#honestly a miracle i finally got it out ok

[quantomeno]

Professor Layton and the Raiders of the Lost Legacy

aka "I've finally pinpointed exactly what's wrong with Azran Legacy and it's Indiana Jones"

(spoilers for all the layton games. Not many for Indiana Jones films but there are some mostly to do with the Last Crusade)

(also sorry this is such a long post I got carried away)

So, the other day I was rewatching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (it was new years eve and I had nothing better to do and it was on tv) and as a Layton fan I chuckled a little at the opening where Indy talks about how archaeology isn't about hunting for buried treasure etc because as we all know, Layton spends even less time being an archaeology professor than Indy and honestly even less time doing anything remotely related to archaeology.

And as the film progressed, I had Layton in the back of my mind. I was a massive Indiana Jones fan around the same time I was a massive Layton fan but since Layton in the original trilogy is hardly an archaeologist I don't think I ever really made the connection between the two series.

So, the problem I've always had with Azran Legacy is twofold. One is the story letting you do the different locations in any order, because it forces the overarching plot to stagnate and is what I think is a big factor in the rushed revelations at the ending (where we have like five different things going on and like everyone dies and comes back to life like woah, slow down). The other is that it just doesn't feel 'Laytonesque'. Now, Miracle Mask also has this issue, and in that case it's kind of the point because of the move to a new console and the new graphics and the series was getting repetitive by then. And some of the things I'll discuss later will be true of MM but I think they're more pronounced in AL.

The thing I realised watching the last crusade was that there's something else: AL is an 'Indiana Jones game' (in a sense).

OK there are a few key features of an IJ film for those who haven't seen them:

Indy meets someone who wants him to track down a valuable artefact that has some sort of mystical properties (e.g. the Holy Grail)

He discovers that some bad guys are after the treasure for evil purposes (it's often nazis)

What follows is an often violent chase across countries as he tries to piece together the mystery

In the end, Indy discovers the secret but just before he can get to the treasure, the bad guys get there first

He typically gets betrayed at a pivotal moment by someone he trusted

Indy has to help the bad guys under duress (e.g. his dad is shot and can only be saved by the Holy Grail)

The bad guys get the treasure but then do something stupid because of their greed/pride/ignorance and then they get killed by the magic power of the treasure (and the myths around it are thus proven true)

Indiana Jones rejects the allure of the treasure's power and either returns it to its rightful owners, leaves it alone or it ends up hidden away in a storage facility and forgotten (despite the fact much is made of his catchphrase 'it belongs in a museum', most of the major treasures don't actually end up in a museum)

Now, if we look at Azran Legacy:

Layton meets a guy (Sycamore) who has found a mysterious girl frozen in ice who is tied to some greater legend

He soon finds out Targent is after the girl and then they discover the second clue (the Azran eggs) and realise Targent want the 'Azran Legacy'

What follows is an occasionally violent chase around the world as Layton tries to piece together the mystery and find the eggs before Targent

Layton puts together the key from the Azran eggs but it gets stolen by Descole (his 'arch nemesis' who who was disguised as Sycamore)

Everyone chases Descole to the Azran sanctuary but then Layton gets betrayed by Emmy who was secretly working for Targent

Bronev (Targent's leader), in his desire to get the Azran legacy at all costs, sacrifices the frozen girl (Aurora) by stabbing her with the key

Laputa Castle in the Sky happens robots are unleashed on the world and to stop them everyone present must sacrifice themselves

Aurora (she got better) resurrects everyone with Azran magic science and then dies herself (she was a robot so she wasn't really alive anyway)

The Azran sanctuary and the robots crumble to dust and Layton, having rejected the allure of power and so on, returns home (after dealing with some family drama but that's a whole other story)

But you see the point? Azran Legacy is a stereotypical treasure hunting plot. Which is of course The Point, but it really shows just why it doesn't feel like a Layton game.

Compare Lost Future which is often the target of criticism for its over-the-top final act. Why is LF still a Layton game? Because we don't have the 'magic' elements Azrran Legacy has. Because the location is quite fixed and isolated. Because the evil guys aren't chasing us around the globe. Sure, they appear every time we go onto their turf, but 1) that's their turf and 2) they are no chase scenes. There isn't this final act where the villain wins the prize because there is no McGuffin.

And that is the other key thing: Layton games actually very rarely have McGuffins that are actual items.

CV's golden apple is really Flora.

PB has the box, obviously and that one I concede.

Last Specter has the flute? I guess. But the golden garden is the real treasure everyone's hunting for but that's not a 'thing'.

LF has the time machine? Maybe that counts?

Eternal Diva has Ambrosia/the secret to eternal life, but Ambrosia is again a place and the secret isn't a thing either.

MM has the mask (duh).

And AL has the eggs and later the key. The point being that there's an actual hunt for the eggs. Unlike in Last Specter where the flute never really changes hands.

The next point that then arises is why don't PB and MM suffer from this problem?

PB has only got Don Paolo as the 'villain' who wants the treasure. The other treasure seekers are either the real owner (Anton) or his brother who is kind of just hanging around grumpily and leaves after being told off by a hotel clerk. There's no 'chase' and the treasure doesn't physically appear until Don Paolo drops it and then leaves the plot entirely. Also its 'magic' is explained scientifically in a (somewhat) believable (or at least comprehensible) way.

MM avoids it because it is actually a Scooby Doo plot and not an Indiana Jones plot: the villain is a guy with a grudge in a costume, the magic item had no powers and was just a key to some weird contraption that lifts up the city (for reasons) and all the 'magic' was just circus tricks. The fact it mirrors the Last Crusade's "other hand" scene is hardly relevant. Even the ruins segment is decidedly not Indiana Jones since, again, there's no race against time aspect and there are no bad guys chasing them. MM definitely takes a lot of cues from IJ but overall the game is still Laytonesque. It is a character study more than an adventure.

And for people who complain about the weirdness of Last Specter. That's not that weird. Dinosaurs existed once it's not completely insane that a big aquatic animal was hiding in the town's reservoir.

I think this even ties into why I dislike the AL 'finger point' scene: all the other games build up to that moment because it answers an important mystery at the core of the story (or leads to it). Because a Layton game is a mystery game, but AL is hardly a mystery story, or it's really just a bunch of mini mysteries embedded in a treasure hunting chase story. Like, there is the 'what is the legacy' mystery, but that's not something you solve the same way you do the hallucinations of PB or the identity of LS's spectre. It just appears by itself at the end.

In trying to make a big, exciting, globe-trotting game, Level 5 overlooked the fundamental features of a Layton game, in particular the overarching mystery, and supplanted them with treasure-hunting tropes. AL is the least Laytonesque game of them all as a result and while this is not inherently a bad thing (we all know the original trilogy's twist was getting a little stale the fourth time they did it), it does change the flavour of the game to such a degree that I personally don't love it to the same degree as the other games.

Also the whole Layton I am your brother and also Bronev is our father bit was way too rushed and I can't forgive it for that. Honestly that's actually 75% of why AL is my lowest-ranked main series game but that's less fun to talk about than all this.

[luveline]

Ok Derek angst what about a non-bau gf getting jealous of his flirting with Garcia? Bc ngl if my bf did that with a girl who I hadn’t met I would be super upset and then May be his gf meets Garcia and realizes she’s a girls girl and super sweet? Idk u can take it any direction

ty for your request ♡ fem!reader

You don't want anything to do with Penelope Garcia. Honestly, you wouldn't ever meet her if you had your way, but you're level-headed enough to know that she's important to Derek. Integral to his life. It's a miracle you put off meeting her as long as you had. 

At first, you genuinely thought she was Derek's mom. He always ended calls with, "Love you, mama." It was only a few weeks ago when he shook things up to say, "I love you, babygirl," did you look up from the book on your thigh to ask who it was.

"Penelope," he'd said, like he was confused. "Who'd you think?" 

You shrugged noncommittal, earning yourself a hair pet and a kiss. You lay awake that night wondering if you got it wrong. You'd heard a hundred stories about her and felt reluctantly fond, but now? Your boyfriend calls other girls pet names, what do you do about that? What can you? 

You ignored it. And now you have to meet her. 

She doesn't seem as nefarious as you've imagined her, springing from her seat at the cafe table to hug you. "Hi! Oh my god hi! I can't believe I'm finally meeting you, I've never been this happy in my life! You're so pretty!" 

You wince at her arms thrown over your shoulders but reciprocate. You aren't a total bitch.

"Thank you," you say. She smells like coffee creamer and hairspray. She pulls away to beam at you, her lips painted a shiny, pretty red. "It's nice to meet you. Derek has nothing but good things to say about you."

It sounds awfully formal, like you're opening a bank account with a teller who has a shared acquaintance. Derek gives you a look. You give him a look back, mutual confusion. She may be his best friend, but you don't know her (and what you do know you're jealous of, so). 

Derek takes your hand despite your off behaviour to show you off with pride, his teeth peeking from behind his lips milky white. "My two favourite girls had to meet eventually."

"I thought I'd be more jealous about coming second," Penelope says, eyes twinkling, "but I've never seen Derek so happy." Her voice turns scratchy like stretched linen. "He deserves the best, you know? And it's clear you're it. He's smitten."

"Maybe don't give up all my secrets, sweetheart," he says. 

Seeing them together chills your raging envy. There's a lot of love there, clearly, but the sexual tension you pictured is fictional. "Girl code, my love,'' Penelope says with a shrug. She winks at you. 

Insecurity nags at your skin like condensation on a cold window, "You've known Derek for nearly six years? Have you guys always been this close?" 

"Well, mister muscles here didn't bother remembering my name for the first couple of weeks that we worked together, so he deferred to pet names. And, you know, he's him," —Penelope gestures to him as if to say, behold, drawing a startled laugh from you— "and I'm me, so. I didn't want him to stop." 

"Hey, now." 

Penelope shakes her head at you. "He always does this." 

"If 'this' is stopping you from talking bad on yourself, babygirl, then yeah. I'll always do it." 

You feel clarity break, the sweet taste of relief and the muggier lick of shame. Derek and Penelope have a special friendship. That you knew before meeting her. She's made a huge, irreplaceable impact on his life, and Derek has clearly done the same. They aren't playing work husband and wife —there are reasons for their affections that go well beyond the surface flirtation. 

"I get it. Nobody ever called me anything so nice as Derek calls me," you confide. Derek's eyebrows leap up. You've never told him this; you're telling Penelope as a sort of apology, though she can't know that. "I never got asked out growing up. When he asked me on a date I thought he was trying to win a bet." 

Penelope's expression flickers with relief. There and gone, quickly replaced by sympathy. "Are you kidding? You're so pretty, Derek's lucky he got to you before someone else did." 

Derek kisses your cheek. His lips linger against the apple of it, your joined hands pulled instinctively to his firm torso. You might be imagining it, but Derek seems to know everything, so he probably knows the hill you've just climbed in your head. "Damn straight I'm lucky. I'm surrounded by beautiful, genius women. This is paradise for the modern man." 

You flush at his touch and praise. Penelope makes a pleased squeak. "Ooh, you guys are cute! You need to let me take a photo. This'll make a great printout for your wedding."

"Penelope." 

[vulpixisananimal]

"Can you see it from there!!"

(You were all taking a break from walking, it had been a very long day, but! With a bit of luck! You could sleep somewhere that wasn't in a tent! That's why Siffrin, wait, not Siffrin, was up in a tree, having climbed it before anyone even asked.)

"Patience, 'Bella" (Nille replied. She had been comparably fine with the travels.)

"O-oh, right."

(Oh Mirabelle, you should really be used to this by now. You had traveled for what, a whole year before this? You should be used to the long walks and dusty roads.)

(Mal Du Pays jumped off the branch they were hanging from and hopped to the ground with a huff. It tapped its eyes with its fingers and nodded. "I saw it.")

"W-well, if that's the case then we should get going!" (You say, excited. Finally, a nice bed!)

"Hmmmmm, how far away is it though?" (Nille asks.)

(There's a delay before Mal replies, it sighs. It makes two fists and pulls them apart, then makes an x with its arms. "It's far, we should rest.")

"O-oh. . ." (You say, disapointed, b-but, that was ok! One more night out here would be fine!) "You'll be ok with that?"

(It looked at you, nodded, then walked off.)

"pleasant. . ." (Nille said sarcastically, then sighed.) "No, I shouldn't say that."

"I-it's fine, w-we'll get used to it." (You had to admit, Siffrins mental health situation was. . . Complicated. Their memory only got worse, and Mal wasn't exactly easy to work with. Although, it was a small miracle everyone knew sign language already. Either from House of Change classes, defender lessons, looking out for neighbors, or just by Being Odile.)

(You'll get used to it. You and Nille head back to where everyone was resting up to relay the news.)

(Boniface was looking for cool rocks, Odile had found a place to sit in the shade and read, and Ramos and Isabeau where chatting about something. Mal had already disappeared, probably into the woods to be alone.)

"We'll make it there tomorrow, it looks like!" (You say, finding a place to put down your pack.) "S-sorry."

"No need to apolagize, Mira!" (Isabeau says, cheerfuly.) "There's no problem with one more night in the woods!"

"I like it, personaly." (Ramos replies, crossing their arms.) "I loooove waking up with bugs in my hair, like I have a few hundred new roomates."

(You giggle. Ramos was. . . Interesting. Still not sure what to make of them. No time to worry about that now, though. Time to get ready for a long night. Oh and you were REALLY looking forward to a nice bed too.)

(You perk your head up. What was that?)

"You ok, 'Bell?" (Bonnie asks, they had a pile of rocks in their arms.)

"Huh?" (You turn to them.) "O-oh! Yes just, did you hear anything just now?

"Wha?" (Bonnie squinted at you.) "Bird? You mean the birds?"

"N-no! Like, someone? I think?"

"Nuh uh." (They shook their head.) "It wasn't those two?" (Bonnie gestured to Ramos and Isabeau.)

"N-no! It wasn't them either!"

"Hehe, was it an imaginary friend?"

"No!!!" (You huff. Bonnie finally relents, going to help Nille set up a fire pit for dinner. You go back to setting up your own tent.)

(. . . There it was again. You ignore it.)

(. . .)

(Aaaaaand again?)

(. . . . . . . . . .)

(Ok that's it. You stand up, and start walking to the woods.) "I-I'll be right back!"

