#the big sister becomes kinda like a second parent and is also in an abusive relationship that you're too young to really clock
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anewbrainjughead · 4 months ago
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nothing more humiliating then when an objectively terrible TV show stumbles into a plotline that hits a deeply personal & specific nerve with you so suddenly you have to get so serious about it and make playlists. and then next episode someone gets stuck inside a ceramic pot that's inside a kiln and their pet parrot is the one who calls 911 for them or something like that.
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jamsshifts · 1 year ago
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My Supernatural DR backstory
So, I made a post asking if anyone wanted to see this, and I made it at like 2am so only one person responded, this one's for you @lazerdash
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So, as I said, my backstory is a little different to other people's (at least I think so) because I didn't script that I come from a family of hunters or that I even know that the supernatural exists before I first shift - I also obviously didn’t have the option of scripting that I’m a relation of the Winchesters because I'm shifting for Dean, so that would just be gross.
I was born in 1982 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin to my parents Stella and John. I also have a little sister, Robin, who is 2 years younger than me Also, Robin! - I've scripted her into the majority of my DRs because honestly I can't imagine not being a big sister - but I didn't want to script in family from this reality. I love her <3.
My childhood was kind of rough - my dad was very abusive and my mom got a divorce and full custody of us when I was around 7(?) So she was a single parent and my dad very kindly did not pay ANY child support. So my mom had to work multiple jobs to provide for us, which basically meant that Robin and I were really really close throughout our childhood as we were home alone together a lot <3.
So life went on as normal, until I was starting my second year of college out of state, and my mom died... so yeah. Went home for the funeral, took time off school, long story short I moved back to Manitowoc and now manage a small florist's in town. Oh and also there was a big argument between me and Robin so we're not talking atm
So, how do I get involved with the boys? Basically, when I was a kid my mom sent Robin and I to Sunday school, and I made friends with a girl called Sophie Carlton. We quickly became best friends (We were practically inseparable) and this friendship resurfaced when I came back from college after my mom's death. (In my DR she’s the same age as my sister!)
So yeah, Sophie is the first victim in 01x03, and I first shift after she has died, like right when Sam and Dean get into town. Basically I had promised her brother that I would help out a bit around the house as her father was obviously really depressed, cause his daughter just died, so when Sam and Dean are visiting Sophie's house I meet them. and Dean and I kinda hit it off (despite the circumstances) I get on well with Sam and I'm really curious as to what they're doing more or less, so I become involved with the whole plot with Andrea and Lukas and the lake and everything.
After that I kind of decide that I have nothing keeping me in Wisconsin and ask the boys if I can come along with them. I’ve scripted that they say yes which I honestly think is a bit ooc of them but we’ll see how it plays out when I get there I guess
So yeah, that's it basically?? I think so anyway! Thank you for reading if you got this far:) this is all scripted btw, I haven't shifted yet!
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also can we just appreciate Baby in the middle pic. wow. (can u tell i love her nearly as much as Dean does)
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measuringbliss · 1 month ago
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Spider-Man Read-Through 089 Return of Hobgoblin (ASM 259-262)
MASTERPOST
What do we got in store this time?
The Hobgoblin's return, MJ's backstory, Peter's mini-shorts, and real-life photography!
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Nice!
It's time for MJ's tell-all!
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What a smooth transition. So basically, MJ's dad was abusive, she acts like a clown to hide her sadness, pretty much what I expected. The exposition is well done though. Then we learn that MJ's sister, Gayle basically followed the same trajectory as their mother. Not an abusive husband, but one who doesn't want children but still makes them. Oof.
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She's kinda right though. Parents just out of highschool? That's irresponsible, and Gayle saying she'll take a full time job once her second child is born is wild. MJ needed to self-preserve here.
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I like them. Hey, check out Peter's minishorts! Purple has always been a great color for him.
At Baxter Building, She-Hulk helps Reed recap the readers and we learn that Reed's been trying to speak to the symbiote.
Meanwhile, the Hobgoblin is back and wants to become associates with one Mr Hudson, and then one Mr Santellio, and then he goes to the Rose to say his targets are Mr. and Mrs Osborn... Oh no!
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Don't mind me, just enjoying the eye candy. Not sure why Peter considers himself responsible for the Hobgoblin, let's first see who it is, shall we?
Funnily enough, Spidey still wears his dark costume on the cover of #260.
So the plot threads continue. Peter learns more about the Hobgoblin's schemes, the Rose says that he'll get rid of the HG once he's outlived his usefulness, MJ eats out with a pregnant Liz, and as for Baxter Building...
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We're seeing a big number of children!!!! But what a striking scene. Thankfully, Franklin's mom interrupts their tête-à-tête...
And then... the Hobgoblin does the thing. You know the thing.
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It never fails.
HG's here for Norman's backups of his notebooks. Harry's at a loss, but Spidey intervenes.
Meanwhile, at the Bugle, Betty calls her husband, but he's not available. Uh-oh. I think I know where this is going...
Meanwhile, Jameson's back from his honeymoon and in a grumpy mood as always. Peter and Lance Bannon also can't be reached... I'm still curious to see what they planned for Lance. I think the issue tries to imply that the HG is Lance, but I know that's not true.
Harry flees and sees Liz and MJ get abducted. He fails to protect them and doesn't take it well.
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And on top of a train, having failed to catch the HG once more, Peter's afraid that Harry will go bad again...
I think that would be entertaining. Let it be as entertaining as the fight in this issue, because it was really fun!
In the letters, people are interested in the Rose, as I am!
In 261, I feel like we're coming to a (not the) Hobgoblin reveal, because another clue is thrown at us: he knows MJ's name.
Then again, is it really a clue if the Hobgoblin could have simply gotten intel on Harry and Liz's acquaintances, a very likely thing for him to do?
So the Hobgoblin's invested the facility the Rose lent him; Harry finds his father's diaries, being followed unknowingly by Spidey. Meanwhile, at the Baxter Building, a green flying device creates a hole in the Symbiote's glass case and the latter escapes. I let out a "WHAT" out loud, I hope I didn't wake anybody.
Anyway, Harry gets knocked out by the HG and wakes up next to Liz and MJ.
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I see you, famous Spidey frame!
Chaos ensues, and soon...
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Uh-oh.
Thankfully, he only takes the weapons and goes to confront Harry. A fire breaks, Liz enters labour, and by stupid plot contrivance, Spidey lets the HG go to rescue his friends.
In a funny twist, turns out the diary Harry retrieved has no information the HG didn't already have.
The final issue is a special one apparently:
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This is NOT Zach Galligan and the costume looks cheap, but I'll take it. He can get it.
Spidey's at the airport to take a picture of Reagan and things are already off to a good start.
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This is hilarious.
Our new friend goes to a random room to hide and stumbles on...
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Oh! Oh!!!!!! The cover makes sense now! What a fun idea, I love it.
The chase keeps the comedy going, and in the end Peter proves himself to be very bad at it.
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Later...
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We get it, kiss already. (It's a great page.) The next page is Peter's side, and then the next one is the other guy's. It's great! Peter's bestie Ben Urich tells him the Jones's identity (he's basically a TMZ guy) and the latter gets thrown out of the bar. What follows is a great sequence where Jones is chased by both villains and Spidey, where the latter saves him and keeps pursuing him... until he gets the pictures and convinces Jones to not try to know who he was.
Jones agrees, but half a day later, he's already thinking of trying to find him... He probably won't get far though, in a city as crowded as NY.
Overall, it's a fun issue and one I'll definitely mention in my best-of post. And I do have to make one right now, I believe.
On this issue:
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That's fascinating. That guy also did stunts on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, by the way. Hell yeah.
I had fun, this post!
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incomprehensiblelentils · 5 months ago
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OF COURSE - I should've done that in the original post tbh
TSCC is billed as a spinoff series after T2, when John Connor (Thomas Dekker) is a teenager. He and Sarah (Lena Headey) are targeted by yet another Terminator and then saved by a second Terminator, this time identifying herself as Cameron (Summer Glau). They end up jumping forward in time to 2007, where Sarah works to prevent the creation of Skynet. Early on in s1, they are joined by John's uncle Derek Reese. The second season also has SHIRLEY MANSON YES GARBAGE'S SHIRLEY MANSON playing a Scary Business Lady and do not look up anything about her if you want to watch this show because you will ruin a very cool reveal for yourself. If you like shows about robots learning how to be human, Lena Headey's buff arms, Lena Headey doing a lot of introspective voiceover monologues, Summer Glau as a cool scary robot throwing a bunch of bigger men around, and having your heart ripped out by one of the worst cliffhangers ever, you should absolutely watch this show because it whips ass. It is my biggest comfort show.
Daredevil is about the second messiest fictional polycule I've ever seen Matt Murdock, Catholic guilt personified, who by day is a broke blind lawyer with a heightened sense of justice and by night is Daredevil, who has a heightened sense of everything except self-preservation and does parkour to protect Hell's Kitchen, New York. There is also his best friend Foggy Nelson, who usually has the brain cell of the group but not always, and Karen Page, who gets framed for killing a guy and has a ~dark past~ the show only teases until season 3 when we get a whole episode about her (she also has zero sense of self-preservation). They are all in love but for some reason the show only let Matt and Karen kiss? MISTAKE. Hell's Kitchen is under the control of Kingpin, the giant scary crime lord who has done everything wrong but also I love him. AND THEN in season 2 Elektra, Matt's ex, comes in and she is THE BEST even though neither the fandom nor the show agrees, she is Matt's worst impulses personified and impossibly sad and sexy and one time they fuck in a gym and it's very hot. This show is also so incredibly violent which I enjoy, but just as a warning (like Kingpin smashes a guy's head with a bowling ball only kinda offscreen in episode 3).
If the above does not sound like your jam and instead you would rather watch a show about superpowered teens whose abusive parents are in various murder cults, try Runaways instead! This show made the bold choice of not actually having them run away until the s1 finale, which. maybe I wouldn't have done? but whatever. The point of this show is that every teen is the best and I love them all so much. We have: Chase, big of heart and dumb of ass but also good at making machines! (His dad is James Marsters, who is playing just the worst bastard you've ever seen.) Gert, who has purple hair and anxiety and is soulbonded to a genetically engineered Deinonychus named Old Lace! Molly, who is twelve and just doing her best and also has super strength! (She and Gert are foster sisters.) Alex, who is a big nerd (affectionate) and also very bad at people, but becomes the de facto leader regardless! Karolina, who is revealed to be a half-alien who turns rainbow and sparkly and also she can fly! All this AND SHE'S GAY! And Nico, who is Gothic and fittingly has control of the Staff of One and can use it to do magic! Their parents are also here and unfortunately there are a lot of parent scenes in this show, but you get used to it. I am very biased because I adore the comics and I think they did the best possible job of adapting the kids' personalities, if not the exact storylines, so I loved this show so much. OH they also did a crossover with Cloak and Dagger who I also love, so.
Deadwood is the best HBO show and the best Western. It's based loosely on the period when Deadwood, South Dakota was first established, up until and after the area's annexation, and the creators used a lot of historical records and documents in their research. There are 23847394 characters so if you don't like one of them, don't worry, there's bound to be somebody you do like! This is a show that both requires and demands your entire attention - absolutely not a background show because the dialogue is extremely dense, and if you aren't on top of things you will miss something important. The cast of this show is vast and basically anything you watch will have at least one Deadwood alum in it; it's a fun game to play! I don't know how appealing this show is to non-Americans but if you're looking for a really good drama, this is it. (Also, there are queer women and some of them survive and live happily ever after!)
Farscape is my personal favorite space show. The basic conceit is astronaut John Crichton accidentally gets sucked into a wormhole, commits space vehicular manslaughter and gets thrown into space prison, only breaking out with the help of a defected prison guard (Aeryn Sun) and some of his fellow prisoners (who are of course all aliens). It is so silly and deliberately stupid a lot of the time - one of the main characters is an alien who farts helium and yes it comes up a lot. That guy is also a Jim Henson puppet, as is the pilot of the ship, Pilot. Most of the main characters who are not John and Aeryn are painted silly colors because they are Aliens, and boy does the makeup look good. The show will yoyo between literally an episode that is a cartoon and some of the best drama you've ever seen, and the romance between John and Aeryn is stellar, pun intended. All the cuss words are space cuss words like frell and dren. It is also extremely horny - at one point they start being chased around by a guy in a leather gimp suit who has a habit of licking John's face sensually. OH and the ship is her own character and gets pregnant at one point and the baby ship is his own character too. Honestly, I feel like this one might be the most up your alley because sometimes it does feel very Warehouse.
Top 5 TV shows - metric of your choice (most comfort to watch, made/written the best, most fun to watch, mix of all of these, something else entirely; whatever you pick)
ooh love this! I will go with top 5 shows that I think have a consistent level of quality throughout, i.e. no weak seasons/arcs and not a point where there’s a noticeable downturn in quality. in no particular order:
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Daredevil
Runaways
Deadwood
Farscape
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r0b0t-j0n3z · 2 years ago
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some doodles of my [kinda not really i made him last year-] new stray oc Alexander!!
heres some stuff about him tw// physical/neglect abuse ment, alcoholic parents ment
Alexander the Darling Lolita
hes 263 years old (26 y/o in robo years) and grew up in midtown
he LOVES gothic lolita and girly clothing, plus absolutely adores crossdressing it makes him feel very comfortable, and has a large following where he posts selfies and pin ups of him wearing various dresses. here he has around 1,566 followers and posts 2-4 times a day
incredibly skilled tailor and every dress he owns is made by him (but has ones he bought from stores). he also sells clothing and accessories on an online store called "Sweet Dreams, Darling" which is his primary source of income
had emotionally neglectful/abusive parents TW//who were also physically abusive which resulted in him becoming a people-pleaser and goes to sometimes extreme lengths in order to receive positive love + attention. has alcohol trauma of his parents drinking and gets scared when he sees drunk companions
he/him AMAB
usually mistaken for a girl but has a deep, masculine voice (he actually finds being mistaken for a girl as a compliment)
knows morse code as a second language
lives alone
gay AS FUCK. also demisexual
personality is polite, modest and sweet but also has a "suh dude"/"bro" attitude (which throws companions off), very chill person. also a MAJOR doormat since hes willing to face mistreatment if it means receiving love and positive attention in the end. also falls in love easily towards any man who gives him attention, affection, and love
the markings on his face is morse code that translates to "LOVE"
has a younger brother who lives in antvillage and an older sister whos the CEO of NecoCorp
big fan of 888 and likes all of her posts, plus gifts her dresses sometimes
extremely lonely, most of his friendships are shallow and unhealthy/toxic due to his doormat attitude
almost always seen wearing a dress, but will occasionally wear casual (still a little gothic) clothing when he feels like relaxing, shopping, or is just too lazy to put on a dress
extremely easy to manipulate/brainwash, has extreme difficulty saying no, panics at the slightest hint of rejection and will beg for forgiveness, scared of leaving toxic/unhealthy/abusive relationships in fear of being alone, incredibly loyal/submissive/obedient. has a lot of exes bc of this
emotionally unstable and prone to rage fits, aggression, and violence if his loved ones are in danger, or someone hurts his loved ones. hes relatively strong, but his light body and small stature makes him sorta useless in fights
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ckjbun · 4 years ago
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What kind of ability would Higuchi have and its potential name?
