#i love a little bit of haru she’s so cool

[averagegtenjoyer]

May I haveeee. g/t Haru content 👉👈 I love giant Haru sm

Giant Haru gardening by ripping trees out of the ground with her bare hands as though she were picking flowers. In fact, giant Haru kneeling in front of Makoto and offering her a bouquet of beautiful trees, freshly picked. Makoto is… not sure what to do with them. But appreciates the gesture anyway.

Giant Haru’s personality is the same as canon, of course, but she’s probably mostly hiding the more sadistic parts of her personality because she doesn’t want to scare any tiny people off. She probably makes comments out of the blue like “idk why but I love it when people scream in fear at me hehe ^///^” and everyone has to live with it and pretend she didn’t say that

Haru would be good at interacting with borrowers as well. Those mfs would be so well taken care of. Getting a little knock at ur hole in the wall in the morning and she’s brought you some veggies from the garden. Finding a handkerchief bundled up with other supplies as a gift when u least expect it. She would let tinies ride along on her shoulder in that pink turtleneck thing she wears. Would be comfy asf

Haru would have a pretty Arrietty style dollhouse, and hope for the tiny people her father told her about to come live in it one day. Truth be told, its actually super awkward when she opens the dollhouse only to catch an actual real life borrower in the middle of pouring afternoon tea.

Giant Haru wears acrylics also. Dont ask why i included this I just think its cute.

[nagiseishirosbby]

𝐊𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐈, 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐈, 𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐈, 𝐑𝐄𝐎, 𝐈𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐈 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐘𝐔'𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐒/𝐎 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐓

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓(𝒔): Kunigami Rensuke, Hyoma Chigiri, Nagi Seishiro, Reo Mikage, Isagi Yoichi, Kenyu Yukimiya

𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈(𝒔): TEEN PREGNANCY

𝑨/𝑵: Some of them might be aged up so they all are 18. Also, Kenyu's one of my favs.

𝑺𝒚𝒏𝒐𝒑𝒔𝒊𝒔: The Bllk boys reaction to their s/o being pregnant.

𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐔𝐊𝐄 𝐊𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐈

[Name] calls over Kunigami to her house, so they could have a little talk. The orange haired guy was extremely worried, so he asked her what was the problem was. She sighs before explaining to him before she finally said, "K-Kunigami... I think I'm pregnant...". The room went silent.

As soon as he heard her say, 'i'm pregnant', he is in a different world. So he asked her if she was serious

Kunigami never had any experience on taking care of kids

But he does have two sisters at home tho

Comforts her they best way possible, telling his s/o that he will help out

Does everything in his power to satisfy you

BEST. BOYFRIEND. EVER

Asks his parents for advice

Uses his freetime to read books about parenting

Always watching you like a hawk's eye.

"Kunigami, what are you doing?!"

"What do you mean? I'm just making sure you're ok."

Sometimes, you scolded him for always being overprotective. He would either say, "There's nothing wrong with that." or "I don't want anything to happen to you."

Thinks the baby's gender will be a boy, so he could teach him how to play soccer as well

He is a total sweetheart

And 9 months later, they had a boy and named him Ren

𝐇𝐘𝐎𝐌𝐀 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐈

"You said you're... Pregnant?" He asked confused. [Name] nods and wipes her tears, telling him that she wasn't ready to be a mother yet at a age like this. He stares intensely into her eyes before standing up and walking outside, saying to her that he'll be back.

He starts to panic, and call his big sis and mom

Both mom and sis are happy for him

Buys things that [Name] ask for

Helps her in the morning time with her skincare

Just like Kunigami, he is always asking for advice

He gives her some hugs to release stress

Tries to be overprotective, which is extremely cute to you

"You're very cute, you know that?"

"Shut up..."

Treats her like a princess with her prince

Uses his free time to buy clothes for their unborn child

He keeps thinking that the baby will be a girl

Sometimes hate it when he has to wake up extremely late when his s/o asks for food

But he loves his s/o anyways, even when she teases him

9 months later, they have a boy instead of a girl. The two decided to name him Haru.

𝐒𝐄𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐎 𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐈

"Pregnant, what does that mean?"

"It means... That you might be a dad." When he heard that explanation, his eyes were in complete shock as his mouth was in form of a 'o'.

He doesn't have much experience with this

Acts like he knows what he's doing when he don't

Makes sure you're in the same room as him when it comes to playing his games

Even when he is in his gaming session, he still shows you affection to make sure he loves his s/o

Gets take-out and makes sure he buys lots of snacks and refills inside of the snack cabin

Tries his best to satisfy your needs

Gives her some space when she needs it most

Might massage your back and your feet when he senses your tiredness

Loves playing CO-OP games with his s/o

Loves buying mini jersey onesies for his son or daughter with his number

He wants to have a boy

"You really want to have a boy, huh?"

He nods, not feeling ashamed

9 months later, they actually have a boy and a girl. The girl is name Haruta and the boy happens to be Haruto

𝐑𝐄𝐎 𝐌𝐈𝐊𝐀𝐆𝐄

"You're gonna be a dad, Reo..." He is a bit confused. But when he heard that, he told her, "Cool."

[Name] seems to be a bit pissed off at his reaction but at the same time, she is extremely sad

As soon as he saw her cry, he feels extremely bad for what he said

The reason why he said, 'cool' was because he didn't want to panic and act like a headless chicken

Does his best to help you out

Like Kunigami and Chigiri, he decides to use the internet to make sure he is doing everything right

This man really wants to have a little boy in his house, just so he can teach him how to play soccer

"What makes you think we're having a boy?"

"Just a guess."

"*sighs* Why did I even fell in love with you...?"

Even though he acted so dumb and stupid, you deeply loved your boyfriend.

Like his best friend, he would buy jersey onesies and also wear it when the baby will be born

Since he has a lot of money, he loved to spoil the heck out of you and the baby

Knows that when the baby is born, they will be exactly like your boyfriend

Tries to communicate with them and always tell them stories, and even loves sleeping with his arms around you just so he can find a way to communicate with his mini version

9 months later, Reo finds out they have a girl and decides to name her Chie

𝐘𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐈 𝐈𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐈

"We're going to be parents." She tells him nervously. When she looked up, all [Name] seen was him knocked out on your couch and his eyes were extremely dizzy. "I-Isagi?!"

It took him a while to process what he heard from his s/o

Promises to become the best father in the whole world

He asks for advice

Everytime he panics, his s/o is the one who is always calming him down

Love to lay his head on your thighs and have his hand on your tummy

Makes sure that his s/o is ok every couple seconds

Tries not to be a burden to the baby or [Name]

"Why are you that far away, sit here."

"I'm fine right here." He lied.

Acts like he is ok, when you know he wasn't

He was exactly like you on the first few weeks, and you understand. Both of you guys weren't ready for a kid yet

"What gender do you think our baby will be?"

"It doesn't matter to me."

On his trip to the shop, he will literally by anything that he think is cute on their little ball of joy

9 months later, they have a boy and named him Etsuko.

𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐘𝐔 𝐘𝐔𝐊𝐈𝐌𝐈𝐘𝐀

"You're pregnant? Is that a.. Bad thing?" He asked nervously.

"No, It's actually a good thing."

Kenyu chuckles as he begins to think for a bit.

He's worried about what will happen as time goes on

Slowly gets the hang of it

I think that Kenyu would want to have a baby girl, so he can take care of his little princess and his queen

Such a doting boyfriend

Imagining him as a father is literally so cute

Just like Isagi, he will try not to be a burden to the baby or his wife. He will also panic due

Insists on doing anything

Is super strict and overprotective with his s/o

"You'll get hurt!" He would say

"I'm fine, Ken."

Loves to read books based on pregnancy so he knows how to do it

Brings anything you ask for like a genie

9 months later, they both have a little girl

They happened to name her Seiko

𝑯𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔, 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒄 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒄𝒄; 𝒀𝒖𝒖𝒋𝒊𝑰𝒕𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒃𝒃𝒚. 𝑷𝒍𝒛 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒎! :3

[calcium-chan]

DRAWMEGLE DUMP FROM LIKEFORVER AGO

drawmegle was this weird little website that was like omegle, except for drawing and nominally fewer nazis?? tho at launch that was a bit of an issue lol (idk the creator went on vacation right after advertising or something? oops). i got sucked into it for like a day or two and ended up drawing a bunch of stuff. ive lost some of it because there was this weird glitch that just deleted my drawings before i could save them or anything. OH WELL. thats also the reason some of these are slightly unfinished. im also going to be cropping most of these to just my side, exceptions where its funny, or the other persons art was nice or whatever. just know that these almost all had people on the other side who were also drawing their own thing. also of note, i wont be posting these in order of creation, its mostly arbitrary tbh

this first one is of haru from dorohedodo. i had just finished reading the manga about a month or so prior, and i really loved this character a lot. disregard the amogus or whatever. dorohedoro is really cool and its really special to me now. not a fan of the anime adaption but what the fuck else is new (im sorry if you like the anime, i just didnt like the style very much). Q hayashida is brilliant, and she clearly just really loves women like a lot, thank you miss Q!

next is this silly drawing of knives chau. scott pilgrim takes off had just aired, and i was slightly enamored with knives for a bit, i kin the scott pilgrim girl fucking sue me. i also drew kim, but the drawing deleted and this was the last save i had WAHOOOOOO its so fucking over. scott pilgrim takes off was obviously really really good in my opinion, and its like the perfect way to adapt an original work in my mind. uh shout outs knives or whatever.

oops shitty cowboy bebop drawing. i like this one well enough for how goofy it is. jets fucking face still kinda gets me. i love bebop a ton, but i dont think ive ever drawn the characters despite that. theyre actually a ton of fun to draw, like their shapes are all super varied and they have distinct style about them. very good cast of characters. i didnt even realize or mean to, but i kinda gave spike a fucking granny face, oops

uuuuhthese pissing dogs are really funny, they were fun to draw, and seeing peoples reactions to this one in particular was cool. having even a little bit of ability to draw on sites like this where randos are looking at your work as youre drawing it is always kind of an ego boost. like none of these drawings are really that great, but for the medium im happy with them, and having people show up and go "woah" was always really flattering and it was fun watching the other people draw and interacting with them in some limited capacity.

ggggundam bullshit. i left the other persons side this time because i thought it was kinda funny. i had been rewatching the early part of turn A gundam, and it really reminded me how fucking cool that series is? loran is like top 10 gender non conforming mech pilots (there are a surprising amount honestly). and it always kinda takes me off guard when i watch any gundam because they were just so forward thinking in a nominally "boy" coded genre. shoutouts the fucking gundam staff frfr.

