#oHHH i hate the new character limit : (

[edenmemes]

house of the dragon s2 starters

❝ there is a chill in the air. summer is well and truly through. ❞ ❝ it’s alright. there’s no reason to be nervous. ❞ ❝ i’ve little patience for the self-important, and even less for flatterers. ❞ ❝ you think me some kind of monster. ❞ ❝ it is my fault, i think, that you have forgotten to fear me. ❞ ❝ do you think simply wearing the crown imbues you with wisdom? ❞ ❝ i have been, at times, unkind but never untrue. ❞ ❝ mark my words, this is a black omen. ❞ ❝ it is your way, is it not? when something does not please you, you run. ❞ ❝ if i may seem so bold…you have not seemed yourself of late. ❞ ❝ i have come to see if we may uncover some path towards peace. ❞ ❝ i do not know if i trust you. and i sense there is danger in you yet. ❞ ❝ i wonder, do you have a moment for a quiet word? ❞ ❝ now i have seen your heart only belongs to you. ❞ ❝ it was worth the risk, no matter the outcome. ❞ ❝ some of us must serve in smaller ways…even if they are not what we would choose for ourselves. ❞ ❝ fuck dignity. i want revenge. ❞ ❝ you are not the player, but a piece on the board. ❞ ❝ is there no honor left in this world? ❞ ❝ stop wasting your life waiting for something that’ll never come. ❞ ❝ perhaps those who strive for the crown are the least suited to wear it. ❞ ❝ i find myself wondering…do we pursue the same end? ❞ ❝ and how would you define ‘victory’? ❞ ❝ once you get to know me, you’ll find i’m not so bad. ❞ ❝ thought you’d be happy. or at least less morose. ❞ ❝ i can sit still no longer. i must act. ❞ ❝ you struggle to see there’s an anger that blinds you. ❞ ❝ you must accept the path to victory now is one of violence. ❞ ❝ you only blame me because your true enemies are out of reach. ❞ ❝ there are many pieces at play here…some of which you can’t yet see. ❞ ❝ you will have all the vengeance you seek, but you must keep a grip on your impulses. ❞ ❝ which would you prefer? to be loved or feared? ❞ ❝ i don’t know what to think of you. i don’t know what you are, or who it is you serve. ❞ ❝ well, the gods favor the bold. ❞ ❝ you’ve thrown it away. after all i’ve done for you. ❞ ❝ what if the hand that’s done it is not to be blamed? ❞ ❝ the desire to kill and burn takes hold and reason is forgotten. ❞ ❝ the gods punish us. they punish me. ❞ ❝ the path i walk has never been trod. ❞ ❝ well…no use wondering what might have been. ❞ ❝ tales take on a life of their own…like weeds. ❞ ❝ this is not the time for blind accusations. ❞ ❝ hm, you wish to be rewarded. ❞ ❝ they will underestimate you. and this will be your advantage. ❞ ❝ i hope you do not confuse mercy with pliancy. ❞ ❝ there is no war so hateful to the gods as a war between kin. ❞ ❝ i’ve never trusted you, wholly…much though i wished to, willed myself to. ❞ ❝ you can’t possibly still be angry about this. ❞ ❝ boldness is one thing, but overconfidence… ❞ ❝ this world is cold and cruel, and there are few in it who are steadfast. you, i think, are steadfast. ❞ ❝ do not coddle me. grant me at least that dignity. ❞ ❝ history will paint you a villain. ❞ ❝ do you cling, even now, to what you think you lost? ❞ ❝ a sense of humor would do you good. ❞ ❝ if the gods call me to greater things, who am i to refuse them? ❞ ❝ you have done something i feared impossible. ❞ ❝ i’m not entirely sure we can declare this a victory. ❞ ❝ you should’ve been at my side. ❞ ❝ i see all your great adventures have done nothing for your looks. ❞ ❝ a jest. one you may regret as you’re supping alone tonight. ❞ ❝ soon they will not even remember what it was that began the war in the first place. ❞ ❝ i don’t need their love. i need their swords. ❞ ❝ perhaps all men are corrupt…and true honor is a mist that melts in the morning. ❞ ❝ let us put all the old unpleasantness behind us. ❞ ❝ are you perhaps the culprit who has been tampering with my peace? ❞ ❝ every man has a weakness. ❞ ❝ everything i’ve given you, you’ve thrown back in my face. ❞ ❝ oh, take heart. you’ve already written yourself into legend. ❞ ❝ you wish to wash your hands of what you yourself set in motion. ❞

❝ war is coming to the whole of the realm. ❞ ❝ you are a strange kind of woman. ❞ ❝ there are those that have mistaken my caution for weakness. let that be their undoing. ❞ ❝ i think you used my words as an excuse to take your own revenge…to indulge the darkness you keep sheathed within you like a blade. ❞ ❝ i came here to raise swords, not corpses. ❞ ❝ i cannot blame anyone for doing what i myself would do if i could. ❞ ❝ we cannot all hide in our castles waiting for war to come to us. ❞ ❝ call it what you will…i call it war. ❞ ❝ have the indignities of your childhood not yet sufficiently been avenged? ❞ ❝ you mustn’t be shaken from this. ❞ ❝ is this an order or a request? ❞ ❝ and they will pay for this. ❞ ❝ i will not be thought weak. ❞ ❝ i mistrust this silence. ❞ ❝ oh, you make an art of provoking me. ❞

[oh-no-its-bird]

Similar fic idea to One Step Three Steps, but instead of some random Hatake brat being zapped into modern Konoha from the very early days of the village, it was actually the at the time Hatake Clan Head.

I'm gonna go with the Hatake family tree I tossed into Chasing Shadows for fun, meaning a) the clan head is named Haruka, and b) she's Sakumo's mother (thus Kakashi's grandmother) and Tobirama's aunt

She died very shortly after Tobirama (like a week tops) and the rest of her clan was wiped out pretty soon after her.

(Sakumo was raised by the only other survivor of the clan, an old grandma with poor memory who hadn't been in any state to fight, and who later passed away when Sakumo was still pretty young— so he learned very little about their clan and their traditions, and then passed on even less to Kakashi before he died)

I have literally nothing else for her other than the above, so I guess we'll figure out her character together as we go along

With that said, this is gonna be a long one, so buckle in for

✨️ The Hatake clan head time travels from early to modern Konoha ✨️

Immediately, there's just so much potential pretty much anywhere you drop her into the timeline.

Lets take her from the very first years of Konoha, where they're still lowkey building the village and Madara is still around (bc I love the drama of the time traveler respecting Madara only for the future people to be like "oooo... ok, so bad news actually— Also, you legally aren't allowed to talk good about him for military dictatorship reasons, sorry :(" )

And then we're gonna drop her into kid Kakashi era, with Sakumo still being alive

Right off the bat -> That's Sakumo's fucking mom!!!! Holy shit you guys!!! The last time she saw him he was like a literal infant she JUST recovered from birthing AND NOW HES A WHOLE MAN!!!!

Shes grabbing him by the cheeks squishing him to death, there may be baby talk involved (he's a grown man let him go oh my god??)

If she comes before his mission gone wrong, her presence prevents him from going on it (disaster averted,,, for now) He's currently in the running for most likely to become next Hokage and she's so disgustingly proud holy shit. Her baby!!! Hokage!!!

Maybe have some talk about how that'd make either 3 or 2 Hatake's in office depending on if you count Hashirama as a Hatake (Haruka does not) and how that's kind of bad, right? Only Haruka doesn't give a SHIT about that (politicians hate her and shed hate them too if she didn't enjoy making them suffer so much)

"But Haruka, as clan head aren't you a politician too by default?"

"Haha yeah!! Isn't that awful? (For all of them)"

If she comes AFTER the dreaded mission gone wrong, Haruka is all about backing up his decision (the Hatake are a clan who emphasize loyalty like no other, which is also part of why they took to Konoha's mentality so well)

Shes telling Sakumo he did the right thing and fuck literally everyone who says otherwise. Trust your momma Sakumo, she knows best

Her being there averts Sakumo's death— either bc she manages to keep him going, or bc she interrupts him mid suicide

(I can see Sakumo trying to go through with it specifically bc he thinks at least Kakashi has Haruka now once he's gone)

Also oh my god SAKUMO YOU HAD A BABY??? SHE HAS A GRANDBABY???? AWWW CMERE LITTLE GUY LET GRANDMA GIVE YOU A SMOOCH— OHHH SAKUMO LOOK AT HOW HE STABBED ME OHH WHAT A GOOD BOY, WHAT A CUTE BABY BOY!! CMERE BABY— OHH SAKUMO LOOK HES BITING ME AWWW THATS SO CUTE!! WHOS A GOOD GRANDBABY?? WHOS A GOOD GRANDBABY?? (said like she's talking to a fucking dog)

Kakashi kind of hates her.

There's like a whole big bit about the Hatake clan bloodline limit, which is sort of general wolfy stuff, enhanced senses, some extra strength, etc. And my all-time favorite take, adaptation ✨️

Their white chakra is super flexible, able to adapt and change to fit pretty much any situation —or even other bloodline limits. (Which is why Kakashi not only survived the sharingan implant but came to arguably master it)

Anyways -> other than the white chakra (which neither Sakumo or Kakashi know the details of other than it's their family chakra and its,, white. Exciting, I know), their bloodline limit seems to have borderline dissapeared with Kakashi and Sakumo, due to basically them not knowing how to feed into it / activley supressing it to conform to polite society (unaware that certain impulses aren't actually just intrusive thoughts but actual instinct trying to get them to do things necessary to feed into and reawakened their bloodline limit)

Kakashi actually shows more hints of still having it bc of his age, while Sakumo is very well practiced in accidentally supressing it to conform with general society.

So obviously, Haruka is like "hey guys!! What the actual fuck is this!!" and immediatley (borderline desperatley) trying to get them back to her perceived normal

She's actually REALLY fucked up about all this. Her own son!! Her own grandbaby!! And they don't even eat enough MEAT!!!! This is an actual nightmare, this is like basic baby stuff all the Hatake's should know and she's getting nothing but blank looks and vuagley ashamed guilty stares from Sakumo as she asks if he even takes Kakashi on hunts (he didn't even know that was a thing he should be doing.)

Don't even get her started when she learns Sakumo isn't acting as clan head on the Konoha clan council, holy shit. The Hatake might be a clan of 2 now but they were among the first clans to come to Konoha— she doesn't give a shit how many of them are left, if the number is more than 1 then there better be a fucking representative of theirs on that goddamn council

Funny bit where Kakashi tries to bite someone and Sakumo is telling him to stop bc jesus christ child can you behave for 5 seconds oh god he's so sorry— and Haruka is like, why are you telling him to stop??? This is enrichment for him :)) if there's no blood it's fine, that's the official clan policy for dealing with kids

Haruka... isn't actually a very good choice to leave as your babysitter. If nothing is on fire and no one is dead she considers herself successful.

Sakumo will learn this. In time.

Mmmm bad ending where Sakumo goes through with the suicide. Could be very fun and fucked up n dramatic.

Kakashi doesn't find his father's body first bc Haruka does— or maybe he does but Haruka walks in right behind him and forces him to close his eyes before he can actually see the body.

Fun scene where Haruka is physically wrestling Kakashi away from his father's body, a hand over his eyes as he screams and claws at her, demanding that she let go and let him see his dad.

Can't she smell the blood!? Tou-san is hurt, he needs help! What are you doing!!? Let him go!! Tou-san, Tou-san, where are you? Why aren't you answering?!

He bites her hand in his struggles, so deep that it later scars (just another reminder of the day, oh boy !!)

Haruka getting hit by the fucking brick of reality, straight in the face. She got to meet her son, the only survivor of their clan from her era, just in time for him to die <3

The fic then takes a HARD turn from the silly fluffy fun times of Haruka goofing around telling people to suck her dick if they have a problem with her (which a lot of people definitely do)

-> Right into shinobi politics, political schemes and sabotaged missions and buried clan history galore territory. Haruka isn't ab to take this lying down and everyone's about to get their first look at a grieving Hatake mother in her prime who just lost her baby to the shinobi rumor mill

Before she was kind of keeping to herself just having fun in the clan compound, not reeeally getting involved with any politics or village shit, bc like, she's playing with her family!! This is like her vacation till the time travel is solved and she goes back home!!

But she's not doing that anymore.

Sakumo is gone and Haruka is more than willing to take the seat he chose to leave empty at the clan council. She's about to become EVERYONES problem.

In the bg, Kakashi VIOLENTLY swings between fucking hating Haruka ("You should have stopped him! You should have been there! You should have helped!") to being like, physically unable to be unatached from her (she's waking up in the middle of the night to find him suddenly burrowed into her blankets, holding on to her like he's scared she'll dissapear when he wakes up)

Small soft scene where he's sleeping on top of her and quietly whispers that he's sorry for biting her.

Haruka possibly tries to have Kakashi temporarily drop his training but it's a very hard battle to fight. Both bc Kakashi wants to fight and bc Konoha wants him to fight

Uhh first big scary Haruka politics scene when she puts her foot down and says something along the lines of, "are you telling me here and now that my word as Hatake clan head is not enough to stop Konoha from taking away my child?" And Sarutobi kind of has to back down bc that does NOT fly well with the other clans

Obito and Rin swing by and try to pry at why Kakashi can't fight and she just fucking stares at them and goes, "He's 6."

She goes home and puts her head in her fucking hands. She was promised Konoha was to keep the kids SAFE, that's the entire fucking reason the Hatake agreed to join!!! This is not safe Tobirama, you bitch!!!!! If they send out Kakashi to die, shes going to find your fucking ghost and grind your face into Kakashi's grave!!!!

Anyways, time for my favorite part: politics

Haruka is coming from the early days of Konoha, where the only reason the Hatake even joined the village was, "because my cute little nephew (Tobirama) asked us real nice"

In her mind, she and her clan are still allowed to back the fuck up out of the village whenever she so chooses. She likes it in Konoha, yeah, but they're still free reign nomads and while she'd like to stay and have her clan flourish (which they didn't exactly do and she can literally SEE the way the village destroyed them from the inside out) she and her clan retain the right to leave whenever they want. And if they do leave, other than losing the new friends, it won't exactly be hard on them to get back to the nomad life.

All of that is to say that Sarutobi isn't her Hokage and while she'll be nice and respectful bc she recognizes the position (and her position) when push comes to shove, there's literally nothing they can hold on her to make her bend or break.

Also the last time she saw Sarutobi he was one of her nephews little brat tag-alongs, and she's so fucking bad at treating people their age, doubly so if she knew them as a kid.

It's,,, kind of demeaning actually, she should stop. (She will not.)

Anyways: play into her not just being Tobirama's aunt but also Hashirama's (her sister was their mother) which becomes fun bc Kakashi is her fucking grandkid!! Meaning he's also their fucking cousin!! Politics!! Implications!!!

At least one person is making a "of fucking course the boy genius is related to one of them" joke but like in an angry way (it's probably Obito)

Anyways I started this off with basically nothing for Haruka other than her name and I think she accidentally turned into a real character along the way (inevitable tbh)

Shes a DEEPLY flawed person actually, which I kind of love. She has a habit of belittling people and not treating them their age (absoloutley calls everyone even slightly younger than her 'kid')

Her views of childcare are totally skewed and she should not be trusted with any children other than Kakashi (it's ok he's literally built different, she can provide proper enrichment for him)

Edit: I DIDNT FUCKING MEAN TO POST THIS YET IM GONNA KILL MYSELF I WAS STILL QRITING IM GONNA END IT ALL TUMBLR I HATE YOU I HATE YOU

Shes so fucking full of herself and about to make it EVERYONES problem

[lunarleonardo]

You like fanganronpas? If yes, which ones you like? :3

Ohhhh OHH I looove Fanganronpas. The only ones I've seen are Super Danganronpa Another 2 (i couldnt figure out how to play the first one :( i also just havent had much time), Danganronpa Despair Time, and Danganronpa Lapse. lunar ramble incoming

(will try to avoid spoilers for each fangan !!)

DRDT was the first one I saw, probably since I imagine it's one of the most popular, and ohh. I LOOOVE Teruko!! teruko they will never make me hate you. She and Whit are definitely some of my favs,, because. well. Who doesn't love Whit xD I also really like Nico :p I think they're sooo funny just. in general. btw chapter two had me in pieces thanks for asking

SDRA2 took me a good week to watch, and ill admit. i didnt finish chapter 6 (ノ_＜。) I was really sick when I watched chapters 3 and 4, and it didnt help that i was pulling all nighters because i was so hyperfocused i couldnt sleep. chapter 3's trial is unironically one of the most entertaining things Ive ever seen in any dr game AND fangan EVER. Like guys!! what is happening here!! that being said, I sort of knew who the culprit would be cus i was spoiled just a tiny bit, but I was STILL SURPRISED AT THE END cus ohhh my god. the twist. Sora is one of my fav protags ever btw I love yuri and NO not the character Yuri althohgh. he was really funny ill admit. He wasnt creepy in the Hifumi/Teruteru way and i really appreciate him for that. i also laugehd when they found him and he was like "Oh hi guys!" totally normally. dont get me started on... teruya and mikado ...... duuuudee they were actually tweaking literally what were they even doing. This fangan captured DR essence very well and took it a step further in an even more unhinged way, probably due to tbe lack of limitations on monetization n stuff, and honestly I APPLAUD that. i want what they have lowkey

Danganronpa Lapse is the one I played most recently and HOOOLY SHIT do not get me STARTED. ECHO!! ECHOOOO!!!!!!!!!! i was SO HAPPY finding a nonbinary dr protagonist you have no idea. and they were SOOO CUTE </3 DR Lapse is definitely a LOT shorter than any usual DR format and it deviated a lot, but despite that it still felt like a Danganronpa game and everyone there was SO. i was so in love with them. rip lyle you wouldve loved your turn to die. I do have to admit I was a little confused on the ending, but overall I really really enjoyed it. Also Zero was there and that makes it an immediate 11/10 thank you zero for accidrntally making me give you the funniest possible voice for your character

ok so it just hit me..now. BUT!! I have seen a little bit of Cartoons in Danganronpa!! I really really need to watch the prologue and..yknow...actual chapter instead of just watching the class trial and being absolutely blown away by every tiny thing. Theres a lot of characters in there I LOVE and especially seeing DIPPER GOD DAMNED PINES?? IN DANGANRONPA???? AND ERIC CARTMAN?? absolutely peak. funniest thing ever. but also i am so scared for the conclusion of that trial because the suspects are worrying. Also shoutout to Gaz for being the funniest one there . The artwork is so similar to their respective styles but you can still so clearly see a touch of the creator's own style and that really gives the entire fangan its own charm. The voice work!! Incredible. Thats another thing that hit me hard with DRDT TOO!! THE VOICE ACTING!! fuuuck it's sooo good ugh

another one is Ive seen the prologue to DR Mortalis Perpetua. I think it's a REALLY fascinating approach on the danganronpa style and I need to make the time to watch the new eps .. attention span please if you can hear me come back i need you

I love these fangans SO much and I love love seeing fangans in general. It's amazing seeing people's passions come to life, and i get SOO so happy whenever I see one. I adore peoples creativity, and even if it doesnt catch my eye, I still appreciate the passion and work put into those projects ^^゜゜(´O｀)°゜

And honestly? I really want to make my own fangan. I do already have one, a crossover fangan with my girlfriend, but I really want to make one in a video game format. I know I'll probably forget about this in like a month or two, but I have always wanted to try and make games. That would mean, however, I have to teach myself coding... @_@; so Ive been on Scratch. and it's going great (ITS NOT ITS NOT ITS NOT ITS N

if anyone out there has any tips for getting into making games... please help. I have a very bad habit of overwhelming mysrlf ( ；∀；) and i need a starting point lmao

anyway we'll see. I fear I might need to start looking into ADHD medication

[firecooking]

(bruhstation) hey neil! thank you very much for supporting fortezza bigg city so far :] I really appreciate the thought you've put into analyzing bits of my silly little AU, and I've also gained a huge appreciation for your own works as well. it's so clear you've put a lot of thought and research into your AU and it really blew my mind because everything is so meticulously thought out!!! and I'm looking forward to more!!! here's a quick sketch of your gal zaffre! once again thanks :3 (also you're inspiring me to make my own z-stacks oc! haha)

OHHH MY GOD LOOK AT HER MY BABY GIRL MY SWEET CHEESE SHE LOOKS AMAZING AHHH YOUR ART IS SO GOOD I LOVE YOUR FORM AND VOLUME AND HOW YOU DO YOUR LINE WEIGHT WITH THE OPACITY AND LINE DYNAMICS your handle on anatomy and rendering is really interesting to me, reading you work in Fire Alpaca with a mouse is mind boggling to me, i remember when I was doing the same years and years ago and the skill you show is really fascinating and i am jealous, the way your art is put together is scratching my brain. i have been doing art studies of it and trying to dissect it, it'd have such a interesting feel for animation, you have a wonderful style for breaking down into a limited animation style with a emphasis on dynamics with animation in a 8s, 6s, and 4s with 2s detailing and a hard tweening style [<- just professional animator things lol] The way you render shadow and lighting is also ough. This Zaffre is genuinely so wonderful, new desk top background moments. I love her gesture and expression here, it really captures her as a character! Also the way you draw hands, augh, just augh I wish.

