalia. The film depicts how a UH-60 Black Hawk​ gets taken down and this being dragged into a war situation.

[23] This is a very extensive subject, so please feel free to check out Nazi Germany on Wikipedia to get at least an overview.

[24] Another extensive subject, so feel free to check out 442nd Infantry Regiment on Wikipedia to get an overview.

[25] [Magazine Note 7] Scroll of Agony: The Warsaw Ghetto Diary: A diary kept by a Jewish teacher, {Chaim A. Kaplan}. It described the persecution and pillaging by the Nazis, as well as the three harsh years of {Kaplan’s} life.

Printed in Japan as (ワルシャワ・ゲットー日記―ユダヤ人教師の記録 or “Warsaw Ghetto Diary: A Jewish Teacher’s Record”), with Kaplan implied to have died in 1942 when he was sent to the Treblinka death camp along with other Warsaw Jews.

[26] Another extensive subject, so feel free to check out World War II on Wikipedia to get an overview. Feel free to also check out Gulf War on Wikipedia to get an overview on this topic.

[27] [Magazine Note 8] M551 Sheridan: an American tank developed to be amphibious, airborne tank. Its body was made of aluminum alloy to help reduce weight, but this made it vulnerable to anti-tank weapons and land mines, and it could explode when the shells it’s equipped with are triggered.

[28] X-ATM092: A spider-like robot boss enemy found in Final Fantasy VIII.

[29] Tachikoma: a blue-colored AI walker/roller tank that looks like a spider in the Ghost in the Shell cyberpunk media franchise.

[30] Swallowtail series: The sci-fi novel series written by Chitose Touma and published by Dengeki Bunko in 2008. The series is about artificial fairies, androids created in the form of humans, to be companions to still-living humans after parts of Tokyo’s population were wiped out in a pandemic, and one of these fairies, Ageha, is investigating a serial killer causing destruction. The work also has this multi-legged armored tank called “Tobigumo”. So far as I know this mecha doesn’t have official art, however, a fanart can be found in Pixiv here.

[31] [Magazine Note 9] Garter: They’re suspenders of sorts. “Garter belt” is the term for {a fabric strap which} which is clipped on over-the-knee socks or stockings. Having no shorts above garters is righteous! between the rich and the poor, became very much a hot topic during its time.

Asato’s interest in garter belts is not only shown in the novels, but also in the anime, which is noted to have a lot of thigh shots of Lena wearing said garter belts.

[32] [Magazine Note 10] Pilot suit: In this case, this is the type of suit that sticks really close to the body. As it shows the body lines quite clearly, it’s considered quite fetishistic. 

In the current time, 86--EIGHTY-SIX Volume 5: Death, Be Not Proud, has already been published, and Lena did wear the Cicada, which is Asato’s homage to pilot suits.

[33] Sieg Wahrheit: the protagonist of Chaos Legion.

[34] William F. Garrison: a retired major general of the United States Army who commanded United States forces during Operation Gothic Serpent including the Battle of Mogadishu, which served as an inspiration for the novel Black Hawk Down.

[35] The Chinese trumpet creeper, a native flowering vine species found in East Asia, usually in China, can mean “fame”, “honor”, “glory”, “abundant love” and “life filled with flowers” in the flower language.

[36] Eurasian goshawk: a medium-large bird-of-prey found in Europe and Asia and is among the species considered as “true” hawks. The kanji used in the article actually just refers to how Shinei Nouzen looks like a hawk, but upon further examination of said kanji in this reference, it pertained to that goshawk as well.

[37] Volume 3 of 86--EIGHTY-SIX was just about to be released in Japan around the moment this article was published, serving as a promotion of sorts.

[38] Several manga adaptations of 86--EIGHTY-SIX have been published as of current time. For more information, please check out this 86 Reddit Manga FAQ for further details.

[39] Besides Volume 1, Eighty-Six’s Interlude: Headless Knight II, Asato has managed to write this in the side stories Volume 10, Fragmental Neoteny Chapter 8: The Banks of Lethe and Alter.1: Claymore Squadron.

