#sad Akko hours

[pockynyx]

Okay, I might be hyperfixating on keyboards for awhile....

Got these on AliExpress and they were better than I thought they would be. Super sad the little numpad can't open up for more mods. What I can see inside is that there is no foam either. 😕 the only thing you can do is hotswap switches which is better than nothing, but otherwise it sounds pretty good 👍 (also despite north-facing RGB, it's super bright)

I think I fiddled around with this for a solid hour 😅 can't wait for my akko keyboard to come in now.

[haunterclere]

day 3: Cuddles

I’ll color this tomorrow

[kayr0ss]

Lunchbox

[LWA, Diakko, Married, Fluff, Feelings] AO3

Summary: She wondered if she'd ever feel as loved as she was before. A small little thing was enough to remind her.

--

“Don’t make it hard for Anna now, darling.”

“But it’s itchy!” Diana whined, squirming under Anna’s attentive care. She was getting ready for her first day at school—both terribly excited to learn and see new places but a bit scared at the thought of so many other people and kids.

Would they be nice to her? She hoped so. She knew not everyone was as nice as her mum. They all treated her special, but it was so… distant and odd. It was like people were afraid to be near her, no matter how polite they all were.

She wanted to giggle and play in the mud and have sleepovers with her friends like she’s seen in story books!

Her mother was working on the kitchen counter. It was different every time mum made her meals. Sure, the chefs knew how to cook anything and everything under the sun, but this time it was mum’s food! And just for her!

She loved that she still took time to do little things like this, even with all the busy grown-up business she always had to attend to.

Bernadette was slicing apples—her favorite—and smiled when she looked at Diana from the corner of her eyes. “You look adorable.”

She scrunched her nose. “This dress is weird.”

“It’s a uniform—your other friends will be wearing the same thing.”

“We all wear the same thing?”

“Mhmm,” her mother hummed. She walked towards Diana carrying the ornate lunchbox she had prepared. “So we’ve got bagels with cream cheese, ham, and some apples. Promise you’ll finish your food?”

Diana flashed her a toothy grin. “I promise!”

“You’re growing up so fast,” Bernadette brushed away a lock of stray curls. “Now come here. Give me a hug before I send you off to Carter.”

“Heehee!”

“And don’t forget your lunch!”

“Yes, mum!”

“I made it just how you like it.”

--

“Mother?” Diana mumbled, eyes bleary and out of focus while she slowly blinked herself awake. She didn’t recognize the room she was in—not immediately, anyway—but soon she saw little fixtures of familiarity: photos on the shelf, a sweater hanging by the foot of their bed, the familiar red sheets.

She was still adjusting to the new home she and Akko moved into.

On instinct, her arm reached out to the other side of the bed. It was empty, and while her memory was quick to supply that Akko would be out early for errands, she found herself missing her (newly-wedded) wife quite dearly.

It was an odd. She hasn’t dreamt about her mother in a long while. A quick glance to their bedside clock let her know that she’d have to rise soon though. She had an important presentation to attend to.

She went about her morning routine feeling a bit out of sorts.

The dream seems to have set the tone for her day, making her steps heavy with yearning. She supposed she longed for the feeling of being known the way her mother knew her—in acts as simple as getting ready for the day ahead. She rolled the end of her tube of toothpaste to squeeze every bit out like she was taught as a child then wrung her damp hair in a towel that twirled clockwise twice over before tucking the tip behind her head at the nape.

Old habits taught with love from ages past.

She needed to get her act together because today’s presentation was no less than a summit discussing the regulation of magic in urban areas. As much as Diana loathed the posturing and politics, the movement was too important to ignore and shirk from. Thankfully Andrew would be there. He was a little annoying at worst, but unwaveringly loyal at best.

Half an hour and an exquisitely-tailored dress suit later, she walked out to their living room. It was still bare—boxes littered here and there waiting to be unpacked. It was the first time she was truly left alone in this place, and Akko’s absence was perpetuating the soft melancholy that gripped her all morning. She wondered if she could wait until Akko was back before leaving but dismissed the thought. Too risky. Her mother always said: “fifteen minutes early is on time, and on time is late.”

Maybe she’d talk to Akko about it later. She always knew what to say—what to do. She made her way to the kitchen, amused at how lived-in it looked compared to the rest of their house. Of course.Unpacking was a weak deterrent against Akko’s persistent need for food.

She scanned their cupboards for her favorite tea, hoping to soothe the rawness of her disposition. She was anxious and on edge, like a child feeling ill-prepared for her first day of school again.

While looking for her favorite mug, she spotted a curious box on the kitchen counter.

There was a little note on top, written in Akko’s tell-tale scribbles.

‘Don’t even think about going to that meeting hungry!’

She gently pried the lid open and—oh.

Bagels and ham.

She really shouldn’t have been tearing up at the sight of a lunch box, but it was nothing short of miraculous how Akko could so easily chase away the tendrils of sadness, how quickly she could fill the longing that creeped back into her life from the hazy memories of a dream.

There was a sliced apple tucked to the side.

‘Good luck, I love you—'

It made her chest feel warm and full to bursting.

‘—I made it just how you like it. – A’

Everything was going to be okay.

-

fin

-

A/N: Hello! I like food, one shots, cute girl, and Diakko

[smugraccoon137]

I've been kinda down tonite so I decided to check out the Enchanted Parade movie for Little Witch cus it's a comfort show. So here are thoughts and prob spoilers so be warned

I really really love how the plot of this has to do with Akko being selfish and how that affects the relationship she has with her friends. Often times she has these absolutely farfetched magical ideas that her friends get roped into. And they love that part of her, because in a lot of ways Akko wouldn't be Akko if she wasn't ridiculous and so over the top. But at the same time sometimes getting pushed and pulled and thrown into things without being asked can wear you out. And i just love that they took the time to explore this with the red team. And especially with Lottes character since she's known for being so mild mannered. It's really the only time I can think where the three of them have a fight and I think they did it pretty well.

Other thoughts. I love the green team. I just think. They are the fucking best side characters. I think they are so fun. They are such fun ideas for individual characters but like you see the three of them together and you wonder how it works. And the answer Is they're all so chill and kind of defy the rules in their own relaxed way. Whether it's Amanda stealing a broom and flying around during non flying hours. Or Jasminka eating all the food no fucks given. Or Constance just building mechas in class cus old magic is boring. These three are fucking awesome and work so well as the red teams friends.

Diana really just shows up whenever Akko is by herself/feeling sad/in danger huh? Girls got it bad. Big fan of the rival character who hates the mc but then cannot fathom why they hate to be away from them.

Ursula really let those kids fight that fucking giant alone just so she could run the show. Bitch how could you lol? Like I know performing is Chariots whole thing but dude. Like Jennifer is the one who took this thing down and you just let the kids take this one? Lol. I actually really enjoyed her on the mic and she's still very good at directing the crowd. So it was fun to see Ursula actually have a Chariot moment if that makes sense?

Contraversial thought. Maybe drop the kid? Not a great idea but one I definitely thought cus what a little asshole. I was legit just like "yeah whatever let the kid die fuck it". Also I was kind of hoping Diana would catch Akko in this one and this little prick ruined the chance of that happening. (I do not approve of actual murder I am just being silly)

Overall really fun movie that gave me a lot of all my fav characters. And at the end of the day they brought up a problem Akko has and she had to work hard to fix that problem herself. And then she made up with her friends. And maybe it's just me but I'd rather have more movies about growing as a person and making stronger relationships with the people around me. Than overhyped action movies where 95% is action or villain monologues. Just saying maybe Hollywood should watch some shounen anime.

[incorrectlumityquotes]

FULL REVIEWS: “Wing It Like Witches”

Damn, that last episode was something. It was so much of something that the hype for this episode didn’t come until after they released a screenshot of Amity in the grudgby uniform. Everyone predicted that this was the episode that had Amity join The Owl House squad and...they were right. 

The Lumity Trilogy ends with a sports balls game.

The cold open starts with Boscha of all people. 

It’s grudgby season again and all I can think of is “Wow how lucky is Luz to enroll in Hexside during the semester where shit happens.” Is the first semester the boring one with no holidays and/or events?

Anyway, I grew up in South Texas where high school football was treated like the biggest deal. I get why Boscha is being treated the way she is, and so does she.

Boscha goes to school expecting a hero’s welcome, but gets pissed when the attention is given to Willow.

Willow tells Luz that ever since she patched things up with Amity, she’s been feeling more confident. That’s really good character development. Without her resentment toward Amity (who was her oldest friend), Willow feels like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders. All that hate and sadness was bringing her down, but without it, she’s free to blossom. 

I don’t mean to quote Penn & Teller but, “And then there’s this asshole.”

Boscha is so not okay with Willow being happy with herself and just picks on her harder. Especially since it’s grudgby season and she knows she can get away with it. 

Amity tells her to grow the fuck up, and Boscha lets it slip that ever since grom Amity has been “getting soft.” This does fucking nothing since Boscha literally spends all day following Willow and friends all day picking on them like crazy. Like damn bitch, don’t you have anything else do do? Don’t you have any life outside of Willow’s?

People ask why I don’t ship Willow and Boscha and this is why. I get enemies to lovers. I get the bully becoming the love interest. Hell, it’s happening with Amity right now. But this is too needlessly cruel for my taste. There’s not way the Defeat Equals Friendship trope is going to work here. Not for me. But hope comes in the form of a useless lesbian.

Amity literally gay panics after getting ‘nam flashbacks of dancing with the girl she likes in the moonlight. Luz asks Amity for help about Boscha, and based on Amity’s answer, I don’t think Amity has ever liked Boscha. She agrees that Boscha is difficult to tolerate. It’s even worse during grudgby season because it becomes all the thinks about. Luz gets the wrong idea from that.

After literally pelting Willow with garbage, Luz challenges Boscha to a grudgby match for Willow. Again Luz’s character flaw of overstepping her bounds comes back. She never even considers what Willow might want or the fact that Willow has never even played grudgby before in her life. And that’s when another of Luz’s character flaws comes back hard. This time it’s Luz expecting life to play out like a story, or more specifically, a sports movie.

Holy crap. Is that the thorn-vault? I’ve never noticed that before.

Luz thinks that if they just try really hard they’ll beat someone who has been excelling at the sport for years. No. That’s not how life works, sweetie. I’m starting to think that maybe Luz’s mom was on to something sending her to camp.

Luz manages to convince Willow and Gus to be on board, but Amity...

She’ll be in her bunk.

Meanwhile in the B-plot (that should be my t-shirt by now), Eda is talking about her time when she was star player of her grudgby team when Lilith makes an unexpected appearance to arrest Eda. Lilith notices that Eda is wearing her old ass grudgby uniform and Eda’s response made me laugh.

“No reason. It’s laundry day.”

Lilith gives Eda a quick reality check to remind her that while Eda was good...

Lilith was better.

This photo really confused me and took me a while to realize that that was Eda and Lilith. Lilith gave herself a serious make over after school. Straightened her hair, darkened it, got ride of the glasses. I didn’t even recognize her. 