"Don't get lost!" (Isa calls back.)

(R-right. . .)

(You couldn't quite place that sound. It sounded like. . . A cry for help, a wail, and someone saying hello all at once. It was weird. You carefuly walked through the wood, trying not to get your dress caught on branches and such.)

(It was getting so dark, the canopy above you got thicker and thicker, blotting out the evening sky. It was amazing, honestly, seeing how the world itself was changed by nothing but trees.)

(The sounds got louder.)

"Hellloooooo?" (You call out. No response.)

(Could someone be in trouble? Or hurt??? Maybe they've been trapped in these woods for weeks! O-or, or maybe it was that stranger again! What was it's name. . ?)

(You walk a little bit more, stopping at a tree for a moment. What a thick forest. You're so glad there was a road, it would be so much slower trying to go through this thicket. Maybe if you stay here for a minute you can find-)

(What's that smell?)

(You sniff the air, there was a weird smell. Wait, was it mint??? No, no it wasn't mint, it was so overwhelming all of a sudden! Why so fast!! It's-)

(Your heart skips a beat. You look up.)

(Sugar!)

(You jump away from the sadness as it crashes down on where you were standing. You draw your sword, thank Change you didn't leave it behind!! Oh no, what do you do!! C-c'mon Mirabelle!! You've fought a lot of sadness' before!! J-just, just take a second and. . .)

"HELP!!! SADNESS!!!" (You yell. Please hurry, friends!!)

(The sadness looks at you, as if it's staring into your soul, before screaming.)

(You wince at the sound, but grip your sword! You strike, yelling as you lash out at the sadness with your weapon. The strike leaves a gash, but nothing more.)

(The sadness tilts its head at you, and screams again, bringing a claw down on you. You block it with your sword.)

"A-ANYONE!!!!"

(You hear someone reply, but it was too far away. Just, j-just a little bit more, Mira! You throw up a hand! Artsy Silent Burst!!!)

(It glances off the sadness, barely doing anything.)

(The sadness growls angrilly, before clapping its hands together and screaming. You wince again, what the Change was that?!? You ready yourself again and-)

(Just then, a blur of white sprints past you, it was Mal!! It brandished its dagger and sliced and stabbed at the sadness again and again and again!!)

(Only for each blow to be deflected. Mal du Pays jumped back, for the first time you see it shocked.)

"I-It. . . It didn't do anything?!?" (You craft your spell to make your friend stronger!) "Is anyone else-"

"HERE!! I'M HERE!!!" (Running past you before you could stop them, Ramos dashed at the Sadness with their tonfas and struck out. This time it actually connected! it didn't do much but it connected!!)

"Careful!!" (You run up to Ramos.) "where's everyone else!!"

"Catching up!" (Ramos clenched and unclenched their hand.) "I hit it's weakness and still did blinding nothing."

"It's real strong, be careful!!"

(Mal was circling around the Sadness, it attacked with a fist and dagger, this time making contact with the sadness, it screamed.)

(It looked at Mal, it had hatred in it's eyes.)

(Mal Du Pays was frozen in time.)

"NO!!!!"

"W-WHAT THE?!?!?"

(Your heart dropped. No, no no no no. That's, that's not possible!! You beat the king!! You unfroze the country! You fixed everything!! But you never learned how to unfreeze people!!! You, you couldn't fix this!!!)

"That's, that's, that's-" (Ramos looked petrified seeing Mals frozen stare. R-right, they where probably frozen too back before you beat the King.)

(Wait!! You did have something!! You clap your hands.) "T-this'll stop you being frozen, b-but. . ."

". . ." (Ramos looked between you and the sadness, that confidence they came into the battle with quickly fading.) "I-I, I might have an idea."

"Is it a good one?"

"N-no way, but. Oh crab it!!" (Ramos gritted their teeth and charged forward, with a yell they struck the sadness on the head with their rock/scissors sign.)

(There's a moment where both stop. You smell a little bit of mint- mind craft?!?)

(Ramos had refrained from developing their mind craft, the most they ever did was Odile asking to see some of it. They knew it left a bad taste in Siffrin's mouth, so. . .)

"OW OW OW OW OW OW-" (Ramos collapses back, clutching their head, as the sadness wails clutching it's own head in turn.)

"MIRABELLE!! RAMOS!!" (That was Isabeau! You turn, he, Nille, Bonnie, and a bit further behind, Odile, where running up to join in. Isa gasped seeing Mal.) "WH- WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?"

W-woah!!" (Nille brandished her hammer, standing between you and the sadness.)

"GET OUTTA HERE!! STUPID!! GRABBING SADNESS!!!" (Bonnie stood next to their sister, yelling all kind of things at the strong sadness.)

"C-careful!! It froze Mal in time!!" (You yell, getting up.) "I-if we beat it then maybe we'll, w-we-"

(The sadness. . . Ran away?)

"Uh. . ."

"What???"

"Gems. . ."

"YEAH!!! KEEP RUNNING!!!"

(You breathe in, and out.)

(Mirabelle is now level 47. . . And learned the skill "Lovely Moving Cure!")

(Ramos is now level 21.)

(You feel dizzy, and sick, Oh Change what just happened!?!? Y-you, Change, oh you- YOU NEED TO UNFREEZE MAL!!!)

"M-mira!!" (Isabeau was already by your frozen friend as you got over there.) "C-can you, fix? It?"

"I-I, I think I can! If, if I just, do this. . ." (You take a breath, and hold out your hands. Please unfreeze please unfreeze please unfreeze. . .)

(Your friend gasps and collapses to their knees, they're coughing and shaking.)

"Oh thank Change that worked!!" (You kneel down next to them, Isabeau joining you.) "A-are you alright?!? Do you need a heal?!??"

"W-where. . ." (They shook their head. Not Mal?) "Uh, what, where, am I? What. . ."

"Easy, easy. Who's around right now?" (Isabeau asked softly.)

(They look up at you, then at Isabeau, then back at the ground.) "Uh, Siffrin, i-it's just me, what, uh. . ."

"I-I, I got attacked by a sadness a-and, and screamed for help and Mal came from nowhere to help but, b-but got frozen in time and I was, I-If, if you. . ." (You're hyperventilating. If you, if you hadn't figured out how to unfreeze them, then, then, t-then--)

"Relax, 'Bella." (Nille came over and knelt down next to you.) "Take a breath, you saved the day again, held your own too against that thing!"

"I-I, I guess so. . ." (You breathe in, and out. Just like Sif does. You were already calming down.)

"What was that sadness?" (Odile sat down by a tree, clearly winded from running here.) "It looked similar to sadness near the house of change, rather than. . ."

(Ramos looked away.)

"Maaaaybe it's lost?" (Said Sif, he leaned back onto Isabeau.) "Or it's a fan."

"Some fanclub." (Isabeau sighed, gently patting Siffrins head.) "It's still around though, isn't it?"

"It smelled really bad." (Bonnie adds.) "Stinking of sugar, toooo much sugar."

"You? Saying it's too much sugar?" (Nille jokes.) "Can't be possible."

"HEY!!!"

(You all laugh. Even if it was scary, you all get a chance to laugh. What a great family you have.)

". . . I, hate to be the one to say it," (Odile stands up.) "We cannot sleep here tonight."

"Good point."

"Agreed."

"I-if we hurry, we should make it before it gets dark."

"Fingers crossed. . ."

(It was going to be a long walk.)

[nicolloyd]

short comic based on skywalker syndrome by @lloydskywalkers! (tw for blood, dismembered arm and choking under the cut)

ok this took SO long but i finally got it done so i hope you enjoyed it! i recently read this fic (i know im late to the party) and it was just way too good so i had to draw it, seriously tho if you havent already plspls check out lloydskywalkers their fics are just sooo good ive read almost every single one

you can kinda see where the quality dips on this but nevertheless i hope its still alright, its a miracle i stuck with it throughout honestly its only my second time drawing an actual comic and its like 30 drawings long

if you have any criticsm pls share it with me! ive been trying to get better at expressions so i know i have room to improve!

[heavenlycloud]

dream a little dream: yunjin x fem! reader ✧°🍒‧｡°

request: hi! It says that soft hours are open and I just had a thought from watching the LE SSERAFIM x Dream Academy Video where the fimmies surprised the contestants. Imagine being the 6th member of LE SSERAFIM and being in a relationship with yunjin and you both are smiling happily and holding hands while greeting the contestants, and then once you all leave some of the contestants are like “omg the way they look at each other, they’re definitely dating” or something of that sort LOL 🩷

a/n: ok so funny story i read this and then wrote it all whilst being sleep deprived and slightly delirious…so i lowkey mixed up the details but i can go back and rewrite it if you’re not satisfied (this is why i need sleep and why i need to stop trying to write from memory cuz i can’t do it).

Becoming an idol had been your dream since you were 14 years old as a freshman in high school. one of your friends showed you their favorite girl groups and you were immediately sucked into the world of kpop. as you went through high school and entered university your hope of making your dream come true slowly dwindled. companies were starting to debut girls younger and younger which you didn’t think gave you much of a chance at 18 years old. that was until you got an email from someone about submitting an audition for a new girl group that would form under HYBE in the next year. at first you thought it was a scam, but after doing a deep dive on the internet you realized it was more real than fake. you submitted the audition with little hope knowing that you’d practically ‘aged out’ of the trainee age range, on top of the fact that you hadn’t been singing or dancing since infancy like every idol seemed to have done. so it was a huge surprise when you got an email back 8 weeks later confirming that you passed the audition. by some miracle you’d convinced your parents to let you go to Korea to become a trainee under HYBE with the hopes of debut. truthfully, they only said yes knowing that you’d probably be sent back home after 6 months…and your university credits were valid for the next 10 years so you could pick up where you left off. 

Much like your parents assumed, you were sent back home, but instead of after 6 months, it was after 2 years. you gave everything you could to the trainee program but in the end you didn’t make the final cut due to “not having the look the group needed”. you were heartbroken to leave your new friends, the seven girls who were supposed to make HYBE’s new girl group. the three younger girls that had become like your little sisters, the two older girls that were like your older sisters, and the one same aged girl who was your best friend…maybe a little more. on your last day in the company you laughed while saying your final goodbyes, clinging onto your girls in a huddle as you tried to have a positive outlook on a shitty situation. when you got back home you were devastated to say the least. for the first few weeks you only cried and wished things had worked in your favor, until one day you refused to wallow in your sorrows any longer. 

you made a promise that you’d see them again, that you’d see her again and laying around crying all day wasn’t going to make that happen. so, you began practicing again using the techniques and lessons you’d learned over your 2 year long trainee experience. when the audition announcement came out this time around you didn’t hesitate to apply to the same company that let you go a year ago. given how hard you worked, it was absolutely no surprise when you found out HYBE wanted you back in their trainee program. at this point your parents didn’t bother refusing once again knowing university would be there if you ended up coming back home again. however, with the way you’d been training yourself it wasn’t looking like that would be an option. honestly you didn’t know if your driving force was to prove to yourself or to the people that sent you home that you had what it takes, but regardless you were ready this time. by the end of the first mission it was clear to the judges, trainers, and other contestants that you were certainly a force to be reckoned with. you’d only ever heard praises and slight critiques that could be fixed immediately from your trainers and judges. 

the eighteen of you all filed into the practice room and filled the seats as you sat in front of the screen that was presumably going to show your second mission. you sat between lara and sophia holding both of their hands as you anxiously watched the screen in front of you. their grips on your hand tightened when they saw the members of le sserafim appear, reacting to the Dream Academy trailer. squeals and screams filled the room as everyone shared their shock but you only laughed, finding it funny that this was the way they were seeing you again for the first time since you left. lara shook your hand and told you, “i swear if we ever meet them, i’m asking them to dance fearless with you.” a bunch of the other girls around you oohed and agreed before putting their attention back on the monitor. at some point you completely zoned out, only coming back to when you heard eunchae say, “the second ANTIFRAGILE team members are “Iliya, Karlee, Samara, Megan, and Y/N.” you leaned forward and looked at them with a big smile, nodding in agreement over your excitement to be teamed together. 

the five of you sat on the floor of the practice room and started talking about the song choice, karlee starting off with explaining how she wanted this song more. you all nodded in agreement and the other girls chimed in talking about their worries and what they were most excited for. after a moment the conversation stopped and all eyes were on you, “what?” your teammates laughed at you and you admitted, “i mean like…i’m not that nervous guys. i’ve done this performance in the shower a bunch so i meannnn…plus if i flop yunjin called me pretty so-” the girls around you fell over laughing and karlee pointed out, “dude she literally knows you.” in return you playfully glared and held your hand out, “can you let me have my moment?” megan and samara laughed even harder while iliya covered her face though her giggles. you all divided up your parts evenly, you getting kazhua’s part because of the leg extension, and megan insisting yours looked better when you couldn’t tell much of a difference. 

Throughout the practices you were given the dance leadership role which you tried to avoid but it was inevitable given your trainee history. there were little to no breaks, an incredible amount of jet lag, and a time crunch of only a few days before your performance. the pressure was certainly there and you could feel it especially with the weight of being an ex- HYBE trainee and the leader of your group. hours passed with you all in the practice room, your trainer comforting iliya as she cried out of stress and exhaustion combined with her own self doubt. you patted her shoulder and told her, “it’s okay…i cried yesterday in the shower and almost drowned in my tears and the shower water because i breathed through my nose.” the younger girl couldn’t help but laugh and you did too seeing the smile return to her face. 

*meanwhile*

“We’re watching them react to us watching their trailer and mission announcement.” chaewon and yunjin explained to their members in their van. the girls huddled around the ipad and a smile tugged at all of their faces when they saw you amongst your teammates. they watched closely, listening to all of your members speak their worries until it was your turn to talk which caused all of them to laugh, especially your banter with karlee. yunjin murmured, “i didn’t know i missed her this much.” chaewon side eyed her discreetly while eunchae and kazuha stifled a laugh. they then sent chaewon inside the practice room to pose as a staff member to record a tiktok for you and the rest of the contestants. when you all were in line you noticed how she was more covered than the rest of the staff members in the room. you narrowed your eyes, and then it was your turn aside Manon. when you made it to the front you just knew, but you only smiled and danced, the only person who also knew was chaewon herself when you winked. 

chaewon pulled off her mask and hood, “surprise!” the other girls screamed in excitement, only getting louder when the other idols walked in soon after. you ended up with marquise clinging to your side with her hands over her face. yunjin then started speaking in english, “we heard you all were practicing our songs right?” they all nodded and she added, “we’re so excited to see you guys, it’s crazy that we’re meeting you in this practice room. yunjin asked the contestants, “did you all expect it?” the girls overlapped one another with refusing responses to which the black haired girl responded, “we thought it’d be obvious…so we were like we should prank you.” the girls once again reacted with laughing and squeals which yunjin took the opportunity to make louder, “wait i think i know all of your names though.” 

