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raendown · 5 years ago

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Pairing: MadaraTobirama Word count: 4333 Chapter: 27/42 Summary: Not all wars are fought on the battlefield. Some are fought at the conference table, with whispers in the shadows, or even in the bedroom.

In a world where the Senju and Uchiha traditional lands were too far apart to have ever made them enemies, Butsuma and Tajima are the ones who come together and sign a treaty of peace. Madara isn’t happy to have his life signed away for him in a political marriage to strengthen the bond between their clans. He is even less happy to have Tobirama make assumptions of him from their very first night together. What follows from there is a journey of healing, of learning, and finding the places to belong in the places least expected.

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Chapter 27

A formalized academy with structured learning and standard knowledge shared across all the children of the village no matter the background they came from; the very idea of it was enough to curl Tobirama’s toes with joy. That it had been his own husband who came up with the idea only thrilled him even more. Every time he thought he had Madara all figured out the man turned around and gave him something new to consider – and every new piece of the puzzle was more fascinating than the last.

Of course, it wasn’t as easy as asking his brother to raise a new building and piling all the children inside. Before anything else they needed to decide what to teach the little buggers and when, what subjects would match with different learning abilities at what ages. What jutsus should be standard? Should tests be more practical or written? With a formal environment in place it would only be too easy to guarantee literacy and basic life skills for even those children without parents around to teach them such things. Should civilian children be given the same base education so that they understood the shinobi who shared their village or should they be taught in separate classes?

With more questions than answers chasing each other around in his mind Tobirama floated through the new few days with his head practically up in the clouds. Every breakfast and every dinner he let his meal grow cold and ignored the amusement in Madara's eyes as he rambled on about all the new ideas he was considering for this project – and they hadn’t even brought it up with the council yet. Madara had said he wanted a solid outline in place first to convince the traditionalists who would surely cling to the old fashioned idea that clan children should only be taught by fellow clan members. As many strong fighters as that had produced in the previous generations it also made for quite narrow-minded soldiers who were only exposed to one style of fighting and never realized their true potential.

The first time it was brought up with the council went surprisingly well considering how many different voices there were to throw opinions around, though the biggest surprise was the lack of fight from either end of the table. It was a little suspicious, actually, but Tobirama was still riding high enough on such an incredible idea from his own partner that he chose not to be suspicious just this once. Miracles did happen after all; maybe his miracle was letting Madara's brainchild come to life without any drama around it.

Or at least no more drama than the entirety of the village being treated to Tobirama’s overbearing pride at having a husband so amazing and strutting both of them around the village with endless smug expressions.

It took more than half a week for Madara to finally roll his eyes and tell him to shut up, dragging him out of the house on their day off with instructions to talk about literally anything else for a while. They ended up wandering through the marketplace with Kagami running ahead of them, enjoying a stroll while his student made a game out of trying to find hiding places Tobirama wouldn’t spot him in, training made fun and easy.

For the most part he kept his promise not to talk about the academy that was slowly coming to life in his mind, though Madara did indulge him in a bit of a ramble about how far Kagami had come since they started working together. Beyond that they chatted about whatever crossed their mind as they examined the wares displayed in various stalls or traded the latest gossip about their more lackluster coworkers in the administration tower. Working in so many different circles meant there was always something going on with someone and it was the bread and butter skill of a shinobi to gather information.

Such was their excuse, anyway.

Tobirama was eyeing a passing fruit stand, inspecting for any late season blueberries and wondering if he could convince Susumu to teach him her tartlet recipe, when a hand entered his vision holding out a small basket of the indigo treasures he’d been looking for. Following the delicate fingers up a long arm, he found a half-familiar tanned smile looking back at him fondly.

“Ikuo,” he greeted the man quietly, not taking the bundle. “You must have returned with my cousin. I hadn’t realized.”

“And what an interesting homecoming it’s been. How are you? I’ve heard a lot of rumors but it’s always best to get information from the source.” Ikuo widened his smile and brought the berries he was holding a little closer to his chest with no hint of offense for having his gift rejected.

“Life has taken us all to some interesting places.”

Ikuo laughed delicately and from the corner of his eye Tobirama noticed Madara sidling a little closer, eyeing this strange man with a sharp, narrow gaze. He wondered what his husband saw. Curious, he opted not to introduce them until one showed any interest in the other. He did make a little sidestep to avoid the warm brown hand coming down as though to brush the edges of his sleeve; he’d never been all that fond of casual contact.

“You can’t even give me an open answer? I thought we were closer than that!” Ikuo’s tone was gentle and teasing but there was a suggestiveness in the way he angled his body, an openness in the way he stood, that he had to know Tobirama could read from a mile away.

“We haven’t seen each other in nigh on a decade,” he pointed out.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t reconnect, hm? Go on, put my curiosity to rest. Are the rumors true?”

“I’m afraid you’ll need to be a little more specific.” Tobirama rocked back to stand a little more on his heel without bothering to conceal the movement in any way.

As he should have expected, Madara picked up on his discomfort immediately and stepped forward with an adorable little frown on his lips. “Sorry, who are you?” he demanded gruffly. Tobirama stifled a smile as Ikuo looked Madara down and back up with lifted brows.

“Senju Ikuo. And yourself?”

“His husband,” Madara growled. Tobirama bit the inside of his cheek to hold in a smile.

A flash of jealousy from his partner was well worth the discomfort of Ikuo’s bold assumptions and twice as amusing when it was followed by a brief moment of disappointment in his clansman’s eyes. He could tell exactly which rumors Ikuo was hoping weren’t true and he was all too happy to let Madara prove that they were.

“I see. It seems that congratulations are in order.” Ikuo bowed, too much of a Senju to make a scene but absent from their culture long enough that he allowed some of his petty frustration to show. “Let’s hope you’re up to the task, Uchiha-sama, I hear this one is hard to keep up with these days. It has indeed been many years since we saw each other but he was quite something even back then.”

“Those days are long behind us,” Tobirama said mildly. He said nothing more but that was all he needed for Ikuo to cough and compose himself a little better.

“Worry not, I won’t intrude myself on you any longer, I know how to take a hint. May your life together be long and happy.” He even managed to sound sincere in his well-wishes.

Madara, obviously, was not convinced. He watched suspiciously as Ikuo bowed to them both and moved to step around them, obviously intending to leave them alone as promised. As he watched the man walk away from them Madara crossed his arms and jutted his chin out obnoxiously.

“What exactly is he to you?” The question was for Tobirama but Ikuo, not quite out of earshot yet, turned back to give him a wink.

“I was his gay awakening. Do enjoy my finest work.”

He didn’t wait for an answer, though if he had the only one he would have gotten would have been the violent twitch in Madara's left eye and the curling of both fists as he strove to keep his temper in check. If not for the encroaching winter season keeping the air cool around them Tobirama was sure there would have been some steam rising from the top of Madara's head.

Allowing himself to feel a little smug over his husband’s reaction, Tobirama turned back to the fruit stand he had been inspecting before and watched Madara in his peripheral vision instead, allowing the man a modicum of privacy to stomp and fluster and glare menacingly down the street where Ikuo’s back had already disappeared in to the crowds. He didn’t seem very satisfied with Ikuo’s easy acceptance of their marriage. Or maybe it was that easy acceptance which angered him, denying him the fight he was so obviously eager to have. Whatever the case it took a few minutes for him to gather himself enough to storm over to the fruit stall and glare up at Tobirama with a pout that worryingly resembled his brother’s.

“I don’t like him,” he declared.

“You know, I think I picked up a hint of that,” Tobirama replied in a light drawl. He noticed the vendor giving him an amused smirk with his change but didn’t comment.

