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riewritten · 2 years ago

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32 EPILOGUE I: NON-LINEAR

DUSK IN THE BRIGHTEST | chapter directory

erwin smith/fem!reader, erwin smith/you, no y/n | slow burn, angst, hurt/comfort, fluff & smut, mutual pining, canon AU, college/univ AU, professor erwin smith, commander erwin smith, non-linear narrative, manga spoilers

Trigger warning: canon-typical violence, graphic description, explicit sexual content, suicidal thoughts, mental health issues, trauma, implied/referenced sexual harassment, implied/referenced abuse, attempted murder, overdosing

Plot: It was always the nightmares, really. Entrapped with walls, human-eating giants, fighting through metal strings and swords – utterly violent, dreary, recurrent. But behind the blurry faces was a man with menacing blue eyes and vivid features; eventually appearing before you as your new reputable professor, Erwin Smith. Since then, the disaster had slipped beyond your subconscious. AO3

credits to tenkensmile!

The wet soil glued on your shoes is starting to feel disgusting already yet you still can’t stand up and go, perhaps it's the tip-taps of the impending rain and your hurling thoughts that makes you glued to where you are — in the cemetery, leaning back on your mother’s tombstone.

You won’t forgive her, that’s what you’re clear with. You’re not a saint and forgiveness isn’t the only thing that gives comfort to those who are hurt. Sometimes it’s just the mere acknowledgment that unlike what they’ve done, you have the liberty to choose what to happen, what to think of it, and what would it take to move forward.

And that’s why you pressed Erwin to tell every affront gesture he had done before you came back. After you finally regained your consciousness, that’s the only thing you’ve been talking about. You didn’t go to him for other matters, let alone for some lighthearted talks, and he also knows better than to ruin it for you.

“You’re not shooting a music video here. Look how disgusting your feet are already.” Tiny raindrops aren’t falling on your head anymore. When you looked up, Levi’s standing in front of you with an umbrella. “I just came back. I’m quite impressed at you staying in the very same position for three hours.”

You didn’t respond at first, only a gloomy look at the man. It’s only when you remembered something that you opened your mouth again. “You know, we’re not on good terms there but whenever we coincidentally bump at the cemetery, we end up cleaning tombstones for hours.”

He squinted his eyes, “Then we’re on good terms. I sure as hell won't be doing that with someone I'm repulsed to.”

You shot him a smile, “You think so?”

“Why? Sad that you can’t see that world anymore?”

You quickly faltered and looked down in lament, “I can’t believe a time will come when I’d admit that.”

“Yeah, that's surprising. A moment ago we’re rushing towards your house because you called Isabel while wailing.” He then reached a hand on you. “Come on now. Let’s go home.”

Home.

Indeed, you only need that reminder and you’re good to go with your days again. Maybe when you’re finally on good terms with Erwin, you could ask how he’s doing so far in Paradis.

“So,” Levi prompted as he finally started the engine. “How are you and Erwin so far?”

“He finished telling me everything yesterday. As usual, I immediately went home afterward.” You looked out the window. “You should allow him to drop by the house whenever he likes, you know? You don’t need to forbid him from doing so until we’re goods again.”

“He told you that?”

“No. Isabel did.” You sighed when another thought came. “It’s getting hard for me, though. I miss the cat lurking around his house.”

“Oh, that cat. It’s gone in his house.”

“He disposed of it?” You exclaimed loudly. “I won’t forgive him.”

“It’s one of his depressed days when you’re still stuck on life support. He forgot to close the balcony door and so the runt jumped. He tried to find it around the area though. Cut him off some slack.”

“If he hasn't found it yet then he’s not trying hard enough.”

“He found it from an uncanny kid and tried to get the animal back but the boy was persistent and told him to die. The lad got a snarky mouth despite the quiet attitude. I like him.”

Your annoyance was replaced with a loud laugh. "Oh no. I hope my cat is in a better place."

"When I accompanied Erwin to meet him again, the boy demanded Erwin to coax his caretakers so he could keep it and to provide 'child support’ because of his negligence."

"Smart. I like him already."

That's when he pondered in reluctance. This matter has been delayed for quite a while already and he's just waiting for Erwin to finish his accounts. Still, he's quite worried about how you'd be able to take this. "That boy could be your brother. He appeared in the nearest foster home right after your mother died."

Your stomach quickly churned then. It’s just like a moment ago that woman was forcing you to die so he’d exist and now— “Can you drop me at Erwin’s home?”

“Yeah, I know you’d say that. I rerouted minutes ago if you still hadn’t noticed.”

Despite the forming heap of questions, the primary one ringing inside your mind might be quite away from the matter at hand. Still, you rushed towards his place as soon as you went out of the car. It doesn’t take long for Erwin to open the door as well. It’s needless to say that he got wide-eyed too.

“You’re panting. What's up?”

“About my mother—” You let your breath steady first or else you’ll cry messily in the doorway. You closed the door and leaned your back into it. “This might be the last question I’ll ask about her. Was she able to regret what she did and forgive me?"

He was silent for a while, “I don’t think that’s important anymore.”

“Answer my question.”

“Regret and forgiveness are two different things.”

“Then which is it? Which one did she end up feeling?” You rushed, surely hoping it’s the latter but the way Erwin looks right now only formed a lump in your throat.

“Is this inquiry really important?”

“Answer it.”

He contemplated again but the urgency in your features made him sigh in defeat. “She regretted it because I made sure she would but she's dead set on not forgiving you.”

Indeed, the feeling would be mutual but if your brother finally existed in this world because of her, you feel like you don’t have the right to channel whatever indignation you have over that woman. You huffed a shaky exhale as your horrified eyes dampened with tears. “She’d never—” You huffed a sob and your knees gave up.

Erwin quickly crouched down to check on you. “I told you, that’s not important anymore.”

“It is.” You muttered lowly and had your eyes glued on the droplets of tears falling on the floor. “She ended up using that so my brother would exist. If I just went by her wish and died—” You rested a palm on your temple, the ringing pain of worlds existing in your head resurfaced for a while out of frustration. It didn’t take long until you started hitting your head while repeating that remark.

Back when you asked Erwin to tell you everything he did, you forbade him to give you any sort of comfort. If you end up crying with his accounts then he gets to watch it without being able to do anything — not even a squeeze on your hand nor a hug. You also reiterated that he mustn’t stop talking until you say so. The thing that’d get him down from his tendency to be downright cruel is the humanity of his loved ones. A reminder that he doesn’t need to be merciless in this world because he had people to call his own. You know he won’t be guilty of what he’s done so the only thing that’d bring him back is your raw emotions from what he did; because you lived and you came back here to forgive him.

However, this is a different matter at hand. You really are successful in establishing the veracity of his actions and thanks to that, he’s more than tormented at seeing you cry. But unlike usual, he won't be able to acquiesce to your wants now. The last thing he wants you to feel again is how unwarranted your existence was. You haven’t told him everything yet but when you said it’s by his will that you’re here again, he’s completely set on maintaining it that way even at the expense of everyone’s existence.

He held onto your wrist to stop you from hitting yourself. “It’s not. Cruel beings who think their grievances deserve to be aired more than their deeds are nothing but imprudent fools. Even more so to those who would regret their actions only when forced.” After all, he’s not any different; he thought to himself. He hesitated to say more but your voice resonated; the thing you have to compensate for is your honesty. “I’d still kill her nonetheless and the way you're thinking like that will just make me more unremorseful of what I’ve done.”

He’s right and so you stopped. However, the glare you intended to shoot for his last remark subsided upon looking at his face. He’s not the person who’d only have pity on his features if you’re the one splattered brokenly on the ground. Someone will be paying for it, whether it’s him or another person.

Realizing all of it, you wiped your tears emptily. “Stop making that face. She’s dead.”

“And you’re certainly not the one who’s supposed to.” He said, his face not changing at all. He’s not just making a point to counter yours — he's making a fact known; anyone who’d dare change it won’t get past him, not even the Parallel itself.

You didn’t speak afterward, just a dead look on the floor. You swear you’re getting better at this recently but a snap like this and you’re about to break again. You thought you were past thinking that the one at fault is you and you never had such sentiments in a while. You even thought you’d never have it again.

And now you just showed such a face to him after attempts of establishing that he didn’t have to do what he did.

However, as if he could hear your mind, he finally softened. “Of course, it doesn’t change the fact that my actions were unnecessary. I’m way beyond thinking that it is.”

And with the commotion, the silent agreement of no comfort touching is now broken. He wiped up the rain droplets splattered over your clothes and head all the while you remained glued on the ground. Not long after he engulfed you in his embrace. He’s been uttering apologies recently so now he decided to stay silent instead. Whether you walk away without a word just as you usually do or you hug him back is all yours to decide. When you chose the latter, it’s as if a thorn finally plucked out of his skin.

“Some beings deserve to have their sentiments heard, though. On a case-to-case basis.” You muffled in his sweater.

“Only if they don’t think it deserves to be attended more than their crimes.” He replied. “And doesn’t change the fact that they’re all fools.”

“Are you a fool?”

“I am."

You huffed a laugh then. When you withdrew from the hug, he took his time to look at you up close. He landed a peck on your forehead after a while, “Thought you’re not letting me this near again.”

“I can't. You made me go back here for this.”

“I did?”

“You didn’t know? When you said I had to go back to save you, it's not heard by the air alone. I’m not the only one to decide whether or not I’ll go back that day and apparently, your resolve was firmer than mine at that moment.”

“You have to tell me more about that. She told me you're supposed to disappear after going there to change things.”

You shook your head no. “I was able to do that because the founder granted me so. His pity is unrelated to my existence. I’m in this world only because of your will.”

“I almost went for the knife when she said that. Good to know I didn’t shed blood for a wrong theory.” Before you could glare at him for that again, he added. “And all this time I'm in fear that your existence is in constant threat because of it.”

Despite his relief, a reminder about your existence struck you. Even before it’d consume your thoughts, however, you strayed the topic away. “If that boy isn’t my brother, I’ll pulverize you and Levi.”

“I almost hoped he wasn’t because he’s being rude to me. I can’t believe someone will tell me to die in this lifetime. I was trained to please people regardless of age.”

“Oh, I completely own him as my own if that’s the case.” You stood up and ignored his glare. “Bring me to him, then.”

Somehow, you tried to hide your jitters by lowering your expectations. You neither know what to say if you get to see him again nor how to manage your emotions if the time comes. And so soon as you saw him, your knees faltered. You pretended it was intentional by kneeling down as if coaxing him to go to you. You bit the insides of your mouth so you wouldn’t cry and scare him away.

But then the little boy cried upon seeing you. Your mouth hung agape.

“Does he not like me that much already?”

He patted your shoulders in consolement. "I’ve been there, but don’t take it personally. He’s got quite an attitude in this lifetime.”

But no, both of you are wrong because he came running to you instead as if he finally found someone he knew in a space full of strangers. His cries sounded in sheer relief as if he’s been in a fret all this time until you dropped by.

You gasped when he threw himself in a hug and continued his wailing. “What took you so long? I thought you wouldn't come to me anymore!”

“Huh?” You're too shocked to even cry. "Do you remember—" But cut yourself off when his wailing got louder. You hushed him at first until he calmed down again and when he withdrew from the hug with a sniff, you asked. "What do you mean by that?"

It took him a while to reply and his face slowly transitioned into confusion. "Yeah, why did I say that?" He looked at you as if it was someone who spoke on his behalf instead. "Are you my mom?"

Despite it being trivial, the gleam of curiosity on his face finally made you cry. That gleaming curiosity— he's indeed your brother.

You laughed in between your cries. "I'm quite young to bear a child and I don't plan to have one." You heard a stifled chuckle from behind and you almost turned your back to glare. "I can be your older sister, though. How about that?"

"As long as you'll take me to lots of adventures, I'll think about making you one."

"You can get whatever you want in this world." Now you finally understand how Erwin takes this remark seriously. "What sort of adventures would you like to have, then?"

"I don't remember everything about me and I feel like I was left here for no reason. I see lots of kids walking around with adults and they usually look as if on the way for some adventures." His voice tipped lower, "I'm just quite curious about it."

It punched your gut with guilt then. With his form, he looks at least eight years old. Aside from the fact that this is exactly how old he was when his childhood got ruined in Paradis, he must've been so scared all this time — having to appear out of nowhere and going to strangers because he got no one to help him. Maybe if you woke up way earlier, you'd be able to get him quickly. Or perhaps he didn't have to go through this had you died. Maybe he'd have a normal childhood—

As if your silence had words in Erwin's mind, he held on to your shoulders to halt it and patted the kid's head. "This lady right here can be quite boring, though, so you can rely on me when it comes to adventures."

All the grim thoughts dissipated with that because indeed, it was Erwin who was able to satiate his curiosity by doing unimaginable things. A circumstance similar to that but without the threat of death is more than you could ever wish for.

Your months have been peaceful since then. You were busy handling the process of fostering your brother and you were earnest in doing so. Finishing it means he'd be under your care for good after all. However, that doesn't erase the fact that things aren't supposed to be so smooth in reality and you have to come to terms with that.

Heaps of memories come unexpectedly to deprive you of good days.

After a hectic day of daily errands and dropping by Erwin's house to sleep, what daunted you was his figure in the kitchen as he prepared food — how harmless, peaceful even, but not for your mind. You tremblingly walked towards it as you coaxed yourself that it's different this time, that someone cooking in the kitchen doesn't mean doomsday.

You have to get used to it too. You can't have your brother bothered by the dining room because of this.

When Erwin turned to you, he quickly grasped what just happened in your head. It's as if he knows you better than yourself. He calmly dropped the utensils, brought them back to where they came from, which is out of your sight, washed his hands then walked towards you. You stopped in your tracks, utterly terrified. Suddenly, Erwin doesn't look like Erwin anymore. The place isn't his anymore. It was a cue for your limb to take a step back.

"Don't go near me." You lowly blurted out.

Then it snapped back and the place shifted again. But this time, Erwin's completely wide-eyed as well. And he really did stop walking. That's when both of you realized that this might be quite a challenging night again.

"I'm sorry." You blurted out even before he could say anything.

"You didn't do anything wrong."

"No, I—" You hid your trembling hands behind your back and quickly thought of a lie. "I just, fuck, had a rough day and I—"

"Okay, it's okay. You can tell me about it." He hummed, "But you know no one's gonna hurt you now, right?"

Your mind went on a rampage. It's as if every nerve of your brain is trying to come up with ideas on how to reverse your action. "I don't know why I said that. I'm not angry at you. I mean, yeah, we had a disagreement about what my mom did b-but we already talked about it so this is not what you think it is—" Erwin called your name and so your thoughts halted. "Yes?"

"Can I go to you now?" He gently asked.

Shit.

He's been so, so good to you. When you decided to sleep in his place for the first time in a while, he's very quick to realize your subtle flinch upon looking at the dining table. After all, Kuchel eliminated the dining room since you started living in their place. When you asked, she just said she was getting sick of the home's current style. It was that moment in Erwin's place when you finally realized why.

Since then, you'd settle to have your meal outdoors and he's okay with that. When you told him you actually want to try doing it inside the house again, he made sure the dinner would be ready even before you arrived at his place. Then he would nicely usher you to the living room — ask you if you prefer to have company or eat alone.

After weeks of preferring to be alone, you started to ask for his company. It means that you're the only one to eat though hence you're worried. Nonetheless, he made sure you'll see it as a milestone. You'd sit down on the floor carpet, rest your food on the coffee table, and he would lie down on the couch behind you, caress the crown of your head from time to time as you eat, say gentle reassurances that no one's gonna attack you while you munch your food especially if he's here. You would laugh at him and resolutely clarify that you would never feel in danger if he's near.

He's been so gentle to you, so considerate, but you uttered such a hurtful word instead. You've been through a lot already, in that world and this one, so why would something as trivial as this rattle you?

"You shouldn't even ask for that," You're a tiptoe away from crying but you don't think you could forgive yourself if you cried about this again. "You don't deserve this when you've been nothing but kind."

It means yes, then. He walked towards you and engulfed your figure in his embrace again. "But you've been so good for me, my prettiest soldier. Such a strong lady for us." He soothed. "Your heart's beating really fast. See? That's how your body responds and it's beyond your control but you're handling it so well."

You closed your eyes in frustration, "I know. No one's gonna hurt me at the damn dining table especially if it's you and I don't know why my body's responding like this and I can't deal with this anymore."

"That's why we talked about the reason why. So we could deal with it. Processing miserable things from that world and this one is different. Something that happened directly in this world would affect you way more than what happened there." He replied. "Your terror at a dining table would transcend your repulsion towards giants and it's okay. It's normal."

"But I'm not in danger and you've been so considerate of me and yet—" Your muscles were tightening, your breathing was ragged. You were trying so hard to stop. That's why his hold on you didn't falter. He didn't speak but rather let you air out everything as he calmed you down with his warmth.

After the silence and his hands rubbing circular motions on your back, he finally reached you again. Your brain cooperated with you again. "I don't want to be like this anymore."

"If this happened to Isabel instead and you saw her hating the place, would you blame her for it?"

"I would never."

"You would understand, right?"

"Who wouldn't?"

"So why do you think your behavior is out of place?"

"Because we're different. That world has unimaginable horrors so it's expected for me to be more resilient about this."

"Every negative thing you've been through isn't supposed to make you stronger. They're negative for a reason and they shouldn't be treated as if they exist only to grant you a stronger emotional threshold."

You were completely grounded then. When your breathing subsided and he felt your heart slowing down, you could feel Erwin smiling from behind.

"Don't you dare apologize for being in the kitchen before I came." You sternly remarked.

"I won't." He chuckled. He had learned it now after all. You don't want him to apologize for your responses that he didn't cause. Your relationship with the dining room is something beyond his control and you want nothing but for the both of you to establish that. The same goes with his bad days when he prefers to be alone with his mind, or when he suddenly gets crippled by his guilt after a nightmare and would like to do nothing but stay occupied without talking to anyone.

"Are you almost done preparing?"

"No, I just got home." He replied. "We should just call for delivery."

"No. We just did that the other day and you don't like eating outdoors all the time." You tapped his back and kissed him on the cheeks. "I'll take a bath then roll myself on the bed after. Call on me when it's done."

"Wear my clothes."

You scoffed, "Are you that delighted at me clad in nothing but your clothes? The things I've brought here are barely touched until now."

"Yeah, down bad." He immediately answered. When you huffed and just walked away, he grabbed you for a kiss instead. It went on for a while until you couldn't breathe. He withdrew when you continuously patted his shoulders for a tap out. "I could kneel down at you wearing my clothes and you'd have to deal with it." Then finally let you walk to the bathroom.

When both of you were done, he insisted on cleaning everything and didn't let you lift a finger. You usually get vexed with that but he told you to just walk around the house wearing his clothes for a whole week in exchange.

"About to sleep?" Erwin scooted on the bed after washing up. You were lying flatly with the futon wrapped all over your body except the head. If someone was to look from afar, it's as if you're lying down in a king-sized coffin. The only difference is that your eyes are actually open.

"Tried." You reported in lament.

"It's okay. There was an attempt." He hovered above you and kissed your forehead, nuzzled his lips down until he reached your neck and it stayed like that for a while. His breath tingling on your skin and the heave of his chest breathing in and out eased the tension so easily. It's some sort of a nighttime routine by now whenever you drop by his place to sleep since it got more challenging than usual. The sleeping pills could help but you don't want to be dependent on them and so you thought Erwin would be an effective alternative. Not only is it true but he also assured you that it's completely okay to be dependent on him. He knows by now that his warmth helps you a lot in sleeping as it's one of the very few places where your body feels utterly safe. He'd spoon you, tuck you nicely, bury you in his neck — and you'd savor the heat, his sweet scent that keeps you in solace, his soft nuzzles, everything about him.

After a while, he finally let his head up again to examine your face. He clicked a smile upon realization. "It seems like this is getting more fast-acting than usual. This must be an everyday activity already."

You blinked slowly, eyes already fluttering a bit. "My main residence is kilometers away from here."

"And I could easily transfer your stuff from Levi's to this place." This time he's lying beside you.

"Isabel still tends to go to my room from time to time. Her episodes have subsided but are still there." You replied as you buried yourself in his neck to savor his after-bath scent. God, he smells so good and it's making you mushy. Maybe this is really what makes you sleep all this time. "And Kuchel gets quite paranoid when I'm gone for quite a while."

"I could give them hourly updates that you're here, then."

You let out a weak chuckle. "It's not too long 'til I get my brother again. I'll live here with him by then."

"Not patient enough. This life's too short for this."

Then the reminder about your existence flashed before you again. "I have to tell you something." You said and he hummed, encouraging you. You sat up before resuming. "You know, the founder had told me your will instigated chaos again and caused glitches in the conditions. He sounded quite annoyed with it, though." You chuckled at the memory. You paused for a while and clutched the pillow you were holding. "However, this might be— no, it's not actually might. This will be the last time I'll exist everywhere."

"What do you mean?"

"You know, a world is materialized with every choice made by every living being. Meaning, there are countless of you existing in different places. But in my case," You bit your lip. "—in those heaps of choices, I cease to exist. I saw it too. I already vanished everywhere. This is the only world left where I exist. And if I die here, I'm good as gone. My existence would get sucked into a hole and when that hole gets full," You flashed him your clenched fist then opened it up quite slowly. "It would erupt every particle it sucked into dust and that's what I'll be — a dust."

It seems like the realization took time for him to register so you waited, albeit with a rapid heartbeat. You can't just break like this in front of him. What's important right now is how you'd coax him that it's okay.

However, he won't let you out of it. "Are you scared?" He gently got up as well so you'd be on the same level.

"No. I accepted it. I already have my best life here. I could wish for nothing more." You averted your gaze somewhere.

He cupped your face and gently turned it until your foreheads bumped. "You're scared."

"I'm not."

"You're about to cry." He whispered. Indeed, that obvious remark almost made the tears run down the precipice. "That huge tree with a crevasse as its base as you've illustrated to us back in that world, I'm pretty sure something like that exists in this world as well."

"I don't know. The founder said he's also unaware of all the glitches this world had after I existed. Given that my mother was able to trigger the parallel by herself, I think that tree is still somewhere. She also mentioned going to the woods before. Maybe she tried finding it as well."

"Then you will not cease to exist."

"I told you, it's okay." You looked at him wistfully but his face was completely resolute as if there's nothing this world could do when he's the one who wants it. You held onto his hand on your cheeks and closed your eyes. "Besides, even if the tree is still here, it can't guarantee the power of the parallel again. We have nothing left to do, but that's fine! I'm still happy—"

He went for a kiss then, perhaps his way of telling you that you don't mean what you just said that's why he's cutting you off into silence instead. You're too exhausted as well hence you just let yourself falter. Along with the kiss were your silent sobs; you're scared, really, really scared. Back in Paradis, you didn't care about your existence because you believed that the life you had was so awful and you wouldn't mind it if you were as good as gone. But here? Oh god, here— even if some of it was really painful, you loved every single part of it. This world is so beautiful. The man who granted you existence again is so beautiful. The way he never fails to give you love is so beautiful that you want to live a lot of times and have it again. The thought of him giving this love to another being in another life pained you more than anything else. You didn't even dare explore worlds that led him to that choice.

He noticed you were crying so he didn't withdraw it just yet. He didn't let your sobs nor fear take over. After a while and when he's sure all the tears were wiped out by his fingers, he gently pulled himself away. "There's no way it'd be impossible. You don't need to worry about it."

You want to believe it as well no matter how futile it is. After a small chuckle, you asked, "Why is it possible, then?"

"Because I said so." He firmly answered. You laughed again and Erwin gave you a slight frown. "I'm serious."

"I don't think it works that way."

"I made you exist again, hadn't I?" He asked with a smile. "So tell me, how is it impossible? When I'm the one who said so?"

"It's a coincidence–"

"It's not. That man said my will instigated another chaos and it'll stay that way. I exist to wreak havoc."

