#i love the side characters in this story as wel if you didn’t know

[jinyoungsir]

Your MIND for featuring TOP (aka #1 visual in kpop imo) in your jooheon fic! 💕💕💕

There is none better to play an assassin guild leader than the very striking, ever intimidating, Choi Seunghyun.

He has a huge office with heavy oak desk and a built-in fireplace. He always wears a crisp all-black suit and people are afraid to bother him let alone bust into his office like Kat does. He’s killed people for less and yet his soft spot for her is painfully obvious even though his pretends otherwise. Has a secret stash of butterscotch candies in the top left drawer of his desk because he has a sweet tooth but doesn’t want anyone to know lest it damage his ruthless reputation.

[beann-e]

Bnha Characters reacting to when you quit your job

bakugou

your steps were quiet as you tried to work up the energy to unlock your front door. Your hands sweating and cold when you finally got the energy to put the key in the lock a deep exhale leaving your lips when you finally walked in.

Your Body only carrying you to your kitchen counter before you dropped your keys and bag on the same counter your body now rested against.

The room heating up and shifting from the ice quiet atmosphere youd created when you felt strong arms wrap around your waist and pull you back to meet a hard chest

Small kisses being planted on the side of your neck as you let out another sigh of relief as you spoke trying not to drown in the comfort being given to you “ baby “

Your body shook as you heard a deep grunt of acknowledgment “ we — we need to talk “

you felt as another set of kisses were placed to your neck before his head snuggled into the spot between your neck and shoulder “ I— I think I made a mistake“

You bit at your lip as you kept going “ I— I was trying my best to stick up for myself y’know like you told me”

“ mm—and did you“

“ I did —I mean I did stick up for myself and I had to I needed to bu—”

“ slowly losing interest y/n “

you let out a shallow cough “ but I think I did it at the wrong time “

his body stood up a bit straighter head still remaining in the same place somehow “ baby I —i lost my job “

You felt as your boyfriends body went hard almost as if he was trying not to slam your own body into the floor in anger his grip around your waist only getting tighter “ like I said I — I wrong time“

“ wrong time? — y/n wrong place “ he screamed as he jolted your soul out of your already shaken figure. His head flying back to look at you conveying all the anger and annoyance he held, “ what the fuck do we do now “

you let out a small laugh to try to ease the tension “ we — we rely on your hero check ? “

You watched as he sucked his teeth and moved out of the kitchen “ I can barely feed a fucking roach with my salary y/n “ his voice getting louder as he walked into the living room you following closely behind “ i — i can barely feed you — us — y/n this is why we don’t have little crumb snatchers running around now “

his voice deep and heavy “ cause we’re broke do you get that babe ? huh no — fuck — you— fuck fuck fuck you gotta go back — you can’t just be chilling around the fucking house while i’m working my ass off that’s not how starting a family works y/n “

“ baby it’s just until I can get a new job “

“ tch— and how long will that take y/n “

“ well I— “

“ huh months ? “

“ well n— “

“ couple weeks “

“ I mean hopefull— “

“ babe you don’t even fucking know “ he sighed as he griped the skin on the bridge of his nose “ so fucking stupid — so so so fucking stupid “

the room went quiet as your eyes dropped to the ground. “ wel— no — I — I don’t know kats” you shook your head “ I— I really don’t“

“ and that’s the problem y/n “ he screamed eyes finally opening to look at you.

God, he loved you but seriously you just didn’t think sometimes

It’s not that he was calling you stupid it’s just that he really really loved you

He loved that you listened to him. That whenever he gave advice you heard it and went with it.

The night he told you to speak up he was honestly just fucking with you. He always forgets that he has someone who loves him now meaning he’s taken seriously. He always forgets he’s not in high school anymore.

He can’t say something crazy and asshole—ish and expect to just be ignored. He has someone that loves him and will truly listen.

Your not the stupid one

nor the one in the wrong he is

and he knows he is because he heard everything you said about your situation. Yet, he knew you were different from him whereas he had been speaking his mind for years regardless of ranks.

You couldn’t.

You had a job where everything relied on ranks and status. You couldn’t just say whatever the fuck you wanted to like he could and yet he convinced you that night to speak up whenever your boss gave you extra work you didn’t wanna do.

His eyes felt heavy and so did his body his brain automatically beating himself up as he stared at you imagining the rough day youd had. If he was pissed off with the current situation he could only imagine how you felt.

Someone who hated to rely on others yet, now having to rely on their boyfriend.

“ come here “ your eyes lit up at the statement as your tired body wobbled over and into bakugous arms. Head hitting his chest as he crushed you “ I love you and i’m proud of you “

your heart sank.

“ fuck those idiots you only have room for one anyways and hes— fuck trust me I know i’m enough “

Shoto

“ so “

“ so “

You sat on the couch legs splayed out in front of you and hands playing with the tassels of the pillows placed next to you.

God you loved these pillows. You actually remember the day you bought them.

Y’know back when you had money

“ y/n “ you watched as shoto shifted uncomfortably on the couch next to you “ my love what are you doing home “

He shook his head confused at the body placed comfortably next to his own “ your not supposed to be home for “ he looked down at his watch moving his suit jacket up his arm to create space and to make sure he was seeing the time correctly “ for 7 more hours “

you let out a short laugh “ you sound like you just got caught cheating sho “

his eyebrows crinkled together as he stared at you in disgust “ y/n I would never “

His hand moved to be placed on your thigh “my love is that what you think ? — if that’s why your here then I can assure you tha—I mean honestly if so I would never be stupid enough to disrespect you in our home— you could’ve went to my office at least I mea— “

“ I lost my job shoto “

The air shifted as the hand on your thigh suddenly felt colder than before “ I— I lost my job “

you took a deep breath shaking your head “ it’s a long story on why but i’ve been leaving the house — pretending really— to go to work “

You chuckled “ god i’m sucha bad person “ your small chuckle turned into a hearty laugh as you felt your body go slack “ A fucking horrible timekeeper too if I managed to forget my husband gets off before me on weekends “

“ do not say these things about yourself “

“ it’s not like it’s a lie “ your tear filled eyes coming up to look at his. ” right “

“ I will not stand for this y/n “

“ for what — having an unemployed s/o—i mean you already have one so not much to do about that “

you scoffed “ why don’t you want a housewife ? huh“ you smiled “ I can wear the skirts for you y’know with the aprons cook you dinner and maybe we can have kids y’know we can even get —“

“ enough “

your body shook your eyes widened facing the 6 ft male now towering over you “ your always joking about serious things and I — I don’t understand “ his eyebrows creasing in desperate need to understand you. Eyes darting around your face “ how “

his voice going deeper as he got angrier “ y/n you lost your job“ his eyes grew wide “ do you realize how serious this is “

“ wh— “ you shook your head letting out a short scoff “ of course I do —I mean sho i’m the one who qui—lost it “

“ no you clearly don’t “ he scoffed “ not if your sitting here making jokes in my face “

His mouth quirked up in disgust “ it’s almost insulting — disgusting really “

“ wh— sho—“ you felt as a tear fell from your eye “ baby what could be so disgusting huh ? so ‘ insulting ‘ about me choosing to leave huh “

his eyes softened “ because of your reason to leave “

“ my reason ? “

“ my love I know you — I know you didn’t get fired and I know you wouldn’t just leave you loved it there “

your head dropped as your fiddled with your fingers “ so that means something led you to make that life changing decision and it hurts me that you were forced to make it “

Your heart broke, he was right he was always right, for days at work youd been dealing with an overbearing co worker who would tell you to do everything they didn’t feel like doing and when you finally decided to say no to them

They went and told your boss. Who even though you’d been working there longer than your so called coworker still believed everything they were told.

That was the day that you sadly found out your job favored years over hard work.

Due to the other person being there longer you were trumped in telling your story. It was seen as not necessary because , someone who was there for so long would have no reason to lie on someone like you.

A newbie

“ someone made you quit this job “

“ sho no they— I decided “

You felt as the couch shifted from him kicking it. You thinking he was moving to grab his shoes except walking past them and unlocking the door instead.

“ baby where are you going — we need to talk about how we’re going to split the bills now that i— “

“ i’ll handle it “

“ shoto you can’t put everything on your dads card we’re not “ you let out a soft exhale “ we’re not children anymore “

“ i’ll pay for it all myself — and you can be my little housewife “ he scoffed as your expression grew sour “ it was so funny a moment ago right “

“ shoto i’m not gonna ask again where are you going “

“ where else “

your eyebrows came together in a furrow “ wh— “

“ my love you work for my company ? obviously who ever I put in charge “ he shrugged walking barefoot to his car unlocking the door “ isn’t doing a very good job if they fire their bosses s/o ? “

He got into the drivers seat as he turned the car on and reversed the car “ needs to learn respect no ? so i’ll just have them switch places with you“ he smiled softly “ i’ll see you when I get home “

His once furious eyes turning soft at your body hidden in pajamas “ go inside baby —it’s cold —go order us some takeout i’ll be back in a little ok “

“ sho “

“ just let me handle this —i love you and i’ll be right back my love—go “

You shook your head softly “ go y/n “

[arixwrites]

Matt Murdock x best friend!reader pt.5

A/N: We’re jumping forward in time to season 2!! I absolutely love season 2 bc of Frank. He is such an amazing character! I’m currently watching The Punisher and about to finish season 1. It’s good BUT there’s no Matt or Foggy ;( there is Karen so that’s a plus! (and Billy Russo 🤤)

I really just wanted to write some Frank Castle and hopefully include him more in the future. Next part will be a lot longer and way juicier!! 😈 Let me know of any mistakes! I'll be posting pt.6 very soon, like today. I've had it done for a while just need to look it over one last time.

*Thoughts are shown in bold

Anyway hope you enjoy this lil thing! 💜

Word Count: 776

After Grotto collapsed on the floor of Josie’s, You, Karen, and Foggy moved him into the backseat of Karen’s car (before setting a towel down of course). You all figured since Grotto didn’t have money to pay for Nelson, Y/L/N, & Murdock’s services, he probably also couldn’t afford a trip to the hospital in an ambulance. So, you and Karen were now on your way to Metro-General Hospital, with you in the backseat keeping pressure against the wound on Grotto’s side.

After hearing Grotto’s information, Matt was itching to get to the crime scene and figure out what happened for himself. Matt figured he would have to don his Daredevil suit sometime tonight while on the pursuit for the new player in town, so he didn’t want you following him and Foggy to the scene. He hoped you wouldn’t put up too much of a fight because he really couldn’t stand lying to you about his life as Daredevil more than he had to. Luckily for him, you volunteered to go with Karen to Metro-General to make sure Grotto was alright.

While Foggy and Matt were following their own leads in Hell’s Kitchen, You and Karen were trying to convince Grotto to calm down and stay in the hospital. Karen explained to Grotto that they had signed into the hospital under the false names Steve and Isabelle Schaffer. The story was “Steve” had been injured in a bar fight while defending “Isabelle’s” honor, and her childhood best friend, you, had driven them to the hospital.

After Grotto calmed down, he warned the two of you to leave him and save yourselves from whoever had it out for him. To which you replied, ‘Tonight, you became an official client of Nelson, Y/L/N, & Murdock and we don’t leave our clients behind.’

Meanwhile, Daredevil walked in on a disturbing scene in a meatpacking factory. What kind of animal could do this?

You excused yourself to go to the restroom after the drinks from Josie’s and the coffee you got Karen and yourself from the cafeteria went right through you. While drying your wet hands you hear a commotion coming from outside the door.

‘Hold it right there!’

You slowly open the door and come face to face with a man in all dark clothing holding a pistol. You look from his face to the gun in his hand, and finally the gun hanging on his side. You probably looked scared out of your mind, and that’s because you truly were. Whoever had been targeting the Kitchen Irish had come to finish the job but it was just one man.

Frank saw the frightened look on your face and quickly tried to correct it. He wasn’t here to cause any unnecessary harm. He was here to finish what he started and that man was right down the hall. Frank stopped and looked at you dead in the eye. His eyes softened in an attempt to convey that you weren’t in danger. He disassembled the gun at a lightning-fast speed before throwing it in the garbage next to you. You flinched and closed your eyes waiting for the impact of the bullet. You had thought he was going to use the gun against you, but the sound of the gun hitting the inside of the garbage can has you looking at him in disbelief. Great! The psycho murderer would rather slowly kill me with his bare hands than a gun. Lucky me!

‘Hey,’ Frank spoke in a soft yet somehow gravelly voice, ‘Go back inside ma’am. I’m not here to hurt you.’

The loud screams of nurses and doctors coming from down the hall as well as the security guard groaning on the floor made the statement hard to believe. However, you really had no other option. There was no way you were going to be able to run past him to get to Karen and Grotto. You just hoped they were aware of what was going on in the hospital and were already on their way out to safety. You nodded wordlessly and shut the door. You leaned up against the door and finally let out a breath. You splashed water on your face multiple times in an attempt to hold off the incoming panic attack after that possible near-death experience. You could tell he was dangerous just by the way he carried himself. He had a fierce and determined look in his eye when you saw him walking toward you, but he was able to change his expression and give you an honest comforting gaze. Was that really the man that took down the Kitchen Irish single-handedly?

Part 6

[sohin-ace]

Jotaro - Kakyoin's Notebook

I'm sorry, I clickbaited y'all. The pairing in this story is not official.

...unless?

As you were all about to check out of the hotel, You decided to go back to everyone's respective rooms to make sure none of you forgot anything.

The crusaders were downstairs and you came up, checking every room. Everything seemed okay, you only needed to check Kakyoin and Jotaro's room last and then go back down.

You entered their room and looked everywhere. You stumbled onto a little notebook that was halfway underneath one of the pillows right as you were about to leave.

"Huh? Oops, I nearly didn't see that!" You bent down and took the notebook in your hands. It was just about pocket-sized. "Oh I do remember Jotaro having something like that, better get it back to him!"

Out of fateful clumsiness, the notebook slipped out of your hands and fell on the ground, opening on a random page. You crouched to pick it up, but then, your gaze fell upon what was on the page.

Your breath hitched in speechless confusion at what you saw, written at the top, in big font.

'Y/NxJotaro'

Why was your name and Jotaro's on that page? Was that some kind of memo? You knew Jotaro had the habit of taking notes to remember things, but why was your name in there?

Your curiosity got the best of you and you continued to look down the page, swiping through the others. You knew it was terribly wrong and you were invading his privacy but you were just so lost. It concerned you, there was your name on it.

" 'One-shot Draft... WIP', What does that even mean? J-... Jotaro did this?" You mumbled out loud, face scrunching up in confusion and slight fear as you looked through words you couldn't understand.

" 'Soulmate AU', 'Drabble', 'NSFW'? Are those some kind of codes?"

Pages long of stories decorated the sheets, so many you couldn't read everything. There were even some sketches and drawings that you didn't have the heart to look at. You managed to read some pieces of stories that left you even more confused. You read to yourself.

' "W-wait!" Y/N said as tears prickled in her eyes, her face flushed with innocent shyness. "I-It's my first time..."

"Don't worry," Jotaro spoke, hovering above her, his voice deep and soothing. "I'll be gentle." '

...What? You don't remember ever saying anything of the sort? You couldn't comprehend what you were reading. Whatever was written in there never happened and was fictional or somesuch to you.

When it was just too much for you to handle, you closed the notebook, your face still strained with mixed feelings.

Only then did you notice that there was a cherry sticker on the back of the notebook. After looking at the first page, you saw the name of the owner.

Noriaki Kakyoin.

"K-kakyo-... Oh my gosh..."

You were shocked, but somehow relieved. It made more sense than the author being Jotaro, but it still blew you away, the fact that Kakyoin would write such things on your and Jotaro's behalf.

Suddenly, Polnareff walked by and noticed you through the open door. You flinched when he called out to you and entered the room.

"Ah there you are Y/N! We started to worry!" He approached you and he noticed what you were holding. "Oh that's Kakyoin's notebook! He can't live without it, good thing you found it! Okay, let's go now, the others are waiting. Allez, on y va!"

He guided you out of the room and you followed, clutching the notebook. Polnareff didn't have to know the weird things written on it about you and Jotaro. You had to discover what it all meant.

"That's bullshit. You don't make any sense, Y/N." Jotaro scoffed at you, a few hours after the little hotel room occurence.

"I swear on my future husband's life! I'll prove it to you, look." You turned around and looked for your red haired friend. "Kakyoin! Can I doodle something on your notebook please~?"