“What the hell did he mean by that?”

“Perhaps we should go somewhere a little more private, hm?” Gently steering them both away, he led his husband off in the opposite direction and leaned over to poke a misshapen lump in a passing stack of crates. “Your henge is decent, Kagami, but you’re not suppressing your chakra enough. Come along and try again.”

Smiling at the sight of his student scampering out of the crate pile to take off ahead of them, Tobirama made sure to entwine his arm with Madara's so the man wouldn’t get any thoughts about pulling away for one reason or another. He set an easy pace and a straight path towards one of the less populated areas of the market where the streets weren’t so choked with people one had to be careful with one’s steps. When Kagami leapt up out of sight on to a nearby rooftop it gave the illusion that they were nearly alone in this hidden alleyway, their only companions a handful of wooden signboards left out to alert passersby that there were indeed a few shops tucked away in this area.

“Ikuo,” he murmured once the sounds of the street had faded a little, “was my first kiss.” Madara stiffened at his side.

“Hmph. I don’t like him. Did you…”

“We were not intimate in that way, no. I was only twelve and puberty was making me curious so I found a boy who looked pretty to me and I asked him to kiss me.” Despite the intentionally casual tone he was using it was easy to see how very un-casually Madara was taking this.

Squirming a little under the weight on his own embarrassment for asking such questions, Madara almost half shouted when he asked, “Did you kiss him a lot?”

“A few times,” Tobirama admitted. “I suppose you could say we dated in a very innocent, young sort of way.”

“I don’t like him!”

“Yes, you mentioned that. More than once.”

“Because I don’t! He- he doesn’t seem good enough for you! And he’s not even really that attractive! And he doesn’t even know you or else he wouldn’t have tried to touch you like that or get up in your face!” Madara snorted, nodding sharply once as though to put a punctuation mark at the end of his rant.

Tobirama really hoped Kagami had found a good hiding spot and wasn’t looking because he couldn’t stop himself from pulling Madara around and bestowing him with the gentlest kiss he was capable of.

“I am a married man,” he murmured quietly. “If he isn’t you then I have no interest in him.”

Both the color and the heat rising in Madara's cheeks could have rivaled flame. He ducked his head with embarrassment, grumbling at their toes that he wasn’t jealous at all. Tobirama opted not to tell him that his jealousy was not only quite obvious but also very appreciated; there was no need to rub salt in any wounds just yet. After a moment of letting that sink in Madara looked to one side with a light huff.

“How do you know that though? You were forced in to this, you didn’t choose me.”

“Perhaps I didn’t then but I would now.” Tobirama smiled when Madara's head snapped up to stare at him, probably trying to determine if he was serious or not.

“You would?”

“I would.”

Looking away again, Madara breathed deeply. “That’s…that’s good.”

“At the time I had no attachment to the event; I wish I had paid more attention on our wedding day.” With a wry shake of his head Tobirama sighed at his own stupidity. “I spent more time memorizing the seals in your clothing than how you looked in it. If there is one regret for how we began it’s that I wish I could remember what you looked like on that day. Your hair was up, that’s all I can recall.”

“Would you like to see?”

“What?”

“BOO!”

Madara and Tobirama both leapt two feet in the air, spinning in place to land in defensive postures, sharp blades appearing in their hands as they readied themselves to fight – Kagami. Smug little Kagami who stood at the end of their brandished kunai and laughed until it seemed like he might be in danger of splitting a seam.

They’d forgotten he was there.

A specific shinobi brand of shame fell over Tobirama that he had let himself get so situationally unaware as to let a mere child sneak up on him yet at the same time he couldn’t help the pride that flooded through his chest. Kagami really had learned so much in the few months they had been training together. No matter how wrapped up he was in his own moment he would have felt someone coming if they had been broadcasting their presence the way a body as boisterous as Kagami’s usually did. The boy had to have been properly suppressing himself as he’d been told and muffling his footsteps like they had been working on in order to get close enough to startle them.

Unable to be angry, Tobirama still narrowed his eyes at the wildly grinning boy while he pocketed his blade. Madara's face seemed to be the major source of amusement so he brought attention back to himself with a hand scrubbing roughly at black curls.

“Well done, Kagami. You listened and employed what I told you to and you waited for the right opportunity instead of rushing in. Excellent. I think that’s enough for today, why don’t you run and tell your mother everything you learned, hm? I can feel her only two streets over by the textile shops.”

Still laughing, the boy turned and hurried off to carry the tale of their shame home. Tobirama wanted to regret not asking him to keep that moment quiet but he knew that the smallest moments could humanize those who stood above others in a clan’s hierarchy. By tomorrow everyone in the Uchiha clan and several outside would know that the two of them had been human for a short moment, so wrapped up in their own romance they forgot the rest of the world. Nothing worked better to bridge the gap between ranks.

“I love him dearly,” Madara grumbled, “but I could learn to hate him a little too.”

“He was only doing exactly as he’d been asked to,” Tobirama offered quietly, though that wasn’t what he wanted to talk about. “What did you mean about me seeing…?”

Madara perked. “Oh, I just meant that I remember what I looked like on our wedding day. I took a memory of it. So I could show you if you like.”

“Took a memory of it? With your Sharingan, I assume you mean?”

“Yes.”

“And you could show me?”

Cocking an eyebrow, Madara's lips turned up in a slow smile. “You do remember what a henge is, yes?”

The idea had not occurred to him, though he now realized it should have. Tobirama cleared his throat and mumbled that he was allowed to forget things sometimes too. “I would be very grateful if you would allow me the chance that I missed that day, to appreciate you as you should have been appreciated.”

“Ugh, as long as you quit being so sappy.” His husband wrinkled his nose uncomfortably and a wave of fondness swept over him, leaving him to do nothing more than nod.

Madara's eyes turned distant for a moment as he ostensibly slipped back in his memories to bring up the moment he had captured forever with his dōjutsu. When he came back to the present he disengaged their embrace enough to bring his hands together in a familiar sign, his body disappearing briefly behind a wall of smoke.

When he appeared again it was like all the air around them had disappeared and there was no more oxygen left to breathe. Tobirama’s lungs paused and failed to draw his next breath but for a moment that was fine. He never needed to breathe or blink or beat his heart again as long as he could take this image with him. Madara was, in a word, resplendent. Long hair twisted up in an elaborate top knot, traditional kimono perfectly in place and pinned to accentuate his form, the beautiful face so few people got to see in its entirety bared and blushing under the weight of Tobirama’s awe. Delicate kanzashi shifted with his every movement as he looked down and brushed his fingertips against the sealed fabric Tobirama had been so distracted by the first time he was treated to this vision.

“Jogging your memory?”

“I was a fool to not appreciate you before,” Tobirama whispered. He reached out unthinkingly to trace the shape of his husband’s face, reverence thick in every fiber of his being.

“What’s to appreciate?” Madara grumbled. “It’s nothing more than a change of clothes.”

The answer made him blink and tilt his head. “A change of clothes, a fancy new hairdo, powders on your face if I am not mistaken. This look is a work of art and if I want to appreciate you I will. You look wonderful, anata.”

He only realized what he’d let slip when he saw Madara's eyes widen comically, briefly disappearing behind a wall of smoke as he lost his hold on the henge.

“A-anata?” Madara's throat bobbed in a thick swallow, his lips parted, and then they closed again as he couldn’t seem to think of anything to say. Tobirama cursed himself for a distracted fool.

“I apologize,” he hurried to say. “It’s- I did not mean to say that and make you uncomfortable.”

“Do you…think of me that way?”