Since we all got grudgby on the brain, Eda makes a bet. She’ll go with Lilith to The Emperor peacefully if she can beat her in a game of grudgby. Luz is always pulling stuff like this and it works out for her, so why not? Speaking of which.

Willow and Gus teach Luz about grudgby. Luz teaches Willow and Gus about montages and it does not go well at all. The grudgby, I mean. The montage was great. 

In fact it’s so bad that Willow confronts Luz about the thing I was just talking about earlier. You can’t just shonen hero through all your problems. Willow and Gus give up and just leave.

I hate comparing shows because I believe they should stand on their own, but this really does remind me of when Lotte got mad at Akko in Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade. Being innocently insensitive plus expecting life to play out like a movie is not a good combo. 

Luz and Amity have a heart to heart. Luz’s character flaws do come from a place love. Willow is one of the best friend’s she’s ever had and it hurts to watch her get picked on. She’s not trying to make things worse but growing up on a diet of movies and cartoons, this is the only thing she can think of.

Amity reveals that she actually used to be a jock. No joke. She was the captain of the grudgby team before Boscha. But Amity decided to make the game all about her and her teammates got hurt. So felt so bad that she never played again. Amity is rough around the edges, but deep down she’s always cared about people.

Another gay panic later, and Luz gets the right idea this time. Luz forfeits the game and agrees to take all of Willow’s punishment so that Boscha will stop picking on her.

Bitch, works for me! Think fast!

Amity senses the obvious and immediate danger and goes for help. She reminds Willow and Gus that Luz always has good intentions and needs help because that’s what friends do.

This isn’t about “friendship” is it?

Gus and Willow show up to save Luz but you need three on a team. And in true sports movie fashion, the hero arrives in the eleventh hour to save the team. I.E. the only player who is actually good at the game gives the good guys a chance to win.

Let’s get it on!

It’s game on and for a bunch of nerds the game is actually pretty competitive. It’s a magic sport, so Willow focuses on the magic while Amity focuses on the sport. Luz being Luz, even congratulates the other players when they score. Luz discovers every RPG players favorite spell, fire. 

It looks like our heroes pull off the victory in true sports movie fashion when this happens.

I stand by what I said last time. Someone on The Owl House thinks Harry Potter is really fucking stupid. Boscha catches the rusty smidge which means she automatically wins and Luz let’s out two decades of Harry Potter frustration.

But she has a point. If the golden snitch gives your team 150 points and ends the game then the only way to play would be to play defensively and focus all your efforts on finding the snitch. It means there’s literally only one decent way to play the game if you want to win.

“That just invalidates all our efforts! If catching that thing is so important, why do anything else!? There’s no reason to watch any of the other players! THAT’S SUCH A STUPID RULE!”

You tell them, Luz.

But in a twist that everyone saw coming, all the other players (Skara, Cat, Amelie) all had so much fun playing that they invite Willow to join the team. Willow politely declines because Boscha.

But we can’t have Amity help with the season finale so she hurt her leg. Amity panics at the thought of Luz carrying her, so of course Luz picks her up.

“Oh. Wow. Sports.”

Speaking of sports.

It’s game on at The Owl House and Lilith and Eda have a one on one match that’s really close. Eda decides to cheat her way to victory until.

Dammit, Luz!

Eda wins and Lilith vows to return.

The episode ends with Amity joining the fam at The Owl House.

FINAL SCORE: 5 - LOVED IT!

This episode was the best of fun episodes combined with the development of Amity episodes and you get probably my favorite episode. This was so fun and touched on most of the major characters. Even the B-plot is important because now Lilith knows the location of The Owl House. The jokes were funny. It was cute. Just everything.

The Lumity Trilogy ends on a high note. Amity is officially crushing hard on Luz. 

[laurenhufflepuff2]

A list of fandoms I'm in (in no particular order, will probably be updated regularly. Some fandoms are more intense and some are more casual. Depending on the fandom, I could go on and on about fandom topics for HOURS. Let's get into it!)

Harry Potter, Disney, Marvel, DC comics, Miraculous Ladybug, Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra, Star Wars, Literature, Winx Club, Nintendo, Minecraft, Little Witch Academia, Voltron, Coraline

Details:

Harry Potter- I got into Harry Potter in 7th grade and now I am the resident expert in my family and in my friend group. I read all the books, watched all the movies (notably the British version), and I've seen the Fantastic Beasts films as well. I've also read Tales of Beedle the Bard (the Warlock's Hairy Heart was traumatizing) along with the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them textbook (plus an updated edition). I also read The Cursed Child script and while I mean no hate to anyone that liked it, I hated what it did to the canon. I am in Hufflepuff with some Ravenclaw tendencies (I took the Pottermore quiz 3 times, 2 out of 3 I got Hufflepuff, the other time was Ravenclaw). I had a pottermore account and I was so upset when it got converted to the Wizarding World page. I cosplayed Hermione in 7th grade complete with British accent and even monologued as her for a talent show (classmates and teachers would recognize me as the Hermione girl all the way through high school). I was obsessed and I still love it even if J.K. Rowling has gone off the deep end on Twitter... yeah... my favorite character is Hermione but I also relate to Luna

Disney- there's so much that goes into the Disney part of my fandom list. I'm excluding Marvel and Star Wars from this part as they were originally separate entities before Disney got the rights to them. I have seen almost every animated Disney film ever and often use random movie quotes in conversation. My favorite villain is Maleficent, my favorite princess is Ariel (followed by Belle, Rapunzel, and Anna). I relate to so many of the characters. I'm not sure who my favorite Pixar character is though (I love Violet, Sadness, Dory, and Piper (from the short)). My favorite Disney fairy is Fawn. My favorite characters overall are Ariel and Stitch. Disney is definitely on the list as one of my biggest obsessions. My favorite movies are Lilo and Stitch, the Little Mermaid, Inside Out, Alice in Wonderland (original), and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

Marvel- I mostly get my Marvel exposure through the MCU, other movies, and animated TV shows. I have difficulty reading graphic novels so most of my comic book knowledge comes from friends, posts, or wikis. My favorite characters are Spider-Man, Captain America, Peggy Carter, and Scarlet Witch. I also like Gwenpool, Deadpool, Spider-Gwen/ Ghost-Spider, Venom, Squirrel Girl, Daredevil, Mantis, Gamora, Black Widow, Iron Man, Thor, Loki, Bucky, Black Panther, and most MCU characters. Out of the X-men I really like Professor X, Wolverine, Mystique, Magneto, Nightcrawler, and Quicksilver (either version- MCU or Fox).

DC- this was the franchise I was more familiar with growing up but again, graphic novels aren't easy for me to read so most of my knowledge comes from information pages about the comics or from tv/movies. My earliest experience with DC came from the 60s Batman series, with Catwoman and Robin being my favorites. I also watched the Wonder Woman series from the 70s and a handful of CW shows, my favorite of which being the Flash and Arrow. I also managed to watch all 5 seasons of the Teen Titans Cartoon Network series from 2003. With that being said, my favorite characters are Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Flash, Batman, Nightwing/Robin (Dick Grayson), Green Arrow, Starfire, Raven, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Alfred. I also like most of the bat family, and when it comes to CW I LOVE Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost and Cisco.

Miraculous- this is one of my guilty fandoms but since this is Tumblr I'm not too worried about it. I love Marinette and I relate to her on an astoundingly deep level (minus the stalking and obsession with potential lovers, that's creepy). If I had a miraculous, I'd probably want the Ladybug one, but the Cat miraculous, fox miraculous, and snake miraculous are good too. My favorite character is Marinette/Ladybug.

Atla/Tlok- I jumped on the avatar bandwagon just when it was starting to get popular, so I managed to get through the series before the memes took over everything. Same with Tlok, although i couldn't completely avoid the spoilers for that when i started it. I've been wanting to get into the comics because of the short story comics I've read, they seem easier to read than superhero comics. My favorite characters are Aang, Katara, Ty Lee, Iroh, Korra, Jinora, Asami, Suki, Appa, Momo, Naga, and Pabu. I also like Sokka, Mai, Zuko, Lin, Kuvira, Varrick, Zhu Lee, and Azula. I feel really sorry for her and while I understand that a redemption arc would undermine the importance of her corruption arc, I still wish she could have one. I would love to be a waterbender or an airbender... maybe a waterbender raised in the air nation? Obviously, being the avatar itself would be awesome. The show has taught me a lot of great lessons and put a lot of stuff into perspective for me.

Star Wars- oh boy, talking about this one is dangerous. I've seen firsthand the horrors of the Star Wars fandom but then again no one will probably see this anyway so... I've seen all the movies and I remember watching the clone wars series with my brother when I was younger but we fell wayyy behind and it's taking us forever to get back into it. I've also seen the Mandalorian and quite enjoyed it. I like the prequels unironically, in fact, the prequels are some of my favorite movies. I especially like how they switched from lightsabers being heavy weapons to light weapons that can be used for all kinds of tricks that make for epic battles like the ones we see in Revenge of the Sith. The sequels were fun to watch but when I would analyze them along side their predecessors, I came to the conclusion that, for me, they were good to watch but did not do anything good for the rest of the franchise. My favorite characters are prequels/clone wars Obi Wan and Anakin, Padme, Ashoka, Leia, R2D2, BB-8, R4-P17, the Mandalorian (Din Djarin), and Grogu. If I had a lightsaber I'd want it to be blue, but when I was little I got a purple one like Mace Windu because it was closer to pink and I was into pink at the time. I still have that lightsaber and none of my friends have a purple one so it's one of my flexes. I feel like I wouldn't make a good jedi because of attachments being forbidden, so I'd probably become a grey jedi.

Literature- this is a broad term I use to cover all the random books and stories I liked reading and have studied. So we have Shakespeare (Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet), The Great Gatsby (bored while reading, loved to analyze), Grendel (HATED reading, loved to analyze, Grendel really needed a hug and a friend), The Crucible, Fahrenheit 451, Dark Life (+ the sequel Riptide, both are by Kat Falls good reads, sci-fi and kind of dystopian), The Once and Future King

Winx Club- I think the show is trashy but I still love watching it. I haven't been able to get through season 6 though and I hated what they did with season 8 and Fate: the Winx Saga. My favorite character is Bloom along with Stella and Flora. I prefer rai to nick. My favorite transformations are magic winx, enchantix, and harmonix. My favorite member of the Trix is Icy followed by Darcy. My favorite Pixies are Chatta and Lockette.

Nintendo- mainly Pokémon above all else, followed by Animal Crossing. I have also played (mostly as player 2 or just never beat or watched my brother play) mario games, legend of zelda, pikmin, and kirby. Games I haven't played but I just liked the characters/the lore and probably learned about through Super Smash Bros. are Fire Emblem (Lucina mostly), Metroid (Samus and baby metroid), and Kid Icarus. Pokémon is where I'm most knowledgeable but you'll most likely beat me in battle. I am however great at MarioKart and I always destroy my friends at it. Terrible at fighting games though.