"Huh?" He looked at you questioningly. "Why all of a sudden?"

"Well, Mr. Joestar will take a while to come back, so might as well kill some time. I'll write a cute message for you to read on the last train home!"

The red head smiled at your goofiness and thought 'why not?'. He took out his notebook along with a pen, but instead of giving it to you, he opened it on a specific empty page.

"Here," He handed you the items. "Only draw on this page. Don't draw on the other pages."

You nodded. "Got it! Thank you Kakyoin~!"

You smiled innocently and as soon as the male turned his back to you, your expression turned dark and you instantly looked for Jotaro who was sitting nearby.

"Jojo! Here, I have it, let's do this!" You stood in front of him with the notebook in your hands and he sighed.

"Yare yare daze, I'm not betraying his trust because of your shadiness."

"It's not like that! There's-..." You cut yourself off to look behind you and check if Kakyoin was looking.

You leaned down, inching towards Jotaro's face and whispered quietly. "There are things about us in here. Last time I saw it on accident, but if Kakyoin writes stuff about us, it's our legitimate right to know!"

"Says who? Are you a lawyer or something?"

"Jojo please!!" You pleaded while gripping on the collar of his gakuran, moving the chains on it and making them clang loudly.

The sudden noise alerted the cherry-haired fellow who turned his head to look at you both from afar. His eyes instantly widened and sparkled with vicious yet happy stars.

He loved to see his two best friends interract and, he knew damn well he took half of your interractions out of context, but that's what made them so good. His imagination started running wild at the scene before him.

The way you desperately held onto Jotaro, your faces, so close to each other, your begging eyes looking at him, yearning for his lips, waiting for one thing only.

'Jojo, please!' Kakyoin muttered what he imagined you would say. 'Say yes... I've been dying to kiss you!'

Back to you two, Jotaro clicked his tongue and looked away, closing his eyes in frustration. He hated the fact that he just couldn't refuse you anything.

"Tch! You're so fucking annoying. Fine, I get it, give it to me." Jotaro grumbled and moved your hands away from him, snatching the notebook from your hand.

'Tch! You know I can't resist you. Fine, don't beg for me to stop when I start messing you up.' Kakyoin continued, imitating his friend's deep voice under his breath and being surprisingly in character, for the inappropriate things he was imagining.

Kakyoin tensed up with anticipation when Jotaro suddenly grabbed your wrists, his big strong hands overpowering your fragile ones easily. You may have made the first move, but he would take the lead.

If it wasn't for the public surrounding you, Kakyoin was sure his friend would have gotten up and slammed you against the wall, pinning your hands at your side while you whimpered his name cutely. But he had to hold back, at least for now, or so Kakyoin daydreamed.

"Hey Kakyoin, what're you looking at? Come here for a bit!"

Before Kakyoin could even see the rest of the scene, which happened to be the most interesting part, he was interrupted by Polnareff who was in dire need for help with a nearby vending machine that seemed to have eaten his money.

Kakyoin sighed a bit annoyed, but joined his French comrade, not even glancing back at you. He'd have to remember to write everything down as soon as you gave him back his notebook.

Kakyoin Noriaki was an average boy that loved action and adventures, but he secretely wasn't immune to a good sweet romance story.

When you joined the crusaders, your interactions with Jotaro seemed as platonic as with the rest of the men. But for some reason, the boy started to feel some kind of connection between you two.

He didn't know when or how it started, but he felt like something was different at a certain point.

Why was it so cute when, one day, you removed Jotaro's hat to fix the pins that were moved out of place after a fight, and he let you put it back on him, even though he never lets anybody touch it?

Or maybe it was that other time in a restaurant where, after Jotaro eyed your dessert for a while, you exchanged your cakes to let him have a taste, stealing a bite from his own in the process.

Or that day when you struggled put your earrings back on and he had to help you out, only to struggle even more, his fingers too big and clumsy to be accurate. He had to call out Star Platinum to do it while he held your hair out of the way.

Even the simplest of gestures seemed romantic and adorable to him. He was sure something was going on between you two, and yet, you were too dense to realize it. All of this fueled his inner fanboy and it prevented him from sleeping at night.

He shipped you two so goddamn much.

He was guilty, but he loved every single bit of it. Of course, no one could know. If someone knew, especially you two, that'd be the end of him.

You were all waiting for the next train to arrive, which was a big 40 minutes. Joseph and Abdul went to buy something to snack on while you waited and Polnareff went to the restroom.

Kakyoin was sitting next to you, his back resting against the wall and his eyes were closed. As you thought he had fallen asleep, you took this moment to turn the other way to talk to your nonchalant friend.

"You see?" You spoke softly, careful to not wake Kakyoin up. "I told you there were stuff about us in that notebook!"

"Shut up, there were only messages on that page, I'm sure the others were the same." He grumbled with the same low intensity as you. "And you know damn well he can be a weirdo sometimes."

"But still, I want to understand... And also, what does 'smut' even mean?"

He pretended to be asleep, but his mind was racing.

Kakyoin who wasn't quite sleeping and very much listening to whatever he could hear through the background noise of the station, flinched and started blushing.

Just, when and where did you heard that term?

" 'Smut'?" Jotaro looked at you with confused furrowed eyebrows. "Hell if I know. You speak better english than I do, shouldn't you know?"

"Well I..."

Before the conversation could go down even further, Kakyoin feigned waking up and got up from his slouched position.

You noticed and turned around, staring at him, scared that he would ask what you were talking about, as you didn't want to confront him about the weird things you saw in his notes. If he ever knew, he would finish you. But something worse happened.

Jotaro nudged you and tilted his head towards Kakyoin, but you quite didn't get the message.

"Oi Kakyoin, do you know what 'smut' means? You know a lot of languages, right?" Jotaro asked like it was nothing and you gasped, secretly wanting to slap Jotaro for his indiscretion.

Kakyoin looked over at him, unfazed as ever. "Smut? Hmmm I guess I can look it up later. Where did you hear that?"

Jotaro innocently signed your death warrant. "Y/N just told me."

"JOTARO!!!" You shot up from your seat and stared at him in pure disbelief and betrayal. "OH MY- ARE YOU SERIOUS?! YOU TRAITOR!!!"

"Oh really?" Kakyoin teased, sending you a knowing look. "What's going on with you two? Are you keeping secrets from me?"

You blushed and flinched as Kakyoin's amethyst eyes stared through your soul. Before Jotaro could say anything else, you slapped a hand over his big mouth and Kakyoin's eye glinted.

"I-I mean... No! Wait. There's something I need to tell Jojo, excuse us for a sec."

You then leaned in and cupped Jotaro's ear as you whispered. Kakyoin looked at you in pure satisfaction, trying his best to not start smiling and giggling like a goofy schoolgirl.

Oh no, he didn't need to hear the sweet nothings you were deliciously breathing on Jotaro's now tingling skin. Imagining it was more than enough.

You leaned back and softly spoke to him. "Don't ruin this for us. I'm trusting you."

"Yare Yare daze. You put me into this in the first place. Don't complain."

Kakyoin's eyes widened and he turned his head around, trying to hide his expression and pretended he totally didn't hear that. Oh how sweet the lack of context was for his little fanboy mind. He wouldn't ask too many questions since you were offering him such a good show.

On the train, you waited until Kakyoin was completely out and asleep to subdue his notebook. That would make a good reading on the 4 hours long travel.

"Yes that's it! Right on the left pocket, yeah that one!"

You guided Jotaro who was hiding not too far from Kakyoin's seat as your delinquent friend used Star Platinum to steal your cherry loving friend's notebook.

When he finally had it, Star Platinum brought it back and both you and Jotaro proceeded to read through the many drafts and stories about you two.

Getting ready for one hell of a joy ride.

Bonus:

Kakyoin stretched and took a deep breath of fresh air as he got off the train.

"Aah~! I slept like a log. Huh? What's wrong, why are you two so red? Did you get motion sick, maybe?"

Kakyoin commented upon seeing your and Jotaro's flushed face as you got off. Your shoulders were slumped in shame and Jotaro was hiding behind his hat like a wanted criminal.

"Uh yeah... Here Kakyoin, you dropped this..." you groaned and handed him his notebook.

He thanked you and took his due. When he was gone, you glanced at Jotaro and you both shared intense empathy and regret.

Don't steal Kakyoin's notebook.

Oh man, wouldn't it be fun and also a bit sad if after Dio was defeated, Y/N and Jotaro became a couple?

You walked by the river, holding hands with Jotaro after a long week of finals. You suddenly stopped in your tracks and looked at the water reflecting the orange sunset.

Jotaro looked at you confused, but followed your gaze, until both of you laid eyes on a young girl painting the scenery on a canvas.

"You know... He would have loved this..." You started softly, a melancholic look cast on the girl as her Stand posed on the grass like a model, thinking herself only could see it. "To see us together, I mean..."

Jotaro inspected the girl, her red curls and green uniform moving messily in the wind. "Did he ever write something about us watching him paint?"

You chuckled sadly. "Why didn't he think of that? His stories were great, but he was in none of them..."

Jotaro noticed you biting your lip as your voice wavered slightly and he squeezed your hand in reassurance. You laid your head on his arm and he responded by bringing you closer to him.

"But now he is."

OKAY AUTHOR OUT

[sweetest-honeybee]

To Hell and Back

Chapter 31

Summary: Introducing a new evil hermit in the story and Doc nearly chokes BadTimes to death.

Characters: Doc, Impulse, BadTimes (Oscar), Hex (my Evil Mumbo) (NPC Grian, Xisuma, Hels, Wels, and Evil X mention)

TW: Strangulation and (kind of) swearing I believe?

Notes: Yes, notes will become a consistent thing lol, but I love this chapter a lot because of Oscar’s characterization :D

——————

The Evil Hermits were interesting to say the least. BadTimes led them around the vast area which resembled their server in some way. The land seemed generated quite the same, and in the places where their bases were in the overworld, they were there in HelsCraft, as BadTimes called it. The castle for The Champion was actually the Hels version of Grian’s castle he built, just the land was changed here and there.

There was a ‘jungle’- large burnt trees- close to it, and within the jungle was a very tall withering tree, presumably the HelsCraft version of Iskall’s base, owned by who BadTimes called Iskill. However, they weren’t on their way there after getting a glimpse at the other bases. The moment they were through the lava and flying around, their eyes landed on Mumbo’s HelsCraft base. Unsurprisingly, it was built nearly identical to it but gears and hundred block tall machinery ticked with metallic groans outside of the temple. Smokestacks made their way from the ground and the place looked more like a factory than the preserved temple.

BadTimes decided that that was where they would be visiting first as far as actually talking to the Evil Hermits was concerned. He said he had an ally there named Hex. Hex was supposedly Mumbo’s evil doppelgänger and that all of the Evil Hermits, and a large portion of HelsCraft itself, tended to rely on him for materials. BadTimes said he was respected, nearly a Champion but lacked a will to fight all the time and didn’t care to please The Lord of Darkness.

Already had been flying around, BadTimes led them to land on the spire in the middle of the factory, wings folding behind them neatly. Doc and Impulse were absolutely stunned by the build itself, not that Mumbo’s general base in the overworld wasn’t already incredibly impressive. Just the intense amount of machinery and watching farms grow and be harvested in amounts at a time by the hundreds. It was incredible and that made Impulse particularly giddy to meet this redstone master.

BadTimes had them land on the highest layer of the spire and let Doc and Impulse take in the ginormous build and it’s details. Occasionally, they saw BadTimes glance around, presumably looking for his friend. Though, were friends a thing here? BadTimes said Hex was an ally, not a friend. Yet, Evil X said Hels considered the Evil Hermits to be his friends at one point.

That also brought a thought to Doc, from something Hels told him a while back. He decided to ask BadTimes anyways while Impulse was busy looking over the edge. The creeper stepped up to the evil terraformer with a grunt.

“Weren’t you the one who helped in dethroning Hels?” He asked, not sparing a glance at the other, simply watching Impulse gawk and ramble about the machinery as he stood next to the evil hermit.

On the other hand, BadTimes didn’t seem fazed by the question, simply keeping an unmoving gaze. “Yes. I helped NPC get the throne. Wasn’t the one who stabbed em’ though.” He side eyed Doc carefully. “Why.”

Doc nodded, taking in the information that Hels, in fact, didn’t lie if he was talking shit about his previous companions. “We need your help,” he muttered.

That brought a chuckle out of BadTimes. “What, with The Lord a’ Darkness?” He whistled, emphasizing the size of that kind of task. “Can’t help ya’ there. ‘S got all of us wrapped around his finger. You want help, you get NPC. Kid’s got tons of power.”

The creeper sighed, then faced BadTimes curiously. “Why did you help us? In the castle?”

“Aw, now don’t bring none a’ that here. I did y’all a favor, but I don’ do it out of the nonexistent kindness of my heart, Doc. You owe me.”

Doc hummed, a fair point. “Right, well, you didn’t say you wouldn’t help us with The Lord of Darkness because you didn’t want to. You said it because you’re not able to.”

BadTimes snorted at the observation, nodding his head fondly. “Who said I like workin’ for em’? I don’t care about none a’ y’all, but I like not having to murder people all the time for his satisfaction. I want out just as bad as you do, but that’d hurt that Scar fellow.”

That was true. Hels trying to get out only landed in whatever was going on with Wels. “Right, right. Why’d you overthrow Hels then?”

The other shrugged. “Needed NPC up there. He don’ hurt anyone, really. Soft kid, actually. But even without whatever The Lord gave em’ as a reward, he’s got enough power to wipe out a city with a snap.” BadTimes sighed, almost sadly. “Kid ain’t from here, Doc. He could change this but it would risk everything we got here.”

“Change what?”

The trio turned their heads towards the familiar British accent, though much deeper than they thought it’d be, more distorted. There stood, who Impulse and Doc assumed, was Hex. Unsurprisingly, the man was still sporting the curled handlebar mustache, and his outfit screamed the word Victorian. This man, they already could tell, was some kind of inventor. Maybe the googles were the deciding factor for that thought.

“Howdy, Hex! Showin’ these fellas around. Lord a’ Darkness took em’ from the overworld.” BadTimes pointed a thumb at the two behind him.

“Figured,” the Brit replied, though not hardly showing much interest to them. “Touch anything and I'll have you ground in the gears down there, understand?” Doc and Impulse nodded, Impulse still with a grin on his face.

“You are like- holy shit, how long have you been doing this?!” The redstoner asked excitedly. “This is amazing!”

Hex tilted his chin up proudly. “Years. This world kinda forces you to get better than most. Competition, I’d say, is probably why it happens to look like this anyways.”

“You’ve got to teach me,” Impulse replied, bouncing on his heels.

“Better hope you can keep up, I don’t wait.” Hex ended his sentence on a cold stare, but even behind the mustache, you could see his lips perk up just slightly.

BadTimes decided to interject their little conversation. “Ay Hex, gotta ask you somethin’. Think you can do anythin’ to help this whole Lord a’ Darkness thing?” he asked, putting a hand on the brit’s shoulder.

He’d shook his head. “I don’t believe so, no. NPC can’t do anything?”

“Ah, ‘s what we were thinkin’. Hels ain't havin’ a fun time though, Wels is gettin’ possessed by The Lord.”

“Serves him right....” Hex muttered. “Evil Xisuma dragged him over there, he can stay for all I care.”

“Hex, he was just tryin’ to please The Lord. You know what happens when you don’ please The Lord.”

“Well, The Lord can punish me,” he replied in a disgusted tone, plucking the other evil hermit’s hand off his shoulder. “I don’t care about Mumbo. I’m not being paid to sit around and do his handiwork. I invent for myself, Oscar.”

BadTimes huffed, quirking a brow at the inventor. “So you won’t help us with a little revolution?” he asked with a pout.

Hex merely rolled his eyes with a slight smile, then looking at Doc and Impulse. “What’s been going on in your world, anyways? We heard it’s getting bad. Your own admin is starting to turn on you.”

The pair’s eyes widened, jaws dropping at the phrase. Xisuma turning on them? Had he been possessed as well? Doc wondered about it, then realizing now how aggressive the admin had been since this whole thing started. Now, he and Keralis were off somewhere, probably finding Hels and Evil X to figure out what was going on. That could only lead to something bad.

“Uh….” Doc started, promptly shutting his mouth in confusion. “I….don’t know apparently. I didn’t know Xisuma was….” he trailed off, the Evil Hermits stared at him curiously.

