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robynlilyblack · 3 years ago

Text

Bookshop Girl

Chapter 3: Stars

Remus Lupin x fem! Hufflepuff! reader

Summary: Y/n has a couple of encounters with a certain star and Remus explains the plot of his book to James

Warnings: swearing, mentions of food and sex

a/n: 3.4k words, things are getting interesting so hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think x

Navigation | Remus Lupin Masterlist | Previous Part | Next part

Sirius wandered through the hallways aimlessly in search of something to do. Remus and James were in class, Peter was currently passed out which may or may not have been the raven-haired boys’ fault and now with pranking Snape off the table, he was beyond bored. Passing by the library entrance he stopped, thinking for a second before heading in giving the librarian a wink as he walked by causing the women to reluctantly blush as she made a mental note to watch him for any shenanigans.

Walking towards the charms section, well what he was 70% sure was that section, his eyes started trailing over the books for the one Remus and Peter were talking about. The map was completed but this book would help them add a little flair to it, a personal mischievous touch if you will. As he walked around the corner and started to head down yet another strip of never-ending bookshelves, he spotted someone attempting to push themselves up on the little desk in order to grab a book.

He smiled at the scene as he approached, letting his eyes fall down across their figure in particular the way the skirt had ridden upever so slightly in their endeavours “Need a hand?” he says making the poor girl jump in her surprise and fall off of the desk

Sirius is quick and reaches out, head hitting his chest as she falls into his arms. As he helps steady her he realises who the girl is, what are the chances, he thinks as he recognises you, the little Hufflepuff that he caught smiling at him earlier at breakfast.

“I am good if you’re falling for me that quick” he teases lightly as you finally look up to see him, eyes widening as you feel your face get hot, whether it was from embarrassment or the flirting you didn’t know

“Thank you” you say quietly as you take a small step back and out of his arms

“Which one?” he asks to which you give him the most adorable confused look “Book” he gently prods smiling as he sees the flash of realisation as you cringe

“You see the red one with the gold lettering and accents” you point up towards it to which he nods “It’s that one” you say shyly

“Alright” he gives a quick nod as he clampers onto the desk with ease, standing on top of it as he retrieves the book for you

“Mr Black!” you both turn to see the librarian with her hands on her hips “What do you think you are doing, this is a library not a jungle gym” she disciplines

“One” Sirius holds up a finger “I was getting this fair lady her book” he wiggles the book not even making a move to jump down from the table “And two” he puts up another finger “What is a jungle gym?” he asks as you begin to giggle making his confidence soar as he smiles down at you

“Miss Y/l/n I expected better from you” you gasp as she scolds you “Mr Black get off the table now and both of you out, you are both banned from the library for the rest of the day” she informs with a rather large huff before taking her leave

Sirius starts laughing before he spots the book he needed “Oh” he leans over and grabs it before slipping down to sit on the table as he holds it out towards you “Here you go little puff”

You give him a smile as you take it “Thanks” you bite your lip

“You are more than welcome” he says as he hops off of the desk “Come on, she’ll be back to kick us out if we don’t leave, trust me she’ll wingardium levios-us the fuck out out of here before you could actually finish that mouthful” you let out a small laugh as you follow him ignoring the annoyed stares from other students

Exiting the library, you look ahead up the corridor to see Remus come around the corner with James. You panicked, you weren’t ready to see him yet you were hoping to do that tomorrow in class so you made your excuses

“I need to find my friends I promised I’d get this to them” you hold the book “Thanks again” you say quickly as you half scamper away leaving Sirius smiling at your receding figure

“Bye then” he says to himself with a chuckle “Merlin she’s cute” he smiles as he turns to his two friends as they approach

“What you smiling at?” James asks before looking around “Where’s Wormtail?”

“Oh, emmm Wormtail is…” he thinks for a second “…taking a nap” he answers with a shrug

“Nap my arse!” Peter appears out of nowhere “You thought I was a real rat and kicked me you…you prat” he gives him an annoyed look as he whisper shouts

James barks out a laugh before composing himself “Sorry…sorry that’s…that’s not funny” he shakes his head pursing his lips together shaking his head as he attempts to contain himself

“It’s not my fault” Sirius defends while Remus gives him a sceptical look “It isn’t” he points a Remus then Peter “Because you’re the one that’s weird and goes about in his form all the time” again the last part is whispered as he insists on his ‘innocence’

“I like the way it feels to be small, the covers are so cozy when you’re this size” Peter pouts as he gestures

“It was my jumper” Sirius states “And it was on the floor”

“Same thing” Peter shrugs

“It’s weird, we don’t just shift for anything” Sirius argues

“Says you who makes me give you belly rubs as Padfoot” Remus reminds him with one hand on his hip to which the boy blushes slightly

“That’s…that’s different” he points at Remus “I can’t be mistaken for another woodland creature”

“Guys as much as I am loving…this” James motions to the three of them “We need to get to lunch as after my little interaction with Snape this morning my Lilypad smiled at me in class, so come on troops” he points to the sky as he swivels around and starts walking, the other three following slowly behind

“Oh, I got the book by the way” Sirius hands it to Peter

“Sirius Black entered the library on purpose” Remus mocks earning a shove as Peter chuckles putting the book in his bag

“Stranger things have happened” Peter notes “Speaking off are we still going later?”