@oretal joined me for these next two!

a lot of the shit in the second drawing is probably totally incomprehensible to like anyone outside of a select group. were both have that like, 3ds era nintendo brain parasite, so a lot of these are just weird obscure game characters or memes, or just straight up OCs. most of these are actually oretals little characters which have kind of entered that inside joke canon of being so ubiquitous between the two of us (and honestly i assume oretals friend group at large) that i kinda forget "glasses girl" isnt a well known character. many such cases. thank you oretal for drawing silly shit with me! i really like your drawing of james and your madotsuki yapping about blunt rotations to uboa. very cool

uuuh quick fire round of stuff i dont like how i drew but want to post anyways. the first one is my irl husband, aki from chainsaw man. i love him a lot, kinda hate this drawing tho, i think it was the first one i did? the second one is basil from omori, im a big fan of little blorbos who peep the horror, and basil is no exception. my friend got me the little vinyl figure of him for my birthday so i end up thinking about him a lot and i doodle him every now and then. very good design. the last one is kiruko from heavenly delusion. i did not have much hype going into the show after my middling feelings on summertime rendering (they were both in the news for being on disney+ for absolutely no reason). i dont remember what got me to watch it, but by the time episode 2 ended i was stuck in big time. i ended up binging the whole series in like one night and it was such a good time. the prototypical calcium show is probably somewhere between heavenly delusion and made in abyss. its a rough watch at times, but if you have this specific brainrot, its probably one of the best in its league tbh.

second to last is this drawing of vriska homestuck. i kept the other side because it was really pretty. im genuinely quite pleased witht his drawing, its not perfect but for what it is i find it visually appealing enough to like it. vriskas design is probably the best in homestuck, at least to me. its been a long time since ive read through homestuck proper, but something about these little shits sticks with you pretty much forever. actual fucking deadly brain parasites you get from dunking your head underwater in an infested pool, dead within days.

OOPS ALL KUMI CHAN! it had to be alien nine, it could only be alien nine. i love alien nine more than i love any of my blood relatives. kumi is literally me, i love this stupid fucking series so much you have no idea.

[the-fandom-is-now-my-life]

Tokyo debunker masterlist

"another school environment where magic is involved? How innovative and not at all similar to past things she wrote. Anyway, I'm sure that with such a varied cast she won't focus on white haired boy... Even if just for a change of pace, right? RIGHT?"

Fics

Unexpected meeting

“Older brothers can be a bit overprotective but this one seems like jumping to conclusions”

Wingman (if you squint)

“I hope he didn't hurt his knees from jumping to wild conclusions so much…”

Let's go enjoy the sun!

Haru manages to get you help jabberwock’s fundraiser

•The years pass•

Sugar kisses

Even if the sweetness of candy doesn't awaken Jiro's memories you two enjoyed a good time.

People might react differently to finding out what will happen in the future and seeing themselves settled down.

Look into the future

Ritsu goes ahead in time 10 years and finds he gets married to his business partner

Melodies from the future

Jin uses incense that allows him to see the future.

Be careful with snakes!

"someone as tired as Haru looks like someone who would enjoy a slow domestic life "

A bun in the oven

Sho goes to the future and sees his days of cooking spicy aren't over yet.

The diabolical streamer gets married?? (No click bait)

The diabolical streamer is acting weird

The diabolical streamer might be peeking into the future too much are

Concepts

Future children au

How many kids would they have?

“Your dad likes opera? Who could that be?”

Rui is possibly the most happy at the child's existence

Your child can only say cryptic things

Leo acts as a sweet boyfriend on camera are

Won't say I'm in love

"refusal to admit one fell in love is so sweet"

Cat-astrophe in Darkwick

"How would the cast be as cats? That is cute. Just don't let any of them in, the cat hair sticks to the curtains"

Icy cool kittens

Cats mean like delinquents

Kitties as wild as nature

The meow-fia of Sinostra

The Nya-rtists of hotarubi

Obscuary’s monster catwalk

The doctor order a cat scan

Taking care of the purr-fect (Jin, sho, Yuri, Jiro)

The Salem to their Sabrina

The priest's little maneki-neko

It's Cat!honor student's birthday

The quiet place challenge?

Mc as a cat too

Best biscuit award goes to…

How noisy are they?

Yapping

Rough realizations of your death

"a love destined to not blossom because of death, my favorite flavor of agonizing love story. What do you mean she can still be kept alive? Hush, don't ruin my fun"

Only summer clothes

Or only your ex's coat

"someone let the poor girl pack some clothes or get someone to pick them up"

Jin wants to outdo his dad with gestures to his crush

Jin is still in love after the mc memory is deleted

How much do you lift, sho? *Twirls hair*

"I still don't understand why the writer got so giggly when she saw that scene but whatever"

Fica isn't the same as fico…

Meeting the family -ish?

[dismas-n-dismay]

Hi! It's me again (I'm transferring to a bachelor's in biology this fall and I love the science that goes into the series so I love that you're exploring this)

Do either of them have hoarding instincts or dietary preferences or are they pretty much human in that regard?

They'd possibly be born with baby teeth, at least in Haze/Hazel's case, would that change anything? (Hazel would probably fit better because Falin is half French on her father's side from what I remember from the Adventurer's Bible and it feels even that they'd both get to name a kid but that's just my opinion)

Haru with his mouth full: Checkit!! Blegh!! Haize: Gross. Good job, Haru, you're a natural hunter!

Welcome back to part 10,000 of me talking about my silly ocs. Hi. hello. Thank you sooo much for coming back with more biology questions for these two hehehe >:]c

Diet Preferences?

These two are quite the oddballs. Haru is an insectivore by simple dragon nature while Haize is a carnivore by hers, though their elven and tallman sides balance them out to be closer to omnivores! Light dragons commonly eat bugs as they're the easiest prey to attract when ur big and flashy though this keeps them very lithe and they typically have more slender builds, though the proteins do help a lot. Conversely, red dragons being mostly carnivores results in their larger build and their obvious frequency to be the most dominant and persevering dragon species- y'know. Because they murk the other ones due to their weaker diets and builds.

Haru started to eat bugs right around the time it was warm enough for him to go outdoors without getting sick, I imagine he would've eaten a butterfly or a dragonfly much to Marcille's horror. Like that vine of the pug eating the butterfly with his owner screaming no! Backtracking a bit though to give some cool facts about baby light dragons because I decide the lore. I'm making them weird half mammal half bird-lizards because I think the variety is cool but this also means that - up until baby light dragons can open their eyes and properly attempt to hunt - they drink milk from their parents! (Whether or not this is crop milk like birds produce is entirely up to the reader's imagination, I will not judge but I will choose either one if asked)

So up until he started going outside, Haru was perfectly content just drinking milk like any other baby- Haize was not. Unlike Haru she was born with baby fangs!! Just little milk teeth to help her get a headstart for the world and such, but she grew hungrier for something more diverse than milk very quickly. Red dragons, unlike light dragons, don't do the whole milk thing so Haize was only partially satiated due to being part elf and tallman but the minute she was allowed to eat soft meats she basically refused to go back. So just imagine like a 1 year old eating various lunch meats for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Honestly it was probably for the best, Haize's fangs bit into Marcille a lot and they were worried she might grow a taste for blood if she kept accidentally nicking her mom while trying to eat. She probably would have and it would've been a really bad habit to get rid of because she hadn't developed that big girl brain to be like "Hey maybe drinking blood isn't super cool."

All in all, the Touden-Donato sibs have slightly preferenced diets! Though Haize prefers meats, nectar, and citrus fruits while Haru prefers bugs, ground vegetables, citrus fruits, and any/all milk based desserts (he just really likes them). God if these kids ever got their hands on sorbet it would be a disaster, Falin and Marcille would literally spend a week trying to explain why they cant have ice cream for every meal and have to deal with whining dragonets the whole time.

2. Hoarding Instincts

They do have hoarding instincts! Though this is one of those things that differs from dragon to dragon on how they react with it. Light dragons tend to go for the flashiest treasures to make themselves more appealing and alluring, naturally they like the attention they draw in just from an instinctual standard. They frequently discard rusted, unpolished, or just not as eyecatching treasure all the time. They really just arent particular about the whole thing unless they see you have an interest in something they were previously disinterested in- then they're smug assholes who see their treasure as still having some renewed value. So essentially Envy = Worthy to them, but they arent extremely vain creatures despite their hoarding preference and are actually particularly generous within reason. It's very common for light dragons to gift their young, mates, or siblings with treasures from their own hoards or that they've taken for themselves to gift. Typically though the gifting of treasure is to help younger dragons start their own hoard and have an idea of what to go for when out and about for themselves.

That being said, Haru is a greedly little fucker who wants every single new treasure possible, fuck you. He's very grateful for being part elf and tallman because he's aware that he can make his beautiful treasures last long if he polishes, dusts, and cleans them! So his hoard isn't too huge if only because he's good at maintaining things. Still, if he sees something he tends to want it and is often reprimanded for trying to steal shiny gems, jewels, or artifacts just because he likes them- as Haru often gets tired with his new finds extremely quickly if they begin to bore him or don't compare to his other treasures. When it comes to his hoarding he essentially has the dragon equivalent to having eyes bigger than your stomach.

Haize, however, has your more traditional dragon's hoard of miscellanous treasures, artifacts, coins from birthdays, and prized family gifts. Much of her hoard consists of trinkets Haru grew bored with but that she still saw interest in and wanted to give renewed purpose, she isn't nearly as picky but is very curious and likes to inspect an item before taking it in. She'll often let Haru have a treasure knowing that he'll get tired of it within the hour- though she has been known to assert her place as the eldest sibling if there is a gift for her she particularly wants and Haru usually shies off. Haize doesn't assert herself as the eldest often so he knows it's business if she does for things like food or treasure. Haru keeps her hoard partially in and around the her nest as well as the family nest in Falin and Marcille's room! Her nest in the guardian is where she keeps most of her baby clothes, toys, trinkets, and cloths/blankets. She just feels they're safest there and prefers to sleep near them <3.

Also, fun tid bits on how dragons train their kids to gain treasure!: Typically young dragons get the urge to grab and snatch at shiny things as soon as they're able to crawl around functionally and protect themselves- which is pretty early due to them being predators of a mythical variety- so they'll often try and steal treasure from their parent's hoard! Older dragons use this as stealth training for their young and will often guard their treasure, sitting stop or nearby and continuously removing their children until they manage to sneak by successfully to take a trinket. Typically the larger/shiner/whatever is more impressive for the type of dragon you are is what is most rewarded for by parents but they do punish thinking a bit too big. It's good to know your limits! better to have 5 gold coins than 5 gold bricks you cant carry.

so Falin was very often having to train Haru and haize to amass their own treasures which was much easier for Haize due to her slinky and stealthy body allowing for quicker and quieter movement! Haru had to learn to fight, due to his regular baby limbs and range of movement, which didnt really work because he's so itty bitty but the thought was appreciated by Falin, learning to stand your ground is good too!