“You’re an idiot,” Hex commented. Doc sent him a glare, but that was quickly returned by the inventor. “You seriously haven’t noticed this entire time? Whew boy, you’re in for a treat.”

“Yeah,” BadTimes agreed. “Can’t believe you didn’t know Evil X was bein’ punished too. I mean I don’ like the guy, but just somethin’ you should know.”

The pair dragged their hands down their faces, glancing at each other worriedly.

“We’ve gotta get back to the overworld,” said Impulse. He looked at the Evil Hermits with pleading eyes. “There’s gotta be a way for us to get back.”

“Look, I’m sorry boys, but-“

The Evil Hermits paused, pulling out phone-like objects from their pockets. Impulse and Doc realized quickly that the Evil Hermits had their own communicators. That quickly gave the both of them ideas.

“Xisuma experienced kinetic energy,” Hex read. “Hm, guess he’s not doing great either.”

“You have communicators?” Doc asked them.

Quickly, they pocketed their comms. “Yeah, they ain’t for you though, back off.”

“You don’t understand, we’ve gotta get back home, BadTimes,” the creeper growled.

“I think we’re done meetin’ people for today, Doc,” the other replied rather blankly.

“I thought you wanted to get out of this!”

Impulse turned to pull him away from BadTimes. “Doc, don’t-“

Doc pulled his shoulder away from Impulse harshly. “No, we’re getting out of here. You’ve gotta help us, because if you wanna leave this,” he gestured around them. “This is how.”

Without hesitation, both Evil Hermits drew their swords, the familiar netherite blades reflecting the luminance in the spire. Hex stepped forward with BadTimes and Impulse stepped away from the trio, far away. Doc stood his ground with a snarl. Yet, he spread his arms away from him with a smirk.

“Go on then. Kill me. I’ll get stuck on that island again, won’t I?”

“No, actually.” Hex looked at Impulse darkly. He walked back and pressed a button on the wall, one of many of them littering it. “But he can go.”

A couple seconds after the button was pressed, an arrow shot out of a hidden dispenser, striking Impulse in the chest. The redstoner, having been close to the edge, stumbled backwards, finding no more ground behind him. Despite this, his shock kept him from yelling on his way off the edge. Doc ran to catch his hands but at the last second, Impulse’s fingers slipped through his grip and he watched as his friend descended painfully into the machinery at the bottom of the build, watching blood splatter in the large gears.

ImpulseSV suffocated, they knew their communicators read. The server mechanics wouldn’t be able to name any other death.

The creeper took a step back, silent at what’d just happened to his friend.

“Don’ worry about it. He’ll spawn back up there. I’m gonna go grab em’-“ BadTimes was interrupted by a metallic grip around his neck pushing up against one of the stone pillars. He grabbed at Doc’s arm, clawing at it, but the hold didn’t budge. Quickly, he was lifted off the ground, left squirming in the air against the wall.

“You don’t respawn, Oscar. You can help me or I strangle you to death,” Doc snarled. “Just a damn pitiful creature. Nothing more than a skeleton, aren’t you.”

With that, Hex pulled a bow from his inventory, aiming it at the creeper. “Let him go or I call NPC. He won’t be merciful.”

The hand around BadTime’s throat tightened and he choked, swallowing thickly. “H- Hex don’t—“ he rasped. “Doc,” he swallowed again. “I’m sorry- Can’t help your world.” The Evil Hermit began to feel lightheaded. “But I can get you out- I can-“ At those words, he fell to the floor, the hand no longer around his neck. He hacked and coughed, bringing his hands up to his now sore throat.

“Tell me how.”

“Oscar, you’re not seriously going to help him!”

“We need the NPC,” BadTimes muttered. “But you,” he pointed up at Doc. “Don’t ever call me Oscar, ya’ hear?”

“Noted, now go get Impulse.” Doc smirked at how BadTimes scurried away, stumbling to stand, and fumbling with his liftoff. Man’s all bark and no bite, isn’t he. The creeper turned to Hex, who stood motionless. He was confused as to what to do now.

“You’re gonna help us, too,” Doc growled.

[gascon-en-exil]

I'm genuinely curious about your "Black Eagles most to least favourite" list.

Here you are.

#1: Hubert

Could there be any other? I remember back when there was a promo introducing the house retainers (well, Lorenz for the Deer) and everyone was saying that Hubert looked so obviously evil that there had to be some deeper explanation, that someone who took design cues from a two-dimensional villain like Fates’s Iago couldn’t possibly be Edelgard’s retainer. Then the game came out, and we all realized that Hubert was exactly as advertised and then some: a cold and calculating murderer and war criminal with his fingerprints all over almost every terrible thing that happens over the course of the story, as comfortable with chloroform and a razor as dark magic and down to perform unspeakable experiments on innocent civilians to turn them into war machines and then backstab his co-conspirators because he will suffer no rivals for his title of the Most Evil Man in Fòdlan. And yep, he looks like Dracula and Severus Snape had a one-night stand and their mpreg love child went to an anime convention...but when Ferdinand looks at Hubert he sees Mr. Darcy and the Phantom of the Opera and Edward Cullen/Christian Grey, and soon enough that snake in Hubert’s breeches will be singing quite the aria indeed. You do you, Ferdinand.

Ok, I’ve already rambled at length on Hubert’s bisexuality and the interesting things it reveals about both him and his two primary love interests, but I do also have to admire the sheer audacity both of Hubert as an incel/Nice Guy-flavored romantic false lead for Edelgard who never had a serious chance because of the self-insert fantasy and of the decision to follow that up with a trope-laden queer romance that perfectly counterbalances Hubert’s attraction to Edelgard and puts Ferdinand firmly in the place he was destined to occupy by choosing to side with the Empire. It’s nearly as outrageous as just how casually evil Hubert gets to be, as well as the immense potential for dark humor that lies with that. You have to bend over backwards to say that Hubert isn’t unapologetically, irredeemably evil, and if you try there will be significantly more fans just waiting to tell you that you’re wrong - myself included. He’s the Manfroy to Edelgard’s Arvis but so much than that, and I look forward to the point in the CF postgame where he effectively takes over the Empire in true evil chancellor fashion and unleashes the full extent of his horrors upon Fòdlan. He somehow got even better in the DLC too despite being absent from CS and getting no new supports, because the Abyssians in CF just can’t stop talking about his nefarious antics down there. I just can’t get enough of how good this guy is at being bad, and I love that FE gave us exactly what was advertised here.

#2: Ferdinand

Now here’s a case of the opposite, where what’s on the packaging didn’t prepare me for what was to come. If I remarked on Ferdinand at all during pre-release it was only to think that he might be part of a Christmas knight duo with Sylvain since the game looked like it wouldn’t have one of those. Early on there wasn’t much else to be said about Ferdinand; he was like Claude in that his popularity ran off a meme (except just the one rather than several), and in appearance and personality he was basically Lorenz with less ridiculous hair. But then came his supports, and his post-timeskip look, and suddenly Ferdinand blossomed into the subtext-laden fem with very bizarre taste in men - see above - that he could have only dreamed of being if he’d stuck to such well-trod ground as the Christmas knight archetype. We learn of his love for opera, his complicated relationship with his father, his worship of the hot mess diva Manuela and how he learned swordplay specifically to imitate her roles on the stage, and - yes - how some backhanded compliments and expensive gifts of tea turn him into a blushing Regency heroine. It all casts his unusually rote romances with women in a performative light (as opposed to Lorenz who is similarly performative but seems genuinely interested in the marriage market), to say nothing of his one-sided rivalry with Edelgard that brushes against jealousy over Hubert’s devotion to her more often than against romantic attraction to her, and that toys around with gendered behavior in a manner complementary to Edelgard’s own bucking of the gender status quo.

And while not to the same extent as Felix, I do appreciate that Ferdinand has two distinct arcs depending on the route - and unlike some who feel that one or the other detracts from his character as a whole I personally find that they complement each other well. In SS and if recruited to AM and VW he makes the hard choice to oppose his homeland, spending the timeskip waging a solitary battle against the Empire with his private militia and then joining back up with Byleth’s army at Garreg Mach because he knows Edelgard is in the wrong even as it pains him to depose the Adrestian emperor and leave his own status uncertain...not to mention fight Hubert, which merits a curious boss conversation as well as some extra lines in SS (plus the infamous Huge Hole™ remark that I will never stop referencing because it is hilarious) that, while not elevating Ferdibert anywhere near the level of Dimidue in terms of cross-route canon endorsement, nonetheless are suggestive of something deeper between them that exists even if they find themselves on opposite sides of a war. In CF by contrast Ferdinand gives into his craving for the title and holdings that Edelgard has just stripped from his father and embraces nationalism and his long-held ideal of what the office of the prime minister should to do as a means of justifying the Empire’s conquests. Of course in the process he also succumbs to Hubert’s, er, charms(?) and becomes the charismatic bureaucrat who is presumably saddled with the task of putting a positive spin on the Empire’s dystopian atrocities while Edelgard and Hubert do all the actual work...and Hubert does all the actual actual work, which includes a lot of murder and kidnapping and all manner of other things that he doesn’t share with his pretty lover and about which Ferdinand quickly learns not to ask. Two Jewels of the Empire, indeed.

#3-4: Edelgard and Dorothea

I go back and forth on these so I’m not going to bother putting them in a definitive order, particularly because I like them for very different reasons that are difficult to compare. For Edelgard, it would be most accurate to say that I enjoy her potential much more than her execution; she gets some meaty material to work with as a lord and as the driving antagonist of the whole game outside of CF, and while I still prefer Micaiah for female lords there’s something darkly satisfying about her need for control and domination and her utter refusal to compromise or remain stagnant...except where Byleth is concerned, and Edeleth drags her down so badly that it would be painful if I cared more about that type of strong female character. Had the game axed the self-insert obsession (even if that meant axing her bisexuality along with it) and focused on her experiences during the Insurrection as the source of her worldview and motivations I’d be inclined to like the final product far more, because that’s a hell of a lot more in line with what she actually does and conveniently also maps to the life of a real world ruler with whom I’m relatively familiar and whom history regards in appropriately ambivalent terms.

Dorothea on the other hand is someone I can relate to on a more personal level, mostly as a sex worker. She’s similar to Primrose from Octopath Traveler, both of them prostitutes and playing coy with the implications of the RPG dancer class archetype, although Primrose hits a few more of my buttons for being former nobility and being motivated by revenge. Then again, I fully understand Dorothea’s anxieties about growing old without a man to take care of her, even if she loses me (and Yuri picks up from where she leaves off) when she dips into lesbianism as an alternative option. She’s got her ups and downs for me - I love that she brings up incest kink with Caspar as opposed to this series’s usual outright incest, while I love less her strange Ferdinand supports that are suspended oddly between friendship and romance and...something else undefinable - and I don’t have much to say on her life as an opera diva except that it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that she’s been turning tricks on the side and even got a sugar daddy to pay her way into the academy. Theatre and sex work have always gone hand-in-hand like that.

#5-7: Linhardt, Caspar, and Petra

This is why I couldn’t make up a list like this for the Lions or Deer, because most of their students would be in big clumps like this. I have no strong opinions on any of these characters; they each have their moments, but not enough to elevate them to where I actively like them or drop them down into real dislike. I suppose you could say I’m disappointed by how Caspar and Linhardt are visual allusions to Ike/Soren who do absolutely nothing else with that similarity except eloping in their paired ending...which is preceded by virtually nothing in the way of real chemistry. If I enjoy them for anything in particular it’s Linhardt’s wit and Caspar’s occasional bouts of emotional vulnerability, like his mini-arc in AM where he has to deal with his feelings surrounding Randolph’s death and then later gets an apology from Dimitri for it.

Petra is awkward all around as the game dances around her delicate political situation, and I also happen to agree with the VA who (if I recall) thought the character should have some sort of accent but wasn’t allowed to do one. (If anyone is wondering, based on her last name and Brigid being an island nation I headcanon it as a Celtic-derived culture, but as with my personal reading of Dedue and Duscur I know that doesn’t play well to the fandom at large).  All in all Petra feels like a more self-aware rendition of the exotic swordswoman archetype begun by Ayra in Jugdral, but there’s clearly still some work to be done on that front.

#8: Bernadetta

Ugh. With apologies to @capriciouscorvid for explaining how even unintentional disability representation can be taken as a positive, I just don’t see how Bernadetta’s character could possibly be considered a good thing when she’s so grating in almost all of her supports and most of her story and exploration presence outside of CF. All the screaming and high-pitched pronouncements of impending death get very old very quickly, and the part where she’s meant to be romantically appealing in her neediness and isolation is as lost on me as it would have been had it stemmed instead from a massive rack. Her supposedly sympathetic backstory doesn’t help much either, as it leaves me mostly with the thought that her father is an idiot because his methods obviously did not make her suitable to be a good wife. I also don’t care for how she’s one of several characters used to soften Jeritza (and that the way she does so is I think rather insulting to people with social anxiety, to liken it to a compulsion to commit murder), or even worse that people point to her Hubert support to try and say that he’s not such a bad guy and they’d be total besties just like Ferdinand and Dorothea (another pairing that doesn’t exactly scream BFFs). I mean, really....

[moaserendipity]

a chance to love messy review

My overall messy review of A chance to love! Of Love By Chance 2. I didn’t make a review for every episode so that’s why I am doing it like this😜 also ‼️DISCLAIMER; ‼️this is just my opinion and there might be things you don’t agree with, which is absolutely fine but don’t go all crazy on me😜

Anyway the first episode made me confused, like I couldn’t stop wondering why Tin & Can suddenly didn’t know each other, but that was also when I missed that they went back in time after the first scene between them and the fact that MAME had decided to give them a fresh start.

God how I miss the goofiness of Can, I mean when he starts talking he doesn’t stop and you actually need to pay attention to him otherwise you miss what he is saying. Also the love of food did not change😜 I did like it when he showed softer sides to him because it gave the character Can more depth I think.

Tin was as I expected and tbh he never disappointed me at all. He gave us a lot of soft moments and I lived for it. But also the no nonsense way he acted with Can, seriously amazing. He was like “you miss me, you tell me” or the way he let Can comfort him when he was upset, this man is just a softie at heart.

Now I love Tin & Can and that never stopped during this season but there were moments that I didn’t feel it, like the chemistry, as you might know I am a sucker for chemistry especially when it gets more intense between the two main characters but that lacked in my opinion. Not so much from Tin’s side because seriously Tin was definitely the romantic one between the two and if there was a sudden spark of chemistry it mostly came from him but Can wel there was nothing much(except for the hugs then).

Now don’t get me wrong the kissing doesn’t have to be like in certain BL dramas but it would have been nice if he at least moved his mouth a little, like even with a peck nothing happened. He seriously didn’t move his mouth for almost all episodes. Only in the last two episodes he started to move his mouth a little. So I threw it on growth... but yeah that was very disappointing. Other than that I did love the acting between the two, you can tell that they are friends in real life so that was definitely nice to see because they did show us how comfortable they were with each other.

Also I do have to say that when they had their soft moments like hugs it was everything because those were really sweet and if I am being honest. I rather they just hugged a lot and just kept the kissing to the last few episodes, that might’ve been better but then again I don’t know🤷‍♀️

Now moving on to Ae, this was the biggest disappointment for me. I mean I was so excited to see him but then all he did was cry. Now I get he is heartbroken and yes of course that hurts but seeing him upset throughout the first half of the series made me want to skip his parts. I seriously got sick of it and my lovely friend can confirm this, like I complained about it so much. I mean don’t get me wrong I know Pete is the love of his life and he wants him back but this was just annoying and it might not set a good example to others. (But this might only be my opinion though)

Then we have Techno & Kla, now I know a lot of people are against this and you might not like my opinion about this. Now don’t get me wrong what happened in season 1 is absolutely wrong but that being said. I did find them intriguing. I mean I love how techno doesn’t forgive him that easily and the fact that Kla keeps apologizing. Also might I just add that they turned the story a bit into Techno actually remembering what happened and him actually liking it.(now again I do think it’s wrong what happened but MAME changed the story to him liking it, that was not me, this also proves she is definitely problematic) but it turned out that Techno forgives Kla and even ends up with him in the end. People might not approve this but I don’t know I kind of am because it’s not like Kla didn’t show remorse for what he did but then again I might’ve been brainwashed because they changed up the story a bit.🤷‍♀️

Then we have Tul & Gonhin. This couple was everything especially in the end. Now what Tul did to Tin, god I never wanted to kill someone this bad in this season but anyway. He loved 1 person Gonhin and because he couldn’t keep it in his pants that all was taken away from him because he knocked a girl up which gave him a lovely son. But yeah he was dead inside I guess and after Tin went to get Gonhin, the way he suddenly became human again, it was a sight to see. All the love he had stowed away came pouring out and I actually loved everything about them. The way they are affectionate towards each other and even their kiss... like THAT WAS A KISS!!💋 I am just happy that they got their happy ending!

