#some of the ladies i should revamp

[crqstalite]

veloker not being a fwb situation at first i think is a crime. will i feel differently in the morning? probably. but consider the possibility of “youve been inside me but i still refuse to tell you the deepest regrets and fears of my life because too many people have torn me apart in ways i cant keep putting back together” on both sides. delicious.

[superectojazzmage]

My Adventures With Superman is honestly a really impressively good example of how you can make an adaptation radically different and new while still doing justice to the source material by just approaching said source from a place of love and respect. The show is unabashedly and upfrontly meant to be a very explorative and experimental take on Superman that does the classic premise in new ways, revamped for another time and medium.

So many of the characters, designs, aesthetics, and world feel so extremely unfamiliar and unlike “traditional” Superman. But it still FEELS like Superman. The core, the spirit, the SOUL is absolutely and unmistakably there. The characters are all incredibly in-character and instantly recognizable. The plotting and writing feels straight off the page of the comic.

Even with major reinventions, this is so obviously and clearly Superman. Not some hoary “deconstruction” or obnoxiously self-aware “parody”, it’s just unabashedly honest-to-God played absolutely straight Superman. Even through all the changes, it’s that same classic, undistilled, nostalgic vibe of a Superman comic with Clark as a lovable, goofy guy with powers trying to be an example to the world, fighting crazy bad guys, helping old ladies across the street, and winking to the reader after Lois and Jimmy fail to see through his disguise yet again before cringing because Perry yelled at him for calling Perry “chief” again.

Hot, overeager tomboy Lois Lane is a bit different from usual but she’s so clearly still that same gorgeous would-be star reporter that every Superman falls in love with. Jimmy has been reimagines as kooky conspiracy buff, but he’s still ultimately Superman’s Pal who gets into wacky situations by virtue of being Superman’s Pal. Perry, Lombard, Ronnie, and Cat are all very different from the comics superficially — hell, Ronnie has had his gender flipped — but they are all still instantly recognizable as the same eccentric bunch of newsfolk they were there. Livewire and the Intergang members are all totally changed but at their center, they’re the same; same powers and gimmicks, etc.. Dr. Ivo is now a douchey techbro and yet he’s still fulfilling the very same role he does in the comics as a self-centered mad scientist who creates things that spiral beyond his control. Even Parasite, the most radically altered of all to the point of no longer being sentient, is still identifiable as his core concept of a monster that feeds on the lifeforce of others and becomes more powerful as he does, while also weakening when he can’t do so.

I really, really like it. It’s a wonderfully imaginative and well-put-together take on a very old series that really brings the concept into the modern age in a way that hasn’t really been done successfully outside the comics since the DCAU back in the 90s and early 2000s. People writing Superman or just superhero fiction in general should absolutely take notes from this show.

[kirlicues]

European Townhome | {Maxis Makeover} | Sims 2 Lot Download

Remember those basic lots that shipped with the original Sims 2 games and expansions? In my game they rarely ever see the light of day, but since I love fixing up anything I can get my hands on (whether it’s in a game or in real life), those rather basic little houses have risen to a new level! This particular one is even CC-Free! (I’ll have a download link for this revamped Sims 2 house at the bottom of the post just in case you need it in your neighborhoods too.)

Being as this is a makeover and not a rebuild, I kept the original shape and layout as well as the same general exterior. I get nostalgic whenever I see old Sims 1 and very early Sims 2 lots and I wanted to keep some of that going here.

I mean, look at it. 

Doesn’t it tug at your heartstrings and make you want to bring it home and show it some TLC? I can hear Sims 1 Build Mode 4 playing in the background... (Yes, I’ve been playing the Sims that long.)

Ok, sappy moment over. Let’s get this show on the road! 😊

The original version of this house can be purchased from the lots and houses bin for $14,760 Simoleans. My update will set you back a little more--about $62,000 Simoleans instead. Here is what it looks like after adding a garage, and a pool:

It’s the perfect summer retreat for one lucky lady either near the beach, or out in the country! It could also work for a couple freshly out of University.

Fun fact: this house footprint is rented by Delilah O’Feefe in the Académie Le Tour neighborhood that came with Sims 2 University. 

This lot has so much land surrounding it that I thought it needed more than a few trees and some flowers. Doesn’t that pool look inviting? And all that garage space could be turned into an art studio if owning a car isn’t in your budget plans.

Since this house is so small I’ve opted for floorplan views to give you an idea of how it looks inside:

Here’s the 1st floor:  It has room to curl up and read a book, watch a movie, or paint a picture--whatever you’re in the mood for! It also has a full kitchen so you can stay in and relax.

...and here is the 2nd floor:

I have no idea why Maxis originally put a bathroom just off the balcony, but to each their own. I left it that way because with as small as this house is there is no room to stick it anywhere else.

Want this lot in your game? I knew you would! 😄

European Townhome {Maxis Makeover} MF | SFS

All EPs and SPs are required, but is a completely CC-free house download!

I’ve run it through the Lot Compressor and the Lot Cleaner so any random references to sims that aren’t there should be removed. I also added a spiffy custom thumbnail so it has even more curb appeal in your Lots and Houses bin.

I ALWAYS recommend using the Sims 2 Clean Pack installer to install lot files.

[lorirwritesfanfic]

Break - Part I

Book: The Royal Romance Pairing: Liam Rys x MC (Jade) Rating: M Word count: 2124 Reading time: ~8min Summary: After dinner in Fydelia, Liam sent a message to Jade asking her to meet him so he explain why he didn't stood up for her and chose Madeleine to be fiancee. But neither of them were ready to face the outcome of their conversation. Based on the prompt: @kingliamappreciationweek day 4: Relationships

Author's note:

Jade Bourbon is a creation of this author. The other characters belong to Pixelberry Studios;

This year's KLAW brought me back to the days I wrote incessantly about Liam, so I decided to revisit some old fics and revamp them. This piece was originally part of Coming Back With a Bang, but because I've been frustrated with book two scene in the balcony with Liam since 2018 and my attempt to write a fix-it fic then lacked emotion, I'm rewriting it and hoping this time I can do justice to Jade and show how she felt;

There may be some lines from canon in here. I just don't know which ones 😅

Thanks to @lizzybeth1986 and @sazanes for hosting KLAW again. I don't know if a rewritten fic will be accepted, but regardless it is or not, thank you for once again inspiring me with prompts to write Liam.

While Maxwell waited outside the ladies room, Jade looked at herself in the mirror and heaved a sigh. She was a mess. Sure, she could fix her makeup and go back out there. But what for? Watching Madeleine snaking her hands over him? For more people to tell her how she became a pariah  in the kingdom and should just leave? What was the point of all this anyway?

Turning on the sink, she washed her hands and placed them on the back of her neck to freshen up. She was still resolute not to give up. But for the night, she had enough.

As she walked out of the ladies room, Maxwell stood up from the settee with his usual encouraging smile. 

"You seem better."

"Thanks..." She simpered. "Can I go back to my room now? We congratulated the happy couple, toasted, dined on their honor and blah blah blah..." Jade gesticulated as she twisted her lips in annoyance.

"Sure. I think the staff already has it cleaned. I'm kinda beat too."

"Let's go then."

Lacing arms with her friend, Jade and Maxwell walked towards the grand staircase.

"Wait, we don't have to go back and say goodnight to them, do we?" Jade made a face.

"Nah... It's okay. It's been a long day for all of us."

"Tell me about it..."

A soft knock on the door echoed in the room, waking Jade up. She had no idea how much time had passed or who could be knocking on her door right now. 

After getting out of bed and taking a quick look in the mirror, she reached for a robe and answered the door.

"Hey you!” Her eyes soften at the sight of Maxwell. “What’s with the flowers?”

“Special delivery!” Maxwell beamed as he walked in carrying a huge red roses arrangement. “Housekeeping sent over a new centerpiece for your end table.” 

"Now?"

"The staff apologized for sending it so late, but they thought it'd be nice for you to wake up and see the flowers."

"Aw, it really is nice..." She smiled, burying her nose on the centerpiece to smell the roses when she noticed a small envelope wrapped around one of the stems.

Opening the envelope, she picked up the note inside and her eyes rose in surprise.

“Oh, that’s Liam’s handwriting," Maxwell prompted.

"I wouldn't blame you if you're furious with me, but please meet me so I can at least explain. I'll be on the balcony outside my room in twenty minutes." - L.

As if pulled by a magnet, Jade walked outside to search for Liam's balcony.

Maxwell picked the note from the floor, read it while following Jade outside. "You're thinking about it, aren't you?"

"I shouldn't..." Jade bit down her lip as her eyes began to water.

“Hey..." Maxwell approached her, placing his hand on her arm. "I cannot imagine how much it stung to see him with Madeleine. But Liam wouldn't send you this if he didn't think he owed you an explanation."

"Should I go?"

"You're my friend, but I'm also his friend and I kinda want to say 'hell yeah! Go get your man!'" Maxwell enthused, making her giggle, but immediately his features grew a bit serious. "I'm rooting for you two, but if you say it's too much for you right now, I'll get it."

Jade chewed on a nail.

“Whatever you decide, I'll support you. Don't forget to get some rest, okay?”

"Thanks, Max."

"Have a goodnight, Little Blossom." Maxwell said as he left the balcony and then left her room.

Alone once again, Jade mulled over Liam's note and remembered their encounter earlier. The way he gazed at her, complimenting her, kissing her hand as gentle and passionate as ever, his eyes searching for hers throughout the dinner... 

Jade walked back into the room and searched for the nicest yet comfortable clothes she had in the closet. She needed to be ready to climb his balcony if necessary, but still look her best in case they end things. Maybe he did have an explanation. She just hoped it'd be a good one.

As soon as Jade stepped into the garden, her eyes darted to Liam's balcony. As one of his fingers idly ran on the rim of a nearly empty wine glass, Liam sat by himself, lost in thought. Ignoring her racing heart and dry mouth, she walked towards the pillar under his balcony and hoped she could not only climb it, but manage to tell him everything that was choked inside her.

“Jade!” Liam murmured in surprise as he rushed to help her get into his balcony.

Her feet barely had touched the ground when Liam swept her into his arms. His nose buried on her hair, tears fell down her cheeks as the inebriating scent of his cologne overtook her. It was so hard not to lose herself in his embrace. If there was any place she yearned to be again, it was certainly within his arms.

Yet, flashes of coronation night and the dinner earlier came to her, reminding her of her current situation. Reality always seemed to hit her as hard as a slap on the face.

After wiping her tears discreetly, Jade pulled away from his eyes and said, “You're engaged."

Liam swallowed hard and nodded.

"We need to talk."

“Yes, of course. It’s just…" Liam took a step closer, gazing into her eyes. "Damn, Lady Jade, how I’ve missed you.”

Jade averted her gaze for a moment to gather strength and say what she had to tell him. “Aren’t you going to ask me if it’s true?”

“No. I don’t need to ask to know it was a set up.”

“You knew?” 

Her eyebrows rose as she tried to process what he said. 

"You knew?!" As she repeated, a wave of anger took over her. “Then why? Why did you let me go?" Her eyes glisten with tears again. "Why didn't you try to reach out to me? Why did I have to hide like a criminal if you knew I was the victim? Why did you have to choose… her?” Her lips quivered, her emotions taking the best of her as she cried again. 

