#some day i want to write an omake about it but the details are too complicated to put in tags

[yesthatsatumbler]

TFW I unironically assumed it would probably be some kind of random fortune generator or something and I'd be answering based on that. So the actual target of the link was quite a surprise.

(I definitely deserved it tho)

Clicky click click!

[trixy812]

⋆｡‧˚ʚ You have all my support ɞ˚‧｡⋆ pt 3.5

{Nanami Kento x reader}

ִֶָ࣪☾. Content: kento nanami x reader (boyfriend x girlfriend), fluff, funny, nanami jealous, gojo being chaotic

ִֶָ࣪☾. Synopsis: Reader meets Gojo!

ִֶָ࣪☾. AN: I wrote this like an Omake! I really enjoyed writing this. I hope you write comments! :D if not, i am really really happy with likes & reblogs <3 xoxo

pt. 1 - pt. 2 - pt. 3 - pt. 4

Reader meets Gojo

First time

🅼🅰🆂🆃🅴🆁🅻🅸🆂🆃

Two days before graduation, Nanami received a last-minute notice: he had to deliver some documents and mission reports to Jujutsu High. He didn’t want to go, but he couldn’t refuse. Knowing it was going to be tedious, he agreed to your suggestion to accompany him.

You observed everything with curiosity. While you didn’t have much interest in this world, it was fascinating to be there. Plus, you knew there was a chance you might encounter the most famous figure of this world: Satoru Gojo.

"Maybe we’ll run into Gojo Satoru, huh?" you said casually, though your heart raced just thinking about it.

Nanami, walking beside you with his typical straight posture and serious demeanor, scoffed.

"You’re not missing much."

That killed your excitement, but only for a moment. You decided to let it go; after all, you knew Nanami couldn’t stand the famous Strongest Sorcerer. Just as you were turning a corner, as if someone had heard your thoughts, there he was: Satoru Gojo.

"Nanamin! I see you’ve got good company."

Gojo appeared out of nowhere, with his carefree smile, dark sunglasses, and that energy that seemed to fill the entire hallway. He walked toward you as if he were on a runway.

Nanami immediately tensed, his jaw clenching audibly.

"Gojo," he said in his usual monotone, but you…

You froze. Your eyes lit up, and before you could stop yourself, you took a step forward, clasping your hands together as if standing before a global celebrity (which, in a way, you were your parents had taught you so).

"You’re Satoru Gojo?! Oh my God, I can’t believe it!" you exclaimed, bringing your hands to your mouth.

Gojo smiled, clearly delighted by your reaction.

"That’s me. In the flesh. Autographs later? Photos? I’m quite busy, but I can make an exception for such an enthusiastic fan."

Nanami closed his eyes for a moment, clearly holding back a sarcastic comment.

"It’s an honor to meet you," you continued, almost tripping over your words in your excitement. "It’s incredible to meet a sorcerer of your caliber."

Nanami turned his head toward you, clearly surprised. He didn’t know if you were joking or actually serious.

"My reputation precedes me? Of course it does," Gojo replied, tilting his head slightly toward you. "What do you think, Nanami? She seems to have good taste."

"Don’t start," muttered Nanami, clenching his fists.

But you were too caught up in the excitement to notice Nanami’s tension.

"I never thought I’d have the chance to talk to someone like you. You’re amazing! Your abilities are legendary," you said quickly, your eyes sparkling with admiration.

Gojo placed a hand on his chest, feigning modesty. "Ah, please, you’re making me blush. Although… it’s the least I’d expect from someone with such a keen eye."

Nanami shot you a look of utter bewilderment.

"Oh, is this the girl you told me about?" Gojo asked mischievously, turning to Nanami.

"Wait… you knew about me?!" you exclaimed, clearly thrilled.

"Of course. Nanamin here doesn’t stop talking about you," Gojo lied shamelessly, ignoring Nanami’s glare. The only thing Nanami had told Gojo was—The girl who used reversed cursed energy in the hospital, the one I was we were once sent to investigate. I bought flowers with your loan. I gave her the flowers. We're dating now. —leaving him completely disappointed by the lack of details and the simplicity of the anecdote.

"And now that I see you, I understand why. Although," Gojo added, leaning slightly closer to you with a playful smile, "I wonder how you ended up with someone so serious. Wouldn’t you prefer someone more… exciting? Like me, for instance."

Nanami stepped forward, his shoulders tense. "Gojo…"

But you, still mesmerized by the celebrity in front of you, barely processed his words.

"Huh? Well… maybe…" you replied absentmindedly, making Nanami practically scoff.

Gojo, seizing the moment, stepped even closer to you. "See? She’s a smart girl. Come on, leave boring Nanamin and come with me."

Nanami didn’t wait another second. He pulled his weapon out of his bag and placed it between you and Gojo, creating a clear space.

"Keep your distance," he said in a low, threatening tone, though not entirely serious.

"Ooh, how territorial!" Gojo teased, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Relax, Nanami. I was just testing your patience."

You finally snapped out of it, covering your face as you laughed nervously. "Sorry! I got carried away. It’s just… It’s Satoru Gojo!"

Still irritated, Nanami put an arm around your waist and pulled you closer to him. "Yes, it’s Satoru Gojo. Can we go now?"

Before you could escape, Gojo raised a hand as if he’d forgotten something.

"Oh, by the way, T/N. Such a shame about the fine your parents got. What an unfair way to treat a healer family."

You blinked, confused. "Fine? What fine?"

Gojo raised his eyebrows behind his sunglasses. "You know, for you using reverse cursed energy without registration. 10% of what your parents earn from each mission… such barbarity! Truly unfair, if you ask me."

You opened your mouth, but no sound came out. You turned slowly to Nanami.

"Did you know about this?" you asked quietly.

"I thought you already knew."

"What?! I didn’t know anything!" you exclaimed, holding your head in your hands.

Gojo chuckled, clearly enjoying the chaos he’d just caused. "Well, I think I’ve gotten someone into trouble. Lovely meeting you, T/N. Nanami, take care of her. She’s a real treasure, though I think she might want to reconsider her options."

And with that, Gojo disappeared, leaving you with a mountain of questions and Nanami visibly irritated.

As you walked back to the transport, you couldn’t stop thinking about the fine.

"This doesn't make any sense. Why didn’t they tell me?" you muttered, thinking about your parents.

Nanami, still processing the incident, sighed. "You should talk to them. Maybe they had their reasons for not telling you."

Then you turned to him with a mischievous smile. "Although… it was interesting to see how you acted with Gojo. Were you jealous?"

Nanami frowned, looking away. "Don’t be ridiculous."

"Oh, sure, because pulling out your weapon was completely casual," you teased, laughing.

Though he didn’t respond, the faint blush on his cheeks was enough for you to know the truth. You laughed to yourself. You couldn’t help but feel like the entire experience had been unforgettable, especially seeing how Nanami had shown, without words, just how much you meant to him.

pt. 1 - pt. 2 - pt. 3 -pt. 4

Reader meets Gojo

First time

-

🅼🅰🆂🆃🅴🆁🅻🅸🆂🆃

[sweetbottletops]

Who allowed them to grow up?! Now they're going to have to deal with what? Communication issues AND bills?

Go on, go on, just walk away Go on, go on, your choice is made Go on, go on, and disappear Go on, go on away from here... The Cure - In Between Days

ch 107

When serious work needs to be done in the shop the significant others get invited. Not sure if Joe knows something is up, but it's nice to see Aya-chan is automatically included along with Kanna. It's going to take a village at this rate.

So this has been stressing Mitsuki out too, huh. Is that going to be about their relationship, Prom, Hime's house invite? The list is growing.

"Ah...for now, I guess I'll just help out at the store. Why?"

So at that point she wasn't hatching her own plan to invite Aya after all? Maybe she didn't know about Prom at this point.

It is nice to see Hime-chan was being really official with her invitation. Business card and everything. And it's actually nice her dad is just inviting her to a curated event instead of like corning her himself. She can network on her own timeline perhaps.

If Mitsuki had green eyed interest at the time....

...Aya is absolutely irradiated.

It doesn't seem like Aya had overheard all the details about the hallway invitation back then. Just that she didn't get to Mitsuki first for the 25th. I don't think she'd be this good at faking surprise.

Meanwhile Kanna has been quietly starring in her own romcom this whole time. Agu, please write them an omake when everything is is said and done.

It's interesting that Mitsuki is the one who brings up Prom and acting upset to miss it. Maybe you should have asked her to Prom yourself, silly.

I wonder if she's already decided Aya's the one so she skipped a few mental steps (that Aya needs) to make that clear they are a forever pair. Even if Aya backed out of asking there was no reason Mitsuki couldn't have just asked herself.

Joe recognized Aloud Records immediately. Must be big time then.

"But, it's on the 25th..." OMG MITSUKI. Did she really think it went without saying that they'd just be going to Prom? Without ever asking Aya?

"Who cares?! What Prom." Yup. Aya has killed her emotions dead already.

She is not going to do anything to impose on Mitsuki. She was really close to it last chapter, but from her POV she already missed her last chance. Now she's just going to be a cheerful supporter. Nobody can take being her first fan away from her. And good fans don't get in the way of the rise of their oshi.

Liar. She spared no thought to her family when she saw that Prom poster. She's going to go home that night and have a private meltdown. It's in her schedule at this point.

Look at Aya go! Best fan anyone could ever want. Not over compensating at all. Everything is FINE. Just like with their failed game of catch.

Dang, they are looking older in the face now.

"I guess this means we made up..." - Mitsuki Koga

No, it means she's given up on her romantic feelings in order to at least have this much.

And spare a thought for Narita. He'll possibly fail his tests because he spent his time setting up a Prom for these two idiots. Neither of which will be attending as it stands now. A true Olympian of yuri enjoyers.

Since I missed their faces and need the pick-me-up here's some Joe/Kanna (Joanna? JoKa?). At least things seem to be turning around for Joe a bit.

[morimakesfanart]

Sindria's Prophet #13

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

[AO3]

((edited because I figured out to add some more history facts that I think are important))

~POV Sinbad~

"The Kou Empire, huh?"

"That is going to make things risky."

With all of the Generals caught up with what happened in Balbadd, they needed to start planning for King Sinbad's trip to the Kou Empire, as well as catching him up with everything that had happened in Sindria while he was gone.

"LadY YamuRAI H AA AA A" A yell came from the hallway accompanied by the sounds of running.

((Sinbad is hidden on the left. There's a hint of him poking out.))

A panting magician gave apologies for disturbing their meeting and ran to the head of Sindria's magicians. "I wish I knew you were here so I didn't search the tower first~" Then he started explaining about some magical proof. Most of his words sounded like gibberish to the rest, but it was clear that he had made some kind of break though.

Yam jumped out of her seat. "How did you finally figure it out?! Who figured it out?!" She whipped her head to her King, "Sorry your majesty," and then looked back to the other magician.

"It was the work of the Prophet!” the magician answered. "We were talking about her illness and she pulled out scrolls that- you just have to read them for yourself!”

Mori had said that she had written other scrolls before she started coping down Fate. This must have been what she was working on.

Both magicians bowed out to go test out this new information. Before they could leave, Sinbad ended the meeting; there was no way he was going to wait to learn what other information Mori had blessed them with. Ja'far followed as did a few of the other Generals.

When they got into the court yard, the doctors that had been sent to take care of Mori were already pushing their supply cart back to their main building. The magician that had stayed behind spotted them and raised two scrolls up triumphantly. "She let me take the scrolls!"

---

News of the scrolls written by a Prophet spread throughout the Black Libra Tower within an hour. Yamuraiha and the doctors explained their significance to King Sinbad.

If even a fraction of the theories in the scrolls proved true it would completely changed their understanding of how illnesses work. If Mori wasn't sick she would undoubtedly be swarmed with questions and demands for proof. According to the magicians, nothing in the scrolls went against any known information. Instead, they gave explanations to why certain things that had been attempted in the past had failed. What she wrote about 'cells' was what really caught the eyes of the white magicians and doctors. As an example, according to Mori's writing there were blood types and most couldn't mix; that would explain why most past attempts at blood transfusions had failed.

The 2nd scroll showed a break down of even smaller particles, and how the structures of different particles made up everything. This was going to bring alchemic magic to a whole new era. Sure, such things would most likely be limited to high magicians, group efforts, and the Magi, but it looked possible now. A lot of common magic of the current day took extreme amounts of magoi in the past because they hadn't found the right formula yet. Mori's writing -if true- could easily be used as a guide to finding the right order of commands for many spells.

And even more than that, Mori had said that she had even more information to share; she had just ran out of scrolls and ink.

Mori's presence in Sindria, and everything that went with it were Fate and the Rukh's guidance. King Sinbad could see it -the future he wanted.

