#or...maybe i have grown out of it(?) who knows. but yes the fanarts are still as great as ever

[nickeldalm]

Seeing sky fanarts reminds me of how much i love Sky. I wish I can have that feeling back.

[smilingperformer]

Me: "Yaaaay it's Horizons anniversary soon!!"

Others: "It's been a year since Satoshi's journey ended"

I... I didn't even think about that |D

Guess I was that ready to just let him leave the story.

Considering that none of the original series staff stayed in the writing team, they were too.

Since it's soon been a year and we're reaching the end of act 2, I can confidently say this is like, my favourite Pokémon series. Alongside Sun & Moon. And both are favs for wholely different reasons, as in, love Sun & Moon for tackling mature topics and for having wonderful humor, alongside good world building and nice focus on family theme. While Horizons I love the story focus shift from normal, cast that is super enjoyable and a take on a found family type of group, new original villains that I've come to like a lot, etc etc.

I love how different both shows are. I love how both dare to try new things out in different way. Liko is one of THE most relatable characters to me, and I love the whole entire cast to bits. I even adore the Explorers, esp. Sango is slowly making a hole in my heart that wants me to call myself a fan of hers. Yes. She's been that enjoyable to me. Even Amethio's grown on me immensely, I like how his character works, and excited to see his role this upcoming ep.

At the start Roy felt a tad bit too alike to Satoshi, and at times I can see that similar type of "forget about a skill and then do the skill" writing from Satoshi era is thrown on him, but he's still mostly his own character. But that is probably why I'm more drawn to the likes of Liko, Dot, Friede, Amethio and Sango, because their fighting styles are so refreshing for me. I even like how Onyx and Sango pairing works, with Onyx fitting Sango's oni-speaking pattern (srsly wtf that must have been intended and now I want to know if dub has ANYTHING to match this speaking pattern with.)

There's been clear growth, clear character progression, much much slower team progress than whatever the fuck JN did (not jabbing at anyone who likes JN but I won't deny that I really hate how fucking fast most Pokémon evolved there. It seems Horizons knows not to rush things).

Act 1 suffered from pacing issue where stuff happens in one episode and then the next ep sort of shrugs it off and continues the plot in a really weird tone-shift, but I don't think act 2 had that, which I liked. But act 2 also had more fill-ins compared to the action-packed act 1. But imo, it was good to have a more slower, calming pace for a while. It helped build on the characters more, and show how the Rising Volt Tacklers exactly live like. Which makes the Brave Asagi breaking in recent episode ever so more heartbreaking aaaaaaaaah-

I'm also kinda glad I was wrong on the "only a one year long series", because so far I'm quite attached to the cast and definitely wouldn't have felt happy to see them go yet. So knowing that Horizons seems to follow the usual 3 year pace (maybe 2, maybe 4, who knows) makes me happy. And I totally look forward to act 3 that is definitely caused by the Brave Asagi needing long, long time for repairs.

So um yeh. This was a weird ramble lol. But like, love Horizons, don't exactly miss old show as I felt it told whatever it wanted to and had the danger of just, butchering characters further from what I enjoyed it for. Sometimes it's better to let go. Fanfics and fanarts will still exists for a long long time, I'm sure. But my enjoyment on Horizons has definitely caused me to not miss the old days at all. And I'm glad.

(Do I want Satoshi to return? Honestly? No. 26 years is long enough for me.)

[chromotps]

*immediately pounces on you to talk about CoraLaw bc no one else does anymore (at least, not on Tumblr and not English speakers)* I wanna know so bad how adult Law and Cora would interact bc that'd seem so interesting. Especially on a Cora Lives AU. Imagine coming back to life to find out the boy you saved turned out to be a pirate and a(n) (ex)warlord but also a doctor slash (advanced, bc of his devil-fruit lmao) surgeon. It was probably what most would expect what Law would occupy when he was given the devil-fruit (minus the whole pirate and warlord thing I guess) but at that time all Cora expected and hoped what law would be was free. And thinking of that, Cora would realise just how much Law had grown and how he's far from the kid he was then and how little he knows about the man (not that he knew much about Law even when he was a kid anyway, both their pasts were a touchy subject for them but they did get to know each other a little bit and got close, and at that time that was enough for both of them. They didn't need to know about each other's past or something to love and care for each other. I'm not saying your past defines you but sometimes it kinda does. Not fully, no, but it does help shape you into what you are now). And Cora realises that he missed out on so many things. They both wanted to live together, fully and freely. But Law spent 13(?? Or so) years without him but also, Law hadn't been exactly free, not when Doflamingo was alive and Cora-san's death was a wound that will never be healed. Yk what I'm spitting nonsense at this point and I'm probably projecting but yuh... I just badly wanna know how adult Law and Cora would interact when Cora steps into the light again (AKA brought back to life lmao).

Argh I wanna talk about them but I don't know what to say!!!! These idiots make me cry and sob and scream and smile and laugh and I cannot get them out of my head.

But oh! Regarding of their relationship dynamics, I do love the idea of Law being so openly devoted to Cora (and also possessive and obsessed but the latter is almost a fact that he doesn't even need to so anything or say anything for anybody to notice. I mean, look at this guy. He has tattoos dedicated to his lover. The Jolly Roger on his ship is dedicated to his lover. One of his techniques is dedicated to his lover. He steals hearts because his lover's name is Corazon which means heart in Spanish. Yes the last is a HC of mine but idc he'll still be obsessed even when my HC is removed lol). Idk if Cora would leave a kiss mark on anywhere on his skin he'd leave it there until it gets accidentally (and only accidentally, if anybody tries to wipe it off he'd replace their heads with a mop) wiped off. Cora would also be open about their relationship and would proudly gush about his lover who grins when he's kissed on the nose and could cuddle whenever Cora wants to (then he'd introduce said lover to the people and they're a bit shocked to see a 6 foot tall emo looking mf—). They'd fr be the Mom and Dad of the Heart Pirates. But that doesn't make them any less troublesome lmao.

...I had another thought pop up in my head and I— sigh... thinking about Strawhats meeting Cora and him and Sanji bonding over make-up (implied Zosan. Yes I did just imply Zosan without saying anything that could imply Zosan. I'm brilliant. Also implied Genderfluid Sanji. I love my HCs). And also— what. What does that have to do with– sorry, I was talking to my brain bc it suddenly brought Cross Guild Polycule (+ Shanks) in too. I remembered a fanart where Crocodile, Buggy and Cora were talking about jewellery and make-up while their significant others (Mihawk, Shanks and Law) are staring intensely at them xD not sure if that was a ship fanart tho! Also, I made it into Cross Guild (+ Shanks) polycule bc I can *blinks cutely*. So yeah. Just Bottoms bonding over treasure, jewellery, cosmetics and maybe their lovers (Pls we don't get enough Bottom Cora fics I am begging on my knees for them—).

I am making zero sense and I'm yapping at this point but *breathes heavily* I love talking about CoraLaw. I need more fanart. I need more fics. I need more content, posts about them. I– *dissolves into thin air*

hello!! wowza that's a lot of headcanons ahaha. I need to organize my answer lmaoooo

My brain caught on one of the points you made about adult Law and Cora—like, how surprised Cora would be at Law being a pirate. Maybe, after only really having Doflamingo as an idea of what pirates are like, Cora is a little... not disappointed, but like, worried when he finds out. Part of that worry goes away when he sees that Law isn't cruel. But he does slowly understand that, like you said, Law wasn't totally free after living with all that anger and guilt. I think I saw a post a while ago that talked about how Law never claims that he wants to be the King of the Pirates or anything—his "dream" was really just to avenge Cora, and might not have expected he'd survive after that. SOOOOOOO. I think once Cora totally catches up on who Law is as an adult (and realizes he still loves him :3c), he forces Law to sit down and have a conversation about what his new dream should be—it isn't about what he'd die for anymore, but what does he want to live for? Then, I guess the headcanons could be anything... maybe they decide they want to focus on bringing medical help to people who need it, and Law becomes some kind of renegade pirate doctor who goes into places the world government has quarantined... i don't know!! the world is their oyster!!

Ah... the two of them being lovey-dovey around the Heart Pirates........;w; I do also like the idea of them being a little secretive about it, at least maybe at first—like, Law is such a private person, and he doesn't want to "share" Cora after just getting him back... even if it's his own crew just seeing Cora blush or something, haha. And I love cute, open-with-his-feelings Cora, but also liked that rough side of him that would curse out useless doctors and stand up to Doflamingo—I could see him actually being more flustered than Law telling others about their relationship... Like, Cora is talking to Sengoku over transponder snail, and saying stuff like "yeah... I'm... kind of getting dinner with Law tonight. Yes, that Law—don't laugh, damn it, Dad!" and struggling to get his words out. Then Law comes up and takes the receiver from Cora to say, "Then we're gonna make out afterward. Have a nice evening," and hangs up.

my brain is unfortunately too obsessed full with ace/lu and lawcora to come up with anything fun for those other characters, but I'm sure someone out in the world could add on! I'd also love more fics for themmm. I know sometimes you have to "make your own food", but I'm still too deep in my Ace Era to do anything about it yet haha

[thekendallkathryn]

Yooo - found you through a reblog of your Lee Know art - it’s so so so SO good! The style!!! The monochrome!!! Ahhh YOU’RE SO TALENTED and I can see the passion and years of hard work :)

And then YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY?! Damn!

It’s nice to see another artist AND photographer on here who doesn’t just stick to one thing tbh :) takes the pressure off that I’ve been feeling to only post a singular type of content.

Anyways, love!!! Can’t wait to see more :)

- SnS/Caylen

Yoooooo hi Caylen!! I'm so happy and relieved to see so many people appreciating my style 😭😭 there's many days where I finish a piece that I'd gotten so absorbed in happily shredding up with random scratches and splotches and then I step back and wonder like.... is this going to give people a headache? ....will they even be able to tell what it is? 😓 But peoples' lovely words have been really lifting me up today and I think I'm going to feel more empowered to absolutely ravage my paintings and never hold back!!

Aaannnnndd photography haha! 😅 I'm so grateful you took a little peak at it, it seems like no one ever sees my other work (beyond digital fanart) on this site. And I actually do fan photography too, little does anyone probably know 😢 But yes I am a jack of all trades as they would call it. You name the art medium, it's probably somewhere deep in this blog. Acrylic, digital, watercolor, photography, gouache, sculpture, heck paper mache! I couldn't pick a forte if you threatened me, so I'm glad there's someone out there who appreciates the varying spatter!

Please, I hope you never feel the pressure to stay confined to a single corner of your big beautiful art realm! As much as I adore your drawings 🥰🥰 I'm sure everyone would love to see your other passions! And while it's true that most of my photography and acrylic paintings get maybe 1, 2 notes at most, I still post them and write a whole gushing backstory and lovingly make process vids that absolutely no one will watch because I love this blog like a diary more than a newsletter. I started it when I was 12 and one of my favorite things is looking back through it and seeing the ways my art, personality, and of course fandoms have grown and changed as I've become myself and played with my art style. Do it! I promise it will make someone happy, even if that's just me and you 🤗🤗

💜Ryn

[jinxthejubilee]

Out of all those recruiter x hero/princess/prince of their stories, which one do you think would actually work if things were done differently in their stories? This is for the platonic, family like vibes, and romances

I would hope that my personality pages already answered this question. And I think you've asked me that before as well. But for the new people in the fandom who want my opinion:

Apple Poison and Snow White:

My version of Apple starts off extremely cold, and dare I say charmingly sinister. Snowy probably wouldn't see him as a romantic option, and neither would he.

He's more amused by her than anything and finds her positive nature fascinating.

It could work if one wanted to flirt with the idea, and they would certainly be a more interesting pair than Snow and Prince Florian (Yes, that's the prince's actual name).

But personally, I see him more as a treasured friend and advisor to Snow than anything.

Jack Heart and Alice:

Big brother and little sister duo all the way!!

Though I'm a little concerned about how much ship fanart I see of them. And no, before anyone asks, it's not even adult Alice from the Tim Burton movies! She's her 12-year-old self from the 2d animated movie! Wtf guys???!!

With that out of the way, they would make the cutest sibling duo ever. Jack being the trickster, and Alice being the level-headed yet adventurous sister. So cute!

Malfi (Malfie) and Aurora

I actually like Prince Philip, but if we're looking at this from an alternate dimension, I could totally see Malfi and Aurora getting together.

Granted, in my mind, you would need to de-age Malfi since Aurora is 16, but Malfi, Jack, and Pretty Scar are three recruiters who I can see being in their late teens [17-18 at least].

Aurora's kindhearted, playful nature would bounce off his vain and egocentric one perfectly. And it would even help give Aurora even more depth than she already did.

I had this one idea that after Maleficent dies, Malfi turns back into a raven. Maybe that could factor in why he's so indebted to Maleficent since he doesn't want to give up his "perfect" form. However, he does the right thing and lives in peace knowing that.

Whether you play up the tragic angle, as in, Malfi would give her up for her to be with Prince Philip in the end, or if you actually want them to end up together, it would be an interesting set up.

Eight Foot Joe and Ariel

I've seen this as a ship, and I understand why. It's an adorable one when you think about it: Grumpy guy and sweet girl. We've seen this set up thousands of times, and we can't get enough of it.

But here's the problem I have with this ship: Ariel is canonically 16. Granted, we don't know how old Joe is, but by my personal guess, he seems to be either a stress-aged young adult or a tired grown adult in his early 30s.

I know the recruiters look a lot older than they probably are due to their on-stage actors, but they also serve as our main source of info on the characters they play as.

Not to mention that Joe even calls Ariel "a little girl" when a guest asks him about her, which indicates that he sees her as someone way younger than him.

Personally, I see them having an uncle and niece dynamic.

If we're reimagining the movie with Joe in it, he would probably be known across the sea as a servant of Ursula. I mean, it's kinda hard to hide when you're the only other cecaelian around.