“Nah, Prongs got himself a detention and now we have this” he motions to the bag with the book “We don’t need to”

“Well that’s good because I got myself banned for the day” Sirius says casually

“Why am I not surprised” Remus shakes his head “How’d you manage it this time?”

“I was just helping a girl get her book” he answers shrugging

“Is that a new euphemism or something?” Remus raises an eyebrow

“No…” Sirius starts laughing “But believe me I’m using that when you finally get laid” he nudges the boy

“GUYS MOVE YOUR ARSES!” James shouts form down the hall not realising his professer is behind him “I swear to merlin...oh hi Minnie!”

“You’ve just extended your detention by 3 hours Mr Potter…something funny?” she eyes the three boys who all stop their sniggering and shake their heads quickly

You sighed in exhaustion as you waited for the class to start, it was times like this you severely regretted taking Astronomy, it wasn’t that you sisn’t love the subject because you did but it was the late night classes that were the killer. While you fliddled with the feathers of your quill, attemping to stay somewhat conscious, you thought back to your encounter with Sirius. You pondered if he mentioned it to Remus or if he even recognised your name, although Remus might have only mentioned your first name or maybe he didn’t hear it right because it happened quite quickly. Either way you couldn’t help but wonder if Remus mentioned you at all

As you sat daydreaming Sirius waltzed in looking for somewhere to sit. Scanning around the room he spotted you in your own little world, smirking to himself as he made his way over to your desk, deciding you would make a fine partner this semester

You jump a little as you feel someone sit next to you, looking over to see Sirius already smiling “Hello again little puff” he greets “Seems fate has a date for us” he winks

“Hi” you squeak out a little nervous, the flirty attention was a little foreign to you

Sirius licks his lips loving how adorable you are “So what’s your name? I didn’t quite catch it before you ran off”

You hesitate for a moment before answering “Y/n Y/l/n” your eyes flick up to gage his reaction

He smiles nodding “Pretty name I’m Sirius, although I’m sure you already knew that” he raises his eyebrows before turning his head to the professor as she introduces the lesson

You turn as well but you aren’t really listening as your heart ached. Sirius clearly didn’t recognise your name which meant Remus never told him. Was your interaction really that insignificant?

You were so trapped in your own thoughts you didn’t notice the professor had stopped talking and Sirius was looking at you amused “Y/n” he places his hand gently on your arm grabbing your attention

“Yeah?” you turn around to look at him before you double back, realising everyone else is already off with their telescopes

“Did you hear anything she said?” Sirius inquires, letting out a small chuckle when you shake your head a tad embarrassed “Don’t worry we’ve just to fill out constellations to refamiliarize ourselves” he reassures you “Simple stuff, even more so as you’re partnered with your very own star” he wiggles his eyebrows gesturing for you to follow him over with your telescope to one of the free desks by the towers edge

“Do you take Charms?” he asks as he looks through the scope

“Yeah” you confirm as you fill in some of the constellations you can see by your eye

“Me too” he turns to smile at you “Guess we’ll be seeing a lot of each other this year little puff” he comments before pointing to your parchment “Little bear is just there” he traces it with his finger as you follow it with the quill

“Why’d you pick Astronomy?” you ask timidly trying your best to make some conversation

“It’s easy and I don’t have to study” he answers happily “You?” he glances over quickly before turning his attention back to the night sky

“I learned about it in primary school and this read this book when I was younger” you answer as you sketch out the next constellation he traces

“So, you’re a muggleborn?” he asks as he looks through the telescope once again, nodding as he hears your small hum in agreement “Cool” he smiles at you but it falters seeing your puzzled face “I’m not...I’m not like my family you know” he tenses a little

“Oh, I didn’t mean it like that” you shake your head “I don’t really know wizarding families, I only know the Diggory’s because of Amos. I only really have two close friends here” you confess tugging your bottom lip between your teeth while Sirius’ shoulders relax in relief

“Ah, Amos is alright bit of an arse but he’s one of the better ones” your eyebrows knit together making him chuckle “Sorry” he apologises “Who’s the other?” he probes

“Alex” you answer making Sirius’ eyes blow wide

“McConnell?” you nod “The guy that told Lastrange to shove his head up his own arse in 3rd year?” he looks at you with a fascinated expression

“That would be him” you giggle remembering the look of pure shock on the boy’s face

“You pick good friends” he chuckles with you “Great dog is there” he smirks as his finger traces over the star he’s named after “What was the book my friend Moony always has his nose in one”

Your eyes widen a bit as your heart rate quickens, Sirius seems to notice but takes your state as one of confusion “Moony is a nickname for Remus” he explains

“Oh” you nod pretending that was problem “Emm the book was called 2001, a space odyssey”

“It’s set in the future?” Sirius raises an eyebrow as he turns to look at you perplexed

“Yeah it’s a science fiction novel” you answer as you begin write labels next to the constellations since Sirius has stopped looking for others to draw in

“Cool I’ll have to ask Moony about it, although he’s currently obsessed with this book he got over summer” he shakes his head while you can’t help but feel a little flutter at the knowledge

“Can I ask you something?” you tilt your head

“Anything darling” Sirius leans with his elbow on the desk giving you his full attention

“Why do you guys have nicknames?” this had always been something you thought about after they randomly showed up around your 5th year

“It’s based off our favourite animals” Sirius explains, ready to recite his fake answer like he had done to many a person before you “Remus likes wolves hence Moony, James likes deer so Prongs, Pete likes rats” Peters one made you pull a face to which Sirius chuckles “I know a bit weird but that’s Wormtail” you giggle a bit “And best till last I like dogs so I’m Padfoot, but they mostly call me Pads”

“That’s kind of cool, I like it” he smiles at the compliment as you both turn your attention back to the stars

The boys were currently waiting up for Sirius to get back from class so they could work on the last few touches to their map. While they waited, Remus read his book, Peter fiddled with some kind of product from Zonko’s and James lay on the bed next to Peter after giving up on trying to modify it himself. James peered over at Remus nose deep in his book, after scrunching up his nose in thought he sits up and moves over Remus’ bed to annoy him.