"Oh, Jade..." Liam whispered, pulling her back into his arms. "If only you knew how much I wanted to tell you that I believe you, that I always knew you'd never spoken more than a few words to Tariq because you were simply polite to him... But I couldn't."

Her hands balled into fists as she tried to push him away, yet Liam didn't let go. She continued, hitting his chest harder as hot tears streamed down her face. 

And in spite of it all, Liam didn't pull away nor tried to defend himself. He simply continued to hold her as tight as he could. When she finally hugged him back, Liam kissed her forehead in adoration. He waited for as long as it took her for her to calm down then led her to the settee so they could talk.

"Why did you say you couldn't?"

"Though I knew it was set up because Drake told me about the broken lock on your door, I had no proof. No one knows where Tariq is, who could've told him to go to your room. Someone had gone to great lengths to frame you." A muscle in his jaw twitches. "If I chose you that night or tried to remain in touch with you or the Beaumonts, I might have put you in greater danger."

"Oh?"

"I haven't told you about my mother."

"You mentioned she died when you were young."

"The details of passing weren't disclosed to the press, but she was poisoned."

Jade's mouth fell open.

"We still don't know who caused my mother's death. And if that person is still out there, walking freely into the country estate that was built to be secure..." He shook his head. "I can't think about the possibility of losing you, Jade."

Jade chewed on a lip, not knowing what to say.

"I'll regret what I did at the Coronation for the rest of my life because it hurt you and I'm sorry that it happened as it did. But in that moment, the only thing that I could think of to keep you safe was to make whoever is behind this believe that they won. But I am so, so sorry... This must have been miserable for you."

Liam reached for her hand and kissed her knuckles.

"You could've called..." Jade murmured.

"I had to make it seem like I had no more ties with you. But I knew you were safe at Ramsford. Bertrand kept you distracted with etiquette, ballroom dancing and Cordonian history lessons."

Her eyes widened. "How do you know that?"

"Bertrand and I talked briefly through a secure line. I told him to cut you slack so you could have time to go jogging. I heard you were playing the piano sometimes..."

"He did keep you up to speed," she concluded, still annoyed.

"In case you were wondering, we only had short calls. If I had talked to you, I wouldn't be satisfied with a one minute call every now and then."

"Me neither..." Jade sighed. "Okay... I guess it makes sense. But I still have one question. Why her?"

"Madeleine is different from the other suitors. We never really got along, she doesn't care about that I feel nothing for her. I couldn't ask any of the other ladies to go through an arrangement like this. I wouldn't want to hurt anyone else's feelings."

"But you don't care about Madeleine?"

"You've had time to talk to her."

"Unfortunately... Is she awful with you too?"

"To put it mildly..." Liam made a face.

"I thought she was mean to us girls because we were competition."

"Perhaps it was, but in my opinion, that's Madeleine being herself."

"This arrangement you have with her…" Jade pressed her lips together, struggling to think about what she was going to ask. "Does it make me your mistress?”

“Hardly. You’re the woman I love. The only one.” Liam locked his fingers through hers. “I know this is not what any of us hoped for, but all I could think about at that moment was finding a way to keep you in my life.”

“Liam, I—" She shook her head. “This is a lot.” 

“I know. But my hope is that it's all temporary. Just until we find whoever schemed against you. After all of this, if you still have me, our love won't have to be a secret.”

“But what if we can't find who did this?"

"I'll still be all yours even if I have to marry Madeleine. But if you don't want it, I..." He trailed off, then took a deep breath. "I won't stand on your way."

As tears welled up on her eyes once again, Liam went down one knee and cupped her cheek, wiping a tear with his thumb. “Stay."

"Liam..."

"I'm talking about tonight. Stay here. I need to see with my own eyes that you’ll be safe.” 

Jade sobbed. This was too much. Becoming his mistress was a hard limit for her. Yet, how could she leave him if every part of being came alive under his gaze? Unable to find words to express what she felt, she just sat there and sobbed while Liam took a plce by her side again, pulling her close in his arms.

It was still dark when Jade woke up. Around her waist, one of Liam’s arms pressed her back against his chest. On the sleeve of his shirt, makeup stains. Signs of how much all of this has been tough on them.

She took a deep breath, taking in the scent of his aftershave lingering on the pillow, the warmth of his arm and chest protecting her. She knew deep inside he would do anything to shield her from insults, dirty looks and any threats. But it still was a lot for both of them.

“Liam,” she whispered, rubbing his hand.

He frowned a little before opening his eyes.

“Hey...” she turned to face him and gave him a weak smile.

Hey,” he said, stifling a yawn. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. I just have to go back to my room now.”

“Of course. Let me talk to the guards outside first.” 

He then got out of the bed, ran a hand in an attempt to fix his tousled hair and opened the door. A couple of minutes later, he returned.

“You can take the hallway. None of the guards will ask questions. As far as they're concerned, you were never here,” he said, placing his hands inside his pockets.

“Thank you.” 

Jade sat up, put her flats back on her feet and headed to the door.

“Jay...” he called, taking one of her hands before she reached the doorknob. “What about us? Will we be okay?”

“I hope so... But I need time to think. It’s a lot to process.”

Liam nodded, looking down at her hand as  his thumb stroked her mother’s ring on her finger.

“Hey," she uttered, cupping his cheek gently. "We're not over. I just..."

"I know."

Before they could think about it, her arms wrapped his neck as his hands clenched on the back of her sweater. Would things change between them if they stayed away from each other? Would life give them another chance? They didn't know. But as far as anyone else knew, there was no way back for them.

[kaiowut99]

Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Episode 1 "Dub-Uncut" (ENG Dub w/ JP OST) WIP #1 | Ladies & Gentlemen!

Soooo, after plugging away at this little project for more than a year, I'm pretty sure, I think I'm just about done with it--a "dub-uncut" take on ARC-V episode 1's dub! Like when I worked on those 5D's "dub-uncut" episodes, I find that there's some potential in the 4K/KCM dubs, but overall it's hampered by the dub's music [which especially hurts for ARC-V given the awesome score by Kotaro Nakagawa], some writing choices, and other little oddities/cuts. (I also did plan on trying to sub ARC-V up until Crunchyroll took the wheel on that, and I did want to do something with the work I'd put into prepping the OP/EN for that, lol; I think I actually started this a little in early 2022 at some point, but due to my SSD dying on me in October of that year, I pretty much lost everything and had to dig through what little backups I did to not start from scratch (I had to restart this though). This has also been an ongoing idea, since I did do a dub-with-JP-OST take on episode 10's first 10-or-so minutes years back.

Of course, since working on that version of episode 10, we now have things like UltimateVocalRemover out there to help with things like this, as well as Duel Links or Cross Duel (RIP) for better/more accurate takes on different lines. So, after using UVR to isolate episode 1's audio in both versions, I got to work piecing the dub back together with the JP OST/SFX, using lines from later episodes and Duel Links as helpful to make the dialogue more in line with the original; I'd been chipping away at it mostly for the past year, but worked a bit more on finalizing it and leveling the audio over the past few months to get it off the backburner, lol, along with revamping my subs for BelieveXBelieve and One Step (which I'll be showing off separately).

For this clip, I made Gongenzaka properly say his Monsters' names while tributing them by pulling audio from 138's dub (and one other); Yuya's "Ladies & Gentlemen!" and "Quick-Play Hippo Carnival" lines are from DL, and I found an AI-voice-generating site that had the voice of the Narrator from Pokemon's dub, which I thought would fit for the Action Duel narration before the OP. [Also, yes, I will be correcting every instance of "Zuzu" to "Yuzu" using lines with "you" in them because why.]

Lemme know what you think! I'll likely post another couple progress videos while I apply some finishing touches, and I should probably be posting about the full thing in the next week or two.

[pukanavis]

Nanaki Nanamegi SSR Card Story "Serving Diligence With Style" Track 1

Location: Cruise ship ・Party Hall

Nanaki: Allow me to guide you to your seat, ma’am.

Lady: Please, lead the way.

Nanaki: Might I recommend this alcoholic beverage to accompany your meal today? Its fruity flavour makes it go down smoothly, so do let me know if that interests you.

Gentleman: My, my, aren’t you well put-together for your age?

Netaro: EMERGENCY! We’re outta leaves!

Nanaki: …Sounds like the salad bar needs tending to. Yowa-san, I’ll be right there!

Muneuji: Nanamegi, I’m sorry to ask this of you, but would you mind clearing up some of the tables?

Nanaki: Sure thing. I’ll be just a sec.

Nanaki: Phew…

Ryui: Hey, kid. Don’t tell me you’re already worn out?

Nanaki: Of course not, Ryui-san. We're only just getting started.

Ryui: Good.

Nanaki: This has been an incredible turn out, hasn’t it? To think a revamped night cruise would see a crowd like this on its very first trip.

Ryui: They’re doing a little too well, if you ask me. Goddammit, if they had just set up the waiter robots in time, we wouldn’t need to be running around like a load of headless chickens all night…

Nanaki: At least we're managing to make it work. Customer service is just another part of the job.

Netaro: Esteemed guest, your dessert has arrived! I present to you a miso soup made with a broth composed of reconstructed tyrannosaurus bones! I call it ‘tyra-misoo’ for short. [1]

Ryui: …

I’m gonna tie him up and throw him in the boiler room.

Nanaki: Ahaha…

(I know I said we’re managing, but honestly…)

It’d be a real relief to have just one more person helping out—

Momiji: Nanaki-kuun!

Nanaki: !! Chief!

Momiji: Things were running smoothly up on the sun deck so I thought I’d come and pop my head into the party hall, but it looks like you guys are pretty swamped with guests in here. I’ll help lighten up some of the workload.

Nanaki: I really appreciate it. I was actually just thinking about how nice it’d be to have an extra pair of hands on board. This must be divine will… [2]

Momiji: Divine veal?

Nanaki: Uh—the veal schnitzels!! At the buffet!!! People are saying they’re divine!!!!

Momiji: Oh, that's great to hear!

Nanaki: L-Let’s move on…

To start off with, could you help me carry these meat pie platters around?

I know this is a buffet style dinner, but I thought some of the guests might prefer to have food while it’s still fresh out of the oven.

Momiji: Sure, I’ll give you a hand! That’s a really thoughtful idea.

Nanaki: Why don’t we start making the rounds from over there? I’ll just grab a few plates, and…

Momiji: Woah, you can carry three plates at a time? That’s impressive, Nanaki-kun!

Nanaki: No no, it's a piece of cake, really.

(There’s actually a trick to pulling this off…but if I bring that up, it’ll make me sound like I’m trying to show off my smarts…)

Momiji: The secret is to hold your thumb and pinky over the two plates in your hand, right?

Nanaki: Ah, I should’ve known you’d be clued into the trick. I'm sure you’d be able to get the hang of it right away if you gave it a go.

Momiji: You think so? I've seen you practicing it lately, so maybe I should try to follow your example…

Nanaki: …

Huh?