Maybe a young Ariel met him when he was just an octopus before Ursula transformed him. Hence why Ariel can't recognize him years later.

You could do a lot with this idea and play around with Joe being an uncle figure in Ariel's life.

Mr. Dalmatia and...the Dalmatians?

I guess they are the main characters, right?

In all seriousness, Dalma would've been adopted straight away by Pongo and Perdita if he hadn't been accidentally left behind during the escape. He would drink up their parental praise like his favorite juice. Still a brat, though, but a cute one for sure.

Pretty Scar (Mzuri) and Simba

If circumstances were different, I could see Simba, Nala, and Mzuri being friends when they were younger. Mzuri would go along with Scar's rule because she's forced to by relatives. But to redeem herself, she helps Pumbaa and Timon distract the other hyenas when Simba comes back.

If I were to add Mzuri in the story without them knowing each other, I can only really see them settling their differences in the second movie since hyenas are not respected in the Lion King universe at all.

Going by this route, PS would either despise Scar after he cowardly cast the blame towards the hyenas, or PS still clings to Scar even after he died and helps to raise Kovu.

In my mind, Mzuri would hate Scar after his betrayal, so maybe after wandering around for a few years, she catches wind of Zira's plot to overthrow Simba and wants to put a stop to it.

Ms. Hades and Hercules

Aunt and nephew relationship. She'd be reluctant at first to get close to him, but she can't resist his compassionate nature and would give him advice when she could.

I could see her looking after him in secret on earth without Hades knowing. She, alongside Phil, would train him. And MH would have inside knowledge on Hades' plans.

Veil and Quasimodo

In a perfect world where these two weren't manipulated by a horrid man who dared to call himself an archdeacon, they would see each other as siblings.

In the true world, however, if Veil was in the picture, she wouldn't hate Quasimodo, but she would ignore him. The bell ringer himself would be the only one to think of himself and Veil as siblings.

After Frollo dies, they both talk about their experiences and slowly work their way towards a brother - and sister-esque relationship.

Lady Hock, Peter Pan, and Wendy

If Hock was on the winning side, she'd be the best older sister/cool aunt towards Peter, Wendy, and the Lost Boys.

She would be protective of them, read them stories, help Wendy keep her sanity every time she visited, and even take care of Jane.

Faja, Aladdin, and Jazmine

Again, speaking in this hypothetical perfect world, Aladdin, Faja, and Abu would have been best friends. Maybe even siblings.

Faja would have been far away from Jafar's influence and twisted mind games. Her fiestiness and insecurity would still be there, but her trust and security with Aladdin and Abu would overcome her fear.

She'd probably still want to learn magic, but she'd learn on her own terms.

However, in the true movie-verse, she would need to get over her misguided hatred towards Aladdin. He has everything a street rat like her could ever want, of course that would spawn jealousy.

In the end, she would team up with Aladdin in the "Jafar Returns" movie and later become the royal magician after Faja works on herself.

[seariii]

Fkn Kasumin made me cry bruh

This song doesn't have the right to hit me like that dude wth

.... But.... Sigh....

I wanna be able to shine that brightly too.... There must be some apps that can help.... But the buzzing is annoying and I'd have to work around that....

What were the first steps again...? Um.... Right The banner and the watermark.... Which don't have to be too difficult....

I think my earbuds aren't up for the job tho.... I could check the mic again now that I know it's not itself but the area I live at...

In any case maybe directly my phone could work too...

.... I wonder what would've happened if I had continued all those years ago... I was too scared heh.... But... It's okay, maybe not ideal and maybe much more difficult but.... A girl can dream and can try...

Heh this is gonna be silly, and I've talked about it without much specifications but... I wanna open a YouTube channel and upload covers. My dream... Maybe silly, maybe dumb, but I want my voice to be heard and to reach people's hearts... I love music, I love happy songs, sad songs, songs that don't fit my person jajajaja... Songs are a way to experience the world around you, and sometimes experience stuff from someone else's pov, experience stuff and thoughts you wouldn't normally have... It's beautiful... And... I dream with being able to convey many feelings through my voice and make people resonate with them...

I think it's silly, I compare it with wanting to be an idol heh but... It's important to me... I can't be too mad at the little me that stopped this journey tho. She was young, didn't have any aspirations, goals nor dreams.... I remember when she played pokemon BW, and N asked if we had a dream... It was such a heavy moment for me. We stared at the screen for more than 10 minutes, crying, noticing I couldn't see anything, I didn't hope for anything... And when I pressed No, N said something like "how could someone without dreams even understand me?" And it made me feel even worse.... But... At the end, when N says goodbye... When I've grown even more attaches to him, when I don't want to see him go.... He told me to find that dream and make it reality... Actually heh i looked up the quote "Dream your dream! Then, pursue the ideals to make that dream a reality, and someday you will achieve all that you dreamed of! [...]"

.... After all this years, I finally dreamt that dream like he told me to.... I will... I want to shine and I want to pursue that dream! Even if nothing will come out of it, even if it only reaches 1 person... I still want to try...

I've been saying that for a while now hah but my executive dysfunction and my depression get the worst of me hehe... But... With how I'll be forced to move forward soon, I have to start taking this steps ... I can do this

As a little side note, N's words were so important to me, because they came in a crucial moment in my life, but also N was my very first fictional crush, so he held even more importance I'm many layers.... I think if he saw me now, he'd be proud of me.... And if I saw him now, I'd be really proud of him too... We both made so much progress towards becoming who we wanted to be... I still have a long way to go... but yes... Heh I might have to make some Ferriswheelshipping fanart! Hehe <3 yep I projected into Hilda before I knew what self shipping was, I basically made her my persona/oc for a long time

[amateurmagic]

For the Pokemon meme- 1, 11 and 22! And also passing along the be sure to stay hydrated train :)

Eeee thanks for the ask!! I haven't done tumblr asks in a while

1) Who was your first starter?

Turtwig!! I was pretty late to the game for Pokemon, but I adore him!! Sadly, I really don't use the line very much bc they're weak/allergic to everything

11) List your top 6 favorite Pokemon

1. Espeon!! I had one in my og Diamond file that just blasted through everything and that's what put it on my radar. I also love its simple and elegant design and I'd love to have one follow me around. I also really like the emphasis on bond and trust in all its dex entries

2. Raichu - it's just so big and looks so nice and soft and pudgy to hold and hug. And also absolutely strong enough to decimate my enemies. It also seems like the least loved member of the Pika-line, (most of its anime appearances are basically Raichu slander lol) but Alolan Raichu is nothing but soft pancake-loving perfection

3. Lucario - bit of a basic choice but i will always love this reliable ace. It was also one of my friend's favorite pokemon who helped get me into Pokemon, so there's the nostalgia points there. And no one can deny that Lucario's movie was, and still is, an absolute banger

4. Ponyta - again with the nostalgia play, but Ponyta was the first pokemon i learned. (I guess separate fun fact is that my first pokemon I learned wasn't Pikachu). I also grew up riding horses and still do, and the little childhood desire of being able to ride and own a literal fire horse has not subsided. It's also got a real cute face

5. Hisuian Arcanine - Kantoian Arcanine has always hovered near the top of my favorites list, but when the Hisuian form came out? Instant top. I love it's design and also it's callback to historic asian guard dogs. Also who could resist a giant fluffy dog to help hunt down your enemies and then lower your heating bill in the winter?

6. Meowscarada - after a lot of internal debate, I've gotta give the last spot to my Scarlet ace. Initially, I actually hated how the final form of our grass cat looked, but it's definitely grown on me (though the puffy sleeves and weird hand-paws are still problem but we're fixing that in fanart wut). And working to develop my ScarVio muse’s Meowscarada’s personality and arc for my slew of fics that hopefully will make it out of google docs one day lol has also endeared it to me. Also Scarvio has been the first mainline Pokemon game to really grab me since XY, so Meowscarada gets points for that too

Honorable mentions (bc that last choice was hard) - Eevee, Buizel, Absol, Torterra and Latios

22) - If you were a gym leader, what would your typing/theme be?

I love that this question says theme, because I've always wondered how Gym Leaders and E4 end up specializing in types. Besides for Misty, I don't remember anyone in canon who wasn't already a gym leader deciding to specialize in only one type (yeah I know Misty becomes a gym leader, but when she battled Ash in like. ep maybe 7, she barely was). Because they must've had mixed teams when they were up and coming trainers, winning leagues and challenging Champions and such. I much prefer some of the mixed teams of the ScarVio teachers in the Academy Ace tournament and then Battle Frontier brains in the anime that have a unifying theme instead. Like an international gym with all final forms of starters would be cool

As for me, it's so basic, but I'd love an Eeveelution gym with Eevee as the ace, maybe with Gmax, even though I haven't finished Shield yet. But if I had to pick a type, I think I'd go Fire-type with Hisuian Arcanine as my ace, along with Ponyta/Rapidash, Hisuian Typhlosian, Delphox, Houndoom, and maybe Salazzle

And yes!! Hydrating is good!! Hydrate or die-drate. Currently doing with tea

[colorisbyshe]

what are some yaoi manga or anime you recommend? im having an anime phase again and none of the people who i get recommendations from recommend me gay things

i mean.... there's... majo to neko..................

the rest? i cannot say

i'll be honest i don't keep track of most gay manga i read, especially the manga that is like... actively dicks out.

i actually haven't read a lot recently. there's a lot i've dropped because it Couldn't Be Fucking Normal for Five seconds and the the rest of manga i have read are like... ao no flag which i fucking hated and bitched about here for like a week nad then non-gay stuff... like i've been reading hunter x hunter for like half a year now becaues i keep getting distracted. i have fully stagnated in the greed island arc and then i keep going back to refresh my memory and getitng stuck again

the stuff i HAVE read hasn't updated in 6+ months an di hate promoting stuff that is incomplete and isn't in active production

since i haven't read a lot of the "hasn't updated recently" stuff in a while, ic an't remember if there's Classic BL Bullshit Lite that i was able to skim over because I have grown immune nad so many manga have striven hard to lower the bar (like the "no no yes" stuff classic to any romance/erotica genre where like everyone involved clearly wants it but someone has to say no and someone has to fucking ignore it??) and I'd rather not endorse that. like on this front i THINK black or white by sachimo has a scene like that but it's integral to them working on a healthier sex life. same with given except that one is... worse than black or white. i still post given fanart here so i like... i guess given still has my seal of approval but... well... :|

and worse i'm always afraid that if i rec a normal Not Bad BL series someone is gonna be like "did you know the mangaka also a doujin about 14 year olds fucking" and i DIDN'T know and i'mg oing to have to kill myself. i'm still recovering from promoting blue period (not even a BL) just to find out the mangaka did incest doujins of teenagers.

so like...... all i can offer is majo to neko

or like lets all get gay baited by buddy daddies together please

or maybe i'll start atching and posting all the gay BL dramas... i promimse to not get betrayed again like i did with KP... or to watch ones that are more interesting than happy ending romance which sucked

i was thinking of starting ameiro paradox and reading the manga

if its weird... whoops i'm sorry for bringing it up

[nerice]

oc ask meme! 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, and 47!

*rolls up my sleeves all the fucking way* let me introduce u to so many freaks. also linking my oc page again here not everyone's on there but for refrance!!!! this got long so im actually using the humble readmore function for once but im gonna showcase one answer up here and that is:

has anyone drawn fanart of your ocs? if yes, maybe show a picture or two here (remember sources & permissions!)

i love all the art you n charlotte have drawn but this pic you did of reina. man (i cry everytime i look at it, she's SO BEAUTIFUL here you got her down better than i have ever drawn her <33333)

first oc ever: a young girl who gets her throat taken out by a big cat at a circus performance; who is now a young boy called honey who gets his throat taken out by kizuna while he wanders the swamplands searching for his brother! :D

personal favourite oc: absolutely without any doubt or competition whatsoever this goes to sky lmao. rabbit daughter of my life <33333

have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else? nope! all organically grown ocs in my brain tbh i find the practice of adoptables etc a little weird but that's just bc it, for me personally, conceptually, just does not work at all lmao

if you could make only one of your ocs popular/known, who would it be? nightmare scenario that guarantees callout posts tbh but after reading a billion articles on traditional female villains for my thesis i am slightly tempted to blaze knowledge abt faye lmao. high femme lesbian villain (power armor notwithstanding) we need more of em <3

are your ocs part of any story or stories? only have story ocs!! if i think up a guy he comes pre-equipped with problems which i will somehow slot into the grander verse, i don't make the rules

sunshine oc: alissa!!!! tragic girl who dies too young but before then is the absolute light in the life of everyone she touches ;_; there is one au where she lives and aims to use the lifesong to help more people, in the process of which she becomes eliada's sworn enemy & also possibly romances damia. long story

troublemaker ocs: handsdown linn wins this category lol. always up to no good, a nsfw criminal menace <3

oc otp: YOU KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT IS JUMIE/REINA. thank you for drawing them make out it gives me life <33333

introduce an oc that means a lot to you (and explain why): gestures at reina. gestures at sky. gestures harder *camera pans over i am now on the floor sobbing* yknow?

introduce oc that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like: jumie used to be very mellow and leaned most strongly into the caretaking persona (it still comes out with sky a lot ;_;) but when i actually got around to writing her boy. oh boy. takes no shit and vibe checks every single person she comes across (for better or for worse) lawful good paladin behavior

which one of your ocs would go investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone they’re going? leah!!! unfortunate tendency to disappear on people bc of whatever piqued her interest & also knows no fear/loves freaky and spooky stuff. noah, her scaredy-dragon bodyguard, is as exasperated as he is close to a heart attack at all times

pick one oc of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really) cait, avery, and jumie wld all run weapon aes focused blogs (swords, knives, spears&bows respectively) and would probably end up sending each other hatemail over their weapon preferences lmao

introduce an oc who is not quite human: kizuna!!! typical choice here lol but. fun-sized (bear shaped) omnivorous murder bunny who can shapeshift into the people she devours. has a little identity crisis from it eventually, its ok

do you have any certain type when you create your ocs? do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? it’s time to confess: i dont set out to create ocs so much as they just show up unasked on the doorstep of my brain but i absolutely love 2 give ocs a truckload of extremely visible scars (and some hidden ones for funsies) face scars are one of the greatest honors i can bestow <3

has anyone ever (friendly) claimed any of your ocs as their child? various yeah most frequently adopted are leah (statistical daughter of all time) and belle+sky for trauma reasons lmao

[leia505]

The Sunrise and Your Sins | Tetsurou Kuroo x Reader (street racing AU)

This fic takes place in the same universe as “deciphered” by @hoeneymilktea​! Here is the link to the car visuals and spotify playlist, as well as AO3 where the fic is also posted if you prefer to read on there. 