“Well…”

Brows folded together, Tobirama looked at his partner with a helpless expression. Of course he thought of the man that way, of course he thought fondly enough to address Madara with pet names and endearments, but until now he had been so careful not to say anything of the like aloud. Closing his eyes, he reminded himself that he had only recently come to the decision that he wanted to let Madara help him set the boundaries between them.

“Does that bother you?” he asked without truly giving voice to his answer. He waited with baited breath until the other man shook his head slowly.

“I wouldn’t say it bothers me, no. Maybe makes me feel a little guilty. You know that I–?”

Tobirama cleared his throat. “Yes, I’m aware of where you stand. What we have is…it’s enough. What we have makes me happy.”

“But you want more,” Madara surmised.

“I do,” he admitted because it was true and there was no point denying it when he had already unintentionally outted himself. “I desire many things but that isn’t to say I had any plans to force you. Perhaps in this we can implement the same rule as in other things, that you tell me if I do something which makes you uncomfortable. Does that sound reasonable?”

“Very reasonable.”

Both of them hung suspended for a few moments, neither sure what to say, and Tobirama found himself wondering if there were an earth jutsu somewhere that might actually make the ground open up and swallow him whole. He made a mental note to ask the Nara and the Akimichi, two clans with a notable amount of earth users among their ranks. The distraction was enough to occupy him while Madara worked through the revelation that his husband felt more than just a budding affection for him, more than the interest of a curious first fall, though he hoped the other still did not realize quite how deep he was in. There was no need to embarrass himself any further than he already had.

Eventually standing in silence grew much too awkward and they began to shift their weight back and forth until Madara huffed and leaned forward in a motion that could more accurately be described as a lunge, butting his head against Tobirama’s chest and throwing both arms around him in a hug more akin to an attack.

“It’s all so confusing!” he growled.

“Feelings always are,” Tobirama agreed, gathering the man in to a tight embrace, grateful his slip hadn’t ruined the day entirely.

“I don’t want my feelings anymore, I’m getting rid of them.”

“Let me know when you figure out how to do that.”

Madara grumbled a bit and squirmed but didn’t pull away and it was nice to know that he was still considered a source of comfort. After a few consoling pats to the back Tobirama gently suggested they leave this little side street and continue on with their shopping excursion. Nothing had to change just because Madara knew more about his feelings now, this didn’t have to make things weird.

When they turned the corner Kagami spotted them from where he was bouncing at his mother’s side and chattering a hundred words a minute while she inspected different bolts of fabric from a young man’s display of silks. As soon as his eyes alighted on them Kagami bid his mother goodbye and rushed through the crowd, ducking under legs and hopping over boxes, just to stand at Tobirama’s feet with bright eyes and a hopeful expression. That was a familiar expression. He could only want one thing with his eyes so wide and hopeful like that.

“Can we train more now please? You guys are done talking about adult stuff, right?” He clasped both hands together and fluttered his eyes until both Madara and Tobirama scoffed at his efforts.

“Perhaps after dinner,” Tobirama bargained.

“Mom!” Kagami immediately turned and hollered back down the street. “Can I have dinner with sensei?”

Looking up to meet their eyes with a questioning glance, the boy’s mother waited for Tobirama and Madara both to nod their assent before giving her child an exasperated yet fond affirmative. Kagami whooped and demanded to know what other shopping they had left, offering to help by running around and fetching things for them, a clear ploy to get them home a little faster. Luckily for him they were willing to indulge his efforts. Why do the work themselves if there was such a willing energy ready to do it for them? Taking advantage of opportunities was practically a shinobi tradition.

Glad to have smoothed their way past a moment with potential for so much more awkwardness than they had allowed themselves to be affected with, Tobirama reveled in the feeling of Madara's fingers reaching for his with no sign of hesitation. Things would be alright between them. He knew very well that his husband cared for him in some sort of romantic way. If it took time to build that romance he was willing to put that time in; he had a little more than four more years, after all, until Izuna would have a reason to start buzzing in his brother’s ear about moving on.

He was so lost in his thoughts of planning out their future together that Tobirama nearly missed seeing Tajima’s face in the crowd as they passed another side street where the man stood half cloaked in shadows, arms folded with the body language of a person waiting for something or someone. As they passed each other Tobirama saw the way Tajima looked at him, saw the way those cold eyes slid down to the hands entwined between he and his husband, then he saw when Tajima turned his gaze ahead to little Kagami so eagerly attempting to purchase an eggplant with the money Tobirama had given him. What thoughts might be hiding in that piercing gaze he could not have said but there was a distinct sort of sharpness that almost made him want to hide his loved ones away where Tajima could not see them anymore.

The next moment a door opened and his father-in-law turned away to enter the building he’d been waiting outside of but as he disappeared from sight their gazes met again and Tobirama felt a stone settle in his gut. Madara tugged on his arm to catch his attention, asking what the matter was, but he held his silence because he was unsure of how to voice his worry. Allowing himself to be pulled back in to a discussion about what to have for dinner that night, Tobirama wondered if he was worrying over nothing.

Or if he should start sleeping with one eye open.

#rae writes #madatobi #madara #tobirama #kagami #fanfiction

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fieldbears · 6 years ago

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Siren - the soft queer poly diverse mermaid show I had never heard of

So I am going to start yelling about Siren because I have seen/heard very little hype for this show and I think a lot of people would like it... here we go. I’m on the 4th episode. You can watch this on Hulu.

Would you like to watch a fun kissy mermaid show? Do you love a strong cast of supporting actors from various backgrounds who have been underappreciated by Hollywood? Did you love The Fifth Element’s Leeloo but wish she wasn’t so selectively helpless toward the end?

First warning: some of the acting is Lacking. I will not name names. But it’s important to note that someone VERY wisely decided that if their white male protagonist was not going to be extremely talented at Tones and Expressions, the least they could do would be to take a page from Teen Wolf’s book and make him the softest, goodest boy who drinks his Respects Women Juice with every meal. Ben starts out as a generic American dude but is slowly revealed to be curious, EXTREMELY forgiving, and very empathetic.

Second warning: a lot of the plot reads like fanfic. But ... woke fanfic. Hold on, I can explain: in the first episode, our Everyman is driving down a winding road when he spots a Mysterious Naked Girl stumbling around, lost, who then FAINTS. I think that’s bingo already, right? But here’s the thing - this show embraces a lot of fun cliches but, so far, abandons the problematic shitty ones. Ben, the Everyman? 0% skeeve, 0% male gaze. The helpless moment for the Mysterious Girl? That’s really the last time we see her be defenseless. Even when she’s clearly Lost or Confused, she still keeps her agency, picking up new information and making the most informed decisions she can; she’s also perfectly capable of dealing with anyone who threatens her.

(Which, TW for anyone who does not feel comfortable seeing an attempted rape scene: she takes a ride with a strange guy who seems nice at first, and it goes badly for him. If you want to skip past it, all you need to know is that he tries to take some liberties and she literally eviscerates him and throws him through the windshield. She moves on immediately and clearly has no remorse of any kind about what she did to protect herself.)

Third final warning, pretty mild: the Generic Bad Guy Military is out to experiment on the mermaids! Their facilities are... poorly designed! Their protocols are ... unclear! Their opsec is.... nonexistent??? The actors playing high-ranking military personnel are... not well suited for the parts they’re playing! This warning is really only for people who cringe at lack of trigger discipline in films, or otherwise know just enough about weapons or US Military Stuff to see when something isn’t well researched. But they’re more of a vehicle for plot, and so it’s easy not to sweat it too much.

Now on to the positives. I have many more positives than I do warnings.