---

~POV Mori~

In Sindria's Palace there is a Great Bell. It is rung during celebrations, and to signify the King returning home like it did earlier that day, but it's main use was to ring every 2 hours to tell everyone the time since clocks weren't invented yet. So even though I was a sick person trying to rest during the day, I was woken up by the Great Bell every 2 hours... which of course is also situated right on top of the guest tower.

For obvious reasons, I was awake again.

I wish I knew how the others responded to the scrolls. I really wanted to know Yam's opinion most. Those scrolls basically gave away the secret to Yunan's signature alchemy magic.

I still had the first scroll I had worked on -the one on the science behind blimps-, and the last science scroll I had started. That one was on DNA, and reproductive systems. It was the last one I started in Balbadd. I hadn't started working on it until sunrise on my 2nd sleepless night and it showed; there were missing words everywhere, many incomplete sentences, and I couldn't stay in topic.

These mistakes were too great to fix with an ink knife. Editing was going be super annoying and time consuming since I couldn't work digitally. I'd have to physically cut up the first draft to put everything in the right order before making the next one.

Wait- Did this world have scissors???

Back home the first evolution of shears that could be labeled as scissors was in Roman barber shops in the last hundred years or so before Rome fell. China would spontaneous also create something akin to scissors not long after. Reim and the Kou Empire seemed to line up with Rome and ancient China for the most part, so I tend to use them to place the time period, but the dress Princess Dunya wears is centuries off and throws all historical accuracy questions out the window. Rome was long gone by the time boning was added to women's undergarments, and that dress had all the signs of boned corsetry.

Fuck it. I'll ask for scissors and if they don't have them I'll just invent them myself. I had been drafting professionally for the past 4 years. That may have been for microelectronics, but it uses all the same skills; I could do this. I needed to get a ruler -or at least a straight edge- and a drafting compass which they probably have based on the look of maps in the series, and pencils, or at least colored inks if they had them. I probably needed to reinvent the French curve(stencil tool used in art & drafting)...

Since I was struggling to fall back asleep I moved to the table and pulled out my test scroll. It was full of random marks and some of my early drawing attempts that I used to practice with the dip pen -it's also where I wrote down the dreams from the Rukh. I'd write the list of things I needed, rip the section out of the scroll, and pass the list to someone who could get me what I was asking for. I added some living necessities too like sleep wear and a comb.

The maids that came to give me dinner, and next dose of medicine were not pleased that I wasn't in bed -I was an important guest who was sick after all. And I wasn't pleased to have to drink more of that bitter medicine, but we can't have nice things all the time, now can we?

My voices was strained but I managed to communicate enough. I gave them my list, and laundry (the clothes I wore on the boat) before they left. They'd get me the things the next day. I was instructed to sleep until someone brings me breakfast the next day... which is what I was going to do anyway since the sun was practically gone. I might be a bit of a workaholic but I'm not going to let myself pull an accidental all-nighter when I know I'm still sick. I'm far more self aware than that.

And besides, the Great Bell didn't ring at night.

---

Maids brought my breakfast (& meds) the next morning and let me know that my clothes would be cleaned and dry by the end of the day. I guess they didn't use magic for everything.

They also gave me all of the drafting and inking supplies I asked for except for scissors. In one of the omakes Sinbad was shown cutting his hair with a knife as a part of his normal grooming. I had hoped he was just old fashioned.

For the greater good and the future of my own hair care, I drafted up detailed designs for a few different types of basic scissors. They wouldn't look fancy, but hopefully I had put enough of a detailed explanation on everything for the smith to figure out what I was asking. Steel wasn't developed until the middle ages and some of the counties of this world matched that so I hoped

that God and anime were on my side. I really wanted scissors that would be a good quality.

And if that didn't work I'd just have to get used to using knives and bladed rollers like a regular person.

The Great Bell rung for 10 am. There were at least another 2 hours before someone would show up, to give lunch, that I could ask to take my draft for the scissors to a black Smith.

I should be resting as a sick person. I should be more exhausted and in pain as a sick person. What was making me recover this quickly?

I still didn't feel like laying back down, so I decided to start drafting up the materials and equipment for proving everything I had written in the scrolls I gave the previous day.

Globally, micro-organisms, viruses, and bacteria were not really accept or proved until the late 1800's. Since Magi seems to take place some time around our 100AD-1300, and Yunan hinting at chemical compounds was seen as shocking by Yam, I knew that my bio scrolls were probably causing an uproar in the Black Libra Tower. I refused to use actual people or wait for an outbreak to prove it like how it happened in history -like how John Snow proved it when finding the cause of cholera outbreaks in 1848 and 1854 England. No, I needed to show how to prove these things in a lab, and to do that I was going to need to explain how to keep samples and invent a way to see microorganisms.

First was for a glass petri dish and other containers for samples. I'd need at least 3 -preferably more. I know glass works have been around since BC, and that this world had glass windows in some scenes, but I worried about the quality of the glass contaminating the experiments. I was going to have to boil them beforehand to sterilize them anyway.

Gosh I wish I had access to nonporous, air tight containers, and a temperature controlled environment. The heat and humidity of Sindria could easily mess everything up.

Wait... I suddenly remembered a scene from the Magnostadt arc when they showed how a sample was being stored. They already had good enough glass. I knew there were magic bio experiments but I had no idea how they worked.

With the realization that I was getting ahead myself, I switched to writing about how to use the scientific method to test for germs. It was basically the bread in a bag test to teach young children about germs but with petri dishes. I also wrote about how to analyze samples with a microscope to see micro organisms so I was going to have to figure that out next.

Lunch came as the perfect break.

Just thinking about reinventing this thing made me nervous. I knew magnifying glasses existed in ancient Rome, but they would be nothing like what I was used to. I had to explain how light moves and made multiple diagrams showing how concave and convex lenses affect light as well as the material of the lens. I ended up also showing how to make a telescope even though I knew Yam already had one.

Magicians were the only ones shown with glasses. Maybe now the rest of the world could have them too.

4 o'clock came and so did 3 doctors and a magician. It was less than yesterday, but still more than necessary to treat or analyze one person. I only recognized one of the doctors from the previous day. All of the new faces looked nervous. None of them looked young by any measure, so I really doubted this was their first time treating someone.

They weren't happy to see me at the table and made me return to my bed -their loss.

The doctor from the previous day was the one doing most of the talking. "Your recovery is amazing. You will most likely be better in another 3 days at this rate if not sooner. It's practically a miracle."

I smiled. "It's pretty shocking for me too." As long as I spoke quietly and kept my comments short, I found I could talk again for a bit.

The doctor was silent for a moment before changing the subject. "I know you need rest, but would you be willing to answer a few questions about those scrolls from yesterday?

The 3 other men looked expectant. This was why they were here.

"I don't mind as long as you don't make me talk too much."

Then came the question I was expecting since I had first made the scrolls. "I know you are a Prophet and the information came from your visions but is there any way you can prove what you wrote?"

I pointed to the table with the scroll I had started earlier. "I can't prove it with the current equipment I have, so I've been drafting up the needed equipment and processes for proving it."

They all turned to look at where I was pointing.

I added, "It's not done, but you're welcome to read what I have so far."

I was thanked as they went to the table they had called me away from when they entered.

'He called it 'visions?' Really?' I had to ask Sinbad later what he was telling his people about me so I could keep the story straight.

The magician confirmed for the others what I wrote about light bending. There was magic to do that, but not everyone is a magician. I had just invented a way for non-magicians to bend light.

Just wait until I show them a prism that can split light into colors. Or teach them how light is perceived in the eye. Or even better, show them the double slit experiment that proves that light is a particle not just a wave... Did they know light was a wave yet?

"Lady Prophet."

I was pulled out of my thoughts.

"You said this isn't finished and there is plenty of space in this scroll for more, but would you let us take this back to the tower so we can get started?"

I wanted to say 'no.' I was still coming up with things to add to it, but I also knew that holding things back because I wanted to save paper was a fool's game. Besides, I could always add more to it later.

I nodded and they thanked me before making me promise not to leave my bed. They were grateful for this new scroll but not at the expense of my health -they were doctors after all.

And then they left.

It was probably about 5pm if my internal clock was on schedule, so I had about an hour before the next ring of the Bell.

Even if I wasn't a man of my word, I would have lost the motivation to work with my current project taken from me while I was still in the middle of making it.

So, I did the thing I grew up doing when I was bedridden from illness: I looked out the window. From the bed I could only see the tops of the buildings on the other side of the courtyard. The Tower that was just poking in from the left had to be the Black Libra Tower.

The waves in Sindria were calmer yet stronger than those in Balbadd. It was probably due to Sinbad's influence. He brought stability and security to his people. I could understand why so many chose to follow him or ally with him. But I knew where all this would lead. As he obtains more power and influence he will stop being able to see himself from the pedestal that he and everyone else put him on; his greed will make him blind to the wants and needs of others, and like a middle aged parent that isn't ready for their child to leave the nest he will take out his frustration on the world that was moving on without him. When Sinbad dies at the end of the manga, Drakon realizes that they all put too much on Sinbad's shoulders.

To change Fate, I was going to have to make sure I never put him on that pedestal nor rely on him for much. And I was going to have to convince the 8 Generals to do the same -or at least to start pulling more of the weight.

The 6 o'clock Bell came faster than I expected, as well as my dinner not long after. They brought my clean laundry, a sleeping gown, and some other common clothes and things for my convenience.

I would have preferred something much shorter for the night gown since I hate having a lot of extra fabric around my legs when I already have blankets. I was not going to risk being walked in on by doctors or whoever when sleeping naked, so I would make do for now.

There was no way King Sinbad wasn't going to reward me for those scrolls. If it was some kind of treasure I'd sell it and buy a new wardrobe for myself that actually suited me, and if the reward was a request then I would ask that he pay for everything directly.

The light coming in my windows changed, and I watched my 2nd sunset in Sindria.

When Sinbad found this island 10 years ago, he completely terraformed it. He didn't get rid of all of the vegetation that was here, but he did break down one of the sides to allow for easier access by boat. The side he carved out faced northish towards all of the other known countries, so no boat would have a reason to circle the island. It was a decision that would benefit the merchants and make it easier to defend.

It also meant that my windows faced west, so I could watch the Sun set every day. I couldn't help but see that as a blessing and a curse. Sure not getting the sunrise meant I'd need to put more effort into

waking up in the morning but that wasn't the part I was worried about.

See- The thing is... I have synesthesia (having 2 or more senses overlapping). I see sounds, letters, and numbers as colors and textures. I have it mild enough that I can normally block it out so it's not too distracting (thank God because music is a main stim), but sometimes I'll hear something and get overwhelmed by how it looks.

Each letter and number is a color. So every voice can make every color, but language, pitch, tone, and accent all affect the colors and textures I see from a person's voice like a filter. There have definitely been some people that I struggled to give my full attention to when I first met them because I was entranced by how their voice looked. The more I hear a person's voice the more I'm able to move its visuals to the background so I can focus -desensitizing myself to it.

Luckily, Sinbad's voice is normally not so distracting that I stop paying attention. Since it's like a merger of every voice actor I've heard play him (All the characters I had met so far were like this.) I'm already desensitized. The similarities across all of the VAs meant that his voice looked like a sunset -full of deep purples and magentas, and bright reds, peach, and gold, and with a smooth and flowing texture like painting in acrylic with a wet brush -like a painting of the last moments of a sunset.

His voice was as pretty as he was.

I hadn't actually gotten to see or hear him for a whole day. But I'd get to look at his voice's equivalent every day while living under his protection.

It was frustrating to admit -I barely knew him as a real person- yet I couldn't deny that I missed him. I feel asleep watching the sun set.

((I wasn't going to write about my synesthesia, but this is my fanfic and I thought it might be fun to reference the colors peoples voices make when the characters talk. I'm not going to paint every VA and head cannon, but I will describe them as I go. Ja'far's Japanese and English VAs have voices that look very different so finding the middle ground is proving tricky.

Also, anyone who noticed that the purple I see in Sinbad's voice is the same as the purple I've been using for the illustrations and comics is super smart and cool.))

[demonslayedher]

Omake for the final chapter of Impatience & Hunger, my Demon!Tanjiro and Slayer!Nezuko fic. For those who read it or checked it out, thank you! 

And I totally have more omake. Actually, this is 1,500 words of extended epilogue I started adding, but I decided it was too detailed and sappy and that I wanted to the leave the last chapter as I had originally written it. But I drew this stuff to go with it, so the extra details of Tanjiro’s recovery go here, under the cut. 

Tanjiro’s recovery over that winter hadn’t only been physical. Back on that day at the end of January when Inosuke came barging into Urokodaki’s home, he could sense something was unwell in Tanjiro’s heart, but it was a relief to Tanjiro that Inosuke didn’t have the words to address it. He couldn’t quite express that he knew why Tanjiro was nauseated every time he caught a glimpse of Giyuu’s hand, or why his smile trembled when he asked about how Zenitsu was recovering.