Plopping himself down Remus looks away from his book to see James grinning at him “Hi” Remus just stares at him for a moment before returning to the book knowing full well James was going to pester him

“Tell me” James half demands

“What?” Remus deadpans, playing innocent

“You know what” James’ tone gearing towards whiney as he extends last word

Remus’ eyes flick up to James “I’m not telling you her name” he shakes his head

James huffs “I’m not talking about your little bookshop girl Moony I’m talking about my Lilypad” he bounces up and down on the bed

“What about your Lilypad” Remus mocks placing the book on his lap as Peter chuckles heading into the bathroom

James eyes Remus “Aww Prongs she was just so pretty, I can’t stop thinking about her, I swear I see her everywhere I go…Oww!” James mocks him dramtically before earning a smack to the back of the head

“Fine, ask away” Remus concedes face heating up

James break out in a huge grin settling himself with his back against the headboard next to Remus “What was her reaction to me with Snivellus earlier? I didn’t get to see it you know, cool guys don’t look at explosions and all that” James watches as Remus tilts his head “Marlene”

Remus lets out an ‘ah’ in understanding before he clocks the use of a certain nickname “I thought your weren’t going call him that anymore?”

“No…I said we weren’t going to call him that in public, loop hole” he says almost proudly

“You’re just breaking all the muggle sayings out today aren’t you? I swear letting you and marls partner together was a mistake” Remus shakes his head

“Anyway” James motions with his hand for Remus to answer his original question

“I’m not telling you”

“Mooonyyyy” James whines like a child

“Nope” he pops the ‘p’ as he returns to his book, James huffs before smirking mischievously as he snatchers the book from Remus’ hands holding it up as he climbs over him “Give it back” Remus tries to reach up but James pushes his chest down with his spare hand legs straddling either side of him

“Tell me Lilly’s reaction and I’ll give you have your precious book” James bargains

Remus tries to push himself up to grab it but James is too strong “Ugh” he groans in defeat “She was smiling okay, now give it back” he makes grabby hands towards the book

“She was…hey�� James lights up lowering the book as he remains seated on Remus, jumping a little as Remus swipes back the book and places safely on his nightstand “Merlin you love that book”

“It’s a good book” he defends

“Is it or are you attached to it because your girlfriend sold it to you” James crosses his arms

“She not my girlfriend” Remus mutters as he blushes again at the thought of that actually happening

“Ugh” Peter re-enters the room with a raised eyebrow, eyeing the seemingly compromising position the boys where still sitting in “You making your way through the group? First Pads on the train now Prongs?” Peter teases Remus whose eyes widen while James just laughs

“That means your next Wormy” James says making Peter go a bit red as he goes back to tinkering with the product while James moves to sit back in the spot he was before “What’s it about anyway?”

“Well it’s a kind of fantasy book, there’s this group of people that need to journey across some land to get home. The main focus is on the relationships within the group, their interactions. There are romantic storylines as well, like a love triangle between three of the side characters” Remus explains

“What kind of love triangle?” James inquires

“Two guys and a girl, it looks like the girl will have to choose but I think that won’t be until the very end, it’s pretty slow burn” Remus clarifies

“What’s her choices?”

“One of them is a bit quieter, more level headed, while the other is this kind of...mysterious bad boy that shows up about a third of the way into the book and sweeps her off her feet for a while” Remus rolls his eyes he didn’t really like that character

“Sounds like you and Sirius” James notes as he lets out a laugh

Remus freezes for a moment as it dawns on him “Oh, merlin it does” he cringes “I’m never going to unseen that now” he complains nudging his friend

“You are welcome my man” James pats his back “So who do you think she’ll…” he starts just as Sirius enters the room dramatically, scaring himself slightly as the door bangs harder than expected

“Opps…” Sirius cringes “Any who…I have returned” he poses with his hands on his hips earning chuckles for the three boys “Miss me” he grins as he moves to plop down on his bed

“Dearly” James says making Sirius and Peter laugh while Remus just rolls his eyes

“So what extra features are we adding?” James turns to Remus

“There’s one that we can modify to mock anyone that tries to use the map without our passcode. Oh and theres one we could put in that would show interactions between people” Remus says as he reaches over to get the charms book from Peters bag, flicking through it to kind the spell “Here it is, we can use it to display a dark cloud or something when two people are arguing or…”

“Or hearts when two people are doing it” Sirius interjects

“That...too” Remus says shaking his head “Give me a second I’ll find the other one” Remus starts searching while the others talk

“So how what Astronomy?” Peter asks placing down the product and scooting to sit on the end of his bed

“Pretty good when you have a cute partner” he winks

“Who per tell has captured the interest of our dear Padfoot” James asks intrigued