Everyone straightened out into a more clear line and yunjin looked down the line and asked, “Iliya, right?” your teammate nodded and yunjin continued, “and Ezrela. Sophia, Emily, Celeste, Karlee, Marquise, Y/N-” there was a difference in her tone when she said your name, a different smile on her face, until you deadpanned, “No.” there was a second of complete silence before you burst out laughing and said, “no i’m kidding i’m sorry. do your thing.” yunjin and her members all laughed too, chaewon immediately mimicking you quietly, “no.” the black haired girl then said, “she always does this.” your teammates all laughed and nodded in agreement earning a satisfied smile from you. yunjin continued, “sorry ok- um Y/N, Megan, Brooklyn, Lara, Lexie, Samara, Daniela, Manon, Mei, aaaand Ua. Aaaand Nayoung, Yoonchae. Right?”   everyone cheered and clapped and she explained, “because i see you guys so much on like TikTok, YouTube, and everything!” you all turned into each other giggling and smiling until it was time to perform for the girls with your mission teams. 

Your team went first, you gathering your girls into a small huddle and telling them quietly, “just relax. we got this. alright come on, eat it up?” your teammates said in unison, “no dinner!” you laughed at the phrase you taught them on the first day, still using it now. while performing you had your nerves, especially knowing that the idols in front of you had seen your practice videos, one of which included you crying, something they’d never seen in the two years they knew you. while performing you kept your eyes on your old friends, primarily the one who still held a piece of your heart. the hours of practicing and endless stretching to get kazuha’s leg extension perfect paid off when you saw the look on all five of their faces when you did the move. 

Iliya stood beside you as you were between her and samara while le sserafim gave you all feedback as two teams. chaewon pointed out samara, praising her for the eye contact she made opposed to looking into the mirror, a common mistake amongst trainees during evaluations. kazuha looked at you and said, “y/n, your leg extension was so good! honestly you could just take my place next time we perform because you were that good.” you laughed and thanked her, sending a fond smile her way, the same one that always brought her comfort after long practices. samara tickled your leg and you playfully swatted her hand away, making her giggle quietly. when you thought one of the girls would now talk to the two teams as a whole, yunjin turned her attention to you. yunjin looked you dead in the eye, pulling a smile onto your previously stoic face. she told you, “y/n. i know from the practice videos you were worried about being leader, looking at everything to the smallest detail. but everything you did for your teammates paid off because you’re perfe- your team was perfect.” everyone in the room ouuuuu-ed which made you cover your face in slight embarrassment, yunjin doing the same. she then added, “and karlee i know you weren’t feeling well but you literally killed it…and team A, you guys chose your name right because you slayed.” the four girls burst into laughter and you all thanked the girls for their feedback before heading back to your seats, not before you sent a wink yunjin’s way which she instinctively made a heart with her hands back to you. when you sat back down you were sandwiched between lara and megan, both of whom whispered together, “you’re perfecttttt” then made the same hearts with their hands to you that yunjin did. you playfully scoffed and hoped they couldn’t feel your body getting hot with embarrassment as they teased you. 

after everyone finished their performances you all had the chance to ask the girls for anything you wanted to know. you were the first to raise your hand, “i think a big worry of us, as in all 19 of us is that we are now in a place where this is competition. all of us want to do well individually but even more than that we want one another to succeed so we can make it to the end together. it’s a given that the group won’t be 19 members. so knowing that eventually we will be sending home many of our best friends, sisters, soulmates… or whatever- like what can we do or tell ourselves so we don’t end up just dwelling on that fact? how can we keep going after dealing with that over and over?”  yunjin nodded in understanding and responded genuinely,  “wow that is a big question. there is like a motto that i live by where i just try my best to believe that everything happens for a reason. you all met for a reason, and you’re together for a reason…and i think goodbyes are unfortunately inevitable-” it was at this point that you realized she was staring directly at you. yunjin caught herself staring and looked away as she continued, “ but i think that is part of growing. and just the fact that you all collectively have this kind of worry is very touching and i kind of like teared up a little inside because it’s very hard to meet people who both support you while also maintaining your own individual driving force. i think it’s just kind of making every experience and opportunity…it’s important to continue rooting each other on. i think that’s the best way to keep going forward just knowing you know-” again her eyes found yours, “just knowing that even if you’re not together one day you will end up seeing each other again.” now there was a smile on her face as she looked at you, looking away to make it less obvious, “that’s what happened to me actually. I had practiced for quite a few years but after debuting and working my best in the end we came full circle and they were also doing their best so in the end we met.” she looked back at only you, “just take this time and make as many memories and relationships as you can. don’t be afraid of the pain that comes with having to let someone go because you can use that to get to where you want to be.” she paused then spoke as if you were the only other one in the room, “because look where we are now y/n.” you nodded and the four idols around yunjin ouuuu-ed making the rest of the contestants giggle. eunchae quietly remarked, “this just got really personal…” everyone laughed as yunjin slapped her leg lightly and brooklyn beside you started poking your side. 

a few seats down from you sophia spoke up, “i should have went before y/n because my question is gonna sound unserious…chaewon, how do you like blink on the beat in Antifragile because every time i do it i look like i got a bug in my eye?” everyone erupted into laughter and sophia added, “i’m so serious guys i look so dumb doing it!” which only made everyone laugh harder. chaewon stood up and danced the specific part before motioning for sophia do to it with her, then by herself. the idol praised your friend, “yes! you got it!” everyone clapped and sophia ran happily back to her seat with her face a light shade of pink. ezrela raised her hand, “so in your choreographies you all do a lot of like hand holding, and so like…how do you all not miss each others hands?” the idols in front of you all laughed and eunchae explained, we just have to trust each other like you go up i go down. we talk about it like that in advance and you have to hold the hands tight. even if one hand slips off, the others should hold them tight to prevent the accident.” ezrela nodded in understanding and laughed while thanking eunchae for her reply. 

right when you thought everyone was going to be done asking questions, lara raised her hand, “i have a request but you all can say no.” all five idols looked at her intently and your friend asked, “can you dance to fearless with y/n?” all of your teammates immediately cheered and your old friends looked at each other with smiles. they agreed and despite you refusing, yunjin stood up and pulled you over, engulfing you in a hug first. kazuha took off her heels and joined you her members on the floor. your friends were all giggling along, especially when they noticed yunjin had her hand slipped into yours, fingers intertwined. meanwhile the idols looked at you and you asked, “second chorus to the end? the debut formations?” they nodded and chaewon said, “from 겁이 난 없지, 없지” you nodded and found your place and let the music play. from this part of the song you were in the center, a smile on your face nobody had seen on you thus far. during the refrain everyone of your teammates saw the way yunjin looked up at you while she faced them, like you were the only girl in the world. the six of you danced to the end and when the song stopped everyone clapped and the five girls pulled you into a long and tight hug. when you all parted each of them hugged you individually, sakura first. 

the eldest told you with a fond smile, “i’m so proud of you y/n. i can’t wait for your debut.” kazuha spoke up next, “i’m wishing for your debut, unnie.” chaewon squeezed you tightly, “i’m so happy to know you didn’t give up. i’m so proud of you y/n.” eunchae pulled you into a hug, “i missed you so much unnie. i’m happy we got to see each other like this.” yunjin was last, and she mumbled into your shoulder, “come see me tonight?” you murmured back quietly, “mhm.” she grinned as she pulled away while you tried to hide the look of joy from your face. everyone thanked le sserafim and said their goodbyes before you all got a quick break, mostly for cameras to be moved and reset. the second you were alone with manon, your closest friend, she asked all knowing, “so when are you seeing her?” you tried to play it off but she knew you too well already, so you caved, “tonight.”

[cafecourage]

I've got another monkey bread order (with the customary side of london fog tea) because I'm indecisive. :)

The chain waking up to find that their s/o has woven flowers into their hair. (Reader had last watch and got bored, what else were they supposed to do? They looked too precious for them to *not,* after all.

- Glitter anon, who has finally figured out how to get the space between the dash and g while not on mobile ✨

I did something different for this post that I seen some people have done.

Link doesn’t tend to sleep during the day. He is a ball of energy even when it doesn’t show, so having him finally sit down and relax was a miracle to say the least. There was a part of you that would like to leave him to his rest but considering he had trapped you under his body. Well a part of you was as his head was resting on your lap. There was a part of you that wanted to braid his hair, which was typically ok. But you couldn’t tell how deep asleep he was. First you pick up some wild flowers that were in reach organizing them a bit. They were small enough that you could do something funny.

So with a light hand and a ton of love, you gently take his hair being mindful of his sleep.

———————————

This wasn’t the first time the Old Man™️ had woken up with flowers in his hair and it really wont be the last time. So he honestly sat up from your embrace not realizing while his hair was now indeed braided, it also had flowers woven through. “Good morning my love.” You said cupping his face admiring your work but also his pretty boy face.

“More like Good Afternoon.” Time said leaning down to kiss you. “Thanking you for doing my hair.” You had to stop yourself from giggling, you really wanted to point out the flowers. But you kept silent. Time, the observant man, noticed your amusement almost immediately. “What did you do-“ he reaches up to feel the soft bumps of the flowers.

“Keep it in?” I asked before he could comment.

There was a pause before he sighs “ok.” He said with a soft smile. “But I have to take them out tonight.”

“Of course!”

_____________________

Twilight can’t really help himself when it comes to cuddling up with you. He liked holding you to much. It didn’t occur to him that you would take this time to mess with him. Granted Twilight’s hair wasn’t long enough but you manage to get some flowers in there. You didn’t expect him to run his hand through his hair ruining all your hard work. “Twi!” You cried as that took you a long time to do!

Honestly he was stunned to see flowers coming from his hair before turning sheepish. “Sorry Darling.” He looked so guilty that you couldn’t stay mad but how dare he use puppy eyes against you!

You could only hold on for so long before you playfully collapse in his arms “fineee I’ll forgive you this time.”

_____________________

The Captain wasn’t used to getting knocked out instantly as he was a light sleepier and the fact he was sleeping in the afternoon instead of training was a miracle. You took advantage of this fully. Though you had made sure to be very careful, even then the captain finally awakens sadly. “Hi darling.” He shifts so he could lean up to kiss you.

“Hi Sleeping beauty.” Even when awake you continue to braid flowers in his hair. “Your hair is soft.”

He hums leaning into your touch “With how long it is I have to take care of it.” He was slowly going back to dream land, “do we have to leave yet?”

“No, I think we have more time go back to sleep.” You didn’t have to convince him further.

_____________________

Sky was a deep sleeper we knew this. Everyone and their mother knew this. So you took your time weaving flowers in his hair. You had taken out a few of the Loftwing feathers and beads in his hair before redoing all of it. Making sure his original hair accessories were now framed with the flowers in his hair.

It honestly took a few hours before he actually woke up. “Ngh…” He shifts finally as he woke up. He look down at your now asleep in his arms. Thats how long it took him to wake up. Sky blinks as he processes that your asleep first before his hair was different. Sky kisses his forehead. “I love you.” He whispers as he silently wishes you only the sweetest of dreams. Some of his now braided hair falls and he finally sees your work. “Oh…” he reached back and gently pull forward more of his hair to see what you done and that only filled his heart more with warmth. He holds you closer nuzzling his face in your hair opting to thank you later and let you relax.

_____________________

Legend barely takes naps. He admittedly refuses to. You don’t know how he did it. But he managed to fall asleep in your arms. Which while cute had put you in a particularly bad position as you wanted to move. Your legs were becoming numb and you didn’t have any more flower to sneak into his hair. It wasn’t until one of the boys (you didn’t bother to look) screamed while wrestling. Which caused Legend to bolt up. You were quick to wrap your arms around his neck. “It’s just the others play fighting.” You soothe him as you could tell the veteran was panicking a bit.

“Wha- oh. Goddess… why.” Bunny boy closed his eyes to take a few moments before flopping back down on you. The flowers now crushed in his hair. Legend grumbles reaching up “did you put flowers in my hair?”

You hummed “yeah…” it was automatic for you to start playing with his hair you slowly take out the crushed flowers. Anything to make Legend to relax again.

____________________

Fairies love Hyrule. Fairies also love flowers. So when they saw you braiding flowers into Hyrule’s unruly hair they had to join in. Honestly at this point you were sure some flowers got onto your hair as the fairies were all around. It took awhile for Hyrule to wake up. But when he does he was slow to fully wake up. Sitting up some of the more loose flowers fall out and on his lap. He stares down at them then at you. “You look pretty.” He mumbled as he reaches to touch some of the flowers in your hair.

“You look handsome yourself.” You said, Hyrule pauses and you can see the math in his head as he processes. He snorts and began to laugh when he finally figures it out. “Hey! I am right!” You giggle with him as you wrap your arms around him.

He kisses your cheek then moves to place on to your forehead. “You’re adorable.”

____________________

Wild doesn’t do well with naps. The boy has to much energy and like a hummingbird you are 50% sure he might die if he stopped moving fully. Though that doesn’t really matter as you had got him to sit still and relax for a few moments. A miracle truly.

It was time to move out and begrudgingly you had to walk the Champion up. “Wild.” You shake his shoulder “it’s time to get up.” He only grumbles as he slowly gets up not even bothered by the flowers in his hair as it always has things inside of it.

“Good morning.” He mumbles as he helps you up standing. You end up not telling him as watching the others debate on it too but also just letting it be.

____________________

You coudn’t see the Minish. As much as you wanted to, but you know this was the Minish’s doing as while you were braiding Four’s hair flowers keep appearing. So it was ether the Minish or some mysterious creature was supplying you with Flowers. At this point you were making a flower crown out of his sash. Just because you could.

“Darling….” Four shifts turning in your lap so he was looking up at you “what are you doing.”