The mermaids look fucking rad. I’m sorry, but I’m opening with this. The notes were clearly “realistic, but also gorgeous, and also predatory as fuck.” Look:

For a narrative with so many opportunities for dumb choices, they never Split the Party or Go Investigate That Weird Noise. We’ve got a cast of mostly young adults, none of whom have the full picture of what’s going on, but even the two Cliche Dude Bros have real scenes of discussing their feelings! Working out their misunderstandings! Doing their best to trust each other! It’s extremely refreshing - so far the various tensions aren’t brought on by needless lack of communication or love of drama.

Speaking of lack of drama, I have been holding onto this long enough, they are setting up a poly triad and I am fucking here for it. The two main human protagonists are dating, and work at a marine biology center together. As they learn more about Mysterious Girl together, they both become closer to her. Without spoiling anything major, there have been some scenes that are very clearly laying the groundwork for Clear Consent and Lack of Jealousy - this human couple has a healthy relationship and while plot is definitely happening very constantly and very loudly, there is an undercurrent of, this Mysterious Girl? This extremely pretty, extremely fascinating Mysterious Girl? Seems to like us? Both of us? Her cheekbones are unreal and we don’t know how to deal with this yet? It’s very sweet.

This show has real parts for extremely underappreciated POC actors. I haven’t seen Fola in anything before, which is criminal, not just because I’m extremely gay for her but because I want to see how her performance changes when she isn’t concentrating on an American accent. Gil Birmingham, who you definitely recognize on sight if not by name, plays her father, a competent (!!) sheriff who is clearly a good man (!!!!) and so far is getting a lot of screen time as he investigates Mysterious Things. You also know Patrick Gallagher, who plays the level-headed local doctor who Can Absolutely Tell Something Is Up. Curtis Lum and Ian Verdun play the dudebros, and Rena Owen plays a local weird lady and gets to use her own accent. Lastly, Sibongile Mlambo plays a Second Mysterious Girl, who is coming into the narrative more as we go on. I’M NOT EVEN NAMING ALL OF THEM. The white people are, off the top of my head, Ben Softboy Protag, his shitty family, and... most of the government folks? Of those, Softboy Protag is the only one with significant screen time.

And let’s talk interpersonal roles. So far, the show follows Ben the most, but it’s fairly clear so far that the show isn’t interested in establishing him as The Leader. There’s a vague Scooby Gang coming together, only two of whom are white men, and nobody’s taking on a leading role so much as negotiating and discussing what is best in These Mysterious Circumstances. I have so far gotten no Black Best Friend vibes and I am hopeful moving forward.

Also, not much is made of the fact that Ben is dating a WOC. His mom has made one shitty comment about how he always liked the ‘wild’ ones, but it’s unclear if that’s because Maddie... has tattoos? Isn’t rich? The mom is clearly set up to have shitty opinions, so the line is definitely a reflection on her and not on Maddie or the relationship. Also, and I realize how low this bar is, but: Maddie has Native American ancestry on her father’s side, and this is made clear without any unnecessary mysticism, cliche music in the background, anything. There are points where her knowledge of myths leads to interesting dialogue, but it’s not presented in... you know... that way?

That’s what I have so far. Yeah. Hulu.

#siren #show recs #YELLING ABOUT QUEER POLY THINGS #YELLING ABOUT STRONG DIVERSE CASTING #YELLING ABOUT BITCHIN FANTASY DESIGN WORK

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deliciousgears · 7 years ago

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Defrosted (Femslash February 2018)

Fandom: Urusei Yatsura

Pairing: Ryuunosuke/Oyuki

Prompt: Day 6 - Heat

Summary: On a hot summer’s day, Ryuunosuke attempts to run her own shaved ice stand, with the help of a certain Neptunian princess.

Word Count: 4004

Notes: I know, I know: an UY fanfic written by me that ships Ryuunosuke with someone else shouldn’t be possible. But I felt that since I got the whole of February, I should branch out a little bit...

Warnings: Some mild sexiness, but nothing really explicit.

It was going to be another hot day in Tomobiki. 30’c at the highest, 25’c at the lowest. Ryuunosuke was already sweating through her shirt as she wheeled her little food cart down the road, carrying her ice shaving machine and six large bottles of syrup, each with a different flavour. If not for anything else, it certainly was going to be a good time to get some shaved ice.

Ryuunosuke parked herself at the corner of one of the busy shopping streets, and started setting up shop. She had taken the small cart off her father, who was busy cleaning the school store or something (she never truly found out what he was doing, only that he didn’t seem to care that she left with the cart), along with the syrup bottles. Ran had told her that she knew somebody who could get her all the ice she wanted, just as long as she knew where she was going to be on the day.

Ryuunosuke looked around the street. There were a few people there already, but no sign of any ice waiting for her. Maybe they were still delivering it?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud rumble coming from the sky. Ryuunosuke looked up in confusion; wasn’t it supposed to be cloudless, today? She was surprised at the sight of a dark, swirling cloud that was forming in the sky above the square, crackling with lightning and growing by the second. As the cloud grew, a cold breeze blew down like a wave, a buffer against the hot summer sun, followed by a wave of snowflakes travelling along the wind.

Then, in an instant, a large crystalline block of ice burst out from the cloud, leaving trails of cloud vapour behind as it plummeted towards the city streets. Ryuunosuke barely had time to wheel her cart back before the car-sized block slammed into the sidewalk next to her, shattering into large pieces sliding onto the concrete and smaller shards zipping through the air, smashing through store windows, shattering car windshields and taking the head off a store mannequin.

Ryuunosuke stared at the massive pile of broken ice, clear and flawless and already starting to melt, long enough that she almost didn’t notice the other object bursting from the dark cloud, a red airbike carrying two figures, one of which she instantly recognised as soon as she laid eyes on her.

“Benten?!”

Benten waved at Ryuunosuke as she landed her airbike right beside the broken block of ice. “Hey there, girl! Is this gonna be enough ice for ya?”

“Enough ice?” Ryuunosuke said. “This is way too much! This is enough ice to make shaved ice for a year! It’s way too much for me to store in my cart here!”

Benten grinned at Ryuunosuke. “Well, maybe we should get to work, then? You wouldn’t wanna waste this, trust me!”

The second figure slid herself off from the back seat of the airbike, and stepped up towards Benten and Ryuunosuke. “It’s quite alright. I can have Benten keep the rest you don’t need in cold storage until later. It’s the least I could do as your business partner.”

Ryuunosuke turned to look at the other woman, only to find herself lost for words. She was a beautiful woman, of course, but she had a curious elegance in the way she carried herself in her snow-white kimono. Her face and hands was pale with light blue eyes, and her hair was long and bluish-white held up in a high ponytail, but Ryuunosuke couldn’t tell if her hair was ice, or had ice in it.

It took a few minutes for Ryuunosuke to realise that she was staring at the woman, and a couple more to realise that she had noticed, and was staring back. Almost immediately Ryuunosuke turned her head away, her body going ramrod straight. “Yeah, that’s fine, thanks.”

“You’ve never met Oyuki before, have you?” Benten asked, her head tilting. “We went to school together, along with Ran and Lum. We all pretty much go back a long way together.”

Oyuki smiled softly. “That we do. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Fujinami-san.”

Ryuunosuke just sighed and pulled out a large cooler from the cart. “Yeah, thanks a lot”. She began filling it with the blocks of ice. Eventually, the cart was set up properly with Benten’s help, and Ryuunosuke flew the little banner with the red “kouri” kanji over the cart.

She looked back towards Benten, who was already loading a small-hover trailer with the remaining ice, and Oyuki, who watched Ryuunosuke setting up her cart for sale. “Okay, you can go now. I’ve pretty much got this.”