With that, the fear you've been hiding was splattered completely on your face. "I'm moments away from disappearing when I had the power at my disposal hence I got no time to be anxious, but now that I'm aware and I still have presumably decades until death," You tried to tone down the tremble as it daunted you. Erwin might be the most dangerous man in here so if he wouldn't be able to do anything about it, you would really be— "I don't want to be gone."

Erwin was silent for a while. It wasn't the loss of words for him but rather the heaviness of what you just said and how you said it. For all the times that he saw you vulnerable and scared, this is perhaps the most despairing sight so far.

"And you won't be. I could unremorsefully eliminate all threats in your existence." He responded with resolve, just as he always does. "That includes the circumstances you're mentioning."

You stared at him for a while and he sure waited for your affirmation. No thoughts ran inside you aside from your vanishment and how you're coaxing yourself that it'll be fine. So what if he found another one after that? If it would give him comfort and contentment, just who are you to be greedy about it?

Okay, that's it.

You just have to convince yourself to believe it.

"If it won't work then we don't have to beat ourselves up for it. If I die here, it's not like I'll be gone completely. I'll be remembered as long as everyone who knows me lives. If you're all gone in this world, it won't be painful as well. I don't have to see and get insecure about it. I think we could get by with that."

"Then good for you, couldn't be me though. If I have to ruin all the preexisting conditions to have you exist again then everything in this world will be damned." He interjected. "You went to me while acknowledging how greedy I am and so we'll deal with it. You should know how far I would go by now. If I'm the one who caused the glitches then the glitches are staying for good."

Yeah, he pretty much won't let anyone win this one. Not with that tone of voice. You brushed off the reluctance away and let yourself ponder with a smile. His desire for your company is enough. You're having so much love right now and so you'd relish the present with gratitude.

"Ruining conditions must not include killing anyone, okay?" You squint your eyes while he glanced sideways and didn't answer. "No blood will splatter here, Erwin. You hear me?"

"Then everyone should know better than to get you away from me. See," He started unbuttoning your top as if to prove a point. This is one of the nights when he'd prefer to have you quite bare so the heat would come from his embrace and the futon instead. "As long as you're here and I can freely do this, no blood will splatter."

"Then what would happen if you couldn't do this?" You deadpanned as you helped him remove it.

"What do you think?"

"I can't believe we still have to talk about your tendency to do evil things."

"Yeah, have this utterly terrible man for the rest of your life and have him stuck with you even beyond this world." He chuckled and finally removed the garment. "Are you scared of me now?"

You wrapped your arm around his neck. This time, you're the one to initiate the kiss. "I hold so much power over you. You wouldn't be able to do anything that'd intentionally make me angry."

"Oh, is that so?" He feigned a surprise.

You looked at him with curled eyebrows. "Am I actually wrong?"

"No. It's just quite scary that you're aware of that." He ushered you down and raised the blanket to cover the both of you. The dim lamp stayed open. "Someone as powerful as you must not be fully aware of their abilities."

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randomshyperson · 3 years ago

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The Scarlet Witch Prophecy - Chapter 27 - Epilogue

Gif is not mine, but Pinterest wouldn't let me give credits to the gif maker, so bless you wherever you are friend.

Summary: As the youngest daughter of Howard Stark, you have ordinary expectations for your years at Hogwarts. Little do you know what adventures await you when your destiny is intertwined with the legendary Scarlet Witch.

Warnings: +16. Adaptation of the Harry Potter Saga, Magical Thematic, Prophecies, Mentions of Violence, Torture and dark magic, Language (swearing and minor/major offenses), manipulation of will, Underage kissing, insinuation of smut with minors, Smut (overage), descriptions of death, aggression, obscurity, angst, fluffy, soulmates analogies. || Words: 5.264K

A/N: So, we finally come to the end of this story. I hope you enjoyed the whole mess that was this fic haha Thanks for all the comments and all the compliments, dear readers. Good reading!

Series Masterlist || Read on AO3 || All Works Masterlist

//-//-//-//-//-//-//-//-//

Chapter 27 - Part XXVII - Epilogue

The tea was weak.

So was Charles, so you thought it best not to say anything.

You were at Agatha's now, and it was cold and raining outside.

Charles welcomed you with a mug of tea, but he looked exhausted.

You wondered if it was because he missed her at home. Or if it was because since she was gone, he inherited everything. Including the lawsuits.

With the end of the war, someone had to answer for Agatha's crimes too.

You and Wanda told everything to the order and the ministry. But even so, she was still what the aurors called a "witch conspirator," and there were the legal issues of the relics that Charles forged as well.

It was a never-ending headache, but every time you and Wanda asked, he assured you that everything was under control.

"Don't worry about me, Stark." Charles says with a gentle smile. And he doesn't look younger like the charm from before, now even in the manor, you are able to see his real appearance. "Tell me how things are going with Wanda?"

You bite the inside of your cheek, shrugging.

"Good."

Charles raises an eyebrow. You sigh.

"We're good, pal." You reply. "It's just...she hasn't been sleeping well."

He straightens his posture, encouraging you to speak. You play with the cup grabber.

"It's PTSD, buddy." You say in a low tone. "In some ways, it's worse for her. She actually believed I was dead, and I think she could feel that for a second you know. And now she wakes up in the middle of the night, shaking and crying, and I have no idea how to help her."

"I understand." He says, getting thoughtful for a moment. "You see, I believe there are two options. The first, is risky, but is usually the path that witches follow. You could use magic, to erase the trauma."

You frown.

"But I don't recommend that one." Charles says. "Because messing with memory is a dangerous thing, you know? What I suggest is what our muggles call therapy. A professional who will teach you to lead with all that has happened. In fact, now that we have a new model of government, who knows what changes will occur, right? Maybe magic therapists will become more common in England." Charles counters with a smile, getting up to go to one of the cupboards.

He searches through the smaller drawers for a few moments, until he pulls out a small business card.

"I know some people who can help you." Charles says handing you the item. "They are a special kind of witches, connected with healing magic. You'll find them in Tibet, in a place called Kamar-Taj. If I'm not mistaken, Mister Stephen Strange, spent many years studying with them."

"Thank you, Charles." You say with a smile, tucking the item away in your jacket. "And how did the matter of the house turn out? Are you sure you want to sell?"

Charles sighs, looking around a moment.

"Yeah, it's... it's her house, Y/N." He says. "Even though I've lived here all these years, I've always been a visitor. Everything here belonged to her, the walls seem to guard her presence. I need something new now that she's gone. Maybe I'll go to New York."

You smile, nodding. "I will miss you if you do Charles, but I understand."

"I'll miss you too, girl." He says. "But I will write. And you can be sure I want to be invited to when you and Wanda get married."

You give a half-hearted laugh, feeling your cheeks flush, but nod in understanding.

//-//-//-//

Smiling, you sigh in satisfaction at the taste of Wanda in your mouth.

The tightness in your hair loosens at the sound that escapes her throat, and you can't help but giggle against her.

You pull away to climb under the sheet, meeting her face, a satisfied, lazy expression as she tries to normalize her breathing.

"Good morning darling." You whisper against her lips, and she moves her hands up to your neck, scratching the back of your neck with her fingers.

"Good morning, my love." She says in her husky, affected voice, before kissing you deeply. You both smile against the kiss and a few moments later, you pull away, settling into bed beside her.

"Are you ready for today, Wands?"

She props herself up on her elbow, turning her body to look at you as her finger traces your arm down to your face.

"I'm nervous." She confesses. "But I think that's a good thing."

You nod softly. "I think talking about everything that happened with strangers is going to be hard. But we can do it at our own pace. And if it doesn't work, we'll find another way. And most importantly, we'll do it together, honey."

"That's really the most important thing." She agrees with a shy smile, moving closer to kiss you again. "By the way, what's up with this new way of waking me up now? It's the fourth time this week." Wanda teases against your lips, making you chuckle softly as you lean under her.

"Is that a complaint, darling?"

"Not at all." She retorts half breathlessly, feeling your hands go up the inside of her pajamas. "I just want to wake up like this every day from now on actually."

"Your wish is my command, Miss Maximoff."

Many minutes later, you girls are properly dressed and at the breakfast table, listening to the news with Erik and Pietro.

"The nomination of the new minister of magic, the African sorceress Nakia from Uagadou, has created some tension with the English council, who claimed that only a British witch should take up the post in the ministry." Announced the journalist mechanically. You noticed that Erik turned up the volume. "Full coverage to follow with our Channel 8 reporters."

While Erik was listening to the news about the political tensions in the ministry, you were reading your correspondences.

There were letters from Ivy, Tony, Mantis, and several other friends. There was nothing from Gamora and Nebula because they were extremely busy with the legal issues of Thanos' will, and they had warned you that they had been out of writing for a while.

You smiled shyly at the way Wanda's hand was on your thigh, resting there while she sipped coffee.

Pietro let out a loud yawn.

"You look tired." You commented distractedly, closing Tony's letter on the table. Pietro, leaned back against the wood, sleepily.

"I'm exhausted to be exact." He retorted. "Guardians training is very time consuming. I'm just not spending the day in bed because I need to get to the ministry with Dad."

"At least you're doing something you like, Piete." Wanda tries to reason, and her brother smiles, nodding before closing his eyes.

Pietro had received an offer to play for the Guardians of the Galaxy, and well, he accepted of course. But in the adjustment phase, he had a lot of training. It has been a good thing though.

Life getting back on track after the war.

Erik lowered the radio to look at you and Wanda.

"Do you two have any idea when you'll be back?"

You exchange a look with Wanda. "No, Papa. Maybe it will be something quick, like a dentist appointment. And maybe it will be regular. We don't know, neither of us knew magic therapy before."

"Don't worry, Stephen said it's quite educational, no?" Erik commented moving around the kitchen to assemble a snack to take to the ministry. He and Pietro would be spending the day there. "We're going to be busy at some audiences, but I think I'll have time to answer the telephone. If you need anything, or if you're staying over, let me know. I don't want to waste food at dinner."

"Of course, Mr. Lehnsherr."

Some time later, you and Wanda were standing inside the fireplace of her house, the floo powder in your right hand.

"Shall we go there, dear?" You asked, and she nodded as she shook your hand.

//-//-//-//-//

The witch was called "Ancient One", and had a bald head as shiny as Charles's.

And Wanda gave you a gentle nudge for making her want to laugh when you mentally told her that.

Something told you that the woman in front of you can also hear your thoughts in a way, because she gave you and Wanda a little smile before going back to explaining how things worked at Kamar-Taj.

"Besides all the therapeutic treatment we offer, I would like to talk to you two about something else." The Ancient continued, her hands folded behind her body. "About scarlet magic."

You and Wanda exchanged a look, uncertain about it. Since she had become the Scarlet Witch, a lot of people want to talk about it. Mostly reporters.

Wanda just nodded in agreement, and the Ancient smiled before speaking again.

"The mages of Kamar-Taj did not participate in the fights at Hogwarts castle, because we were busy with even more pressing matters, ladies." Counters the Elder. "There are horrors in the wizarding world far more perilous than a necromancer mage with supremacist blood purity motivations."

"Still the help would have been appreciated, ma'am." You retort half annoyed by the way that there must have been at least a hundred and fifty or so wizards inside the palace who did not participate in the fight.

"I understand your frustration at seeing us here, isolated and protected, Miss Stark." The Ancient One completed, looking at you intently. "But I assure you that protecting the existence of our universe takes up a great deal of our time."

You are surprised by her words. And you frown, as does Wanda.

"I'm not following, ma'am." Wanda murmurs beside you.

"What we learn at Kamar-Taj is far greater than what they teach at Hogwarts, or any school of magic, Miss Maximoff." The Ancient One says, and then walks to the edge of the roof where you all are standing. There's a very nice view of the mountains. "This is the first time since Morgana that we have a scarlet witch forged among us, and properly protected. That for being both a good and a bad omen."

"I have no intention of harming anyone, ma'am. I assure you." Wanda retorts seriously. "And I think I've had enough fighting for a lifetime."

The ancient woman smiles, turning to you again.

"I regret to inform you that this may not be an option for you, Miss Maximoff." She says. "As the Scarlet Witch, there are only two possible functions for your existence. The destruction or the salvation of a universe."

Wanda swallows dryly, but does not hesitate.

"I have already fulfilled my prophecy." She says. "Mephisto is dead, forever this time. We've cleaned everything up, destroyed his horcruxes. The war is over."

"Mephisto was a grain of sand." The ancient woman retorts thoughtfully. "And now that you are a scarlet witch, that will become increasingly clear to you. The magnitude of your powers could surpass Morgana's if you are properly trained."

"The way you say it, it sounds like she has no choice." You murmur annoyed, by the way Wanda got silent and looks thoughtful.

The ancient woman relaxes her posture.

"Forgive my harshness, there is always a choice." She says, and looks back at the mountains. "Kamar-Taj has survived and protected this universe for centuries without the help of a scarlet witch. We can wait for the next one."

"But just having someone with my powers already makes the fight unbalanced, doesn't it?" Wanda quickly deduces, and the Ancient One smiles before agreeing.

"There's always going to be darkness trying to overpower the light, Miss Maximoff." The Ancient One says thoughtfully. "Sometimes evil comes from within, but it never completely goes away. For now, there is no being capable of standing up to scarlet magic in power, anywhere in our world. But for the next few years, that may change."

"You knew we were coming here didn't you?" Wanda asks and the old woman just looks at her before turning around again, heading towards the palace.

Wanda turns to you, intertwining your hands.

"What do you think?" She asks, unsure. You give her a short smile, caressing her cheek. "I feel like I keep getting you into fights."

"It's our destiny, sweetheart." You say. "And I'm glad I can be here for you."

Wanda smiles, taking a deep breath. "I think this will delay my proposal."

You give a short laugh, feeling your whole neck heat up.

"W-What?"

Wanda gives you a little corner smile, shrugging. "And I was even going to buy you a ring."

"Wands." You mumble embarrassedly, and she laughs before wrapping her arms around your neck, hugging you.

"I love you, babe." She retorts against your ear. "Thank you for staying by my side."

"I love you too, Wanda. And I'm not going anywhere."

She intertwined your hands before you two went inside the Kamar-Taj.

//-//-//-//-//

You spun in the air skillfully, falling to your feet with a smooth motion.

"You are balancing your magic masterfully Miss Stark, I am proud." Commented Mordo, one of your colleagues and masters at Kamar-Taj. You smiled, half out of breath from the exercise as you turned to him.

It had been eight months since you and Wanda were in the palace.

You were living here now, because after three weeks of having to use the Maximoff house's floo powder, you realized that for the intensity of your studies, it was better to live here at once.

For the first two months, you and Wanda had magic therapy twice a week in the morning, and studied for the rest of the day.

When Wanda stopped having nightmares, the training increased.

Now Wanda was the most powerful witchmaker in the wizarding world, and you were striving to be a worthy protector. And masters like Mordo and Wong taught you everything they could.

There was much more to learn about magic than Hogwarts taught, it was true.

It was already late afternoon, and Wanda was supposed to be having her private training with the Ancient One while you were practicing physical magic with Mordo in the outer courtyard of the palace.

"I'm still having trouble casting a spell while I'm in the air, Mordo." You comment, wringing your hands lightly. "I think it's because I worry about not falling to the ground."

"You have to find a focus point." Mordo directs, as he stands in a conjuration position. "That way your mind will remember to keep you in the air while you do the spell."

You nod in understanding, but as you get into position, Mordo raises his hand in the air.

"Rest for the time being." He says. "You trained hard today. Try tomorrow when your mind is rested. And besides, today is a day of celebration."

You smile, escorting Mordo back inside the palace.

"I didn't know you guys joined muggles' celebrations." You comment, and he gives a smile.

"But a new year is special even for our community." He says. "The spirit world stirs, there are new omens, meteor showers. And even if nothing said happened, the food is excellent."

You laugh, agreeing.

"I'll see you and Miss Maximoff at the festival, I hope." Modor says as soon as you reach the stairs leading to the dormitories.

You smile. "Of course, my friend. See you there."

Later, after you have showered and changed into something more comfortable, Wanda joins you in the room you share.

She smiles when she sees you standing at the window, distracted by the scenery, and she puts her study books on the small table, magically closes the door and walks over to you, hugging you from behind.

"Hi, sweetheart." You greet by intertwining your hands together in front of your stomach as Wanda kisses your shoulder.

"Hi, my love." She says. "You look thoughtful, is everything all right?"

You smile, Wanda is so perceptive about you. "Yes, Wands. I was homesick, I was thinking about visiting Tony and Steve."

"That sounds great babe." She murmurs against your neck. "How about we go next weekend?"

You smiled, turning in her arms to entwine your arms around her neck.

"That's cool." You say with a nod. "And we can invite Pietro too. I can write Tony, for a family lunch, how about that?"

"I think it's incredible." She says before bringing your lips together in a sweet kiss.

Wanda smiles against your lips, tightening her arms around your waist before pulling away.

"Are we joining the others at the festival?" You ask with eyes focused on her lips. She bites them, making you smile.

"Maybe." She murmurs. "Or maybe I love the possibility of being alone with you too much."

You laugh softly, kissing her again.

When Wanda presses you against the wall you sigh.

"We should get ready if we were going to the festival." You comment breathlessly, feeling her kiss your neck. Wanda smiles against your skin.

"True." She murmurs. "Care to join me in the shower?"

"We will definitely be late if I do." You retort with your eyes closed, because her hands have begun to climb up the inside of your blouse. Wanda laughs softly against your neck, kissing the skin one last time before pulling her head away to look at you.

"Okay, baby." She says, kissing you quickly before pulling away completely. You miss her hands immediately, but you bite the inside of your cheek to keep from saying anything. "I'll see you in a little while."

You smiled, resisting the urge to pull her back to you as you watched her leave the room.

Once alone, you sighed, turning your attention to the letters you had begun to write, lying on the desk.

You skimmed through a few of them, biting your lip.

In Tony's one was simply written:

"Dear brother,

I think I will ask Wanda to marry me."

//-//-//-//-//

The lights were beautiful.

And the Spring Festival was very crowded.

You and Wanda were arm in arm, walking towards the hill, because you had already visited most of the stands and you had finished eating as well.

Your wizard friends were all around, having gotten lost from you about thirty minutes after you arrived.

There were fireworks in the sky, colorful and beautiful, and you were thankful that the laws about restricting and exposing magic were less strict in China, because it was a beautiful thing to watch.

You and Wanda got a seat at the top of the hill, on one of the benches that gave a good view of the village, there were a few other families around, but they were a good distance away.

It was the perfect moment to propose, you realized.

So your heart was racing.

Wanda looked at you curiously.

"You got tense all of a sudden. Everything okay?"

Shit.

"S-sure." You answered quickly, trying not to look like a complete mess.

You didn't even have a ring. What were you thinking?

Wanda started playing with your fingers, and you felt a different tingle and looked at your intertwined hands. She was pulling your magic with hers in little sparks, and you laughed in surprise.

"What's that?" You asked, and she smiled without looking away.

"Something I'm learning." She mumbled, and was quiet for a moment before she spoke again. "After Mephisto, after what they did to you, we didn't... try to put our magic together anymore."

"I didn't know we could still do that." You retorted slightly puzzled. Wanda still looked at you.

"Me neither." She said, her fingers tracing your palm. "But it seems like it's a thing. A thing between scarlet witches and their protectors."

You frowned at the way Wanda seemed almost shy about it. With your other hand, you stopped her movements gently, and waited for her to look at you.

"What are you trying to tell me, dear?" You asked tenderly, watching the girl's flushed cheeks.

"It's silly, it's okay if you don't want to." She says and seeing your expression, she takes a deep breath before continuing. "Morgana lived thousands of years ago. Before civil unions like today's existed. At that time, wizards swore under the stars. And she created a ceremony for herself and her protector, because she believed that no mundane oath was good enough to represent the connection she had with them."

You were impressed, absorbing her words. Wanda thought your silence was because you didn't like the idea, and started justifying how it's okay if you don't want to, babbling about it being something silly and old.

"Wait, are you asking me to marry you?" you interrupt with a laugh, and she blushes heavily, but keeps her gaze on you.

"Well, I said I would, didn't I?" She returns clumsily. "We...er, I think we both agree that we're going to be together, and I said I was going to ask, I just didn't say when, but I've been thinking about it for quite some time and-hmpt"

You kissed her on the mouth, firmly and eagerly, making her sigh against your lips. But you pulled away with a giggle as soon as Wanda started to reciprocate.

"What's funny?" She asks confused and in a hoarse voice, shaken by the sudden kiss. You looked at her with adoration and amusement, smoothing her cheeks with one hand.

"Honey, I was going to ask you to marry me."

"What?" she retorts in surprise, raising her eyebrow. You laugh.

"Yeah, in a few minutes actually, I was trying to get a little courage." You confess, half-heartedly now that Wanda is looking at you with so much love in her eyes. "I guess I haven't stopped thinking about it since we got here, and you talked about not having a ring. Part of me wanted to propose to you first, before you did."

Wanda laughed, and then kissed you again, more quietly this time. You both smiled against each other's lips before pulling away.

"Does that mean we're engaged now?" You ask almost shyly, and Wanda bites her lips, looking up at you.

"Yes." She says, no longer able to contain her smile. "And that in some time we will be wives."

You smile, sighing. "Wives." You repeat, smiling. "That sounds really good, Wanda."

Wanda agrees, smiling as well, she adjusts herself to lean completely against you, as you slip your arm across her shoulder.

The fireworks show will start soon, and you will see it through to the end.

//-//-//-//-//

“Tony, we’re here!”

As soon as you announced this aloud by entering the living room, you heard an exclamation of "They're here!" which was accompanied by your brother coming from the kitchen to help you with the bags.

"Come on, honey, let me carry them." You said quickly as you looked at Wanda who was standing behind you, taking the suitcase from her hand.

"Hey, come on in, come on in!" Tony said quickly, hugging you as he picked up the bags, and helped Wanda in as well.

You could hear the sound of voices in the kitchen, suggesting that most of the guests had already arrived.

"Aunt Wanda!" Shouted a childish voice that you knew well, running into the room toward your wife, but you caught Morgan on your lap before she jumped at Wanda, who was laughing.

"Hey, hey, little girl, come here!" You said smiling, "You can't jump on Aunt Wanda like that, huh? You have to watch out for Billy and Tommy."

Morgan put her finger to her mouth, looking at you with wide eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot."

"It's okay, sweetheart." Wanda spoke, reaching up to stroke the child's cheeks, her other hand resting on your eight month old belly. "Soon they'll be here and you'll be able to play with them, and give them as many hugs as you want."

"In the meantime you can hug your other aunt, you know?" you suggest, tickling the little girl who falls into laughter on your lap.

You then join the others in the kitchen.

It is the English Witch Independence holiday, and well, since the war, breaks like this are well taken.

The witch community has never been in such harmony.

Since the Stark mansion was already rebuilt, Tony organized everything.

You and Wanda were going to stay the whole holiday, as were most of your friends.

"Where are Gamora and Quill?" You asked Tony as soon as he finished greeting everyone.

"They went to the village to buy more food." Tony says helping Morgan pin up her hair. "Jarvis thinks we miscalculated how much we should have bought."

You just mutter in understanding, focusing your attention on Wanda again, who is answering Mantis about the trip. You confirm that she is feeling well before you go upstairs to take your bags to your room.

Later on, Tony and Steve end up setting up a table in the backyard, because the kids are almost knocking things over in the kitchen with their play.

After helping them with this, there are also some chairs in the pond area, and you are watching Morgan playing witch tag with the other children; Bucky and Sam's son Charlie, Natasha and Maria's little girls, Oksana and Olivia.

Pietro also brings Luna, but he is late, but he brings cake, and the little girl runs straight into your lap when she sees you.

"You are so grown up Lunie!" You comment, spinning her in the air, causing her to laugh as your brother-in-law greets his sister and the rest of the guests.

"Okay, people, Steve just burned the barbecue so let's resort to another form of food!" Bucky comments loudly making the vast majority of the adults laugh, while Steve complains in the background that it was just a piece of meat that got a little more on the fire than it should have.

Anyway, there are several options for food. Because every time he has a big holiday like this one, Jarvis makes a point of preparing things from every place the guests have come from. And well, you and Tony know witches from various parts of the world.