Then the last couple, well thank god not really a couple because well it would’ve been weird. Tum & Tar. I seriously don’t get why they put this storyline in the show..🤔 it didn’t add anything at all and I would not have missed it if they didn’t put it in. Now don’t get me wrong because I Love Earth and it was awesome to see him as always but yeah it didn’t add anything tbh.

So to summarize this, I felt disappointed with this season but also kept watching because it was addicting 😜 overall it lacked some chemistry between the actors but sometimes their were sparks. (The hugs) If I had to choose a favorite couple from this season. I can’t help but say it would be Tul & Gonhin🤷‍♀️ to me it felt like the actors were only doing these season because of the fans, not because they specifically wanted to do it themselves. Don’t think I didn’t enjoy watching the show because that would be a lie. I loved the silly moments and yes I enjoyed the hugs and how comfortable they were with each other but yeah it didn’t blew my mind and usually when I am super excited about a bl drama I rewatch it a lot, but I don’t feel the need to do so with this one. 

[adamsvanrhijn]

If you’re still doing the directors cut, would you be willing to do “strange how I fit into you (there's a distance erased with the greatest of ease)” from “York , October 1933” to as far as you want since it’s a long passage? Thanks!

moroh boy oh boy oh boy

ok wel it IS a long passage, so we’ll see how much i get through!

strange how I fit into you (there's a distance erased with the greatest of ease) by smithens

under cut for discussion of suicide + length

York, October 1933

so i chose october to be the Rough Month mostly because octobers i think... can be pretty rough? it’s the middle of autumn and things are starting to really turn colder and grayer, so the seasonal element hits harder, and that’s a factor here for thomas... an extrapolation from canon but not one that i think requires mental gymnastics.

The door creaks on its hinges as it shuts.

Before Thomas can think about what this means for him — all those lies he'll have to keep up with, more stories to get straight, it's never ending and he's just so tired — the bed is shifting underneath him and there's something (Mrs Ellis's knitted Afghan, or Miss Baxter's quilt) (no, there's yarn on his cheek, it's the Afghan) more round his shoulders.

Not just the blanket.

"What'd you need?" Richard murmurs. He is very, very close. "What can I do?"

one sensory element of being up to your eyeballs in depression & brainfog.... everything is hypersensitive but also you’re not entirely aware at the same time, so everything that happens to your body prompts another little mental loop that you’re too exhausted to deal with... that’s what’s going on here

richard could be better at being comforting; he second guesses himself... wants to get it right but the stakes are high if he doesn’t, so he errs on the side of caution and ends up overwhelming him more by making another Decision, although he does figure it out eventually

Thomas shakes his head. Tears prick at his eyes again, but he keeps them shut tight — seeing is the only thing he can put a stopper in, no matter what he'll still have to hear and feel things. No matter how much he wishes otherwise. Not much to see even if he wanted, though, it's the sun's just about gone down and he didn't bother to turn on a lamp before. Dark and cold, even with the curtains open. The days just keep getting shorter; working nights doesn't help. Maybe if it were summer…

more of the seasonal element; more of the sensory element

thomas in this scene is pretty high up on the suicidality scale (i’m leaving what happened before this starts up to interpretation bc that’s an important part of the scene) but he has come down a little now that richard is present. the headspace he is in here is more ���i want to go to sleep and never wake up” rather than planning/desiring to actually kill himself, and he’s thinking Around it but not actually getting sucked in again, which is good but still a difficult and exhausting mental position to be in

"What can I do, Thomas," says Richard into his ear. He lies down behind him all the way and slings his arm across Thomas's chest, and the weight of it is soothing as much as it is suffocating.

He wishes he had it easier. That he could only feel one of those things at a time.

He wishes all of this were easier.

"What's happened? Has something happened you've not told me about?"

more richard not entirely Getting it... i think a big part of his character in this is he’s an answers guy, he tends to follow patterns, and as this richard has never been depressed he associates Sadness and Despair with something happening, whereas for thomas it’s almost the opposite where it’s associated more with inertia and malaise, everything’s bad and it’s all blending together, so thomas can’t exactly answer the question properly because while he did have a switch over he can’t pinpoint it, but he’s aware of his mental state as well as that richard doesn’t entirely understand it and that awareness doesn’t help him very much here

also i think spooning can be a very good comfort position so in this verse it’s a coupley thing that they do... the big spoon gets to be the comforter and the little spoon is the comforted

He shakes his head.

Richard takes his mangled hand out from under the blanket and holds it, squeezing tight. It makes his third and fourth fingers cramp, but that's something to feel that isn't dull and numb and nothing, so he doesn't mind it.

He does mind when Richard's thumb traces up on the inside of his wrist.

"Don't," Thomas chokes out.

He lets go.

"If," Richard starts, "if I hadn't come home when I did…"

richard is thinking what if and his actions are betraying that before his words are; thomas doesn’t like that it’s being drawn attention to

he strongly dislikes being vulnerable and finds it very viscerally uncomfortable even with richard, who is the only person he allows to get this close to him anyway

"But you did."

"Yeah," he says after a moment. "Yeah, I did, I – God, Thomas," and he buries his face into his back and shoulder and tugs him tighter with his arm, breathing heavily. "Oh, Thomas."

"It's too hard," Thomas whispers.

A small kiss at the nape of his neck, beneath his ear, at the corner of his jaw.

He barely feels them.

"I wish it weren't."

"I can't."

"I know."

desensitized! this is also when it finally clicks for richard what thomas’s needs here actually are and what the situation is at this point

It's Tuesday. Eventually they get out of bed. When he thinks Thomas isn't paying attention Richard jams the door latches and takes the shaving kits out of the washroom, rearranges the cupboards in the kitchen. Apparently he can't even be trusted in his own home.

the day of the week is brought up in the first four scenes of this fic (monday > friday/saturday > sunday > tuesday) because the anchor of the fic is domestic chores & the process of doing laundry; in this time period there was still an established order to doing this that like, both their mothers and every other woman they know would have followed (which is why it works for richard’s sister to do theirs for them in the first scene) and that thomas implements, so that’s the structure here. tuesday or wednesday is pressing & steaming.

thomas is attributing a sneaky element to richard’s actions here that doesn’t actually exist. richard is fully aware that thomas is paying attention when he does these things because he’s not taking his eye off of him for a second; thomas is in a frame of mind where he thinks that richard will assume, based on him being catatonic, that he is not paying attention, and thus will not pay him any in turn, because that is his experience when he is depressed... but that’s not how richard is, nor how their relationship is

richard is following best practices here but it’s the sort of best practices that makes the suicidal person feel like shit, lmao. eliminate opportunities for privacy + remove methods, “rearranges” is code for hiding/getting rid of poison and sharp things. also the shaving element in this & the companion piece is like a thinly veiled masculinity thing in addition to the mental health thing it also has

it is because richard knows, loves and trusts thomas that he is doing it, not because he doesn’t, but thomas isn’t in the right place to figure that out here

"You won't let me be useful," Thomas mumbles. He's seated on the floor at Richard's feet, a pathetic heap, wrapped in a blanket and with a mug of tea within reach, though he's let it go cold. The sofa is right there, and that's where he'd started, but sitting properly feels wrong, and he's not going to laze about in bed all evening. A few hours ago that was all he wanted. Things can change so quick sometimes.

sitting on the floor... the mood. he’s been there a little while, that’s what the tea is meant to indicate. he’s now conscious of himself and his surroundings enough that he’s back in to being Cognitive, analysing what is around him and what he wants. what he wants is to be useful and feel like he’s contributing, because he’s put a lot of his self-worth into that in the first months of them living together (they both have! it’s a source of conflict!) and now feels like that’s been taken away

one of the big parts of thomas’s canonical depression & suicide attempt is to do with him lacking a sense of purpose and feeling like he cannot contribute; in this scenario he feels that he has manufactured his contributions and he has tied his self-worth to them entirely. he’s very much given himself the impression, due to past experiences, the brain making patterns, that if he’s not useful (if he’s not perfect, in how he sets standards for himself) richard’s not going to want him around anymore. he thinks he’s made up his own worth basically and he expects richard to leave him / feels like he’s deceiving him, and that’s what prompts the spiral, it’s sort of about getting-it-over-with, and that’s also the element of his depression that contributes to the lack of sexual desire & interest that is referred to in the next scene of this fic as well as seen in richard’s pov in the companion piece... big feelings of fraud/imposter syndrome here

Richard doesn't look at him. Too busy pressing a collar. "You do this every week, Mr Barrow," he says. He only ever calls him that when he's flirting or trying to cheer him up or such like.

"And?"

pressing and steaming day! 

"And you might let me for a change," nonchalant in a careful sort of way. "You've just been burning the midnight oil a bit too often…"

"I've been working at midnight," mutters Thomas. They're short of staff: more nights for everybody. He had today off, and he'll have tomorrow off, and then he'll go in Thursday night and make himself useful somehow.

"You're not going back to work for seven to ten days," Richard says sharply. He sets down the iron. It probably needs to be heated again but he won't leave Thomas alone to do it. That's all they need, is him doing a shoddy job of the ironing… "You're ill."’

"I'm not ill – "

"No use arguing about it," interrupts Richard. "Settled it when I telephoned, wasn't even my suggestion."

Flu Lie.... richard telephoned thomas’s job

the iron is made of metal (iron!) and has to be manually heated to work

thomas’s concern about their household is still present even in the circumstances...

ok i’m getting sleepy i’ll publish this now bc you can’t really save asks as drafts properly and then i’ll get to the rest like, tomorrow lol

"Because you lied…"

"Thomas, you and I lie every day of our lives – "

He stops talking at the first sniffle. Somehow he manages to sit even after Thomas has slumped over with his head against his calves; he wraps his arms around him and takes his head into his shoulder. Thomas doesn't know whether he should feel guilty for allowing him to sit on the floor like he is or thankful that he wants to or both. "I'll take the week off, too."

"We can't afford – "

"We've got family," Richard says softly. We, he says, not I. "They'll look after things. That's what they're for, isn't it?"

"You can't quit everything for just me," Thomas says, hoarse. He's not sobbing; he doesn't have the energy for it. But he's not dry-eyed either.

"I can," he returns. "And I'm going to, Thomas."

"Why," he mumbles, "why, why, why," over and over, because that's the only question he's got in his head left to ask. He's not even sure he wants the answer.

"Because that's what I'm for," still so soft, when Thomas doesn't deserve that at all, "that's what I'm here for, love."

"'m not worth it."

Richard doesn't bother arguing with him. "I love you," he says. They don't say it very often; Thomas doesn't deserve him saying it now. "God, I love you."

"You shouldn't."

"But I do," breathes Richard, clutching him close. Nobody's ever held him like this before and especially not when he's feeling the way he is now. Somehow that registers for him. "I do," reassuring. "Fuck, I should've noticed – "

"Didn't want you to."

"I know, Thomas." He kisses his temple. "I know."

[thegospelofnagisa]

Nagisa's story tries waaaay too hard to emulate the more tragic tone Madoka Magica had and fails at it. The worst part is that Inucurry shoved their OC into the story which distracts from whats happening and clearly its not a character that even belongs in it. I'm afraid they're going to be doing this with Kuro in the anime.

Ok people, come here, we need to fucking talk right now, Charlie is PISSED like I have not been pissed since the days of Rebellion, the days of the KyoSaya morons and the days of you know who, so here me out.

Let me start by clarifying something, some people make the assumption that Nagisa is my favorite Madoka character because wel...it’s the name of my blog, but that is not the case, my favorite Madoka character is Mami, the reason this blog is called “The Gospel of Nagisa” is because it was made during the days of Rebellion, so I designed it to function as an “Apocryphal Gospel” to function as an alternate contrary view of  “Rebellion is awesome” a view that thankfully, has died down a lot, I picked Nagisa as a way to “Mock the Movie” and twist its own creation against it, yeah...that’s why.

But I admit as time has gone by, I’ve actually grown to really love Nagisa Momoe, not as a character because, she didn’t have any, but the little bits she had, showed promise, I always believed she had potential to become a very sweet and wholesome character in the franchise, I adored the fanarts of her teaming up with Yuma and Momo (Kyouko’s sisters for the people who just play Magia Record and don’t have access to Kyouko Info) it was adorable, I wanted to see Nagisa on her own away from Mami and the whole Charlotte meme and I hoped MagiReco would do that for me.

Well....it didn’t....thank God I checked this story on my own after watching the anime, otherwise I think I would hate Inu Curry forever...because people, this event “Nagisa’s Witch” it’s a strong contendent for “The worst fucking thing Madoka Magica has ever done” I honestly think this could be just as bad as Rebellion.

While Rebellion sucks becuase it is an unncesary sequel fueled only by fanservice and greed, this story sucks because it is basically Inu Curry’s edgy Madoka fic, and never before has the word Edgy meant its meme meaning more than for this story because...Holy Shit, I need to go to the Hospital because of all cuts I made to myself watching that edge, I agree with anon here, it tries waaay too hard to be tragic like the main anime was, using a side by side narrative with tragic stories to create this version of Nagisa Momoe, a child in denial of the abuse she suffers who later goes watches her own fuckin mom bleed to death and it is implied she ENJOYS IT!

This is one of the most repugnant things I have ever seen from this franchise, and let me clarify that I don’t have any probelm with tragic stories featuring children, I adore Yuma Chistose and she has a tragic story as well, but Yuma’s story is handled with a lot more taste and she ends up becoming one of the stronges (Emotionally) characters in the entire franchise, being able to pull both Mami and Kyouko out of the “Witch Revelation Truama” with just a simple a phrase:“Tomorrow is not Today”

But apparently Inu Curry decided to take Yuma’s story, take everything that was good about it, make it more tragic and so much edge that Shadow would blush, and BAM! We get Nagisa’s Wish....there was not a single indication in Rebellion that Nagisa had this kind of backstory, she seemed like a really innocent and sweet girl who got duped by Kyubey into wishing for a Cheesecake only to later realize she wasted a wish she could have used to save her mom, showing how manipulative and despicable Kyubey can be without really “Involving himself directly” ....Wasn’t that tragic enough for you alreafdy Inu Curry you fucking pieces of shit? You had to give Nagisa this horrendous story and put on your shitty OCs you made after watching Arya Stark enter the House of Black and White?Valar Morghuis Puella Magis! Hahaha I am Yu! I am a cool Puella Magi girls! Seriously!

I made some people angry when this story was released in Japan and people got mad at me saying I misunderstood the story and it wasn’t a big deal, and of course, that I should play it, well I have, I just recently finished the story and I am disgusted, it is worst than the translated summary from japanese, it’s such a terrible way to threat a character with so much potential like Nagisa, we didn’t need a shittier version of Yuma Chitose.

People please I beg you, read Oriko Magica, learn about Yuma and love the super badass little girl she is, as to this...well....I don’t know which one is worst, this or Rebellion, I feel so sorry for Nagisa, she didn’t deserve any of this, I hope Kuro doesn’t end up the same way.

[drink-n-watch]

Glass really is a great invention. It’s one that has really been taken for granted compared to most of the inventions Senku has explored so far. A lot of people actually just think of glass as a building material. I was pretty happy to hear Senku explain what’s so great about it and why glass’ unique properties have made it so important to human civilization.

He skipped over a lot of stuff but it was a nice tidbit. As I’m currently sitting at my glass topped desk writing this, I appreciate it just a little more!

What I thought Would Happen

I actually thought the show would use Gen’s departure as a natural bridge to leave behind Senku and the village for a little bit (for the episode or 3/4 of it) and catch up with Tsukasa. Maybe let us know what Taiju and Yuzu are up to. This would also have been a good opportunity to throw in a bit of confusion about Gen’s loyalties and keep us on our toes.