Hi to whoever is reading this! This is my first self-written post so I’m still figuring out how all this works and I’m sorry, if it gets a bit chaotic. Anyways, recently, I came across a question regarding Higuchi from Bungou Stray Dogs. It was about what Higuchi’s ability would be called and what type it would be. So I won’t go into details whether she has an ability or not. I believe she has since she is named after an author (and Asagiri himself kinda confirmed it via Twitter). Thus, I just want to write my thoughts on the potential names and kind of ability. 
Since abilities in the BSD world are always named after rather well-known works of the authors, I compared some of the famous works of Higuchi Ichiyo. Now mind you, I haven’t read her works myself. I mostly relied on comparing summaries and analyses of them. Since there are not a lot of summaries, I read two lesser-known stories myself. I will add the links of the summaries/analyses of the works down below. However, while comparing I found two works that would fit Higuchi. Now, first what do I mean by “fit”? Well, it might be best to start explaining what I think about the type of Higuchi’s ability.  
I believe Higuchi has not an offensive type of ability. Nothing like Atsushi’s, Akutagawa’s, Kyouka’s etc. If she had, I’m sure she would have used it already, since she’s fighting a lot with her guns, why wouldn’t she use her ability as an addition, why would she hide it? There are two possibilities why we haven’t seen her ability yet. First possibility would be that her ability is not visible like Odasaku’s or Ango’s, maybe it’s even an ability that she hasn’t even discovered, just like Fukuzawa hasn’t realized he has one before the ADA. Second would be that she can use her ability only under stringent conditions. And I believe it’s the latter, hear me out. 
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Remember this scene from Chapter 14? Higuchi reaches out to hold Akutagawa’s hand but then pulls back because she remembered him saying that he doesn’t need her help. Now, you could argue that holding the hands of injured loved ones is a gesture of closeness, a way to show them your support, a way to tell them that you’re staying by their side. And Aku doesn’t want this support, so that’s why she retracted her hand. But something bothers me here. In this scene it looks like Aku slapped Higuchi’s hand away, doesn’t it? And then he says, he doesn’t need her help, instead of support. I know, you could say support and help are almost the same. But to me, help is something that you do more “actively”, while support can be something passive. What if Higuchi’s hand represents this “active” help? And what would actively help Akutagawa in this very moment? A healing ability for example. Coincidentally, in the panel before, Hirotsu asks Higuchi what power she posses to make them [the black lizard] obey. Is this a hint that there is a hint about Higuchi’s ability in the next panel? Maybe. But let’s look at the next panel. It’s the title page of this chapter. 
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As you can see, Higuchi has a bandage wrapped around her leg and they seem connected to Akutagawa. In this chapter, it is revealed that Higuchi contemplated about leaving the Port Mafia but her reason for staying is implied to be Akutagawa. This is perfectly symbolized by the bandages in this title page. The bandages coming from Akutagawa are holding her leg back, stopping her from walking away from the PM. But maybe there is a second interpretation? If you’re looking at Akutagawa’s left hand, the bandages are starting to come off. What if this means Akutagawa is healing and doesn’t need the bandages anymore? Instead it wraps around Higuchi’s leg, restricting her movement. What if Higuchi’s ability allows her to help someone else (doesn’t have to be necessarily a healing ability) but in exchange she needs to sacrifice something? Anyways, I think she has an ability which allows her to help other people in a non-combat way. With this in mind, I was looking through several works of Higuchi Ichiyo, searching for something that “fits”. Meaning that I was looking for parallels and themes in irl Higuchi’s stories that could be “converted” into an ability. Just like the coat that the protagonist of Rashomon stole in order to now die of hunger was used as Akutagawa’s ability which seems to be able to eat everything, or like the wish that one’s brother does not die in war in Thou Shalt Not Die became Yosano’s ability and serving as a basis of her background story. Anyways, I’d like to present the works that could be used for Higuchi’s ability and draw some parallels. 
1. The Thirteen’s Night
The story revolves around a poor woman, called Oseki. Thanks to her marriage to a rich man, her family was able to live a better life and her brother found a job. But on the thirteenth night of the ninth month of the lunar calendar (one of two special nights for moon viewing), Oseki visited her parents with the intention on asking her parents for approval for divorcing her husband. Before entering, she overhears her parents talking about how lucky they are that they have such good children who don’t cause trouble and that they are very thankful for this marriage. Hesitating at first, she finally goes in and admits that she wants to divorce her husband because he abuses her mentally. He insults her constantly and tells her that she's worthless, stupid, and uneducated. Her mother is outraged. But her father, even though he acknowledges her suffering, reminds her what her husband has done for this family and that she would lose her son since women couldn’t get custody of their children after a divorce at that time. Agreeing with her father, Oseki decides to go back to her husband: 
“It was selfish of me to think of a divorce. You're right. If I couldn't see Tarō, there'd be no point in living. I might flee my present sorrows, but what kind of future would I have? If I could think of myself as already dead, that would solve everything… Then Tarō would have both his parents with him. It was a foolish idea I had, and I've troubled you with the whole unpleasant business. From tonight I will consider myself dead — a spirit who watches over Tarō. That way I can bear Isamu's cruelty for a hundred years to come.” 
– In The Shade of Spring Leaves, translated by Robert Lyons Danly
Just like BSD Higuchi contemplates leaving the PM, the protagonist here wants to leave her husband. The PM is like the husband. It allows her to support herself and probably her family (at least we saw that she has a sister). But there is constant abuse. Akutagawa is clearly the biggest source of abuse that we can see. But it’s not only him. In Chapter 14, Mori asks her if she is really suited for this job. Telling her indirectly that she is useless or that she is too weak for the PM. Later, you can see the Black Lizard doubting her capabilities, even threatening her. But just like Oseki she stays because of a loved one. What really concerns me is Oseki saying that she will consider herself as a dead spirit watching over Tarō. What if Higuchi, in order to use her ability, has to sacrifice part of her lifespan? Or maybe she loses a feeling? Like e.g. she loses the ability to feel happiness, making her a bit more dead inside? If you draw this parallel, you could also say that when ‘consider myself dead’ is the condition of the ability, then ‘watching over Tarō’ is a hint to Higuchi’s ability. An ability that allows her to watch over and protect her loved ones? This theme fits Higuchi perfectly, since a big topic in Higuchi’s story line is how she wants to help and protect Akutagawa. So it makes sense that her ability might be something that would help him (**intensely squinting at the recent events in the manga, especially chapter 88**). Moving on to the second possibility before the pain starts to set in. 
2. Takekurabe (literally: "Comparing heights", "Child's Play" in the Robert Lyons Danly translation, "Growing Up" in the Edward Seidensticker translation)
Now this is considered as Higuchi Ichiyo’s masterpiece. So the chances are high that the ability is based on this story. The story accompanies a group of children who live next to the Yoshiwara quarter. There are two rival gangs: the main street gang (’omote-machi’), lead by Shōtarō, a cultivated young boy who is the grandson of the owner of a pawnshop, and the back street gang (’yoko-chō’), lead by Chōkichi, the impulsive firefighter’s son. (Maybe a parallel to the ADA with (cultivated) Fukuzawa and the PM with Mori who’s a doctor which belongs into the same category of occupation as firefighters?). Among the main street gang, there was Midori, popular and pretty, who lives in the brothel where her sister works. Shōtarō probably has a crush on her. But Midori probably has feelings for the other main character, Nobu, the son of a Buddhist priest. Even though he returns her feelings, he distances himself from her out of his self-consciousness. Later he joins the rival gang after repeated request by Chōkichi. Anyways, they spend their days very care-free, attending school, playing with each other after school. One day, some conflict arises between the gangs and Midori, while protecting someone else, gets slapped by Chōkichi with a sandal. He then proceeds to tell her that their gang is backed by no other than Nobu. Midori feels humiliated and stops going to school. Soon she also stops playing with the other children. After some time passed, Midori is seen with her hair all done up. She has become a distant, lady-like young woman. This probably means that she got her first period and is old enough to become a prostitute or that she just had her first client as a courtesan. Little by little, the children grow up. Nobu is sent off to be trained as a priest and Shōtarō has come to accept the responsibilities of his family’s shop. 
There are several themes in this story that I’d like to point out, namely unrequited love, Midori’s transformation and underlying unchangeable fates. The first one is obviously a big theme in Higuchi’s story. Midori and Nobu are unable to express their love for each other because of their positions in life. Just like Higuchi is unable to express her feelings for Akutagawa. If you want some hope, AkuHigu shippers, maybe Aku has also feelings for Higuchi but is still very confused and self-conscious about it just like Nobu. Anyways, because of their positions in the PM, it would make everything very complicated if Higuchi confessed. Additionally, Midori feels like she was humiliated by her love when she got slapped by that sandal. I’m sure that Higuchi gets humiliated by Akutagawa a lot. The next theme is Midori’s transformation from a tomboyish to a lady-like, distant woman. We all know Higuchi looks really badass in her suits. But again, look at the title page of chapter 14. Higuchi is dressed up all prettily and lady-like in a dress, and her hair is done all up. Just like Midori after her transformation. Midori’s transformation stands for Midori accepting her occupation as a prostitute even though she doesn’t want to. In this chapter, we see that Higuchi has accepted her job in the PM, even though she doesn’t want to do this job. At the end Shōtarō sings the following: 
"Growing up,
she plays among the butterflies
and flowers.
But she turns sixteen,
and all she knows
is work and sorrow."
– In The Shade of Spring Leaves, translated by Robert Lyons Danly
I don’t know about you guys, but to me that necklace that Higuchi is wearing in that title page looks like a butterfly to me. This is really farfetched but maybe this could be a hint about when Higuchi joined the Port Mafia? However, the biggest theme in Takekurabe is the underlying unchangeable fate of the children. Shōtarō was destined to become the next owner of the pawnshop, Nabu was destined to become a Buddhist monk and Midori would become a prostitute. Maybe this gives us some insight into why Higuchi joined the PM? Maybe one of her parents was a PM member? I also like to think that since Aku is in the PM, since she wants to be with him, she can’t but stay in the PM, and this is her fate. Nevertheless, fate is a central theme in Takekurabe. This is the reason why I think, if the ability is based on this story, Higuchi’s ability would be something like changing fates. Changing fate of someone else but in return she must sacrifice something. 
Okay, so this post has become quite long. But I still wanted to mention two other stories Yamizakura (Flowers at Dusk) and The Sound of the Koto where I saw a lot of parallels. I just want to briefly tell you the story of The Sound of the Koto. In this story a woman abandons her son in order to leave her husband who has a bad reputation. The husband then turns into an alcoholic and dies later at a party because of alcohol intoxication. The boy becomes hardened to the world, despises his mother for leaving them, and even contemplates suicide. The story shifts then to a woman playing the koto.  I want to give you an excerpt for the end of this story: 
“On this night the sound of the woman’s playing helped another to be reborn. Through fourteen springs and fourteen autumns, the boy had been buffeted by the rains. His heart had gradually toughened until it had become as hard as stone. No arrow could penetrate it. He seemed destined to follow the example of his father, to die among the fields or in the mountains, where his remains would be bleached by the elements. Some were convinced the boy’s life would end in prison chains, while his bad name spread to every roadside. 
But now, at once, the tenderness buried in his heart was freed by the midnight strains of the koto. For the first time in many years, he felt tears come to his eyes. Or were they jewelled drops of dew? He would not exchange them for anything. 
He, who had known neither love nor compassion, and who had no idea what the player of these refrains could even look like, felt a moment of happiness as the music drifted over the garden wall. […]
[…] How could a stormy wind blow now? The clouds in his heart had disappeared. Once more the woman began to play. The sound of the koto would be his friend for a hundred years, the seed for a hundred years of yearning. He had entered a world where a hundred different flowers wer in bloom. 
– In The Shade of Spring Leaves, translated by Robert Lyons Danly
This boy somehow just reminds me so much of Akutagawa. Just like this boy, without any parents and home, wandering around in this world, Akutagawa has become hardened to the world. I’d like to think that Higuchi’s ability could free Akutagawa from his pain, just like the sound of koto does for this boy. 
So, now I said everything I wanted to say, I guess. If there is really anyone reading this and reading this until here, thank you so much! I appreciate it very much that you kept reading even though my thoughts are probably quite chaotic. I’m sorry if there are any grammar mistakes or weird sentence structures or anything like this. English is not my first language. I’m very happy, if you could point out any mistakes or have any suggestion for improvement. Lastly, I just want to remind you that these are my thoughts, I love discussing so feel free to comment your thoughts but I’d like you to keep in mind that there is not necessarily a wrong or right, theories are theories, interpretations are interpretations. Everyone has another interpretation. They can only be proven wrong by Asagiri sensei himself. Until then just keep the discussions friendly and tolerant towards other people’s thoughts and opinions. 
Sources:
All manga panels used in this post are from easygoingscans
Higuchi Ichiyo (樋口 一葉)
Higuchi Ichiyo: "In the Shade of Spring Leaves"
In The Shade Of Spring Leaves: The Life Of Higuchi Ichiyo, With Nine Of Her Best Stories, translated by Robert Lyons Danly
In the Shade of Spring Leaves – Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 1
“Flowers at Dusk” and Other Notes – Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 2
“Encounters on a Dark Night” and Other Notes – Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 3
“Child’s Play” and Other Notes – Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 4
HIGUCHI ICHIYŌ: BADASS WOMEN IN JAPANESE HISTORY
The Thirteenth Night (Wikipedia)
Female Subject, Interrupted in Higuchi Ichiyō's "The Thirteenth Night"
GAME OF TRADITIONS: TRADITION IN THE THIRTEENTH NIGHT AND DIARY OF A MAD MAN
HIGUCHI ICHIYŌ IN MODERN JAPANESE AND EUROPEAN DRESS: Modern Japanese versions (gendaigoyaku) of Higuchi Ichiyō’s Takekurabe and their Relationship with English, Castilian Spanish and Catalan Translations
Separate Ways Summary
Literary Analysis of “Separate Ways”
Flowers at Dusk
Nigorie (Wikipedia)
From the Margins of Meiji Society: Space and Gender in Higuchi Ichiyō's "Troubled Waters"
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genoc1d3r · 4 years ago
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my turn to cry - thoughts on 3-1b
ok this has actually gotta be my favorite chapter cause holy shit so much stuff happened.