Besides, now that you and Wanda live in Sokovia, you were much more used to her typical food than to England's, and you weren't complaining.

You serve Wanda a few things before sitting down next to her. "Here you go dear."

"Thank you, my love." She thanks you as she accepts the plate, and looks at you curiously when she sees you sitting down. "Honey, don't worry, you can go play Quidditch with the others, I'll be fine."

Maybe, now that Wanda is pregnant, you've been getting a little clingy. She doesn't really care, and you would dismiss anything to follow her around.

"No, baby, it's okay." You say quickly, watching the children jump excitedly at the sight of Pietro and Gamora with brooms in hand. "I'd rather sit on my wife's side."

Wanda smiles, shaking her head, and you intertwine your hands, kissing her palm before she begins to eat.

A few moments later, in between laughing at the children's excitement about the tricks Pietro performs in the air, Wanda comments softly beside you.

"You think we'll be good like this?" She asks, stroking her belly lightly. Her gaze is focused on Pietro teaching Luna to ride the broom. You glance at her.

"I'm sure we will, honey." You say. "You mostly."

Wanda sighs, turning her face to you. "Even though I'm the Scarlet Witch?"

You smile, putting your arm over her shoulder. "I think Billy and Tommy will find it incredible. As do I."

Wanda smiles shyly, leaning against you.

"It's a shame this will only last four days." She then comments, sighing a little.

"Yeah, but that just makes it all the more precious, doesn't it?" You return, stroking her arm with your fingers. "Every year we look forward to it more. And next year, we'll have two little babies with us, too."

Wanda nods, straightening up to kiss her cheek.

"I love you." She says, making you look at her.

"Me too, Wanda." You say. "I love you for a lifetime, sweetheart."

"And beyond the stars." She whispers back, in mention of your wedding vows, making you smile before kissing her.

"Daddy, Aunt Y/N and Aunt Wanda are doing that again!" Morgan complains loudly, and you and Wanda part, laughing shyly, while the other adults laugh as well, and Tony reaches over to take his daughter on his lap. "Why do they kiss all the time, Daddy?"

"Because they like to give me material for my therapist, dear." Tony returns by making you move to throw a pillow from the outside chair at him, which he just deflects as he laughs.

"It's just because they love each other so much, honey." Steve says as he takes his daughter on his lap, giving Tony a look about saying the right things in Morgan's learning phase, but your brother just shrugs, laughing as he takes his husband's place at the grill. "Like your daddy always hugs me, or Aunt Maria falls asleep on Aunt Nat's shoulder?"

Maria, who was almost falling asleep, made a defensive face, making everyone laugh, but her wife, Nat, stroked her hair and gently pulled her back to herself.

"I get it, Daddy." Morgan says smiling as she is put back on the floor.

"Now go play." Steve says. "And watch out for the gnomes."

Morgan gives a mischievous grimace before running back to the rest of the children. Steve sighs because now she was probably going to come back covered in dirt after jumping into the gardens after the gnomes.

Steve takes the empty seat next to you.

"I can't believe we have to work again on Monday." He mutters, closing his eyes, making you laugh. "It could be a holiday every day."

"So you could burn the barbecue every day, right buddy?" You tease making him and Wanda laugh.

"In my defense, well, I have no argument really." He says. "I thought I was going to learn to cook after the war, but that proved impossible."

You just laughed, turning your attention forward.

"Speaking of work, how are things?" Steve asks next, opening his eyes. You sigh, exchanging a look with Wanda before waving your fingers so that one of the buttery beer bottles flies off the table into your hand. Steve gives a short laugh, "That bad?" He asks about your change in posture.

"You'd be surprised how many crazies are willing to destroy the universe, Rogers." You comment, but then force a smile, relaxing your posture. "But let's not talk about that today buddy. It's a day of celebrating, we rest on holidays. And Wanda is on leave."

"Sure, sure." Steve says. "But you know you can always count on me, right? We're all here for whatever you need."

You pat his shoulder. "Of course, Steve. I appreciate it."

For now, you and your wife, and your future babies, would rest.

There were always going to be dangers outside the border, just as the Ancient One warned you, almost eleven years ago, when you joined Kamar-Taj.

Now, you were already a master of the mystic arts, and Wanda was known throughout the wizarding world for being the Scarlet Witch, the protector of your world.

You had a lot of work to do, and some back pain.

But that was all right. You also had Wanda. And she wasn't going anywhere without you.

//-//-//-//-//-//-///-//-///-//-///-//-///-//-//

A/F/N> If you have any doubts about how some things happened, I wanted to leave some details open, so that each of you can have your own headcanons. Reader and Wanda got married where, when? You decide. I hope you enjoyed it. See you soon!

Tag list> @imapotatao / @aimezvousbrahms/ @ensorcellme/ @helloalycia || @mionemymind / @abimess / @stephanieromanoff / @yourtaletotell / @tomy5girls / @thegayw1tch / @idek-5 // @helloalycia // @ensorcellme // @aimezvousbrahms // @drpepperobsessed // @sighsam // @olsensnpm // @sxfwap // @table57 // @madamevirgo // @causeitswhatjesuswouldfreakingdo // @emptysince18x // @xastrydx || @yuhloversxx || @ymzki-haruki || @wouldirunofftheworldsomeday || @lostandsearching || @lezzzbehonesthere || @musicinourlips || @chaekhan || @diaryoflife || @nervoustrack || @aquamarinescarlet || @cristin-rjd || @idamaemann || @fortunatelynerdylight || @iliketozoneout || @blackwow34 // @spongebobtentacles || @cyberbonesworld |

#wanda maximoff imagines #wanda x reader #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff x you #wanda x you #wanda maximoff x yn #scarlet witch x reader #elizabeth olsen x reader #wanda x yn #The Scarlet Witch Prophecy

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pretendicanwrite · 2 years ago

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Something happened Pt. 4

Who's over a week late? not me....

Part 4!!

I wanted to write a little bit more of this story before I published another chapter so that I could explain a few things.

I haven't really been able to find a good place to end this story, so I have decided to open up this universe. I haven't come up with a name for it, and I'm not sure that I will. However, this specific plot point in said universe is probably only going to be a few more chapters. Possibly about 3 including an epilogue.

I have really enjoyed writing this, and that might be why I can't find a stopping point.

I hope you all have enjoyed this despite the heavy topic.

Enjoy!!

Character credit to @lumosinlove

CW: Semi-graphic descriptions of s*xual assault, and mental health issues.

**********

When they walked in, they were met with the sight of a bunch of half-dressed men, whipping towels at each other's legs. Finn and Logan had already changed, but they were still sweaty so they decided to hit the showers, and left Leo sitting in his stall.

Remus walked over eventually after getting dressed and sat next to Leo. “Hey, Knutty. Everything alright?”

Leo nodded, telling him that he was going through some stuff.

Remus, not wanting to force Leo to elaborate just said, “Of course. Just know that me and Cap are always here for you.” He went to pat Leo on the shoulder, but Leo flinched violently, drawing the attention of half the room, the other half looking over when they noticed everyone went quiet.

Leo’s breathing picked up speed noticing everyone staring at him. He stood up quickly and walked out into the entrance hallway. He knew logically that the team would never judge him for what had happened, and would be supportive, but still. The thought of them knowing scared him.

Finally, after he had calmed himself down, he walked into the locker room, noticing how the team avoided staring at him. He could still see the looks of concern on their faces though.

“Sorry. Something happened to me, and I’m not ready to share it yet, but I don’t want to be touched right now.”

The team all let out words of understanding and continued on. When Finn and Logan got out of the showers and finished dressing, all three boys walked out to the car.

“I know you said you don’t like people behind you, but would you like to sit in the front or the back?”

“I’m okay with the back, thanks, Logan.”

They drove home, Finn and Logan much calmer than they had been the previous two weeks.

When they got to the apartment, all of the boys sat on the couch and put on Friends for background noise.

Leo was sat in the middle with boys on either side of him, and with everything finally out in the open, it was the safest he has felt since the whole thing happened.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys sooner. I know you said that it was okay, but I want you both to know that I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t ready. It was nothing to do with either of you. My brain kept giving me all these scenarios of what could happen, and it was always the worst reaction. Thank you guys for being here, and understanding this. I want you both to know that I really love you and that I appreciate your understanding.”

Leo tentatively wrapped his arms around his boys and laid his head on top of Logan's.

Leo had scheduled 3 appointments this week with Heather, all of them before practice. So when he woke up in the morning earlier than his boys, he rolled out of bed and got ready quietly.

Knowing that his boys would need the car to take their gear, he called Cap. Sirius was always at the rink at least an hour before everyone else and was always the last to leave.

“Hey Cap, can you pick me up on your way to the rink?”

“Of course Knutty. What’s up?”

“I have an appointment with Heather, and I don’t want to make Logan and Finn head to the rink early, and I know you’re always there early.”

“Alright, I’m heading out the door now, so I’ll be there in about 5 minutes.”

Leo thanked him and hung up, heading out of the apartment to wait on the curb. Not even 4 minutes later Cap pulled up in his Range Rover, sunglasses perched on his nose.

“Get in rookie.”

Leo hopped in on the passenger side, and Sirius pulled away from the curb, starting the 15-minute trip to the rink.

“I just want to let you know that you can talk to me anytime. If something’s going on with someone on the team, the staff, or even one of your boyfriends, I’m always here and willing to talk.”

Leo nodded, keeping his eyes on the road instead of looking at his captain. “Thank you. Something happened a couple of weeks ago, and I’m not comfortable talking about what it was just yet. I should probably let you know that I don’t want to be touched right now though, and I don’t like people standing behind me. I know that it’s an inconvenience being on a pro hockey team, but I just need some time.”

“Of course. Whatever you need Knutty.”

When they arrived at the rink Leo waited for Cap to grab his bag, and they walked in together. Leo thanked Cap for his ride and walked straight to Heather’s office.

“Hello, Leo.” She greeted. She was sitting at her desk writing in a journal perched on one leg. She had glasses hanging on her nose and smiled up at Leo. “Take a seat wherever. If you’re interested, we can go talk out in the actual arena. I know Sirius is usually in the locker rooms working on plays, so we’ll have it all to ourselves.”

Leo took her up on her offer. He kept a regular pair of skates in the locker room to use sometimes instead of his goalie skates.

After working with hockey players for so long, Heather learned to skate. She realized that her hockey players usually felt most comfortable on the ice. They tended to open up to her more, and they seemed calmer while they were skating.

She and Leo did slow laps around the ice, talking about how he’s coping, giving him helpful hints, and working on how to talk about it, and how to work past his adversity to being touched.

“I can initiate it, but anytime Logan unconsciously reaches out for me, all I can think about is that guy, and I can’t handle it. Almost everything makes me think of him, and I feel like I’m letting everyone around me down. Some days I can barely function without breaking down.”

“Alright. Well, Leo, you’re not letting anybody down by taking the time and space you need to heal. We’ve discussed some different techniques of what to do while you’re experiencing these feelings, but right now I’d really like to talk about what you think is causing them. I know we’ve talked about a few of them, but I think there are more that you just haven’t realized are triggers yet.”

Leo stayed silent for a lap. He thought over almost every interaction he’s had since the incident. A few things came to mind as he passed the goal for the second time in silence. When he was ready, he shared his thoughts with Heather.

“I think I would agree with most of those. Now that you recognize them, do you think it will make it easier to handle your thoughts towards them?”

Leo silently nodded and watched as Remus walked into the rink. He smiled politely and headed back to the locker room while Leo and Heather skated over to the bench.

“How do you feel today went, Leo?”

“I think it went pretty well. I’m sorry I took so much of our time to think.”

Heather smiled a genuine one and sat across from Leo as she took off her skates. “No apology needed. That was kind of the point of today’s session. I wanted to get a feel of where you are at, and where you want to be. The entire idea behind this was to get you thinking about your processes.”

Leo thanked her once again and headed into the locker room where slowly, more people were beginning to get ready for practice. His face formed a small smile as he thought about how much progress he had made today. He was genuinely proud of himself, and as he walked through the doors, he found himself heading straight for his redheaded boyfriend.

He gently rested his hand on Finn’s shoulder, and when he turned around, Leo slowly wrapped his arms around Finn.

“Well this is new, Nutter Butter,” He chuckled.

Leo knew that he was moving fast, but Heather had told him that recovery was different for everyone and that it wasn’t a linear path. He was proud of himself for initiating this contact. He had wanted to be held by his boys this whole time, but his mind had held him back.

“What do you mean, this is new? You guys are always disgustingly all over each other.”

Leo felt Finn tense up. They both knew that Talker was joking, but Leo’s mind immediately provided the thought that Talker thought they were disturbing.

He was quick to withdraw his arms, not noticing how Finn was trying to keep him there in his panic.

Finn leaned in towards him, being careful not to grab or touch him. “He was just kidding baby.”

“I know.” Leo’s voice came out raspy, and kind of shaky. Most of the guys turned to look at him, and he only sunk further into his panic.

“Knutty, I was just kidding. You guys are adorable together.”

“I know.” Leo moved, and lowered himself onto the bench behind him. “I know.”

“What’s happening rookie? Would you like one of us to go get Heather?” James offered, moving to set his hand on Leo’s shoulder.

Leo flinched. Hard. “Don’t want to be touched.”

Jame’s face melted into a guilt stricken look as he quickly pulled his hand back.

Leo had gathered the attention of the rest of the team, including Logan as he walked out of the P.T. room.

He was vaguely aware of someone, he couldn’t tell who, walking towards the staff hallway. His breathing was picking up, and he finally figured out what was going on. He was having an anxiety attack.

Heather had gone over what to do during these, but for the life of him, he could not remember what it was.

“Alright- out- this is non-negotiable. -needs space.” He barely registered Cap’s voice as he ushered everyone out of the locker room.

**********

#finn o'hara #leo knut #logan tremblay #lumosinlove #sweater weather #o'knutzy #oknutzy #wolfstar #coops

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gb-patch · 3 years ago

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Ask Answers: June 6th, 2021

I’m back with more ask responses! You can also check our Frequently Asked Question sheet if there’s something you’re wondering that’s not answered here.

FAQ Also, if you prefer to just see the main posts without all the asks/reblogs, feel free to follow our side account instead: GB Patch Updates Blog

Thank you for the patience with these questions ♡

Hey in very beginning of step 3 in the scene where Mr.Holden had a thought dancing on the tip of his tongue but he kept it to himself after MC and Cove were being cute (idk if it makes a difference but this is when they're dating)... Can we know what he was thinking/ wanted to say? It's been bugging me lol

He would’ve gone into a “look how much you’ve grown”, “your dad is so proud of you”, “I’m so glad things worked out with the MC”, and etc spiel, haha. But he resisted the urge to fawn on his baby boy, at least for that scene.

If we planned to move away for college/future plans in step 3, is it implied that MC and Cove would have a long distance relationship for sure? Could MC have convinced Cove to come with them? How is the dynamic of their relationship going to be addressed in Step 4, if that makes sense?

Cove is willing to follow the MC where they went after everything is settled for them there, and if they’re sure they want him to come! You’ll get to decide how things shook out during those transitional years just by making choices about it during the opening prologue of Step 4.

Hi! First off, how does it feel to have created one of the best games when it comes to inclusion for lbtq+ peeps? I've never felt as validated with my identity and sexuality when playing a game and I'm seemingly not alone ♥ Second, and this might be a little too specific, but what kinds of drinks does Cove like as well as dislike? Thank you, you're the best ♥

Thank you for very much! It’s really nice to hear the game felt inclusive. Cove likes regular water and fruit juices/smoothies most! He dislikes coffee and cola, and he’s not super into most teas either.

Hi, may i ask what gb patch stands for? Specifically the gb part lol

It stands for my old, silly username I used in places like Neopets as a kid, aha. The company name wasn’t super thought out since it was originally just me making VNs as a hobby. Luckily, “GB Patch” kind of seems like it could mean something reasonable, so I didn’t have to rebrand when it did become a more serious, commercial group.

If we chose to not propose to cove in the step 3 dlc would he propose or would the mc propose in step 4 or the wedding dlc?

Yeah, you or Cove can propose in Step 4 if you’re not already engaged! The Wedding DLC takes place after the engagement so the proposal scenes aren’t there.

will you guys announce if the early access for the new game is out on patreon ?

When beta builds of Step 4 or whatever start coming out on the Patreon we will mention it here on social media too.

Heyy I just had a quick question about Baxter if that’s okay :)?

I saw in an ask+answer that it’s possible to casually date Baxter In step 3, but what leads up to that? I have the step 3 dlc and I’ve tried playing them In a different orders and ways but it doesn’t seem to get anywhere ^^;

The Step 3 DLC is Cove-based because he’s the default guy. There’s a separate Baxter romance DLC that’s not out yet. That’s where you can get him to date you. I’m sorry for the confusion!

Will we ever get any LI's or side characters with physical disabilities or deformities? I think your games would be a great place to have them in since they're always so accepting and safe!

Yeah, we do hope to have representation for that in future projects ^^. Thank you for the confidence in us.

Is it possible to get Cove to take the bed and MC to sleep on the floor?

Not in Step 3, I’m afraid.

So, I have played the prologue of Our Life countless times and I haven't gotten the [Your Life] achievement, why is that?

Steam sometimes isn’t connected properly when an achievement unlocks and so it remains locked on your account. If that happens, unfortunately getting the scene again won’t unlock it. The achievement becomes inaccessible because the game thinks you already have it. Playing with the same Steam account on a different device or fully deleting your game data (more than the only the save files) are the only work arounds we’ve found.

Since when you talk with Jeremy in step 3 it's mentioned he goes on dates with someone (which assume is JB because who else would take this boy on dates) that makes him happy, does that sort of make JB and Jeremy the canon relationship in the first game?

The default for XOXO Droplets is that JB casually goes on dates with each of the jerks! Shiloh would’ve been harsher if Jeremy was the only guy getting her attention, haha. But the player can change that default by dating just one person the whole game for their own story and who she ends up with for real has no default.

Hi, hello! Huge OL fan, thank you so much for the wholesome content, it was very much needed during these times. Managed to get several people to join team Cove, so that's very exciting, I always have people to fawn over him with. I have a little question and I'm sorry if it was asked before, but does it ever come up in the game what Cove has told his mom about us? (who knows, with so many options, one can miss it) Or, alternatively, will it come up in the Step 4 DLC?

Thank you very much for sharing the game with people <3. It’s really great to hear people are liking it. Right now that doesn’t come up in game. Kyra is willing to keep her mouth shut and Cove isn’t gonna have that conversation either. At least not when he’s younger, but yes, perhaps when he’s a fully grown big boy in Step 4 you can ask him about it.

I’ve been thinking about this ever since it has been confirmed that there would be two love interests for OL2, would there be the possibility of forming a polyamorous relationship with both love interests? I’m sorry if you answered this previously, I’m just curious.

We are considering it, but it’s not a guarantee yet. It’d be really great to have but it’d add so many extra alterations that’d need to made, aha.

Hello! You mentioned how Cove would be uncomfortable with kids at 23, but how old would he be when he’s comfortable with having/adopting kids? (Same goes for the other LI’s.) btw, love your game!!

He’d want to be at least 25, but even older would be good. Derek would want to have kids when he and his partner could reasonably support them, the age itself wouldn’t matter. If they were doing good at 22 and wanted kids, he’d be up for it. Or they could wait until their 30s or whatever. Baxter is also more of a “when it feels right” guy rather than having a specific age requirement. Cove is just especially wary of being a young parent because of his own parents. I’m happy you like the game!

does step 4 immediately play after you press "end summer" in step 3? or is there another button/transition (like the story text thingy) before the epilogue begins? what happens after the epilogue? roll credits? 😂

Step 4 will have transition section always and there will be an extra button, if you own the Derek or Baxter DLC. By default the Cove-based version of Step 4 just plays once Step 3 is over. However, having the other guys’ storylines will mean you get to pick which version of Step 4 plays; Cove Step 4 (the basic one), Derek Step 4, or Baxter Step 4.

Happy pride, thank you for all you do for us🥰

I have a quick question though, I recently got a MacBook after my old windows computer broke, and now steam says I cannot download it, but it has no issues with other games, what can I do to download it?? I’m sorry if my English is bad

Happy pride month! Unfortunately, Our Life isn’t available for Mac on Steam right now. To be an approval application Apple requires having special notarization and we as a small group haven’t gotten that. Itch doesn’t care and lets us release the game for Mac there anyway, Steam does care so we’re locked out of putting the Mac build up on their storefront. Feel free to email us and we can try to help the situation out further!

[email protected]

Hello! I was jus wondering if the Baxter and Derek DLCs are still happening? I haven’t heard anything about them on here or patreon in a while so I just wanted to make sure ^^

They’re still coming and we just released a new sprite sketch on the Patreon for the Derek DLC c:. But right now Step 4 is still much more of a priority. Once that’s closer to being done we’ll focus way more on sharing previews for the other guys.

is it possible to tell cove you love him (platonically) at step 3 fondness/selecting him as basically family? i just love the mc and liz sibling interactions and it got me wondering about it (especially if you've selected that option)

You and Cove can be as close as family, but there’s not a specific scene in Step 3 where you say “I love you” in a family context. But there’s always Step 4~

do you intend on ever adding a collectors mode to Our Life? Like a way to collect achievements and CGs for the gallery without it effecting any save files?

We weren’t considering it before. But if a lot of players would find that helpful, we could start thinking on that!

Sorry if it's a silly question haha, but (in crush/love) is Cove really aware of how cute and cuddly he seems to MC? If so, what does he think or do about it? Or does he just ignore it?

He isn’t particular aware. Cove never truly stops being surprised that the MC is interested in/attracted to him, haha.

Would you say that the alone ending of xoxo droplets is worth playing again to get?

Nope, haha. The goal is to make friends/get a boyfriend and so the alone ending is kind of the bad ending for the game. Though there is a consolation prize if you get it by accident.

Is there any possible situation which would ever prompt Pran to bake for his girlfriend? Like I know it's unlikely I mean even if JB broke her leg somehow I'm pretty sure he'd still be like "I considered baking you a cake and doing the frosting the way I think looks interesting but you don't deserve a cake, no one does." right but also ahhh it would be super nice if some day he just surprised her with baked goods one day out of nowhere. JB would be so shocked it would be cute. So is there any possible situation where that could/would be a thing that he would do?

He might bake out of spite, like if he felt he had to prove her wrong on something. Or if JB used some good reverse psychology on him. Or he might do it in a relatively nice way if he could make his GF so shocked by the kind gesture that his amusement with that overrode his insistence on not being sweet. Pran is very difficult in high school, aha.

Is the "one route (where) it can be seen that Everett will drop his seemingly eternal waging with Jeremy pretty easily and can start getting along without thinking much on it" the Lucas route? I'm curious!

Yep! Everett will side with Jeremy if it’s between him and Lucas.

Hi I hope you guys are having a great day :) I just had to ask how Cliff would feel about Cove's partner/fiancé Mc calling them dad whether it be accidental or otherwise and secondly I also wanted to ask how he would feel about being asked to be the one to give the mc away at their wedding.

He would be very touched and excited! I hope you have a good day too :D

Hello! I saw an ask relating to whether Cliff "moves on" after Cove's grown up and stuff (and he stays single), but what about Kyra? Will she be with anyone else or will she stay single?

She does start dating again, but she takes it slow.

Hi! I absolutely love the art for characters in OL and I wonder is this fine to draw my MC in same drawing style and upload online later? Is this something artists would be okay with? Thank you!

Yeah, you can certainly do that C:

Hey there!

I wonder if I'm just being stupid here.. Is Step 4 a DLC? And if so, where can I find it? I can't seem to find it on Steam :< Thank you!

Step 4 is a free epilogue! It’s not done yet, but once it is finished you’ll just update your game file and Step 4 will be there after Step 3 ends.

hi! are step 4 and the wedding dlc two different things?

They are. Step 4 is a free epilogue that’ll be a default part of the game once it’s done, the wedding DLC is an optional paid expansion that takes place after Step 4.