Minecraft- I like playing this casually. Sure, I'll play for hours and hours on end for months, but I prefer to stay exclusively in peaceful when playing Survival mode and I don't make anything too ambitious in Creative mode. I like to write, so sometimes I'll make a rough layout of the settings of my stories in different worlds. I prefer interior design and decorating when building, and when in survival mode I focus more on mining and gathering while my brother works on ambitious building projects. I just bring him the raw materials and furnish the interior when he finishes the outside.

Little Witch Academia- this takes up a smaller portion of my fandom list because there were only 2 seasons and a couple movies and I watched the whole series years ago, but I still enjoy it. At one point I wanted to cosplay Akko, and I loved the nod at Twilight through the Nightfall series. And I especially liked the twist that Shiny Chariot was Ursula, which I suspected for some time. The blend between magic and technology was fun to see, but I was so sad that the series ended RIGHT when Akko finally showed signs of magic proficiency. Also, Shiny Chariot being the reason Akko couldn't do magic was heartbreaking.

Voltron- this takes up a much smaller portion of my fandom list mainly because I haven't even finished it. I know hardly anything about Transformers aside from the Bumblebee movie so to me I just watch it for fun. It reminds me of power rangers, star wars, and star trek, and then there's just a transformer insert. But I don't know anything about Transformers so maybe the show is more rooted in canon than I think.

Coraline- I am in a love-hate relationship with Coraline. I have watched the movie several times, I've read the book, I've watched hours of theories and analyses on youtube, I've watched behind the scenes videos by Laika, and I even wrote a script for a fan film parody. I am amazed at how original the story is and how impressive the stop motion animation is but I also have recurring nightmares from it and it scares me/creeps me out to the max. If anyone asks what my scariness limit is, it's definitely Coraline.

[0gasstationcoffee]

LWA rewatch episode 19

·      OH NO IT STARTS OFF IMMEDIATELY WITH A FLASHBACK TO YOUNG DIANA AND HER MOM

·      Look at this lil precious bean, protect her

·      Beatrix: the first witch of the Cavendish family

·      One of the Nine Old Witches

·      Oh that’s the tapestry that appears later in the episode

·      “An old tradition and a new power will cross to open a door to the unseen world”

·      Does this flashback take place before or after the infamous Shiny Chariot show?

·      So her mother’s words is what makes Diana’s decision for her

·      Damn Akko go eat something, your stomach does not sound happy

·      Akko is a good person with a good heart, after everything H&B have done to her she STILL goes to check on them when they’re crying

·      Diana’s dropping out of Luna Nova

·      Is she just allowed to do that on her own? Or I guess she’s of age to make that choice

·      “The ceremony to elect the head of the family only happens every few years”

·      Magic is weird yall

·      “She’s leaving tonight at midnight” DIANA THAT’S A TOUCH DRAMATIC

·      Awwww Akko running up to Ursula to tell her the news

·      Ursula is such a mom with how gently she’s talking to Akko about this whole Diana situation

·      I love how hellbent Akko is on getting Diana to stay. She knows how much Diana loves magic too

·      Lotte just petting that adorable fairy is too cute

·      Omg Lotte pulled away her hand and the fairy just wiggled their arms at her and she continued petting

·      Lotte and Sucy waiting for Akko and she just bolts past their room lmao

·      LMAO SHE RAN PAST THEM AGAIN

·      Wait so Diana is leaving now??? I didn’t realize that the episode started off at basically 11 pm.

·      So Akko was heading to the cafeteria for food at 11 PM and ran into H&B, Ursula was walking around Luna Nova (yet another reason I HC her as having trouble sleeping, and Lotte and Sucy were waiting up for Akko

·      Aw poor Diana : ( she looks so sad

·      I know I don’t talk about Diana too much in these reviews, it’s not on purpose but I am mainly focusing on Akko and Chariot because the whole purpose for this rewatch is to finally write my story where Akko and Chariot’s relationship is the focus

·      “Those who leave Luna Nova are to do so undetected.” FOR WHAT FUCKING PURPOSE LUNA NOVA SERIOUSLY WHATS THE POINT OF THAT HOW STUPID

·      Oof Akko mentioning Diana’s parents should be the one to hold down the fort until Diana graduates. She really doesn’t know

·      I guess that makes sense, she and Diana aren’t really friends at this point so it’s not like Akko would know her history.

·      Akko: I don’t care about tradition! Damn right girl screw tradition

·      “I have never for a moment thought of you as my rival.” I don’t know why but Diana’s delivery of that is so funny

·      Akko obviously wanted to go to Luna Nova because that’s where Chariot went. I know Luna Nova was Diana’s family school anyhow but she still must have loved that Chariot went there too

·      Oh literally it was Akko’s next line

·      “I wanted more than anything to go to the same school that Chariot went to. But now it’s much more than that. The things I’ve experienced here, the people I’ve met, they’ve all become so important to me. I love them all, just as much as I love Chariot.”

·      This line with all of Akko’s memories in the background omg how sweet

·      Akko you sweetheart

·      And also wow look at how much she’s grown!!!!!!!

·      Akko went to Luna Nova for Chariot but she’s staying there for herself

·      Diana: why don’t you go back to looking for the seven words? Akko: Kill Bill sirens

·      Akko just wants to make people happy with magic, Diana wants to bring back honor to the world of magic

·      Literally just Chariot and Croix 10-12 years later

·      Diana just called it the Shiny Rod, not it’s real name

·      Is that the Shiny Chariot fangirl in her?

·      Aw she really is gonna miss Luna Nova

·      Sucy and Lotte just peeking out from the tower after watching their conversation lmao

·      Awwww Ursula watching her fly away from her tower

·      AKKO JUST SHOWING UP AT ANY HOUR SHE WANTS BECAUSE SHE KNOWS SHE CAN IS TOO CUTE

·      URSULA DOESN’T EVEN QUESTION IT

·      That’s such a mom thing. Ursula just looks at Akko’s big watery eyes and gives her what she wants

·      Ursula didn’t even fight it she just told Akko where to find Diana

·      The red team continues to be the best team

·      They are so supportive of Akko, even Sucy!

·      Sucy: be careful. WOW

·      Ooh the Cavendish’s have their own Sorcerer’s Stone

·      If that’s the case then why didn’t Diana just fly there??? Why was that creepy boat ride necessary

·      Anna talking about Luna Nova: “I know it had been your dream to-“ She gets cut off but was she going to mention the same thing about Shiny Chariot?

·      The fucking snakes man

·      I know snakes were/are associated with medicine but still wtf

·      Goddamn the Cavendish manor looks bad

·      Aunt Daryl, here’s this bitch

·      I still think of that video where someone put all the LWA characters on different vines and Diana and Daryl got the “What the hell are you doing” “I’m doing my eyebrows” “That’s a big ass mirror” “I have big ass eyebrows”

·      That one makes me laugh so hard

·      BUT

·      THAT ONE IS RIGHT BEFORE MY ABSOLUTELY FAVORITE LWA VINE WITH CHARIOT AND AKKO RECREATING THE ICONIC B99 SCENE WITH CHARIOT GOING “I’VE ONLY HAVE AKKO FOR A DAY AND A HALF BUT IF ANYTHING HAPPENED TO HER I WOULD KILL EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM AND THEN MYSELF” AND THEN HOLBROOK OR SOMEONE IN THE BACK “THAT’S A VERY VIOLENT EULOGY I LIKE IT”

·      Three guesses why that’s my favorite vine

·      Back to our regularly scheduled programming

·      This is a weird aunt/niece relationship lmao

·      Did Daryl’s eyes just really glow red and she faded away? Is that normal? Diana’s lack of reaction makes it seem normal

·      Oh no poor Akko, trying to walk to the Cavendish manor

·      “I’m really hungry” Oh shit did Akko not get any food from the night before??

·      TIME TO HITCHHIKE

·      SHE HAD THE SIGN READY TO GO LMAO

·      Oh shit it’s Andrew

·      I forgot he was in this episode, next one too

·      Why does Akko look so much smaller when she’s the same age as Diana and Andrew

·      Andrew just trying to shut his dad up when he keeps talking about Akko

·      Oh right Andrew and Diana are relatives, is that why they’re so damn similar

·      Not even 12 hours later and Diana is riding horses with her dogs lol

·      I like that Akko always introduces herself by her full name

·      Diana about Akko and Andrew: And why are the two of you together in the first place?

·      Andrew’s such a little shit, just grinning

·      Lmao Andrew waves and says “see ya” when being taken to his room, I don’t know why that made me laugh

·      Okay so all traditional witches are assholes basically

·      Hell yeah Diana! Stepping in to defend Akko from her awful relatives

·      How was Diana’s mom so nice but her aunt so awful

·      Lmao poor Akko, fitting into Diana’s dress from 5 years ago

·      It does make her look like a little kid

·      Aw of course Diana still has her childhood bear

·      Akko pointing out the bear and Diana freaking out thinking she’s looking at the box with her Chariot card in it

·      OH WE ACTUALLY SEE THE CARD, I DIDN’T REMEMBER THAT

·      I mean obviously we saw just a brief shot of young Diana at the Shiny Chariot show but is this the first time since then that shows Diana is a fan?

·      Lmao Anna just lamenting having to take care of Akko and Akko deadpans “I get it you don’t want to do this.”

·      If kindness is supposed to be a staple of the Cavendish family then what the fuck is wrong with Daryl and her two spawns

·      Ah Akko finding out that Diana lost both her parents when she was young and feeling bad about what she said before

·      LMAO Anna backing Akko into a corner and yelling is giving me flashbacks of Finneran doing that to Chariot in the beginning of the series. Akko even has the same hand gestures as Chariot

·      Well at least Akko can finally eat something

·      Oof this is awkward

·      Oh she’s trying to sell the tapestry, Diana’s gonna snap

·      Akko finding out Diana’s a descendent from one of the nine old witches lol

·      Oh god Akko is in the middle of this fight

·      AND the ceremony is tonight, damn

[lwa-but-gay]

DIAKKO HEADCANONS cause I miss them

-Akko loves kpop amd jpop, Diana isn’t a fan and Akko tries to hard to convert her. Diana is adamant to not like it because she finds it funny and seeing Akko pout is funny. Akko takes the few wins she gets when she shows Diana a song and she likes it.

-Akko likes to playfully rile up Diana in the mornings or to distract her if she’s sad/stress and/or to mostly to get her to stop studying for the 7th hour in the row. She does this by stating obvious inaccurate facts.

For example:

Akko: how do we know the moon is real thOugh?