I played the Alice/kanna route and afterwards I watched a vod with the reko/shin route in which ranmaru and naomichi died before the banquet, so BIG SPOILER WARNING FOR BOTH ROUTES
Mafia Princess Sara??: Ok so first off, back in the beginning of 2020, I had a theory that Sara was a mafia heiress and that the death game was supposed to be something to “prepare” her. And that her memories were wiped or she was initially supposed to be kept blind to this whole thing (In 3-1a when everybody saw the consent form for the very first time everybody felt a sense of deja vu, except for Sara. Because why would they need her consent when she is the sole focus of the game and it’s all for her) This theory was mainly supplied by my confusion surrounding the hiring of Kai, cause why would mr Chidouin hire a former assassin to protect her?? How did he even know Kai??? But yeah, the whole thing with Shinobu Gokujo and deciding a new don through a death game just adds a lil more validity to this theory.
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Sara’s real father: I also had a mini theory that Gashu Satou was her real father, but that was mostly cause of their hair color and how it would def make Sara’s hair color make more sense genetics-wise (but kai has black hair, so its most likely that his mother had black hair, which would also disprove this mini-theory but yk im not here to prove it just talk about it). And that Gashu knew of Mr. Chidouin and gave Sara to him, and it would also explain why mr Chidouin chose Kai of all people to look after her and why Kai could only watch her from a distance, in case she realized the truth that he was her brother/half-brother or something. 
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GREENBLINGS CANON AAAAAAAA: I love this, I love this so much oh my god. Now I can replay and cry after 2-2 cause nankidai hates us :’). I dont have an issue with this specifically, I’m just a bit bothered by how the whole thing went. There was some buildup yea, and the cg with kanna, kugie, and shin was amazing. And that lil bit about nice hallucinations made me tear up a bit. But, then everybody kinda just moved on? and idk this whole chapter was a fuckign roller coaster I could barely keep up.
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Autistic Gin <3: I’m autistic myself and I have seen many characters who are autistic-coded or exhibit many signs of autism but have never been straight up confirmed (Ex: Vera Misham from Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney). And even then, these characters usually share similar personality traits like being aloof and reserved. So it’s nice to see that Gin is representing autism in a relatively realistic manner with his hyperfixations, vocal tics, and issues with socializing. Even after nearly dying like 17 times he’s still doing well and I genuinely wish for his survival and happiness.
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Ranmaru’s death: Both of Ranmaru’s deaths, (if you or if you don’t fail the electricity absorption minigame) the death feels so... off? I was really attached to him as a character, yet his death didn’t impact as much as Joe’s or Nao’s did. During his Banquet death, one second he had his really cute smiling sprite but then whoops oh no guys weird drill screw thing kills him (again). I still can barely comprehend it because it all just happened so fast. Like no cg or anything. I was honestly kinda disappointed. The “delayed” one does a better job at his death scene, but again, it was wayyy too quick and completely dismissed as everybody just moves on to defeat Maple 2.0. I at least would’ve appreciated a better transition than Midori just saying “well anyways–”
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 Ranmaru’s extremely quick descent into madness in the shin route: I actually liked this idea of Ranmaru willing to go to such extremes for Sara. However, theres barely time for any of this to develop? Like again, everything just happens so fast??? I would've definitely liked if there were little hints around before the body discovery that ranmaru was gonna do something like this, just a little time for development would really be cool.
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Mr. Policeman/Mr. Tazuna???: After I finished, I actually looked on the wiki to see if it said anything about his son that he mentioned and I found this: 
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But yeah thats cool
The thing about Q-taro: I’m gonna say it now, I’ve liked Q-taro ever since the aftermath of 1-2, and Q-taro haters have added absolutely nothing to this fandom. Everybody saw him as a child-hater, I see him as a guy who’ll do anything to survive and succeed. I mean that wish is kinda what got him into the death game. And yeah he did try to leave that one time, but that’s what getting thrown into traumatic killing games does for you, most people don’t want to die, they want to live, no matter what it takes. We can’t all be the main character and choose to cooperate with everybody and be the “good” person in that situation. Even Sara has those extremely selfish moments and those intrusive thoughts of winning and leaving. 
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This whole thing should also be applied to Ranmaru. Ranmaru has gone through so much shit in such a brief amount of time, to the point where he was considering to/actually kill people to escape with the one person he trusted in this hellhole. In that situation, Sara’s kinda at fault here, cause without Joe she’s lost her sense of morality which resulted in her becoming selfish and well... honestly kinda toxic. This emotional manipulation is really what set Ranmaru off, however it was 100% his decision to fucking kill somebody and murder’s bad. Still love him though.
But back to Qtaro, I really enjoyed the extra substance given to him in this chapter, it’s nice to see the development from being selfish to feeling deep remorse to protecting the dolls of the first trial victims, most notably Mai. As he completely forgives her for stabbing him. The chapter did a great job at fueling my already intense love for Q-taro (and it actually convinced my best friend who claims to hate Q-taro with every bone of her body to like him too!) I also love the father-son dynamic between him and Gin. I find this relationship to be really important cause Gin’s father is an abusive alcoholic and Q-taro’s an orphan who’s never had a proper role-model in his life. So it’s beautiful that despite not having anybody there for him when he was younger he can still be a good figure for another child.
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Predictions/hopes for the next part: 
I just want to see whether Shin already knew about Kanna being his sister, and if he doesn’t I want a reveal. Right. Now.
A Ranmaru/Joe/Q-taro/Kai/ “Hinako” revival, p l e a se  they died so soon
More info about the people involved in the Hades Incident/Shinobu Gokujo
More info regarding Meister
Sara going on Maury
Who tf is “Hinako”????
I really hope that there isn't any specific good/bad ending. Like I want every ending to be equally bad and good yk? like equal consequences and good stuff.
Yo wtf happened to Sara’s mom?? Is she gonna come back and play a more important role in the story?? Are her parents gonna come back as floor masters???
I want things to actually change  depending on whether you picked Alice or reko, cause so far they’ve played extremely minor roles.
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froggie-recs-fics · 3 years ago
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Fic Roundup (up to 9/26/21)
I'm gonna start collecting fics I've read recently to recommend them, because making trope lists takes too long and many fics fall by the wayside. Let me know if you like this new format!
The fandoms in this list are as follows: Marvel (SamBucky, HTP, SpideyPool, WinterHawk, WinterIron, Stony, Stucky, SpiderShield), DCU (Bane/Blake), Inception (Arthur/Eames), Teen Wolf (Sterek).
A * signifies a particular favorite (though I love all these fics)
Marvel
Sam/Bucky
double back by flowermasters (E, 12K, Post-Endgame, Time Loop, Time Travel)
Sam gets stuck in a time loop. In 1943.
Things could be worse, but they could certainly be better.
Companion piece here: quick time
I'll explain everything to the geese by napricot (Post-Endgame, E, 50K, Sam can talk to birds)
Bucky is so competent that it hurts my feelings is not a rational complaint to have about a person, and yet, after a year of being Captain America and partnering up with Bucky for the new and improved, post-Blip Avengers, that’s kinda how Sam’s feeling.
It’s not great. It maybe leads to Sam making some rash, ill-advised decisions like claiming he has a previously undisclosed superpower, and then getting caught in a web of lies when he ends up actually developing that surprisingly inconvenient superpower. Talking to birds had seemed like a harmless superpower, but it turns out that birds have a lot of opinions, and they don’t hesitate to tell Sam about them, especially when it comes to his supposedly subpar courting skills. Which is ridiculous, because Sam isn’t courting Bucky. Right?
Rumlow/Bucky
**blueprints for a better world series by itallstartedwithdefenestration @astralhux (CATWS, Post-CATWS, Noncon, E, 115K, Dark Main Character)
When Pierce discovers the asset is no longer capable of getting himself hard during recreational use, he tells Rumlow to figure out what the problem is, and to fix it. The solution turns out to be more complicated than anyone expected.
I can't recommend this series enough
Peter/Wade
*Dead Men Walking series by doctorestranged @lazystrawberrymilkshakes (E, 235K, Identity Porn, Slow Burn)
When a series of murders take place, Peter Parker goes undercover in Sister Margaret’s to get intel on Tony Stark’s prime suspect: Deadpool. Peter goes in hoping to get enough information so that Spider-Man can save the day, but like everything in Peter’s life, it becomes a bit more complicated than that and it soon becomes apparent that he might not be the best fit for the job.
All About Chemistry by TwiceBakedPotato @sedatedkoala (No Powers AU, M, CNTW, 74K, Teacher-Student Relationship, Slow Build)
After serving his 20 years in the Marine Corps, Wade Wilson is cashing in his GI Bill and going back to college. He feels like the old man on campus, but that doesn't matter. He likes his classes. He likes learning. And he especially likes his Chemistry professor with the messy brown hair.
Clint/Bucky
Making Me A Habit by Kangofu_CB @kangofu-cb (No Powers AU, T, 20K, Pet Store, Slow Burn, Pining, Misunderstandings)
Bucky is a disabled vet struggling with reintegrating into civilian life. He has a routine and a rhythm, and he doesn't like to let anything - big or small - disrupt it. That all changes the day Bucky finds himself inside CATastrophe, the local pet rescue, recovering from a panic attack in the back room of the shop.
He’s used to walking by the place, not visiting, but the next thing Bucky knows, he’s hanging signs and being used as a climbing tree for a bunch of freshly-acquired kittens. And he just...keeps going back. First for the kittens, then for the disaster shop owner who rescues actual kittens from actual trees and teaches archery as a side-gig, and eventually because he’s hopelessly in love.
(Clint was in love before Bucky ever walked in the door.)
*Nameless by AvaKelly (Post-CATWS, M, 101K, Time Travel, Time Loop, Slow Burn)
A gun is pointed at him before he can even move from his position, the Soldier's metal arm steady in its aim. Clint sighs.
"Nemo," Clint says. "It's tattooed on your wrist, right here," he lifts his right hand and taps his left index finger where his palm ends.
The Soldier's eyes widen. "How do you know this?"
"I put it there."
Glitter, G-Strings and Other Mission Hazards by flawedamythyst @flawedamythyst (T, 16K, Undercover, Stripper Clint)
“Which is why you need me to shake my booty for cash,” said Clint.
“Precisely,” said Coulson. “You’re the only agent we have who wouldn’t need additional training in the skills of an exotic dancer to take on the mission, and we want to get someone in there as soon as possible.”
Clint nodded, shutting the file. “Okay, awesome. I’ll dig out my sequined g-string.”
“You’ll have full access to requisition any costumes you might need,” said Coulson.
A mission requires Bucky to be Clint's back-up as he goes undercover as a stripper, which gets more difficult with every new costume he comes out in.
Paternal Error by EVVS @skylarkevanson (Post-CATWS, T, 33K, Kid Fic, Established Relationship)
Bucky has never once thought of being a parent. Not since the Winter Solider happened.
Until he falls in love with Clint Barton. And that idiot just keeps collecting children for his flock.
Now Bucky has to pretend like he's good at parenting.
Bucky/Tony
Forms of Love by bear_bell (Post-CACW, E, 33K, Split Personalities)
Months after the Avengers' dispute in Germany, the team returns to the US and moves back into the tower. As always, everyone pretends that nothing happened. Tony is just fine with this. He's used to pretending, and he'll be damned if he lets any of them see him flinch.
Tony's the bad guy, after all. He's used to it. He's fine with it. He's good at it.
Only now, there's something far worse loitering around the tower - The Winter Soldier. No one notices the guy at first, but when they do, Tony figures that he should have the soldier's back.
Birds of a feather should flock together, and the bad guys should start a book club.
Steve/Tony
While You Were Sleeping by betheflame @betheflame (No Powers AU, M, 65K, While You Were Sleeping AU)
It's been years since Steve Grant Rogers Drysdale has spoken to his twin, Ransom. So it was quite a shock when he was summoned to a hospital and found out that Ransom was in a coma.
Even more shocking? That Ransom is engaged. To Tony Stark.
Steve/Bucky
The Road Goes Ever On And On by PipGraham (Omegaverse AU, M, Noncon, Graphic Violence, 20K, Road Trip, Pre-Serum Steve, Past Domestic Violence)
When Brock's continued domestic abuse puts not only Steve's life in danger, but also that of his unborn pup, he flees into the night with just a small backpack of clothes and almost no money to his name.
Steve quickly runs into trouble as he tries to embark on a 3-day cross-country bus journey back home to New York City.
He meets a kind veteran when he most needs a helping hand.
Just Words by LadyRazzle (crimegimp) @ladyrazzle (Pre-CATFA, Soulmate AU, T, 2K, Fluff)
Inspired by that now legendary post: "soulmate AU where you wake up on your 18th birthday with the first words your soulmate will say to you tattooed on your body so you’ll know them when you meet them." Well what if they appear the moment you turn 18, rather than just the day? And what if by the time you turn 18, you'd already fallen in love?
Bucky wasn’t eager to discover what the words said. He already knew what he wanted them to say. He always had.
Peter/Steve
Forgetting It's There by spinstitcher (stygian) (NR, 8K, Crack, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Porn)
“You’re Captain America,” he blurts out.
“What?” says Captain America, looking a little wide-eyed. He casts a nervous glance at the girl at the counter – he has nothing to worry about there, she’s rocking out to her iPod and could care less what they’re talking about – and says, “No, uh, Steve, it’s just, I’m Steve.”
“Right,” says Peter, and then because his brain-to-mouth filter had apparently been completely destroyed in the fight on Oscorp Tower: “Hey, your butt really is as tight as it looks on TV.”
DCU
Bane/Blake
7 Deadly Ass(as)sins by teacuphuman @teacuphuman09 (AU, E, 23K, BDSM)
Bane and Barsad own a sex shop and John needs a job.
Straws by Menirva (Bane/Blake/Barsad, AU, E, 38K, BDSM)
John works in a smoothie shop.
He has a knack, a second sense if you will, for being able to look at a person and know what they're going to order. It's not the most spectacular gift in the world but he likes being able to figure people out and he's never wrong.
Except for this scruffy asshole who is clearly just ordering the wrong thing to fuck with him.
How is he even finishing an extra-large?