Next

Notes 1. 'Tyra-misoo' is supposed to sound like 'tiramisu'. 2. To clarify, Nanaki originally says that it must be fate (運命 unmei) which Chief mishears as plum (梅 ume) and Nanaki responds in a panic by saying “The plum juice has been popular!! On the drink menu!!!” to cover for himself. I am not good at localising miscommunication jokes, forgive me ORZ.

[outivv]

What would you personally love most if changes were to happen? Like with patterns and hair and colors and stuff.

I’m not gonna speak on cultural stuff cause I’m not from any of the cultures that natlan takes inspo from, but I would just love the same amount of effort put into playable characters that Hoyoverse puts into their enemies in terms of diversity.

Most of the characters would look amazing with darker skin, but I think Mualani would look soooo cute with like really really frizzy or like super curly and thick hair. Genshin has an issue with making anything thicker, coats, hair, characters- but I don’t care :3

I’ve seen Mavuika with like markings on her chin- which is a cultural thing that o don’t necessarily know the complete significance of, but in terms of design I genuinely think it looks so nice. I also would love her with darker skin ofc and something done with her hair. Idc if it’s like a protective hair style, or just putting her hair UP I just ehhh idk how I feel about it just like being there but not having anything to it. I saw one redesign giving her like fire hair like Idia from twisted wonderland which I LOVED and then another design giving her like braids which was sooooo fucking pretty, ooo especially if she had like clips or crystals in her hair with braids? Can you imagine??? That would look so pretty, and fit so well for an archon. Overall her design needs a revamp imo though, because while she looks cool, she doesn’t look like she’s from genshin, and she really only looks like some sick ass biker lady who would help me fix my tire while in the middle of nowhere rather than like… an archon.

Chasca needs a whole revamp, but I do LOVE her hair in terms of colors, and I like her ears a lot- but I saw this one BEAUTIFUL Chasca redesign by @ NGreentail on Twitter who also makes some sick ass mods for pc players. Seriously I love his ganyu mod sm- but anyways, he made a really nice redesign for Chasca that is like also what I would’ve wanted for Boothill sigh

Same personal also made a really pretty Citlali design, and I think that was really nice for her- idk I don’t have many comments on her cause she’s not my type of character :’)

Iansan would be great with some actual PIGMENT. NOT JUST BEING GRAY OMG.

I looooove Kachina’s design I think she’s soooooo stupidly cute, and I love the colors- again, not speaking on cultural stuff and ik she has some cultural issues but I think that’s with her animations, but I think some dark skin would do her so much justice in terms of just design. Make it so we can actually see her hair color against her skin, they look too damn similar :/

Kinich is by far one of my favs cause I love my stupid green guys, and he just looks cool as fuck- but obv some dark skin would do him justice. As far as I know his design is fineeeeee(????) and I like his hair how it is, maybe just making it wavier would be nice.

Ororon/ Olorun just… needs to be… fixed… so bad. Give him locks, give him dark skin, bitch actually make him Nigerian if he’s based off of things from Nigeria and a literal African god PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

My fav is Xilonen, and she just like… needs a lottttt. Like she would obv look better with dark skin, she is supposed to be Brazilian because I believe her makeup takes inspo from like carvival makeup? I think, that’s what I was told, I could be wrong- but if that is what it’s based off of then I think she should have like MORE, y’know? Maybe vitiligo in some places like leopard print, claws, all that- I mean there’s a billion amazing redesigns that I’ve seen because a lot of people like her, so I feel like my comment on this in a purely design aspect is ehhhhhhhhhhh since there’s already sooo many people with so many ideas.

[scarlet--wiccan]

I know you are more of a Marvel person, but do you know whether Madame Xanadu was ever confirmed to be Romani? I keep finding her on a bunch of Romani comic character lists, but I can’t find anything on whether she’s actually Romani or was just styled after stereotypes.

Can anyone explain why the DC wiki such a trainwreck? It's really not a useable resource, and it's literally never helpful when I get DC questions.

I honestly just haven't read anything that Madame Xanadu is in. it's entirely possible that she has been stated, or at least implied, to be actually Romani at some point, but without an an accessible resource that can tell me when that happened or even just give me a decent framework for her publication history, I really don't know where to start looking. I'd like to give a more informed answer, but I'm afraid it will take a lot of work.

My understanding is that, in most continuities, Madame Xanadu is a centuries-old immortal whose true identity is Nimue, the Lady of the Lake from Welsh mythology and Arthurian legend. The character of Nimue is often depcited as a sort of fairy or goddess, and in DC comics, she is one of the ancient predecessors of the homo magi, which are distinct, separate race of humanity.

In my mind, that character cannot feasibly be Romani and would never be able to provide any kind of meaningful representation. She's been alive in Europe for longer than the Romani diaspora has existed. DC has a pattern of retroactively tacking Romani ethnic identity onto characters in way that actually makes them worse, not better (Ice, and in most cases, Nightwing) or to justify the fact that they're obviously based on racist stereotypes (Cynthia Reynolds). I think with Xanadu they should just drop the gypsy fortuneteller schtick and revamp her design to be either a more general fantasy aesthetic, or something that pays homage to her Celtic origins.

[dungeons-and-dictions]

We LOVE a mysterious lady while waiting for Hazbin Hotel’s marvelous first season to wrap up. Let’s talk about Lilith and Eve!

There’s so many ways this could go. Applause to Vivienne and Co. for making this fun with what I am sure are ample red herrings. I hope those involved in the show are having great chuckles as we feverishly wonder what is really going on.

First, some groundwork so that we’re on the same page. I’m nearly certain Sera is not the highest up in Heaven, whether in order or entity. This may be the common “God sleeps, knows all, and refuses to be involved”, which is always a fun, good move for narratives. Orrrrr, it might be some of my theories.

And on the subject of narratives, we should acknowledge that Charlie is telling her parents’ perspective of the beginning of Earth. It may not be the whole story, people may be figurative or portrayed inaccurately, and things may have been omitted.

Now then, my 6 theories!

Theory 1 - Eve is just a regular woman, and no one cares about her after death. High probability that Adam had a lot to do with that.

Theory 2/3 - Eve is God / Eve is the true evil

Let me tell you some ancient religion things. Nothing in this world is isolated. In ancient Judaism, there are references to Asherah, a Canaanite mother goddess and wife to the big god El, particularly as an object of devotion in the form of a tree. Makes sense that the Judeo-Christian God would have a wife if Lucifer does.

Anywho, whether or not this is the inspiration, I wonder if the imagery used in the first scene of the show is meant to hint at the origins, or roots, of evil in the world being an actual enemy. Whatever twist would happen with Eve (or Lilith!) finally appearing, I would expect it to be BIG like this, and the symbolism adds up.

Theory 4 - Eve is Lilith

During the opening sequence, Eve about to eat the apple takes on very similar features to Lilith’s silhouette just seconds later.

This theory goes with the understanding that Eve never existed, or also ran away from Adam but became inconsequential. We never see Eve or Adam as humans again in this sequence, so for all we know this works. Eve could definitely just be symbolic.

Theory 5 - Eve and Lilith are Allies

They are working together on… something. Whatever Lilith and Alastor are connected with, for sure. Perhaps these ladies are triple agents and are infiltrating their respective realms quietly while plotting some sort of takeover or revamp. Perhaps there is a bigger evil / God himself that they are trying to steal power from?

Theory 6 - Lilith became Eve 7 Years Ago

Something happened where Eve was hurt, usurped, or otherwise incapacitated, and Lilith stepped in to prevent a power vacuum. Obviously this can work well off of Theory 5, but it works as an enemy simply taking advantage, too.

BONUS Theory 7 - Lilith and Lucifer are Allies

Once again, they’re working together on something nefarious. Eve may be the baddie (or goodie) or not even matter, whilst our royal Hell couple has supposedly split up to give the idea they aren’t in communication, and that Lucifer is a non-threat.

I am so glad that we have 2 seasons from the start! There’s so many other thoughts and so much in this show, that at least 2 seasons is definitely needed. To the season finale!

[simaiela]

The BFFs by simaiela

[ BFFs MAKEOVER PART 1 ]

I decided to take on a little makeover slash revamping project and I thought the BFFs would be the perfect first try. It's also my first attempt at doing these lookbook thingies. Obviously the lookbooks are meant to showoff the custom content other simmers make, but in my case, I tend to mix and match items in-game with custom content. So, these are my lookbooks for the trio!

I like color-coding my sims so I just took whichever defining color they had in their default design.

Travis Scott is our red boi. He looks kinda like tom holland, if I'm being honest but that's because of the eyes. the eyes are custom content so he looks real good. I didn't spend a lot of time on him. I, surprisingly, find it easier to speed through dressing up male sims because of how minimalistic men's fashion are and it's not necessarily a bad thing. Because of how categorical men's fashion is, it's also easy to know what to look for when dressing them up. Travis should give off basic white boi vibe, and that's okay!

Liberty Lee gets purple and yellow, mostly purple, tho, which I think is a really mystical color palette and suits how out of the three of them, she probably has the most defining trait. Travis and Summer are pretty straight to the point, and one could argue Liberty is as well, but I kinda revamped her as well and I played her as this Luna Lovegood type of character who surprises you with her hidden depths.

Summer Holiday is your typical cheerleader, popular girl trope but I gave it my own twist and instead of being this Regina George character, I wanted her to be someone who, yes, is a cheerleader and popular, but she's really just friendly and comes from old money, hence the more toned down, but still fancy looks.

I also headcanon that she gets along well with Liberty despite what the game wants for them and even gives Liberty some fashion advice, and Liberty has also grown comfortable in telling Summer about her troubles as a fellow young lady. They both DO love Travis, but I reeeeally wanted to develop it into a more platonic bond.

PACKS USED:

For Rent | Growing Together | High School Years | Cottage Living | Discover University | Get Famous | Seasons | Cats and Dogs | City Living | Get Together | Dream Home Decorator | Spa Day | Parenthood | Fitness Stuff | Vintage Glamor Stuff | Perfect Patio | Incheon Arrivals

All CCs/Mods:

Default Eye Replacement by elysiantrait Lip Presets by lutessasims Male Eye Presets by nothernsiberiawinds Male Hair 1 from Mail Hair Pack 1 by wistfulcastle Violet V-Neck from Greenhouse Collection by greenllamas Leila Hair 1 by aladdinthesimmer BY JIUSSIMS Canvas Platform Sneakers from Flats Collection 04 Star Platform Oxfords from Lollipop Collection 02 Over The Knee Boots 1 and Snow Boots 3 from Winter Collection 3 Velvet Platform Sandals 02 from Crystal Collection 1 Ankle Boots 3 from Martins Collection BY CHIH Lipstick C2 Nails P3 BY TRILLYKE Candy Crush Sandals by trillyke Butterfly Effect Top by trillyke BY TWISTEDCAT Naive Eyebrows & Silk Eyebrows from Brow set No 4 Stardust Outfit Taffy Dress Spiceberry Lipstick Pyrite Makeup Set Eyebags and Eyelids Soft Glam Glitter Overlay from Soft Glam Makeup Set Heatwave Lipstick from Heatwave Makeup Set Sourfruit Blush from Sourfruit Makeup Set Dark Hour Eyeshadow from Dark Hour Makeup Set Frosty Eyeshadow from Frosty Makeup Set Mirage Eyeliner from Mirage Makeup Set Glow Lipstick from Glow Makeup Set Slated Eyebrows from Eyebrow Set No 8 3D Lashes No4 BY SIMSTROUBLE Sybil Female Hair Viola Female Hair BY HUIEN Gem Earrings from Mulani Set Lucy Shirt from Floraful Set Claire Jeans from G!rls Set Ember Dress from Lovito BY MIIKO Eva Hair from Eva Set Peach Hair Fox Hair 2 Emma Hair 2 3D eyelashes Part 3

If any of the links are not working, or if you have any questions, please feel free to send me a message. Please show some love to the cc creators! Again, please read my guides page in case you get confused.

