#that is a man with a ponytail and some issues oof

[ninjagirlstar5]

I love Haru, but he does deserve to get slapped every now and then for his pervertedness.

So, Haru is a pilot, that goes without saying with his hat and goggles as that's the most clear indication of his Ultimate Talent. His OG design was alright and I liked it as is. But I guess I just wanted to push his pilot design a little bit more while still keeping to his very casual look. So I, uh, replaced his vest with a bomber jacket. I'm sorry but I just wasn't feeling the vest as it looks like some kind of jacket that had it's sleeves ripped off and Haru decided to wear that cause he thinks it looks cool...which is actually pretty in character for him so it's not a bad design choice honestly, fkdgytdklymtlkym. I was just in the mood for a bomber jacket, so I gave Haru a bomber jacket. I just pushed the sleeves up juuust below the elbow to give the impression that he's pretty chill. When his temper is not flaring up, at least. But otherwise he's a pretty chill dude that just...wants to hang out and do dumb (perhaps even dangerous) teenage things and even go on a date or two. Anyways, back to the jacket, I also had it unzipped below his collar to again push the fact that he's pretty casual. But looking back on it now, I feel like I should've left the jacket completely open like his old vest. It would just fit his vibes better. But I decided not to go back and change the sprite simply because I was lazy and I didn't want to go through all the effort of erasing the linework and stuff. Just know the next time I draw him, I'm going to leave his jacket open. Also, I find it interesting that Haru's OG sprite has what looks to be a military symbol on his sleeve?? And his likes aside from women (of course) is also the military, at least according to the wiki. Which makes me think that Haru is a military brat of some sort, like one of his parents, probably his dad, was a pilot for the military or something. I could just be overanalyzing this but I don't think LINUJ would add these to his character without some kind of purpose. It'd be better if we actually had an idea of what his home life actually was, but alas, all we got in his FTEs was his love life (and his guilt over his role in Kiyoka's death, oof). Anyways, I decided to make that symbol on his sleeve a little more clearer on his jacket and I changed his necklace to dog tags to tie it all together. I found his blue necklace in his OG design kinda just...there...to fill in some space on his torso. And I thought it was kinda meh and out of place for such a plain necklace, so changing it to a pair of dog tags fits the whole military thing way better. After that, I changed his shoes to boots and gave him a ponytail cause...honestly, I just wanted to give him a ponytail. I love it when male characters have ponytails so Haru was lucky enough for my brain to go, "ponytail, now" while I was designing him. It kind helps his hair stand out when he's wearing his hat as it mostly covers his bangs in this redesign, not like in his OG sprite where tufts of his hair peaks out from underneath. Besides, I can see Haru being the kind of guy to grow out his hair, even if it's against regulations or something, like, say, occasionally serving in the military. For someone who seems to be interested in the military, perhaps even worked for it as a pilot, Haru actually has no issue in arguing against authority figures. No, seriously, if he's not arguing with Teruya in the killing game, he's butting heads with Kinjo. He may fall in line once, but if he has an issue with you, he doesn't hesitate to say it, regardless of your position. And with that, I just adjusted his color palette, desaturated his skin tone a little bit while making sure he remained tanned and that was it. Haru is done!

Man, I miss Haru. I feel like he really shined in Chapter 4 but I enjoy the little details of his character outside of his usual role of being the "comic relief."

[chxna-cheeseycake]

I feel like talking more about my Dante and Gene Swap AU but this time I will just mainly write out some quick hcs and shit because I don't feel like writing long paragraphs rn lmao. Anyways, enjoy my silly thoughts under the cut!

-Gene's hair is pretty long because he was technically homeless for awhile and didn't have much money so he didn't really have the means to cut it. Same thing goes for the stumble on his face.

-He actually starts liking his long hair though so it's chill with him. Most of the time he just throws it in a low ponytail and calls it a day.

-But Aphmau, Nana and/or Cadenza insist on styling from time to time so he just lets them have their fun. Gene does like the hairstyles they do for him so he appreciates it.

-Naoko (aka Nekoette) does the same thing for him post 15 year time skip which Gene finds really adorable and sweet <3

-Also I just want to make it clear that Gene will not be the father of Naoko and Dmitri cuz I just don't think it really fits with where I want to take this AU

-So Naoko's dad abandons her and Nana when Naoko was a baby while Dmitri's dad actually does die before he was born.

-However, Gene does act like a father figure to the both of them and even helps Nana co-parent Naoko after Naoko's father leaves. Gene and Nana remain as friends though and that's it. No romance here peeps sorry not sorry.

-Gene and Nicole are also just friends but they're friendship gets ruined after they get into a heated argument regarding Nicole leaving for Scaleswind. It'll take a long while for them to resolve this issue of theirs and reconcile.

-During the 15 year time skip when people started coming back to Phoenix Drop to rebuild the village, Gene is very hesitant to take the role of head guard even though the other villagers want him too.

-To be fair the last time he was head guard of a village things didn't go so well...

-So yeah, Gene has a good reason to not really want to take the position of head guard. But he then he starts thinking about how the people of Phoenix Drop need someone to protect them. How Levin, who will soon become a lord, will need a head guard to serve and protect him by his side.

-Only then does Gene decide to take on the role of head guard because people need him and he wants to once and for all prove that he is once more worthy to be dubbed a head guard.

-It's a daunting task of course and past trauma keeps making Gene terrified that he'll mess up again and put his newfound family in great danger. He needs some reassurance that he's doing great at his job and eventually he does realize that he's good enough and makes an excellent head guard.

-Nana tells him that Dante would definitely be proud of the person Gene has become which makes him tear up but with like happy tears of course.

-This AU can be pretty much summed up as Gene getting a redemption arc (that's also written a bit better too cuz that redemption arc in Mystreet... def needs a little work is all I'm saying oof).

-But speaking of Dante, I finally figured out what I'm going to do with him in this AU!!

-I decided to just go all the way with the swapping and make him come back as a Shadow Knight. But since Shadow Knights don't age if they died (at least that's what I recall anyways) Dante here is still like 12 years old when he becomes one.

-Which is very fucking hilarious if you ask me because Dante will be Shad's right hand man like canon Gene so imagine being a Shadow Knight and having a middle schooler be your superior lmao.

-Sasha was absolutely floored by this when she woke up in the Nether as a freshly born Shadow Knight, learning that this literal child is the goddamn general of the Shadow Lord's army.

-Though she still respects him despite the wacky age difference between them lol.

-Also Big Sis Sasha moments because she knows in her heart that this kid definitely went through some shit if he ended up as a Shadow Knight. So even if Dante recoils at the thought of vulnerability, Sasha treats him like a little brother at times and gives him some comfort here and there when it's clear that the kid is especially stressed out.

-Sasha often wonders why Shad decided to turn a whole child into a Shadow Knight in the first place. And a part of her, the old her buried deep within, finds this whole thing disgusting but it's hard to notice with how buried said feeling is.

-Now why did Shad bring Dante back as a Shadow Knight even though he was just a little guy? Obviously because he was in a silly goofy mood duh.

-Nah but seriously, the reason why he did that was because he saw some sort of potential in Dante's restless spirit. He thought that the boy would be naive and therefore easy to manipulate. All he had to do was change up some of the kid's memories and he would have an excellent soldier by his side.

-So Shad messed with Dante's memories and made the kid believe that his older brother purposefully murdered him and had no remorse in doing so. This greatly upset Dante and so Shad took this as his chance to encourage Dante to get revenge on Gene and convinced the kiddo that he could do that by becoming a great and powerful Shadow Knight.

-Dante agreed as he felt such intense hatred towards Gene now and would do whatever it takes to enact vengeance against his big bro. Eventually, Dante became such a good Shadow Knight that Shad made the little dude the general of his army. He also saw Dante as his son so Dante highkey gets special privileges that other Shadow Knights don't.

-Those special privileges turned Dante into a spoiled brat so if people don't listen to him or if things don't go his way, he gets very fucking pissed which is def not good as he is no ordinary bratty kid. We're talking about a kid with Shadow Knight abilities that allow him to slaughter several people in the matter of seconds if he so chooses. He's general for a reason so it's best to keep him happy or else you'll certainly be dealing with a ticking time bomb.

-Would it be correct for me to say that Dante is a demon hellspawn child because that's pretty much what he is.

-And then there's Gene who's a sad, angsty and disheveled heap of a man which makes this AU almost perfect in my eyes lol.

-I don't remember if this is 100% canon or not but I think Shadow Knights can shapeshift to some extent because I remember Zenix doing something like that in S1. But anyways, I bring this up because Dante absolutely uses this power of his to make himself at least a little taller cuz dying at 12 meant that he never got to have any growth spurt so he died short (big L moment lmao).

-He does this mostly because he hates being so short but it's also because he wants to make himself look a bit older as there have been quite the few instances of newbie Shadow Knights not treating him with respect because of his age.

-For reference, Dante was like 5'1-5'2 when he died but he uses his shapeshifting abilities to make himself appear closer to 5'5 most of the time but sometimes he'll get lazy and some other Shadow Knights will be a little confused on why their general shrunk out of nowhere.

-But even with the shapeshifting, it's still easy for others to tell that Dante is a child simply because of the way he acts at times. No amount of shapeshifting can hide that after all lmao.

-Now here's an angsty thought for y'all, Laurance knew about Dante being a Shadow Knight before meeting Gene but obviously didn't know that Dante was Gene's brother. However, once Laurance found out about Gene's whole backstory he decides not to tell Gene about Dante being a Shadow Knight as he wants to spare Gene the grief.

-Laurance does tell Aphmau and Garroth about it who also decide that it would be in Gene's best interest if he didn't know about the whole Dante thing. They think that Gene finding out about it would ruin any healing he has done but they're also afraid how Gene would react to just hearing that info.

-But Gene eventually does find out about his little brother being a Shadow Knight after the 15 year time skip when Sasha gets taken into Phoenix Drop's prison. Sasha first taunts Laurance and Aphmau for hiding such information from Gene and warns them that it's only a matter of time before he finds out.

-And when Gene heads over to the prison to check up on Sasha, that's when the truth comes out. She outright tells Gene that there's something that his friends have been hiding from him and explains what that something is. Gene is baffled and doesn't want to believe it so he confronts Aphmau and Laurance about what Sasha told him.

-Aphmau and Laurance aren't too happy about Sasha exposing them like that but they also expected that this was something she might do after she gave them that warning. So yeah they confirm that what Sasha said about Dante was true which really upsets Gene.

-But like can you blame the man? Technically speaking, they've been hiding this information from him for 15 years which is a long time to be hiding the fact that his younger brother was back and now a Shadow Knight bent on revenge.

-Gene wouldn't want to talk to Aph and Laurance for a bit but in the meantime Nana is there to comfort him because learning such news was definitely not easy for Gene.

-Laurance and Aphmau understand that Gene needs some time to process all this so they respect his wishes and leave him be until he's ready to talk to them again.

-And they do!! It doesn't take Gene all too long to talk things out with Aph and Laurance so they're chill now.

-Gene also can understand why they didn't want to tell him about Dante as that news was pretty hard for Gene to grasp after all.

-Gene needs a really big hug because man am I putting him through the wringer right now oof.

-While Vylad didn't have many interactions with Dante in the Nether, I still imagine that Vylad knew enough about Dante to pity the kid. He knew that there was no way that Dante was always like this. He always assumed that Shad did something that turned Dante into this heartless Shadow Knight general.

-Laurance felt the same way and would actually try to get through to Dante during his initial time in the Nether but it was no use. Dante didn't listen to him one bit and still seemed ever so dedicated to the Shadow Lord.

-And then there's Zenix who would gladly punt Dante off the nearest cliff if he could. He absolutely hates Dante for the sole fact that a 12 year old boy is somehow more worthy of being general of the Shadow Lord's army over him. Zenix is very bitter and thinks Shad has lost his goddamn mind for choosing a damn kid to be his right hand man.

-Dante also hates Zenix as he doesn't like that the other is getting in the way of all of his plans. And as mentioned before, Dante can and will throw a massive (and dangerous) fit if things don't go his way. Also it's absolutely canon to the AU that Dante has at one point kicked Zenix in the balls while in the middle of an argument. It was very unprompted and out of the blue so poor Zenix never saw it coming until it happened.

-Queue Shad watching this happen and lowkey trying to resist the urge to not laugh hysterically (spoiler alert: he's doing very bad at that).

-Also canon to the AU is Shad being a proud father of his gremlin Shadow Knight son that bites people without hesitation and whose favorite hobby is committing arson.

Okay so I don't have any other ideas right now so take this stupid ass meme I made in like 10 seconds. This AU is very fun for me to write about so this def won't be the last post I make about it!

[dallasurr]

I’m a simple transmasc bisexual. I view a media, find a man with long hair and issues, and I steal his gender

[afrival]

AOT Characters as Icks

This is very popular right now and they’re SO FUCKING FUNNY and I wanted to do my own so please enjoy

no warnings

modern au and canon shit

The 104th

Eren:

- Anger issues for sure, in a modern au he would punch walls. In canon we’ve all seen him try to punch the air or scream so 🙄🤚

- Does not know how to wash his hair so the top of his head is always a little bit greasy, and it never smells nice

- Crusty eyes and Mikasa always has to remind him to wipe them off in the mornings

Mikasa:

- Rarely ever washes the scarf so it’s really worn out and kinda just nasty

- Her nails are extremely short, like, her nail beds show

- If you were to vent to her she probably would be the type of person to respond with “oof” or “that’s tough”

Armin:

- Mf is always clearing his nose, like he always needs a tissue or some shit or he’s sniffling

- His hands are always clammy, they’re really nice hands they’re just always damp for some reason

- Lowkey really good at manipulating but in like smaller ways. Like if he wants you do to something he could convince you to do it by making it seem like your idea

Connie:

- Voice cracks GALORE especially when he was younger, not as much now except for when he’s upset

- Talks extremely loudly at really inappropriate times

- he has flat feet so his foot steps are very loud and not discreet at all, but he’s gotten better kinda with it b/c training

Sasha:

- Will absolutely steal food off of your plate when you’re not looking even after you said she couldn’t have any

- NEVER knocks, it’s not that she doesn’t want to she just always forgets. When she does she knocks AS she’s opening the door

- Will find a piece of food in her teeth, announce it to everybody, and then proceed to eat it

Jean:

- Everybody knows that when he was younger he was a complete asshole to his mom so I don’t need to come up with one for that

- Takes shit a little TOO seriously and still very personally so he gets upset easily

- If he shaves and then grows out his facial hair it looks really fucking bad for a while before he cleans it up

Ymir:

- Kind of a bitch sometimes like she will just say shit that comes to mind even if it’s a rude comment about someone

- Gets angry whenever someone even looks at Historia in a way that she thinks is “suspicious”—basically she gets jealous easily

- Will wear the same shirt for like a week and not wash it

Historia:

- CONSTANTLY talks about how short she is and compares hand sizes, even if she’s already done it dozens of times before to the same person

- Puts on a really fake nice voice whenever she wants to be condenscending that’s really obvious

- Smells good just TOO strongly of perfume

The Warriors

Reiner:

- Cries after sex :/ doesn’t really know why he does it just happens sometimes

- I saw this from someone else I forgot who but...he clears his throat very loudly and it’s a solid 5 seconds of awkward silence after

- Probably smells nice and has good hygiene however he does not know that he has to clean behind his ears

Bertholdt:

- Picks at his scabs or sores or just anything that looks even mildly entertaining

- Does not understand sarcasm very well and he’s really bad it

- I hate to say this but his breath probably doesn’t smell the best 💀 he hates it bc he brushes his teeth it just never seems to work

Annie:

- Really and at comforting like so fucking bad at it. She has her own shit so like she just does not now how to handle anybody else’s

- Needs glasses but absolutely fucking refuses to wear them and IF she does they’re so fucking smudged up and dirty

- She probably doesn’t wash her hair for like 2 weeks and thinks that putting it into a ponytail is enough and nobody will notice

The Veterans

Levi:

- In a modern au he would leave you on opened or delivered for DAYS to weeks because he despises texting

- Somebody said on tiktok that he would use the “because I said so” argument and I 1000% agree

- Chapped lips because he picks at them and he doesn’t even know it

Erwin:

- Stands really close to you when he talks so it’s a little bit uncomfy

- Also really bad at sarcasm and jokes because his voice and speech are just so deadpan and plain, nobody knows when he’s being serious or cracking a joke

- He keeps the top of his desk clean but if you open the drawers are SO cluttered and make no fucking sense. Somebody please organize this mans shit

Hange:

- Completely ignores the concept personal space whenever she gets excited

- She would be the kind of person to walk up to you and grab your foot her hand and yell “LET ME CRACK YOUR FINGERS/TOES”

- Her glasses are ALWAYS dirty and nobody knows how she can even see out of them

Ive seen so many good ones of these that I’ve completely forgotten about which is a real shame bc they’re almost always correct. Btw sorry for doing your faves dirty 😘✌️

[yusei-clownington]

So let's talk about Link Click.

I was contemplating whether to make it in individual posts or just... Write EVERYTHING in a long one.

But I picked the latter, so buckle up and bear with me.

Or y'know, just Scroll past this if you don't wanna go through a prolonged ramble about some series ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

(spoilers for... Pretty much the whole thing down there ⬇️)

How much can we traumatize Cheng Xiaoshi: the series

So let's start with the characters

And by that I just mean the trio, I'm not gonna talk about everyone because... well yeah.

1. Qiao Ling

She's really pretty + doesn't have a bad personality. That's about enough for me to like her.

As you may know, She was the one in charge of bringing in business. Almost all of the cases were brought in by her.

I love how everyone assumed the person who ran the shop was an old lady, and how that pisses Qiao ling off. 👌

2. Lu Guang

A white haired anime boy. We all know what happens to these...

That aside, I'm a sucker for bleached/ white hair... So.. 😳😳😳

He's the calm type, which I find adorable. Even his voice was pretty soft, I think it fit him well.

I especially adore how he was like, basically Cheng Xiaoshi's common sense? He was always there like "dude, no. Think man. I beg you" though... Ahm the other barely listened to him so...Oof?

He seemed to be so done with Cheng Xiaoshi's shit, but like in an affectionate way.

3. Cheng Xiaoshi

The writers either absolutely loved or just straight up hated this guy. No like seriously, out of all three of them he was the one who had to live through every single painful story... The poor guy can't catch a break.

If you haven't already guessed, he's my favourite. I mean come on! An emotional, reckless, somewhat irrational dumbas with a tiny ponytail?? How can he NOT be my favourite?

His bromance with Lu Guang is so sweet AND his relationship with Qiao ling just brings me joy.

PLUS I LOVE ME A NOT COMPLETELY SERIOUS CHARACTER. Seriously imagine the exact same series but EVERYONE is fully Serious. I still need my dose of dumb characters y'know.

Though his recklessness did get out of hand at some point... But THEN IT PAYED OFF....but then it didn't.. i- ANYWAY

I think he had the most growth in the series. And you know me, character growth? SIGN ME TF UP.

I'll be talking about the lesson/s he learned in a little more detail...later in the post.

Now let's talk Concept

The idea of two characters, one being able to see some of the events occurring around the time a picture is taken, and the other being able to ENTER thsoe pictures of a certain span of time, helping solve different people's issues/ major cases is just GENIUS!

I can't stress how much I enjoyed going through snippets of different stories while also remaining in the same plotline.

*cough* Cheng Xiaoshi definitely did not though *cough*

It was beautiful seeing different people's lives and struggles through the eyes of a character that, just like me, is just experiencing those scenarios for the very first time.

Unlike Lu Guang, Cheng Xiaoshi didn't know what was going to happen, He was genuinely sad, angry, happy...etc whenever a certain event would occur, and he'd drag the viewers along with him ( AT LEAST ME.)

It's just really good ok , I didn't expect to love it as much as I did! 😭

That aside,

Let's talk about...

The events.

I'll talk about each case/story on its own because... Well yeah. The finale... Gets its own bit.

(I'm not going to be talking about all of them in order because of the Emma thing)

1. Lesbian Noodles

I don't care what anyone says, that's basically what this one was.

It was the sweetest out of all them, and arguably the least troublesome.

Just two gal pals, a secret noodle ingredient, and a lot of cuteness.

And may I just say they're both Extremely gorgeous?

It was simply a short bittersweet story, with lessons like "People change" and stuff.

2. The kidnapping (Ft. Rip-off power rangers)

So uh. I kinda loved this one because

She got what was comin' for her.