“That may be so, Ryuunosuke-san.” Oyuki said. “But I have to stay here with you, as your business partner. I brought you your ice, remember? So you have to hold up your end of the bargain.”

Ryuunosuke looked confused. “Business partner? For a shaved ice stand?”

Oyuki’s face didn’t change at all, let alone bely any emotion. “The last time that I loaned somebody something for their own commercial use, it led to a sherbert bird running loose in Tomobiki and assaulting citizens. I would rather not want to deal with another repeat of that incident.”

“Yeah, I get that…” Ryuunosuke said, remembering what she heard of the sherbert bird incident. “But since when is plain old ice some kind of valuable thing on a place like Neptune?”

Oyuki smiled in a manner that didn’t seem to indicate amusement or politeness. “Naturally made ice is of little value on Neptune. But naturally made ice is very impure. This ice is personally made with pure water, in special conditions.”

Ryuunosuke stared at Oyuki, unsure if she knew what she was hearing. “Personally made? By yourself?”

“Of course,” Oyuki said, “It wouldn’t be personally made if I didn’t make it myself.” Oyuki waved a hand, wafting cold air from her slim fingers. “That’s why I want to stay here and protect my assets, Ryuunosuke-san.”

Ryuunosuke couldn’t find any more argument, especially considering that there were people gathering at the cart, waiting to get served. Instead she took her place inside, and started to work.

True to her word, Oyuki stayed at her side as the day went on, watching Ryuunosuke intently as she worked. She sat by herself on a tiny folding chair from Benten’s airbike, a large parasol stood over her head to provide shade for herself and Ryuunosuke. She was surprisingly easy to ignore, when there were enough customers, but there were moments when Ryuunosuke would lock eyes with Oyuki, and she would get distracted again. By the time the sun and the heat were at their highest, Ryuunosuke was finding it increasingly difficult to get those intense ice-blue eyes out of her mind.

After an hour or two, Shinobu had appeared at the stall, wearing a pretty white dress and a large floppy sunhat. She smiled brightly as she came over to the cart. “I didn’t expect you two to be here today.”

“You don’t expect me to be selling shaved ice?” Ryuunosuke asked.

Shinobu laughed. “Not you, but Oyuki-san over there.”

Oyuki smiled at Shinobu. “I’m the one providing Ryuunosuke-san with the ice. I’m here to help protect my stake in this business.”

Shinobu nodded, and bought herself a cupful of ice with some strawberry syrup, and Ryuunosuke watched her as she left, her dress swaying behind her as she walked.

“You seem to like her,” Oyuki said quietly. “Wasn’t she Ataru’s ex-girlfriend?”

“Yeah,” Ryuunosuke replied nervously. “I guess. But she has a boyfriend now.” She couldn’t help but spit out the word “boyfriend” like it was a bad piece of fish. “Now I don’t even see her without him around, and I…”

Ryuunosuke’s words suddenly died as she realised what she was saying: even an idiot could tell that she sounded incredibly jealous of Shinobu’s boyfriend. She looked over at Oyuki nervously. “Actually, just forget it. It’s just rambling.”

Oyuki just gave Ryuunosuke a smile. “We all get a broken heart sometimes, Ryuunosuke-kun. Even me.”

After an hour, the lunchtime rush hit; Ryuunosuke worked as hard as she could in the sweltering heat. She couldn’t believe that the business was going so well. She could even see some repeat customers from earlier in the day, alongside the rather large throng they were already getting.

“Ryuunosuke-kun, aren’t you going to eat anything?” Oyuki asked, for the first time since they opened shop. “It’s just gone past the lunch hour.”

“Don’t feel like it.” Ryuunosuke said. “There’s some onigiri I packed down with the coolers if you’re hungry.”

She turned back to serve the next customer… Only to quail and move back as that customer turned out to be her father, staring directly at her.

“Ryuunosuke, aren’t you going to greet your father?” The man’s face was stern and disapproving, which wasn’t much of a change from the way it usually was at any other time she saw him.

“Oh, you’re Ryuunosuke’s father?” Oyuki said. She pulled out the small bag with the onigiri inside. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you from my friends. You know Benten, Ran and Lum, don’t you?”

Mr. Fujinami looked at Oyuki, with the kind of blank expression on his face that usually denoted that he didn't really care. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Oyuki," Oyuki said, "Ryuunosuke-kun's business partner. Princess of the planet Neptune." She gave Mr. Fujinami a polite smile. "I don't believe we've met."

Mr. Fujinami just looked at Oyuki in silence for a moment, before turning back to Ryuunosuke. "How dare you ditch your old man this way! You've turned your back on the Hamachaya!"

"It's not like the Hamachaya was any good when I was there!" Ryuunosuke said bitterly. "Now get out of line if you don't wanna buy anything!" Inwardly she braced for another fight. She wanted to stand her ground there, in front of the tiny little cart with Oyuki's personally made super-pure ice.

Behind Mr. Fujinami, several voices shouted out in assent: "The boy is right! Get the hell out!"

"Loser!"

"Jerk!"

"Fashion victim!"

Mr. Fujinami turned around to face the crowd gathering in front of him. For a moment, he stood completely still, not moving. One particularly burly looking man quickly got in his face, shouting so loud even Ryuunosuke's ears rang. But then he suddenly punched him hard in the face, sending the entire pile toppling backwards to the ground.

Mr. Fujinami turned back to Ryuunosuke, grinning. "Well, would you look at that? No more line!"

Oyuki's eyes hardened, focusing directly on Mr. Fujinami. "Fujinami-san, I'm not going to tolerate you trying to ruin our business like this." As she rose from her little folding chair, a cold chill swept around Ryuunosuke and Mr. Fujinami. The people around them quickly sensed that danger was coming, and made themselves scarce.

Ryuunosuke placed her hand on Oyuki's shoulder. "Don't bother. I'll handle this."

Oyuki blinked, surprised. Of course, for Oyuki that meant her eyes widening slightly. The cold chill quickly faded away. "Do you really think so?" She looked over at Mr. Fujinami for a moment, before sitting back on the chair. "Fine, then. I'll have these onigiri while you take care of him."

Ryuunosuke just nodded, and approached her father, cracking her knuckles. "I don't expect you to come quietly. But I ain't letting you stick around and ruin my business!" She assumed a fighting stance, fists at the ready.

"You're still years away from being worthy to inherit the Hamachaya!" Mr. Fujinami sneered, sinking down into something like a White Crane stance. But being Mr. Fujinami, he probably didn't know jack about White Crane Kung Fu.

Ryuunosuke darted forward, punching at Mr. Fujinami, but he could dodge her blows effortlessly. She ducked forward, turning around into a sweep kick, only for him to leap over and try to deliver a diving kick at her head. She quickly twisted away from, rolling across the floor.

Mr. Fujinami leaped at Ryuunosuke, fist pulled back, but she was ready. She ducked beneath her father's punch, and surged forward, delivering an uppercut to his jaw. The feel of her knuckles hitting bone was so incredibly satisfying that Ryuunosuke almost forgot why she was fighting him in the first place. It was the moment where the thrill of the fight overtook everything.

Mr. Fujinami slammed onto his back hard on the pavement. But before Ryuunosuke could turn away, he rolled himself around, raising himself to his feet once more. "That was a good punch, Ryuunosuke... You're proving yourself to be a strong man, worthy of the Hamachaya..."

"I keep telling you," Ryuunosuke said angrily, "I'm a girl! I'll always be a girl! And I'm not going to go along with your stupid little games anymore!" She stepped forward, fists clenching. "I can live for myself, now! No-one else, especially not you!"