Back in early December, it was Nezuko who made the decision to take Tanjiro away from the hospital.

Any moment when her mind wasn’t occupied with the thrill of having her brother back, a little disgust crept in about having ingested human blood. However, the instant she thought to express her shame to Tanjiro, it was like a pit opened beneath her. What made her think she had the right?

In that hospital, there were too many Slayers who had lost eyes or limbs either to Tanjiro’s thorns or to his demon army. As happy as they all were to see Tanjiro return and eager to chat with him to lay to rest their own anxieties, and as warmly as Tanjiro welcomed each visitor, worry pressed on Nezuko’s heart.

Zenitsu sensed her struggles. At a quiet moment while Tanjiro was away, Zenitsu told her he also heard a troubled sound from Tanjiro. A little encouragement was all she needed to make a decision; she tearfully hugged Zenitsu tight and thanked him for everything, then made swift arrangements for their departure. Shoichi would later blame Nezuko for stirring up Zenitsu’s heart into such a frenzy that it delayed his recovery, but that memory kept Zenitsu elated through every lonely moment he was left stuck in bed.

They passed the New Year quietly. Urokodaki usually avoided addressing Tanjiro’s deeds as a demon, focusing instead on the simple matters of what foods he’d like to eat or good spots for viewing the sunrise. Giyuu would have preferred to avoid the topic as well, but it was hard to hide the hindrance Tanjiro gave him. Tanjiro tried to make him feel more at ease by pretending not to let it bother him, but Tanjiro was never a skillful liar.

Nezuko had repeatedly insisted to Tanjiro that the only one who held any ill will toward him was himself, but even she found her words unreliable, for she had spent her time as a demon innocently.

It was nice to have someone like Inosuke get frustrated with Tanjiro and bluntly tell him to knock it off. That kindled something in Tanjiro, thinking back to good old times, and alighting a desire to go back and see everyone.

Such was how Inosuke laid the way for Tanjiro’s return. On his rounds, visiting Zenitsu a drag since all he did was complain about how even Shoichi abandoned him at the hospital to go visit family and how much irritating it was to learn to walk again. Instead, Inosuke made frequent visits to the Butterfly Manor, where he could at least be assured of a good meal (though he had a different favorite spot for tempura). The girls eagerly listened to every bit of news he had, however undetailed, and hearing how down Tanjiro was inspired Kanao to compose a letter. The plum blossoms were starting to bloom, she began, though if Tanjiro was there, he’d probably notice the scent of the yellow wintersweet blossoms first.

And then she got stuck. What else was one supposed to say in a letter? She was never among Tanjiro’s numerous pen pals back in the day, so she could only guess what he might had written about. Likely something straight from the heart. Turning red and sweating, she set aside that paper and thought about composing a letter to Nezuko instead.

No, Kanao decided, it was more pressing to send some support to Tanjiro, so she had to endure. Thus, she inquired from her heart how he was fairing, and if the poison had left him with any lasting effects. In case he had any worries about her, she stated that her injuries from their encounter were slight, and Aoi’s had long since healed without leaving scars. Since he might find it interesting, she told him about the events that lead to Kotetsu creating a new weapon for her. She wondered about asking him if he had seen Yushiro at all, but decided against including that.

Inosuke’s second visit to Mt. Sagiri found Tanjiro a little more joyful, and Nezuko thrilled to receive so many tidings of how everyone was. While Nezuko stayed busy writing letters for Inosuke to deliver to Zenitsu and to each resident of the Butterfly Manor, Tanjiro took care in replying to Kanao, telling her he was physically well, expressing his joy that Kotetsu had been making new inventions, thanking her for her concern and promising to visit in person soon. He made sure to state that he had indeed been encouraged by her letter, and that plum blossoms were one of his favorite scents.

Initially, Inosuke found it fun to deliver tidings to the Kamado’s. When burdened with replies, though, Inosuke had a few complaints and ordered Tanjiro to do it himself next time. Tanjiro assured him he would, and he soon consulted Nezuko about the rounds he wished to make.

Inosuke didn’t find Zenitsu at the hospital, and gave him an earful about giving him more trouble once he tracked him down at home. Zenitsu had the strength back in his diaphragm to give him an earful in return, much to Chuntaro and Shoichi’s chagrin. With those odd sorts of greetings out of the way, Zenitsu settled down with folded arms asking for a report on the Kamados, and looking him up and down, Inosuke pointedly said that Zenitsu had better look more put-together by the time Tanjiro might come by. Zenitsu expected as much, for that troubled sound at the hospital was always worst when directed at him. He told Inosuke that of course, he was working hard to make sure he could stand up straight and make a proper groom for Nezuko.

With little advance warning from Giyuu’s old crow later, Nezuko and Tanjiro paid a visit to the Butterfly Manor. Kanao scrambled to hide the letter she had been laboring on, and Tanjiro felt it hard to meet eyes with Aoi, but Nezuko, Kiyo, Sumi, and Naho’s excited hugging and chattering soon set a tone that made it a joyful visit for everyone.

Tanjiro mentioned that he was grateful Inosuke had gone between them so much and that it was a shame he wasn’t there, to which Aoi said that his visits to the Butterfly Manor were so frequent that if anyone had business with the former Beast Pillar they often inquired there for him first. Nezuko laughingly added that he probably spent the rest of his time bothering Zenitsu and Shoichi. She recalled what a pleasant place it had been to spend a recovery, and brightened as she proposed that they all meet there for a picnic.

As Nezuko feared, her arrival at Zenitsu’s abode with Tanjiro was unsettlingly formal. The polite remarks of inquiring about each other’s health and how nice Zenitsu’s home was and how good it was to have a Tsuguko like Shoichi made Nezuko wish Inosuke could have gone with them to break the tension. It had never been this bad with Giyuu, who could calmly address the impact of the loss of his fingers, giving Tanjiro an outlet to express his regrets. If anything, Zenitsu’s efforts to bottle everything up out of consideration for Tanjiro’s feelings made it worse, for it didn’t leave Tanjiro with a chance to thank him for anything beyond tea and dinner.

It at last reached a boiling point when Tanjiro made a passing comment about how such a big rice field would probably be hard for Zenitsu to tend to. The ensuing conniption came as a relief to everyone. Tanjiro sobbed and overflowed with a stream of gratitude and apologies, and Zenitsu nearly let it slip that he had been honored Tanjiro remembered him well enough in his demon state to offer to let him stick around as a friend, but he managed just enough self-control to keep that to himself.

If what Tanjiro needed was to express everything that weighed on him, then Nezuko had to stare into the pit that seemed open beneath them. The only reason she hadn’t fallen into such darkness herself was because Tanjiro had carried her, but now, she was the only one who would understand and could follow him there.

They had been demons; they had been slayers. Most of all, they had lived a life before all that.

The journey ahead was for Tanjiro, but it was just as much for her. Besides thanking the gods, she had so many people to thank for letting them have life still ahead.

[originofjaehyun]

Interlude: No More Drama & Prelude: After Story – Omake

Omake’s primary meaning is general and widespread. It is used as an anime and manga fandom term to mean extra or bonus.

Hi!

Because I wasn’t able to update the next chapter this week (stares directly at my other deadlines) – so I thought of updating you guys with something that is rather different instead! :D

Whenever I write, sometimes I would reach roadblocks, and ideas just wouldn’t come out. Usually by then, I would start to imagine things that most of the time are totally unrelated to the main story (haha).

Anyway! Long story short, these are the character profiles that I imagined when I designed them on my head (lol?)

Friendly reminder that this is a complete fiction!

P.S.: I imagined them during their Neo Zone era, so I wouldn’t talk that much about them physically? Also, you can search on Twitter on their actual perfumes, but I think these brands would suit them very well too (there are some that I took from that reference as well lol).

Read Interlude & Prelude

Jaehyun

Scent: Maison Margiela – Jazz Club, Jo Malone – Myrrh and Tonka

Cigarette brand: Marlboro Red

Carpool karaoke pick: (At first) Lauv – I Like Me Better, Cigarette After Sex, and such, but later he would play Spotify’s This Is Adele playlist

Cocktail pick: Ballatine’s Scotch Whiskey

Food delivery choices: Anything within reach (does not have any preference)

Kinks: This tickles him by a lot, but he likes it when you teased him by playing with his happy trail

Yuta

Scent: Diptyque – Tam Dao, Armani – Code Colonia

Cigarette brand: He used to smoke Camel, but changed to IQOS

Carpool karaoke pick: Depeche Mode, Post Malone, RADWIMPS, sometimes Arashi

Cocktail pick: Cassis Orange, beer

Food delivery choices: Fried chicken (let’s not make him obviously Japanese by making him ordering Ramen every time lol)

Kinks: He loves the sound of skin slapping each other, so expect a lot of spanking

Johnny

Scent: BYREDO – Mojave Ghost (for daily), LE LABO – Santal 33 (for the evening), Tom Ford – Fucking Fabulous (for the special occasions)

Cigarette brand: Dunhill Blonde Blend

Carpool karaoke pick: Daft Punk (for sure), Disclosure, and such

Cocktail pick: Negroni

Food delivery choices: Fast food, preferably burgers

Kinks: He’s sensitive behind his ears, and would go wild whenever you whisper directly to his ears

Doyoung

Scent: Le Labo – Another 13, Chanel – Bleu De Chanel

Cigarette brand: None

Carpool karaoke pick: Park Hyo Shin, Daniel Caesar, Celine Dion

Cocktail pick: Gin & Tonic

Food delivery choices: Jajjangmyeon

Kinks: He likes it when you explore his neck, and whenever you kiss his adam’s apple

Mark

Scent: Dior – Eau Savage

Cigarette brand: None

Carpool karaoke pick: 2Pac, Kendrick Lamar

Cocktail pick: He prefers dark beer, but would take soju anytime with his hyungs

Food delivery choices: Anything carbs

Kinks: He bites a lot

Taeyong

Scent: Penhaligon – Endymion

Cigarette brand: Raison

Carpool karaoke pick: Jhené Aiko, Kehlani, Justin Bieber

Cocktail pick: Jagerbomb, but he would be the one who suggested Tequila shots

Food delivery choices: Bubble tea

Kinks: He likes the feeling of your nail piercing onto his skin (lol did I just make him slightly masochist)

Haechan

Scent: Jean Paul Gaultier – Le Male

Cigarette brand: Lucky Strike Menthol

Carpool karaoke pick: Michael Jackson, Queen, Jason Mraz

Cocktail pick: Soju

Food delivery choices: Fast food, but he would join anyone who’s ordering any food

Kinks: He prefers the room to be bright so he can see you

Jungwoo

Scent: Roses – Chloe

Cigarette brand: None

Carpool karaoke pick: Frank Ocean, Dean, NCT (a-ha)

Cocktail pick: He would take a sip of anything tbh

Food delivery choices: Anything but he would often craves for kimbab

Kinks: Jungwoo you’re not allowed to have a kink

Taeil

Scent: Tom Ford – Noir Extreme

Cigarette brand: Camel Filter

Carpool karaoke pick: He owns a playlist called; “Wedding Day Songs”

Cocktail pick: Old Fashioned

Food delivery choices: Ramen (the legit ramen and not the instant ones)

Kinks: He breathes you in, a lot

Winwin

Scent: Aqcua Di Parma – Blu Mediterraneo Mandorlo Di Sicilia

Cigarette brand: Mevius One

Carpool karaoke pick: The 1975, Vampire Weekend

Cocktail pick: Ume Highball

Food delivery choices: Jokbal

Kinks: Surprisingly he’s into role play (he loves it when you call him by his code name)

Random Trivia

All Interlude chapters’ quotes are from Jaehyun’s parts on Neo Zone album

Same goes for Prelude, except for Make Your Day (since Yuta wasn’t a part of that song, I replaced it with Jaehyun’s)

You might or might not notice, but I also put Jaehyun’s part(s) on the actual chapter (either on the conversations or the narrations)

Yuta’s yakuza friend, Taka (mentioned briefly), is taken from MIYAVI’s real name (Takamasa Ishihara) – I borrowed his name because Yuta listened to MIYAVI alot (he also followed him on Instagram!)

The music that they listen to on the car ride during Pandora’s Box was Cigarette After Sex’s Apocalypse (because Jaehyun listens to Cigarettes After Sex before going to bed)

The music during the first car ride with Yuta was No Replacing You by Pink Sweat$ (it’s a part of Jaehyun’s playlist – which he revealed on one of his vlive)

The movie that Jaehyun and [Y/N] watched during the rainy day on White Night, The Notebook, is based on Jaehyun’s recommendation on NCT Night Night

I also mentioned this on Pandora’s Box, but the repeated quote between [Y/N] and Jaehyun, “What is the first twenty-four hours if we’re looking back at the past seventy years?” is highly inspired from Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud (And darling I will be loving you 'til we're 70) –because Jaehyun is a fan of Ed.