Basically long story short, A child had gone missing , his parents both coped very differently.

Now due to my lack of knowledge about mental illness, I won't talk about the mother much. All I'll say is that it was pretty painful.

As for the father, I loved how determined he was to find his son, and how patient he was with his wife. He was just all around great.

Now as one of his attempts to find his lost son, Father man fella decides to go to ask our beloved thruple trio for their vague magical help. And they agree because duh.

Cheng xiaoshi goes through his usual daily dose of trauma, this time by getting drugged and kidnapped by a human trafficker who for some reason believed in ghosts.

Thankfully, it all works out and he beats the hell out of her + gives her some trauma of her own so we good.

I just like how this whole one worked out, and somehow had a good ending.

Also we get this:

*chef's kiss*

3- College romance

Eh it was fine. But compared to the rest of the cases I didn't really feel much coming out of it. Like aside from the fact that at the end... We think the girl whose name I can't remember is dead or something ( which...well yeah) and the whole.... Strange person calls them ( which later leads to my favourite part of the whole series). That was pretty cool.

But yeah the whole thing was just... Two people who liked each other, one probably confessed his love to the other at a very stupid time. Dude, she's drunk. Like tell her tomorrow or something. OR EARLIER. But anyways... Some parts were funny.

DON'T GET ME WRONG THOUGH IT WAS GOOD I just prefer the others over it.

4- *incoherent sobbing noises*

Ah where do I start with that one?

Okay so trauma. Lil ponytail man got a lot of it in this one.

He had to first get attached to a basketball team, a cute girl and a mother figure

Then just have them all

Die

Wonderful, Lots of fun!

I actually teared up at the end of that one, and judged myself pretty hard for it but we good.

It was just really heartbreaking seeing the very end of it I guess. Plus it was the most down-to-earth out of all of them in my opinion? ( Literally... because earthquake...um...yeah i'll heard out)

I also felt it was really different from the rest, because this time, Cheng Xiaoshi was SUPPOSED to change some stuff. Mostly because the result in the end would still remain the same: everyone fucking dies.

I completely understand why Lu Guang refrained from telling Cheng Xiaoshi everything, but I couldn't help but feel bad for Cheng Xiaoshi anyways. It was really heartbreaking seeing him think he was fixing stuff by delivering the messages, only to discover eveyrone was going to die anyway... Then when he thought he could at least save the mother, turns out Lu Guang never intended to have them save her anyway, and she STILL DIES.

The whole scene with him being hugged by the mother as she dies was just... God just stab me, it'll hurt less.

When all is said and all is done though, it was honestly my favourite case.(not to be mistake. for favourite episode... That's a different story).

Mostly because of the basketball match that took place. I mean come on.... A BASKETBALL MATCH. AN EPIC BASKETBALL MATCH. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?

Also this guy was very entertaining:

5-Emma's fucked up life

okay uh can... Can someone like... Give Emma a hug please? GIVE THE POOR LADY A REASON TO LIVE.

This poor woman was driven to KILL HERSELF because of all that she's been through.

Like... Like let's recap her life shall we?

She grew up with a pretty average but happy family, and eventually left to work in the city like she always wanted to.

Pretty good so far right? Yeah.

Then she gets promoted. Oh that's goo-

Her boss harrasses her, and offers her money from fuilthy sources to keep her mouth shut about a certain issue.

She's stuck at work almost 24/7 and eats takeout, but not just any takeout ONES WITH LITERAL WORMS?????? and if that wasn't enough, she has to deal with her boss trying to smooch her every now and then.

THEN SHE'S THE ONE ACCUSED OF TOUCHING H I M AND GETS FIRED.

Sounds horrible right?

There's more.

When Cheng Xiaoshi does his thing and sends a message that she misses her parents on her behalf, she decides to finally go see them... And we think she's gonna have a happy ending.

Until some blonde 2000s low-budget hacker movie cosplay shows up and asks if she wants him to drive her to the Station.

That's when we know She's fucked.

And we find out that SHE DIED.

But that wasn't all there was to it, she wasn't killed, nonononono, it gets even more depressing.

So she gets in the car, ok? Then turns out it's not just any blondie, IT WAS THAT ONE RICH BLONDIE WE THINK IS A SERIAL KILLER. He chokes her under the claim that she'd stolen his money (which I never fully understood whether she actually did?)

OH BUT WAIT she doesn't die yet.

Thankfully, Cheng Xiaoshi with his wonderful timing yells out/ screams on terror because it's

*Que Funky music* just another day in traumatown 😄

So blondie leaves an unconscious Emma in the car, and goes out to see who just yelled. He finds no one, cuz... Cheng Xiaoshi clicked out of the photo,and goes back to the car, driving her to the hospital. BUT SHE WAKES UP. HE THINKS SHE'S A ZOMBIE NOW???. LMAO WTF? Then a car accident happens.

He gets crippled, and she's STILL ALIVE, but is literally so done with everything, she walks to the nearby bridge, ready to DIE.

So....yeah

Now, it's time for my favourite part of the whole series

The Finale

AND BEFORE EVERYONE MURDERS ME, NO I DIDN'T ENJOY WATCHING LU GUANG GET STABBED, OR SEEING EMMA DIE.

That aside , the finale just made me really satisfied, we finally got to see Cheng Xiaoshi's growth displayed, and everything he learned Throughout the series payed off in one smartass Masterplan to lure in crazy blondie and have him arrested.

Plus THERE WAS A FUN FIGHT SCENE. IT WAS PRETTY COOL OK? I'M A SUCKER FOR FIGHT SCENES... AND I GOT ONE. SO YEAH.

The part where Cheng Xiaoshi catches up with Emma and delivers his wonderful speech about all that he'd learned from the lives he had to live was just wonderful.

We see Cheng Xiaoshi finally come to terms with what he'd been struggling so long to understand. The past is the past, and it can't be changed. The present is what we have, and what we should focus on, and the future is what we can always fiddle with through the present.

Allthroughout the series, tweaking the past never did anyone any good. It only made things worse, brought about endless regrets, and maybe involved people that wouldn't have even been inconvenienced if the past wasn't changed.

Cheng Xiaoshi finally realises this.

The past, has passed. Let it be.

If People were to spend their present days wallowing about the past without looking forward, they would end up deeply regretting that.

The past is something one should learn from, but never aim to change. We aim to change our future. And that's through our present.

And when Cheng Xiaoshi came to that realisation, it helped him divise a plan to capture the blondie, and made him - just- more efficient and mature.

And I honestly thought that was gonna be like a... Sentimental good ending or something, where Emma lives and stuff y'know?

But the series really went: Fuck you, and your happy ending, HAVE A FINAL PLOT TWIST SUCKERS.

SO EMMA DIES ANYWAY, LU GUANG IS STABBED BY A POSESSED QIAO LING, ALL BECAUSE OF SOMEONE WHO CAN INHIBIT SOULS, THEN THE CREDITS ROLL AFTER THE VILLAIN DELIVERS AN EPIC LINE.

I can't even begin to say why I find this amusing. The series literally pulled a sike on us, and I'm all for it.

I was just there staring at the screen like

O H M Y

I don't even know if I'm in awe or if I'm sad about Lu Huang. LIKE SO MANY CONTRASTING EMOTIONS ALL AT ONCE.

But to be fair it's refreshing to see.Happy endings aren't always exciting or satisfying.... And despite all the pain this one brought, I personally think it was... SOMETHING.

[ryttu3k]

Already finished Coteries of New York, so on to Shadows of New York! I’ve seen the first bit in an LP, at least, but the bulk of the story will be new. This will have two playthroughs, one for each ending, since at least it has them XD First up - the ‘good’ ending!

Oh dang I like the music.

Julia is a bit on the edgy/cynical side XD

Yeah, she’s got a shit deal :-\ And what’s worse is that it’s all planned out.

Interesting note - at Lodestar, there were shadowy figures in the background, but you could rationalise it as people on the other side of the windows. On the train, you only see the shadowy features, and it’s otherwise empty, so no obvious figures casting them...

I guess if you choose the ‘don’t shoot’ option, Julia gets drained and it’s an early game over?

God that Embrace scene is intense. I got goosebumps!

Spirits, huh? Oh yeah, Obtenebration became Oblivion and is now connected with necromancy, IIRC?

I’m glad she had a good few nights XD;;

Valerie Duval, she was... the scourge in CoNY hunting down the Red Hook killer?

Nice to meet you, ‘Katherine Wiese’ XD

Cool ponytail, Qadir! I really dig the relationship between him and Julia, it’s fun. ‘sup Aisling, how’s Agathon? A blood hunt, really? Y O U. Okay yeah probably better for Julia’s long-term survival for Arturo to ignore her XD;; Samira’s so pretty. Ooh this guy is Hope’s sire, yeah?

“You wanted to hear about which member of New York City's Camarilla I dislike the most?"

"Yes?"

"Too bad. They're all my dear colleagues, and I deeply respect every single one of them."

"Sure you do. Wouldn't want to blurt out something that could lock you out of Mr Vanderweyden's legal services, would you, you ass-kisser?"

"I do expect to find myself in need of a good defense attorney when my broke, incompetent, and foul-mouthed assistant finally pushes me over the edge."

THEMST.

Benoit hi!! “Got any news about Sophie Langley?” *sharp intake of breath* Benoit backstory, that’s rad. I wonder if it’ll be uncovered in-game? Like we know Arturo is still around, Panhard is still around. Presumably Adelaide Davis is still around. Callihan... well, I know what happens to him. I think Torque ditches the scene before Sophie dies?

Father Leonard seems like a good sort. I wonder what his deal is?

Dakota is adorable. I’m going to do the ‘good’ end first even though I know it’ll make me feel horrible, but dangit, the ‘bad’ end is totally going to be my canon.

...Vin Diesel? XD

DING DONG THE DOUCHE IS DEAD. ...Deader than usual, I mean.

jfc Panhard that is pretentious as hell. Both the party description and the costume, actually XD Qadir’s mask is kind of funky. Oh my god Arturo you are a Toreador is that the best you can come up with?! Nice horns, Aisling.

...Thought, given their clans, Samira/Aisling could be interesting as hell.

Man, Arturo and Panhard must be pissed off XD Unless they’ve already picked their replacement stooge?

And here’s where the plot starts! Hey, isn’t that the priest’s house? Ohh, they’re meant to be meeting with Mia. I guess they’re just reusing assets.

“It’s a list of four names. ‘D’Angelo. Hope. Agathon. Tamika.’“ *SHARP INTAKE OF BREATH* Okay, that could be the list Sophie gave the fledgling. Which one did Callihan get it from?

Oh criminy Dakota don’t tell me you’re into that Q-Anon shit XD;; Ooh okay that makes more sense. Neat.

Ahhh man I was hoping to get a lead and instead Julia has to punish this poor fuck XD;; Yeesh. Okay, Bunny as a Reporter it is, then.

Almost run over by a limo, huh? *chinstroke*

Oooh this is the lead to Hope! Yeah, I’d say she has a connection with a Montgomery XD Wonder if she did end up eating her? Huh, contact used LeakyGutSyndrome... didn’t Hope end up having to retire that one, or was it the other one? Let’s just... Dominate this guy. Sorry dude it’s for your own good.

Agathon’s missing? :( Damn, he’s like one of the only decent Tremere. Oho, a diary! Oh sweetheart :( Oh, Silvia died :( Damn, interesting past, though... and a reference to CoNY again.

Fucking shadows, I literally glanced over my shoulder.

S C H E M E S. And yeah, looks like I’m on my way to the ‘good’ end :-\

Oh shit, Adelaide or.... whatshisname, Kaiser’s dude? Oooh man who to meet first... Kaiser’s dude. Oh. That was a bit anticlimactic XD

On to see Hope at Double Spiral. I think this is one of those choices that leads to one of the endings, so what’s more ruthless and Camarilla... busting in it is.

Nastya isn’t having a good night, is she XD;; Also Hope’s suit is badass.

...huh. Sounds like she’s actually managed to get shit sorted decently XD

Interesting... the coterie members were a list of heroes for hire that multiple people had, including Sophie. Well, that widens the scope a bit! Anonymous information broker, shall I assume that’s Kaiser? OH. No, it’s her sire!

“The story going around is, he left me alone and I hate his guts. Well, at least half of that is true.” Which half, though...

Aww man I wish I had saved some of those websites! I miss SciFiVine...

You know, I’m not 100% sure Carter’s the murderer (my main suspect is Arturo at this point tbh) but damn, the bit about Stern’s show kinda makes me want to slap him anyway XD;;

Queer Catholic blues, huh :-\

“Haven’t you noticed what’s going on in the news? People are going absolutely insane about this virus, cancelling trips and orders and --” Ahh. We’re in that 2020 XD;;

Okay the scene with the kid meeting his girlfriend was cute but then spooky time?? jfc was that the Abyss?!

Ooooh did she just find Tamika solely by accident? Thanks, Abyss XD I love how Julia’s first response is ‘shit, she’s hot’. And she took out a whole SI squad herself? Nice. Calebros mention! Huh, so the SI are maintaining the status quo... they became an issue because the Camarilla tried to sic them on the Anarchs and Sabbat and it backfired, maybe it actually succeeded here?

Ooh, a history with Torque. Neat. Also not sure with the art, but are those tattoos on Tamika’s arm, or fur? I mean, Gangrel beast marks and all.

Sorry Torque I’m just trying to get the ‘good’ end :(

Mention of the fledgling! Officially ‘disappeared’, that leaves it fairly ambiguous at this point.

Oof. The Circulatory System are... not cool. And yeah Julia’s just been called tf out, I do look forward to this scene in the ‘bad’ end XD;;

COVID strikes back. The Big Beat Burger is closed :( Charlie is sweet, at least! I hope his mom is okay.

Well that rat bit was weird. Hi D’Angelo! Oh my god blood doll rats? Drunk blood doll rats?! Still a damn good detective, though, that’s good shit. On to Kaiser and some answers! ...Yeah, okay, he’s a prime suspect too.

Kaiser, you are a deeply unpleasant person :-\

...good to know pepper spray still works. And, uh, probably satisfying to beat him up XD;; And yeah, there’s the last choice for the ‘good’ ending. Sorry dude.

...huh. Okay, I was at least partially right XD;; Oh Qadir, not you too :-\

Well that’s a bit... weird of Dakota, yes.

lmao oh Benoit you absolute mess. Religion as A E S T H E T I C XD I have a theory he’s from Michael’s line and I also quite sincerely believe that Michael would take one look at him and bitchslap him into the next millennium. He’s a Path follower, isn’t he?

Father Leonard is okay. I wonder who the ‘friend’ is?

This is very Agatha Christie, revealing the killer in the midst, except I have the horrible feeling Qadir’s going to go with ‘it was suicide’ and not ‘it was everyone’.

Denouement! Before it ends, Julia’s traits:

Loyal only to myself

Glass half-empty

A little abuse of power never hurt nobody

You can’t be a writer and not lie

The ends justify the means (duh)

Honestly she may have just blackmailed her way into power, set up Carter to take the fall, and sent poor Dakota to final death, but the drama was impeccable XD Good luck not ending up in the Abyss, Julia!

[luciferpens]

No one tells you where you went wrong || Aurora & Kass

What: Two people who never thought they’d see one another again -- meet up by accident and drama and pain come from it.  Where: Icaria Airport When:  March 10, 2021 Who: Aurora, Kass @kassmeifyoucan​ TW: Abuse, death​

Why the fuck was it this cold in Greece? She had checked her phone, it was barely warmer here than it was in Portland. Despite the grumpiness she felt, the woman continued her jog towards the airport. She was in such a good mood, hell, she didn't even care to cover up the mostly faded bruises from that stupid fight. Music pumped loudly in her ears as curly brunette hair swung back and forth in the ponytail she'd set it up in, making sure she didn't run into anyone along the way. Sure, this made her ribs ache and yeah, Zoey would probably scold her later but it was worth it. Everything just seemed worth it, now. Kassandra had even gone so far as to look up the local therapists and see who would be a good fit for her to talk to. She hadn't even felt the need, or desire, to write in her journal to her father. Not like he was actually paying any attention. Maybe this would be her chance to see if he actually did care for what she was doing here. Or maybe it would show her that another parental figure didn't give a shit. As she jogged to a stop in front of the airport, Kass stretched before looking down at her attire. Running shoes, black athletic tights, and a sports bra? Oh yeah, she definitely had to stop by Zoey's before she headed back to the Inn. With a smirk she moved into the airport. It didn't take long, talking to a representative about canceling her return trip back to Portland was actually rather easy to cancel. Feeling even better than she had before, she thanked the man before getting ready to head out the doors to get back to her jog. That was, until she ran into something very solid.

"Oh Gods, I'm so..." Kassandra started to say as she reached down for her phone that had fallen out of her hand, at least it had been what she'd started to do until she realized who was standing in front of her. "Sorry..." The last word was whispered as her mouth went dry, stomach doing flips as she stared into eyes that she never thought she'd see ever again. Dread instantly filled her entire being as she stood to her full height, a chill sweeping over her as she came face to face with her ex girlfriend. "Rory?"

— 

Aurora had just spent the past 17 hours between a plane and airports.... Dear gods she could not spend another second in a sardine can without wanting to rip her own hair out. It was 17 hours of crying children, whiny passengers, stuffy air and not as much entertainment.  It was 17 hours of people complaining about their legs being stiff, about the air being dry and running out of things to watch. Aurora had spent most of the time either sleeping, mediating or looking over casework so she hadn't quite realized all the issues until the last three hours -- when people's complaints became more loud and annoying.

She had spent ages now getting used to long fights, low entertainment value and tight spaces. Running a hand through her hair she slowly made her way off the plane after most of it was emptied and into a bathroom. Fifteen minutes was spent touching up her appearance and just stretching her body out before she strolled out of the room and towards the luggage pickup. She had narrowed down Jane's location to three places. The American government had bought her an apartment to stuff her things in while she found the woman and that was her first heading. Dump her stuff -- then find the girl.  What she hadn't been expecting was to run directly into a physical human. A small oof escaped pink plump lips as Kassandra slammed into her chest. A warmth, a strange misplaced feeling fleeted in and out of her mind as quickly as it came. She bent down to pick up her passport which had slipped from her fingers at the impact, when she heard the familiar voice. "Kass....." she said as her eyes rolled up the woman's frame and to such a familiar face that without the years of training might have brought tears and pain to her eyes and face

— 

No. No, this wasn't real. This wasn't happening. Her ghosts were not coming back to haunt her on an isle that felt like a million miles away from the only place she'd ever called home. "You're not... No. You're not here. This isn't..." Kassandra took a step back, suddenly feeling sick. Or like she couldn't get air. Yeah, that one. Definitely that one. Blinking rapidly, she stumbled backwards until her back hit a wall. Everything began to blur as she felt her chest rise and fall too quickly. Before she could even realize what was truly happening, flashes filled her vision. For the first time in her life, they weren't visions of the future but flashes of her past. Grass stains on jeans as green eyes met light brown. Tears staining cheekbones as she cupped that gorgeous face in her hands. Children giggling as they pulled back from a kiss as innocent as they were. Teens gasping as they pulled away from the other, realization sinking in at how much they felt.

Kassandra stumbled outside, grabbing onto a nearby bench as she gasped for air. The panic in her lungs made them feel like they were on fire. Why was she here? Icaria wasn't allowing humans here so why the hell was her ex girlfriend here? Part of her wanted to ask but the other part wanted to run far, far away. "I'm seeing ghosts. This has to be some kind of... Trick." Had her father done this? Was this some kind of elaborate ruse to control her? To make sure she didn't stop siphoning him intel? "She's not here. She's not really--" Another gasp tore through her as her vision blurred once more, more flashes coming through. Climbing through a window after a car was safely down the road to turn out of sight. Heated kisses trailing down skin as a back was pressed up against a nearby bedroom wall. A playground and a duffel bag. "We’re in love. You told me that you… That you loved me.". Green eyes opened, head cloudy as she stared up at the sky to try and get her bearings.

— 

Seeing her ex, her childhood crush, best friend and confidant go through what almost appeared to be panic made Aurora's heart and stomach churn. She clenched her jaw just slightly, forcing herself to stop from moving forward, to stop herself from reaching out for Kass's hand to tell her it was okay. She knew she didn't have the right to do so. But damn was it hard to stop herself. "Kass... breathe." She said as the woman moved away till her back hit the wall. She placed her own hand on her chest "Deep in -- slow out." She said just barely above a whisper. 