[frozenmoonshine]

Kawaragi Senju - Headcanons

I've been suffering from some bad Senju brainrot recently, and decided to make it everyone's problem, lmao. But I just love her sooo much, she's my favorite female TR character, she's such an adorable little baby, I can't help it, I want to adopt her!!! 😭

Anyways, here:

She was one of those kids that ripped the heads off of their dolls! She got a Barbie as a present for her 5th birthday, but instead of the intended way of playing with it, she "tested" how much it can bend and stretch, so the head popped off in the process. It didn't stop her tho, she continued to play with it, even headless. Until Wakasa fixed it for her with some flextape, but then it lost its charm so she took the head off again.

She's a BIG cuddle bug! She would cling on to her grandma for affection, or to Haruchiyo when they were little, even to Takeomi, although he would most often just turn her down. Haru was always fine with it, since they shared the cradle as babies, until he grew too big for it, so even as toddlers and older, they were kinda used to snuggling with each other. That changed as they were growing up and gaining separate senses of self, as well as he started accumulating resentment towards her because of Takeomi's favoritism.

When Waka & Benkei became her unofficial guardians, she was sooo happy that Waka didn't mind her snuggling up against him during their "family" movie nights, or that Benkei seemed to enjoy giving her piggyback and shoulder rides as much as she did!

Wakasa is her mother figure. Don't @ me, I will gladly die on that hill!

‌

She collects cool rocks, and gets a bit too excited about them, and wants to show them to everybody! She will talk the ear off of anyone willing to listen.

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She is very easily excitable, and can talk a bit too loud sometimes. (Another reason why Haru dislikes loud people.)

‌She's incredibly loyal, and mega protective of her friends and loved ones (that much is canon). But she also believes it's her duty to protect all girls and women, and if sees any girl in any kind of distress, she will step in to help. She's like a public service friend! However, she has trouble making actual friends, cause she's shy and socially awkward, believing that people will hate her, even though she doesn't give off that impression.

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She hates conflict with a passion, and wants everyone to get along with each other (my poor traumatized baby 💔)! Her views can be a bit too naïve sometimes, but that's just because she has a heart of gold!

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Her favorite pastime as a kid was climbing up the trees, to spite Takeomi and tease Haru because he couldn't do it/was too afraid.

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She has the absolute best, most flawless, impeccable, mind-blowing fashion sense EVER, that puts to shame Koko, Inupi, Mitsuya, Ran, and Izana combined! But she doesn't bring out her best game until adulthood, when she realizes that fashion is not just a "typically feminine" hobby, that gender stereotypes are trash anyway, and flips off Takeomi for his warped, outdated ideas!

‌

Speaking of which, she most definitely went through a gender identity crisis in adolescence, but she eventually grew out of it and found herself as she healed from her toxic upbringing.

[mesmir-ized]

*flipping through cue cards

ponysona…no……..my little persona……..no…………

(elaboratig on cutie marks below BC i thought about them a lot !!! ahhh so long)

(not spoiler free !!!!!!!!!!!!)(corn get outta here !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

i wanted to keep these as simple as possible , and not cram too much imagery in to them , so they wouldnt look out of place in the show &c ! fun little challenge i gave myself , just for context :D

akechi: a white pawn chess piece ! my friend actually came up with this ! and its kinda genius ! to paraphrase what she said: white chess pieces move first ; akechi is always the one to (attempt to be) one step ahead of the thieves , having everything lined up for himself to succeed . 

     her words: “akechi sets the first gambit, the tone, and gets to begin laying out the chess board how he sees fit, and joker is the reactionary. but heres the thing. strategists differ on how you should play as black, like if you should automatically be on defense from white's offensive move. but the most famous black player of all time is magnus carlsen, who is WILDLY an offensive player and absolutely goes for it every time, to the point where white has been INTIMIDATED by him and played poorer statistically against him because of it . like thats CRAZY!! hes one of the boldest chess players in existence and he prefers to go SECOND! it was pretty much unheard of before him.”

    plus , (my words now) theres the idea of not only him manipulating others (the pawn) , but he himself becoming a pawn in a plan much grander than him . the p5 wildcards and their games of strategy a nd all !

joker: joker card(+mask !) i was actually trying to come up with something “better” , but the joker card really , really fits him . not only literally being a wildcard in the metaverse/persona sense , but also IRL , how he’s adaptable to every situation ! canon pretty much explains it , LOL ! but again bringing in the theme of classic games of strategy , joker with his joker card !

ryuji: EPIC awesome skull (literally his na,me...) , but i liked it with the idea of delinquency/pirates(YIPPY !) , as well as the lightning not only for power , but symbolizing speed~  hes just cool

ann: lipstick kiss mark ! this one actually came to me really quick , LOL ! it symbolizes her role as a model (makeup !) , but also has to do with how she reclaims her sexuality and looks for herself ! that , as well as her caring nature , especially to the little guys(like a mother’s kiss goodbye on your forehead..)

yusuke: ink brush + swirls !!! funny enough this one took me the longest to come up with . i wanted to avoid giving him a palette , since i wanted to focus on traditional japanese art forms above all else (since thats basically his whole tyhing !) and ended up going with an ink brush ! it’s not exclusively japanese by any means , but its recognizable , and we see him work with ink many times ! the little swirls are meant to be the golden ratio (beauty ?)LOL , but just kinda look like swirls.......maybe shapes found in his art ?

makoto: gavel and books ! also took me a weirdly lomg time to come up with , but i figured it out ! the gavel is obviously meant to represent justice/the justice system , but also wanted it to represent power as well (since makoto can often act like a secondary “boss” LOL , and her role as a leader at school !) . the books are for her intelligence (perhaps legal books) ? yippy !!!!

haru: a coffee cup with a plant growing out of it ! this is a bit on the nose , but i had fun figuring it out ! keeping her goal of opening a cafe (and coming up with new coffee blends throughout the game) in mind , as well as her love for plants and gardening ! the plant is meant to form a sort of heart (which can also look like steam coming fromt he cup).. , to also show her nurturing side !

futaba: computer and medjed eyes !!!!!! also a bit on the nose , LOL ! for this 1 , the computer is obviously tied to her skill as a hacker/her computer-focused life , but the eyes carry a bit more weight ! theyre literally the eyes of the deity medjed , who is known for those two eyes that look directly at you ! we dont see any medjed logo with graphics like this in game IIRC , but i added it for the double(triple?) meaning ! medjed in game carries the weight of being a part of the book of the dead , and connected to futaba’s palace themed around egyptian tombs , but i also felt the eyes could be tied to how she monitors everyone , and interacts with the world through her computer (almost as if shes looking out from it !) yippy !!!!!!!!! :D

sumire: magic wand/gymnastics ribbon ! as explained by my description , LOL , this mark is meant to look both like a magic wand (cinderella/fairy gdmother ...) as well as a gymnastics ribbon ! we see her with these in game , which made my job much easier ! the ribbon forms sort of an “s” for her name , and also looks kind of like a shooting star , to symbolize how she is always shooting for the top ! (and on a darker note , how shooting stars can often be meteors that fall apart)... kasumi’s mark is hers but reversed , and has an additional sparkle/star on it , for “3 stars”, 1st place ! the absence of this sparkle for sumire can represent how she lost her sister , and how she feels lesser (even if just as wonderful !)

okay yayyayy thats all bye bye !!!!!!!!!

[taldigi]

I don't know if I completely agree with Futaba not fitting the theme. I mean, most heist films have a Hacker character that is an absolute genius and can do some utterly unrealistic but cool stuff. So I felt like she fit in just fine. Especially because, as of late, Hacker characters have become younger to play into the joke of young people being better at tech than old people with the older people needing to rely on kids for their elite Hacker skills. So I never got the impression that she was off theme. I can agree that Futaba gets a bit too much focus, but I wouldn't really consider that a fault of her character. Rather, a fault of the game as a whole as it struggles to handle the larger cast in the later half (with Makoto and Futaba overshadowing Ann, Yusuke, and Ryuji + the Mona/Ryuji arc being rushed alongside Haru's intro). The romance is bad, yes, but I don't think it's prevalent enough for me to be annoyed with it (a few lines that can be easily ignored). And I wouldn't say Futaba is mean to Mona, so much as her existence manages to make Mona feel insecure, so I never held that against the character nor did I feel Ryuji would be better suited for that role (as Mona never really viewed Ryuji as someone who could be a threat). As for the boundary pushing behavior... I don't know. Maybe it's because of the way they presented it (comedic + no on seeming to actually mind) that it didn't bother me.

While I disagree, I totally get where you're coming from!

It's just odd cause... the majority of Persona feels magical instead of scifi. Even the Metaverse Navigator app feels more magical than techy- which causes Futaba stand out so severely.

Did we need a hacker to fill in the thief archetypes? Maybe. But she should have been more of a looser and the narrative (which has been shockingly mature with all of it's characters) should have addressed it more.

Persona is anime coded and all of the characters are "beautiful" but i have... met real hackers and tech geeks and trust me she.. is not it.

Heck, she eats nothing but dad's curry and instant noodles. Her room was an actual dump. She might have actual muscle problems from not moving or leaving her room or getting sunlight. Instead, it adds to her initialization by making her pale, lanky, and fragile. She's meant to be the sexy shithead little sister that anime nerds love and it shows- and.. it works. People love her. So task successed failurely.

And, while I admit- All the other characters are complicit. Futaba really stands out as someone who fucked up and was insanely unapologetic about it... which, again.. would work but this is.. supposed to be after her change of heart, right?

Being mean isn't always an active choice. Even hard-coded kind characters like Ann are guilty of being mean to Morgana! (Morgana himself is mean!) and she absolutely did not intend it. While the narrative needed them to butt heads over the next palace, Leader Boy Joker should have been given a better option to step in or AT LEAST for Makoto to say something.

The Mona disappearance arc should have- NEEDED to be better handled. If they needed more days, story should have been gleaned or compounded. The beach episode could have been smushed together more, the hawaii thing could have been better (also yeah the hawaii thing was a SUCH wasted opportunity! You should have been able to buy rare items or visit tourist attractions for stats! Wasted for a dumb "wow phantom thieves are popular!" thing. It could have been both. IT COULD HAVE BEEN BOTH-)

As for the boundry thing.. well, im just hyperaware of the insidious nature of anime tropes. Even tho I hate it (if you touched me the way ppl touch ren I would probably reflexively hit you)- much akin death and taxes, sexy girls hanging off of everyman anime protags is indefinate and immortal- and the opinions of some nobody blogger who doesn't even really like "anime" isn't going to mean much.