“Playing with you.” You snickered as it was the truth. “Sorry if i woke you up.”

“It’s fine…” He mumbles turning around again “can you take them out?”

You hummed pretending to think about it. “Finnne.”

[stickthroughthephases]

A while ago "Toxic TikTok boymoms" came on my YouTube feed and obviously, I watched several videos by various YouTubers showcasing the weird dynamics that mothers with sons have and the lowkey conditional love they give to their daughters.

It weirdly got me thinking about Bi-Han and his relationship with his father (ok I'm always thinking about it to some degree, sue me). What if their father knew he was weak (old man himself), in a way that he knew that he could not do more for the clan since they've already spent centuries just being Earthrealm butlers protectors for Liu Kang. Perhaps his wife was the more ambitious one but he knew that it was not possible. For that reason, if maybe the heir was a girl there would be a better chance his daughter wouldn't follow his wife's ambitious view of being more than simply protectors because you know, she would be her "father's daughter". Much to his dismay, he had a boy who despite trying, could not bond with, whilst Bi-Han and his mother became super duper close. He hoped for another girl when his wife fell pregnant with Kuai Liang, but something was different this time, maybe it was his eyes that resembled his wife (he loved his wife but like he had other issues) or baby Kuai's cute little smile, thus he grew to love Kuai Liang, as opposed to Bi-Han :(.

To beat out the ambition of Bi-Han, he simply trained him harder and drilled in his head his duty to Earthrealm. An interesting headcanon is that Bi-Han's father just didn't like him, did anyone ever consider that? He tried his best to be loved by and seek his father's approval but even in his dying breath, he denied Bi-Han that love. What if in his final moments, he proclaimed his true wishes, wishing that Kuai Liang was the older and Grandmaster? What if he taunted him that Tomáš was better than him despite not being born a Lin Kuei? What if Bi-Han did try to save him but in the end he could not, simply because this man would never love him? Considering we know nothing yet besides two sort of conflicting ideas of who their father was to the brothers, who is to say their father didn't just simply make a 180-degree change following the years he had his second son, additionally, it could explain why he felt so compelled to take in Tomáš instead of just sending him to Liu Kang at the Wu Shi Academy or raised with Raiden or Kung Lao. I'm here to give Bi-Han a depressing backstory and justify him letting his dad die -*send tweet*.

If Bi-Han simply let his dad die to become Grandmaster, that storyline would be far more reasonable if he was the second son, he would have a motive because contrary to popular belief, I refuse to believe that this man is just a psychopath who holds no remorse for his actions. I also don't like the angle that Sektor poisoned him but I mean if take into account the previous timeline Sektor, maybe it's possible (WE ALWAYS have to consider previous timelines ok, nothing exists in a vacuum, even if its a new timeline) but that could have been possible without any gender change or romantic relationship hints.

Honestly, if by some miracle, NRS decides to show us a flashback in the games of their father's death, I hope there is SOME argument and fighting rather than watching Bi-Han stand over his father's dying body. I don't care if this is just a fighting game, if you made it and put effort into creating characters why not give them complex and fledged out backstories and archs, if you don't care why bother with the comics, movies and other media surrounding the characters.

[mychlapci]

https://www.tumblr.com/mychlapci/761584986446020608/ok-someone-send-me-requests-to-write-i-will

R: Swerve received a last minute catering request for 25 swervegers. He's determined to deliver, whatever it takes.

once again, i got too horny for this one

Swerve was vaguely aware of the fact that he was sweating. His whole frame felt numb at this point, his spike twitched painfully hard with every sloppy thrust.

With coolant dripping down his lips, mouth opened to pant in exertion, Swerve looked up to count the order of burgers. One, two, five, ten, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, he only had seventeen burgers out of the requested twenty five and only an hour left to finish the order. His hips bucked confidently, he can do it, but he was quickly deterred by the painful throb in his abdomen, whining out embarrassingly loud. His spike was still hard, by some miracle from above, all he has to do is overload just a few more times.

The customers need their sauce!

Swerve gasps and slowly slides down to lay on his elbows, squishing the burger under his hips. He grinds into it, crying out with every painfully pleasurable thrust, until he finally shuddered and shot a load between the two well lubricated buns, coating the inside if the burger with its signature sauce. Swerve almost smushed the burger as he collapsed, but thankfully remembered to spare it before he could lose himself to exhaustion. That’s eighteen. He can do a few more.

Shakily grabbing another prepared burger Swerve slides his aching spike against the patty and top bun. Still lying on his front he had limited movement, but he didn’t need too wide a berth to rub the burger up down his spike like a false valve. It was a little easier on his hips, at least, even if the overload that followed stung.

He can see that his transfluid reservoir has been going dry, he’s honestly not sure if he can even get to number twenty five. He only has less than an hour, that's not enough for him to drink energon and replenish his special sauce.

By number twenty one, Swerve is drooling over the table, spike stuck inside a sauced up burger, slowly depressuring as his frame begins to give up. How much time does he have left? He doesn’t know. As far as he knows he might as well gone over the time limit, and his failed customers are getting antsy in the front.

He must have been right, because someone suddenly steps into the back of the bar and tuts. Larger hands grab him around the hips, and once he’s on his back, strong digits wrap around his little spike, striking it back to hardness while Swerve whines and gasps.

„Twenty one orders done, you can do three more,”

Swerve wasn’t sure if it was the mech above him or his own consciousness telling him that, or maybe both, and he believed those words, he really did. But after cumming weakly over the next two burgers, Swerve could no longer produce any more transfluid, not even with a helping hand.

The mech, however, got creative, after waiting for their burgers for twenty minutes longer than they should’ve they have no other choice but to get creative. They pat Swerve’s valve panel and collect the slick and squirt that accumulated there over his countless overloads, smearing it over the last burger.

Swerve, still venting heavily, almost faints when they ask him if he’s planning on delivering the burgers personally. It would be only right he apologizes for the delay in person.

On wobbly pedes and still dizzy, Swerve brings the large order to the front of the bar.

„S– Sorry for the delay, ah,” he says, half-pressurized spike swinging between his legs.

[meimi-haneoka]

Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Chapter 79: Comments + JP-ENG translation differences

Welcome back to our monthly appointment, CCS fans! This chapter comes right after this month's full moon, the Hunter Moon! (lol yes I will feature the name of the relative full moon till the end of the story). And speaking of the end of the story, I will start this analysis and translation post from the end of the chapter, where I found the confirmation to the rumour that had been going on for hours before the official release on Comic Days:

yes, dear readers, this is not a drill, Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc will end with chapter 80, after 7 years of serialization! 🎉✨ When *the last chapter* is announced, there's no turning back! No more sudden announcements of extensions! 🥹 But at the moment of writing this post, no mentions have been given about any "epilogue" or extra chapters that might be serialized in the upcoming months leading to the big release of volume 16 on April 1st!

On the translation side, I have to sigh in relief because no major misunderstandings happened in the ENG version, just some minor inaccuracies! I was kinda scared because this chapter is pretty important and complex in itself.

And let me say that what happened in this chapter 79 definitely marks the end of the climax, so I can totally see it ending in next chapter. The chapter tackled some very important thematics regarding the presence of "evil" in this series, that I will talk about extensively in my analysis.

The announcement today made me already a bit nostalgic and sad, but I want to strive hard to accompany myself and all of you towards the end of this arc with excitement and a smile, therefore I won't let myself be prey of the sadness yet and introduce you immediately to the gif of this month, because there's a lot we need to talk about and analyze and we can't waste time!!

This is entirely dedicated to our protagonist and heroine Sakura-chan, because damn, she really slayed this chapter!!! Under the cut to see what miracles she made happen!

The Color Page

My dear readers, after years of countless pleas on my social media, after being let down month after month, CLAMP FINALLY GRANTED ME A COLOR PAGE SOLELY DEDICATED TO KAITO AND AKIHO TOGETHER ON THE SECOND-TO-LAST CHAPTER!! Yaaaay!! Excuse me while I celebrate this event here in my little corner, especially after having a rough month! 🎉🎉🎉 I hope my followers thought of me when they saw it? Like "finally she'll stop asking for it" (breaking news, I'll keep asking for more even after the series is over) 😂 It took them 79 chapters to do so and honestly I'm laughing because....yes, I admit it, I expected another vibe for such an important color page coming after such an important emotional scene in chapter 78, but honestly the first thing I thought when I saw it was "....they had to wait 79 chapters for this? 😧" 😂because it's very very "regular", I think it would've been ok for this to come out long ago. LOL I'm being brutally honest here, I hope no one gets offended, especially because that pet peeve aside, OF COURSE I love this precious color page to bits, and I know under its "normalcy", its got a very important meaning to the both of them.

Akiho and Kaito are depicted together clearly during one of their travels....but the question is, is this from the past? Or the near future? I'd daresay they look the same age they are now, so this might probably be a foreshadowing for the future...? They'll keep travelling the world? But seeing the content of the chapter, this might also be just a call-back to their memories together and everything that they experienced during those travels, tightening their bond. Travelling the world is, after all, really their thing, their element. I really like Kaito's expression, with his usual smile that almost turns into a smirk, he gives off a vibe of being finally free to express his emotions. He looks carefree, and that's really something for him. Akiho, on the other hand, is always so much more expressive than him and you can literally feel the joy and excitement emanating from her delighted expression. Travelling with him makes her happy, so yes, should this be what awaits them in the finale, it's fine by me as long as they're happy (I'm rooting for the other option though, the "stay in Tomoeda with your newfound support network" route).

But as you know, I always have to analyze the color pages a bit deeper, especially when they're about these two. And since I had to keep myself distracted, I made a bit of research. Other than the "travelling" vibe, this illustration gives off also kind of a "vintage" vibe (which is another strong element to Akiho and Kaito). It seems Akiho is dressed in a sleeveless coat with cape and wearing a bonnet fully inspired by those worn by children in the second half of the 1800s, in the Victorian era.

(pic courtesy of Etsy) This is a model from 1896, for example. When I pinpointed the period, I immediately thought "uh, the Victorian era is also the period when Alice in Wonderland came out", although that was more towards the 1860s. I found it really interesting and a nice touch for this illustration with a retro flavor (the suitcase and purse also look kinda vintage).

But another thing that immediately caught my eyes were those cute birds landing on Kaito's shoulder and Akiho's bonnet. I immediately tried to look what kind of birds they are, and it seems like they could really be eastern bluebirds, typical of North America. Searching further, I found out that in several cultures bluebirds are harbinger of happiness and symbols of hope. I couldn't honestly have thought for a more fitting symbolism, for these two. Especially cause birds often are associated with an imagery of freedom, and this is something else that these two need, after being hunted by evil people for so long. They really do look free, in this color page. Also, the presence of the birds in this color page immediately brought me back to the color page of chapter 62, where we can see baby Kaito in a wintery setting, sitting on a lamppost, extending his little hand to a swallow coming to him. Swallows are a symbol of hope and bring a message of "spring is coming", and continuing from that message of hope, of "spring is coming for you too", we can finally see here in chapter 79 our Kaito with his true happiness, symbolized literally by the birds most associated with happiness. Another thing that caught my eyes is of course the lily depicted on the cover of the book Akiho is holding, a nice callback to Akiho's mother and Kaito's torment, Lilie. She's always going to be with them ❤️

The Japanese editorial text over the picture is an excerpt of what Momo was musing to herself in chapter 39, while imagining to talk to Kaito: "You traveled with her, and spent time together with her". I think CLAMP chose to feature this line to indicate an important thing that will be restored at the end of this chapter.

Everyone Is Doing Their Best

The chapter starts with a panel showing some light coming off Yukito's house, and we find out that even Touya fainted, exhausted by the effort to keep time stopped as much as possible. Ruby Moon is cradling his head on her lap trying to assist him and "recharge" his magical power, in hope to be able to maintain time "stopped" a bit more. In fact, if you notice, the "black covering" that symbolizes the time-stopping spell isn't completely destroyed yet, but only riddled with "holes", an indication that the spell is still somehow active, even if feebly. I imagine this might "slow down" the attacks, which are still coming but probably not at full speed like they would if the spell came undone completely. I have to point out immediately a mild inaccuracy in the ENG version, that I want to specify in order to dispel extreme theories before they're born: no, Ruby Moon didn't give up all of her powers to Touya, the verb used here is simply 補える, "can replenish (your magic)", not "give all".

Touya doesn't lose his sense of humor even in a dire situation like this, and comments sarcastically "What are you, a battery?", a clear recall to the whole "batteries" matter that came out in the un-rewritten world. Touya isn't supposed to remember about that, and he probably doesn't, but this is just a way from CLAMP to show that even in a situation where memories have been rewritten, some things will be unconsciously said again, because they're just meant to happen.

Ruby Moon calls for assistance from her "brother" Spinel Sun (love how even in these true forms, she still calls him "Suppy"), whom rejects the appellative of "battery" but agrees to give her a hand with "recharging" Touya to keep the spell up a bit longer. Everyone looks outside, only one thought in their minds, which is voiced clearly by a serious Tomoyo: "Sakura and everyone else are fighting with all they've got". I have to point out a typo here in the Japanese version (nothing serious, it can happen and will be surely fixed in the tankobon version): Tomoyo calls Sakura "Sakura-san". I loved the "sparkles" around Tomoyo's eyes, as if indicating that her extraordinary intuition is "at work" and just telling her that, even if they can't see them because they're quite far away, Sakura and the others are doing whatever they can to stop these attacks. And the fact they can see the attacks, but not their friends and their condition, must be really hard to witness, for all of them. But no worries, there's Touya nii-chan who's always ready to lighten the mood even in this challenging situation, joking that "If they don't get back before the curfew, they won't be getting their snacks tomorrow!". Here the ENG adds "squirt" to make Touya refer specifically to Sakura, but truth to be told, in the JP there's no subject, so he might be referring to everyone. It's amazing how he's able to keep his spirit up and be sarcastic even in this situation....he really believes in his little sister so much!