Inception
Aurthur/Eames
Rough Trade by Whisky (whiskyrunner) @whiskyrunner (AU, E, 23K, Internalized Homophobia)
Arthur is an investment banker. He is professional and efficient. He's a halfway decent cook. He's totally independent and has been since the age of eighteen. Maybe he's tired all the time because he works about ninety hours a week which is twice what normal people do, but he's rich and he's competent at his job. He's almost thirty, and already a success.
And there are some things Arthur is not. For instance: Arthur is not gay.
Lucky by earlgreytea68 @earlgreytea68 (M, 37K, Kid fic)
Arthur finds a baby.
Teen Wolf
Stiles/Derek
Cut to the Bone by standinginanicedress (Omegaverse AU, E, 112K, Secret Relationship, Enemies to Lovers kinda)
“Not that it’s any of your god damn business, but my name is Stiles. Do you need something?”
The alpha grins. All teeth, shiny white, straight as an arrow. He’s got this sculpted perfection to him that Stiles is sure has worked on all the omegas he’s ever encountered before, but Stiles stands his ground and narrows his eyes. “A date.”
Stiles looks him up and down, slowly, from the black shoes on his feet, to his uniform khakis and blazer littered with pins, to his face. He frowns, makes a face, and says, “pass.”
Cornerstone by Vendelin (Human AU, E, 83K, Marine Derek, Blind Stiles, Friends to Lovers)
Suffering from PTSD, ex-Marine Derek Hale moves back to Beacon Hills to open a bookshop and find a calmer life. That’s where he meets Stiles, completely by accident. Stiles is talkative, charming and curious. Somehow, despite the fact that he’s blind, he’s able to read Derek like no one else.
Stand Fast in Your Enchantments by DevilDoll, Rahciach (AU, Graphic Violence, E, 76K, Captivity, Feral Derek)
"Stiles knew damn well what a pissed-off wolf sounded like, and every hair on the back of his neck was telling him that somewhere in this room was a very pissed-off werewolf." An AU in which Derek is feral, Stiles is magical, and they eat a lot of fast food.
The Payoff Pitch by Leslie_Knope (Sports AU, E, 83K, Coming Out, Friends to Lovers)
Derek is on the cusp of his second season with the LA Dodgers, and as the reigning runner-up Rookie of the Year, the pressure’s on him to become the team’s star pitcher and lead them to the playoffs for the first time in five years. He’s trying to deal with the burden of expectations and really has zero desire to spend any extra time or energy on anything that isn’t baseball.
But then he meets Stiles.
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anolyso · 3 years ago
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Utena thoughts...about 2 weeks later
I've been putting it off for way too long and so most of my thoughts stopped being fresh. On top of watching way too many analysis vids post-watch, but still I do at least want to put my 2cents of Revolutionary Girl Utena out there for the world.
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Utena is perhaps one of the most famous "magical girl"/shoujo action shows out there for not only it's transgressive themes of relationship abuse and low-key pretty much being the poster girl for like actual feminist perspective on/in anime...but also just doing it all in both a heavily allegorical and understated, yet super over-the-top stylish fashion
But that's it's reputation preceding itself, is Utena worth while all these years? The answer is Yes, but it also really shows it's age and budget in pacing and repetition, tho as an appreciator for "behind the scenes" compromises in art, it's more showcasing Ikuhara's talent in working around both taboo and long-form budget constraints with just well-thought out and iconic imagery that - while episodic and formulaic - is just very good at filling the 39 eps with feasts for the eyes.
Utena broadly is about tomboy Utena with memories long ago after her parents died being "saved" by a princely figure like a princess...except she's so enthralled by the nostalgia that instead she becomes a full on Prince herself and receives a dueling ring to fight in the Ohtori Acadamy secret duels for "engagement" to Rose Bride Himemiya Anthy.
Utena is divided between 4 arcs, only the first and last being Manga adapted from hearsay:
1: Student Council Saga
2: Black Rose Saga
3: Akio Ohtori Saga
4: Apocalypse
From back to forth I'd say that Akio + Apoc is more just escalation into the finale while Black Rose being anime original comes off as a glorified side-character study which while complementing the secondary cast, feels like one of those Anime movies that has to say "but if you don't watch this part, it's pretty much optional for the main plot" despite it also actually introducing the most important antagonist within it's margins.
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More importantly, it's the Student Council (arc and the actual people) that lay the foundation but also a large part of the show's focus which ironically puts Utena in the background until like almost the finale and some in-between developments, so it's less "Utena (and Anthy Himemiya)'s story" until the very end, but more like a showcase of how fucked up the system at large is (pin in that).
By the Council themselves is:
Kyouichi Saionji: The biggest jobber, like actually introduced as the most despicable loser ep 1 and proceeds to be a complete arrogant joke for the rest of the show. Honestly in another shojo "love" story, they'd find some way to redeem him but semi-compellingly they turn him into like an Aqua-lad type pathetic brat with an inferiority complex to the actual Student head
Miki Kaoru: the naive "nice, non-threatening soft boy" that also just never actually listens to the girls around him. Probably adds more complexity to the whole patriarchal idea on analytic reflection since yeah, the whole "nice guy finishes last" plays up better when the kid comes off as that "ally" energy of wanting to save Himemiya from being the Rose Bride but also low-key won't actually not just do the duels and win her cuz he's that sorta wishy-washy hypocrite. Arguably the least hateable guy in the cast (minus mascot Chu-Chu)
Juri Arisugawa: TRAGIC LESBIAN TRIANGLE LOVE. Probably the biggest point to of both "not-explicitly homosexual" but also really freaking obvious since her entire story is her girlfriend stealing her "boy crush" when actually she was crushing on her and being pretty much frustrated throughout her story as pining most of it. It's quaint by today's standards but also like damn girl, get over her she was like the worst back stabbing bitch (literally if Black Rose counts)
Nanami Kiryuu: SPEAKING OF QUEEN BITCH, it's been a long time since I've watched a High School girl bully and honestly it's kinda refreshing. If Miki is "soft-boy uwu" Nanami is a brat that gets her come-uppance often, featured prominently as an anime only with the MOST filler/comedic episodes but also not low-key, being the most out-spoken actual brother complex ironically spins perhaps the biggest twist and ironic relationships of "I love my brother but not-like-that but also like-that" by the end. Mostly comedic relief but I find her inclusion to actually add a lot more to juxtapose...
Touga Kiryuu: Big Student Council Prez himself, the first arc antagonist and also a strong foil to Saionji and later a stepping stone for Akio. Touga is THE image of a Princely Playboy Heart-Throb that in any other Shoujo romance would have the main girl win him over from all those "other girls" despite him being apathetic if not outright manipulative of them. Good thing Utena is better than that and really puts a spotlight on just not-actually-ok his power hunger for "the power to bring the world revolution" that leads him to heavily objectify Anthy, arguably even more than Misogynist Trophy Girlfriend beater Saionji, since he doesn't even see her as more than a means to an end despite professing and looking the Prince part but lacking all the actual virtues.
The Student council matters more since they're characters and subsequent tragic flaws are the ACTUAL meat of the show and on second rumination actual shows more how fucked up the system/gender dynamic/power hierarchy is since - while it blatantly fucks over Juri who can't just outright say who she likes - also show almost it's own sub-text of Masculine failings: Saionji desperately clinging to being TOXIC MASCULINE™ and completely falling short underneath Touga; Miki's "nice boy" act belying him trying to replace his low-key nostalgia for his sister (also a bitch, but apparently was more like Nanami in the manga); and best yet Touga being the quintessential "Prince in all but actual behavior" by emulating a cutthroat and Machiavellian world view but coming up empty because well, he's just an illusion of a prince...but that leads in way more to the big finale piece where I'll reintroduce the actual story's main trio
Utena Tenjou: Tomboy Prince with brain empty except for lesbian thoughts. Honestly probably what every western "STRONG INDEPENDENT WOMAN" archetype wishes they were since while having very tomboyish personality in athletics, blunt speaking and also VERY oblivious to the actual plot for REAL DRAMATIC IRONY, but also never actually demeaning her being feminine partially due to her love of an childhood prince and how she maintains her relationship with both her friend Wakaba and later Anthy. Honestly mostly a plot device after S1 until she gets ACTUAL development by the very end and instead kinda bumbles her way into undoing the entire REVOLUTION OF THE WORLD. I kinda wish she felt either more cognizant or at least felt like she was developing/properly rebuking the rest of the cast's power obsessions but I guess that's for the movie.
Anthy Himemiya: Actual Trophy Wife with a dark secret (darker than ski- wait no that's terrible scratch that). Set-up very much as an immediate princess in distress while also being the most femme Yamato Nadeshiko, Anthy being the Rose Bride as a literal prize who acts and behaves as whom she's "engaged" with desires while otherwise being quiet, wry, mysterious and noticably submissive, by the end it actually plays up into THE BIG REVEALS of just how abused she's been into a hopeless acceptance...like y'know actual abuse victims.
Akio Ohtori: Grade A Antagonist, probably the most insidious I've seen a villain in a while, Akio is notable for, back in 1997, being perhaps the big go-to of actual deconstructing the facade of a whole shoujo genre's "hots for a teacher/sexy man putting the moves" and highlighting how actually exploitative and abusive a person like that really is. Being Himemiya's brother (somewhat justified in the manga by both being a weird Sailor Moon-esque reincarnation of gods/godesses of Dios), despite how much of his motives are runing the background and how the entire back story is  uh...brought up in like barely in the last arc with little lead up (some scenes feel like they'd be a full melodrama season and they just have like 1 scene in the final arc episodes) he manages to one-up Touga (in the plot as well) by instead of "just" objectifying girls, not-just-flat out saying Utena looks best as a princess, but y'know the fact that he is implicitly yet constantly exploiting and victim-blaming Anthy for her own suffering for "the power of Dios/Revolution of the world" turns it on its head
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I've spent all this time on characters but in truth a lot of the meat of the show relies again on the Council Members fleshing out the issues of system leading to outright divorcing "being a Prince" (heroic altruistic virtues) and "being a man" (considering like all but maybe the comedic relief have some deliberately misogynistic behavior) and beyond just the plot (or rather character) synopsis, the talent goes far more in how it's framed, the symbolic/allegorical shots, the repetition adding a good episode formula flow to character showcases, probably the most "tasteful" allusion to uh...*ahem* sexual abuse that so many other edgier/prentious shows fumble. Both in how intimidating yet understated it's foreshadowing is until they hard-reveal it despite never explicitly naming it even tho it sends Nanami into hysterics
Really it's both a massive blessing and reason for it's cult beloved status for it's aesthetics but also it's burden, for being a full 39 episodic season by season character development study of everyone BUT the main trio except for snippets and the very end that makes it greatly appreciable as a legitimate work of art.
What I wanted more to say however (long overdue) is that a large part of following is, visibly at least, western feminist critiques and yes while it almost seems like Utena fits the "deconstructing patriarchy" story like a glove...it's weird how almost none of them actually can give a good historical account of actual Japanese female/gender/sexuality norms nor Anime contemporaries actually were. Like Tenchi Muyo and Berserk came out the same year (Cardcaptor Sakura the next) and despite how you can "feel" the influence in lots of modern shows like SHAFT's signature visual imagery cuts or many WESETERN shows having straight scene references to Utena....almost no one has a similar feel to Utena until like Princess Tutu comes out.
Really tho probably should've watched Utena and then Tutu because while it's undeniable that Utena is a major pillar of shoujo re-codification - what with everyone before Utena was saying they thought it'd be like a Rose of Versaille or Lady Knight rip-off...whose laughing now? - it's almost like there's a missing link between it and it's major western fanbase (probably with what few anime did get overseas, this one probably rose to the top), or how very noticeable there IS an influence on it's genre in Japan
Almost none of the big analyst fans actually know A) it's not "a deconstruction of Magical Girls" since despite Ikuhara working on Sailor Moon just before this, almost none of the tropes line up and instead more with Shoujo genre as a whole. or  one of the major inspirations was Takarazuka theater.
And this is not to dismiss how inspirational it is to it's western fandom, but while I am notably cynical towards placing things on pedestals, there's probably something about cultivating the whole pop-culture feminist reading commune with people making weird time-loop theories while kinda most of it is just filling in a mad-lib mostly thanks to Ikuhara just keeping things on the vague and letting the audience take away their own perspective.
Again, most of the show is completely sub-textual or visually/symbolically depicted and never stated nor properly defines it's weird key words (End of the World, Revolutionize the World, Power of Dios, Rose Bride, all things said constantly but never really said what they "mean". But that's also perhaps its charm, in it's allegory and very Death of the Author approach, it has definitely allowed it's fan theorizing and appreciation to flourish so there's something there for that.
Ultimately I'd say Utena the TV series is great more so for what it isn't...or rather I should say it's great for not just subverting Shoujo tropes and archetypes for the Japanese audience but also that despite dealing with some very serious and heavy subjects in obtuse and perhaps understated ways for the time, people have allowed it to be put on it's pedestal because they can easily fit it in themselves.
Honestly though, not that a more "straight forward" approach wouldn't detract from Utena but I will say that the movie, Adolescence of Utena, is very much the best encapsulation of what Utena strives to be (for another big blog post) and while the TV series has plenty of time and flexes it's directorial muscles with budget constraints and season pacing UNrestrained, the movie will trim a lot of the fat
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antiloreolympus · 3 years ago
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5 Anti LO Asks
1. i dont even think lo persephone is particularly a bad character, i think the issue is rachel has no idea what to do with her. she wants her to be native and innocent but also deadly and confident, but that'd require persephone to have some flaws/complexities, so she just makes up vague "feelings" and the underworld making her smell bad. rachel herself cant commit to actually letting persephone be a real character with weaknesses and flaws.  which just ends up making persephone boring and flat. 
(same anon abt persephone's lack of flaws) the issue too is that because rachel made persephone the most powerful goddess and has hades as the most powerful king with all the resources, all sense of stakes and tension is just not there. they dont even have actual antagonists because apollo, demeter, and leto are jokes, minthe had no power, and everyone falls over backwards to defend hxp, and we already know the ending. the plot and conflict are as shallow as the characters themselves.
2. its honestly kinda ??? that there is art of lo demeter and persephone and how loving of a relationship they are (were?) and yet thats not in the actual comic? like demeter's love for persephone is framed as abusive and cruel and the actual reason for persephone's problems yet everything demeter said would happen did?? and those werent her fault? like its one thing if demeter had all these fears but were proven wrong, but she's time and time again proven right? and is still framed badly for it???