[40] The Queen’s Knights, formally known as the Brísingamen Squadron, was the squadron Lena became the Handler with after the Spearhead Squadron was sent on the Special Reconnaissance Mission. It was led by Shiden Iida and was pivotal in the Republic of San Magnolia’s defense during the 1st Legion Large Scale Offensive.

[spiderpussinc]

this is based on your most recent art on twitter im just asking here because im shy lol. do you hc that peter got more thoroughly introduced to kink when his and miguels situationship began or was he already pretty kinky beforehand?

I like when Peter embodies the everyman in terms of character archetype, all my favorite depictions of him are the ones who invest in that portrayal and make him a mix of bitter/awkward/hopeful down-to-earth guy without leaning too much into militarism or sillicon valley or CEO superstar or any of that other bullshit -- long way of saying i think he's a *commendable flirt* and has a Streak of flunked relationships but he's not all that savy with it. Like not at all lmfao. Hes the guy in ur neighborhood who pulls chicks by telling them jokes and kinda has game but seems content enough in his comfort zone.

Part of Miguel's character pitch is that he is "a reversal" of peter in fundamental ways, the original intent was to make a spider-man who was quiet in costume and snarky as his humansona, sort of dark and brooding, had an adversarial relationship with his city, had a troubled relationship w/ his family as opposed to Peter's loving supportive aunt, got weird fucked up powers in adulthood in contrast to how peter gets a bunch of helpful power-ups as a teenager that improve his self image, etc etc..

(Nsfw talk ahead)

Miguel is 1) a cutting edge scientist from decades in the future & 2) a transgender fag.

I think him introducing things to peter is unavoidable, but in a much broader sense his sex life was always far more complicated. Miguel is A Lot More Used to having toys or gadgets to get around simply bc of the genital conundrum; he cant just pull out his dick and go. Peter has heard and used kink related buzzwords in a jokey context but he is in every way a pretty normal guy LOL. Superman is canonically kinkier than peter parker by genuine mile (chains, whips, leather, etc) and that should tell you a lot.

I think its really fun to have a dynamic where miguel is this huge break from what peter has grown to expect, and he LIKES experimentation - he's still a scientist, even if he never did the postgrad - peter is willing to play into a lot of stuff he's not done before, and that classifies in many ways as non-traditional sex. (Or might not even be explicit sex at all, re: puppy play) I dont even think they have strict top/bottom roles its more of a convenience thing. Whatever happens.

Miguel likes doting on him, Peter enjoys being doted on; in that context you can even get peter being so swept away by this newfound free zone that he's the one going 'oh have we ever done X?' and it definitely helps that miguel is just as strong and flexible as he is, if not freakier. In sum i think miguel teaches him how to scissor even as a cis boy

[daily-linkclick]

What is the theory abt lg being from an alternate timeline? I’ve been seeing a lot of ppl talk about it and idrk where it comes from, and what are your thoughts??(have a nice day!!)

this ask magically appeared in my inbox just today but apparently it was sent weeks ago, holy shit! thank you for waiting op LMFAO

anyways, it's a theory that's been around before season 2, iirc! mostly because we had little to nothing lore wise around their powers, and its just fun thinking about while we waited for anything canon. there were a few things that did hint at lu guang being from an alternative timeline, being that we don't know his age and backstory, and his weird hair color (not a lot of people sporting full white hair, or any unnatural hair color in link click, at least)

those aspects don't necessarily point to him being from an alternate timeline, but they also could be hints towards it! but there's new content that makes this theory potentially canon! it's from this music video played during Bilibili World. it features an alternate mv for vortex, which is interesting because we see lu guang falling first:

in it, there are several shots with cheng xiaoshi wearing completely different outfits, some injured and one seemingly dead? Plus a frame that shows four cxs's merging into one. maybe it's just ooo pretty visuals, but there's a looot of imagery that implies different timelines (shard fractals, reflections, mirror images, etc)