I'll Make Them Forget About You

Back where our heroes are, the attacks keep coming relentlessly, countered by Syaoran, Yue and Kero in tandem. Sakura reflects on the fact that the only transparent Cards she's got left are these two she's holding in her hands (Time and Rewind) and Flight. This statement leads me to believe that when Record transformed into that crystal that entered her, that meant that the Card completed its duty and disappeared inside of her. But Sakura isn't worried at all, because she knows that she can create more Cards. Yessss, this development that I've been anticipating since quite some time is finally here! ✨🎉 Sakura seems to finally have a concrete plan, but before proceeding, she needs to ascertain something. She asks directly to Kaito: "The people who are using these spells were trying to hurt you, right?". Kaito, with a pensive face, answers affirmatively.

But it's when Sakura asks again "Were they trying to hurt Akiho too?" that his expression turns really painful, the background after him portraying well his raging emotions and, while Mokona-sensei chose to leave Akiho hidden by Kaito's black wings in the previous panels, now she finally shows how both she and Kaito are holding onto eachother, while our boy answers with a "...Yes" dripping with sorrow. It really squeezed my heart with pain, this scene. Because as long as Sakura was asking about him, his expression was pensive but almost as if it's something he's used to, that didn't shake him too much. But when Sakura mentions Akiho, god, that wrecked him. Any mention, any reminescence of what those bastards did to her and how they were chasing after her to put their filthy hands on her again wrecks him even now, and it's like Mokona with her visual skills is showing how Kaito seems to be holding Akiho a little bit tighter, while he answers Sakura's question. I also have to point out something that I had noticed already from last chapter, but a panel tricked me into believing I was just seeing things: CLAMP here use a dark screentone for Kaito's eyes, that he never had before (actually, no other character in CCS got this effect in their eyes). This effect will be used on him for the entire chapter.

And it seems like it's the very same screentone that was used for the dragon. I think this might be an indication that the wings aren't the only reminescence of his dragon appearance!

Sakura shows once again an incredible empathy that allows her to go right to the heart of the issue without investigating much. If Kaito rewrote an entire world, and if it's true that Akiho in the previous world didn't have all the love and familiar support she's got now, it means that she was probably in danger too. And seeing as these people are attacking them now because they freed Kaito from his "punishment", Sakura doesn't really need much to make 2+2 and understand the situation. Sakura believes in Akiho, therefore she believes in Kaito too, and knows that if he came to this point it's because they were in a desperate and dangerous situation.

Showing an incredible insight, Sakura shocks both Kaito and Akiho by asking:

Sakura, JP: "In that case, can I make those people forget about you both?"

Because our girl needs to make sure that the plan she came up with won't have any undesired consequences. But most importantly, she needs to have their consent. She reiterates this once again, actually she will make sure to ask Kaito and Akiho's consent 3 times in total. She says: JP, lit. "If going back to before the world was rewritten will put you through hardships once again, then, can I just make them forget?" Kaito is even more shocked, because he finally understands Sakura's intent. A generous, selfless intent born from a loving heart. Our girl wants to make sure that these two will be safe and sound once she fixes this situation. She can't take risks, because their happiness is all she's really caring for right now. And in his shocked expression, I can also see some kind of "omg YES, PLEASE" vibe. Because probably, having those terrible people forgetting all about them is everything he ever wished, but couldn't achieve. And I think it's really funny how we berated Kaito so much in the past chapters for making Akiho and the others forget facts that happened before and forgetting about him, but here Sakura just takes "inspiration" from him and actually decides to use that same "trick" in the right way. Because it's not fair that it should be them, the abused people, to forget about their most important person, in order to achieve a happy life for at least one of them. It isn't fair and it isn't right that Kaito was driven into making all the mess that he made, pushed by desperation. The abusers, that clan and Association of magicians, should be the ones forgetting.

But this is Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card's finale, and Sakura definitely hasn't finished with being amazing yet, she actually just started. Her very strong power at this point allows her not only to see things that were difficult before, but also to connect the dots more easily thanks to that renowned instinct that I've always talked to you about, and that she learned to finally listen to.

As if she were seeing through him with X-rays, she confidently affirms that there's a book inside of him, a white book where you can inscribe magic on. And she also knows that that same book was inside Akiho, once. I guess this might be even coming from past memories of the unrewritten world (do you remember when, before the play started, Sakura said that she could feel something inside Akiho?). Akiho of course is shocked to hear that, and from her expression you can almost feel the chill that went down her spine in that moment. Sakura affirms that this book knows both Akiho and Kaito (thanks to the fact that it was inside both of them - something that I've always found painfully heartbreaking but also quite moving, for my ship), and it's got a very strong power inside of it. These will be two crucial things for Sakura's plan. In fact, our heroine is hellbent in attempting something pretty arduous: utilizing that artifact's power to create a new Card. For impartiality, I have to point out that the ENG added (completely on their whim) a "you, her special person" that isn't there in the JP version! Of course it's all the better for me, since they repeat (finally with the right adjective) that Kaito is Akiho's special person, but it's kinda funny that they messed it up so much in the previous chapters, and now they're adding it where there isn't any mention of it!

Sakura will be using a tool that knows the both of them, therefore she is sure that her plan will succeed, because the Card will know what it will need to erase. Sakura asks for Kaito and Akiho's agreement one last time. After hearing how those people wanted to hurt them both and even implanted the same magical artifact inside of her, Akiho is quite resolute and doesn't have any doubt: on with the wiping off! It doesn't matter who those people are, they've tried to harm her most important person and her too, so she doesn't really seem to give a damn about proceeding with this plan. Kaito, on the other hand, seems to be giving a more lackluster affirmative reply, but it's not that he's uncertain: he's just still riddled with guilt for all the mess that he's done, and he's probably realizing that now Sakura will need to put herself on the line in order to fix this and protect both of them, hence his sad face.

Still surfing the confidence wave, Sakura guesses that once those people have forgotten about Akiho and Kaito, then the magic arrows will stop too, and Kaito confirms that: forgetting about the person who had the Seal of D enforced on him will be equal to "undo" both the activation of the Seal itself (when Kaito removed the book from Akiho) and also the rescission of it (what Sakura did when she freed Kaito from the cage). This will therefore stop the arrows too, because the Seal wouldn't have been triggered in the first place. However, Kaito warns her that, although time is still barely "stopped" (because the time-stopping spell is still weakly on), it's necessary an enormous amount of power in order to do what Sakura wants to do. I have to point out another inaccuracy in the ENG translation in this part, which makes Kaito say "before things could get worse" and I have the feeling they misunderstood the word 辛うじて, "barely" or "narrowly", which is also written with the kanji of 辛い, "hard" or "tough". So Kaito isn't saying "before things could get worse" but actually meaning "although time is barely stopped".

Sakura doesn't seem to be scared by Kaito's warning, and activates her wand without a second thought, and immediately we can see that her task wil NOT be easy, as she can feel the strain almost right away.

Here we go with another inaccuracy of the ENG translation:

Sakura, ENG: "Great book, please show yourself! My power alone won't be enough...!" Sakura, JP: "The book....doesn't want to come out. (it's too difficult to pull it out) with just my power..."

Basically, Sakura isn't begging the book to "show itself", she's actually actively trying to pull it out of Kaito, and she's aware that it's opposing a lot of resistance, and her power alone isn't enough to take this damn book out. Sakura refuses to give up, because everyone else is doing their best too. Yes, everyone else.

And that's when CLAMP decided to bring us a big surprise for this finale.

A pair of hands seem to be appearing next to Sakura's, as if a spirit is hugging her from behind. We can see the famous fan that we learned to recognize so well ever since her first appearance in Movie 1. Sakura feels immediately the same magical power of Syaoran surrounding her, and with her instinct she finally recognizes her: it's Syaoran's mother, YELAN!!! We can see her, sweating and all, in her sacred chinese pavilion, lending her power to help in this difficult task.

What a great, welcome surprise for this finale!! You might have heard me saying on Twitter that Clear Card is really a celebration of motherhood, with this constant presence of mothers and mother figures who try to help these kids growing up without removing their right to choose for themselves. And since Yelan is the only mother figure who can concretely help Sakura in this moment, with her immense power, I really loved to see how this woman didn't hesitate to assist her future daugher in law. For any SyaoSaku fan, this scene here is a huge thing. We have seen in the anime how Yelan doted on Sakura ever since she met her in Movie 1, even before her own son realized his feelings for this girl. Yelan and Sakura haven't met in the manga yet (and hello, CLAMP, now this is a good chance for letting that happen, after the madness is over), but the woman didn't hesitate a moment to lend her power. I can really imagine how along these two will get, in the future. ❤️

Sakura thanks her aloud, while her eyes show that she's really really tired. Yelan's assistance is finally effective in summoning the artifact book out of Kaito, and we see again those countless book pages that we saw both when Akiho used to go "berserk", and also in the most heartbreaking scene of chapter 70. Kaito, still holding onto a worried Akiho, seems to suffer physically from this removal, and I can't understand if it's because removing something magical from inside is naturally painful (we've been shown something like that before, Syaoran crouching to the ground in pain while the Sakura Cards were being removed from inside of him) OR if the removal of the artifact also triggered his poor health conditions in which we left him, before he disappeared in chapter 70.

Sakura tries with all she's got and finally manages to turn the artifact into its "true form": a book filled with countless of spells written in strange magic runes.

You have spotted it, right? ☝️ I haven't seen many fandom reactions yet, but I guess this "cameo" made more than one person scream: it's Fay D. Fluorite's tattoo, yes! This page of the "book" is probably describing the procedure to cast that tattoo (which was also a kind of "seal", if I remember correctly). So that spells exists in this CCS world too! 😅 The magic Sakura is weaving starts "working" on the book, literally removing the spells from its pages and turning them back to their original form of magical books (remember that the Squids used to say that they would inscribe "magic books" and their power onto Akiho?).

Then, solemnly, we hear probably for the last time ever the magical incantation that accompanied us in the beginning of the story, used by Sakura to secure the strange manifestations of power into a transparent Card:

ENG: "Force without master, heed the call of my Staff of Dreams and become my power! SECURE!"

The countless of books and all this tremendous amount of power get secured into the birth of a new Card: BLANK!!!

Blank got the human appearance of Akiho, but also the protective wings of Kaito. The girl is holding a book (of course, how perfect for her) which is the representation of the artifact that was inside both Kaito and Akiho. This card is really so meaningful for someone like me who loves Akiho and Kaito. It's representing them united in their suffering (the artifact) but also in the hope for a better future (Akiho is smiling and the Card will be used to grant them safety, away from their abusers). I've always imagined that one of the last Cards Sakura might have produced would have Akiho and Kaito's elements, and here it is.

Also, how AWESOME is that Sakura managed to dispose of that damn artifact and succeeded to use it for Kaito and Akiho's sake, and turned it against the monsters who created it??? HOW. AWESOME. IS. THAT!!!!

Producing the very first consciously created transparent Card sucked almost all of Sakura's power and strength, and she's close to fainting, under the terrified eyes of Akiho, who lets go of Kaito for a moment in a gesture of going towards her "sister". But Sakura isn't done yet, no. She can't give up yet because her job isn't done.

And I Will Make Them Remember About You

Sakura wants for Akiho and the people who care about her (the ENG decided to translate this with "the people SHE holds dear") to remember who Akiho really is. She wants basically to "undo" what the rewriting of the world caused on the people who know Akiho, making them believe that she was born into the Kinomoto family and that she was Sakura and Touya's sister.

After pondering for a while and discussing with my friends over at my Discord server, I decided I'm not gonna go out on a limb and assume things from this decision, because I definitely NEED to read the next chapter to see how much Sakura intends people to remember, with this move. It's really not clear at all, as of now.

Anyway, other translation inaccuracy incoming!

Sakura, ENG: "I'm going to make another new card for that...and I might not have the power to do it alone" Sakura, JP: "It might probably be really difficult to create one more new card with my power, right now..."

As you can see, the nuance is different, because Sakura in the JP addresses how it's almost impossible for her to create another new card in the situation she is in right now, exhausted and all.

That's why, very cleverly, she's going to do something different. (My gosh how proud I am of this girl!!)

Saying "But these two Cards will surely help me", Sakura skillfully manages to merge Time and Rewind to create a new Card, not from scratch (which requires more power) but using what she's already got: and that's how the REMIND Card is born!!! The name of the Card originated by just replacing the "W" of Rewind with the "M" of Time. Ingenious, isn't it???

And as the two Cards merge, they give us lots of flashbacks, like the "effect" used here resembles a lot the one that used to happen when Sakura was changing the Clow Cards into the Sakura Cards back in the old arcs, or how the merging of two Cards seems to also be a callback to how the "card without name" and the "Nothing" merged to create HOPE in the very last minutes of Movie 2! What a nostalgic trip down the memories lane!

And the appearance of this Card is even more touching, because it features Syaoran (with his current age) holding Nadeshiko's pendant watch. I found that so sweet, especially coupled with Yelan's assistance to Sakura in this chapter. Yelan associated with Sakura, and Syaoran associated with Nadeshiko. How sweet. And when you think that even Lilie, Akiho's mother, was associated with Kaito, you really can realize that this is some kind of "theme" that CLAMP seemed to be wanting to portray in this story.

I Can't Be On Everyone's Side

And now, the scene that I think is worth the whole chapter, but probably the whole Clear Card Arc in its entirety. As usual, with important scenes, I'll use the literal translation from Japanese:

Sakura, JP: "It might not be right that there'll be people who will forget things (after this), but....I can't be everyone's friend/ally/can't be on everyone's side. So I won't go back...but actually, along with the people important to me... I WANT TO GO ON"

Wow. Let that sink in.

Sakura, of Cardcaptor Sakura, just came to the realization and spelled out clearly that she cannot be on everyone's side. That she cannot be "everyone's friend", like in a cheesy fairytale.

And I really, really, want to thank CLAMP-sensei for this scene and this line because for a period, long time ago, I was worried that this story would go down the "let's be friends" or "let's show sympathy to them" route. But as the chapters continued and the things CLAMP told us about the Association and the Squids were more and more cruel, and they made me more and more sick, I started to realize that there was simply no way CLAMP could've had Sakura try to justify or compromise with them. Because when cruelty is real, there's no compromise to be made.

This scene also shows how Sakura realizes for the first time ever that in her world, contrary to what we all believed previously, evil exists. It might not touch her or her "entourage" directly (and she's really blessed for that), but it exists out there and it's hurting people, people who can also become really important to her. And she decides to not stand idly by, blessed as she is with the luck of not experiencing that evilness, but actually using whatever it is in her power to bring those suffering people to safety.