Diana: we’VE BEEB TO SPACE

-this is popular but Akko lightly snores and Diana finds it cute because she finds Akko cute bht it reminds her that her bed is no longer too big for one person or she’s no longer cold

-Diana wants to hold Akko 24/7 during bed/sleeping. Even in the summer. Akko during summer will try her damn hardest to stay away on the bed cause gOd it’s too hot for any sort of blanket let alone body contact

-Akko makes tea for Diana in the morning and she has a cup too if she tired

-Akko plays with the ends of Diana’s hair when they’re cuddling. She loves physical contact

-Diana eye twitches everytime Akko doesnt make the bed if she’s the last one to get up

-Akko is a fanatic over holidays. She will go all out on Halloween, Christmas, you name it. Diana tries to get out of celebrating it because shes 24 she can’t be going to people’s house dressed a stereotypical witch getting sweets

-Akko gets Diana to wear matching sweaters during Christmas. How ? We may never know

-Diana learns Japanese. She learns it for akko. Also Because she’s interested in the culture. But mostly cause she wants to know what the fuck Akko is saying during bed half the time. (yes she likes it)

-Akko makes fun of Diana’s English accent sometimes. Diana just blushes a tiny bit because she does admit she is a bit posh. She draws the line when Akko makes fun of how she says Tuesday tho.

-Diana HATES it when Akko uses American spelling. Akko jusr forgets and doesn’t really care but it’s fun seeing Diana annoyed over something small.

-Diana is the most patient between the two but because of that and how she was brought up she has no real clue how to express herself. It was a seriousish problem at the start of their relationship. Diana learnt how to let go and be open around Akko but they trust each other.

-Diana can’t cook for shit. She can make some basic pasta or some very basic things. But god pls no one let her bear a kitchen. Akko isnt a chef but at least she can cook some meals that is edible for the both of them.

-Diana isn’t the biggest fan of sweets. Akko however, will indulge. Diana has no clue how she hasn’t gotten diabetes. Or a rotten tooth.

-They have a specific routine when they’re home and get ready for bed. They work in tandem. It’s special to them because they feel calm and comfortable in their hectic life

-if it was a modern au. Diana would be a Doctor/In the medicine business. Akko would have two jobs one as a performer and the other as personal trainer.

-When Akko does for her daily run, Diana decided to join her for once. REGRET. Halfway through she was out of breath and Akko just made fun of her. Diana WASNT the most athletic but she wasn’t unhealthy Akko is just a fitness nut and needs to realise she’s a monster at this point

-Akko finds it both endearing and frustrating/annoying how stubborn Diana is (shes one to talk though) because she can’t keep bloody staying up studying and then have two hours worth of sleep.

[dailydianakko]

Dianakko soulmate au where your soulmate’s skin scars where you get hurt. WARNING!!!! It gets angsty and has mentions of self harm. Blacklist tw: self harm to avoid future posts like this please!

Diana is four when she gets her first scar. It’s on her ankle, and it’s very small. Almost like her foot got caught in the door. Two days later she gets one on her knee. Bernadette laughs because it looks like Diana’s soulmate is going to be clumsy.

Diana slowly accumulated small imperfections. All on her knees and elbows. When she gets a tiny scar on her lip at the age of eleven, all she can think is “did my soulmate try to eat a stapler”

Diana tries to be careful simply becuase it looks like her soulmate isn’t. She doesn’t hate the marks that cover her body; but she wants her soulmate to know that at least one of them is looking out for their well being.

Her soulmate seemingly stops getting hurt so much after awhile. Diana is thankful that they seemed to have gained some measure of grace.

Eventually Diana breaks the quiet promise she made to not scar her soulmate. She’s just so sad and angry that she’s alone after her mother’s death.

Akko is still reckless and wild, becuase it doesn’t occur to her that her actions have consequences.

The only scar she gets that is emotely noteworthy is a small one on her pinkie. It looks like it was a bad paper cut.

At least it was, until she gets small lines on her palms. They always fade after a few hours, like magic. She’s excited becuase maybe it means her partner is in a witching family. She tries to ignore that the scars look like wounds caused by a ruler.

When Akko is fourteen she gets more scars. They’re perfect and clean and it scares her. They’re in hidden areas, and she knows what it means. She wants to be even brighter and bring more joy because her soulmate is hurting. Every time a fresh cluster appears, Akko cries.

When they both get to Luna Nova, Akko wonders why Diana looks so banged up. Who would be that clumsy, and why were they soulmates with their polar opposite.

Diana remarks that “she pities Akko’s soulmate” After the broom race, simply becuase Akko is really beat up.

Akko figures out Diana is her soulmate when Diana appears next week with a fresh scar on her leg, same spot and shaped the scratch that used to be on her own leg. The first thing she does is cry before trying to approach Diana.

When Akko tells Diana, all Diana can do is apologize over and over. Because Akko didn’t mean to scar her soulmate. But Diana did.

They both cry for a solid hour. Diana tries to avoid Akko for weeks after, simply becuase she feels so guilty for doing what she did. Akko comforts her and soothes her.

After the debacle at the Cavendish Mansion, Diana has two scars on her ears. She wears them with pride, simply becuase it’s battle scars Akko got protecting her.

[itzleon345]

Dianakko Week

@dianakko-week

Day 5: Hurt/Comfort

Yeah, You’ll Blow Us All Away

Read it in AO3 here!

Summary:

Bernadette is sure Diana is going to be a great witch

“...You will come of age with our young nation

We'll bleed and fight for you

We'll make it right for you

If we lay a strong enough foundation

We'll pass it on to you

We'll give the world to you

And you'll blow us all away

Someday, someday

Yeah, you'll blow us all away

Someday, someday”

“Can you sing it once more?”

A little girl with blue eyes asked to her mother

“Diana honey, it’s time for you to go to bed”

The woman answered

“But mother! I’m not sleepy”

The girl exclaimed with a cute pout on her face

“Let’s make a deal then, I’ll sing the song again if…”

The woman with equally beautiful blue eyes started saying to her daughter

“Yes?”

The little one said with anticipation

“If... this time you sing with me!”

The older one finally said

“Okey!”

Both of them were in the bedroom of the younger one, which was laying in her bed ready to sleep. The girl’s room was quite big for a 7 year old kid but, would you blame them? They were part of the Cavendish family, one of the wealthiest and ancient families in all Europe, also, they were a very well respected family in the magical world thanks to their history as powerful healers

These two women in specific were Bernadette Cavendish, the current head of the house, and Diana Cavendish, her predecessor and only daughter.

As every night Lady Bernadette went to her daughter’s room to tuck her in bed and to sing to her her favorite lullaby song, this moment of the day was a very valued moment for both of them, ‘cause even though they were mother and daughter, thanks to Bernadette’s responsibilities as the head of the house and Diana’s education to become a witch they weren’t together most of the time, and it was just in moments like this one that they could enjoy the company of each other.

It’s also worth to say that Lady Bernadette was sick, since she was young her body was fragile and weak, and when she gave birth to Diana her condition worsened, she knew she wasn’t going to be able to see her daughter grow, so she really treasured every moment she was by her daughter’s side because she knew one day she would have to go.

Diana wasn’t dumb, she may be young but that didn’t mean she was stupid, she also knew her mother was sick, she didn’t knew why or when was she going the get better but she understood why her mother was always working in her room, either ways she was happy they could share this moments together, she is quite sure they would have a lots more memories to made.

*one year later*

“Diana dearie, come here please”

It was a summer evening when Lady Bernadette requested the presence of her beloved daughter, even though the sun was shining majestically on the outside of the manor Bernadette’s bedroom was cold

“Yes, mother?”

Diana was slightly confused, she didn’t know the reason her mother wanted to see her at this hour, and even more strange she didn’t understand why when she was going to her mother’s room the doctor who was attending her mother looked at her with sadness in his eyes

“Come sit here, I would like to make you a request”

The older woman was sitting on her bed, her back was laying on the top of the bed and while Diana was coming closer she started to have a coughing attack

“Mother! Are you alright!”

The younger Cavendish ran to her mother’s side to check if she was okey

“Don’t worry Diana, I’m quite alright”

Bernadette said with a forced smile in her face, gesture that Diana notice but didn’t mentioned

“What is your request, mother?”

Diana was now sitting in a chair at the left side of her mother’s bed, she was holding one of her weak hands with caution

“First of all I want to tell you that I love you my little princess, I’m proud of you Diana, be sure to remember that”

The woman said to her daughter with a real smile this time

“What are you saying mother? I’m sure you’ll be here to tell me that in the future”

The heiress said with a notable confusion and innocence

“I’m sure I’ll be, don’t I?”

A small bittersweet chuckle escape from her lips

“Anyways, dearie, I’m a little sleepy, would you sing for me?”

Bernadette asked to her daughter

“Of course, can I lie next to you?”

She said as she got of the chair she was sitting on

“Sure thing sweetheart, come lie with me”

First of all Diana helped her mother to lie down properly and then she put herself at her mother’s side holding her hand

“Dear Theodosia, what to say to you?

You have my eyes

You have your mother's name”

The blue eyed girl started to sing with her cute voice

“When you came into the world

You cried and it broke my heart”

Out of nowhere she felt a couple of tears forming in her eyes

“I'm dedicating every day to you

Domestic life was never quite my style

When you smile, you knock me out, I fall apart

And I thought I was so smart”

Her mother was looking at her with tired eyes and a shining smile

“You will come of age with our young nation

We'll bleed and fight for you

We'll make it right for you”

The older woman started humming at the rhythm of the song

“If we lay a strong enough foundation

We'll pass it on to you

We'll give the world to you

And you'll blow us all away

Someday, someday

Yeah, you'll blow us all away

Someday, someday”

Bernadette started crying as she squeezed Diana’s hand

“Are you okay mom?”

Diana stopped her chanting

“Yeah dearie, please continue”

The Cavendish head said

“My father wasn't around”

Diana continued

“My father wasn’t around”

Bernadette sang the second line

“I swear that I'll be around for you”

They sang in unison, at this moment Diana was smiling too

“I'll do whatever it takes”

Diana was happy she was with her mother, she was the only person that really cared about her because she was Diana, not Diana Cavendish

“I'll make a million mistakes”

Bernadette knew this was the last time she would sing besides her daughter

“I'll make the world safe and sound for you”

They sang together again

“Will come of age with our young nation

We'll bleed and fight for you,

We'll make it right for you”

The song was about to end and Diana wasn’t prepared for what was about to happen.

When Diana was about to sing the last verse Bernadette stopped her with a single glance as she started singing that last and beautiful verse

“If we lay a strong enough foundation

We'll pass it on to you

We'll give the world to you

And you'll blow us all away

Someday, someday”

As the song was ending Bernadette’s voice started fading

“Come closer dearie”

She said with a cough, Diana did as she was said, she came closer to her mother which all of her strength took Diana’s hand with both of hers

“Yeah, you'll blow us all away

Someday, someday”

The strength in Bernadette’s grip was vanishing

“Thank you Diana”

Was the last thing she said before closing her eyes

“Mother?”

Diana’s heart was beating in fear

“Mother are you alright?”

She tried to move Bernadette’s body with no avail

“Mommy?”

Tears started streaming out of her young eyes, she touch her mother’s hand once again but it was cold

“Who I’ll blow you away if you are not here?”

She asked to the air.

That beautiful summer evening was the day Bernadette Cavendish left this world.