Huge shoutout to @aikk00​ for creating the fan art that inspired both this story and “deciphered”. 

And another shoutout to @hoeneymilktea​ for pushing me to write this fic, if you’re here from deciphered I hope you enjoy this addition to the deciphered universe! 

Pairing: Tetsurou Kuroo x Reader

Rating: Explicit, NSFW(later chapters)  

Word Count: 10k

Tags: Street Racing, Alternate Universe - Car Racing, Inspired by Fanart, References to Drugs, Aged-Up Character(s), Original Character(s), Inspired by The Fast and the Furious, Inspired by Tokyo Drift, Alternate Universe - Yakuza, Mystery, Drama & Romance, Other Additional Tags to Be Added

Summary: Being a mob boss’s daughter had always been a dangerous life, but Tetsurou Kuroo—street racer and mob henchman—made it all seem easy. Although the mutual attraction between you two was undeniable, the darkness that encompassed your family took precedence over your love. Surrounded by lies and deception, you and Kuroo must work together to uncover the truth of your brother’s death and your father’s shady business.

“Hey there kitten.”

“Is that really how you want to talk to a yakuza boss’ daughter?”

“It’s not like your old man’s here to listen.” Kuroo says, pulling up a chair to sit close to you. You turned your head to stare him in the eyes as he smirked at you.

“You think a man like my father doesn’t have his own office wired?” You ask, raising an eyebrow at him.

Kuroo chuckles nervously, looking around your dad’s office. Just some harmless flirting boss. Nothing to worry about here.” He says loudly, turning to you with a wink. You can’t help but smile, you’ve always enjoyed the times Kuroo came to see your father. You weren’t going to try to deny the fact you found him attractive, but there’s no way your father would allow it. A mafia princess and a drug smuggler? What a cliché.

Your father’s sudden entrance startles you both, and Kuroo instinctively stands up to bow. You remain seated, knowing that the power he held over this city applied to everyone but you.

“Hello father.” You greet your dad as he sits in his office chair at the front of the room. He definitely has a demanding presence, which is to be expected from the man who has the Tokyo underground in his pocket. Kuroo had power, and definitely had some authority, but he was a guppy compared to your father.

“Sit, Tetsurou.” Your father says, motioning for Kuroo to take a seat. He quickly sits down in his chair, attentively looking at the mafia boss for further instructions.

“So, as you could probably guess, I have another job for you.” He says, pulling a file out from the locked cabinet of his desk. He laid the file open in front of him and turned to Kuroo. “There will be a shipping container coming in this Friday from Cuba. I’m going to need a team of your best racers to get it from point A, the ports, to point B, headquarters.” He explains, motioning for Kuroo to stand next to him to look over the details.

“Seems easy enough, standard job.” Kuroo says, studying the papers in front of him. At this moment, you can’t help but wonder to yourself why exactly you’re there.

“Exactly. Nothing new, just the same old.” Your dad agrees. “However, this is a bigger job. And we do have some eyes watching us nowadays. So what I need from you is to take the lead and choose your team. Approved by me, of course.” He says, motioning for Kuroo to take his seat again.

“How many people are we talking?” Kuroo asks.

“You, maybe two others. And your colleague, Snake Eyes, taking the lead on logistics.” Your father explains, leaning back in his chair. “Snake Eyes will be essential to this one, we need eyes and ears on the route. The less run-ins with the authorities, the better.”

‘Snake Eyes.’ You thought to yourself. ‘Isn’t that Kenma? The nerdy looking mechanic?’

“I’ll let Kozume know.” Kuroo says, nodding. “I think Oikawa and Shinsuke would be a good fit for this one. Fast, experienced, trustworthy.”

“Oikawa…he’s the one that calls himself Cypher correct?” You father questions.

“Yes sir, head of Seijoh Brawlers. Shinsuke goes by Sly Fox, head of Inarizaki Bois.”

Your dad let out a hearty chuckle, startling both of you. “You kids and your code names. You would think you’re playing spy.” Kuroo nervously chuckled in agreement.

“No playing here sir, we’re all in.” Kuroo says, giving him a confident grin.

“That’s what I like to hear, Tetsurou. With that attitude, you’ll fit right in at the grown-up table.” Your father says, getting up from his chair. You roll your eyes, bored of the conversation between the two criminals. 

“Why am I here?” You ask, causing both of them to turn to you as if they just realized you were there. You rarely sat in on your father’s meetings, so you were confused from the start as to what your purpose was.

“Oh sweetheart! I almost forgot, Kuroo has a present for you.” Your father says brightly, waving his arms at you, motioning for you to follow Kuroo out the door.

You peered your eyes at Kuroo suspiciously as he smirked at you. You continued to follow him out the door of your family’s Tokyo home, with your father following behind you.

As the three of you exit the house, your eyes fall on a bright pink car, with a giant white ribbon tied around the hood.

“Is that-“You begin saying, quickening your pace to get closer to this absolute beauty.

“A Honda S2000? Yes, yes, it is.” Kuroo says, leaning against his car, a cherry red Nissan Veilside 350Z. He holds up a pair of car keys, which he tosses to you.

“It’s mine?!” You exclaim. You turn to your dad, who smiles warmly at you.

“A gift, from the Nekoma crew to our family. Me and your mother have enough cars, so I figured you could claim this one.” He explains, chuckling.

“Thank you!” You wrap your arms around him, embracing your father in a hug. He tightly hugs you back, the same way he always has. You turn towards Kuroo. “And thank you, you and the whole Nekoma crew. How’d you know I wanted pink?”

Kuroo shrugs. “I just guessed. Seemed like your color.” He says, winking at you. He slyly opens his car door, climbing in. “Thursday night, I’ll bring the team?” He asks, turning towards your dad.

“Yes, and make sure they bring their cars as well. I need to see for myself what type of speed we’re working with.” Your dad says, switching into business mode seamlessly.

Kuroo lets out a laugh, closing his car door and rolling his window down. “I can promise you sir, the one thing we will surely not be lacking is speed.” He says, revving his engine, speeding out of the driveway and down the dark street. The roar of his engine could be heard long after he disappeared from our sight, breaking the silence of the upper-class neighborhood he sped through.

“Sweetheart, Tetsurou and his boys are here if you’d like to sit in on the meeting.” Your father says, peeking his head into your room. 

“I’ll be right down dad.” You reply, getting up from your bed. You heard their cars coming from miles away, so you were already prepared to meet them downstairs. You were curious as to why your father suddenly invited you to sit in on his business meetings, he never really allowed you to take part in your family’s activities. Nevertheless, you were glad you finally had something to keep you entertained while locked away in your home. 

As you walked down the stairs, you heard Kuroo’s voice speaking to his friends, and you were caught off guard by how mature he sounded. He must have known you and your father were coming down the stairs, so he put his big boy voice on to impress your father. 

“Hi.” you say shortly, causing all of them to turn their heads to you. You finally got a good look at all of them, and they were all exactly what you’d expect street racers to look like. Piercings, tattoos, just a bunch of tough looking guys with skeptical faces as they looked up at you. 

“Is this the one you keep bringing up?” a guy with shoulder length bleached blonde hair asks, turning to Kuroo. His voice was soft, almost a whisper. It was a drastic change from Kuroo’s deep, commanding voice. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kuroo says, awkwardly clearing his throat, tugging at his collar as he avoided your gaze.

“Hola mami.” The brunette one says to you, shooting you a devilish smirk as you descend further down the stairs. 

“The fuck is wrong with this one?” You ask Kuroo, opting to stand next to him. You tilt your head towards the brunette guy, who was still staring at you like a luxury car. 

“He lived in Argentina for a few years and now he’s just...like that.” Kuroo says. “You kind of get used to it. He also doesn’t care that no one but him knows Spanish.” 

“Tetsurou! Glad you all made it here in one piece. Shall we move this to my office?” Your father says, waving his arm down the hall to the large double doors that lead to his office, the space where all meetings, illegal or otherwise, were held. 

The five of you made room for your father to lead and followed him down the hall. You were keenly aware of the fact Kuroo stood almost directly behind you, mainly because the smell of his cologne was too strong to ignore. Kuroo was just like that, a presence you couldn’t seem to get out of your head. 

Upon entering the office, you choose to take your usual spot on the comfortable sofa chair you put in your dad’s office over a decade ago. When you were younger, more naive to the truth to your father’s business and your family’s wealth, you frequently accompanied your father in his office on long work nights, falling asleep in the chair that was kept out of the way to keep others from taking your special spot. That’s always how your dad was, making sure to accommodate you. Anything for the princess. 

“So!” Your father announces, clapping his hands together, causing you and the blonde one to jump slightly. “Don’t be shy, introduce yourselves.” You roll your eyes at him, thinking that he sounded more like a grade school teacher than a yakuza boss with hundreds of skeletons in the closet. 

The 4 men stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, not knowing how to start. Everyone except the silver haired guy wore a bomber jacket, with names printed on the back. The brunette wearing a white bomber jacket spoke first. You noticed the teal lettering on his jacket that read ‘CYPHER’. 

“Tooru Oikawa, sir. Cypher.” He says, bowing at your dad. 

“Uh, Kenma Kozume. People call me Snake Eyes sometimes.” the bleach blonde spoke next, his voice quiet and skeptical. 

“Kita Shinsuke, aka Sly Fox.” The silver haired guy in the plain black hoodie says, giving your father a slight head nod. 

“And obviously you know me.” Kuroo says. He turns to face you, flashing his signature grin. “Your turn.” 

“(y/n).” you introduce yourself, giving them a small wave. “If you haven’t figured out who I am then you’re pretty slow.” 

“My daughter, everyone. Excuse the attitude.” your father remarks, shaking his head at you. “So, I assume you filled them in on the details?” 

“Yes sir, they’ve all been filled in on the job. Kenma running point on logistics, the control tower of the team. The three of us running the cargo from the ports to the warehouse. Basic rules, don’t be dumb, and don’t get caught.” Kuroo says. The other men looked at him, nodding slightly in agreement. 

“Excellent, I knew I could count on you to take the lead here. Keep this up and you may find some more jobs like this in your future.” Your father gets up from his chair, pulling more files from his cabinet. He hands each of the men their own file, which they all take and begin looking over. “You’ll find all the smaller details in there, as well as numbers to contact in case you run into trouble. You’ll also find a receipt, with your pay for this job highlighted. I hope you find it accommodating to your work.” He says, studying each of them as they flip through the files. 

“Definitely accommodating.” Kita comments, nodding his head as he peers down at the file. You begin to wonder when you’ll be able to see the fine tuned details, to truly see everything your father does in a day. So much of who he is still remained a mystery to you, and perhaps you found some comfort in your own ignorance. 

“Thank you sir, our teams greatly appreciate your contributions.” Kuroo says, bowing once again to your father. 

“It’s really no problem, after all, who doesn’t like a good street race.” Your father says with a smile. “And, in a way, I feel as though keeping your teams afloat helps me remember my son.” 

“You have a son?” Oikawa asks, looking up. 

“Had a son, yes.” Your father replied sadly. You winced, not expecting to have to relive these memories. “He passed in a racing accident. It was a few years ago. I think it was before your kids’ time.” 

“If you don’t mind me asking, what was his name? Or, what team was he on?” Kenma asks. 

“Keishin. He used the last name Ukai when he raced, to get away from our family name. I believe he raced for Karasuno?” Your dad says, bringing up more and more painful memories. 

“Karasuno Killers? They’re getting back on the scene nowadays. I remember someone talking about how they stopped coming to races a while back, but they just recently started racing again because they have a whole new team.” Kuroo says. 

“Really? Well, I might just have to come watch a race one of these days. For old times sake.” 

‘Old times sake my ass.’ you thought to yourself, knowing the truth about your father and your deceased brother’s relationship. Your father hated racing, and resented your brother for choosing Karasuno over the Sakanoshita name. At the time of your brother’s death, you couldn’t help but wonder if your father was truly upset, or if he was putting on another facade, the same way he was now. 

“Well, speaking of races, you wanted to see our cars, right?” Oikawa says, clearly trying to redirect this depressing conversation. 

“Oh yes, of course! I want to see for myself what you’re all going to be working with tomorrow.” Your father says, walking out of his office towards the front of the home. 

Outside, there were 3 cars parked in the driveway. You recognized the models, and you could guess which cars were Oikawa and Kita’s just from the colorways, white and black, just like their outfits. 

“Mi amor.” Oikawa says, looking at his car. “Mazda RX-7 Veilside Fortune. ‘97.” 

“He would marry his car if he could.” Kuroo comments, tilting his head towards you. You laugh, looking up at him. 

“Nissan Silvia. 2002.” Kita says, walking up to his car and opening the door. The smell of smoke was strong, and he grabbed a pack of cigarettes from the middle console. “Mind if I smoke?” Your father nods, and Kita proceeds to light one and take a puff. 

“Kenma, no car?” Your father asks, turning towards him. Kenma seems caught off guard by the sound of his own name. 

“Uh, no sir, not tonight. I have cars, but I don’t drive all that often. I don’t see the point in risking my investments.” He says, shrugging his shoulders. 