Sakura cannot fight those people on equal terms. She's just 13, and although her power is very strong, she's still inexperienced. Moreover, she cannot really bring herself to deny her current nature and use violence on other human beings. That's not Sakura. I want you guys to reflect on this because I know that one of the favorite things expected for this finale was to have a direct magical confrontation with the true villains of this arc, defeating them and restablishing the peace. And I am sincere when I say that I would've wished for the same too, because you know how much I love Kaito and Akiho, and how much I was disgusted to read about what they did to them. I've spread my "burn the squids" gifs all over the fandom. I wanted someone to vindicate them. But not here. Not in this manga. I realized that after the initial satisfaction, I would've probably felt like the series would've been "defiled". And that's exactly what happens when you answer to violence with more violence.

Sakura just could not go hunting those bastards down and defeat them in a magical battle. Because, powerful and corrupted in their greed as they are, the only way to "fix" this situation would've been to exterminate them. I just could not picture this story to cross that boundary, no matter how much the bar had already been raised well over what we initially thought.

So, if someone out there is disappointed by this outcome, I'm sorry for you, but it was just not meant to be and I'm actually really glad that this series kept true to its fundamental values. Of course it would, CLAMP really do care about this series and they know very well how far to push the plot, and when to actually stop.

So what is the role of Akiho's clan and the Magic Association in this story, especially considering that we never saw their faces at all? Talking with lots of fans in these years, especially Japanese, I've come to the conclusion that they are not in this story to fill the "villain that needs to be deafeated" role, but actually they're a representation of abusive families that smother and suffocate their children with expectations, completely disregarding those children's natural inclinations, and abuse them when they do not meet such expectations, but also the society as a whole, that looks at you only basing on how it can take advantage of you. Which is exactly what happened to Akiho and Kaito, driving them to very dark places. The absence of faces for those characters makes it possible for the readers to see the Squids and the Association as the representation of whatever environment they relate the most to. It can be family, society, school, workplace etc... It also helps us focusing on their actions, rather than their faces, and not attribute any prejudice to them (because of religion, race, skin color, or whatever other attribute they could have).

Seeing as the story treats them more like a concept, than an actual entity, it's basically impossible for Sakura to defeat them (and their great power is an indication of that impossibility). Just like in real life, darkness will always exist, along with light. Good and evil will always be side by side. It's bigger than any of us. Then, what can we do, in a situation like this? What Sakura is choosing to do, here, is not to confront directly with violence these people who are way out of her league, and not even to sit back and look, but actually finding a way to make them forget about her friends and keeping her friends safe, granting them the possibility of living a happy life, finally away from the darkness of the past, healing the wounds on their souls together with the people they love and who love them back. Because even if you've been abused in the past, you can still hope for a happy life.

The focus here is all on helping the abused people. And Sakura, in order to do that, is okay with coming to terms with the fact that she can't be on everyone's side, and she needs to choose. In the end, the thing that really matters the most is to GO ON with your most important people. Not going back to what is lost, but going forward. And I know that this is such a CLAMP theme, and I'm glad that they reiterated it in this arc. When I say that Clear Card brought Sakura so much more closer to what's usual for CLAMP, I mean this.

The panel with Sakura raising her staff and shouting she wants to go on is absolutely beautiful, with those wings growing so big and unleashing Sakura's power in a storm of cherry blossom petals.

Sakura is exhausted, she finally reached her limit by using her ultimate magic. As she faints, her eyes just make it in time to catch a glimpse of her prince, the love of her life grabbing tightly his girlfriend's hand, to not let her fall, while the watch of Remind and the book of Blank do their job in the background. And I really loved this spread too, because even if it's not a conventional romantic scene made of physical display of love, this in my opinion is even more powerful. Many were reminded of Tsubasa, but I was also reminded of the long time those two spent unable to touch one another, and this scene here seems like a catharsis for that hardship they went through. Syaoran will always catch Sakura everytime she falls, he will always be there to grab her hand, no matter if he can really touch her or not. Cause his love is stronger than any kind of impediment. He will always be by her side, no matter what. When she's exhausted by her heroine's duties, she knows that she can always count on him to support her.

And speaking of "always be by her side", I just can't avoid mentioning how Akiho and Kaito stayed "glued" to eachother for the entire duration of this chapter, protecting and supporting one another. Kaito, in particular, kept holding Akiho even as Sakura's magic was hurting him like hell, because it was extracting the book from him. Even in excruciating pain, he did not let go of Akiho, intent in protecting her and keeping her safe in his hold. Akiho let go of him just for a moment when she was scared out of her mind for Sakura, but went back to him when she saw that her "sister" was hellbent in completing her task no matter what. Kaito, as the good "moon boy" he is, is someone who shows his feelings through his actions rather than words, just like Syaoran. And his constant grip on Akiho in this chapter, such an opposite act compared to how he used to stop his hand everytime it started reaching out to her, told me all that I needed to know about him: she's his most important person, and he will never let go of her, ever again.

Sakura wakes up in her bed. The scene is a direct parallel with an almost identical scene in chapter 3, as you can see here:

Kero is next to her and is relieved to see her awake, so he goes to shout in the hallway, directed to Touya, that Sakura is finally awake. Sakura seems a bit surprised to see Kero talking so nonchalantly with her brother, and he tells her that he chatted with him back at Yukito's house, together with Suppy, so I guess now he finds it "natural" to talk to her brother too! 😂 I'm kinda glad to know that, I like this "change of relationship", compared to the old series (and it was also kinda long overdue).

Sakura opens the palm of her hands and she finds the Dream Key, still intact and all. She also asks about Remind and Blank, and Kero confirms to her that she was able to use them successfully! Sakura is absolutely delighted to hear that, and says "We were able to go on!"

And thaaaaaaat's how the second-to-last chapter of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card ends! Solving a lot of the pending situations, but still leaving some secondary questions that will surely find a (more or less) detailed explanation in the final, next chapter. And well, we also have to prepare to not have ALL the answers to ALL the questions we might have. This is usual for CLAMP, and especially in their Spaces they never made it a secret that they love for their fans to wreck their brains over theories and imagining the characters' future after a series is over. They love for the fans to give their interpretations to things, they encourage that a lot (also because it creates more long-lasting engagement with their series).

Alas, I expect they'll leave something in particular to everyone's interpretation, but we'll see. 😅

Overall, I really loved this chapter and it was really emotional for me. I think it's fitting for a "climax". Sakura was ABSOLUTELY running the show and after this I dare anyone to say that she isn't the main character of her story. She pushed her limits, and even questioned her own morality in doing so. What a wonderful thing. She reminded me so much of Sakura-hime when she shooted all those monsters in order to take the precious egg, back in the Acid Tokyo arc of Tsubasa. She knew she was doing something bad, but her wish to do everything needed in order to "have him back" was stronger than anything else. And she made her own choice. Here, Sakura, on a smaller scale, made her own choice too.

Now, I hope in the last chapter we'll be granted the possibility to delve a bit more into Kaito and his thoughts, I need to see his character development, I need to see that he learned something from this. That he -at least- started to interrogate himself over the nature of his feelings for Akiho. I know it's reasonable to think that with him, things will take looooong time, but as least show me the signs. Because I need to know that Akiho will be truly happy with him (I know she will!), and she can only be if he's learned to be honest with himself. And learned what Lilie meant with the last conversation we saw between them.

Also, WHERE'S MOMO, I NEED TO SEE MOMO BEFORE THIS ENDS!!

Okay, this is probably the longest post I ever did but I think as the second-to-last chapter it deserved to have some big thematics explored in depth, because they're very important. I'm still pondering if I should divide the post of the final chapter in two because, in addition to even more pages, I expect there'll be soooooooooo much to talk about (cross your fingers with me that there won't be any translation mistake).

I also hope there'll be room for an epilogue or a couple of extra chapters, to help us coping with the separation in a more gradual way, cause after 7 years it's quite hard. I was curious to see the end, of course, but also not entirely ready to let this wonderful story go. I really, really enjoyed it and I say this from the bottom of my heart. I don't care what everyone else thinks, I can only be grateful to CLAMP for Clear Card Arc. 🙏

Chapter 80, along with all the tears that will come with it, is expected to be uploaded on November 29th on CLAMP's Youtube channel. Yes, it's less than a month away! I also expect some news about the anime (BLESS THE ANIME!! Something to cling onto when the manga is over 😭).

Well, see you at the end of November (please come to hold my hand cause I cannot do this alone, lol) !!!

[axel-skz]

Love untold

Part 1

A/N: I honestly have no clue how to write a part 2 for the bang chan fic. I’m gonna yolo it and see what happens ||| Ok so… I’m sorry… to everyone’s soul. I’m probably about to crush it a little. Now, I did the song shuffle and I got *drumrolllllssss* 24 TO 25!!! Love that honestly ||| I did try to proof read it but I’m also blind so mistakes will have been made.

Summary: You finally give Chan a chance. All he has to do, is be there on time and fix it.

You had spent about 2 weeks at your best friends house. It had been an emotional nightmare for you. You loved chan so much and this was the longest you had gone without talking to him.

It made you appreciate even the tiny moments with him so much.

All that being said though… it still wasn’t right the way you were being treated. You deserved so much better then that and if you didn’t stand up for yourself, who would.

You had started to feel worthless and so incredibly alone. It was the worst kind of loneliness, one where even surrounded by a group of people who were there because they loved you, you felt nothing.

Taking this time had made you go out again and talk to your loved ones more. Like you used to and you fell in love with the world all over again.

You wouldn’t have if your best friend hadn’t let you sulk more then 2 days.

You felt ready now to turn on your phone and face him.

This felt like the biggest miracle of all, you hadn’t used your phone in over two weeks. You hadn’t logged into any socials on any other devices. You were in disbelief as you powered the phone back on.

As soon as it turned on, all the texts from chan and the kids came through.

There were so many texts. You felt bad scrolling through them all. It ranged from chan apologising to you to the kids teling you about how miserable chan had been without you. You didn’t know who to reply to first so you set down your phone and took a deep breath.

If this gets overwhelming, I’m allowed to stop. I can do whatever makes me feel comfortable and I owe nothing to anyone.

It made you feel better to have a little mantra. Your best friend had suggested it to you.

You decided to text chan. You felt ready to do it. You started the text but then deleted it, this went on for another 5 minutes. You were stumped. You also had this feeling of terror in your gut that maybe this would go wrong somehow. That you could lose him forever.

You took another breath and started writing.

Chan, I’ve taken a while to settle myself and I think I’m ready to meet…

You had to take another moment to calm your anxiety. You told him where to meet and at what time. You would only wait 10 minutes and no more. You finished off the message confirming that he would be able to meet you at that time.

You didn’t have to wait long before you got a reply.

Y/N! I’m so glad you’re ok and I’m so so sorry that I made you feel that way. I would never hurt you on purpose and if I wasn’t so stupid, I would have realised what I was doing. The time and the place is fine. I will do anything to fix this. I love you and I’ll see you then. All I ask… is that you have faith in me. One more time.

The entire river of tears started to flow again as you read the text over and over. You mentally prepared yourself to meet him.

Two days later…

You sat in the cafe with the final bit of hope you had left. You werent going to let it go but that all depended on Chan and what he was planning on doing. The last 2 days had gone so agonisingly slow, you felt like you were in detention. Staring at a clock with no control over when this hell would end.

Three minutes late…

You had also made sure not to turn up early like you usually did when you wanted to meet people. If he was early, you wouldn’t have to wait… but he wasn’t. You didn’t lose any hope though because he still had time. You wanted this for him so badly. For you… so badly…

Six minutes late…

It made it harder the more you looked around. Your eyes flitting through the faces outside all the windows, hoping for the only familiar one.

Why does this place have so many god damn windows?!

You felt someone tap your shoulder and your soul left your body. When you finally came to your senses a second later, you turned to see Chan.

You froze. Unable to move. Your eyes took him in, you could see the dark circles and the eyebags. He looked horrible. You were struck with a bit of guilt.

No, this is not your fault. How many nights of sleep did you sacrifice waiting for him? Get a hold of yourself.

The cafe was very crowded so you couldn’t hear him say, ‘hi’. He grabbed your hand gently and gestured to take you outside. You got up and followed him.

It felt too good to be holding his hand right now. Way too good. Like, give in to all of your inhibitions and ignore all logic good. So as soon as you were outside, you pulled your hand away.

A look of concern crossed his face as he quickly turned around, thinking you got pulled away by accident in a crowd. Then it was hurt because he realised you were right there and had pulled your hand away on your own accord.

He lead the way to the park across the street and you guys found a bench to sit on. Sadly, that bench was covered in bird shizzle so you had to keep walking another 10 minutes before getting to another bench. It could not be more awkward and you cursed the park for not having enough benches.

You guys sat down and continued the awkward behaviour by looking around. You didn’t know what to say to each other and you didn’t know what the outcome for today could be. There was too much pressure.

Chan made the first move to get a conversation started, ‘how have you been? You feeling ok? Eating and drinking well?’

‘Yeah, I dont feel as… bad as I did before… everythings fine… you look like you haven’t been sleeping…’

‘It’s nothing out of the ordinary so it’s not like it’s unusual…’

‘Less sleep then before though?.’

‘I dont have the only thing that helps me sleep,’ he scratched his neck.

‘I hope you get it back…’ you looked straight ahead and not at him. It hurt too much to look at him.

‘Me too. I can’t believe how incredibly clueless I’ve been. How I could do that to you constantly and not even realise.’

‘What are you thinking happens now?’ You finally turned to look at him.

He took a good moment to look into your eyes and scan your face before he said, ‘I want to say that I’ll try… my absolute hardest… I just don’t know what I’ll do if that isn’t good enough either… I’m being stretched so thin with everything.’

‘You are a dad to seven. Can’t blame you for having a hard time,’ you chuckled as you tried to empathise.

‘The last thing I wanted to do today was break up but right now, sitting here and looking at you… I dont want to make another promise I won’t be able to keep. I love you too much to do that to you. To put you through that again,’ he was trying to hold back tears. You could tell.

‘I don’t want to do that either…’ you said in a hushed tone.

‘We’ll still be friends. Id never leave you and we still talk about anything and everything. I just can’t ask for you to wait for me to be in a place where I can start dating again,’ this hurt your heart. This wasn’t even an option in your mind.