Also, [Y/N] and Jaehyun met when they’re on their mid 20s. The average human lifespan is 79 years —hopefully our [Y/N] and Jaehyun would have a wonderful long life together. That phrase itself means that both of them are willing to spend the rest of their lives together. Though, I don’t know how that becomes their own love language, it just happened as I write the story haha

[Y/N]’s body gel inspiration is actually a body cleanser by Aesop, A Rose By Any Other Name

Jaehyun’s engagement ring pick was Étincelle de Cartier Ring by Cartier

Jaehyun and [Y/N]’s favorite Ghibli movie pick is Howl’s Moving Castle – Jaehyun mentioned on NCT Night Night that he watched Howl’s Moving Castle a lot when he was at school

After the wedding, dark crimson rose was spotted on Nakamoto’s residence. This symbolizes grief and sadness.

On Make Your Day, the flower language meaning for Buttercup is “Your charm dazzles me”. This is why Yuta knows ___ is attracted to her. If you didn’t notice, Yuta already know that she’s the florist during their first encounter at Nonstop. That is because Yuta remembers their first encounter, too

The tune that ___ listen to at the end of Make Your Day is Always With Me (Spirited Away theme song). I personally feel the scene (on my head) fits the song perfectly! If you want to give it a listen, I recommend the piano version

At the end, ___ gave Yuta anthurium, which means hospitality and happiness. Note how I never really specify their relationship status, since I want the readers to have their own interpretation on the continuation of their relationship

Yuta’s haircut was actually not planned, but it fits the transition since he did cut his hair haha

The hardest chapters to write was Pandora’s Box and Not Alone – purely because they’re mostly transition chapters

Out of all chapters, my personal favorite from Interlude would be White Night and Nonstop for Prelude.

In fact, Nonstop would be my favorite chapter. I think I was so immersed with Jaehyun and [Y/N]’s wedding so I kept including TONS of details hahaha (I hope you don’t mind lol)

[nyrator]

another long vent post about depression/anxiety

extremely depressed tonight

first made the mistake of driving myself to the grocery store at 6pm, first I had to try scraping the ice off the windshield with nothing but a broom and bare hands, then driving itself was nightmareish, the car feels like a death trap to me, very loose and sloppy compared to my last car, so loud and uncomfortable with no audible music to calm my nerves. My eyes have worsened to the point where I can’t see anything at night- glare takes up my whole vision, even with anti-glare shades. I was driving well below the speed limit the entire time and still almost hit three pedestrians who were all recklessly out on the roads in all black for whatever reason. My nerves are completely shot from it, my chest feels like I’m in a vice and can’t breathe, my eyes are wide open and hunched over the steering wheel, and my body feels both like I’m about to wet myself at any moment and that I’m too stiff/tense/frozen to function as a human at all, it’s that fight-or-flight response at its extreme. Meanwhile, my skin must be weak- my knuckles bleed when driving, and my wrists bled just from carrying in bags of groceries.

then getting home and just dealing with personal drama of someone I know who is so depressed and self destructive and too smart to reason with, who refuses/is unable to seek professional help, who just doesn’t understand or just can’t help venting to me nonstop, no matter how much I beg them not to over and over- their life is so terrible that suicide seems like the only option to them, and I don’t want them to do so, but I can’t keep suffering like this either and I feel like the only thing preventing them from doing so, as poor a job as I do as a human being anyway. But I can’t help them if they can’t help themselves, even if they were just ate a bit better, or just had a journal or someone anonymous they could talk to, but it seems inescapable and impossible to change anything and all we do is argue over it until I snap at them to leave me alone. That person is probably reading this right now and probably hating it, but I doubt anyone on this site even knows who they are.

Tuesday morning, I couldn’t sleep at all from anxiety- it was so severe and inescapable, I laid in bed for four hours feeling like I was dying until I was finally able to sleep for two hours. I can’t seem to stay asleep longer than two hours anymore. Was supposed to hang out with friends that day, but between lack of sleep, depression, and my absolute terror at driving in a snowstorm, I ended up just staying home.

Anxiety has gotten so bad again. I know a lot of how the mechanics work behind it, I know a lot of pains are from tension and lack of breathing. But my old coping mechanisms don’t work anymore. I can focus on breathing for several minutes straight and then fall right back into suffocating. Music, counting things, meditating, none of it helps anymore.

One way to describe the feeling of anxiety- it’s kind of like when you fall asleep on your arm, and you feel all the blood rushing back into it and that tingling sensation. Imagine that, maybe a bit less, but throughout your entire body (especially chest), your body is stiff and not numb, and your entire body is vibrating or shivering/shaking or something.

I still spend 16+ hours laying in bed every single day. When I got home from shopping, the walking around (and the stress of driving) was enough to send me straight to bed, I was so tired and weak. It’s probably why I don’t sleep properly, I’m half awake in bed all the time, what need is there for sleep

I have mail I haven’t opened, taxes I still have to do, messes to clean, and don’t care for any of it. Can’t even talk about some things I’ve been doing to myself out of spite or general depression, the way I’ve been abusing. I promise to try not to do anything too crazy or directly harmful, but even then I worry about slipping up- I tried one thing I shouldn’t talk about, which wasn’t too serious, but still seriously concerning how easy it was to try doing

still haven’t contacted a therapist, my fear of calling someone is so strong I can’t overcome it, especially not after just waking up. Talked to some friends, some agree that I should, at least one thinks it’s a waste of time and money- up to $125 per session to just get a glorified phone call thanks to covid restrictions. I just don’t see the point if I’m still stuck in my apartment at my computer, especially if I have an internet addiction already.

The lack of doing anything is driving me insane, I think. I’ve played four single player games in 2020- ACNH, KH MoM, Panel de Pon, and Picross. In terms of things watched on my own, probably just Japan Sinks and whatever else was on Netflix the few months I had it. Don’t feel motivated to play or watch anything anymore, nothing seems interesting, and mostly just do things with friends if at all

Even ACNH, the game I play the most, I barely do anything in it- mostly just get new items from stores, that’s it. My island decorating has come to a hard halt, mostly because I barely have any furniture I’d like to embellish it with, and mainly because I have no ideas to layout most of it

I want to create, but don’t have the energy to make anything at all. Rotten Nyan is still my current goal, but anxiety has made it next to impossible to work on. I’ve tried several times the past few weeks, all met with failure- the anxiety’s too much, half the time I don’t even know what’s causing it, but my body just gets too tense and cramped without even doing anything, and I just can’t breathe at all while working on it.

Thought about making an omake comic for it, then realized what a terrible idea it was, and how hard it is to draw comics in general. Or anything in general. Wrote down the entire comic while laying in bed one day, went to draw it, was unable to, tried making it a yonkoma, gave up, and felt sick thinking of all the gross things in it that I just made a vent description of Middle Lave and just posted that to the RN tumblr instead.

I can’t think of any ideas, I feel like my art has regressed- I’ve taken more shortcuts for the sake of my hands tensing so fast from anxiety, and I’ve gotten decent at drawing middle Lave I feel, but anything besides a character standing is impossible for me- any environments or character interactions that I’d love to do just feel impossible, let alone my inability to write good ones. Anything I try to think of writing-wise always ends up the same gross content that burned into my memories that I just can’t feel comfortable talking about much at all, nor do I think it’s content people want to see at all.

There’s a lot of detailed kind of art I’d like to do. I kind of want to loosen my restrictions on myself and just draw whatever suffering I feel like, maybe once I use the RN twitter more I might get a little more courage to do so. I see many artists draw detailed scenes in single images, and no matter how hard I try, I just can’t capture that feeling.

Part of me feels torn about it being an autobiography for people to relate to, and being a suffering experience for people to find some weird enjoyment out of. I feel like I’ve lost sight of what it was originally meant to be and now just enjoy “bullying” Middle Lave half the time I guess, but unfortunately for me, bullying makes me feel like vomiting and is hard to draw consistently- maybe I’m too nice. I don’t know, I’m just rambling at this point. The comic is still laid out and just meant to explore the life of Lave, but it’s just so hard to work on.

In terms of other things, I have no idea what to do

Vtuber/streaming? Hate my voice, can’t focus on learning what I need for it in terms of rigging and texturing models. I only know the basics of making 3D things and nothing else.

Console art? I already designed all the ones I’m mainly interested in, but like I mentioned before, can’t think of any character interactions at all that I feel like drawing.

Making a game? I know 2k3 well enough to make anything in it event-wise, though never got over my map failings, and I can’t commit to anything long-term. Godot or another program, or programming in general? Good luck.

I just want to make something, work on a project without losing steam or letting anxiety prevent me from learning. Can’t focus on anything long enough to learn it- Japanese, making a game, programming, a new hobby, anything. I just don’t have the drive to do anything and will give up anything I even try to start, so what’s the point in even trying anything. I have books I haven’t read that I’ve been meaning to read for years, and still don’t have an ounce of energy to want to even organize them on their shelf, let alone open it

At the very least, I got my first big commission (second one ever), designing an OC for someone, and it’s going well, though tonight I’ve lost steam to finish it, and I hope I can get it back tomorrow to try to finalize it.

I’ve mentioned it before, but I really wish I just had someone guide me with art- I miss doing those 30 day challenge kind of things, or “send a number/emoji” kind of asks for OCs, but tumblr’s so inactive that I don’t see them on my dash anymore, and don’t know how to even look for them, especially not on sites like twitter these days. Though, the problem is, no one knows exactly what I like, and I feel awful letting people down if they ask for something I don’t want to draw

I can’t focus on exercise long term, and I’m so out of practice that exhaustion is too strong to beat. I’ve been trying to walk up and down on a step stool for exercise to get me back into basic movement, but even that’s too tiring. Want to do it while watching something, then I realize, I don’t watch anything at all, not even youtube, just an occasional artist stream that I mainly chat with rather than watch

I feel like I’m going to collapse if I turn or move too suddenly, and my eyes are absolutely terrible- glasses are okay, but without them I’m completely blind now- not just blind, but it’s like my eyes see at two different angles sometimes, like one is slanted or something, very disorientating.

It’s 7:30AM, and no desire to sleep at all. Terrified of laying in bed and letting anxiety take over me again. Part of me wants to become completely nocturnal and just avoid everyone during the day and just respond to messages in the AM hours, just wake up at midnight each day and avoid dealing with people. Go to sleep when everyone starts to get active and just isolate myself entirely from society.

I feel like I exist with no purpose whatsoever, and it’s driving me insane- not that life is meant to have a purpose, but I could at least be doing something more than laying in bed all day every day for a year

[codenamesazanka]

What are your top ten Shigaraki ships (and if you've got time for it: why)?

Oh man! idk if I have enough - if there even is enough - Shigaraki ships (in the traditional romantic sense) to fill ten. Plus I hadn’t ship Shigaraki much with anyone because it wasn’t until recently that he got all this screentime and developing relationships with other characters. 

But going with interesting dynamics and relationships of all types, platonic or romantic or enemy or cautionary or imaginary/fanon (because I’m a sucker for my own imagined potential of a relationship) or canon(ish), and which ones intrigues/affects/impacts me the most? and then ranking them??? impossible hmm

(using the names and honorifics the characters call Shigaraki for some variation and also because I’m a weeb) (also ranking is suspect because I’m bad at making decisions)

10. Shigaraki and Bakugou

I didn’t actually like Bakugou until his Remedial Course mini-arc, and so didn’t pay attention to him much. So I was surprised when Shigaraki wanted Bakugou for his League. It wasn’t until I understood Shigaraki much better and finally took the effort to consider Bakugou’s side of things that I found myself wishing they had more interaction during his kidnapping. Because here was Shigaraki going 110% to woo Bakugou into joining him, he had honestly thought the boy would make a good Villain. And there was Bakugou who was adamant about being a Hero despite not being very Heroic. We could’ve had a great look (if Bakugou ever talked) into Heroes and Villains and motivations and more stuff about how they’re two sides of the same coin… or so I wish, making this a purely speculation about a battle of ideas and these two enemies coming to a grudging respect. But that’s all over now. 

9. Shigaraki and Twice

Shigaraki took off Twice’s mask to shut him up (sorta), then put it back on for him! If that isn’t the most warmhearted mean thing to do. Twice is very much invested in the League and I wanna see Shigaraki appreciating that. Is Twice the first member to get to touch Shigaraki’s hands? To measure them for a clone? Very big deal. Not a very intense dynamic, but good fun downtime Villain Out Shopping fluff. 