Thanks for the reply, tho! It's nice to discuss things!

[butter-egg-toast]

Secret admirer 💌

Anon question: how would the boys be as secret admisrs? Like them being romantic? Like a little lovely notes they leave everyday for you? Headcanons or scenarios plz 🙏

Just saw the second movie on YouTube I'm feeling motivated

Short n sweet 🍭

Sorry this took forever 😢

Hope you enjoy

✉Haru: He's definitely the best secret admirer out there. You'll never suspect him. He admitted that he has a crush on you but didn't know how to handle it. So he got some advice from friends.

"You got a letter? Who gave it to you? Do you think you'll respond back?"-Haru

✉Makoto: Is a literal nervous mess. He's nervous and shy. He askes you very specific suspicious and obvious questions regarding the letter. He is relieved you don't think the letter is weird

"So, y/n did you see anything strange today... or did you get anything??" -Makoto

Nagisa: Gets super very excited. Can't keep a secret worth nothing. Tells everyone what he's done.He giggling and asking if you seen something different today (pointing to the obvious)

"Rei chan, look what I wrote for y/n! She's never guess it me♡!!- Nagisa

Rei: He's shy but also is prideful how he woorded the letter. He tells Nagisa how you'll never suspect him. What makes its obvious its him he leaves clever well written riddles

"That is correct, it was I. Did you like what I wrote?"-Rei

Rin: He got the idea from gou and some movie. He thought it would been romantic. Got super embarrassed after realizing what he did. Tried to play it off like he didn't do it but he doesn't want anyone to take credit

"Damn...I didn't think through, um.. yeah it was me...do you like it? "-Rin

Sousuke: He's not the type to do it but somehow  he managed to keep a straight face. With his letters he leaves small pieces of your favorite candy tape to it (this gives it away that its him)

"Did I write that letter? How you figure that out?"-Sousuke

Kisumi: He tries his best not to make it obvious but he put SO much in his letters, like little doodles, hearts and sticker placed all over the letter.

"Wow someone must really like you y/n."-Kisumi

Asahi: He'll go straight forward with you but he'll do words of encouragement letters. When you even mention about the letter he looks like he's going to jump with joy.

"Really?! That letter made your day? Well there's more coming your way!!"-Asahi

Ikuya: Hes good at hiding it but he gave it away quickly after he mention a letter when you never told anyone. You actually caught him putting the letter in your bag. Poor guy got so embarrassed

"Uh...its..here, I have been writing these for you.

Hiyori: Another perfect secret admirer. He's a literal ninja. He's good a keeping his cool when mention. Seems like the type to place hidden letters for you to find all over the campus

"A note.. can I see... well looks like you have a little admirer... and the note is very beautifully written"-Hiyori

Natsuya: does a poor job hiding it. He's Direct with his feelings but he's also very playful with you. He wants you to fall for his words. He'll probably do like a little scavenger hunt of gifts he bought for you to find.

" oh yeah, I wrote that letter, except more to come! -Natsuya

Nao: secret secret admirer (at first). Then over time He wants you to know its him.  Even when you find out its him. He'll keep giving you the notes. He'll also quote bits words from his letters

"It seems someone has a admiration for you y/n i wonder who it is...-Nao

Kaede: His team mates(nagisa)convinced him this was a good idea. Somehow he wrote you letter telling you to meet him somewhere (restaurant). You meet him and he surprises you by ordering any food you want. He seems mean and tough but he's definitely have a loving side

" I shouldn't even listen to those bastards... what you want to eat?"- Kaede

[zaenaris]

in the mabu timeline, how do you see the relation between Inupi and Wakasa post final fight. Do you think that Inupi is bitter toward him? Like Senju probably is?

Short answer: nah, not really, Inupi has Koko back, saving Hajime from himself was Inupi's goal and priority, everything else is a plus.

Long answer: I mean he doesn’t forget what Waka and Benkei did, they acted like fools, Inupi said that to their faces, they for sure had good intentions but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

So maybe Inupi loses a little bit of respect for his senpais, but he still care about them and he understands they probably didn’t know the best solution either: helping Mikey (Shin’s brother, the man they decided to follow ) or staying with Senju.

Wakui unfortunately never really explained benwaka's thoughts on the matter, so I personally headcanon that they felt they own something to Mikey since they “raised” Senju when Takeomi started spiraling after Shin's Black Dragon disbanded, but probably were too shocked to help Mikey when Shin died (+ I also consider my other hc of Waka having drinking problems, after Shin's death since in the last character book it's mentioned he drinks A LOT, so probably Benkei had to care about Waka too for some time, besides thinking about the gym and Senju)

So yeah, Inupi does not really condone their actions, but understands very well from experience that in life things can be messy and are never black or white

So basically Inupi’s just happy that now everything is cleared because I believe that at some point benwaka would properly apologized to Senju and Inupi.

In his heart, Inupi already forgave them (also because he has Koko back, this helped him to reach and inner peace that he already had, living in a healthier environment without gangs and such, but now of course it's even better and even if it's not easy, he's happy with this new life) but it is nice they also admitted their mistakes. Sure Inupi believed in them, from Wakui’s sketch it seems Waka visited D&D and was on good terms with Inupi, but there wasn’t the close relationship they had with Senju

For her, I believe it’s more personal so while she’s happy they came back and apologized, she’s still bitter sometimes cause she still can’t understand how could they have acted like that

But it’s the kind of anger you have when you’re mad with a brother (one you have a good relationship with of course), benwaka understands why she’s bitter but Senju herself quickly will forgive them. She values her loved ones more than a misunderstanding, we saw she was willing to make things right with Haru, so I think she’d be the same with Waka and Benkei

I think the relationship with Waka will come back as it was in the past, friendly, senpai-kohai, brother-like.

I also kind of headcanon that Waka knew about the "break up" between Inupi and Koko, I guess Inupi told him about that, but Waka understood how important they are to each other, so in the very short time Waka and Koko are in the same gang, I guess Waka got his eyes on Koko, to see if the feelings went both ways.

I also guess that Koko knew Waka, at least by sight and because of course he was Inupi's senpai, so yeah, maybe Koko felt a little bit intimidated by Waka, while Waka was just trying to test the water lol

In the end, he is able to read Koko and his actual feelings for Inupi, so of course during the fight, he has to fight Inupi because he's an opponent in that moment, but he also hopes that it will be the kind of threat that pushes Koko to admit his feelings and finally listening to Inupi.

So yeah, maybe after the fight, once BenWaka apologised and all, maybe at some point, one day, Inupi will causally say thanks Waka & Benkei for "forcing" Koko to act

And they'be be like "I don't know what you're talking about"

Inupi just snorts. His senpais are really incapable to have an adult conversation sometimes, but he understands they got the message, so they're cool.

[red-dyed-sarumane]

okie im tired for the day heres my vocacolle recs

Inner Child - yurame (miku) : this ones my current favorite. i love the spaceyness going on & i love how the chorus sounds with the harmonies & the lyrics are so good too.

kaf-eine - hiiragi magnetite (kafu) : kafu kafu kafu kafu!!!! this is so fucking cute this is the best thing to come out of their neta posting i love this i love sena yuta's art too its all just so good

kaihou seimei - zeeka (vflower) : this song goes hard. some of the lyrics are a little weird to me but thats really just a zeeka thing the whole things really solid. (zeeka has en translation in the video btw! so u all can enjoy in full) very cool flower song highly recommend

phenomenon - szri (gekiyaku utau + ß) : szri's music always goes hard. quick paced & heavy. love the growly gekiyaku & the rap parts. clearly szri's sound but its distinct from their other songs i think tho some parts remind me of quiet & anaphylaxis. is it related idk im not looking into it rn

kowaremono - kyiku (rime & kazehiki utau) : holy shit. hi i love this. the lyrics kinda hurt & it sounds so dramatic. also oh my god the tuning on rime i could cry. working with her to make her sound both emotional & pretty🥺🥺 this isnt a duo i wouldve thought of but it works. this is so good [puts it directly in ur hands and walks away]

Predation - logico (haru) : yeah this is something i can easily loop for days. its so good. love the little bits of squeakiness on haru it has charm to me. goes hard. haru fans come get ur food

Shell - tokino yamma (rime) : i wasnt sold on this at first but listening more i feel like it works with rime well enough. sounds more emotional than like shes actually struggling it gets a pass from me. love the sound in the chorus. idk this is going to grow on me even more i think with the combination of the lyrics & sound

moving on to things i didnt mylist but still like enough to have in a playlist

Smart??? - marasy (kagamine rin) : i like the it

Worst Regret - youman (gumi) : youman is hit or miss with me but this is a HIT love it

Rime-chan no fukuoka trip kisoukyoku - minami no minami (rime, sekai, kafu, touhoku kiritan, frimomen, matsuka risuku) : hilarious finally my girl gets a neta song thank u minami no minami everything about this js so fuckign funny

Polybius - dopam!ne & zensen (kafu) : these 2 producers know how to have fun together. kami electroswing duo for REAL

hayari no ice cream - mochi utsune (miku) : simultaneous both cute and dark. worth ur time

chase - satsuki (teto sv) : heavy sounding song & theres something about it that keeps u listening. yes its supposed to be pronounced chase its in the comment when u like the video.

it's all my fault - aluvi (stardust infinity) : this is so pretty like actually. heavy content wise but the sound is just SO good. please give it a chance.

Chase - yakou ume (aisuu, rime, tsurumaki maki) : COMPLETELY different from the other chase. its still so good tho

Caligula - shinonome kasumi (gekiyakuß & rime) : this legit sounds like it should be one of the most popular uploads and yet it is not. how sad. its really good

denkou roukaku - dadari (haru) : another haru banger. shes kinda squeaky but i like it.

Plum - see & haiiro nemuri (nedjem & kafu) : such a calm tranquil sound for something not that light.