She dragged her bag behind her, its wheels bouncing along the breaks in the sidewalk as she followed Kass outside. Aurora didn't want to overwhelm her -- but she did want to make sure she was okay. "Kass -- Kass please -- deep breath." She continued. Her brow furrowed as a frown formed upon her lips. "I --" She caught herself her own mind racing just as much as Kass's was -- how the hell her ex was here? She didn't know, didn't understand but she could assume. She could make the connections and GODS did she hate herself more for it. "Please Kass--" she said a hand out as if reaching for the familiar fame, wanting to caress and pull her close but hesitating before she could touch. "I'm not some sort of illusion"

— 

Kassandra heard that voice again, heard her voice again and it was like she was sixteen years old all over; like she was standing in that playground as the girl she'd fallen in love with ripped her heart from her chest and stomped onto it repeatedly. Slowly her breathing began to calm down and the panic began to leave her body. Unfortunately for the both of them, a calm rage replaced it. Green eyes darkened, snapping to Aurora as she stood up and ignored the way her hands shook by her sides. "So you're actually here." Her voice came out cold, calm. As if the small breakdown she'd just had, never happened. Her jaw moved back and forth for a moment, arms coming to cross in front of her chest. "Why are you here, Aurora? You shouldn't be able to... Did my father do this?" Kassandra took that moment to round on the other woman, eyeing the bag that Aurora had with her. Their faces were inches apart and it almost made her die a little inside because she could--Gods, how did she still smell the same? This was not fucking happening. " Did he send you?"

—

Sucking in her bottom lip her brow knitted together as she saw Kassandra's body language change from panic to -- something else entirely. Something some part of her brain recognized and instantly recoiled from. She felt adrenaline flood her 5'7" frame as her breath caught in her throat. Her hands squeezed tight causing her knuckles to whiten. The look in Kassandra's eyes and the tone of her voice didn't scare her like it might have once but it still caused her heart rate to spike momentarily. "I am?" she said with a bit of a tense questioning tone. "Shouldn't be able to what?" she asked blinking as her head tilted to one side. Her hand was starting to sweat from the tension that could be cut like a knife. The smell of old spice mixed with her own orange cinnamon lotion and caused a momentary flash of a memory to pierce Aurora's mind. High school gym class, Kass putting on her old spice deodorant as  Aurora carefully and quickly covered up a bruise on her side after a shower. Kass' smile as she closed her locker and snuck a peek at Aurora in her underwear. She sucked in a sharp breath shoving the memory off to the side, now was no time to think of that. "Did who send me? I came here because of work" she added a moment later.

—

That familiar scent of cinnamon and orange infiltrated her senses like a fucking ninja and Kass was transported back to yester-year. Not like the flashes she'd had previously, no, those were something much more tangible. This was just a fond recollection. Until it wasn't. Because anything to do with Aurora always ended in pain. There was no happy ending. Not for them. Not ever. And that most certainly had never been her choice. Eyes focused on the other gi--woman. Fuck, they were women now. It had been so long since she'd seen her, maybe not long enough. Curious, she thought as she noticed how Aurora flinched at her once she got into her space. She didn't like that feeling swirling in her gut, that blaring siren that was telling her to not invade her space. To not be such a bitch even though it hurt. Taking a deep breath to center herself, Kassandra moved back from out of Aurora's immediate vicinity. "Sorry... I don't... This is just a lot. You have to understand that." Pinching the bridge of her nose, the older girl let out a shaky breath as she tried to remain calm and not utterly hostile. "You're here because of work? That doesn't make any sense. You're not... Who exactly told you about this place? This island hasn't allowed..." Kass trailed off, swallowing thickly as she put two and two together far slower than she would have liked. "You... All this time?" Her face was incredulous, hoping that the grief and betrayal wasn't apparent there as well.

— 

Aurora ran a sweaty hand through her hair trying to control her breathing, to remember what the institute taught her about emotions, and control. She had to be in control. Or at least some semblance of control over her own emotions and actions. That was what she told herself, her only way to never end up in the same situation as she had spent most of her childhood. Flinching, showing vulnerability as Kass got close to her face was the opposite of that. How this woman, this one woman still had such power over her made something coil in her belly. A slow breath released as Kass took a step back and nodded her head. Oh she understood, she understood good and well how awkward this all was. How could she not? She had lied her ass off the last time the two had actually talked and for years after that she had to pretend she wasn't broken whenever she saw the other woman. "Yes work...." She said softly. "I -- I found out about this place because a charge of mine was brought here." she licked her lips eyes staying glued to Kass' "Humans?" she asked with a bit of a chuckle. "Unknowingly yes. I'm guessing the same was true for you?" Aurora said her tone even, barely a hit of happiness or surprise there. "My mother -- my biological mother," she corrected "Came to me after my father told me the truth. That was four years ago."

 —

That made it better at least, knowing that Aurora hadn't been something from her as big as that their entire childhood. But it still didn't make her feel any better, in fact it made her feel worse. She thought the lies had started after her mother found out she was gay but the more Kassandra thought about it.. The more she came to understand that they'd never fully been honest with each other. Not even from the start. Her eyes squeezed closed, grimacing as she thought back to every lie she'd ever told Aurora. None of them malicious. All of them with intent to protect her from whatever the hell kind of freak she was. And then she found out about herself but by that time it was already too late, they were broken up and it didn't matter anymore. They didn't matter anymore. Still deciding to keep her eyes closed, Kassandra desperately tried to keep her breathing under control. "I'm trying to wrap my head around this. Around you being here. I never thought I would see you again and yet... Here you are. Standing in front of me." Green eyes finally opened once more, landing on her ex, not realizing how her hands immediately did that thing they always did when she was antsy. As her fingers twisted together, pinching and pulling, Kassandra took this time to give Aurora a quick once-over. "I haven't seen you since... Since my mom." Kass cleared her throat, desperately trying to not let her memory go back to that day

 — 

Aurora could see the gears turning in Kassandra's head, she could understand the questions and pain rolling through her -- and she so wished she could just take it away. All these years apart -- and apparently she couldn't let go of wanting to protect Kassandra. She sucked in her bottom lip and lightly chewed on it. A nervous habit she had had since she was a toddler. "I'm -- not in a better situation." she said sucking in a long breath through her lips.  She wouldn't lie, she really never had expected to see Kass again -- but she was happy to see her. "Seeing anyone I knew, much less you .... here on this island was not something I was expecting." she said swallowing hard. Feeling and seeing Kass's eyes trail over her body warmed her cheeks ever so slightly. She returned the look glancing over Kass and stopping on her hands. "I'm sorry my presence is upsetting you...." she said quietly, "I swear, I didn't come here to interrupt your life or mess with you. I had.... no idea." Her voice had gone from more cold to more sad the longer she talked especially as she started to think of Kass's mother. She hated the woman for kicking Kass out; how anyone could disown a child for that -- disown Kass for that infuriated her. "Yeah....It's been a long... time" she said pushing her own memories of the funeral and that time away from her conscious thought. "H--How have you been?"

— 

'What life' she wanted to mutter out. She'd barely started anything here and now she'd gotten rid of the one thing that could take her far away from her ex because of what... Some kind of hopeful whim that she could be better? How the hell was she supposed to get better when one of the people that destroyed her was standing in front of her like nothing had ever happened. Kassandra tensed when Aurora asked how she was, looking at her former love incredulously. "Are you serious?" Once more her walls went up and the woman went on the defensive, arms crossing over her chest again. "You don't get to ask me that. How do you think I've been, Aurora? Do I look like I'm okay to you?" Kassandra raised her arms in a swooping motion of her body, fully forgetting that she still had bruises and healing wounds from the fight. Tears sprung to her eyes, whether they were out of sadness or anger, she couldn't quite tell which. "You don't get to just walk back into my life and pretend like you care. I buried us. I buried her. And look what I've become because of it!" Her voice rose only to break on the last word, lower lip wobbling. What had she become... Oh Gods.

 — 

“I was just — trying to be polite...” Aurora said her throat closing up as Kassandra snapped, and her arms swooped upwards. There was another flash, another adrenaline boost from the movement. She had to repeat to herself the mantra her therapist taught her to calm down Deep in, deep out, you are safe she repeated before actually taking a moment to truly look over  Kass’s body. The bruises — the pain in Kass’s voice. It was so familiar so painful she felt a bit more of her heart snap and ache to reach for her. “Kass — why? What happened?” she said a hand moving as if to reach for her, then clenched shut and fell back to her side. “Its not pretending. I do care. I’ve always cared Kass.” she said her voice dropping, and for the first time pain and hurt danced their way into her tone. “I dont know what you’ve become Kass, I just know who you were. I know that burying your mother was fucking hard and I should have known you wouldn’t have been there you— didn’t need to be there to deal with that bullshit. But Kass, you weren’t the only one who buried multiple things that day.”

 — 

Kassandra shut her eyes, trying to ignore the memories that flew through her mind of the fight. Of those words that horrible woman had thrown her way, bringing all the darkness of her past to the forefront. "My demons came to haunt me, that's what happened. And now the one person I thought..." She stopped herself, not wanting to say the rest out loud. Not with how Aurora was looking at her with those brown eyes, like she was broken. For one brief and shining moment she had thought that that wasn't the case. That maybe she could be better. That things with Zoey were a precursor of things to come. Progress to be had, progress to be found. Except that had all flown out the damn window the second she'd ran into her. Green eyes flashed as they shot open at Aurora's remark about how she has always cared. She felt herself beginning to tense up, beginning to brim with white-hot anger. She wanted to shout at her but her ex kept talking and kept saying things that made her heart feel like it was being torn out of her chest piece by piece. "You've always cared." Her lip quivered, this time not out of sadness but out of thinly-veiled rage. "You destroyed me! You broke me until I couldn't breathe. I was so utterly and hopelessly in love with you. I wanted no one else but you. Ever. It was you when we were five and it was you when we were fifteen and you..." She took a sharp inhale, tears now streaming down her cheeks. "You took all that love and when it got hard you threw it away! You threw us away! Whatever you buried that day... It wasn't us. You did that when we were sixteen.”

— 

Her brow furrowed as she listened to Kassandra talk, the idea that someone had hurt Kass -- that someone had the audacity to hurt her... She sucked in a breath. How did she still care so deeply about this woman after so many years away? After she had hurt Kassandra so damn badly. She had had good reason.... but that didn't negate the pain Kass felt, or the pain she felt from it as well of course. The hatred and vitriol that Kass felt towards her was well earned. She just so wished she could explain without sounding like she was making excuses.  She clenched her eyes shut as Kass spoke, it wasn't loud, but it was harsh and sharp and --- her breath was blown away. Aurora continued to repeat the mantra, continued to tell herself she was okay, that this would be okay if she just fucking breathed.  "I -- " she kept her eyes shut taking one last deep breath in through her nose and out through her mouth before she let them flutter open and lock on with green eyes that made her stomach flip and her body ache. The tears on Kass's face only made it worse. "You're not wrong. I buried us the moment your mother showed up at my house after kicking you out and told my mother what happened. I buried us the moment my mother gave me this scar" she motioned to her cheek where a thin scar was unable to be fully covered by makeup, " and threatened me and you within an inch of my life" She started as the uber pulled up, the driver stepping out. She glanced over her shoulder and then glanced to her bag -- apparently the driver could even feel the tension and he quietly moved to her and took the bag loading it up and then slipping back into the car as Aurora's attention refocused on Kass.

"I had to burry us to keep her rage in check. I buried any hope of ever explaining to you that truth when you didn't show up to your mother's funeral and I was finally free of both of them. I buried your mom, my mom and our relationship in one evening." She said her tone cool and calm. "I'm sorry Kassandra, I will never stop being sorry for the pain I caused you.  I will never stop being sorry for breaking both our hearts that night in the park. And I'm sorry for showing back up here-- now in your home and throwing all this at you. But I swear I'm here for work and I will do my best to leave the moment I can so you never have to see my face again." She moved to the car and opened up the door. "I'm sorry Kass. Really. I am. I'll do my best to avoid you while I'm here. I -- hope your bruises heal quickly" she said biting her lip, as she sucked in a breath. Her eyes lingered on green for a moment; taking in every detail trying to remember -- to erase the bruises and the pain and just see the girl she loved so long ago.

 —

People talked about when they felt their heart stop in the movies or in books. Kassandra had never known that feeling. Nothing written on pages or emulated on a screen could prepare her for the whiplash that hit her as her eyes trailed to a scar on that beautiful face that she'd tried for so many years to forget. Her heart crashed in her chest, squeezing painfully and it was like... Like the breath had been ripped from her lungs. Her vision was spotty as she stood there, mouth opening and closing in shock. It didn't even register to her that Aurora was getting into the car and driving away until someone else walked out of the airport, walking in front of her. "I..." Her voice broke out, all the rushing in her ears crashing down around her as she stumbled away until she was out of sight of the airport. Of anyone. Her legs carried her to a section of the coastline that didn't get much foot traffic. The second she knew she was alone was when she finally broke. A loud and painful scream tore from her throat. Anguish felt from the depths of her soul as another soon accompanied it. Falling to her knees, she sobbed brokenly as she held her head in her hands. Fingers dug at her scalp, threaded in her hair while yet another scream left her. Her chest heaved up and down, faster than it should have as she stared out at the ocean. Tears felt like waves as they ran down her cheeks, hands now moving to clench into sand as if trying to find some kind of hold on reality. But just like the remnants of her former life, the sand slipped through her fingers until she was left clawing at nothing but her own skin and bones. Clawing until her palms bled. Until her hands ached. How had she never known that about Aurora? How had she been so fucking blind? Her stomach churned, bile filling her throat until she swallowed it down. Buried along with her sins.

"What have I become..." The words were whispered to no one but herself as she fully collapsed on her side, face laying on the sand as she stared out at the waves that began to gently lap against the shore. "I really... She was right." Kassandra took a ragged breath, eyes red from crying as she remembered the word her mother had called her before she'd kicked her out. She hated the word but it was true. It was the only thing that had fit. "I am so... Worthless..." Her breathing slowed as she let her eyes fall closed, not caring as she let darkness overtake her vision. The ocean waves lapped calmly on the sand as Kassandra fell asleep from pure exhaustion, thankful for a reprieve from the demons she'd thought she had buried.

[winter-chill]

RWBY 7 - 3 “Ace Operatives” Thoughts

So thoughts...

BOO!!! they didn't work on stuff themselves.. although if it was Pietro and not just random scientists, I'll let it go :) And i'l give him props for using the Amity fights footage (i'll talk more on weapons later)

Oh, dust mines, launch site... ghiest, oh that's gonna bring back some memories

God Nora being so giddy about her stuff puts a smile on my face

and the Blake/Yang nod, the first of so many bumbleby touches this ep

They're really trying to hit hard again with Jaune and that sash, though it was a good set up for his hair cut (since I wouldn't really think of cutting it now when he's in a cold climate ideal)

Another very slight, but nice detail about having Yang be actually armless, not just fixing it while it's on her. We need more points like this, or maybe i just like the idea of it, but having those details shown off and not forgotten is nice. Also that's a beefy arm, though I swear it looks larger in the intro?

Again, having Blake have an onscreen notice of her hair leads well into why it's cut (though not showing it on screen? nor how/why her weapon's fix being gold... missed opportunity , truly)

WAIT??? Ruby got a NEW cloak? BOO, I would have thought her current one was still the original, has she been swapping it with each outfit? but, all the cuts and tears, the detail and history from her past fights, lost :(

I'll talk about the Oscar scene when it shows up, not here

Again, lovely intro to their new looks, but... could have been more. Showing them actually zip things up, buckle them in, cutting their hair themselves. Just lots of little details that would have added so much

I'll say it again, I think Yang's new glasses look weird.. too anime for the actual show style, but, I guess they 'work' ?

Also they all look to Ruby, this is her mission, her shot to call, she's back with her team (just rwby) for the first time so it's good to see them keeping the team dynamic, she was leader for a reason.

OH THIS SONG IS A BANGER!!!! also, totally a Weiss song (it said mirror)

Bunny hopping Ruby :D adorable

SUMMON SWORD SURFING!!! Finally

Blake really making the use of that ribbon, a little detail they again seem to forget about during most of 4-6 until it's necessary (running from adam in V6)

And... yep, no nonsense Yang sticking with the classics, recoil  (( I take it back, Yang's arm is the same as the intro, though I still think it somehow got bigger than when she put it on ))

And end it all on an amazing pose shot

Okay Ace ops time. Harriet, let me see what that little backpack thing do. But for serious, rolling only stops you from getting hurt on small drops, not several hundred foot... Marrow though taking a similar root to Ruby, seeming to ride it down, but he's doing some troll physics there, "stand on chair, jump off building, jump off chair at last moment, you only actually fell 2 foot"

Also, boomerang, gun? Honestly I kind of dislike the generic gun looking form, would have been cooler if it didn't change, but just had a little barrel pop out an end when he needed to shoot.

And now JN- OMG ELM YES, Loving the attitude. Oh Vine what's that on your back? you wielding an expanding throwing star (three pronged)

erm, right... JN_R

so, we got, some sick new looks, Ren's ponytail especially. Jaune's hair (i was one to hate it at first) in motion looks great, the concept art didn't do it justice. Also holding his sword on his arm..... kind of reminds me of @kumafromtaiwan's design for Jaune

"okay Jaune, you got this, it's not gonna be like Beacon all over again"

Oh, is he gonna use his shield like a plow, smashing through rocks, or maybe as a wing and glide do............................

DID JAUNE JUST FORTNITE PARACHUTE SHIELD HIS ASS TO THE GROUND?

Moving on though, yep, Hard light dust was a genius move he would have stuck in his head from Argus, and opens up the question of adding (what i'm dubbing) Shield Shield, with his V4 Nuckelavee Sword Sword, to make hard light blades.... SWORD SWORD SWORD???

a quick little peak at his shield, the emblem lighting up as he shoots a blast to bounce him from hitting the floor, that better be used later too.

And another amazing pose shot!

Oh Elm, you really need to work on your social skills. Actually maybe all the Ace ops do?

POUTY NORA!!!

and, good luck bad luck duo for the final team, this'll be fun.

NEW SCROLLS! Love them, slim and cool, and with new team icons (c'mon girls, smile for your picture)

and that detail on how Ruby zoomed, Weiss had to summon, and Yang had some energy stored up, so their aura is down a bit, but Blake is 100%

THE EARS, THEY SENSE BEES

Oh Yang, adorable goof

Oh Blake, also an dorable goof!!!

And Marrow is indeed the baby of the squad, you said it well Harriet, if a tad harsh?

Weiss no, this is a bad place for your name, but you're here to make it a better one, to fix that remember!!

Has.. has no one taught Ruby to project her aura to keep her warm, or at the others just dealing with it better? Either way, same Ruby, i hate the cold

Okay, yes, Oscar chat time

I don't know what to say, I agreed with it the whole time. Atlas is in a mess, there are good and bad times to tell people, and it's nice that Ruby has her intentions, but this may have been the same path Ozma first took, hiding things "for now" but never finding a chance to tell the truth later... they just need to keep it in mind.

And Oscar, please look after the Relic, I can already see red flags over your head the moment you took it, be that from Ironwood doing shady shit, Watts/Tyrian stealing it, or Ozpin popping back up to use it's last question.

OH, Clover, hitting a man hard with that, bringing up STRQ :/ all those fanfics of Qrow ('s semblance) being behind Summer's death, they all feel more realistic

I almost forgot, Qrow's looking snazzy too, those cross buttons, the eye/feather emblem embroidery in the sleeves. No... no necklace though?

Oh god Qrow's getting shipped with everyone this volume it seems. Good catch Clover.... I MEAN LITERAL CATCH

Halfick? Halphr... what did he say? Don't bullshit me captions, that wasn't alpha

REN!!! PAY YOUR GIRLFRIEND SOME ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!!!! Jaune you dork, nice try?

Another great Bee moment, Yang too can sense a disturbance in the force.