Mr. Fujinami turned to give Ryuunosuke a sick smile. "You say that, but who prepared that onigiri you've been keeping in the cart all that time, so you wouldn't go hungry?" He pointed over at the cart.

Something about his words gripped Ryuunosuke, however. For most people, having your lunch made for you would be something nice and appreciable. But Ryuunosuke knew that her father wouldn't just make onigiri and leave it in the cart. Especially not if he didn't know that she was planning on borrowing the cart before she did it.

Ryuunosuke turned to look at the cart, and saw Oyuki collapsed on top, a half-eaten onigiri held limply in her hands. Her eyes widened in horror as clouds of steam started to seep out from under her kimono. "Oyuki-san?!" Her face seemed to have gone bright red, and drenched with water. And her hair, which looked almost solid before, now draped limply over her face, the ponytail almost completely loose.

Ryuunosuke turned back towards her father, but it was already too late: his fist smashed into her face as soon as she turned around, sending her slamming against the cart, knocking the onigiri out of Oyuki's fingers to land in her lap.

"Pathetic!" Mr. Fujinami grinned as he stood over Ryuunosuke. "I thought that my special Ghost Pepper Onigiri would have taught you a lesson directly." He looked over at Oyuki, gasping for air. "But it sure seems to have taught her just fine!"

Ryuunosuke looked down at the broken onigiri, revealing a strange dark red substance that definitely didn't look like salmon or cod roe to her. Almost immediately, the rage rose up within her, and all she could think of was teaching the old man a lesson.

Mr. Fujinami grabbed the side of the cart, only for Oyuki to grab his arms. He could only smirk as Oyuki rose up to glare at him, even though her grip felt so strangely hot, like she had put her hands in scalding hot water.

"I told you that I'm not going to tolerate you trying to ruin our business!" Oyuki said, her voice hoarse and deep. "You're going to regret crossing me like this!"

Mr. Fujinami cackled as he glared down at Oyuki. "Really? And what do you, pray tell, plan to do to me? You definitely don't look too good right now!"

Oyuki just scowled, and raised her hands up in front of Mr. Fujinami's face. And before he could even react, two wide jets of hot steam suddenly shot out from her palms, scalding his face.

Ryuunosuke could only watch as her father staggered backwards screaming and clutching at his face. He stumbled to the floor, rolling around, his face red raw. Nothing serious, but probably would need some medical attention.

Oyuki leaned heavily on the cart for balance, her eyes glassy. "It's such a hot day, isn't it...?" She gave Ryuunosuke a demure smile, even as her hair fell about her face as an utter mess.

Ryuunosuke quickly got to her feet as Oyuki slumped against the cart, grabbing her body. She flinched back as she felt near-burning heat on her palms, forcing her to grab her by the folds of her kimono. Panic gripped her tightly as she held on to her limp body, and she looked around, desperate to find help.

It must have either been sheer coincidence, or perhaps just fate, that Lum happened to be floating down the street towards the cart just as Ryuunosuke was at her most desperate hour. "Ryuunosuke! What's going on..." Then she noticed Oyuki's limp body, and swooped down to the cart. "Is that Oyuki?! What's she doing here?!"

"Lum!" Ryuunosuke circled around the cart towards the oni girl. "Oyuki and me were running this shaved ice stand, but my old man had hidden some Ghost Pepper Onigiri and she ate them and now she's dying and I dunno what to do and..." She started to hyperventilate, tears streaming from her face.

Lum quickly cracked Ryuunosuke hard on the head with a small wooden hammer. "Calm down, Ryuunosuke! Oyuki's not dying, she's just really overheated!" She looked over at Oyuki, a worried expression on her face. "Although if we leave her like this she's definitely not going to have a good time. An overheating Neptunian is gonna be really dangerous, for themselves and others…” She gave Ryuunosuke a grave look. “We gotta cool her down, quick!"

Ryuunosuke clutched at her throbbing head as Lum called her saucer over. Before she could even look up, the large shadow of Lum's saucer hung over their heads. Lum raised her arm up and snapped her fingers, and suddenly the three of them were bathed in a beam of light. Ryuunosuke found herself and Oyuki being gently lifted them up into the saucer.

Ryuunosuke found herself carrying Oyuki in her arms as Lum started filling a bath with cold water. She could only gaze down at the princess, her eyes shut tightly, her face flushed and hair loose. She could feel her heart ache as she gazed down. She was careless and she hurt somebody who didn't deserve it through the carelessness.

Lum quickly floated back over to Ryuunosuke. "The bath is ready! Help me get this kimono off and get her inside!" She tugged at Ryuunosuke, helping lead her into the bathroom.

But Ryuunosuke stared at Lum, eyes wide. "Get the kimono off?"

"Well, yeah!" Lum replied. "What you want to just dunk her in here fully clothed?! That's just gonna make an even bigger mess!"

Before Ryuunosuke could stop her, Lum had already pulled loose Oyuki's obi, unravelling it from her body. Ryuunosuke swallowed hard as the silk pooled around her feet, leaving just the kimono to cling limply to Oyuki's body. Ryuunosuke looked up at Lum once more, her face burning redder than ever.

Lum tilted her head at Ryuunosuke. "Are you alright, Ryuunosuke? You're looking pretty flushed right now."

Ryuunosuke shook her head violently. "It's okay! It's gonna be okay!" She could hear her voice cracking as she spoke. She shut her eyes and tugged the kimono from Oyuki's body, her skin feeling burning hot. Ryuunosuke winced at the heat before quickly lowering Oyuki into the cold bath, only stopping to make sure that she didn't hit her head on the edge.

"Careful, Ryuunosuke..." Lum said as she bent over the bath. "Keep her upright so she won't drown."

Ryuunosuke opened her eyes nervously. Oyuki lay inside the tub, her body still steaming, even as she lay in ice cold water. But her face was calm once more, almost at peace. Ryuunosuke sighed in relief, even as she kept her eyes firmly on the girl's face, not even daring to move lower.

Lum quickly stood up. "Looks like she'll be okay... I better get to the pilot's seat and bring this saucer round somewhere safer... Not to mention pick up that stupid cart." Before Ryuunosuke could say anything, Lum was already out of the bathroom, leaving her alone with Oyuki. Ryuunosuke glared at the door shutting behind Lum, before kneeling next to the bath.

How did Ryuunosuke get into this stupid situation? All she wanted to do was have a business of her own, one that wouldn't be ruined by her father, or any of the other weirdness that happened in Tomobiki. And now she was stuck watching over one of Lum's friends who her father nearly damn killed with his stupid pranks...

"Is she gone already?" Oyuki said quietly from beside Ryuunosuke. "I would have expected more of a fuss from Lum-chan..."

Ryuunosuke jerked her head up, and looked over at Oyuki, stretching languidly in her bath, which was steaming even more. "Y-you're awake! You're okay?" She sat there, her body rigid. She felt happy, but also nervous, being close to such a pretty woman without her clothes on.

"Of course I am..." Oyuki said softly, smiling at Ryuunosuke. "I'm deeply grateful for you and Lum-chan rescuing me. I could have never expected such gallantry from most of my other friends..."

Ryuunosuke flushed deeply, down to the roots. "It was nothing, okay?" She turned her face away, wanting to look somewhere else than anywhere in Oyuki's proximity. "I didn't want you to die out there, especially because of me!"

"My, such a modest girl you are," Oyuki giggled softly. "I hope you don't blame yourself for what happened to me. I knew as much about that onigiri as you did, after all." She moved closer to Ryuunosuke, leaning over the side of the tub, and Ryuunosuke swallowed hard, keeping her gaze away. "You're a shy one, aren't you? So much different from the impetuous youth that Lum and Benten speak of so much..."

