#or: shiemi develops Baby's First Crush

[discordiansamba]

(slides you this noctis au snippet. it is once again shiemi time.)

"Do nephilim like flowers?" She'd blurted out the question before she'd even realized it. "Mm," her grandmother frowned, "-it's hard to say. They're just like people. Not every human likes flowers, right?" Shiemi nodded. She didn't understand how someone couldn't like flowers, but she knew that much. After all, she and her grandmother loved flowers, but her mother wasn't nearly as interested. She didn't hate them, but… "Do you want to give him a flower?" Shie asked. "Yeah!" Shiemi nodded. Shie smiled. "I think that's a great idea." Shiemi smiled, looking about the garden for a good flower to give him. She picked a vibrant purple pansy, before hurrying back inside the store. The nephilim was still there, accepting a package from her mother. He caught her eye as she peeked at him from behind the wall, and gave her a friendly wave. Clutching the stem of the pansy, Shiemi took in a deep breath and entered the store. "U-um," Shiemi held the pansy out, "-t-this is for you!" The nephilim blinked, staring down at her in surprise- then broke out in the brightest smile she had ever seen. He knelt so that he was at her level, accepting the pansy from her. "Thank you," he said, "-it's pretty." "I-it's called a pansy!" She blurted out. "We grow them! Here! Grandma does!" …and then she lost her nerve and darted behind the counter. "I'm sorry," her mother apologized, "-this is my daughter, Shiemi. What's gotten into you today? You usually never talk to the customers." "Nah, it's fine," the nephilim stood up, "-anyone would be happy to receive a flower. Thank you, Shiemi!" She should say something, Shiemi thought- but no words came to her. "Sorry," her mother apologized again, "-she's actually terribly shy." "Ah, Yukio's like that too," he said, "-he's been getting better since he started grade school, but it's still a process." "Really?" Shiyumi asked. "Maybe we should introduce them sometime." "Yeah, maybe!" He grinned. "Then, thanks as always. Bye-bye, Shiemi!"

[tomans-darlings-au]

GENERAL INFO

Name: Mason Bojing  Zhu

Sex: Male

Age: 15

Race: Human

Nicknames: Mase (Rin and Marco), Sen (Yukio), Mami (Mother)

Occupation (Student, Exwire, etc.): Student, Assistant Teacher, Exorcist, Intermediate Second Class Tamer/Aria

Height: 5’5”

Weight: 135 lbs.

Sexual Preferences: Homoflexible, Asexual

APPEARANCE

Hair Color: Blonde (Natural), Brown (Dyed)

Hairstyle: Fluffy Simply Combed, Bangs Covering His Eyes

Eye Color: One Pale Blue, One Red (Heterochromia Adjacent to his Brother)

Skin: Pale

Trademark Item: Pink Scarf Given By His Father

Fashion Sense: Comfort Over Style (If not in his uniform it’s mostly sweaters and loose pants)

Build: Lean With More Muscles In His Legs Than His Upper Body

DETAILED

Weapon of Choice: Familiar

Skills and Talents: Sign Language, Language Comprehension, Cooking, Singing (Before Being Mute), Sewing/Knitting

Familiar (If applicable): Jack And Vulcan (Inherited By His Father)

Personality: Quiet, Insecure, Studious, Sickly, Sadistic, Self-Loathing, Angry

Hobbies/ Recreational Activities: Sewing, Knitting, Reading Novels,Tending To His Familiars, Studying with Yukio, Training, Dancing

Favorites Pastime: Practicing Ballet, Crocheting, Any Time He Can Spend With Yukio

What your character thinks about himself/herself: Last Choice For Anyone, A Bother, Boring, Pathetic, Better Off Dead. Maybe A Decent Tamer, Best Used As A Shield, Not Worth Much.

Family: Li Xiao Zhu/Leon Zhu (Father), Cecelia Faustus Zhu (Mother), Clara Faustus Zhu (Sister), Marco Bohai Zhu (Younger Twin Brother)

Friends: Yukio Okumura, Shiemi Moriyama, Rin Okumura (Maybe)

Extra Notes

Marco and Mason were attacked by a demon when they were young around the age of 11.

Marco gained the scar across his face and Mason got his scar on nose from the same demon.

Mason remembers the attack vividly Marco does not remember it at all.