Why did Baxter not receive a step 2 sprite seeing how he shows up later

Sprites are time consuming to draw and take money out of the budget that could’ve gone to other things. His tiny appearance in Step 2 wasn’t worth all the effort to make a sprite, aha.

I just realized, what happens if if you get the patreon exclusive moment but at a later date, when you don't have the membership anymore, it's updated (like a bugs fix update for example)? Would you have to get the membership again?

You would have to get the membership again to redownload the build. But there’s very little chance there’s going to be an update once it’s been out for over a month. If a build gets released with errors, players catch/report them within the first few days. So by the time the first subscription period ends, any problems that were noticeable would already have been fixed. And we’re certainly not gonna be adding new content to it once it’s been released for a long time. There’s no need to worry about missing out on something worthwhile in the future if you cancel your membership. It’s being made with the idea in mind that many players are gonna be getting it and then going.

Hello! Wanted to ask about gaming choice in step 3? Once upon a playthorugh I got the option to buy Cove a bracelet for his graduation present. I played the same basic character again and that option wasn't there anymore. I'm not sure where I went wrong. My Cove wears a bracelet on each hand and my MC is into fashion and jewelry. Do I need to put an earring on him or? Sorry, love your game so much.

He also needs to have liked bracelets in Step 2 for that to be considered a good gift option for him. Sorry for the confusion! I’m happy you love the game :)

Is Step 4 being released at the same time as the Wedding DLC or will the first come before the latter? Thank you!

I’m not sure. Ideally they’ll come out at the same time, but the wedding DLC has a lot of art to get done and we may have to release it after Step 4.

Can mc still get confession from Cove at the end of step 3 even if mc casually dates Baxter in step 3? Such as in crush mode?

I don’t think so. Maybe that’ll change, but generally there’s differences to the Step 3 ending if you were dating Baxter and those differences likely will conflict with getting the Cove confession.

For the patreon moments/dlcs, will it be available for all tiers?

It’ll be available for tier 2 (Fans) and up!

#our life #xoxo droplets #gb patch #ask #gb patch games #Our Life Beginnings & Always

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cyndavilachase · 5 years ago

Photo

I’m Looking Forward Now 💖Thank you and good bye

So, it’s been a little over a week since Steven Universe Future ended…

I’ve been hesitant to write this, honestly, but I’m tired of holding myself back from properly expressing myself in fear of appearing overly invested in the media I consume, even in private. Writing helps me organize my thoughts and feelings, and I feel like these thoughts in particular may resonate with many, so I want to share them. I want to talk about what Steven Universe has done for me personally, both as an artist, and as a person.

I’ve been around since the day the first episode of the original series aired. I actually remember when Steven Universe was just a logo on Wikipedia’s “List of Upcoming Cartoon Network Shows” list, back when I was a freshman in high school. It piqued my interest, but when commercials finally dropped for it, I thought it was going to be bad because of the way marketing handled introducing Steven as a likeable character. There was still something about it that made me want to give it a chance though, so I went online and watched the pilot before the first episode's release. I was hooked immediately. I knew I was going to love it, and I did. I fell so absolutely in love with Steven as a character, and the world that he and the gems lived in. I became obsessed. I was always so excited for new episodes to come out. Little did I know what else it would do for me as I went through my adolescence alongside it.

As the show progressed, it was evident that what I wanted out of a western animated childrens’ cartoon was finally coming into fruition: this show was becoming serialized. There was continuity, there was plot, there was character development-- it was getting deep. It was pushing the groundwork that Adventure Time laid out even further (thank you, Adventure Time).

I will give credit where credit is due: earlier western childrens’ cartoons I grew up with like Hey Arnold, and Rugrats, among others, also touched on heavy topics, but Steven Universe was able to take similar ideas (and even more complex ones, concerning mental health and relationships) and expand on them outside of contained episodes and/or short arcs. These themes, which were a part of the show’s overarching story, spanned across its entirety. Continuity was rampant.

What did this mean? It meant kids cartoons didn’t have to be silly and fun all the time and characters weren’t just actors playing a part in 11-minute skits. Steven and the gems would remember things that happened to them, and it affected them and how they would function and play a part in their story. This was a huge deal to me as a teenager. I always wanted the cartoons I grew up with featuring kid characters to feel more. In my own work, I often felt discouraged when combining a fun, cutesy western art style with themes as dark or layered as anime would cover. I always thought it had to be one or the other because an audience wouldn’t take a combination of the two seriously enough, based on discussions I had with classmates, friends, and online analysis I read at the time. Steven Universe proved to me otherwise. This show was opening the door for future cartoons exploring in-depth, adult concepts. I felt so seen as a kid, and was inspired to stick with what I love doing.

I was actually very worried about the show’s survival. It was in fact immensely underrated and the fandom was miniscule. Then in 2014, JailBreak dropped, and it’s popularity exploded. Part of it was because of the complex plot and the themes it was covering like I mentioned, but also because of its representation.

I remember when fandom theorized that Garnet was a fusion due to grand, tragic reasons. Turns out, she’s simply a metaphor for a very loving w|w relationship. This was huge. I cannot stress how important it is that we continue to normalize healthy canon queer relationships in childens’ media, and Steven Universe finally was the first to do that proper. Introducing these themes offers the chance for a kid to sit there and ask themselves, “Why is this demonized by so many people?” I asked myself exactly that. Ruby and Sapphire were my cartoon LGBT rep. They were the first LGBT couple I ever ecstatically drew fanart of. I was dealing with a lot of internalized homophobia at the time, and they showed me that I was allowed to love women and feel normal about it. The process of overcoming this was a long one, but they played a part in my very first steps into becoming comfortable with my sexuality. I could go on and on about it’s representation in general-- how it breaks the mold when it comes to showcasing a diverse set of characters in design, in casting, and in breaking gender roles. It’s focus on love and empathy. Steven himself is a big boy, but he's the protagonist, and the show never once makes fun of his weight, or any other bigger characters for that matter. It wasn’t hard to see why the fandom had grown so large.

Fandom was always a joy for me. It was a hobby I picked up when I was in middle school, like many of us here did. I would always cater my experience to fun, and fun only. I only started getting more deeply involved in SU’s fandom when I had just turned into an adult. During the summer of 2016, between my first and second year of college, I drew for the show almost every day non-stop when the Summer of Steven event was going on and posted them online. This was a form of practice for me in order to become not just more comfortable with experimenting with my art, but also to meet new artists, make new friends, and learn to interact with strangers without fear. I dealt with a ton of anxiety when I was in high school. When I was a senior applying to art school for animation, I decided I was going to overcome that anxiety. I made plans to take baby steps to improve myself over the course of my 4 years of college. Joining the fandom, while unforeseen, was definitely a part of that process. I started feeling more confident in sharing my ideas, even if they were fan-made. I fell in love with storyboarding after that summer, when I took my first storyboarding class, and genuinely felt like I was actually getting somewhere with all of this. I remember finally coming to a point in my classes where I could pitch and not feel hopelessly insecure about it. I was opening up more to my friends and peers.

But this process, unfortunately, came to a screeching halt.

My life completely, utterly crumbled under me in the Fall of 2017 due to a series of blows in my personal life that happened in the span of just a couple weeks. My mental health and sense of identity were completely destroyed. All of that confidence I had worked for-- completely ruined. I was alone. I nearly died. My stay at college was extended to 4 and half years, instead of the 4 I had intended. I lost my love for animation-- making it, and watching it. I could no longer watch Steven Universe with the same love I had for it beforehand. It’s a terrible thing, trying to give your attention to something you don’t love anymore, and wanting so desperately to love again. I dropped so many things I loved in my life, including the fandom.

Healing was a long and complicated road. I continued to watch the show all the way up until Change Your Mind aired in the beginning of 2019, and while I still felt empty, that was definitely a turning point for me with it’s encapsulation of self-love. I was hoping James Baxter would get to work on Steven Universe since he guest-animated on Adventure Time, and it was incredible seeing that wish actually come true. The movie came out and while I enjoyed it and thought highly of it, I was still having issues letting myself genuinely love things again, old and new. It was especially difficult because cartoons were my solace as a kid, when things got rough at home. I remember feeling sad because the show ended, and not getting the chance to love it again like I used to while it was still going.

By the time Steven Universe Future was announced, I was finally coming around. I was genuinely starting to feel excitement for art and animation again. I wasn’t expecting there to be a whole new epilogue series, but happily ever after, there we were! Prickly Pear aired, and the implications it left in terms of where the story was going did it. I was finally ready to let myself take the dive back into fandom in January of this year. My art blew up, something I wasn’t expecting considering my 2-year hiatus. Following this, I was invited into a discord server containing some of the biggest writers, artists, editors, and analysts in the fandom. I had no idea there were so many talented people in the fandom, some already with degrees, some getting their degrees-- creating stuff for it on the side just for fun. The amount of passion and productivity level here is insane, and so is the amount of discussion that has come out of it.

I didn’t realize it at first, but it was actually helping me gain back the courage to share ideas. I lost my confidence in pitching while I was taking the time to heal, and graduating meant there would no longer be a classroom setting I could practice in. This group helped immensely.

I have made so many friends through this wonderful series, and I have so many fond memories talking to like-minded creatives, getting feedback and a myriad of sources for inspiration, as well as all of the memes and jokes and weekly theorizations that came about as we all waited on the edges of our seats for episodes to air. I needed this so badly, I needed to get back in touch with my roots, when I would go absolutely hog-wild over a cartoon I loved with people who loved it as much I did. Future has been a blessing for me in this way. I graduated feeling like I was back at square-one, but now I feel like I’m on my way again.

It’s 2020 and while I’m doing great right now, I am honestly still recovering from the total exhaustion that followed after graduating a few months ago, and finally leaving the campus where my life fell apart behind. Needless to say, watching Future was like looking into a mirror. Watching one of my favorite characters of all time-- one that grew up with me-- go through so many of the same things I went through not too long ago was absolutely insane to watch unfold. It’s such an important thing too, to show a character go through the process of breaking down over trauma and all the nasty things that come with it, and to have them go on the road to healing. Steven got that therapy. He wasn’t blamed. The gems were called out. The finale was everything I could have ever hoped for. The catharsis I experienced watching it was out of this world.

As I continue my own healing journey, I will always look up to the storyboard artists, revisionists, and designers that I have been following over these past 7 years, as well as the new ones introduced in Future. It's been such a joy watching these artists release their promo art for episodes, talk about their experiences working on the show, and post the work they've done for it alongside episodes airing.

Thank you Rebecca Sugar, the Crewniverse, and the fans, for making this such a truly wonderful and unique experience. Thank you for reminding me that I am, and always will be, an artist, a cartoonist, and a fan. Thank you, my followers, for the overwhelmingly positive response to my artwork. I have had so much fun interacting and discussing the show with you all again over these past few months. Steven Universe and it’s fandom will always have a special place in my heart, and it will always be a classic that I will return to for comfort and inspiration for decades to come. I am sad that the cartoon renaissance is over, but so many doors have been opened thanks to this show. I am so, so excited to see what this show will inspire in the future, and I hope one day I get the opportunity to be a part of that.

Goodbye Steven, thank you for everything. I wish you healing, and I wish Rebecca and the team a well-deserved rest. ♥️

-Cynthia D.

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demonslayedher · 3 years ago

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Buri-senpai~ it’s me again! It seems like the Kamado family was respected in town. How do you think the townsfolk would’ve reacted once they realized that Tanjirou hadn’t been visiting with charcoal, only to check up on the family where they see the wreckage. Perhaps Tanjirou had left a rushed note, noting how his family was attacked, how only he and Nezuko were alive, and how they won’t be able to visit for a very long time. If that’s the case, I don’t think Tanjirou will explain the cause 1/3

2/3 of the attack, but there’s a chance that Saburo would’ve eventually realized that a demon had attacked them. Also, side notes: if Kaigaku was still a demon slayer during the events of the red light district, do you think he would've heard about Zenitsu's contributions to the defeat of upper 6? I had read your amazing Ukogi fic and enjoyed the characterization of Kaigaku's crow embellishing his achievements as a slayer. I also enjoyed Matsuemon's fondness of Nezuko and it seems like

3/3 he was ‘conspiring’ (for lack of a better word) with Oyakata-sama behind the scenes, with how the events at Asakusa with Tamayo played out. I'm sure Tamayo's existence was pardoned by the Oyakata-sama of Yoriichi's time. Also, sorry for the length! I enjoy your input on everything!

Going to reply to this in a couple parts, but allow me to first borrow one of my LINE stickers to express:

I'll reply to the fic stuff under the cut, but I'm really honored by your close reading and consideration of one of my favorite fics, "The Legend of Ukogi." But first for your question about Tanjiro!

Honestly, I was surprised by the village's upkeep of their home, including nice new tatami and shelves which Nezuko noticed in the extended epilogue included the Volume 23 version of Chapter 204. I would had assumed they'd have a mess of a home to come back to (and wrote my canon diverent/continuation fic that way, for the first draft was written after Chapter 204's magazine publication but before Volume 23's publication). At least nowadays in Japan, uninhabited homes are often left as-is and fall to shambles, even in cities, causing problems for the neighbors as they become home to pests. Upkeep is an issue, and it seems unlikely the townspeople would had gone out of their way to keep the site of a tragedy so nice.

However, Gotouge seems to stress that the Kamado family, simply for being good people, were often humbled by being on the receiving end of such kindnesses. Even Sumiyoshi and Suyako were on the receiving end of this, as mentioned in a Taisho Secret in Volume 22, for having helped a local lord's wife and son while they were in peril without knowing who they were. Even though they tried to refuse reward, they made sure they had a nicely fixed up house anyway (side note, they moved in to Yoriichi's and Uta's abandoned house).

A sturdy house as returns for their kindness seems to be as much of a running theme in Kamado history as is Hinokami Kagura and making charcoal. We do see that Tanjiro is pretty popular among the townspeople and everyone knows they can rely on him, and if Tanjiro's highly biased word is to be trusted, Nezuko had a reputation as a local beauty. In good whether the little kids must had gone into town a bunch, and Tanjiro (and Inosuke's) continued charcoal business (despite the increasing reliance on electricity) in the Fanbook #2 extended epilogue shows that the Kamado family has always had a reputation for high quality charcoal. Certainly, they've been well-loved long enough that their tragedy would not go unnoticed.

As further evidence of this, in the Giyuu Gaiden, a hunter even notices that on a different mountain nearby there was a family of charcoal farmers slaughtered and a suspicious person in a half-and-half haori was seen around there. Clearly, the villagers were quick to notice the incident and start looking around for the man who might had done it!

But we're still left with the question of how quickly they'd have noticed the absence, how word got around, and just how much they knew. My initial thought in response to your Ask was "there's no way Tanjiro had time for that, he had bury his family and get Nezuko dressed and hurry and go!" but then again, this is Tanjiro we're talking about. Tanjiro who faithfully keeps a diary for Nezuko no matter how tired he is, and who faithfully keeps in touch with all his penpals even with all his demon slaying work to keep him busy. If anyone would had written a letter, it would had been him.

It's possible that his reasoning would had been for Nezuko's sake. Should word get around about the incident, and about Nezuko being a demon, people might suspect she was the one who did it. Even Tanjiro had to consider that possibility when he was first shocked by her transformation, though he had the evidence to clearly determine that she was innocent. So maybe if he did leave something, it might simply had been to inform people that Nezuko still needs help, and he's left to take care of her.

To the townspeople, Tanjiro's word is trustworthy. As soon as someone discovered the incident (and perhaps a letter), word would probably get around pretty fast, and if Tanjiro had circumstances that forced him to leave for Nezuko's sake, that implies that they might make a return once she was alright. That might be what inspired the townspeople, who cared for generations about their local charcoal farmers, to have their hearts wrenched with sympathy for the tragedy these two surviving children have been through, and to try to do what they can by taking care of the house while they're gone.

As for knowing if it was demons or not, it's possible only Saburo knew that. There's so much we don't know about Saburo, but my personal headcanon is that he lost his family to demons and was rescued by the Demon Slayers. While others might have been quick to blame the suspicious man in the half-and-half haori, anything said by Saburo, a man perhaps known for keeping to himself with a sullen personality, was dismissed or taken for mere superstition. Saburo, having told Tanjiro to stay with him that night, might had already felt something was off, and when the feeling kept bothering him, he might had gone to check on the Kamado family and been the first one to discover the massacre. Letter or not, he'd have known Tanjiro survived, and might had gotten there soon enough to trace the footprints to deduce to that one of the other older children must had survived too.

Now because of fic spoilers, Bird Fic commentary below!

As I was doing my best to make that fic fit alongside canon, I tried to consider where the birds might and might not been able to influence the events of canon, and that made Denroku (Kaigaku's crow) one of my favorite small bits to work with. Even though he never makes an appearance in the story (only mentioned as a slightly antagonistic bird), he struck me as having the most potential for influencing events.

Since we see a general pattern of the birds being very invested in the Slayer they work with, I imagined that Denroku would pick up on Kaigaku's ambitions. When he got in trouble for embellishing Kaigaku's achievements, that's when he tries the reverse, taking assignments into his own talons and leading to Kaigaku fighting an enemy out of his league. While most of the Kasugai-garasu would had immediately reported Upper Moon 1 so that a Pillar could be summoned, Denroku's underhanded drive to see Kaigaku promoted is what leads to a situation the Corp would had preferred to avoid.

And that brings us back to Matsuemon, who does his best to promote his underlings' achievements to get Tanjiro recognized as a Pillar. He is protective of Nezuko, having picked up on that from Tanjiro, but honestly, I had not considered Matsuemon leading to Tanjiro's encounter with Tamayo. Letting Oyakata-sama know about it, though, that does seem in character for Matsuemon, which we'll get to!

As for why Tanjiro encountered Tamayo so early on, I posited in this Ask that Oyakata-sama probably was hoping Tanjiro would make a connection with her. Gotouge has stated that the demon Tanjiro was sent to investigate in Asakusa was Tamayo. Like you, I assume that Kagaya's forefathers must had chosen to pardon her existence out of Yoriichi's good word for her, and we know from his later mention of her to Tanjiro and efforts to reach out to her later that he's probably always been curious about a way to gain her trust.

What probably gave him the idea to use Tanjiro, a kid with a demon sister, was Urokodaki's letter. We didn't hear the full letter read allowed at the Pillar meeting, but my thought is that Urokodaki wrote highly enough of Tanjiro that Kagaya was like, "aha! This is it! This might be the person who helps me gain Tamayo's trust!" and that was why he sent Tanjiro to Asakusa on his second mission. As for whether Matsuemon knew that or not, I suspect not initially, but he might had gotten aware of it overtime and been in on the loop of birds who know this but help keep it on the downlow, as per Oyakata-sama's request. Matsuemon might had also been given special instructions to report details to the Kasugai-garasu who initiated the personal correspondence between Oyakata-sama and Tamayo. Knowing this egotistical bird he probably would had loved to brag about it, but he's smart enough and respects the Corp mission enough to know when to keep silent about his achievements.

EDIT: Ack! I forgot to respibd to your Kaigaku question. I do assume Kaigaku was still a Corp member at that time and he probably heard and that it ticked him the hell off. Even if he didn't know the details, the fact that Zenitsu would had been credited with fighting an Upper Moon would tick him off with jealousy. Not to worry, Kaigaku, Upper Moon 6 is only the bottom rung of the Upper Moons. ; P

#kny fandom theories and meta #my fics #kamado tanjiro #kamado tanjirou #saburo #ubuyashiki kagaya #kaigaku #tennoji matsuemon #hahaha so many tags I wouldn't had expected to put together #tamayo #kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer

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shihalyfie · 4 years ago

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Kizuna detail spotting and other things you may have missed

Here’s a (not comprehensive, I might keep updating this post) collection of fun little background details you might have missed in the movie!

Before we continue into the movie itself: here’s a poster from Animedia! There’s quite a bit of personality in this shot (look at everyone’s facial expressions!), but in particular, look at how Ken still went out of his way to have his chopsticks neatly on the bowl even when he’s trying to calm Yamato down. Funny story about that, actually...

...looks like old habits don’t die!

Who’s writing this in the beginning? Well, most likely Takeru, as we see at the end of the movie. (The Japanese here is “literary”, using the de aru sort of form.) It’s interesting in that “this is not a memoir,” but rather Takeru reflecting on the future, implying that perhaps this isn’t a story from his future novels the way Adventure and 02 were in 02′s epilogue, but rather him writing this now in view of what might come after the events of the movie.

Look, some early cameos from Sora, Mimi, and Daisuke! (Apparently, Ken’s right below Daisuke’s name.) As for why those three aren’t present: as per To Sora, Sora was having a mental health crisis and Mimi was busy on business, and we later find out in this very movie that Daisuke and his friends were off in New York.

Oolong tea, an obvious Our War Game! reference. Later in the movie, we find out that the plastic bottles have been proliferating on his desk, a reference to how the bottles kept proliferating to absurd levels every time we cut away from and back to Koushirou in Diablomon Strikes Back, implying that he was chugging them out of stress -- the novel even confirms that the latter scene has him in one of his trademark fixation episodes where he shuts out his surroundings. (The bottles even use similar brown labels.)

Morning glory, representing “bonds” (the English translation of “kizuna”), but also “I will never let you go”...

The use of “white text on black background” to present the opening credits seems to be a reference to how Our War Game!’s opening credits were presented, albeit without the rainbow text. (Our War Game! also opened with Butter-Fly.)

Uh-oh. Looks like Sora was actually the first to start the process of partnership dissolution. The events of To Sora take place in parallel to the battle at the start of this movie, and there you can see Sora’s existential crisis and the deteriorating relationship she had with Piyomon at the time, which is a pretty major clue as to what might cause this phenomenon in the first place...

This swing is given importance in the novel as one Menoa “used to play at” when she was a child (and also the one she lost Morphomon at). It’s currently lonely, like the “childhood” that Menoa abandoned a long time ago.

A lot of people have pointed out the fact that the older Adventure cast is seen without partners in the ending credits while the younger six from 02 have them, and have often taken this to mean that the Adventure cast definitively lost their partners while the 02 cast didn’t, but often omitted from this evaluation is that the opening also did something similar -- the older six aren’t seen with their partners (even when the rest of the movie shows them together), but Takeru and Hikari are uniquely depicted with their own, and with their brothers’. Given that official statement on the ending credits issue encourages us to “imagine” what might have happened there, it doesn’t definitively mean they’ve lost their partners per se, but rather, that perhaps we’re supposed to be seeing something special with the 02 characters that sets them apart from their seniors to the point where even “imagining” them losing their partners in the near future is out of the question. (I’ve already posed my own theory as to what this means.)

Also, little character design detail: Takeru now has a bit of a cowlick (ahoge) under his hat...

There’s a lot of Easter eggs on Koushirou’s screen in the opening here, including some familiar names in Koushirou’s contact list, and a conversation between Taichi and Koushirou about the VR goggles at the beginning of the movie. Apparently, Taichi took them without permission, and now Koushirou’s begging him to please bring them back safely, and Taichi, in true Taichi fashion, has the absolute gall to casually send emoji back.

Koushirou is seen contacting Miyako in this scene, but he’s actually depicted writing a fresh email to her, so it seems like he’d been regularly communicating with her on business even before Miyako forwarded Menoa’s email to him.

Yamato’s isolation from his old hobbies (music) is represented by both the Adventure version (harmonica) and the 02 version (band).

The song that plays in the background during Taichi and Yamato’s talk over dinner is “Opus no. 2 ‘Spring’ in A Major”, also known as the ending song for Our War Game! (It’s hard to hear in the movie itself, but you can hear a clearer version on the official soundtrack.)

The two ladies in the back, Ayaka and her friend, are voiced by Arakawa Miho and Morishita Yukiko, also known as the voice actresses for Mochizuki Meiko and Meicoomon. Their respective hair colors are also references to said characters as well.

Also, look at Yamato keeping his phone face down on the table like all of us with smartphones do.

Bright and vivacious Mimi apparently wants her products to make people happy -- and her goods are “imported”, meaning she’s trying to get people to see cool things from other cultures, much like how her character arc in 02 involved moving to America and bridging the gap between people from different countries.