Ryuunosuke tried her best to keep her gaze averted, even as Oyuki came closer. She wasn't going to look at Oyuki, she wasn't, she wasn't, she would not even try... She was going to ignore how her heart was hammering, the beat felt all over her body, as well as how close and breathy Oyuki's voice was becoming...

"It's quite alright, Ryuunosuke." Oyuki said quietly. "I understand if you don't want to seduce me, or be seduced. But you're welcome to ogle me at the very least, if you wish."

The heat of Ryuunosuke's blood spiked up, and she turned to glare at Oyuki. "Who the hell do you take me for?! A sleazy piece of trash like Moroboshi?! Huh?" But the glare melted in the matter of minutes it took for Ryuunosuke to take in Oyuki, leaning in close to her, her pale body so close that she could just touch...

Ryuunosuke swallowed hard once more. "What... Why are you so close to me...?"

Oyuki only smiled at Ryuunosuke. “Because I want to be, Ryuunosuke-kun. And I think you want me to be close to you, too.”

Ryuunosuke couldn’t argue with that. She slowly turned around to face Oyuki once more. “You really think so?”

Oyuki’s only response was to wrap her arms around Ryuunosuke’s shoulders, and draw her in for a loving kiss. When she pulled away, Ryuunosuke’s face was completely pink, which made Oyuki smile. “Care to join me for a bath? I think it should be just about hot enough now.”

Ryuunosuke blinked. “Hot enough?” She looked down at the water curiously, then stuck her hand in. She yelped and pulled her hand away. “It’s hot! But it was ice cold just a moment ago!”

Oyuki just smiled. “Well, all the excess heat from those onigiri had to go somewhere, didn’t they?” Then her eyes turned languid. “Well, aren’t you going to take a bath with me, or not?”

Ryuunosuke hesitated for a moment, but quickly stripped off. She got into the bath next to Oyuki, slowly easing into the hot water. As she did so, Oyuki settled in against her, an arm around her shoulders.

“Do you feel better now?” Oyuki asked, running her fingers through Ryuunosuke’s hair.

“Yeah…” Ryuunosuke replied, blushing deeply.

“Good.” Oyuki smiled, and leaned in to kiss Ryuunosuke’s lips again.

When Lum returned to the bathroom, she was surprised to see Ryuunosuke and Oyuki sharing the tub, curled around each other in a close embrace. Lum just sighed, and grabbed the bundle of clothes on the floor. “I’ll just go and wash these,” she sighed, hefting them up in her arms.

“Hey, Lum?” Ryuunosuke asked nervously. “Is the cart okay?”

Lum smiled nervously. “Of course, Ryuunosuke. If it wasn’t, Oyuki would probably kill me…” She quickly left the bathroom with the bundle of clothes, trying to ignore the very intense stare Oyuki was giving her.

#femslashfeb2018 #Urusei Yatsura #Ryuunosuke Fujinami #Oyuki (UY)#Lum Invader #Mr. Fujinami #RyuuOyu #my stuff #my fanfiction

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bunbox · 7 years ago

Note

You should make a list of what song describes each character and a voice cannon list :0

I’ll pick ten out of my own. There’s too much to do every single one. If you’re curious about a specific one, send a follow up ask.

Akane: Justified Genocide and her voice has a slight accent since her first language is Japanese. Not exactly Omi from Xiaolin Showdown since she’s a bit girlier sounding and her accent wouldn’t be nearly that thick- but close.

Bambi: Sexting by BOTDF. And He just sounds like a normal dude. He’s an obvious boy when he speaks.

Bunni: ??? But her and Rory would have the same voice actor.

Chalice: Personality Complex and her voice is a medium pitch. She speaks very proper and can be quite loud sometimes.

Citron: All I need are Things I Like and her voice is similar to Maud Pie except it’s a bit higher.

Cyrus: Rolling Girl and her voice is whatever you think Kanaya from Homestuck sounds like.

Hunni: Pomppufiilis and her voice is high pitched and almost kind of squeaky. It’s loud, but very clear in terms of her annunciation. Think Bubbles from PPG.

Ink: Any classical music. Her voice is is similar to Jesse from Pokemon but isn’t as expressive.

Lum: Any music involving an organ. Her voice is soft and she has a lot of expression but it’s heavily suppressed in her voice.

Rory: Don’t Put Me in the Endroll and her voice is girlish sounding but very monotonous. She always sounds annoyed even if she may not be. Like Bridget from ‘The Most Popular Girls in School’.

#Anonymous #asks #rory #lum #ink #hunni #cyrus #citron #chalice #bunni #bambi #akane #oc

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ifanfictiondreamerworld · 6 years ago

Text

Ultimate Story Scrapbook-Page 50

OK, more on the story of Riley Daring. Thanks to Riley, Fox and his friends have found out that the SHAACL has influenced a lot of the humans with the use of his Dark magic the same way that they influenced the people of the town Riley is living in. However, Fox spoke to Prof. Oak about a few of the unusual things about Riley. He has noticed that she is very intelligent, perhaps even more so than being slightly above average. He also noticed that she has an unusually low tolerance towards sugar, in which she needs to consume only a small amount of sugar before she becomes hyper. He believed that these are signs that Riley could be a fairy. So, he went back to see her again to tell her about this. She seemed surprised at first but then became curious about this. She was taken to see the Professor who was able to confirm that she is in fact a fairy who has yet to have her powers awaken. After she was given a Gold Lum to awaken her powers, she began her training in another realm since they have yet to find another planet to train her on. At least a week into her fairy training, her brother Todd went missing and she stopped her training to try and find her brother. She returned home with Fox and his friends to find out what happened to her brother and the only clue that they managed to find were a bunch a cards from a famous trading card game known as Chaotic. From there, they found out that he was transported to another world where the game itself became very much real. So, they found a way to transport themselves there in hopes of finding Todd. There, Riley met Tom, Kaz, Peyton and Sarah who had very much seen her brother and were not happy with revealing this because their experience with him was...not very pleasant. When she told them that her brother went missing, they were very surprised since no one is actually transported to them, but in a way, a code of them that get transported back to them in the form of memories, which was why they were shocked when they found out that her brother had disappeared by this. They agreed to help Riley find her brother and perhaps have him kicked out of Chaotic for how he was towards them. They were eventually able to find Todd and he was unwilling to return home at first as he was too stubborn. However, during her search for her brother, Riley met Najarin, a native of Chaotic who was revealed to be an incarnation of a wizard that use to train Nikko and Ly. His memories of his past life were recovered the second he met Riley and discovered that she's a fairy. Riley heard a lot of stories from Najarin about how he use to train the 2 famed mystic beings, even expressed some sadness towards Nikko's fate. After hearing all of his stories, Riley decided to stay in Chaotic and train under Najarin. During her time with him, she lived in his tower with him as she trained with him. He had shown to be a very harsh and unrelenting teacher who was hardly ever easy on her. He had her float constantly without landing on the ground even once for an entire month, he had her lift huge boulders with her psychic powers, had her undergo deep meditation techniques in substitution for her sleeping, had her eventually lift the huge boulders without moving her arms up and down as though she was weight lifting as a means of breaking the habit of doing that. He was very hard on her a lot, but she was able to become a very powerful fairy under his tutelage and training. Despite how hard he tends to be on her, they did have a good relationship as Riley barely developed any resentment towards him. She was also grateful towards him for not going easy on him as his training methods have helped her to grow and mature as a strong magical being. Overtime, they became good friends. Also, she had developed strong friendships with Sarah as well as female creatures of Chaotic such as Intress and, believe it or not, Takinom. She became very well known throughout all of Perim, the homeworld of the Chaotic creatures. Maxxor has shown to like her very much, as well as his friends Tangath Toborn, Bodal and several other Overworlder. She has also gained respect from Chaor as well as several Underworlders, he is even aware of Takinom's friendship towards Riley and has shown some self-restraint through that. She has understandably became another enemy to Von Bloot and has fought against each other time and again. Overtime, everyone in Perim knew about her and this has brought many creatures of that world closer together. Riley plays some very important roles in the story. She had done something that played a major part in US4, even though she was very rarely seen, at most. She also became a very, very important character for another Ultimate Story series that takes place after US4. There is a lot I can say about this. I'll get on to another character and then another important part of US2. It's going to be epic.