Weiss this is great, but can you keep your emotional daddy issues and the racial discrimination of a whole people a little more separate. But it's nice to again see you trying to make some amends and distance yourself from being.. well, 'Jacques' and his actions

OOF, Marrow coming in, hitting hard, and then acting like he's.... a millennial "I'm just a teen who does research, what do I know, boomer"

this scene though. Issues and history of faunus oppression, followed by a Schnee apolagy, and a faunus using her traits to help fix the past for a new future... that's some symbolism

Oh, a jump scare, good thing about Blake's semblance there too

HARRIET YES!!!! BIG FISTS, JUST WHAT I WANTED!!! PUNCH THAT ROCK

And RW_Y right behind already running before the rumbles settled to help their girl

I LOVE THE GRIMM IN ATLAS. don't get me wrong, Deathstalkers are still top tier, but these things are awesome too

and now we get to upgrades!

Nice, so Yang has some trigger-able explosives, so she doesn't have to rely on her semblance to protect her when she's using his shotgun blasts

A subtle little thing there, Weiss being able to shoot an icle, not doing so from a glyph, but from the gun part of

Myrtenaster directly

Okay yes, this bugged me for so long. A scythe is a big weapon, the weight is in the blade as much as it is the handle, so having to turn it around all the time would be unwieldy and difficult in combat, so just a tiny upgrade like this is both smart, and amazing for Ruby to have realised she needed

Although I still don't get how shotting a bullet down the barrel, can give her swings an initial boost of speed........

Marrow really out here flying though the sky like he's on a zipline? though the buzz saw boomerang is, again, brilliant

Oh................ So the boy who cried wolf, can pause time? I erm- actually hold on, I need to figure out how that's logical......

I'm just gonna guess it's more "Harriet is moving so fast, he did this for dramatic affect XD

JN_R once again, taking a moment, a little nervous but willing and--- now they're very much not nervous, doing their thing, never first to run in, but never first to run away either.

Also, Vine has a stetchy arm semblance, and Elm has rooting feet semblance. Ye they make a good team (i ship them)

THERE'S THAT PURPLE SHIELD BLAST

And finally StormFlower is getting some love. I don't think they look different, but having those blades be used in more various ways... grapples were a great idea

and again, Nora using that spiked back of Magnahild for more than a place to stand when she launches herself, loving it!!!

Oh Jaune, being nervous dorky, Nora a little ashamed? or ready to be.. and Ren, quiet as ever (i think he's kind of looking up to Vine honestly) don't worry though, you kids did good

OH Harriet... you don't wanna be left out of the action do you :) RUBY YOU DORK! And that little back+forth was actually hilarious

Hmm, I was always wondering how a fishing rod could be a weapon.. i guess pulling a grimm in works, but what was your plan then, to punch the Ghiest?

OH MY GOD THAT ANIMATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

again, what are you doing Clover? At least Qrow knows his semblance, acting all "i'm gonna look around, things could easily go wrong here"

Good luck bad luck eh? OH MY GOD Qrow don't make that face, the people are gonna ship you two even harder now!!!

And the hammer duo charging in first... ye Elm/Vine is just Atlas' Renora, and I love that dynamic

oh, weird dust draft from Ren stopping, sweat boiling on the rocks... this room is gonna be interesting, mess things up a bit? fluxuating gravity, hot and cold spots maybe??? Ah yes, dust energy... makes sense

And Marrow in the background while we hear him on the coms, just a great little look at how Vine seems to be "distant" from the moment, doing the whole, Ren style of vague-speak

Ye it is kinda empt-- oh. Also good work having not just the face move, but the whole midsection being rotated... kind of as if, the face is stuck to that one position... COINCIDENCE?

Erm, does this one seem bigger than the V4 Ghiest?

And now we see Ruby trying to act as leader, pause to think, to come up with a plan, where as the Ace (while more experienced) seem to have both a plan on how to take it out, and might also be a little to reliant on Clover, knowing his semblance will fix any little issues

Oh that trumpet, a very self-knowing victorious tune.

And again, Vine and Elm doing a whole of semblance work, shame we don't see them use their weapons a bit more here, same with Marrow though not using his semblance (whatever it is) at all.

HEY WAIT. those black parts weren't there earlier, nor did they appear on the V4 Grimm until it needed them to pull toge- oh... they stretched the limbs to force both a space to cut them, and for the grimm parts to sort of 'be revealed'

And another eye colour semblance indication. Loving the runners pose Harriet does too. She's not time-pausing fast... (I take back what I said about Marrow's semblance earlier?) but things do act slower, even while she's running quicker than we'd see as normal in that moment. It's not time-pausing, but it's very very fast. And the motion blur trail!!, just a tiny effect, but it adds so much detail

Marrow really is the child of the squad, he's the one to make a mistake, but again- kind of had to rely on Clover there.. Interesting to see how things pan out when he's inevitably killed, or trapped, or just isn't there

Little details here and there. Vine using his semblance not just to grab, but to push the grimm back. Harriet taunting it to get it's attention and then getting out before it can hit her (but late enough that it keeps it's attention on her and really slams it's fist down). Elm again sticking to her name, rooting that fist down, being basically an anchor in all her actions. And Marrow... throwing his boomerang

UGH.. that little medallion touch pisses me off somehow, it's so pretentious? but anyway, he had a good idea, pulling it out by it's mask, kinda really relying on his semblance to get between it and the ice chunk without bouncing off anything. Again, very semblance reliant group

Erm... she punched the grimm.. but i wouldn't say it's dead.. are we gonna ignore that??? IT'S GONNA RETURN LATER I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT

Vine again grabbing dust, would have loved to have seen Elm basically kick one to stick it to her feet instead of just catching (or pinning herself to a wall to catch it, as if it was too high to jump and catch)

And Harriet going in for the catch, only for....oh.. that's the first thing RWBY or JNR did this fight? (also no weird dust affects, i feel upset)

But ohhh, her semblance isn't speed. I had this same issue in last volume, that her semblance early on was supposed to be speed, and yet she uses it to fly, to separate into several for moments, and she can 'merge' with others to carry then, when like for Nora in V4 her reaction speed should have been way too slow to really be ready for when she was basically thrown at the previous ghiest

AY yep, I'm shocked if Ruby has control over her eyes, she never tried to flash them off during this whole scene... but again, after Maria's story, hiding them from people we don't fully trust is better

And another little bee moment, Yang flirting with them puns

Omg! Elm carrying Ruby, Yang and Nora dancing, love this group dynamic

Hey, it's that guy from last episode, why are we... Robyn?

huh, kinda spooky... flickering lights... Robyn, watts, or...

TYRIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! why are you not wearing your coat, it's cold remember! but that entrance, reminds me again of that "Cheshire cat inspiration" people first thought of back in his V4 reveal

HIS EYES!!! So whatever he does that triggers them is still apparent, and his stinger either still uses his own venom, or it's semblance related

And that line. He's here to mix things up... either he's finally gonna kill someone and let the police find out (unlike last ep when his victim was in a building, it'll take time till that's discovered... oh wait, blood) or he's here for info maybe?

[inawickedlittletown]

The Choice (one-shot)

A/N: This contains Endgame Spoilers.

Words: 2,680

Summary: The universe rewards sacrifice. Endgame fix-it. 

There was a scar on Tony’s chest where he was stabbed by Thanos by Tony’s own nanotech suit. There was also scarring left over from where the shrapnel had gone into his chest as well as where the reactor had been imbedded into his chest for so long. But by far the worst scarring were the dark lines on his neck that went down his right arm all the way down to his fingers. He was damaged. A little bit broken.

Once his hand had taken the stones and felt their power. Once his fingers had snapped. Once he’d known what Strange meant by the shaky finger he lifted up. Once the world changed. Once Tony felt the power tear him apart -- a fiery pain so fierce that Tony had almost not even felt it at all. Once all of that happened he knew it was over. Completely over.

He came to in a white blank space.

He was naked. It was one of the first things Tony noticed, because his scarring was so prominent. He supposed that maybe this was what death felt like. An unfeeling kind of feeling…

Time passed. Or maybe it didn’t. The name of the game was confusion and everything was so glaringly white. Too white. It was nothingness. And maybe everything too.

Tony wasn’t entirely fond of white.

Then, someone appeared. The Someone wore a hood and shone. The Someone was important.

“Anthony Stark.”

“That is me. So, what is this -- pearly gates or something?”

The Someone laughed and the laugh echoed.

“Something. You don’t get to know what this is. Not now. Not yet.”

Tony sighed. “Okay. Fine. So, what is this, then? I mean, is this even real?”

The someone laughed again. “Anything is real. Or not real. What is real? If you experience it even if happens in your dreams why can it not be then real?”

“Am I dead?”

“No.”

“Oh, look, you can give a straight answer.”

The Someone moved and lifted an arm. The cloak or robe or whatever -- gossamer white and silver moved with The Someone and he or she touched his forehead with a cold finger.

“Sacrifice makes things difficult. Your sacrifice was grand.”

“And that means what exactly? If I’m not dead. Do I stay in this blank space? Am I sent to the depths of hell? I mean the only god I really know is Thor and his explanation for life and death is nothing like this so--”

“Sacrifice is repaid,” The Someone said.

The Someone sounded like a lot of people. Voices that Tony knew and didn’t mixed together and echoing and echoing and echoing...

“And?”

“Do you desire to live? To return...to live…”

“I--”

You can rest now…

“Who are you?”

“I am powerful. I am life. I am death. I give. I take.” The Someone laughed an echoing laugh. “I am. I just am.”

I. Am. Iron Man.

“And I get to choose? I get to decide if I want to live? If I want to go back to--”

The Someone nodded, his or her hood moving.

“Your choice. Your heart’s choice -- your soul’s choice…”

“I decide,” Tony said.

The white around him was getting cloudy and weird -- it was going grey.

“Live or...or what?”

Tony’s voice echoed around him. The Someone was laughing.

“Or The After,” The Someone said.

Rest. Peace. They’ll be okay.

“The After as in…”

“The After,” The Someone said. “Or life. What does your soul say Anthony Stark? What does it say?”

He was so tired. The grey was getting darker. Tony’s eyes closed and he could see them standing in the tower -- Steve and Bruce and Thor and Clint. No Natasha. But behind them Nebula and Rocket and Rhodey and Sam and Bucky and Wanda. Peter stood with Pepper and Happy and...Morgan. Morgan…

“My family. I have to be with my family.”

“So be it.”

To the creature or being -- whatever IT was -- life had clearly been the wrong choice. Tony got the impression that it didn’t understand what life meant and that with the hardships and the pain came so much more. That there were joys that couldn’t be described and pain that could be erased. Life was more. It was deep and painful and amazing. If Tony ever met it again, he would try to explain. He doubted it would ever understand.

When he woke up...it was dark and cramped and breathing hurt. Everything hurt, but drawing breath hurt more.

His lungs burned as he screamed and screamed, limbs kicking and punching and hitting anything. Everything.

The person that opened the casket was a young woman -- blond ponytail and scared blue eyes.

“Fuck. Fuck. Holy, shit. You’re alive.”

She then promptly fell back and hit the ground with a thud.

He was sore. So so sore and hurt and in pain and getting out of the casket took him a while, but he managed it. He nudged the girl with his shoe until she blinked her eyes.

“I -- I didn’t dream...oh my god. We have to call your -- everyone is going to flip.”

Everyone did flip as the girl put it. Pepper arrived with Rhodey, both of them with red rimmed eyes and such a deep exhaustion that Tony was worried. They looked shocked, stood a few feet away from where he sat and didn’t move as if they were afraid that he’d disappear.

“Morgan?” Tony asked.

“With Steve and Bruce,” Rhodey said and he was the first one to reach him where he was seated on a cushioned but still mostly uncomfortable chair.

“You’re really...Oh, Tony--”

Rhodey squeezed his shoulder and then bent down to hug him where he sat. Tony moved with him, crushing himself to Rhodey’s chest until Pepper’s hand landed on his face. Pepper cradled his face in her hands and Rhodey stepped out of her way as she caught him in her arms. She was crying.

“How is this...how?”

Tony didn’t know where the words came from. “The Universe -- it was grateful.”

He was only at the hospital for a total of four hours. Prodded and scanned and frowned over for the entirety of the four hours.

“Nothing wrong with him.”

“No,” Rhodey said. “On that you’re wrong. There is a lot wrong with him. Like, he’s a sacrificial asshole with all kinds of issues and probably a death wish--”

“Physically,” the doctor corrected. “He just needs sleep and water and food. He’ll be fine.”

They discharged him and sent him home and Tony was already starting to feel better. In the few moments he’d been alone and changing into his clothes, Tony had gotten to look at his chest and at his arm. None of the black lines remained. His stab wound was a faint barely there line on his skin. Even the space where his arc reactor had been was less scarred. None of it made sense.

It didn’t need to make sense, though. Not when he was alive. When he could live. He’d made the right choice.

The Avengers Compound was destroyed, so everyone that had nowhere else to go had been staying at their house.

Steve was sitting on the steps and Morgan sat next to him when they drove up. They seemed to be mid-conversation, but Steve looked up as the car stopped and Tony took in the scene. His house. His daughter. Steve.

“Tony?” Pepper asked. She reached over the took his hand. From the front, Rhodey turned to look at him.

“I -- I just can’t believe it,” Tony said. He let go of Pepper’s hand and opened the door.

Morgan ran at him, crashing into his legs, her arms wrapped tightly around them.

“Oof,” Tony said, “you’re just getting stronger and stronger every day, kiddo.”

She looked up at him all big eyes and smiling. Morgan was everything -- before her, he’d never known he could love so deeply. He reached down and picked her up, his eyes not being able to tear themselves away from her face.

“Daddy?”

“Hi, kid.”

“Mommy said you weren’t going to come back,” Morgan whispered, as if it were a secret.

“Oh, honey,” Tony said and he didn’t have words -- didn’t know how to explain that he’d died and that somehow in some impossible way he’d come back. That he’d been allowed to come back.

“I missed you,” Morgan said.

“I missed you too, peanut. So much. And you know what? I love you 3000.”

She scrunched up her nose adorably and Tony kissed her cheek and then her other cheek and her forehead. She broke out into giggles, wiggling against his hold until Tony pressed one last kiss to the top of her head and he put her down. She ran towards Pepper and Rhodey and it was so easy for her.

Tony knew Morgan was smart, but she was still a kid and he couldn’t imagine that she’d truly understood death or what it meant that he was back. It was easier that way. Better.

“Tony.”

Steve was just in front of him, blue eyes glistening as he stepped closer as if he were hesitating, but Tony crossed the few feet between them, wrapping his arms around him. It was enough for Steve to truly sweep him into his arms. He pulled him in tight but not crushingly so.

“You’re alive. You’re really...you’re here. I didn’t want to -- none of us thought. Tony.”

“I am. I am. I don’t know how or why but I am…”

Steve pulled back and they were face to face and Steve smiled and then pulled him into a hug again and Tony said nothing when he heard Steve let out a sob. He hadn’t realized Steve cared so much.

Happy brought Peter and May from Queens later that afternoon and Tony was not surprised when Peter threw himself at Tony in a very Morgan-like fashion, but crying into his neck and mumbling something that Tony didn’t hear half because it was said so fast and half because it was said into his shirt. The kid did like to talk. Tony just wanted to hold him for as long as he could.

Five years he’d gone without his kid. He’d gotten married and he and Pepper had Morgan, but Peter had never been far from Tony’s thoughts. He was the catalyst for him deciding to help bring everyone back.

Peter stuck to his side for the rest of the afternoon and Tony didn’t mind how clingy the kid had become all of a sudden. He understood perfectly. For Peter the last few days had probably been very confusing.

“I was so mad at you,” Peter told him eventually. “I didn’t want you to go.”

“I know. I know. But I’m here. I’m here. We’re both here. I’m planning on sticking around.”

He pushed Peter’s hair back from his face and he just took Peter in. He loved this kid so much.

“You better, Mr. Stark,” Peter said.

They had a big party and invited everyone. Tony left the planning up to Pepper, partly because he was still kind of tired but also because everyone was visiting all the time and Tony was busy entertaining. He could still remember when their team had been only six of them. Now there seemed to be some sort of Superhero community. It made Tony feel a whole lot better about officially giving up the suit.

Death or whatever happened to him...whoever he’d spoken to -- it had given him a choice. Choosing to live meant that he wanted to live. He wanted to be around for a long time. For Morgan and Pepper. For Peter. For Rhodey. For every single person that he had willingly sacrificed himself for. He wanted to see them all live. 

“I think this is entirely because of you,” Fury said the day of the party.

“Yeah, and I heard the eye patch is entirely due to a cat.”

Fury glared at him with his singular eye. “Not a cat,” he said. “But this is due to you, Stark. You bring people together.”

Out on the yard a lot of smaller conversations were taking place. People laughing and telling stories. Morgan was chasing Peter around. Nebula was being sullen where she stood with Rocket and Quill. Bruce was having a discussion with Hank Pym and Shuri. Thor was with some of the Asgardians and Groot. Even Strange had shown up with Wong and he was laughing at something that T’Challa said.

“I don’t think I did all that,” Tony said.

“Maybe not all of it, but you made sure we were all here today. We were wrong all those years ago to separate you and Iron Man -- you are Iron Man. But maybe Tony Stark is even better.”

Tony chuckled. “You’re just saying that because I died.”

Carol showed up to call Fury away but she smiled at Tony as she pulled him away. It was weird to see how Fury changed when faced with Carol Danvers. Tony watched them walk down from the porch and he was considering going down to mingle with everyone when he felt someone touch his his elbow. He turned and found Steve.

“Hey,” Steve said.

“Cap?”

“I wanted to let you know I’ve been thinking about doing something kind of stupid.”

Tony laughed. “And you decided to tell me about it?”

“I wanted your perspective on it. I didn’t want to tell Bucky until I was sure and--”

Tony shook his head and he motioned for Steve to follow him to the chairs. “Go ahead. What is it?”

Steve took a deep breath. He looked away for a long moment before finding Tony again. “I’m going to put the stones back. Tomorrow.”

“I know,” Tony said. “I still think you should let someone come with you. I would except that Pepper would probably kill me if she thought I was doing anything risky again.”

“I don’t want anyone else to come,” Steve said. He swallowed and Tony could tell that he was nervous.

Tony was there for everything.

The first real milestone was Peter’s High School graduation. The kid had his choice of schools and Tony didn’t want to say that he entirely influenced him but when Peter decided on MIT, Tony was touched. He showed up when he graduated from MIT the first time and then the second and the third and then tried to convince him that he didn’t actually need to get more degrees than Tony had.

He saw Morgan grow into a young woman -- fierce and strong just like her mother and whip smart too. She had him entirely under her thumb and Tony didn’t care at all. Morgan was everything. Watching her grow up was amazing and ridiculous and Tony would change none of it.

Pepper remained at his side. Always. She was his rock and his best friend and everything that he could have ever wanted. She was the love of his life.

The rest of his family showed up from time to time -- always welcome at the Stark house. Steve had even lived with them for a while after he returned from his adventure -- his life in another timeline. He never told anyone anything about his life in the other timeline which made Tony thing that it wasn’t Peggy he’d stayed with.

It was at Steve’s death bed a few months after his return that Tony made himself ask.

“Was the me in that other timeline happy?”

Steve’s eyes were sad when he nodded. “Yes. So was I.”

“Good.”

Pepper left him first. Then Rhodey. Then Clint. When it came to be his turn, Tony was ready. He could tell that Morgan and Peter weren’t -- but he kissed them and held them and knew they’d be okay. The universe didn’t bother asking him to choose. Instead it thanked him and let him rest. Tony was ready for it this time.

“Was it the right choice?” The Someone asked.

Tony nodded and smiled. “Life is always the right choice.”

[gerudospiriit]

Finding Fun

Handing over the reins of her mare to the inn’s stable hand was easily the most grueling task Nabooru had endured in all sixteen years of her life. More arduous than the training and punishments from Bruvi, the second in command and the best warrior the Gerudo possessed who had taken her under her wing and was well known for her harsh and brutal training regimens. More difficult than fighting off groups of raiders twice her size singlehandedly. She would even prefer when she nearly perished on the steps of the Spirit Temple at age eight in a pride-fueled exploit to prove her elder peers wrong over this.

She gripped the leather tighter as the boy reached out for them, her jaw clenched as she considered mounting her horse again and riding back to the desert to return to her normal regimen. Aveil and Vasi had already surrendered their mounts and chittered excitedly about the voe Vasi planned to meet up with again a few meters away. If she hopped back up on her horse now, she could escape easily. Camp out the next few days somewhere in Hyrule Field to avoid the inevitable, invasive questions that would follow her returning from basically an order to spend her free days in Hyrule proper (she needed to take it easy or she would burn out, they said). Anything would beat tagging along with these two while they flirted with any voe they could and likely ending up abandoned and sneaking back to their shared room at the inn alone, avoiding any and all those who would try to convince her to stray from that path to their room instead.