At most, I though we would get a continuation of the training between Kohaku, Kinro and Ginro while Senku and Chrome remained mysterious, working on something in the background. Maybe gathering mats, they do still need quite a few after all. That way, we could go back next episode and all the leg work would have already been done. It would have been a good way to add a sense of urgency and menace as well, although I suppose they already have the tournament and Magma for that

What Did Happen

Let’s  concentrate on what I got right, Kohaku, Kinro and Ginro did continue training for most of the episode and…that’s about it.

As you may have guessed from my opening paragraph, Senku set out to make glass this week, a necessity if you’re going to attempt any sort of advanced chemistry. This ties in nicely with the fact that Suika is actually short sighted. The mask that she wears has pinholes for the eyes which help her vision. But now, she has lenses. It may sound super silly, and it was, but it was also very sweet! We also find out that Ginro is short sighted as wel. That’s probably going to pay off later.

What About the Characters

Right now, it’s not so much about developing the independent characters as it is about building up the various relationships in their makeshift little band. Senku seems to be a static character (one that hasn’t and probably won’t change that much in the story) and I think that’s actually an excellent thing with this type of premise. We’re slowly getting to know him more and more but as we already know him pretty well, it’s not exactly remarkable. Although there was a moment at the end of the episode, when he saw the lab and for the first time, seemed honestly emotional.

This said, Chrome is still the faithful sidekick, Suika remains the adorable one. Nothing much to report of that front. Yes she now sees better and that’s great but otherwise, same charater.

The brothers though, Kinro and Ginro did manage to reveal a bit more of their personality. For one, we are slo9wly seeing that Ginro seems a little insecure and is hiding this behind his rigidity and discipline. While Kinro, who’s been portrayed as a lovable dolt up until now, is a little sneakier and more underhanded than I first believed. This puppy has some bite. What makes me happiest is that so far, the group dynamic doesn’t seem to have been destroyed by the new additions. I would even welcome Gen back as I believe he brought a unique personality to the mix but this episode still felt balanced and was entertaining without him.

What I Liked

Like I mentioned, I really liked the pursuit of glass as the science of the week. It’s a good choice!

The show seems to have settled into a comfortable routine. The pacing is quite good and episodes don’t feel overly long or confusing. It’s a fairly simple structure and a repetitive one but it’s also just plain enjoyable watching all these characters come together and toil away.There’s just enough real world science to get the context and it makes their weekly pursuits feel more tangible.

Although the characters can feel like caricatures and are all clearly exaggerated, they’re not actually archetypes I recognize. All of them have on some level subverted my expectation. Kohaku is a strong independent action girl who is also very open about her attraction to Senku without ever fawning over hi, can recognize when she needs help and is more than happy to ask for it (I say this every week, I quite like Kohaku). Senku is just a weirdo, no one could expect him. Chrome is your basic nice guy but the science geek edge is a bit. I can go on but basically none of the characters were exactly what I expected and I like that.

As I was writing the episode summary I realized it was  much shorter than usual and that’s actually a good thing. Dr Stone can get a little scattered. Having the episode revolve around just a few points and narrowing the scope of the narrative made it more enjoyable for me.I think they should in fact stick to this formula when they can.

As for the show itself, it continues to expand the colour palette and my stills, when looked at from a distance, are getting more and more interesting. Look at that sunset!

What I Liked Less

I actually really liked this episode. The only thing that is sort of bugging me is that the whole Tsukasa side of the story has just been left hanging for so long. I’m really wondering what’s going on over there. Especially with our friends. They could at least just show us an image.

And as I am writing, I realize that it’s probably on purpose. My curiosity is certainly piqued. I will come back just to find out what’s going on on the other side. They’ve built up some great little mystery and suspense here. I would move these paragraphs from the section but then I wouldn’t have anything left to say.

On wait, I guess Ginro has the potential of becoming annoying but for now, I’m fine with him.

Closing Thoughts

Fine, I’ll admit it, the show won me back. It won me back a while ago to be fair I just wasn’t ready to admit it. Admittedly, it’s not that hard to make me love an anime but I’m just having fun with it. Honest to goodness fun. I kind of wish it didn’t air on the same night as so many other shows I’m reviewing so I could enjoy it on it’s own.

Mood: Suckered

  Dr. Stone Episode 11 – Focus Glass really is a great invention. It's one that has really been taken for granted compared to most of the inventions Senku has explored so far.

[emeraldwaves]

Title: A Dragon’s Magic Chapter 5 Pairing:  Kacchako Rating: M Word Count:  5,249 Summary: Uraraka Ochako has always believed in dragons, though she was constantly told they were long since extinct. Now an adult and professional mage, she’s ready to help her parents as a healer for their village. The last thing she expects is for her beliefs to become a reality, but when a dragon attacks her village, she learns there’s more to magic than she ever could’ve realized. Read on AO3 Thanks to @its-love-u-asshole for reading this over. Can’t wait to share more characters coming in.

Ochako let out a soft whine when her eyes fluttered open, her back aching from sleeping on the ground. She hadn't done anything like that for years, not since her, Iida, and Deku would occasionally sleep outside in her backyard, pretending they were camping.

Her head throbbed a little and she shivered when she pushed herself up, the large red cloak sliding down her body. Ochako blinked, trying to place where she was, panic hitting her momentarily when she didn't recognize anything around her. The trees seemed taller, the air cooler... Right... she was banished from her village, the knowledge pulling her down back to the earth.

And... where was Bakugou!? She jumped up, looking for any signs of him, but the dragon was nowhere to be found. She clutched his cloak against her chest. Would he have left her with this? What would she do if he didn't come back?

"Oi! Round Face, I got you some breakfast!" he called out, stepping over a large log. "I hope you like fish," he said, holding one out to her.

She blinked and stared at him before turning her gaze down to the fish, then back up again at him.

"Oi... I fucking cooked it, don't worry," he muttered, his cheeks flushing as he jiggled the stick.

"Y-You didn't leave?" she asked.

"HAH?!" he growled, leaning towards her. "Did you think after all this shit I was going to fucking leave? Besides I wasn't going to let you steal my cloak!" he snorted.

Reaching forward, she took the fish from him, clutching the stick as she began to laugh. "I-I'm sorry Bakugou... I just... I didn't expect... fish!" she admitted, holding the dead creature up.

"The last thing I need is you whining all damn day about being hungry if we're going to take a trip to that fucking city you mentioned," he snorted. He flopped down on a log and tore open the fish with his hands, digging into the meat.

"Wait... the city? I thought you said-"

"Yeah wel,l I thought about it more and I realized I have no fucking clue where anything is on this damn continent. No matter how hard I try, I can't pick up Kirishima's scent, so if this friend of yours is as good as you say, then I wanna ask him," he scoffed. "But if he knows nothing we're leaving immediately!" he growled.

Ochako could tell Bakugou wasn't the type to normally accept help for things, and this was probably his ultimate nightmare; accepting help from humans. Still, something about the way his crimson eyes trembled made her think he was nervous.

"I really think Todoroki can help us!" she said.

"Whatever."

"It'll take us probably another day or two to get to the city. It would've been faster if we could've taken horses," she sighed, but then narrowed her eyes, her lips pulling into a smirk. "Or if we fly by dragon."

"Oi, I'm not fucking carrying you," he growled.

Was that really the reason? Or could he no longer change? Maybe he needed magic to maintain his dragon form? She puffed out her cheeks, wishing he would actually take the time to answer her stupid questions.

"Fine, we can walk then," she scoffed, biting into her own fish. She was surprised at how delicious and savory it tasted. "Mmm," she hummed, cupping her cheek. "This is so delicious! Did you really cook it yourself?" she asked, reveling in the taste.

"Who else would I get to cook it, Cheeks?" he snorted, tossing the stick to the side. "Let's hurry it up. If it's really going to take so damn long, I wanna hurry up and get there. Since you need to sleep for thousands and thousands of years I know we're gonna have to stop again," he grumbled.

"What, do dragons just not sleep?!" she hissed, placing her hands on her hips as she tossed the empty stick on the ground.

"Not as much as fucking humans do," he snorted.

"Well I told you..." she smirked, leaning down to pick up her bag. "We would get there a lot faster if you could just fly us there!"

"Shut it," he said, shaking his head as he began to stomp forward.

"Uh... Bakugou..."

"I said 'Shut it' Uraraka!" he yelled.

"No... uh... " She stood by the fire pursing her lips, trying her best not to laugh at him.

"I'm not flying us!" he yelled. "Like I would ever let a human sit on my fucking back!" he snarled. The word human slipped from his lips as though it were poison.

"Yeah, yeah," she sighed, waving her hand. "You hate humans, I get it. But seriously, Bakugou? You're going the wrong way."

He froze in his tracks and slowly turned around.

"T-Then hurry up and fucking lead the way, you dumbass!" he scoffed, folding his arms as he stormed back towards her.

"Do... you want this back first?" she asked, holding out his cloak.

"No!" he clicked his tongue. "The last thing I need is you freezing your ass to death. You wear it."

Slowly, she reached forward, placing her hand on his bare chest. His skin was surprisingly warm, and she could feel his heart begin to beat faster when her hand pressed against his skin.

"O-Oi..." he stammered, his cheeks flushing. Was he embarrassed? Or were his cheeks red from the cold? Suddenly... she couldn't remember if they were that red before.

"You are... surprisingly warm..." she gasped and pulled her hand away abruptly, realizing how intimate it was that she just touched him, completely out of the blue. "S-Sorry!" She waved her hand. "I wanted to make sure you weren't actually cold."

"Dragons have a higher body temperature than humans," he grunted, clearing his throat as he stepped away from her. "Quit worrying. Is that all you do? Worry about other people instead of thinking about how freezing your ass will be if you don't keep my cloak? Why the hell did you not pack something warmer?!" he yelled, his words slurring together, clearly flustered.

"Whatever!" she huffed, folding her arms. "Let's get a move on, since you're so anxious to keep walking!"

She turned away from him, not wanting to look him in the eye as she began to follow the path towards the city. She hadn't actually been there herself, but she knew most roads led there, as it was the central location on their continent. She could also hear the river flowing in the distance. As long as she could hear and follow that, it would also lead her to the city.

She continued forward, still not speaking to him, though she doubted he cared. She glanced behind her for a moment, looking at his huffy face. His hands were tucked into his pockets, his blond locks gently rustling against the winter wind. His cheeks were still flushed, and she wondered if maybe he was colder than he let on.

"I-I wasn't really thinking about it, you know! I didn't have much time..." she yelled back to him. He was right. She really should've thought about what she would need. What if they were going to be traveling for a long time? But... it had been such a stressful moment. She wasn't allowed to stay in her hometown for very long, even to say goodbye. How was she supposed to plan everything to pack? "B-Besides I knew I could pick stuff up in the city!" she huffed.

"Is that the real reason you want to go there? For shopping?" he asked, quickening his pace to walk besides her.

"O-Of course not!" she scoffed, folding her arms over her chest. She sighed and gently stroked her fingers over the edge of the staff. "Actually... I've never been to the city. Todoroki told me plenty of stories in school, but it was never a place I went. I spent most of my time helping my parents."

"HAH!? So you don't even know where you're going then?!" he growled, gesturing to the path aggressively.

"N-No! I do. All roads lead to the city and the river cuts through the middle. I know we're going the right way."

"Tch..." he scoffed, shoving his hands back into his pockets.

Ochako bit her lip and continued forward in silence. She began to compile a list in her head of what she, to her best knowledge, understood about dragons.

While they were not extinct, it did seem as though Bakugou implied there were not many dragons left? Or perhaps it was more that there wasn't much magic left...? And yet, it seemed he could do magic without any sort of object. It stood to reason then, dragons had some sort of natural magical current. She wanted to ask more about that.

His body temperature was higher than hers for sure. He, at the very least, enjoyed eating fish, and he could potentially transform into a human at will? She was still uncertain of this as well.

She scuffed her feet against the ground, watching the trees pass her by. It was strange. Deep down, this was always what she wanted. She wished to be an adventurer... travel the continent and see things she never experienced before. It sounded thrilling, but so far, it was cold... and actually... really similar looking to her home village.

Bakugou was quietly following behind her. Occasionally she would look back at him, seeing if he had anything to say. Instead, she was met with intense crimson eyes, facing forward as if he were focused on only one goal. She did admit, she admired his tenacity and strength. He was possibly one of the most determined people she ever met.

Ochako always imagined her adventures would be full of life and stories. Fun laughter... perhaps it was because she always thought she would go on adventures with Iida and Deku. As children, they would pretend to adventure... or perhaps it was more that their village felt bigger, so running from one end of the town to the next felt like something incredibly thrilling.

Deku was their encyclopedia, knowledgeable about everything there was to know about the world around them. He knew what they could and could not eat. He knew about a variety of species of animals. He had the answer to all the questions.

Iida was their guide. He was far more focused on knowing where they were going as opposed to what they were seeing or experiencing. With him on their team, they never got lost.

Ochako was their energy, full of wonderment and a desire to explore... she would lead them places they would've never dared to go without her.

But this journey was nothing like she originally hoped. Bakugou was quiet... and there was barely any laughter. In fact, most of what they had done was argue. It was frustrating. Of all the dragons she could've possibly met, she was certain she found the most unruly one.

"Oi..." he muttered, meeting her eyes when she turned around to look at him once again. "What is your fucking problem?"

"T-There's no problem," she said, facing forward indignantly.

"Oh really? Then why the hell do you keep staring back at me?" he snapped.

"You're being really quiet!"

"So you're checking up on me?" he hissed.

"No! I-I dunno! I guess I just got a little bored," she shrugged, giggling softly.

He leaned towards her, poking her gently in the forehead. "I didn't realize I would have to entertain your ass."

"You don't have to, it would be more fun if we had a few conversations though!" she smiled eagerly.

"Forget it. It's going to turn into you asking me bullshit questions and I ain't tellin’ you shit!" he huffed, walking ahead of her.

Immediately storming after him, she was quick to retort. "You know, I answered a lot of questions last night!"

"You answered one and then talked AT me for hours!" he replied.

"Well sorry for trying to get to know my traveling partner better!" she sighed. "You're making this really not fun."

"Cheeks. I dunno what part of you thinks this should be fucking fun?" he snarled, turning on his heel to glare at her. "We're not going on some cute little quest. I have real shit I gotta deal with."

She bit her lip. Yes, she knew this was a serious situation, and really it had turned into a serious situation for her too, being banished and all... "I-I know... I guess I just thought... we could be friends," she said quietly, her voice feeling small on the winter wind.

"I don't give a flying fuck about what we are," he snapped. "If we don't talk for the rest of the goddamn journey, so be it!"

Why the hell did he have to be such a jerk!? She only wanted to have a semi-pleasant experience traveling through the woods with him in the dead of winter. Was it really so much to ask for casual conversations?!

"F-Fine!" she said. "We won't talk then! See if I care!" she huffed, stomping her feet against the nearly frozen dirt.

"Whatever," he muttered, and the two continued their walking in silence.

The day wore on and Ochako found herself growing antsy the further she and Bakugou walked. It was difficult not to talk, but she was determined not to break first. She wasn't going to let the dragon get the best of her. Not this time.

For the majority of the walk, they walked side by side, their feet traipsing against the ground. With each step, the dirt and grass crunched against her boot, the ground hard from the frost which glistened on the edge of the earth.

She shivered, noticing the sun was slowly setting on the horizon, and she pulled Bakugou's cloak around her body more. It was warm and comfortable, her cheeks brushing up against the fur on the collar. She couldn't help but nuzzle her cheeks against it, the fluff tickling her skin.

"Oi..." he muttered, and it took her a moment to register he was actually speaking. They'd been quiet for who knew how long.

"HAH!" she yelled, and immediately pointed at his face. "I win!"

"E-Eh!?" he blinked, slapping her finger out of the way. "What the hell are you talking about?!"

"I was playing a game to see if you would talk to me before I talked to you!" she laughed, and his cheeks turned red.

"Whatever. At least it kept you quiet," he grumbled. "Let's set up camp."

"Oh?" she raised her eyebrow and leaned towards him. "Are you tired, Bakugou?"

"No, but the sun is going down and there's a small clearing over there. I know you're gonna start complaining about how tired you are, so we might as well get set up for the night," he said, already walking towards the clearing before she could stop him.

Ochako sighed, knowing he wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer, and admittedly, she was tired. "Okay," she mumbled and followed him over. He began to pick up a few sticks, tossing them in the center to create a pit for fire.

She made her way over to a few large logs and she gently tapped her staff against the side of the tree. "Float," she whispered, leading the two logs towards the pit so they had a decent place to sit.