“This little Hufflepuff. She’s adorable, quite shy, kinda reminds me of Moony a bit but she’s much prettier” he teases making James and Peter chuckle

“Love you too Pads” Remus deadpans with a small smile on his face “This the same girl you spotted at breakfast?” he lifts his head eyeing him

“Yeah, same girl from the library too” Sirius elaborates as Remus gives him a small nod before continuing his search

“What’s her name?” Peter asks

“Y/n Y/l/n”

Let me know if you want to be tagged xx

@standarizedpumpkins @mitsuriiiii @idkfanficblog @wolfstardaughter-jj

#remus and reader #remus and you #remus x reader #remus lupin and reader #remus lupin x you #remus lupin x y/n #Remus Lupin #remus lupin reader #marauders era #Marauders #bookshopgirl

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wolfstarlibrarian · 4 years ago

Note

hey this might be a bit of an odd ask, but i was wondering if you haven’t already if you could possibly compile a list of recommendations that are a “must read” or “fandom favourites” for wolfstar?

Hello friend! Not an odd ask at all, but a difficult one to answer. No matter who you ask, everyone will give you a different set of fics that are their “must reads” or “fandom classics”, so I appreciate your “favourites” option which is much less daunting.

If you’re looking for canon-era/MWPP era fics as an intro to the wolfstar fandom, start with this list:

Wolfstar Starter Kit

Now onto the fics the Librarian finds themselves reading over and over again. If you also like fics with adults, sweet romance vibes, maybe some comedy and happy endings, then you might like these as well! Also check out Favorite Fic Bingo: 1-4.

The Librarian’s 12 Favorite Fics

Modern Artists: Celestial Bodies by @remus-john-lupin

This feels like the best of all of the Librarian’s favorite ideas wrapped into one beautiful fic. Modern get together, crazy prongs, sexy chaotic painter Sirius, cute nerd Remus, loving parents and an issue with timing all come together in the most lovely prose. It’s a visual feast the way the words leap off the page and paint a picture in your mind, making the entire romance feel like a magical movie.

Canon-Era Get Together: Unknown Pleasures by @kattlupin

So, Remus moves in with a PLANT BABY OKAY, and there are scenes where Sirius gives him his hoodie to wear, and there’s so much pining and the two of them trying to be kind to each other in a scary situation it’s just...ugh. This soft and tender fic pulls at the heart strings and was immediately Librarian’s favorite canon-era fic. It’s coming to terms with who you, and who you can be, and leaves the reader comforted in the face of the unknown.

Finding Love w/Anxiety: Roma is Amor spelled backwards by @aryastark-valarmorghulis

Too often, characters mental health struggles are written into a partnership where one of them “saves” the other from their insecurities. While romance is powerful, it never saves us from our anxieties, and thankfully this fic doesn’t shy away from the realism of finding love with anxiety. It’s incredibly relatable and will leave you with a feeling of hope and peace. Beautiful prose and lovely descriptors round out a quiet story that sneaks into your heart.

Modern with Great Banter: How Remus Got His Groove Back by @theprongsletthatlived

The Librarian paused for full two minutes trying to categorize this fic and still failed, but don’t let that stop you from reading this fic. If it was a book, it’d be the Librarian’s favorite. It can stand on its own, but the characters are still true to their canon selves, despite being thrown into need and complicated situations. Deep emotions juxtaposed against witty banter and modern shenanigans may ruin you for another modern fics, but it’s definitely worth it.

College Comedy + Magic: A Supplementary Story by @elixirsoflife

Sassy college student Remus meets Vampire Sirius? At first its sounds too silly to be good, but this one always gets the Librarian laughing and is reread repeatedly to chase away bad nighttime thoughts.

Battling Insecurities/Smut: A Pair of Brown Eyes by @hp-shessocold

This features a Librarian’s favorite trope: older wolfstar! They’re realistic and still so in love with each other that you’ll swoon. And if that doesn’t do it, the way that Sirius helps Remus while getting him off? Well, it’s a fantasy and wholesome moment combined.

Customer Service Fluff: Let's Go Out With a Bang -orphaned account

Most people can relate to the woes of customer service, but this one gives the reader a fluffy fantasy of what could happen. Cotton candy fluff.

Coffee-shop AU: Finest in Fairford by @bluepeon-y

There may be tens of thousands of coffee shop AUs, but this one has a quiet magic to it that sets it apart. Also, Sirius as an author is underrated and it compliments the way this fic this features each of their nerdy sides in this author-meet-cute fantasy.

Modern Teacher: Signs of Affection by @kittycargo

Do you wish there was a comfort fic that was soft without all the angst? A fic that taught you new ways to express love or find a family? This is that fic. It’s a gentle journey to the heart where they’re both teachers, and both learn a little something from each other. If a fic could hug you and tell you it’ll all be okay, this would be the one to do it.

Awkward Magic: A Black Dog by @toyhto

This is maybe the strangest premise on the list but it’s so good. It takes a flower shop au and twists it sideways in an awkward situation where Remus isn’t magical and Sirius is still under his spell. A short and sweet delight that you won’t be able to forget.