8. Shigaraki and Mr. Compress

Gotta say it’s @happojin’s ficlet about these two scheming over personal revenge on Overhaul that got me intrigued in this no-ideology partnership-in-pure-villainy. Mr. Compress is the exact type of chaos-loving dramatic criminal that’s right up his boss’ alley, though I can see too much of it getting onto Shigaraki’s nerves - which makes for good, mischievous conflict. These two would blow up buildings purely for fun and I wanna see that joy on their faces. But also! Not yet knowing the reason for Mr. Compress join the League makes for great speculation - like maybe he’s just enamored with Shigaraki’s spirit and youth (that makes him feel young himself???) that he’ll be okay with losing an arm and poverty and getting kicked around by a giant naked mountain man for a month. We see Mr. Compress with Shigaraki in chapter 114, calling Toga (for Shigaraki?) and I want to think it’s Mr. Compress fancying himself as Shigaraki’s (all) right hand man. 

7. Doctor and Shigaraki

The Doctor is creepy and I’m iffy about him cuz, well, he’s creepy but he sure is making the plot move forward and now he’s the guy who will be giving the League zany inventions like some episodic comedic cartoon. If it wasn’t so horrifying that they’re Noumus. But mostly, this is a guy who knew Shigaraki from childhood, who preserved (and maintained???) the hands, who Shigaraki is familiar with but also knows nothing about. What stories can you tell us about Shigaraki, Doc? I wanna know. I’m scared, but I wanna know.

6. Giran and Shigaraki-san

How long have they known each other??? (Consider - middle-aged seen-his-shit-in-the-underworld-and-now-respected-broker Giran having to be polite to a sulky teenaged Shigaraki and needing to address him as ‘san’ - idk, maybe I’m getting the nuance there wrong but… hilarity) What other dealings have they done? Giran sure is a champ to lose five fingers for Shigaraki and the League - is the League his best customer? Did Shigaraki ‘inherit’ the use of the broker from AFO? Has Giran met AFO? I guess this is just me wanting to know more about Giran, and Shigaraki is the proxy for that. But I wanna know! I wanna see them interact when Shigaraki rescues Giran. 

5. All Might and Shigaraki(Shimura Tenko)

I love my Shimura Tenko gets a father figure in All Might AUs! I’m writing one lol. But I acknowledge this is less about the characters themselves and more about the exploration of a legacy that ties them together. Cuz I love that shit. I love the idea of All Might being such a loyal disciple that he would do anything for the grandson of Nana - except it’s just that, he’s only chasing after a reminder of Nana. What would he do with Shigaraki/Tenko himself? And I love the idea of Shigaraki/Tenko deciding how to incorporate the tale of the sordid Shimura family into his life - if he chooses to do so at all. Lots of family/identity drama. Also completely in headcanon territory. Ah well.

4. Toga and Tomura-kun

The recent chapters have really up my interest in the friendship/siblinghood/whatever admiration Toga has for Shigaraki. She calls him Tomura-kun, which yes it’s expected of her as a cute high schooler; but no one else has ever called Shigaraki just his first name besides AFO. And Shigaraki seems to have a soft spot for her? He’s been very nice to all of the League, but for someone who immediately hated her at first sight cuz she was a ‘brat’ who didn’t make any sense, that’s the biggest attitude change. Right now, they’re confirmed to be the youngest and closest in age of the League, and I like the idea of them being able to be ‘young people these days’ together and relate to one another. Toga is very loyal to Shigaraki, but not above stabbing him should he be a jerk. Like with Twice, I wanna see Shigaraki be appreciative, or rather, I wanna see another scene where he’s really nice to her (the first one being, of course, that Overhaul arc flashback). 

Also they were in an omake drama CD being silly and if that isn’t the best thing.

3. Kurogiri and Shigaraki Tomura

Hmmm I’m lazy and I already planned a whole post dedicated to analyzing their relationship, so I’m gonna skip this. I’ll edit with the link to that post later!

2. Shigaraki and Spinner! In danger of being an OTP for me, which isn’t hard cuz I don’t have any other

The only romantic relationship on this list. Spinaraki. Like I said before, though Shigaraki was really the only option after Stain, Spinner was so clearly ready to believe in Shigaraki, to follow him, because he wanted the League to change the world. That’s a lot of faith put onto someone who is Shigaraki (I mean, look at him, he’s a skinny NEET goth), so much so Spinner, implied to have not been a criminal before joining the League, is ready to kill (and does). That’s intriguing enough, and then comes his month long observation diary about his leader. Who he still stays with after knowing Shigaraki’s very-not-Stain-like-nor-revolutionary plans. And now we wait for the climax of his journey of wavering loyalty. True, a lot of it is my own hyped-up imagination but I’m enjoying it. If Spinner stays and become Shigaraki’s most loyal follower, that is so my shit I’m going to die. I’m gonna die anyways whenever they interact in the near future chapters. 

1. All For One and Tomura

What is there to say about…. this? It haunts me. It’s number one on this list cuz it’s the dynamic that I think about most, has impacted me most (Chapter 222 was a lot to handle), and it’s like trying to untangle thorny vines. Gotta say, in my intepretation, it’s a very accurate portrayal - from Shigaraki’s side - of caring about someone who has hurt you a lot, and you know it. But it’s the person you knew best and depended on when there was no one else, and you’re always going to have their influence - of which includes positive things. It’s one of the very few portrayal that gets all the paradoxical messy details while being explicitly clear to the reader it’s wrong, Shigaraki doesn’t deserve this. It’s also clear that while AFO may have affection for people, that doesn’t matter. He’s a monster. Still wrong, and cruel. And I think that’s important to show, important to depict and an important message told well. Now all that’s left is to wait to see what Shigaraki will do now and how this bond will break. 

This to be absolutely clear, this isn’t a ‘ship’, it’s a portrayal of an abused child solider that is now flourishing away from his guardian and I’m hopeful for the future. And it’s so poignant to me, that a story is tackling this. Gets it. Its a dynamic I’m invested in because it’s a story of survival and I will see it through.

-

Honorable mentions? I wanna see Shigaraki and Hawks. That should be interesting. 

I used to like ShigaDabi, but mostly because it was available. I’ve got no opinions about it now. :/

-

Thanks for reading!

[akaiikowrites]

Sheith fic prompt! As it starts getting colder I've been ridiculously craving some summertime fic. How about modern AU skinny dipping fic? Lake, ocean, pool your choice. I'd just love to see some awkward flirting, wet boys, and sweetness. It could even be in the canon verse if that suits your muse better. Love your writing!

Notes: you’re so kind! and okay so this might not have been what you were expecting but um here have an omake from / prequel of sorts to my upcoming baywatch au. (also sidenote, shiro doesn’t have his prosthetic or scar or white hair yet in this au’s timeline.)

Also On: Ao3

What scares Keith Kogane about skinny dipping at sunrise in Voltron Bay is not the cold, the sharks, or the undertow. It’s the probability of boners. Specifically, boners induced by his best friend and fellow lifeguard.

There are, after all, reasons that people make sand sculptures of Shiro and it’s only maybe thirty percent because of that time he saved their life and twenty percent because of that time he wrestled two sharks simultaneously. The other fifty percent? Entirely based on Shiro’s perfectly symmetrical face and heavily muscled body.

A lesser man would tap out. Chalk it up to any number of very solid, reasonable excuses about the cold, the sharks, or the undertow. But it’s a well documented fact that Keith Kogane’s response to any kind of challenge is “fucking witness me” and this is no different.

“You sure about this?” Per usual, Shiro sounds genuinely concerned. Like he would entirely understand if Keith tapped out but also understands that Keith’s not going to tap out even though he should tap out.

Keith grabs the back of his old red the emergency services of voltron bay thank you for your stupidity tee and yanks it over his head. It comes off soft and easy. Raising his gaze to Shiro, he says, “I’m sure. You wanted to do this. So we’re doing this.” To punctuate how very sure he is, he balls the tee in his fist and tosses it down to the sand.

“If you’re sure,” Shiro says. At least he sounds teasing instead of concerned, now, but Keith’s mouth is still opening to snark back something. He doesn’t get a chance before Shiro pulls his own shirt over his head in one elegant move that makes Keith feel like he just swallowed a mouthful of sand. Years of working the surf of the Bay have sculpted Shiro into a god among men and Keith’s mind supplies all the detail obscured by the dim predawn light. It gets worse when Shiro hooks his thumbs into his swim shorts and shoves them down. Keith’s eyes drink in how the line of hair at Shiro’s navel that’s taunted him for years leads down to a thick patch of dark hair right above his—

For his own sanity, Keith jerks his eyes away. No boners, he chants to himself rather miserably, no boners.

“Keith?” The way Shiro says his name implies that this might be the second or third time he’s done so. Which means that Keith has been staring broodily into the middle distance commanding himself not to get a boner for at least thirty seconds. Maybe more. Fuck.

Turning back to Shiro, Keith says, “Yeah, I’m listening.” When he turned he made the decision to focus his eyes on the inoffensive and theoretically uninspiring spot known as Shiro’s jaw. Just to make sure he wouldn’t look anywhere that might inspire certain bodily disruptions. This was a tactical error because looking at Shiro’s jaw makes him think about pressing a kiss there, and then nibbling along it, and then trailing kisses down from where his jaw meets his neck to his pulse point, and then—

“Keith.”

“Yeah?”

“I asked if you’d changed your mind. Sun’s coming up.” Right. The sunrise skinny dipping wasn’t just because it had a certain ring to it—like a story waiting to be created to be dispensed to eager grandchildren sixty years from now—but also because skinny dipping is technically illegal in the Bay and they are technically enforcers of such legalities.

“No, I didn’t.” Keith drops his gaze to his own feet and unbuttons his cargo shorts. When he shoves them down with the boxer briefs inside, he tries to ignore the flush he can feel spreading across his chest, and fails miserably.

But they’re best friends for a lot of reasons and one of them is how Shiro knows when to cuff his shoulder with the easy camaraderie of people who know all each other’s scars.

“Race you,” Shiro says.

Then he’s running, full tilt, graceful on the shifting sand because they’ve run this course what feels like every day of their lives. Keith leaps after him, catching up right as they hit the tide line, because he’s built for agility while Shiro’s built for power. Wet sand kicks up under their feet as they dig their toes in and race faster. They hit the surf and keep running. By now they both know the exact spot where it gets too deep to run and they dive in perfect sync.

Cold shocks through Keith’s system but it’s the good cold that feels like being alive. Keeping his legs together he snaps his hips into a powerful dolphin kick that carries him out several yards. He knows these waters, how the tides push and pull, so he uses it to propel himself out until his lungs burn. Bursting through the surface, he sucks in a gasping breath of air that fills his aching lungs to capacity.

Dark eyes sweep over his surroundings. He’s a good thirty yards from shore. Not quite to the drop off into deep water. Shiro’s a few feet behind him, still shaking the water out of his hair as he treads water.

“Okay, so we’ve officially skinny dipped,” Keith says. There’s a painful light feeling in his heart but he keeps his expression deadpan. “Now what?”

Shiro laughs. It’s so open and good that Keith aches with it. There are so many things to regret in his life but he knows that this will not be one of them. Shiro swims over to Keith with long, even strokes. Says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, “Now we enjoy the sunrise.”

They’re so close together that their treading legs almost tangle up in one another. The seawater makes Shiro’s eyelashes clump but the oncoming dawn makes Shiro’s eyes turn the grey of seafoam. It occurs to Keith too late that maybe the real danger wasn’t boners. Maybe the real danger was the memories made along the way to boners.

“Why did you suggest this?” Wait, no, that’s not what he’d meant to say at all. Because if he asked that question then he’d have to answer why he’d looked at Shiro’s face—at Shiro’s hopeful, expectant, handsome face—and agreed to do something this dumb. But now he’s said it.

One side of Shiro’s lips kicks up in a wry half smile. “I don’t know.”

Keith blinks. Shoves water in Shiro’s direction. Laughs when it makes a direct hit and causes Shiro to sputter helplessly. Yells when a much larger wave gets sent his way. Falls into a splash fight even though it’s childish and likely to attract sharks.

It ends when Shiro launches at him and catches him around the neck with one arm. They both sink under the water and come up laughing. Legs tangled up for real this time but still afloat mostly because they’ve done this too many times before. Only now it’s nothing but skin on skin. Shiro’s arm is still hooked over one of his shoulders and Keith’s laughing breathlessly into the hollow of Shiro’s throat. They are salt tacky and happy.

Part of him has already forgotten what got them here but Shiro says, “I wanted something that was just us.” Maybe they’ve both got regrets.

Above them the sky marbles with pink and orange and periwinkle. Soft like so few things in life are. It’s a promise that the sun is coming. Eventually the sun does come, and for a moment it’s just a rim of fire on the horizon, and the memory of a thousand sunrises on this beach slams into him.