You, my friend, are a fabulous illustrator!

And oh my god your AU is scratching my brain in ways I didn't think possible! I know so little yet there is so much there. When I genuinely say that it is affecting me as much as if not more that @askthefamous8 that is the highest compliment I can muster [that AU has been one of my special interests since 2015,]. I am legit making a post it note wall over FBC just like ATF8 had when I was in middle/high school

You have the most loyal human AU fan on your team now, I genuinely smile thinking about Fortezza Bigg City all day long, my friends and partner are getting annoyed to death from me ranting. sorry dear if you are reading this: I know you hate tugs

Also thank you! I really love doing in depth research, its the autism at work. I am a proud vehicle autistic. I've said it before but working on a ship for a summer just to know the mechanics of how actual sailing works is probably the most unhinged thing I can say I've done for accuracy sake. Loved my Captain and fellow crew, very sad I got sick and had to leave. Honestly would love to be a sailor if my heath wasn't bungled up and I wasn't like $200k of debt in animation college.

My humanoid vehicle AU's are partially based on my sadly never going to be picked up pitch bible for a science fiction based historical vehicle show [my fatal flaw is niche interests] And it literally makes my day to sit down and work on the most expansive and historically researched BS on earth, my AU is both a lovely love letter to TUGS as the show it is and a Love Letter to what TUGS wanted to be! At the end of the day TUGS wanted to be it's days Steven Universe or MASH [something I am gonna elaborate in another format later] but unfortunately it just didn't have the right ingredients. Its the Same as the TUGS musical I'm working on, it's a love letter to what TUGS both is and was supposed to be along with being a love letter to the characters themselves

Also:

Join the Z-Stacks OC League, we have cool hats and crime

[mustlovesteve]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you @stevehairingtit for the tag! <3

1. How many works do you have an AO3? 16

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 224,199

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Nowadays I only write for Stranger Things. In the past, I've written for VLD/VDOTU, Avengers Academy, and SPOP (only a one-shot).

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

laughing at the broken glass (Stranger Things, Steve/Eddie)

in the heart of the jungle (Avengers Academy mobile game, T'Challa/Tony Stark)

mean ballerina (Avengers Academy mobile game, T'Challa/Tony Stark)

it's only skin and therefore so breakable (Avengers Academy mobile game, T'Challa/Tony Stark)

searching for sparkles (Voltron: Legendary Defender, Allura/Lance)

I am...shocked that my T'Challa/Tony fics based on a college AU mobile game got that many kudos. It wasn't a particularly popular ship even within that tiny subset of the Marvel fandom. Maybe MCU fans stumbled across the fics and enjoyed them anyway?

5. Do you respond to comments?

Almost always, unless they're a single word/emoticon that I don't know how to respond to.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

All of my fics with angsty endings are one-shots--hum along till the feeling's gone forever (I kill Steve), but I knew that you were a truth (I kill Lance), and weakness (I kill Adora). I don't have the heart to end a long story in tragedy tbh (but respect to those who do!).

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Probably my Allurance series. LATBG ended happily but there were still some Issues (hence the sequel).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I think I've gotten two mean bookmarks but luckily no mean comments (though, I only allow comments from registered users).

9. Do you write smut?

Technically yes but I haven't uploaded that chapter yet (and I'm Very Nervous about it lol).

10. Do you write crossovers?

No. I have no interest tbh.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not to my knowledge.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

Ohhh that's tricky... 616! and Avengers (2012)!SteveTony will always have me in a chokehold. Even today, I'll listen to new music and immediately think of them. However, I've been searching for the Nana to my Hachi since I first read the NANA manga as a teen, and that influences my life in a major way. Also, VDOTU!Allurance has brought me the most unbridled joy.

Funnily enough, of my top 3 ships, I've only written fics for VDOTU!Allurance.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I wish I had finished my AvAc!T'Challa/Tony Stark series many years ago, but that time has long passed. I'm working on a Stranger Things S3 AU, but I keep getting discouraged and questioning the characterization, so I'm not sure if it will ever see the light of day on AO3, let alone get finished.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Conveying mood and tension (mood whiplash ahoy!). Imagery, especially in horrific scenes. Utilizing limited POV (misunderstandings my beloved). Balancing relationships (platonic and romantic!). Realistic conflict (I try to avoid villainizing a character unless they're actually that awful). Plotting (logistics my beloathed).

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Fluff and sustained sincerity (this probably says something about me as a person lmao). IC dialogue (not the message, but the specific phrasing/making it sound like the character, like yes he would fucking say that but probably not in those words, y'know?). Body language (when I'm writing, I usually have my body language document open, which gives me a good starting point, but I feel like I don't account for the specific character's mannerisms enough, so it becomes repetitive/paint-by-numbers).

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I wouldn't unless my friend was fluent and wrote that part for me or it was a fictional language.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

................Gravitation...........

20. Favorite fics you've written?

LATBG is definitely my favorite. After that, I guess it would be my T'Challa/Tony series or my Allura/Lance series.

Tagging: @shushmal, @theheadlessphilosopher, @sevenmerrymagpies, @soaringornithopter, @emryses, @danadaria

[slashingdisneypasta]

This idea/question popped into my head last night and I think it might intrigued you too. Or at least it'll be fun to think about.

So we know that in the Slasher AU, Rena is dead and Ryan and Kingston are still running their L.V mafia. But what if they were a bunch of slashers? Whether they replace the weasels as the Slasher Villains or they are Las Vegas' group of killers? How much different do you think they and their relationships would be (not just with each other but other people, like Maya and Kingstons parents)? What kind of irl slashers would you compare them to?

If they are slashers alongside the weasels... Ohhh boy Shiny, Poppy, and Lottie are in for a shit show when they get on the road, I imagine.

SLASHER AU SLASHER AU SLASHER AU-

Okay so I saw this and had to get up, fill a hot water bottle and get comfy so I could respond. I'm ready now, here we go.

Slasher!Rena is Freddy down to a T. She's an orphan, she's a Huge Tease, she's terrifyingly cunning, and she'd absolutely come back for her daughter just to use her when she needs her. So Rena's basically herself, but with a taste for bloodshed. As opposed to King and Ryan, Rena probably always had a little bloodlust in her, from childhood; I can see her being bullied when she was little (she was a lanky, awkward thing who looked just like her brother- they called her a boy, boyish, masculine. Said she would never be pretty; that kinda thing. As well as 'poor' and 'orphan'. She and Ry still get adopted by King's parents in this au but that doesn't change the fact they aren't her real mum and dad, and children are cruel) and hating everyone around her (Except Ryan and King). She started hating guys, particularly, even more after she hit puberty and SUDDENLY!! everyone liked her.

As she grew up she became more and more the character we know- addicted to drama. Except its even worse, because... well, she's not satisfied with a little sex. Yes, thats great, but she starts to think that if she can kill... and then go to the funeral, too,... t h a t would be perfect. And of course, she targets kids she grew up with and their families. (And at this point, she's the most popular woman in the little australian farm town. She knows everyone, she's friends with everyone- So she has access, to everyone.)

After they move to Vegas, america's capital of bad mistakes, Rena really hits her perfect stride. Everyone there is her puppet.

(And *cough* I have this thought where, after Poppy/Shiny/and Lottie come to Vegas and meet the Roo's, and Lottie naively thinks she's finally found a parent who wants her (Rena's spinning it like Smartass took her and hid her from her mother- which we both know is nothing but lies), Rena digs into her daughter. She finds out everything that happened, convincing Lottie with gentle motherly touches and warm openness to tell her all her secrets. Then, for fun, Rena sells Lottie out to Greasy)

Slasher!Kingston is Chucky for sure XD Oh! And also Foxy and Stu!! Kingston still seems to think pretty clearly (Unlike, say, Otis or Baby. Or Tiffany. Or Billy.), he k n o w s the difference between right and wrong, he can explain ethics, but he just doesn't care ('wrong's the fun one'). Kingston basically started developing a bloodlust after Rena started killing. He was always pretty popular in school (AFL star) and in town; he was never bullied, but he's always up for trying something new! King's a bit of a thrill seeker (He drove before he had a licence way over the speed limit, he drank before it was legal, he smoked, he did drugs, he was up for really any dangerous stunt, etc), so when he stumbles upon his girlfriend with blood on her pretty face and his old football coach laying still on the ground, he's basically like... 'oh is this what we're doing now?? Well- shit- I'm down! Whadawe do with this??' *gesturing to the body of the man who kindly taught him football all through highschool* Who's next??'

And its not personal for him at all like it is with Rena, he'll kill anyone. Doesn't matter. He has very little in the way of empathy.

King just jumps on board immediately- following Rena's lead but quickly ~flourishing~ on his own. And, being a thrill seeker, he almost blows their cover so so many times! Rena gets so annoyed 😅 She has tied him to a chair with military grade knots through the night before on multiple occasions because they need to lay low now goddamnit!

As for his parents... he would absolutely kill them, no guilt no shame. He doesn't want to, he's not gonna go out of his way to do it (They're his mum and dad! He loves them, in his way), but if they found out about his extracurriculars and they started creating problems then he will shoot them in the heads.

Slasher!Ryan, true to his character, was never a really cruel person (Just complicit)... until Maya** was killed. So, I'd liken him to... maybe... Needy? From Jennifer's Body? After Jennifer and Chip were killed, she lost a l l semblance of being the 'good guy'. She went basically monotone, and just... pissed. And thats definitely Ryan (In the original universe too, but its definitely more violent in this one). Ryan definitely also has a mindless, wrathful Michael Myers thing about him.

He wants to destroy whoever did it, whoever took Maya away. But once its done... he still doesn't feel better. Ryan will never feel better. He's lost something very important inside him, he doesn't care anymore, and it will not ever go back to the way it was. He's like a mindless soldier for King and Rena to use as they will. (To their credit- they do try not to treat him that way though. Thats their brother, who's been with them no matter what since the start, and... they love him. He's their soft spot!! But sometimes they have to use him.)

Ryan goes into dissociative states where he will hurt anyone near him, and King has to hold him back (Which is a struggle- Ryan's stronger then any of them) while Rena forces a pill down his throat; covering his mouth until it goes down and he goes to sleep.

** Maya did not know about Kings and Rena's killings when she was alive. Ryan kept it from her, and though King made some odd jokes sometimes around her, and she might have had some suspicions... she never outright found out.

[startanewdream]

Ohhh very nice points here.

I would also note that the prank serves more to illustrate Snape and James' characters than it does for Sirius and Remus (Snape hates them, what’s new?)

The James-saved-Snape's-life is first mentioned in PS by Dumbledore as an excuse why Snape saved Harry. It’s not true, after all, and it makes sense in a way because, for Snape, this was not a life debt. Snape never acknowledges that James saved his life, and he tells Harry so, saying his father was just trying to save his own neck; he refuses to admit that James could have any redeeming quality. It would make sense because SWM happens after this, and James and Snape loathe each other then; saving Snape’s life does not make James humiliate him any less.

Still, as bad as James is during SWM, he is still the guy who months before, as Remus points out, did not agree with what Sirius, his best friend forever, did, and went after Snape. The whole tale is set to explain who James as at heart: a noble guy who did not want anyone to die, not even someone he disliked since the beginning (and as an afterthought, this is a counterpoint to Snape’s 'I don’t care if her husband and child die as long as Lily lives').

Plotwise, this is the limit of the prank; it’s never mentioned again until The Prince's Tale (and again to compare James and Snape). It could be the perfect excuse as to why there was some trust issues between Remus and Sirius, leading to the whole Secret Keeper thing; but since it’s not mentioned, I would say that the Prank is not as relevant as fandom enjoys... and only because it’s relevance to Harry’s story is very restricted.

a thing i always wondered about the marauders, was the prank, canonically speaking, really as dramatic as the fandom makes it out to be? cause i’ve seen a lot of differing opinions on here

[multifandomfanficss]

That Sounds More Like It

Jake Martin x Reader

Request: “Jake Martin x Reader where they’re together and during the events of where Jake was panicking and he collapsed in sauna room, reader was there: helping and taking care of him when he had concussion through the doctor’s office and it’s just sweet really sweet,, much thankss”

Warnings: None? If you see any please let me know!

A/N: This is my first Jake Martin fic so I hope I did well with it. Thank you so much for this request! The preferred pronouns weren’t specified so I made the reader gender neutral. Should I start writing for other Freddie Stroma characters? I’m currently writing a oneshot for HG Wells from Time After Time, so hopefully I’ll have that out soon. Enjoy! ❤️🏎❤️

Thank god you had the day off of work because you were currently going slightly over the speed limit to get to your boyfriend, Jake. You had taken the next couple days off because you were leaving for a big race of his tomorrow. You rarely ever sped because you were afraid of being pulled over and even more afraid of car accidents, so this was a real emergency. It was kind of ironic you were so afraid of car accidents considering you were not only dating a race car driver, but a race car driver who was known for his speed and his crashes. He was lucky you loved him because your heart always stopped every time he put himself in danger.

Upon pulling up at Bobby Spencer Racing you parked and ran into the building. You couldn’t even remember if you locked your car or not, but you didn’t care. All you cared about was Jake who had passed out in the sauna room. It was no doubt an impact of Jessie’s arrival. She was a new driver Catherine was letting use the gym.

You were running at top speed through the building, past Chuck who had pointed upstairs to the gym. You quickly made your way to the gym and entered to see Jake sweaty, trying hard to focus, while Kevin checked him for a concussion.

“Hey look at me. What do you see?” Kevin started testing him as you stood in the doorway. Kevin put up 2 fingers.

“Scissors.”

Kevin put up 5 fingers.

“Paper.”

Keven put up one finger.

“(Y/N)?!” Jake said, excited to see you once he had noticed you in the doorway.

“Okay, that’s not even close.” Kevin sighed. You tapped on his shoulder. He turned around to see you.

“Ohhh okay. I think he’s okay. He just overheated. Let’s just get him to the doctor and get him checked out just in case.” You offered Jake a smile as you helped him off of the workout chair.

“Hey, I-I think you were in the dream.” Jake says to Amir.

“Yeah, too late!” Amir proclaims.

“What dream?” You ask as the three of you make your way to the car.

“Oh, I had this dream and Kevin and Beth were there.” He starts to explain.

“Where was I?” You ask.

“Oh, Babe, you’re in all of my dreams. You are all of my dreams.” He tells you. You let out a soft giggle.

“You hit your head pretty hard, didn’t you?” You ask.

“So hard.” He sighs.

Jake was uncharacteristically quiet on the ride to the doctor’s. You’re sitting in the back seat with Jake while Amir drove. Jake leans his head on your shoulder.

“Are you feeling alright.” You check in.

“Yeah, I just wanna close my eyes for a little while.” He says, seeming far away.

“Nope!” You say, pushing him off of you. “We’re gonna sit up, okay? You can’t sleep right now.” You tell him.

“Why not?” He whines.

“Because if you go to sleep right now with a concussion, you might not wake up.” You hated to even think of such things. He lets out a noise of frustration.

“But I’m so good at waking up! I’m such a morning person!” He begs you.

“You and I both now you are not a morning person.” You laugh. He turns to look at you.

“It was worth a shot though, right?” He ponders. You smile at him.

“You’re gonna be alright.” You tell him, changing the subject. This reminder is more to your benefit than his.

When you get to the doctor’s office you help Jake to the front desk. Jake is given paperwork to fill out.

“Why do they want my phone number? Are they hitting on me? I have a partner!” Jake yells over to the woman at the front desk. You laugh.

“No, Babe. It’s for their records. They’ll use it if they need to contact you again regarding your health.” You explain.

“Oh.” He nods.

“Jake Martin?” A nurse calls his name. He escorts you and Jake to a room while Amir stays in the waiting room. Jake sits down on the bed while you take the chair next to him. The nurse laughs at one of his jokes and he looks at her deadpan.

“I’m sorry. I have a partner.” He says, pointing to you. You let out another laugh.

“Jake, you don’t have to tell everyone.” You remind him.

“Yes, I do because everybody here keeps trying to get my information and they need to know I’m taken.” He says, dead serious.

“Okay, Honey.” You smile. You’re not annoyed. If anything you think it’s incredibly cute.

“Well, your partner is very lucky and you’re very lucky to have them. I’m glad you’ll have somebody to take care of you while you have a concussion.” The doctor says.

“I’m sorry, you said he has a concision?” You want to make sure you heard her right.

“Yes, I’m afraid so.” She frowns.

“But I can still race, right?” He asks.

“I’m sorry, but there’s just no way I’m letting you get in a car for at least two weeks.” She sighs, breaking the news.

“No, but this is my career we’re talking about. I can’t miss a race.” He begs her to let him drive.

“It’s just not safe.” She says before exiting the room.

The ride back was tense. Jake wasn’t upset very often. Sure, he’d get a little pouty when there was no toy at the bottom of his cereal box, but you had never seen him so destroyed over something he cared about so much and it was breaking your heart. You took his hand in silence and gave it a squeeze. He turned to you, forcing a smile. You forced one back. It might take a couple weeks, but he’ll be okay.

When you got back to Bobby Spencer Racing Jake forced you to go home. He swore he’d be okay and that you could come pick him up in a couple hours. He said he just needed to talk to Kevin and get a few things together. You had gone home and you tried to rest, but you just couldn’t shake that worried feeling. You happily got in the car once you received a text from Jake telling you he was ready.

“Good news.” He said as he got into the car.

“What?” You ask. You could really use some good news right about now.

“I’m cleared to drive. Turns out it was all just a mistake.” He informs you. Your blood runs cold at the thought of him driving still injured, but you try to shake it off.

“That’s great.” You force another smile.

“I know right?!” He laughs, full of excitement.

“You would tell me if something was wrong, right?” You ask.

“Oh course I would.” He quickly brushes you off and changes the subject.

You try to brush it off until the next day. You know something is off about him. He’s your boyfriend. You always know. It’s not until he’s in his suit, ready to get on the track that you bring it up again.

“Jake, please. If you have a concussion don’t race.” You beg him.

“I’m fine. You worry too much.” He brushes you off again.

“Jacob Martin, I’m sick of you brushing me off. I’m serious. If you have a concussion and you race…if you get seriously injured…if you…” Your voice trails off. You can’t bare to think of it, let alone say it. You take a deep breath to avoid crying. “I just want you to be safe.” You finish.

“I’m fine! I’m going to race and I’ll be fine.” He promises. You can’t listen to him anymore. You turn your back and walk back to the trailer. Once you see it’s empty, you can’t help bursting into tears. You’re crying so loud you don’t even hear Jessie walk in.

“What’s wrong?” She asks startling you.

“It’s nothing.” You tell her.

“No, seriously? I know I’m kinda your boyfriend’s rival, but I can help.” She offers.

“It’s Jake.” You think about what to say next. Should you tell her? “He has a concussion and he’s still going to race.” You sob, your worry getting the best of you.