Wartime Wedding: Young Hearts Intertwined by @goodboylupin

What’s better than a look into James and Lily’s wedding? Getting a surprise, impromptu invitation to Remus and Sirius’s happening at the same time, that’s what! And just like being at a real wedding you’ll laugh at the ridiculous, smile at the warm moments, and maybe even shed the happiest of tears watching it all go down. This fic is the funnest wedding you’ll ever attend, and as a gift for attending you’re rewarded with the simplest of common sense canon fixes. Grab some champagne and enjoy!

Love Online: You've Got Love by @cruisinwritealong

The Librarian is a sucker for romcoms and this fic is the best. Emails filled with love and tenderness against a backdrop of retail rivalry will make you yell at your screen with glee and frustration. It’s a total escape that shows that the best kind of love is the one that makes you feel like you’re home.

Well, those are all the fics that the Librarian has been rereading over the past year, but the list feels incomplete since there are just too many fics to choose from. This is why there’s an ENTIRE LIBRARY dedicated to this fan’s faves. Anyway, hope you find a few love on this list, and happy reading!

#wolfstar fics recs #favorite #wolfstar #remus x sirius #remus lupin #sirius black

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maxwell-grant · 3 years ago

Note

Thoughts on the second part of the Lupin Netflix TV Series?

As I just finished watching it I can answer this one. I'll link to my previous post on it here, and in short: I definitely still really like this show and I think overall I liked this season better, despite my criticisms being more or less the same (although somewhat alleviated).

Where as I thought the previous season started off really strongly and then tapered off towards the end, I thought this one didn't take off to a great start but really picked up the pace to a really smashing finale. And the finale on this one I think is what really pushes me to liking this part better than the previous one. Omar Sy predictably is still carrying the hell out of the role, the show fundamentally still understands the appeal of Arsene Lupin stories in the 21st century in a way a lot of other franchise adaptations don't, it's still a pretty fun time give or take a couple of dumb decisions and tonal mismatch here and there.

I still think the subplot of Assane's family continues to be uninteresting in it's execution, especially with his son. I still think Pellegrini is a dull villain, and part of that is because he's a very realistic villain and "realistic evil" is a very, very boring, very tiring thing that's not really what I want out of a overarching Lupin villain. I don't want Lupin to take three seasons to take down just one old and corrupt businessman. I'm glad they toned down the cop subplot this season. I was really, really hoping that Assane would have played his recordings of Pellegrini's confession or Dumont's tapes before that massive crowd, or done anything with what he found other than just give it to Guedira so he and his shitty cop friends could arrest Pellegrini again when we all know he's gonna be out and, fine, the show has to go on another season, I guess. I really gotta stop comparing these kinds of shows to Vincenzo. Vincenzo ruined a lot of things for me and I just gotta get over that.

But putting those aside I definitely really liked this season, especially in the last three episodes. They moved away from wrapping up the loose ends of the previous season and the family subplots, and instead moved back to the heist structure with this big new caveat that's Assene being a fugitive, and I think it really worked in it's favor.

What really made this season for me though was the increased focus on Assane and Benjamin's friendship, something I didn't particularly think was missing from the first season, but now I realize really adds a lot to a show that frankly doesn't have a very interesting pool of side characters to work with. I really liked their friendship in the flashbacks and present scenes and how well they work together, in particular I really really loved the episode with the two in the catacombs for this, and I think their scenes together helped solidify to me a bit about why I like Assane as a character.

I think the main thing about Assane that sets him apart as a "Lupin", compared to the original and Lupin the Third and whatnot, is that, as clever and smart as he is and as much as he's clearly having fun with his revenge quest and all, all Assane wants is companionship. All he wants is to do right by the people he loves.

All Lupins are thrill-seekers by default. Arsene Lupin, though started robbing to pay for his mother's treatment, did it mostly because it was the only challenge he could find at life. He steals for the thrill of it and to have nice things, and over time his collection becomes this legendary thing, as he becomes more and more of a loner. Lupin III does everything for fun and for the challenge as well, but most of the time he never particularly keeps what he steals or willingly gives it up, because all he really wants is to have fun with his friends (Pops included).

But Assane, as much as he enjoys it, fundamentally just wants to get this grimy revenge business done so he can do right by his father and go home to spend time with his son and ex and his friend and his dog, and maybe get away with the odd mischief here and there. It means he takes half-measures and commits mistakes that get him in a lot of trouble, but it also gives him a more tangible humanity and motivation that the other Lupins don't have or need.

The show hangs on the question of whether or not Assane could ever stop with the Lupin shenanigans to live a quiet life with his family, but he's not doing the Lupin stuff just because, he's doing it because he's been doing it since childhood, because Lupin fiction was there for him when nothing else was, and it's the only way he has of taking control from his environment, and use that to do nice things for others. Whether he's any good at that, is up to debate, but Lupin has never been a perfect hero to begin with.

But most of all, I continue to just be extremely happy not that this show exists and it's great, but that it's achieved such a smashing popularity. That it went on to become Netflix's most watched non-American series, that it even surpassed La Casa de Papel and pulled near-Witcher numbers. It just, never ceases to amaze me the many ways Arsene Lupin just keeps being popular, just keeps showing up again and again and just, how much people can't get enough of this character and rightly so (every day I still get notes on my "Lupin in Japan" post).

I'm so glad I get to watch this show with my mom and that she has Arsene Lupin stories on her bedstand, and then I can go to mall and find Lupin in there next to such literary giants like Tolkien and Gaiman, and now I read all these great articles about the reception to the show and Omar Sy's performance.