Mason started covering his eyes with his bangs when some kids in his grade school made fun of his eyes and glasses.

Even in dance practice he is adamant about keeping his red eye covered.

Mason wears contacts instead of glasses now and is very self conscious of his eyes showing.

When Yukio and Mason first met and they were training together when Mason fell and started crying. Yukio promptly calmed him down and when raising his bangs to check the head wound, told him his eyes were pretty.

Mason used to be a crybaby when he was younger, he stopped crying when his father died and bottled everything inside.

Mason sometimes gets confused for a girl.

Mason is allergic to Strawberries as is Marco.

Cherry Blossoms also make Mason’s allergies act up.

Mason doesn’t hate demons but is somewhat less willing to trust them than his sister and brother.

Mason has a crush on Yukio that developed as a kid and swears he will never reveal his feelings to Yukio.

Mason wears his glasses when he’s at home and studying but only then.

Mason’s familiar Jack is very loyal and very much enjoys having Mason as a master. Vulcan is more reluctant with Mason but will still obey.

Mason often gives Jack food and special dolls as offering for his help.

Mason can understand and translate 4 different languages (English, Japanese, French, German) 5 if you count sign language.

Mason’s father was a dragoon and tamer exorcist senior first class and aiming to be arch knight one day.

Mason, Marco, and Clara are technically rich with their mother and father having  very nice jobs and being well off.

Mason takes special medication for his health and mental health though he stopped going to therapy once he moved.

Mason dislikes being babied especially by his sister.

Mason constantly wears a scarf his father gave him as a reminder and to hide the scratches and bandages constantly on his neck.

Since his father died his habit of scratching started up again he wears bandages on his arms and neck now because of it.

The scratching has become a self-harm habit that he can’t control, often someone will notice he’s scratching his arms and stop him but he scratches his neck in his sleep and even he cannot control that.

Mason won’t wear anything but long sleeves to cover his bandages.

His mother was said to be “blessed by the angels” before giving birth to him and his brother, however his birth caused her such pain she disassociates from Mason a lot.

Art By @cornyzombie

Shown Images: Mason Nude Ref, School Uniform Ref, Exorcist Uniform Ref, Ballet Practice Ref

[sage-nebula]

If you're still doing the ship meme, could you do colloyd, rinshi, bonrin, and izumo/shiemi? you could choose one or do them all if you'd like. :]

Of course, especially since you asked so nicely. ♥

Colloyd:

ship: ew / nonono / eh / maybe / ship it / aww / otp / MY HEART

I’m nowhere near active in Tales Series fandom anymore, but I’ve shipped Lloyd and Colette since the very first time I played Tales of Symphonia. They work together so very, very well, and the level of care and genuine love that they have for each other is practically tangible. Although you can ship Lloyd with whoever you want thanks to the affection system, it’s rather clear that the game steers him toward Colette. She starts with 500 base affection for him (while everyone else starts at 0), and in the first visit to the Tower of Salvation, Lloyd lists himself separately from the other important people in Colette’s life:

“Colette, stop! If you sacrifice yourself, your friends who love you, and your family, and---and me---we’ll all be sad. It’ll be the same as sacrificing all of us!”

Scott Menville’s acting really comes through here in the English version, because of the way he puts emphasis on the word me during Lloyd’s little speech. But the point is the same regardless: Lloyd mentions Colette’s friends and family, and then he mentions himself, meaning that he sees himself as standing separate from her friends and family. While some people try to joke (or try to seriously say, if they’re fandumb) that Lloyd just doesn’t want anything to do with Colette, that’s obviously not the case. Rather, it’s instead heavily implied that Lloyd has feelings for her. Colette has her friends, she has her family . . . and she has him, as something different but still important. They’re not a couple at this time, obviously, but this is a scene that is not affected or changed by the affection system, meaning that canon does want to push them together. (So for everyone who was upset about the OVA, the manga, the audio dramas . . . sorry guys, but this was written on the table for a long, long time.)

I will admit that as much as I do love them together, it’s been a long time since I’ve exclusively shipped them. Truthfully, I prefer to put them in an OT3 with Zelos, and I think they work really well like that, too. But OT3s don’t work unless all three combinations within the OT3 all love each other, which means that of course I ship Lloyd/Colette as well. Of course I do. They’re wonderful. ♥

Rin/Shiemi:

ship: ew / nonono / eh / maybe / ship it / aww / otp / MY HEART

Come to think of it, the Rin/Shiemi ship has some in common with Lloyd/Colette, doesn’t it? It’s a similar dynamic. It’s not exactly the same, since the characters themselves are different, but I think there are enough similarities there that I can see why, if you ship one, you might end up shipping the other. And I do ship both in this case.