--

I'll be posting the house makeover soon so, stay tuned!

Find me on the gallery! simaiela

[hekateisconfused]

Oh yea also I only put this on twitt but I guess I'll put it on here too :3c

I'm fully convinced the next serious story event vanguard partner will be either Miroku or Momotarou.

If we're looking at how this played out before (with Last Shizuka and ID), I think it's in importance order.

(putting a read more because there's a LOT behind my thought process with this)

⚠️Sekigahara spoilers!

Lady Shizuka was first because, and sorry to Lady Shizuka fans, is just because she's Cyberstep's favorite Onigiri daughter.

Sorry but I've played through almost all Divine Arc and... I don't see any other reason she'd be first... She doesn't have trauma like the others.

ID was second because she's the female story partner with the most lore.

Without saying anything to spoil Divine Arc, there's just a lot of stuff that you can just tell she's a serious part of the story even in her friendship quests.

If my patterns are telling me correctly, I think the next story event  vanguard would be Miroku or Momotarou. This isn't even based off of that they're two of my favorites, this is really just an educated guess.

We've already had two female story event vanguards.

Why I think it might be Miroku: A similar situation to Lady Shizuka, he's Cyberstep's favorite Onigiri son.

Just... Y'know... Unlike Lady Shizuka he actually has a LOT of trauma and story behind him.

With a Miroku Story Event Vanguard, we could learn more about him when he was a part of the Goikkou. We could see more interaction between him Basara, Hillary, or hell, any Goikkou member. We know so little about his time there other than he worked with them, knew they were bad, something Divine Arc related..., and wants to change his ways.

His outfit could even be his old Goikkou uniform!! Or maybe a revamped version! MAYBE WITH HIS HAIR DOWN?! Okay- I'm sane-

Why I think it might be Momotarou: Similar to ID, when it comes to male Oni characters in the main party, HOLY FUCK. THIS MAN'S LORE. HE NEEDS A THERAPIST. I don't even know what to say without spoiling Divine but ON GOD TRUST ME, HE'S MUCH MORE THAN A EEPY, HUNGY BLUE MAN.

To those who haven't gotten to Divine Arc and still have friendship quests... I'm begging you... Read them. It'll give you SOME sort of hint on what's to come.

Just sayin... There's a reason why his mind's funky...

Even when his Divine Arc chapter ends, you're still left with so many unanswered questions, so maybe a vanguard event could give us some more answers!! Show us people from his past!!

Hell, send us to the past and show us a younger Momotarou! We've seen the future before with Izuna, why not see the past for Momotarou?

I just feel like there's so much opportunity with a Momotarou Vanguard Story Event... He has so much lore that gets glossed over the whole game, we see a lot during Divine Arc, yet still don't see it all and are left with so many questions!!

Anyway... Thanks for listening to my TEDTalk on why I think the next story partner vanguard event should/will be Miroku or Momotarou.

Miroku, because he's the favorite Onigiri son, or Momotarou, because he has the most lore.

[fightingthetides]

Neo here to do a thing because of many reasons including: yes. This is some background information and scenes for the @Signorinavongola’s Lady Boss AU. Some things had to change for—reasons, and so I’m writing some things out.

This is going to take me a while to write everything out and it’s going to be quite long, so I’m going to work on this as if it’s a multi-part series. Anything with a ❗ means that there is new/changed content from the previous drabble [x].

Word count: 9k+

       [Revamped ch.11 scene from other thing to add onto the scene of Haru’s introduction.]

One morning, Reborn and Tsuna were strolling to school as they normally would in the morning, but they get stopped by a familiar voice (to one of them).

“Hold it! Haru had been observing you for some time now, and Haru needs answers. Tsu-chan, when did you have a new brother and not tell me about it?” She should know how much Haru adored children, so not telling her about a new brother… sacrilege! A betrayal! So mean-desu!

Not only that, “Haru also noticed you play mafia all the time. What kind of bad games are you playing with such a young child, Tsu-chan? Are you being forced into it by some of the neighboring kids?” Though it’s been some time since they last met, Haru and Tsuna were still childhood friends and she liked to believe she understood her friend well.

This wasn’t a kind of game that she would play with a kid, so there had to be a reason behind it. Maybe she was being bullied into it. If her friend needed someone who would sternly tell the bullies ‘no, we won’t play a game that is a bad influence on kids’ she’ll do it! She’ll be the first to volunteer!

“If you’re struggling to tell the bullies to stop playing the mafia game, Haru will do it for you to stop playing such a dangerous game with the baby.”

Reborn decides to act in Tsuna’s stead. “First off, I’m Tsuna’s tutor. It’s my job to raise Tsuna to be the 10th boss of the mafia. I cannot be separated from her until then.”

“… You’re taking the game too far! Tsu-chan, I can’t believe you!” As always, Haru was a firecracker when she was angered. She always acts or talks first and only when she’s calmed down would she listen.

Her phone beeps, and she quickly says her farewells before heading to school.

.

      [New content alert!: Yamamoto consulting with Tsuna after noticing something is off about her]

.

“Hm? You had a fight with a friend?” Yamamoto couldn’t think of any friends Tsuna had in class aside from himself and Gokudera.

He listens to her recount what happened and the history that she had with her friend. So she had a ‘fight’ with her childhood friend. “To me, it just sounds like she misunderstood the situation because she doesn’t know the full details.”

Understandably, Tsuna didn’t have many friends, so it must be scary to think that she could lose one of her only friends. From what Tsuna had to say about this Haru girl, she seemed to be a smart and friendly person.

She had strong convictions and she was always ready to get mad at bullies on her behalf. Tsuna was worried about Haru finding out about how she is at school, so she put some distance between them. It worked out because as first years in middle school, they were busy adjusting to a new school.

“I dunno her, but from what you had to say about your Haru friend, she sounds like a good person who cares a lot about you.” Haru didn’t seem to care that Tsuna wasn’t the smartest, nor the most athletic. “I think, if you tried to talk to her again, she’d be willing to listen to you.”

This Haru girl liked Tsuna for her personality, so she should be willing to listen after her initial anger wears off. Surely she’d be willing to listen once she cools off? That’s Yamamoto’s theory, anyways.

He pats Tsuna’s shoulder, comfortingly. “How about this? I’ll get up earlier to walk with you to school tomorrow. I can give you support as you talk to her tomorrow, okay?”

Yamamoto Takeshi, the best support.

.

❗ [Back to regular scheduled programming. Haru confronts Tsuna and Yamamoto at the bridge]

.

“Good morning. It’s come to Haru’s attention that Reborn-chan is indeed a hitman and he is in fact training you to become a 10th generation mafia boss. Haru will put aside the fact she’s disappointed that you didn’t say anything to Haru.” Was she not your childhood friend?

Do childhood friends not talk to each other about important things in life? Was finding out you’re an upcoming mafia boss not big news to tell your childhood best friend? HM??? Haru would tell you if she fell in love for the first time (and it wasn’t cake)!

“If all that is true, then that means he’s been training you to be strong.” Haru has always known Tsuna to be a bit timid and weak to confrontations. She didn’t like to have fights with others and she’d much rather let things go than to confront someone.

That didn’t seem like a good quality to have for an upcoming mafia boss. Of course, Tsuna had a good heart. She cared for others and wanted things to be fair. She didn’t like to see others be hurt. That was what Haru liked about her… but… the mafia is different from her nature, isn’t it? Would she be able to fit in?

Did she have what it takes to truly be a mafia boss? (Bianchi may have ‘forgotten’ to mention that Tsuna was against being the next mafia boss and was actively trying to get out of it.)

“Haru understands that the mafia has to be strong and sometimes be cut-throat. If so, you may have to fight against old friends turned foe. Haru doesn’t want to, but-! As a friend, she will test you!” That would explain why she was wearing a suit of armor and holding a hockey stick in the morning.

Haru Miura was always so dramatic and… weird. Yamamoto was looking between Haru and Tsuna worriedly. It was good that it seemed that Haru now understood the situation, but… was Tsuna going to be okay with fighting her friend?

To him, it looked like Haru was very concerned with Tsuna and wanted to make sure her friend had the backbone necessary to be a boss. Otherwise, people would only walk over her and not respect her.

Well, that’s his theory anyways, given how she looks like she’s going to cry as she resolves herself to test her friend.

“Nyahaha! Lambo-san arrives! Reborn, I found you! DIE!” Another kid comes out of nowhere and throws a few grenades out.

Everyone took cover, but Haru couldn’t move so quickly with the bulky armor she had on. She was launched off the bridge and into the water below.

Surprisingly, before Yamamoto could think of how to react, Tsuna had already jumped into the water after her friend. It was reminiscent of how she also jumped off the rooftop to save him when he accidentally fell.

Not wanting for Reborn to shoot her with a bullet, resulting in her clothes being blown off, he jumps in right after them both. The armor looked heavy, so it would be too much for Tsuna to bring Haru back to safety.

He pulls the both to safety and helps them both dry themselves off. Haru changes into the spare clothes that she had hidden away nearby, and Tsuna changed into new clothes as well. A habit because of her clothes always being blasted off.

SNIFF

“Haru is sorry… she was just worried about you, and she was scared that you wouldn’t want to stand up for yourself if anyone disrespects you. Tsu-chan has always been too nice and timid to fight for herself.”

That was a fact that no one could deny. Haru had a pretty good understanding of her friend. She wasn’t well suited to be a mafia boss, but it didn’t seem like there was a choice in the matter.

“Haru thought that she could give you some of her own fighting spirit, you know? Maybe then you’ll be able to handle things… but… Haru sees that you do have a lot of bravery that you show in your own way. Thank you for jumping in after her, Tsu-chan.” Haru smiles, feeling proud of her friend.

She jumped in so soon after Haru was blown off the bridge, so she must not have hesitated. That took a lot of courage to do, and if she had that much courage… surely she’d be fine even if she had to be a mafia boss.

“Haha, I’m just glad that things turned out okay in the end. Usually, Tsuna goes into this crazy wild mode and her clothes go missing, leaving her in her underwear.” Yamamoto explains why he jumped in after the both of them so that Reborn wouldn’t have to act.

“Hahi! Your clothes disappear? That’s no good! If only your underwear survives… perhaps you could consider sportswear underneath your uniform?” That would at least offer a bit more modesty than being in only your undergarments.

She had yet another reason to be worried about her friend now. What girl would want to be found almost naked out in public where people could sneer and oogle? Not on her watch! “It’s settled,” Haru grabs Tsuna’s shoulders, “we’re going shopping this weekend. We’ll find clothes you can wear under your uniform so it’s less revealing. Haru isn’t taking no for an answer.”