“Yeah, he’d rather be in the passenger seat with me driving and risking my car.” Kuroo says, playfully shoving Kenma’s shoulder. 

“That reminds me, I have a proposal for you Kuroo.” Your father says, getting everyone's attention. “Would you be willing to let (y/n) ride with you on this job?”

“Excuse me?” You say, interrupting the conversation. “Why am I going? You never let me go anywhere, but suddenly I’m running drugs for you?” You raise an eyebrow at him and cross your arms across your chest. 

“Well, sweetheart, I figured it was time.” Your father says, taking a step closer to stand in front of you. “I was around your age when your grandfather started allowing me to learn the ropes of our family’s business. You are the only one who can continue the Sakanoshita name. I think this is a good first job for you.” 

“For the record, it's no problem. She can ride with me. I promise she’ll be safe.” Kuroo says, inserting himself into the conversation between you and your father. 

“So, does this mean I finally have something to do? I can start leaving the house again?” You ask, hopeful that this decision from your father will mean more freedom. Things haven’t been the same since Keishin died, and your father kept you under a microscope, claiming it was for your safety. 

“We can talk about new safety rules after this job. Deal?” He asks, holding his hand out for you to shake. 

“Deal.” You say, taking his hand and shaking it firmly. 

“Looks like the princess is growing up.” Kuroo comments, smirking at you. 

“Hope we don’t scare her too much.” Kita says jokingly. 

You scoffed at him, excitement growing inside of you as you realized this will be the start of you growing into a leadership position in the Sakanoshita family, becoming the face of this giant organization that ruled the Tokyo underground. “Nothing scares me.” 

You stared at yourself in the mirror, trying to get your head together before the job. ‘What does a person bring to a drug smuggling? What does someone wear? Fucking jeans?’

‘No.’ you thought to yourself, grabbing a pair of leggings. What if you needed to run? Well then you need sneakers too. And a warm jacket, just in case. Do you bring a phone charger? Would it be weird to ask Kuroo to plug your phone in while you’re smuggling drugs together? 

“What the fuck am I doing.” You say out loud to yourself, beginning to question your own sanity. You let out a deep sigh, trying to clear your head. 

You eventually decide on leggings, sneakers, and a cross body fanny pack to hold your phone and smaller things. Before exiting your room, you hesitate. 

You make your way to your bedside table, opening the drawer and reaching to the back, pulling out a small handgun. You take it out, along with a note that was tucked underneath it. 

‘Stay safe. -Keishin’

This was a gift from your brother, before he passed. You kept it close by, both as protection and a heavy reminder. Your family name carried a lot of weight, which the both of you felt smothered by. You both understood the dark side of the luxury you lived with, saw the blood that stained your family’s money. But now, with him gone, it all fell on you. Everything depended on you. 

You make the decision to take it along with you, holstering it to your thigh. ‘Better safe than sorry’, you thought to yourself. A regular night could turn deadly in an instant, something that you were very familiar with given the way your brother passed. 

You exit your room and descend down the stairs, walking out the front door to where everyone was waiting with their cars. Oikawa was busy on his phone, and Kita was further away smoking a cigarette. Your father stood with Kuroo, most likely discussing the job. 

“Where’s Kenma?” You question, walking up to stand with Kuroo and your dad. 

“He’s back at the garage. Don’t worry, he has eyes and ears at us at all times.” Kuroo says, pointing at the earpiece he wore. “Here, one for you as well.” He hands you an ear piece, which you put in, immediately hearing the sounds of a video game, most likely from Kenma. 

“Are you ready?” Your father asks, turning towards you. You nod in response, and he looks over you, stopping and furrowing his eyebrows when he sees your gun. “Is a gun really necessary?”

“Keishin would have wanted me to bring it. Better safe than sorry, like he used to say.” You say, knowing that bringing up your brother was the easiest way to get your father to comply with whatever it was that you were doing. 

He nods, giving you a sad smile.  “You’re right. He was always the cautious one.” 

“The smart one too.” You say, smiling nostalgically. “Are we all ready to go?” You ask, turning to Kuroo. 

“Yup, all set.” He replies, swinging the passenger car door open for you. “I’ll have Snake Eyes let you know when we reach the ports, and again at the warehouse.” He says, turning to your father. 

“Perfect.” Your father says. He turns to look at you once more, then back at Kuroo. “Bring her back in one piece.” He says, holding out his hand. 

“You can count on me, sir.” He says, giving your father a firm handshake. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes, the business your family was involved in was always so masculine, so formal. It was something you would have to adjust to when you begin taking part in it. 

Kuroo closed your car door and nodded to the other two racers, who immediately got into their cars, turning their engines one. He climbs into the driver’s seat of his car, turning the key in the ignition, the loud roar of the engine startling you. He chuckles, realizing he made you jump. 

“Mic check. Roll call.” You hear Kenma say in your ear. 

“Tap once to speak, twice to mute.” Kuroo says, pointing to the earpiece. He taps once, and speaks. “DK here, with Princess in the passenger seat.” He says, grinning at you. 

“Ew, keep it PG-13 dude.” Kenma says, making you laugh. 

“Cypher, ready to roll.” You hear Oikawa say. 

“Sly fox.” Kita says shortly. 

“And Snake Eyes. Ready when you guys are. All clear on the short route to the ports, I’ll let you know if that changes. Stay safe everyone.” Kenma says, muting himself. 

“Alright, we all know the route, I’ll take the lead, Sly Fox you take rear. You already know the rules, don’t be stupid, and don’t get caught. I’ll check back in when we’re 5 away from the ports.” Kuroo says, taking the parking brake off and switching gears, the car beginning to move. 

Everyone mutes themselves and begins driving off, away from your wealthy neighborhood and towards the city’s industrial district. The Tokyo skyline was in your rear view mirror, and your heart beat faster and faster as you went further away from your home, the place that you’ve been stuck in for years now. 

“You don’t get out much do you?” Kuroo asks, breaking the silence. 

“Not really, no. My father doesn’t allow me to go many places now, ever since my brother died. He says it’s too risky, which I think is bullshit.” You say, shrugging your shoulders. 

Kuroo laughs. “I knew you weren’t just some obedient princess. Look at you, all rebellious.” 

“I’d be more rebellious if I were able to do anything. This...is my first time out of the house in 6 months. The last time was just for the dentist.” You say, awkwardly laughing at yourself. 

“Well, then we better make the most of it, right?” Kuroo says, switching gears, now going 105 km/h on the expressway. 

“Kuroo what if we get pulled over?” You ask nervously, knowing the risks he was taking just to show off. 

“Relax, (y/n), I know what I’m doing.” Kuroo says, flashing his signature grin at you. Everything about him drew you in, made you want to keep looking, to reach out and know him as more than just your father’s employee. 

“Kuroo, stop showing off. Just because there’s a pretty girl in the car doesn’t mean that you get to be cocky.” Kenma says in your ear, catching you both off guard. 

“Alright alright, take it easy Snake Eyes.” Kuroo says, tapping his ear piece once, then double tapping again to mute. He begins slowing the car down to 80 km/h. 

You let out a small giggle, looking over at him. “You think I’m pretty?” You say in a mocking tone, leaning in closer to him. 

“I think you’re beautiful.” He says in a serious tone, catching you completely off guard. You begin to slowly back away from him, retreating back into your seat. 

“What?” You ask, not sure if you heard him right. 

“You’re beautiful. I’ve always thought so. As a matter of fact, if it wasn’t for my extremely deep fear of your father, I’d want to take you out on a date.” He says, laughing. 

You laugh as well, suddenly a little sad about what he said. “Yeah, that’s too bad. I would’ve said yes.” You say, turning your face to give him a sad smile. 

He smirks at you, but his eyes drooped, giving them a sad, tired look. “Would’ve been a great first date.” 

After that exchange, you both remained quiet, lost in thought of what could have been. Thinking of the undeniable chemistry that drew the two of you together, but also the forces at play that kept you from colliding. What could have been, if circumstances were different, if the two of you were different. Normal. 

“Can I ask you something?” You ask him, breaking the silence that had fallen between the two of you. 

“Of course.” 

“What would you be, if you weren’t racing and working for my dad? Who would you be?” You were genuinely curious, because all you ever knew about Kuroo was that he was dealing before getting pulled into the Sakanoshita business, and that he raced with Nekoma. 

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” He says, a smile growing on his face. 

“Try me.” 

“Well, I would be a student. Right before I got recruited by your family, I was in college. Chemistry major.” He says, peering over at you. 

“Chemistry?!” You ask, surprised by his answer. “You’re a science nerd?” 

“I mean, I wouldn’t say a nerd.” He says, laughing at your reaction. “In my senior year, I ran out of money. So, I started dealing. It wasn’t anything serious, but I guess I was pretty good at it. I ended up on your dad’s radar, and he took me in as a transporter and dealer. And so, here I am. No degree, but hey, I have a nice car.” 

“I’m sorry.” You say, almost out of instinct. It felt like the only right thing to say, even if it wasn’t something that was expected. 

“Sorry for what? Your dad giving me a job?” 

“You never got to graduate.” After saying this, it seems as though Kuroo realizes it as well, that he never got to finish school. “You were so close, but you got stuck with my family. I’m sorry you didn’t get to finish your schooling.” You say, meaning every word. You were sorry, and you couldn’t help the guilt you felt. After all, it was your family that pulled him into this world.

Kuroo stays silent for a few more moments, thinking over what you just said. He appears to snap out of it, switching back to his usual easy going, casual self. “Nothing to be sorry for, princess. Without your dad recruiting me, I would just be a broke bum with a lame car and no money to my name. Besides, I can go back and finish things up someday. But for right now, I’m exactly where I want to be.” He looks over at you and winks, making you laugh. “What about you? Where would the yakuza princess be if she wasn’t a mob boss in training?” 

You paused, not knowing how to answer. “I actually don’t know. I’ve never really thought about it, because there really isn’t a future for me outside of the family business.” You say, unable to hide the disappointment in your voice. 

Kuroo frowned, thinking of a response. “Well, hypothetically, what would you be doing? Let’s say, in an alternate universe, where we’re just normal people, living normal, legal lives. What would (y/n) be?” 

“A teacher.” You say proudly, without hesitation. “Or a professor. Definitely education.” 

“A teacher?!” Kuroo asks, laughing. “How do you go from yakuza boss to teacher?” 

You laugh, realizing just how ridiculous it sounds. “What, you said normal! If I had a choice to be normal, I’d want to be a teacher, in a small town. I think I’d be a good teacher!” You say, defending your choice. 

“Okay, okay. I guess I can see you as a teacher.” Kuroo says, still grinning from ear to ear. “But, the hot teacher. With a gang tattoo.” He says, referencing the giant koi fish tattoo you have on your shoulder. 

“No!” you exclaimed, laughing loudly with him. “I want to be the generic teacher, with cardigans and sensible shoes and house cats to come home to. I’d grade papers and mentor kids, and just be free to be as boring as I want to be.” 

“Y’know, maybe I can see it.” Kuroo says, smiling at you. You couldn’t ignore the butterflies in your stomach every time he gave you that smile, the kind of smile that made your day so much better by simply existing. “Maybe someday we can be boring together.” 

The profound silence that followed that sentence spoke volumes to the both of you, almost as a silent prayer to the universe, begging for a chance to be boring together. However, that silence was broken by Kenma in your ear, bringing you both back to the reality you both began to dread.

“5 minutes out, turn your headlights off.” 

“Going dark. Thanks Snake Eyes.” You hear Kita say. Kuroo flicks his lights off, leaving only the street lamps to light the way. 

“What container should we be looking for?” Oikawa asks. 

Kuroo replies, reading out a series of letters and numbers. “The boss gave me an idea of where to go, I think we’ll have to get out to look around though. Snake Eyes, you got eyes on the port? Any trouble?” 

“Nope, all clear. Limited street lamps though, you may need a car for some light.” 

“Got it. I’ll let you know when we find the container. Let us know if anything suspicious catches your eye.” Kuroo says, muting himself once again. As you enter the industrial port, Kuroo begins taking a series of turns, leading you deep into the maze of containers. The further you got, the number of street lamps began rapidly decreasing, and you became very familiar with the reason why it’s called shady business. 

Kuroo flicked his lights on, and you kept an eye out for the shipping container, or at least one that was close to the number you were looking for. 

“I think I got something.” You hear Kita say, flashing his lights behind you, to signal for everyone to stop. Kuroo turns around, putting his car in park and leaving the lights on, pointing at a shipping container with the exact identification numbers you were looking for. 

“Nice work Sly Fox.” Kuroo says, patting him on the back. You stood close by the car as the three men approached the container, Kuroo pulling a key out of his pocket and unlocking the giant lock that secured the container. 

As he swung open the door to the container, the scent was strong, but familiar. It smelled like… 

“Tobacco?” You ask, walking closer to the container. 

“Cuban cigars.” Kita says, laughing as he walked further into the container. 

“Hey Snake Eyes, let the boss know we’re in the container. 30 bricks right?” Kuroo asks into his ear piece. 

 “I’ll let him know. And yes, 30 exactly. He left a note in the file that said you may have to look around a bit for the cargo. Also, Sly Fox, don’t take any cigars.” Kenma says, right as Kita was stuffing a handful of cigars into his pocket. Kita reluctantly returns them to the pile they were taken from. 

“Got it, 30 pieces of cargo. We’ll make contact again once they’ve been located.” Kuroo says, tapping his ear piece twice. “Okay, 30 bricks. Let’s start from the back and make our way out, whenever you find one, take it straight out to my car. Princess, you’re the look out.” 

“Why do I have to be the look out?” You protest. 

“You can’t reach the top of the containers, chica.” Oikawa points out, putting his hand on one of the shipping boxes that towered over you. Kuroo snickered, walking up to you. 

“Just stay outside, kitten. Let us know if there’s any big bad guys coming?” Kuroo says, putting his arm around you and walking you outside. 