3. i think part of the reason the art of lo doesnt hold up is bc the world is very flat. like the characters are already boring enough in their colors being the only actual character design, but the world around them is very lacking. theres no distinct buildings, no distinct flowers or trees, and the backgrounds all just flat voids of a single color with some sketchup lines slapped on top. now, other webtoons do this too, but its so the panel doesnt become overwhelmed, LO does it to be lazy.
4. the webtoons app updated to where now the main page banners change every time you open the app to let more series get ad space so OF COURS LO has a banner on it and?? its confusing?? like it has persephone being ~sexy in a bathtub~ and the tagline is "no service in the underworld" and its like what does that even mean?? also the ads love to pretend shes this confident, sexual woman when shes literally everything but in the actual comic. its kinda shocking how often the LO ads just lie like that.
5. Comparing LO to some other WEBTOON I would say that LO is too ambitious for its writer. For “Forever After” you normally just have the current issue and the overall issue with the story, so just because we go through characters in that story their characters complete their arcs. True Beauty is drawn out BUT arcs are still tied up abs even tho it’s not as interesting as it was it still holds my attention positively. “The first night with the duke” kinda got past the point I care about but still again has me drawn in. Suitor of Armor’s story is expanding greatly but I feel the writer already has plans for that
BUT LO is another story. The cast seems bloated for the plots going on and I’m losing track. Like Eros got to explain his little story, and then we forgot about it for a bit with Hades and Aphrodite talking about it for a split second and then way later Eros says “I’m gonna find Pyche” but is he looking? No he just asks his mom for more hints we don’t see him try to do anything clever. He doesn’t even find her on his own merit. And after two years we don’t even get a full conclusion how that went. They shot arrows at Apollo and then what? They were high up in the air, was Eros able to break their fall (probably) What about the whole falling for Ampleutus stuff? We probably won’t see anything for another couple months regrading those two.
ARTEMIS! She’s Persphone’s roommate, we know she’s lying about never having a crush but who is it? RS stated Artemis is gay. Does it matter? Does it influence the plot at all? Is it gonna be a big reveal that Zeus is her father? Why does she hate the three kings so much? Does Zeus know he’s her father? Or was Apollo abs Artemis “created” like Persphone and Hera? (Probably not but still)
HESTIA and ATHENA! When did they start TGOEM? Why did they? Hestia isn’t Athena’s aunt right? Was Athena “created” by Zeus? How does Hera feel about that? What was Hestia like before the war and now? Is Hestia close with the other six traitors?
Hera and her kids! We know Hera has more than Hephaestus Ares and Hebe but like what’s the story man? Hera is closer to all three of these children (Zeus seems to discourage Hephaestus presence, Ares defends his mom, and Hebes mad at Zeus for banishing Ares from the house) but these weren’t snap things that happened, it seems like the kids bond to their mother way more than their father just in general before the story, but why? I feel like Hera’s stuff is used as filler but I’m still more interested rather than HXP all the time. Whose the sister? Why is Hera closer to P rather than her own kids it seems. And echo!? Why did Zeus hire her and what’s the agreement?
That ghost that keeps showing up?
Whatever the Kronos revival plot is?
What happened to rhea?
So the Trojan war already happened?
What’s the deal with Demigods?
Nymphs can have parents but sometimes don’t? (Daphne was crested by Demeter, but Thetis has a mom?)
Is Megara and P now just friends? Or did we miss her character where she either gets over hades or plots revenge?
I just feel like with everything LO isn’t planned this far out and it’s just worrying for what she’s in the mood for not tying plots together and getting much figured out. Like the plot just Keep not moving forward because there’s just too much to cover. 
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killerhatcanons · 4 years ago
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Could u do a childhood friends hc with Trapper, The Shape and Ghostface?? 🥺🥺
Of course my friend! uwu
So we can imagine most of Michael‘s and Trapper‘s childhoods but I don’t think Danny has much of a background lore going as far soo I‘d personally also put him into a difficult household (even though I wish it were different) I also think I’ll put this one into a text form
TW: idek what to tag this with but I’m guessing abuse/domestic violence
The Trapper (Evan MacMillan)
Evan had always in a way idolized his father and his father had never deemed anyone worthy to get close to his son. Needless to say Evan didn’t have many friends at all when he was young. The other children were scared of his father and the stories their parents had told them about the MacMillan family. They were gruesome, as much as a parent would allow their child to hear but enough to ensure they would never want to get close to the MacMillan child.
You had always thought it was unfair. It wasn’t Evan’s fault that his dad was mean and you didn’t want him to sit alone over something he wasn’t responsible for. So you approached him and you kept approaching him even as he tried to push you away. He knew about the stories and he himself knew very well that his father wasn’t the kindest person. Time and time again had his father hit him for not following his orders, had thrown away his sketches and sent him to bed on an empty stomach as a punishment. He understood why others feared his father and he didn’t blame them. Even though he loved his father, he also despised him. He knew no one but him would endure his father’s punishments so when the tiny you approached him he tried his best to push you away. You were far too fragile, you couldn’t get close to him or his father. 
But you didn’t care. No matter how many times he rudely sent you away you always returned. And as time passed he felt himself slowly growing fond of you. You were nice to him, the only person that made him feel warm and he didn’t want you to leave him anymore. He wanted to keep your kindness, to keep the warmth you made him feel through the utter coldness he was accustomed to. So he allowed you to stay if only for a while which soon became longer and longer.
You played together in elementary school and he would protect you from anyone that even attempted to bully you. Or ask you out for that matter. He soon had to realize that he grew more and more possessive of you, that he didn’t want anyone to take you away from him. You had been with him since the beginning, had shown him kindness and understanding, had been there for him and took care of the bruises his father kept giving him. As cheesy as this sounded you had been his sun all along, naturally and selflessly giving him warmth without ever being asked to. His one and only friend.
Shit I might need to turn this into a fiction maybe? haha we’ll see
The Shape (Michael Meyers)
Michael had always been the silent child in your kindergarten group. First everyone thought he was just a little shy but you soon realized that he simply refused to speak. Of course your teacher tried to convince him to talk, even had a meeting with his parents but they assured that he learned speaking, however at one point simply stopped any form of communication. To the adults he was a hopeless case. They tried desparately to change him, but he wouldn’t budge. 
To you he was a welcome friend. You didn’t mind his silence, you knew he was listening to you and you could still play together. Well, it was mostly you telling him what to do with the toys, because he himself wouldn’t do anything besides holding them in his hand, but that wasn’t much of an issue to you. 
Of course you tried to get him to play with your other friends too, but his lack of enthusiasm often got in the way and the other kids got scared of his silent and emotionless behavior. However, even when they told you to, you refused to stop playing with Michael. Yes, he was a little odd, but that didn’t make him a bad child (killing his sister later lowkey did tho oop) so you didn’t want him to be alone. Everyone needs some company, right? 
Over time you noticed, that he would remember what you had told him to do with the toys, instead of simply holding them, to which you would give him a big smile.
This improvement you saw in his behavior made you even sadder when one day he stopped coming to the kindergarten. At first you had thought he was sick, but weeks went on without a single trace of him or his parents.
Upon asking you own they had told you he was sent to another kindergarten instead, that was specialized on children like him. You were sad of course, but you accepted it, hoping he would find more friends to play with now. 
You only later found out he was sent to an asylum instead of another kindergarten.
The Ghostface (Danny Johnson)
Danny Johnson did not have the nicest childhood imaginable. After her divorce his mother didn’t become directly abusive to him, more so the alcohol. 
He liked to think that the slurring woman bruising him wasn’t his mother, that it was simply someone else, someone more aggressive trying to be her. He didn’t want to think his mother hated him, he didn’t want to believe she would bruise him, would shout at him and blame him for what had happened to her marriage. 
Even as a young boy he knew to cover his bruises. He loved his mother, he didn’t want her to be alone even though the woman the alcohol brought out of her hurt him in every way possible. But it was his fault right? His dad didn’t want him so he left him and his mother. He was responsible and the least he thought he could do was let her let out her pain on the person responsible for her misery.
In school he didn’t talk much to anyone. He was a rather shy kid, not wanting to cause anymore trouble for anyone. At lunch he sat alone, but he didn’t mind. He also didn’t mind being called weird or gross for his greasy long hair or the bags under his eyes. Not that he wanted to talk to anyone about himself anyways. Not even to you as you approached him. 
You had watched him sit alone for a long time. He looked sad, restless, sometimes even scared and despite not even knowing him, it hurt you to see anyone in this state. So you went to talk to him. However, it took a while for him to stop avoiding you as best as he could and he eventually opened up to you a bit. He still didn’t tell you about the abuse until you reached middle school, but when he did you were determined to help him, to clear his understanding of him not being responsible for anything and to get him a new home. 
With the help of your parents you were able to get him out of his household and soon find a acquainted family that was willing to take him in. The Olsens tried their best to provide him with everything he needed. And while you knew it would take time for him to heal, you were relieved he was part of a loving family now, that would help him back onto a safe track. 
You couldn’t have known that the damage to Danny’s brain had already been done and there was no way of saving him from the twisted prison of his own mind.
OOK THESE ARE WAY DARKER THAN YOU PROBABLY WANTED BUT I OOP GOT CARRIED AWAY 
I can attempt to make it more wholesome a second time if you want these were just the most logical things that came to my mind haha... honestly idk but I usually think that someone isn’t just yk born a killer (except Michael maybe pfft) so I came up with some uhm logical upbringings to the boys haha yeet..
Anyways I’m considering turning the Evan and Ghosty one into their own separate story thingsies. Kinda hard to do something with Michael bc uhm Psychiatry but possibly something with a reader that’s also in treatment or we pull a Harley Quinn sometime who knows! 
For now I hope you aren’t too mad that this was so... dark instead of cute oop >:)) if you’re mad just let me die on the hook next time pffft
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tokoyamisstuff · 4 years ago
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Betrothed Ch. 6 - Illumi Zoldyck x Reader
Chapter 6: Bold
Summary: Two pretty unusual family meetings, but one of them lacks a happy end.
Warnings: Angst, Family Drama.
Words: ~4300
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Story Masterlist
A/N: Tumblr accidentally posted the unfinished draft a few days ago. Sorry for the confusion! As a treat, you get a very long chapter! (:
Before you were married, Illumi was rarely at home.
He had no one to come home to anyway, let alone someone who cared.
Anyway, this was only one of many things you had changed.
These times, whenever he left, it was only for a good reason like missions, training or caring for his siblings. Sometimes family conferences you were allowed to attend as well, yet not to talk.
Whenever he got home, it felt so cozy and peaceful.
Like he was welcomned and safe here - unlike anything he knew before.
Your home would always smell like scented candles, the many flowers you had planted at the balconry, and whatever you were cooking at the time.
It was very lovely and kinda cheesily decorated by now. Most of the things were stuff you asked Illumi to bring home from his missions, but lately he got you anything he thought you'd like.
Of course you were grateful for everything. It meant he took the time and actually think about what you'd appreciate!
Occasionally, you’d bring home injured animals you found in the forrest surrounding Kurokoo mountain. Sometimes your husband reluctantly assisted you, even though he found kindness futile - he just couldn’t say no to your begging eyes, so be it.
From you, he got love and care in return for his efforts. But a wild animal? Well, if he thought about it, he consdiered himself lacking a real consciousness just as much as the pets you kept.
One day, he’ll understand why people help each other without wanting something back - you promised him. Even though he always emphasized that saving such small lives won’t redeem him anyway.
Yes, the weight of his sins was sure massive - especially now that it all broke down on him, suffering under his newfound sympathy.
You swiped through your phone, adoring all the photos you persuaded him to take together.
It filled your heart with joy to notice every small change he underwent:
He'd run himself a bath from time to time, buy sweets or other things to try out, and spent his free time reading or wandering the estate's forrest instead of thoughtlessly staring into the void.
And for the more nasty things, well...let’s just say Illumi is a quick learner. And you were glad that he began taking the initiative and try out things he may enjoy.
Your husband was more and more developing a personality.
"She's so pretty!"
"Yeah, right?" you proudly commanded the owl to come back, and she immediately landed on your lap. "Her name is Luna."
“She was a gift from big bro Illumi, right?” Your familiar had grown strong very fast, yet it's claws never hurt you. Sometimes you almost forgot that Luna was a dangerous animal rather than a cuddly pet. “Yes, she is!”
"Maybe we can play in the forrest some day. I just need some time to convince your parents."
Alluka was sitting on a chair next to you, cheerfully petting the patient bird. "Thanks, big sis!"
Illumi's little sister was probably the only normal person in this building. No nen, no assassin training either, and a loving nature.
If only there wasn't-
"Y/N!" Oh no. Your husband was back earlier than you expected. "Did you bail her out again?!"
"Big bro!" the little girl cheered, jumping down the stair and wobbling to his direction.
There was not the slightest hint of hate inside of her. Even though she was alone all the time, she was blissfully unaware about her own family resenting her.
"Illumi!" That was the first time you actually raised your voice against him. "Take.down.the. needle. Right now!"
You kept Alluka from getting closer to Illumi, defendingly wrapping your arms around her.
God knows what he'd do...
"Then get that thing out of my face."
Actually, you didn't want to fight in front of a child, but Alluka needed constant superveilance . "How can you be so cruel? She's your sister!"
"Did you make a wish?"
"Of course not! I used my nen to get her out unnoticed, so she could spent some time like a normal child. I would've brought her back tonight. That's all, really! I promise!"
Suddenly, you felt a foreign, powerful aura under your palms.
Damn it.
You forgot her last wish was a hug, which was exactly what you gave her right now.
"Aye."
"That's enough." Illumi already had his needles prepared, infusing them with nen. "I'll end this right here."
You knew he didn't mean it like this. He was afraid of Nanika's powers, and even if this wouldn't end in a disaster, his parents would punish you for your reckless actions.
"Nanika?"
The girl answered, her blackened orbs obediantly glaring at you. "Aye?"
"Y/N" Illumi almost growled, still hesistant. "Know your place."
"Give Illumi a hug."
Baffled, Illumi's needles disappeared into thin air. The girl didn't even reach up to the tall man's thorso, rather embracing one of his legs.
She was so small and weak and fragile - and for the first time, Illumi was able to acknowledge the affection his sister felt for him.
"See?" you calmly explained, now hugging him as well. "Nanika is not evil. Only the people's wish are."
"...she's all alone" he spoke to himself, trying to at least logically understand the situation. "Just like you when I'm gone."
He didn't get it.
Hard enough to understand why you were caring so much about him, but Alluka? The sibling he always despised, insulted, abused, and locked away?
There were still so many things he didn't know yet.