The arcobaleno was watching over them chatting at the bank of the river from the bridge after having finished punishing Lambo for his stupidity.

“Hm… she looks like she’ll be a good influence on Tsuna. The necessary feminine touch she needs and a good friend to use as emotional support.” Reborn was impressed by the fact that Haru had recovered so quickly after being blown off the bridge.

Not only that, she accepted the fact that Reborn was a hitman and that Tsuna was a next generation mafia boss, but she still confronted her friend. That took a lot of guts. “She’d be the perfect example of a strong wife to the mafia. Tsuna can learn more from her example, about her guts.”

Of course, Tsuna and Haru’s situation would be different. Haru could marry a mafiosi but Tsuna would eventually marry someone into her famiglia and retain her position as the matriarch.

Still, she could learn a thing or two from Haru’s guts.

Guess he was going to look into inviting Haru to more things so she can rekindle her friendship with Tsuna again.

“Juudaime! What happened? Was it an attack? Who the hell is this? Get your paws off her, woman!”

“HAHI! WHO IS THIS RUDE RUFFIAN!? Tsu-chan do you know him?” Haru hugs her friend close to her and hisses at the new person who ran up to them. “Haru is Tsu-chan’s childhood friend, you ruffian! Bother Tsu-chan and you’ll answer to Haru!” She hisses again.

Gokudera wasn’t the sort who bowed down to anyone (minus his boss, of course, but that’s just a given)! What was courtesy and chivalry? Was it something he could eat or use to survive in the cutthroat world?

Spoiler alert: No.

“Childhood friend or not, you can’t keep me from Juudaime, you idiot woman!”

If there was one thing Haru has never been called, it was STUPID. Don’t you know that Haru is a Midori girl? You dare call a girl from an elite all girl’s school STUPID? She takes offense to that! “Haru isn’t stupid! Tsu-chan, who is this?” Haru’s gnashing her teeth together in irritation.

It was readily evident to everyone involved that Gokudera and Haru both had tempers that weren’t the most compatible with each other.

Yamamoto laughs, “Maa maa, let’s calm down. What matters most is that the both of you are okay after falling off the bridge.” Well, being blown off the bridge was more accurate. “Despite how he looks, Gokudera is a decent guy, you know? He’s one of Tsuna’s friends. You can trust him.”

Haru makes a face, to suggest she 100% did not believe Yamamoto. He was the savior of both her and Tsu-chan, after all… but still… she turns to glare at Gokudera who only glared at her back in return. “Haru is okay with you being her friend… but that one… Haru isn’t so sure. He looks like a yankee.” In that moment, Haru vowed to visit Tsuna more often to make sure Gokudera wasn’t being a bad influence on her. “Haru doesn’t know if she can trust a yankee.”

The day Tsuna starts smoking, gets tattoos, or anything, she was going to start a fight with this Gokudera punk.

“THE HELL WAS THAT? Better than trusting Juudaime with someone who had to be fished out of the river wearing full armor! You’re sooner a liability than anything.” Gokudera scoffs, offended by the fact that this Haru girl was insinuating that Tsuna couldn’t be trusted around him.

Sure, there was a time that he was a lone wolf who answered to no one. Yeah, he was quick to blow anyone up if they so much as looked at him funny, and SURE, he had a long way to go to even be a useful and reliable subordinate of Tsuna’s. It was something that he understood well, and it was something that he worried about.

That’s why he hones his skill and studies hard to figure out ways that he can make Tsuna’s life easier, but that doesn’t mean he wants someone else to say it! Screw her!

“HAHI!? Say that again, you PUNK!”

“Stupid woman!”

“Maa maa… come on, you guys. We have class to go too. How about we break things off here?” Yamamoto gets in between the two bickering teens.

-

--

-

       [Ch.19 I decided to throw in the scene for Moretti. I do think a childhood friend dynamic would change a few things that I’d like to highlight.]

“Tsu-chan! Look at this! Haru is going to be a yakatabune for the play at the cultural festival!” She notices a dead man atop of Tsuna’s bed. “Hahi? Are you also practicing for something? That is very good stage effects make up.” Honestly? Haru is impressed!

The reaction of Tsuna’s didn’t seem very promising though as she was evidently in shock, and she admits that she’d actually killed someone.

Now it was Haru’s turn to be shocked as she walked back into the doorway, breaking her yakatabune costume that she made herself.

“What are you doing here!?”

“I don’t have club activities today, so I’m someone without anything to do, like you.”

Two voices could be heard in the hallway leading up to Tsuna’s room and Haru and Tsuna started to panic. How to explain what happened here? There is some dead guy that Tsuna shot to death in her bed?

Hm? That’s right, why is the guy in her bed? Haru was originally thinking about hiding but she had a revelation of the connotation of a guy in Tsuna’s bed, dead. Was this some pervert who had tried to do something nefarious to her friend in broad daylight? That was some nerve!

Tsuna was still probably reeling over the fact that she’d killed someone when the two guys walked into the room, confused on what was going on.

Haru acted, rushing to Tsuna’s side. “This man is clearly not a good man. He obviously had bad intentions!” With the strict gun laws of Japan, there was no way that this actual gun belonged to Tsuna. The only reasonable explanation was that the gun belonged to the man!

“Put the gun into his hands and put his fingerprints on it. IF anyone questions anything, you’re obviously the victim here. In the struggle to defend yourself, he accidentally shot himself.” That would be enough to convince the authorities, right? Would it be better if she put her fingerprints on the gun as well?

That was certainly tampering with the evidence, but… she couldn’t bare the thought of her childhood friend being sent to jail after having gone through such a traumatic experience.

“What gibberish are you talking about, Woman? Huh? What’s with the dead-” Gokudera sees the gun that was still in Tsuna’s hand and the dead person atop Tsuna’s bed. It didn’t take him long to piece together what had happened. To think that he hadn’t been around to defend his boss!

What a failure for the aspiring right handman!

“Hey, let’s all calm down for now. It’s not clear if the guy is dead yet, right?” Yamamoto spoke clearly, trying to calm the situation down. In these times, it was better to keep a level head than to panic.

That’s right! He might not be dead yet! In that case… Gokudera knelt next to the man, holding a lit cigarette over the man’s face. If he really had life left in him, it would be Gokudera’s job to finish the job. How dare he attack the 10th while she was still asleep!

This jerk deserved hell and more!

When the body twitched, Gokudera popped his cigarette back into his mouth and rolled up his sleeves. Time to finish the job, this outrageous villain!

Lucky for the soon-to-be-corpse, Yamamot holds him back from doing anything ‘stupid,’ and Haru latched onto Tsuna’s arm, “I bet he was thinking about leaving burn marks on that corpse. Hahi… how terrifying, and you trust him as a friend, huh?” She whispers. There was a lot that Haru could say about Tsuna’s recent trend for making friends, but Haru would trust in Tsuna’s judgement.

No matter how many times Haru questioned it, Tsuna would always say that Gokudera wasn’t a bad guy and that she viewed him as a friend. An enemy of an enemy is a friend indeed, but maybe the opposite was true? A friend of a friend is an enemy? Yeah, that makes sense, with the way they always fought once they laid eyes on each other.

“Hey, I saw him twitch, so he might still be alive. Maybe we should call the ambulance?”

“Hahi! An ambulance!” There was hope for her friend yet! If he lived, then no one could possibly be charged for murder! Maybe assault, but surely they could figure out a way around it!

Reborn walks into the room with a drunk man in tow. “I’ve already called a doctor.”

“Ah! It’s him! He was one of the doctors that was hired to work at the castle exclusively, but he’d always come around with a new woman, saying that they were his sisters… I thought for the longest time that he had 62 siblings…”

“What the heck is that!?” Yamamoto laughs, and Haru stifles a small laugh. ‘It sounds like young Gokudera-san was pretty cute with how naïve he was. Hm? Wait… 62 siblings…?’

“Yo, it’s you, Hayato,” the drunk man greets.

“Don’t talk to me! I don’t want to be infected by your womanizing ways, you womanizer!”

Haru grabs onto Tsuna’s arms and pulls her into the corner of the room, acting like she’s being repelled by the force of a womanizer’s aura. If this ‘doctor’ is a womanizer like Gokudera says, she had to protect them both.

“Cut the nonsense and ask him to look at the patient.” Reborn reminds them all of the pressing matters at hand.

“Right! Can you help us look at the patient?” Yamamoto motions to the guy on the bed, but for some reason Dr.Shamal approaches the girls instead. Before he couch reach out with his hands to touch either of them, Haru hisses.

“Haru will punch you if you get any closer.” That’s not a threat but a promise, you sham of a doctor!

Dr.Shamal shrugs his shoulders, “they both look fine upon a cursory glance. That one is feisty.” He points at Haru. “They’re both cute, too.”

A shiver runs down Haru’s spine at the comment and she pulls Tsuna to another part of the room far away from Dr.Shamal and behind Yamamoto and Gokudera. This creep cannot be trusted! She can see that lecherous glint in his eyes!

“Old man, this guy is the patient!” Gokudera points to the ‘corpse.’

Glancing at the man, Dr.Shamal looked very unconcerned. Running his fingers through his hair, “don’t you remember? I don’t treat men.”

Gokudera did seem to remember that about Dr.Shamal. That was one of the reasons why there had to be multiple doctors on staff at the castle. It was convenient to have multiple doctors on shift to ensure that someone could be on call at any hour of the day, but it was troublesome to vet that many doctors and ensure their loyalty.

Dr.Shamal was a talented doctor who not only could treat his patients, but could also fend for himself. A genius in his own right, it would be stupid to not hire him as staff- but the obvious caveat was that he only treated women.

That damn womanizer was bound to start troubles somewhere down the line with all the women he saw. He was also one reason why Gokudera felt strongly about not turning out the way Dr.Shamal did, despite them both being geniuses.

He’s not going to turn into some womanizing gigolo! He’s a product of adultery, and he wouldn’t allow himself to follow in his father’s footsteps in such a way.

‘Che, maybe he was hired to begin with. Like attracts like, and it takes one adulterer to hire another one.’

“Is he even alive anyways? If he’s not breathing, doesn’t have a heartbeat, or have dilated pupils, he’s dead.”

Seeing as the doctor wasn’t going to make the diagnosis himself, the teens had to move to check. His pupils were dilated, he wasn’t breathing, and… nope! No heartbeat.

He’s dead!

“Guess he passed on during our conversation. I don’t deal with the dead, so I’m leaving. Bye.” Dr.Shamal left with a casual goodbye. He acted as if he’d done anything of note, but he didn’t.

Back to square one of panicking! “Surely, we can create an alibi? Should someone else take the fall?” Haru was trying to think of the best plan of action and Gokudera takes the gun from Tsuna’s hands.

“If it’s just taking Juudaime’s place, then I can do that.” Tsuna didn’t deserve to go to jail. She was too gentle and frail to survive in such an environment, but it wouldn’t be an issue for him.

What he didn’t expect was for the other three teens to stop him. What kind of stupid plan was that? Tsuna wasn’t going to forsake her friend and have him go to jail in her stead!

What an idiot.

“Calm down, I called for someone else. He’s useful for a situation like this.”

Hibari appears in the windowsill, “Yo.” He jumped up from the street, using the gate as leverage.