There's also this shot, with lu guang wearing an alternate fit we've never seen - and he's wearing more black in this one?? his s1 fit also featured a dark shirt and pants but his flannel color was more dominant. this leads me to believe that this is lu guang but less experienced (another timeline).

maybe all of this is just non-canon for marketing, they did market lu guang as dead for all of pre-s2 lol, but i like to believe this is them teasing lu guang's past! even if he's the main character, he's someone who's past we know the least of. i'd argue we find out more about side characters than we do about him actually - which makes me (and a lot of other people) think he's from an alternate timeline!

that's the gist; i'll put my own thoughts under a read more so this post won't be insanely long

my own thoughts on the theory is that i think lu guang is from multiple alternate timelines. the frame with multiple cheng xiaoshis, and the one where four merge into one makes me believe lu guang met cheng xiaoshi in his timeline, but cxs either died or had a miserable life. he kept going into different timelines in an attempt to save him / be in a timeline where cheng xiaoshi is actually safe and happy, and finally got to the timeline we see in the show.

though that part requires him having more than just the power to look into what happens in a photo. but there's been proof of lu guang hiding what he knows / has with cheng xiaoshi (re: him hiding the fact emma died, and him hiding the photo that liu tianchen gave him). he's also an incredibly private person. if he hides from his closest friend, who's to say he isn't hiding something from the audience either?

we also don't know how they got their powers. if lu guang originally had the power to dive back into pictures, then it would make sense on how he's able to go to different timelines. also, studio lan clearly emphasizes the fact that the pair are two halves of a whole, and the show is more interesting because of that dynamic.

as an extra: lu guang's doting nature makes a lot of sense too, he just doesn't want to see cheng xiaoshi miserable again! it's a pretty known fact that cheng xiaoshi didn't have any friends (besides qiao ling) before lu guang, and his life insantly got better when they finally were a trio (interesting that it was mainly because of a mysterious person that popped out of nowhere). here's a fun twitter thread by t3mp0s about the trio's dynamic

lastly, i just think it'd be fun if at one point cheng xiaoshi slowly discovers what lu guang did in his past for him. and how hypocritical lu guang would sound after saying "past or future, leave them be" if he never applied that to cheng xiaoshi! either way i still want to see a cxs saving lg arc man... they keep teasing it EVEN IN THE MV

that's it!! i know link click's best quality is the trio going through other people's stories, but i think they're preparing us for the biggest one: lu guang's.

[namorthesubmariner]

Hi Imp!

Sorry, I wasn’t sure which of your tumblr pages to ask you the following (let me know if there’s a specific one you’d like me to use in the future).

Could you pls share your opinion on F4’s Ben Grimm, if you have one? In general and his portrayal in the movies? Are you also looking forward to the upcoming F4 movie?

I came across a fantastic four Instagram page with a scan from a comic where Ben was almost asking Johnny if Reed might be able to come up with something to help him (trigger warning — !!!!) *check out* and I thought, “wow! I don’t know much about Ben” then, I remembered how well versed you were in a number of Marvel related subjects (and the care you took re: understanding the mental health of your faves), and wanted to please come to you!

(I also remembered how much you respected my forever lady, Ororo🌟🙌🏾🌟 but that’s an aside lol)

Hello! Thanks for the question, and I usually answer questions on my main @imperiuswrecked but that is currently off due to me having a backlog of questions to answer and I'm very busy with getting things done for fandom weeks/blogs that need to be updated. I will open again in the future. I kept this blog open just for Namor questions, but I wanted to reply to yours:

(Love Ororo, my queen!!!)

TW: Self harm, suicidal thoughts/words

To answer your question, the reason why Ben asks to find a way to commit suicide is because Ben does suffer from depression in the comics, a lot of it has to do with his powers/how he was transformed, basically he got the worst of the lot, and he has a lot of negative self image issues, he feels dehumanized a lot, and at some point doesn't see the point in going on. One of Ben's major recurring character themes is how dehumanized he feels, how Reed's guilt over what happened to Ben will never let Reed rest until he finds a cure for his best friend, of Ben's resentment to Reed, but also the fact that he loves Reed as a friend and so its very complex in that he hates and loves. That's for like the main comics, but I do think the you're asking about the Ultimate comic since you mentioned his conversation with Johnny? Ben had gotten to the point where he felt like Reed wasn't trying anymore and he feels like he has no way out. The Ultimates line isn't the 616, it was supposed to be a "more grounded" comic so they emphasized on self harm thoughts in this comic.