She sighed and continued her mental mantra of “it won’t be so bad” that she had taken up on the ride from home. A little too roughly, she handed her mount over and joined the other two Gerudo. She quelled her present and future annoyance with them by bolstering her pride, comparing the red garb of a warrior she donned (now for two years) to the purple of the lower ranking guards they still wore. A testament to her hard work over worrying about spending her free days cavorting with stupid Hylian boys or slacking off in general. Neither of them would wear those colors much longer, Aveil joining her in red and Vasi trading purple for orange, an artisan and seamstress under Nabooru’s mother. Their own initiation had been pushed back by Ganondorf’s coronation in the coming weeks. Nabooru had been grateful for her historic, early initiation; otherwise she would find herself in the same situation as Vasi and Aveil...not that either of them seemed bothered. She would have been furious, future king of the Gerudo or not.

The thought of Ganondorf did nothing to curb her annoyance either. When all this talk and her vehement complaints to him of the forced outing to Hyrule on her free days reached him, she thought that he would rally behind her, his own territorial nature taking precedence over all else at the very thought of other men trying to bed her (she hadn’t even slept with him yet, after all, though the promise of it loomed with the completion of his coronation). Usually, she would never even subtly suggest he use his position and influence to help her out of a tight spot, to vouch for her, or aid her in any way. She made a point not to, as she did not wish to take advantage of their friendship turned blooming relationship. This one time that she did, Ganondorf failed to take a hint, his mind occupied with his coronation, and he suggested she “try to enjoy herself” and “come back with fun stories.” But, she could not blame his distraction; she could only imagine being on the brink of ascending to the throne of their people. It was a heavy burden, one she knew he could handle if needed, but even someone as confident as him were not immune to the weight of duty.

An elbow to her side returned her to the emptying cobbled streets as the sunlight began to die. “Are you going to even try to enjoy yourself, Nabs?” Aveil asked, leading the way to their destination. Nabooru recognized the path and the alley they entered. The pub tucked away here was seedier than the rest, run down, smelled of all sorts of ungodly smells, and attracted the shadier sorts. To Nabooru, these sorts were far more interesting, and it meant she might at least get to witness a fight, if not engage in one herself. Thieves, gamblers, past and future convicts, and anyone else down on their luck flocked to this particular haunt and, as far as most Hylians were concerned, a couple Gerudo would fit right in. Nabooru was just grateful it kept the stares and whispers to a minimum. No one questioned their age there, either. While considered adults by Gerudo standards, Hylians only allowed those eighteen and older to drink.

“I don’t know. Are the two of you going to abandon me to the Wolfos again?” She narrowed her eyes at the two of them. Aveil only grinned, and Vasi had already thrown the door open to scan the area for the voe she had met last time and exchanged letters with in the meantime. Nabooru saw Vasi’s eyes light up before she flounced through the rest of the patrons. “Well, that’s one down. Want to make bets how long it will take you to disappear, too, Aveil?”

An eyeroll was all the response she received as Aveil tugged her over to the bar. She pushed her down onto a stool and flopped onto the one next to her. “Just try.” She waved the bartender over and ordered them both a drink. “That doesn’t mean you have to warm some voe’s bed, you know.”

Nabooru grunted and took a generous swig from the tankard set in front of her. She grimaced at the taste, but she supposed after two additional drinks, she would hardly notice or care. “This just isn’t my thing. I have better things to be doing than drinking and trying to avoid perverts. Like--”

“Training or reading or meditating or blah, blah, blah,” Aveil finished for her. “And that’s how you find an early death if the sword or starvation doesn’t get you first, Nabooru.”

She opened her mouth to berate Aveil for belittling the struggle of their people, but instead took the opportunity to drain the rest of her ale and order more. “Can’t die by the sword if you’re so good no one can touch you,” she grumbled, swiping up the new tankard and gulping down another large swig. A weak argument, she knew, and Aveil obviously wasn’t impressed either. It amused her at least.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you weren’t capable of having fun. I bet you couldn’t find something fun to do here if your life depended on it.”

Nabooru narrowed her eyes at her best friend in the face of her smirk. She knew exactly what game Aveil played. She issued a challenge, telling her she couldn’t do or handle something. She tried to resist, glaring into the bottom of her tankard as she drank. The tactic only further peeved her, mostly because it was threatening to work. She bounced her leg as her knuckles paled around the handle of her tankard. Really, in this situation she could not win. If she did not rise to the challenge, she proved Aveil “right.” If she did, Aveil was still right and she would be obligated to go through with the challenge.

Slamming the empty tankard on the bar, she stood. She would rather be seen as a fool than a coward. Aveil’s smirk widened. “I won’t wait up for you!” she called after her back with a laugh.

Weaving through the quickly filling tables of laughing drunks, arm wrestlers, and card players, she kicked open the door and wandered out onto the street, ignoring the curses of the man who would likely sustain a bump on his forehead where the wood smashed him. The sky had darkened completely, and torches burned to light the path. She entered the square as the last of the vendors and day walkers closed up shop, and the nightcrawlers took to the streets. The din of merchants hawking their wares and hagglers died down to make way for drunken laughter and the giggles of secret lovers as they sought private refuge.

Nabooru sought privacy of her own, the solitude of the room back at the inn. She could easily spin the bet in her favor; at that point, lying in bed and staring at the peeling paint sounded as fun as anything else. Aveil never said she had to find her particular idea exciting. Nabooru had nothing against winning on a technicality.

“--be the best in the guard someday. Watch me.”

Perhaps the ale had begun to affect her, halting her forward motion to eavesdrop on a pair of twenty-somethings. Trainees in the guard, apparently, if the snippet of conversation was anything to go on. A dusty blonde and dark brunette, both with the hair tied back in a stub of a ponytail, neither looked like they could hold a sword, let alone swing it. The brunette was too scrawny and weedy, and the blonde might have better luck handling the sword, but the extra weight he bore suggested likely not for very long. Even the well-seasoned members of the guard had some brawn to them. Brand new recruits, apparently, but she supposed size meant little in the way of the sword. Nothing she couldn’t test with a quick spar.

“Excuse me.” She approached the young Hylians, who both straightened up and rested a hand on their rupee pouches at the sight of her. Their paranoia didn’t keep their eyes from roving her body like a couple of starved Wolfos. She gritted her teeth and cleared her throat; bear it this time. “I couldn’t help but overhear. The two of you are in the guard?”

“Well, training so not—Oof!”

The dark-haired male glared at his cohort as a knobby elbow stuck itself in his ribs. “We are. You’re looking at future generals, Gerudo.” He smirked at her and pushed off the wall he leaned on, chest puffed out. The line was meant to melt her, have her weak at the knees and groveling for further flirtation. Unfortunately for them, she sought a different sort of fun that most girls did not request.  

“That said,” he paused inches in front of her (a mistake considering it only exaggerated the half a head of height she had on him), “if you’re up to no good, we’ll have to apprehend you and keep you locked up for the night. Right, Tarin?”

The blonde, Tarin, took several, awkward seconds to catch his friend’s meaning. “Oh! Yeah, heh. But we would take good care of you.”

Nabooru snorted, resting her hands on her hips. “Sorry, I’m not out making trouble tonight. Too bad, though. Would have looked good to your captain if you could apprehend a Gerudo up to no good.” Their smirks fell, and they exchanged a disappointed glance. She could feel them losing interest, so she had to reel them back in. What worked best with Ganondorf? He was the only male she ever really talked to, and likely a horrible example to hold a couple of horny Hylians to, but she had a challenge to win and a best friend to prove wrong.

“Tarin’s a nice name,” she blurted, earning raised eyebrows from both males. “Nice and, uh, strong. Perfect for a future general of the prestigious Hylian Guard.” She felt her mouth twitch as she held in her laughter. She knew ten-year-olds who could give some of the best Hylian guards a run for their money.  

Pathetic as her attempt seemed, the scoff of the ringleader suggested she had accomplished some form of competition between them. “General Saro easily has a better, tougher ring to it. Tarin could be a girl’s name.”

“What? I’m not a girl! Tarin isn’t a girl’s name!”

“Guys, guys.” Her voice thankfully reeled their attention back to her rather than each other’s throats. “Both of your names are great. So manly. Nabooru is the only girl’s name I can think of off the top of my head, and it sounds nothing like your names.”

“Heh...that’s a weird name. Na-boo-ru.” Tarin snickered, earning him a glare from the Gerudo and another sharp jab from his buddy.

“Excuse my friend,” said Saro, bowing reverently though with a playful air to it. “He’s a little...slow in the head.”

“I noticed.” Tarin grumbled under his breath and crossed his arms, and Saro rebolstered himself in his victory. Nabooru leaned to the side and nodded toward sword at the brunette’s hip. “You expect to be the best swordsman in the guard, right? How good are you?”

Saro didn’t miss a beat. “The best in all the land, of course.” Even Tarin had to nod in agreement. “My father has taught me how to swordfight since I was five. Even Lady Impa was impressed with me.”

Nabooru hummed in feigned admiration; she took note of the fact that men responded to stroking their ego. She could likely get them to pay her at this point. But rupees were not her aim. “That is impressive.” Fingers grazed the hilt of one of the blades at her own hip. “Care to test yourself against a Gerudo warrior? Just a friendly spar to test our skills.”

“Heh...well, that would be a decent test of my abilities...”

Tarin scrunched his nose, his round face screwing up in displeasure at the thought of his friend sparring with her. She started to suggest they could both spar with her, but the blonde expressed his true grievance before she could: “Come on, Saro. This is the only night we’re going to have to whatever we want for months. We can’t spend it doing the same thing we do every. Day. I thought we were getting drinks!”

“Hmph.” The shorter male pondered each proposal, his too pointy chin jutting out stubbornly as if to defy both of them. He tapped his thumb on the end of his sword’s hilt. “My friend here has a point, Nabooru.” Tarin’s grimace turned to a pleased grin. “But, perhaps after a few drinks, we can have that friendly spar. It’s not every day I get the chance to practice with a beautiful woman.”

The Gerudo wanted nothing more than to point out that the reason beautiful women never challenged him to a fight was likely because his society typically frowned upon the idea of women warriors, but her disappointment with their decision to choose alcohol over a good fight overpowered that particular desire. So much for her brand of fun. Perhaps Aveil had a point in some way: she could not find fun here because her interests diverged too far from that of most other people. She thought perhaps she had gotten lucky finding these two. Warriors with ambition (if not overconfidence). But, after this short exchange, they proved more Aveil's type of company than her own.

“Why don’t you come with us?” Saro suggested. “Be easier than trying to find each other later.”

The cynical part of her whispered she should refuse, their initial suggestive dialogue unsettling at best. She imagined the peeling, pea green paint in their room at the inn and succumbing to sleep on the lumpy, possibly bug infested mattress. Aveil waking her when and if she stumbled back in drunk, giggling and talking too loudly for the cramped space. She knew she would not see Vasi until they were ready to head back to the fortress unless she decided to abandon them for marriage and life out here.  

She inwardly sighed. “Alright. Sure. I’ll go with you.”

“Wait.” Tarin squinted at her, gaze critical over the lusty stares they greeted her with. “Are you even old enough to drink?”

“Someone already thought I was. So, sure.”

“Hey, she’s got confidence,” Saro snorted and started off, Tarin and Nabooru following. “That counts for enough. By now, everyone is probably too drunk to care. She can pass as old enough, anyway. I know a place where we can get free drinks. The barmaid is crazy about anyone in the guard. That’s what Franz told me.”

The rest of their conversation devolved into names she didn’t recognize and training stories she didn’t care about. She did glean from them that Tarin came from a noble family, his father shoehorning him a place among the guard’s trainees after he apparently choked at the initial try out. Nerves, he claimed, not a lack of skill. Saro was an only child to farmers and couldn’t stand the lifestyle. Thus, he left his parents to seek out the life in the Hylian army. Though his captains called his form sloppy and his style unrefined, he showed promised, which Saro translated to future general because he put the rest of the green trainees to shame in the practice yard.

Inside the bar, a much more relaxed atmosphere than the one she left and attached to an inn frequented by Hylian guards on their off days, Nabooru selected a table out of the way and waited for the trainees to return with the drinks. Elbow propped on the table and chin resting in her hand, she fought her restlessness with people watching. She recognized a few of the usual merchants sharing a drink over a game of chess by the fire, laughing instead of at each other’s throats for sales. Two of the inn’s maids taking a break leaned against the walls in the corner, drinking tea and looking unimpressed with whatever the drunk man speaking with them was pitching.  

“She must have had the night off.”  

Saro’s gruff and frustrated statement and the scrape of chair legs on the stone floor drew her attention from the man and woman awkwardly drudging through some mockery of conversation. Tarin slid her a shot of amber liquid and a tankard filled with ale (that she hoped tasted better than the stuff she had earlier).  

“I take it things didn’t go as well as you hoped with that bar maid?” Nabooru smirked as she dug some rupees from her pouch and slid them across the table to Saro. She ignored the scrunch of his nose and the twist of his mouth as he stared at the gems a moment too long. He finally added them to his own rupee pouch. “Or maybe that Franz guy was just messing with you?”

Tarin shook as he tried to maintain his laughter under Saro’s warning glare. “She told him he was the third and not the best-looking trainee trying to get free stuff tonight, and that if he didn’t plan to pay he needed to leave.”

Saro swiped up his shot and drained it, wincing and waiting for them to follow suit. Taking the tiny glass between her thumb and middle finger, she tipped it back into her mouth. Whiskey. It burned her tongue and throat, but it beat the ale she sucked down earlier that evening. She set the glass down and leaned back in her chair. She would have to limit the shots if she hoped to keep her wits for their spar.  

Or, so she thought. Saro had already finished his tankard and was waving down a maid for another while Tarin swallowed half of his in one swig. She frowned; at this rate, she suspected both of them would be far too drunk to offer any sort of challenge. Their flailing and falling over might prove amusing, but amusement paled in comparison to a fair and challenging victory.

She huffed through her nose and lifted her own tankard to her lips and waved the maid’s request for another drink or shot off with her free hand. She did not know which, but either the last, slim glimmer of hope or the knowledge that she may need to keep her wits about her to make an escape convinced her to stay sober.  

“So, what’s the desert like?” Tarin asked once they both had their drink refilled. “Hot?”

“Hot,” she agreed, setting her cup back on the table. “During the day, anyway. Cold at night. Sandy. It’s hard to navigate if you don’t know what you’re doing, but I think it’s beautiful overall.”

The maid brought around two more drinks for each of them. “How do you train in the heat?” Saro asked, paying the woman before she strode off, now empty tray beneath her arm. “I can’t even stand the summer heat here.”

“Well, when you grow up in it, you probably don’t notice it as much, idiot.” Tarin snorted and winced when Saro punished him with a blow to the arm. “Hey! That’s just common sense!”

In spite of herself, Nabooru couldn’t help but laugh. They amused her at the very least. “He’s right, I guess. I’m just used to it. What I don’t understand is how the lot of you fight in full, clunky, metal armor. Especially in the summer. Isn’t it hard to move in it? It seems restrictive.”

Saro nodded behind his tankard and finished it off, wiping his mouth with his forearm as he pushed the empty cup away. “Absolutely. It’s like a sweat swamp in those tin cans, and don’t get me started on trying to fight in them.” A shrug. “But I guess you just get used to that, too. Tarin still struggles, but he’s not the most athletic, as you can see.”

“At least I can wield a broadsword without nearly taking someone’s head off because it’s too heavy,” said Tarin, one of the fresh tankards brought to his lips. He slurped the ale down. “So, are the Gerudo really all women, or is that another lie they tell us trainees to get us in trouble?”

“Oh, that one’s true. But don’t get any ideas,” she warned, narrowing her eyes at the lascivious glance they shared. “Outsiders aren’t allowed passed the valley. Though one male is born every century. The one now is a few years older than me.”

“Whoa. Lucky guy. I’d trade him places, anyway.” Both males laughed and knocked their tankards together, earning them an eyeroll from Nabooru. She had to stifle a shudder and soften her sour expression at the thought of either of them taking Ganondorf’s place. They would make a mockery of the position for one, and she certainly would not harbor the same feelings she had for the prince for either of them. To take either of them seriously as a leader would prove difficult enough, but anything beyond a casual friendship would be nigh impossible. Her work ethic would likely drive them away from her in the first place, and she drank to the Goddess of the Sand for that.

She pondered her next words, a reprimand, for all of a few seconds: “Keep talking like that and you’ll never find yourself lucky enough to have more than words with a Gerudo.” A lie, almost; it just depended on who they managed to talk to. But, it ended their guffawing. And, if they listened, perhaps they would learn to treat the Gerudo and other women a bit more respectfully. “We have far too much pride to allow anyone to speak of us like that.”

The silence between them spoke volumes, a smug smirk on her lips. Saro finally drank from his tankard and cleared his throat. “I guess we shouldn’t argue with advice from a real live Gerudo.” He slurred his words some, a tell-tale sign that the alcohol he consumed would most certainly derail their plan to spar. She was far too proud to challenge him intoxicated. Where was the challenge in that?

The rest of the conversation devolved when the man-boys decided to turn their drinking into a competition. They slugged back drinks like water, and would shoot her a random question about herself or the Gerudo when they remembered her presence. At one point, Tarin asked her to flex her arm so they could test her muscles. She humored them, and their wide eyes and praise only boosted her ego, the odd request quickly forgiven. Soon, the maid cut them off despite their begging and sent them stumbling and giggling to the door.

Nabooru remained in her seat, snickering as she watched Tarin trip over the leg of a chair. A cleared throat raised her attention away from Tarin scrambling back to his feet as Saro pointed and laughed, nearly walking into the doorframe himself. Gold eyes met the olive green of the barmaid, the woman’s chestnut eyebrows pulled together in frustration. She rested her free hand on her hip and clicked her tongue.

“Are you not going to help your friends home?”

The Gerudo snorted. “They’re not really my friends, so I hadn’t really planned to, no.”

“Unless you’re going to buy more drinks,” she pointed to the door, “I suggest you leave me a generous tip since your not friends neglected to and get lost. Paying customers only.”

Nabooru stubbornly retained her seat and grit her teeth. However, after a few seconds of seething beneath the maid’s glare, she decided that the last entertainment this place had to offer departed with Saro and Tarin. Grumbling, she dug some rupees from her wallet and headed back out into the night.

Upon reaching the square, she grimaced when she found the trainees had not made it far. Tarin hunched over a planter, back heaving as he vomited. Saro turned around in circles, expression distant and making him appear confused and lost. As soon as they exited the bar (and left her to tip the maid), her business with them should have ended. Everything in her screamed to just return to the inn and get some sleep, as she would likely need to care for Aveil in the morning. But she stayed rooted to the spot, unable to peel her gaze away from the catastrophe in front of her.

Growling, she stomped over to Saro and seized his forearm, dragging him back over to Tarin. Once the blonde pulled his head from the planter and cleared his lips of any residue with the back of his hand, she wrapped her fingers around his wrist. “Castle’s this way, idiots,” she scolded, leading them toward the walls and spires rising to stars above. She would escort them to the gate and dump them on the guard there. She refused to try and get them any further. “Damn lightweights. If you throw up on me, I’ll throw you in the moat, by the way.”

“Hey, Tarin.” He snorted as he shuffled along beside her. “Think she’s mad we left her?”

Nabooru simply rolled her eyes and tuned out the other trainee’s response and the rest of their drivel, knowing she would likely knock them both out if she listened. As she approached the gate, she shifted her grip to their upper arms and yanked them up, trying to help them show a little bit of dignity.  

The guard at the gate lifted the visor of his helmet, gaze shifting between the two young men and then to pause on Nabooru. “Tch, odd for a Gerudo to bring her victims straight to someone who could arrest her,” he sneered. She noticed his grip tighten on his spear. “Get them all liquored up before robbing them blind, did you?”

The protests from the trainees told her she had squeezed a little too hard in her aggravation. She released them and shoved them toward the guard (hard enough, but not so much that they would trip in their current state). Fiery words burned hotter in her throat than any liquor could as she swallowed them back. As much as she wanted to teach the idiot a lesson—either verbally or physically—she kept her composure.  

Gold eyes narrowed into slits as she scoffed. “You said it yourself: that would be stupid,” she snapped. “These two are your problem now.”