"Well, if it's only the two of you, and I'm supervising..." he mumbled, kneeling down to the girl's height, "Then I guess I can promise you a few liberties."
Alluka's face and aura were back to normal, her glimmering eyes blinking happily at her brother, who was absentmindedly petting her hair.
"Great!" You clasped your hands together, disappearing in the kitchen. "Let's make a hot chocolate for you guys!"
Quickly, you reappeared to the two sitting on the sofa with an awkard distance, until you wrapped them in a blanket.
Illumi sat in middle of you two, deeply buried in thought while you and Alluka were watching TV until she fell asleep.
"I'll bring her back now" you whispered softly, but Illumi already cradled the snoring girl into his arms. "No. I will."
For a second, you were taken aback, unsure about his intentions - but you wanted to believe in him, so you stayed quiet about your apprehensions.
"She's cute, right?" you noticed as Illumi got a strand of hair out of her face. He held her with such great care and insecurity, it was a truly cute sight.
"Dunno. I know the definition of cute, but I don't think I really understand it."
"You are cute, for example." Placing a wet kiss on his cheek, you waved him goodbye as he walled out the door - but in the frame, he stopped.
"You're changing so many things at once."
"For better or worse?"
Illumi wouldn't turn around to look at you, instead watching Alluka's soundly sleeping face.
"I don't know. We'll see."
When Illumi took longer than expected, panic began to rise inside of you.
Did his parents find out? Due to your powers this should basically be impossible, but still-
"Alluka wanted me to stay and play with her" Illumi's voice appeared behind your back, making you jump a little.
So that's why he took so long.
"Was it fun?"
"I'm not a good brother" he murmured, "Not to her or any of them."
He remembered the time he got Kalluto a kimono you picked out for him, as a gift. 
“You’ve changed” the boy said back then, and the confusion in his eyes made Illumi painfully aware that the child was close to become just as inhuman as he was.
And he was the one who teached his siblings to be that way.
Your husband sat on the edge of the bed, with you already laying inside. He buried his face into his hands, seemingly distressed.
Yes, it was fun. Even though he didn't know how to properly entertain a child, Alluka seemed to enjoy her brother's attention inconditionally - just like you did.
Was that love?
"You just tried to protect your family, Lumi" you cooed, massaging his tensed shoulders.
"What about yours?" he suddenly asked, turning to you with a stony expression.
"I, uh-"
"Do you miss them?" Seems like he was afraid to lose you.
You tugged on his arm until he'd finally let himself fall into the bed, and you put an arm and leg around him, effectively trapping him into your hold.
"Of course I do. But this is my home now."
"And they're nice people?" he wondered, since your parents were assassins too.
He laid his head onto your chest, trying for your heartbeat to lull him to sleep.
"They are...special. Strict but loving. I think all parents fuck up their children somehow. But I still love them."
Both of you had already closed your eyes, his cold skin feeling refreshing on your warm one.
"Then let's meet them" Illumi suggested as his hand ran across your bodyline, before he stopped himself with a tender kiss on your skin.
"I want to know what other families are like."
Only a week later, you were allowed to leave the Zoldyck estate for the first time. Wether it was because of Illumi’s curiosity or maybe that he knew you missed your family, it didn’t matter.
Two different worlds.
Your family was living in the midst of the small town, loved by the inhabitants. Being honorable head hunters who mainly killed wanted criminals and acting as protectors of the city, you had kind of a reputation.
So it was no wonder everyone you saw greeted you with great respect, yet also as if you were never gone.
That was what a real home must feel like, Illumi thought as he watched you casually talk to anyone who recognized you while both of you wandered the main street.
“They sure think highly of you” he deducted out loud, seeing how anyone was smiling and cheering at you.
“Well...” Flustered, you rubbed the back of your head as you kept on walking, “I’ve grown up in between those people. Of course they know me! That’s all.”
“Mhh” he murmured, still eyeing everyone quite suspecting. This was your first day outisde the manor, and your husband would be damned if something would happen to you.
“There it is!” Already running ahead, you pointed at the tallest building of the town - your birthplace.
“Y/N Y/L/N” a familiar voice behind you spoke, trying way too hard to keep a straight face.
Turning around, you saw all of your siblings gathered at one spot. Of course you knew they had followed you this whole time, due to your nen - but it was still a pleasant surprise. “You guys!”
Giving each one of them a wholeheartedly hug, you immediately began to chatter about all kinds of things. You haven’t seen each other for a while, and you wanted to know everything.
“Better tell me next time” Illumi abruptly cut you off, and only now you realized the needles in between his fingers. “I almost killed them.”
Oh. So he noticed them too.
Well, your family had it worse, so they just laughed it off.
“So this is your husband, huh?” They didn’t dare speak his name - the family was too infamous, and not in a positive way. it wouldn’t really gain you the good kind of attention. “I thought you’d be more...intimidating.”
All of your siblings got way too close to Illumi, aving hands in front of his face and eyeing his appearance, at least trying to make the stoic man react in any way.
“Nice to meet you!” One of your brothers offered his hand for your husband to shake, yet Illumi decided on staring him down instead.
“Pleasure is all mine” he retorted in his robotic way, sounding way too fake for anyone to buy it.
At least they were not afraid of him. Your husband was very talented in hiding his bloodlust, after all - even though it was constantly there, not even a skilled nen user would notice.
“Mother and father are awaiting you at the usual spot.” Your brother’s voice was more serious now that he had assessed the situation.
It was clear from the very first moment that they didn’t only come to greet you - their main goal was the eldest Zoldyck.
“Seems like he’s now our leader” you pondered as all of them dispersed into different directions. 
Things had changed. Of course they did.
Back then, you declined your fate of becoming the clan-leader, even though it had been the centre of all your ambitions up until now.
Meeting Illumi made you question anything you expected from life.
You didn’t even know why: What would it matter if you left an assassin family just to join another one?
Even your youngest sister was different. You could feel her steady aura, meaning she had completed her training.
The situation made you both nostalgic and anxious.
“Do you regret it?” Illumi’s blank stare turned to your form, black orbs interrogating you. He knew you were meant to be a leader, yet you gave up on that dream and had laid down all your independency.
“Not really.” Shrugging, you quickly linked arms with your husband, leading him to the secret entrance of the headquarters. It was sealed with nen, just like back then.
At leas that didn’t change, and so you’d soon find yourself in the middle of the hall where you’d plan all of the operations back then.
“You’re home.” That solemn tone was fitting for your father: Hard to detect his emotions, but easy to understand. “Welcome home.”
Illumi took a few steps back, almost withdrawing into a dark corner of the room as if he wanted to disappear from this earth. He was more likely to be a mere bystander or observer than to be in social situations.
“My little angel of death!” your mother almost cried out, both incredibly happy and sorrowful. “You’ve returned to us!”
“And that handsome young man over there?” After she was done smothering your face in kisses, she directed her welcoming nature to Illumi was well. “C’mon, don’t be shy. Take a seat!”
That’s right. She’s never seen him before. He was here exactly once to propose in front of your father - god knows how he even got inside. Obviously it wasn’t really a big deal to him.
Your family was so insignificant compared to his heritage - not that it mattered to you, it was just an observation.
“When we heared your wish to bid our humble fort a visit, we were greatly honored” your father declared as all of you sat down at the great, round table. Now everyone was there: Siblings, uncles and aunts, even your grandparents and great-grandparents. “And we are glad of your safe arrival.”
Illumi didn’t really seem to be impressed, being able to silence the room with a single gesture of his hand. “Don’t go out of your way. I am here because Y/N wished to see you.”
You couldn’t help but smirk at his polite manner, even though he wasn’t very talkative. Trying to get a hold of his hand under the table, you’d spend the day just like that.
Hours just flew by as your family held a great dinner to honor ‘the happy couple’, with Illumi absorbing every little detail like a dry sponge: Daily conversations about irrelevant topics, tales about the past and especially the childhood.
He even managed to show a lopsided smile when he realized something made you particulary happy.
Yet everytime someone of your family tried to get close to you, all of you noticed how tense he became.
Of course he was very possessive, and didn’t want to share you with anyone. But it was so damn sweet that he at least tried to get himself together...
“I’ll be waiting outisde. Might give the town a visit.” Even through all of your objections, your husband was gone faster than any of you could comprehend. “Take all the time you need.”
“He’s amazing” you thought to yourself, not noticing how much you were trembling due to your excitement. Being here together with him was such a huge progress, and he was doing so damn great.
“Y/N?” Your father was the first one to take the word, clearing his throat before continuing. “Now that we’re alone...”
Of course he knew they weren’t. Illumi was supervisioning everything somehow. But they waited for so long, and needed to let it out.
It was ‘speak now or stay silent forever’.
“Tell us about life with the Zoldycks.” Your sister once again let her hand run up and down your arm, and you realized this wasn’t just loving closeness - they were searching for injuries. “Are they harsh on you?”
“His family is pretty crazy, but it’s nothing wild, really. I manage” you stated, pulling away from the touch of your siblings.
All of the eyes were on you now, dropping the act. Everything left was sympathy and...guilt?
“So...what’s your point?” You didn’t know why, but their glares made you furious somehow. Maybe because you knew what they were hinting at. “Just speak your mind.”
“Y/N, dear...” Now your mother was the one taking the initiative, squeezing your hand ever so slightly. “We’re so, so sorry! You need to understand why we did this, okay?”
“Did what?” When they didn’t respond, you repeated the question with a much weaker, almost broken voice. “Did...what?!”
“Isn’t it obvious?” your brother now spoke, almost disgusted by what he was about to say. “Giving you away to this...freak.”
“Huh?”
Your mother now clung to you, as if you were about to disappear if she was to ever let go. “There was no other choice!” she exclaimed, while your father dramatically swung his balled fist on the table. “The Zoldycks are dangerous! We knew your fate was sealed when he came asking for your hand in marriage...”
“Of course we despise that sick weirdo. Who would wish for their child to be with someone like him?!” your father continued, his explanation wrenching your heart dry. “But if we hadn’t complied, they would’ve taken you by force. You know they would’ve killed all of us. It was to protect the family, so we had to give you up! My sweet, sweet child-”
“-shut up” you whispered as you felt tears burning in your eyes.
“It’s okay, Y/N” your sister was trying to wipe them away, letting her thumb run over your cheek. “We’ve grown stong now, Y/N! You don’t need to protect us anymore, we’re-”
“You still don’t stand any chance against them.” You got up from your chair, slamming your palms on the table. “But that’s not the point!”
“What did that monster do to you?” 
“Oh, he? Nothing!” you now screamed, slamming a plate to the ground to release some of the built-up tension. “In opposite to you, who abandoned their daughter to save their own skin!”
You didn’t know. How could you have missed that fact? Those people weren’t glad you married him, they just weren’t honest with you.
And they were selfish - for all they cared, they would’ve given you away to die if Illumi had been that way.
“My husband-” you choked on a sob, feeling as if the love you felt for Illumi was crushing you, keeping you from breathing freely. “He’s been here with you, wanting to understand what a normal family is like. But only now I realize this one is just as fucked up!”
“Don’t say something like tha-”
“I’m not done!” Suddenly, an outburst of your aura shook the whole room. “Illumi is a kind and confused person. He was benevolent with you, against all of his teachings. And you are talking behind his back? How cowardly of you. I thought we were a family of proud warriors!”
All of them were looking at each other, nodding in unity as they all thought the same.
“Illumi Zoldyck is probably the most dangerous of them all. Maybe not the strongest, but the most mad of them all.” You grid your teeth, almost snarling at your grandfather’s words. “Don’t fool yourself, Y/N. Love is a foreign concept for him. The word has spread across the whole continent: Even his own family, those bloodthirsty monsters fear that young man!”
“You don’t know him like I do.” Turning around, you prepared to leave - but your siblings blocked the way. “As if I’d listen to the opinions of people who gave me away just like that.”
“Listen to us, Y/N. Maybe you can free yourself. He might’ve placed a needle-”
“That’s enough.”
Your eyes widened in wonder. How did Illumi get back in without any of you noticing?
Yet here he was, and his aura had turned purple, stained with black from all the disappointment, hurt and anger he miraculously contained without breaking down.
“I think Y/N is tired and wants to leave.” His voice was as unaffected as always, yet one look of him was enough to make your siblings freeze in terror.
“You’re Y/N’s family, so I won’t kill you” your husband declared in an absentminded tone, grabbing your wrist and turning towards the exit without anyone daring an attempt to stop him. Just after he shoved you out of the door, Illumi would turn around one last time -  a threatening ember sparkling in his eyes.
“But consider this a warning: Y/N belongs to me.”
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“Why?” your father asked with an almost begging undertone. “Why did it have to be Y/N?”
“Because your child is important to me.”
Illumi had carried you all the way out of the town, only getting to a hold when you were at a mountain far enough away. Not that your family would follow you anyway.
After being done crying to your heart’s extend, your husband let you down in the slightly wet grass, and you were able to see the dim lights of the city far away at the horizon.
“We’ve played here very often” you sniffled, trying to get a hold of yourself. “My siblings and I.”
“Ah.”
You appreciated moments like these. Illumi was a very good listener, even though you weren’t even sure that he actually cared about what you were saying.
It just felt good to have him near when you were sad.
“I’m so terribly sorry, Lumi...they shouldn’t have done that.”
“It’s okay.” No, it wasn’t You knew he tried to hard to be the best version of himself today, to try and respect boundaries and to trust people, and yet- “I am aware I’m a repulsive person.”
“Not to me.” Gently stoking his face, you could feel him rubbing his cheek on your palm in return.
“That’s enough for me.”
For a while, you just sat there, enjoying your closeness and the absence of anyone else in silence.
“So this is what family is like” Illumi cut through the nature’s sounds, “They protect you. And they only want your best.”
“They only ever thought of themselves.” You pulled your knees onto your chest, burying your face in them.
“I refuse to believe that.” Your husband wanted to pat your back, but decided against it just at the last second. “They seemed to be in great pain because of their actions. Can’t this only be because they cared about you?”
He was right, of course. The man with the heart of stone was great at knowing other people’s feelings, apparently. What an irony.
But you were too angry at that moment to listen to his rational explanation. That was only human, too.
“You know, when I was a child, my parents-”
“Please.” You wanted him to stop right there and now. “Don’t elaborate.”
Every time Illumi would complete a story about his childhood, it usually ended up with you having a crying fit. Then he was the one having to console you instead of the other way around, and it made you only feel guilty.
Of course you were happy that he’d finally open up a little, but...no. Just not now.
“You defended me” he changed the topic, quietly adding “Even though they were right...”
“That’s only natural. You’re my husband.”