Taichi lists off “Hikari and Daisuke” as the two younger ones he knows with clear goals, which lines up with the fact that they already knew what they wanted to do as early as 02 episode 50. In addition, it’s logical that the two of them are the closest to him among the juniors, Hikari as his younger sister, and Daisuke as his former soccer junior.

Yamato has to update Taichi on two people -- Takeru and Sora -- implying that Taichi’s drifted from the two in comparison. Takeru apparently still won’t let Yamato see his novel, meaning that the contents of this are still very emotionally sensitive for him. Meanwhile, Taichi has a very unusual “I’m pretending I’m not thinking too hard about this” reaction when it comes to Sora, so something’s going on between Yamato and Sora that’s making Taichi go “Huh. Good for you then.”

Koushirou doesn’t really seem to keep his desktop very organized, does he? (The file he’d received from Miyako is named “from_miyako”.)

Given the view behind Miyako (along with her picture in the ending credits and her statements in the drama CD), it seems like her study abroad is specifically in Barcelona. “Spain” is such an interesting choice to put her in, given what the native language of that country is, and who else was established to have proficiency in that language in 02 episode 42, and what we know will eventually happen with these two characters in particular...?

The email from Menoa is subject "Would you mind assisting me?" and the contents:

Dear Miyako,

How do you do? My name is Menoa Bellucci. I'm an associate professor performing Digimon research at Liberica University in the US.

I expect you're aware of the recent mysterious mass instances of coma occurring all over the world. I've investigated these incidents in my own way, and it's come to my attention that they have something to do with the DigiDestined.

Therefore, I request the aid of you and your fellow Digimon community managers, along with your partner Digimon.

Let’s work together to get to the bottom of these incidents!

Sincerely, Menoa Bellucci

Aside from pretty obviously being written in Japanese first and back-translated to English in production (and the slightly awkward “mass instances of coma”), the English is fairly fluent! The use of “DigiDestined” as an “internal translation” of what’s literally “Chosen Children” (erabareshi kodomo-tachi) in Japanese has had precedent since 02 episodes 41 and 42, in which the franchise’s actual translated terms were treated like “in-universe” translated versions of the terminology. (Well, except it got slightly corrupted as “DigiDestiny” back then...)

We later learn that Menoa’s real goal was to get the list of international Chosen Children, meaning that she contacted Miyako as a community manager in the hopes of getting that list from her. Given that, despite everything that ended up happening, it was probably a very good thing that Miyako ended up foisting it on her seniors, since they ended up much better equipped to figure out Menoa’s real plan and put an end to it.

As for why Miyako suddenly decided she didn’t care to take on this job: she was already set to join Daisuke’s ramen trip in New York, and couldn’t be bothered to put aside plans to play with her friends for that.

Some familiar names here, basically Wallace, Michael, and some of the international Chosen Children from 02 episodes 40-42. Wallace’s presence has interesting implications in particular, given the thematic similarities between Hurricane Touchdown and this movie.

“Imura Kyoutarou” is a tribute to Kimura Kyoutarou, a producer representing Yomiko Advertising who was involved all the way up until X-Evolution and sadly passed away in 2010. Testimony refers to him as a very cool but very kind person, so it seems his personality was modeled a bit after the real article as well.

Hearing Menoa refer to the group as having “saved the world again and again” causes Yamato to coldly respond that “you’ve done your research.” So in other words, it’s not actually that easy public knowledge to figure out who the Tokyo Chosen Children are unless you poke a bit; seems like their attempts to maintain privacy since Spring 2003 have been holding. Beyond that, the Tokyo Chosen Children’s adventures had never actually been treated as that much of a big deal in the grand scope of global matters, and moreover, they’re probably not the only people who’d saved the world at some point, given the existence of other Chosen Children who had gone on other adventures.

Amusingly, Takeru compliments Menoa with “your Japanese is good,” which is a bit of a meme among those learning Japanese in that receiving this is actually a bit backhanded (because it’s latently pointing out that you come off as a foreigner and you’re not actually fluent). That probably wasn’t the intention behind the writing of this line, but it does generally track for Takeru to go for flattery to butter someone up -- that kind of “surface dishonesty” and deflecting things to look like “everything’s okay” has been in his character since 02.

The scenery as they enter the network is of course an Our War Game! reference. I’d also like to point out the hilarity of how Patamon is carrying Takeru by his...hat?

Taichi’s behavior during this battle is “a bit cocky since he’s on the adrenaline of fighting,” which was pretty endemic to him back in Adventure.

Yamato doesn’t like Imura very much, which is presumably why he’s so quick to suspect him later.

Eosmon being an “unknown Digimon”, Koushirou’s Digimon Analyzer won’t do jack here, but we still get treated to seeing Koushirou’s skill as an “analyst who spots details” on-screen, and a bit of foreshadowing on how he uses the Eosmon fragment to later pin down Menoa as the culprit.

It’s unlikely Menoa actually wanted to back up the data here, so what was she really doing? We later see Menoa fiddling with the USB that she gave them, and staring at a list of Chosen Children’s names -- meaning that what she was actually doing was sending them on a wild goose chase after a single Eosmon while she was mining the list from Koushirou’s computer, but the events of the battle ended up cutting her extraction short.

According to directorial comments, Menoa’s reaction to seeing Omegamon here is genuine -- she’s heard of Omegamon, but never seen him in person. Which is, really, an understandable position for most people in this narrative to be in.

...and her reaction here is likely genuine too; she’s here to extract the list, she’s not privy to Taichi and Yamato’s existential problems, and she states outright that her goal is to make sure what happened to her never happens to anyone else, but here it’s happening to someone right in front of her.

Kizuna is a bit frustratingly subtle in the same way the original series was, and they don’t actually say a lot of things outright that they probably really should, but much like Sora’s very questionable testimony about her experience with her mother back in Adventure episode 26, you can poke holes in Menoa’s theory about “partners disappearing when you’re an adult” even before she’s finished talking (and before we eventually find out her backstory about why she came to think that way). There haven’t been enough cases for Koushirou to hear about this; he hasn’t heard of this at all, it’s not “I’ve vaguely heard of something resembling this and that might be this,” he’s heard of zero cases of this before, meaning that out of a whole 30,000-plus Chosen Children, this so-called phenomenon is that rare.

Moreover, if it were just about “making choices” and “becoming an adult” as Menoa says, that doesn’t track at all about what we know about our Tokyo Chosen Children, and as if to highlight this, we get a huge show of Takeru and Koushirou checking their own Digivices to see if this is happening to them, too -- like a huge spotlight of this -- and the answer is no, as if to say, “hey, maybe we should be looking if Taichi and Yamato specifically had something going on that was meriting this?” Well, last night they were having an existential crisis, and both literally and emotionally abandoning their partners...

Especially in the case of Koushirou -- he already has the determination to get out of this that it takes a whole movie for Taichi and Yamato to swallow, and as much as Menoa accuses him of being naive, the novel confirms that he’s actually the first person in this group to take a forward-thinking mentality and resolve to get everyone out of this situation.

As an aside, Takeru calls Yamato “nii-san”, which is consistent with what he called him in Diablomon Strikes Back. (In Adventure and 02, it was “onii-chan”.)

When we first meet Daisuke, Ken, and Iori, it’s with a “ramen” remix of 02′s opening theme “Target ~Red Shock~”, although it’s a pretty absurd major-key remix of it, just enough for you to vaguely get the 02 feel back...

Daisuke wants to open his ramen shop in New York in the future, a reference to how the 02 epilogue established his business as starting there. As per the novel, he’s really treating this like some kind of covert scouting operation (and is being very “suspicious” about it). Ken starts off the scene by asking “why ramen”, but adding the drama CD’s context indicates that it’s not that Ken suddenly forgot Daisuke’s ramen shop dream all of a sudden, but is just really confused as to why Daisuke’s making his scouting operation in New York of all places, which isn’t exactly the Japanese cultural center of ramen making.

Ken noticeably feeds Minomon before feeding himself, which is a long-time habit of his (02 episodes 26, 37). Armadimon makes a reference to liking “Yamatoya’s ramen”, which is a reference to the scriptwriter for this movie, Yamatoya Akatsuki. (It’s been Digimon tradition for a while to make shout-outs to its own staff; the Dark Seed children are named after various episode directors, a “Seki” is mentioned in Letter, Hiroaki’s assistants Chioka and Sakurada are references to real-life assistant producers Chioka Kimitoshi and Sakurada Hiroyuki, and a “Nobuzane-san”, referencing chief animation director Nobuzane Setsuko, is referenced in 02 episode 16.)

When Yamato calls, he states that he "heard form Takeru" that they were in New York (and, applying the drama CD’s context, Takeru himself was set to join this trip one day later). Daisuke calls him “Yamato-senpai”, something that didn’t actually happen in 02 proper, but all four of the 02 quartet here uniformly call Yamato that (Miyako does too, in the novel). Perhaps they see Yamato as a “senior in Digimon affairs” now?

On top of that, Daisuke’s phone ringtone is the music played at the Chinese restaurant back during 02 episode 36! Which is also not the only time the Digitamamon there has been connected to Daisuke’s future career in ramen making.

The sequence here also really goes out of its way to show Yamato having concern over his juniors, including asking if anything's happened to their D-3s, too.

Incidentally, when you really think about it, the 02 quartet’s contributions in this movie are mostly pretty useless -- actually, they arguably make it worse, because they end up feeding Yamato information that turned out to be a bit of a red herring. (Although it does give us a bit more background information on Menoa and Imura, so it’s not completely useless from an audience perspective, at least.) That said, portraying the 02 group as fairly useless in comparison to their seniors is not particularly against the spirit, since the 02 group’s story was about “finding happiness in each other” over necessarily becoming nearly as hyper-competent as their seniors, and, as if to drive this home, staff interviews and even official press releases have emphasized that the 02 group’s role in this narrative was to be “fun” in an increasingly heavy narrative. The novel implies that, despite everything, Yamato gets a bit of cheer hearing their happiness over the phone. In the end, that’s always been their strength -- learning to become emotionally supportive people for each other, rather than personal ambition -- and it’s also quite the relief to see the 02 group’s role be something like this, given that 02 itself, especially the second half, actually ended up being quite the emotional wringer of suffering for these characters in particular.

We saw Daisuke, Ken, and Iori eating here earlier, but even if you hadn’t seen the order they were sitting in beforehand, you could easily figure it out just by this shot and how everyone’s dealt with leaving their chopsticks and bowl behind. (Tag yourself?)

Someone skipping grades into college? Anyone who’s intimately familiar with 02′s development background should instantly recognize this story -- “a young student skipping grades all the way into university” is literally the reason 02 exists in the first place, to the point where Seki keeps bringing this up over the years and makes it clear she hasn’t forgotten. And, in case you think this might be a coincidence, when we actually see Menoa’s Liberica University, it’s very clearly modeled after Columbia University (to the point where the director kept griping about having to reference an overseas university), which just so happens to be the same university that was in that real-life story that freaked Seki out so much.

In 02′s context, its relevance was more thematic; 02 episode 9 establishes that Ken would have probably done this, if not for the fact that Japan’s educational system doesn’t let him do it. Ken very narrowly avoided Menoa’s fate by that alone, and this is probably the reason Menoa’s an American (her being a foreigner doesn’t really have a lot of relevance to this narrative otherwise), because it means she can have the backstory Ken didn’t and explore this territory.

That said, consider what this means: given the role this tale had in 02′s narrative, the answer was very clearly “Do not do this. This messes people up. It is very bad to shove your kid into the role of an adult they’re not prepared for.” Seki’s concerns about the real-life story involved how the boy involved in it would be able to socialize and what kind of adult he’d grow up into, and wasn’t exactly subtle about creating 02 as a way to go “this is bad!!”, with 02′s entire finale centering around the relevance of not losing oneself to societal pressure. The fact that Kizuna’s main antagonist and role in the story is so deeply tied to 02′s own is a massive signal that 02 might have more relevance to this narrative that one might initially think, especially when 02 episode 50 (the same episode that contains the 02 epilogue that this movie constantly directs giant arrows at) presents a philosophy of the meaning of a partner and how to meet one that doesn’t contradict any of the events in this movie.

It also means that Menoa really is an unreliable source of information -- she comes from the exact same mentality that embodied 02′s antagonists. Buying into her theories is like believing the Digimon Kaiser or Oikawa’s view of life and adulthood, especially since another byproduct of that (Ichijouji Osamu) was once explicitly referred to as “growing up too fast”. Which is an extra clue that the real culprit behind all of this partnership dissolution isn’t exactly “adulthood” in itself, but rather “an unhealthy relationship with adulthood”...

Oh, and as if to drive this all home, Ken himself is the one to deliver this information, seemingly not thinking too hard about the fact that he was this close to being on that exact same path.

On an unrelated note, Ken threading Minomon on his arm is a likely reference to the fact that old 02 production notes indicated him as being able to do this.

This was a planned trip, and even during the planning, despite this trip technically being for his ramen studies, Daisuke himself kept getting distracted by other fun travel prospects he wanted to do with his friends. The ramen was certainly the main reason, but his friends were still the more important part. It’s also presumably why we keep seeing this group change clothes -- except Iori, who’s stated in said drama CD to be squeezing this between his schedule. (Yes, that’s how hard he’s working to make it work with this group.)

Burger Queen.

Agumon’s visit to Taichi’s room is the first time he’s been there. It’s a statement as to how Taichi’s been shutting Agumon out of his life this much -- he’s lonely in his own apartment, yet he won’t let Agumon in! But the rest of this scene indicates why Taichi’s been doing so; he tells Agumon not to make too much noise (i.e. implicitly accuses him of being noisy), and then says “you have to be an adult to see this” when referring to his AVs, meaning that Agumon is a “child” to him. Taichi’s trying to live an “independent life as an adult”, but he’s ascribing to all the societal standards of what’s an adult, and shutting away all the things he associated with childhood because he thinks that’s what you have to do.

When Gennai arrives, Taichi calls him “Gennai-san”, which is amusing given that he used to rudely call him “old man” back in Adventure. But, hey, he’s not an old man anymore...

The way the 02 group is depicted is in stark contrast to their seniors, because not only are they shameless about carrying their partners everywhere (especially since they no longer have to use the “plushes” excuse they did back in 02), they’re happy to do it in pretty ridiculous ways like Ken and Takeru carrying their partners on their heads. And the 02 quartet is at a university. After Taichi and Yamato had scoffed at the idea of bringing their partners to school earlier! Shots with Daisuke (who’s one of the most like-minded with his partner) even go as far as portraying them with mirrored body language. The 02 group’s relationships with their partners are so tight that you’d even think they might get separation anxiety without their presence, and it’s a huge indication of the gap in mentality between them and their seniors...and a possible clue as to why they’re portrayed as so far away from the partnership dissolution phenomenon that you don’t even get to imagine it happening to them anytime soon.

The fact that Daisuke, Ken, and Iori are able to ask around at an American university unassisted implies that they’re all at least somewhat English-proficient. Daisuke was already implied to be so back in 02; Ken was demonstrated to have second language proficiency back in 02 episode 42 (albeit with Spanish that time), and Iori is currently studying very hard to get into law school, for which it’ll be a valuable skill. Miyako’s proficiency is unclear, but she managed to read Menoa’s email one way or another, and she’s also likely to have had to learn some Spanish for the sake of her study abroad.

Miyako’s shown in an outfit that clearly references the color scheme of her old Digital World outfit back in 02, and Ken remarks that she arrived there “fast” -- she was happy to pick up the same request she so cheerfully dumped off on her seniors, just because this time her closest friends were offering it back to her. She says “it’s been a while”, but the drama CD makes it clear it hasn’t been a while at all, so we conversely get an implication that this group dislikes not getting to see each other so much that even short periods of time constitute “a while” to them. And, moreover, Iori hadn’t come up with the infiltration plan at the time of calling Miyako in; they just seem to have called her in because they want her around that badly. Oh, and this is still an even stronger contrast between them and their seniors, considering Yamato had said earlier in this movie that drifting apart is inevitable when you follow your own path. Not for this group -- and especially not when the drama CD had depicted Daisuke as bringing this group with him for the sake of his career studies!

Ken greets and deals with Miyako in much more of a casual fashion than he treated anyone in 02 (Daisuke in Diablomon Strikes Back being the only time he approached anyone like this), and his interactions with the others in the drama CD are also quite casual, implying that he really has gotten closer with everyone over the years.

A fun detail in this scene is also the difference in body language between everyone -- Ken and Iori carry themselves more gracefully, Miyako has a lot of vibrance in her actions, and Daisuke slouches a lot and has a lot of dramatic gestures.

Daisuke and V-mon are probably the most “similarly-minded” among the pairs of humans and Digimon partners in Adventure and 02, so the movie appropriately showcases this by portraying them as so similar that they even have identical body language at times.

Fun to see everyone’s reactions when they get into Menoa’s room; Daisuke snarks on how many books there are, Iori stays on the alert, Ken takes genuine interest in reading one of the books, and Miyako gets distracted by a pretty crystal (and even compliments Menoa’s taste while she’s at it, being the kind of person who’s bluntly honest about complimenting people even when she also knows they’re suspicious).

Miyako having hacking skills is a holdover from Diablomon Strikes Back, and the crystal ends up being foreshadowing for what Neverland is made up of.

Gennai does not confirm Menoa’s theory about partnership dissolution inevitably happening to every person who becomes an adult. The only thing he confirms is the ring of light, and the fact that that Taichi is experiencing a “case” (jirei) of it happening. Beyond that, recall that “the one who wishes for stability” (Homeostasis), the Agents, and the Holy Beasts were all depicted as not entirely aware of the mechanics of human-Digimon partnership themselves; even Gennai himself here has to speculate, and he certainly has a more optimistic view of it than Menoa, saying that there’s still a chance for them to regain that “infinite possibility” that she considers to be a complete dead-end. (Directorial comment is that Taichi was so out of it that he didn’t hear this last part, which is why the focus here is blurry.)

Considering the fact that there are so few cases of this happening (assuming that Menoa isn’t even the only one to have this happen to her), and the fact that there’s no confirmation this inevitably happens to everyone except via a theory from one really dubious source, Gennai’s decision to withhold this information from Taichi and the others is a lot less jerkass-ish than it seems on the surface. I mean, if there’s no guarantee it’ll happen, there’s no need to bring it up per se, right? Just like how you’re not really going to talk about life expectancy with humans when you don’t think it’ll be a problem yet...

Back in Adventure and 02, filming the Digimon on digital camera in the real world would lead to nasty static interference (most prominently in Adventure episode 39 and 02 episode 33, but in pretty much any depiction of the like). Only Hikari’s digital camera worked with Digimon in the Digital World. Society in 2010, however, seems to have gotten around that, with Digimon being more commonplace and therefore there being a necessity to get them on camera more often.

This is also where we get a bit of foreshadowing about the exact mechanics of Eosmon kidnapping for the first “batch” of people -- it has to do with them being caught via their phone or device cameras. The Eosmon does not physically emerge, and instead drains their consciousness. (Remember this for later.)

Since Hikari, Takeru, and Mimi’s names were in the scene with Menoa looking at the data in her computer earlier, it seems that she was able to use their information (extracted from Koushirou’s computer) to hunt them down. It’s also interesting to see that their Digimon partners simply automatically come with them when their consciousness is drawn into Neverland; it’s a pretty explicit delineation of “a Digimon partner is fundamentally linked to one’s mentality”.

Menoa apparently originally hailed from Colorado, which just so happens to be the same state Wallace originally hailed from, which is also funny considering Wallace’s own story and its heavy thematic relevance to this movie. (The director has been very open about stating that Hurricane Touchdown is his favorite Digimon movie.)

Interestingly, the article also recognizes Morphomon as her Digimon partner, despite the fact that it hails from 2002. It’s actually not as much of a stretch as it initially seems, though; while low, there was somewhat of a reasonable awareness of what Digimon were by the press back then.

It’s stated explicitly that “losing consciousness” is the only physical symptom of being kidnapped by Eosmon, so all of the victims at the end of the movie are going to be fine, basically just having slept for a long time.

Notice how Gomamon’s actually present in the hospital! While there’s still a bit of “mismatch” compared to the 02 group being outright clingy with their partners, Jou seems to be doing a much better job keeping Gomamon around than Taichi and Yamato were earlier, scoffing at the idea of bringing their partners to school. Mimi’s still happily bringing Palmon with her on business, and Koushirou is later seen conversing fine with Tentomon even during the midst of a hyperfocus episode (and he has an even longer in-depth conversation with him in the novel). The opening and ending credits may not outright take the stance of “definitely not happening anytime soon” that it does with the 02 group, but they still seem to have much better prospects than Taichi, Yamato, and Sora do, especially since their own personal goals are much more comparatively solid, too.

At the time of 02, there was an effective “embargo” placed on organized Digimon research thanks to Gennai and the Agents, who were worried that the military and scientific communities might exploit information related to Digimon, and thus secretly deleted any data they collected (02 episode 39). That didn’t stop reporters like Takaishi Natsuko or humanities researchers like Takenouchi Haruhiko from taking an interest in them, of course -- but organized research of the kind that could rapidly lead to something very bad happening was out of the question. Menoa’s research is portrayed as one of the first proper forays into Digimon research, and it’s understandable that the Agents would let up if the person at the head were a Chosen Child herself, meaning she’d be much more likely to carry this out in an ethical and peaceful manner.

Visual symbolism: Sora is seen tracing a “raindrop that merges with another” on the window, when she’s currently in the process of taking her life back and making decisions for herself (a recurring theme of her character arc), and bonding with Piyomon again after having spurned her for so long. Hence, the key to “reuniting”. In contrast, later, when Yamato talks about the fact that fighting Menoa will hasten their parting, we see a single raindrop on the window splitting into two, as to hammer in Yamato’s point.

The novel clarifies that the “smartphone” Digivices are actually just devices with a link to the original ones, so the only thing Taichi’s smartphone was really doing was reflecting the ring that was actually coming from his original Digivice. It’s also significant that this is the scene where Taichi takes out his old goggles again, considering that a lot of the earlier conflict in this movie had dealt with Taichi trying to shut away anything related to his childhood in an unhealthy manner...

“We were always together, and then suddenly I had to get used to a status quo where they weren’t there anymore” was a sentiment Taichi expressed in Two-and-a-Half Year Break when he was separated from Agumon, so it’s one he can easily empathize with. We later find out that Morphomon was a confidant for Menoa’s troubles and emotional growth, much like the Tokyo Chosen Children’s own partners were, and engaged with her as an equal friend in everything she did as a child. And then, suddenly, Morphomon was taken away from her.

We learn some interesting details about Menoa’s past here, but the first major “red flag” we get is that Menoa was only fourteen when she lost Morphomon. In what world is “fourteen years old” an adult? Perhaps, only one in Menoa’s own mind, because that was the day she was confirmed to go to university and would be “recognized” by society as an adult, but that was referred to back in 02 as being “forced to grow up too fast”. She’s also one of the oldest Chosen Children, having become one even before the Tokyo group, hailing from 1997 (there were four Chosen Children at the time if we follow a certain formula that To Sora is consistent with) -- so of course it’s understandable that she’ll be one of the “earliest” examples of this happening, having been one of the first to have a partner and the first to have to deal with “societal expectations” of an adult...and also probably not a good reference point for, well, everyone else.

Menoa also lost Morphomon in 2002, which is quite the year for this to happen, given 2002′s importance in the Adventure narrative – this being the year where Ichijouji Ken and his friends resolved to not take this path and find their own way of happiness. On top of that, Menoa losing her partner before the end of 2002 means that she wouldn’t be able to be one of the Chosen Children who associated with Daisuke and his friends in 02 episodes 40-50 – meaning that she wouldn’t have been able to join in the battle against BelialVamdemon, where a very important lesson about following one’s dreams leading to connecting with a partner was taught to everyone in the vicinity. Which is yet another clue that 02′s finale might have more answers to this story than you think, considering the conspicuous arrangement of events to make sure this movie’s main antagonist never got to witness it...