Time Limit - sigma (kafu, miku, & vflower) : idk how to describe this one its more mellow than other things ive put here but its so far from the really tranquil stuff. very good

yuurei ni naretara. - HotaRu (miku) : absolutely LOVE this sound it feels like carbonation in a pretty colored drink to me

tengoku yori shounen-kun e. - aira (coko, chisei, & kafu) : airas tuning is so unique no one does it like aira does this song is so immediately clockable as aira and it fucks

imaginary girl - miru (teto sv) : this feels like a popular song. to me. im not going to look at the view count im going to live in my own world about it

uso desho!? - eo (rin) : i can vibe to this i think i like the it

hakoniwa no kajitsu [beginning] - hitogoto (kafu & haru) : oooo another hitogoto song pair im liking where this is going i like this theres a story in this one too. dramatic.

giraffe center - caracca (kafu) : i dont have anything profound to say but i think its worth a listen

[zrllosyn-art]

this is the Really Normal haru anon and i absolutely need a post about his lore because i love him . !!! hes such a cool character 2 me because hes literally just, . the employed friend on an off day ? to me ?

i LOVE how you describe Haru tbh, you are, not wrong

(old sketch ft. Izfaish's Yamato who i love very much she is so good)

Haru.... does not know what normal clothes is though lmao. The work follows him off duty

ANYWAYS THANK YOU FOR INTEREST IN HARU LORE, I WILL. do my best to give you a quick run down under the cut

(i do have a lore packet/sketch pdf,,, in the works,,, but for now have a basic rundown. I will,,, finish this haru zine eventually LMAOOo)

So I'm gonna be including a buncha sketches because,,, uh,, I am not the best with words so I need visuals to assist lmao. Most of them are in my [haru tag], if you wanna just see those.

He also has a [toyhouse page] if you wanna see that instead. Its a little outdated though, i keep retconning bits of his history n such.

BUT YEAGH. ONTO THE, lore,, ,,

Haru's original idea was around how not everyone who dreams of being JAKDF combatant, makes it. I love how kn8 canon basically tells you its never too late and encourages you to follow your dreams but I kinda wanted to go at it from th other angle of. Sometimes, you have to give up. But you don't have to give up entirely. You just need to change your approach, or find something within it that you can do. Adapting your dreams to your reality, and visa versa. That kinda thing.

(also have these as buffer. My little haru stickers/emotes lmao)

So Haru's childhood dream was to join the JAKDF as a combatant, but he runs into a lot of issues along the way. He's got financial issues from loosin his family pretty early on, and also he hits a pretty hard wall in terms of unleashed combat potential (his stops around 10%).

(He's a bit of a delinquent in high school. Mainly due to skipping classes for part time work, and hanging out with a not-so-great crowd)

[Haru and his parents] [Also Haru with Pati (friend's oc) and Yamato (izfaish's oc) talking about piercings.]

After runnin into many walls and kind of hitting, a really low point, he gets recruited into the research and operations side of things when a higher up notices he's pretty decent at the more analytical side of stuff. He takes the out, and he switches out combat training and goes into research and operations instead. From there he goes into research only, and then goes overseas for extended training/education.

He uh, was kind of running away from his social life in japan, and also the kinda, internalized pressure due to stuff. He feels kinda guilty about it (had a huge falling out with a friend when leaving). But he goes! Overseas, to the US as part of a sister school training program kinda deal. The program is kind of a half training/combat program and half educational, so he's doing both for a little bit.

(Still not sure how that program works. The details are nowhere near hashed out)

[Haru with his cadet friends. Its him in the middle.]

During his time as a combatant, he gets his arm eaten by a kaiju, and he gets removed from the combat program entirely. Due to, uh. Well trauma, injury, and missing a whole ass arm.

[early concept sketch for haru gettin his arm eaten. ]

You can find the comic about his arm gettin eaten and his ptsd around kaiju in general [here]. But with the removal from the combatant program he goes full into research and kinda, finds out he enjoys it. He gets himself a degree, and ends up as a professor? Mainly there for research, but he's required to teach a few classes. This is where he meets Pati (friend's oc) who becomes his friend and also assistant.

[haru and pati. Theyre goofballs. also this sketch is from before haru's whole arm thing was put into place so he doesnt have that]

Haru's research ends up centered around kaiju fibers, and how they affect unleashed combat potential (UCP), and general sync rates. His first actual use of his research was making himself a prosthesis, which is kind of his thesis project. I think.

[Haru and Pati, working on the creation process for his prosthetic arm.]

He turns out to be compatible with the kaiju that ate his arm so thats fun. For me. And not for him. The kaiju he got eaten by is also, a little special? Its not a numbered kaiju by any means, but i enjoyed messing around with its abilites and concepts for it, so its spawn shows up semi often in my doodles. Haru is, not exactly happy to see they're still around.

[haru with his new arm, and his generally mixed feelings when it comes to the kaiju that ate his arm]

Eventually he ends up going back to Japan, and working with the JAKDF where he meets Yamato (Izfaish's oc) and a whole buncha, other ocs I have. And gets hauled into the whole conflict going on over there. His reasons for returning isnt, quite set yet? I think its fun if the JAKDF recruited him for a specific project and he just, stays hired by them or smth, but that part and the timing for his return keeps changing.

Here's some doodles of him in Japan and workin over there though.

[as always, pati is my friend's oc, and yamato belongs to izfaish]

Anyways thanks for giving me a chance to just kind of, sit here and yell about this disaster of a guy. He's just a guy, but like. I am puttin him through it.

[tcrmommabear]

TCR B-Day Bash Day #2: Masquerade

Hello hello, yes I know I’m late, but to be fair- this thing is roughly 2,700 words long, so I think I earned a little tardiness.

This is my Role Reversal AU, where Haru is the one who had to rescue Baron from the Cat King, and I just love writing pining Baron who thinks Haru is completely not interested. (As I’ve messaged @catsafarithewriter in the middle of writing to scream “SHE’S PLAYING IT TOO COOL”)

Enjoy my friends!!

***

Baron wasn’t having the greatest night one could imagine.

Though always grateful to do a bit of good and indulge some dramatic tendencies, it was significantly harder to focus on the former when he couldn’t tend to the latter. And he had so hoped to impress a certain someone, if she hadn’t so quickly gone missing.

To be absolutely fair, it was hard to find anyone in the mass of bodies and swirls of dancing. Baron had held sight of Toto and Muta for most of the evening, but then he was pulled into introductions by the Prince’s cousin, and even their well known shapes and masks had flitted out of view. He kept an eye out for the silver flash of their masks, or even the rustle of Toto’s wings, but had given up when he realized he’d rather try to find Haru. And not just for the dance he had desperately wanted.

There was an assassin running around, after all.

And in the spirit of continued honesty, Baron had to admit there wasn’t actually much he had to worry about.

He admitted this to himself even as he still dug through party goers and waitstaff, twisting and twirling and charming his way around the ballroom in the hopes of catching sight of her. Haru could take care of herself, so well that she could probably have done this whole mission by herself. The other three were here more as a cursory role, helping deflect attention while she did the actual sneaking around. But Haru had insisted all be present, said the Bureau wasn’t the Bureau without all its members.

That it was important to her for Baron (... and Toto and Muta…) to be there for her.

He still wasn’t at the point of admitting how much his heart had raced when Haru said that. Emotions were still odd for him at times.

(Especially what Haru drew out of him, piece by piece.)

So the group donned their best suits and gowns, covered their faces in silver masks, and headed off to stop a Royal Assassination. They had a moment with the family, who promised to stay encircled by their guard and away from the party itself, and the Bureau set to work looking for anyone, or anything, suspicious.

Which led to Baron’s current situation.

He’d done about three laps around the entirety of the ballroom itself, stepped out onto many balconies to glance about, and even hazarded a search through empty halls the masquerade was banned from. Not a sign of Haru among the crowds, hidden in corners, chatting with princes and kings, or miserably nursing a drink by the banquet table as Baron was up to now.

He wanted to be proud. He was proud. Haru was a phenomenal Bureau member, and would likely inherit the damn thing if Baron was capable of passing from this world, but…

He sighed, sinking further into the shadows, glancing about the masquerade ball. Elegant masks of ruby, gold, bronze, and lavender fill the space, cavernous and echoing. Baron had chosen silver, to remind himself of the mask Haru had thrown at the Cat King during their escape. To remind Haru, he had hoped, of another dance they’d shared before.

But one cannot break through to Haru when she focuses on a case. He’d been impressed by her drive in the beginning, had praised her openly and constantly for it when she’d first joined. But now, even on cases as lax (though no less important) as this one, she was gone. And he wasn’t sure how to try and get closer to her except during cases, seeing as she tried to keep as busy as possible in her everyday life.

Baron was going to have to admit it at some point. That he, likely, wasn’t an option for Haru, for many valid reasons, and that she considered him as nothing more than a work colleague. Maybe a friend.

Baron took another swig from his drink, sighed once more, and gazed out into the crowd.

And caught eyes with a silver mask.

Heat shot through his veins, sparks and fire, electrical impulses burning through the wood of his heart and searing her name. She was mid-conversation, it appeared, having just glanced and caught his eye. But her smile spoke so much more- joy, excitement, maybe a touch of relief at having found a familiar face, a couple dozen other emotions he couldn’t place but just spoke so deeply of who Haru was.

He smiled back, raised a hand to wave, but she’d turned away. Was back to the conversation at hand, leaving him to imagine if she’d ever even looked his way. He didn’t have time to mourn the chance encounter, to try and call out to the woman he’d spent the night looking for. There was a polite cough to his side, and Baron glanced to find a young woman by his side.

He recognizes her from earlier conversations, and a reintroduction from the Prince’s cousin. And despite his misgivings and soured mood, Baron can't help the inherent desire to make a continued good impression.

"Lady Ladonna Marie," Baron exclaims, taking her extended hand, "an absolute delight to see you once again."

She giggles as he kisses the air around her knuckles, dark blue eyes narrowing at him. He pities the poor fool that falls in her sights, recognizing the gleam inherent to nobles and riches. Baron knows all too well what she searches for, and yet doesn't think to worry for his own safety.

Lady Ladonna's hand lingers in his own, her grip tight around the fingers as he feels her rings digging in. She steps closer, Baron taking the chance to slip from her grip, and watches as she tilts her chin up to meet his eyes. He glances out, supposing she must be hiding from many admirers, as no one but the Bureau is aware of the assassin at hand. He smiles at her, wanting to show her a friendly face among the uncertain crowd.

"Are you enjoying your evening, Baron Humbert?" She bats her eyelashes, and Baron wonders briefly if something is caught in them.

"The evening has been a delight, Lady Ladonna, and the guests wonderfully agreeable. One could not ask for a more perfect party."

"And surely you've had time to dance?"

Baron's smile shifts, his heart aching and fit to burst out of his chest and sail across to the silver mask. One that, as far as he can tell, hasn't glanced back at him. He shakes his head, moving to gather the drink he'd set aside at her approach.

"Unfortunately not, though not for lack of trying. My colleague remains to be seen, and I always endeavor to reserve my first for her."

"Ah, for her loss!" Lady Ladonna exclaims, her hand slipping into the crook of his arm. "Yet you've made many a friend and acquaintance here tonight, another is bound to jump at the chance."