*nine year later (present day)*

It has been nine years since you passed away, a lot of things happened in those years, I got into Luna Nova (as I’ve told you before), I saved the academy a couple of times from bankruptcy, I met a lot of people, I even met my idol! Shiny Chariot was my astrology teacher, can you believe it?!

I also met Atsuko Kagari, an hyperactive girl obsessed with Chariot, the first day we met she literally claim she would be the best witch of all times, she said she would make people smile with her magic, at first I thought she was extremely naive and dumb in some sort of way, she couldn’t fly a broom and she thought she could be the greatest witch, what a joke!

But you know, as the time passed I realized she wasn’t bad at all, yeah she was too optimistic and an extremist but either ways she accomplished what I could never do, she even went to our house to get me back, she didn’t let me give up my studies and friends!

Also, apparently, she was the “chosen one”, that means she was the wielder of the Claiomh Solais, when I first discovered that fact I was little jealous of her, I couldn’t understand why she, a girl from a non witch family, could be the one to restore magic, but at the end I figured it out, her power was so raw and at the same time so beautiful, she can make any sad person smile, her mere presence is like having a star by your side, and when I finally understand that, I knew that it was real “A believing heart is your magic” when I finally get to understand her I knew those words were more than a catchphrase, because even at my worst moments her heart believed in me, she believed that I could be better, that I could face everything, and in those moments when I saw her eyes full of passion and her smile shining for me I felt the magic running through my veins.

Anyways, I will like to tell you more about her but I need to go, I’m sure you would have loved her if you could have met her.

-With love, Diana Cavendish

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“Let 's go Diana! We are going to be late!”

A girl with beautiful red eyes exclaimed to me while knocking my door with insistence

“I’m going Akko, let me take my hat”

I don’t know if I could blow everyone away by myself, but I know that this quirky girl sure blew my heart…

“Come on! The girls are waiting for us!”

Yeah, she doesn’t know yet but I’m sure she’ll be the next one to sing by my side...

————————

And here is the fifth day of the @dianakko-week ! For me this one was the most difficult one to write so I’ll be grateful of you gays (guys) give me your opinions.

Anyways, see y’all tomorrow!

This is the song used in this chapter: Here!

[casreturns]

WAIT- IS LITTLE WITCH ACADEMIA BECOMING MY COMFORT ANIME????(edit: it's not) i'm on episode 10 and here are my thoughts:

1. lotte is so freaking cute i would have the biggest crush on her if she was real. i just want to listen to her rant about her books for hours on end😍 2. episode nine was so sweet n so sad when the dad was talking about how he didn't keep his promise and how mad at himself he was for that :( the ending was good though, i love him. 3. frank is the best male character besides the head master's dad🙏🏽 4. sucy is literally THE FUCKING BEST and the episode about her imagination and her different personalities was so perfect😫 5. amanda and akko's relationship is cute asf and i love how they bicker but they're basically the same person. 6. i can't wait to see andrew's character development and romance with akko mayhaps👀 7. professor ursula/chariot's voice is so pretty. 8. constanze is so cute, i adore her. 9. i love them all and i can't wait to keep watching☝🏽

[sailorportia]

Femslash February 2020, Day 2

Fandom: Little Witch Academia Pairing: Diana Cavendish/Akko Kagari Prompt: Pining

approx. 1,700 words, rated T

also available on AO3

Summary:   Diana Cavendish is not *pining*, nor is she *yearning* or *mooning.* She simply wants to spend more time with her *friend* Akko. Is that too much to ask?

Tags: Pining, Fluff

It had been a day and a half since Diana had last spoken to Akko. Precisely speaking, it had been thirty-six hours and thirty-four minutes—Diana had been diligent in noting the time at which she had apprehended Akko attempting to steal from the school's pantry yet again. They had exchanged greetings since then, but that hardly counted as a proper conversation. She did the same with teachers. She wanted to talk to Akko.

Diana fiddled with the food on her plate as she gazed across the length of the cafeteria to Akko's table. The energetic girl was shovelling food into her mouth, occasionally stopping to speak animatedly with Lotte and Sucy with her mouth still full. It was shockingly impolite, utterly unbefitting of a student of Luna Nova Academy. So why then did Diana wish so desperately that she were the one Akko was speaking to?

Would it be peculiar if she walked over to Akko's table and struck up a conversation with her? She had no pretext for doing so. It would be rude to interrupt Akko when she was eating and already speaking with her other friends (though it would be nice if she were to do those activities separately). Diana didn't want to make a nuisance of herself, but she didn't want to wait until after classes or, Nine Olde Witches forbid, until tomorrow to talk to Akko...

"She's definitely pining," Hannah said.

"Like an evergreen," Barbara agreed.

Diana's fork scraped against her plate in an ear-grating screech. "Pardon?"

"We were talking about Avery," Hannah said. "She's totally yearning for Amanda."

"It's totally obvious," Barbara said. "The way she's mooning over that delinquent is almost as bad as Hannah."

"Hey! I do no such thing!"

Diana tuned out the sound of her roommate's squabbles to reflect on her own thoughts. She was not pining, nor was she yearning or mooning. That was ridiculous. Admittedly, she was fond of Akko, and her feelings bordered onto that of an infatuation, but whatever she felt for Akko was easily reined in and in no way affected her behaviour. She wasn't some lovesick fool, and she certainly wasn't pouting over not getting to talk to Akko as often as she'd like.

But if that were the case, then why had she been afraid that Hannah and Barbara were talking about her?

Diana pinched the bridge of her nose. She was being foolish. If she wanted Akko's attention, she would simply strike up a conversation with her. There was no point in lingering on those feelings and doing nothing about them.

She quickly finished her lunch and stood up from the table. "If you'll excuse me, girls, I have something I need to attend to." After making a quick detour to put her dirty dishes in their proper place, she made a beeline for the Red Team's table. As she approached, she could hear them talking.

"What do you mean we had homework for Magical Linguistics?" Akko shouted.

"Finnelan said it three times," Sucy said. "Looks like you're going to get detention again."

"Um, you can copy off mine," Lotte offered. "But this is the last time, okay?"

"Lotte! You're a life-saver!" Akko threw her arms around her bespectacled friend.

Diana, only two tables away from them, stopped dead in her tracks. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest, almost jumping out of her throat. Tendrils of envy snaked around her body and squeezed tightly—just the way that Akko's arms never did.

She turned around and went back to her own table, hoping that Akko hadn't seen her aborted walk to her table. Hannah and Barbara seemed surprised that she had returned so soon, but one look at her troubled expression was enough to deter questioning.

In all her life Diana had never met anyone as openly affectionate as Akko. Hannah and Barbara were at times just as brazen, but only with each other. Akko was clingy with everyone. Everyone except Diana, it seemed.

As pitiful as she felt for admitting so, it bothered her. It wasn't as if the two of them weren't friends—Akko had insisted upon it. However, Akko still considered her a rival of sorts. Perhaps that explained the gulf between how she acted toward Diana and how she treated her other friends. Ordinarily Diana disliked those who had no regard for the personal space of others, but now she found herself wanting Akko to invade hers.

Akko could very well hug whomever she liked, but that didn't mean Diana didn't feel left out. She had to mentally berate herself after she caught herself keeping a mental tally of how many times she saw Akko hugging someone who wasn't her. Honestly, she ought to be ashamed of herself. She couldn't ask Akko that she be treated as special among her friends, but she found it agonizing that she was being set apart from the others.

She watched despondently as Akko left the cafeteria with her friends. The object of her affections turned around just inside the door and the two of them made eye contact. Akko flashed one of her adorable, goofy grins and waved. Diana looked away in embarrassment, as if she'd been caught doing something disreputable. By the time she recovered enough to look up again, Akko was gone, and she felt all the worse for it.

That settled it. Diana Cavendish was, indeed, pining.

*

Just because Diana acknowledged her own feelings and that she was, in fact, yearning for attention from Akko didn't mean she had any idea what to do about it. Would it seem needy of her if she asked Akko to spend more time with her? Would she be bothering her by asking for a hug? After all, surely Akko had a reason for never hugging her. Was it possible that the two of them weren't as close as Diana thought? The idea was unbearable.

Unsure of what to do, Diana limited herself to unproductive pining. She wanted to be closer to Akko, but the prospect of even physically closing the distance between them was daunting. She kept Akko at arm's length, even as she felt the pain of not being at her side as others were. On one occasion when her crush invited her to join them, Diana stiffly made an excuse to be elsewhere and cursed herself the second she was out of the room. Her feelings were making a complete fool out of her, and she didn't know what to do about it.

Diana hid in her room as much as possible, justifying her cowardice by catching up on some extra-curricular reading. After three days she had accumulated a stack of library books which she only dared to return under the cover of night, lest she unexpectedly run into Akko. She slipped over to the library just before curfew and placed the books on the desk where they belonged. When she turned around, she saw the library's only visitor sitting at one of the tables.

"Akko?" Her voice ratcheted up an octave. "What are you doing here so late?"

Akko grinned. "I'm doodling goatees and devil horns on the witches in the textbooks."

Diana blinked. "I'm going to get Professor Finnelan."

"I'm kidding!" Akko yelped. "I was reading this doorstop about magical theory." She slapped the heavy tome. "I didn't understand something in today's assignment. Um, I still don't, but I'm trying!"

"How diligent of you." Diana felt a powerful urge to sit down with Akko and explain the topic in intimate detail, perhaps feigning exhaustion so she would have an excuse to rest her head on Akko's shoulder... Diana came to her senses. "Make sure you return to your dorm room before curfew." She turned to leave the library before her feelings got the better of her.

"Diana!" The shout was followed by the scraping of a chair against the floor.

"Akko, please. We're in a library. Could you keep your voice—" A pair of arms circled Diana's waist and she shrieked from sheer surprise.

"Keep your voice down," Akko murmured against her shoulder. "We're in a library."

Diana should've been offended that Akko of all people was telling her to be quiet, but her brain had stopped working. "Wh-why are you hugging me?"

"You looked sad! You've been moping for days!"

"I have not been 'moping', nor have I ever 'moped.'"

"Nuh-uh! You look miserable like someone stole your Magical History notes." Akko hugged her tighter. "Tell me what's wrong!"

How could Diana possibly verbalize her thoughts under these circumstances? Admitting her feelings, the source of her dismay, could have unpredictable consequences—she didn't know how Akko would receive them, given the distance Diana perceived between them. She settled on the simpler, incomplete truth. "Why haven't you hugged me before now?"

"Eh? Well, I noticed that you aren't really touchy-feely with anyone, not even Hannah and Barbara, and sometimes you get all wigged out when I get really close to you, so I figured you didn't like hugs." Akko paused. "Uh, should I let go?"

"Most certainly not."

"So that's how it is," Akko giggled. "You were jelly because I wasn't giving you any hugs!"

"I—that's not—" Diana was thankful that Akko couldn't see her face from this angle. "We need to return to our respective dorm rooms imminently."