She turned on her heel and didn’t wait for a response, keeping her ears open in case he decided to make good on that promise to try and arrest her. She reached the Market once more without hearing footsteps, the clink of armor, or demands to stop a thief. Almost disappointed, as she still craved a decent fight, Nabooru strode back to the inn.

--------------------------------

Finding Aveil stretched out on the bed upon her arrival surprised her and, judging by the Aveil’s arched brow, her best friend was equally stunned. She sat up, tossing the book she’d likely dug out of Nabooru’s things to the side. “I was beginning to think I wouldn’t see you back here at all,” she admitted, crossing her legs. “Thought you might have actually found some fun after all.”

As she toed off her shoes and sat down on the edge of the bed, Nabooru considered telling Aveil about her misadventures. Finding Tarin and Saro boasting in the streets. Challenging them to a fight. How they dragged her to a bar, got too drunk to function, and she dragged them back to the castle. While she had had some semblance of fun, meaning she could easily win their little wager, the fact that a large part of her wanted to just forget the whole thing suggested that it all likely only amounted to an amusing distraction at best.

Nabooru untied her wallet from her hip and tossed what remained of her rupees into Aveil’s lap. “Sure didn’t,” she said, sliding the jewel from her hair and undressing. She pulled back the sheets and dove underneath them. “Guess I’m not cut out for the lifestyle out here.”

[softshelltaakos]

what’s up everybody! it’s time for part 2 of my taz graphic novel review.

part one covered (most of) my beef with the writing and storytelling choices. this part is gonna cover character designs!!! you should know going into this that my opinions are not positive. this post is also a lot less analytical in tone than part 1, because art is not my forte.

disclaimer: i love the mcelroys. i truly do. taz has gotten me through some very difficult stuff and i have a tattoo. all this to say i’m not doing this because i hate them or because i like hating things. if you feel the need to message me about how i am overreacting, specifically to green taako, or about how i should just calm down and ignore it, or about how it’s sad that i’m getting so worked up instead of just enjoying the show, i’ve heard it and i don’t care. you will not be taken seriously. save yourself the energy.

there are spoilers for the graphic novel under the cut.

alright. i’m getting the elephant in the room out of the way first because it’s the most important thing to address, and once it’s out of my system i’ll feel better goofing on the rest of the designs. as i mentioned in the disclaimer: Green Taako Is Bad.

[ID: a panel focusing on taako. he’s skinny and minty green with chin-length light blonde hair and a big, pointy nose.]

now, a lot of people have made posts about this before, and i’m not saying anything new about it by any means. i’m also not the most equipped person to talk about why green taako is bad, because i’m a white gentile (i’ve heard conflicting opinions on whether or not green taako is antisemitic, but it feels remiss not to mention that there’s been discussion) and therefore not part of any groups affected by this whole debacle, but in short: when pressed for more diversity, specifically in taako’s case as a pretty large chunk of his arc involves literally inventing a mexican cultural food (fun note: that’s never mentioned in this book,) carey pietsch decided he should be green and the mcelroys were down with it. this is not an issue that cropped up when this design was released; it was something that there was already a ton of discourse surrounding, and it should never have gotten concepts drawn, let alone made it to publish.

this article by natt cuesta has been linked before on the subject, and i think it’s a good, concise explanation of why green taako is bad as well as why aracial characters in general are bad. this is a racist design.

now that we’ve gotten those ethical ramifications out of the way... i’m sorry, but it’s an ugly design, lmao. he looks like a palette-swapped version of pearl from steven universe with less character. the ONLY thing about this design that i like is the prominent lower lashes, if only because they’re the only thing that keeps him from looking entirely generic. because, like, y’all, when has anything about taako been generic?

[ID: a panel focusing on magnus. he’s a muscular fair-skinned man with auburn hair, a bushy beard, and a scar over his left eye.]

generic is a word that’s going to come up a lot over the course of this review, because i genuinely can’t think of a more apt descriptor for pietsch’s designs. it feels like she went with the lowest common denominator of every character’s design, a synthesis of all of the most popular (and most boring) ones, except in instances where that would lend any personality to a character’s design. magnus fits what brief description we’re given in the podcast: auburn hair. beard. big. and i guess that’s all you need?

i understand that by appealing to the most common and basic designs for these characters you’re inviting a lot less ire than you might by going with something more individual, so i get the motivation behind it -- or i would, if her designs hadn’t always been about this dull. but it’s bizarre to me that in a story as unique as the balance campaign, we ended up with the most basic ass Fantasy Hero lookin’ dude in the world as one of our protagonists.

i just really don’t have a lot to say about this. i’m just bored by it.

[ID: a panel of merle. he has medium-dark skin with a smooth white bun and beard.]

merle is simultaneously the design i like most out of the boys and the one that throws me the most, because i feel like he’s the most out on a limb one. which... oof. most merle designs i see give him a floral motif (i guess he has a few petals in his hair, maybe?) and big coke-bottle glasses, and i miss those things with this design, but at least it doesn’t totally feel like pietsch threw every merle she could get her hands on into a blender and poured it out on a page, although honestly, that might have been more satisfying. people do some really fun shit with their merle designs, but again, he’s. generic.

as the cuesta article mentions, with how much of an issue it was to get any of the boys to be poc in the first place and in conjunction with minty up there, this design also feels like tokenism -- an appeasement rather than an honest attempt at diversity or god forbid because the artist actually headcanons merle as a person of color. personally, i wish that she’d gone a step beyond re-coloring his skin and idk given him a natural hairstyle or something. he still feels very much like a recolor to me rather than a character who was designed as a person of color from the beginning.

i feel like he looks more like a cleric than he looks like a merle, which i feel like is pretty contradictory to who merle is.

[ID: a cutaway showing griffin, a white man with brown hair and glasses wearing a collared shirt.]

i’ve said before that it feels a little odd to talk about her design of a real person, so i’ll keep this brief, but... you know how every drawing of a basic white dude looks a little bit like griffin mcelroy? you know how that one arthur character looks a little bit like griffin mcelroy? you know how everyone is constantly messaging mysillycomics about how her avatar looks like griffin mcelroy?

how did carey pietsch manage to actively attempt to draw griffin mcelroy and miss the mark? it boggles the mind. he doesn’t not look like griffin, i guess, but he doesn’t look like griffin, either. i don’t know, man

[ID: a generic gerblin. he has yellowy-green skin, slight tusks or fangs, and weird, nubby little horn-type things.]

i hate these gerblins. they are ugly. next

[ID: two images of klaarg/g’nash. he’s a bugbear with brown fur and yellow eyes as well as a mouth full of pointy teeth. in the first image he looks pissed off; in the second he’s starry-eyed and delighted.]

klaarg is probably my favorite design in the book, and that’s just because he looks like a cute dog for most of the time he’s on the page. he’s fluffy and i love klaarg anyway, so like. did not take a lot to reach this mark. especially considering how i feel about most of the other designs lmfao

i do definitely think he keeps up the trend of looking generic, though.

[ID: an image of barry bluejeans. he looks like tom arnold, kind of; he’s square-jawed and white with thick-rimmed glasses. he also has a light brown mullet.]

i hate this. i hate the mullet. i’m sorry, y’all, i really, truly, cannot stand the mullet. i don’t feel like barry has mullet energy. i feel like it’s too powerful a move for him. it wouldn’t be a good move, mind you, but it would be a big one. i don’t know y’all it’s just bad

[ID: an image of killian. she’s a green-skinned orc woman with prominent eyelashes, eyebrows, and tusks, and straight brown hair.]

i can’t have been the only one who was hoping for a badass, visibly muscular, maybe even butch killian design, right? that wasn’t just me being a big old lesbian, that’s a pretty common theme of killian designs? i guess kudos for going out on a limb again, but then, like, take the kudos back for going out on the most boring limb possible again. i could hang with the face if her hair wasn’t so boring, but it’s... it’s so boring

[ID: an image of magic brian. he’s a drow with long white hair and an oblong face and oddly shaped nose.]

for how many of her designs are syntheses of popular ones, i..... don’t understand how this happened. i don’t understand how whimiscal and flamboyant magic brian who’s often drawn as taako-but-a-goth-dark-elf ended up looking like this. he looks like he used to play football and got his nose busted up and peaked in fantasy high school. he looks like the first quarter of a monster factory video where the thing’s just ugly but doesn’t have a personality or any endearing traits yet. he didn’t have to be the goth twink we all know he is but what.......... is this

[ID: an image of gundren rockseeker/bogard. he’s a light-skinned dwarf with dark long hair and a matching beard.]

..........listen i know they’re cousins and distant cousins at that but all of merle’s cousins are light-skinned and, like, not to say that that can’t happen but having them be anywhere near merle’s skin tone would’ve been such an easy way to help bolster the obviously inaccurate idea that this is a work concerned with diverse character designs, or rather to help ppl claim it was being bolstered, and yet

[ID: avi, a fair-skinned man with long dark hair kept up in a ponytail and slight scruff on his face.]

i feel like maybe avi is intended to be east asian so i think at this point that brings the count up to a whole two characters of color. we’re almost done with the book. cool. he’s cute, i guess, but guess what word i’m about to say again (it’s generic)

[ID: a panel of several unnamed cameo characters. from right to left: carey fangbattle, a light blue dragonborn; brad bradson, a green orc man with a long brown ponytail; and presumably lucas miller, a tan human with glasses and dark hair.]

ok. deep breaths.

first off, there’s another panel w these three as well as boyland, who looks fine, but i didn’t grab that one bc it’s harder to make out detail. carey is cute. brad is fine.

i assume the third guy is lucas miller because i’m not entirely sure who else he would be, and... oof! as you may know i can’t stand lucas miller, which has nothing to do with his necromancy or nerdiness and everything to do with the various human rights violations he commits in the small time he’s got focus as well as the fact that he’s got a theoretical redemption arc that’s not actually an arc so much as us being told he’s better now. lucas is an entitled jackass who repeatedly uses other people’s bodies and minds without their consent, from the obvious offense of using the bugbears as brainwashed chore-doers (read: slaves) to the less-oft discussed dragging of noelle and others out of the astral plane into robot bodies, again to do his chores for him. because of this, it has always sat very uncomfortably with me when people make lucas a poc, because everything about him screams Shitty White Nerd Boy to me. it sits extra uncomfortably coming from carey pietsch, given how white all of her other designs are.

it’s a little hard to tell because i took all these pics with my phone camera in my room’s lighting so they’re not super high fidelity or anything, but pietsch’s lucas is noticeably darker than any other character we’ve seen so far save merle. maybe he’s just a white guy with a tan, but all the same, it strikes me as incredibly skeevy to have one of so few characters of color be this fucking guy.

[ID: johann, a black man with an oblong face and textured dark hair.]

johann’s design is fine, although this is a similar face shape to that brian from earlier and i just. i don’t. understand it. it’s not especially interesting, but hey, at least he’s not another generic white guy.

that being said, as i mentioned in part 1 of this review, johann’s role is severely cut in this -- he’s reduced to three panels, when in the show itself he’s the one who escorts the boys to the voidfish’s chamber and inoculates them. as i mentioned in that post i understand that they shifted it some to give lucretia a more prominent entrance, but as i also mentioned in that post, they should have compensated for that. three panels.

johann is not a character with a great deal of screentime as it is, but he’s a character with a major impact. he is the reason story and song happens. his song serves as a direct foil to john’s nihilistic conversion of his own home plane into the hunger. the fact that he’s been reduced to three panels with little to no characterization at this point, especially in conjunction with the fact that he’s one of very few poc, makes me really, really uncomfortable. avi is in more panels in this book than johann is, and while i love avi and as i said i am parsing him as an asian dude, he’s also still light-skinned enough and the style is nondescript enough that there are definitely people who will parse him as white, and also, avi’s role in the story is not as big as johann’s.

it doesn’t sit right with me.

[ID: an image of davenport, a fair-skinned man with a big red mustache and slicked back red hair.]

ginger davenport with a big mustache. groundbreaking.

[ID: an image of lucretia, a slender black woman with short white hair dressed in blue layers.]

and finally, lucretia. now, i’m biased, and it’s hard for me to see a lucretia design i don’t like. i also think that this is, compared to a lot of the others at least, one of the more interesting designs in the book, at least as far as her clothes go. it’s not a long robe that would be hard to move in, and i appreciate that -- it strikes me as a pretty practical outfit while also being ornamental and wizard-y. and she’s pretty, and she’s not whitewashed, and that’s all great. i like her earrings.

all that being said, i feel like it’s not enough. luc’s hair continues a theme with merle’s and johann’s (as well as the preview we’ve seen of angus,) which is that it strikes me as very low-effort on pietsch’s part. it’s short and it’s definitely not straight, but it doesn’t feel to me like it had as much thought put into it as, say, minty green taako’s hair. we could’ve had a lucretia with a big beautiful afro, or long box braids, or so many other natural hairstyles; we got this. it’s not bad, but i do think it’s disappointing. without going looking for it and without being a person who reads a great deal about character design, i’ve seen a fair amount of discussion from black women (artists, writers, and none of the above) about the portrayal of black women as it pertains to their hair. they’re never designed to be as feminine as their white counterparts. their hair is never treated with the same amount of detail or respect as their white counterparts. it’s short, maybe curly if you’re lucky.

i’m gonna circle back quickly to killian’s hair. it’s long and smooth and kept down, despite the fact that killian is an action-oriented women and might not want it to be in her face all the time -- it could have at least been braided or in a bun. it could’ve been short! and that would’ve made sense. and i don’t mean to say that lucretia couldn’t have short hair, but she’s a very elegant woman whose dress is described as intricate. she wears business regalia. she could have any number of hairstyles, from something elaborate to something simple but more out-of-the-box than this, but she doesn’t. i found this on a quick hunt through my ref tag -- it’s a tutorial for drawing black folks with just a small selection of interesting things you can do with afrotextured hair. these resources aren’t hard to find! and i’m doing this for fun -- carey pietsch is a professional artist who was paid for these designs. if she’d put in more than the bare minimum effort, we could’ve had some really interesting shit going on, but she didn’t.

and that’s the core of the issue here. i truly do not feel like pietsch put the same amount of care into the designs for the few characters of color we see as she did into the white ones, and that’s upsetting and emblematic of a larger problem in the work: neither pietsch nor the mcelroys put in very much care at all for the fans of color who spoke up and asked for representation.i know i said i was getting taako out of the way first so the majority of the post could be goof-heavy, but goddamn, y’all, it’s hard to goof about when it’s so blatantly shitty. pietsch’s designs are boring at best and racist at worst, not to mention conspicuously lacking in anyone who is not skinny, muscular, or a dwarf. people have praised this thing so uncritically, including people whose opinions i generally really respect, as if the fact that the mcelroys signing off on green taako made it above reproach.

it didn’t, by the way. there’s no such thing as an unproblematic fav, because everybody fucks something up now and then, but even then, this is a pretty egregious fuck-up! and it was willful!

i’m not saying y’all need to burn your copies of the gn or stop listening to the mcelroys entirely or anything of the sort -- you may remember the disclaimer at the top of the post where i say i really, really love them, and more specifically, i really love taz: balance. but i am BEGGING YOU to think critically about their work. good, good boys can do bad, bad things. white people can produce work that’s racist even if they’re gay women. it’s not mean to critique the boys and it’s not homophobic (or god forbid reverse racist, which is still not a real thing) to critique carey.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ the real kicker of this whole thing for me is that there’s a small fanart gallery in the back of the book. most of them aren’t labeled with the artist’s handles, just their names, but there are some truly beautiful pieces featuring diverse designs -- galacticjonah and milkychai both have beautiful latino taakos featured! galacticjonah’s is fat, too! but even after the backlash against green taako, even aside from that being the design that people are going to accept as canonical, there are pieces in the gallery of green taako, as if doubling down on it was the right move.

and by the way, yeah, i’ve read griffin’s apology. but i thought we all learned in kindergarten that an apology doesn’t count if you don’t act on it.

[drblueneck]

Massive Genderbent AU - Rookie 9 edition

Ok. I should really NOT be writing that, but that little shit of a story wouldn’t leave me alone and I couldn’t focus on my studies and I was going CRAZY. So, here. It’s written. NOW LEAVE ME ALONE BRAIN, LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!! I decided to post it, because I want people to enjoy the beauty of genderbender. This will turn into a fullfledged story. Maybe. Probably. Certainly. But not right now. Because I don’t have time. I NEED TIIIIMMMME.

As spring was in full bloom, it was time for Hideo-sensei - Head of the Academy - to peruse the new application forms for the upcoming year. Going through each of them and smiling at the familiar clan names, he took him a moment to notice the higher than normal percentage of girls being enrolled. As he took a closer look, his surprise went up a notch. The heirs of the most prominent ninja clans were to be in the same year class, and all but two were females. It had been a long time since such a thing happened! Hideo-sensei idly wondered if the girls would be up to par with the boys, and winced at the ludicrous idea of Genin teams made up mostly of kunoichi - their strength would never amount to that of their male counterparts, science said so. Or, well, science said so before Tsunade-sama gave it the finger... Hideo-sensei shook his head and snorted. Frankly, what were the chances for all these girls to end up like the legendary Sannin? Prodigies were a fluke, not the norm.

With a rueful sigh, he closed the files and signed them, already mourning for this future batch of Genin who would more likely than not bring down their forces’ strength for months, if not years - that is, if they ever graduated instead of mooning over boys like so many were wont to do in their debute... Hopefully, these kunoichi would have a wake-up call sooner than later!

Years later, looking back on this biased oversight, Hideo-sensei would berate himself for dismissing so easily what Konoha saw as its new rising stars and the best ninja of their generation.

  Shikaku stared at his ranting kid from where he was sitting under the shade of the great oak in their backyard, ears used to relentless tirades after years of mariage to his dear banshee of a wife. He loved her, really, he did, but damn if that troublesome woman didn’t turn him half-deaf in the first two months of their marital life. It’s without shame that Shikaku would readily admit to having prayed for his kid to turn out like him - lazy and fond of long stretches of silence. The Nara genes were usually strong, to the dismal of those who married into the clan, but it looked like Yoshino’s were as stubborn as her!

Troublesome woman indeed, Shikaku thought with fondness as his daughter finished her rant about ‘not being a kid anymore’ and thus demanding to be ‘trained as a real kunoichi to kick butts’. Maybe he stayed quiet for too long because she started tapping her tiny foot on the grassy ground, arms crossed as she dished out her best glare, and all that was done in a perfect imitation of her mother - and it only made her father want to laugh and squeeze her in a hug.

Which he did.

“Daaad! I’m serious!” Shikaru wailed, tugging harshly at her father’s spiky ponytail to punctuate her words.

“Yes you are,” he cooed, rubbing his scratchy beard against her chubby cheek.

“I wanna leaaarn!” She wailed again, squirming in his grasp and trying to escape his beard, struggling not to laugh and keep up her angry pout. It tickled!

Trapping her into his arms, Shikaku let himself fall down on his back, adjusting comfortably his neck so that he could watch the fluffy clouds go by.

“Maa, why couldn’t you be a lazy one just like your dad, hm?”

The child instantly stopped her useless squirming and with fire burning fiercely in her brown eyes, she hissed like an angry cat, “Cause I’m gonna beat Inoshi! He made Chou cry!”

Aaah, right. The first time he and his teammate decided to officially introduce their kids to each other when they were four, Inoichi’s boy - who lacked a brain to mouth filter - had taken one look at Chouza’s girl and pointed at her before saying with all the innocence of the world, “Daddy, look, she’s fat.” The poor Chouko had bursted into tears and clung to her father the whole day while Shikaru, true to her name, spent a good ten minutes scolding the boy before launching herself into a philosophical pamphlet of sorts on the serious issue of body image within the shinobi world. Inoshi had gaped at her, a bit pale, before hunching his shoulders and muttering a bit too belligerently, “Well, you’re definitely not cute...”

Inoichi had confided that to this day, his son still obsessively kept his hair short, traumatised by Shikaru gripping on his tiny ponytail so hard that she tore out a big clump of fine blond hair. Another of her mother’s bad habits... It was a good thing Shikaku got so used to the rough treatment that it felt like his head was made of steel, otherwise, between his two troublesome girls, he would’ve turned bald yeard ago!

Anyway, all that had been a year ago, and Shikaku had to marvel at his daughter’s ability to hold a grudge.

He hummed under his breath at another of his daughter’s whine about ‘stupid boys’ and wanting to train.