The three Namimori students were surprised by his presence, but Haru had no idea who this guy was. Was he someone important? Maybe he’s someone scary? The guys shrunk back slightly when they saw him, so maybe he was the king of the miscreants?

“I didn’t come to play with you guys today. I came to make the baby owe me a favor, sort of like a transactional deal.”

“We’ve been waiting for you, Hibari.”

Hibari scanned the room before his eyes finally happened upon the dead body. With his foot, he rolls the corpse over to get a better look at the ‘damage’. He was testing to see just how ‘fresh’ the body was. It hadn’t gained a deathly pallor yet, nor was rigor mortis settling in. A fresh corpse, recently deceased.

From the looks of the gunshot wound, it was just one shot through to the heart. In truth, he did know about the situation from Reborn beforehand. Even without him divulging the details, he would’ve understood the truth.

It was the instincts of the strong that could ‘see’ through the falsities. These weak herbivore puppies still had a long way to go. He scoffs underneath his breath. “Good job,” half-hearted compliments, “you got the heart in one shot.”

Playing along with the charades was enough to make the arcobaleno owe him a favor. He could ask for a proper fight or something else more fun. It would be a waste to make use of his favor right away, so he would patiently wait for now. With all the interesting things happening around Sawada, it would be prudent to wait before cashing in his favor.

It was best to let everything marinate to savor the most optimal indulgencies.

“Okay, I can dispose of this corpse for you.” Hibari sent a quick look Reborn’s way.

The shock weighed heavy on everyone in the room. Just how can this guy talk about hiding a dead body so easily as if it were nothing? What was his background?

‘Tsu-chan knows so many shady individuals!’

“Perfect, he’ll get rid of the corpse so it can never be found. This way, it’ll be like the murder never happening. Appreciated, Hibari.” Reborn thanked the disciplinary officer, a sign that he would be accepting the aid in return of a favor granted by his truly.

Owing a favor to anyone wasn’t his style, but for the sake of his student, this was something he could accept.

Hibari walked over to the windowsill to jump down, “I’ll send someone over from the disciplinary committee later to get the job done.”

What kind of thing is he using a school disciplinary committee for!?

Haru felt her knees go weak at the idea of Tsuna’s new friends. One was a punk, the other was a well-intended idiot, and now there’s a grim reaper of a guy? Woe is her friend! She’s surrounded by troublesome weirdos!

Gokudera was also the sort who repaid his debts, and the memory of Hibari wiping the floor with him and Yamamoto before just pissed him off. Dynamites ignited, he ran to the window, “I can’t be at peace until I take revenge! Die!”

Haru hadn’t seen Gokudera use his dynamites before, so she assumed what he had in his hands were stage props. However, when Hibari slapped the dynamites back with a flick of his tonfa and they exploded in mid-air, Haru had to reevaluate her opinion on Gokudera.

The guy is a dangerous menace!

The dynamites set off in the room, causing a huge mess. Haru stayed close to Tsuna, so she checked on her first, making sure that she was okay. Two arms, two legs, and a head resting on a pair of shoulders. Good!

“It’s already fall, and you’re still carrying around fireworks?” Yamamoto sits up and sighs at the damage caused to Tsuna’s room.

“They’re not fireworks, you dunce!”

Sometimes, Haru wondered if Gokudera fought more with her or if he fought more with Yamamoto. It was amazing how Gokudera hasn’t died from heightened blood pressure yet with how angry he always was.

“Hahi! The body, it’s gone!”

““WHAT!?””

From the corner of the room came a new voice, “Haah, I really thought I was going to die for real there. That was a close one.”

“Kyaa! Zombie! Tsu-chan, we gotta get away.” Haru clung onto her childhood friend in clear panic. The girl had a tendency to cling onto things when she was frightened, and Tsuna was the closest one to her.

Unperturbed by Haru’s dramatic antics, “It’s nice to meet you, 10th.” The walking corpse introduces himself as he coughs up blood, causing Haru to scream some more from the shock.

Reborn hopped over to Haru and jumped onto her shoulder to gently pat her cheek to calm her down, “Calm down, Haru. This is Moretti, a professional in being assassinated. He mastered the ‘addio’ technique, where he can stop his heart at will and achieve a state of apparent death. He’s one of the specialists in the Vongola.” Reborn explains.

Ah… so he wasn’t dead for real, it was an act.

Then the blood had to be fake. Haru drops to the ground, losing all the energy in her body after the adrenaline rush started to fade. How tiring… was this how Tsuna was living out her daily life? How exhausting…

The guys were laughing it up with this Moretti guy, but were they not going to address how chaotic everything was? Surely the neighbors were going to call in a complaint about all the noise. What about all the damage to Tsuna’s room?

Hm? Speaking of damage…

“Hahi! Haru’s Yakatabuneeeeee! NOoooooooooooo!” She’s going to have to make the costume all over again!

-

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❗ [Ch.22 I REFUSE to allow for them to forget about Tsuna’s birthday for the ‘comedic effect’. If Haru is childhood friends, she’s going to remember and change that. HMPH!]

“How exciting! It’s almost Reborn-chan’s birthday? Of course, Haru would love to help with the preparations for it!” Haru is enthusiastic about the invite to join in the celebrations of Reborn’s birthday.

Haru thought it was odd that Tsu-chan wasn’t the one informing her about the surprise, but then she realized that with how close their birthdays were to each other, this had to be a joint birthday celebration!

With how busy Haru was on the daily, her schedule was always very hectic, and the same could be said for Yamamoto as well, who was busy with club activities and training. They sometimes crossed paths by mere coincidence, when she got out of tutoring and him out of practice.

That was likely the reason why he brought it up to her, being the first one to come across her.

Looking from side to side, she ensures that Tsuna isn’t nearby for the rest of this conversation. “Ne, Haru is just asking out of curiosity, but why are all the plans Reborn-chan related? Shouldn’t you also plan around Tsu-chan as well? What about her interests?” Seemed pretty unfair to cater the entire joint-party around Reborn.

She could understand how some parents would tell the older children to make concessions for the younger siblings, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of feeling neglected and ignored on their special day.

The look of confusion on Yamamot’s face made Haru squint her eyes skeptically. Surely even Tsuna’s mother wouldn’t have forgotten her own daughter’s birthday…? She must have brought it up at least once?

‘Maybe she’s just been so busy with caring for all the kids that it slipped her mind?’

Understanding of how busy Nana could be, maybe that was the reasoning behind it… but it still didn’t sit right with her. “Tsu-chan’s birthday is the day after Reborn-chan’s birthday. Planning two consecutive parties is a lot of effort, so it would make sense to celebrate them together, right?”

Haru Miura is not one to forget important dates, and Tsu-chan’s birthday was one she always remembered every single year. If they couldn’t find the time to celebrate together in person, Haru always made sure to send a small package with a gift to the Sawada household, so it wasn’t like she’d suddenly forget for this year.

“Ah, is it?” Yamamoto laughs awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. He had no idea that it was also her birthday so soon. They’d only been planning the party for Reborn, but they could probably make some changes to the plan to account for Tsuna’s birthday celebrations as well.

Then again, he remembered something. Gokudera had occasionally gone out window shopping, trying to find a gift, but the shops he’d look into didn’t seem to be something that was to Reborn’s tastes. Knowing Gokudera, it made sense that he’d know about her birthday- but he should share the bountiful harvest of knowledge!

‘He probably wanted to hog the knowledge to prove how loyal and dedicated he is.’ The guy had some selfish tendencies that would only make some sense when you knew that Gokudera was a lone wolf for so much of his life.

Back to the topic, no one would want to feel left out or forgotten, so plans were going to have to change. Without Haru saying something, Tsuna would’ve felt disappointed or hurt by them forgetting about her birthday as well.

“That’s the great thing about childhood friends, huh? You’ll make sure to have Tsuna’s back. Let’s think of some ideas to propose to the others to incorporate Tsuna as well to the plans.”

“Hahi! Haru would love that! Ah- but is Gokudera-san going to be attending the planning sessions as well…?” Haru asks quietly.

Yamamoto chuckles, noticing how easily Haru showed her emotions on her face. It was clear that she didn’t get along with him and was hoping that the answer to the question would be ‘no’.

Then again, with how often they bicker whenever they’re in the same room, it was understandable that she didn’t like him very much. “Yeah, he’s going to be there too. He’s pretty excited about it, I think.” Yamamoto could tell that Gokudera had a bit more energy and interest in the plans than he normally would in regards to something he didn’t care for, so it was safe to say that he was excited.

Haru’s nose scrunches at the news, but, she knew that Gokudera was a person that Tsuna cared for. He was one of Tsuna’s first friends at Namimori, so Haru will relent on the ‘anti-yankee’ feelings of hers.

.

      [A tiny time skip because I can. I don’t feel like writing out the entire planning process lol The time skip is of the actual party itself. Also, a vague reference to ‘Bomb Bambino’ is included.]

.

The party was going smoothly and Haru was so happy to see that both birthday people were enjoying the day. Reborn was being celebrated as was Tsu-chan! She was glad that she said something to Yamamoto so they could remedy the fact that they almost threw a surprise party for just Reborn and not Tsuna.

As it turned out, Nana was worried that Tsuna wouldn’t want a surprise party thrown for her because she could be pretty shy about things. It was perhaps more accurate to say that because she didn’t have many friends to begin with over the years, it may end up being more hurtful than anything- but after the behest of everyone, she agreed to also celebrate Tsuna at the same time as Reborn.

She already had plans to celebrate as a family in case Tsuna would rather a more private affair, but with how adamant all the young teens were, she felt that it was safe to trust in these kids to make her daughter’s birthday a special one- and a special one it was!

Reborn had such an interesting idea for party games! It was something about ranking gifts? Reborn had said something to the effect of, “Tsuna, you won’t be able to objectively rank the gifts/performances so sit out this year. You’ll only give everyone a ranking of 100 points.”

The party was certainly a lively event with lots of delicious food, laughter, and the occasional threats. Reborn and Tsuna both got presents or fun performances to enjoy, and Nana could rest easy seeing just how happy her daughter was. All of Tsuna’s new friends were good kids, and she was happy to see Tsuna enjoying life more with her new friends by her side.

Haru wasn’t a new friend, but she came back into Tsuna’s life once she got used to her new school. Nana went back into the kitchen to cook up some more food in her excitement. Bianchi had gone into the kitchen to aid her.

The only thing that could be considered weird about the party was the fact that Haru couldn’t stop looking at Gokudera with squinted eyes throughout the duration of the party. When it was his turn to give Tsuna a gift or a performance, he’d requested that he give her the gift later.

Suspicious.

When Gokudera left the room after Bianchi, Haru followed him out into the hallway to confront him. Slamming her hand against the wall, “what’s up with you, Gokudera-san? You were fine with doing a performance trick with your dynamites for Reborn-chan, but for Tsu-chan, you tell her to wait?” That had to be a bit embarrassing for her, wasn’t it? What, discriminating against her friend?

You think she won’t smack you for that? She will! Still, Haru is a fair person and she’ll at least wait for an answer- Hahi? Why was he a bit red? Why are his green eyes darting around nervously?