You rolled your eyes and shrugged his arm off. “Whatever, just hurry up, it’s freezing out here.” 

You stand outside, staring out to the distant city lights, listening to the quiet waves that lapped against the side of the port. Kuroo came and went, bringing cigar boxes filled with cocaine out to his car. 

After the 12th box, he noticed you were crouched down with your arms tucked into your jacket, the arms of your jacket swinging in the breeze. He laughs, walking up to you. 

“Cold?” He asks, looking down at you. 

“Maybe.” You answered through chattering teeth. You stand up, looking up at him. He towered over you, meaning you had to crane your neck in order to meet his gaze. 

“Here.” He says, taking the red bomber jacket off his body and wrapping it around you, using it as an opportunity to pull you closer to him. “Your dad might slice my head off if you catch a cold.” He whispers into your ear, making you laugh. 

“How’re we doing guys?” Kenma asks through the ear piece.

“A little under halfway done. Anything we should be worried about?” Kuroo says. 

“Nope, still all clear. Just let me know when you’re done and heading out.” Kenma says, muting himself. 

“Back to work.” Kuroo says, pulling you in tighter for a moment before letting you go. You stood there, warm under his jacket, wrapped up in the lingering scent of his cologne that remained. You wanted to freeze time, to live in this moment of calm, feeling protected just by the residual presence of Kuroo. 

They continued on, carrying cigar boxes out of the container and into Kuroo’s trunk. Every once in a while you’d hear hushed conversations from inside the container, too quiet for you to hear. 

“This is the last of it.” Oikawa says, walking out of the container with Kuroo. They each had 4 boxes in their hands, which they placed in the back of Kuroo’s car. 

“Ready to go?” Kita says, popping up next to you out of nowhere, causing you to jump. 

“Jesus, where did you even come from?” You ask, startled by his sudden appearance. 

Kita smirks, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “They don’t call me sly fox for nothing.” He says, walking back to his car. Kuroo was busy closing up the container, securing it and making it appear as if we were never there. Oikawa was leaning over the trunk of Kuroo’s car, arranging the boxes of drugs underneath a spare blanket. 

“Snake Eyes, you there?” Kuroo asks, walking back to the car. 

“Yup, all ready to go?” Kenma responds. 

“Ready when you are.” Kuroo says, walking over to your car door and holding it open for you. You climb in, ready to get out of the cold. Kuroo closes the door, and continues to talk to Kenma through his ear piece. You figured out that Kenma had made it so their communications wouldn’t be heard through your ear piece. You couldn’t make out exactly what they’re saying, but you assumed it’s some info about the drive to the warehouse. 

You watch as Kuroo leans in to tell Oikawa something, which he nods in agreeance to before walking back to his car and getting in. Kuroo then walks around to his side of the car, turning it on and beginning to pull out of the dark alleyway of the port. 

“Ready to roll, princess?” He asks, turning to flash you a grin. 

“The faster the better.” You say jokingly. He laughs, revving his engine loudly. 

“Careful what you wish for.” He says, speeding up as the three cars leave the port and enter the expressway. 

“DK, stop showing off.” You hear Oikawa say through the ear piece. 

Kuroo rolls his eyes, taking his foot off the gas to slow down. “Buzzkill.” He mutters under his breath. 

You rode in silence together, heading towards the warehouse your father owns. The warehouse was a front, being used as storage for the goods your father exported in his legal business. For the illegal business, it was used as a storage and distribution center for the underground dealings. 

“DK, we have a problem.” Kenma says. 

“Talk to me Snake Eyes.” 

“We’ve got some cops heading your way. The boss texted saying someone may have tipped them off to tonight’s job. Apparently the king of Tokyo has some enemies.” 

“That’s one way to put it.” You mutter to yourself. Your father had more enemies than allies, meaning that there was a constant target on the backs of every member of the family. It’s no surprise that something went wrong tonight. 

“Which way are they coming from?” Kuroo asks. 

“West. I think they’re gonna intercept you soon. At least 2 cars, and I’m pretty sure they’re looking for you.” 

“Shit.” Kuroo whispers to himself. “Cypher, Sly Fox, you there?” 

“Heard it all, DK. What’s the next move?” Cypher asks. 

“Sly Fox, take the lead. Take the back route, go straight to the warehouse, fast as you can. Cypher, take the rear behind Sly Fox, if you run into any trouble you’re the diversion. Got it?” Kuroo says, his voice taking on a new tone of authority. 

“Roger that. When should we check in with you?” Sly Fox asks. 

“I’ll make contact when we’re free. Just get in touch with Snake Eyes when the delivery is made.” 

“And (y/n)?” Kita asks. Kuroo turned toward you with an expression of deep thought on his face. 

“She’ll stay with me. We’ll be fine.” Kuroo says firmly, turning his eyes back to the road. You weren’t sure why, but you trusted him. Given the circumstances, you probably shouldn’t, but some part of you just impulsively put all your faith in him, trusting that being in his car was the best place for you to be.

You hear Oikawa chuckle. “Have fun princesa. I hope DK doesn’t scare you away.” 

“Shut your mouth, amigo.” Kuroo says mockingly. “I’ll see you both later. Be safe.” He says, muting himself. 

You look behind you to see Kita’s car already in front of Oikawa’s, and you see them both exit off of the expressway, their engines revving as they sped off, out of sight. 

“Maybe I’m pointing out the obvious, but aren’t you the one with the delivery to make?” You say, growing worried by Kuroo’s plan. 

“Don’t worry about it princess. Just trust me.” Kuroo says, revving his engine loudly, rapidly increasing speed. 

“You have 20 bricks of cocaine in your trunk and you’re telling me not to worry?!” You exclaim, turning your body to face him. 

“Or do I?” He asks, glancing over and smirking at you. This question caught you off guard, making you wonder if this guy was crazy or stupid, or both. 

“On your left!” You hear Kenma say, moments before two police cars appeared behind you two, struggling to keep up with Kuroo’s speed. 

You slumped back in your seat, trying to find it in yourself to trust Kuroo. The police sirens grew louder and the red and blue flashing lights started to draw closer, but somehow, Kuroo remained calm, not even bothering to increase speed. 

Your heart raced as the police cars began getting closer and closer, nearly pulling up right beside you. 

“Hey princess, ever wondered what DK stood for?” Kuroo asks calmly.

“Fucking Donkey Kong?!” You yell at him, having no patience for his games. 

He laughed at your stressed demeanor, throwing his head back and shaking his head. “Nope. Not even close.” He switches gears, causing the car to slow down quickly and making the cops draw far ahead of you. He veers off to the side, seemingly to take the ramp that curved to exit the freeway. Suddenly, he speeds up yet again, turning his wheel suddenly as the car begins drifting on it’s side. 

“Drift King.” He says with a smirk. The car drifted down the ramp, screeching as Kuroo pulled the emergency brake up and maneuvered the steering wheel to keep it steady. You were familiar with drifting, due to the fact your brother was involved in street racing before his death. You knew that it was something that only experienced drivers could do, and it took a certain level of skill and a lot of practice to perfect. You realized that this meant Kuroo was a skilled driver, far more skilled than you realized. No wonder they called him Drift King. 

By the time the two of you reached the end of the ramp and began racing down the industrial district street, the cops just began heading down the ramp, trying their hardest to keep up. 

The chase continued on for several blocks, Kuroo barely breaking a sweat. It seemed as though this wasn’t his first chase. After some time, Kenma’s voice comes through on the ear piece. 

“Hey DK, you may want to end this chase. They’re calling for backup soon.” 

“Got it, I’ll pull over now. Thanks Snake Eyes.” Kuroo replies, beginning to slow down. 

“Pull over?!” You ask him. 

“Just trust me! You think I’d put you in danger?” He asks you, grinning. The car comes to a stop, and the two police cars quickly pull over as well. 

“Give me your ear piece.” Kuroo says quickly, the two police officers quickly approaching the car. You quickly hand it to him, which he shoves in the inside pocket of his jacket. 

“Sir, please exit the car. You as well, ma’am.” The officer says, shining his light in Kuroo’s car. The two of you exit the car, standing in front of the headlights. 

“Now, what in god’s name were you doing?” He asks, as the other officer begins searching the car. 

“He was just being a show off.” You say, lying on the spot. Kuroo looks surprised by your sudden statement, but plays it off, acting natural. 

“Yeah, sorry about that. Just trying to impress a pretty girl.” He says, putting his arm around you and kissing the side of your forehead. Although it was just an act, your stomach still did somersaults just with that one simple action. 

“I see.” The officer says, shining the light at your gun. “You have a license to carry that ma’am?” 

“Yes sir. Just a personal protection piece.” You say, pulling your driver’s license as well as gun registration out. You hand it to the officer, who looks it over. 

“Sakanoshita?” He asks with fake surprise, looking up at you. 

“Yes, my father. I’m sure you know him.” You say, knowing that the name Sakanoshita held a lot of clout in the city. 

“We're familiar with him.” He says shortly, handing the papers back to you. “Anything?” He asks, turning towards the other officer who was peering into the car. 

“Nothing. Mind popping the trunk?” He asks Kuroo. Your heart begins to race, knowing what they would find. Kuroo however, remained cool as a cucumber, sauntering over to the car to open the trunk. He walks back to you with a grin, standing behind you and draping his arms over your shoulders, pulling you closer to his body. You grab his hands, bracing yourself for the big reveal. 

“Now what do we have here?” The officer says, ripping the blanket off of the boxes. You close your eyes, preparing yourself for the worst. The officers pause, opening one of the boxes. 

“Cigars?” They ask. You open your eyes, looking up at Kuroo as he continues to grin at you. 

“Yes sir, we were on our way back to her place, to deliver them to her dad. You know, the infamous Mr. Sakanoshita.” Kuroo lies with ease. 

“They’re gifts, for some associates of his.” You say, joining in on the lie. “He’s hosting a little get together tomorrow. I believe your boss, the police chief, will be there. It’d be a shame if he heard you pulled over a Sakanoshita.” You knew exactly what you were doing, using your name for your own benefit. 

“I see.” He says, closing the box of cigars and putting it back down. “Just some Cuban cigars I suppose.” He closes the trunk, walking to where you and Kuroo stood. 

“And I suppose the speeding was because the old man is waiting on these cigars, huh?” The other officer says, standing next to his partner. 

“Exactly.” Kuroo says. “Not exactly the best idea to get on the bad side of your girlfriend’s father, right?” He jokes, trying to lighten the mood. 

Surprisingly, the cops laugh. “You got your work cut out for you kid. Sakanoshita is not an easy man to win over.” 

“Yeah, his daughter isn’t any easier.” Kuroo says, pulling you closer. You laugh along, wishing for this interaction to end already. 

“I’ll tell you what.” The officer says, taking a few steps closer to the two of you. The headlights from the car streaked behind him, casting a dark shadow over you and Kuroo. “You two can go ahead home, just make sure not to mention this to your dad. Or our boss. Sound good?” 

“Perfect. Have a good night you two.” You say, hurriedly pulling Kuroo back to the car. 

“Sorry for the trouble!” Kuroo calls out as the two men walk back to their patrol cars. 

Once the two of you are back in the car, you breathe deeply, staring into space. 

“You alright princess?” Kuroo asks, turning towards you. 

You snap out of it, punching him in the arm. He jumps back in pain, looking shocked at your outburst. 

“Cigars?!” You question him, unable to form a full sentence. He laughs, throwing his head back. 

“Yes, cigars. I told you I didn’t have any drugs back there, didn’t I?” he says, grinning slyly at you. 

“Then who the hell has the coke?” You ask sternly, adrenaline still pumping from that run in with the cops. 

“Think about it.” Kuroo says, turning his whole body to face you. “Where do you think the drugs are?” 

You thought about it, the entire night, all the interactions that occurred. Only one person stood out to you, which was- 

“Sly Fox.” You say, realizing the stunt that they had just pulled off. “Kita. I never would have seen him take anything to his car, he’s too sneaky. I had my back turned to his car because it was up against a container, no one could have come from over there. That’s why you had him go straight to the warehouse. It’s all in Kita’s car.”

“Well look who figured it out. Good job princess.” Kuroo says, leaning back in his seat. 

“But why take the cigars? And why not tell me the plan?” You question him, not satisfied with the answer you had come up with. 

“In case of a situation exactly like this. Insurance, in case everything went wrong. An alibi.” He says peering over at you. “And, well, I wanted to test you. See if you could take the heat.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I wanted to see how you’d handle yourself, with your back to the wall. I wanted to see if you trust me.” He says, with a small smile on his face. 

“Didn’t really give me much of a choice but whatever.” You grumble quietly. 

Kuroo laughs, looking over at you. “You did great, princess. You’ll be a mob boss in no time. I hope you’ll let me keep my job, though.” 

You let out a tired scoff, exhausted by the adrenaline rush that had come and gone. “Just- please keep me in the loop about things like this. If you can do that then maybe you can keep working for me.” 

“DK, everything good?” You hear Kenma say through the ear pieces that were still in Kuroo’s pocket. He dug them out, handing you one which you placed in your ear. 

“Yup, crisis averted. Have you heard from Sly Fox and Cypher?” Kuroo asks. 

“We’re right here boss. Delivery has been made, just waiting on your order.” You hear Kita say. 

“Meet us back at the boss’s house, me and the princess have one last loose end to tie up and then we’ll head over.” Kuroo says, starting the car. 

Kuroo heads back in the direction of the ports, and you assume it’s so that the 20 cigars could be returned to the container. Once again, the two of you ride in comfortable silence, your mind wandering as you gazed at the distant city lights. 

“What’s on your mind, princess?” Kuroo asks, bringing you back to reality.