“I can fix this.” She says.

“But he’s worked so hard.” You cry.

“If you ever tell him I said this, I’ll deny it, but he’s a good driver. He’s talented. Missing one race won’t kill his future. He needs to sit this one out.” She convinces you. You nod and she goes to speak to Kevin. You’re left alone with your thoughts again until Jake comes into the trailer looking sad. His facial expression immediately changes to a more concerned look once he sees your face.

“Have you been crying?” He asks. You nod, rubbing your eyes.

“Hey, what’s going on?” He asks, kneeling in front of you where you sit, taking your hands in his.

“I’m just so worried that you’re gonna go out there and crash and this time you won’t come back. Jake, I’m afraid to lose you.” You choke out, the tears beginning to drop again. He wipes the tears.

“Hey, you’re not going to lose me, okay?” He asks. You nod.

“Don’t worry. Jessie talked to Kevin. I’m not racing today, but if I had known it was upsetting you this much I wouldn’t have even put on the suit.” He says, cupping your cheek.

“You wouldn’t have?” You ask.

“Of course not. Well, maybe. I probably would have put on the suit, looked in the mirror, checked myself out, and then felt incredibly guilty before taking it off.” He smiles as you let out a soft laugh over his fake scenario.

“Yeah, that sounds more like it.” You smile.

“There we go. A beautiful smile on the most beautiful person I know.” He says, pushing your foreheads together before giving you a short, but passionate kiss.

“What do you say we go watch the race?” He asks.

“You really wanna see Jessie in your car?” You question him.

“No, I wanna see her lose so I can get my spot back.” He clarifies.

“Yup, that definitely sounds more like it.” You laugh before exiting the trailer with him to sit with the rest of the team. When you got home you were going to force Jake to rest. You would watch hours of car movies if it meant you could get him to stay still with his head in your lap, playing with his hair until he fell asleep.

[calaofnoldor]

Winchester Welcome

Characters: Sam x F!Reader, Dean

Words: 3,878

Summary: Everyone’s ecstatic about the impending birth of your twins, but since when do these things ever go off without a hitch for the Winchesters?

Warnings: labor/birth/complications (but nothing too graphic), potential medical inaccuracies, slight angst, bit of language, dean being an awesome big bro? 

A/N: this is part 2 of ‘Dean, Don’t’ (though i think it can be read as a stand alone) which was very kindly requested by @carryonmywaywardbucky, so if you don’t like it, you can go take it up with her (jk!). also, i’m so sorry, i don’t know where all this angst/drama came from 😬

← BACK UP | MASTERLIST

Sam had one foot up on the bench seat and the other planted firmly on the floor of the Impala. He had managed to maneuver you between his legs, where he could offer comfort and support in whatever form you needed.

With one hand pressed against the side of your colossal baby bump, Sam could feel your stomach tense up each time a contraction came, and he always urged you to breathe through them. His face would be nuzzled within your hair, while his other hand kept itself busy rubbing along your neck, shoulders, arms, back, and hips. Indeed, the man had become remarkably handsy ever since you began to show and you unwittingly loved it, even now, in the throes of labor.

“Ugh, Sam!” You grabbed his wrist in a moment of frenzied pain.

“I’m here, baby! I got you, it’s OK.” Sam burrowed his nose into your neck in consolation, and you were beyond glad he had decided to join you in the backseat, despite the tight quarters.

As the blur of buildings and trees whizzed by, your contractions intensified in both strength and frequency. “This hurts more than that time I got shot,” you groaned miserably.

Sam laughed but continued to offer gentle susurrations in his low, soothing tone, lips grazing along the shell of your ear, whilst his doting, reverent fingers brushed the hair away from your face before travelling downwards to work their magic along the base of your spine.

Although Dean tried to grant the two (soon to be four) of you some privacy, he was still able to hear every whisper of love and encouragement Sam uttered your way. He knew that there was nearly nothing his brother hated more in this world than to see you in pain and figured Sam had been doing a pretty awesome job so far, considering. And you, of course - as proven countless times before - had the pain tolerance of an indie wrestler, and Dean had never been more aware of or impressed by the fact than right now.

On this, your boyfriend agreed wholeheartedly. “Breathe, baby. You’re doing so good,” he commended with pride as you huffed through yet another massive cramp, your hands laid protectively across your distended belly.

But something didn’t feel right. Your contractions were growing closer together at an alarming rate, though no one cared to vocalize it, and although you were tempted to pull your usual shit of swallowing your discomfort in silence, you reminded yourself that this time it was about more than just you.

“Ohhh,” you finally let yourself moan aloud, “Sam, I think you might have to check me.”

“Check you?” Dean asked from the driver’s seat; his voice was a little higher than usual.

“To see how far she’s dilated,” Sam replied for you. “Baby, I can’t do that unless Dean pulls over. Do you think we should stop the car? Tell me what you’re feeling.”

“Mmm, I don’t know,” you rasped, “There’s just a lot of pressure and it feels like there’s no break between the contractions anymore.” The string of words left you panting, and you leaned further back into Sam’s embrace.

“What’s the sitch, guys? We stopping the car or should I keep driving?” Dean questioned as he turned his classic rock down a little lower.

“Keep driving,” you confirmed weakly.

Dean complied but made a point to meet Sam’s eyes in the rear-view mirror. They shared a brief moment of wordless, brotherly communication, after which Sam nodded resolutely, his jaw set and eyes ablaze with a mixture of fear and rigid determination.

As the tension in the car mounted, however, the tension in your body seemed to fade. You felt awful for becoming so depleted this early into your labor. You hadn’t even given birth to one of the twins yet, and already you were feeling drained. How could you possibly carry on this way? But all these thoughts quickly disappeared when the weariness became too much.

“Y/N?” Sam looked down at you with furrowed brows. He could feel your body growing limp within his arms.

“Sammy, I don’t feel so good,” you whispered hoarsely. Dean would have thought this was a very normal thing to say during labor, but the change of tone in your voice alerted him to something more.

Sam too, was immediately alert. He scanned your form and noticed two terrifying things right away: first, there was blood on your pants and second, your eyelids seemed to be drooping involuntarily.

“Y/N? Baby, stay with me,” he pleaded as he gave your shoulders a light shake, “Come on, wake up Y/N!” But the darkness was beginning to take over, and you could no longer respond.

“Dean, she’s bleeding,” Sam spoke as an urgent aside, his heart pounding wildly inside his chest.

Dean could tell his brother was beginning to panic, just as he always did when your well-being was on the line, and he knew he needed to remain calm for Sam. “What? OK, just hold on, Y/N/N! We’re almost there.” Dean’s lead foot pushed even harder against the gas pedal.

Behind him, Sam held you tightly in his arms, filling your ears with delicate murmurs of reassurance, desperate for you to wake up. “Come on, baby. You promised me. Just hang on a little longer. You’re gonna be OK.” But even as he said this, he saw more blood seep through your pants. “Dean, drive faster!”

About to tell Sam that he was already going thirty over the speed limit, Dean made the wise decision to shut up and simply put the pedal to the metal, his face a mask of absolute focus.

It was only a matter of minutes, during which you drifted in and out of consciousness, before the Impala screeched to a halt in front of the hospital’s emergency entrance. Dean scrambled out of the car at lightning speed and ran around to open the rear, passenger-side door for you.

Likewise, Sam wasted no time lifting you into his arms and bounding out of the car, practically sprinting towards the reception area. It was an impressive feat of strength, even for Sam, but Dean knew his little brother would have moved mountains for you and those babies if he needed to.

A nurse was there to greet Sam upon his frantic and rather rowdy entrance.

“Help! I need help! My wife’s in labor with our twins, and she passed out on the way here! Her water already broke a-and she’s bleeding!”

The two of you had created fake identities when you decided on a hospital birth, concerned about the chances of complications for delivering twins (and big ones at that), and Sam had never been more grateful for the foresight. He had suggested you go with the credentials of husband and wife to make things easier and ensure the hospital would give him all the privileges of a marital status. Fortunately, despite his hysterical state, Sam hadn’t even hesitated when he called you his wife; the word just seemed to roll off his tongue naturally.

Meanwhile, Dean glanced at his beloved car for a moment, its keys left haphazardly in the ignition. There was a slight grimace on his face as he faltered, considering whether he should go park his Baby in a more legal location or let her get towed and head directly to you and his brother. When he looked back towards the ER and saw your head lolling against Sam’s shoulder, he made his decision. Sam needed him, and Dean would be damned if he didn’t fulfill his lifelong job as the solid and unwavering base of support for his baby brother at this pivotal moment.

“We need a stretcher over here!” The nurse hollered out before turning back to Sam, “OK sir, can you tell me when your wife’s water broke?”

Sam blanched for an instant. He couldn’t focus on anything but your unconscious form. “Um… it was before we left, about, I don’t know-“

“About an hour ago,” Dean supplied as he strode up to his brother’s side. “And we noticed the bleeding around fifteen minutes ago.”

Sam nodded appreciatively, his eyes still wide and frenetic. A stretcher suddenly appeared next to him and he reluctantly laid you down on it, opting to grasp for your hand instead. Dean was busy informing the doctors of your situation, but Sam couldn’t hear any of it.

“OK, let’s go!” a male doctor called out. “Get an OR prepped just in case. Tell them we’ve got a female in active labor with twins, possible placental abruption.”

Trotting alongside your stretcher as the hospital staff pushed you down the hall, one of Sam’s large hands still held on firmly to yours while the other wiped the hair away from your face. “Baby, if you can hear me, please just stay strong, OK? Everything’s gonna be alright. I’m right here. I’ll be here the whole time.”

As if you had heard his prayers, your eyelids began to flutter open. Sam nearly collapsed with relief, but he willed his legs to continue pumping, his eyes never leaving your face. He waited as you tilted your head this way and that, trying to make out your new surroundings.

“S-Sam?” Your voice was still feeble, but Sam had never been happier to hear it.

“Oh, thank god! I’m here, baby, I’m here,” he choked out in a sob.

“Where are we?”

“The hospital. Dean got you here in record time. Everything’s gonna be fine.” He repeated. “Just stay awake for me, OK?”

You tried to nod, but you weren’t sure how well it translated since every muscle in your body felt utterly exhausted.

“She’s regained consciousness. Let’s bring her to the delivery room first.”

As soon as you were wheeled in, an oxygen mask materialized before you, and despite your weak protests was promptly attached to your face. Regardless, you barely got the chance to take a few deep breaths before the contractions began to pick up exactly where they left off.

Yet it seemed like an eternity until the urge to push finally and abruptly overcame your body. You gasped, mouth forming a wide “O”, as you felt your first baby descend swiftly through the birth canal.

“What? What is it?!” Sam inquired hurriedly in trepidation.

“She needs to push,” the doctor answered for you. “Alright Y/N, on your next contraction, I want you to put your chin to your chest and bear down for me as hard as you can, you understand?”

Your answer was a resounding growl as you squeezed your eyes shut and gave your first push of many.

Sam never left your side and he never let go of your hand. He could only marvel at your strength as he tried desperately to provide what little physical and moral support he could. He wanted so badly to kiss you but with the mask in the way, his lips could only settle upon your sweaty forehead.

It took hours, but eventually…

“The baby’s out; it’s a boy! Time of birth - 2:37am.”

Sam was granted only a second to rejoice, his iridescent eyes lighting up at the sight and sound of his firstborn entering the cruel world.

“The mother’s hemorrhaging!” a nurse bellowed and Sam instantly paled, his gaze returning at once to your fatigued figure on the bed.

“We need to get the second baby out now! Call the OR, tell them we’ve got an emergency C-section coming in,” the lead doctor commanded in reply.

Sam watched helplessly as the blood drained from your face and your eyes refused to open yet again. “No, no, no! Please, baby. Please don’t do this to me. Stay with me, Y/N. I need you. Our babies need you!” Sam pleaded for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

“Damn it!” he cursed as the tears began to fall. Sam rose to his full height, his hands balled into tight fists as he pumped them erratically through the air. His imposing form might have frightened some of the nurses if they hadn’t seen the look of horror and anguish that engulfed his features, or witnessed his unequivocal love and devotion to you throughout the labor and delivery process.

Sam forced himself to heave deep breathes as he observed the medical professionals bustling about your room, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. “Where’s my baby? At least tell me my baby is alright?” he demanded in a shaky tone to no one in particular.

“Your son is just fine, sir. They’ve taken him to the NICU to get checked up but from what I saw, he’s a big and healthy baby boy,” one of the nurses provided with a cautious smile.

“My son…” Sam breathed, looking back down at your unconscious form, “Our son… Did you hear that, baby? Oh, god!” He wanted to take you in his arms, to simply will the life back into you, but the doctors were swarming around your bed, poking and prodding at your still swollen abdomen.

“Sir, you need to back up and let the doctors do their job.”

Sam’s chest puffed up on instinct and he was about to retort when Dean, who had been watching in vain from afar, was suddenly there to hold him back. His hands gripped Sam’s biceps from behind and he pulled his brother back with all the strength he could muster, but Sam would not budge. Dean had no choice but to come around to Sam’s front and push against his inflated chest with both hands, while eyeing his little brother with a pointed look that told him to listen to the nurse, that there was nothing he could do right now to help you.

When Sam finally relented, he could no longer hold back his sobs. He had never felt so helpless, so useless. Dean managed to pull him into a waiting room before he broke down completely.

“Hey, you listen to me.” Dean’s ‘big brother voice’ was in full effect, “Your girl in there, is one hell of a fighter. We have seen her go through hell and back both with and for you, literally. And I know you’d do the same for her, Sammy. And so does she, alright? So I know for a fact that Y/N is gonna be fighting with everything she’s got to get back to you and your family. Just like she always does. I mean, hey, she’s practically a Winchester, right? And since when have we ever let death get the best of us?”

At his brother’s last point, Sam’s heart jolted in his chest. You really were practically a Winchester. And he’d loved the way it felt being able to call you his wife and being referred to as your husband in return.

The next hour passed at an agonizingly slow rate, with Sam and Dean fidgeting silently in their seats through most it.

“Mr. Windsor?” When the doctor got no response, he tried again, “Family of Y/N Windsor?”

At the sound of your name, Sam vaulted off his chair, realizing he’d nearly missed his calling. Hurtling towards the doctor, Sam almost miscalculated his braking distance. “I’m here! That’s me, I’m her husband!” he burst forth breathlessly.

“Well I’m here to tell you Y/N’s out of surgery. The C-section was a success, and she should be waking up shortly. Oh and congratulations, you have another son.”

“Wait, so she and the babies are OK?” Dean checked from his spot behind Sam.

“Yes, we have no reason to believe she or either of the babies are in any further danger.”

Sam released the largest breath known to mankind. “C-can I see her? Can I see them?”

The doctor sent him a smile and a nod before giving them your room number. Sam was off like a bullet with Dean hot behind his heels, but when they reached your door, the older Winchester elected to stay back a little, wanting to permit your new family some time alone first.

You were just coming to your senses when Sam walked in. Adjusting your bed to a seated position, you looked up to find him staring at you, “Sam?”

“Oh, thank fuck,” he exhaled before falling to his knees at your bedside. “You scared the shit out of me, baby. Please don’t ever do that again.” Sam buried his head in your thigh, so you ran your fingers lovingly through his soft chestnut locks, allowing him a moment of reprieve.

When he raised his head to face you, his eyes were red and cheeks stained with tears. “I’m so sorry, Y/N.”

You gave him a confused look, “What do you mean? Are the babies OK?”

“Yeah, they’re fine but the doctor said your complications were most likely the result of previous injuries and the fact that you were carrying big babies.”

You huffed a gentle sigh, “Baby, we both knew there was a higher risk associated with a multiple pregnancy. And of course my hunter background wouldn’t be any help. But how is any of that your fault?”

Sam didn’t respond with words; he merely fixed his watery puppy dog gaze upon yours, which just about caused you to break down with him, but you had promised yourself to always denounce this type of behavior. “Sammy, how many times do I have to tell you? I never wanna hear you apologizing for things you can’t control. And I especially never wanna hear you apologize for any part of who you are, because I am so completely and irrevocably in love with that person that it hurts me just the same, do you understand?”

Sam nodded and you wiped the tears from his cheekbones, beckoning him to stand back up, though his head was still pointed down.

“Hey, I’m OK, alright?” You grabbed his hand, waiting until his shoulders visibly relaxed before adding impatiently, “Now when do I get to see my babies? Please tell me I can see them now.”

“Y-yeah, lemme go bring them over.”

You nodded enthusiastically, feeling a surge of energy flow back into your body at the thought of finally meeting your twins. So when Sam returned, wheeling two hospital cribs through the door, you were virtually bouncing with anticipation.

“You were right, baby.” Sam shot you a handsome little smirk.

“What?”

“We’ve got two boys.”

“Really?” You gasped, the emotions finally catching up with you after all the hardships you’d faced in the past twenty-four hours.

“What? No ‘I told you so’?” Sam teased lightly.

But you were much too in awe for that. “No, just… gimme,” you pouted, holding your arms out expectantly.

“You sure?”

“Sam, if you don’t hand me at least one of my babies right now, I swear to Chuck-“

“Alright, alright, no need to bring God into this,” Sam chuckled, sliding your firstborn carefully into your eager and waiting arms.

“Oh my god, he’s perfect.”

“Yeah? So is this little guy,” Sam had picked up the other infant and was beaming fondly down at him.

You spared a glance at them and giggled at the sight.

“What?”

“Nothing, just… he looks so small in your arms.”

Sam’s entire being exuded radiance, “So what are we gonna name them?”

It wasn’t long before you called for Dean and he strolled somewhat nervously into your room.

Cradling his eldest son in his arms, Sam sent his brother a warm and proud smile, “Dean, we’d like you to meet Robert John and…”

“Lucas Dean Winchester,” you finished, gesturing to the baby boy in your arms. “Well, Luke and Robbie for short.”

Dean’s emerald eyes grew wide and a little wet. He looked back and forth between you and Sam as if to confirm what he had heard was true.

You smiled at him, nodding. “You’ve always meant the world to Sam, and if I’m honest, you mean the world to me too. And I am beyond certain that these boys will grow to love you no less than either of us. Besides, none of us would be here if it weren’t for you.”

Dean was quiet for a moment, and you knew he needed to process his emotions.

“That’s awesome,” he said, though you knew he meant ‘thank you’.

“You wanna hold them?” Sam asked, grinning from ear to ear.

Dean grinned back, then looked toward you.

You held back a laugh, “You wanna start with your namesake, don’t you?”

“Hell yeah!” Sam shot him a mini bitch face, “Sorry, I-I mean, heck yeah!”

Snorting, you carefully handed Dean the bundle of blankets in which Lucas Dean was wrapped.

“There’s just one more thing I wanna say,” Sam’s voice brought your attention back to him.

You gave him a curious look and he seemed to almost blush under your gaze, which only confused you further.

“Y/N, I never thought I’d get to have all this, but you’ve made me so unbelievably happy, and I know it shouldn’t matter, but there’s been something ruminating in the back of my mind ever since we got to the hospital- no, actually ever since we made those fake IDs.”

Now you were really lost, eyeing him perplexedly. You looked over to Dean for some help, but he seemed not in the least bit surprised. In fact, he appeared to be perfectly content, paying zero attention to you and his brother and cooing happily at baby Luke as he bounced him in his arms.

“Baby,” Sam continued, “I know you’ve never really wanted or cared about this, and I know we can never make it a hundred percent official, but- Y/N, will you marry me?”

It was a good thing you were no longer holding any babies, because Sam’s question took you completely off guard.

“W-what?” you stammered, staring at him with large eyes.

Sam chuckled and looked down at Robbie, “I think your mom heard me just fine, don’t you, buddy?”

Your mouth stayed open for some time as you tried to absorb it all.

“Any time now, Y/N. Any time,” Dean interrupted without glancing up from Luke.

“Y-yes!” You finally replied.

“Really?” Sam asked again.

“Yeah! Obviously! I mean, who else would I marry but my incredible, brilliant, tall, and gorgeous baby daddy?”