I am speaking in reference to the comic: Ultimate Fantastic Four (2004) #27

My opinion on the 616 Ben Grimm is that I love him, he's a great character, very fun to read and very heartbreaking when it gets heavy. I feel like Ben is the heart of the team, and he has to deal with his self image issues a lot, and a lot of his mental health issues are about his body dysmorphia/how he feels he looks ugly and thinks he is unlovable. His arcs usually run on a cycle where he comes to a point where he accepts who he is just enough to be able to go out and save the day or live his life, but then eventually falls back into a depression, it really depends on which writer has him, some just want him to have a good time, but others bring back his issues/the angst etc. Sometimes Ben does get his human form back but it never lasts.

Ben's past movie portrayals were ok, I guess? I'm not quite the expert in all F4 stuff, but like typical movie stuff you'd except from the eras they were made in with very little to no effort to be inclusive of Ben's Jewish background, but I'm glad he finally has a Jewish actor to play him in the upcoming movie since the character is Jewish and only one movie made a reference to that Fant4stic I think with a background prop, but the actor of that movie wasn't Jewish iirc. Hopefully the new upcoming movie does well by his characterization.

I really love Namor and Ben in the comics and I sorta wish we could get something like their characterization in the Fantastic Four novel: To Free Atlantis in which they connect over how they are viewed by others. Ben is shocked to learn that Namor is hated for his physical appearance because he's a handsome prince, not knowing that under the sea, Namor is despised for being half human, so he thought Namor would have it easier than a Thing like him, and Namor points out how lucky Ben is to be surrounded by love.

Ben and Namor don't really have heart to hearts in the comics, they are mostly fighting, but sometimes we get cute gems like Ben and Namor at T'Challa's bachelor party

[lamentationsofalonelypotato]

Hey friend!! For EOY Asks (sorry this is a little bit late lol), can I ask any or all you feel like answering: #2, #5, #12, #20, #21, #25 😘

Hello My Friend 🥰 It's okay, I've had a slow start to the new year anyway lol

#2 A Piece You're Proud Of And Why

This is a toughie... I will narrow it down to two lol. I know we talk a lot about Take A Chance On Me, but I am proud of that fic series because it is the first time I've created a long term series from scratch that I had to plot out myself, instead of reworking or essentially re-writing a tv show episode or movie and inserting a reader. You Call It Madness, is also a long term series and it has original scenes in it... but I do rely on the timeline and episodes of the Boys Season 2 more and I'm really proud that I was able to create a completely original storyline for Take A Chance.

But I am also really proud of my fic In Another Life, that I wrote for Dean Winchester. It's the first fic that I ever wrote for a Jensen Ackles character and the first one I wrote for Dean Winchester and I agonized FOREVER about posting it, but I'm so glad I did because as soon as I did, the responses I got for that fic started making me want to write more and post more stories. Before that I'd only posted a couple of fics, but it was the support of the Supernatural Fandom and really the wonderful community of people on Tumblr that inspired me to keep trying. 🥰

#5 A Scene You Enjoyed Creating

I did answer this and #20 in another ask here 😅, but I think another scene that I enjoyed creating was the scene in Long As I Can See The Light with the reader patching up Russell. It was a lot of fun putting myself in his head and writing the flirty banter of him shooting his shot while he was actually shot lol! I'm hoping to return to that reader and Russell later this year 😊

#12 A Concept You'd Like To Develop Next Year

Oooo I really like this one. I've been brainstorming a time travel fic that I got an idea for when I was watching Terminator (I love that movie lol) and while thinking about writing another Enemies to Lovers with Soldier Boy. I'm hoping to have it come out as soon as I finish If The Stars Wish It So.