‘I’m willing to wait. I know you’re it for me… I cant picture a life without you,’ the idea of him not being there at any of your important milestones had always been non existent in your mind.

‘But it isn’t fair. That will still hurt you just like before. Having to wait for me. I dont know how long that could take. We could be in that wierd limbo for years.’

You didn’t know what else you could say….‘this isnt fair. Nothing is fair.’

He looked at you through tears as he moved to hug you. ‘I know, my love.’

You guys sat there for a while, hugging each other and not saying anything. It hurt like hell already and any words would only make this worse. As it got colder and the sunlight started to dim, you guys knew what you had to do.

‘We’re still going to be best friends right?’ You said as you moved to stand up.

‘I wouldn’t want anyone else,’ he replied honestly as he followed.

‘I should go… before I say things I shouldn’t.’

Chan gave a dry laugh, ‘same here.’

You kept staring at each other and not moving.

You let out a sad chuckle, ‘one of us should probably…’

‘yeah…’ he was looking at you with unmoving eyes.

‘both of us turn around at the same time when I get to three. Sound good?’

‘Yeah,’ he agreed

‘one…’

You both couldn’t take your eyes off wach other and slowly moved closer.

‘…two…’ you said a little quietly.

You guys were extremely close. Noses almost touching and you could feel his breath.

‘…three…’ a whisper.

He kissed you. You couldn’t pull away and you were there for god knows how long before you pulled away.

Chan looked you in the eyes ‘no.’

‘What?’ You felt a little panic. What? He didn’t want to be friends anymore either? Was this a stupid mistake? He kissed you. This can’t be your fault.

‘No, I’m not leaving you. No way, I just can’t. We have to figure this out. There has to be some way.’

‘You will have to work even harder, you know?’

‘Yeah. But if you’re willing to do it, I will. No trying, I’ll just do it. If there was ever a time to give my all to something, it would be now.’

You hugged him so quickly, with so much excitement. ‘THE AMOUNT OF CRYING I’M DOING TODAY! OH MY GOD!’

He hugged you back, tightly. ‘bro same.’

‘Did you just bro zone me after everything we’ve been through?’

This got a silent laugh from him, ‘hh, hush now little one.’

‘You say shit like that and wonder why everyone calls you old.’

There, as the sun set, you stayed. You don’t remember exactly how long and it was very cold. But that hug was the warmest you had gotten for a very long time. You felt like everything was going to be ok.

So many things were left unsaid and so many problems would have to be fixed later. It was definitely going to be hard, but it was more then worth it.

Taglist (can you call it a list if it’s just one person 💀):

@q1sng

THIS ISNT A LITERARY MASTERPIECE but I hope it was still a good enough read :) Thank you for wasting some time with me.

Also, take your guess at who the best friend should be. Ive got someone in mind but I wanna know if you thought of an idol or your real besties 👯‍♀️

Like, reblog and leave comments about anything and everything ;)

[neonscandal]

OK, OK. I'm doing this one more time because they deserve it and, can they really be one of my favorite ships if I haven't done this for them??? Here's the softness AshEiji deserved.

Gives nose/forehead kisses - Both. Eiji usually does so to be sweet, Ash usually does so to be mean. Probably makes fun of how short Eiji is while he's at it.

Gets jealous the most - Ash is overprotective but I don't think he's jealous and Eiji is not one to cage birds.

Picks the other up from the bar when they’re too drunk to drive - I don't think Ash let's himself get too drunk, he's got something dear to protect but Eiji is still going to pick him up because he wants to see him home. Eiji is insufferable when he drinks and Ash, subsequently, only trusts himself to receive Drunk Eiji.

Takes care of on sick days - Eiji and Ash is neeeeedy without realizing it. You think waking him up on a normal morning is tough, try when he's running a fever and stubborn about not wanting to take any meds. But Eiji does so patiently, without complaint, and treats Ash preciously.

Drags the other person out into the water on beach day - Both. If someone had it in their mind to be reserved on a rare day out they would be sorely mistaken but, also, very quickly swept up in the others' energy. They were always carefree with one another.

Gives unprompted massages - Eiji. He's very touchy but also doesn't fully grasp the miracle of being the only person Ash allows to get so close. Like, he knows. He Gets It, but at the same time, he doesn't know how grateful Ash is for the gentle way he's always held or touched by Eiji.

Drives/rides shotgun - Eiji drives, Ash rides shotgun. Doesn't matter that they drive on the left side of the road in Japan. Skip used to drive Ash around so Eiji couldn't possibly be any worse.

Brings the other lunch at work - Eiji and, after a spat, he'll pettily make it a point to include something that'll make Ash cringe like natto. He knows, regardless, Ash will eat it and Ash, honestly, isn't that bothered by it.

Has the better parental relationship - ... Eiji but that's literally only because the bar with Ash's parents is in hell.

Tries to start role-playing in bed -

Embarrassingly drunk dancer - Eiji, the little lightweight never really got the hang of drinking since he was a fairly disciplined athlete before he got injured and now he's just a silly goofy lil guy with his hands in the air after a few drinks.

Still cries watching Titanic - If anyone? Eiji and Ash would not have any sympathy for it.

Firmly believes in couples costumes - Eiji and he will delight in decorating the house in an aggressive amount of jack-o-lanterns leading up to Halloween complete and jump scaring Ash from different rooms everyday which is cruel and unusual but also a little fun. He's a menace.

Breaks the expensive gift rule during Christmas - Ash by a long shot.

Makes the other eat breakfast - Eiji begrudgingly but only because getting Ash out of bed is excruciating. Otherwise, he'd be happy to introduce Ash to more recipes from home.

Remembers anniversaries - Ash has spent a life remembering every grievance against him, viscerally. A soft life with Eiji hasn't changed that but slowly, the fond memories have started to overshadow the things he wished to forget. He treasures every anniversary and the time spent in the safety of Eiji's company. Eiji, of course, also remembers the anniversaries and he's an incredibly cheesy gift giver but it doesn't matter. Ash just bursts out laughing and teases him while he remains confused about what the problem is.

Brings up having kids - Neither. Life's been hard enough and things are finally getting better for them both.

[rosetta-j-stone]

So

Am back from Maribor and Vienna gigs

Guys (g/n).

I was NOT ready.

OK so first off.

Maribor!

...honestly it is a miracle I made it to this gig at all.

Got late arvo/early eve train from Lux to Koblenz (did a unit from my Colloquial Slovanian book like a NERD), was already prepared for 3-hour (ugh) wait for the night train, was NOT prepared for the 2-hour delay to said night train. And then there was no running water in the whole carriage I was in. For a 12-hour journey. Lads.

Anyway we miraculously made up some of the time en route (look last time I did this they managed to be EVEN LATER arriving at the terminus) so I was only (hoho) an hour late into Vienna. Just enough time to get a refund processed (yessss), buy a ticket for the train to Graz leaving an hour sooner than the train I'd planned to get (because, you guessed it, that train was also delayed, though not by much) and leap on that earlier train.

Why do I put myself through this chaos? Oh right, the GORGEOUS Alpine scenery. That's why. AND it was snowing <3 <3 <3

After changing trains in Graz, I got to Maribor with just about enough time to find my hotel, drop my bags and head out to the venue. Halfway there, I realise I've forgotten my bag with my Miklavžev gift for the boys. Boooooo. When I get to the gig, I realise I've missed the soundcheck. Boooooo. And I have no time to check my things into the cloakroom before everyone else comes in from General Entry. Boooooooo.

Still, a great gig! Really enjoyed seeing Jet Black Diamonds live too. Also Lips and Demoni confirmed ultimate live gig power couple. I need a mash-up like yesterday. Also also I was on the Jan/Bojan side of the stage and, ugh, Jan is just so cool isn't he? We have no choice but to stan. Afterwards got me some merch awww yissss. But dead on my feet so didn't stick around for stamping/signing/etc.

Managed to get taxi back to hotel - night buses not a thing and I was NOT up for walking (see above), slept like the dead.

Spent the following day and a half in Maribor, 13 years since I was last there(!!!), nice to explore it for myself, here are some pics : )

Number of ladies who thought I was actually a Slovenian person - two (one because I am word-perfect re: Bela Snežinka)

Number of records purchased from Gramofonoteka: zero

Number of beers purchased from Gramofonoteka: one

Number of cassettes purchased from Gramofonoteka: two

Number of advent-wreath lighting ceremonies attended: one

Number of kranjska klobasas purchased: one (but SO GOOD)

Number of Christmas markets visited: both

Number of times I said: 'dobro razumem, ampak slabo govorim' - many

Number of times I mentioned having a friend from Maribor/having visited said friend in Maribor 13 years ago - also many

Number of times I said to myself 'I really must get a Slovenian sim card' - also also many

And then back to Vienna via Graz (surprise surprise more delays - train 30 mins late leaving Maribor, only 10 mins late by the time it got to Graz, too bad the train to Vienna left 5 mins before that lol, so got the next train an hour later) - again another case of straight to the hotel and straight out again but this time for dinner with friends and fellow-fans coordinated by local hero (g/n) and fellow Operation SSF (IYKYK) supporter @chibi-chellist - lovely to meet up and geek out <3

And then.

Gig day.

Aaaaaa.

This was everything.

Spent the afternoon/eve/gig with, inter alia, @signoraviolettavalery - so nice to finally meet in person!! - I'm definitely bookmarking (literally, lol, they have bookmarks instead of business cards) the place we went for lunch for future reference.

We also went for a bit of a wander in the centre (during which I utterly failed to find a replacement gift for the boys - previous gift (traditional Luxish bonhommes, pictured) inedible by this point. Škoda).

And then the gig itself! Glad the girls had taken me to get a number for the queue beforehand, saved standing out in the rain for too long. Swapped some bracelets with fellow queuers- as ever, so impressed with what people come up with in this fandom, y'all are so creative and talented <3

We had scoped out the venue the day before(#nerds) and honestly I'm still not sure how they fitted everyone in...but they managed it! We bumped into an Australian guy who was coming to see Joker Out for the first time and told him he was in for a treat.

Understatement of the YEAR.

This was...epic. The energy from the boys, the energy from the crowd, like Maribor was good but this was SOMETHING ELSE. Of course it didn't hurt that:

Bojan wore the REVENGE LACE this time yessssss I forgive them for not bringing the airline outfits back

Bojan came down offstage into the crowd for the inevitable UM karaoke session. And then you know. Passed right in front of us (I mean like RIGHT in front of us) and spoke to me and the Australian guy (because we had previously shouted out about him having come the furthest for the gig).

Bojan: Hey Aussies!

Me, ascending to the astral plane just looking at him: Oh yes I am absolutely an Aussie in this moment, whatever you say my dude

ANYWAY somehow we all survived that and the bit afterwards where

I spoke terrible terrible Slovenian to the boys, handed over my remaining bracelets as gifts along with the Christmas card I got them, and got Bojan to stamp a bra I'd brought along (did I wear that same bra home the next day, you betcha)

I got a picture taken of Bojan pointing at my ARE YOU tattoo

ANYWAY then we (me and my friends/fellow-fans, not me and the boys, can you imagine lol) went for drinks and so yeah I got back to the hotel at 2, got to sleep at 4, got up at 7, got a flight back to Lux at half nine and was back at work right after lunch.

And then I had Slovenian class X D

In conclusion: Best. Joker Out. Tour. Yet.

PS: Here are my souvenir(pop)s (plus bracelets & t-shirt not pictured)

[ijustreallylikepirates]

DCAS FINALE !!!

-AHHHHH

-TEAM JAKE LETS GO

-honestly you should’ve left her there

-OMG TOM HES PRACTICING LMAO

-ASHLEY HAHAHAHA

-kiss each other right now

-best apology ever

-love hunter x ally

-HUNTESSALLY

-YIPPEE

-aww sapphics ♥️

-Ally and Jake getting along miracle is back

-ALEC LMAO

-POOKIEEEEEE

-no pick Tom ☹️

-TOMJAKE KISS RN

-IM ACTUALLY SCARED RN

-ALEC IN THE OUTFIT LMAOOOO

-NINA YOU ATEEE

-LOLLL ALLY

-THIS IS WHY I LOVE HER

-Tom you’re so in love with Jake kiss him propose to him

-TOMJAKE THEY WERE SO CLOSE

-“you can have your yaoi moment later” LMAOOO

-ok ally purr

-why does Alec love tackling people and holding them hostage what is this

-THE SLOMO LOLLL

-LOL ALEC GETTING HIT

-OOH FIORE

-THE BOND

-I LOVE THEIR FATHER DAUGHTER BOND

-ALEC ADOPT HER RN

-YEAH ALEC PURR

-OMG ALEC AND FIORE HOLDING HANDS THEYRE SO SWEET

-THE CUT TO GABBY IN THE FIT IDK WHY I FOUND THAT FUNNY

-WHERE DID THEY GET A TIGER FROM???

-aw what a cute kitty 😆😍” KITTY!?!?!?

-Ellie what is that going to do

-YES THANK YOU TOM

-GABBELLIE YIPPEE

-Riya stop throwing rocks at people please

-I forgot about the armor upgrade and I though Riya won I freaked out for a minute

-I love how everyone is quitting on Rita she deserves it

-i love how they kiss when there’s a fucking tiger

-“yes sir” he’s so gay

-Emily kinda deserved that

-AW TREVORS LITTLE FACE AT DEREK THATS SO CUTE OML

-YEAH ELLIE

-IM SO STRESSED THIS SHIT GOT ME ON MY FEET

-JAKE PULL THROUGH PLEASE

-PLEASE

-IM BEGGING

-JAKE PLEASEEEE

-JAKE DONT JINX IT PLEASE

-Riya you can’t do that that’s illegal

-BRUH IM SCARED

-PLEASE JAKE PULL THROUGH

-GAY PEOPLE

-TOMJAKE PLEASE

-KISS

-YIPPEE THE GAYS

-THEY KISSED

-JAKE PLEASE

-NO

-I SWEAR TO GOD

-OMG ALEC READING AGAIN

-ALEC AND FIORE

-ALEC ADOPT FIORE PLEASE

-GABBY GRETT ELLIE FRIENDSHIP YIPPEE

-YEAH CONNOR SPEAK IT

-LOL NICK

-TOMJAKE

-BRO CONNOR GETTING MARRIED

-THAT SHOULD BE ALEC

THE STORY COLLAGE AT THE END LMAO

IT SHOULDVE BEEN JAKE

IM GONNA SCREAM

hey we got Tomjake tho

but what about aleconnor?