At this point, Sam had passed Dean his oldest son, helping him balance both babies in his arms, before rushing back over to you. He took your face in both hands and kissed you like it was the first and last time. You leaned up to reach him and run your fingers through his shimmering tresses but you refrained from taking the kiss too far, figuring you’d save Dean the torture given all he had just done for your family.

“Well, alright! Two Winchesters coming in, and five going out. Nice work, Sammy!”

You released Sam and sent Dean a bitch face of your own.

“But- I mean, none of this would have been possible without you, Y/N/N,” he quickly amended, “I mean, who could forget that you nearly died bringing these two to the world? What’s that, the third time you’ve cheated Death now? That alone is enough to make you an official Winchester in my books.”

“Well, technically we’re all Windsors in this hospital.”

A/N #2: thank you for reading! ...i’m thinking of turning this into a series of sorts, like a collection of stories about sam and reader’s lives after the twins (because i’ve got iDeAs brewing), would anyone be interested? ❤️ also, here’s a look at some new stuff at lexicolor.redbubble.com:

tagging some peeps who seemed to enjoy part 1 :) @carryonmywaywardbucky @girl-next-door-writes​ @sams-sass​ @swiftlymoniquesblog @austin-winchester67 @idreamofhazel @hoboal87 

[atopearth]

Ken ga Kimi Part 1 - Common Route

Okay, curiosity got to me and I'm embarking on a very difficult journey! Basically, I'm playing Ken ga Kimi with my crappy Chinese lmao, and limited Japanese listening skills. I said it would be good for practising my Chinese but dang, I'm going to die with names etc haha. I have to write them down so I can refer to them loll. I'm learning stuff already though! I never realised what samurai was in Chinese. Reminds me of the days when I thought 火雞 was fire chicken, and I was like what is that new species of chicken??? And then I realised it was a turkey lmaoo. From what it seems to be showing, guess Tokugawa Iemitsu is evil🤔

Anyway, so Japan has two worlds? One (current world?) where humans, youkai and ogres (maybe better to just refer to them as oni) or something, this is the world that lives continuously in cycles, and there’s a continuous night world where time does not stop and is where the gods live? It's interesting to think there are five paths that connect the two together. Hmm it's interesting to think about a war between humans and oni (because there was a famine) where the humans actually won and kinda made a law that oni can't use katana anymore. Ooh this is the start of the Edo Shogunate~ But yeah anyway, at the same time since Japan was getting stuff like cannons etc, katana were starting to become a thing of the old days. However, due to the increasing amount of ronin, I guess they decided that samurai titles can stay I think, just so they'll stop complaining about the ban on katana? Anyway, the sword tournament sounds fun lol. Oooh, the winner can ask for anything they want. Mmm, they also get crowned as the "first sword", but I assume it means the ultimate sword or something, and they get one of the the legendary(?) five swords created by famous blacksmiths (assuming the sword "accepts" them and they can use it). And the ability to kill youkai? How interesting. Anyway I need to write down the names of these swords lmao. So, if they get chosen by the sword, a mark will appear on them after they receive the power to kill youkai with the gods' powers since it seems like the mark allows them to receive the gods or their powers into the swords or something.

Tsuzuramaru is much more adorable than I thought he would be. His appearance makes him look like such a cold guy but he's so funny to be starving to the point that he stole dango to eat that was an offering, and now he's planning to go to the sword tournament, and he's going to find whatever job he can get at Edo for living expenses. He seems like a good boy, even though he ran away from home haha. I really like Kei! He's pretty cool! Hmm, I guess he's some sort of patrolling officer that isn't officially employed by the shogunate but rather something more like a neighbourhood watch? He's really too nice to help out Saburouza to pay back 10 ryou so they won't take his daughter away. Regardless of how crappy it was of him to try and buy that paper to give him status as a samurai or whatever, the fact that something like that exists to be sold is a problem in itself. Btw I'm planning to do Kei's route first🥲 I wonder what kind of suspicious well-paying job will Kei end up doing, it seems like Kinshirou cares about Kei so hopefully the recruiter he introduces to him isn't terrible.. I've been reading a summary someone wrote of the story to know what the names of the characters are in Japanese hahaha! Also helps to see if I missed anything😆 So..the white hair dude is called Kuroba Saneaki and the girl(?) hovering around him is called Habakitsuki? Ohhh Habakitsuki is the "god" that dwells in the sword or whatever! I wonder why he wants to find his final resting place, does he hate himself for killing people? Sunpu seems like a painful place for him, since he considers it the place where he first cut an innocent person down. Hmm so Kuroba will be at this Tokugawa wedding parade as one of the escorting bodyguards I assume, and there's this Tatsukage guy (who is very pretty!) who is also trying to find a fake bride for the parade and I guess have her carry one of the five swords (Juzumaru) to maybe take it to Sunpu safely without people knowing hopefully? Hmm lazy hot red hair dude Enishi isn't my type, but I guess he seems interesting. Is Sakyou an oni? He looks scarily hot though😏 Suzukake on the other hand seems pretty cute. He has such nice friends watching over him.

Ooh the heroine (Kayo) has finally appeared! Interesting that she looks the same as the lady getting married, so they want Kayo to act as the fake bride so they can protect the lady. It's really nice to see how protective Kayo's father is over her and how adamantly he refused the samurai guys considering how powerful they must be. Kayo trains with the naginata! That's cool! It's sad to know that her family has debts and it's a part of the reason why she's hesitating to reject the offer since the payment they'll give will help out their restaurant and the debt. It was inevitable for Kayo to join the wedding parade as the fake bride considering their lack of options and how much she cares about the people around her. It must have been tough for her father to accept that. I'm glad he could at least give her a handmade protective charm from her late mother to carry with her. Ooh are all the LIs part of the guards who will protect her? Suzukake and Tsuzuramaru together are so cute lol. Omggg Kayo in princess clothes is so pretty!!! I love it!! Hmmm, if they're transporting the Juzumaru sword alongside Kayo the fake princess, I'm surprised they got a bunch of randoms aka the LIs as bodyguards, but I guess they want to be inconspicuous? But then isn't it suspicious to have someone as important as the princess be protected by a bunch of randoms?

Ooh, Tsuzuramaru knows battoujutsu and doesn't believe in killing. Will he be like my favourite Rurouni Kenshin? Hahaha. Kei's first impressions in the game were great, but dang does he sound insufferable when introducing himself to the heroine. I wish she could use her naginata to smack him. Lol at Suzukake calling Saneaki an uncle🤣 Oooh Suzukake is well-versed in medical treatment, he seems like a kind boy so it suits him~ The female ninja is Hanzo?! Ooh~~~ Aww, the merchant they saved rents books to others and wants to help commoners acquire more knowledge and have the chance to read books, it's such a great dream! I like him hahaha. Kei seems to like fighting🤔 Lmao at Suzukake saying he kicks people flying when he's asleep and tells them to dodge🤣 Not surprised Suzukake can see Habakitsuki, but yeah omg it's kinda funny how initially Suzukake was probably the one I was least interested in, but in terms of personality, I have to say I like him the most haha. Wouldn't it be so funny if Kayo fell in love with Hanzo out of everyone haha! Hanzo is so considerate, like I know she does it because any effects to Kayo's health could cause the mission to be jeopardised, but it's still sweet to see how thoughtful she is in preparing stuff like rice porridge for her because she has no appetite, and then lighting some white sandalwood or something so she can relax and sleep better. I love the banter between the guys, they're so funny, and lol Kei always ruins their fun but I can understand why he's so sick of them playing around all the time haha. I love how Tsuzuramaru sat down and shared the mochi with Kayo and even suggested Hayato (his messenger crow) to deliver a letter from her to her father so that she can at least tell him she's safe. I think that was very sweet and I'm glad she can finally feel a bit more comfort in regards to her father.

Kayo being scared of the howling wolves and being alone was pretty understandable. It's difficult to be in her situation especially since she's always lived a normal life with her father, so it must feel really alienating. Even though Kei sounds harsh, I thought it was really cute how he pet her head to reassure her, and he listened to her worries. It was so sweet how she fell asleep on his shoulder listening to him talk. Aww, Tsuzuramaru waking up early just to apologise to Kayo and Hanzo for going into Kayo's room without permission was so endearing, he's such a serious guy. Considering how impatient Kei is all the time, it's nice to see his perspective (when you choose him to fight, it's like Pokemon lmaoo), especially seeing how concerned he is about bandits attacking them, and how if they kidnapped Kayo, she would definitely be sold to a brothel. When you think of stuff like that, you can see why Kei gets annoyed at how chill the others are talking about the food specialties of the region haha. 

Lolll if you pick Enishi to help you when the horse goes crazy, he literally sends the guards flying or something and they fall on his feet🤣 He really chooses to do things in the most dramatic way lol. Honestly, after Sakyo threateningly told Kayo to get herself together before they passed the checkpoint, I definitely don't want to choose him unless I have to lol. I know Enishi only really cares about Juzumaru but his care for it means he'll take care of Kayo well as long as she holds it. But dang when Kei said women should just shut up when he was arguing with Suzukake about whether Kayo should stay on the horse or not since the horse's hooves were hurting and she wanted to ease its' pain. I know Kei cares for Kayo but he really needs to pick better words loll. Anyway, both Suzukake and Kei's perspectives were understandable. For Suzukake who has lived around animals his whole life listening to them and understanding them, he obviously will treat them like himself, like humans because that's how they are to him. Whereas for Kei, his perspective is very "normal", back in the day, it was normal for people to just "replace" their horses at towns etc if the horses were to fall over and die from exhaustion etc, and obviously they must prioritise the safety of the princess above all, so Suzukake and them caring about the well-being of the horse would feel more "abnormal" tbh haha, but Kayo is a nice girl so she's going to walk. It's sad to see Asakura be so distraught about Tadanaga's death that even when some suspicious shaman lady with Marebito (some sort of god with varying beliefs depending on the region?) beliefs says that with the power of the Marebito, they can revive Tadanaga, he basically accepts it and hopes that it will come true because he thinks that Tadanaga is much more suitable than Iemitsu as a shogun.

Ooh, so if people call for Marebito to come to this world, then the boundary between this world and the underworld will disappear and this world will be flooded with youkai? Loll I didn't expect Suzukake to be a troublemaker and try to pull Enishi's sword out. Hanzo is definitely the best!! Kayo didn't even say it and she already knew that Kayo was exhausted from being "Hisahime" and needed some alone time to walk around outside to kinda recharge herself. Gahhh, I really want to like Kei but he's so insufferable that even I feel like I can't breathe with him there because he's so exhausting lol. Kayo got permission from Hanzo and them to be alone for a bit and he's still so obstinate about it, like yeah I get it that he needs the money to help those people etc, but he really needs to give some consideration to Kayo if he really wants to protect her properly, like geez. I'm sure Hanzo is secretly guarding her anyway because I doubt they'd ever let Kayo truly be alone considering how important she is and how important Juzumaru is. At least Kayo is understanding and mature enough to apologise to Kei since she knows that their job is to protect her etc, but he should apologise to her too! I still can't remember everyone's names in Chinese so I didn't even realise I chose Sakyo to guard Kayo at night this time hahaha. He seems much more gentle than last time though, so I'm glad.

Lmao, I love all the stories accompanying the name of each of these mountain ranges or paths lolll. Especially the one where it's apparently so long that if you were carrying rice, your sweat and body heat would end up cooking the rice climbing up it loll. The bandits are oni/ogres?🧐 I'm glad everyone made it safely🥲 Kei is a tsundere and Enishi is the tsundere translator hahahah, I love how Enishi told Kayo that Kei only told her to hurry up and go sleep etc because he was concerned about her health and not because he thought she would be a bother to them. Saneaki is definitely strong but it sounds so ominous saying saving Nanae ended up causing huge problems in the future, now I'm scared😭 Otherwise, Saneaki was cool. Ooh so whoever's route you're on, they'll be the leader of the group and Kayo's bodyguard🧐 Kei is still pretty rough around the edges, but it is cute how he tells her to eat more and then piles up rice for her so she'll have enough energy for tomorrow haha. I'm glad Kei realised he was just about to leave the injured and scared Kayo alone and chase after Shiguragi (the oni guy who got his horn chopped by Saneaki) when he should be prioritising Kayo's safety.

I didn't expect the journey to end by the start of Chapter 8! I'm so not used to Kayo in normal clothing lol! I think I'll miss it more than she does haha! Awww, Kei accompanying Kayo around town looking for souvenirs and then her accompanying him to the shrine was cute. Omg lmao, I thought a demon was attacking Kayo when she said she couldn't move, but her hair was just stuck on a branch because of the wind lol! Awww Kei is so sweet! It was kinda weird he wanted to go to a shrine but he actually wanted to go because he wanted Kayo to drink the water there since it brings good health and happiness. He didn't go there just because he heard the water tasted good lmao🤣 Okayy, I didn't expect Nanae to be the future wife of Tsuzumi, the guy who won the competition and will receive Juzumaru. However, he's planning to go to protect Choushichirou because he hates Iemitsu for cornering his brother to suicide and so he's decided to fight for Tadanaga... Awww Choushichirou is so cute!! Anyway, I guess it is kinda funny and ironic how Kayo and them went through much difficulty bringing Juzumaru to Sunpu and now Tsuzumi is taking it back to Edo with Choushichirou and the others.

And we're done with the common route! Overall, I really enjoyed the common route! I think it was really fun seeing all the different LIs and their personalities, and it's pretty fun to have them all on a journey together. Honestly, like Kayo, I miss that atmosphere already because I think it was really fun in its own way to see them banter about random stuff and food lol. I think the fights were also pretty cool, they're not detailed or anything but I enjoyed the different ways the LIs fight, and the different weapons they have. I also think it's interesting to see oni and humans, and how oni have been banned from using katana and stuff. I think the world is pretty interesting and I like that. As for the romance options, for now, I'd say my favourite is Saneaki and the rest are okay haha. I'm personally more interested in their stories and the plot rather than the romance so we'll see how everything goes! On to Kei's route!

[chibinekochan]

Cherry Serpent - ft. Levi / reader

In this au you are a member of a semi famous j pop group, named Cherry Serpent. 

You are a human exchange student and asked Lucifer and Diavolo to keep your fame a secret, since you desire to live a normal life, at least in the devildom. Lucifer doesn't get it but is fine with this. You also get your own little portal so you can travel freely between the worlds. Soon you find out that Levi is your biggest fan.

  Small side notes - Cherry Serpent is an enby group, their whole aesthetic is based around snakes and cherries with an overall cute look. The group has 5 members.

Your character is Sakura, who is the cute one of the group. You wear a wig and contacts on stage. With some pretty heavy makeup. 

Here is how I picture Mc's stage outfit.

  Pairing: Levi x reader

2.5k words

----------------------------------------------------------------------

At the start of your exchange program you didn't hear any mention of cherry serpent. It's not a huge surprise and honestly it's a relief. You don't have to worry about anything and just be yourself. 

On stage you must play the role of the cutie with a love for cherries. In reality you are a huge anime and game nerd with a love for hoodies. Most people would be very disappointed if they knew. At least you believe that. 

Not long after coming to the devildom you become friends with Levi. You find it very easy to be around Levi. He never judges you for anything and it's very relaxing to be with him.

  Everything is going very well. You feel much more relaxed and your idol carrier is also going well.

  Well, at least until the day you walk into Levi's room and find a huge poster of your own face staring right back at you. 

You stare at it in awe. You can remember the photoshoot very vividly.

  “Hey perfect timing. I was just about to tell you about my newest treasure. Look at this beauty. It's so rare for Sakura to have a photoshoot, they are very shy. I relate so much. I'm so happy. I mean it's super rare merch.” Levi is very happy, so happy that he doesn't realize that you have gotten a bit pale. Now he will surely notice that you are Sakura. I mean it's literally your face but like 3 times bigger than you are. 

“Oh, wow that's pretty cool.” You try to not show your distress. 

“Sakura is just so cute, look at their signature hand sign. I mean I have pre-ordered the new CD of course. Actually about 500 of them. I know it sounds like a lot but they have limited photos of them all and a chance to win a vip ticket for the next concert.” Levi is in full fan mode. 

It's pretty sweet of him to be this excited about it. Even when 500 copies seems a bit too much to you. 

“You really are a huge cherry serpent fan.” You never thought that a demon would ever be your fan, especially since you have not heard a single thing about it since your arrival. 

“Ohhh, you know about them? Don't tell me you are a fellow cs stan?” Levi's eyes light up. 

You bite your lips, darn you forgot that your group is just semi famous even by human standards, it's rare to meet a person that recognizes you just from a poster. 

“I have heard about them.” You try to be vague. 

“That's so cool! Who is your favorite? I mean I'm a full Sakura stan. Maybe I'm biased but when I first heard their first solo single 'cherry beast.' I was so excited and they sang about the love between a sea beast and a human. It was so touching. Ever since that day, I've been their biggest fan.” Levi has stars in his eyes.

  This is pretty embarrassing. You can't help but blush a little, of course you had people tell you things like this before during handshake events but they all were strangers. 

This here is different, it's your friend telling you how much they love your work. Even when Levi doesn't know that you are Sakura.

  “I think they are all great but why Sakura?” You wonder a bit about this. 

“Well, other than their cute outfit, they have the best voice, the best signature move. They always encourage everyone. Like one day I felt very down and sent a request to their radio show and Sakura was so sweet and really encouraged me. I know Sakura isn't the best dancer but they always train so hard and improve so much everyday. I honestly want to be more like that. We also share a love for water creatures. I mean their favorite pet is a fish, despite them only being able to have a toy fish due to their busy life. Such a tragedy.” Levi seems unable to stop himself.

  This makes you smile. You have never heard anyone say such sweet things about you. 

“I know it must sound funny to you.” Levi seems a bit embarrassed. 

“Oh no, you were just so cute that I couldn't help smiling.” You are telling at least half of the truth. 

Levi blushes.“ You shouldn't tease me like this.” He is pouting. 

You giggle a little. “Sorry Levi.”

“Now that I think about it, you are similar to Sakura.” Levi looks closely at you.

Did he notice who you really are? 

“What do you mean?” You shift nervously around.

“You always encourage me too.” Levi gives you a smile. 

Now you feel a bit embarrassed.“That's very sweet of you to say Levi.” 

“I also think that you look similar.” Levi says this very quietly. 

“I'm not sure if I do.” You can't say that you don't look like this at all. 

“Well, how about we listen to their old CD and play some games?” Levi is utterly embarrassed again and just tries to move on.

  You welcome this chance. 

After a few games you both take a break. 

The CD is still running in the background, it's pretty surreal. What are you going to do when Levi notices that this is your voice?

  All kinds of thoughts keep running through your head for the rest of the day. 

Why does Levi have to be your fan boy? 

It's not like you want to hide this from him but how will he react once you tell him the truth?

He will be disappointed in you for sure. You basically lied to your best friend. 

You ponder about this for the rest of the night. Causing you to be very tired the next day.

  Asmo sees you and can't help himself to mention it.“Don't tell me that you have been gaming all night again? You have an awful complexion. Well, nothing that I can't fix of course.” He shakes his head. 

“Not this time Asmo. I just have been thinking about some stuff.” You sigh lightly. 

“What kind of stuff? I'm glad to hear you out you know.” Asmo tries to be supportive. 

You honestly appreciate this, especially today. “I can't really talk about it here.” You are afraid that Levi will overhear you. 

“In that case you should come to my room later.” Asmo gives you a suggestive smile. 

“If you mean to talk then I'm willing to come.” You know that he means no harm. 

“Alright, we will just have some snacks and tea and talk about all of your troubles.” Asmo shrugs and casually changes his tone. 

In the end he is a good friend. 

“I will bring your favorite cupcakes to make it up to you.” You give him a soft smile. 

“Now that is a plan. I'm looking forward to it.” Asmo is genuine about this and you are grateful.

  Later in the day you go to Asmos room with the promised cupcakes. 

Asmo is delighted. It seems like he is really looking forward to this. 

You both sit down and have some tea before starting your conversation.

  “I will get straight to the issue. I have a secret from my best friend and I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do.” You aren't sure how much you should tell Asmo. 