It’s over soon enough and they swim back to shore. Keith lets Shiro’ lead the way because he’s reluctant suddenly to go back to shore. To put clothes on. To face what’s coming. But they go back to shore. They pull on their clothes and Keith grimaces as his boxer briefs cling to his salt streaked skin. He’s buttoning his shorts when he looks down toward the water again.

Down the beach, past the tide line filled with ocean debris, there’s quietly rolling waves that’ll turn bigger once the tide comes in. Keith instinctively counts the space between each crash and thinks that today’ll be good for surfing. But he won’t be here.

Feeling like he’s lost the air in his lungs, he says, “I’m going to miss this.” It comes out more plaintive than he thought it would. Keith’s words feel too small to explain how it hurts to think how the promise here isn’t for him anymore.

Behind him there’s a quiet sigh. It’s all the warning he gets before Shiro’s wrapped around him, salt tacky skin warm against his, one arm around his shoulders and the other around his waist in a hold that feels almost like Shiro’s trying to anchor him. Keith sinks into the embrace gratefully and sucks in a deep breath. It feels like coming up from deep water. Shiro’s grip tightens for a half second and then he says, “It’ll still be here for you. Keith, it’ll always be here for you.”

What Keith wants to ask would make him more naked than he was just a few minutes ago. The words burn him but he swallows them down. One of his hands finds Shiro’s when it rests over his hip and he twines their fingers. All he can do is hold on.

[rdmfavcpls]

Move

July 6th

Prompt: Move

Summary: Ami might never see her friends again. (will have omake)

~~Story Begins~~

“Yes, Mom,” Ami spoke trying not to show her sadness through her voice or to start crying. “Mom, please, when I get there, just listen to me, okay? Please?” She clenched her eyes shut, afraid. “Thank you.”

The call ended and in the emptiness of her empty apartment, Ami cried. She’s still a minor, even through for six years she raised herself, if her mom tells her that she’s moving to Canada, so far away from her home and friends, than she’s moving to Canada. That is, if she can’t convince her mother that it was better for her to stay in Japan. If she can’t than, two years of not seeing her friends or everyone again.

That’s the reality, not seeing everyone for two years that is causing her to cry. It’s only been six months since the Dimensional Door was open and five months since she woke from being in her coma. What is there to stop her newly rediscovered friends from forgetting her again? She loves her job, loved it even with all of the Digimon before, but she doesn’t want to give it up, she might never get it back.

Why did her mom have to insist on having her move to Canada, to spend some quality mother-daughter time, right when Ami was active in her life? She no longer was the awkward school student with two friends and spent most of her time studying and chatting with people on online. Why couldn’t her mom see that now?

The next morning, Ami stood in front of Kyoko’s desk, “Your mom called, told me about you moving to Canada,” Kyoko said. “You don’t look so happy about it.”

“When I was five and until I was ten, I always begged, pleaded, and wished for Mom to let me live with her and to join her on her work trips. Now, I don’t. I have friends who I care for deeply, I love this job, I’m not just a lonely school girl whose idea of fun was studying, in case that rare chance of Mom calling. If I can’t convince Mom that by making me move to Canada will ruin our already weak relationship, than how do I know I’ll ever get this job back? What happens if my friends forget about me?”

“I don’t think your friends will forget about you, the five of you seem to have an unbreakable bond. As for your job, I think I will keep your assistant open just for you, if the worse happens, that is.”

“Thank you, Kyoko,” Ami said hugging her boss.

Kyoko hugged the young girl back and gently ran her fingers through the red hair, “How are you going to tell your friends?”

“Ryota and Sakura will understand, they already knew I might leave them to move. The other four, I don’t know. I’m worried about how they will act,” Ami said.

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” Kyoko said. “Tell them and accept their reactions. Your friends might have more power to keep you here than what you do.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Ami agreed.

The week before Ami moved, she never did tell Yuugo, Yuuko, Nokia, or Arata. They were happy and while Ami wanted to tell them that she was might be moving (plus a certain closet geek her feelings for him), she never did. She couldn’t bring herself to ruin their happiness, at least not to her faces. She gave Kyoko one last hug before boarding the plane, hoping to be back in Japan a lot sooner than what she thinks.

Another week went by and Arata was going crazy. No one’s seen or heard from Ami in a week. Kyoko is being vague, and Ami’s digivice is turned off. He’ll admit it to himself that he has strong feelings for Ami, not like the big brother feelings he has for Nokia and Yuuko, nor like best friends that he has for Yuugo, but a strong emotional ‘I want to be more than friends’. He won’t admit it out loud unless it to her.

“Arata, you got mail yesterday,” his roommate said giving the envelope to Arata. “Read it at school since you’ll be late otherwise.”

Arata grabbed the envelope and looked at it, “It’s from Ami!”

“Isn’t that the girl you’ve been trying to track down?”

“Yeah! Why a letter through?” Arata questioned as he grabbed his school bag and headed towards school.

Meanwhile at an apartment in Nakano, “Hurry up or you’ll going to be late on your first day of this new school!” Kyoko  said watching her assistant run around the apartment. “It’s just mostly for introductions and for you to get your books, however it will still make a bad first impression.”

Kyoko laughed as her assistant put her shoes on grumbling about the uniform, “Honestly, who can handle wearing a skirt this short!?”

“It’s no different than the skirt you usually wear.”

“It’s very different!” Ami argued. “Do you not notice the drastic skirt length?” Ami smoothed the skirt out showing it was a bit shorter than the one she usually wears.

“You’re going to be late,” Kyoko said causing Ami to run out of her apartment grabbing her school bag.

“It’s good to have you back,” Kyoko said to her empty office and to her imaginary Ami. “I’m sure a certain friend of yours will be glad about it as well.”

Arata sat down at his desk, reading the letter before class started.

Dear Arata,

As well as I know you, you must be thinking, ‘Why did Ami write a letter?’, the answer is because it is more personalized. You see, at the time this letter is being written, I’m just hours away from having Kyoko drive me to the airport and I will be starting the long trip to Canada where my mother is currently insisting that I’ll live there with her. Says I’ll be happy there and make new friends, if I have to stay there, then I won’t. I may be soft-hearted, but I can also be stubborn. I won’t bore you with the details. Anyway, the point is, if you are reading this letter than I couldn’t convince my mother to let me stay in Japan so I’ve moved to Canada. (When I come back, should I bring back some maple syrup for Yuuko?) Please don’t let me hold you back, but can I be selfish and ask for you to not forget me? Please?

Love, Ami

P.S. As soon as it turns midnight on my 18th birthday in Canada, I’m heading back home to Japan, to being a cyber sleuth, to our friends, and to you. Take care of Nokia and the others for me, okay?

“She moved?” Arata asked himself staring at the note. The teacher walked in and Arata carefully fold the note up and placed it back in the envelope. He’ll analyse it later.

“Hello class, I have some exciting news to tell everyone. We have two new students who transferred to this school. Unfortunately for you Sanada, one of them brings bad news.”

Arata shook his head, the bad news can’t be any worse than Ami moving away.

The teacher started writing a name down on the board, “The first one is from Asakusa district, Amazawa Keisuke.”

Arata rolled his eyes, he remembers Amazawa when they had Digimon, the dude got himself in as much trouble as Nokia did. He took a glance over at the empty seat next to him, before watching him sit over by a crazy female in the class.

“Now, it’s time for the bad news, Sanada, but good news for the rest of us. Our other transfer student was at the top of her Ueno school district, but we won’t see much of her due to her having a job.” The teacher started writing down another name as the next transfer student walked in.

Arata looked at the student and was pretty much sure he was glaring at her or he had a disbelief look on his face. Red hair resting against her neck and over her shoulders, blue eyes was staring at him quizzically before looking at the next of the students, the black school vest showed a white shirt with a black bowtie and the black skirt was a bit shorter than the skirt he’s used to seeing her in.

“This is Aiba Ami, again, please welcome her whenever we have the rare chance of her arriving at school.” Ami bowed to the class slightly. No one could tell that she’s nervous, but she was. “Let’s see, since you are going to be providing  Sanada with some healthy competition for top scores, why don’t you sit next to him?”

“I object!” one of the more popular male students yelled. “Aiba shouldn’t be introduced to Sanada, he’s unsociable, he has no friends-”

“Excuse me,” Ami interrupted bowing again, the epitome of politeness. “I happen to know Sanada outside of school, he’s a friend of mine, and I’m thankful for that. So I would like for you to retract the statement. Besides, the people who are considered unsociable are usually the best company in the first place. They are the most honest, loyal, and trustworthy people to have as friends as well.”

“Excuse me, did you just back-talk me?” the male asked.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Ami responded placing her hands behind her back with her bright smile on her face, “if you don’t know what back-talk, friendly banter, or just someone being honest with you, than you sir are the one who has no friends. Just people hanging around you in order to have a safety net to have the spotlight for when you fall.” She than closed her eyes with a brighter smile, “Since you aren’t on top of the academic scores, that means you are all about athletics, not a very smart plan considering an injury could happen at anytime and ruin your career in a second. Besides, I’m sure I can beat you in a race as well.” She opened her eyes and tilted her head to the side. “Oh, what are you to do? It will be a blow to your ego if you accept or not and if you accept than you will have the blow to your ego of not only getting beaten by a girl, but also by a new student.”

Arata was trying not to laugh. Not only did his last name sound weird coming from her, but she almost didn’t call him that but by his first name. Than she just politely insulted the school’s star athlete.

“May I take my seat?” Ami asked the teacher who was also trying not to laugh.

“Of course,” he pointed out the desk he assigned to her and she walked over to it as he erased the names and started writing down today’s topic. “So today we will be -”

Arata watched as Ami sat down and placed her head on the desk, letting out a deep sigh of relief. Was she nervous? She couldn’t be, she was too calm and collected to be nervous. He went back to paying attention to the class.

The bell rung for their first break and Arata got up and jumped over his desk to block Ami from leaving, not that she was making the movement to leave her desk. She just looked up at him. “You have some questions that need to be answered.”

“Do I?” Ami asked back. “I mean, is that why you was giving me a cold glare?”

“Well, I’m sure I would receive one too if you received a letter from me stating  I was moving to a brand new country and then appear at your school.”

Ami’s eyes went wide before she hissed out, “Date did send them out.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, “They were supposed to be sent out next week if I wasn’t back.”

“So why are you back?” Arata asked. “Why are you coming to this school now?”

“I convinced mom I was no longer alone with two friends from school who spent all of her time studying at home and talking to weird people online. I met this one friend, his user name is Blue Box, any idea on who he is?”

Arata smirked, “Never heard of that user, but I’ll do some digging around and get back to you.”

“As for going to school? It’s closer to Nakano,” Ami said. “I didn’t know you went to school here.”

“Yeah, well, don’t tell anyone. So the reason as to why your digivice is turned off?”

“The fact that you know my Digivice was turned off suggests you tried to hack into it,” Ami commented.

“...”

“Aiba,” the male student said trying to use his height to imitate the two friends. “I have decided not to accept your challenge, not because I’m scared, but because you are a girl.”

“I see, well good luck in your future,” Ami said with a smile. “You don’t scare me by the way.”

They watched as he walked away trying to act cool before Ami giggled behind her head, “He’s already having double-thinking. As for m digivice, if I did have it turned on, can you imagine how far up your bills will be plus Nokia’s? International calls are not fun. Then the fact that I am officially moved into Broadway, so I was busy the last three days.”

“Could’ve asked for help,” Arata said. “Instead of scaring us.”

“It wasn’t my attention, I just figured I’ll save everyone the pain of saying good-bye again,” Ami said as the next class was about to begin,

Arata scoffed and got back into his desk by walking around like a normal person causing Ami to giggle more.

After school, Nokia, Yuugo, and Yuuko all appeared in Kyoko’s office and Nokia was hugging the life out of Ami. This is what Ami was afraid of missing two years of, of being around with her friends and joining them on a crazy adventures. This is home.

[thesolitaryhobbyist]

Yuukoku no Moriarty highlights/comments, chapters 4 - 10

Selective, but I tried to include important points. Doesn’t detail the resolutions of the actual heists/crimes. Minor/vague spoilers unmarked, a few more significant spoilers in a separate section at the end.

Chapter 4: The Case of the Noble Kidnapping

Opium, and the military.

Unspecified bad blood between Albert and Moran.

(Maybe Moran being ex-military might be relevant?)

William is kidnapped.

William’s catchphrase really seems to be “I will hand down your punishment!”, more or less.

MI6.

I won’t say more for 2 reasons: 1. I didn’t seriously try to understand all the details (sorry, I’ve misunderstood Albert enough); and 2. The entire plot hinges on one reveal, which I’ll mention below.