Wiping her brow, she lowered them to the ground and took a seat, taking a moment to let herself recharge. Bakugou was staring, raising his eyebrow at her as she sat on the ground. "What?" she asked softly. "You're staring..."

"..." he clicked his tongue and immediately turned away from her.

She smirked and slowly walked towards him, leaning over to catch his eyes. "If you have a question for me, we could play a game! You ask me something and I ask you!" she giggled.

"No. Forget it."

"C'mon Bakugou! We can't keep traveling in silence," she whined.

"We can, you're just making it so damn hard to do!" he scoffed and turned to face her. His eyes flickered with guilt momentarily and he rubbed his forehead. "Fine. Fucking... explain why the hell you need to use the damn staff to do your magic. It clearly effects you since you look exhausted after you use it."

Ochako blinked. Was that the most he talked to her all day? "You'll really answer a question of mine if I... answer yours?"

"...Yes," he grumbled. "One question."

Her face lit up with excitement and she scurried to stand next to him. "Since... you're a dragon and you can do magic without the use of an object, you should be able to feel magical currents," she said bluntly. "I had you touch my staff before and you could tell it was filled with magical energy, right?"

"Yeah..." he muttered, reaching forward to touch it again.

"Right." She gently placed the staff on the ground and she pulled her glove off, showing him her bare hand. "If you touch me without me holding the staff, what do you feel?"

His red eyes glanced up at her brown, his cheeks flushing momentary. He grabbed her hand quickly, and turned away. They stood for a moment, his thick fingers wrapped around her smaller, and he almost immediately frowned, turning back to look at her.

"I don't feel shit," he said. "It's like you're dead... uh... or your fucking magic is dead," he grumbled. She felt his hand squeeze hers gently, as if he thought he could locate the energy, but she knew he never would.

"Some humans have the capacity to channel a magical current through their body, but it's not there naturally," she explained. She kept her fingers wrapped around his and leaned down to pick up the staff. "Do you feel something now?"

Bakugou kept his hand wrapped around hers, staring at their hands. Within a few short seconds, he felt the pulse of magic press against his skin. "Yeah... the current is there," he muttered.

"Mhm... but only because I'm using the staff. It still affects me because even though I channel the energy through the object, the magic still flows through my body. It uses my energy to... actually work."

"So everyone uses shit like this?" he asked, his eyes flicking to the staff.

"Yep!" she nodded quickly. "Well... sort of! Some people don’t have the capacity to hold the magical energy. And some use wands... or necklaces or other types of jewelry. My friend Todoroki has hand bracelets that help him channel specific types of magic," she explained. "It's usually easier to use jewelry... something you can keep on your person at all times... but... this staff belonged to my grandmother, so it's special!" she smiled. "I didn't really think I would need to use my magic quickly either, since I was training to be a healer there would be no reason for my staff to be apart from me."

"Mmm..." he muttered and sat down on the log, staring at the empty pit.

Ochako blinked, confused by his small reaction. She didn't expect an outburst, but it was surprising he had nothing to say. "Bakugou..." she asked, sitting next to him. "Are you okay?" she gently placed her hand on his shoulder, but he knocked it away.

"I'm fine!"

"You're... obviously not."

"It... It just doesn't make any fucking sense," he growled.

"What doesn't?"

"Dragons are losing magic, we're practically being drained of it. We thought it had to do with humans, but if humans can't even use magic on their own it's fucking impossible they would be taking it from us," he snorted.

"I tried to explain that but you were too angry to really listen," she said softly.

He clicked his tongue turning away from her. "It doesn't fuckin' matter."

"B-But it does! This is part of your livelihood and I want to help you figure out what's going on!"

"...It doesn't really matter what I say at this point cause you're gonna do whatever you want," he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"True," she laughed. "Don't worry we'll figure it out."

He sighed and ran his hands through his spiky blond hair. "Just... ask me your damn question."

Ochako's eyes widened, forgetting she still had a question left to ask. She was so caught up in talking about magic and the staff, she completely forgot for a moment. "R-Right!" she gasped.

She pressed a finger to her lips, sliding it down to tap on her chin. "Sorry, there's just so much I want to know! And only having one question..." she tilted her head to the side, her brown hair flowing with her. Maybe she should ask about how many dragons were left... or what it meant for them to lose magic? But...

Clearing her throat, she looked at him with such determination. "Can I... see your dragon form?" she blurted out. It was a risky move; he seemed very reluctant to show off his dragon form in any way... maybe because he was around humans? They were far away in the forest now... so she didn't see why he couldn't.

"Hah!? Forget it, Cheeks! That's not a question, that's a fuckin' request!" he snarled, folding his arms.

"Please Bakugou!" she begged. "It's been my dream to see a dragon and I didn't get to see you up close!"

"No!"

"Just for a second!?" she asked, clapping her hands together and bowing her head. "I'll do anything!"

"Why are you so freaking weird about dragons?!" he smirked and leaned towards her. "You got a thing for 'em?"

Her face immediately turned bright red, and she leaned away, flailing her arms. "What?! No!? Of course not!" She wrinkled her nose. "I-I don't even know how that would wo- Ah!" she gasped, falling off of the log, her butt landing on the ground.

Bakugou stared, huffing out a large breath of air and immediately stood up. "Fine, Cheeks. I'll transform for you. But this is the only fucking time I'll do this."

She pushed herself up, adjusting her hat which flopped over her face. "R-Really?!" she asked. "You will?!"

"Shut up and watch."

He stood in front of her, closing his eyes. She noticed his body start to tremble and glow as he let out a long breath of air. His back lurched upwards, golden wings sprouting from his shoulder blades. He let out a large cry, and Ochako clutched her staff to her chest. She hadn't considered the possibility the transformation was probably incredibly painful; having to alter his body in such a way couldn't be easy.

She swallowed, watching as his body lurched forward, his jaw reshaping as his yell turned into a loud roar. Scales popped up over his skin, covering his body in the shimmering golden color of his wings. A tail sprouted from behind him, spines punching out against the vertebrae in his back, and she watched his arms morph and elongate, his entire body jerking forward.

The glow of magic grew stronger, brighter, and she could barely see his body growing bigger. He let out another loud roar, his wings springing out behind him, and she half expected him to take off and fly into the sky, finally done with her.

But he didn't. The glow began to fade, and he shook his head, letting out another powerful roar, wings flapping up and down before he folded them against his back.

Ochako's eyes stayed wide and she breathed heavily. A real dragon was directly in front of her. He was much larger than she realized, his dragon form huge in front of her. She wouldn't be able to reach his snout unless he moved his head towards her. "W-Wow..." she said, almost breathless.

He snorted, a loud grunt slipping from his nose. He slammed his tail against the ground, and Ochako stumbled backwards almost falling down. He glanced down at the fire pit, smoke trickling from his nostrils, and he puffed a small shot of fire towards it, igniting the flame high into the sky.

"A-Ah!" Ochako yelped, moving away from the now very large fire. He let out a roar and she immediately held her hands up. "S-Sorry. I promise... I... I won't do anything you don't want me to. I just wanna get closer."

She inched forward, hands held out, and he lowered his snout, pressing it against her flat palm. Ochako purposefully reminded herself she needed to breathe. It was incredible. Her thumb brushed over the scales on his large nose, they were warm and twinkling against the dusk sky.

"You're... so beautiful," she whispered.

He let out a sharp roar and nudged her, causing her to stumble backwards. "Okay, okay, I won't call you beautiful!" she laughed, rolling her eyes. "I-I just am so excited and impressed by this." She leaned forward and rest her forehead against his snout. "I'm... sorry if transforming was painful for you. I didn't even consider that..."

He thumped his tail again, breathing a hot cloud of air against her. Ochako giggled, wrapping her arms around his snout so not to fall. "Ah... I guess we wouldn't even need the fire if you stayed like this all night."

He thumped his tail twice and she laughed again, her body wobbling. "Okay, okay... you can change back."

She stepped back from him. "It's just... this is so incredible," she whispered. "I never thought... A-Anyway... S-Sorry for making you do that."

His body began to glow again, and he let out another roar, the wings folding back into his chest. Everything reversed, his arms and legs shortening, the spines on his back folded into his skin. His jaw pulled back, his face looking human again... and he let out a large cry as he fell to his knees, the wings disappearing with a glittering sparkle.

"B-Bakugou!" she gasped, and rushed forward. She dropped to her knees and placed her hand on his chest, trying to steady him. "You should've told me it was too painful and I-"

"Oi..." he breathed, his chest heaving against her hand. "It's not... painful..."

"But... you..." she began, but gasped when she turned to look at his face. Golden scales littered his cheeks, twinkling against the setting sun. They trailed up his cheek bone, going past his sharp, crimson eyes and faded against his now pointed and scaly ears.

"Your scales..." she whispered, her fingers reaching out to brush against his rough skin.

He grabbed her wrist, squeezing tight as he growled. "D-Don't... It takes a lot of fucking effort to hold this form you know..." he breathed.

"Wait..." she blinked, helping him sit back. He was breathing heavily still and concern flashed through Ochako’s eyes. "The dragon... is your true form?" she asked.

"You got... your one question Cheeks," he grumbled, turning to look at her. With her sitting directly next to him, keeping him steady, their noses were close, almost touching. Actually, if she tilted her chin it would've been easy to press their lips together and-

"RIGHT!" she yelled and he winced at the loud sound. "S-Sorry! I-I just... It was... Are you sure you're okay?!" she squeaked out, turning to look at the ground.

Why had she thought of that in that moment? She barely knew him! The last thing she should be thinking about was kissing him!

He snorted and folded his arms, pulling back from her too, as if he realized the tension between them. "I already told you I'm fine."

She swallowed, and flicked her brown eyes towards him. "But... why do you have scales on your face and ears, you didn't look like that before?"

"One. Question," he hissed.

"Fine! Ask me one first then!"

"Are you ever going to stop asking me these damn questions?!"

"Nope!" she smirked. "That counts. Now tell me!"

"Fucking hell, Round Face," he growled. "You're relentless." He glanced towards the fire, his golden scales glistening against the flickering flame. He gently touched them with the tips of his calloused fingers, pursing his lips. "Shit..." he growled. "Fine..." he sighed. He leaned his head back, glancing up towards the sky.

"The dragon... is my real form. I have to use magic to maintain this human one. But I'm fucking running out which is why the scales are still showing..." he muttered, slamming his fist down against the log. "If I keep transforming, I could get fucking stuck, and then I'll become the damn beast. Some dragons back home have already lost their damn minds... they get stuck for too long and forget they're not just... a giant creature."

"W-What?" she breathed. "No wonder you're so desperate to find magic... I'm... I'm sorry I asked you to transform. I didn't know." she said softly.

"I was the one that did it," he muttered, his cheeks flushed. Was he trying to impress her? It worked, sure... but he didn't have to if it could've potentially caused him so much harm.

"I promise I won't ask you transform again. You have my word," she nodded, looking determined. There would be no need for him to, and it was more important they kept him hidden. She would have to give him back his cloak once they arrived at the city. She didn't want anyone seeing the scales on the side of his cheeks or his ears.

"I won't be doing anything like that again," he growled. She could see the way his eyes narrowed, glaring angrily at the fire in front of him.

"I... I'll help you in anyway that I can."

"It's not your problem, Cheeks!" he snorted, standing up from the log with a huff. He turned his back to her and sank down to the ground, resting his head on his arm. "I'm going the fuck to bed and you should too. I want to get to the city tomorrow."

Ochako opened her mouth to argue. There were still so many questions burning on the tip of her tongue, but she could tell Bakugou already felt he over-shared. He most likely wouldn't fall asleep for a bit, but he was done with their conversation.

"Alright," she sighed. "I'm sure... we're almost there."

No answer. She wasn't surprised, but she let out a soft sigh. As much as she felt bad for making him use his magic in such a way... seeing his dragon form was absolutely incredible. Admittedly, she wasn't quite used to the idea of dragons being real. It was surreal, seeing the scales glistening against his cheeks.

Her own cheeks flushed when she thought back to how close their faces were. She needed to stop thinking about that! Nothing was going to happen between them, it was simply a strange error of circumstance. She was helping him settle and she got... a little too close. Everything was fine!

Tomorrow they would get to the city and Todoroki would help them.

Everything was going mostly as she planned. Mostly.

She let out another sigh, shaking the blush from her cheeks. "Goodnight, Bakugou," she called out. She didn't expect a response and one never came, but she pulled his cloak closer to her, burying her nose in the fur of the collar as she drifted off to sleep, ready to continue their journey in the morning.

[hcsp1]

How to Train Your Dragon The Hidden World Thoughts

So it finally happened. Last week, I got to see the last ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ movie. My almost 9 years old journy with Hiccup and Toothless technically came to an end. I was a bit hesitent to write this post because... well, first of all not a lot of people get to see it until Faburary. Second reason was that I didn’t think I was able to fully process it the day I watched it. But after letting the movie sit in my mind and got the chance to think about everything; I think I’m ready for this post. Yes. There will also be a Berkcast episode to those who know me from there. It’ll come later though, probably around the time the movie will hit theaters in North America. Note: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS AHEAD! I’ll keep the first paragraph spoiler free but anything afterwards? You’ve been warned! I guess I’ll start by saying what you’re all asking. Yes, this movie is amazing and it’s defenitly a worthy conclusion to Hiccup and Toothless’s story. If you liked the previous 2 films, you’ll defenitly enjoy this one and this is a finale that you can’t miss! A part of me wants to say that this might be the strongest of the 3 films as it basically combines what works in the previous 2 films. You get the heartwarming and personal moments from the first movie alongside the action and scale of the second movie; alongside a wonderfully animated characters and universe, fantastic voice acting and an ending which... I won’t say much aside from the fact that it’s earned. I think I’ll need to think about it more to really tell you if it’s my favorite of the 3, but it is defenitly an option.

Spoilers from now on...

 I really don’t have much to say regarding Hiccup and Toothless because... wel... They are Hiccup and Toothless. You know them, you love them, nothing changed in that regard. It does feel like all of their adventures in the previous movies and the show brought them to this moment and it all feels organic. Seeing Hiccup taking over as Cheif, making decisions for his villiage and his loved ones was the one thing I wanted to see from this movie and it delieverd. He’s not a perfect Cheif, he even gets called on it a bit, but you get why he’s making the decisions he’s making. 

Toothless gets a lot more screen time in this movie, no doubt thanks to the Light Fury. You can feel his growth after he meets her, and their moments together are cute as hell. It is interesting to see Toothless being on his own and coming into terms with what it’s like being the Alpha, and all with no daialog! His story feels just as finished as Hiccup’s, and it’s wonderful. I also like how the Light Fury isn’t the sole reason Toothless agrees to leave Hiccup. She just helps him find his real place in the world.

The side characters were also extremly fun. It is entertaning to finally see Hiccup and Astrid talk about a wedding(Which is great once we do see it), I like Snotlout hitting on Valka(Which surprisingly works), I like Fishlegs being like a dad to this baby Gronckle, Ruffnut was a delight in this movie, Tuffnut’s bromance with Hiccup I can’t get enough of, everyone just got a moment to shine! I liked Valka and Eret too, but there’s nothing on top of my head that I recall loving about them in this one. Maybe after another veiwing.

Now for Grimmel... I liked him. I love the way he’s animated, he’s threatning, he’s smart, and I like that out of all the villians we had he feels like the most similiar to Hiccup. He’s also funny to boot, which I didn’t expect! I will say the one part I’m a bit ‘eh’ about with him is his backstory. It’s not bad, if anything I like how he started from the same point Hiccup did only he killed the Night Fury. Then again, I wish I could have seen that instead of just being told that. It’s such a great parallel that it kind of sucks it was just thrown away in a line of daialog instead of showing it to us.

One other thing I didn’t like, though it is very minor, is that there’s no real answer what happened to the Night Furies. We know Grimmel killed all of them and that the Light Fury is like a sub-species, so why didn’t Grimmel going after the Light Furies as well? We see some in the Hidden World, so what’s the deal? Are they the same or not? I think that could have been better explained for something that is such a big thing about Toothless and him meeting the Light Fury.

But now, let’s talk about that ending. Yes, I cried. Like, the last 20 minutes of this movie, I was crying like a whimp. It’s not a sad ending by any means, but seeing Hiccup and Toothless realizing their paths can no longer cross just breaks my heart. I knew this was coming, I knew this needed to happen, but it still got me. Seeing the other riders saying goodbye didn’t help things either. 