“Is this about you being a member of cherry serpent?” Asmo says this very casually, while you almost spit your tea out. 

“How do you know that?” You are too surprised to deny anything. 

“Please, I've known ever since we went to karaoke. Levi might be too blind to see it but I have heard enough of your music to recognize your voice. I mean your stage makeup is great but it's clearly you.” Asmo just shakes his head. 

“You knew all this time but never once mentioned it?” You are pretty baffled. 

“I know how it is to be in the spotlight and figured that you had reasons to hide it. I knew you would come forward when you are ready.” Asmo keeps sipping his tea. It's honestly amazing to you. 

“That was very nice of you Asmo.” You feel honestly touched. 

“Does that mean that you have finally fallen for me?” Asmo gives you a flirty smile. 

“Nope, I'm just glad that you support me.” You shoot him down with a smile. 

“Too bad. Well, anyway, I think you should tell Levi. I know he is your fanboy. I mean technically of Sakura, but I'm sure he will be happy to know that you are his favorite idol.”Asmo casually moves on and then gives you his suggestion. 

“I'm afraid that he will see me differently than now and I also don't want him to hate me. I hid this from him all this time after all.” Both things weigh equally on your mind. 

“He will figure it out sooner or later. If he finds this out from anyone else he will be much more hurt.” Asmo says this gently while still being firm. 

You can only agree and nod. “You are right.” You feel sad about this.

The last thing you want is for Levi to treat you differently. 

“Of course I'm right, and you know it's not the worst thing in the world to have your own personal cheerleader.” Asmo doesn't really understand your issue. 

“I just want to stay close to him. I can't do that if he is only my fan boy.” You shake your head. 

“You should tell him that. I don't think Levi will stop being your friend first and fanboy second. Maybe your relationship will change but that's not always a bad thing.” Asmo gives you some much needed encouragement. 

“You are right. Thank you for your help Asmo.” You give him a heartfelt smile. 

Asmo seems slightly troubled for a moment but then smiles as usual once again. “Everything for you.”

You spend some time with Asmo, catching up on the latest devildom gossip. 

After talking about anything you feel much better.

  You go back to your room and see a load of messages from Levi. 

It seems like he got tickets for an upcoming concert. All is well and good but it's a cherry serpent concert. 

Now you really need to come clean to Levi.

  After thinking for hours about the right way to gently break the news, you invite Levi over to your room.

  Not long after Levi arrives. He is still very giddy over the tickets. He almost seems to sparkle. “Hey, there. I guess you also wanted to celebrate the great news right? I have brought some snacks and some other stuff.” As usual he has brought some seemingly random things with him.

“Come in Levi. We really need to talk.” You give him a nervous smile. 

“Is the moment where you break up with me? Wait, we aren't dating…” Levi seems pretty confused. 

“Stop fooling around. There is something that I really need to tell you.” You feel slightly annoyed at his joke. 

“Alright, sorry…” Levi gets serious in an instant. One hundred reasons why you want to talk to him in such a serious manner race threw his head. No reason is a good one.

  Levi sits down, trying to prepare himself for whatever you will drop on him. 

“I know what I'm about to tell you will probably be upsetting. You should know that you are my best friend and if possible I want you to see me the same way as you see me now. You see, I have a big secret that I kept from everyone.” You take a small breath,“I'm a member of cherry serpent. To be more precise I'm Sakura.” 

You prepare yourself for whatever Levi will throw at you. His possible anger or hurt.

What hits you is stunned silence. Levi looks at you like he can't comprehend your words at all.

  It takes him a moment to get over the sheer shock of this information. “W-wait.. Hold it right there! You are SAKURA? Since when? Wait that's a stupid question. Are you serious right now?” Levi has huge issues understanding what you are saying. 

“It's true Levi. I'm sorry I have been hiding this for so long.” You feel pretty guilty. 

“Never mind that part but you are telling me that I'm friends with Sakura? THE SAKURA FROM CHERRY SERPENT?? I can't believe it!” Levi seems to struggle with his emotions but he seems pretty happy. 

“Well you are friends with me. I just happened to be Sakura as an idol.” You feel like you really need to point this out. 

“Oh yeah. That is an important distinction. So, you are telling me that my best friend is not only an idol but also my favorite idol on top of that?” Levi's confusion seems completely gone. He is very excited. 

“Yes, that's right. I mean, I didn't know that Sakura is your favorite idol.” This point is a bit embarrassing to you. 

“Now they definitely are. I mean my best friend is Sakura. So of course Sakura is my favorite idol.” Levi says this without any hesitation. 

This makes you smile. “That is very sweet of you Levi.”

Somehow this causes Levi to blush.“Stop being so unfair.” He mumbles. 

“Does that mean that you aren't mad? I mean, I've been lying to you for a pretty long time.” You are still bothered by it. 

“I'm not mad. I actually can't believe that I never noticed. In hindsight, I was pretty blind.” Levi seems to beat himself up more than anything. 

“I look very different on stage. I bet most people would be very disappointed by my normal appearance.” You give him a small smile. 

“Everyone that says that is a huge idiot. You are even better than Sakura in my opinion.” Levi seems a bit offended by your statement. 

This makes you giggle. “You truly are my biggest fan, aren't you Levi?” 

“Damn right I am! I will continue to support you and I will take your secret to my grave.” Levi says this with unusual confidence. It's something you can only see when he beats the final boss of a game. 

“You are the best!” You give him a big hug.

  This makes Levi freeze on the spot. “Hey, no surprise attacks!” 

You burst out laughing, there is your usual Levi. “Sorry Levi.”

“It's not like I hate it, but you should warn me.” Levi pouts a little.

You are just glad that your friendship is safe.

  On the day of your concert Levi joins the rest of your fans, as usual. 

Thanks to his great efforts he is far upfront. Waving his glowsticks. 

This is a very familiar sight to you. When you notice him your eyes meet just for a moment and you give him an extra smile while doing your signature move, just for him.

  Then you notice that Levi wears a shirt with your name on it. Not with his usual Sakura gear but your real name.

  What a sweet surprise. 

[itsclydebitches]

YYH Recaps: Episode 4 “Requirements for Lovers”

Hello, everyone! It's been quite a while, huh? Ah, the endless cycle of wanting to write and yet, astoundingly, not writing. I know it well.

Good ol' writer's block has skedaddled for a time though, so let's make good use of that and dive into Episode Four: "Requirements for Lovers." 

Ohhh, YYH getting spicy with its titles 😏

Actually wait, I shouldn't be making dumb jokes just yet. First I want to acknowledge a slight change to future recaps: YYH, RWBY, and anything else I might try my hand at. Namely, a lack of pictures moving forward. A few weeks ago — months? I honestly can't keep track — tumblr implemented a new limitation where no post can have more than ten images in it. It's a move that, while I'm sure has its justifications, makes sharing analyses of visually-based media all the more difficult. I'll be doing my best moving forward to describe scenes as needed, as well as combining connected images together to stretch out my limit, but I'm not going to pretend that it'll be the same as getting the visual play-by-play we’re used to. 

Tumblr certainly is a website, huh?  

Anyway, we open on Yusuke once again lamenting the difficulty of hatching a spirit beast that doesn't immediately devour him from the head down. On the one hand this is an admittedly easy way to reset the story over the course of this arc — the storytelling equivalent of waking your character up each morning — yet I cannot deny that if I were undergoing a resurrection test, it would consume my every thought too. Can't really blame Yusuke for endlessly bringing the conflict up when the conflict is this deadly.

Well, deadly for a ghost, anyway.

Specifically, he's worried about how embarrassing it would be to get eaten by something that came out of an egg this tiny. I'm torn between reminding a fictional character that things grow — a pissed off chicken could kick my ass and it started out in an egg too — and just shaking my head over the absurdity of worrying about embarrassment when, you know, you would cease to exist. It's not even a matter of, "What if I die and then I'm embarrassed about it in the afterlife :( " Yusuke is already IN the afterlife. He's got nowhere to go but oblivion!

Luckily, Botan takes a more practical approach to these worries, pointing out that he'll be just fine provided he does some good deeds. Yusuke starts a rant about how do-gooders are only ever out for themselves.

Yusuke, you dumb-dumb, you're a do-gooder now. What was all that help for Kuwabara, hmm? As said, these early episodes exist in a semi-reset loop, where Yusuke needs to stew in his main character flaws for a while before any real growth starts to stick. Those flaws being, primarily, "I'm a pessimist" and "also I hate myself."

Case in point, Botan accuses him of always seeing the glass as half empty. Which, while true enough (outside of his confidence in fighting, anyway), by now we've got a pretty good sense of where Yusuke developed this attitude. He affirms this by talking about how Koenma's got him by the balls, "just another idiot abusing his power!" With an alcoholic mother and those teachers from last episode, it's no wonder Yusuke thinks this way. Mr. Takenaka's interest and Keiko's care aren't enough to combat the rest of Yusuke's experience, not when Takenaka is an outlier and Keiko is Yusuke's peer. Her desire to keep him on the right track reads only as an inevitability at best (the downside of having a perfect childhood friend), or a legitimate annoyance at worst. Or, as we'll continue to see in this episode, a way for them to flirt.

Is it any wonder Yusuke would sneer at Koenma's offer then, expecting the worst? The fact that Yusuke is still undergoing the challenge at all, no matter what he says, speaks volumes to me.

However, Botan is less than comfortable with his criticisms. She panics a bit at Yusuke insulting the (junior) ruler of the underworld so blithely. That, and the fact that he's carelessly tossing his egg around.

(Yes we’re using precious picture space for memes are you SURPRISED?) 

Anyway, Botan isn't just concerned for the sake of concern. She cautions Yusuke against speaking too freely because there may be investigators checking in on his progress. No sooner does he ask what those investigators look like than one appears.

Thunder! Lighting! An energy so intense that Yusuke is briefly blinded! It is, as he says, quite the entrance. What kind of being could possibly be at the heart of such an astounding show?

Why, this teeny-tiny cutie, of course.

Remember, few appearances in YYH coincide with the character's true self. Would you ever assume this is the all-powerful investigator who holds Yusuke's future in her hands? Of course not. That's the point.

The investigator introduces herself as Sayaka and immediately demonstrates that she has no more patience for Yusuke's attitude than Botan does. "These damn kids," he mutters and my brain briefly blue screens because Yusuke. You're fourteen.

Plus, Sayaka and Botan clearly have some sort of eternal youth situation going on, so there's that too.

Sayaka is, in a word, fantastic. She pulls no punches with Yusuke, teleporting away from him with what can only be described as a shit-eating smile, all while refusing to tell him what exactly she's investigating. “I’m sorry, but that’s a secret!” However, Keiko is clearly at the forefront of her interest. She refers to her as Yusuke's "girlfriend."

Botan is more than happy to point Keiko out — because of course they're still following her around! — and pulls a Et tu, Brute? on Yususke, leading Sayaka right to her. Like most of the Underworld, Sayaka is rather shocked that the pretty, popular, scholarly girl is supposedly into the delinquent. It's the power of childhood friendship, you fools! Specifically, Sayaka references the "positive markings" that Keiko has accumulated, but the audience already knows by now that such markings are suspect at best. Yusuke himself is proof of that. So if his terrible marks don't preclude him from being a young kid's savior, should we really view Keiko's as proof of superiority?

I mean, Keiko is fantastic, but that's not really the point here.

Starting her own investigation into Yusuke's life, Sayaka begins with one hell of a bombshell: "There's no point in doing [the resurrection] if the people closest to you don't care." WOW. Not only is that a harsh assessment, it's one I don't think I can personally get behind. The offer to restore Yusuke to life is built on the acknowledgment that their system is flawed (even if there's no work to change or dismantle that system): they thought he was worthless, his sacrificial death seems to have proven them wrong, and now they want further evidence, in the form of this trial, that Yusuke is a good person at heart. The whole point of this challenge is to give him a second chance, with testimonies like Mr. Takenaka's emphasizing that Yusuke has always been capable of more, so long as he applies himself. This, as we'll see throughout the series, applies to relationships too. The Yusuke with one friend he play-fights with, a distant mother, and a school worth of kids who are terrified of his very name is not the future Yusuke they expect him to become, so... why base his resurrection on what he's already (not) accomplished? Granted, the show is very unclear about what, if anything, Sayaka will do if she decides that Yusuke doesn't have a life worth going back to (even if I have my own theory discussed at the end), but the fact that this is suddenly a factor at all seems grossly unfair, not entirely unlike Kuwabara's rigged promise. We as the audience know that people love Yusuke. Yusuke himself is beginning to acknowledge that. But if this fourteen year old delinquent truly had no one that wanted him back from the dead... isn't that all the more reason to allow a resurrection and give him the chance to build a life where he would be missed? 

This stupid shonen got me thinking too much istg. 

Yusuke, ever the self-deprecating pessimist, bypasses all of the above thoughts and jumps straight to, "It's clear if [Keiko] had any sense she'd want me gone." I'd find that attitude incredibly sad if I wasn't distracted by how cute Botan and Sayaka are, sitting on the oar together. The spirit girls who fly together, thrive together! 

Botan starts teasing Yusuke about having a crush, which just feeds his temper and Sayaka's confusion. Deciding that she needs to gather more info, they follow along for an average day of school because these earlier episodes are, apparently, ghost-stalk Keiko hours. 

We see her reading aloud in class from Heart of Darkness (not the easiest book for some middle schoolers), scoring a point during volleyball practice, refusing to let one girl cheat off her homework, but happily helping another who runs up with a question. So she's pretty, athletic, and academically successful, the trifecta for any good love interest. Sayaka is impressed not just with her "nearly perfect" scores, but also the maturity that Keiko demonstrates, such as maintaining her morals about cheating while remaining compassionate. 

Actually, I really love the contrast this provides for us, the viewer. Meaning, Keiko is shown to be at her least mature when in Yusuke's presence. Not that her responses aren't justified, but watching her dramatically snatch gum from his mouth, slap him across the face, or pull crazed expressions as she yells at him is a far cry from this calm, poised, soft-spoken Keiko. It's a way to visually show us that she's comfortable in his presence, despite the suspect humor attached. Not that the Keiko we see at school is faking or anything — she is legitimately that kind and articulate — but we see that being with Yusuke allows her to relax in a way she doesn't with others. School!Keiko is, as Sayaka says, pretty much perfect, 24/7. Yusuke's Keiko is a little rougher around the edges, in a way that implies a multifaceted personality shining through. 

However, the only conclusion our trio draws is that, given Keiko's accomplishments, any attraction must be one-sided.

Poor Yusuke lol. 

In a plot move that is so ridiculously contrived, just as Yusuke is grappling with the accusation that Keiko couldn't possibly like him back, a "handsome boy" arrives to ask Keiko out. He says that he couldn't bear it when she stopped reading Heart of Darkness because he's fallen in love with her voice. "Will you be my girlfriend?" 

Please excuse me while I lose my shit over how ridiculous this is. I legitimately straight up cackled when I watched this scene. 

Luckily for Mr. Absurd, Keiko takes him seriously — and lets him down easy. She says she can't be his girlfriend and when he presses the "Why?", asking if she already likes someone else, Keiko confirms that she does. This is done through a shot of her feet. Not a POV shot given the angle, but close enough that it feels like we're stepping into Keiko's shoes (haha), shyly staring down at the floor in embarrassment and regret. 

Rejection complete? The guy screams. 

I mean he screams. 

I mean this nobody we're never gonna see again unhinges his jaw and lets out an unholy shriek the likes of which makes me shriek in utter GLEE. 

It's insane. It's wonderful. I'm going to use one of my coveted image spots to show you his face: 

Look at that and tell me this show isn't amazing. 

Okay, I'm focusing again. As Keiko runs off Botan and Sayaka start dragging Yusuke, teasing him about how Keiko chose him over that "charming handsome boy." 

...Please scroll up and look at that image again. I find YYH's definition of "charming" and "handsome" to be hilariously wrong. 

Yusuke, as per usual, throws himself into damage control, claiming that Keiko didn't say who she liked, so really it could be anyone. They're not buying it. “'I like Keiko' is written all over your face!” Botan crows. Meanwhile, Sayaka is scribbling in her little investigator's journal that feelings on both side are severely misunderstood. "Suggest serious counseling." 

Fantastic idea, Sayaka. I'd personally suggest counseling for the whole dying/best friend getting resurrected thing... but relationship woes work too! 

We cut to later when school is out and Keiko has gone over to Yusuke's. To say that Atsuko has done a poor job of keeping the house clean lately would be a serious understatement. 

Keiko points out the old food and broken glass specifically, cluing us in that this isn't just a messy environment, but a dangerous one as well. This is proven when she accidentally knocks a stack of books over and a used bowl falls onto Yusuke's face. What's interesting is that Keiko says that things are "back to normal" now, though I'm not sure if that's in reference to the state of the house, or just the note Atsuko left behind, asking Keiko to take care of Yusuke while she's out. I'm inclined towards thinking it's just the note, partly because of Keiko's shock when she first arrives, because the house wasn't shown to be in this state prior to Yusuke's death (first image above), and because the note is accompanied by a great voiceover that makes Atsuko sound quite sloshed when she left. That's what's normal, the drinking and carefree attitude, not the state of her home. If we buy that reading, it allows for another fantastic look into Atsuko's mental state. If she's already an alcoholic, the trauma of her son's death and the following revelation that he's coming back might make her struggle in other ways. Like finding cleaning to be an impossible task. 

She's depressed. It doesn't excuse the state she's left Yusuke in and, as previously acknowledged, YYH is definitely not a show interested in this nuance, but I still find it fun to take what little we've gotten and run with it. 

However, Keiko is firmly on team "WTF Atsuko." She hurries to make sure Yusuke wasn't hurt by the falling bowl, bemoans him being "covered in garbage," and says that leaving him in this state should be considered a felony. Knowing it's far beyond her power to fix Atsuko's failings, Keiko swears to come here after school every day until Yusuke regains his body. It's as she's cleaning him of the dust that's gathered that Keiko becomes entranced with Yusuke’s features. Particularly his lips. The soft lighting returns, their theme song swells, and Keiko gets thiiiis close to kissing Yusuke for the first time. 

Which is a little weird, right? I mean, we know why Yusuke is freaking out. Beyond the embarrassment of a middle schooler receiving his first kiss while two ghost girls eagerly watch on, he's made a hobby of denouncing his interest in Keiko to anyone who will listen. But for the average viewer — for Keiko herself — don't we care the he's, you know, dead? Or if not technically dead, very unconscious? Don't get me wrong, I fully understand the appeal of this situation in a generalized, cultural sense (with the side disclaimer that I'm reading a Japanese product through an American lens). Sleeping Beauty exists for a reason and there's definitely an element of that here: a gender-reversed setup where Keiko’s kills may break the "curse" of Yusuke's untimely death. Even his in-between state of being mirrors the "death like sleep" of the fairy tale. But when you strip away those Disney-esque thoughts, we're left with a girl about to kiss an unresponsive body, not as a common gesture of care (the parent who kisses their child while they sleep), but as a first time, romantic milestone. 

It's a little weird lol. 

But embrace the romance! As well as its inevitable interruption. Just as Keiko is about to land a peck, the neighborhood watch committee announces a heat and fire warning, startling Keiko out of her thoughts about Yusuke's "beautiful face." (There's another gender reversal for ya.) She gasps at her almost-action, conveniently remembers that her mom wanted her to do some shopping, and hightails it out of there before embarrassment can really kill them both. 

So she runs off for food... in a sweater? The outfit is cute and all, but I wonder what the animators were thinking, putting Keiko in a puffy pullover during an episode all about a heat wave. 

It's about at this point that the plot goes from cute romance to absolutely buck wild. The fires the neighborhood watch committee mentioned are not, in fact, due to the overwhelming heat, but an arsonist that's going around tossing molotov cocktails through open windows. Why is he doing such a thing? I don't know. Arsonists be doing arson, I guess. The important bit is that Yusuke's place is his next target, considering that Atsuko forgot to lock the windows when she went out. Within seconds all that garbage is set ablaze, quite obviously putting Yusuke's resurrection chances at an all time low. 