Baron glanced at Lady Ladonna, slightly leaning back to regain some personal space, before looking back out at the crowd.

His eyes meet Haru's again, her mask a shining bone white underneath the light. He jolts, missing how less animated she is in her conversation, the stiffness to her posture. He instead fills with another ache in his heart, and wishes he was someone worthy of her attention. To be seen by a shooting star as it passes through the night.

"Why, I'd be more than happy to introduce you to the ballroom floor!"

Baron snaps back down to the Lady Ladonna, her smile twisting in a self satisfied way. He feels ensnared, in the slightest sense, and thinks of ways to extricate himself without giving offense. Despite the sour mood, he does have a job to do, and the time for dancing has long since passed.

Before Baron can respond, either to excuse or charm his way, another joins the fray.

"Baron, it's so good to finally find you! I would really like to be introduced to your friend here."

His heart seizes.

He turns to see Haru, shining and glittering and beautiful as always, standing before him and the Lady. Her silver mask twists and curls around her eyes, drawing attention to the depth and warmth he finds himself drowning in. Her short hair is slicked back, her gown a navy blue and studded with silver gems.

When he'd first seen her, he'd likened her to a deity of stars and night, swept away and swaddled in her mystery.

Her smile is tense, but he knows the difference between one of anger at him and one of discomfort, and Haru had only so far flashed him one of genuine happiness before being drawn to Lady Ladonna.

Their eyes hold, and Baron feels theady'a grip on his arm tighten to an alarming degree. He gently pries her hand away, stepping to his place beside Haru. Haru rests a hand easily on his arm, touch light and only to alert him that she's there.

"Miss Haru," he begins, before clearing his throat, wrangling in his excitement and nerves, "allow me to introduce Lady Ladonna Marie. Lady Ladonna, my colleague, Miss Haru."

"Lovely to meet you, Lady Marie, but I'm afraid we must part," Haru cuts, before the Lady has a chance, "for Baron, here, owes me a dance."

Haru reaches for the drink in Baron's hand he'd forgotten about and takes a sip. She smiles and raises the cup towards the Lady, before setting it aside and taking Baron's hand. She leads him to the ballroom floor, unaware of his heart hammering between the joining of their palms. He hardly dares to breathe, afraid to break whatever good luck has come along his path.

Haru stops abruptly, and turns, taking Baron’s hands into her own, before adjusting him into a waltz. He follows automatically, taking the lead as one song ends and another quickly begins.

“Quite a friend you made back there Baron,” Haru snorts. “Seemed to have no sense of personal space.”

“Lady Ladonna can be afforded a little leniency, being such a close friend of the Prince and his cousin.”

“Her friendship with the Prince does not mean she can treat others how she wants.”

His heart warms, wanting to soothe the annoyed expression on Haru’s face. He squeezes her hand, drawing her attention away from the lurking Lady. She meets his eyes, and his heart melts entirely, though the aches from earlier still pulse beneath his ribs. He dips Haru, enjoys the lighthearted smile that blooms in its wake, and continues their turn about the dance floor.

“I’ve been looking for you, Miss Haru,” he tells her, hoping his voice doesn’t betray the extent of what he means.

“I’m sorry, I’ve been trying to make myself difficult to find. I’ve narrowed our options down, but there’s still too many variables for me to make a guaranteed guess.”

“Any strong contenders I should be worried about?”

Haru snorts.

“You were just corned by our prime suspect.”

Baron sends Haru into a twirl, leading her spinning around him to grant him another look. Lady Ladonna seems to have abandoned her place in the corner, and maintains watch over him and Baron. Though she seems to have moved further down the banquet table, towards the drinks.

He pulls Haru close, keeping the Lady in the corner of his eye.

“Motive? Method?”

“Close friend of the Prince’s cousin, cousin is first born of the King's younger brother. Succession crisis, announce engagement to new Prince, score of a lifetime. Method remains to be seen, but her rings indicate poison,” Haru says breathlessly, eyes a little unfocused as she gazes up at Baron.

He gives a big grin, and lifts her up into a twirl, chuckling when Haru gives a squeal of delight.

“You never cease to amaze, Miss Haru, well done indeed. Has Muta been alerted to steal the rings?”

“Kind of? I’ve got him pickpocketing quite a few people, but I wanted to see if we could catch someone in the act, rather than hoarding jewelry and guessing who’s is who’s.”

“I suppose we have time, then, before we make our grand entrance. I never knew you as one to delay preventing an assassin for the dramatics of it all.”

“Please, Baron, we both know how much of an influence you’ve played into this. I did learn from the best after all.”

Baron flushes under the praise, especially paired with the way she looks up at him with her soulful eyes. He wants to sing her praises, lift her high above his head and twirl her around, desperately wants to dip her again and enjoy her laugh. He gets overwhelmed with the feeling of it all, the conflicting wants and narratives and the tilt of her smile, and pulls back.

“Yes, well,” he coughs, giving himself room to breathe, “there’s much you learned outside of me. I can’t take the compliment when I know I’ve only provided you a little.”

Her darling smile diminishes, and he wonders what could have stolen it away when all he’d done is be honest. He can’t get carried away, not here at least. They’re so close to solving this case, and maybe after he can come up with a plan to address all he wants. All he needs to do. He so desperately wishes he was more than a colleague and mentor.

“Baron, you must know I…” Haru begins, but Baron simply smiles. Smiles the smile for clients and light shows.

“Another time, Miss Haru, your charms will have to wait for after this case. There is an assassin running around, after all.”

Haru flushes in an odd way, pink dusting her cheeks and ears. He nods to himself, and continues to lead, the pair silent for the time. Baron still twirls and dips her, bringing giggles or smiles out of Haru to pass the time.

As he twirls her again, he spots the Lady Ladonna chasing after a servant carrying a tray of golden goblets. Specific goblets Baron had instructed the Royal family to stick to, to prevent a chance of poisoning or swapping of glasses. He dips Haru once again, letting her catch sight of the Lady’s movements.

“We’re on the clock now, I would say,” Haru murmurs, turning away from the Lady and locking eyes with Baron.

All previous notions of waiting until after the case abandons him when he realizes how close the two are. And Baron struggles not to lean down and kiss Haru that very moment.

The pair are, unfortunately, interrupted by Lady Ladonna opening one of her capsule rings and tilting it over a goblet as she orders the servant about. Baron and Haru freeze, glancing at each other again, before moving as one.

Baron leads her through a waltz once again, spinning and moving faster towards the pair standing at the edge of the ballroom floor. Baron lifts Haru after almost every spin, slightly higher and higher, stepping closer to the tray. He nods down at her, and she smiles, nodding back.

Baron lifts Haru high and spins her, her heels clacking against the tray and sending the wine spilling over the Lady Ladonna and servant. Haru leaps forth and grabs the Lady, while Baron moves to steady the flustered servant, both distracted by the sudden mayhem of the “accident”.

“You better hope that poison doesn’t seep through skin, Lady Marie,” Haru whispers, yanking rings off the Lady’s fingers to search for more capsules. The Lady Ladonna Marie sputters, but a glare from Haru is enough to set anyone to rights, and she folds easily enough.

“Let’s get these two sorted away from the crowd, Miss Haru, and inform the King the matter’s been resolved,” Baron motions to a side hallway, where two guards await them. The party still carries on, unaware of the plot foiled by a dance and a kick.

“Baron, about earlier-,” Haru begins, stopping Baron from moving with a hand to his arm. He glances down at her, her pink cheeks, her beautiful dress, her silver mask, and resolves to listen to any order, any request, any thing she might have to offer.

Muta crashes through the upper balcony, grips the chandelier to slow his fall, and comes crashing down on the ballroom floor.

The pair turn in time to see a dozen guards flowing out after him, Toto taking to the high ceilings in order to also give chase, shouting out unintelligibly to either the guards or Muta.

“I’m not the assassin! Stop chasing me already, I work fer the King!” Muta cries out.

Baron resolves, instead, to just let Haru handle easy missions on her own from now on.

[skzhocomments]

Broken hearts can heal - Choi Minho SHINee Fanfic - Chapter XII - Company dinner

Story masterlist - please consult it for the summary of the story, trigger warnings etc.

Wattpad link

AO3 link

Chapter XI / Chapter XIII

---

Chapter XII - Company dinner

word count: 3k words

Since your mother-in-law was spending time with Haru, you took the time you needed to relax, sleep in the afternoon, pack for the trip, then get ready for the dinner party.

It was the first time in a while when you went out, and you were really in need of socialising face-to-face with some adults.

You picked a knee-length dress and some black thighs, and you felt a bit self-conscious of your stomach that still didn't completely disappear after giving birth, but chose to ignore it and just go out and have fun.

"Ready?" Minho smiled at you. "You're really beautiful!"

"Thank you!" You smiled back. "You don't look too bad yourself."

He was wearing a casual black suit, and he looked like a model, as usual. His shirt had one too many opened buttons, and you took a peek at his chest shamelessly.

The ride to their company wasn't too long, and as soon as you arrived and Minho took you to one of the rooms upstairs. You were glad to see that the boys were already there.

"Da-Eun! I missed you sooooo much!" Taemin hugged you tightly, and you sat down next to him.

Onew waved at you over the table and mouthed a "Hey, beautiful", making you smile.

The drinks were pouring as you and Taemin were playing a funny would you rather game that consisted of dilemmas. You found a Facebook page about it and knew he would most definitely love it, but you didn't want to send it to him, even if you messaged almost daily.

Your messages mostly consisted of him sending pictures of his cat or food, and you sending back Haru's cute sleeping poses and little toes.

Well, you only sent toes once, actually, because Taemin shocked you by sending back a picture of his feet as well, so you figured that whatever you sent, he'd send back. This was indeed a weird power to have.

"So, the next one says: 'There's always a fog in your house' OR 'There is moss growing on your bed'. What would you choose?" You asked him, laughing.

"Would a moss bed be comfortable?" He contemplated, supporting his chin on his fist.

"To be honest, having fog in the house would be pretty fun. Like a concert or something." Jinki answered, making you raise your gaze and look at him. He must've been bored out of his mind to participate in your silly game.

You saw something in the eyes of the girl next to him, who was sitting directly in front of Minho, and you wondered if it was just your imagination. Why would she look annoyed at you?

You didn't pay it much mind at first.

"I think I'll go with moss." Taemin replied after careful consideration.

"I'm definitely picking the fog." Jinki laughed. "I mean, think about it, it's pretty cool."

"How's that cool? What if you can't see where you're walking?" Taemin scoffed.

"Or like, if you burn something up while cooking. Would it be fog, or smoke?" You added.