Also, this photoboard -- someone’s got to have taken all of these pictures with Menoa and Morphomon in them, probably Menoa’s parents, and it’s likely she wasn’t keeping Morphomon a secret from anyone (especially since the article seen earlier explicitly has her in the photo). Which is pretty normal for a Chosen Child, actually. The photos are also visibly film photos, since, presumably, digital photos would have been out due to none of them being able to capture Morphomon properly in them at the time.

Some interesting visual symbolism here: Menoa’s braids are based off Anne of Green Gables (it’s popular in Japan, having had a very famous anime adaptation). But once she starts pushing herself in school (bottom center photo), she undoes her braids, and her hair is completely loose at the time she loses Morphomon. Anne was someone who had a very good relationship with her adulthood, carrying her childlike spirit into it and enjoying things in a way not entirely unlike the 02 group in this narrative, but Menoa seemed to have left that all behind in her pursuit of “becoming an adult”...

“You guys might be able to change this tough reality. That’s what I thought.” Thought, past tense. The moment Taichi and Yamato turned out to be victims of the exact same thing she went through, they “failed” her, and Menoa took this as another sign of everything being inevitable and unavoidable.

Morikawa and Nemoto (the two classmates Taichi had talked to at the beginning of the movie) seem to be Taichi’s friends beyond just that conversation. We also get to see a depiction of Sora at what seems to be her university. Interestingly, none of their Digimon partners are present in these photos (not even Takeru and Hikari’s).

Also, look at those articles about Aurora and Eos...

More differences in the mentality between the 02 group and their seniors: earlier, a rather prominent shot had been dedicated to Gabumon clearly wanting to be part of the phone conversation, but not being allowed, while meanwhile the 02 group’s partners are actively part of the conversation.

Also, amusingly, Daisuke starts off the conversation by beating around the bush, whereas Miyako physically snatches the phone from him and more impatiently gets to the point, which was pretty much their dynamic in 02 in a nutshell.

The use of the “goddess of the dawn” is an interesting choice in light of the Aurora/Eos naming, considering its association with a goddess who forgot the concept of “youth” existed and doomed someone to painfully age into eternity -- something suspiciously pertinent to the themes of this movie.

The use of katakana messaging seems to reference the fact that Diablomon sent messages in this manner back in Our War Game! (Also, check out the different language versions on the right.) Of course, it’s later revealed that the only reason Takeru and Hikari were taken to such faraway places in Shibuya and Hiroo was to distract Taichi and Yamato so that Menoa could directly target Koushirou without distraction. Takeru was sent much further away than Hikari was presumably because Yamato has a motorcycle and can cover larger distances in less time, whereas Taichi had to flag down a taxi.

Miyako really was right to hand this job to Koushirou, given how quickly he figures out Menoa -- he’s done it before she even appears at the door.

It’s said that a sudden “mass of data” that’s too big for a normal Eosmon appears in the Digital World shortly after, presumably due to the massively multiplying number of Eosmon that Menoa’s producing in order to capture new batches of Chosen Children.

You can pinpoint the exact moment Koushirou realizes that this situation is about to go south and thus sends the coordinates to Taichi -- after all, he’s already figured out Menoa by this point. Really, Koushirou’s the unsung hero of this movie (but then, hasn’t he always kind of been back in Adventure and 02?). Menoa’s able to ask for the list from Koushirou directly now because Imura’s out of the picture and therefore isn’t onto her the way he was in the earlier scene, but...

We seem to have a recurring issue with antagonists who project their problems onto others as if they know better, don’t we?

“Genius” that Menoa may be, she’s not superhuman, and she’s clearly been suspicious enough that she’s been tailed (but has at least been good enough to keep them off for a while). Considering that she was finally pinned down by a 21-year-old, perhaps that’s not too surprising.

There’s a recurring theme in this movie about how the Tokyo Chosen Children invoke a concept of “destiny” (unmei), a word that was used repeatedly throughout both Adventure and 02 and also came up in To Sora. The various not-entirely-explained coincidences that brought the Chosen Children together, or other more sentimental things, had traditionally been chalked up to this. However, Menoa brings up “fate” (shukumei), a word that’s not actually often used in these kinds of media because it has an extra nuance of extreme inevitability that you cannot change. The difference in nuance has to do with the fact that “destiny” refers to predetermination after birth, based on a concept of “luck” (un), and still has some ability to be changed based on volition, action, or luck, whereas “fate” is something that was predestined before your birth and has no way out under any circumstances. It’s the difference between the Tokyo Chosen Children and Menoa, and it’s why the climax eventually involves them saying “we may not be able to change fate, but we can change destiny,” because Menoa believes that everything is set in stone and inevitable and that the only way to escape it is to run away from it, whereas Taichi, Yamato, and their friends believe in their ability to defy expectations.

Imura jokingly calls Taichi and Yamato “boys” when sending them off -- this is, after all, the closest they’ve gotten to an “adventure” like their old times.

The process of “going through the gate to the Digital World” has an interesting, unique effect unlike that of 02. Well, it’s been eight years...

I have to say that the copious use of Adventure imagery associated with “nostalgia that people need to move on from” is not exactly subtle on a meta level here.

It’s also interesting that the trolley car is used in “crystallized” form -- the end of Adventure had them using this trolley car to “separate” from their partners, but here, Menoa’s crystallized the trolley, as if to prevent them from parting.

The YouTube Kizuna stream on March 6 confirmed that, yes, this scene means that Meicoomon is alive. (It’s not like Neverland can bring back partners who aren’t around, considering that Menoa would have probably brought back Morphomon if it could.) The traditional Japanese-style house implies that her “childhood” being recreated is her home in Tottori.

The use of “islands” in Neverland makes the reference to Peter Pan more solid than most representations of it in modern media -- Neverland itself was an island, and one significant thing about it was its isolation from the other places. One thing that seems to have gone over Menoa’s head in her literary reference is that, in the original Peter Pan story, Neverland was not a good thing -- Peter was someone who would never mature and never grow, and stay as a bit of a brat forever due to his insistence on escapism.

Populating these islands are some familiar faces from 02 episodes 40-42! They’re pictured mostly as they were in 02, presumably so the audience can recognize them, but it also implies somewhat of a bias towards “the time you met your partner,” especially since it’s stated that everyone’s happy “memories” are being recreated on these islands.

While the methodology Menoa used to create this place is unclear, it may have to do with its ability to respond to people’s internal desires that was referred to a few times in 02 (especially episodes 33 and 50).

This plotline of “turning everyone younger due to a fixation on the past and a desire to recreate everything to unhealthy degrees” is, of course, lifted directly from Hurricane Touchdown, where it was representative of Chocomon’s denial and inability to move on or accept Wallace as he was now.

Upon seeing Mimi, Taichi calls her “Mimi” and not the “Mimi-chan” he used in Adventure, and it’s hard to tell whether this was intentional (the original series had its own occasional “slips” in honorific consistency), but if it is, perhaps Taichi sees her as mature and successful enough to not merit a diminutive anymore. Or maybe it was just a really serious situation and he didn’t feel it was appropriate.

Incidentally, looking at the backgrounds on each Adventure group kid’s island in Neverland, the “memory” chosen for them to be trapped in seems to be:

Hikari: The factory where she helped the Numemon (Adventure episode 49)

Takeru: The Village of Beginnings (Adventure episode 12)

Jou: Infinity Mountain (Adventure episode 7)

Koushirou: Andromon’s factory (Adventure episode 5)

Mimi: The Geckomon castle (Adventure episode 25)

These are all the kind of “wondrous adventure memories” that the characters here can probably no longer have, now that they’re adults and have to live adult lives and can’t go on a long-term adventure in the Digital World anymore. Also, note that, with the exception of Hikari, these are moments from the earlier parts of the series, before things in the adventure went really pear-shaped with the Dark Masters and trauma started really settling in, and in the case of Hikari, it was one of the major times during that adventure she got to do something purely on her own individual will and even bond with some friends in the process. So in other words, they’re trapping themselves in the memories of some very rose-colored nostalgia -- the adventure didn’t end up in sunshine and roses in the end, and in Hikari’s case the Numemon ended up sacrificing themselves for her shortly after, but who needs to think about that too hard when you can just pick the best slice of that and stick with it for eternity?

Menoa’s obsessed with butterflies. Like, really obsessed with them, to the point of spamming the absolute hell out of them. Kind of like -- ah.

Individual Eosmon aren’t really portrayed as that strong, considering that Adult-levels are portrayed as taking them out easily. The real problem is simply that Menoa’s spamming a ton of them in droves.

More of an Our War Game! reference when Menoa describes how she tried to “scientifically” bring back her partner. Diablomon isn’t exactly the striking kind of a partner that you really want to be recreating, and back in 02, Oikawa also tried to “create” his own Digimon in the form of Archnemon and Mummymon, who did gain sentience but were still clearly not his “true” partner. This is Digimon! This has always been a narrative about the human heart! This kind of method isn’t gonna do it!

It’s also interesting how Eosmon’s ability was gained by an aurora -- something that kicked off the start of Adventure and the wonderful lovely story that followed, but became exploited into something rather negative here. It’s what you make out of it, in the end.

We really need to digest the sheer hilarity of a girl’s Numemon partner fighting an Eosmon in front of the Eiffel Tower. Later, we find out that it indeed worked very hard.

So here’s an interesting thing about these cases: now the Eosmon are physically emerging to kidnap the kids. Why, when earlier, simply being viewed through a camera was sufficient? Most likely, because the “first” batch of cases explicitly involved people in their 20s, who were implied to be like Ayaka -- ones who were feeling nostalgia and “don’t want to grow up at all,” meaning that Eosmon’s “lure” would draw it to them naturally, as Menoa said. But the scenes we’re seeing here involve literal children, ones probably too young to have any concept of nostalgia; Menoa’s projection problem is now so bad that she’s using Koushirou’s list to kidnap kids who aren’t even near the point of adulthood or nostalgia, just because she’s thinking everything is that inevitable, and moreover, if any Digital World-related threats happen anytime soon, with nobody to protect the world, everyone’s probably gonna die if she just stuffs anyone who could help in Neverland.

Incidentally, this YukimiBotamon was voiced by the director.

(While we’re here: the date on this article clarifies that the movie takes place in July 2010.)

Miyako has some very cute stickers on her laptop, because of course she would.

So it seems like Miyako herself has accidentally unleashed an Eosmon! But like with the other “children” around here, and unlike Takeru and Hikari, she seems to have been immune and had to have an Eosmon physically chase her. Funny, since the 02 quartet here is all the way in adulthood, so you’d think they might be instantly kidnapped so they could live forever in their happy memories of --

-- wait, happy memories of what?

Takeru and Hikari at least have the romantic memory of the 1999 adventure when they first met their partners, but these four here have the, uh...memory of one of their current best friends suffering and being a horrible enemy to them? (Or being that horrible enemy?) 02′s second half was pretty much everyone doing cleanup duty, trying to defeat enemy after enemy and iron out their mixed feelings about how to approach morality and a heavily traumatized friend, and what they were fighting for was more of a future where all of them could be happy together as friends rather than really enjoying the experience at all. They’re doing what they’re doing now and “playing around” as adults because they didn’t really have that kind of opportunity to do so much back then; Ken’s track in Spring 2003 is specifically about reflecting on his past of regrets and deciding it’ll be better to make the best of things going forward. The whole series itself had a heavy theme of not being stuck in the past, and it’s not like these four even have much of a past they’d be that “attached” to -- especially since the moments that were fun happiness to them weren't exactly tied to the whimsical fantasy adventure as much as being things they can easily approximate the mood of in the present day, and are heavily dependent on each other’s presence.

A 90-minute movie where nearly every line carries some kind of nuance suddenly has a seemingly meaningless interaction between Ken and Miyako, in which he’s portrayed as unusually panicked about her welfare and she cheerfully waves back at him as if oblivious to how panicked he was. Probably not that interesting by itself, but perhaps much more interesting to the audience that might have a certain thing from the upcoming 02 epilogue in mind, and have been specifically looking out for anything that might explain it...

It’s also established via Daisuke and Iori that they’d been informed and updated about the Eosmon situation offscreen, much like how constant communication was a thing back in 02 proper.

Novel clarification on this scene: Taichi and Yamato are pissed at themselves for actually considering Menoa’s offer to join Neverland for a second.

Funny thing about Menoa’s Neverland: Menoa seems to enforce isolation, telling people that they should be in their own individualized memories instead of playing with each other. After all, everyone has different memories, so they can’t mix with each other if you want to relive them eternally!...and therefore, nobody will be able to make something new out of this place.

This is the exact kind of place the 02 quartet would be miserable in; their entire group dynamic depends on being a bit dependent on each other and finding happiness that way. Just earlier in this movie, we saw the lengths they would go to in order to avoid being separated. But Menoa, who pretty obviously lived a very lonely life after losing Morphomon, wouldn’t understand this mentality at all -- nor would anyone who’s more likely to force themselves into a box of “independence” by cutting others off.

Menoa is basically “subsumed by her own will” in a way not entirely unlike Chocomon was back in Hurricane Touchdown, when his own feelings of loneliness consumed him and turned him into a rampant monster who toyed with everyone maliciously. Eosmon’s attacks here are uncontrollable and fly in rampant directions, and even destroying part of Neverland, so it’s not really doing a great job of furthering Menoa’s original goals...

Looks like eight years of hanging around Daisuke has really rubbed off on Ken, eh?

We also get an explanation as to why Daisuke and Ken haven’t whipped out Imperialdramon -- the problem is sheer numbers of Eosmon, which means that the quartet here should prioritize numbers (especially since a single Adult-level is sufficient to take out an Eosmon). Paildramon and Imperialdramon would cause their number to go down by one, and would only be able to do bigger and stronger attacks that could only take out localized areas, which wouldn’t help the situation very much.

Amusingly, Yamato only yells Takeru’s name when he starts getting held back by the others in the group. Not to say he doesn’t care about Mimi and Jou, but Yamato kind of had a habit of having a single-minded fixation on Takeru at times (whereas Taichi at least also has known Koushirou personally since even before Adventure).

The famous scene of Taichi blowing the whistle is actually redrawn from scratch! (When Diablomon Strikes Back also reused this scene, it used the original footage directly.)

In the end, there’s nothing wrong with embracing the past. After all, that’s what Taichi also does at the end of this movie -- reflect on his past in order to move onto the future. But that’s the thing -- you have to use that past. You can’t just sit in the same place forever and refuse to budge or move on -- you have to meaningfully use the spirit and sentiment and create something actually new out of it.

We eventually learn that Sora, being the first to have this happen to her, was also the first to reach its ultimate conclusion.

More clarification from the novel: the reason we finally got to see Menoa’s memories at the end was that the center island was her own personal one.

There is a lot that is revealing about what Menoa’s mentality was and what led up to her losing Morphomon -- Menoa’s sentiments involve “becoming an adult to become accepted by society”, so people would stop looking at her strangely, so she could be independent “on her own” and live by herself. Even when she finally makes it into university, she says that her goal is to be “useful to the world”; in the end, she’s not really doing this for herself, she’s just forcing herself into the role of an adult for the sake of social recognition. Which is exactly what 02 warned against -- all the way to the extreme point of saying that being able to accept your own personal dreams, no matter how “childish” they are, would allow you to meet your Digimon partner. So here, Menoa did the opposite; she forced herself into every possible box of the societal expectations of an adult, and lost her partner as a result. And then walked into a miserable life of adulthood that made her conclude that the only way out of it would be to just never grow up at all.

Moreover, the novel adds one extra very damning detail: Menoa herself was guilty of neglecting Morphomon right before her disappearance. She had absorbed herself into her studies so much that they hadn’t been talking anymore -- much like how Sora had absorbed herself into flower arrangement and cut off Piyomon, or like how Taichi and Yamato’s bid for “independence” resulted in them neglecting Agumon and Gabumon. Menoa had framed herself as a victim who’d lost Morphomon suddenly for no good reason at all, but we also see that her Digivice had already lost a lot of the bars, and Menoa herself had clearly not caught onto what this would mean. And, to be fair, it hadn’t had much precedent for her to know for sure, but she hadn’t taken the opportunity at all to reflect on what this meant and how this would impact her relationship with Morphomon, and, ultimately, her own view of the situation ended up becoming very, very warped.

Interestingly, all of the Adventure group witnessed this (even if most of them end up feeling like it was a comatose dream afterwards). This means that, in figuring out what went wrong with Menoa and how it can apply to their own cases, the group now has a lot of information to work with in terms of preventing this from happening to themselves, and getting Taichi, Yamato, and Sora’s partners back.

I’m really trying my best not to lay it on thick that Kizuna basically repurposes almost all of 02′s major themes in a different context, but sometimes it really just hands it to me on a plate...

The novel clarifies that Menoa initially couldn’t hear Morphomon’s last words when they first parted, because of the shock and grief blocking everything out. So when she reconnects with Morphomon in the end, her finally being able to “hear” them means that the connection is a lot more coherent than just mere memory.

Given this lady’s long black hair, she might be Ayaka.

Look, it’s Wallace! He’s even gotten Chocomon back! The ending of Hurricane Touchdown and The Door to Summer made it a bit ambiguous as to whether he did, but it seems that, right now, he was able to reunite with both his partners in the form of the “potential future” shown in the ending of the original movie, rather than “the way it used to be” that Wallace had wanted for most of it.

Also, the place he's in is pretty obviously neither New York nor Colorado; seems he hasn't given up the vagrant lifestyle, or is at least still moving around a lot.

It was their way of parting back then, and it’s their way of parting again now -- with Yamato reconnecting with that childhood thing he’d been getting increasingly disconnected from.

“What do you want to do tomorrow?” is a reference to the lyrics of Butter-Fly (the first reference to its actual lyrics and substance rather than just visual imagery). “I don’t even know what my plans for tomorrow are.” Or in other words, to not think too hard about it and to do as you will without worrying. Much like the reinforced combined theme of 02′s finale and this movie: you have to do what you want to do.

This is just a personal thing, but I really do appreciate the fact that we’re allowed to see Taichi and Yamato’s emotional reactions, and them very, very ugly crying. There’s always been something special about Adventure and 02 always being so willing to depict the sheer rawness of emotions, and it’s refreshing to see this carried even all the way into Taichi and Yamato’s adulthood.

Takeru’s still guiding us through this story (this is voiced by Hirata Hiroaki here). The phrase here is a reference to Adventure’s next-episode-preview catchphrase: “Now, the adventure evolves.” As if to drive home that Taichi and friends’ adulthood will be a new adventure on its own, the final chapter of the Shueisha Mirai novel is titled “Digimon Adventure”.

This movie took place mostly in July, but we get to see Taichi in spring (probably 2011), presumably having decided to continue his studies for the sake of pursuing the diplomat’s career, even knowing he’s about to go into unknown territory.

Back in 02, Iori was too young to be formally enrolled in any clubs, and trained at kendo at the police precinct due to his family connections, but it makes sense that, now that he’s in high school, he’d actually be a member of a proper club. It’s also nice to see him portrayed as being pretty decent at socializing, considering that struggling with this was a problem he had back in 02 due to his unusual way of carrying himself.

“Ken going jogging with Wormmon” has precedent; it comes from With, where Ken states that he’d like to do this every day. As we see in this picture, this is an excessively impractical setup that Ken must be really physically uncomfortable with, but it says a lot about how latchy these two partners are with each other, in contrast with some of the others we’d seen in this movie...

Seriously, the epilogue references are not subtle, as if reminding you that we’re supposed to take a look at this again to see where this is going. (If you want even more unsubtle references, the novel goes even deeper into Yamato’s future astronaut aspirations.) Although the finale of the movie took place in spring, we actually see Taichi a bit before that during his graduation, and the thesis that led up to it, which is both a very unsubtle reference to what he’ll be doing in future diplomacy and a statement that he’s now productively reflecting on his past in order to make said proposals, instead of cutting it all off in a bid to be independent.

So if you do look back at the relevant 02 episode, you find a fairly unsubtle implication that “meeting your partner” requires “having the belief to follow your dreams without restraint”. Which is what they’re doing now, no?

#digimon #digimon adventure last evolution kizuna #kizuna spoilers #shihameta #detail spotting

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thankskenpenders · 4 years ago

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Enerjak Reborn: Epilogue

It’s time to answer the question on everybody’s mind. How did Ken respond to Ian killing off Locke, one of his pet characters?

Well, the answer, as you should expect, is: poorly

Now, it’s important to remind everyone that Ken has not actually read the arc. He never read any of Ian’s run, to my knowledge. But his fans were sure to tell him all about it and ask him how he felt

Eventually, in 2010, two years after this issue dropped, we got a response from Ken talking about how he felt about Ian’s run. (Again, even though he wasn’t actually reading it himself.) Said response is worth reading in full if you’re interested in all this drama and Ken’s mindset. You literally get to see the guy brag about how he actively ignored what Bollers was doing when the two were sharing writing duties, as if this is a good thing that makes him a better writer. He also criticizes Ian for using the previous writers’ characters instead of introducing even more characters to the bloated Archie cast in his first few years on the series. But the relevant part to the discussion of Enerjak reborn is here:

“I especially don’t consider anything either does with any of the echidna characters – especially Locke – to be canon as neither created the characters nor established them in stories as the viable fan favorites they’ve become. No matter what Ian writes, he can never alter the fact that in MY universe, the events of Locke’s passing as depicted in SONIC #143 is canon. Anything he writes can easily be counter-written by a better story with an alternative solution.”

Let’s just brush past the very funny part where he calls Locke a “viable fan favorite”

So yeah. Penders was VERY unhappy with the way Ian wrote Locke, and the way Locke’s death in Enerjak Reborn meant that the timeline depicted in Mobius: 25 Years Later wasn’t the one true future of the series. He’s also gone on record saying that he thinks Ian didn’t get the relationship between Locke and Knuckles. When asked about Ian’s work, this has always been one of the major things that’s bothered him

On a broader level, his ramblings here are reflective of how he views comic franchises in general. A particularly illustrative quote from him is provided in the comments section below the article I linked:

“The only work I consider significant to any character is the work done by the original creators. Anything done afterwards by anyone else pretty much doesn’t count. For example, I consider the original issues of FANTASTIC FOUR by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to be the only stories that matter in the entire run. Anything being done today is by writers and artists who are simply building off the work Stan and Jack originated. I apply this standard to just about every character I ever enjoyed over the years.”