I'm so starved for good news when it comes to pulp heroes that I don't really expect them to begin with, but it's nice to get something, y'know. It always gives at least a slight measure of hope.

Oh, and sometimes when watching the show I thought "I wonder if they are ever going to reference Lupin III? I don't want a big thing but at least a slight nod" and then in the last episodes they went and did it by having Benjamin drive around Lupin III's yellow Fiat 500 and I laughed very hard at it. I think growing up watching Mr.Bean has instilled in me a fondness for protagonists having really shitty cars that you still get unreasonably attached to, and of course what else of Lupin III could they reference, but this?

And now all I want is for them, in true Lupin III fashion, to destroy this car in a chase sequence next season.

But yeah, definitely recommend this show. Looking it up, it seems like they structured these 10 episodes as "the first chapter of a bigger show", so I'm very much curious to see where it goes from here.

#replies tag #lupin #arsene lupin #lupin iii #netflix lupin #omar sy #assane diop

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the-bjd-community-confess · 3 years ago

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Dear 'Anime Bad' Anon: I Want To Help I pity your situation, so please have a list of weebshit that isn't moeified, or wherein the cutesy art-style serves a greater purpose. (Note: though they won't be soft marshmallow uguuuu, they may still have issues in other ways. Some may have aged badly with regards to how society views or portrays groups or beliefs, some may have upsetting content and dark themes, and some may simply not be to your taste. Note: Anime is a genre, not a monolith, and the disparaging stereotype that it's all cute girls uwuing over their brother s-s-senpai!!! is as much of a disservice as saying all western movies are just vapid cash grab superhero movie sequels with no inegrity or thought put into them. There are indeed a lot of superhero movies, but they're not all identical schlock (megamind vs venom vs kick-ass), but even more than that, there is a wealth of creative endeavor just beyond the veil of Marvel's cape: just as there are plenty of good anime if you dig past the isekai high school harem wish fulfillment genre that no one wants to keep making but people keep making because it prints money to a very small demographic of the animation equivalent of a mobile game whale thereby allowing this frankly quite-small industry to work on engaging and worthwhile series where the budget permits, Regardless,)

Mushi-shi: -Pros: gorgeous animation, tranquil vibes, episodic stories so you can cram in an episode between classes or on your lunch break. highly recommended by the literal-who typing this out. -Cons: some themes or stories may cause emotional distress, learning to tell apart Urushibara Yuki's characters is a learning curve.

Baccano-Pros: meticulously-researched 20s-and-30s-era mafia violence with a hint of the supernatural, as a treat, told anachronistically with flair and jazz music. practically made to be binge-watched. the novels are finally getting translated into english as well. -Cons: lots of characters to keep track of, fair bit of blood and violence, some scenes or themes may be upsetting, lots of jumping around between different time periods. See Also: Durarara, another series by Ryōgo Narita with a ton of characters and a plot with more threads an overpriced sheet.

Cowboy Bebop-Pros: incredibly well-regarded, space bounty hunters are cool, episodic series that slowly takes on a plot towards the end, fantastic animation, scoring, and even dub work. -Cons: some scenes or themes may be uncomfortable, some parts have not aged quite so well, the smart doll version of the main character is ugly, you're gonna carry that weight.

Trigun-Pros: starts lighthearted, develops an increasingly investing plot as the series goes along. fictional westerns are cool. this world is made of love and peace -Cons: some scenes or themes may be upsetting, and probably will be. gun violence is naturally present, but that ain't all of it.

Hellsing (standard or Ultimate. or Abridged)Pros: vampires killing nazis. the original adaptation isn't bad, the second adaptation (ultimate) is generally viewed as an improvement. abridged is a youtube parody version that was so popular the voice actors reference it in convention interviews.Cons: a Lot of violence, even trending to the gorey side of things. Uncomfortable Themes Everywhere, but it's a horror-tinged action series about killing nazis, so that's to be expected.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood-Pros: while the original anime was quite good, the second iteration is a large improvement. does to alchemy what naruto does to ninjas: It's Basically Battle Magic. the plot starts on a strong note and doesn't let up from there. -Cons: there are distressing scenes and themes that may or may not be tolerable to the viewer. there are moments of cheesecake and even an occasional joke or a moeblob here and there, and it's not all doom and all gloom all the time, but this doesn't detract from the abject horror-despair that comes to permeate this series as it progresses. finally understand why people on the internet respond so negatively to the name 'nina'!

[Mod: many more recs/reviews under the break, worth reading for those who like more obscure anime and animation]

Grave of the Fireflies-Pros: you will remember how to cry. it's a good reminder that one country's 'triumphs' often come at the expense of another country's people. -Cons: this movie is incredibly dark, do not watch if you are in a bad headspace. see also: Barefoot Gen, a similar tale but this time from the perspective of an actual survivor from Hiroshima.

Michiko to Hatchin-Pros: an actually diverse cast of characters tangled up in a messy and very humanizing story, interspersed with Shinichiro Watanabe's particular flare for adventure. -Cons: some scenes or themes are very likely to be distressing. can be tricky to find, too.

Mo no no Ke (not the ghibli movie, though it is also quite good.) -Pros: incredibly unique art style and pacing that draws heavily from japanese theatre traditions, every screenshot is wallpaper-worthy. -Cons: may cause motion sickness. it is a psychological horror series, and one that does not need blood, nor gore, to cause visceral emotional response in the viewer. scenes and themes will be distressing- as really, that's the point.