Back then, you didn’t know Illumi’s intentions when he asked you to become his. But truth was, you didn’t regret it - not even for a second.
Illumi on the other hand was as overwhelmed as always.
“I was afraid you’d stay with them.” His voice sounded impassive, yet you knew him better than that. “But now-”
Listening to you passionately defending your husband’s honor was satisfying, obviously - yet knowing you broke with your family left a foul aftertaste in his mind.
No one ever stood up for him like that.
What a day.
His mind was racing, still trying to catch up with everything that had happened today: You did all of that, no - gave up so many things, just because of him.
His entire life was going one set and predetermined way, revolving around his family. Yet meeting you had changed both of your fates in a completely different direction.
And this meant he now had to learn with the consequences of actions he did out of his own, free will.
What for? And was it good or bad?
Now that he was with you, he had liberties. Choices. But freedom felt wrong and made him feel...scared? Not even he could decipher his emotions very well.
All that was clear from now on that - to a certain extend - you were free to draft your own ways - and together, it didn’t seem all that bad for him.
_____
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balenciagastones · 4 years ago
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hi im kinda new to this can you pls explain to me why everybody hates lauryn? all i know is she wants kyle to be a dad and he isn't
here we go! putting this under the cut so i don’t flood people’s dash who don’t care <3
okay so bit of backstory first cos im gonna try and do this in chronological order, she is chloe goodman’s sister and she used to go out with marcus rashford’s brother, apart from that she was pretty much a nobody. i also dk how much you know about kyle but basically he’s been with annie for agessss and they have 3 sons together. at the start of 2020 it came out that lauryn was pregnant with a mystery england footballer’s baby and it was kept a secret who it was for ages and just said that they were in a whirlwind romance and the baby was a miracle because she has endometriosis and pos meaning she would struggle to conceive naturally. it was outed cos of pap photos that have been said were staged by her, pretty much the whole of this has been staged by her tbh but it was later announced that the baby daddy was kyle walker and all hell broke loose tbh.
all throughout her pregnancy and a bit after the baby was born she wouldn’t reveal the gender but constantly baited it and hyped it up and drew a lot of attention to the baby’s gender (a little bit of backstory to this is that annie obviously has 3 boys as we said before but she always always wanted a girl and has always been v public with that fact, she also had a miscarriage which wasn’t talked about until after the baby was born but hindsight makes this whole gender situation worse but back to the story). her sister was also pregnant at the same time as her and was public saying she was having a girl so lauryn used to post stories with girls’ baby clothes and pink things in basically to just bait she was having a girl when she knew all along it was a boy, there’s literally no reason for this apart from her wanting to spite annie and imply that she was having a girl baby with the man she loved to hurt her for no reason.
cut forward to when the baby is born and she starts to promote these bracelets which have different ones for different situations, so she has one for anxiety, one for sleep, one for fertility (you can see where this is going) and there’s a few points with these scam bracelets. first off she came out and said she was wearing one at the time she slept with kyle so this baby perhaps wasn’t so much an accident on her part as she was manifesting fertility and that she’d become pregnant basically, take from that what you will but it was clearly her intention to fall pregnant with his baby when she knew he was with another woman long term and had 3 little boys with her. and the second part to it is just what an absolute scam those bracelets are, they’re not cheap and they target vulnerable groups of people and profit off their struggles which is obviously so immoral and disgusting when a fuckin bead bracelet clearly can’t make you fertile or make you sleep better or any of this shit, it’s taking advantage of people in desperate need and taking money from vulnerable people, it’s awful.
so now the baby is born and she’s said it’s a boy but hasn’t announced the name and allegedly didn’t pick the name until he was 4 months old or something, but she decides that they need a name to call him so decide to say his name is junior. now you can immediately see the issue with this, she’s been banging on for the whole of her pregnancy that she’s a single mother and he’s not involved blah blah blah then calls him junior, which ofc people asked if the name was kyle junior and she as much as said it was and started referring to him as junior until she posted a video of the baby holding a necklace that said KW. obviously calling your baby junior implies that they have the dad’s name and are the jr version of the dad so when she posted the KW necklace alongside a caption that said ‘for those asking why it doesn’t say JW, KW are his true initials’ ofc everybody assumed his name was kyle walker junior, and she let this go on for 6 MONTHS. she wore this necklace that says KW everywhere it’s lit in all of her instagram photos, it literally came across as a trophy just shouting that she got knocked up by kyle walker and just using it as a constant reminder to anyone and everyone that her baby was half famous footballer kyle walkers regardless of whether he was involved or not, baring in mind in the same breath she’s continuing to go on about how she’s a single mother and doing it all on her own. her saying she’s doing it all on her own is a load of shit too because her family helps her constantly and she always has someone looking after him with her and she lives in a big fancy house so she’s putting across she’s struggling and a single mother out on her own but that’s not the truth.
she also kept giving questionable parenting advice out on her story and endorsing products and methods that weren’t the most effective and weren’t recommended, even a blanket method that im sure was said to be harmful and she’s promoted many products that she shouldn’t have just in the name of money and fame and clout, she isn’t qualified to be giving out parenting advice to the scale she is and i understand she’s gotten experience but she talks like she’s a professional and holds q&as giving advice she’s not qualified to give and considering she promotes half dodgy products, it’s not the best situation. two more random things before we’re caught up to what’s happened today, she put the baby in a city jersey then the next week put him in a liverpool jersey just to spite kyle LMAO and they all went on holiday to dubai and im pretty sure paparazzi isnt allowed in dubai that’s why all the celebs go there but she was papped there so she must’ve set that up too lmaoooooo. but now we’re at today.
basically it started by kyle posting a picture of his own personal football boots that he played in for the final match of the season im sure, and he had printed on the names and dates of birth of all 3 kids he had with annie, and as you can quite imagine, lauryn wasn’t very happy with this. so she went straight on her stories preaching how horrific it was that he didn’t include kairo’s name on his boots and he’s done nothing but he cute and innocent and kyle was ‘bullying’ his own son which is obvs the wrong word to use but she’s daft and has been throwing around the word bullying, and talking about how she won’t let their son be left out, baring in mind she constantly says how she’s a single mother and prides herself on that she doesn’t have him involved and that he’s a horrible person etc etc. so all of her little minions who love her started replying to her story saying he was disgusting blah blah blah and decided as a collective with her encouragement to spam his page with kairo’s name and demand justice for kairo or something so after he got a few comments he turned the comments off from the post about the boots so they went to his first post before the boots which was a memorial post for the victims of the manchester arena attack. fully grown women commenting on a memorial post for such a tragic event demanding to know where kairos name was or spamming his name letter by letter, first off it’s just batshit crazy but second off how disrespectful?? from lauryn as well to encourage it and think of nobody but herself and want the attention because realistically it wasn’t gonna achieve anything but slightly irk him that he had to turn the comments off.
she’s also been encouraging people to email puma themselves and demand to know why they did it as if they had any input on what kyle had on his personal boots, puma probably had no idea about any of this and certainly didn’t do it on purpose to cause a storm so there’s no reason for them to be complaining to puma. she posted a list of what she wanted to happen including kyles post to be removed, the boots to be pulled (i don’t think she realises they were just personal boots for kyle and not a product for the general public to buy), a public apology to kairo and a public statement to be put out, none of which would solve the greater situation or help the situation that’s already been caused.
she posted saying kyle was bullying the baby and mentally abusing him which is disgusting to be throwing around when that’s not the case at all cos in reality kyles just trying to mend his relationships with annie and his family while keeping lauryn and the baby out of it like she keeps going on about, but then when it comes down to it she uses his surname, posts about it 24/7, wants his name on his boots, uses him for clout, walks around with a KW necklace on etc etc etc. most recently she’s created a petition to get pumas attention to do all of what i listed before and i think about 600 people have signed it so far.
i think that’s all although im sure anons will chip in if ive missed anything, that’s if anybody’s actually read this far 😭 so yes, more than you bargained for probably anon! story time with han! xx
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fluffymcu · 4 years ago
Text
Letting Loose
Part TEN
This series is TICKLE related. Outfits that are linked here are purely for picturing the clothes, you don’t have to look like the model.
Series Summary:  You’re the little sister of the one and only Captain America. You’re also the youngest girl on the team, so that automatically makes you the avengers’ little princess. And they spoil you as such. They have become your amazing family and you don’t know where you’d be without them. This series will show random adventures and fluffy events in the daily life of the reader and her family, along with an unexpected turn later on as you read.
A/N: I’m so exited to have gotten to the big twist! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter even though it doesn’t have any tickle scenes in this one just because I didn’t really feel it fit right with this part since it’s kinda serious.
Warnings: Drama?
Word Count: 2,335
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----
“I don’t understand, how is that possible?” You ask her, the team equally as confused. You had let her in, motioning for her to take a seat. She did so with a sigh and had a look of mild annoyance. 
“To put it simply, I was made out of a one night stand. My mom was Cassandra Murray.” She started, Tony instantly recognizing that name and gulping at the small pang of sadness hitting his chest. “She got diagnosed with cancer when I was 12. I didn’t have any other family because my mom and her parents had a falling out years ago for being too abusive. Of course, she didn’t want me staying with my abusive grandparents ever, or ending up in foster care, so she made me promise that when she died, I would go straight to find my father.” 
“I don’t understand, why didn’t your mother tell me she was pregnant or that I had a daughter?” Tony asked, his brows furrowed in deep confusion. Ruby Anne only shrugged and looked away.
“She never said. She just... kept it a secret until I was old enough to know who you were and she finally told me you were my father.” The room feel into a deep silence before Steve decided to speak up.
“Well, thank you for keeping your promise coming to us. You’ll stay here in the compound until you’re of legal age and after that you can decide where you want be. But we’d be happy to have you here for as long as you want.” Steve nodded at her, giving her a sympathetic smile before deciding to give them some space. “Oh, and I’m so sorry about your mom. May she rest in peace.” The rest of the team agreed and gave her their apologies before you followed the team out of the living room, leaving Tony and Ruby to talk. 
The room fell silent again, Ruby Anne avoiding Tony’s gaze. He took a deep breath. “Would you like me to... show you to your room?” He asked. She nodded without a word and followed him upstairs, taking her bag with her. 
----
“Holy crap, this is insane!” You exclaimed. All of you were currently in the basement processing the news. The team agreed and ran their fingers through their hair and rubbed their hands on their faces. You were still also very confused as to why she was looking at you weirdly. You had nothing to do with her, why was she giving you weird looks? You knew everybody knew who you were, and that you lived with the team but that wouldn’t really seem like a valid excuse to take it out on you. But then again, we all grieve in different ways??
“Yup, and we’ve seen some weird crap over the years.” Clint chuckled humorlessly, taking a seat on one of the cushions. “Poor Tony, this is gonna hit him hard.” Your stomach tied itself in a knot at the thought of Tony being so distraught. Tony deserved only happiness and the fact that he might be experiencing something other than that made you frown. 
“But, he’s Tony. He can handle anything, right?” You asked, doubt and worry dripping from your words. When you didn’t receive a verbal answer, instead just unsure looks, you sighed, making it your mission to help Tony as much as he needed with this situation.
--- 
“Okay! This is you.” Tony sighed, giving her a small smile as she walked in, putting her bag by the bed and looking around, showing no expression. “Umm, listen, so I know you’re going through a tough time right now, your mother just... passed and I just wanna say I’m so sorry. And I mean that for everything. For-” He gets cut off by Ruby Anne looking at him straight in the eye for the first time since she got here.
“I don’t need your pity right now. I’m fine. Thanks for the room, I’m good for now.” She says dryly, turning her back to him. 
He wants to say he’s surprised at her behavior but how could he? He hadn’t been there for her, and her mother just died, and now she has to come live with a bunch of strangers all of a sudden. So no, he wasn’t surprised at her distant behavior, but he could only hope she would warm up soon so he could make up for all of that lost time. He nodded quietly, grabbing the knob to her door. “Well, if you need anything, anything at all, just let know.” And with that, he left, shutting the door behind him. Ruby sighs, and sits down on the big chair next to her nightstand and stares around the room. It’s nothing like her room at home. Everything in here looked expensive, but it didn’t surprise her. It was the Avengers compound after all. 
-----
You and the team were surrounding the kitchen island trying to have a normal conversation after all of this, but failing miserably. Moments later Tony joins them at the island and sighs, rubbing his hands over his face. You frown and feel bad for him, walking over to give him a hug. He returns it, a sad expression on his face. 
“I know it’s only the first day but it still hurts to see her hate me.” He mumbled. 
Nat tilted her head and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. “She doesn’t hate you Tony, she’s just stressed. Like you said, this is the first day and a lot of things are changing for her and it may be too much for her right now. Plus she’s going through grief right now, so just give her time. She’ll come around.” She smiled, the rest of the team nodding in agreement. Tony sighed, not really believing it but nodding nonetheless. Now he just has to explain to Pepper why there’s another 15 year girl living in the compound when she comes back from her business trip.
---- 
It’s been 2 weeks, things have settled down a bit, the news finally settling in. The talk between Pepper and Tony going much better than expected, Pepper being very understanding and supportive. It made Tony feel at least a little better about the situation now that he had the support of his wife. Ruby Anne is still very distant, but he tells himself to be patient and give her time and space. She’ll warm up. He thought. She’ll warm up.
You and Peter trudged down the stairs, ready for school, waving everyone goodbye before running out to the car. Ruby was already there, sitting in the front seat next to Happy since you and Peter always sat in the back.
You thanked Happy, the 3 of you getting out of the car and walking inside. When Peter left to go to his class, you took advantage of this small time alone to try and talk to her, and maybe convince her to spend a little time with Tony.
“Hey, so maybe you wanna spend a little time with tony after school? I know he’s been eager to get to know you better and be a father to you?” You smile, trying to get her excited about spending some quality time with her dad. She turned to look at you with dulled eyes.
“He’s never been a father to me.” She ground out, walking in front of you. You stay there for a few seconds in mild shock but quickly recover, shaking off the stress and catching up to her.
“Ok... but,,, he didn’t know you had- you know, he didn’t know you existed then. But he does now! And he wants to apologize for everything and fix it!” You shrug cheerfully. She glanced at you once more before shaking her head and walking faster.
“No thanks.” She spat. You stand there and sigh, watching her advance and roll your eyes tiredly.
The whole school day you were thinking of plans to get Ruby Anne out of her shell. Right now, you would have liked it better if she could start warming up to Tony but apparently that wasn’t gonna happen just yet. So your next move was trying to get her to warm up to the rest of the team. Or at least for now, you and Peter.