Chapter 5: The ‘Noahtic’, Act 1

‘Noahtic’ is the name of a cruise ship.

How William plans to go from Durham’s local hero to London’s Napoleon of Crime, a rough summary:

[interior, Moriarty London residence, a meeting between the Moriarty brothers, and Fred and Moran]

William: ‘The [class] system can’t be changed immediately. But what we can do is plunge London into the depths of hell. Turn it into a city of crime. [...] Crime isn’t the end, it’s the means. The system can’t be changed immediately. But people’s hearts, they change in an instant. People are mobilised by their feelings, you must have understood that from Durham. What hits people the hardest - that’s death. [...] We’ll direct a production and decorate the set to allow death to come to the forefront [...] People’s...the country’s eyes will be opened. [...] The time has come for the curtains to rise. If this ‘play’ on this big stage succeeds, we can accomplish anything.’

Albert: Oh, and I’m in MI6, so I can pull strings.

William: Let’s start by exposing this one Earl’s misdeeds.

(So that’s why these chapter titles use ‘act’ in them. And also probably the/an inspiration for the name ‘William’, as in Shakespeare.)

Holmes and William have a deduction-off on the Noahtic:

Holmes: I deduce you’re a mathematician! I saw you staring at the golden ratio in the staircase!

William points out what Holmes does is technically abduction, then goes on: ‘You play violin, but you aren’t a performer. Moreover, you excel at physical combat. And if I may, you also have an interest in scientific experiments, and are a bit reliant on drugs. It’s obvious you’re an Oxbridge alumnus (!), yet you speak with a cockney accent (!!). That must be because you’re proud of your roots, particularly on your mother’s side (!!!)...am I right?’

Holmes: HAHAHAHA srsly, ur hilarious

(Bless this cockney Holmes.)

Chapter 6: The ‘Noahtic’, Act 2

At the Moriarty London residence:

Moran: ‘Cleaning up after a big operation like this is tough, eh, Fred? Maybe using civilian lives bothers you? But “death is what moves people most”, isn’t it? I'm telling you, if I was Enders’ [the killer on the Noahtic] target instead of that man, I’d have willingly given my life. If William’s plan needed me to sacrifice my life, I’d do it any time. You would, too, right, Fred?’

Fred: ‘............got it.’

(Yeah...Fred Porlock.)

Holmes: 'When you eliminate the [...]' Blah blah, you know the drill.

I didn’t catch if there was a specific reason he was on the cruise, though.

Chapter 7: A Study in ‘S’, Act 1

When you want to avenge your fiancee’s death, who you gonna call?

On the coach ride back from that consultation, Moran offers to kill Holmes "any time", but William turns him down.

(He and ACD canon Moran need to have a chat about killing Holmes...)

Holmes is theatrical and impish, and speaks quite casually.

Mrs Hudson yells at Holmes in the street to pay rent, while he’s carrying a bag of apples, and he tries to give her an apple as ‘payment’. They fight in the street. The public is entertained.

Stamford passes by. Holmes asks to borrow money from him, but he suggests finding a flatmate.

Mrs Hudson rejects three would-be flatmates before Watson shows up.

Watson’s moustache was sacrificed to the bishounen character design cause, sadly.

When Watson first enters 221B, Holmes is ‘dead’.

I present to you:

Goth jewellery Holmes.

That woman is Mrs Hudson (well, Hudson-san). She’s “eternally 17″, according to herself, but “about thrice that”, according to Holmes.

Watson tries to smooth-talk Mrs Hudson when she’s angry at Holmes for meeting her at a seedy pub, instead of a restaurant, to introduce her to Watson. (Spoiler about this at the end.)

She’s not impressed, and thinks he’s some kind of womanizer.

When Mrs Hudson complains about Holmes’ abilities being ‘wasted’, Holmes excuses himself to go to the toilet.

Then Mrs Hudson tells Watson that Holmes worries her a lot, and because he’s like a kid, she doesn’t want him to live with just anyone.

Watson smiles and points out that she worries about him “like family”.

Holmes and Watson team up to beat up the man who harassed and groped Mrs Hudson.

After that, Mrs Hudson gives Watson her approval.

Enoch J. Drebber is an Earl here.

Holmes is arrested because Earl Drebber ‘wrote’ “Sherlock” in blood on the floor of the room he was killed in.

(Because dying messages are totally a thing, eh? [insert Ace Attorney joke here])

Holmes and Watson address each other using given names from the get-go. Just how things work in this manga, apparently. The Yard still address Holmes as ‘Holmes’, though.

Volume 2 omake, a summary

“William’s room / No entry! / Except Lewis”

Lewis wants to help with William’s plans, but William always says it’s fine, Lewis, it’s too dangerous for you.

Internally he’s like: brother, that hurts!

One day, he knocks over William’s diary while cleaning his room.

The angel on his shoulder (yes, this trope is used) is like: reading other people’s diaries is wrong!

The devil is like: at that rate, finding another way to be useful is wrong! and dude, we’re villains!

That’s fair enough, so Lewis reads it.

That night... and the next night, and the next night... he makes stargazy pie for dinner, with increasing numbers of fish.

Because William wrote in his diary that Lewis’ stargazy pie was delicious, and he hoped he would make it again.

Everyone loves it. Except Moran, who yells that he’s sick of it. No one cares.

(But the real question: if the diary isn’t a throwaway plot device, is there any other juicy info in there? Or is it just full of food reviews?)

(I’m not sure which I’d prefer.)

(And it’s not impossible William planted the diary.)

Chapter 8: A Study in ‘S’, Act 2

Meanwhile, in Utah...

Kidding, nobody in this is from Utah. Earl Drebber is from Wales.

Lestrade and Gregson! Lestrade is much more cooperative than Gregson. (Spoiler at the end.)

Watson is quick to trust Holmes and believe in his innocence.

The elaborateness of the crime really brings Holmes back to that Noahtic case...

Baker Street Irregulars!

Fred ninja-jumps up to the rooftops in an alleyway.

Chapter 9: A Study in ‘S’, Act 3

That entire confrontation between Jefferson Hope, Holmes, and Watson is pretty great. (Spoilers at the end.)

Holmes makes a pun on Jefferson Hope’s name.

Holmes: I don’t care about credit, just write “Holmes is amazing!” in your [Watson’s] diary.

It’s published. Holmes is not amused.

Watson: ‘Even when the whole world hates you [Holmes], I alone will be on your side!’

(Gee, that’s not foreboding at all.)

Watson makes Holmes wear The Outfit to meet the press outside 221B. Holmes is not amused.

Holmes passed his ‘audition’ as the ‘main character’ in William’s play, though he doesn’t know it yet...

Chapter 10: The Hunting of the Baskervilles, Act 1

WTF, Sir Charles Baskerville?

He and some other nobles abduct children, then hunt/abuse/mutilate them, like something straight out of Kuroshitsuji. And he has a ‘trophy room’.

I personally don’t find the panels too gory, but stuff does happen on-page.

Moran immediately cancels his plans for the night - i.e., sleeping with one of the women he bragged to at the pub about his new job as a ‘butler’ - so he could accompany Fred to report the Baskerville tip-off to William.

Fred is reluctant to go because it’s late and the abductors come early in the morning, so there might not be time. Moran is like naaah don’t be a coward, let’s run for it, William looks at the big picture, but I know he doesn’t ignore suffering when it’s in front of him.

(Moran backstory, when?)

And about that job - Moran shirks work when Lewis and William aren’t around, and Fred covers for him.

And Moran says though Fred seems distant from William, he and Fred have a special connection to each other.

(Now I can’t help but see Fred’s attitude towards Moran as some kind of rebellious younger brother thing and I cannot wait for backstabbing to happen outside the omake.)

Lewis still wants in on the action, and finally confronts William after Moran gives him a ‘but you’re brothers, tell him how you feel!’ pep talk.

William: oh nooo, I only wanted to protect you, Lewis, but I didn’t consider your feelings, only my ego! From now on, I’ll let you in on the action, too, just like old times!

Other unsolicited comments:

Lady in the vol. 1 colour spread of the Moriarty comrades’ debut album photoshoot: please don’t be Irene Adler, please be someone else, please.

Judging by the page one literal cliffhanger, this won’t be how it goes, but consider: instead of baritsu-ing William over Reichenbach, Holmes shows up late and stabs him with a broken oar. (...This duel.)

William is 24/7 cool, even when he was abducted in chapter 4. The only times he’s really cracked so far were the chapter 1 page one cliffhanger, and his conversation with Lewis in chapter 10. Please crack more, William.

Chapter 4 SPOILER

The kidnapping was planned so Albert could bust some opium smugglers, who were the kidnappers.

Chapter 7 SPOILER

When he went ‘to the toilet’, Holmes gave that man a message ‘from’ Mrs Hudson, to get him to approach her.

‘She’ wrote that she liked a certain kind of role-play... 

Because Holmes thought Mrs Hudson would ask Watson to be his flatmate if she saw that he’s a “gentleman brimming with a sense of justice”.

And Watson really is, so he's pissed when Holmes tells him 

But his tirade is cut short because the Yard comes.

Chapter 8 SPOILER

Lestrade, who's driving the Yard’s coach (uhh, whatever the right term is), swerves so the doors open and Holmes and Watson can escape. When Gregson demands an explanation, Lestrade claims a cat suddenly jumped onto the path ahead.

Chapter 9 SPOILER

Jefferson Hope asks Holmes to kill him. If he does, Fred, who’s watching from a rooftop, will tell him about the criminal mastermind who advised Hope.

Holmes points his gun at him.

Watson: nooo, there has to be another way! *points his gun at Holmes*

Holmes shoots.

...at the ground.

Holmes: haha what do you take me for? I don’t want to be told the answers. I’ll find them on my own. *handcuffs Hope*

Watson: *tears of joy*

After the Moriarty crew pass the press mob outside 221B, there in response to the news of Hope’s arrest, Lewis says there was a ‘60% chance’ Holmes would have killed Hope.

William says the whole thing was a test of Holmes’ character. The gist of the conversation is that Holmes will be of use in exposing the upper classes’ sins.

[linkspooky]

"Now, what Furuta did to Rize was horrible, but I think the fandom forgets she wasn’t exactly a saint before that point." I tend to disagree there. Everyone knows what Rize was capable of and what she famous for or they have never read TG. I think people are very much free to point said atrocity with keeping the narrative and personality of these two in mind and I have yet to read or hear from a good portion of people who are hypocrites in that regard. Also, Ui's love for Hairu and Saiko's

love for Urie are still not quite clear, so if it’s romantical feelings you are pointing out (or I might have interpteted your chart wrongly, which might be possibly the case) then I would say these feelings for said characters are pretty ambigious at best, although I agree with your overall premise that their find unfullfillment in their love because of stated factors.

I wasn’t really calling the fandom hypocrites. What happened to Rize is an atrocity regardless of what kind of person she was, there are some things you just don’t do to a person. However, I don’t think there are many fandom works that take Rize for more than she is at face value or take deeper looks at her character, mainly because she doesn’t get as much screentime as other characters. That was all I meant by that remark. Sometimes in writing you try to pick a nice transition for a sentence or introduction to a topic and it comes across as something other than you intended, my apologies. 

As to your second remark first for Saiko while I don’t think it’s completely romantic in nature I still think the love Saiko holds for Urie is unrequited. I didn’t talk about Saiko much because as you said she’s not that clear, of all the 4 quinxes she has the least distinct character arc and I’m including the mess that is now Mutsuki. If I were to guess at what her character arc is though she has an obvious tendency of attaching herself to male authority figures. Especially after having been failed, and basically sold by her female authority figure into a surgery and career she didn’t want for a measly compensation check. 

This is shown with Shirazu:

Haise: This moment is especially potent, because Saiko is shown observing Haise being tortured earlier and effectively doing nothing about it, as opposed to Hinami who stepped in at risk of herself and her current safety at Aogiri for the body of a man who no longer remembered her. However, the moment it looks like Kaneki might surface and Haise will be thrown aside, Saiko appears to beg him not to leave and Haise reasserts himself. This scene also repeats in a way with Tsukiyama later on, but one theory early in these two arcs was Saiko’s dependency on him was one major reason that kept Haise around. 

Then again with Urie:

While saiko undoubtably does care about these people as people too, she pretty much needs them around so she can attach herself to them and still function. That’s the iron of Shao’s description of her in this chapter.

Saiko’s freedom comes at the cost of giving up her individual willpower. It’s why she attaches herself to others, it’s so she doesn’t have to make decisions for herself or assert her own personal responsibility, because as somebody who was effectively sold to the CCG academy her freedom is what she values the most because it was threatened to her.