“Yeah, he’s going to be there too. He’s pretty excited about it, I think.”

‘Could it be?’

“Are you… being shy?” What was so different between Reborn-chan and Tsu-chan? What was there to be shy about? Was the difference… in the way that he felt between the two individuals? Maybe there was something special about Tsuna?

‘Does he like her? WELL HE’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!’

Really, no one was going to be good enough for her gentle friend, especially not some yankee punk!

Gokudera felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise when Haru hit the nail on the head. Yeah, he was nervous! It wasn’t like he hadn’t attended birthday parties when he was a young master of a mafia famiglia when he was younger, but it was the first time he’d attended a party of someone that he liked and admired.

The lone wolf had finally found a place to call home and it meant so much to him, but he didn’t know how to actually convey it properly. He knew that sometimes he was a bit much with how intense he could be and it troubled Tsuna, but he couldn’t help it! Tsuna was the person who saved his life and the sole boss that he’d ever risk his life for!

He was really excited about the party, but when the time came for it, he suddenly grew really awkward and shy. It was the first time he’d been invited to a party to celebrate someone… someone that he actually cared for. He had a thought in his mind: ‘Do I even deserve to be here? Am I even good enough to be here? What if… by my being here I cause more trouble for the boss?’

Of course, he was still overjoyed to celebrate Tsuna’s birth anniversary, even if he didn’t particularly like to celebrate his own… because it doubled as the anniversary of his mother’s death. He had some mixed feelings about birthdays.

When Haru confronted him, he felt irritated that she somehow got it right so quickly. “S-shut it! I’m not feeling shy or nothin’! I-I’ll just give my gift later! It’s special!” Gokudera couldn’t prepare anything fancy or expensive, because he was struggling financially on his end.

He lived on his own, and he worked part-time to pay for his rent and other stuff. The gift he picked out wasn’t anything grand or anything, but he did spend a lot of time carefully picking something out and he hoped she’d like it.

Haru squints her eyes skeptically, stepping in closer into his personal bubble to stare into his eyes. “Haru won’t comment on whether the gift is special,” Yamamoto did say something about how Gokudera seemed excited about the party… so he probably put some thought into the gift.

“That Gokudera fellow, he’s come all the way from Italy to meet Tsuna, the rumored heir to the Vongola name. He’s always been a lone-wolf, even if he was under the watchful eye of the Vongola, though he wasn’t a part of it.” “Hahi? Gokudera-san wasn’t a part of the Vongola to begin with?” Haru almost expected that he was born into the Vongola with how avid he was about supporting Tsuna to becoming the best Vongola boss she could be. “No, he was around, so he could be watched after he made a big mistake that Nono fixed for him.” If not for Nono acting fast after Gokudera’s confession, they managed to prevent the bombs from going off at the concert hall that would’ve killed everyone inside, including Carlo the performing pianist… and his young son Niccolo. “Why are you telling Haru this, Reborn-chan?” It was weird that Reborn would be telling her anything about Gokudera, knowing how often the two butted heads. “Just letting you know that he’s got a past. He’s been on his own since he was 8, so it’s not easy for him to relate to the rest of you. Cut him a bit of slack.” “Haru can try…”

“Are you nervous because you aren’t sure if Tsu-chan will like your gift? Tsu-chan would appreciate and treasure anything you got her.” Haru had all the faith in her friend that she would care for the thought that went into the gift than any monetary value.

Just knowing that a friend gifted her something made it worth its weight in gold to her.

“I don’t need to explain myself to you, you stupid woman!” Gokudera growls, and for once, Haru didn’t launch her own attack instantly. Instead, she only squinted her eyes even further, her eyebrows furrowing into the center of her forehead.

She didn’t hang out around the Namimori students that much, but she had noticed something in the times that she had- Gokudera cared about Tsuna more than anything, and he really didn’t know how to socialize with others in a meaningful way. Piecing together that he’d been on his own since he was 8… what socialization did he really have when he was probably trying to fend for his own life?

Being under the watchful eye of those that he didn’t view as friend or ally… he could only grow up being on edge. No wonder he was such a prickly cactus! There was probably something deep down where he did worry if Tsuna would like his gift or not… but the biggest thing that bothered him was probably…

“Haru has known Tsu-chan since we were really young kids. If you give her your gift, telling her happy birthday with a small smile, that’ll make her happy. It doesn’t have to be exuberant or anything. Sometimes, simple is best.”

Whether he would appreciate her words or not, it didn’t really matter to Haru, but she hoped that it could help him a little bit.

Before he could say something, “Hayato, stop causing such a ruckus on a good day.”

“Gah! A-Aniki!” Gokudera doubles over, holding his stomach in pain.

“Hahi! Gokudera-san is down!”

The gift would have to be given to Tsuna later, after the party was over. The poor guy was out like a light for a few hours. He had found one of those alarms that girls use when creeps are around and gifted it to Tsuna after he customized it a little bit.

It’s moments like this that it sinks in that he really was a genius to be able to tinker with the device to make some small changes. The moment he heard the customized alarm, he’d come running. It was his way of showing his devotion to his boss and also his consideration.

She may not think too much about her safety now because of how safe Japan was in general, but with the other heirs dying such deaths, he couldn’t take any chances with Tsuna’s safety.

-

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      [References Volume 5, chapter 2 of the Secret bullet novel series. ‘Gokudera’s Worst Day Ever’. Sadly, I don’t have a translated ver of the whole thing to reference, so I will vaguely reference a synopsis ver as inspo. I obviously had to reference this for—reasons...]

Whatever happened, a whole lot of them were sent to the hospital and of course, that meant Haru came to visit to check in on everyone. Did it mean that everyone was happy to see her? Nope, there was even someone who was pretending to be completely fine- when he’s not!

Haru had gone to visit Tsuna who had been transferred to a different ward because she was so worried about Gokudera’s injuries. His attempt to act like nothing was wrong seemingly had the opposite effect- who knew!

A bit vexed, Haru played a small prank on Gokudera, something that she does when her trolling acts up. He needs to learn a small lesson for being a naughty guy who doesn’t properly take a proper rest!

She told him that he was cursed, and that if he didn’t do something about it, Tsu-chan could end up harmed because of it. To undo the curse, he would have to receive a straw doll from Lambo.

It was supposed to be a simple prank. She honestly didn’t think he’d take it seriously, but she also didn’t know how superstitious Italians could be, so he ran off to fuss with Lambo about retrieving the doll from him.

One thing led to another and somehow there was a giant Kaijuu in the hospital that caused great damage! Haru rushed over to see that Gokudera and Hibari were fighting when the rubble came down because of the giant Kaijuu-like creature. She watched as the two were buried underneath the rubble and she felt her heart stop for a moment.

This was her fault.

Hibari pulls himself from the rubble unharmed, but there was no sign of Gokudera. She hastily tries to find him in the rubble, and when she did, he was severely hurt- but alive. She had to confess to him that the thing about the curse was a complete lie.

“Haru’s sorry! The curse thing was just a lie! Haru thought that it would make you get along better with Lambo-chan!”

“Why tell me now that this is a lie? Don’t worry about me, this is none of your bu-”

“What are you talking about!?” Haru snaps at him, brown eyes glaring into his surprised greens. “IF Gokudera-san is hurt, Tsu-chan would be further saddened! She’d be worried! Haru has to tell the truth now to prevent you from further hurt!”

Gokudera averts his eyes and clicks his tongue. Of course, she only cares because of the 10th. Haru didn’t actually care for him, but cared for how her childhood friend would feel.

“… Haru would be upset too.”

“Huh?” Gokudera was surprised, and unsure if he was even hearing things right. Why would she be upset?

“You may say mean things to Haru all the time and you bully her… but… despite you being the way you are… Haru still sees you as her friend.”

She starts looking around at all the damage around them. She would’ve liked to tell him to go back to his ward… but… where was it in all this damage? Was his ward even left intact? Probably not. “Hah… how did all this happen? How are you going to recover now?”

“So annoying.” He mutters quietly.

“Hahi?”

“Not ‘Hahi’ – it’s annoying! Don’t say weird shit like that, stupid woman!” Gokudera blurted out impulsively. He never really had anyone who truly worried about him without strings like this before. Family was different, as was a boss that he was willing to risk his life for.

This Haru girl was someone that he didn’t really have a solid relationship with, and yet she still cared for his well-being. It left a weird prickly feeling in his chest.

“HAHI! What was that? Haru was being nice-”

“You’re so annoying, stupid woman. You stupid woman!!” The flustered teen didn’t know what else to say in this moment after finding himself incredibly flustered.

“HAHI! Why’d you say it twice!?” Haru was getting annoyed, puffing out her cheeks in annoyance. It was just like a hamster and that just frustrated him all the more.

“I’ll say it as many times as I want. STUPID WOMAN STUPID WOMAN STUPID WOMAN STUPID WOMAN”

How childish!

Haru gnashes her teeth, “Gokudera-san… you… you… YOU’RE THE MOST ANNOYING ONE HERE!”

A nurse pushes through the rubble to see the two teens fighting. “I’ve found someone over here! He looks injured! Get the stretcher! Miss, please move aside so we can relocate the patient.”

Haru clicks her tongue and steps aside, glaring him down the entire time. The two teens were locked in a heavy glaring battle but once they were out of eyesight from each other… Haru drops to her knees and sighs heavily.

It was truly a miracle that he was okay. If he had the energy to bicker with her, he was going to be okay. She was feeling relieved, but the young teen boy was feeling confused and flustered.

What kind of stupid woman is she anyways? What an idiot!

Caring for someone like him? PFFT! What a useless thing, right? He wasn’t worth anyone’s care.

Idiot.

-

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       [Original content, but set in the Daily Life arc]

Gokudera had finished his shift at the convenience store that he worked at. What a drag, working until this late, but what can he do? He had to make an honest living somehow. He didn’t have anyone who could sponsor him- not that he would want that.

He wanted to live on his own terms and not owe anyone anything.

“Hahi!”

Ugh, it’s that annoying girl again. Gokudera rolls his eyes and he turns around to take the long way back to his apartment. He didn’t feel like dealing with the girl right after he’d finished a work shift.

“Ow! Let go of me!”

It didn’t even take one second before he’d already turned around once more and made a dash towards where he heard Haru’s annoying voice.

Ever the hit first, yell next, and ask questions later- he ran up and kicked someone’s face in. “Let the stupid woman go.” His boss would be very disappointed in him if he ever let Haru get hurt if he could’ve prevented it.

As much as the girl annoyed the SHIT out of him, he did appreciate the girl’s guts. She wasn’t deterred by the fact that Tsuna was a mafia-boss-to-be and remained steadfast friends with her childhood friend. She would always support Tsuna in whatever she was doing, and she was a source of comfort for Tsuna as well. He wasn’t blind to not be able to see that.

He didn’t see Haru as being one of ‘them’ yet, but he wouldn’t let a girl he knew be bullied, not on his turf! When the guy let Haru go, Gokudera pulled her in behind him. “I dunno what your deal is, but you’d better leave things here while you still have all your teeth.”

“The fuck!? What did I tell you? He’s just a regular useless punk who only knows violence!” One of the guys ran over to check up on his friend that was knocked out unconscious with Gokudera’s kick.