#Ultimate Story #scrapbook #Ultimate Story 2 #Riley Daring #Fox #SHAACL #Chaotic #Perim #Ultimate Story 4 #Najarin #Todd Daring #Professor Oak

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saadalichaudhry-blog · 8 years ago

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Diary of a French girl in Pakistan JOHANNA MICHEL On my visit to Pakistan for the first time ever, I distinctly remember the day I was crossing the Wagah border from India, listening to a song by Noori while my heart was beating fast – not out of fear, but in anticipation since I had been waiting for this day for a long time. I was first introduced to the country by my Pakistani roommates many years ago when I was 18 and living in London. Their stories had piqued my interest right away. Finally, after all this time, I got the chance to come to Pakistan. It took me two months to plan my trip and included many nights of researching what to do and where to go. When I arrived at the crossing, border officials welcomed me with a lot of curiosity and immediately began asking me questions about where I was from, if I was travelling alone, if this was my first time in Pakistan and what the purpose of my visit was. I answered them gladly with as much detail as I possibly could. “I’m going there because I want to understand if Pakistan is really what the media portrays it to be. Honestly, I don’t believe even for a second what I see on TV.” With so many happy faces, I could have stayed at the border chatting for ages with the friendly staff. But since I thought my friends would be anxiously waiting outside for me, I didn’t stay for too long. After a few more questions, smiles and many shukrias, I was finally on the other side. Pak-is-tan. I think I had to pinch myself a few times to realise that I was standing on Pakistani soil. I sat on a bench next to a few old men while waiting for my friends to arrive. They looked at me, smiled and asked where I was from. I decided to introduce myself in Urdu and tried to speak the few words I had learnt on my own. I struggled, but they appreciated it so much. I remember them telling me, “Don't worry miss, although we don't see many solo female travellers here in Pakistan, people will look after you like their own family. You're also most welcome for dinner at our place...” At that point, I knew that I'd be spending a fun-filled week with unforgettable experiences. I had my first cup of chai in Pakistan – another thing off my bucket list – with them. A little while later, my lovely friends Faizan, Shah, and Lizzy came to pick me up in their shiny new car. I had met them online and this was the first time we were seeing each other in person. I was amazed at their kindness that they came all the way to pick me up. I said salam alaikum to them, khuda hafiz to the gentlemen whom I was having chai with, and I set off to discover Pakistan. Coke Studio songs were blaring in the car as a perfect auditory introduction to the country. I looked out the window, soaking up the vibes I was getting from the city, especially Lahore’s canals and the lush green trees along them. My friends are devoted bikers and own Karakoram Bikers, a company that arranges adventure tours on motorbikes around Pakistan. When they asked me if I wanted to explore Old Lahore on bike, I didn’t hesitate to say 'yes' even for a second. We set off on our bikes at full speed that same evening toward the chaotic but amazing androon Lahore. As I was holding onto my friend on the bike, with the fresh breeze against my face and a new landscape around me, I felt a deep sense of joy and liberty. First, we stopped at the Wazir Khan mosque, which I found breathtakingly beautiful. It was my first time to visit a mosque. Back in France, there aren’t any mosques where I live. The perception of Islam in my country is rather negative, but when I went inside the Wazir Khan mosque, I felt at peace. I am an anxious person and stress out easily, but all those feelings disappeared in that moment. I understood why Muslims go to mosques; it’s a place where you can escape all your troubles. Wazir Khan mosque will remain my favourite place in Lahore. We ended the day with a stop at Pak Café, where we had chai (obviously!) and chatted away. A young lady sitting next to us turned around and asked if I was French (is my accent that obvious?). I responded to her in Urdu, which made her even more curious, and I was in for another set of endless questions! Over the next few days, I had the chance to explore more of Lahore with another friend, Ahmed, whom I had also met online. While I was doing my research on Pakistan, I posted a question on Quora: "Is it safe for a 24 year-old girl to travel alone in Pakistan?" Ahmed was the first one to respond and since then, we kept in touch everyday until I arrived in Lahore. I took a taxi from Chandigarh to go to Wagah. I felt a little scared, but Ahmed kept in touch throughout. He is one of the best Pakistani men I have ever met! I also met his family and they are all lovely. I hope to be able to host him in Europe when he comes. He took me to his alma mater, LUMS. The red bricks of the buildings reminded me of England and the campus didn’t look very different from my university in Cardiff. I also saw a few foreign students and I could imagine myself studying there. We then headed to the food street and sat at a restaurant overlooking the beautiful Badshahi mosque. I tried paratha, daal, and mutton, which was tender and cooked to perfection. I also had Nutella naan for dessert, which was amazing! Pakistani food in the UK is decent but it’s nothing compared to what I tasted here. I expected it to be spicy, but to my relief it was rather tolerable. As we were having food and were immersed in conversation, a singer at the restaurant asked Ahmed if he had any song requests. Since Ahmed knew I was obsessed with Jal, he asked for one of the band's songs. It was another unforgettable moment. It was time to say khuda hafiz to the City of Gardens. Next stop: Islamabad. My university friend Sam came to pick me up from Ahmed’s place in his car. I couldn’t wait for the drive to Islamabad since I remember my roommates telling me how beautiful the route was. Faisal mosque is completely different than the other two mosques I visited. As we made our way to the capital, it was the perfect time as the sun was setting and I could see the untouched landscapes. The land was mainly flat until we reached the hills a little before Islamabad. It was a beautiful sight, with the city lights in the distance as we slowly reached our destination. What was soothing was the sufi songs playing in the car. My interest in sufism sparked a few years ago when my friends introduced me to it. I started listening to sufi music everyday, especially Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. When I was coming to Pakistan, I brought along a few Rumi books. Sufism, in both its poetic and musical expressions, makes me feel connected to the country. The following day, I organised a little surprise for my friend and took him horse riding in the outskirts of the city, close to Margalla Town and Orchard Scheme, at the Orrick Horseback Riding Islamabad, which I had discovered online. The sun was shining, the weather was cool, and we could hear the call for Friday prayers in the distance, which made it even more mystic. We became friends with the owner of the club, Orrick, a friendly Canadian expat who has been living in Islamabad since many years. We also met her lovely husband. I stayed in Islamabad for a few more days, during which I had the chance to try out some more food by the Margalla hills and enjoy a nice walk by the Faisal Mosque, before heading back to England where I live. I really wish everyone has a chance to visit Pakistan. When I was doing my research before coming, all I came across was news about bombings, kidnappings, and how the country was not safe for foreigners, especially women travelling alone. But I knew that this was not an accurate picture. In my time spent in Pakistan, all I saw was amazing hospitality, landscape, food, music, and the most welcoming people. Everyone was kind and loving, and they would do everything to make you feel at home. I haven't come across such generosity anywhere else in the world (and I have travelled quite a bit). I encourage you to go and discover Pakistan. I guarantee that you won't be disappointed by the experience. Johanna Michel was born and bred in France. She's 25 years of age and presently lives in England.

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