“My brother.” You answer without hesitation. “If things were different, it’d probably be him doing this job with you. Maybe not in the passenger seat, but still. The family legacy would be his.” You felt a pit grow in your stomach, your eyes suddenly tearing up. You always had these lingering feelings of doubt, but you never realized it was because of Keishin, having to be in his shadow. No one ever bet on you, or thought you were going to be the one inheriting the empire. Regardless, you were there, because your brother wasn’t. 

“Well, no offense to the great Black Lung but I for one am glad you’re here. No one else I’d rather have in my passenger seat.” He says, giving you a sincere smile, one that you haven’t seen before. It was different from his flirtatious smirk, or his arrogant grin. It was just a simple, kind smile. 

Black Lung?” You questioned. 

“Your brother’s racing name. Y’know, like DK, Cypher, Sly Fox. He used to smoke like 6 packs a day, even more than Kita. He was kind of a big deal in the racing scene. After he passed, Karasuno didn’t race for a long time because there was no one that could replace him. They’re slowly getting back on the road, but your brother is definitely still a driver people remember.” Kuroo explains, pulling into the port once again. 

“He smoked?” You asked, trying to remember a time you saw him with a cigarette. You assumed it was because he only smoked when he was away from the house, because it was something that your father would have never approved of. You were pretty sure Keishin would’ve been disowned if he smoked or drank in front of  your father.

“Yeah, all the time. That was his whole thing. Did he not smoke around you?” Kuroo asks, eyebrows furrowed. 

“No, I guess he never smoked around our family. I don’t think my dad knew either if he only smoked when he raced.” You pause for a moment. “Do you know anything about it? The accident?” You ask, growing more and more curious about what Kuroo knew. Your brother’s death was always explained to you by members of your family, and you wondered if there was something that they didn’t know that the racers did. 

Kuroo paused, an expression of deep thought in his face. He looked as though he was trying to figure out the exact sentences he would say next. “All I’ve heard is that…there was an explosion. I think his girlfriend was near it at the time, and she got injured. That’s all I know though, no one really talks about it much because of how bad it hurt everyone. A lot of people cared about him.” 

“He had a girlfriend?” You ask, turning towards Kuroo as he puts the car in park. 

He looks at you, eyebrows furrowed. “Yeah, some chick named Saeko. I think she has a younger brother that races nowadays. I’m pretty sure she’s still a mechanic for the team.” Kuroo pauses, looking out towards the port. “Look, I don’t know too much about the accident. And I assume your dad doesn’t want you looking into it too hard. But if you do want to know more, just let me know. I’ll talk to some guys from Karasuno. Sounds good?” He asks you.

You nod in agreeance, knowing that there had to be a reason why Keishin was so secretive, and why your father is still keeping secrets about his death to this day. “Okay. If you end up talking to Saeko, could I come along? I just...I feel like I’m getting to know my brother all over again. I want to know the side of him that he hid from our family.” 

“Of course. Now c’mon, let's get these cigars back where they came from.” Kuroo says, getting out of the car and popping the trunk. You follow him, getting out and standing next to him. 

The two of you silently put the cigars back, working quickly to get the job completely finished. By the time Kuroo was closing the container door, Oikawa came through in the ear piece. 

“Hey love birds, are you heading back to the house soon?” he asks. Kuroo rolls his eyes and unmutes himself. 

“We’re heading back now from the port. Snake Eyes, you told the boss the delivery was made already, right?”

“Yup, I let him know. He’s waiting for you guys at the house.” Kenma replies. 

“Sounds good, we’ll be there soon. Cypher, Sly Fox, go ahead and start heading over now.” 

“Will do. See you soon DK.” Sly Fox says. 

“C’mon princess, let’s go home.” Kuroo says, throwing his arm over you as the two of you walk back to the car. You take the hand he had on your shoulder into your own, squeezing tightly. It was strange how natural it felt, being with Kuroo. It was almost as if it was where you belonged, with him, wrapped up in his arms. 

You climb back into the car, watching Kuroo as he starts the car and begins driving off once again. Your head was spinning trying to make sense of everything that had occurred that night, as well as processing all the new information Kuroo had told you about your brother. You knew this day had to come, when you would have to jump in head first into the world your family operated within, when you would have to fully take on the Sakanoshita name and all the responsibilities that come with it. 

As Kuroo rolls up to the driveway of your home, you see Oikawa and Kita standing outside with your father, smoke billowing from where the three of them were conversing. 

“Tetsurou! (y/n)! I was beginning to wonder when you’d be back!” Your father says, cutting another cigar and handing it to Kuroo, motioning for him to join the group. 

“Cubans? What’s the occasion?” You ask your father, standing next to Kuroo. 

“Your first job, sweetheart. And with no casualties, no arrests, a clean job deserves a little reward.” Your father says, grinning at you, holding out a cigar for you to take. 

“Dad, I don’t smoke.” You say, laughing. 

“Oh c’mon, the most powerful man in Tokyo offers you a cigar, you take the cigar.” Oikawa says, smirking and letting out another cloud of smoke. 

You roll your eyes, taking the cigar and allowing your father to light it. You thought more about the cigar as you drew the smoke in, about what it meant for you to be invited to smoke with your father. It meant that you were finally owning your family name, you were finally a true Sakanoshita. 

You stood there silently, listening as Kuroo explained to your father the decision he made to use Kita as the real transport and to make himself the emergency decoy. Your father listened as well, nodding along with an expression of deep thought on his face. 

“Great thinking Tetsurou. That is exactly why I keep you on my payroll.” Your father laughs, smacking his hand against Kuroo’s back. Kuroo laughs as well, putting on his usual submissive attitude that he uses with your father to gain his good graces. 

“Let’s just hope your daughter keeps me on when she takes over.” Kuroo jokes, nudging you with his elbow. 

“Well, I’m sure you’ve earned your place with the whole family.” Your father says, smiling at you. “Say, isn’t that Tetsurou’s jacket?” 

“Oh, yeah.” You say, realizing you still had it on. “It got cold at the ports.” 

“It’s funny. You’re starting to look more and more like him.” Your father says, eyes squinting as he smiles sadly. 

“Like who? DK?” Kita asks with a cigar hanging out of his mouth. 

“Keishin. The racing jacket, the gun. Even the smoking.” The hairs on the back of your neck stood up, remembering the conversation you had with Kuroo about your brother. Your suspicions about your father kept growing, and it became harder and harder to believe his mourning father act, the smoke and mirrors he used to deceive everyone. 

“Well, you know how much I adored him.” You say, taking another puff from your cigar. You and your father both pause, staring one another down. There was noticeable tension, but with no clear reason. Nothing more than a gut feeling. 

The staredown was cut off by Kuroo clearing his throat, getting both yours and your father’s attention. “It’s getting pretty late, we don’t want to keep the two of you from a good night’s rest.” He says, finding a way for the three racers to leave. 

“Yes, it is getting rather late. Oh! Better not forget these. Tetsurou, I put your friend’s pay for tonight with yours.” Your father says, moving away from the staircase leading up to the front door to reveal three paper bags with names on them, which you assume was full of money. 

“Thank you sir. I’ll make sure to get it to Snake Eyes.” Kuroo says, bowing to your father. Kita and Oikawa follow suit, bowing before grabbing their bags. 

“Pleasure doing business with you.” Kita says, walking back to his car. 

“See you next time boss. You too, princesa.” Oikawa says, waving to the both of you before getting into his car. 

“So, you’ll let me know when there’s another job?” Kuroo asks as Oikawa and Kita begin pulling out of the driveway. 

“Absolutely.” He nods, turning to face both of you. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I better get inside before your mother comes out here and drags me back in. Have a good night, Tetsurou.” He says, going back inside. It was once again just you and Kuroo. 

“Oh! I almost forgot.” You say, beginning to take off Kuroo’s red bomber jacket. 

“Keep it.” He says, taking a step closer to you. He places the jacket back onto your shoulders. “I’ll be back for it eventually.” 

The two of you pause, staring into each other’s eyes. It felt like a moment that you could live in forever, relishing the comfort that Kuroo gave you. 

“Thanks for having my back tonight. You sure know how to think on your feet.” Kuroo says. 

“Not like I had much of a choice.” You say, remembering the moment earlier in the night. A part of you wished it wasn’t a lie, that you and Kuroo were just two lovers out for a drive. Nothing illegal, nothing scary, just a guy with a car and the girl in the passenger seat. 

“Come here, princess.” Kuroo says, pulling you into a tight hug. Your heart skips a beat, startled by the sudden act of affection. You wrap your arms around him, feeling perfectly at home in his arms, being squeezed tightly against his body. 

“Please be careful. I don’t trust your father.” Kuroo whispers into your ear. You realize the real reason why he hugged you, so that he could tell you this message in secret. “I’ll talk to some people from Karasuno Killers and see if you can meet Keishin’s girl. He’s hiding something, (y/n).” 

“How do you know? What are you talking about?” You ask, holding him tighter. 

“(y/n), how would your father know that Keishin smoked? If he lied about that, then we don’t know what else he’s hiding.” Kuroo responds. Your breath catches in your throat, remembering what your father had said, about your sudden resemblance to Keishin. 

Racing jacket, gun, smoke. 

[shycoconutt]

I Found My Light: Chapter 3 (Kakashi x Reader)

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

A/n: Sorry for the delay! Wasn't sure where I wanted to go with this but it came to me in the shower (as all good ideas do). Hope you enjoy it! This story is far from over.

Summary: You attend the group training session where, to your dismay, Kakashi is in attendance.

Word Count: 1800

Warnings: fem!reader, SFW (but won't be in future chapters), violence, angst

Fanart!: Please check out this fanart inspired by this fic by the talented @szamasza <3

If this training session goes like any other typical training session, you are in for a long one. Training usually begins around mid-day and lasts several hours until everyone feels like they’re on the brink of death. Then, when face down in the dirt, Asuma tries to convince everyone to head to the bar on the main street that gives discounts to shinobi. After a few minutes of resounding I’m-too-tireds and maybe-next-times, everyone gives in and spends the remainder of the night into the next morning crammed in a booth getting absolutely sloshed.

This night was like any other night, except not because your anxiety was at an all-time high.

Kakashi showed up about an hour into training, aloof as ever. You were deep in your spar with Genma when you saw him out of the corner of your eye. Genma must have noticed your distraction, as he didn’t hesitate to spit his senbon at you with full force. Luckily you were refocused in less than a second and caught it between your fingers.

“Nice try, buddy,” you teased him, “It’s going to take more than that to throw me off.”

Genma raised his eyebrow at you. “I don’t know, (y/n), you seemed a little distracted,” he teased.

And just like that, you were back at each other’s throats.

Kakashi ended up finding a spot sparing Gai. Typical of him, as usually Gai is the only one who can keep up ability-wise. Although, Kakashi hasn’t seen how much you’ve grown and a part of you is hoping you’ll get a chance at him. You still have yet to use your chakra sword-whip, your most brutal weapon, in front of your fellow shinobi. It’s remained in its sheath strapped across your back, waiting to be used against the most brutal opponent.

“Alright, alright,” Genma pants, curled up on the ground holding his left side where you just landed a forceful kick, “Please show me some mercy, (y/n).”

“Only if you admit that I’m a better shinobi than you in every way,” you say smugly, crossing your arms across your chest.

“Yes, you are a better shinobi than me in every way. You're stealthy, quick, strong, intelligent, adaptable, beautiful, and, most of all, kind. Which is why you’ll give me my senbon back.” He pleas, still laying on the ground with his hand out to you.

“Mmm, fine,” you tease, pulling the senbon from your hair where you used it to hold it in a bun. “It does make a great hair accessory though. I think I might have to get one for myself.” You help Gemma back up to his feet and stick the metal needle back into his mouth.

He gives you a smirk, still grasping onto your hand. “You should see my collection. I have at least two hundred of these,” he boasts, taking the senbon out of his mouth to twirl it in his fingers. “I‘ll make sure to pick one out for you.”

“I would be honored.” You smile warmly, squeezing his hand.

At this moment you could sense a set of eyes staring at you from the other side of the training field. Well, one eye, you should say, as Kakashi is staring directly at you while he holds Gai in a headlock. His expression is unreadable as his eyes flicker from you to Genma and then back to you. You could swear that you saw his shoulders drop a bit before he brought his attention back to Gai who is currently struggling to breathe in his grasp.

“Ka-ka-shi-ple-ase-le-t-me-go-” Gai gasps, holding onto Kakashi’s arms currently wrapped around his neck. Kakashi’s eyes widen when his attention is brought back to his opponent and he immediately releases Gai from his grasp. With a thud, Gai drops to the floor and sucks in one big breath.

“Are you trying to kill him?!” Kurenai yells as she runs to tend to Gai who is sitting on the ground rubbing his neck. Everyone else on the field stops what they’re doing when they notice the commotion and circle around Gai wondering what happened.

“I’m sorry-” Kakashi starts, hands back in his pockets still staring at Gai wide-eyed.

“Apologies are unnecessary my rival!” Gai cuts in, still gasping for air. “Flashes of my youth came to me as I was falling out of consciousness. It reminded me how much there is to live for. I thank you for the near-death experience, Kakashi!” Gai quickly recovers and stands up, dusting the dirt from his green jumpsuit. “You win this round, but I wouldn’t get used to it!” Gai challenges, holding out a hand for Kakashi to shake.

“Yeah, sure Gai.” Kakashi agrees sheepishly, accepting Gai’s hand.

“Damn, Kakashi.” Genma starts, a smug smile pulling at his mouth. “The Anbu made you a pretty ruthless fighter, huh? I didn’t realize friend-killer Kakashi applied to us too.”

You could hear everyone in the circle try to hold in their gasps after registering Genma’s statement. Kakashi’s whole body stiffened and you could see the appearance of a grimace form under his mask. He is visibly uncomfortable. Yet, instead of looking at Genma who just addressed him, he is looking at you.

You suck in a breath, feeling terrible for Kakashi. Rumors spread, nicknames are formed, it’s all a part of being a shinobi. But “friend-killer Kakashi” is on a whole other level of petty.

That jerk.