Yeah, that’s true, so what of it? Gokudera cracked his knuckles, ready to give the guys a thorough lesson that they won’t forget. What he didn’t expect was for a certain girl to chime in from behind him.

“Hahi! You said it again! How rude!”

He knew that Haru had a temper, how could he not when they verbally fought all the time? He didn’t know that Haru could have a violent bone in her body, considering she never had the urge to strangle the shit out of Lambo when he was being annoying.

The brat has a way of bringing the ‘I wanna strangle something’ out of someone.

Haru walked up to the one who spoke and landed an open-faced slap against his cheek. Gokudera noticed that another of the guys sported a matching palm print on his cheek as well. Context clues helped him deduce that some guys were speaking the truth about Gokudera and pissed Haru off for some reason?

That didn’t make sense. Why get mad about something that’s true?

“Gokudera-san isn’t a useless person! He has a temper, he’s incredibly rude, he’s allergic to being nice to people,” “Hey! Are you done talking shit about me stupid woman!?” “YOU SHUT UP, IDIOT!” Even Gokudera had to shrink back at her yelling at him like that.

Sure, they had screaming matches, but he’d never seen her this angry before. “Gokudera-san is smart, and he is loyal. He is protective and caring in his own way, but it’s hard to see because he’s such a tsundere! He is a grouch, but he follows (most) rules! He’s better than you guys who graffiti the walls and litter!”

“You done talking, bitch? I’m gonna avenge Hiroki!” One of the other guys sporting Haru’s handprint of JUSTICE makes a lunge at her and if not for Gokudera pulling her back, she would’ve stood her ground. She meant what she said and she wasn’t going to back down for any reason. If he wants to hit her, she’s definitely not going down without a fight! She can bite! She has nails that can scratch you up something fierce!

Haru stumbled backwards from Gokudera pulling on her arm towards him. He wasn’t one to let a woman fight his battles for him, nor was he one to allow a woman to get hurt in a battle, even if she did start it herself. (What a fucking stupid woman, right?)

“Stop! What are you kids doing this late at night!” A police officer arrives and the boys scatter, grabbing their unconscious friend and running off. Only Haru and Gokudera were left behind, and anyone could see that this punk-looking guy grabbed a law-abiding school girl. “Young man, I’ll be needing you to come with me for questioning.”

Gokudera being used to questioned for simply existing didn’t even put up a fuss about following the officer. He’d found out that rebelling was far more energy-expensive than cooperating.

“Ah, hello officer-san. My friend here was only helping me from the other boys who were being mean to be earlier.” Haru stands in between the officer and Gokudera, pushing him back with her hand. “Haru understands that he looks a certain way, but he’s really a nice guy, please believe Haru. He’s still acclimating to living in Japan after having lived abroad for so long.”

Would a girl from Midori, an elite all girl’s school really go out of her way to vet some random punk?

“Hey, you should greet the hardworking officer-san properly.” Haru quietly reprimands Gokudera, who nods his head in greeting reluctantly, following her prompting.

Seeing the way he was compliantly listening to her directives, it did seem there may be some truth to her words. Despite how he looked, he probably wasn’t that bad of a kid. If he came from abroad, that may explain his rude demeanor and his sense of style. “Well, be careful next time. It’s getting late, so you kids should go home.”

“Thank you very much, officer-san! We’ll be on our way promptly! Have a pleasant night, sir.” Haru bids a pleasant farewell to the officer and sighs in relief.

“Care to explain, stupid woman?”

“Haru isn’t stupid. Shouldn’t you at least be grateful that Haru got you out of a visit to the police station?”

Gokudera only rolls his eyes in response. Even if they wanted to, they wouldn’t persecute him for anything. Even if they tried to, there would be ways to get out of it.

“They were saying rude things about you, and they said that they’d blame the graffiti work on you. Haru couldn’t stand it, so she said something about it… with her hand.” She shakes her hand a few times before showing him how red it was. She put all her weight into those slaps, you know?

“You should’ve just let them, it doesn’t matter to me what they say or think about me. Building up street cred works for me.” Gokudera scoffs, finding her actions to be such a waste. The more notorious his name was, the less likely anyone was to bother him. The more notoriety he had, the better his name could keep his boss safe. “It’s not worth getting into trouble with punks like that over me.”

Haru put both of her hands on Gokudera’s face to pull him closer so they could be at eye level.

She was annoyed, but not because he didn’t appreciate her efforts. “No. Haru won’t tolerate anyone talking badly about her friends. You may be a rude punk, but you’re not a bad person.” She lets go of his face and puts her hands on her hips, “it isn’t like Haru really thought about it before acting. She was so mad about what they said about you. If Haru gets hurt defending her friends, so be it. She won’t regret it.”

Gokudera flicks her forehead, “idiot. My honor doesn’t mean shit if you have to get hurt over it. Next time, just snap a picture of their faces and I’ll deal with it myself.”

Haru rubs her forehead, grumbling underneath her breath. How dare he flick her forehead? Hmph!

Puffing out her cheeks, she turns away and walks off.

“Oi! Where is your answer, stupid woman!”

“HARU CAN’T HEAARRR YOOUUUUUU, LAA LAAA LAAAAAA~”

“Oi!”

-

--

-

Neo is stopping here for now. Phew! Part 2 will come eventually whenever I have the time and energy to do so.

[sixrealmsbeneaththesea]

it's been a while, tf2. maybe 2-3 years to be exact. but i guess like... an update happened recently? and everybody woke the fuck up and my sfm posters on deviantart started getting mad faves. so i revisited some neat memories. maybe i should dust off sfm...but i am also old and le tired~

anyway. result? revamp of my blu fem!medic. she is now lieselotte grimhimmel, aka, lols-a-lotte. and my red med, wulfram amalfried harth, aka the WAHmbulance, aka buffy/angel reference if you squint.

they have fun hating each other, cuz she's a crazy cat lady and he is, of course, the crazy bird man.

alright, back under my rock~

[ye-olde-sodor]

About the Dream Canon and COTL Aus...

I know it's been a while since I've done anything with COTL and DC, but that's because I've lost interest in them.

Looking back and rereading my posts on them they just feel...edgy? Half baked? Boring? SS is in the middle of being edgy and being decent, but that's beside the point. I know I should've fleshed these aus out before I showed them off, but I'm more of a "act now, ask later" type of person lol.

I'm not getting rid of them though! Instead, I'm just doing a gentle reboot of them.

DC will be getting the most changes. Instead of Mallard acquiring the whole island in season one, I'll have Mallard convince Topham that Gordon should spend some time at his Facility until he can recover from his brother's loss. With Gordon in Mallard's possession, the island becomes more reliant on him. His main goal is to eventually have the whole island reliant on him instead of Topham.

COTL will be getting a complete overhaul to make it more interesting. It'll take place in a reality where Diesel 10 steals Lady's whistle. Said whistle allows her to control the Gold Dust and grant wishes. He uses the whistle to make himself all powerful and plans to turn all the steamers into diesels. COTL will be focused on Thomas and Lady as they try to form a team to get her whistle back from Diesel 10.

I'll likely post more of those DC headcanon posts since they're easier to make plus make an updated info sheet for all my Aus.

I'm pretty excited about these revamps because I've been wanting to do them for quite some time now and I'm finally ready to post about these aus again. I'm always open to ideas and critiques, so if you have any, please feel free to share!

[softsky-daily]

11/19/2024

Somehow even darker than last time.

Positive thing: I got to meet with my Japanese professor and she seemed excited about new ideas for Conversation Table, and I also randomly got a free $5 gift card for Dunkin Donuts.

That's like, 2 and a half things of hashbrowns, so I'm definitely happy about that.

My brain is still in the evil miasma (read: having a prolonged mental illness moment), so I tried really hard to take be gentle with myself today despite being busy. Despite the horrors my presentation went well, and I was glad my Japanese professor was super supportive of helping with revamping Conversation Table. Plus while we were chatting some Dunkin Donuts lady doing a promotion gave us those gift cards so that's also a win.

But yeah. I can be chilling for a good while and then it feels like the world just crashes down. I mean it is definitely also connected to my period starting but that doesn't make the horrible feelings any less real. I seriously need to look into if I have PMDD because this shit sucks and seems to happen every time. I already have regular depression among other things, I don't need it worsened.

Anyways, I will just try to take it slow and hopefully my mind and the cramps will settle soon. Tomorrow I'm working from home since my schedule this week got all moved around, and then I have to go get my oil changed for my car.

Oh! And I ordered some microphones, which should be coming in tomorrow too. That'll be fun. I figured out how you can get Japanese karaoke through the Japanese Switch eShop, so once I have the microphones I can sing wherever. You do have to pay money based on how long you want to sing, but it's like 300 yen (less than $2) for 3 hours or 500 yen (less than $4) for 24 hours, so really not that bad.

Just have to survive until therapy on Thursday. Then I can scream all I want.

[aamaranthiine]

the last unicorn

“Unicorns are immortal. It is their nature to live alone in one place: usually a forest where there is a pool clear enough to see themselves--for they are a little vain, knowing themselves to be the most beautiful creatures in all the world, and magic besides.” ― Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn

#aamaranthiine ☪ a low activity independent, selective and mutuals only rp blog for the lady amalthea; an immortal unicorn once turned mortal and left forever changed by love, regret and grief.

"there are no happy endings, for nothing ends." her tale will endure for eternity, as she wanders the many worlds in search of knowledge, stories and companionship.

inspired by the novels, movie and head-canons. cherished by lumi (she/they, 32.) est. 2020; revamped 2024. || see carrd for rules/info || adults only || personals dni.

☪ carrd || memes || promo ☪

mobile rules under cut:

about me: hi! im lumi, nice to meet you. ive been a writer / roleplayer since about 2004, so a long-ass time, i am old. i live on the west coast of the usa and work a full time 8-5 job. i consider myself relaxed and easy going, spending my free time writing or playing video games.

low activity / low energy due to work and other life obligations, i beg patience because it can take me awhile sometimes to respond to threads / asks. sometimes my muse can be very finicky - i try to communicate if i feel it necessary to drop things.

private / mutuals only - if im following you, it means i am interested in interacting at some point! i will reach out if we become mutuals or fill out your interest checker if available. should there be no reciprocation, i will unfollow or soft-block as necessary. no hard feelings, i understand if things dont work out for any reason.

wholly uninterested in drama, call outs, hate and other mean, nasty things on the internet. you'll never see any of that on my blogs, ever. come to my dms if you feel the need to have a conversation with me about any concerns.

i will hard block personals not connected to rp-sideblogs and minors. i expect my mutuals / followers to be adults. no exceptions. do not reblog or repost any of my commissioned art. i am not a source blog for aesthetics / memes.

any suggestive, nsfw or triggering content is tagged as necessary. i personally have no hard triggers but do my best to be considerate of others limits. nsfw memes / prompts are for mutuals i have active ships with only.

disclaimer: my graphics, theme and banners were made by @/hyruleshop. any commissioned art i post is always credited to the artists ive paid. amalthea rightfully belongs to peter s. beagle and her interpretation here is purely for entertainment purposes.

final note: thank you for reading and i hope you enjoy my sad unicorn girl. i love her very much and i deeply appreciate everyone who interacts with me and her.