The final scene was also great. Still hitting them feels while still keeping me smiling. This is how you cap a trilogy.

Thank you Hiccup and Toothless for this amazing, funny, and emotional journy! 

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

What if anti were to one day wake up and find all the egos except for Jj as tiny tsum tsums,and even the reader is one,and they play in tissue boxes and like to nuzzle his hands and get belly rubs and when anti brings them to jack because he low key is scared he'll hurt them, the smol reader tsum tsum refuses to leave so he is stuck with the smol bean x3

Ohhhh I love the tsum tsums!! I just watched one of the animated shorts (which I didn’t know existed till I looked them up) to see how they act n’ stuff.

This is one story I GOTTA write out so here ya go~

“..what the..?”

When Anti walked out into the living room tired as heck one morning, the first thing he saw was Jameson sitting on the couch, surrounded by…..

Weird, tiny round creatures that looked like toys and resembled the other egos. And they were just hopping around on the table and furniture, although Robbie just sat in the dapper man’s hand, nuzzling his palm.

He looked over at Anti, chuckling silently and shrugging his shoulders.

“……y’know what I’m just gonna head back to bed.”

When the demon turned to leave, he flinched as Jameson appeared in front of him, shaking his head with a deep frown.

“What do ya want?” He growled. “If you’re askin’ me to help ya babysit ‘em forget it. I can’t even stand seein’ that dumb smile of yers without-”

However, he simply shook his head once more and walked back to the sofa, making a beckoning gesture to Anti. With a grumble, he reluctantly followed, only to blink as Jameson suddenly handed him a tissue box.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but when he took a look inside, he was surprised to discover that you were curled up in it….as the same small creatures that the others were.

“Wh-What? Even [y/n]??” He gawked, carefully taking you out and setting down the box. You opened your eyes up and gazed up at him, before you began hopping around happily.

Then he looked to Jameson once more. "I’m….gonna go tell Jack about this. You stay here.”

He gave him a simple thumbs up and sat back down on the sofa, where the rest of the egos began climbing onto his legs, shoulders, and hat. 

In his lap, Marvin wiggled around a bit, before he changed into a bigger size and flipped onto his back, exposing his belly which the dapper ego happily rubbed.………

“Jack. Look what that stupid cat magician did to [y/n] and literally everyone else except JJ!”

“C’mon Anti,” Jack grumbled, annoyed as he took his headphones off. “I told all of you to knock before you-”

But when he turned around, he gawked when he saw you in his evil counterpart’s hand. Then a smile appeared on his face. “Awwww, they turned into a Tsum Tsum!”

Anti blinked. “A what now?”

“Tsum Tsum,” Jack repeated. “They’re like those little plushies based off of Disney character and stuff. But where are the others?”

“With JJ. But I was just uh….wonderin’ if ya can watch [y/n] until Marvin figures out how to fix ‘em. Maybe they can give that Spider Loaf thing company or whatever..” 

“Why me, though?” The YouTuber’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “I thought..you two were dating-”

“We are,” Anti growled, before he looked back at you, worried. “I just…don’t wanna risk hurtin’ em. What if I drop ‘em by accident or..?”

However, he trailed off as he saw you inching your way up his arm, climbing onto his shoulder where you settled there. Closing your eyes you nuzzled his neck, which made him blush slightly.

“See Anti? They trust you,” Jack smiled in encouragement. “And from the looks of it, I don’t think they’re gonna wanna leave your side for a while.”

“….alright,” the demon sighed in defeat, before he took you and held you close to his chest. “I can’t really argue with ‘em. They’ve become too damn cute for their own good. Th….Thanks anyway, Jack.”

“You’re wel-” But before he could finish, Anti had already glitched out of the room.

He simply sighed, shaking his head in dismay, before he slipped his headphones back on and decided to go back to recording the game.

[wordsinwinters]

Then Again, P3 Peter Parker x Reader

Author’s Note: Thank you again to everyone who liked Part 1 and Part 2! Each notification I get makes me embarrassingly happy - it really means a lot. I appreciate your notes more than I can say! (and if you want to leave a review, that’s super appreciated as well!)

About the story: I am so excited for the next chapter update! It’s awful writing Peter being as rude as he seems during this section, but upcoming chapters will fluctuate between his P.O.V. and the reader’s. Hopefully, that’ll clear things up and he'll seem more in character. I really love writing his chapters, they’re my favorites.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11

Anyway, here we go!

Then Again, Part 3:

(Word count: 1,813)

Aside from Peter’s obtrusive moodiness, the dinner ends up better than I imagined. We try to avoid too much debating - to save our brainpower for the coming tournament... and, though no one says it, to avoid being kicked out of the restaurant because Peter was getting way too loud while arguing with Flash.

Instead, we go a different route. We breathe life back into a handful of school memories, the kind I hope we always remember, even when we’re eighty. A personal favorite of mine is the time the captain of our baseball team misheard “shoe string” as “g-string” during the “Lost and Found” pep assembly game and, without hesitation, reached into his pocket and threw one down to Mr. Harrington (whose face was appropriately horrified). Or, a favorite of everyone’s, the time Abe spilled saline on Flash in Chemistry. Most of us were there when Flash pulled the emergency shower and started stripping in the middle of class because he assumed the liquid was acid and Abe was laughing too hard to tell him otherwise.

“Seriously? That’s so old!” (It was only two months ago.) Flash can’t let that story slip without protesting, yet he has to force his own laughter down. His mouth might be running, but I can tell he’s mostly amused, partly embarrassed. For once, he doesn’t seem like such an asshole. “And you shouldn’t laugh, Y/N, given what you did in first grade!”

I raise an eyebrow.

“Me? What about first grade?” I ask. He raises an eyebrow back to me as I squint, trying to recall. After a long pause, I remember. “Oh.... That about first grade.”

Of course he remembers. My face is changing colors, I know it is.

“Are you blushing?” Ned asks, astonished and intrigued.

I try to stifle the laughter rising in my throat. It bursts out anyway. I really can’t believe I forgot about this. If Flash hadn’t mentioned it, maybe by the grace of God, it would never have crossed my mind again. Damn you, Flash.

Peter shifts in his seat. His arm brushes mine as Flash begins to boast; he pulls it back. It makes me jump, just barely, from the warmth.

“Miss Goodie Goodie Two Shoes dragged me,” Flash says, “an innocent young boy, under the slide - during recess - to kiss me. And boy did she.”

Flash leans back in his chair, arms crossed, with an I won smirk that he directs at me, then Peter.

Screw you, Flash.

“You did not,” Michelle says in disbelief. “You kissed Flash?! And never mentioned it?”

“Hold on!” I say. Side conversations have halted for this piece of old gossip and there is no way Flash gets to bring me that low with something from a decade ago. “Back then, he was little, brainy Genie. And to be fair, he had a gumball machine delivered to my house. Yeah, Flash, don’t think I won’t bring up the fact you liked me, not the other way around. I assumed he was a rich prince and that if I kissed him, he would turn into a frog and I could steal his money from his locker and his desk. It wasn’t like I got naked in front of twenty-eight students and my teacher two months ago!”

“That’s so not how the fairytales go, Y/N,” Ned mutters. “Was your childhood okay?”

“You thought he was a frog?” Peter asks, speaking to me for the first time tonight. He crosses his arms.

“Yes, Peter Parker. I thought I could rob a magic frog prince. It borders on childhood criminal fantasy, but the point is: I was a child. You can’t make fun of me for something I did at six years old.”

“Oh, really? And what does frog taste like?”

His shoulder nudges mine as he leans in close, his eyes flickering to my lips for emphasis. My heartbeat is pulsing at the tips of my ears. I untuck my hair from them in case they turn red. I never thought he would look at me like this. Even if that look is for the wrong reason, it’s like a finger curling around my collar bone building pressure as it pulls downward. My breathing verges on painful.

What was the kiss like?

I pause.

“Dirt,” I say. Make this funny again. “Even as I dragged him to the slide, his hands were stuffing his mouth with dirt.”

Laughter erupts again. Thank God. Soon, Abe is almost in tears over it, clapping Flash on the back as Flash stammers to defend his choice of lunch ten years ago.

Peter goes silent again, eyes on the floor. Against my will, I can picture a tiny Peter Parker sulking inside my brain picking at the loose threads of my mental Perfect Day tapestry. My optimism is coming completely undone. Frustration or anxiety or both are pushing me off of my little “today” high.

We exit the restaurant at 10:27. Goodbyes and “See you in the morning!”’s pass between everyone in a jumble of half-conversations. I eavesdrop on Ned and Betty, both leaning against the window, cloaked in neon red glow with taxi headlights gliding over their kneecaps.

“So lame that Mr. Harrington won’t let us bring non-team members,” Ned’s saying. “He’s always being such a stick in the mud. Somebody should just... I don’t know.” He stumbles for words. “Like, kill him or something.”

Betty lets out an awkward chuckle.

“You know,” he hurries, “as, like, a prank.”

She snorts, covering her mouth as she doubles over.

“Totally. I’ll write the Morning Announcement piece on it and everything. See you in Psych in a few days?”

“Yeah! If I’m not in jail for murder, you know?”

Now they’re both laughing. Little stars of excitement bloom in my chest. I’m so glad Betty came. I’m thinking about all the future excuses I can muster up to force them to work with one another in class. My daydream dissolves as Michelle hip checks me back into the present.

“I hope you’re ready to lose a seventh hour buddy,” she whispers.

“Nah. I’ll stay on that love train as a third wheel. Gotta make sure the conductor doesn’t wreck it.”

“Trains have like, 8 wheels per segment.”

“Per car, you mean.”

“Exactly. I think Ned can handle it.”

“This must be a new record for us derailing a metaphor because I don’t follow the tracks you’re laying down.”

“Those are terrible puns and you know it.”

I shake my head and roll my eyes. The phrase I love my friends should be etched into the bone of each of my ribs. The phrase repeats itself so often in my head I like to visualize it that way.

As Cindy, Abe, Sally, and Betty wave goodbye, I turn to Ned. He’s waving back at them, a grin sprawled across his face. Eventually I catch his eye and smirk.

“You saw what you saw,” he mouths, jerking his head slightly to where Betty had been standing and giving me his best “cool guy” attitude.

Before I can respond, Flash finishes his conversation with Peter (which... though tense, didn’t seem hostile for once), and addresses the remaining four of us.

“You know, I thought this dinner thing was a joke at first, but it was actually... not the worse idea in the history of Midtown Tech. It gets an official Flash rating of Not Totally Lame.”

Michelle raises her eyebrows. Ned and Peter look vaguely annoyed. Personally, I’m not that surprised. (I’m kind of surprised - that he vocalized it.)

“You’re wel-”

“Yeah, dude, well, you were only invited a few hours ago,” Peter says. He scratches the bridge of his nose and rubs his eyebrow before making eye contact with Flash again. “And the rest of us planned this last month. Like, ages ago.”

Everyone freezes.

“Cool,” Flash says. “Bye guys. Fuck you, Penis Parker.”

Peter doesn’t speak a word as we walk back to his and May’s apartment. His behavior is so foreign, so drastically cold even compared to how he’s been all week, that Ned, Michelle, and I keep our mouths shut too. Until we reach the door.

Peter unlocks it and turns around.

“You guys staying here tonight?”

“Yeah,” says Ned with the tone of obviously.

“Do you want us to go home?” I ask.

He looks at the ground as he shrugs. He seems almost as shy as the first time I met him, years ago.

What is going on in Spider Town?

“Just thought you guys might sleep better in beds. I know that couch sucks.”

“The couch is fine,” I say, wondering if he needs the reassurance of us wanting to be there. “MJ is what sucks. She pushed me off in her sleep half a dozen times. This time, she gets to sleep on the edge.”

Michelle nods. “But if you try to spoon me even once, I’m going to roll over and crush you.”

Peter stops listening and pushes the door open.

I fight the urge to kick at his heel while I follow. Peter Parker has always been the sweetest person in this city. Right now, though, he’s genuinely pissing me off. He’s acted worse than Flash has tonight, completely unlike himself. If anything, he’s making Flash look like a better friend.

After faces are washed, teeth brushed, and retainers stuck into place (everyone but Michelle - her teeth are naturally perfect), we turn off the lights and head to our usual sleeping stations. Michelle and I on the couch, Peter and Ned in the bunk beds. I lie on the couch for fifteen minutes, itching my index finger.

“Hey, I’ll be right back. Don’t steal my spot.”

Because of my retainers, it sounds more like, “Don’t thteal my thpot.” I take them out.

Maybe I can end this on a good note.

I stumble in the dark for a few steps until I find the hallway with my hands. I reach Peter’s door and turn the knob. A quiet conversation stops.

“Ned,” I whisper from the doorway. “Before I go to bed, I just need to clarify: if you do murder Mr. Harrington, legally I’ll have to testify against you. And I don’t want to see you behind bars. Try a different way to impress her, maybe?”

“Oh my goddd,” Ned groans. “I.... I still have no idea why I said that.”

I imagine Peter smiling on his bunk. He probably isn’t. If he were in a good mood, he would laugh and ask what we were talking about. If he were in a better mood at all, he would know by now.

“I know,” I say. “Goodnight!”

As I pop back out of the room, I hear Ned’s reply and Peter’s quiet, “Yeah.”

Who says “Yeah” to a “Goodnight”?

Peter Parker, apparently.

Tomorrow, I’m either going to hug him or kill him.

Part 4

Next update: Saturday 7. 

Or Friday 6 - whichever day you guys prefer.

I hope you guys enjoyed this! Let me know what you think!

P.S. I apologize for my awful frog jokes in P2 and P3.

[madmikedisease]

Pokemon Sword/Shield: A Comprehensive review.

So I just finished the story of the game, have around 30 hours logged, and I figured now would about be the time to give you my thoughts on the game.

THERE MAY BE SPOILERS AHEAD

The Pokemon; Now, I'll be the first to admit I was angry when it was announced the national pokedex would not be in SwSh. Now, I know that not being able to bring along your trusty pokemon from previous generations is going to suck, it hurts me to know that my, and many other's, favourite pokemon are not available to use. However, there are still plenty of pokemon to enjoy, I love the Galar pokemon, and the new Galarian forms, they're whimsical, charming, some of the are cute, funny, strong. So I urge you that if you're upset about Dexit, then I feel your pain comrade, but there are more pokemon waiting for you. I didn't know what to do until I encountered a Hippopotas in the Wild Area and started building a sand focused team. Who knows what will strike your fancy?

The Gym Challenge; I liked the way in which the Gym Challenge was played out. I really felt the UK inspiration in just about everything. The Stadium battles have an atmosphere like no other, with top notch music, cheering fans, and dynamax duels, you really can't go wrong. The Gym Missions you undertake don't feel too gimmicky and somewhat remind me of the gym puzzles of old. Gordie's gym felt like Koga's invisible walls. NASA's mission reminded me of Wattson's electric walls. The gym leaders are well designed, with fleshed out personalities, and the rivals might just be the best they've ever been.

The Rivals; You have your classic best friend rival introduced in Gen4, who also happens to be the current champion's little brother. Hop, despite what the haters say, has some truly incredible character growth, he goes through several different team iterations, an arc where he questions his own abilities, and has to fight for his redemption, and at the end of the game, decides that he wants to be a pokemon professor, which really threw me. Then you have Marnie, she's a new style of rival, as she is the whole reason Team Yell exists (I'll talk more about them later). She is quite the character, motivated almost entirely by her older brother, with mostly dark types at her side she ends up not being much of a challenge, but I enjoyed the ways in which she showed up during the story, and am happy with her inclusion, meeting her in the Semi Final of the Gym challenge was a great way to show off her team growth, and I'm happier for it. Lastly we have Bede (don't ask me to pronounce it). This is your more traditional Blue/Silver style of rival, he is a lofty, mean-spirited, elitist snob, who only wants success at the expense of your failure, he also has very interesting character growth, where he gets disqualified from the Gym challenge, then goes on to become the new Fairy Gym leader, and then storms the Gym challenge finals to demand a rematch with you to prove his worth, it's quite the rollercoaster.

The Story; this is the part of any pokemon game that worries me the most. This time around I think it stuck, while its far from perfect, the idea of the legendary pokemon being connected to the region's ancient history is cool, and the lead up to Rose's tomfoolery at the end was ominous, and well done, as he interrupts your championship match with Leon to start his plans. The post story was quirky, and although sadly short, it was a cool idea, executed wel enough that it didn't leave a sour taste in my mouth, doing raid style battles with gym leaders was fun, and gave you a look at their growth as well, and while Sordward and Shielbert are entirely ridiculous characters, the lore behind them is interesting, and makes for a fun segue into catching Zacian/Zamazenta.