“Are you fucking kidding me, Genma?” You turn to him and yell. “What makes you think you can say shit like that?”

“Oh c’mon!” Genma retorts. “We were all thinking it! This is the first time he’s been back training with us since the Anbu. You’ve heard what people have said about him. I’m surprised one of us isn’t already dead!”

This time no one was able to hold in their reactions as gasps escaped everyone in the circle.

You are fuming.

“Actually, Genma, the only one you should be worried about killing you is me because I am a second away from shoving that stupid senbon down your throat.” You take a step forward, challenging him.

“Hey, hey,” Genma retreats, taking a step back with his hands up in defense. “I was just trying to look out for us, for you especially. I mean out of all of us, you should be the most concerned. You know, with the whole situation that happened with Ri-”

You close the gap between you and Genma in seconds, grabbing the collar of his vest, you yank the senbon from his mouth and hold it against his throat.

“If you finish that sentence it will be the last words you ever speak.” You threaten. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. You have no idea the details of what Kakashi has been through. What Rin went through. What I went through. It isn’t your place to speak about a situation you know nothing of. So do us all a favor and shut up.” You let go of his vest and shove him back a couple steps.

“Wow, damn, okay, sorry.” Genma apologizes, a hint of annoyance in his voice. “I was just joking around. There’s no need to be so serious about it, (y/n).”

“My hand went through Rin’s heart,” Kakashi speaks up from his silence. “There’s nothing to joke about.”

Hearing Kakashi speak this hard truth sends a sharp pain through your heart, and you instinctively grasp onto the part of your shirt lying over your chest.

You turn and look back at Kakashi, who meets your eyes.

Pain.

So much pain.

You turn to step towards him, but he’s already retreating from the circle.

“I think that’s it for me today guys. I’ll catch you around another time.” Kakashi says as he turns away from the group giving you one last glance. Heading towards the forest, he reaches around to his pouch and pulls out his Icha Icha novel, bringing it in front of him to pick up where he left off.

After a few silent beats, Asuma claps his hands together to bring attention to him.

“So,” he starts, “drinks anyone?”

Everyone immediately becomes more relaxed now that the focus has shifted. You, on the other hand, are feeling so tense that you start to hear ringing in your ears. You get that Asuma is just trying to relieve the tension in the group, but you can’t help but be annoyed that he’s trying to move on from what just happened so quickly.

Kurenai meets your gaze and can read your annoyance. She gives you a pleading look that says drop it for now, (y/n).

Everyone in the circle, including Genma, give a resounding “yes” and head in the opposite direction of Kakashi back towards the village. You're left alone standing in the middle of the grounds as they make their way out.

“(Y/n), are you coming?” Kurenai calls out to you.

You contemplate for a second and begin to wave her off.

“I think I’m going to stay here for a minute. You guys go on ahead, I’ll meet up with you later,” you reply. Honestly, you have no intention of getting back together with them, as any place where Genma is hanging out is the last place you want to be.

“Okay,” Asuma shouts back at you, “we will be at that one bar on main.”

“As always.” you joke back, trying to sound light-hearted.

Once they are out of sight you turn to look back at the trees that Kakashi exited through. You have absolutely no idea where he could be headed to or how fast he could be traveling through the trees. It might be a waste of time to head out after him. After all, if Kakashi doesn’t want to be found, you have no chance of finding him.

Feeling slightly defeated, you plop down to the ground and sit criss-cross in the dirt. You sit up straight and put both of your hands palm-up on each knee. Taking a deep breath in, you feel the breeze rustle through your hair. Taking a deep breath out, you hear the sound of the trees flowing in the wind.

If he wants to talk, he will come to me. In the meantime, I will meditate.

The next time you open your eyes, it’s dark out.

Damn, how many hours have passed?

You close your eyes.

More time passes.

The next time you open your eyes, Kakashi is sitting a few feet across from you mirroring your position.

His eyes are open.

As if your thoughts are mirroring each other as well, you both speak in unison.

“I’m sorry.”

[willel]

About Ships

So, before the season drops, I want to say something about shipping in this fandom. Most people who have seen me around or know me already kinda know how I feel but it's been weighing heavily on my lately so I feel the need to say something more.

First thing's first, I don't have any deep deep ships. Like, I like Jancy and Jopper? I liked Joyce and Bob? I do like them, but I'm not exactly creating or consuming a lot of content for them you know. (I definitely do more than other ST ships though)

I have friends on "both sides of the aisle", as they say, when it comes to the younger teen ships (they really aren't kids anymore eh?) and I'll like a fanart/headcanon there and stuff cause people are creative and it's cute.

At the end of the day, I don't care that much. It's because of a past experience you see (and I just don't feel as much for them as I do the older ships cause they were so young. Maybe s4 will change my mind? From the sounds of it, Lumax is already starting to)

Again, I won't specify which fandom, but I was in a fandom once. As the main plot kept getting worse and worse and people were dropping off, the only people left in the fandom were shippers. Those shippers fought. They fought a lot (including myself sometimes, but I usually just wrote essays. Like I'm doing now)

Unfortunately in that series, my favorite ship didn't end up being canon. Man. It sucked a lot. I was one of the people who dropped in and out because of how bad the plot was getting but I stuck it out for my ship that ended up not being canon. Pffft. It was a disaster for me and my friends, but we kinda wiped our hands clean of "canon" and continued on with "fanon" activities. We still do to this day.

It's been a decade since that series ended, AND THE SHIP WARS ARE STILL HAPPENING. Right now, as I type, there are people fighting over those ancient long decided ships. I'm a grown woman now so I'm not, nor are my friends. But every day there are canon shippers hounding non-canon shippers.

"How dare you do this, they aren't canon."

"Why can't you accept canon."

"You should be arrested, this is not what happened in canon." (yes, someone said this once about fanart. Not kidding)

"You guys are so butthurt, why are you still shipping -insert ship- even though it's not canon?"

"How dare you attack our ship by not accepting canon."

Here, this is a recent anon message I got on one of my shipping blogs. REMINDER, this ship was declared not-canon like 10 years ago.

It's the most annoying childish shit you've ever seen. It's so fucking annoying you just don't understand. Legitimately this shit has deeply affected me so much that it takes a fuckton to make me ship anything at all. Like "Oops, I like a ship that isn't canon and now I'll have to live the rest of my life being followed around by children who get butthurt over literal fanfiction! Yay!" Why would I even bother to care when show writers obviously do no freakin' care. I haven't gained a real true new ship for 10ish years because I'm so done with mainstream writers.

... Phew.

So anyway, I say all this to say, I have and will continue to keep myself emotionally distanced from the ships in the Stranger Things fandom (and all fandoms really). I fear it is heading down the wrong path. I fear that people can't just like what they like regardless of their canon status. Why can't people just enjoy their ships. Why are you fighting? Why do you care what other people ship? Why are you attacking characters over your ship? Why are you attacking other ships for your ship? It doesn't work like that.

Like I mentioned, I have friends on both sides of the aisles. I have friends who ship everything! It distresses me more than anything that someday soon, a portion of my friends will be hounded forever for liking a non-canon ship or some shit.

I've already experienced it personally, and now I'm watching it happen again to an entirely different fandom from the window.

I'm just some rando on the internet but please please PLEASE, if you find yourself being too serious about ship? If you find yourself too emotionally invested in its canon status? If you find you'll be emotionally devastated because of the outcome of Season 4? If you realize you could turn into a gloating annoying monster because your ship is canon and the other isn't?

I just want to tell you to please please please take a step back. Take another step back. Take a breath. At the end of the day, this is a fictional show. With fictional characters. With sometimes questionable writing choices. It's OK if your ship isn't in the final winning. You can still enjoy your ship and not get too sour about it. If your ship is canon, you don't have to be an asshole, you can also just enjoy your ship and not be a dick about it.

Trust me. You'll look back on these days in the future and be embarrassed of yourself if you're too much into this. I know I was, sorta.

Even though I am looking forward to season 4, a part of me is not looking forward to how the fandom is going to act so I just hope if at least a few people read this, maybe this place will still be a tolerable place to be.

I wanted to write this because the other day, I saw some really inspiring tweets about the current situation with two ships (you already know which two). But specifically about one of them.

You see, there's a trope I don't mind, but I also don't like that much because writers don't usually write it well. It's the unrequited love. Even in the series that shant be named that ended 10 years ago, the main character did not end up with their main love interest and you know, on its face, THAT'S OK.

But writers never seem to understand this and fuck it all up with excuses for why it's unrequited or a reasonable way for the character to move on.

They either go "Lol, they never loved them anyway! It was all a misunderstanding! A joke! Haha! Anyway, they married their TRUE love just now and it's someone else entirely. Isn't that great?"

or "Oopsie, this character will never be able to move on and be miserable forever and ever! Boo hoo 😢. TRAGEDY, THEY END THEIR LIFE, THEY'RE DEVASTATED AND HATE EVERYONE"

or "Oh they THOUGHT they were in love but they got over it in literally 2 seconds after they blinked once and GASP! A brand new interest and this time it's for REAL!"

I've been so so so worried that the show writers and advertisers have been hyping up THAT kind of story. The stereotypical "in love with best friend will never have best friend how silly of him" kind of thing and I dreaded it. Mostly because of the fandom reaction. Some justified anger from people cause I felt like it'd be written like shit. Some anger from people because the other site of the fandom would be gloating and celebrating.

Over and over these scenarios ran through my head and I became annoyed with events that haven't even happened yet. It truly bothered me that much just thinking about the fandom war.

But, on twitter I saw some shippers discussing how the unrequited love COULD be written well. How the shippers don't/shouldn't have to dread it. How it could be good for his character and not a complete shit show and you know? That gave me a little hope.

If that future comes to pass, it would be a relief if the fandom doesn't explode and have a full out war.

But for me, this is all dependent on if the writers can actually write it well. Can they write an interesting and satisfying conclusion? Can they bring the fandoms together and have everyone holding hand and skipping through the fields?

Can they not make some characters look bad in order to make all this work cause they tend to do that a lot. :/

Gosh I'm so hoping so. I just want my friends to be happy. I want to be able to enjoy fandom and fanart and fanfiction without having to scroll past dozens and dozens of ship posts arguing about the outcome.

I just really hope whatever the writers decide to do, it's not a shitshow

[cha0ticr0b0tic]

Izzy Brainrot, Part 3 (feat. Jim my beloved)

OK so I’ve been thinking about Jim’s arc and how GOOD it is for many reasons. First of all, as a trans person, it’s so great to see trans & nonbinary characters get stories that do not make their identity their central trait!! Yes, we get to see Jim working out their identity before realizing they’re nonbinary and then settling on they/them pronouns, but that’s not the beginning and end of their arc!! 

Jim’s life has been steeped in violence and quite honestly, my favorite moment with them is when they’re talking with Spanish Jackie, who tells them that revenge isn’t worth it. Those who go looking for blood will eventually find it, and it won’t make things better in the end. So, they go back to the ship and be the big spoon with Olu and it’s all very sweet – until they’re forced to be part of Blackbeard’s new crew. 

That hurts, man. Jim’s whole arc was going from avenger to something more, some*one* more: both a lover and a fighter. And then to go back to potentially being a violent member of Blackbeard’s crew, without Olu? The ramifications of Ed becoming Blackbeard again don’t just affect him, Stede, and Izzy, they’re going to affect *everyone* in the show. *Everyone* will be backsliding because they won’t be talking it through as a crew. 

In the spirit of the fanart that depicts Jim becoming friends with Izzy – maybe having a grudging respect for him as a fighter which builds up to a legitimate friendship – I want to see Izzy slowly drop the scary pirate identity (which is tied up in toxic masculinity and his repression) in the same way that Jim had to come to terms with the fact that revenge is ultimately going to end up with a lot of people hurt. Cause, uh, Izzy fucked up REAL BAD, which gets even more complicated when you consider matters of intersectionality (disclaimer: while I am trans and neurodivergent, I am white bread and so I’ll leave this analysis to fans who can speak more eloquently on these matters.) 

In the same way that we got to see different sides of Jim when they were able to let the concept of revenge go, I wonder what sides we’ll see of Izzy once he realizes (or is forced, lol) to let Blackbeard as a persona go. Because maybe Blackbeard was something they both needed, but Ed’s grown too much to still need it. And I know Izzy hates change, maybe he’s afraid of it in the same way he’s afraid of being open, but he needs it, and I want to believe that he’s capable of change if it means doing right by Ed. 

[anfie-in-the-box]

Hello. You can call me anfie, though ultimately this post isn’t about me. It is about you.

Let me explain.

Almost every day I see so very talented, absolutely amazing creators getting burnt out, apologizing for not creating, or for creating for too long, or for creating a different thing when they “promised” to do another one first, or for sharing something self-indulgent, or something initially created to make themselves feel better, and so on and so forth. So many unnecessary apologies, so much stress and pain. My soul aches so much every time I see something like this.

I think I might find a way to help a little. You see, I’d like to offer you a challenge. It is called NOvember, which is actually a quite straight-forward meaning. Let’s move on to the rules so you can understand.

1. The challenge begins as soon as the prompt list and the rules are posted. You can join whenever you like!

2. The challenge ends with the next November (so on November, 30th, 2021). Though that’s only technically, you can join much later and still use the tag (or not, that’s up to you).

3. The challenge is not for one type of creators specifically. Fanfiction? Cool! Originals? Awesome! Fanart? Wonderful! Original art? Go for it! Comic? Splendid! Melodies, or even songs? Fascinating! Aesthetics? Delightful! Any other form of art? Absolutely lovely. Thank you for bringing something new to this world.

4. You don’t have to post your works every day, week, month, etc. You don’t have to post all of them in November. You don’t owe this challenge anything. This challenge is for you to feel comfortable and safe, so do as you please.

5. This challenge is meant to remind the creators and their audience that it is OK to say NO to things. Some are generally bad and need to be removed permanently. Some are generally good, but there are situations when they are not needed, when they might hurt you or/and people around.