#21 Something That Made You Emotional

I'm not going to lie Alex, every time I read one of your fics it makes me emotional LOL 😂.

The one that got me the most was Devour Me Part 2. There are so many parts in that fic where I was trying my best to hold it together, but oh my word it hit me right in the heart when Dean and the reader were yelling at each other. My heart still breaks at the line "I hope you learned your damn lesson" from Dean to the reader. It is so much harsher than Dean just commenting that he told her not to do something. I don't know what it is about that line, but it really is just so harsh and almost a little cold. I know he loves her and he's only doing it because he was scared, but man it still hurts. Also when they go to bed and the reader turns away from Dean, it was just so heartbreaking. I can't wait to dive back into that series this year!

#25 A Scene Or Image That Lives Rent Free In My Head

I mean... imagining cowboy Dean in your The Honorable Choice series ALWAYS lives rent free in my head lol.

But also @thebiggerbear wrote a really wonderful fic/prompt called "What Do You See In Him?" "Everything You Don't" that was a reader x Soldier Boy fic and it's so cute. I could see that conversation happening between a reader and Hughie, especially if Hughie is the reader's best friend or her brother. I think that the reader in that fic being able to see past what everyone else does was so lovely 😊

Thank you so much for asking me questions my wonderful friend! Happy New Year!!! 😘

If anyone else would like to ask me some here is the list of EOY asks!

[wormtime123]

AAAAAAAAAAAA DRAMATURGY EPILOGUEEE

I love the lengthy wrap up of so many loose ends, the slow mend of things torn and that utter contentment to be found with people just existing right there. This is going to be my go-to comfort fic for found family to re-read over and over and over and over

Now I wanna pick your brain on all the bits; worldwalker shapeshifting Gem? Its so coool I love it. When did you decide to give her and others (Scar, Cub?) powers? What did Cub actually do at the end of Grumbot there? What was your favorite part of the epilogue to write? And which part was the most emotional for you? (tough question, I know I can't choose between Pearl & Gem's or Pearl & Grian's conversations)

WHEW dear god thank you for presenting me a pass to go insane on a silver platter. i’ll be putting my answers under a read more so i don’t explode people’s feeds with nonsense

most of the magic decisions made are based ~mostly in what i know about canon, i just ended up filling in some blanks and playing around with what’s already there! i’m endlessly fascinated by gem’s dimension-hopping (empires isn’t addressed in dramaturgy, but i operate on everything she said about her powers in e2) and i think the idea that she can open portals at will and freely travel between worlds/universes in a way that other players can’t is amazing. then the shapeshifting just made sense to me in how she changes her appearance around to fit into whatever character she wants to take on in each world.

cub and scar lore i’m a lot less familiar with since i only know of certain clips about their vex deal, but i kind of treat it similarly to gem in that i assume they can shift their forms around (ie. how often scar changes to fit a character like gem does, cub going from old man to s8 e-boy skin) and have a peculiar knowledge around portals (ie. the big dig, scar using his “wizard portals” to travel between seasons.) however i think gem has a different kind of expertise working with portals with how often she dimension-hops, so those two were kind of just doing unethical science at the rift to see what stuck lol.

the rift on its own is its whole thing in my Fanon Brain, but i have a strong image of it as a living, breathing entity that sucks things in and spits them back out in other spaces indiscriminately. dramaturgy scar describes it as hungry and i think that’s about as apt as it gets. stuck perpetually wanting to consume yet unable to hold anything in. then one of my biggest plot problems to solve was making the story line up with grian’s lore, aka grumbot (prime) getting tossed in the canon timeline ominously hinting at the other grian’s crimes, so i asked myself how dramaturgy hermits could have weaponized the rift and that’s where i landed! i admittedly don’t have a specific answer to how cub would have aggravated the rift enough to make it go hogwild in chapter 10, but i personally just imagined him figuring it out at one point or another by throwing shit in until something worked

dear god this is already getting long but epilogue!!! my answer for favorite scene to write is a little anticlimactic but i love writing all the evo flashbacks. if you couldn’t tell i am completely evo enamored. i love the strange, off-putting, nostalgic innocence of “something unpreventable and life-altering is about to happen and they Don’t Know.” i love them working together to get to the stronghold and entering the end portal thinking it’s going to be another task of teamwork as always and then just *silence* on the other end. amazing incredible tragic love it