Rin/Shiemi is an example of a shounen relationship really done right, which sadly is a rarity in the genre. (Like, I would say that BlueEx is up there with FMA on this one.) Rin and Shiemi are very clearly being written as friends first; they were strangers when they met, and although Rin developed a crush on her straight away, it’s also obvious that he didn’t actually know her and has been happily taking the time to get to do so. Likewise, Shiemi didn’t have a crush on anyone, and has instead been taking the time to get to know Rin as a very cherished friend. They care about each other so much, love spending time together, support and offer strength for each other. It’s not at all one-sided; just as much as Rin protects and inspires Shiemi, Shiemi also protects and inspires Rin. He says himself that he wouldn’t have had the confidence to defeat the Impure King without the support she had given him earlier, when she told him that his flames were warm and weren’t burning her at all. People who say that Shiemi is helpless, or that she doesn’t care about or support Rin are flat out wrong. Shiemi is one of the strongest characters in the series, a fact acknowledged by Izumo. She needs more confidence in herself, but that’s it.

So yes, this is a fantastic ship, and I’m thrilled that the mangaka is letting it be a slow burn, right down to the fact that Shiemi has (for now) turned down Rin because she doesn’t think she’s good enough to be with him yet (baby no :( ). They’re still young, and they’ll get there, and they’re taking the time to grow closer and I think that’s great. It’s a fantastic ship.

Bon/Rin:

ship: ew / nonono / eh / maybe / ship it / aww / otp / MY HEART

But this one is fantastic, too! Bon and Rin have such a healthy rivalry. Their rivalry doesn’t make either one of them feel bad, doesn’t drag them down, doesn’t make them insecure or depressed or afraid. Rather, it inspires them. Rin thinks Bon is so beyond cool and is inspired to be just like him, and Bon, likewise, finds Rin to be inspiring (if frustrating at how self-sacrificing he is), and pushes himself so that he can make sure that he’s on Rin’s level. They inspire and strengthen each other, encourage each other in their own way. And I love so much how neither one is the typical ~*~tough manly guy~*~, that they each have their moments of insight, and for this ship specifically I love so much how Bon is so often able to see through Rin’s false bravado, how he notices when Rin is feeling scared or insecure, how he supports him. He supported him during their fight against the Impure King when he noticed that Rin was trying to be optimistic for his sake. He supported him after when he told him, “You don’t have to beg to take a picture.” Like? It was subtle enough not to embarrass Rin, but it also reassured him. That’s just the kind of support Rin needs and I love it.

Also, not for nothing, but Shiemi and Bon were the first two who decided to go bust Rin out of jail when they learned he was scheduled for execution. Yes, the Impure King had to go, but they did that for Rin’s sake. Bon even straight up tells him that he’s pissed that Rin is always trying to act like he has to do everything himself, that the reason for his anger is because Rin didn’t trust him with this secret even though they’re supposed to be a team. Like, Shiemi and Bon were there for him and I believe they always would be. Tbh? They’d make a damn good OT3, I’m js.

Shiemi/Izumo:

ship: ew / nonono / eh / maybe / ship it / aww / otp / MY HEART

I’m not as passionate about this one, but I like it a lot!! I didn’t think I would at first; Izumo was so cruel to Shiemi when they first met, so much so that Paku called her out on it (and Rin tried to get Shiemi to stop being “friends” with Izumo), but she has developed since then and has come so far. And like so many other things in this series, it has been handled with the grace of a slow burn; we see Izumo slowly coming around, both in that she sees how wrong she was, and also that she has grown to care about and appreciate Shiemi more and more as the series has gone on. She appreciates Shiemi’s sincerity, her inner strength, her kindness and compassion. She tries, in her own way, to extend some of that herself. And Shiemi recognizes this. Shiemi might not be as experienced as others when it comes to making friends, but she’s not stupid. She can tell that Izumo hasn’t liked her for the longest time, she knows that she was being used before. But she persists because, I think, she also holds out hope that Izumo will like her in time, that they can be friends, and even if not---well, that doesn’t matter to her. As she says, even if Izumo hates her, she still likes Izumo. She’s going to be kind and friendly toward her because that’s who she is, because that’s what she feels is right, because she feels that Izumo is worth that. Shiemi’s not dumb, she’s true to herself and her feelings. And Izumo recognizes that, and that’s what helps her along toward changing her opinion.