“Then you’ll be happy to know that you start the Academy next month,” he said, nonchalant, happy to stare at the powdery blue sky with the light weight of his kid securely held against his chest. Said kid abruptly sat up, pushing a bony knee into his ribs and he ‘oofed’. Kids... so uncaring...

“Really?!” she cried out as she bounced on his stomach, her almond-shaped eyes almost glittering with stars.

“Really.”

Shikaru dropped back down against him, squeezing her skinny arms around his neck with all her strength - and Shikaku was proud to say that it was actually a lot - as she smothered her excited ‘”thank yous” into his shirt, her feet kicking out in a show of unrestraint happiness and narrowly missing his jewels.

Inoshi was going down. Ha!

  It had been a long time since a masculine presence had been felt in the Inuzuka household. From as far as she could remember, Kiku had always been surrendered solely by her mom and sister and their dogs, with the occasional clansmen dropping by to check in with their Head. And if asked, Kiku would tell you that her mom was badass.

Once, she had asked where her father was and mom bristled and waved a fist in the air. “Who needs that pussy when you got me, huh?” Hana later told her that dad had left them because mom scared him. Tch, mom was right, what a scaredy-cat! Inuzuka women were the bomb!

And Kiku wanted to be just like her mother.

It actually amused Tsume greatly to see her youngest daughter following her everywhere like a lost puppy, even when she went to work in the Jounin HQ or meeting with members of the Council for clan matters. Kiku would closely watch her every move and copy them – sitting with an arm thrown on the back of a chair, legs slightly splayed out or crossed at the ankles; fingers drumming on the table when she wanted to fuck with uptight people like Hiashi or Fugaku; lips turning into a snarl when she wasn’t happy… Yep, her daughter was cute as a button in her mom-worship antics.

Tsume actually thought it was all just a phase and that her childish wonder would soon fade out, but Kiku never stopped praising her mom with starry eyes, asking stories of her missions, and more recently, pleading to start her training in the shinobi arts like Hana. She had already given Akamaru to her a few weeks ago, wanting her to acclimate herself to her life-partner, but Tsume had wanted to leave the shinobi training for a bit later to make sure the dog would be able to follow… So what to do, what to do?

Sighing over her dilemma, Tsume entered Shikaku’s office and dropped her latest report on his desk, not feeling one bit sympathetic as he groaned while glaring at the pile of reports that would soon turn into a tower. Usually, he had to hunt down his Jounin to get their reports on time, but strangely these past few days, they’d all been quite eager – gleeful even! – to complete their administrative duties…

Tsume shot him a mean smirk. “Serves you right for ditching us last week with the new recruits,” she said snidely, still peeved that heir commanding officer had disappeared for a whole afternoon and let the more seasoned shinobi drill the baby Jounin. Shikaku was way too good at hiding from them, the sneaky bastard.

“God, I’m surrounded by nagging women,” the man groaned, signing the papers he was reading with a flourish and attacking a new batch.

“Beats being surrounded by whiny men,” was Tsume’s quick retort.

Shikaku shrugged and stretched his arms, which Tsume took as her dismissal. All too happy to leave the Jounin Commander to his own suffering, she skipped to the door with a bounce to her step, only to reluctantly stop when Shikaku called out her name.

“What.” She was a busy woman, dammit.

He smiled apologetically before asking, “I was just wondering if you were putting your daughter into the Academy this year? Mine is going, and I’d be more at ease if some of the kids she knows were to attend too… Shikaru really needs to up her social game,” he added thoughtfully.

God, that man could be such a mother-hen sometimes! Tsume wondered if he would’ve been this dotting had he had a boy as laidback as him… Probably not.

“I’ve put in Kiku’s application but didn’t tell her anything yet. You know how my clan likes to keep the kids as long as possible and teach them at home before sending the little brats to schools, what with our dogs needing proper training too…”

Shikaku nodded. Many clans were like Tsume’s, enrolling the kids only for the last two or three years of the Academy as they preferred – or simply needed in some cases – to train their kekkai genkai first and foremost before even thinking about formal schooling.

“Well, if your girl is anything like you, she’s going to take to shinobi training like a fish to water,” he said in a smile, complimenting his Jounin’s ruthless efficiency on the field, and Tsume grinned back, showing her sharp teeth.

Maybe sending Kiku earlier than expected would actually be a good thing. Her girl was driven after all!

“She’s been bugging me about training her for weeks now. I think she’s ready to commit,” she mused outloud in a prideful tone.

With a wave of the hand, she turned around and leisurely walked out Shikaku’s office while calling out, “My girl’s totally gonna make you turn prematurely grey when she’ll be under your command, Nara!”

Chuckling at the muttered “troublesome” that her enhanced hearing caught, Tsume made her way back home, the grin never leaving her face. Damn right, her Kiku was going to become a kickass kunoichi!

(Shikaru means “to scold” which I found hilarious. Inoshi comes from inoshishi which means boar, Kiku means chrysanthemum because I just wanted to have some coherency between her sister and her, and Chouko means butterfly child, which is cute af. Next one should’ve Female!Sasuke, Male!Hinata, and I’m gonna have so much fun.)

[lawisnotmocked]

BBC Les Mis Episode 2

I’m back with more incoherent screaming (and spoilers) buckle in lads!

Starting again with some quick things!

What even is time anyway? The passage of time is a made up concept invented by the musical.

Font is still laughable :,3

I would!! Die for little ‘Ponine and Zelma!!!

Olivia Colman is an incredible Madame Thenardier!! Definitely one of the highlights of this episode for me!!

I really love the Thenardiers and all the Thenardier scenes! Except! When Thenardier hit Madame T I wasn’t expecting that. It just seemed a little unnecessarily violent? Like, nothing was really achieved by adding it in other than seeing her get hit we can already see that Cosette is in an abusive household and it holds no significance later on either? Yeah wasn’t too fond of that :/

I would die for little Marius :,,) but it was a really weird choice to have Gorges die when he was so young?? Interested to know what Davies is going to do with that now. Are we going to have 7 year old Bonapartist Marius??

Fantine’s letter writer needs to shush no one asked for his damn opinion >:/

Now moving onto My Boys (featuring Fantine too)!

I don’t care what anyone else says about Valjean’s ponytail it’s the cutest thing ever and I love it :,) and his awkward little speech omg that was very in character and also adorable!

After the first 10 minutes things get... ehhhh. Valjean comes across a little bit judgey of Fantine when he interviews her to work in the factory, but sure okay, having the two characters meet isn’t a bad choice they’re establishing the fact that Valjean knows Fantine works for him so he’ll recognise her later.

Can’t deny that Monsieur le Maire is very attractive (sorry had to get that out of the way ^^’) and okay a scene with him handing out coins to children good all still very in character!

I loved the shot of his bare bedroom after the factory girls were talking about it too and lighting the candlesticks that we can see he’s kept too. As of this point no major issues!

Ooh damn guess who comes into the factory next!! The new handsome chief of police here to ask in his lovely deep voice if you prefer to be called Monsieur or Daddy!! (Spoiler he prefers Monsieur le Maire) God this scene!! Once again is so nearly perfect!! There’s the awkward tension and clash of opinion and Oyelowo and West’s incredible acting!! But the dialogue sucks!! It feels so forced!! Please Davies!! You almost had it there!!

Oyelowo’s Javert is so dedicated and fanatical I love him so much god please give this man a better script hhhhhhh :,,)

Okay okay as I’m watching I’m thinking actually the second half of this scene is a little better it flows more easily and Javert’s monologue was actually not too bad.

Oof I hated the implication that Valjean was interested in/attracted to Fantine though. Especially since, again, it served no purpose other than making Valjean seem creepy and making it appear that his later actions were motivated by attraction. Served literally no other purpose wasn’t used again past that point just made everything else Bad. I hate it.

What comes next?? Cart scene cart scene!! And Javert on a horse 👀 I... don’t know if it’s just because I’m making heart eyes at Dominic West and David Oyelowo the entire time but I really liked this scene!! No complaints even the dialogue was pretty good!

The next scene however.... *deep sigh* the next scene....

I... really did not like the choice to have Valjean stand there, listen to Fantine explain herself and her situation in tears to him, and then loose his shit at her and fire her. That’s just. No. Not only is that so incredibly and painfully out of character, but it’s also messing up the entire point of Fantine’s story?? And making Valjean a really dislikable character?? God I just. I hate this scene so much ugh!!

No letter Jav rides straight the fuck to Paris! I don’t know how I feel about this scene? On the one hand... who the fuck is this man the Javert I know would never challenge an authority figure!! But on the other hand I guess it’s kind of fitting for Oyelowo’s Javert? So yeah. Don’t know how I feel about this. I guess I didn’t dislike it but you’re on thin fucking ice Davies and you’re lucky I like Oyelowo’s more dominant Javert.

*deep sigh* Valjean.... buries the candlesticks with his money. What about the symbolism Davies?? What! About! The symbolism! During the scene where he’s supposed to throw them into the fire!!

Valjean and Javert meeting in the street on horseback after both returning from their Highly Suspicious Missions was a Good Scene though I loved that! It made me think of the Awkward Eye Contact Scene in the brick when Valjean is staying in Gorbeau House :p See! The issue is! That most of this isn’t too bad! And some of it is really good! But there’s a few utterly awful things that just ruin the entire episode for me! And that sucks!!

Anyway. I really loved the scene where Fantine sells her hair and teeth I think that was done well! But it was really goddamn sad as well!! ‘Les mis is sad’ says local man who knows storyline :,3

After this I felt like Fantine’s story gets a little unnecessary graphic? Maybe it’s just a personal opinion but it felt a little bit like the scene where Madame T was hit. Apparently Davies can’t write a single female character who isn’t a Tragic Powerless Victim Of Men (Specifically Their Sexual Urges) :/ But again, just a personal opinion I can see how other people might like that scene as a way to show how truly awful Fantine’s life became.

Oookkkayyy Fantine’s arrest. Personally I liked the beginning of this scene! As always Oyelowo was incredible and his Javert was rough (but he did just drag a woman off a gentleman and she was attacking him so I think that’s not an unexpected or totally unreasonable reaction) and dismissive, and I loved Fantine begging him to let her go and then calling Madeleine a monster. Big oof but in a good way. Making me feel feelings.

Javert literally throwing her to the ground felt a little too much? But Davies it Just Like That apparently :/

My main problem with this scene was actually Valjean-who-doesn’t-really-feel-like-Valjean-anymore. What Fantine says about him is all true. We aren’t given any reason to believe he changed at all from the man in Toulon. Instead of Fantine being hurt by ✨society✨ it’s Valjean himself who is the direct cause of her suffering. ( @pilferingapples explains this much better and in a lot more detail here!) Add on the fact that Davies established earlier on that Valjean was potentially attracted to Fantine and this totally messes up his motivation for helping her too and oof I hate it :,) Valjean has been turned into a dislikable character, Fantine’s hatred for him specifically is justified and Javert is becoming a sympathetic character! What did you do to my emotional support dad Jean Valjean Davies?? D:<

Hhhh the scene when Javert asks to be dismissed... it’s good!! The dialogue feels a lot better and Oyelowo is incredible and it’s as tense and dramatic as it should be! Except! It isn’t Javert asking to be dismissed. It’s Javert actually being dismissed. Because Valjean says nothing. No insistence that Javert remain as a police inspector. Nothing. That’s! Not! Jean Valjean! Davies! And how is that even going to work with the storyline is Javert just going to get his job back after Valjean confesses?? Is this the Bad End where Valjean never even goes to Aras and Javert looses his job as an inspector?? What are you doing here Davies?? Uuughh this isn’t actually a bad episode it’s just Valjean’s awful mischaracterisation that’s killing me here!!

To continue the thread of Valjean’s Awful Mischaracterisation, shouting at who I think is Sister Simplice?? Oof.

I know I mentioned the candlesticks being buried in the woods before but. Why?? Valjean has no candlesticks to throw into the fire so instead it’s Petit Gervais’ coin that takes their symbolic place. I know I said I was happy to have Petit Gervais included but that doesn’t mean I wanted his ghost to haunt Valjean and take the symbolic place of Myriel :,,) So yeah. Weird choice but go off I guess??

I still. Am kind of hopeful that perhaps Valjean’s characterisation might improve in later episodes? It’s only episode 2 right we’ve got 4 more to go! But at the same time I’m nervous that It’s Only Going To Get Worse :,) Anyway I’d die for Oyelowo’s Javert and he’s good.

Well there are my Hot Takes on what actually happened in the episode now it’s Animal Symbolism O’clock >:3

The bird symbolism is back baby!! And I really loved the way this was done! The bird is symbolic of Cosette. Working in Madeleine’s factory is how Fantine is able to send the Thenardiers money for Cosette and she makes a little bird while she’s at work. However when the bird is discovered, Fantine is told that if she keeps making things like that instead of working she’ll be fired. Foreshadowing! The discovery of Cosette is what gets her fired. I’m genuinely impressed with this this is some proper complex symbolism!

Bird symbolism can’t save you from your Valjean related sins Davies but Valjean being given Fantine’s jet bird after he fires her can also be seen as foreshadowing for Valjean meeting Cosette, but also a signal that Fantine can’t look after Cosette anymore and won’t be able to go and fetch her like she wanted because she doesn’t have her job anymore. 

There’s also the continued use of wild beast/non-human creature to refer to those outside of polite and civilised society when Javert asks Valjean “you would risk your good name to help a creature like that?” during Fantine’s arrest.

Still nothing to connect Javert to dogs though :/ But I’m still hopeful! Maybe next episode!

[vampiresmiled]

✩ caviar

they have had one interaction thus far and like … no hcs, so – i am completely winging it here. if i’m wrong, it’s canon now.

DISAGREEMENTS

who is more likely to raise their voice? steven. kev has only raised her voice twice in her life. both those times in relation to somebody she loved dying, so . . . unless somebody’s boutta kick the bucket, it’s steven. who threatens to leave but never actually does? kevin. she’s very loyal, kay. she likes sticking shit out. who actually keeps their word and leaves? i guess steven. who trashes the house? only one of these persons have anger issues, take a wild guess. do either of them get physical? i hope not. kev might’ve forgiven abuse in the past, odette is quaking, but she’s not a punching-bag, steven ! touch her and i’ll whoop your ass through the screen. how often do they argue/disagree? not often, honestly. what is there to argue about. their one convo is going great thus far. who is the first to apologise? kevin. she just leaps at the opportunity to apologize. she apologizes when she hasn’t even done anything wrong. the girl is malfunctioning, let me tell you. 

SEX

who is on top? listen, kev might’ve had sex with two people . . . but that doesn’t necessarily means she knows what she’s doing. so steven. who is on the bottom? kev, the perpetual bottom.  who has the strangest desires? i dunno, steven ? kev is too vanilla for this shit. any kinks? lord if i knew.who’s dominant in bed? steven, i’m guessing. is head ever in the equation? the fact that this is a question is honestly sad. i hope there is ! i can’t think about kevin sucking dick, though, so please don’t. if so, who is better at performing it? steven. definitely.ever had sex in public? no, that’s illegal.who moans the most? k to the e to the v.who leaves the most marks? probably steven.who screams the loudest? literally is that not the same as the question above. moaning and screaming what’s the heckin difference. who is the more experienced of the two? you don’t gotta ask me that ‘cause you know.do they ‘fuck’ or ‘make love’? they’re both soft so take a gamble.rough or soft? see above.how long do they usually last? i wanna say whatever the national average. xoxois protection used? i hope so, i really do. kev’s smart enough for it. is steven? does it ever get boring? let’s be honest, she’s boring so probably.where is the strangest place they’d have sex? kev’s dreams.

FAMILY

do your muses plan on having children/or have children? i feel like steven wants kids but kevin definitely does not. she is a kid, why on earth would she want the responsibility of that when she can’t even take care of herself. if so, how many children do your muses want/have? steven probaby wants, like, 3 to replicate his own damn family. kev wants minus seventeen. who is the favorite parent? if we pretend that they will, in fact, end up with a little gremlin – steven. who is the authoritative parent? also steven. kev can’t even tell off a fly, let alone a snotty little brat. who is more likely to allow the children to have a day off school? steven, too. kev loves school, how dare her kids not.who lets the children indulge in sweets and junk food when the other isn’t around? kevin. she eats like a crap herself, and since steven works out . . . i’m guessing he does not. who turns up to extra curricular activities to support their children? also steven. kevin doesn’t understand sports. so unless it’s like a loud reading of mary shelly’s classics, then she’s not interested.who goes to parent teacher interviews? both. kevin is very non-threatening and sweet so teachers like her, steven asks the real questions and you know, is engaged and what not. best of both worlds. who changes the diapers? not kevin, that’s for sure. who gets up in the middle of the night to feed the baby? kevin doesn’t sleep well as it is, so are you really gonna make her do that ? jk, she’s already up so she will.who spends the most time with the children? steven, without question.who packs their lunch boxes? steven, yet again. who gives their children ‘the talk’? oof, definitely not kevin. she never got the talk herself so she wouldn’t even know where to begin.who cleans up after the kids? both. kevin isn’t really a neat-freak but when shit’s sticky . . . that’s gross. who worries the most? kevin. kevin worries about literally everything and now she’s gonna have to worry about this little poop goblin ? she’s gonna have a heart attack. who are the children more likely to learn their first swear word from? how is this a question when kev has cussed like thrice in her life. she’s more likely to learn swears from her kids.

AFFECTION

who likes to cuddle? kev’s not big on physical contact like in general, so . . . i mean, she does but if it’s a question who likes it most it’s probably steven. who is the little spoon? kev. she’s wittle and she’s fragile and she needs all the protection in the whole wide world. who gets naughty in the most inappropriate of places? my bet’s on steven. get it together, man. who struggles to keep their hands to themself? still steven. but you know, i get it. danielle rose russell is baby. how long can they cuddle until one becomes uncomfortable? they need frequent breaks. who gives the most kisses? the answer might surprise you, but – kev ! she likes smooching. who doesn’t. what is their favourite non-sexual activity? based on their current thread ? they enjoy helping drunks get into their ubers. where is their favourite place to cuddle? whoever’s bed kev is currently in. who is more likely to playfully grope the other? steven doesn’t seem the type but she’s less of the type to so i’m gonna go ahead and give it to stephen. how often do they get time to themselves? she’s got school and work and he’s got work and his underground fight club, their schedules clash it’s really sad. 

SLEEPING

who snores? steven seems like a snorer. that’s why sienna doesn’t wanna live with him, actually. new head canon ! from me 2 you. if both do, who snores the loudest? i mean, if only one person snores – do the math.do they share a bed or sleep separately? they don’t live together, so . . . separately. if they sleep together, do they cozy up together or lay far apart? they start off together, end up not together. who talks in their sleep? kev, probably.what do they wear to bed? kev has straight up pj’s and steven seems like a t-shirt and boxers type of lad. are either of your muses insomniacs? kevin is fo cheezy. them night terrors really make it difficult to catch a snooze, you know. can sleeping pills be found by the bedside? hey, fun idea, have ronald prescribe this bitch some sleeping pills. steven step up your fucking game. that’s how you flirt, that’s how you woo a lady.do they wrap their limbs around each other or just lay side by side? side by side type bitches.who wakes up with bed hair? steven, probably. kev’s the type to sleep with a ponytail to avoid this exact outcome.who wakes up first? kevin ‘cos she can’t fucking sleep. PERIOD !who prepares breakfast in bed for the other? i hope steven ‘cos kev can’t cook for shit.what is their favourite sleeping position? spooning, perhapth. who hogs the sheets? steven that troll.do they set an alarm each night? yes, they do. even when they don’t have to because kev’s bound to be awake at the crack of dawn anyhow. can a television be found in their bedroom? nope.who has nightmares? if you’ve been paying attention you would know this.who has ridiculous dreams? steven. he has fun, wacky dreams and kev has a pure trauma fest in hers. who sprawls out and takes up most of the bed? steven, i was gonna say he’s a big boy but he really isn’t.who makes the bed? hopefully both ‘cos they got separate ones.what time is bed time? fuck if i know.any routines/rituals before bed? i bet steven’s a shower before bed lad and kev’s a shower in the morning gal . . . can i make it any more obvious. who’s the grumpiest when they wake up? steven, i bet.