"Awww, somebody's shy!" Akko gave her another squeeze. "Wait, I have to put my book away. Don't leave without me!" She let go of Diana to take care of her business.

Diana smoothed out her unruffled uniform and willed her face to cool down. By the time Akko made it over to her at the library's entrance, she had recovered her composure. "Shall we?"

"Let's shall!"

Akko walked unusually close to Diana as they made their way through the hallways. "Y'know, if you needed a hug, you could've just asked for one."

"I didn't need a hug." True enough; she wanted a hug, which was much more difficult for her to admit.

"Don't be silly. Everybody needs a hug sometimes. If you don't get enough skinship, your body gets depressed. That's science!" Akko reached over and grabbed Diana's hand. "If you need some love, don't hesitate to ask!"

Diana turned away so that her hair would shield her from view. She gave Akko's hand a gentle squeeze. "I'll keep that in mind."

[kayr0ss]

Halfsies

[Diakko Week 2020, Day 1: Chilldhood Friends, Fluff, Hehe, Cute, Maybe 2% Angsty] AO3

Happy to participate in Diakko week 2020! @dianakko-week

---

“We can halfsies!”

Diana blinked from behind her mother’s legs, peeking curiously at a foreign little girl who spoke funny and had sparkling, red eyes.

What did it mean to ‘halfsies’? Diana trained her eyes upwards—towards her mother—as though to ask how to proceed. She’s never encountered something like this before. The other girl came bounding in with unopened twin popsicles in her hand. She saw Diana, smiled, and then proceeded to tug at her own mother’s hand so that they would stop in their tracks.

That’s when she took the popsicle, and with some effort and a funny expression, tried her best to break it in half. Her face had scrunched up in concentration, and her brown hair bounced about while she animatedly moved around to get it done.

Finally, with a bit of help from a man who must have been her father, the popsicles were split into two.

Which brought them to where they were right now: a foreign girl close to her age—with a smile that Diana had never received from any of the other kids before—was holding out her hand with half a popsicle for her.

It was orange flavored and already melting.

“I said we can halfsies!” the young girl insisted in broken English, nearly crashing into her as she pressed on forward. Their noses bumped for a short second (it made the girl laugh), and Diana stepped back because it was a bit too much of personal space invasion for her liking. Six-year-olds knew what personal space was, of course! So was why was it her parents seemed so permissive, all but laughing at their daughter’s antics?

Much to her surprise, her own mother had a tender look in her eye that she couldn’t understand. She was smiling softly. She put a hand on her shoulder and urged her on.

“Go make friends, my darling.”

She looked towards the little girl. None of the other kids in this Shiny Chariot show had even bothered to stop and say hi to her, and the prospect of a friend other than her mean cousins and beloved teddy bear made her feel giddy with excitement.

She felt warm and welcomed.

Diana smiled, completely charmed, and reached towards the melting orange popsicle.

She thanked her gracefully—but she never got her name.

 ---

 Her first heartbreak was at twelve years old.

She was surprised at how effective a method for distraction work and study was, but the moment she had discovered it she decided to pour every minute she could spare into the endeavor. She was suffering through loss that she couldn’t even begin to measure, and so she’d stop trying to and simply be what she needed to be.

Calm, collected, ready to restore the Cavendish name and—

Perfect.

But on some nights, it was impossible to pretend.

Not when the one source of warmth she had come to know had been snuffed out and with nothing to replace it. Not that anyone would come close to how much her mother meant to her, no, but anything… anything would have helped.

She tossed and turned in bed, craving for one more goodnight kiss to her forehead and—

She wished she had a friend.

Her mind wandered back to better days with her mother, and with a sad smile she remembered that the little girl from Japan six years ago had a warmth to her that felt like the next closest thing.

She should have really asked for her name.

 ---

 Diana looked around Luna Nova’s main hall. She was grateful to be here, to finally learn what she needed to learn in order to restore both magic and her family’s legacy—but she wasn’t quite excited.

The moment she stepped in, there were whispers of reverence and awe. Even her two closest friends knew better than to get too familiar, treating her more like a leader than friend.

It didn’t bother her anymore though, or at least that’s what she told herself as she scanned through the new faces in the main hall.

Would any one of them walk up to her and ask if she’d like to share a snack?

She almost laughed.

She doubted that. Despite the many years she’s wished and searched and craved for another such selfless display of warmth, she knew better than to have her hopes up.

Not when she was Diana Cavendish.

But loud crash interrupted her thoughts.

Some sort of outsider crashed into the matriculation ceremony and Diana couldn’t help but furrow her eyebrows. This was scandalous!

Not only was the landing so poorly done (was she hitchhiking on someone else’s broom?), but the hour of her arrival was outright disrespectful. She hadn’t even bothered to change into the standard uniform! Diana huffed through her nose, knowing better than to give such a nuisance more attention than she deserved and set out to restore order in the auditorium but then—she paused, blinking.

Where?

Where had she seen those eyes before?

 ---

 Akko took both her hands, stepping forward and invading her personal space in a way that only one other person had dared to do in her life. And that was ages ago. But now was not the time to reminisce, not when they were trapped underground at the Cavendish Manor, and Diana seemed hopeless in her mission to ascend as the proper heir.

But Akko never lost hope.

She looked a little comical, the way tears were streaming down her eyes, but it was her words that struck so close to home, and her hands that grounded her.

“You can’t give up now!” Akko sniffled with a determined look in her eyes. “You can still save this house, Diana!”

She had a few words to say, but Akko wasn’t having it.

“I never knew that you had something so important to you.” The brunette said in a softer voice—but with just as much conviction. Akko stepped forward, their noses bumped, but this time Diana didn’t step back.

She welcomed it.

It’s been years since she had last felt something even close to how Akko made her feel. It was as though for a moment; the painful ache of longing had stopped.

The Claiomh Solais began to glow green. It was wonderful.

But all she saw was the loveliest shade of red.

 ---

 Diana sat along a Blytonbury bench with Akko humming softly by her side.

She tried to not blush too much at the sound of Akko’s voice, but the tips of her ears glowed pink and her stomach fluttered anyway. They were friends—and quite a bit more—and the in-between of where they were and where she knows they’ll be left her absolutely smitten.

Smitten, infatuated, taken, enamored—ah, it didn’t matter which word. Maybe all of them.

For Akko.

Akko came crashing into her life, and it didn’t take long before she forgot about the void that had been growing within her. The longing, the searching for something that was simply out of reach had ceased; replaced by a feeling of completion that she couldn’t quite describe. She chuckled to herself and held the brunette’s hand just because she could.

Akko bumped her on the shoulder. “What’s got you so giddy?”

Diana smiled and answered simply, honestly: “You.”

She wasn’t the type to be so forward in her affections, but the wonderful shade of red that rose up in Akko’s face was worth it and more. Days with her were days she didn’t know she’d ever get to have—they warm and they were easy.

The sun shone against her face, but the woman beside her was even brighter. And as beautiful as the scenery might have been on this fine, summer afternoon, it didn’t strike her quite as strongly as the way Akko’s face scrunched up in concentration. She was biting her lip as she reached into the paper bag she brough out from the store. She was rummaging for something.

“Do you need help—” Diana offered tenderly, and with a bit nervousness tested the waters: “—d—darling?”

Akko gawked and grew even pinker. “Did you just stutter?”

Diana wanted to roll her eyes.

“Hey, don’t give me that face!” Akko was grinning now. “That was adorable! Were you nervous about terms of endearment? Can I call you that too? Or not, ‘darling’ is like two whole syllables, maybe something else like—”

“Akko.” Diana said sternly, but the weight of her voice was betrayed by the small smile on her face.

The brunette just smiled even wider. “Fine, I’ll get off your case. But hey—”

Akko finally found what she was looking for in the bag. It was a pair of twin popsicles, fresh from the store, and in an action so familiar yet so far-away to Diana, she took it and split it in half before opening the packaging.

Once Akko had done away with the wrapper, she smiled, shoving a block of orange-flavored ice towards her.

Then it hit her.

Diana felt her heart swell and a stinging in her eyes. No wonder she stopped looking.

“We can halfsies!”

She finally found her.

---

A/N: Happy to get to join a ship week for the first time!

[onhirel]

Amanda knew she shouldn’t be doing this. Past experience had taught her aplenty what to expect, had taught her how much her family cared. She knew the score and knew it well...

...but despite that, she couldn’t help but be glued to her phone and crystal ball that day. The morning wasn’t too bad, really. After all, England was five hours ahead of Texas. It would be silly to expect any message at all when it would be ridiculously early in the morning for her family.

But then noon came and went, and she started to almost constantly refresh her various emails and text apps in the vain hope that she would receive a message. Anything would do! Even a ‘you better be keeping your grades up!’ would have been better than nothing, but nothing was what she got.

No ‘happy birthday.’ No ‘co-là breith sona dhut.’ No ‘wishing you well on your seventeenth birthday.’ Nothing.

It hurt. For Nines’ sake, she had saved the friggen WORLD, and was one of the Nine New Witches! But that didn’t matter, did it? Not to her parents. Not to her grandmother. Not to her aunts and uncles and cousins and siblings. She was nothing to them.

She was used to the sad, knowing looks from Cons and Jas. They had heard all about it as the date drew closer and hope and dread both grew in Amanda’s gut. Perhaps THIS year was going to be different!

But that was not meant to be.

The look of confusion on Hannah’s face was worse, though. Her girlfriend knew that today was Amanda’s birthday. But Amanda also knew that Jas and Cons had pulled her and the others aside a month ago to explain that Amanda O’Neill did NOT celebrate her birthday. Saint Patrick’s Day? Hell yes, she was all about that! She was actually really looking forward to the party they were having after classes. Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly and watching both Boondock Saints and drinking the Irish beer she had smuggled into Cons’ lab...it was gonna be a lot of fun, and she couldn’t wait. But it was for Saint Patty’s day, not her birthday.

So imagine her surprise that evening when she stepped out of the elevator into the lab only to be buffeted with a wall of sound as a ton of voices cried out “Happy Birthday!”

She looked up from her phone that still bore no messages from Texas with shock. It seemed like all of her friends were there, all of them beaming widely as the stood under a homemade banner with ‘Co-là breith sona dhut!” written in big green and gold glittering letters. She had only really been expecting Jas and Cons and maybe Akko...Hannah has seemed unconvinced when Amanda had brought up the party to her earlier, but EVERYONE was there, even Diana.

“What’s all this?” she asked with a confused frown, and Hannah came forward with a wide grin before she grabbed Amanda’s hands and leaned forward to kiss her. Amanda happily returned the gesture, ears glowing pink from the audience even as confusion continued to swirl through her.

Hannah drew back with a smile and a blush. “It’s your birthday, love, we’re both seventeen now! Do you think I’d just ignore that?”

Amanda winced slightly, looking down at her phone. “But my family...”

Hannah’s face hardened. “Amanda. You mean the absolute world to everyone in this room. Those rotten people in Texas aside, your real family is right here, and we all love you dearly. Now please, come and enjoy yourself. For me?” she asked with a slight pout.