"Wake up, stupid!" he shouts at his unconscious body. Mood, Yusuke. That's me every morning. 

So this is a full scale emergency now and everyone is scrambling trying to think of something to do. Yusuke comes up with the idea to possess himself like he did Kuwabara — nice attempt at a loophole there — but since it would technically count as his resurrection, no dice. Botan decides to go get Kuwabara himself, even though he's too far away to do anything. It's still worth a shot. Sayaka, meanwhile, watches all this unfold with a somewhat clinical detachment. She's not quite indifferent and she's definitely not cruel... she’s just not as emotionally invested in this as the other two. Which not only re-emphasizes her purpose here, as an observer judging Yusuke, but also highlights the bond Botan is forming with him. As mentioned before in regards to her hanging out with Yusuke rather than ferrying souls, Botan is well past someone assisting Yusuke simply because it's a part of her job. He's her friend. 

We get some shots of the growing fire which includes a hazy texture to the animation I quite like and then we cut to Keiko several blocks away, shopping bag in hand. Word of the new fire spreads, with one bystander mentioning that it's the twelfth today. 

"This is eerie.” 

“Yeah, I can’t help feeling we’re under attack.”

That's because you are! Someone stop that man! 

Sadly, I don't think the arsonist is mentioned again, let alone captured. We'll just have to relegate that to my incredibly niche fic wishlist. 

Keiko also overhears that the latest fire is on fourth avenue, which of course is where Yusuke lives. Recognizing that he might be in trouble, she takes off at a run. 

Meanwhile, Botan finds Kuwabara practicing his kicks against a Yusuke dummy. Amazing resemblance, right? 

Watching for the purpose of recapping, I'm picking up on a lot of details in the animation I quite enjoy. I don't think anyone would claim that YYH, at this point in time, has the most impressive or flashy animation (the fight scenes later are another matter entirely), but there's a clear love for the product that shines through. The scared expression on Kuwabara's dummy. His unexpectedly dainty kick, complete with pointed toes. Botan's more translucent coloring to emphasize her supernatural status compared to Kuwabara. There are a lot of nice touches despite the overall simplicity. 

Plus, you can't forget the lovely irony of Kuwabara fighting a defenseless "Yusuke" while the real guy actually lies defenseless amidst a fire. We already know that despite his tough talk, Kuwabara would be horrified to learn that his friend rival had died (again) in such a manner. 

Capitalizing on that transparency, Botan runs a hand through Kuwabara's back to catch his attention. He gets his "tickle feeling" and instinctively looks around towards Yusuke's house, seeing the smoke. "Something tells me I should go that way." Gotta love a guy who drops everything to chase a vague, supernaturally induced hunch. 

As Kuwabara leaves we cut back to Keiko arriving at the house, staring in horror at the blaze. We get an audio flashback to her talk with Yusuke where she promised to take care of his body until he got back. So she tries to run in, only for a couple of the onlookers to snag her, quite correctly keeping her from undergoing a suicide mission. We learn later that Keiko absolutely would have died without Yusuke's sacrifice, so her "You cowards!" is born more of emotion than justified accusations. It's not cowardly to look at the raging inferno in a small apartment and realize that recklessly running in will only result in two dead teens, not one. 

I mean, the flames are already right there, licking the door. Even if Keiko somehow managed to avoid burns, the smoke alone would do her in. Still, Keiko tries to mitigate the damage by dumping a bucket of water over her head. As a kid I remember thinking this was the smartest thing ever. Utterly inspired. Keep that in the back of your mind, kid Clyde, for future reference. As an adult... I have no idea whether this would actually help or not lol. Any firefighters doubling as YYH fans? 

Recklessness and iffy precautions aside, I can't express how much I appreciate the story giving Keiko things to do. Yusuke recognizes that she's the only one with the maturity and open-mindedness to believe in his resurrection. She's the one picking up Atsuko's slack regarding his day-to-day needs. She never hesitates for a moment, heroically throwing herself into this blaze for Yusuke's benefit. Yeah, a lot of that still falls into the emotional/domestic sphere — what we expect of the love interest in a 90s anime — but too often action stories don't have a clue what to do with their non-action characters, not even when it comes to just supporting the fighters. They're simply... there. Keiko, however, isn't window dressing. Whether it's helping Botan survive an upcoming, supernatural plague, or cheering the team on at the Dark Tournament, Keiko is an important part of the story, despite lacking the fighting prowess of the rest of the cast. 

Just as important, this episode establishes a core equality between her and Yusuke. We just watched Keiko reject a (presumably) accomplished guy for him, telling the audience that these surface differences — academics, power levels, popularity, looks — don't matter to them. Yusuke is not Keiko's lesser just because he doesn't have the same scores in Sayaka's book and Keiko won't become Yusuke's lesser just because she doesn't have spiritual power like he does. The only important thing here is that they love each other and they're both willing to sacrifice everything for the other. In the span of about ten minutes, Keiko nearly gives up her life for Yusuke and, in turn, Yusuke gives up his resurrection for her. The level of care they show towards one another is balanced, despite those differences. 

They’re a good ship, y'all. Even if this recapping's got me noticing Yusuke/Kuwabara potential lol. 

To get back to the plot, a drenched Keiko charges into the fire, yelling Yusuke's name for the drama of it because we all know he can't respond. Despite the audience (hopefully) recognizing Keiko and Yusuke's equality, that memo hasn't reached Yusuke yet. "You're a lot more important to this world than I am!" he yells, hammering home that despite everything — knowing he instinctively saved a child, watching his loved ones grieve for him, helping Kuwabara just because he can — Yusuke still, deep down, believes that he doesn't deserve to come back; that he doesn't measure up to those around him. The self-sacrificial nature this insecurity produces shocks Sayaka. She points out that if Keiko doesn't save his body, he's not coming back. "What's the point of being alive if Keiko has to get killed for it?" 

Keiko means more to Yusuke than the rest of his living existence. Jot that down in your notebook, Sayaka! 

Kuwabara arrives and runs into one of his friends who informs him that Keiko just went inside. “Yusuke’s girl? The one we saved from those thugs?”

BOY does that tell us a lot about their rivalry! I mean yeah, we've already established several times over that Kuwabara — just like Yusuke himself — is not the cruel street thug he'd like to present himself as. If these characters actually wanted to hurt each other outside of a martial arts challenge, don't you think Kuwabara would capitalize on the "Yusuke's girl" bit? Everyone seems to know that they have feelings for each other, but Kuwabara never once wields that as ammunition against Yusuke. There are no taunts about him not being good enough. Or rather, I should clarify there are no serious taunts — Kuwabara is well known for his teasing. There's also no attempt to steal Keiko out from under him, the common treatment of the love interest as a "prize" that many stories fall into. Indeed, later this episode YYH will deconstruct this a bit. Yusuke sees Kuwabara grab Keiko's hand and yells that he better not be getting "fresh" with her. But it's purely Yusuke's worries shining through. The audience gets a crystal clear picture of the situation and knows, categorically, that Kuwabara has only the most innocent of intentions in holding Keiko's hand. 

(Well, running from the police isn't innocent, but...) 

I keep getting sidetracked. Plot! Keiko makes it to Yusuke's room and finds that he is already on fire. She then proceeds to try and put it out by patting it with her hands. I take back what I said about Keiko's smarts in this scene. Now we know where that supposed recklessness comes from though. Apparently they're both immune to fire! Nothing to worry about here, folks. 

JK she's actually in danger, despite the animation choices. By this point everyone, including Keiko, realizes that there's no way out: the fire has blocked the door. Sayaka then reveals that there is one way to save her. If Yusuke throws his egg into the fire, the energy of the spirit beast will release and guide her to safety. The catch? Hatch the egg early and it won't complete its intended function of guiding him back to his body. This beast is gonna guide one person and that is it. 

Cue Yusuke's near immediate decision to sacrifice his life for Keiko's. Granted, it's not precisely one life for another. Yusuke's resurrection was always contingent upon the beast not devouring him whole — something Koenma claims would have happened at the end of the episode — meaning that it's not technically a fair trade. Yusuke might have sacrificed Keiko's life for his own... only to fail to get that life back anyway. (There's a tragedy for ya.) To say nothing of how Yusuke is currently dead and has been for at least a couple of days, whereas Keiko very much is not. There's some sort of philosophical discussion there about potential being pit against current reality. 

BUT that's not the point! The emotional point is that he sacrificed his life for hers — the potential of his resurrection, the potential of that life he might have led — all technicalities aside. And I, for one, think that's very neat of him. 

A blue light shines as the egg's energy is released, providing a lovely contrast to the fire surrounding them. A path forms to the door and Keiko, recognizing Yusuke's presence, follows it. "We'll make it, Yusuke," Keiko says, which is one hell of a sucker-punch now that we know she's just carrying a corpse. Unbeknownst to Keiko, Yusuke is very much not making it. That's the only reason why she is. 

Kuwabara appears to help them the rest of the way which is also a pretty awesome thing considering that, from everyone else's perspective, the fire is still raging and blocking the door. Despite his spiritual awareness, Kuwabara gives no indication that he noticed this strange light, or Yusuke's hand in the rescue. Which basically means he lunged into a bunch of deadly fire for Keiko and doesn't question how in the world he isn't burned. 

Keiko's hands are fine, Kuwabara's whole body is fine... fire immunity must run in the friend group! 

Yusuke has another rare moment of vulnerability — "They're both okay" — and I cackle happily at the "both" because see. You love Kuwabara too, Yusuke! All this bluster about hating him and finding him annoying. The second he rushed into that fire you were crawling up the walls. 

Except then that happiness gives way to something that sounds a little more shocked. Devastated. "Well, I sure am... relieved..." Kudos to Cook's voice acting. You can hear the exact moment Yusuke realizes what he's done. Not that he regrets it, but the consequences are finally sinking in. He's relieved that they're safe, yes, but now he's never going to be able to rejoin them. 

As Yusuke has an(other) existential crisis, Kuwabara peels back the blanket Keiko had wrapped Yusuke in, revealing his face. “What are you doing with Yusuke’s body?! Are you some type of sick grave robber?” he shouts. God I love when a story actually keeps track of who knows what. Kuwabara, for all his recent involvement in the plot, doesn't actually know what's going on. From his perspective Yusuke died, he made a scene at the wake, he saved "his girl" from a bunch of thugs, lost a huge chunk of time only to wake up with her randomly hugging him (then slapping him), participated in a bet with his awful teacher and had a couple weird, Yusuke related dreams while studying, and has felt the presence of ghosts perhaps a little more frequently than usual. Now he's trying to help save Keiko from a fire only for her to reveal she risked her own life for Yusuke's body. Of course he's freaking out! What's she doing with that? 

What's utterly fantastic though is that Kuwabara takes all of five seconds to process this and then enters immediate Ride or Die mode for Keiko. She's been hoarding Yusuke's body for undetermined reasons? Well, who is he to judge? The important thing here is that people are arrested for keeping bodies, so they've gotta skedaddle before the firefighters show up. 

Hence, hand-holding and avoiding arrest. 

As Yusuke starts threatening Kuwabara not to get "fresh" with her, Botan sadly reminds him that he no longer has a say in who Keiko does or does not fall in love with. The switch in tone is jarring. Whereas before Botan would have teased him mercilessly for the crush, now she knows that nothing can come of that — and it would be cruel not to remind Yusuke of that too. 

"Oh no. I didn't think..." Yusuke whispers, further establishing that he knew the risks of using his egg, but hadn't allowed them to sink in yet. Now they have. 

He gives a fake little laugh with, "Just when it was getting good" and I cry at the development in the span of just four episodes. Despite what I said at the beginning about the show resetting each week, there has been a lot of change thus far. Yusuke wants to live now! He wants to be there for Keiko! He looks down on his tiny family and screams at the unfairness of it all! They're talking about how they can't wait for him to come back and now that's never gonna happen!!

It hurts, friends. It hurts a whole lot. 

During this conversation between Keiko, Atsuko, and Kuwabara, we see that a couple of hours have passed (it's nighttime now, the fire is out) and Atsuko is apologizing for putting them all in danger like that. And by that I mean yes, she does technically apologize with an "I'm sorry" and everything, but it's also a one sentence apology pit against... well, near death for the three people standing (and sitting) before her. Atsuko seems just as concerned by Keiko losing her hair as she does Keiko nearly burning to death and she kneels by Yusuke's wheelchair, baby-talking to him about how he forgives her, right? I love Atsuko, she's great, but objectively speaking she is not a good mother. Not right now, anyway. 

Oh yeah, and just to reiterate that: Keiko's hands are fine after patting down Yusuke's on-fire body, but her hair, which I'm pretty sure never catches, has to be cut short. Ah, anime logic. Funny thing is, YYH isn't the only story to take the love interest and give her a cool, short cut thanks to a traumatic event. Anyone read Ranma 1/2? 

During this conversation we also learn that, sometime between the fire and now, Keiko filled Kuwabara in on everything that's happening with Yusuke. Makes sense. He kneels beside the wheelchair, joining the others in telling Yusuke that they'll wait patiently for his return. Yusuke, above them, continues yelling about how they're waiting on a dead man. 

“It can’t be helped. He made this decision on his own." 

Except it can, in fact, be helped!

Just as all hope is truly lost, Koenma appears and announces that Yusuke will be returned to life. Why? Because sacrificing his egg for Keiko is a better indicator of his worth than the egg itself could have been. Despite feeding on his negative outlook and heading towards biting Yusuke's head off — something the animation backs up by showing us teeth during the fire

— Yusuke's act demonstrates a tendency towards being a "decent human being" that is "so rare." Wow. That's depressing. Still, yay that Yusuke has those qualities! And this, to my mind, helps explain Sayaka's presence. Koenma recognized that judging Yusuke couldn't be left to the egg alone and indeed, Sayaka took note of his worth before he ever threw the egg into the fire. First it was questioning why someone as amazing as Keiko would go for him, then it was solidified through the shock of Yusuke announcing that coming back to life was meaningless if she wasn't in it. Even if Keiko had somehow, miraculously escaped the fire before Yusuke's sacrifice, I bet Sayaka's report would have tipped him in resurrection's favor anyway. 

Everyone is, of course, overjoyed and my heart swells at the intense gratitude Yusuke displays. My favorite part though is when Koenma cryptically says that “Your added experience with death could make you very useful" (a nod towards future events that goes right over Yusuke's head) and his response to this is a yelled, "YOU THINK I'M USEFUL?" This poor kid. The God of everything ever is chucking out revelations left and right, about resurrections and spirit beasts, but the only thing that really penetrates is the realization that someone thinks he's useful. Talk about relatable. 

You know, I've been thinking about why this moment works so well. I mean, there are a lot of other stories where undermining the consequences our hero faces — either with humor, or by erasing them completely — can feel like the audience was cheated. I think YYH dodged that with a couple of crucial factors. First, Yusuke's consequence isn't something new that he's now avoided, it's just a permanent extension of something he was already dealing with. We did get to watch him inhabit the space between life and death, grappling with whether he'd ever be able to return. The story didn't deny us that growth, it just confirmed something we all instinctively knew: this tale won't end here with Yusuke permanently going to some afterlife. Second, the Deus ex Machina fix doesn't happen too soon. Yeah, it's only a couple of minutes in a single episode, but we (and Yusuke) still get to sit with that outcome for a while, soaking it in before its removal. Finally, there's no doubt that Yusuke earned this reprieve. Koenma's timing might be sudden and (if you're not genre savvy) unexpected, but looking back at the series as a whole thus far, we're able to agree absolutely that Yusuke deserves this. Far from feeling like we were cheated, this solution invites just as much celebration as we're seeing on screen, for the simple reason that we can buy into Koenma's reasoning. We know now that Yusuke is a good person. We saw him selflessly sacrifice his future for Keiko. We agree that he deserves a second chance. 

Thus, the episode ends with Yusuke flying up to fill the screen in his joy, a far better, final shot than Harry Potter and The Prison of Azkaban managed 😰

And that's it for Episode 4, folks! See you later for Episode 5 💕

[razorblade180]

OC test: Survive pt1

Each character has been split off from one another by hard light fields to form a circular ring divided evenly; with a safe zone in the very center. They can all see and hear each other, but that’s it. All characters will face grimm at the same time. The type of grimm is dependent on what will give that individual trouble. Once a character defeats their grimm, it is their choice to what zone they want to go to next to help. The test is over when a winner in every zone has been decided.

Aero:Anybody getting Saw vibes from this, or at least something sinister?

Kovu:It did say “a winner” meaning the grimm might own us.

Summer:Remember the good old days where a test was make breakfast? I do...

Veronica:Just don’t fuck up and you’ll be fine. I’m ready for everything!

Sienna:Aren’t you technically a civilian?

Veronica:Pfft, I can still kick butt. I’m a Xiao Long!

Jacquelyn:I think the test is beginning.

Yujin stretches out her wrists and grabs her sword. It was soon after that ten pools of grimm opened up with Ursa Majors clawing out, fully armored and foaming at the mouth. One final pool had a King TaijituYujin wasn’t expected anything less, yet she was still upset. “I am sick and tired of these stupid things! Why all at once!?”

“Because it’s called survival...” Tenzen said, witnessing dozens of baby deathstalkers marching towards his as hives of lancers swarmed above. “Guess I’m playing exterminator...” he syched himself up, before a Beringel came stampeding in. It beat on it’s chests and let out a roar. “And....fighting baby King Kong...”

Jael hadn’t wasted any time making headway on her test. She knew herself pretty well and what she could handle. That still did not entirely prepare herself to fend of eight fully grown manticore in aerial combat. “So this is a manticore? Yeah, about what I expect .” She said , dodging their fireballs. “Air or land, they seem pretty dangerous. Guess I got no real advantage, yet.”

Sparrow was on the ball. Military training served him well. Armed only with an Atlesian pistol and a fishing rod, he controlled the battle ground. His mother had taught him long ago what his limits were and how to make up for them. A single Sphinx flew down to swipe at him. The young man back stepped and shot a high powered round at its foot. The beast roared before trying to fly.

“Oh no you don’t!” He casted the line right in the Sphinx’s mouth and yanked back down on the injure foot. “You’re gonna move the way I want you to!” Another round hit its front paw, making the creatures spin around, using its snake tail. Sparrow had already dropped the line and cought the second beast. He didn’t hesitate to press his gun right to its eye and blow up the head of the...tail. “Whoo! Still got it!”

While several of the kids quickly understood their enemies, others were left a little perplexed. Sienna was one of these people. “Uhhh I know Remnant is a big place, but since when do grimm look like roaches?” She stuttered.

The question got many to take a glance. Yep, roaches, but not the small kind. These roaches looked on par with the size of house cats. The black insects with bone white wings scattered around the floor. Several stood on two legs while grinding their human-like teeth together that made a shrill noise Sienna found personally irritating. The only Kovu alone seemed to grasp that situation.

“Don’t run! Walk in big circle! They’ll be huddled up that way!” He shouted. Sienna followed his instructions without question. The heard of roaches began following her on two legs while the others reached outward.

“Ohhh don’t like that!” Sienna looked at Kovu with a look that said, “what I’m the actual hell” very apparently. “Kovu-”

“They’re called Feasters. Do not let them swarm you and do not run! They will get on all of their legs and be much faster. Also don’t jump! They fly; just whack them with your chain.”

Sienna did just that. “I hate this I hate this I hate this, they’re so many! And that stupid noise!!!! Agh, my ears!” She winced. A second of stopping prompted the infestation to lunge at her like a wave. Sienna quickly tumbled backwards and kept walking. The last thing she wanted was for those things to take a bite of her. All things considered though, this was manageable. The benefit of no semblance she supposed. “How we looking everyone?”

“Peachy!” Veronica yelled, rider kicking a Tar Maw, a voracious gator like grimm that had a bond white back with black carvings. It’s red eyes glared and the tar black underside dripped like a leaky faucet. The sixteen foot beast opened its gaping mouth, hurling up grimm fluid before diving into it and through the ground subsequently; as it the dirt itself has become as flowing as water. Veronica phased through the ground to try and hit it from underneath but was shocked to see the beast diving down for her. Along with two more smaller but equally dangerous Tar Maws. Quickly, Veronica shot upward through the ground and into the air to barely avoid the the creatures that burst through the ground almost as forceful as her.