That’s also why this specific piece of advice was given to Saiko, because Saiko has a tendency to not think about things. She was complaining that maybe ghouls aren’t the bad guys in this situation one arc, and then slaughtering members of Aogiri alongside Urie’s side, because that’s how she could best support Urie the next arc. 

Now returning to the point, what Saiko wants the most is that sense of stability which is why she attaches herself to others. In essence she’s the one who right now most seeks the Quinx as a family, because that’s what she wants. However, Urie is not on that level of understanding yet. Remember, this was said about him not two chapters ago, and I doubt one hug is going to fix Urie’s deeply ingrained in mindset.

So whatever notion of love, familial or romantic Saiko has towards Urie is going to be unrequited at the moment. Saiko wants to think of the Quinx as a makeshift family, Urie wants to think of them as Squad Members he has to raise into faithful CCG members and protect. Both of them are blurring the lines into what they want to see out of their connections rather then what is reality at the moment. 

As for Hairu and Ui, it’s arguably not necessarily romantic either but I am basing this off of the omake which I read as pretty clearly romantic. 

(Translations by Randomthoughtpatterns [x])

In the first one Ui invites Take out on Christmas Eve to “Drink to Loneliness”, as Christmas is generally a lover’s holiday in Japan. Ui however, being his normal lonely self (his hobbies are karaoke, and scrapbooking alone activities you normally do with others) seems to regret not planning enough work to have an excuse to be alone on the holidays. 

Then when Hairu does show up both of the 4 panel omakes are jokes based upon romantic misunderstandings, because they are a guy and girl alone together on Christmas. First is that Hairu says “Walking side by side like this” where it sounds like she’s referring to how flustered she is that they might be mistaken for lovers, or that they feel like lovers in the moment, only for her to bring up kokeshi dolls instead because they both have short haircuts. The next is Ui getting Hairu a gift, and then after trying it on her first thoughts go to Arima instead of Ui, to which Ui looks obviously disappointed but answers “Oh, right.” The punch line being those were two situations where romance might have blossomed for lonely Ui, but Hairu’s eccentric personality changed the subject too quickly.

Omake also totally counts for establishing character relationships too, because Naki and Miza was established in an omake before getting an entire chapter dedicated to it in canon. 

Also Ui allowed Hairu to call him by first name, and it was something they did only in private as evidenced by her almost doing it in front of the quinxes and then retracting it.

Now that I’m done ruining jokes by explaining them however, I’ll admit this also works for a narrative where Hairu and Ui are just friends, and Hairu was just the closest thing Ui had to an equal among his coworkers because they were direct partners, rather than subordinate. Ui’s thing seems to be wanting intimate relationships with his coworkers in general because he is a lonely dude. I would say that’s still unrequited love though, because Ui is arguably the most hung up on Hairu of all the people he’s lost. Here’s the face Ui makes in F’s lie when Tsukiyama reminds him of what he lost at the Rose raid.

Here’s Ui, about one step away from a mental breakdown upon discovering Hairu’s body.

Here’s Ui instantly being shut upwhen Matsuri rubs the failure of the operation in his face.

In comparison, the arguably second most important person to Ui, Arima, only got one panel time of reaction compared to the rest. In a story basically, the more time you show to something, the more important it is. Therefore Hairu’s probably the most important person Ui ever had in his life, while to Hairu Arima was her most important person. Therefore the feelings Ui had towards her, romantic or platonic, was an unrequited love. 

At the end of the day though, this is a chart based upon personal interpretation of romantic subtext. It’s always going to be biased no matter how objective I try to be, but as long as I get the point across that this arc is about people projecting idealized version’s of love onto others, while also suppressing themself then I think the chart has succeeded even if a few details are off. 

[resbang-bookclub]

AMA Transcript: Awoken

This past week, @professor-maka​ and @sahdah​ stopped in to chat about their work on their 2016 Resbang, Awoken! Here’s some of what went down:

Q: How did your fic change/evolve over time? Any deleted scenes/headcanons you couldn't fit into the fic?

ProMa: Sort of? In that I wasn't exactly sure how far I wanted to take the plot at first, and at one point considered a Medusa appearance but decided I liked flipping the villain expectation too much to fuss with it.

Q: How the frick did you write the songs and stuff?? It was so good and hilarious.

ProMa: Ahhhh I can't music which is why the songs are either poems (only the first, and it's intentionally bad) or I took actual songs and just--modified lyrics in the same meter.

Q: You wrote your own lyrics tho?

ProMa: I did. I carefully plotted to the meter of the original. Or in the case of Ox's first song, just kept a really trite meter.

Q: Gotta ask the obvious question: What made you want to do an Enchanted AU!!

ProMa: It's a really fun movie, and I just felt I could do something fun with it. Though I'll admit there's a heavy Enchanted Forest Chronicles in there, too.

Q: What was the hardest scene to write?

ProMa: Hardest to write was hmmmm... Maka waking up the second time. I got stuck in that section forever.

Q: And which scene did you write first?? Loved the song summons btw. It made me laugh so hard.

ProMa: I wrote it pretty much in order except in a few places where I wrote the song before the scene, so the taxi scene came first. The song summons was so fun to write. I wanted to take that scene from Enchanted and completely flip it on its head.

Q: Proma, I love the running gag with the disembodied music, was that from the AU's or your own detail?

ProMa: Disembodied music was just drawing from the brand of humor in Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Patrick Dempsey's reactions in Enchanted, and the reality of musicals. So basically my take on it, lol.

Q: How early in the process did you figure out that Ox was gonna be the prince? Were you always sure it would be him or did you have to narrow it down?

ProMa: Ox was my prince pretty much from the get go. He just fit what I wanted to do. I was going for the more noble version of Hans from Frozen.

Q: Was there anything weird that you didn't expect to make it into the final cut?

ProMa: The potty humor I definitely wasn't sure I would keep. But I am 14 at heart and kept it.

Q: Alternately, anything you wanted to keep but had to cut?

ProMa: I kind of wanted a Black Star appearance but time and plot arc did not allow. Also Wes was not in the original plan but he happened anyway.

Q: Tell us about the art collab! How did it work for you?

ProMa: They were really enthusiastic and supportive and started throwing ideas out from the get go! 

sahdah: Read voraciously, threw my ideas at Proma. 

ProMa: The poster image sahdah did was so great she worked on it forever! sahdah: Proma was super chill and awesome about things, I'd ask for direction and she gave like dress ideas. It was so much fun! 

ProMa: And rogha's painting was lovely.

Q: What was the hardest thing about that poster image?

sahdah: Ahhh the coloring. I did pen drawing and scanned but I'd just gotten a tablet for digital so working the layers was interesting. I had lots of support from Proma and Aer!

Q: How many drafts did you do before you decided on a final image for the art?

sahdah: Um, it started off with just Maka, and then Ox got added. And then I think Kim was next - this is all on the same page - and I knew Soul in a beanie had to be there. So it just grew. 

ProMa: It grew in the most glorious way possible. Sahdah kept sending me updates and I just [said] YES YES GOOD YES.

Q: I am jealous of how well-behaved this fic was for not having any deleted scenes.

ProMa: AHAHA I'm a weird writer. I delete sometimes, but not often.

Q: SEQUEL?

ProMa: Noooooooo no no no no no. Epilogue is my limit.

Q: What was your favorite scene to write?

ProMa: Either the vermin scene or Maka laying the smackdown on Ox. Both were fun. Maka as badass is always my jam.

Q: Is this a genre you'd want to do again?

ProMa: It was fun, I'd definitely do it again!

Q: Please tell me what inspired the "friendly neighbourhood broctologist" line because I literally laughed at it for 30 straight seconds.

ProMa: B* works in mysterious ways. He always gets my best lines. What inspired it? B* being B*.

[discussion of the rats/roaches scene]

ProMa: That scene is one of the more direct lifts from the film. It's really nasty. Vermin squick me so hard, but vermin summoning is one of the most hilarious things in the film. I HAD to. 

sahdah: Giriko running in fear when he next sees them, lol. 

ProMa: Poor Giriko, he only wanted some loot.

[discussion of how numerous people have not seen Enchanted]

ProMa: It's cute and funny and I did something completely different with the premise because Maka is no Gisselle.

Q: Real question time: Why George Michael?

ProMa: Omg. It was my server name because it was a play on the kiss thing and then I just--had to. Because Wham is awesome and cheesy and it fit.

Q: I'm kinda mad with how it was not awkward or cheesy. How do you put Wham in a story and make it charming?

sahdah: Promagic. 

ProMa: I have no idea. I love Wham, they were my first album. Call it a labor of pure love.

Q: Did you listen/watch anything (besides the obvious) for inspiration?

ProMa: I had a playlist I've been meaning to post: http://8tracks.com/professor-maka/awoken. I'll have to make it not unlisted later lol.

Q: Is it possible for Mr. Proma to do a cover the fic songs?

ProMa: It'd be hilarious but he'd side eye me hard. Very not his genre. Well, maybe the Foo Fighters. :') I would laugh so hard to hear them performed though. Maybe someday someone will perform one and make my life. 

sahdah: Soul singing Pearl Jam in the shower <3 

ProMa: Mr.Proma sent me that song when we were dating, it was a nod to self. 

sahdah: Awwwh, such a good husbando! 

ProMa: Such good husbando. Well, boyfriendu then.

Q: If you had to do it over, would there be anything you'd change?

ProMa: Hmmmmm man I just reread it. I wish I'd edited another round, because I missed some dumb reppy shit and just dumb shit. Also, the ending could be drawn out a bit. So I would do that if I had it to do again. But I was in serious time crunch mode.

Q: I am so impressed with how much fic you can crank out, Proma.

sahdah: Proma cranked out the last bit of the fic in... what was it, like 2 days? 

ProMa: Yeah, the last third was very fast. 

sahdah: I'm like WAIT!!! SO MUCH I NEED TO ART. 

ProMa: Sahdah did her second two pieces in like two days so MASS APPLAUSE. 

sahdah: /head scratch like there was so much good content! 

ProMa: And those pieces are great too.

Q: How does one do that, pull out quality in such a short time?

sahdah: Copious amounts of caffeine and manic cackling with Resbang partners. <3 

ProMa: I write fast under pressure. It's a skill I picked up in school that weirdly translates into creative things. Thank you, undergrad all nighters.

Q: Proma, [in the] epilogue, how does Ox fare with Kim?

ProMa: Omg Ox does not fare with Kim. She is all about dat Jackie. But I mean, he has his kingdom. Even if Spirit gives him constant shit for the rest of his days.

Q: How does Spirit react to maka moving?

ProMa: Spirit is so dejected. I haven't worked it out, but he would definitely seek Maka out. Might even just hand the kingdom to Ox eventually, and go [to the] whole other world. He will visit, that's not even arguable. That omake I will heavily consider. 

Q: Proma, one thing that I was interested to see and that I think I'm glad about is that you didn't do the whole Aesop where Maka has to go back and learn how to break the curse, find happiness in her own world. While I can appreciate that message and I think it has its place, I also think that if people could really do that... there are probably people who would find a place and feel better somewhere other than their "home world." I mean, you could translate the "world" metaphor to people choosing to leave a toxic family of origin, which would be a good thing.

ProMa: Oh yeah, I was never going to go there. This was about Maka shaping her own life on her terms. I was not going for archetypes at alllll. Blair was always my choice for the fairy godmother role. It's so canon anyway. You can do some good things with that trope, it just wasn't the goal. Maka staying in her new life definitely came from the source -- even if a lot of the source is altered beyond recognition. 

sahdah: I also love Maka working to improve herself on her terms. Like the details with the soufflé. 

ProMa: I definitely borrowed some flavor from Wrede.

[more discussion of the vermin scene]

ProMa: That's one of the biggest actual pulls from the movie though -- I flipped it completely. Giselle summons vermin to clean the messy house. Yeah, that is not Maka. Maka just wants her crap back and she's not into the singing thing. 

sahdah: Giriko! The real vermin, lol.

Q: Maka asking animals via Disney princess song to wreck Giriko's shit was one of my favorite things. 

ProMa: It's Maka, she's not gonna sing to clean Soul's house, he can get off his own ass! 

sahdah: Let's be real, he probably has a cleaning service, because of Mother. 

ProMa: His house is spotless, there are maids. (Why a high powered lawyer in Enchanted couldn't hire a maid is beyond me.) 

sahdah: Mc-Procrastinator, not Dreamy. 

ProMa: Mc-raises kid in nasty house. I actually have a soft spot for pet rats, we had them in 3rd grade but an actual in my house rat would make me into a quivering pile of NOPE.

Q: Is it Mc-over? [ implied :( ]

[insert giant chorus of thanks] 

ProMa: You guys asked great questions thank you! It was so much fun, I'm glad others thought so too! 

sahdah: It was my pleasure, I love musicals! 

ProMa: And thanks to my betas here too. Yulie and Sand saved my liiiife.