Tokyo Godfathers-Pros: a transwoman, a (self-identified) homeless bum, and a runaway teen girl find a newborn in the baby on christmas. incredibly wholesome, somehow, and grounded in reality, with wonderful animation from the tragically late satoshi kon. -Cons: it is grounded in realism, and sometimes, people are dicks. mild transphobia warning, too, but in-universe- the transwoman herself is portrayed with kindness and allowed to be her own (wonderful!!!) person. still, viewer be mindful.

Kino no Tabi (the first series is my preferred, the second is shinier but lacks emotional impact- in my onion.) -Pros: mostly episodic, very unique series that can be gritty where it counts and kind where it matters. -Cons: some scenes or themes might be disturbing. finding it's not easy, either, and unfortunately, i don't think the novels are being translated right now, either.

Spice and Wolf-Pros: it's mostly about economics. there are shenanigans, a harvest god, and a slowly burgeoning romance, sure, but it's still mostly about economics. -Cons: there are moments of cheesecake and comedy, and moments that may cause distress to the viewer. it may or may not be to your taste.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica-Cons: yeah i know, it's moeblobs. -Pros: you're gonna watch 'em die, though, in case that may interest you. it's quite a good subversion of the magical girl genre overall. somehow volks hasn't made an MDD of anyone from the series and i will never understand how that didn't happen.

Wolf Children: Ame to Yuki-Pros: watch a family grow together as a newly-single mother does her best to raise her twin children after the tragic loss of their father. -Cons: keep tissues handy. certain scenes or themes may be uncomfortable.

Lupin III (Red Jacket, Ghibli, and the new 3D animation are all A+) pros: heist comedy elevated to an art form before half (or more!) of the people reading this were born. the english dubbed series that used to air on adult swim is a treat. cons: this franchise started in THE SIXTIES, so naturally, some shit has not aged well. certain series (fujiko mine) are darker than others in themes and material. the 3d movie that released recently is an excellent starting point.

Samurai Champloo-Pros: breakdancing samurai, a fascinating roster of characters, and a superb soundtrack by the tragically passed Nujabes. -Cons: it was made in the weird era of the transition from analog to digital animation and so the /series master/ was animated at a painfully low resolution, so even if there's a bluray out there (I haven't looked,) it will be an upscale, which doesn't always look the best. as well, there are scenes and themes that may make the viewer uncomfortable here and there.

The Works of Studio Ghibli Oh, I'm sorry, Ponyo too suffused with childhood wonder for you? My Neighbor Totoro not depressing enough? In addition to the infamous Grave of the Fireflies, Studio Ghibli has made a wealth of movies that aren't aimed squarely at the kodomo (children's) sector. -Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind: climate change existential dread, the movie -Castle in the Sky: government obsession with obtaining weapons of mass destruction destroys everything beautiful, the movie -Pom Poko: human-caused deforestation and urbanization is destroying the natural world and all that live in it, the movie -Princess Mononoke: industrialization will be the death of everything beautiful in the world, the movie, with a side of sometimes everyone (and no one) is the villain when everyone is simply trying to survive -Howl's Moving Castle: The Physical Manifestation of Depression is a Liquid Ooze, the Movie, also War Is Bad It's not all depressing, but let it never be said that Hayao Miyazaki was subtle. Whisper of the Heart is a good coming-of-age story, Kiki's Delivery Service is a classic, Tales from Earthsea is divisive among fans of Ursula K. Le Guin but I personally liked it. From one studio alone there is a wealth of opportunities.

And that's really the point. These are just some from the top of my head. There are so very many options outside of the cute-girls-doing-cute-things genre that I couldn't list them all if I was here for a week. Or as Madoka Magica so ruthlessly showcases, even series that appear a certain way on the surface might not be what you bargained for once you look into them! These are all (I think) mostly older, mainstream-appeal series that should be easy to track down, too -- there are all kinds of singular animations like The Diary of Tortov Roddle, crowdfunded experiments like KICK-HEART, Masterpiece World Theatre renditions of classic (western) novels that never get talked about, films like A Silent Voice that confront social issues- and of course, series like Rozen Maiden that helped popularize this very hobby!

There is literally an ocean of content to explore from Japanese creators alone, and it opens up even more if you look into works from other parts of Asia- just look at how popular manwha have become, or Chinese animations like Leafie, a Hen Into the Wild! It's a genre unto itself, with all the breadth of content and inter-industry problems that come with it, and without any of the respect that similar art forms have been granted over the years. The way an entire culture's art form is often disparaged, disregarded, and belittled- and by extension, the way most of Asia's animated endeavors are often rolled up into that reductive dismissal along with anime and manga- is honestly Not Great, and there is absolutely a thread of xenophobia that runs through it. The industry has so very many problems (low wages, poor training, overwork of everyone ever, archaic financial modules, the exclusivity and breadth of merchandising necessary to turn a profit and how it leads to consumer burnout and disconnection over time, and yes, the way minors are portrayed not just in anime, but in Japanese media in general- and how much of that is actually bad (some of it is indeed,) and how much if it is cultural difference (I've heard people call the scene where the family in Totoro bathe together problematic because of the nudity, but I've also only heard people say that from the West)

-- none of the actual problems affecting the people who produce this medium are gonna improve when the general response to "animators frequently have to live at home to survive" is "that's what happens when you're a weeb." It's 5am and I'm gonna point out the problems in the narrative around how we discuss this genre of entertainment because it's important, damn you! Regardless, thank you for coming to my unasked for and overlong TED talk about animation on a doll collecting drama blog, feel free to call me a pathetic weeb etcetera on your way out- but while you do so, might I suggest you also go watch a choice animated series! My current go-to is Bofuri, which is a cute-girls-doing-cute-things moefied isekai series that I refuse to apologize for watching. Be free. (The battle scenes are great and it captures the feeling of learning to play a new MMO with your friends better than most video-game-based anime I've seen in a long, long time. does anyone even still remember .hack? how about serial experiments lain...?)