I think this is a really, really well-done relationship, and I think they would be absolutely adorable together, so I definitely ship this as well. Really, Blue Exorcist is full of so many good ships, because so many of the relationships are well-written and well-developed. It’s a great series and I’m so happy I’ve found it.

[sage-nebula]

I wanna send BlueEx ships for the meme but I'm having a hard time choosing one. Pick your favorite between Rin, Shiemi, Bon and/or Izumo x3

Why not all of them? ;D

Rin/Shiemi:

I definitely ship this.

Aside from the fact that I’m 95% sure that this is going to be the canon endgame pairing (or at least one of them), this is one of the rare cases in shounen manga where I feel perfectly comfortable and happy with that because of how wonderfully it’s being developed. Although it was established pretty much from the start that Rin thought Shiemi was hecka cute and had a huge crush on her, their relationship has still been primarily developed in the arena of friendship rather than the arena of love interests. I mean, for starters, Shiemi hasn’t even realized until recently that dating Rin/being romantically involved with him is even a possibility; and when she did realize it, she asked him what the difference between romance and friendship was, because she honestly didn’t know (given that this would be her first relationship and they’re both still quite young!), and he didn’t have a real answer either (aside from what you’d expect from a hormonal teenage boy =P). Because of this, all of their interactions from Shiemi’s side have been steadfastly rooted in friendship, particularly since Rin was one of the first friends that Shiemi ever had (her second ever friend, actually, after Yukio), and she didn’t even realize that he considered her to be a friend at first, considering he was stupid and lied about it when Bon teased him about it right after Shiemi started attending the cram school.

And you know what? From Rin’s side, things have been pretty focused on friendship, too! While not as obvious as Shiemi, Rin also has a pretty much friendless background; he was always getting into fights and being disruptive as a kid, and as such pretty much no one outside of his family wanted anything to do with him. The fact that the other ExWires consider him a friend is shocking to him, which is what makes it so heartbreaking when they all become terrified of him a couple scenes later thanks to Amaimon’s shenanigans in the woods. But it’s because of this that even though Rin has a crush on Shiemi (and has since he saw her, pretty much), his interactions with her have still primarily been platonic. Even in instances where he confessed that he liked her, or asked her to dance—even in those cases, Rin still put their friendship first, rather than his desire to date her. They’ve been steadily coming closer as friends and companions rather than love interests, growing as people in addition to building their budding relationship. And we can see that this is only going to continue with Shiemi formally turning him down for the time being, because she feels that she still has a lot of growing to do, and wants to continue to grow as a person (and wants him to wait for her, though she refuses to say that out loud because she knows it isn’t fair—baby). So this is a rare situation in a shounen manga where it’s very, very evident that even though Shiemi is Rin’s primary love interest, she’s also much more than just his love interest, and whatever eventual romance they have is going to be one built on a solid foundation of friendship. I’m pretty sure this is going to end up canon, and I’m excited for it, because we’re seeing relationship development in this series on par with FMA, and that’s pretty hard to accomplish.

Rin/Bon:

But that said, I also definitely ship this!

I’m pretty sure that the BlueEx mangaka is going to go the typical route of only having het ships, so I don’t have any hope for this one being canon. But that said, if it was, I’d be really happy with it! This is one of those rare instances in shounen manga (so many of those) where we see an actually healthy rivalry. Rin and Bon are rivals, sure, but they’re rivals who encourage, inspire, and support each other. Even when they fight, it’s clear that they aren’t fighting with the intention to be hurtful, per se, but rather because they’re coming from opposite views and they’re both headstrong, passionate people who sometimes have a hard time seeing where someone else is coming from. This has made it difficult for both of them to reconcile with others in the past (most notably, both of their fathers—but god damn it, Bon, Rin warned you). But with all of that said, it’s also pretty apparent how they each care about the other quite a bit and hold them in high esteem. Rin has felt that Bon was super cool since the moment they met (and only had that opinion drop when he saw Bon going off on his own father, making the same mistakes that Rin himself did), and while Bon was eternally frustrated by what he saw as a lackadaisical attitude from Rin at first, the fact that Rin continually managed to succeed and so very plainly cared about all of them regardless of the circumstances won Bon’s respect, too. I also think that, as of S2E5, Rin flipping out on Bon for treating his father like that has cut deep to Bon’s core as well. I think that is what is inspiring his change of heart toward Rin after the whole “son of Satan” thing repulsed him so.