“As if one wasn’t enough.” Veronica snarled. Her body rolled forward midair to deliver a swift axe kick to one of the grimm’s hid, knocking it into the others. “I think Summer and I finally agree on something! I miss breakfast tests!”

“Glad you see it my way...” Summer groaned, watching a Arma Gigas rise. She looked over to her brother’s section to see the same exact expression of annoyance. Of course he had one as well. Nick looked at her as if she could do anything about it. “I know, it sucks.”

“Royally.” He added. Nick armed himself with Mort Froide and placed 15 upright ice glyphs around it in a diamond formation. His next move was summoning a gigas blade in his left hand before running towards the emerging knight that has yet to form from the shins down. With limited options it swung its blade which Nick proceeded to jump onto an continuing his charge towards its face. “I’ve killed one before. I can do it again!” Nick jumps at the face to slash it but is knocked back by a headbutt. Fully formed, the gigas bends its knees to prepare a jumping slash. However, blades of ice rockets out of the glyphs, wedging themselves between the knees and ankle armor space to stall movement long enough for Nick to recover. He runs his head and grunts, “Gah, okay. This one has a bet more heft. Noted...”

Valerie watched her two closest friends head off to fight their grueling challenge. “Always setting the pace.” She faced forward towards a fresh Nucklevee, free of any armor but still big enough to be a problem. “What, is this some kind of generational test? Too bad dad isn’t here. He’d love this!” Valerie leaped forward, twirling her battle axe before smashing it into the ground to break up the floor. “Can’t let move easily.” She leaped again.

The Nucklevee shot it’s arms out into the crushed floor and then upwards, it’s hands full of rocks. They flew up and over Valerie before crushing the rubble. A cloud of dirt and debris rain down and struck her back, throwing her balance off. Both arms came plummeting downwards to wrap her up and slammed them into the earth.

“It’s thinking!? But it’s new!” Valerie struggled trying to break free of the elastic grasp. “Huh?” She looked up to see the horse mouth exhale a plume of black smoke along the floor and headed right to her. “That’s not good...” through pure strength and will, Valerie got to her feet and started pulling with all her might. The arms wiggled and where dragged up from the ground but would not break. The fog crawled closer and closer until the edges of it began stinging her skin on her ankles like fire. “Gah! Aw screw it!” She yelled, taking a deep breath and releasing the tension of her struggling. Her entire body slingshotted forward through the smoke and to the best, striking it with a double kick to the skeleton like face. It’s arms finally loosened enough for her to escape. She went to sever an arm until the beast turned around and struck her with it’s massive hind hooves. Val tumbled back and onto her legs. A strange numbness and pain resided in her ankles. Moving felt...odd. Valerie looked up to see the fog continue to spread and the beast beginning to charge. “Tsk..” Maybe it was best her father wasn’t here after all?.

In a other section, a much better circumstance was taking place for Lucas. The man effortlessly weaved around the onslaught of razor sharp feathers, bouncing some back to clip the Nevermore wings that sent them. It helped, but only a little considering he was dealing with an entire flock. Multiple enemies that used a wind ranging attack with multiple projectiles. Quite the headache for one who sees the future. So he did what he always did, not even try.

“One thing at a time Lucas. This moment, right now.” He said to himself as more feathers rained. He transformed his blade into a whip and began flailing it to deflect only what he could see and hear coming his way. The moment he found an opening he would swimg the whip around the bird’s neck and yank it down for him to cleave it. A simple strategy, effective. However, it was time consuming. Not a problem for him specifically, but his mind could only think about the people around him. He hadn’t been paying close attention to all of them, but the screaming grimm he could hear outside his zone let him know they weren’t all getting lucky in this test. “EVERYONE OKAY!?”

“NO!” Aero cried as he crashed to the ground, his wings covered in webs. The flexed it off the best he could while avoiding Soul Suckers, enormous spider grimm that had a real bad habit of draining aura and turning people into soulless husks that were robbed of will. Seven of the bastards shot dense web at him in an attempt to do just that. Aero spread his wings and slammed them towards the ground, rocketing himself upward with one powerful flap. “I AM NOT EQUIPPED FOR THESE!”

“They have spider grimm!?” Lucas said with concern. “That’s just sadistic...”

“You’re telling me!?” Aero looked over to Mona’s section, who was dealing with a single Goliath. Her spry nature allowed her to maneuver around its legs, quickly attacking. Unfortunately she was up against a Goliath. Simple daggers might as well be paper cuts. “You hanging in there Mona!?” He asked before having to dodge more webs.

“Worry about yourself Bird Boy!” She yelled sprinting. Mona went into a one armed hand spring onto its trunk and rolled onto its back, sliding down it with her dagger running through it shallowly before hitting armored bone; killing her momentum and hurting her shoulders. “Shit!” She winced. She yanked her blade out and jumped off as the Goliath’s trunk tried grabbing her. “Uuuggh this big bitch might as well be made of clay!” She pulled out her second dagger and took one giant lunge that sent her flying like a bullet. Mona began spinning like a sideways buzz saw as she went by the grimm’s left and right leg, making an average size gash. Not enough to cripple it but enough to piss it off.

The thief couldn’t stop her speed correctly and ended up tumbling along the ground and barely missing a tree. Her head buzzed loudly and her vision blurred enough to not realize the two ton monster charging until it was severely feet away. “Oh f-” she tried blocking. The tusks were aimed right for her blades but suddenly, her entire body was shot up in the air and away from the attack. “Aaah! What the heck!?”

“Stop screaming!”

Mona was spun around to see Eliza hovering with the power of wind. “How the- you finished!?”

“Yeah I had those gross centipedes and a couple annoying alphas with majors as well.” Eliza said. She causally pointed behind her to a zone charred beyond belief. “My semblance was useless so I had to go all out from the start. Guess you’re in a similar situation? Let’s waste this thing.”

“Hmm you’re lucky I like the way you look. I’ll take you up on that, not that needed help.”

“Whatever you say. Maybe I should’ve checked in with Kovu!” She looked his way. “But considering with Carmine said I’m sure his challenge-”

“oPeN UuuP...” gurgled a cold, torn voice. One that reached all ears, freezing grimm and human alike. It came from Kovu’s section. There the young man sat pinned and shaken up. Nothing but the dust barrier against his back and his own bubble-like barrier in front of it, constructed from his golden aura. The thing gnawing it, a very big and very aggressive Hound. It’s teeth grated against the aura, barely cracking it but cracking it nonetheless. “oPeN UuuP...”

Kovu’s face dripped sweat. His arms were completely stiff from trying to maintain his gaurd. “Guys, I don’t want to sound needy, but...” he grunted.

Several of his friends began working harder on their matches. Yujin and Veronica in particular had a fire lit inside them to make sure Kovu would be okay.

“Hang on Kovu!” Yujin yelled. “Just give me a bet of time and-”

“I thought you wanted to be a huntsman?” Carmine interjected, gaining Kovu’s attention. “I thought you wanted to try and catch up to me, but you’re asking for help this quickly? Not only that, but now you’ve caused others to worry more about you which could make them rush and make a mistake that’ll be disastrous. Hmm, I thought better of you than that.” She said bluntly.

He said nothing. Veronica on the other hand. “Hey!” She had a few words. “Isn’t that your cousin!? You of all people should be-”

“Worried?” Carmine finished. “I’m not saying I’m not, but I’m more worried about the thing behind me, I’m case none of you payed attention.” Carmine looked over her shoulder to the massive grimm pool that all but filled the entire area and continued to flow.

Of course nobody else noticed. It wasn’t big enough to caste a shadow over them all until this moment. Once again eyes looked to see the danger but it was their ears that heard it before anything else. A deafening roar that shook the ground like a disaster. Carmine fully turned around to look at her opponent. It was cruel. Downright evil to the letter. What could she have possibly done to earn-

“Leviathan!?” Tenzen yelled.

“I know right? It’s ridiculous.” Carmine said, a bead of sweat running down her head. “I rather switch with Jacquelyn.”

“Hehe, is that a fact?” She laughed nervously, witnessing the creation of a fully realized dragon staring her down as the shook off excess fluid. Yet another huge thing that nobody but Carmine was aware of apparently because they were once again floored. Not necessarily at the beasts even though they were scary, but because that was two people’s test!”

Yujin looked briefly at Carmine in awe. “You can take down Leviathan!?”

“What? Hell no! Are you crazy!?” Carmine said, unapologetically. “That thing is a kingdom killer! Look it’s flattering that you all seem to think I’m super badass but you do know I’m one person right?”

“Well when you say it like that I sound stupid. Didn’t Ruby beat one of those?” Yujin said, dodging.

“My mother flashed her eyes while a giant robot sucker punched it with a drill. Her eyes didn’t even do much but make it stuck for three seconds. Nobody just beats a Leviathan!” Carmine brandished her sword to face it. Her eyes looked back towards to see her cousin still struggling. “....Did you all know Kovu has never beaten me in a fight? He’s always been a pretty average fighter. That being said, I could never knock him out or keep him down for long. He’s resilient as hell. Almost like surviving is his special talent.”

“Carmine...” Kovu uttered.

“Surviving doesn’t mean winning. I’m definitely not about to win this and I doubt Jacquelyn over there is coming up with a grand slam plan to solo a dragon. Buying time though, I can do that all day.” The leviathan shot out a breath of immense flames. Carmine dove out of the way immediately. “Do not make me do this all day. I’m tired. Twenty minutes at best. More than enough time for anyone to lend a hand and then some, right?” Without another word, she got to work.

Carmine was an odd ball. If she had said anything like that to a stranger, it may have come off as rambling. But those around her in this test, they got the girl’s message. Kovu most of all, while Jacquelyn understood from the start given her enemy. Twenty minutes. Nobody was to aid her for that long or to worry. Carmine had temporarily removed herself the equation. One less thing for other’s to worry about.

“Twenty one.” Kovu said. “I got this mutt right where I want him for twenty one minutes.” Sure he was being optimistic, but this barrier bursting wasn’t game over right away. Like Carmine said, he was resilient.

Jacquelyn couldn’t help but smile. Part of it was the touching pep talk. The other was nervousness because no way was she about to put herself before kids. “Ah what the hell. I’m the winter maiden. A badass one at that. Thirty.” Her eyes glowed.

“Of course they want to out do me” Carmine chuckled. Alright everyone, nothing fancy! Those who know they can win, will. All others, do this test, survive!

Finally the stage was set. Everyone was on track. “Right!!!”

[karasuno-writings]

Hi! I just found your soulmates AU and I was wondering if I could request a soulmate AU for Tendou, Ushijima, and maybe Lev too please💜

HELLO YES I WAS WAITING FOR THIS!! This were so fun to write! However I changed my rules not too long ago to a limit of 2 characters per scenario I’m really sorry!! It is just that I like making then lengthly and I don’t want them to feel too repetitive which I think happens if I write the same like idea a lot of times in such a short amount of time!! So I wrote for Lev and Tendou bc they inspired me with some of ideas!! I am sorry for leaving Ujishima out but please do request for him when my ask box is open once more! I hope it is fine, again I’m terribly sorry!

_________________________________________

Tendou satori

“The first place your soulmate touches you is marked by a color, everyone can see it but them, except when they finally do touch you, then it glows until it disappears” 

Tendou had gotten used to the comments about the markings on his face. He was born with golden fingers over his eyes, both of them clearly covered in the regal color, from ear to ear, from his forehead to the top of his cheeks, barely touching at the bridge of his nose.

When he was little he used to think it was beautiful, to him it resembled a butterfly, the sign of an endless masquerade ball which he was part of, not thinking much about the implication that the reason for them to exist was someone perfect for him who was somewhere out there. 

However things took a turn for the worst in middle school where his bullies used his peculiar marking as a stepping stone for degrading comments such as “monster” and “weirdo”; since they had marking on their arms, neck or legs, and those who did have them on their face just had fingertips. 

At first it made him win a new hatred for the golden around his eyes, blaming it for giving people another reason to pick on him. He was little, and words got to him more than he’d ever admit they did, he used to avoid mirrors in order to not look at the wretched thing. This carried on for about a year, it was tiring for him to keep up with the complaints and insults, never seeming to have them satisfied with what he did.

Soon enough, he started to grow thick skin, people tended to treat him like shit anyways so why listen to them? Why giving them the pleasure to make him feel bad about things he would otherwise just embrace? That is when he started looking to it as apart of him once more, he would retaliate to bad comments, and looking at it became something he found to quiet enjoy, often finding himself trying to guess how they came to touch him in such a curious way. 

Now that Tendou was in high school he found himself not caring about it anymore, he didn’t hate it, he just did not give it much thought. He had not found the culprit of the markings just yet, and honestly he was not in a hurry. He was happy with his newfound family in the Shiratorizawa volleyball team.

“Wakatoshi-kun! I have been told that we have new meat this year around, is that true?” Tendo blinked twice, letting his body hang behind him, looking at his friend almost upside down, getting a better look at the plum colored handprint that rest on his neck. Ujishima tilted his head trying to meet the gold-encircled eyes of his friend, and shrugged, looking over to Semi for confirmation.

“I was told we are getting a manager, just don’t talk them of the idea as soon as they get here, Tendou” The boy deadpanned as he walked over to the supplies closet, not letting Satori answer before he was gone. Tendou stood up and squinted his eyes, his mind wandering over the word “manager”, then turning back to face his ace friend.

“A manager huh? What do you think they will look like?....Ohhh or who will they be?” His eyes were wide open, filled with actual curiosity as to who decided that taking care of this chaotic team was a good idea, he could only pity the poor soul.

“Hi! Is this the main volleyball court?” The door of the gyms slid open as you poked your head inside the place before fully coming in. Tendou’s eyes scanned you with an impressive speed, giving you no time to notice his eyes moving up and down your body. He smiled devilishly, you really cute, your eyes sparked wonder but you were clearly not naive, that made him feel drawn to you, more than he would care to admit. There was something about you, almost irresistible to him, he could not pinpoint what. He looked to his left and right, his eyes fixating on the net and then back to you.

“You tell me! I think this might be for the swimming club” He smiled as both he and Ujishima walked over to you. You chuckled at his answer, feeling a little silly for the question but acknowledging the sharp answer. As you turned to look at the boys you took in a sharp breath, your heart beating faster as you met his deep red eyes, such a beautiful color, and he looked so expressive too. 

You already knew Ujishima, not only was he in your class last year, but he was the best known highschool player in Japan, it was his friend you found yourself interested in, compelled to get to know him more.

“ I am Y/N, I’ll be your new manager, ummm nice to meet you”  You waved lightly. Ushijima noticed a very familiar golden color covering half the palm of your hand, and turning to look at Satori, the hint of a smirk flashed on his face as he looked at him with knowing eyes. Tendou nonetheless did not notice any color and looked at Ushiwaka instead, one eyebrow raised at the odd reaction, but with a shrug he turned to face you once more.

“ Ushijima. I look forward to you working with us” The slightly taller boy bowed before leaving you alone with Tendou, who smiled cheekily as he moved out of your way so you could get a good look at what would be like a second home to you. Your attention remained on the boy, whose name you had not gotten just yet.

“Me? I am the one and only Tendou Satori! And before you ask no it is not paint around my eyes!” You furrowed your brows, absolutely confused at to what he meant just there, around his eyes? Maybe he meant the hint of dark circles that tinged the bottom of his eyelids, probably a sign of restlessness. You played it off as a part of the guys eccentric personality as he held a peace sign out to you. Chuckling lightly you bowed to him, ready to start your first day on duty.

“I’ll go talk with the coach about what needs to be done. See you around!” 

“We are sure to be the envy of other teams! I can’t wait to see their faces when they notice Shiratorizawa has such a good looking manager” He said, a smirk on his face as your blushed, relishing the reaction elicited by him. 

You turned around, what he said had sent butterflies stirring on your stomach, even if you were not sure if he meant so as a compliment. As he saw you leave he tilted his head while biting his lip, he had not seen any soul mark on you as much as he looked for one while you were up close, he figured it was hidden by your jacket. 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Your trial week had gone by quick, and now you were writing down the boy’s preferences on the new jackets that you were designing. Walking around with a board in hand and a smile on your face. 

You had gotten to know the boys really well by now, they had grown on you fairly quick, and you enjoyed their distinct personalities and the respect that they showed to you. You ruffled Goshiki’s hair as you walked up to him, he had just aced a serve on the practice. 

“That was real good!” You complimented him, making him beam at the recognition.

“Thank you Y/N!” He bowed, his cheeks red tinged.

“Have you by chance seen Satori? I’m only missing him to sign for the jackets” 

“He is on the coach’s office! I think I saw him enter a few seconds ago.” You smiled and turned to the open door, pleased with your kouhai’s answer. 

As you walked on over your mind raced with different thoughts. From all the guys in the team you had specially hit it off with Tendou. He had stayed a little later to help you in your duties and insisted that you read shounen jump, offering to lend you his manga. 

A few days ago he invited you to grab some coffee just as you finished the paperwork. It had surprised you thoroughly, but you gladly accepted the offer. It was all very casual considering the two of you had just become friends, and you saw it as nothing but a friendly gesture of his to get you feel more comfortable as the new manager, however you’d be lying if you said you did not want him to ask you out as something more than that. You found yourself surprised at how truly nice he was, he walked you home and it was a big contrast to his loud personality, which you found adorable. Your only problem was that you could not seem to find his soulmark; which meant that it was probably hidden by his shirt or that he had already found his soulmate, thus you were not the one meant to be with him. 

The sudden change of lighting of the windowed coach’s office brought you back to reality, as you spotted Satori sitting with his legs crossed, facing the desk as he held a ball, clearly thinking about something, eyes darting left and right. Curiosity got the best of you as you silently approached him from behind, taking his concentration as an opportunity to startle him.

“Guess who!” You placed your hands around his eyes, covering them as you giggled, sure that he was not dumb and could tell it was you, but pleased at the slight flinch in which he reacted.

This was one of the few moments in which Tendou could assure you he was taken fully by surprise, but not for the reasons you originally intended. He shot up immediately, facing you in one quick movement, holding your hands with your palms facing up. He looked at them, and then at you, his sleepy-looking eyes wide open. 

You were fixated on his face, as your hands had left a golden print around his eyes, giving him a surreal glow as the intricate color highlighted the red on his irises, making him look every bit handsome and unique.

Satori ignored the couch that stood between you, getting on it to jump in one swift movement, a genuine smile adorned his face as he held on to your hands. Your heart filled with warm as he closed the distance, standing in front of you, his own thumping hard against his chest. 

“It is you!!” He announced, his voice every bit loud as he was used to. 

“Took you long enough” Ujishima was leaning against the doorway. 

“You knew! How dare you not tell me!” Tendou let his body hang forward with a slight pout, annoyed at the secrecy of his friend and the ability with which he had played off his knowledge. 

You smiled and lift him up from his chin, placing a soft kiss on his cheek while feeling your own heat up with blood. The markings around his eyes faded slowly, and he has never in hils life felt as grateful for them as he did now.

“What an obnoxious place to touch me first in Y/N! You could have gone for something more discreet” 

Lev

“When you first listen to your soulmates name (first and surname), for a second you exchange perspectives seeing the world from their eyes, however, you have to hear it from someone other than them”

When you were little you found out about the concept of soulmates, people that were meant for one another, perfectly complimenting each other. It sounded like something straight out of a fairytale, but it was so mundane for the worlds that some customs surrounded the matter.

When you first asked your parents about it they just smiled, knowing fully well that this time would come soon enough. That way you learnt that when traveling with people, you were to introduce someone else from the group and they were to introduce you instead, always by both name and surname. The only flaw of it all was that whenever one was alone, there was no way of getting around the rule. 

Now you were in high school, the custom were carved deep into you by now; almost like laughing and blinking, people greeting for each other came naturally. You were on your way to Fukurodani’s volleyball gym, as the new manager for the team it was your duty to help out in the incoming practise matches. Today’s match just happened to be against the Nekoma.