(also on that note i loved writing the scene atop the mansion. just one last hermit acting entirely too normal while subjecting pearl to cursed knowledge before we go)

and lastly for most emotional to write i’d definitely say the scene at the hobbit hole! i’ve had that one as well as the sleepover at impulse’s in the back of my mind for so long i’m just glad i got it out. getting there was like the end of an era for me. everything with grian and pearl finally being back together but still not quite on the same page. i think pearl seeing grian so taken aback in the face of the tangible proof of his actions and mumbo’s feelings was the straw that broke the camel’s back, because at this point in the story pearl’s finally willing to see herself in mumbo’s situation. she’s finally realizing how badly she needs this specific closure but grian’s too busy going ???my actions… have consequences? i can’t just run off into the night with no negative impact on the people around me?

(which is of course also a matter of a warped sense of self-image and understanding emotions, but grian will go on murder sprees in the 3rd life time loop box before exercising an ounce of self-reflection, more at 11.) and only after seeing pearl shaking like a sad wet chihuahua clutching this random notebook of his like it’s the sacred texts does he really start to grasp how genuinely bad it’s been for her. like that would have been obvious to anyone who’s normal but whatever. i love studying skyblings like bugs

ANYWAYS. i hope you enjoyed this thought dump and thank you again for the ask i owe you my life

[amber-tortoiseshell]

I'm sorry because this might be a pain to do since it's kinda a big family but what would Snowbirds family look like? I'm really interested to see how Yarrowleaf would turn out since she seems so out of place compared to literally all of her siblings.

Oh and I'd like to say I love your take on Moth Flight's family!

First of all re: Moth Flight: Thank you! I'm really quite proud of them, I'm glad someone enjoyed it with me! 🤍

And now onto Snowbird.

Eh, of course it's not a pain, i'm doing this whole ask game for the sake of playing with the characters like this lol.

We don't have parents for Snowbird (canon, i beg you please never make her into Blackstar's kit please please please). I made her dominant white for now, but i'm a bit troubled, because i think the W allele isn't present in my pre-TPB ShadowClan, the white or almost white cats are all points there. (It's so annoying, there is a generation or two during the early arcs when we know almost nothing about the familiar relationships in ShadowClan (and RiverClan and WindClan, really).) But let's say her mother or father was a rouge or something. Or Whitestorm had a little affair in Shadowclan. (Honestly i'm very much down for this explanation, because i'm a little sad that the Snowfur-Whitestorm white allele line is discontinued as all of Whitestorm's known kits are colored.)

All of this to say: Snowbird is dominant white for now, but that can change if i learn something about her ancestors. (Genotype: __ __ __ W_)

Her mate is Scorchfur, solid blue (aa dd o- ww) according to his description.

We have eight canon kits. (I ignore Bluebellkit since she's never mentioned in the books by name or color.)

Buster/Rippletail, Beenose and Gullswoop are all full whites. Great, no problem here. (Let's ignore Beenose's black ears. It's just that kittencap thing. I can't do vans now.)

Cloverfoot and Frondwhisker are gray tabbies, which means Snowbird carries the agouti, black and no-white alleles. (Updated genotype: A_ _d _o Ww)

But next up we have Berryheart and Conefoot; both white spotted! Which means either Snowbird or Scorchfur has the ws allele. If Snowbird has it, that means all of the not white kits got white spotting. Viable solution, but i choose the other one, and give the ws allele to Scorchfur.

Also Berryheart is solid black, which means Snowbird carries solid and dense too. (Snowbird: Aa Dd _o Ww, Scorchfur: aa dd o- wsw).