Please?

Aleconnor?

Just a kiss?

ALEC ADOPTED FIORE YIPPEE!!!

YALL IM GONNA CRY DCAS IS OVER KILL ME

when is season 4???

I’ll die help me please

I CANT WAIT FOR SEASON 4 GUYS YIPPEE

I’ll miss the old cast tho

I’m gonna stop yapping now happy DCAS finale day !!!

[fandoms-are-my-h0me]

Home For The Holidays

Ao3 link:

Word Count: 1,209

Rating: E (Smut, Oral and Vaginal Sex, slight breeding kink, NSFW, MDNI)

Summary: It's the holidays and you and Garreth are finally able to spend some time together. The topic of the future comes up.

A/N: This is my first fic so please be nice. I am so glad to have been able to join in on this little project! ❤

As you open the door to your little cottage, you are met with the warmth from a fire and the most heavenly aroma of dinner cooking. Sliding off your jacket and scarf, you place them down before heading over to kitchen to see the familiar red hair of your husband, Garreth Weasley, with his back facing you. He wasn’t supposed to be home until much later due to having to close the shop despite it being Christmas eve but maybe by some miracle he had gotten done early. You make your way over to him before wrapping your arms around him, placing your hands on his chest and your face against his back before he notices you.

“There is my little wife. I almost wondered if I would have to go searching for you. Can’t believe you would be late for our anniversary dinner” He jested as he leaned down to press a soft kiss against your lips which made you roll your eyes before returning the kiss. You could tell he must have been eating the cookies you had baked the day before just by how his lips tasted of candy canes and chocolate. As he pulls away, he brings the spoon from the soup towards your lips. “Just want to make sure it is perfect. Don’t forget to blow.” The warmth of the soup helped your body defrost and the rich flavors made you wonder what new spice concoction he had tested out this time though it only enhanced it.

After dinner, you both stood around the Christmas tree as you decorated it while soft music played in the background, having pushed it off due to both of your crazy work schedules. As you pulled out an ornament that his family had given to you two during your wedding, you couldn’t help but smile a bit before you peeked around the tree to look at Garreth. His eyes seemed to glimmer amongst the colorful lights, and he had his tongue sticking out a bit in concentration as he tried to figure out where to place the ornament he was holding.

You still couldn’t believe this was your life sometimes, this being one of the times. Had someone asked you a couple of years back if you would see yourself settling down with Garreth, you would have given them a look. You both had seen each other as mostly friends since you joined Hogwarts in your fifth year, but something had shifted during your last year. You weren’t sure if it was both of you maturing or if it was the jealousy, you had felt when you saw him flirting with other girls but one night during a study session, you both got into a small argument before confessing your feelings to one another. Ever since that day, you both had been inseparable and when he proposed to you during graduation, you couldn’t have been more ecstatic. Though some might say they should have waited till they were a bit older and had a bit more money, they both had made this old cottage into the home they both had envisioned.

“Hey, everything ok?” A warm voice pulled you from your thoughts as Garreth stared at you with a concerned look on his face.

“Oh yes, just thinking about everything between us and about the future. I know that might be silly since we have only been married for a year, but I think we both are ready to talk about this.” You say before looking at Garreth for confirmation that he had the same idea. He walks over to you and places his hands over yours before noticing the ornament you were still holding.

“Oh, that kind of conversation. I honestly also have been thinking about having our own little family as well. It doesn’t help when most of the customers at Pippin’s have been students from Hogwarts grabbing ingredients for their last classes before the holiday break started or even just young families coming in to get what they need. Do you really want a family?” He asks as he rubs his hands up and down your arms in a comforting way while a smile graced his lips.

You wouldn’t deny that you were dreaming of kids running around the cottage more these days and now that you both were in a better financial standing, you wondered if it was a sign that it was time to start a little family. You look up at him, a smile gracing your lips before you nod your head. He pulls you into another loving kiss with a bit of excitement in it as he places his hands on your waist. “Would it be silly to ask if we try tonight?” he says with a mischievous smile and glint in his eyes.

It wasn’t long till both of your clothes were off and you were on your back near the fireplace, Garreth in between your legs as he worked on getting you ready to take him. You could tell he was enjoying himself by the moans and growls he let out while eating you out as your fingers tangled in his ginger locks. You could feel that familiar tightness in your core start to grow before he pulled away, teasing you as you let out a whine which was swallowed by his lips against yours while her rubbed the tip of his cock against your entrance. “Ready for me, dear?” He cooed before sliding into you, knowing your answer before you even spoke it.

Both of your moans filled the living room as you both chased your high, Garreth’s hips bucking with a steady and deep pace while your legs wrapped around his hips. You lean your head back as he starts to gently kiss and suck at your skin, your mind growing hazy with desire. “Fuck Garreth, right there!!” You moan as he rubs against your sweet spot before you feel yourself coming undone, squealing his name as your nails run down his back. You could feel his movements start to stutter as he was getting closer, so you decide to help him by looking him in the eyes before speaking in a sultry begging tone. “Please Garreth, please cum inside me. I want to carry your baby even if it takes fucking in every room of this house.” That was all it took before Garreth slammed into you before growling as he came, filling you up with the warmth of his seed. He made sure to stay deep inside you for a couple of minutes before pulling out, panting as he looked at you. “You ae something else, you know?” He says with a slight chuckle.

As you both lay on the couch, your head on his chest and his hand stroking your hair, you couldn’t be more content with your life. The sight of snow starting to fall outside your window was soon forgotten as the grandfather clock in the corner started to charm signaling that it was now midnight. “Merry Christmas, Garreth.” You said before your chin was tilted up, so you were staring at him. “Merry Christmas, my love. Let this Christmas be the start of our new future. I love you so much.”

[mrspandas]

i couldn't find if requests where open-if not feel free to ignore this-

But if you're ok with it, could you do a foolish x FTM(or just male reader if you don't do that) with step-cest and corruption?

if requests aren't open or you are not ok with this then feel free to ignore it! thank you either way!

stepbro

sub!foolish x dom!reader

summary: foolish gets riled up from a movie so reader teaches him how to masturbate

warnings: stepcest, corruption kink, masturbation/jerking off, praise

!not proofread!

the house was quiet after your mom and step dad loudly declared that they were heading out for their monthly date night. you only wave goodbye as you continue searching for something to watch on the tv.

foolish, your new step brother, is sitting next to you on the couch, his eyes focused on his phone. "found something to watch yet?" he looks up at you and then at the tv. "not yet. you wanna take a look?" you hand him the remote, watching as he starts to scroll through the endless amount of movies.

you hated how much you liked him. he‘s so innocent and sweet. you and him got along really well. the fact that you wanted to fuck his brains out, however, is something you’ve been keeping pretty close to the chest.

you’ve had to live together for the past few months now since your parents got married and you feel like you’re about to crawl out of your skin with want. sure he’s your step brother and it’s wrong but that didn’t stop you from fantasizing about bending him over his desk and fucking him or sneaking into his room at night to have a little bit of fun. and honestly who knows, maybe that could’ve happened already, if foolish just wasn’t too innocent for his own good. you had definitely tried flirting with him before, even making somewhat suggestive remarks but he never seemed to get any of it.

and now, here you both were at home on a friday night with your parents gone until the early hours of the morning. you were sick of sitting around and waiting for a miracle to happen that could make foolish finally understand what you were trying to hint at. so you took matters into your own hands.

"i think i might have an idea. can i?" you ask reaching for the tv remote in his hand. he just shrugs, handing it to you. you scroll a little further, settling on the next best dirty movie you found. foolish doesn’t question it, putting his phone back in his pocket to concentrate on the movie.

it didn’t take long until the first sex scene came on. "we shouldn’t be watching this, that’s so inappropriate" foolish mumbles, blushing at the awfully explicit movie on the tv. "oh come on, don’t be such a prude. it‘s something completely normal, no need to get embarrassed" you cross your arms in front of your chest, glancing over at foolish. he seems quite flustered, squeezing his thighs together. "you’re not getting worked up over that, are you?" you tease as foolish readjusts himself and turns his head to look at you "what? no i’m not why would you say that" he denies but his flustered look tells you he definitely is. "yeah yeah whatever you say" you smirk to yourself, watching foolish squirm around and place his hands on his crotch in hopes of hiding the obvious bulge in his shorts. unfortunately for him you had already seen it.

as the movie went on foolish got more and more needy, squirming around every five seconds and pressing his hand down on his dick. "need help with that?" you ask smugly, foolish tensing up at your offer. "what no I don’t need help. everything’s fine I don’t know what you’re talking about" he tries to deny it even further, clenching his thighs together. "oh come on I can see you struggling, why don’t you let me help you out" you tease, placing one of your hands on his thigh, caressing it softly. foolish lets out a whimper, his face bright red as he seems to have given in.

"this has never happened before. please do something" he whines, grabbing onto the edge of the couch. "what have you never touched yourself before?" you ask mockingly. foolish shakes his head, looking down in embarrassment. "well would you like me to teach you?" you offer, moving to straddle him and lifting his chin. "yes please" he whimpers, blushing even more. "okay then. can i take these off?" you ask, sliding your fingertips under the waistband off his shorts. "yeah" foolish mutters under his breath so you tug his shorts and boxers down just enough to expose his already red and throbbing cock. a bead of precum forming at the top. "please do something" he whines, pressing his thighs together.

you take his right hand and move it to his dick, wrapping his hand around it. your hand doesn’t leave his, guiding it up and down on his cock. "there you go, see it’s that easy" you assure him, taking your hand away to let him try on his own. it didn’t take long for him to throw his head back, his mouth hanging open. "fuck- feels so good" he stutters out between moans. "you’re doing so good for me" you praise him, running one of your hands through his hair and sliding the other one under his shirt. "who’s a good boy?" you ask, moving your hand out of his hair to cup his cheek. "me fuck i’m a good boy" foolish moans, speeding up his his hand. you smile, bending down to place wet kisses on his neck.

he moans loudly as you start to suck on the sensitive skin, leaving behind pretty red-ish purple marks. "fuck please oh god" foolish whimpers, his free hand coming up to grab your thigh tightly. "please what baby?" you mumble against his skin "feels so good-" he cuts himself off with a moan. "i know baby. you’re doing so so good for me" you pull away from his neck, admiring the fresh hickeys on his skin. foolish moans loudly, his legs starting to shake and his dick twitching in his hand. "good boy. cum for me baby you deserve it" you caress his cheek with your thumb. and with that he tumbles over the edge, cumming all over his hand and chest.

coming down from his high he leans forward, resting his head on your shoulder. "well done baby. you did great" you assure him, wrapping your arms around him soothingly.

[simslegacy5083]

NSB (Straud Legacy) Gen 9

Today's (7/12/2024) Episode: Praying for a Miracle

Luigi barreled through the doors of Magnolia Medical Center, a bleeding and unconscious Noemi held tightly against his chest.

He yelled for help, startling the medical staff into action. Within seconds Noemi was being lifted from his arms and rushed into triage while he was led to a small consultation room by a nurse and asked to tell them anything he could about what had happened prior to their arrival.

Still in shock, Luigi did his best to rely the events of that evening, frustrated that he didn't know more. Their date night had been wonderful… until it wasn’t. He honestly had no idea know what had happened and hated that he didn't have more information to provide.

When the nurse was satisfied that she had all the info she could gather from him, she guided Luigi back out to the waiting room. He wanted to see Noemi but was told she was being treated and someone would come out to fill him in as soon as they knew more.

He begged the nurse for assurance that they would help his fiancée and was only more worried by her gentle response that carefully avoided making any promises.

Left alone, Luigi felt numb as he spun out of his bloodstained clothes and found a seat near the window.

Pulling out his phone he called his dad and stepmom. As soon as they heard what had happened Peachy offered to come sit with him, but Luigi asked him to stay with Skye instead. He promised he'd be fine on his own and would call again as soon as he had any information to share.

Luigi knew he should probably call Noemi’s family next, but he couldn’t bear to tell anyone else that he had no clue when, or if, she would open her eyes again.

He tried to distract himself with the magazines laying around the waiting room, but nothing could hold his attention as his mind frantically raced around in circles. What was going on with Noemi? Why hadn’t anyone told him anything yet? How long should he wait to check in with them?

He loved Noemi so much; he couldn't bear to think of trying to move through the world without her by his side. It wasn't just him either, Skye deserved to get to know his mother, to have her in his life. Luigi was barely managing this "fatherhood" thing as it was – he couldn't do it alone!

Worries bounced back and forth in his head until he glanced at the clock and was shocked to see that an hour had gone by. What the heck!?

They definitely knew something by now! At this point the doctors could have gone over Noemi with a microscope from top to bottom, and if they were still running tests, then they could at least tell him what they’d found out so far. They had clearly forgotten him; had they forgotten her too?

He marched impatiently up to the reception desk and waited in line to be seen again. When he finally got his chance to inquire after his love, all the clerk at the d would tell him was that she was still being treated and someone should be out to see him shortly.

Luigi had never wanted to hack a computer system so badly in his life, but he didn’t want to get kicked out and not be able to be there for her.

Luigi walked back to his painfully familiar chair and sat down, the helplessness and smell of hospital reminding him of his long ago visit to Isra.

He had no evidence that his plea to The Watcher on his ex’s behalf had anything to do with her eventual recovery, but once again he bowed his head and hoped that the otherworldly being supposedly tracking his every move could and would heed his silent and desperate wishes.

“Please, please let her be OK. If I only knew what you wanted, I would promise to do it. I can’t raise Skye without her, so if you want to see another generation of my family’s ‘legacy’ you need to give her back to me.” He felt like a fool, begging and threatening the void, but he’d be a fool if that’s what it took to see Noemi awake and smiling at him once more.

This week was intense 😶. As usual I didn’t plan any of it, the game simply decided to make things hard for my little legacy family following Skye’s birth for some reason 😭!

Also, my apologies for another cliffhanger. I write and break episodes based on length and where it feels right; this flow was what I felt worked best.

Thanks for hanging in there with me and Luigi!

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here