WORK

who is the busiest? probably kevin ‘cos it’s like : her job, school, homework, friends, hamster maintenance . . . who rakes in the highest income? steven for sure.are any of your muses unemployed? nope. kev should be but by some miracle performed by god, she is not.who takes the most sick days? steven. kev can’t afford to have her boss dislike her. joseph please be kind to her. who is more likely to turn up late to work? kev. she just has this power to her that makes her stumble into everything and encounter disasters where there should be none.who sucks up to their boss? kevin. or well, she tries. what are their jobs? she’s a TA, he’s a bio teacher. who stresses the most? kev, we been knew. do your muses enjoy or despise their careers/occupations? they enjoy them. more steven than her. she’s really only there to get a degree. are your muses financially stable? i wanna say yes but . . . kev’s stable ‘cos the espinas are and i don’t know about steven. teacher’s don’t make that much. 

HOME

who does the washing? kev doesn’t know how a washing machine works, so.who takes out the trash? kev can do that, she knows how that works.who does the ironing? nobody. they seem like a wrinkly pair. who does the cooking? steven, we been through this.who is more likely to burn the house down just trying? kevin.who is messier? kevin’s not messy she’s just scatter-brained, don’t bully her. who leaves the toilet roll empty? nobody, i hope.who leaves their dirty clothes on the floor? steven. kevin knows where the hamper is, she just doesn’t know where to take it.who forgets to flush the toilet? NOBODY. nasty.who is the prankster around the house? steven, he’s the fun dude. she’s the boring, uptight loser who should die.who loses the car keys when it comes time to go somewhere? kev. she’d lose herself if she could.who mows the lawn? steven.who answers the telephone? steven. kev has phone anxiety, that’s my self-insert right there.who does the vacuuming? steven. the vacuum is too large and dangerous for a child like herself.who does the groceries? both. she likes to ride on the cart.who takes the longest to shower? steven, probably. she’s not a fan of . . . personal hygiene ? i don’t know, she’s gets in and she gets out. she’s not pippa.who spends the most time in the bathroom? steven, yet again.

MISCELLANEOUS

is money a problem? [ miss i wanna be racially ambiguous vc ] yuh.how many cars do they own? one. she doesn’t know how to drive.do they own their home or do they rent? she doesn’t fucking live with him, damnit. do they live near the coast or deep in the countryside? no.do they live in the city or in the country? no 2.0.do they enjoy their surroundings? yeah, kev’s a fan of sheffield and i’m guessing so is he or he would ditch. maybe.what’s their song? i said the song playing, muffled outside the dam door, during this thread is baby, i love your way by will to power ‘cos it’s a 1989 bop and sheffield’s just late with everything, kay. what do they do when they’re away from each other? rejoice in the lack of added dorkery. where did they first meet? the party. the rager. the . . . rave. i don’t know people don’t invite me to drink.how did they first meet? he said he liked her shoelaces and she said thanks i got them from the president.who spends the most money when out shopping? steven. kev is cheap and also broke.who’s more likely to flash their assets? neither has got any, so.who finds it amusing when the other trips over? probably steven. at first. but you know she keeps doing it and then it becomes concerning.any mental issues? ha. yeah.who’s terrified of bugs? steven has a huge fear of ladybugs, it’s a thing you can google it.who kills the spiders around the house? kev carries them out. for steven its ON SIGHT.their favourite place? i dunno, hell where they both belong. who pays the bills? neither.do they have any fears for their future? kevin only fears for her future. who’s more likely to surprise the other with a fancy dinner? steven. what a good, good boy. sawyer helped him with it.who uses up all of the hot water? steven. he needs it to wash away his sins.who’s the tallest? steven. barely, she’s actually taller than she looks.who’s more likely to just randomly hop into the shower with the other? steven. kevin’s too much of a chickenshit to.who wanders around in their underwear? steven put some damn clothes on.who sings the loudest when singing along to the radio? sawyer. how long has she been back there. creepy.what do they tease each other about? i said check back again in 3-4 business days, thanks. who is more likely to cringe at the other’s fashion sense at times? steven. not ‘cos she’s got a shite one ( pippa dresses her, remember ) but because kevin doesn’t have enough fashion range to judge anybody. do they have mutual friends? nope.who crushed first? kevin. it’s happening as we speak. any alcohol or substance related problems? n…no. maybe i’m wrong. maybe steven’s a secret crackhead. who is more likely to stumble home, drunk, at 3am? steven. bloody and bruised too. please get another braincell. who swears the most? steven. obviously.

[hundredsunny]

op oc #3: APRIL

im baaaaaaack

u are about to read about my prime DAUGHTER april. the rogue princess. a real pokemon! hahahhahaha she nabbed herself the AURA AURA FRUIT yo this is wild so get ready to learn about ol’ blue eyes!!!!!!!!!!

NAME: april (i dont have a surname for her i cant think of anything and ive had her for 8 years im sorry) EPITHET: “aura shooter” ooOOoOOoOoo AGE: 18 (pre) 20 (post) BIRTHDAY: april (incredible would u have ever guessed) 5th!!!  BIRTHPLACE: nimbasa island in the south blue SEX: female HEIGHT: 5′6″ WEIGHT: 122lbs HAIR COLOR: sandy brown EYE COLOR: blue APPEARANCE: before she escaped her home, she wore an icy blue dress underneath a navy blue cloak and her hair down with a CROWN of course but she hated wearing it a lot. her hair when worn down reaches the middle of her biceps. after she escaped she ONLY wore her hair in a ponytail and she always wore a red bandanna with a white arch atop her head at all times!! it was a gift from her mamma the QUEEN herself. she also wore a white t-shirt with red triangles bordering the collar and the ends of her sleeves. does that make sense? i sure hope. she wore a red sash around her waist and then she popped on some black pants and boots. real piratey. also some of her hair kinda pops out in the front so theres a good chunk that sometimes covers her left side. look at u go princess. AFTER the timeskip she cut her hair so it reaches just above her shoulders, and instead of wearing her hair up and with the bandanna, she wears it down but with a black headband. her bandanna is tied around her left bicep (fashion inspo: zoro). she wears a green sleeveless crop top, and theres a scar that reaches from the back of her shoulder to the end of her collarbone. she earned that shit from her wild timeskip training. oof. shes ok. she wears light-washed pants and some addidas-lookin shoes lmao she also wears a rly loose belt too. also she has gold earrings and thas about it. her eyes are round and just v pretty and blue. her nose turns up at the end just a tad bit and it’s so cute she’s so cute. she has a dimple on the right side of her mouth. her mommas face :’) shes fairly skinny but after the timeskip she gained some muscles made 4 punching douchecanoes  REPRESENTATIVE SMELL: vanilla FAVE FOOD: pasta FAVE DRINK: lemonade  FAVE SEASON: fall REPRESENTATIVE NATIONALITY: australian BOUNTY: initial bounty was 60,000,000 (for being runaway royalty) but after dressrosa she SKRTED up to 155,000,000 DEVIL FRUIT: aura aura fruit a paramecia type. the fruit allows the user to manipulate their energy. with the aura aura fruit, users are able to detect the aura of others, repel the aura of others, and project their own. the power of aura is mood-sensitive and can change a lot. can u believe april is lucario 6 forms of aura: red is physical nature, orange is intelligence, yellow is sheer willpower, green is healing, blue is emotion, vioilet(i THINK) is mental communication. i forgot what i wrote down for the aura types lmaoooo the biggest drawback of this fruit is that the user can only use a limited amount at one time. another drawback is that they cant manipulate other people’s aura??? it’s rly hard to explain this but trust me it makes sense when it’s put into action i promise SKILLS SET: most of her attacks are used with red aura since it relates to physical nature. wild. “aura bullet” is just shootin aura goodbye. i love pokemon. lmao. uh “aura detect” is when she can see what someone else’s aura looks like, so basically she can determine if someone is a bastard or not before they even open their mouth. “aura clone” clones herself with aura and that takes a LOT of effort to pull this one off especially when she wants to use multiple clones. “aura bomb” yo this one is wild she uses it for diversions and escaping since it kinda acts as a smoke bomb but when she uses this thing in battle OOOOH BOY. “starstorm” ok this is like the “im going to die after i do this move” kinda thing. it combines all the damn types of aura and it just RAINS down on ppl. goodbye april. anyways there are more basic moves but i dont rly wanna get too into that rn im sorry PROFESSION: runaway princess lol CREW: straw hat pirates  PERSONALITY: an easygoing girl. v mellow for the most part but there are times where she can get pretty goofy (thanks jack). if the wrong buttons are pushed, she becomes a HURRICANE. she does have confidence issues but since she met luffy, she’s really started to overcome them. shes got a horrible habit of being sarcastic and also she asks a LOT of questions holy SHIT honey. she is TERRIFIED of heights so when franky lays down a good ol coup de burst, her soul leaves her body. g o o d b y e. she was very cold when she first met luffy and the gang bc she lived with the person who killed her mom AND jack left sooooo she was a little bitter. eventually she learned to rly live with the mugiwaras. when she first joined the crew, she was very shy and timid and tried hard to fit in. she was SO intimidated by zoro like he genuinely scared the fuck out of her so she always tried hard to not be a Fool around him but once she got comfortable with everyone she just had a good ol time. “hey grassy ass!! :))” “can u fucking not call me that”. she has the CUTEST laugh oh me oh my. honestly just a rly passionate gal, she just wants to be strong and be able to protect her pals. refuses outside help. bros out with luffy and usopp and chopper sometimes but also judges them from afar like nami does. it all just depends on the day. truly. i once wrote a series of one-shots where each one was an adventure that april had with one other straw hat. luffy was the first one, and THAT was wild. zoro’s was fucking baller. so on and so forth. rly shows off her dynamic with each member. april? shes honestly just a good person and im proud of her bc she works so hard  LIKES: training, traveling, every single animal ever, reading DISLIKES: heights, the marines, the heat, people who walk horrifically slow in crowded places WEAPON(S): aside from her devil fruit shes got a dagger she sometimes uses. jack gave one to her right before he left HISTORY: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO king jed and queen serena had a baby girl. APRIL. that made her the princess. anyways she grew up as any princess would--spoiled. however the spoiling never got to her head bc serena was so good about teaching her things like that. serena was a goddess i love her pls come back. serena was wildly popular with the citizens of the kingdom bc of her caring and friendly personality. she would always take april into the kingdom every day and pay visits to the citizens. out of all the citizens they paid visits to, the most common faces she saw were those of the solo family. cain was jed’s most talented and trusted knight. he and his wife celeste had 2 kids: jack and sho YO. jack was 7 yrs older than sho and 3 yrs older than april. april and jack became fast friends and often explored the kingdom together. regular kid stuff u know. jack’s mom was always like “jack NO u CANNOT take the PRINCESS to the farms thats FILTY” hahahah but they went anyway.  jed? a dark man. idk who hurt him or what made him so murderous. but. he was tired of serena treating the citizens like equals. he believed that royalty should be viewed as gods.  when april was 8 jed killed serena oh god there it is theres the tragic anime mom death. as soon as serena died, the dynamic of the kingdom instantly changed. soon after jed took total control, people began leaving the island. eventually, the island became so empty that only a handful of families remained. jed did not allow april to leave the castle at all, and with that rule, it damaged the friendship that she and jack had. ofc around that time jack’s dad ran off as well so he stopped tryin to visit her for a bit. but then once he got back into his groove hed sneak all about, avoiding the night patrols, and hed just sit outside of april’s window and talk to her.  when april was 11 she discovered a devil fruit hidden away in the trashed artifacts that belonged to her mother. she ate the devil fruit and was like “now im strong, fight me JED” but lol she got her ass whooped poor bby when april was 16 jack left the island, leaving her completely and utterly alone. the exposure to such loneliness began to change april into a more reserved, bitter person.  2 yrs later the STRAW HATS stumbled upon the island. at that time april had started a habit of sneaking out of the castle to roam the empty streets of nimbasa, but during one of her strolls, she encountered robin, franky, and brook. she ended up knocking them unconscious bc she felt threatened. the second group she met consisted of zoro, chopper, and sanji. they had been captured by guards and were brought into the throne room to be interrogated by jed. april was required to be there as well so she kinda sat in her throne and looked mad the entire time. sanji was like “NO WHY DOES SHE LOOK SO MAD SHE NEEDS TO BE HAPPY” and zoro was like “ive never seen someone so happy to see my face” and chopper was just having a crisis bc they were abt to be tossed into the shadow realm at the hands of the king. zoro got mouthy and jed didnt have none of that shit so he told april to kill zoro but she just knocked him out instead. that pissed jed off. THE NEXT person she met was luffy. she only met luffy bc he infiltrated a banquet thing by sitting underneath a cart. classic luffy. she didnt meet nami and usopp until WAAAAY later. yadda yadda yadda shit goes down (i wrote a whole arc for this. it’s called the princess and the pirates lmao original but yes i wrote an entire arc for her recruitment and it’s A Lot) ANYWAYS luffy asked her to join the crew but she declined at first bc she thought pirates were just like her father: power-hungry and murderous. however that obv changed when she was exposed to the straw hats more when luffy defeated jed who ate the ___ ___ fruit (tbh i forgot what fruit he ate im sorry) she KNEW she belonged with the straw hats. :’) she still be sailin with the legends. shes had some wild times obv. her arc comes a bit after thriller bark. woopie!!!!!!! like always, lemme know if u wanna know more about her!!!

[gojaimas]

Chapter 38 Comments

public utility: “This is the Ben/Gwen/Lucy threesome fic that Gojaimas refered to: [insert link here]. Gojaimas, you're a pervy LOL”

Also no, that isn’t the one I was talking about. It was a Ben/Lucy thing, not a threesome thing. And jeez, that fic had a lot of spelling errors. I know it’s just porn, but take a little pride in your work for god’s sake. I mean, I didn’t read it. I mean, it was for research I swear. I mean, oh boy...

Guest: “Reading your responses is as engaging as a new chapter. Creating a fanbase is pretty crucial because it can end up being cancer sometimes but yours seem to be awesome, going beyond just Bwen and you deserve it all. Are your social circles aware of your little E-fame or are you too embarrassed to reveal it to em?”

Thank you! Yeah, I’ve been lucky so far with my small fanbase. I haven’t told anyone I’ve been writing this fanfiction, although I do have one friend who knows I ship Ben and Gwen.

Guest: “Lucy having feelings for Gwen is where I kinda can’t put my finger across. I know Gwen doesn’t know or think much about Lucy’s sexuality since her mind is now haunted by Ben and you even mentioned “she vaguely notices it” in one of those our responses. The issue for me here is, you’ve set up Lucy teasing Ben slowly blooming into becoming the real deal from the start, you took 30 chapters for Gwen to come to terms with her feelings and about 15-20 for them to become best friends in the first place. Lucy and Gwen’s friendship always had the sisterly vibe to it and if there was some sort of sexual tension between them then I could buy it but you did it brilliantly with Ben and Lucy and gave the Bency fandom more exposure which I was waiting forever for while simultaneously topping the game of the Bwen fanbase. The first romantic tease I could sense was when Lucy was lying on Gwen’s shoulder on the beach and she jokingly said something along the lines of “you know, with this sunset, this is actually kind of romantic” which lead Gwen to push her off leaving Lucy giggling in the ground and that gained a giggles from me too but those didn’t seem legitimate to me. I mean girls call each other “babe” all the time, compliment each other’s looks, kiss each other on the cheeks, they even grope breasts in anime often but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re into girls. Lucy being that Friend you can share certain things with and always count on even though they can annoy the hell out of you is what seemed liked the bond Lucy and Gwen had. Her now developing feelings for her out of the blue seems unconvincing”

I think the problem you’re having is you’re seeing Lucy’s teasing of Ben differenly than her teasing of Gwen, and you shouldn’t be. Yes, I know girls compliment each other’s looks and whatnot without necessarily being into girls. That’s why Gwen doesn’t really think anything of it and why I didn’t expect my readers to think anything of it either until I let them hear some of Lucy’s thoughts. But now we’ve already heard Lucy say that just because she’s messing with people doesn’t mean she isn’t also serious. If you can accept that her teasing Ben was her way of expressing her growing feelings for him while concealing how serious she was, why can’t you accept that she was doing the same to Gwen? When you think of it that way, it doesn’t seem so out of the blue. I was hoping for it to be somewhat of a surprise, especially since I didn’t think her liking Ben would be surprising to anyone, but I guess I didn’t do that great a job of it.

Gwen and Lucy definitely have that sisterly, “you can tell me anything,” best friend type of relationship right now, and Lucy finds that very important. She’s actually quite afraid of losing that, which is one of the reasons she’s still keeping her feelings a secret. But just because she cares for her one way doesn’t mean she can’t also care for her another way.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your criticism. I can’t exactly go back and sprinkle in more hints for it now, but I hope my explanation will at least help a little.

Robotic Lizard: “Z U C C” Robotic Lizard: “ing*” Robotic Lizard: “ZUCCing*”

Should this mean something to me? Is this a Mark Zuckerberg joke?

Guest: “The title “I wanted what I saw that day” to me as a reader refers to an update.”

Well then I have some good news for you.

Guest: “Despacito Quiero respirar tu cuello despacito Deja que te diga cosas al oído Para que te acuerdes si no estás conmigo Despacito Quiero desnudarte a besos despacito Firmo en las paredes de tu laberinto Y hacer de tu cuerpo todo un manuscrito (sube, sube, sube) (Sube, sube)”

Guest: “It’s intriguing that Gwen is self concisious about her butt considering a certain episode known as “Forge of Creation” in Ultimate Alien. They run into ten 10 year old Ben through a timeloop or something and as you can tell, 10 years old can be hard to handle. Even 15 Ben acknowledges it and asks “did I used to be this obnoxious?” to which Gwen’s “you have no idea”. At one point, he tries to annoy Gwen by pointing out her butt is huge and the context of the way he said it was an insult although I’d take that as a compliment. Cartoon Network would censor the shit out of it if was aired now”

Hahaha, yeah, I’m familiar with that scene. It was a minor inspiration for Gwen having a complex about that.

Guest: “Gojaimas all I gotta say is gozaimasu”

Arigatou!

Guest: “Since they’re supposed to be 14 now and that means on the transition of puberty, you said we should imagine Ben talking with his Yuri lowethal’s voice then does that mean we gotta imagine Gwen having longer hair, a pony tail? Might sound a little pervy with the way I put it but with a more mature body and most importantly, should we imagine her voice associated with Ashley Johnson instead of Meagan Smith? Meagan Smith was a classic but Ashley did great voice work as Gwen in AF and the sequels, she’s still smart but she’s more calm and composed instead of can’t helping herself from getting aggressive because Ben know exactly how to spruk her nerves and Meagan Smith portrayed that perfectly”

Gwen’s hair is a little bit longer now, but not as long as it was in the sequel series and she still keeps it in the same style, not in a ponytail. Her body has matured more by now, and so has Ben’s. And you should be imagining her with her Ashley Johnson voice, which I pointed out by Lucy saying she sounds just like Ellie from The Last of Us. I still love Meagan Smith’s voice and I think it’s perfect for preteen Gwen, but I think Ashley Johnson’s voice is great as well and it fits better for teenage Gwen.

Guest: “Speaking of voice actor, Troy Baker is the real MVP right up there with Nolan North with voicing Joel and them both giving life to the Drake brothers in Uncharted. I mean, hell, his young Joker voice in Arkham Origins and in Asassult of Arkham (The animated suicide squad movie, still better than the live action one) is the closest resemblance I could see to Mark Hamill’s iconic established voice.”

Oh absolutely, those two are real pros. Although my favorite male voice actor is still probably Dee Bradley Baker. His range is incredible and I got to meet him at Blizzcon a few years ago. He’s a really great guy.

Guest: “Everytime Gwen puked or gagged which she normally would when she saw Ben mockingly but this time because she’s in love with him, all I could think about was the ROBLOX death sound. Yeah please pull a bullet in my mouth. OOF”

That’s rough, buddy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f49ELvryhao

Guest: “Man this new few chapter made me feelin’ like waiting for Infinity War. A part of me loves Marvel and a part of me wants to disintegrate them for killing off our favourite characters, this isn’t a spoiler, we all were expecting someone to die while walking in but all good things come to an end.”

> implying superhero deaths are ever permanent

Guest: “This better end well, in quality,which I’m confident it will so far by your writing skill analysis not necessarily in favour of the characters but I can’t help but say if poor Gwen or Lucy ends up in the doghouse, Gojaimas, I’ll have you know that my dad owns Microsoft so he can ban your club penguin account.”

Joke’s on you. I’ve been banned from Club Penguin since 2012.