"Woah, you're thinking far!" Jinki exclaimed.

"What about you, Da-Eun?" Taemin asked. "Settle the debate."

"Hmmm. Depends how thick the fog is, but I'm not sure I'd like sleeping on moss."

"Come on, it would be fluffy!"

"You do have a point." You chuckled.

"So, you're on team Taemin then, or are you joining the dark side?" Jinki asked you with a grin.

"The fog side-" Taemin started.

"I'm team Fog." You shrugged.

"That means it's 2 vs 1, so we won." Jinki boasted.

"No way! Not fair. Minhooooo!" He shouted, but he didn't hear Taemin at first, being immersed in a conversation with the woman in front of him. You softly bumped your elbow into his side, making him give you attention.

"Yea?" He smiled. "Sorry Ji-an, just a sec." He excused himself and turned to the three of you. The girl rolled her eyes.

"We are having an intense debate," you explained, deciding to ignore what you just saw, "and wanted another opinion."

"Let's hear it."

"So, would you rather sleep on a bed where moss is always growing, or would you rather have fog in our house at all times?"

"Well, I can always cover moss with bed sheets." He shrugged. "So I guess moss is better."

"See?!" Taemin grinned. "Moss is the obvious choice."

"What idiots would pick the fog?" The girl next to Jinki and in front of Minho, who he was just talking to a moment ago – Ji-an, if you understood correctly, who rolled your eyes at you talking to your husband – intervened.

"Guess we're idiots." Jinki shook his head and looked at you.

"No, we're definitely smarter." You replied serious. "Minho, look-" You now turned completely to him, and his eyes stayed fixed on yours as you explained your rationing.

"Even if you cover the moss with bed sheets, moss means there's a lot of humidity. The bed sheets would always be damp and uncomfortable, and who knows, you might even have fog, since fog is normally formed where it's humid. The room would definitely be humid-"

"Yea, Minho! You can't pick moss and force Da-Eun to sleep on a damp bed! Ew." Jinki exclaimed, referencing the fact that you two are married so you probably sleep together.

That felt like a rock fell on your head, because you've never slept next to Minho, not even last night, when he didn't bother returning to the bed. Jinki's words made you over analyse. Minho was your husband, why did you never sleep next to him? Did he even like you romantically, or was he just caught up in the moment last night? You definitely started to have a thing for him. Heck, you sucked his dick and masturbated to the thoughts of him moaning your name.

Your gaze moved again around the table, and you saw Ji-an's cold eyes on you again, as Minho captured your hand and spoke. "You're right, you're right. I'll pick fog as well if my dear wife picked it." He tapped on your hand a few times soothingly, then resumed his conversation with the girl in front of him.

"Okay, let's just move on." Taemin waved his hand around. "You've cheated, Da-Eun!"

"I didn't! Oh God! Okay, the next one says: 'every time someone tries to sell you a membership, you say yes', or 'every time you want to dance, the music stops'. What would it be?"

"That's kinda unfair." Onew remarked. "We wouldn't be able to do our job if we picked the second option."

"We can just sing, though?!" Taemin exclaimed.

"Yea, imagine singing the instrumental parts." You laughed.

"Having to get every membership is a bit much, though." Jinki thought.

"I don't know how to dance, but imagine like going to the club with friends and the music stops everytime you move."

"Or at a concert. Fans would be so shocked!" Taemin burst out laughing.

"Do we all agree that the membership is the lesser devil?"

All the three of you nodded.

"Hey, I'm gonna go get some air, I'll be back in a bit." Minho whispered in your ear, and you just nodded, getting back to playing with the guys.

"Just a question before we start again. What's with that girl? Maybe it's in my head, but it feels like she's been throwing daggers at me the whole evening." You asked, chuckling nervously, as soon as you noticed Ji-an getting up from her seat and leaving the table as well, following Minho.

"Oh, it's definitely not in your head." Taemin laughed.

"Yea, she and Minho had a thing a while back, but they broke it off due to very little time to see each other." Jinki clarified.

"She definitely still has a thing for him."

"Oh." Was all you could reply, while you let the information sink in. "Anyways, let's get back to our game. Next one is: 'every week, you have to send a detailed report of your week to your friends'-"

"Taemin already does that." Jinki laughed.

"OR 'you can flush the toilet only once a day'." You continued, ignoring the interruption.

"I don't send you detailed reports! There's so much more I could send!"

"Like what? At this point, I swear you're even texting me when you go to the bathroom."

"No, I'm not!" Taemin defended himself, and you raised a questioning brow.

He scoffed, and seeing the gaze you and Jinki threw at him, he finally admitted. "Okay, I am. I guess I'll pick this one since I'm already doing it!" He laughed. You loved Taemin's energy so much.

~

You continued playing for a while, the three of you having a lot of fun and getting drunker with each passing minute as you downed the 7th bottle of Soju together.

While Taemin contemplated on the answer to your latest question, you noticed it's been a while since Minho left the table. Ji-an wasn't back either.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom. Wait for me." You declared, while standing up with resolve. On your way to the bathroom, you turned a corner and saw Minho and Ji-an in a pretty compromising position. She was holding his collar, while his hands were on her wrists, but you couldn't tell if he was pushing her away or keeping her close.

You considered turning around and giving them privacy, but there was a sinking feeling in your stomach, and you didn't know if you actually wanted to give them any more privacy.

Minho was your husband.

Why should you let other women touch him?

If that's what he wants, he should tell you and you should just get divorced, then.

You shrugged and started walking towards them, slowly. They didn't notice you at first, so you overheard bits of their conversation.

"Look, I'm sure we could make this work. After I heard you got married-"

"Please let go." Minho replied with a sigh. "I really don't want to do this here."

"Let's go back to my place, then?" She asked, hopeful.

"Ji-an, that's not what I meant." He sounded tired. "I obviously don't want to get back together, I have a family-"

"A fake one." She intervened and tried pulling him closer by the collar, but he didn't budge.

You got fairly close to them, and as soon as he saw you, Minho's eyes grew wide.

"Sorry to interrupt." You showed them a smile that didn't reach your eyes.

"Da-Eun, I swear it's not what it looks like-" He pushed Ji-an's hands away and turned to you. "I didn't-"

"Come on, Minho, stop pretending! I know you still have feelings for me too!"

"We broke up ages ago, Ji-an..." He frowned.

"Bullshit! What, don't you think I know that you two don't love each other?" She shouted and looked at you, as if threatening you.

Ji-an was beautiful, undoubtedly so. You understood that Minho might have had a thing for her in the past. But you were his wife.

Why should you cower in front of her and let her disrespect your relationship like this, with no shame whatsoever?

"Look," you started calmly. "I don't care what was between you." You grabbed Minho's left hand and noticed the gold ring on his finger. Ever since you told him you liked seeing him wear it, he never took it off.

That gave you courage.

"But we are a family, and we have a child to raise, so I will say this respectfully only once: leave my husband alone. Yea? The past is the past." You continued smiling fakely, and Minho held your hand tighter.

"I won't have it. You're just taking advantage, having everything handed to you on a silver plate, and you preach 'family'?! Minho is just a cosy blanket for you to fall on, while he is my whole world!" She continued. This was a personal vendetta against you.

"Why did you break up, then?" You shrugged. "But you're right about that. He does hand me everything on a silver platter." You looked at him, noticing Minho's worried gaze on yours. "But you know what? That's not a problem, because... I'm willing to give him back a golden one instead." You glanced into his eyes, confessing the feelings you've been harbouring for a while now.

Going to therapy helped you understand that you shouldn't feel guilty for feeling love for someone else. You could start loving Minho while still being in love with Kibum and his memory, and that was okay. It took you a while to comprehend this, so you were glad you brought it up in therapy three months ago. It gave you plenty of time to adjust to the feeling growing in your chest and the happiness you felt whenever he was around you.

"You're such a whore, you know that? Your boyfriend died not even a year ago, and you already want someone else?!" She mocked you, but her words didn't even registered. They were empty, like all those comments you've been reading on the internet. "And the thing you said earlier about the child, you really think he could ever love some other man's baby?!" she pushed your buttons, but you didn't have to say anything in response, because Minho started ripping her ear off about how disrespectful she was. He seemed sick of staying silent and didn't want you to go through this battle alone, since it wasn't even your battle to begin with.

It was his fault that things escalated to this point.

"That was the dumbest shit you've ever said." Minho replied coldly. "Who are you to tell me who I can and cannot love?! Who do you think you are to speak like that about Da-eun when you don't even know her?!"

"Minho, I didn't-"

"Don't ever say something like that about my wife or my baby again. About me? Go and bullshit all you want. But don't you dare say that ever again about them, Ji-an. Got it?"

"But-"

"Got it?!" He repeated harshly.

Her face dropped as she realised that she said the wrong things. Minho continued on and on about how inappropriate she's been, he let her know there was never going to be anything between them again, and she should just leave the two of you be and stop trying to get between you, especially when it came to things she knows nothing about.

You were truly happy that he stuck to your side, and his hand tightly holding yours as you started to walk away from Ji-an amplified that growing love in your heart a million times.

Still, you unloaded all these feelings on Minho without actually knowing how he felt about you, so as you were walking through the hallways, you saw the door to the stairs and decided to suggest a small detour.

You nudged Minho towards the stairs, and as soon as you passed through the door, you looked at him.

"Da-Eun, I'm so sorry..." He started. "That was Ji-an, my ex-girlfriend. We dated for a while before... but you know I was away for a year during filming. We broke up, and I haven't spoken to her since, I swear."

"Minho, you don't have to explain." You shook your head. "There's nothing to apologise for, and I'm not mad at you."

"You aren't?"

"Why would I be?" You tilted your head with a frown.

"The way she was touching me... I would be upset if another man held you like this." He replied and grabbed your wrists, placing your hands on his neck, similar to the position he was in earlier with Ji-an. "She grabbed me, and I didn't want to outright smack her hands away, although I should have... I was just taken aback."

"That's okay."

"I'm serious!" He added, almost desperate.

"I appreciate you telling her off when she spoke like that about me and Haru."

"Of course. It's the truth. We are a family." He affirmed, and damn was it hard to not kiss him right then and there.

But you had to find out something first. To hear it from him.

"Minho, I... I need to know something." You glanced into his eyes, and you realised how much you loved how sparkling and alive they looked.

"Anything."

"But I'm fairly intoxicated, so bear with me."

"That's fine." He chuckled.

"I need to know where I stand. I mean, I prefer being rejected than being confused, so... Uhm, I'm having feelings for you, so if you don't feel the same way, please do me a favour, and reject me loud and clear-" You said, but before you managed to finish your rambling, Minho was already capturing your lips with his in a fevered kiss. Your hands moved to his nape as he started pushing you against the wall, and you couldn't get enough of his raw passion.