Thankful that you lived close to the school you walked around calmly, inspecting the usually busy streets and breathing in the delicious scents of the nearby food markets, today was a nice day for a calm stroll; that is why you left your home with time to spare. 

As you turned the corner you stumbled backwards, if you had not stepped aside you would have crashed with a stranger who just happened to be walking on the opposite direction. The tall boy jumped, not expecting someone right around the corner of the street. He sighted, leaning down in defeat, which made you realise that you were holding your breath. You tilted your head, his eyes were a beautiful green, and his hair a stunning silver, but what really surprised you was his height; and the apprehensive face that he was making, clearly not happy with something. 

“I’m sorry! I was not expecting to walk into someone” He said, standing up again, one hand behind his neck, smiling apologetically.

“It’s fine! Are you alright?” You tilted your hair, your heart was beating loudly against your chest but you ignored it, instead fixating on him.

“Well actually...I got lost, I was headed to a practise match with my team right? But the thing is I stopped following my teammates and went into an alley because I was sure I saw a cat! But there was no cat! And then there was no team either!” He ranted on, his hand movements hectic as he clearly was in a rush, but you immediately understood where he was headed, however it might have just been due to the red jacket he was wearing.

“It is your lucky day! I just happen to be headed towards the Fukurodani gym!” He blinked twice and beames, his smile was really pretty.

“How did you know I was looking for it!” 

“I just happen to be one of their managers!” You smiled at him, and as if in queue his cheeks got a slightly pink tinge, you were really something else.

So then the two of you headed towards your original destination, and there you learnt more about him. He was half russian, but he did not know how to speak the language, and he was set on being the ace of his team. His excitement was adorable, and he seemed to have a huge drive for what he loved.

The road was shorter than expected as the two of you arrived to the school, you were really close, but long before you could say anything you heard a tall black-haired boy shout at your new friend, and much to your dismay you never got his name as he ran towards his team. 

You were now in charge of keeping scores, you had not had the time to approach him again, and much to your dismay the practice vest covered his name. Giving that the two of you were alone at the time, you had skipped the formalities while walking, which meant you did not know his name yet, and he didn’t know yours. You decided you needed to know, and in the spur of the moment turned towards Yukie 

“What’s the name of the tallest Nekoma player?” You asked right as Nekoma received the ball

“Lev Haiba?” She was clearly confused by your question, but right as the name left her lips you felt your stomach lurch.

You were in the court, midair as the Nekoma’s setter realised a little too late that the spiker was not himself, but realising nevertheless. You could see the other side of the court, a light flashing through lighting the way. You saw the ball coming your way and hopped the time you had spent watching Bokuto play was enough for you not to mess it up. You swinged to spike, but the lack of practise was clear as you missed the ball, barely touching it to the other side of the net, all Akaashi had to do was push it the other way.

You were back at the sidelines, and you looked up to see Lev watching his hands, eyes wide open, his smile the brightest one yet.

“You!” He exclaimed, pointing a finger at you, those who had not noticed the slight change in personality for a few seconds looked thoroughly confused, however you could not help but smile back.

“Lev...save your antics for after the match” Kenma said, and his face was scary enough to make both of you flinch, blushing in embarrassment at the scene you had just given both teams. However, Lev flashed one last look towards you, which was enough to let you know that you were in for a ride when this was over. 

“Lev Haiba” You whispered to yourself, before changing the score board one last time; it was a name you knew you’d never get tired of hearing. 

[cantdwellonanyofit]

The Pacific / Meta

I’m going to start that new thread because like you mentioned the old one is very long XD I’m always chuckling as I’m scrolling for ten years to get to the recent conversation.

@stolperzunge

I also think Gene always had anxiety pre-war. Plus throw in a little depression too as we've previously discussed. And now he's kind of a wreck. He manages it better as time goes on, but I think he'll always struggle. I also think he's determined though, and he'd try hard to overcome it by doing whatever recommendations his father would give him. I think being science minded makes you more prone to seeking out cures/research. Or am I projecting....again? XD Ohhh yes...Snafu is just like a little tomcat sliding up next to Gene and purring gently until he relaxes. And Gene always feels so honored by the affection because, just like a cat, it's not given freely to many people. Maybe Snafu rubs the bridge of Gene's nose or his eyebrow until he calms down *heart eyes emoji*

Okay but can you imagine Mr Heebie Jeebies, going into Mr Sledge’s doctors office at least once a week and being like “Sir, it’s serious! I have this spot there-” “Merriell, son… that’s just a mosquito bite…” Mkay, let me tell you something stolperzunge. Since I can't call you by your name since I don't know it (it’s like Sledgehammer/Snafu, it’s your lil’ nickname :'D) I often laugh pretty intensely at the things you say because you're absolutely hysterical. But this time..............There were tears in my eyes. How ....how did I NEVER think of this? How absolutely hysterical. And Snafu can't stop pronouncing ailments wrong and Mr. Sledge tries to take him seriously because he doesn't want to hurt Snafu's feelings. I've booked my ticket for this train and I won't be leaving you behind on it just because I can't cope with my emotions *stares at Snafu, shakes him gently* All aboard.

Snafu deeeeeefinitely liked Ack Ack. I think Snafu even saw him as a bit of a father figure, which was a very big deal for him. Snafu heads right into the war after losing his parents, and I think he was very lost in that direction. I think it helped him be a bit ruthless because he was thinking 'well, fuck it, I have no one to answer to.' But then Ack Ack is there and Snafu surprises himself by wanting to impress him. Or at least get his shit somewhat together around him? Then he dies, and Snafu is again struck by the loss of someone he loved. I like to be sad, folks. But I really feel that way. Even from their incredibly limited interactions...*clears throat loudly so you can't hear the forced hc's* Gene definitely admired Ack Ack. I think the whole lot of them admired and loved him. Ughhhhhh yeah, I really liked Hillbilly so I was like D: that entire scene. And the boys nearly getting themselves all killed just to carry HillyBilly, and Ack Ack is just like ‘take him back.’...so angsty. But I liked the dynamic of Ack Ack and Hillbilly. 'Excuse me, why are you guys beating the sh*t out of each other?' 'Old friends in Mobile? That explains it' I think they would've been a lot of fun if those two got up to banter.

Oh man, that's one AU I'd be obsessed with. Snafu and Leyden would be a riot together. When Leyden starts ragging on Peck about his 'girlfriend' after Peck gets shitty with Snafu, and Snafu is behind him just grinning....shitheads. I feel the same about the more I watch him the more I like him. That's so true! He does really cling to the gentle people and kind of take them under his wing. I really like Leyden being the only one to say what they were all thinking to Snafu 'grab a brush and help us?' I love his inability to back down from a fight. Including literally getting punched in the face. :| I die when Gene is fighting the Japanese soldiers after Bill is wounded and Leyden just keeps desperately calling out 'Gene' and reaching for him. (Side note, I was rewatching that scene to see what else I missed and the very next scene is the one where Ack Ack says you can't dwell on any of it, and I never noticed Gene looks right at Snafu then. And Snafu just casts his eyes down...@_@ CHARACTER ANALYSIS ACTIVATED.) I love Burgie, so much. Every scene he's in is a blessing. He’s so multifaceted. I like to think at some point after the war that Snafu and Gene would  go together to find Burgie solely because they miss him. 

I 100% see him pressing a kiss to the crown of Gene’s head at least once in their lifetime because this little man loves his ginger bff just so much! Yes! 100% ;_;

Definitely agree with you about faith! I think it's good to surround yourself with different practices and ideas. I think it helps people not get trapped in a bubble.

I always hate that when you throw out a quote and people are like '?????' XD

I looove the heebie jeebies scene!! And the sledgehammer/ball-peen hammer scene you also quoted! It’s fun to imitated their pronounciations even ^^ I love that scene too. Snafu is the worst and best. Also, not to be a Debbie downer but as I was going through some of the old scenes I forgot how much Snafu really ragged on Peck. I now have even more ammunition that Snafu would blame himself for Peck inevitably losing his shit. Just gonna casually take a good thing and ruin it XD 

[fencesandfrogs]

cloudtail’s daughter: hollyleaf

alright, continuing my long running deluge of words, we move on to hollyleaf.

ah, hollyleaf. canon did you dirty. luckily, given your lifespan, i can do whatever i want with you. as long as you end up in starclan. also i haven't read squirrelflight's hope so i don't know the deal with that.

right. but as far as i'm concerned, i get to do whatever i want to do with her, and that means i'm...less making tweaks to her character and more giving us more of her, and smoothing out her character arc, because it's all a mess, you don't need me to tell you that.

alright, as per usual, warnings/disclaimers/we: this is for my cloudtail's daughter au. this goes pretty off the rails from canon, so i suspect it'll be coherent, but i still think either the main au explanation or the dovewing post is a better place to start.

2.5k words, 10min read. the least organized of all of these (no section headers).

right so i'm not really sure where to begin with hollyleaf, but i think the best place is the earliest one yet: roughly the fire scene. because hollyleaf is breaking one of my cardinal rules: don't mess with what came before, and so it's best we start there, i think.

right, so hollyleaf, as we know, takes the news about her parentage badly. and i'm not taking that away, mostly, but she doesn't devolve quite so quickly. because i just. don't like it.

hollyleaf is smart, she's loyal, it's a reasonable decision for her to fall of the rails as such, but i just really don't like it. i want hollyleaf to fall apart and come back together. i want her to have to deal with the consequences of her actions. and in this essay i will.. no but i'm getting ahead of myself, we'll do all that. first things first, though, hollyleaf keeps herself together, until she realizes ashfur isn't going to let this stay secret.

so she kills him.

and the truth comes out pretty fast. like no one is 100% sure but everybody knows.

and that? that is what really cracks hollyleaf.

right so remember in my worldbuilding post when i said something-something-i-don't-care-about-hollyleaf's-story? yeah turns out that was a fucking lie.

because i realized that i couldn't really make this work unless i knew why hollyleaf came back because well it's kind of a big deal. so i had to figure it out, and i was hyper proud of myself for realizing she could save dovepaw from the tunnels, and then i was like "well people have a lot of questions for her," to the point where one of the chapters in fading echoes is titled "questions" and it's just straight up people questioning what happened to her.

so. she still goes into the tunnels. and she meets fallen leaves. and they hit it off, probably a little faster. (tbh i'm still not interested in writing this, just what happens).

and she chills walright, continuing my long running deluge of words, we move on to hollyleaf.

ah, hollyleaf. canon did you dirty. luckily, given your lifespan, i can do whatever i want with you. as long as you end up in starclan. also i haven't read squirrelflight's hope so i don't know the deal with that.

right. but as far as i'm concerned, i get to do whatever i want to do with her, and that means i'm...less making tweaks to her character and more giving us more of her, and smoothing out her character arc, because it's all a mess, you don't need me to tell you that.

alright, as per usual, warnings/disclaimers/we: this is for my cloudtail's daughter au. this goes pretty off the rails from canon, so i suspect it'll be coherent, but i still think either the main au explanation or the dovewing post is a better place to start.

right so i'm not really sure where to begin with hollyleaf, but i think the best place is the earliest one yet: roughly the fire scene. because hollyleaf is breaking one of my cardinal rules: don't mess with what came before, and so it's best we start there, i think.

right, so hollyleaf, as we know, takes the news about her parentage badly. and i'm not taking that away, mostly, but she doesn't devolve quite so quickly. because i just. don't like it.

hollyleaf is smart, she's loyal, it's a reasonable decision for her to fall of the rails as such, but i just really don't like it. i want hollyleaf to fall apart and come back together. i want her to have to deal with the consequences of her actions. and in this essay i will... no but i'm getting ahead of myself, we'll do all that. first things first, though, hollyleaf keeps herself together, until she realizes ashfur isn't going to let this stay secret.

so she kills him.

and the truth comes out pretty fast. like no one is 100% sure but everybody knows.

and that? that is what really cracks hollyleaf.

right so remember in my worldbuilding post when i said something-something-i-don't-care-about-hollyleaf's-story? yeah turns out that was a fucking lie.

because i realized that i couldn't really make this work unless i knew why hollyleaf came back because well it's kind of a big deal. so i had to figure it out, and i was hyper proud of myself for realizing she could save dovepaw from the tunnels, and then i was like "well people have a lot of questions for her," to the point where one of the chapters in fading echoes is titled "questions" and it's just straight up people questioning what happened to her.

so you know everything is fine until a thunderclan apprentice stumbles into the tunnels, hurt and scared, unable to protect herself.

hollyleaf and fallen leaves protect dovepaw, a flood happens, i haven't worked out the details and i'm fairly tired ATM, so please forgive my handwaving.

so yeah, dovepaw is with them for three days.

hollyleaf basically gets caught by cinderheart when they're going back, so she's like "well guess now i gotta see my family" and cinderheart is like "yeah u idiot we all miss u n i love u but i am dating ur brother now" and hollyleaf is like "fair enough i have a ghost boyfriend" and they're all good

everyone has a hell of a lot of questions for hollyleaf. i have a whole chapter dedicated to it. here are some of them, and some of the answers.

brambleclaw: why didn't you tell me? (no, he hasn't learned from squirrelflight how unhelpful this question is) hollyleaf: because you're the deputy and there's no guarantee you wouldn't out me, considering you were still disowning me

dovepaw: yo so there was another cat with you wasn't there? hollyleaf: ohhh yeah i have a ghost boyfriend sorry forgot to tell you that

squirrelflight: do you still hate me? hollyleaf: mom i'm so sorry i love you so much

and then hollyleaf is home. i mean jayfeather won't talk to her but that's a few books from now, when they have ghost partners, okay?

but before that, she has to go do beavers, and she never gets a real proper chance to make up with everyone

(don't worry, she'll get the chance before she dies.)

right so dovepaw has her beaver stuff and hollyleaf tags along because Nine Is A Holy Number

really, i just need a narrator on the beaver quest, and for reasons i've mentioned but will explain in a moment, it can't be cinderheart.

so i have this symbolism going where dove/ivy start and end the series (what, i'm big on structural symbolism. i put thought into everything. especially since i'm limited in these books with what/how i accomplish, so the things that are entirely mine, like who narrates what, is carefully thought out). anyway that's because they have turning points in their relationship in the first and last book. they fall apart at the midpoint of growing shadows, and they aren't fully repaired ever, but they get closest at about the midpoint of the last hope. that's a symbolic thing, that they've come back to where they've started, but not quite. can't go back, even if you regret.

regret is a big theme in this series. ivy and dove are a pair in part because they're bound by all of these regrets that keeps stacking up.

now, the natural choice for a narrator of the beavers would be cinderheart. she's a substitude lionblaze as far as this book is concerned. however, cinderheart needs to be the main narrator when she takes dovepaw to the tribe. she just does. so we could do two cinderheart books in a row, but then where do we put lionblaze? he's not really a major character in the second arc, he basically does nothing. i guess we could have him deal with sol, but cinderheart's arc is supposed to be she learns how to solve problems in different ways, and that's why she's able to tackle sol. so, like, fine, what if we make cinderheart and lionblaze arc one narrators, and have sol be a background thing? i mean, if i did it for the dark forest, i could definitely do it for this.

so that does create one problem: regret doesn't bind cinderheart to lionblaze. regret is a theme through cinderpelt and cinderheart. lionblaze is a sexy lamp. he doesn't mean anything, he's just a love interest to challenge cinderheart. so. it feels bad to me to artifiically pair them together and imply they have a dynamic like that.

and the larger problem is what it does to hollyleaf and jayfeather.

see, hollyleaf and jayfeather have this aborted forgiveness arc, that plagues jayfeather. i'm going to write a jayfeather super edition so help me god, but that's for another time. anyway, hollyleaf is trying to make up with everyone, but jayfeather won't let her.

and he's never going to get the chance to make amends, because she dies in the last book.

but anyway, if we make hollyleaf and jayfeather the exclusive narrators of books 4 and 5, we imply their character arc happens. there. and that's...not what happens.

it's aborted. they're decoupled, desynched. they have a moment of synchrony, where they have this shared experience, but it's not enough. hollyleaf is in jayfeather's past, and he's tryign so hard to move forward. it's all ~very symbolic.~

right. back to the present day, hollyleaf has to go to do the beavers mostly because i said so, but also because i'm cautious about drawing false parallels. i think it was cinderheart's essay where i said this is the only part of it i have control over (was it earlier in this essay i've worked on this for like 3 days) and so i want to do it right. but also, she's going to be a good narrator, becuase she's covering a lot of ground, and i think hollyleaf is pretty interesting.

so hollyleaf, my dear, terrified of breaking the code, hollyleaf, watches dovepaw and tigerheart get...close.

and this is. well, hollyleaf has seen what happened when people date illegal options. and it's not good.

so she spends most of the book just kinda panicking, waiting for the moment this goes south.

beavers happen, it's the same as the books, i'm super uninterested in that plotline to the point of memery. hollyleaf is fine, everything is fine, dovepaw is sad now because cats died, everything is fine.

so i mentioned at some point or the other that dovepaw begins sleeping on top of tigerheart. dovepaw, at this point, is fully grown, but she's on the smaller side. she's a standard to small cat. tigerheart is a tigerstar clone, and tigerstar has some maine coon genes or something because he's massive. so uhh you know she probably could literally sleep on top of him but it's not quite that, it's more she's curled up and he's kind of curled up around her, but not as a concious thing. it's similar to when u accidentally wake up cuddling someone bc u shared a bed and that's that. but less awkward.

anyway hollyleaf is like "cinderheart cinderheart we should do something this is a problem," but if u remember from cinderheart, cinderheart is also being nagged by cinderpelt about this.

so cinderheart doesn't want to hear it and hollyleaf is pretty much "whelp guess i'll just die" and by die i mean quietly glare at tigerheart and shower dovepaw in love and affection.

anyway yeah after that hollyleaf does nothing for like two books.

or one book? i guess beavers is book two anyway look she misses her gf but cinderheart is in the mountains and then she's like "oh wait i have a ghost bf i should talk to"

so hollyleaf spends more and more time in the tunnels. this book actually takes place at about the same time as distant whispers. there's not 100% overlap, but it's close.

right so jayfeather (i swear i wrote dovefeather this is the problem with having 3 linked aus god) follows hollyleaf into the tunnels and he has his whole time travel sequence/half of it i still haven't decided what i'm doing with it.

and hollyleaf and fallen leaves have good ole interpersonal drama, where they're trying to be a thing but hollyleaf belongs in thunderclan and yes, this means that hollyleaf is the character who gets the singular book, because jayfeather is extremely isolated from the main plot. in fact, the only reason i keep the time travel plot is because canon. not that i don't like that it exists but for it to have been executed well it needs to be less disjoint. which is why i think i'm breaking A Rule so i can put it all in oots so it's more logical. but that's a different rant.

anyway, there's a quasi-religious conflict where hollyleaf is like "just go to starclan" and fallen leaves is like "my whole problem is how i can't do that"

uh yeah idrk exactly what happens it is once again 3am so uhhh yeah ghost cats she considers leaving thunderclan bc jayfeather won't talk to her lionblaze is away she's still mad at leafpool and squilf is in an abusive relationship and hollyleaf is still pretty young, y'know? that's a lot.

firestar is like "grand daughter i love you dearly but can u maybe uh can u maybe make up your god damn mind"

anyway so hollyleaf and fallen leaves have a bit of a fight, he's like, "i'm keeping u back," she's like "ur not" but she knows he is, etc etc it's very sad and dramatic

so they kind of break up? it's a lil complicated but basically they're not talking to each other for a while, they're on the cat equivalent of "taking a break" ig

alright, so then book 5 happens, and it's jayfeather and cinderheart prepping for the great battle. idk. hollyleaf chills w lionblaze in BGCH and makes friends with ivypool. it's chill. i mean, it's not, but it is.

book six, hollyleaf is the only one to stay in thunderclan. she's kinda j chilling til the battle. and then. and then. oh this is the good part.

she sacrifices her self for ivypool.

yeah. okay, this is super disjoint, so i'm going with it. hollyleaf? done.