———
You had gotten home later that day because traffic was horrible today so by the time you, Peter and Ruby got home, dinner was ready and they were waiting for you at the table.
“I’m not eating tonight.” Ruby mumbles, going straight to her room and closing the door. You raise your eyebrows a bit in mild awkwardness as you and Peter make your way to the table. Tony sighs, almost inaudible but you heard it. Pepper pats Tony’s back and reassured him. “Don’t worry, she’ll come around.”
“I wonder when that’ll be.” He chuckled dryly and you all begin to eat, trying to change the subject to a happier matter. You hate to see Tony so upset like this. And although you understood what Ruby was going through right now, the fact that his own daughter was the cause of him feeling like this didn’t sit right with you. You were getting impatient for him.
——-
3 weeks have passed, and Ruby has taken no steps toward getting to know anyone on the team. She would literally spend the whole day in her room if she wasn’t in school.
It was a Friday afternoon, and you all had gotten back from school and you and peter were watching a movie with Bucky and Wanda in the small movie theatre in the basement. Tony went to check up on Ruby, as he did everyday, hoping today would be the day where they take a positive step towards healing.
Ruby sighed when she heard the knock on her door and she rolled her eyes, letting out a mumbled “come in.” and facing away from the door. Tony stepped in, offering a smile even though she couldn’t see it. “Hey.” He started, not surprised when she didn’t respond.
“I uhh, just wanted to-“ He paused, not wanting to be turned down immediately again, deciding to delay the subject a bit. “Uhh y/n and Peter are down in the basement. They’re watching a movie with Barnes and Wanda. You didn’t wanna join them?” He asks.
She shakes her head silently, acting annoyed and shifting in her position. Tony bites his lip for a moment before trying once again to talk to her. “I also cane to say that I’m really sorry for not being there for you. If I had known-“ He sighs deeply as he gets cut off like he does every time he brings it up, looking down at the floor as she talks. But this time, she snaps at him.
“Look! I didn’t want to come here! The only reason I came in the first place was because I promised my mom I would. I didn’t want to come here!! I begged her not to make come here, but she made me promise because she didn’t want me ending up in an orphanage or foster care. That’s it! My mom was there for me!! You weren’t.” She spat, turning back around and giving him her back. Tony stood there, shocked. It was the longest conversation they’ve had together in the 2 months she’s been here, and it was to snap at him.
“I-I know, I didn’t know she had a daughter. And I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I promise, if I had known, I would never-“ he paused, chocking up a little as the guilt overtakes him. “I would have been there for you.”
She rolled her eyes and looking down at the floor, her brows knitted together. “I don’t need a father.” She seethed. “I spent all the important years of my life without one. It can stay that way.” She mumbled. Tony stayed there in silence, processing her words, and slowly nodding.
“Ok.” He sighs, leaving the room and closing the door, making his way down the halls. Ruby feels a bit of guilt for a split second before anger overcoming it and he grunts, taking a seat on the chair and moping.
———
After the movie, you go to check on Tony and after looking everywhere else, you go check down in his lab and you find him there, working on a suit. As you come in and walk closer to him, you notice how distraught he looks and your heart hurts as you walk faster over to him and rest your hand on his shoulder. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
Tony looks up at you, giving you a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes, and looks down to his work. “She uhh,,, doesn’t want me around her; at all. Says she’s lived all the important years of her life without me, so she can keep it that way.” He mumbled. You furrow your eyebrows at the fact that she would actually say that to her father. “Maybe I should just let her be. When she’s a legal adult, she’ll be allowed to leave the compound and she won’t have to see me again.” Your body jerks up a bit at the sound of Tony being close to giving up and you shake your head.
“No, don’t give up, Tony! She’s your daughter. She’s gonna be a challenge... I mean, she is your daughter after all,” you smile lightly, hoping to liven up the mood. Tony chuckles once and shrugs.
“Yeah, but... if she doesn’t want this, why should I force her.” He draws his lips in a fine line.
“Because she’s your daughter. And you have to show her that you’ll be there for her now, and that you won’t give up on her. Make her know she’s worth it to you. It’s gonna be hard, but, you can do it! You’re Iron man.” You smirk, nudging him a bit. He smirks up at you and hugs you tightly.
“My little munchkin.” He cooes, pulling apart from the hug to look at you again. “You sure you’re not gonna be jealous now since you’re gonna have to share my attention between you, Peter, and Ruby Anne?” He teased, pinching your hip causing you to giggle.
“No. She deserves all your attention right now.” You grin, patting Tony’s head affectionately. He smiled and nods, promising himself that he won’t give up.
———-
So since this chapter was a bit serious, there wasn’t really any tickle scenes, but chapter 11 will have lots of fluff so that will be out this Friday! I also have a short Steve x reader imagine that I will post next week :)
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iheartsunset · 4 years ago
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Papa Louie Scarlett HCs
-Rosabella Ocampo is a 23 year old singer/songwriter and graduate school student who lives with her fiancé, Rudy, in a Powder Point condo. She is widely known by her legal/stage name, Scarlett Heart and is the lead singer/songwriter of Scarlett and the Shakers. While punk ska and playing gigs with her friends are her true passion, Scarlett plans to become a game theory professor in the future. She can mostly be seen writing lyrics for a new song, riding roller coasters with Rudy, climbing trees with Clover, and just vibing with Marty.
-Scarlett is rather bold and seductive, often playfully flirting with others or making jokes about inappropriate topics. I stole this from Rouge, thanks SnapCube fandub for revitalizing my love for Sonic. Alongside her flirtatiousness is her intelligence and desire to succeed, using rules and lessons that she learned from various games to apply to her daily life. Thanks to her love of poker and mahjong, Scarlett has grown to be very analytical and sly in her motives. Out of the shakers, she is undoubtedly the big sister friend as she’s kind of a bad influence on the rest of them and is always subjected to scoldings by mom friend, Janana.
-Rudy calls her “Princesa” because of her Cinderella-like backstory. Her mother was a very kind woman and Scarlett lived happily with her and her father. Her mother died in a roadside construction accident when Scarlett was only 9, leaving Scarlett heartbroken. Her father then married a woman named Moira with two sons, Graham and David, who was emotionally abusive towards Scarlett until she moved out at age 16. Scarlett’s relationship with her dad deteriorated over time and she’s basically disowned them since. She finds solace in Marty and Clover’s parents, who think of Rudy and Scarlett as their own. She also got along with the other Frostfield residents and helped Willow get back into hockey after her infamous car accident (the first one).
-Stan Twitter often makes memes of her because she’s so iconic and quotable. One of her most iconic moments was when she screamed “I wrote this next one about my bitch ass stepmom. Moira, if you’re listening, your hair is limp and you fucking suck!” at the VMAs.
-Music was her escape as a child, hence why she learned to sing and play multiple instruments. However, her stepmother made her play the violin in the school orchestra as opposed to being allowed in a punk rock band. Even though she was concertmaster and first chair, she hated life so badly. Scarlett can play the guitar, bass guitar, violin, cello, drums, the trumpet, the saxophone, the bassoon, the piano, the xylophone, the harp, the flute, the recorder, the French horn, the clarinet, i didn’t even list all of them and I’m tired already. When one of the other shakers has lead vocals on a song, she’ll take over playing their instrument.
-Scarlett met Rudy during their shared freshman year of high school. Hazelnut High’s orchestra department had its annual field trip to Powder Point (based off my actual orchestra field trip!). Scarlett decided to sneak away from her snobby classmates and teachers and have the time to herself. On one particularly large roller coaster, she sat next to a boy with a Mohawk who told her that since he was a Powder Point native, he could more than handle it. He then proceeded to cry the entire time while holding her hand. They realized how much they had in common and kept in contact even after her trip was over. Their relationship is super lovey dovey, yet chill at the same time. Couple goals, but not on the level of Prudence x Cooper x Taylor.
-The shakers got together during the 23rd season of Flipline’s Got Talent. After the shocking elimination of Taylor Morales in the quarterfinals, the remaining acts were merged together. Scarlett and Rudy and Marty and Clover were two sets of pairs merged together. They all got along beforehand and loved Scarlett’s songwriting, so they all wrote an original song together for the finals. Even though they were fan favorites and had lots of support from the audience, Bill and Boopsy’s amazing ventriloquy act was what won the show, with the upset Shakers coming in second place. Afterwards, they were approached by Janana who offered to become their agent, and all they’ve known since was success. Fun fact: Rudy wouldnt accept Clover and Marty into their act unless they beat him and Scarlett at poker. They did.
-The shakers each can speak multiple languages, with Scarlett being able to speak fluent English and Tagalog, Tagalog being her native language (Filipino gang!). She can also speak some Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, Hindi, and Gaelic because she hangs around the other Shakers and Janana so much.
-All of the food, drinks, clothes, and personal belongings Scarlett loves are various shades of red. Cherries, longanisa, red wine, and candied strawberries are her favorite. Her entire wardrobe? Red. Her LED lights? Red. It honestly scares Rudy how red everything is.
-Her voice would either be Jessica Sanchez from American Idol or Gwen Stefani from the No Doubt era. She also covers a lot of No Doubt songs during their concerts. Speaking of covers, the shakers like to sing classic rock songs as well as modern day hits. Scarlett has the vocal range to do Ariana and Mariah Carey justice.
-Her and Marty are best friends. They’re both on the same wavelength and will most likely have the same reaction to memes, like word for word the same reaction. They usually have to get Rudy and Clover out of trouble most days. I love their chaotic, yet chill energy, like the types that just sit and observe and quietly make funny comments to each other.
-She determines whether she likes you or not based off of how good you are at mahjong or poker. If you suck enough to let her win, she’ll love you forever but if you match her in ability, she’ll respect you but kinda fear you as well. If you refuse to play altogether, she hates you. She’s a game theory student, so playing any board game with her is grounds for disaster because she’ll use her weird psychology and tricks to win all the time. Ironically, she sucks at video games. Even though she loves games of chance, she’s hugely against casinos and betting, instead trading small trinkets like food or makeup.
-At the Cheeseria, she set up a poker table, a mahjong table, and a pool table for the entertainment. They unfortunately had to get rid of the Uno table because somebody (ahem, Jojo) got a little too heated over a match with Papa and Wally. And by “got a little too heated”, I mean that Jojo literally got in a fist fight with Papa and lost.
-All she watches are telenovelas. Don’t ask about The Office or Game of Thrones, all she knows is stuff like Rubi and Maria la del Barrio.
-She doesn’t like musical theater except for Phantom of the Opera. She has taken a few roles as Kim in Miss Saigon, but secretly regrets it because musical theater is so much harder than just a regular concert. She still respects theater actors, but will never again sit through Anything Goes.
-She is the only one of the workers who has managed to successfully punch Guy Mortadello. Koilee and Rudy came close, but Scarlett landed an especially hard punch to his nose. Next to being engaged and forming Scarlett and the Shakers, she says it’s the third happiest day of her life. Now, Guy Mortadello is extremely scared of Scarlett and will cry if he sees her or hears her song on the radio (which is all the time).
-She has a tattoo of a heart of her hand along with a crown. On three of her fingers are a yellow Diamond, green clover, and blue spade.
-Scarlett is absolutely gorgeous and badass, I always kept rewinding Papas Cheeseria just to see her and Rudy in the opening because I had crushes on them both. Anyways, stan Scarlett for good grades (it’s not working though I’m still failing two classes)
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lost-writers-world · 4 years ago
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The Folk Of The Air Series by Holly Black: Series Review
I am reviewing the entire series in one post, just to prevent a large amount of unneeded posts. Will be doing that for series that I own or have read multiple books in. I will only post the summary of the first book to keep the post shorter.
The Cruel Prince: 4/5 stars
The Wicked King: 4/5 stars
The Queen of Nothing: 5/5 stars
How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories: 5/5 stars
The Cruel Prince Summary: "Guard your mortal heart. Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King. To win a place at the Court, she must defy him- and face the consequences. As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself."
Reviews for all four books below (Spoilers)
The Cruel Prince Review: I really enjoyed this book. Jude is such a badass main character. She is a strong and capable, and has complex emotions that make her feel real. You know that Jude isn't a a perfect person, but you relate to her, and want her to succeed. Cardan is a toss up in the first book, which is good. I believe that a good enemies to lovers needs that uncertainty. When Cardan and Jude kiss in the Court of Shadows you don't know if they are in love, or just have tension. Their relationship is more believable because it takes the for it to progress. Black has a good sense of timing throughout the series, making the build up investing. The plot twist at the end, with Jude crowning Cardan as High King, instead of Oak was amazing. Black left clues to Jude's plan, and the reveal is just amazing. You have a strong taste for the universe, and crave more.
The Wicked King Review: In my opinion, the weakest book of the series, but still very good. I liked the natural progression of the characters into the second book, but has some nitpicks. Locke turn to having Jude almost killed is a little extreme and seems out of character. I know Locke is supposed to crave drama, but this is a different level that I was kinda confused by. I also didn't like the time in the Undersea kingdom. It was an interesting idea, and brought forth a lot of good, but the time Undersea could have been condensed a bit. Other than those two gripes, the book was fantastic. It brings back the important plot point of Nicasia and Cardan's relationship, removes two of Elfhame's big threats (the undersea and Balekin) and leaves the biggest threat in the most power (Madoc). Jude's exile was an interesting plot point, that makes the story much more high stakes. Why would Cardan exile Jude right after their wedding? Yeah, sure, she killed Balekin, but he was the one who started the challenge anyway.
The Queen of Nothing Review: Queen of Nothing was a great final book. All major loose ends are tied up. Cardan and Jude end up happy together. Elfhame is a better place. Locke is dead. Jude's strange broken family is back together. It is just a good ending. Black wraps up the main plot all nicely, after upping the stakes in the last book. Jude has to influtrate the Court after her banishment, but is caught my Cardan. He tries to let her know she is allowed back, but is cut off by Madoc rescuing her, thinking she is her sister. It is a mess, but so much fun. There isn't a single wasted page, or plot point that didn't need to be there. Action after action after action. All to end with a happy ending, the one everyone deserves.
How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories: This companion book is a short collection of stories from Cardan's life. Throughout the main series, we get to hear about these important childhood events in Cardan's life, and in this book, we see how they went down. Cardan's meetings with Grima Mog, the framed murder that got him kicked out of the palace, Balekin's abuse, how Cardan got a hold of the Alice in Wonderland book from book one, Nicasia and Cardan's relationship and its downfall, Cardan developing feelings from Jude, it is all there. Along with a framing story of present day Jude and Cardan on their way to fight Grima Mog. A lovely addition that clears up any confusion of Cardan and his life.
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