When your tongues made contact, you felt euphoric. You couldn't taste him enough. You wanted him closer, you needed him, but it was not the time, nor the place to have such an intimate encounter. The steps and voices that you started hearing from above told you as much, so, much to your dismay, Minho broke off the kiss and glanced into your eyes instead.

"I like you so much, Da-Eun. You have no idea."

The voices were getting closer.

"You are simply breathtaking. I can't get enough of you." He continued in a whisper, and despite your bodies creating distance, his eyes told you that he wanted you as much as you wanted him.

"Hey, if it's not Choi Minho!" A man you didn't recognise greeted him. Next to him was a woman that looked around your age. "And this must be your beautiful wife, right?" He continued, looking at you. You were sure your cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, so you just hoped the make-up was enough to cover it.

"Hey! Yes, this is Da-Eun. Love, these are our stylists, ..."

You continued chatting for a while before the pair excused themselves, and you decided to head back home as well. After you greeted Taemin and Onew goodbye, you hopped in your car and went to the apartment to rest before departing in the morning.

---

(A/N) I'm back with another chapter. 

We only have 3 left, so this feels a bit bittersweet hahah.

I hope you enjoyed it.

They finally confessed!

Let me know what you thought.

Love,

Storm

---

Chapter XI / Chapter XIII

[strawberryjamsara]

Uh I guess I’ll put my final thoughts on tactica here.

Main Story

This had a lot of potential that I feel was missed. I liked Toshiro as a character, and seeing how the game was setting itself up to be his palace, and the consistent chiding from other characters about his crimes, I was really excited about the idea of the phantom thieves getting to know, relate to, and sympathize with someone they would have to steal the heart of and trying to figure out how with him. The game sort of took the opposite direction of that by having Toshiro do nothing wrong in his life though.

I was pretty excited when his shadow was revealed thinking ‘Wow, maybe they’ll pull a Persona 4 and he’ll have to accept the worst parts of himself to heal!’ But they took the lazy route of having his shadow just be a fake.

Erina also I feel was just reduced to being there to develop Toshiro. Don’t get me wrong, I love her, and Toshieri is extremely cute, but she’s pretty much just there to be a love interest. Both of these characters had so much potential that went wasted.

I think the thieves were mostly just their flanderized selves. They blended into the background but there was nothing too egregious. In particular, I’m glad there was no mention of the police from Makoto, and she gets to be the cool, slightly scary, and passionate senpai she was meant to be. I also like how they had Haru explain some sort of redeeming qualities her dad had, so we can see why she misses him a bit more. I still don’t like how the game lets him off the hook so much though. Let Haru realize her dad was a piece of shit 2023. And they sexualize Ann and have her be harrassed way less which is a god sent. In particular there seems to be an attempt of sorts to sand away some of the #problematic aspects of the original which is always welcome. The Ryuji wedding put a smile on my face.

Also Samael was just Yaldabaoth for a third time. It’s become comedic how many times the phantom thieves have killed/defeated Gods at this point.

One last thing: Toshiro deserved a phantom thief outfit. I’m very dissapointed they did not give that man a fruity little costume to wear.

DLC

So I maaaaaay be biased because I love Akechi and Sumire, but I liked this one way more.

Seeing these three actually get to have a full adventure together instead of the pittance we have in Royal, I felt like I was feasting like a king (no pun intended). Sumires idealism clashing with Akechi’s realism, and Akechi willing to go along if she gives him enough puppy dog eyes, her admiring his strength while he admires her kindness, is the perfect dynamic for them.

And it’s also nice seeing some softer moments from Akechi here. It’d be easy to argue that this is part of the mask, but you can really see in this game how despite his reservations, he really does come to feel for Luca and Guernica which makes sense considering his own roots match up with theirs. Honestly he probably sees a lot of himself in Guernica, as a person unable to change anything and filled with rage, driven to do horrible things by a manipulator… yeah that might hit a bit too close to home.

Sumire also feeling internalized guilt about Kasumi with Guernica and Lucas conflict is. Aaaaaugh… she’s so upset about how she and Kasumi grew apart, and she’s upset at Guernica for saying she doesn’t need her sister because she’s mad at HERSELF, but she doesn’t know it’s herself so she’s projecting it onto Guernica. Ooooh that’s so cool.

Also I liked having all the options to mess with Akechi during the story. All his thinly veiled anger moments were such a blessing.

Guernica and Luca were such good characters too. They were definitely a lot more simple in backstory than Toshiro but I think that’s for the best. Guernica has a cool design, a good backstory, and her helping out in the final boss and bonding with the PTs is a good way to endear us to her, and it’s even a little sweet how she counts Sumire and Akechi as the PTs who saved her. They aren’t ‘true’ phantom thieves, but they still helped make a persons life better, and for Akechi who wanted to be a hero, and Sumire who thought she’d never measure up to Kasumi, having them be able to save someone and make their life better is a heartwarming conclusion.

Also Jerri is just Samael again, but she gets points for being camp and slay.

Im a bit upset the trio gained collective amnesia after the story, but it makes sense that this had to happen for the sake of not having inconsistencies with Royals story. But also… CMAAAAAAAHN.

Gameplay and Graphics

I don’t usually like tactical games because I’m dumb as hell. I’m speaking as someone who really loves fire emblem awakening, I often do NOT play these games for the gameplay.

All that said, I had so much fun with the gameplay of this game. The way persona mechanics combine with a tactical rpg is so surprisingly fun. Trying to rack up ‘one more’s to travel across the board is so much fun, landing a big hit is extremely satisfying, it is SO MUCH FUN to walk up to an enemy and smack them out of their cover, and it’s so cool to land an all out attack on as many enemies as possible, it’s so much fun and I went out of my way to get every award and do every quest.

I also liked having every member of the party able to equip any persona. It helps with builds of characters, and from a story perspective it makes Joker less of a ‘special boy who’s the narratives favorite.’

I also LOVED the more steampunk aesthetic of the velvet room. The fusion animations were adorable, and if we’re moving onto art, this is the first time Lavenzas design really clicked for me. In the og artstyle I think Lavenzas design isn’t really memorable compared to Caroline and Justine, but she looks really cute here! The chibi artstyle is very cute and simple, but you can tell how much effort went into it from how the animated cutscenes with the models look just as good as the 2D animated scenes. That’s genuinely impressive and points to a lot of effort in the models!

So all in all, I think the game had a lot of missed potential but I’m glad I played it if just for the DLC.

[randoimago]

Top three fandom asks for Persona 5? 👀

Personally my top three ships are RyuAnn, ShuMako, and MakoHaru 🥱

Oh Persona 5, I can tell you right now that all of my least favorite things will have to do with Ryuji. I think I'm dumb because I don't remember who Shu is for the ShuMako ship😖

Ask Game Here

3 male characters I love: Ryuji, Akechi, Maruki (it was so hard to do a top three because I also love Mishima and Yusuke so very much)

3 female characters I love: Futaba, Sumire, Ann

3 romantic ships I love:

Honestly, my romantic ships have to be the other phantom thieves with Joker (minus Futaba cause I like them better as siblings, and also minus Morgana for obvious reasons). Idk I just like the dynamic that Joker has with the others.

Joker/Akechi. Look, I found the two of them neat in P5 and then Royal came along with giving Akechi an actual social rank and I really found them neat. But then fucking Robbie Daymond and Xander Mobus had to make a song together as the characters. Enemies to Frenemies (reluctant allies really) to Lovers really hits with them

Sojiro/Wakaba, just listening to when Sojiro would talk about Wakaba and then seeing the alternative ending with Royal and how Sojiro is there... I absolutely loved them.

3 platonic dynamics I love:

Ann/Shiho (I wish there was more. Thank god for Royal having some moments, but I wanted to visit Shiho in the hospital with Ann or something)

Ryuji/Ann (tbh I love their best friend energy they have going on. Not a single braincell between them and I love it)

Sojiro/Futaba/Joker. I'm sorry but good adoptive father/daughter relationships feel so hard to find and I just love that family so much. It's the found family dynamic too ngl

Honorable mention - Futaba/Yusuke. They're idiots and I love their friendship

3 favorite moments in canon:

Saving Futaba and her learning the truth (honestly her whole arc) was just so amazing. It was so heartbreaking, but so satisfying to be able to help her.

The alternative ending for Royal is a favorite because it's unbelievably bittersweet. Like you should feel happy when you see it. You should think that it's the right choice because everyone got their happy ending, but it's just so heartwrenching and I love it so so much (I cry every damn time I see it).

Every Persona awakening was just amazing to watch. Oh my god and Akechi's "second" persona reveal? It's so amazing and I wish I could watch it all again like I've never seen it before because damn it was so cool.

3 favorite headcanons:

Yusuke ended up taking interest once when Ann and Haru were showing Makoto and Futaba how to paint their nails. Yusuke stated that the girls could do better and then gave them beautiful nail art (he did get a bit thrown off when Futaba wanted nails specific to the Kamen Riders, but he did it).

Ryuji, Mishima, and Joker all just crowded around that gatcha machine in Akihabara or in the Arcade trying to get specific figures and dolls. Mishima and Ryuji taking turns and failing and then Joker, with max stats being smug because obviously he can do it and then he fails too. They eventually suck up their pride and beg Shinya to win them the Jack Frost doll.

Ann visiting Shiho for regular meet ups and telling her all about the new friends she made. Sometimes Ann brings mini paintings that Yusuke drew or anime character stickers that Futaba had extras for. Shiho hasn't met these people, but Ann talks highly about Shiho to them so they all want to give the girl little presents. It is very exciting when Shiho is finally introduced to Ann's new friends. Shiho is very proud of Ann for the happiness she managed to find.

3 least favorite things about it:

Oh fucking boy I hated all the crap Ryuji got. He's such a good best friend, he sacrificed his life! And instead of the "Oh my god, I'm so happy you're okay!" that he deserved, he was pummeled for comedic effect?? Fuck you Atlas.

Again, with Ryuji, specifically with how he was treated by Morgana throughout the entire game. And then when Ryuji stood up for himself, Morgana was suddenly the victim?? Haru didn't even get her own spotlight because of this little shit.

And hey, another least favorite that ties in with the others. Fucking Haru. She was in her dad's goddamn palace. She was trying to fix things so she could have her dad back. It should've been emotional and it should've made us attached and love Haru. But honestly, I was mostly frustrated with the palace and dealing with Morgana that when Haru's dad died it was just an "Oh no! Anyway..." moment where I moved on so quickly. Thank god for Strikers helping me actually appreciate Haru more.