This odd mindset explains a lot about Ken. It explains why he hates that Ian kept using his characters, and why he actively avoided building off of the work of his contemporary writers at Archie. I can see what he means on some level, of course. When another writer comes in and adds more novels to a series after the original author dies, I generally tend to ignore those. And I skipped a good chunk of Twin Peaks season 2 because it had less involvement from creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, making a lot of it feel like filler. But we’re talking about a licensed comic, one that had been a collaboration between multiple writers based on the work done for the games and cartoons from the very beginning. Ken was never the sole writer--he wasn’t even there for the first year--and he was writing stories centered around characters he hadn’t created like Sonic, Sally, and Knuckles. He doesn’t take credit for creating any of those characters, but the hypocrisy still seems to be lost on him

But of course, we’re not just talking about Ian’s handling of all of Archie Sonic here. We’re talking about Locke. And as Ken has said himself, Locke was based partially on his own father. And that’s really the kicker here

As I’ve said many times before, I try to avoid psychoanalyzing Penders and digging into his personal life. I don’t know the guy, and that’s his own business. But it’s hard not to when he literally says shit like THIS to fans

Locke is emotionally abusive towards his wife and son. Locke is also based on Ken’s dad. Ken refuses to see Locke as abusive, even though that’s exactly what he wrote, because that would mean acknowledging that his own father was abusive. So there’s always an excuse for why father knows best. It was a different era! They’re not humans! He could see the future! He might have hurt Knuckles, but it toughened him up, and he was always there for him in the end! The dad is never, ever at fault. The moms, on the other hands, are mere bystanders to the child rearing done by the dads. It’s just sad, really

I get why Ken would be bitter that Ian took this fictionalized version of his late dad, went “hey, this guy’s an asshole,” and then killed him off. I get why that would upset somebody. He wrote a very personal story there. But it’s not like Ian was pouring salt in a fresh wound--Ken lost his father all the way back in 1982. I know this because Ken literally dedicated the M25YL story about his version of Locke’s death to his dad. It had been nearly 30 years when he wrote this response to Ian’s work. That’s plenty of time to see a goddamn therapist instead of projecting all of your baggage onto Knuckles the Echidna and writing stories for kids about how you should never question your dad ever

The irony, though, is that Ian’s different take on Locke is arguably way more nuanced than Ken’s ever was. In his final moments, Ian’s Locke turns into this tragic figure who only realizes too late that the way of life the Brotherhood had raised him to believe was a mistake, that he had failed his son by passing those beliefs on to him. But he’s still held responsible for what he did. He’s a horrible dad, and the characters around him call him out for his failures, but you pity him for only now realizing what he had done

Ken, on the other hand, gestures at Locke doing horrible things, then tells you to forget about all that and stop questioning him. Knuckles pretends he has a totally normal Leave it to Beaver-ass father-son relationship as soon as they reunite in the Knuckles series. As an adult he thinks back on how great a job Locke did raising him, even though Locke literally took him from his mother, raised him to believe that his mother and the rest of his species were all dead, and then pretended he himself was dead for six years of his son’s childhood (among MANY other things)

M25YL gestures at those very same themes of not repeating your parents’ mistakes that Ian touched on in Locke’s final moments. Knuckles is raising Lara-Su very differently from how Locke raised him, and Locke admits that he wishes he had raised Knuckles differently on his deathbed. But his decision to suddenly admit wrongdoing in this flashback to his death feels unearned and arbitrary. Locke is never at fault. We cannot question Locke. Knuckles turned out fine, so don’t worry about it. Locke might regret the way Knuckles raised him, but Knuckles is not allowed to hold any ill will towards his father or question his methods whatsoever. We’re allowed to gesture at the idea that Knuckles doesn’t want to repeat the mistakes of the previous generations, but those vague mistakes aren’t allowed to be anyone’s fault. That’s just “how things were”

Ken would do a lot more than just complain about Ian’s handling of Locke on the internet, though. Because you see, the way Ian wrote Locke is commonly cited as one of the main reasons why Ken started copyrighting his work, right up there with Bioware basing the story of Sonic Chronicles partially off of the Knuckles comics without his blessing. And those copyrights, of course, were what started the legal battle that would kill off the original Archieverse

#StH 184 #tkp post #Enerjak Reborn

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popculturebuffet · 4 years ago

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Ducktales Final Four: The Life and Crimes of Scrooge McDuck Review! or The Batman Trial Episode but with Ducks, Sharks, And the Fonz

Hello all you happy people and welcome to the penultimate Ducktales review... for season 3 anyway. I still have most of season 1, all of season 2 (I did cover one but I’ll probably redo it), the tie-in comics, the 87 series, and even then i’ll never really be done with ducks between all the scrooge comics and other duck related shows like Darkwing Duck and Quack Pack. But as far as covering the show as it comes out as i’ve done for the past year, that’s’ts almost done. It’s honestly just starting to hit as I type this: this is the second to last episode. After next week while there’s always fan fiction (And I certainly aim to contribute to that), a possible Darkwing Duck Reboot under frank (though that’s in doubt) where they could show up, and a movie down the road given what we saw with Phienas and Ferb and the show’s popularity it’s still not the same as getting these well animated, well crafted adventures every week with breaks or the ocasional entire week of them. The show won’t go on, and whatever happens with the property next is a mystery no amount of ducks can solve.

So with all that in mind naturally this episode is a breather episode: It’s not unimportant: like the rest of the season it ties off a lot of loose ends, adds in some stuff we didn’t know we wanted, and in general feels necessary like every episode this season. It’s something I credit the season for immensley: They knew this would probably be it so while they had more stories to tell, they made sure if these were their last, to leave no loose ends. And outside of ones they just never wanted to address in the first place like “What happened to Donald’s parents”, “Why was every trace of Della missing despite Scrooge’s search for her having just ended”, and “What did Della thing of the decades long seperation”, they’ve tied up pretty much all of them except for FOWL and what Beakly was lying about, and I feel both are about to ducktail into one another int he finale. Could be wrong but I applaud them for tying off almost every loose end and character arc by this episode that isn’t related to FOWL in some way. Not every show can do that: She Ra was a masterpiece but still had a few things like Scorpia and Catra’s broken relationship, Hordak’s reformation and Adora’s Parents just left up in the air due to time constraints, Steven Universe ONLY got to go back and answer a lot of questions because they were lucky enough to get an epilogue mini series, and Star Vs... was not as good as either show by the end and by the finale about 80% of things it’d brought up all had the following answer:

My point is it’s VERY hard, even when you know the end is coming to tie everything up in a neat bow. And I can’t know how good the finale be or how satsifying it will be but given how well this season’s wrapped everything up so far, i’m betting on immensely. But we can talk about that when it finally comes around next week. For now we have a trial episode to talk about that’s mostly good.. mostly. See why the mostly under the cut as I discuss and recap the episode with full spoilers. Count it down!

We open in the Mansion, where a bunch of tribble like Fuzzy creatures are running amok. Unsuprisingly, Scrooge bought one for Louie as a pet to teach him responsiblity.. again. And once again he instead turned into a get rich quick scheme, didn’t read the manual and now they have an infestation.

ONCE AGAIN, Louie is written like he’s barely changed at all in the past three seasons. Anyone whose been following my reviews regularly knows this has been a pet peeve of mine for the entire season. Despite having an ENTIRE arc about Louie growing as a character and learning the human cost of his scheming and to use his angle seeing talent’s wisely, the writers keep writing him as if he learned nothing. I went back to track it and while not as often as it felt I noticed a few things. The first is that it WASN’T like this for the first half of the season. No really. He even learns brand new lessons in The Trickening and Louie’s Eleven. Granted he also exploits his uncle in Louie’s Eleven but that’s mostly played for laughs.. still not a great bit but not a major part of the episode.

So he was fine for the first act of the season... but then for whatever reason from Let’s Get Dangerous onwards (Again I don’t count the Christmas episode as both of those are meant to slot in anywhere and chronologically take place before this season for the timeline to make any sense), he’s just...

He’s utterly insufferable in his small parts of the first half of Let’s Get Dangerous! as he berates Huey for daring to look a gifthorse int he mouse.. even though everytime he’s seemingly got something for nothing or minimal effort it’s backfired and it’s something that seeemd to stick with “The Richest Duck in the World!”. He’s fine in Impossibin and alright in split sword as while he clearly hadn’t learned lying isn’t the best policy we at least got a good story out of it. He then went right back to obnoxious with New Gods on the Block where he, EPISODES AFTER THE SOLEAGEO FISACO again thinks an easy way out is the right way, and has NO guilt over possibly killing a bunch of people with his gold powers and in fact is disapointed he dosen’t get to keep a living being turned to gold!. He spents all of Fight for Castle McDuck being a huge dick to Huey AGAIN iwth no lesson, and now has yet another family endagering get rich quick scheme he feels no remorse about.

I will admit when I”m wrong and I DID think it was in way more of the season than I thought. And let’s face it in real life personal issues don’t just go away and you can sometimes slide back, i’ve done it way too many times and i’m not proud of it. We’re only human. But this isn’t real life, this is cartoon ducks. And cartoon duck wise most character development has stuck or if a bad trait’s come back it’s been in a new way. Webby is still trusting, but knows how the world works now and while idolizing scrooge dosen’t think he’s perfect anymore. Huey is no longer a skpetic towards the super natural and hasn’t forced a party on anyone. Dewey hasn’t craved other people’s love or thought he needed to earn his mom’s love again. And that’s just the other kids. They aren’t the same people theyw ere going in, neither is Louie. So it’s grating when an episode acts like h’es exactly the same, let alone almost a fifth of the season.

What makes it even worse though is that he had an ENTIRE STORY ARC dedicated to learning some of these lessons already. With the others if one episode were forgotten i’d let it slide as it happens with tv, i’m used to it. It’s not a great look but it happens. Mistakes happen again we’re all human. But you can’t act like an entire arc of a series didn’t exist. While they ignore Della’s history somehow being hidden for the rest of the show they don’t ignore that Dewey spent a whole season looking for her, as he never hides something like that from his brothers again nor do they, and he’s out of them the biggets mama’s boy. While they did take a while to adress Lena, partly because the episode got pushed back, they didn’t act like season 1 never happened and she was still working for her aunt. Della still isn’t on the moon and Owlson still isn’t working for glomgold. Actions. Have. Consequences. That’s the whole point of this episode, but they act like none of it got through to louie and it makes his arc feel like a giant waste in hindsight. This episode even feels like it was SUPPOSED to be in that arc: Louie is back to his season 2 characterization, Scrooge is actively trying to mentor him again.. it just feels really out of place as our second to last episode in that way and drags it down a bit.

Thankfully after Scrooge bars the door, and possibly leaves everyone to their deaths but he presumably has enough faith in the kids, the twins and Beakley to take care of it, he gets a summons to court.. and gets kidnapped. He and Louie are whisked away to a mystic court presided over by a giant statue of justice holding scales, that judges someone based on Karma. Scrooge’s foes have brought him to court, blaming him for being evil and if he looses he looses EVERYTHING. And their proscutor?

Sadly not Droopy, maybe next continuity, but searing the same Hannibal-Esque Getup is Doofus Drake to Louie’s horror. As for why he’s like this.. he thought iht was fun. Great gag.

After the credits we find out why he’s doing this: He’s still pissed about Louie taking half his inheritance and giving it to his family, so he’s going to take LOUIE’S inheritance. It’s.. honestly a great setup: Doofus was already a villian I liked, being a nice weird evil mirror dewey instead of a walking fat joke like last series. So I was glad to both see him pop up one last time to make it a full trilogy of apperances as an angonist and to see him take a step up from his passive roll in the past: in his first two apperances while he was evil and abusive, and still is, his evil was mostly due to his own warped logic, feeling he could put shock collars on and control people and that Louie lying to him was enough to warrant making him into a pinata. He’s still a bad person mind you: kid or not he ensdlaved his parents, tried to enslave louie and goldie and in general REALLY needs some help empathizing with people. But my point is that before he didn’t come after anyone.. so it’s a nice capper to have his final turn as antaognist be him going after our hero.. and at his most dangerous. Before someone would’ve come for Louie eventually in Doofus’ first apperance and Goldie would’ve found a way out or Scrooge, despite grumbling about it, would’ve helped.. if nothing else than to lord having to save her from a 12 year old over her. Here if he wins the family is out on the street and three of their greatest enemies are now infinitely more well funded.

So while naturally unnerved by his rival Louie offers to defend Scrooge who denies it despite the fact that Louie is REALLY good with words, and Scrooge, while not bad with them, can’t stop shouting and keeps pissing off the baliff, played by my boy Henry Winkler whose done a lot of voice work and also played Fonzie on Happy Days, is currently on the HBO series barry and in general is just a fucking delight. The irony is also not lost on me that he’s not playing a lawyer here despite being one on arrested development.

We get our first witness: FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD. Hell. Yes. It’s nice to see him in his full glory one last time, as I don’t know how much he’ll be in the finale. Scrooge blows of the Duke Baloney thing, which is fair given that while Scrooge screwed up there, Glomgold still stole money from him right after and then spent his whole life trying to one up him. But Glomgold has a different tale in mind as he stole something else from him: the limelight.

It was 1980-something and Glomgold was a bonified celebrity in Duckberg for his hot dogging, grandstanding and treasure hunting loved by all and took Baba Wawa, a nice mix of Barbra Walters and the parody of her on SNL by the late Gilda Radner, to a shark shaped cave to get the gem of the shark god, a ruby tooth at the end of the cave. Naturally Scrooge popped up and easily made his way through and stole the spotlight. As it turns out he wasn’t always well loved and it makes sense: he dismises Baba asking him about how disliked he is, and dosen’t care and even in the current story, or rather season 1 of it, he dismiseed PR entirely in Jaw$. He was rich enough and enough of a job provider he just didn’t see the need for fame or glory, that just came second so it’s logical no one liked him. Fortunes naturally reverse as you’d expect though: Glomgold dashes forward and ends up putting Baba and her camerabird in danger and being Glomgold he irrationally assumes she’s working for Scrooge and leaves her to die. Scrooge however, after getting the rock, goes out of his way to save her because it’s the right thing to do. He can be selfish at times, and as we’ll see monstrously so, but at his core Scrogoe is a good man who will do right when the chips are down. So this leaves Glomgold trapped and Scrogoe getting his good press instead and realizes he likes the attention.

As the flashback ends Glomgold fills in the gaps, pointing out he was stuck with the sharks for days, but slowly bonded with them learned from them and they became family, helping him with traps, joining him for thanksgiving and even getting a heart taatoo with a shark on it. Awww. Look I didn’t really need to know where Glomgold’s love of sharks came from, nor that he had some weird tarzan origin story with them.. but my life is 100% better knowing all of this so thank you Frank and Matt. Thank you. I’m also entirely convinced the two have had this whole part of his backstory ready to go for three seasons and were waiting to use it, along with the other two bits we’re about to get to. This episode as you can tell is also a vingette episode, but one where the wraparound is way more improtant than usual.. but it works given the setting and allows the stories to be as long as they actually need to be, and it addds some nice stakes instead of just having Scrooge’s villians gripe about him.

Scrooge protests and the Bailiff puts a clamp on his beak, so he has no choice in the matter when Louie steps up for the defense. Louie also proves that irresponsible he may be.. he’d be a damn good lawyer, as he easily picks things apart, pointing out Glomgold was ALREADY bad by then, Scrooge had no intent to steal the spotlight and Glomgold is currently planting dynamite under his chair, with predictable and hilarious results. So he gets put on the “good” side of the scale. Next witness.

Next up is Ma, and I was delighted that as I’d hoped and theroized this episode wrapped up one little plot point that while not major, was something I was curious about: Ma’s claims Scrooge stole Duckburg from her family. This was also likely the backbone of the episode at one point as Frank pitched a beagle trial episode at one time, but Disney nixed it. Likely the magic stuff was added both to justify it better and to distract Disney Channel’s higher ups because they constantly underestimate what a child will like. It was for the best though as the beagles are just a bit weaker here: While Character Actress Margo Martindale is a delight and was specifically cast for the role, overall it just feels like they ran out of ways to make the beagles a big threat and releigated them to muscle when needed, to the point they only appeared in one episode besides this one this season as with FOWL about, they didn’t really need villians of the week and what ones they did use like Glomgold and Mark were far more entertaining villains who needed a coda to their stories.They aren’t bad characters, but in a series where their breaking into the bin or mansion wasn’t a story the crew was interested in they served no real purpose.

So we finally get answers about the whole Deed thing: It was sometime in Ma’s childhood, good look guessing when, and the Beagles owned Duckburg having clearly overwhelmed Fort Duckburg at some point in history between Clinton’s defense of it and now, with Grandpa “Pa” Beagle finally making an apperance. In the comics he was basically what Ma is to both series: the scheming brains behind the beagles who showed up on occasion and it was a good idea to use him as the past version of her.

Scrooge naturally comes a calling and unsurprisingly Ma was lying: Scrooge offered to buy the place first from Pa, he refused outright, and then when Scrooge showed off the money he was offering, Pa bet the deed for it in an arm wrestling contest. Not only that but as Scrooge finds out as he almost looses, Pa was cheating having a smaller beagle boy operate pull a lever in a device attached to his arm to give pa extra force. Scroooge simply dropped a few coins to distract the guy and claimed victory and the deed.

Little Ma is left dejected though and Doofus claims he ruined his life, but Louie steps up, at this poitn Scrooge has learned to reign himself ina nd accepted Louie as his defense without saying anything, a nice subtle bit. He probably realized that while irrepsonsible.. Louie has everything to loose her and no reason to slack off and dosen’t even relaly have to lie for his uncle to get him off: he’s simply using his ablitiy to see all the angles to poke holes in their story.

Case in point, he orders the “tape” to continue and finds Little Ma berating her dad for his failure and forcefully taking control of the family. LIke Glomgold, Scrooge may of cost her something.. but it was something she and her family hadn’t earned and they were still on a bad road. Scrooge just made it worse.

But suprisingly, its MAGICA, who we’ve established is an uncaring monster, who has a story Scrooge genuinely feels bad about. Like the rest she was not a good person: Long ago she and her brother Poe were extorting a villiage, and lording over it as gods, changing the population into goats, toads and other things. The only diffrence from what Magica would do to the blot and presumiibly others later, is that Poe reigned in her manical tend ices, trying to get her to think things through. The goat transformation was so they’d have milk and at least get something out of it and as to not waste all their slaves. Poe is voiced by Martin Freeman of The Hobbit and Black Panther fame. Great actor, does amazing work here. So like the others Scrooge changed things, and fought someone with bad intentions for his own self. He talked Magica into fighting him with both amulets by playing into her ego and Poe trying to talk her down, and easily deflected her bolt with the dime to turn her into a crow with her own spell. So far it’s just like the other tales in a nice mirror.. it’s what comes next that makes Scrooge into a bad guy too. Not as bad as Magica and Poe.. but sitll not good. Poe dives selflessly in front of the coin.. and shockingly while she cared nothing for Lena.. that wasn’t the case for Poe. Magica is truly devastated, desperatly trying to put the amulet back on and begging scrooge for help while he just ignores her and fills up his sack. And while they both deserved it... Scrooge and Louie both recognize he was wrong as the flashback ends with Poe escaping and Magica sitll haven’t having found him to this day. And props to Catharine Tate here a she takes a normally hammy terrible person who was wholly unsympathetic and manages to make her painfully human.

What makes the act so terrible is not who it happened to, they both desrved it, but Scrooge’s attitude, utterly callous to magica’s pain with not a drop of sympathy. While she deserved it as did Poe.. he’s not doing this to her as some justice for her crimes, or because she did something horrible to him or any valid reason.. he’s doing it because he’d rather get more of her and poes gold than lift one finger to help someone who had , for all his evil, selflessly sacrificed himself for his sister. For all Poe’s evil and tyranny.. there MIGHT of been a good man in them, in both of them.. and Scrooge could’ve cared less. He shut the door on Magica ever becoming a good person, ever getting her brother back to line his own wallet and to satisfy his own ego. See that’s the true mark of a hero: how they treat others, even the worst of them. And in his lowest moment Scrooge could’ve cared less about anyone but himself.

Scrooge feels bad and Louie does finally get the responsibility thing and this is where things start to go off the rails: he apologizes to Doofus and admits he dosen’t want an enteral rivalry and h’es sorry for any pain he caused. The off the rails part is because Doofus is genuinely not a good person, ahs done very bad things and is trying to bankrupt Louie for the crime of “taking half your fortune after you used it to torment and enslave your own parents’. It just.. dosen’t play as well as they’d like. That said I DO like both Louie deciding to bury the hatchet instead of just avoiding him and Doofus showing some nobiity in accepting it. Maybe he’ll change.

He goes off into the night, and Scrooge genuinely apologizes and accepts repsonsiblity... and here’s where the plot finishing going off the rails and into someone’s living room: the bailiff AWARDS THEM SCROOGE’S FORTUNE BECAUSE HE ADMITTED SOME CUPLABLITY AND WAS HUMBLE.

This just.. it makes no sense, it will never not baffle me and it hurts my brain> Yes he admitted some wrong doing and apologized for it.. but it was also THROUGHLY proven the other two weren’t his fault, and he was simply being a good man which should get him some good. Thankfully the conclusion is a bit better, as Louie points out while they made him, he made you so who made who, who made you... okay i’m getting into the AC/DC of things point is these incidents all shaped Scrooge into a better person. His mistake with Magica. is clearly learned from. He’s stopping a group of bullies in Ma’s story and saving a life without a second thought in the second. He learned to value others, to value family all because THEY showed him what happens when you don’t. By seeing the worst person he could be.. he became the best. So the trial’s thrown out his assets are returned, and their teleported out before magica can hit them with lighting. Lesson learned.. well kinda Louie tells scrooge to do it because he got the pet.

Final Thoughts for The Life and Crimes of Scrooge McDuck:

Great title aside.. this one is a mess. It’s not a terrible episode: the flashbacks are genuinely engaging, each one helping flesh out the villians and in Ma’s case pulling one last dangling plot thread. Glomgold’s was just entertaining , clevelry using his 80′s origns for an 80′s style news special and giving us the origin to his love of sharks that we didn’t know we needed., Ma’s tied up a loose plot threat with a fun flashback and Magica’s was genuinely heart wrenching and did the tall task of making us feel for someone that terrible. The wraparound.. was a bit weaker. Doofus was the best part, playing an excellent manipulative bastard lawyer, and being a genuine threat and his walking away peacefully was a nice touch, and Louie having to defend scrooge was great and showed him off better than ever. And Louie did get some moments to shine.. it was just wierldy bookened with him acting terribly AGAIN, in a way he should know better than in an episode where he acts fine for most of it and even then he thinks lying to a judge is a good idea! I know he’s 12 but he’s not this stupid and while as I made very clear i’ve seen this shit before, I haven’t seen it flip flop in the same episode. Louie deserves better than this.

But it’s also in service to a responsiblility aseop that just.. dosen’t work as presented. Yes you should take responsiblity for your past, yes you should learn from your mistakes and own up to them, I have, and yes it’s all too easy to slide back> That’s all fine.. but him apologizing to Ma, whose family was terorrizing a town, and Glomgold, who he did nothing to, and having Louie apologize to Doofus, who while he tried to exploit him still enslaved his own parents and deserved to loose half his fortune AND loosing half his fortune wasn’t even the main thing Louie wanted to do as his main goal was getting BOYD a loving family.. it’s bullshit. Just pure Grade-A bullshit. Why are you booing them their right. It’s a good idea for a moral but it’s executed so overwhelmingly poorly it bogs down what was otherwise an exceptional episode, into just passable. It’s just mind numbing and saddening to know the next to last episode wasted so much good ideas on a clumsy moral. Thankfully I have hope the finale will be better, and again at least we got some good out of this one.

Next Time: Endgame Baby! Clan McDuck and their Amazing Friends Vs F.O.W.L. for the fate of adventure itself! One last ride! I can hardly wait!

This week on the blog: Ducks Ducks and more ducks.. and a top 12 list of my faviorite superheroines later today’s for international women’s day. But after that we have more of the Della arc, the last step in the Lena arc before Shadow War next week, and the 87 ducktales pilot treasure of the golden suns!

If you liked this review, share it around, follow for more, and you can comission your own for 5 dolalrs an issue or episode, or kick in some money on my patroen, link on my blog. Even a dollar a month helps and my next stretch goal is 5 dollars away and if we reach it i’ll review both the super ducktales mini series introducing gizmoduck AND a darkwing duck episode a month. Until the next rainbow it’s been a pleasure.

#ducktales #the life and crimes of scrooge mcduck #scrooge mcduck #louie duck #doofus drake #magica de spell #poe de spell #FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD #ma beagle #the beagle boys #disney channel #disney #ducks #uncle scrooge

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staticscreenwriting · 4 years ago

Text

Wonderful tonight // F.M.

Synopsis: Reader is Pope’s sister and her and Frankie have been dancing around each other for years. Now Pope is getting married and emotions are running high and Frankie and Reader are both single at the same time for the first time ever. It’s all about the longing, the yearning.

A/N: This entire thing was inspired by that picture of Pedro in the header and how handsome he is. This is my first time writing for this fandom and I rewrote this story about 5 million times. If you like it let me know if you don’t then you can also let me know if you want. I did run this through spellcheck but it’s not really edited. I don’t have the time, honestly. Just ignore mistakes, please and thank you. Hope you enjoy.

[additional note: I am German. Sometimes I get the tense wrong or make mistakes. I am useless when it comes to punctuation. Go easy on me, please.]

“ One day I’m gonna stand right over there. I’m gonna wear an expensive suit and shiny shoes. I’m gonna get my hair done real nice, and probably have a flower pinned to my jacket. My hands will be clammy and my heart will be racing. There will be flowers, lots of them, all over the garden. We'll have a musician playing acoustic guitar. All my friends will be there, and — and our entire crazy family. And I’m gonna get married to the love of my life. Right here. And things will be good. People will be happy.”