The Wild Area and Raids; easily the most fun you'll have with SwSh, I imagine at least 10 of my 30 hours were spent roaming the land in search of new pokemon or raids. Teaming up with trainers online to take on 5* raids is incredible, truly there has never been anything quite like this.

The Battle Tower; much like the Battle Tree in USUM, this provides post game content, with access to the BP stores for all your competitive needs. Nice to see it return.

Conclusion; the game isn't perfect, moves have been removed as well as pokemon, indoor battles do not have the same beautiful landscapes as outdoors, and are instead filled with one colour, which feels lazy. But overall GF have done a fantastic job with SwSh, and I do heartily recommend you get it.

[comicteaparty]

December 14th, 2017 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on December 14th, 2017, from 5PM - 7PM PST.  The chat focused on Zaltera by Morgan Mudway (aka Tri).

Featured Comment:

Chat:

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning. Today we are discussing Zaltera by Morgan Mudway (aka Tri)~! (http://zalteracomic.com/) For those new to CTP, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer so pay them no mind if you wish~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! Each chat a top comment will be picked and featured on an ad for this chat, so let’s have a great discussion~!

With that said, let us begin with this first question~!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

snuffysam

Hey everyone!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hey snuffysam~!

snuffysam

I'd say the latest chapter (prologue part 2), and the pages leading up to it. It really helps sell the point that there are multiple sides to this story.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes. i really like how different in tone both prologues are as well. the first prologue came off to me as kind of aggressive and hostile. where the second part just feels more sorrowful and lamenting. and i think that works in a big way to show how each different species is

snuffysam

yeah that was a big aspect of why i liked it

wishjacked

I actually really loved that first prologue, I don't know if it counts as a single scene but I thought it was very masterfully written and, especially, drawn

I usually don't like BACKSTORY openings at all, but I thought it worked super well to show off the creator's skills and it definitely got me hooked.

also, hey guys!! long time no see!!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

nice to see you as well wishjacked

wishjacked

oh yeah, very good point, Rebel!!

even the way the colors/greyscales were used contrasts the two stories really well.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes. although i like theres a contrast between the prologues and actual story too. i think it helps the prologues really stand apart so you dont need to know theyre prologues. you can just guess from the visuals by comparison what they are.

the visuals are also just masterfully done

snuffysam

yeah i was impressed by the visuals throughout, but especially prologue 1.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah i was too. also partly because the writing was very good too. going in i was skeptical cause my experience is that the comics that tend to go the more artsy root suffer in the story department. i definitely didnt feel that way at all this time tho.

snuffysam

Even our main characters feel pretty well-developed, and they've only gotten one chapter of screentime each.

wishjacked

the page in the first prologue where the Zarians find their murdered child was one of the best I've seen, I thought it was a very difficult page to pull of visually and it hit all the right notes. that's been a recurring element through the art, though-- it says a LOT even when very little it actually happening. really, really wel done

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

oh that is a good page, though i liked it for a different reason. for me that was the moment where the two sides aspect was really hammered in. cause the wording was very specific in that all it says was "we found one of our children murdered in cold blood in the streets."

it does not say who murdered that child tho

its implied to be the avolians of course

but the fact theres no direct accusation is kind of telling

wishjacked

yes!!

I thought it was great that even though the first prologue was obviously biased, the wording IS always vague enough that everything can be read multiple ways!!

really keeps interpretation open, it keeps the tension going really nicely and keeps the prologues from feeling "finished" and unimportant

snuffysam

that's a good point. so did people at the time know the truth, and this is just a biased version of history? or were the zarians confused from the get go?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes. i really just think this comic nailed the vagueness as you say. cause this does help it reach its themes very easily. cause a lot of it definitely feels like they are stories being told by someone and not some objective narrator.

and thats a good question

id assume the zarians were confused from the get go

i mean the truth could be a lot of stuff

it could be that some zarian did it to spark a war, could be an avolian did it to spark a war, could have been an accident and no one would own up to it

very many possibilities(edited)

snuffysam

true true. there was probably even some propaganda involved

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah thats a good point

i mean its a story

so maybe never even happened at all

QUESTION 2. Some of the key themes in Zaltera revolve around historical revisionism, miscommunication, and the basic fact that history is written by the winners. Given this being the case, what do you think is the true story of events past? Did the Zarians truly leave their homeland because of an oppressive king? Were their accommodations truly so destitute and were the Avolians mistreating them as is claimed? Were the Zarians justified in taking the Avolian city? What do you think about the unicorns who the Avolians are taking refuge with? Do you have any other theories regarding the history lessons each respective culture is focused on?

(a bit early but were on the topic anyway)

snuffysam

It's interesting how the Zarians (claimed to be, at least) refugees in the Avolians's land, and now the Avolians are refugees in the unicorns' land.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes i like this extra theme of history repeating itself. like it really makes you wonder if there'll be a war with the unicorns.

which i also like how complicated the situation is

on the one hand the unicorns feel a bit ridiculous cause they have no leeway for kids being stupid kids. but then on the otherhand as refugees, theyre kind of obligated to respect the culture status quo of the unicorns cause they are the ones who are guests. and the unicorns probably have a reason for banning violence so strictly.

its a really complicated situation that shows a lot of issues sometimes just come from cultural differences

snuffysam

And that brings up the question- how many of the issues between the Zarians and the Avolians were due to cultural differences?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes it is an excellent question. its hard to say without seeing them interact more. although it could be that perhaps the fire magic played a role. cause that seems to be the zarian speciality while the avolians seem to have mostly disdain for it. so maybe its actually a similar playing out. where, like the unicorns, the avolians were like "hey there no fire magic we dont care if your kids are kids no fire magic." and so the zarian grew disdainful cause to them it was a ridiculous rule

snuffysam

What if the kid in the Zarian history committed some serious crime? Something the Zarians would want to forgive (since they're just a kid), but something the Avolians didn't take sitting down. Kind of like what happened at the beginning of chapter 2 with the unicorns, but much more serious.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes that could be entirely possible.

tho i imagine their death was not some act of justice

considering from the sounds of it there were fews witnesses to what actually happened to the kid

i mean heck

kid couldve just killed themselves on accident by misfiring a spell

snuffysam

it's possible. perhaps we'll see a war break out with the Avolians and the unicorns for similar reasons?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes it is possible. although the avolians might just get kicked out.(edited)

which maybe thatll spark another war with the zarians

cause they need their home back

snuffysam

could be. they already need their home back, after all.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

or a new home. which is why i also question the zarian account. like im sure their community had some issues of destitution, but what was the avolian situation? no matter how someone feels about refugees, they do put a burden on the system where they are taking harbor. like were the avolians being like "so hey theres this land over here where you could maybe make a new home" and then the zarians were like "eh maybe tomorrow." like, theres a lot of spitballing i could do, but i feel were missing a key component about what zarian life was like as refugees and how that was effecting the avolian system. cause its possible that the avolian resources were low or something like that too and the zarians were making those resources even more scarce or something.

Superjusting of Time and Space

OMG HELLO

Just thought I'd pop in real quick~

snuffysam

I suppose it is a bit odd that the Avolians apparently rescued the Zarians from dying in the desert, yet apparently they also treated them like hostages? How do you have both?

hey SJoTaS

Superjusting of Time and Space

Thanks for the warm greetings~

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hi super XD

Superjusting of Time and Space

Hi Rebel!

snuffysam

for that matter, why would the Zarians mention the rescuing part in their already extremely biased history?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes those are great points that really stand out.

it could just be agenda related though

in that they didnt need to bias the rescue part but for some reason it was super important to make the start of the war biased

Superjusting of Time and Space

True

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 3. On the Zarian side is the figure of Azul who feels that the history he has learnt is wrong and biased. While most of the Zarian’s advocate violence against any Avolian, Azul wants to use diplomacy. Do you think Azul will be able to convince other Zarian’s to use a diplomatic method? Will the pressures of the throne eventually destroy his values? If Azul does manage to convince others of diplomacy, how might that affect his relationship with his brother Jade? Speaking of which, why was Azul’s father murdered and how might that affect his ideas for dealing with the Avolians?

snuffysam

Depends on who he talks to. Some Avolians will be willing to talk. Others, I imagine, will not.

I don't know if Asul'll be able to convince anyone major in the kingdom to see his way. It seems more like he's just going to go off on his own.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah. not that i have specific evidence but i feel azul is going to be forced to abdicate the throne in favor of his brother cause his viewpoints well be seen as too radical. like if i assume typical story flow and that the two outcasts, azul and tigfeather, meet, then i imagine that will not go over well. where he comes home is like "mom mom see i was talking to this avolian and were friends now and see everything isnt so bad." and his mom just is like enraged and like what is wrong with you

thanks napples

i am curious why the avolians keep skirting into the city though

snuffysam

try and gauge the opinions of the zarians? i feel like they should have a pretty good idea at this point though

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

idk. like id understand if the avolians were in a better situation. cause if they intended to take their city back then of course you have scouts to plan out the attack. but the avolians i dont think would be capable of a war where they made first strike

albeit

maybe this is part of the two sides thing

the avolians are scared of zarian pursuit so send scouts to watch for attack

and the zarians fear attack so kill the scouts

snuffysam

yeah, something like that

or maybe they're scouting for some resource that they can't get with the unicorns?

not sure what that would be though

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

could be possible

or maybe theyre just hoping the zarians leave the city out of boredom XD

snuffysam

that's possible. they still consider the zarians to be residents of their native homeland, iirc, believing every race has its place and all that.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

the other possibility is that these avolians watching the city are like a splinter cell who believe war is the only answer whereas the rest of the avolians took refuge with the unicorns and were like "nope were done with war"

snuffysam

didn't someone remark on how they lost a few more scouts? or am I misremembering?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

id have to go back and re-read. its possible XD just theorizing and i might have missed it tbh

but on the point of azul i wonder why his dad was killed.

snuffysam

how long ago was the war?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

thats a good question

ive been kind of vague on the timeline tbh

snuffysam

because if it was less than a generation ago, azul's dad may have just been killed in the war. as wars do.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hmm

so at the beginning with azul the teacher says its been passed down through generations

so it wouldve been sometime ago

snuffysam

ah. so no then. unless she's referring specifically to the beginning of the story - since it's possible generations passed between then and the war.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

although the teacher also is using the diary of azul's great aunt

cause to be fair we dont really know their lifespans

id assume his dad wasnt killed via the war tho

snuffysam

yeah that's a fair guess

so i suppose there were avolian scounts who killed azul

's dad while he was trying to chase them off?

or maybe it was an accident, and the kingdom just pins it on the avolians like everything else

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

well i doubt it was a chase off. cause jade does specifically say he was killed for taking pity on them. so clearly the dad was making friends and trying to repair relationships.

crack theory

it was the unicorns all along

they killed the dad

snuffysam

that would be pretty big. what do they have to benefit from that though? wouldn't they want the avolians to make peace with the zarians so they can get out of their hair?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe the unicorns hope for mutual destruction and then they rule all the lands

didnt have to be violent

just manipulate others to be violent

its brilliant

snuffysam

i mean they do still have to directly kill people to instigate violence in this scenario. so it's not a completely non-violent takeover.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

close enough O_O

tbh i wanna go out on a limb and say it was zarian extremists who killed him. cause they didnt like he was going against tradition. so they killed him and framed the avolians, which i imagine the latter wasnt hard to do since i picture the ones coming around around were easily swayed back to the "they were right about the avolians all along"

QUESTION 4. With the Avolians our main figure is Tigfeather who is able to use fire magic. Her magic, which stands apart from other Avolians, is due to the fact that she, is in fact, a phoenix. What significance might there be to Tigfeather being a phoenix? How does this tie into the past history with Lady Rovira who ruled the Avol Kingdom? Will Tigfeather’s outcast nature make her more receptive to Zarian diplomacy, or will she perhaps help her people wage a war against the Zarians (or the unicorns)? What other ways do you think learning she’s a phoenix will affect her?

snuffysam

that sounds about right. ignore all the extreme burn marks over the king's face and body, it was the avolians.

my thinking is that she'll either be exiled or run away on her own, and then meet azul.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i doubt shell be exiled but i could see her running away. especially now that she knows shes a phoenix cause it might give her new perspective on how the others treat her. or she may do it from more noble intentions of knowing that sticking around probably means her entire ppl are gonna get kicked out and have no home.

or

maybe

what if something happens to her brother

so she leaves to rescue him

but then azul is already there rescueing him

cue sitcom friendship

snuffysam

what if she accidentally hurts her brother? and she leaves because she doesn't want to hurt anyone else.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

oh that could be too

oh oh

whatd make sense in that scenario is she specifically goes to the zarians to learn to control her fire magic

since fire is their thing

snuffysam

ooh yeah that would make a lot of sense

how good is azul at fire magic? do we know?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hard to say but i imagine as crown prince he probably had good tutors

i mean that scene where he got angry at least showed hes capable of it

snuffysam

thats true. i wonder who would be angrier at azul and tigfeather's potential meeting (and friendship) - his family or hers?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

id assume azul's if only because his is the royal family so thus they are the example and hes the one who has a dad dead. so far with tigfeather we havent really seen a vast amount of her feelings with the zarians(edited)

perhaps shes also inspired because she learns her ppl are biased

since shes learning "wait phoenixes are not bad"

snuffysam

she doesn't seem to care that much about questioning history like azul does. she really just wants to live her life.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

it could be inspiring tho.

to be fair

her leaving the avolians could be as simple as she wants to learn more about her people's origins in general

to understand why shes a phoenix

but ive just had a thought

what if tigfeather is rovira? cause its bugged me that rovira just died considering in all lore phoenixes do the whole bursting into flames and then theyre reborn

so what if tigfeather is the reborn rovira

snuffysam

i'm guessing there's a reincarnation aspect, yeah. hence why we haven't heard of multiple phoenixes being alive at once. how long ago did rovira die?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i dont think it was said but i wanna assume it was before the zarians which is the wrench in this theory. cause it doesnt sound like theyd lost their kingdom at that point

snuffysam

unless there were other phoenixes in between them. or maybe it takes a century or so for a phoenix to be reborn.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah either or is possible

rovira just might be the most notable phoenix

although id put money on the century reborn thing too if this is the case

as i just picture the end of this prologue being the gma going "btw you are lady rovira reborn so kind of are the hope of our ppl. so yeah. good luck with that."

and tigfeather is like what O_O

snuffysam

yeah i can imagine that would be overwhelming for her lol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

but potentially another reason she runs away. is like okay better deal with the zarians i am the hope of our ppl. she meets azul and is like "dang it they arent these blatantly evil enemies"

snuffysam

maybe she'd run away from her destiny instead of towards it?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

very possible too

i could see either or being plausible

on a different topic i wonder whats going on in the original homeland of the zarians. like...are there zarians still there? cause if the war was a long time ago the tyrannical king they ran away from must be dead

which what if they sparked the war. the avolians are like "so umm hey could you leave your homeland is doing way better now." and the zarians were like "but eww the desert"

snuffysam

i feel like some people were probably ok with the regime, and they stayed? and the thing about kings is that there's a dynasty, and his heir may be similarly bad.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah the heir could similarly bad. i dont rule that out. but dynasties also die out. so why im wondering what the state of things are.

not to mention has it been long enough for cultural diversion

snuffysam

true true. i don't think communication is particularly advanced though. Before the war, they may not have known if the king was alive or not, and after, they stopped caring.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah. tbh i dont think its much better so theres probably not a good way for them to know even now

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party is now complete~! Thank you everyone so much for joining this week’s chat~! That being said, if you would like to continue discussing the comic, we encourage you to do so~! We want to give a big thank you to Morgan Mudway (aka Tri), as well, for volunteering Zaltera for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support Morgan Mudway’s efforts. If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions about CTP, please feel free to PM me, or e-mail me at rebelvampire@startfaire.com.

With that said, next week’s Comic Tea Party will focus on Legendary Beings Ara & Celi by NAAN. Please use this week to read as much of the comic as you would like. Hope to see you next Thursday (December 21st) from 5PM to 7PM PST~! Until then~! Comic: https://tapas.io/series/AraandCeli