And Yarrowleaf at last. Who is orange. Well she can't be orange; the best I can do is tortie. I think a tortie tabby without white is a fair compromise, also i love Yarrowleaf's name and i love torties, so i'm pleased.

In the end we got this genotype for Snowbird: Aa Dd Oo Ww (white masking black tortie tabby). We needed only two modifications: adding some white spotting to Scorchfur and making Yellowleaf tortie instead of simply ginger.

Snowbird and Scorchfur

First litter: Berryheart, Buster, Cloverfoot

Berryheart is also the mother of Needletail whose description is silver. However i decided to not make her inhibitor-silver, just blue or even black tabby; I didn't want to introduce the allele into the family (and the Clan!) for the sake of one cat.

Second litter: Beenose, Yarrowleaf; and Yarrowleaf's kits Flaxfoot and Hopwhisker

Yarrowleaf's son is a black tabby (another argument why she needs the o allele), but her daughter is a calico; ergo, white spotted. So again: either Yarrowleaf or the father of her kittens, Nettle has white spotting. I'm already attached to my mental image of torbie Yarrowleaf, so Nettle gets it, who cares about that guy anyway.

Third litter: Frondwhisker, Conefoot, Gullswoop

Please note that all of this can shatter in the moment I learn something about Snowbird's parents

(warrior cats genetics ask game)

[oldsargasso]

Re: Winner cooking for his boys

SLKGDFGSFHSHIHGJO I'M SO! EMOTIONAL! WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!

First of all, it's so easy to picture Winner doing all this coz Pop is such a cook 🥺 BUT ALSO! HE LIKES THEM! HE LIKES LIVING WITH THEM! WHY AM I SO AFFECTED BY THE MERE FACT OF THIS

I love that Kim's laundry habits are a recurring detail. I'd LOVE to be a fly on the wall watching Kenta's probably very intense negotiating tactics with market vendors.

As soon as Winner set the chilis aside I got mushy 🥺 I know I asked for a token of mild (hah) thoughtfulness but! It's such a small and yet thoughtful action!!!

Kenta sitting in the car after therapy - you had to stab me extra good didn't you hmm. But also just the way that Winner is so used to their rhythm GETS ME!!! Also KimDean shopping date 🥺 And Kenta getting post-therapy kisses my GOODNESS!!! I'm such a mess good god

One other domestic detail we must consider is that Winner is the tallest in the household and is therefore in charge of top shelf duty. And perhaps he takes advantage of this at moments, such as when Dean is struggling on tiptoes to reach a large mixing bowl stored just out of reach, and Winner presses his body flush against Dean's back as he reaches up from behind him to grab the bowl. "Need this?" he might say, before planting a sly kiss on Dean's cheek and laughing when Dean playfully shoves at him.

Also your tags!! Kim and Dean cuddling 🥺 Of course they'd share a bed. Winner takes up absolutely too much room and probably also snores at night. Kim and Dean are less particular about touch, they don't have to worry about it, whereas Kenta deals with a mix of touch aversion and touch starvation and needs his own space. BUT THE IMAGE OF HIM LINGERING IN THE DOORWAY WANTING TO BE WITH THEM AND NOT KNOWING HOW TO ASK. LET ME LIE DOWN FOR A MOMENT!!!!

In regards to cuddly Dean, I had been thinking about how he probably touches Kenta in the most casual way out of the three of them.

Winner probably (at first) uses touch to get on Kenta's nerves and rile him up (Winner likes getting shoved against hard surfaces ok), and then has an awkward period where he realizes he doesn't want to upset Kenta and has to figure out how to not be annoying.

Kim's touches are always heavy and intentional, there's a tangible weight to them, and they calm Kenta rather than rile him up.

But I think Dean would just be outright cuddly with Kenta, like he's touchy without thinking about it. Kenta will be sitting on the couch and Dean will plop down with his head in Kenta's lap, jabbering away about some new car he got to test drive, or he'll lean his head on Kenta's shoulder when they're watching a movie. And it's just. Something Kenta hasn't had since Pete left.