Amanda only hesitated a second before she tossed her phone back into the elevator, trusting the protective case would keep it from getting too broken. Hannah was right, though, she firmly told herself as she wrapped an arm around her girlfriend’s waist and the two of them made their way over to where the others were standing around a table that bore a cake and a pile of presents, enthusiastically singing the birthday song.

Family wasn’t just those related to you by blood, it was also those who you chose to surround yourself with. And her?

She knew who she would choose, every single time.

With a deep breath, she blew out the candles on the cake while her family cheered her on.

[scoutception]

Ranking the 5 animes I’ve recently watched

Long story short, I’ve been taking a break and watching anime, something that I’ve only really experienced in small doses before, though in general I don’t really watch a lot of stuff nowadays (to my memory, the only anime I’ve watched in full is Danganronpa 3, so I’ll go ahead and say it gave me an aversion to it all). As the title says, I’ve gone through 5 so far, so I’ve decided to just type up my personal rankings and thoughts. If I had to say anything important before starting, it’s that 1. everything I list here is a very enjoyable and worthwhile watch, and I would definitely recommend giving any of them a try, and 2. this is just a personal ranking, and so it’s very biased. I might, for example, think whatever is number 5 is technically better than whatever is number 4, but still prefer number 4 for any number of reasons. I’m at least going to try to point out when that’s the case, but it’s still something to keep in mind. I’ll also be including information like number of episodes, what streaming platforms they’re on, which I’ll admit mostly comes down to Netflix, Hulu, and Crunchyroll, and whether or not English dubs are available, or only subtitles. Other than that, let the rankings begin. 5. Little Witch Academia

Number of episodes: 25. Language options: dub and subs available. Streaming availability: Netflix. Little Witch Academia originated as a short film released in 2013 as part of a training program for animators. It was only about half an hour long, but the fun cast and beautiful animation gave it a lot of charm, and enough popularity to spawn a second short film in 2015, the Enchanted Parade, which lasted for closer to an hour. Then, in 2017, it got a full series on Netflix, produced by Studio Trigger, which did away with any continuity from the short films, but kept the general concept. Little Witch Academia follows Atsuko “Akko” Kagari, who, after witnessing a magical show hosted by the witch known as Shiny Chariot, dedicated her life to becoming a witch, despite not coming from a family with magic in its bloodline. Despite managing to enroll in the academy of Luna Nova, dedicated to training witches, Akko finds the reality of it isn’t anywhere near what she expected; Chariot is ostracized by most of the magical community for portraying magic in a flashy, illusionist manner considered embarrassing, Luna Nova’s education is much more focused on tedious, small scale magic than what Akko had come to expect, the world at large considers Luna Nova and its magic to be weak relics of the past, something even its staff can’t argue well against, and worst of all, Akko is incompetent at magic to a downright abnormal degree, even for her normal origins, incapable of so much as riding a broom. Despite the constant demoralization, Akko receives help from one of the academy’s professors, Ursula, who puts Akko on the path to unlock the secrets of the Shiny Rod, Chariot’s personal wand, found by Akko on her way to Luna Nova. This isn’t exactly the most original series out there, and if you’ve watched pretty much anything involving non evil witches and magic schools, you’re not going to be too surprised. The main strength, writing wise, is the fun cast. Akko herself is a pretty entertaining main character, being very excitable and passionate, enough to keep likeable even with her many, many missteps throughout the series, but the rest of the cast is pretty good too. Characters like Sucy, Akko’s roommate obsessed with poison, mushrooms, and picking on Akko, the delinquent Amanda O’Neil, the mute technological genius Constanze, and Akko’s alleged rival, Diana Cavendish, who, though very haughty, has a lot more depth to her than you might expect, help hold the series together very well. Most of the series is pretty goofy and lighthearted, which helps keep it from feeling too cliche. Starting with the second half of the series, though, it gets much more story based, which might be a bit jarring for some people, but still manages some surprisingly sad moments. This is all helped by the great animation, as Trigger can always be counted on to provide, and the dub is good overall, with Erica Mendez especially perfectly capturing Akko. Overall, this is a fun watch, but it’s really not much special, so I can’t really put it anywhere other than dead last. If you want a fun, lighthearted romp that isn’t stuck to only 13 episodes, this is a good one to try. 4. The Pet Girl of Sakurasou/Sakura Hall

Number of episodes: 24. Language options: subs only. Streaming availability: Crunchyroll, Hidive. Firstly, don’t let the very questionable title give too many bad impressions. Sakura Hall, as I’ll be calling it, was originally a series of light novels by Hajime Kamoshida, with 10 main novels being released. The anime, produced by JC Staff, actually only adapts the first 6, though it ends rather conclusively regardless. This is also probably the most obscure anime on this list. Sorata Kanda is a rather unremarkable high school student attending the Suimei University of the Arts High School, forced to live in the very abnormal mixed gender dorm of Sakura Hall. Sakura Hall’s other residents consist of Misaki Kamiigusa, an extremely talented, and extremely weird and energetic, animator capable of creating anime almost entirely on her own, Jin Mitaka, the scriptwriter and childhood friend of Misaki, who is cool, mature, and has an almost chronic playboy streak, Ryunosuke Akasaka, the extremely reclusive, but talented computer programmer who mostly communicates through texts, and Chihiro Sengouka, Sakura Hall’s extremely irresponsible supervisor who prefers to leave the students to fend for themselves, outside of the occasional words of advice. Sorata is only stuck in Sakura Hall due to his refusal to abandon a stray cat he rescued, and intends on escaping Sakura Hall however he can to escape his roommates and return to normalcy, a plan that’s certainly not impacted by him picking up 6 more stray cats along the way. One day, a new resident moves into Sakura Hall: Mashiro Shiina, a relative of Chihiro and extremely talented artist, on a level only Misaki and Ryunosuke can match, who is also very unemotive and almost completely incapable of caring for herself, not helped by some rather odd thought processes (she’s almost certainly autistic, but they never actually clarify that). Sorata and some of the other Sakura Hall residents thusly become Mashiro’s caretakers, and are soon additionally joined by Sorata’s friend, the workaholic aspiring voice actress Nanami Aoyama. Sorata’s previously tedious life becomes defined by his struggles to find a direction to his life, his attempts at caring for and understanding Mashiro, and the various problems of the rest of the Sakura Hall residents. The main writing strength, is, again, the cast of characters. The characters are all very enjoyable, even the designated average guy, Sorata, and they all have their share of struggles, hidden depths, and development. The first half of the series is, for the most part, plain wacky, and while it does delve into serious moments more than a few times, it’s also prone to plain breaking the mood, either by starting them suddenly, or just as suddenly interrupting them with a gag. It’s enjoyable on its own, but it can be a bit hard to get into. The second half of the series is a big change of pace, becoming much, much more focused and serious, and for the better. Bitter topics like resentment against those who can outperform others simply through natural talent, and the risks of overworking, and the slippery slope mentality against accepting help that it can generate, are frequently brought up, and it does not shy away from how brutal reality can be. It’s never dark to the point of creating apathy, though, and it overall captures a very bittersweet portrayal of nearing the end of one’s teenage years, and preparing to become an adult. The animation is pretty good, and the voice actors all give memorable performances. Overall, this was probably the hardest series for me to get into at first, but sticking with it is very worthwhile. I can’t really say much about it, if only because I don’t want to risk getting into spoilers, but it genuinely is great. I was even considering placing it higher than number 4, but the next three things were stiff competition. 3. Gurren Lagann/Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

Number of episodes: 27. Language options: dub and subs available. Streaming availability: Netflix, Crunchyroll, Hulu, Funimation. Here’s what I would bet is the second most popular anime on this list, and was more or less one of the grand finales to the golden age of Studio Gainax, directed by one of the co-founders of Studio Trigger, and is perhaps most memorably one of the series where Gainax didn’t completely mess up the budget by the end. Simon (pronunced see-moan) and his self appointed big brother Kamina live in an underground village, with Simon living a monotonous life digging tunnels so the village can expand, in hopes of finding artifacts and being awarded better dinners, while Kamina constantly causes trouble in his attempts to breach the underground and reach the surface. Simon is insecure and self deprecating, thinking he’s only capable of the job he already has while Kamina is extremely boisterous, charismatic, and capable of seeing the potential within Simon. The way to the surface is finally opened for the pair by the appearance of a giant mecha called a Gunmen, which are piloted by the beastmen, who control the surface and are out to exterminate any humans they come across. Simon and Kamina are saved by the appearance of Yoko, a human who lives on the surface, and a miniature Gunmen discovered by Simon, which Kamina dubs Lagann. Making their way to the surface and capturing an enemy Gunmen Kamina names Gurren, Kamina decides to take the fight to the beastmen themselves, and drags Simon and Yoko with him, starting what can only really be described as a rollcoaster ride of giant mechas, drills, and general insanity. The series honestly starts only about average, but starting about episode 7, the scale just starts going up and up, and doesn’t tend to slow down. It goes for bigger and bigger heights, making for some amazing action scenes, and doesn’t get desensitizing like some things would. The cast of characters is great, between characters like Kamina, being lovably boisterous and encouraging, Simon, who gets some fantastic character development, Yoko, the sniper who despite seeming just like designated fanservice has some great development herself, Viral, the recurring beastman commander who just can’t keep up, and Lordgenome, the absurdly manly leader of the beastmen, and that’s just listing a few. The animation is great, the soundtrack is very memorable, the dub is one of the best out there, especially with Kyle Herbert as Kamina, and the writing, despite just seeming like big fun robot show, makes a surprisingly great story. I unfortunately can’t go much more indepth without definitely wading into spoilers, but it doesn’t take too long to start paying off. Overall, if I had to try to rank without bias, this would actually be number 2 on this list. It’s a great ride, and one I can recommend pretty much without question. 2. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Number of episodes: 64. Language options: dub and subs available: Streaming availability: Netflix, Crunchyroll, Hulu, Funimation. Here’s what’s certainly the most popular anime on this list, and what would be my number 1 without bias. There’s actually two Fullmetal Alchemist animes, with the original 2003 one going very off track from the manga and becoming its own thing, while Brotherhood, made in 2009, stays faithful to the manga. Fullmetal Alchemist follows the Elric brothers, Edward and Alphonse, in a world where the art of alchemy allows its users to transmute materials for purposes such as reshaping them into new forms, and operates on a principle of equivalent exchange, with every transmutation made relying on something being taken away. After being abandoned by their father, Van Hohenheim, and losing their mother to a plague, Ed and Al attempted the forbidden practice of human transmutation in an attempt to bring her back to life, only to fail, with Ed losing his left leg and right arm, and Al losing his entire body, forcing Ed to affix Al’s soul to a suit of armor. His missing limbs replaced with automail, a type of prosthetic, Ed becomes a government employed alchemist for the nation of Amestris, ruled over by Fuhrer Bradley, in hopes that he and Al can find a Philosopher’s Stone, an artifact said to be capable of eliminating the equivalent exchange requirement of alchemy, in hopes they can reacquire their natural bodies. Since things can’t ever go so smoothly, they end up involved in a massive conspiracy led by one known as Father, who commands Homunculi, artificial humans, who are themed after the seven deadly sins. By far the longest anime on this list, it’s also easily one of the richest. Almost every episode does something to move the plot along, and introduces a lot of important plot points fairly quickly, which helps keep the story interesting. There are many storylines going on, but all of them are both interesting and relevant, helped by the downright amazing cast Fullmetal Alchemist has to offer. From colonel Roy Mustang, out to become Furher to help atone for Amestris’ crimes, to Ling Yao and May Chang from the country of Xing searching for the secret of immortality, to the Ishvalan named Scar, out to avenge his people, who were the victims of a war of extermination waged by Amestris. As for characters closer to the main plot, Ed and Al are both great protagonists, with plenty of development between the two, and their interactions with Winry Rockbell, their childhood friend and mechanic, make for some great scenes. The antagonists are also great, with quite a few defying how one note themed villain groups like them can be, like the shadowy abomination Pride, the sadistic rat that is Envy, the independent Greed, and especially the extremely intimidating Wrath. The animation by Studio Bones is great, as is the soundtrack, and the dub is fantastic, helped by almost all of the cast from the 2003 anime reprising their roles. Voices like Travis Willingham as Roy Mustang, Christopher Sabat as Alex Louis Armstrong, Chris Patton as Greed, and Ed Blaylock as Fuhrer Bradley especially are fantastic. Overall, this is one of the best shows I’ve watched, period. I recommend it very highly, and almost wish I could confidently declare it number 1. 1. Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai

Number of episodes: 13. Language options: subs only. Streaming availability: Crunchyroll, Hulu, Funimation. Firstly, again, this is not something to judge based on the name. Secondly, yes, this is where all the bias on this list comes from. This is anime is actually only about a year old, so it’s surprisingly recent, and is also by far the shortest of all the series I’ve listed here. Rascal is based off a series of light novels by the same author as Sakura Hall, Hajime Kamoshida, and was produced by CloverWorks. Like Sakura Hall, the anime doesn’t completely adapt, only going through 5 of the 9 novels currently released, with a movie, of all things, adapting the 6th. You may or may not have heard of this anime while it was airing, but regardless, I’m here to spread the word of it, cause it’s a special place for me. One day, while browsing a library, high school student Sakuta Azusagawa notices a girl wearing a bunny suit walking around, not being acknowledged by anyone other than himself. The girl turns out to be Mai Sakurajima, an actress on hiatus that attends his high school, who has found she’s recently become invisible to an unknown number of people outside of their school. Sakuta identifies it as “Adolescence Syndrome”, a mysterious phenomenon that occurs due to the unstable psyches of adolescences, which causes physical effects on the world based on their biggest causes of stress. Sakuta has seen the effects of Adolescence Syndrome himself, with it causing physical harm to his sister, Kaede, and causing her to become a recluse, and somehow causing Sakuta to be scarred as well. Hoping to learn more about the phenomenon, as well as just hoping to spare Mai from a similar fate, Sakuta decides to solve the mystery of her syndrome, as well as those of other girls in each story arc after. The premise is pretty unique by itself, and it uses its potential very well, thanks to the grounded writing and great cast of characters. Sakuta is not your typical protagonist: he’s blunt, blatantly perverted, and more than willing to verbally pick on people with little to no provocation. He’s not even close to a bad person, though; he treats the friends he already has at the start of the series, and everyone else he proceeds to grow closer to, much more respectfully, and when the chips come down, he’ll do crazy things for other people with no hesitation. He’s one of the most refreshing protagonists I’ve seen in a long time, and has most of the best lines in the series. The rest of the cast is also great, especially Mai, the other main lead. In fact, the main focus of the series besides the Adolescence Syndrome cases is Sakuta and Mai’s relationship, which is very well written, to the point of being my favorite part of the series. It avoids so many stumbles a lot of other series can run into: the relationship is started up early, nobody manages to threaten their feelings, and any misunderstandings, current or even just potential, they take steps to work though. Even when she’s willing to jab at and mess with Sakuta, Mai is always affectionate and transparent with her feelings, and becomes progressively even more so as it goes on. It’s also just, a refreshing change of pace compared to most relationships in anime. The other main focus, the Adolescence Syndrome cases, are just as well written. Despite exaggerated situations like becoming invisible to people, or even causing a time loop, there are few times they’re played for laughs. The series takes it all very seriously, mostly because of the kind of factors that lead to the syndrome appearing. Things like an oppressive school atmosphere, where standing out causes scrutiny, and most decide to just follow the leader to avoid consequences, or the fear of your only friendships being damaged over minor reasons. While more positive than Sakura Hall, it takes the same care to show just how damaging issues like this can be. Even Sakuta isn’t above it: he’s rumored to have send some of his classmates to the hospital once, and despite being completely false, it’s ostracized him to the point that he considers himself lucky to have 2 whole friends, and he’s just accepted the mindset that fighting against such an atmosphere is pointless. There a lot of emotional moments throughout the series, especially the last three episodes, and it earns them all. It even shies away from fanservice most of the time, even despite the very title of the show (the bunny girl part was actually only the title of the first light novel, but the series just kept it for the whole thing) The animation isn’t too wacky due to the tone and grounded writing, but it has an appealing artstyle, and the voice actors do a great job as well. Overall, this is an anime that’s genuinely very good by itself. Even so, what is it that makes me so biased towards it? For one thing, it just hits some emotional soft spots a lot of other stuff doesn’t personally manage, through stuff like, once again, Sakuta and Mai’s relationship. The very interesting premise and general grounded nature also wins it a lot of points. But, ultimately, it’s not something I can really put into words. Might be because I watched it on a very weird day. Regardless, this is one I would definitely want everyone to give a chance, and here’s hoping the movie gets a DVD release soon. And with that, there’s to end to my rambling. Again, I would recommend everything I’ve put here to most people, but especially the top 2. I’m planning on watching some more anime, so I may make another ranking like this soon. Otherwise, till next time. -Scout

[hunnybunnyerza]

Dianakko Week Day 6: Adulthood

Hi, here’s my day six, (I had to skip day five im sry)

I think this is my best piece for this week, which is sad cuz it still sUcks but I hope you enjoy.

@dianakko-week

Also on AO3 (and apparently archive will be down for like an hour this afternoon so if the link doesn’t work just read it here :/

Summary

Diana and Akko visit the Cavendish mansion a lot after they get married, but when it comes time to visit Diana’s parents, she always goes alone. What will happen when she finally invites Akko to join her?

Akko and Diana tended to visit the Cavendish mansion one or twice a year after getting married. These excursions always consisted of Diana visiting her parents’ graves, which she always did alone while Akko waited elsewhere. Even after being together for so many years, Akko could respect the fact that Diana still had some things she needed to do alone, and this was one of them.

So it’s barely a surprise that Akko was completely and utterly shocked when Diana offered for her to go with her.

Akko of course replied with an exuberant yes, hiding her anxieties about the situation.

When the day finally arrived, Diana led the way as Akko followed a step behind. She knew the way, of course, but didn’t have the courage to stand beside Diana at this moment. Diana would occasionally glance back towards her, before quickly turning her head back to face forward.

Akko knew she had no reason to be nervous, but at the same time, she could come up with endless reasons of why she should be. From wondering why Diana had only ever wanted to go alone until today, to worrying over how different Diana’s culture or traditions were from hers when it came to visiting the dead, every thought that crossed Akko’s mind was another reason to have misgivings about the situation.

Akko was so focused on her internal uncertainties that she hadn’t even realized they had arrived. She was now standing in front of two gravestones, each with one of Diana’s parents’ names. Diana smiled very lightly at Akko before taking a step towards them.

“Hello mom, dad. This is my wife Akko. I know I must have mentioned her countless times before,” Diana trailed off, peering back at Akko again, as if asking for her approval to continue. Akko smiled back at her, and that was all the confirmation she needed to proceed.

“I know I have said this before, but Akko is… she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me! I love her tremendously, and, well… I hope you can too.”

With that, Diana stepped back politely before shooting Akko a glance that nearly urged her to step forward. Akko did so, bowing respectfully to the two graves in front of her, before attempting to speak to them like Diana had.

“H-hi, I… I’m Akko. it's nice to meet you. I… I promise to treat Diana well! And always be there for her! And, uhhm, that’s… I guess that’s all.” Akko finished, stopping herself before she could start rambling. She probably could go on for ours, just saying everything she loved about Diana.

Akko smiled to herself, content with her accomplishments for the day and that she was worried for absolutely no reason. That is, until she heard a muffled whimper from behind her, and turned to see that Diana had tears in her eyes, a few had already slipped down her cheeks.

Akko quickly embraced her, placing one hand onto her back and the other behind her head, guiding Diana to burrow her face into her chest.

“Shhh, it’s okay. You’re okay,” Akko cooed, stroking her fingers through her soft, emerald green hair soothingly. A small, stifled whimper raked Diana’s body before she hesitantly lifted her face, revealing her tear stained cheeks and red, puffy eyes.

“I… I don’t understand. I come here so often… and… and never cry. Why is today… any different,” Diana muttered between constant hiccups and labored breaths. “You… you must th… think, I’m so weak.”

“You’re anything but that, Diana! You endured these feelings alone for so long, it’s okay to need someone to lean on from time to time.”

By the end of Akko’s attempt at an inspirational lecture, Diana had already seeked shelter in Akko’s chest once more. Of course, Akko could still just barely hear a very muffled thanks from the girl between her sobs. Akko kissed her forehead comfortingly.

They stayed like this for a while. Diana’s sobs and whimpers slowly subsided, until the only thing that remained was her slightly labored breathing and an occasional hiccup here and there, which Akko found adorable but didn't say anything.

Diana shyly lifted her head off Akko’s chest for the final time, and Akko brought her thumb up to her cheek to brush the tear stains off of them. Diana melted into the touch, her eyelashes fluttering open and she gazed into Akko’s shimmering eyes, before taking a deep breath to steel herself.

“Let’s get going, shall we?” she asked, pressing her lips into a smile to prove to Akko she was okay before gripping her hand. Akko nodded in response, squeezing Diana’s hand and allowing her to lead the way back to the mansion.

Once they were nearly at the mansion, Diana stopped walking for a second. But, before Akko could get worried, Diana pulled her in for a hug, shocking Akko as she tensed up slightly.

“Diana? Wha-”

“I don’t believe that I properly thanked you for earlier. So, thank you,” Diana said, embracing her wife tightly.

“Of course I’d comfort you. That’s not something you should have to thank me for.” Diana could feel Akko’s chest shake as she giggled lightly.

“Well, it was much appreciated. I love you, Akko.”

Akko couldn’t stop herself from grinning like an idiot after that. She loosened the embrace ever so slightly before kissing Diana on the cheek.

“I love you too, Diana.”