6. Hence the key theme of the challenge — a situation (or situations) when you have to say NO to whatever is in the prompt. For example, on the first day you need to create something about telling depreciation NO. Will it be about self-depreciating thoughts, or about the way grown-ups tend to invalidate children and teens’ problems, or maybe about something else entirely? That’s for you to know and for us, your audience, to find out.

7. It is fine to create and/or post out of order.

8. It is fine to skip some prompts and/or create a few things for just one prompt. If you don’t have any ideas, it’s OK. If a prompt resonates with you so much you can’t stop thinking about it and coming up with more and more concepts, it’s OK, too.

9. No discrimination and hate. This challenge is about taking care of yourself and of other people. This challenge is about support and getting better together.

10. If you’d like to participate, please use the tags #anfie NOvember challenge and #it’ OK to say NO; you can also add your own (for your works only or for a specific form of art, like #anfie writes NOvember or #anfie NOvember aesthetics respectfully). Every option is fine as long as you don’t forget to add my nickname to avoid confusion. After all, there might be other November challenges out there.

11. If something, anything at all goes wrong, please, please, please, do not apologize. It’s OK if you can’t continue the challenge anymore, whatever the reason is. It’s OK if you promised to post something and then didn’t. It’s OK. Just… explain, if you feel like it. But don’t apologize. It isn’t your fault, even if you think otherwise.

Link to the Russian version is HERE

Link to the French version is HERE

Special thanks to:

Zmeal (on ficbook), who made the prompt list look the way it does;

@zu-is-here, who supported the idea and basically made versions in different languages possible.

P. S. If you'd like to say YES to NOvember, but don't want to or cannot participate, consider reblogging, sharing with people who might be interested, and more! If you have any questions then please don't hesitate to contact me.

Last but not least. Take care. Stay safe.

[hoshiszora-archived]

Send ‘Ship Bias’ and I will share up to 5 Ships I have a bias for for my muse!

@muraenide

Ei and Hyousuke (or RaidenHyou. Same thing. Fight me.) - This ship could go many ways. This would probably be my “main” ship for Hyousuke if anybody were to ask. I don’t mind shipping them romantically, platonically, or even as mere enemies. I like to leave things up for interpretation too, like if Ei’s puppet never existed then it was Ei who tried to kill Hyousuke instead of the puppet (although technically “canonically” speaking, it was still Ei who struck the sword, cuz she controlled the sword from the Euthymia, I think). I’d also think their chemistry could be similar to Itto and Sara’s, except Ei and Hyousuke legit want to kill each other. Hyousuke wants Ei dead, and meanwhile Itto just wants to fight Sara just cuz. If they want each other dead though, why did Ei spare the guy and sent him flying to Snezhnaya or Fontaine? Sometimes I tend to hc Ei had someone she loved but was forced to kill him when he fell into corruption, and Hyousuke somewhat resembled the guy in someway and maybe Hyousuke reminded Ei of the guy, so while she did hit him with the musou no hitotachi, he doesn’t die from it but instead gets sent flying to whole ass new continent. There was also a comic I saw before it got deleted that Hyousuke and Ei were in love, but not only was Hyousuke a human and Ei was an archon and it was forbidden for a human an archon to be in love, both sides were enemies to each other but Ei and Hyousuke were in love but Hyousuke’s dad forces him to stop the madness of being in love or whatever the fuck, and then Hyousuke puts up the whole betraying his beloved act and then Ei kills him just to find that in the end Hyousuke still loved her and Ei was so heartbroken. So ye. I think their relationship could go many ways whether it be forbidden love, unrequited, platonic, or them wanting to murder each other. I��m sad there’s barely any fanart of them together anymore :(

Hyousuke and Kazuha - You probably know this is a very popular ship lol. I honestly didn’t ship it at first but then me and a friend of mine discussed some possible chemistry between the two, and now I love this ship thanks to them, although I still prefer to ship them platonically, but aye. I’m fine with them being a romantic pair too. Either way I love angst and I always crave angst. Hyousuke had been deemed dead by the Raiden Shogun and all of Inazuma, and Kazuha saw it with his own eyes that he was struck by the hitotachi move which is an instant death move, so of course everyone would think Hyousuke is dead (but of course in reality he’s actually alive and had been in either Snezhnaya or Fontaine after being deemed dead by all of Inazuma lmao). The closest friend Hyousuke’s really had was Kazuha. Sure he also had Kokomi, Ayato, Thoma, Ayaka, and Yoimiya, but Hyousuke was moreso close with Kazuha since they were childhood friends and their families plus Itto knew each other. Their families plus Itto fought alongside each other until the end, so they all have this familial bond with each other and even call each other family. Hyousuke calls Kazuha his “kyodai” for brother. Anyway while they were still young and sometime after Hyousuke’s parents fell in battle, Hyousuke takes his leave from Konda Village and the two pretty much go their separate ways. Kazuha still had his family, and meanwhile Hyousuke had no one (unless we wanna count Itto cuz Hyousuke calls him his uncle moreso out of respect and the fact that this dude practically raised him too). Years go by and both are grown ups, they reunite similar to how Beidou and Kazuha met, but are not exactly on good terms, considering Hyousuke left the village, and he was also becoming jealous of his own bestfriend cuz he still had his family (although as the years went by a majority of them eventually passed away and a few just poofed somewhere and never came back), and Kazuha became lonely after losing his family.  I have so many headcanons for the two but gsdcgjmsjkhcjg

Itto and Hyousuke - Itto practically raised the guy, so romantically shipping them is like... out of the question for me (yet I ship Sothe and Micaiah from Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn, and she practically raised Sothe, I think <_<, and I also ship Robin and Lucina, and Robin was like there when was Lucina was born... >_>). I saw a fanart of these two being childhood buddies too, and aye I’m up for that too. For me though I like to hc that these two also have a strong familial bond. Just as strong as Kazuha and Hyousuke’s bond. Hyousuke calls Itto “ojisan” for uncle moreso out of respect, and Itto considers him his nephew or little buddy. Itto is probably always going to refer to him as his little buddy just cuz he loves the boy and he also probably likes to brag sometimes that he raised him. It’s sort of like one of those parenting things where no matter how old we are, we’ll always be our parents’ kid. It’s kinda like that with Itto. No matter how old Hyousuke is, Itto is always going to love him and call him his nephew or little buddy. Sometime after Hyousuke left Konda Village at such a young age and snuck onto a ship not knowing where it was going, but ended up on Yashiori Island, Itto found the boy caught in a trap that he and his gang set up in hopes to catch people from the Tenryou Commission but instead they caught Hyousuke. Itto kinda scolds the boy for running away from home but also offers to take him in while he’s living with Granny Oni, and from then onwards Itto pretty much raised the boy. I can also go on about my hcs for the two but skdvjvjgf :’)

Hyousuke and Gorou - Not really a ship for me, but I just like to hc that these two never really got along for some reason eversince Hyousuke joined the resistance army and also left. Hyousuke joined before being reunited with Kazuha. Gorou has always been sus of Hyousuke for who knows why. Maybe Gorou’s dad knew Hyousuke’s dad cuz Hyousuke’s dad did use to be in the resistance army too when Gorou and Kokomi were still young and before Kokomi became priestess and before Gorou became a general, so Gorou could have possibly been a little pup and knew Hyousuke’s dad as one of the honorable samurais the army and both died an honorable death. Gorou’s father and Hyousuke’s father were also a bit like rivals, but they definitely fought together in battle, and Gorou’s dad died protecting Hyousuke’s father. Years later since Gorou became general and Hyousuke joins, maybe the moment Hyousuke mentioned being the son of Hajime Saito, Gorou just couldn’t help but feel some kind of hatred and also blame Hyousuke for his father’s death even though Hyousuke had nothing to do with that, and when Hyousuke left the army, Gorou’s unknown hatred and suspicions for Hyousuke just raises.

Hyousuke and Kokomi - Not really a ship either, but Kokomi gave him a chance to join the resistance even though Gorou didn’t like it (lol), and she was familiar with the Saito name since her mother knew Hyousuke’s father (Hajime Saito). I kinda like to think these two became good friends and nothing more. Anyway Kokomi admired Hyousuke since he reminded her of Hajime and some of the stories he would tell to her and Gorou when the two were kids. He of course mentioned his son (Hyousuke) a few times to them and believed that someday he would be a great samurai and make many people around him proud and loved. Meanwhile whenever Kokomi and Hyousuke got to hang out a bit, he’d tell her stories about his mother and father, like how his father would tell her and Gorou stories about Hyousuke. Kokomi was a bit saddened when Hyousuke left the resistance but she also respected his decision and meanwhile Gorou just kept on growling and talking shit.

[thequeenindisguise]

SOMEWHERE IN NEVERLAND (ICHIRUKI AU)

Here it is! My first and probably last entry for Ichiruki Month 2021... to be more specific, it’s for Day 11 with the prompt “What do you dream of?”  

I think the last time I participated was like, what? Five years ago? Yikes. I didn’t even improve haha and okay, I know somewhere, sometime ago, someone has already done this AU though. And this was based off the amazing work of jon-lock from deviant art so this would look like crap next to his work. I mean I suck at coloring and at a bunch of other things, I know! But I just really felt like doing this. 

I was actually thinking of writing a fic about it, but if I’m the one doing it, it’s probably going to be multi-chaptered and I just can’t commit to that. So if you know of any fics or fanart with the same theme, hope you can link them to me 😊 I’d really love to dive myself in them.

But despite saying that, it didn’t stop me from writing this silly one-shot called Somewhere In Neverland feel free to read and review there, if you have the time.

And now, if you read through all that, thank you so much for your time! Be safe, hope you enjoy the rest of your day and the rest of Ichiruki Month :D

And now for some more story time, you don’t need to read through this. It will be just me sharing some personal stuff… So feel free to move on with your life without this. Seriously. You can stop here if you just accidentally pressed the keep reading button, you are forgiven 😊

Oh… you’re still reading? Okay, then. So I’ve been really depressed lately, more on because my current job sucks, I just lost the opportunity to get my dream job, the pandemic’s still on-going and I just feel like nothing’s really going on with my life (T.T) I’m broke AF, it’s hard to fall asleep, my face is all pimply, I’ve gained a lot of weight and basically, this is just a low point for me. 

Okay, I know that there are other people with much bigger problems than what I’m going through right now so I just try to deal with it on my own. I made a fanart, just to feel like I’m focusing on something and I actually finished the thing just to ease my mind of my worries. It was kinda therapeutic and I kind of like the feeling of actually accomplishing something. And I even mustered up the courage to join the discord server for IR. My anti-social ass was proud of that. I was even thinking of posting this fanart there just to show everyone that I really appreciate them for welcoming me but at the last minute I chickened out but ended up posting it here? I don’t know either. I’m weird like that. Even though everyone there seemed really fun and supportive, I just… didn’t want to ruin the vibe with my negative aura (the latest chapter was enough to trigger everyone. Didn’t wanna add to that).

Anyway, thinking about these past horrible days and listening to some really sad songs, because why not add to the drama? I was listening to one song about running away to “Neverland” and it got me thinking wouldn’t it be great if I were to just stay a kid forever? That way I wouldn’t have to deal with the pressures of adulthood. Then I thought about Wendy from Neverland and somehow I remembered that on that 2nd Disney movie, she grew up. And to confirm it, I just had to search for that clip on youtube. And yes, it was the part where Peter saw her as an adult and oh god, I kid you not, I started bawling. One, because I didn’t realize that I ship them… oops… and I wondered if Wendy, even as an adult, ever thought of what it’d be like if she had stayed in Neverland. Then I also found this deleted scene from the live action movie which showed Peter reuniting with her, hoping to take her back but he couldn’t anymore because she’s all grown up, and he was so heartbroken by it but then she introduces him to her daughter, with who he takes with him (weird? Maybe that was why it was deleted haha).

And so, I’ve been thinking about it a lot and as always I ended up thinking about Bleach and IR because of the new chapter and all (which wasn’t released yet back then). And I wondered what would it be like if they were in Peter pan and Wendy’s shoes—but first off, I didn’t think Ichigo would fit the role of not growing up because I don’t know, despite being a teen, he looked matured and kinda scary? Kids would never go with him. He’ll be better as the Grinch of Christmas because kids would probably feel like they’ll be bullied even though he’s a nice guy. And so I realize, oh it’s better if we switch them up and make Rukia Peter Pan because she’d be looking young forever while Ichigo grows old (which was what I was expecting from Bleach but somehow they all seem to be aging at the same time now, with all the marriages and the making babies or whatever) And to parallel the manga I realized that maybe having Ichigo live his life (in the world of the living) and have a family would probably be something that Rukia would be really proud of and would be happy to see (Okay, hold up. Just to be clear, I still don’t like the ending for so many other reasons but if it had to go down with Ichigo making a family WITHOUT Rukia then this better be the damn reason for it and that’s to protect him by making him live a normal and safe life before they reunite again in SS. I rest my case.).

And so I connect all this to Day 11 – What do you dream of? Because, well, since the prompt really is up to interpretation… it can be like a “dream” in life? Or just maybe a dream at night? Anyway, this is what I dreamt of literally. Again, I’ve been thinking about it all the time lately  so I had to let it out. And of course, in relation to IR and in this AU setting, they probably dream of being together too (both in life and at night haha) <3

And that’s about it. I just want to leave this long message here so that when the time comes that I feel so much better, I’ll know what I was going through behind this not-so-good-but-a-little-better-than-my-other-works-so-far fanart and that one-shot that I tried my best to write despite my writing skills being very rusty, and know that it will be alright someday and that I’ll probably get through it whatever it was that I’m going through at this moment.

If you’ve reached until the end then wow. Bless your kind soul really and hope you have a great dinner and of course, thank you for lending me your ears or eyes (since you had to read). I may not know you but I really, really appreciate your time 😊