And he doesn't really know how to be physically affectionate (not at first), how to let himself just… touch someone for the sake of touching them. But it never phases Dean, if it takes Kenta ten minutes to convince himself to put his arm around Dean's shoulder. Dean doesn't pull away in a "oh I must be making you uncomfortable" manner. He doesn't withdraw his affection unless Kenta pushes him away.

And I think that would mean so much to Kenta? That Dean doesn't worry at all about being cuddly with him. He's not scared that Kenta will lash out at him, even though Kenta does occasionally snap when he's in a "don't treat me like I exist" mood, which is something they learn to navigate. But Dean still comes right back to him once things settle, simply because he likes Kenta and he enjoys being in contact with the people he likes.

Kenta also simply finds it cute at times and tells Dean so, which is how I ended up at the first ask I sent you 😌

YOU BROUGHT THAT ON YOURSELF!!!

onmg is he? I basically don't know anything about the actors beyond what photos/videos are shared on tumblr lol. that's funny though. I very much ascribe to cooking as a form of love. and spending time in the kitchen together is like THE activity so I always use it to show how people care!

listen if nothing else I will make up tiny details that I can tenuously connect to onscreen characterisation and carry it through all my stories. you KNOW Kenta has a Reputation in the market. half of it is intense negotiation and the other half is old ladies seeing his sad puppy demeanour and adopting him.

food is a language of love!! thoughtful consideration!! I feel like Winner would be big on these little actions where nothing is said and nobody has to say anything but it's obvious that he was paying attention. and making an effort.

I need Kenta to go to therapy so bad. also the car is the perfect place for containing maybe a little mini breakdown or just collecting yourself. like it's so obviously an in-between space that while you're there you can just process. that's why road trips are the best. imagine them all going on a road trip lmao there'd be at least one roadside argument and constant judgement of whoever is behind the wheel. Winner claims front seat privileges for height reasons. Kim for sure creates a perfect playlist or two (and then everyone keeps talking over the best songs so they have to start them again a bunch of times). that post that's like "doesn't matter how old you are, all road trip snacks should look like a child was given $20 and free reign" that's Dean. and then Kenta also packs some healthy snacks but he's the first one into the junk food.

Kim and Dean deserve to go shopping together! Kenta has no style and Winner has a very particular style so it is up to Kim and Dean to look good for everyone. also they're the only two who can be trusted to behave properly in a dressing room. by which I mean keep quiet. Winner doesn't give a fuck and Kenta doesn't like being forced to keep his noises in. they're buying jewellery and going to an ~adult store btw. KISSES FOR KENTA agenda.

!! YES. omg Winner would be the best/worst being the tallest. he'll help BUT. he definitely stores everyday items up high and is like "you just have to ask nicely~"

(uh I just read your newest ask and now my brain is like. derailed completely.)

I think Kim likes the closeness of sharing a bed and Dean likes knowing someone is always there. and Winner definitely needs his own space - for sprawling but also because I think he's the one out of all of them that very much needs His Space and His Things. Kenta would have had his own room in Tony's mansion right? or no??

stopppp cuddly Dean is KILLING MEEEE. also the thought that Pete was casually touchy with Kenta even with his power? death for me actually. but ughhh yes it's the fact that there's no expectation behind Dean's physical contact! it's just so natural and unconscious, like of course he's gonna reach out! I wonder too because North, Sonic and Alan are all pretty touchy as well, like Dean might be so used to it he doesn't even think twice about it. and now. they're pack! they're family! of course Dean isn't concerned about touching Kenta; he's not only allowed he's encouraged to do so because of that. am thinking of Kim and Dean in their bed with Kenta at the door and it's Dean who wakes up and welcomes him in, gently pulls his arm until Kenta climbs into bed and into prime cuddling position. and Kim sleeps through the whole thing because he knows he's safe.

deeply love the thought process that lead from this to where you ended up, you have a beautiful brain.