Essentially, I think these two are a wonderful example of rivals who actually boost each other up rather than tearing each other down. They have a lot of similarities and differences, and while this causes clashing sometimes I think that, on the whole, they work beautifully together. So I ship this, too. x3

Rin/Izumo:

I like this … but I lean more toward brotp. 

I do think that Rin and Izumo work pretty well together. They’re both honest, blunt people, which means that communication isn’t likely to be an issue. Izumo also knows what it is to be a pariah, ostracized and looked down upon by others for being unapproachable or frightening, which I think is a big part of the reason why she was the first of the ExWires to reach out to Rin after what happened in the forest. Rin isn’t afraid to cut right through Izumo’s BS, either, which is something that she needs considering that she has a lot of it (I mean, I love her, but it’s true). So I definitely see the merits in this ship, especially since—like every other possible ship among the ExWires—it’s been developed wonderfully as a friendship.

That said, I will admit that the attitudes of some Rin/Izumo shippers have been pretty terrible from what I’ve seen. Namely, I’ve seen quite a few of them tearing down Shiemi with some pretty horrible things (everything from calling her a useless bimbo to accusing her of not caring about/being afraid of an ungrateful toward Rin, wtf), and that kind of behavior can cool me off a ship real fast. It’s fine if you prefer Rin/Izumo, but you don’t have to bash Shiemi or Rin/Shiemi in the process of celebrating your ship, you know? So I do like Rin/Izumo, but at the moment I’m more solidly in brotp territory thanks to the way some Rin/Izumo shippers have behaved.

Bon/Shiemi:

I haven’t really thought about this too much, but I think it could be really cute! I could see Bon getting flustered with trying to date someone like Shiemi, who is still pretty sweet and, well … I don’t want to say naive, but she is learning about romance via shoujo manga, so. =P (Which isn’t all that different from Rin, so hey!) I could especially see Bon trying to follow tropes to the letter, too, but getting flustered when things don’t go exactly the way he thinks they’re supposed to, and ultimately just throwing caution to the wind to just be himself. I don’t know, I really haven’t thought about it, but it could be cute! I wouldn’t be opposed, even if I mostly see them as a brotp at the moment.

Bon/Izumo:

Again, I haven’t thought about this one a lot either, but it could be cute/funny, even if I … don’t really see any romantic chemistry between them at the moment at all, heh. I’ll have to get farther in the series before I can really make a judgment on this one either way, since at the moment they haven’t interacted very much beyond insults and arguing.

Izumo/Shiemi:

EXORCIST GIRLFRIENDS. I really, really like this one because of all the wonderful development they’ve had. I mean, let’s not kid ourselves, they started off on a horrible foot. Izumo was downright horrid to Shiemi (something Paku called her out on, finally), and Shiemi took it because she was so desperate to make a real friend for what she felt was the first time in her life (because she didn’t feel that she was on equal footing with the Okumura twins). But thanks to Paku’s callout and Shiemi’s steadfast tendency to be wonderful, Izumo realized the error of her ways and has really improved. These two have had a steadily developing relationship built around the fact that they encourage and support each other. Izumo, thanks to Shiemi’s support, is realizing that there are people who support her outside of her one friend (Paku). And Shiemi, thanks to Izumo’s encouragement, is finding her own confidence and inner strength and is learning to stand back up when things get her down. I’ve also seen spoilers from a most recent chapter in which, after Shiemi makes a rather shocking declaration, Izumo is the one most upset about it, which really shows how far they’ve come, both as individuals and as companions.

So yeah, I definitely ship the exorcist girlfriends. ♥ They’ve come a very long way and I’m so, so happy that they’ve been allowed to develop such a strong, wonderful relationship outside of their relationships with the male characters. Seriously, bless Blue Exorcist, it makes me so happy. ♥

(Put a ship it my ask box and I’ll tell you if/why/why not I ship it.)