“ Mom will probably be crying. “

“ Oh for sure. “

As she steps out into the garden, (Y/N) can’t help but let her mind wander back to that one summer night a long time ago. Pope was fresh out of high school then, about to move out and start the rest of his life, away from home. Nights like these, sitting in the garden of their childhood home and sharing silly stories and hopes and fears, were numbered. That’s the thing about having siblings, it really only occurs to you how important they are to you when you’re faced with the idea of a life without them. So they sat there, on the steps of the porch, ice-cold cans of coke in hand and hearts open and vulnerable. Pope had never shared any of his dreams with her, not like this at least. But maybe him leaving home made him feel nostalgic too.

Her eyes meet his across the aisle and he smiles at her with his signature Santiago Garcia smile, the one that’s gotten him out of so much trouble when he was younger, the one that looks so much like their mother’s. An ocean of flowers surrounds him, just like he said it would. And their entire crazy family has taken their seats, ready to watch him get married to the love of his life. (Y/N) has always been proud of her brother's achievements, in and outside of the army. But she’s never been more proud than today.

Will softly links his arm with her’s as they walk down the aisle to take their respective places as bridesmaid and groomsman. The air is filled with the soft melodic strumming of an acoustic guitar and the perpetual scent of peonies. The rational part of (Y/N)’s brain knows that life isn’t like the movies but maybe, she thinks, sometimes life grants us a little moment in which we get to relish in a bit of that magic that makes those films so enchanting.

Just as she’s predicted all those years ago, her mother is crying. Big happy tears roll down her blushed cheeks. If we’re being entirely honest, neither (Y/N) nor their mother had really believed they’d ever see Pope up there, wearing an expensive suit and shiny shoes and waiting for the love of his life to walk down the aisle so he can marry her and start their happily ever after. Then again, ever since he was little Pope always found a way to get the things he wanted if he only set his mind to it. The sky was and still is the limit for her brother and that is something (Y/N) is infinitely envious of and wonderfully amazed by at the same time.

As they reach the front, Will lets go of her arm and walks right to stand with Pope and the groomsmen and she walks to the left stepping up beside the maid of honor.

It all goes so fast from then on, one more bridesmaid and groomsman, the flower girls, then the bride. She looks gorgeous and she’s smiling the biggest smile. It’s one that just radiates with pure unfiltered joy. And there’s love in her eyes. So much love. The way she looks at Pope leaves no doubt about her feelings for him. It’s the most basic of all human emotions and yet the most complex to grasp though at that moment, in her eyes and his, it’s so clear to see and so easy to understand.

(Y/N) feels her heart do a little stutter as she allows herself, for the first time that day, to let her eyes wander towards the row of groomsmen. This is, by all accounts, a bad decision that’s only gonna hurt. Self-destructive behavior is something she’s pretty good at though.

Frankie stands next to Pope like a rock, sturdy and determined and ready to catch him if he were to stumble or fall. That is something so enigmatic about Frankie. As flimsy and unpredictable he can be when it comes to himself, he’s incredibly loyal towards his friends and loved ones. He does not falter, does not shake. Not for his loved ones, never.

The dark blue suit looks good on him, it fits him like a glove and it must’ve been expensive. Though (Y/N) can’t help but feel like something is missing. This isn’t the Frankie she knows. The one she —. Granted, it’s been years but still, there’s something funny and peculiar about Frankie in a fancy suit.

His lips are pulled up in a small, gentle smile. One that makes a comfortable warmth settle in (Y/N)’s heart. This man is both so familiar and yet so complicated. He’s been a constant in (Y/N)’s life for a long while now, ever since the first time Pope brought him around for dinner. Even without any blood relation, those two are brothers through and through. Will and Benny too. Those four, forever bound to one another by the horrors they’ve seen, the pain they’ve felt, and the family that developed along the way.

(Y/N) loves those boys, they are as much a part of her family now as they are of Pope's and yet, something about Frankie always felt different. From the first moment, their eyes met, the air filled with a strong magnetic pull. Invisible but palpable. It was always special. Always. Frankie is the kind of guy one can call at 3 am because you’ve heard a scary sound and don’t feel safe and he’ll jump into his car and come check it out for you and protect you, no questions asked. And he never wants anything in return. He just gives because that’s what his heart tells him too. The world, (Y/N) thinks, needs more people like Frankie.

He’s not without his issues, far from it really, and (Y/N) can acknowledge that. But the sum of his faults does not undo the size of his heart. Somewhere along the way of their friendship things changed. It was a gradual change, slow and steady like water down a stream. Glances lingered, hands kept brushing more frequently and the air held a perpetual sizzle of static. Though neither of them ever admitted it, they both knew it was there. Hell, even the boys, foolish and naive as they could be, noticed. It was a well-known secret.

If life really was a movie, the two of them would’ve gotten a happily ever after by now. A dance on a rooftop, a kiss in the rain, a soft indie song leading them into the end credits. A gentle epilogue to a slow burn romance.

But life really isn’t a movie. Everything seems to be working against them. Mostly time and cultural conventions. This man is her brother’s friend. Her brother’s brother. You don’t date your brother's friends, that’s like an unwritten rule. But time is probably the worst of their enemies. It never seems to be on their side. They’ve never been single at the same time. Frankie went through several more or less serious relationships and while (Y/N) hasn’t found anyone to settle down with permanently, there’d been men she lent her heart to.

Last year, just a few weeks before Pope swept his band of merry men off on their suicide mission to Colombia, (Y/N) moved back home after ending a 3-year relationship. Dave was �� he was nice. Nice and secure and stable and boring. Something about him felt too squeaky clean. That night, looking at old pictures of herself and the boys that were proudly displayed on the fireplace in her parent’s living room, it became abundantly clear to her that Dave wasn’t the problem. The problem was that Dave wasn’t Francisco. She’d really set her mind to it then, to pull herself together and muster up the courage to finally seek a conversation with him about the elephant in the room they both had refused to acknowledge for so long. She’d been determined. Then Pope dropped a bomb on her.

“So Frankie and his girl are having a baby.”

And from that moment on she refused to let herself entertain any thought of her and him having any kind of future that went beyond being friends. It hurt, god it hurt like hell. But dreaming of things that could never be wasn’t doing her any good either.

Seeing him now, looking all snazzy in his suit and smiling, it sends a familiar shive through her body and makes the moths in her stomach go crazy. If only life was a movie. If only.

The ceremony passes in the blink of an eye. There’s happy tears, lots of them but love shines brightly through it all. Every glance, every touch, every word spoken. As her brother and his new wife make their way down the aisle, (Y/N) dares to take another glance towards Frankie and, for the first time that day, he’s looking back.

The world doesn’t shift or shake right then, doesn’t spin out of its axis. Nothing fundamentally changes but the air feels different. The electricity is back. The magnetic pull. The undeniable attraction. Just like that, they are both thrown back into this everlasting limbo of what-ifs.

(Y/N) looks away before her heart can break further, knowing what could’ve been and what can never be.

Weddings have this strange side effect of making you think about your own romantic entanglements. It’s not necessarily a bad thing or a sad thing. It’s just a fact. Seeing other people’s love being displayed so prominently, being celebrated, it makes you wonder. Will I ever find this kind of love?

“ You know, I think you and I gotta have a talk.” Pope’s voice holds a certain edge to it, a teasing tone she’s heard so many times growing up.

“ About what? Shouldn’t you be dancing with your wife right now? “

“ Ah, she got caught up in a conversation with her aunt, something about corgis. Once that woman starts going there’s no stopping her. It’s — it’s a lot.”

“ And you left your wife behind to fend for herself? What a way to start life as a married couple.”

Pope gives her a chuckle and their silly banter makes (Y/N) feel like a kid again.

“ So I’m gonna need you to talk to Fish. “

“ Huh? “

“ Oh don’t play dumb. I’ve known you your whole life, kiddo. I know when something’s going on with you and something is definitely going on.”

“ What’s my emotional turmoil got to do with Frankie?”

Her older brother raises his eyebrow in mock offense. As if to say “you really think I’m that dumb?”

“ You two have been throwing looks at each other all day whenever you think the other isn’t looking. Subtlety really isn’t either of you's strong suit. “

That, (Y/N) thinks, must be absolute nonsense. Frankie’s got a girl and a baby, there’s no reason for him to sneak glances at her. Clearly he’s gotten his happily ever after already and it doesn’t involve her. Pope must be delusional. Must have a head filled with cotton candy and all things rose-colored.

“ You’re on a wedding high, my guy. There have been no looks. “

Her words are met by Pope shaking his head in frustration. “ Look, I just — just please go talk to him. This dancing around each other is very high school drama and I love you both which is why I can’t watch this going on any longer. “

“ What are you saying?”

“ That if there’s something there worth um — worth exploring, you don’t have to worry about me or my opinion on it. “

If anyone had ever told her those words would ever leave her brother’s lips, she would've called that person crazy. Not that they change anything, he’s still got a woman at home and a baby. But still — it’s nice to know that if things had worked out differently, Pope would approve.

“ Are you saying that if I wanted to date Frankie — which I don’t, but like let’s pretend I did. Hypothetically. You’d be okay with that? “

“ (Y/N), “ Pope says and his voice dips lower as his expression grows more serious “ I love both of you. I just want you guys to be happy. “

Before either of them can continue the conversation, the bride steps up beside them, throwing her arms around Pope’s middle and facing (Y/N) with a big, radiant smile on her face.

“ Sorry I had to interrupt but I needed to get away from aunt Lisa and her Corgie stories.”

“ Nah it’s okay, don’t worry I uh — I gotta go talk to someone. “

Pope smiles at her in return and a silent understanding passes between the two. Maybe the story wasn't all that hypothetical after all.

Much to (Y/N)’s delight, Frankie sits alone at the table. His suit jacket is lazily thrown over the back of the chair and the sleeves of his shirt are rolled up to his elbows. This looks more like the Frankie she knows. The one she loves. Effortlessly cool and yet so undeniably charming.

Sliding onto the chair next to his, she can feel her heart speed up with anxiety. She shouldn’t feel this way around him. Underneath all the feelings, this is still her Frankie, one of her best friends, a member of her little family of misfits.

“ Hey, you. “ her words are soft, delicate, almost as if she’s afraid of saying them. And maybe she is. A little bit at least.

“ Hey, stranger. Long time no see.”

His voice is dark and soothing but there’s an edge to it, a hint of teasing.

“ Mmh. It’s been a while. “

“ Yeah, and with the way you’ve been avoiding me all day today, it makes me wonder if I did anything wrong. “

Oh god.

“ Dude, what’s it with everyone thinking I’m avoiding you? I’m not. “

“ You sure about that? “ Frankie asks and raises his eyebrow in question.

“ Yup. Just been a — a busy day. I’d never avoid you, I missed you. “

At least the last part of that statement is factual. She’s missed him terribly.

“ I missed you too “.

There’s a truth in his eyes, a grounding honesty that is so hard to come by in people. Whatever words fall from his lips they are deliberate and he means them 100%. It’s something (Y/N) has always admired and appreciated about him.

“ Sooo … I was hoping you’d bring a plus 1 today. “

“ Huh? “

“ The baby ! “

“ Oh. Oh, I think it’s way past her bedtime by now. She’s uh — she’s with her mom. “

“ Do you have a picture? “

Frankie scoffs, “ One? I got a bunch of ‘em. How much time have you got? “

As he pulls out his old battered leather wallet, (Y/N) can’t help but let a smile take over her face. It’s so fitting that he would carry the pictures around in his wallet instead of having them saved on a phone. Frankie was never the guy to get all obsessed with having the newest technological gadgets. Though he was smart as hell and good at navigating any and all electronic devices, he never felt the desire to own a smartphone himself only having caved and bought one a year ago when his old phone died on him.

“ That’s her. Just celebrated her first birthday. “

The girl in the picture is undeniably Frankie’s daughter. She’s grinning up at the camera with his exact smile only she’s missing a few teeth still. Her eyes are the same soothing shade of brown and are rimmed by the same thick black eyelashes. She’s gorgeous and something about seeing her sends a pang straight to (Y/N)’s heart. What if …

It was one thing knowing that he was a dad but actually seeing his baby and realizing that’s his new reality, it’s strange. And while (Y/N) is happy for him, a part of her has a hard time coping with that realization. What if things had worked out differently, could that have been her life too?

“ She’s adorable. “

“ Yeaaah, “ Frankie replies and shrugs his shoulder casually, “ guess I did a pretty good job there. ‘s the first time in my life. Only thing I ever did right. “

Though he tries to shake it off and veil his words with a tone of mockery, (Y/N) can see right through him. The self-depreciation has always been a point of contention to her. How he can not see how wonderful he is, how loyal and sweet and loving, is beyond her.

“ Shut up, Frankie. Except for my brother, you’re the only guy I know that would drop everything to help me paint my kitchen at 1 am on a Tuesday. You’re so sweet and funny and I have not a single doubt in my mind that you’re an amazing dad. Stop selling yourself short. “

For a moment a quiet settles upon them that is neither comfortable nor awkward. It just is. And then Frankie looks into her eyes again and the moths are back going haywire. If only her future lay in those eyes, oh how wonderful yet foolish of a thought.

“ Ah, I don’t know. Her mom doesn’t seem to think so. Left just before her first birthday. I mean — “ he sighs and takes a sip from his bottle of beer “ things between us hadn’t been good for a while and a breakup was inevitable. It’s just that I wish I could see the kid more. She’s my heart. She’s my everything. I want to be good enough for her, you know? So one day she can be like that’s my dad and he’s a pretty alright guy. Not that’s my dad, the ex-addict unemployed pilot. “

“ Frankie. That kid's gonna love you so much, now and forever. Because you love her. That’s all that matters. When you think about your childhood, do you think about your parents’ jobs? No. You think about how much they loved you and the good memories you had with them. “

Frankie stays silent for a moment, just looks at her with his big brown eyes, and then — then he smiles.

“ Can I tell you something? “

“ Always.”

“ When she was born. When the doctor let me see her and hold her for the first time. I wanted to call you. You’re the first person I wanted to talk to about her. I was so fucking terrified at that moment because she was so tiny and the world is so big and scary and I don’t know how to not fuck things up for her and how to protect her from it all. And you, when I’m with you I never felt scared, ever. You’re so good at making me feel like I can do everything and at making me forget about my own shortcomings. I wanted to call you so bad. “

“ Then why didn’t you? “

He averts his gaze for a moment, as if it’s a secret that weighs heavy on his heart. One he hasn’t told anyone before. One he isn’t sure he’s ready to share.

“ Didn’t wanna bother you. “

That’s not the truth. She can tell immediately. Frankie is a lot of things but he’s not a very good liar, at least not to the people that know him very well. Though she doesn’t push the situation any further.

“ Pffsh. Bother me …”

“ Didn’t think your boyfriend was gonna be okay with me calling you in the middle of the night. “

“ Well fuck him. “

Frankie raises his eyebrows in surprise. “ Huh “

“ Yup. “

“ Didn’t work out? “

“ Nope. “

“ Why’s that? “

Cause he isn’t you. That’s what she wants to say. That’s what rests on the tip of her tongue just waiting to be spoken. She doesn’t say it though, doesn’t have the guts. There’s an overwhelming sadness about getting your heart broken at a wedding and it’s not something she wants to experience today.

“ Just didn’t work out. Realized he wasn’t who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. “

“ So you’re not gonna be the next one inviting me to a wedding and making me wear a stupid fancy-ass suit? “

“ No way. First of all, you look hot in this suit and you know it. Second of all, nah. I feel like this isn’t in the cards for me. I want — I want a guy that I can call at 3 am to get chocolate chip pancakes at the diner and that will run through the garden sprinkler with me when it’s hot outside and that will ask me to slow dance at a wedding even though the song that’s playing is super cheesy and overplayed. Dave was sweet and he was secure but I always felt like something was missing. I loved him but we were never friends. I think that’s what I was missing. “

Their eyes meet again and a shiver runs down her spine. There’s a tension in the air so thick one could cut it with a knife. And for a moment, just a fleeting moment, one that passes in the blink of an eye, there’s the courage she’s been looking for for so long. The one that helps her push the words from the tip of her tongue and speak them. For the first time. Finally.

“ Frankie, he wasn’t y— “

“ (Y/N), Darling. It’s time for your speech. “

At that moment she wants to strangle her own mother. That courage? It’s never gonna come back. This was her one chance and it’s not gonna come back ever. Oh god, what is Frankie gonna think? What’s gonna happen to their friendship ?!

“ Yeah. Yeah, okay. I’ll just. Okay yeah. I’m coming. “

She doesn’t dare even as much as glance back at Frankie. Though before she makes her way over to her seat where the mic is already waiting for her and the speech she’s so meticulously planned, she hears him call out to her.

“ (Y/N)! “

“ Hmm…? “

“ I lied. I didn’t call you when the baby was born because I thought It was extremely inappropriate to call the woman I’m in love with while the mother of my child is recovering from giving birth. “

The moths in her stomach are gone now. There are bats now. Maybe a swarm of birds. Something bigger than moths for sure. Her whole body feels like it’s on fire and simultaneously being splashed with ice-cold water. Her heart is beating faster and her hands are clammy and all she can do is stare and get lost in his eyes and his smile and this moment that seems unreal.

“ Honey? “

Her mother’s words break the spell and (Y/N) follows her to take her place at the table. The mic feels heavy in her hand though everything else feels weightless. Maybe, she thinks, this is what love should feel like. Weightless. Easy. Magical.

There’s a piece of paper in her sparkly clutch with a long and sentimental speech written on it all about love and finding your soulmate and all that stuff that, until today, she always felt like she didn’t really know anything about except for what they tell you in the lovesongs on the radio or the rom-coms on tv. And yeah maybe it’s still too early to feel like the world is an entirely different place now but those words he said, she’s been waiting for those words for over a decade. If there was ever a moment to romanticize her own life, to relish in the feeling of being loved, and to celebrate her own successes, it’s today.

The pre-written speech stays in the purse. Instead (Y/N) takes the mic and starts talking. Straight from the heart.

Across the room, her eyes meet Frankie’s and all she can do is smile, for it’s the first time in a long time where her future isn’t so scary. It’s exciting. Maybe everything else that came before was just the prologue and her story is just now about to really begin.

“ Hi. I’m (Y/N), I’m Santiago’s sister, and uh — I wanna talk to you about love. “

Weddings are hectic and busy affairs. There’s something going on at all times and it’s impossible for (Y/N) to find even a second to have a proper conversation with Frankie about — well everything. So much time had been wasted between them, on keeping their feelings locked up and trying to find the right moment. Now the moment is here and the conversation doesn’t seem so scary no more. Now the only thing that stands between them is this wedding. There are speeches then food then cake then more speeches then a picture slide-show one of the bridesmaids put together then then then. It’s never-ending and though it’s fun and (Y/N) enjoys celebrating her brother’s love, she wishes time would pass quicker right then. If only for once, time could be on their side.

Only when the newlyweds have left the venue to spend their wedding night at a fancy hotel nearby and most of the guests have cleared too, (Y/N) finally finds time to sit down and just relax for a moment. No speeches to listen to, no uncles who insist on getting one dance with her, no bride who needs help holding up her dress while she pees. Just calm and quiet and —

“ Can I have this dance? “

His hand is reaching out to her and there’s a nervous smile playing on his lips. There’s something quite intoxicating about it all now that she knows he feels the same. All the anxiety is gone and replaced with hopes and dreams of a future that now seems like it might actually happen. One that’s been a “What-if” for so long.

“ It would be my pleasure. “

Neither of them is a particularly good dancer but it doesn’t matter right then. All that matters is that they get to exist together at that moment and in their little bubble. That they get to be close and sway left and right as Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful tonight” echoes through the room.

“ That song is so cheesy and overplayed, “ (Y/N) exclaims, “ I love it. “

Frankie places a soft kiss on the top of her head and it sends her heart into overdrive. Is this what the lovers in a Jane Austen novel felt like when their hands locked for the first time, just a fleeting whisper of a touch?

It feels exhilarating and (Y/N) feels alive and like nothing is missing. Everything and everyone is right where they’re supposed to be.

“ You ever thought Pope was gonna end up actually getting married? I didn’t see that one coming to be honest. “

(Y/N) leans her cheek against his chest as they keep softly swaying to the song. A tiny content smile settles on her lips.

“ Actually, yeah. It was always part of his plan and you know him, if he sets his mind to something he usually ends up succeeding. “

Frankie nods in response. “ Talking about your brother, we had a uh — a conversation earlier.”

“ Now why in the world would you do such a thing? “ she jokes though not for a second does she lift her head off of his chest. He’s warm and soft and she can just about make out his heartbeat. This feels too comfortable to disrupt it for even a second.

“ He kinda implied that he wouldn’t mind if you and I — “

He stops, considers his words, rearranges them.

“ If we what? “

“ Started dating? That sounds wrong, that makes us sound like teenagers. “

“ You know, it’s funny because he implied something awfully similar when I talked to him earlier. “

“ Huh. weird. “

“ Ya think that maybe this, “ she says and gestures between the two of them “ is also part of his plan? “

Frankie shrugs and moves his hand to her jaw, softly stroking her cheek with his thumb.

“ He always gets what he wants, guess we can’t break the chain, huh? “

“ Guess not. “

They’re so close. So unfathomably close. His warm breath falls onto her skin and he can smell the flowery scent of her perfume. The air around them sizzles with electric anticipation.

Back when she was a kid, (Y/N) was obsessed with the Disney Cinderella movie. Everything about it felt so magical and wonderful and life held the sweet bliss of childlike wonder and innocence. And then she grew up and witnessed her heart breaking over and over again.

Now that she’s standing here, in the arms of the man she’s loved for so much longer than she can remember, she thinks that maybe the movie wasn’t all wrong. Yeah, maybe it’s an overly sugar-coated fairytale where happy endings are guaranteed and things get fixed with a song and the help of some critter sidekicks. But the underlying message of them all, the most fundamental truth of them all is that love is worth believing in even when life gives you so many chances to lose hope.

Just like the fairy godmother has said: Even miracles take a little time.

This kiss, warm and gentle and passionate, is a miracle in itself. If only for the fact that it has taken over a decade for it to finally happen. His lips meet hers and the world spins faster and slower all at once. If this was a movie, they’d probably show a montage of all their happy memories throughout their years of friendship, all the longing glances, and flirty touches. But this isn’t a movie. This is real life. She’s really dancing with him. He’s really kissing her.

She doesn’t have to imagine any of it anymore because it’s happening right here and right now and life is so much better than any movie or romance novel or cheesy pop song. They can never live up to the real thing.

Neither of them wants to pull away though eventually their lungs demand oxygen and they reluctantly detach their lips.

“ You think we should, give this thing a chance? “

Once again there he goes being so casual. As if this is not a decision that’s been in the making for such a long time now. An accumulation of years of longing and wishing and hoping and constantly missing the right moments and bottling up feelings.

“ Francisco Morales, I’ve loved you for a long ass time now. I am not letting you go anytime soon. Ain’t no getting rid of me, buddy. “

“ Good, I’m not planning on it. And I love you too, by the way.“

They seal it with a kiss and life feels like it always did only — better. Everything feels so damn right. The what-ifs are gone and in their place now stands a future worth looking forward to. One filled with adventure and happiness and love.

“ Hey, (Y/N)? “

“ Hmmm ? “

“ You wanna go get pancakes at the diner around the corner? “

“ With chocolate chips? “

Frankie scoffs “ Duh. What a question. “

There’s a lot of comfort to be found in romantic media though as they walk outside the venue, hand in hand and matching smiles on their faces, (Y/N) thinks that every once in awhile life itself makes for the best movie, the most magical moments and the greatest love stories.

#francisco morales x reader #francisco morales x you #catfish x you #catfish x reader #frankie morales x reader #frankie morales x you #frankie morales imagine #francisco morales imagine #catfish imagine #triple frontier imagine #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal imagine

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