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #BJD Confessions #TrueBJDConfessions #Anime

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gameofdrarry · 4 years ago

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Wizards Hearts Recs: Canon Divergent

Wizards Hearts was a four-month-long Drarry reading fest. Players were given a playing deck of 52 tropes, and were asked to find 52 different fics to read and comment on to fill their decks. To prevent the same few fics from being read, fics were restricted to only being used for the game three times before being considered ineligible for further points. The tropes and submissions list can be found here.

Check out the masterlist of fics for this trope below the cut!

📜 Evitative by Vichan Rated: Teen Words: 222,452 Tags: Slytherin Harry Potter, Re-sorting, Dark Arts, Slow Burn, Dark!Harry Summary: In the summer before his fifth year at Hogwarts, Harry is drawn to a room in Grimmauld Place. Like the Gryffindor he is, he enters the room without fear. The room is a library, and Harry is surprised to find that he’s eager to learn. Then he gets the bad news: he’s been accidentally expelled from Hogwarts, and he needs to be sorted again. Everyone is confident that he’ll go straight back to Gryffindor, but with what he's been learning, Harry’s not so sure. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 The Secondary Task by ProfessorFrankly Rated: Mature Words: 50842 Tags: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Swearing, Frank discussion of teen sex, No actual teen sex, Canon-Typical Violence, If you've read GoF you know the last bit's where the violence and stuff is, Most of this fic has a "T" rating, Quantum Bang 2020 Summary: When Harry Potter’s name comes out of the Goblet of Fire, Draco Malfoy decides the Boy-Who-LIved needs a friend, whether he wants one, or not. With his mother’s backing, Draco sets out to make sure Harry knows he has someone in his corner, for now, and if Draco has his way, for always. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Outtake: The Second Task by MickeySLee Rated: Mature Words: 30824 Tags: Secret Relationship, Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Hogwarts Fourth Year, Triwizard Tournament, Hostage Situations, Draco Malfoy is a Good Boyfriend, Harry Potter is a Good Boyfriend, Plot Twists, Romance, Fluff, Homosexuality, Homophobia, Good Draco Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy's A+ Parenting, Lucius Malfoy Being an Asshole, weekly updates!, Hogwarts Era, Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Bashing, POV Hermione Granger, Hurt/Comfort, Consent is Sexy, Fairy Tale Elements Summary: Part of the series Outtakes and A Hard Story. Fourth Year. The Triwizard Tournament. The Second Task. What would happen if Dumbledore made a different decision when it was discovered Draco is who Harry would miss most? Instead of covering it up and declaring Ron to be Harry's hostage, Draco is the one at the bottom of the lake. No one could have foreseen how much trouble that caused. You may want to read A Hard Story or Throughout the Twists to Times first. This story is completed and will be uploaded one chapter per week on Sunday. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Parades, Pansy, and fuck I’m too gay for this by false_heteros Rated: General Words: 2227 Tags: Pride is at the end :), A lot of pureblood bullshit, Loneliness, Draco is Sad, Harry Needs a Hug, Pride, Pride Parades, Modern Era, Sirius Black Lives, Mentions of past child abuse, Cedric Diggory Dies, past homophobia, Gay Harry Potter, Gay Draco Malfoy Summary: After the war, Draco, who had been staying at home like a fucking hermit till Pansy came along, finally finds out about the LGBTQ+ Community, he dives head first into research and is amazed at what he finds. Harry wanders muggle London once every few days. Blending with the crowd and not feeling different for once. He comes along a group of people with beautiful colours around them. “What are they doing?” ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Closure is a state of mind by Quicksilvermaid Rated: Explicit Words: 12229 Tags: Morally Grey Draco Malfoy, Inappropriate medical/therapist relationships, Dubious Consent Due To Identity Issues, Lies, Self-Esteem Issues, low key stalking behaviour, Loneliness, Guilt, Therapy, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, taking advantage of a grieving person, Death of a Spouse, Character Death, (not Drarry), Disfigurement, Scars, Brief Mentions of Suicidal Thoughts, Drinking, First Time, Polyjuice Potion, Sex While Using Polyjuice Potion, pensieve sex, Voyeurism, wanking, Concealed Identity, Bittersweet Ending, H/D Hurt!Fest 2020 Summary: After Harry's husband Charlie is killed, his Mind Healer recommends a Polyjuice therapy company, so Harry can see 'Charlie' again and find closure over his death. Draco, whose life over the last ten years has gone from bad to worse, gets assigned Potter's case. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Harry Potter and the Yuletide Waltz by LakeWitch Rated: General Words: 3042 Tags: Yule Ball, Dancing, Hogwarts Fourth Year, six years later, Awkwardness, Meddling, Oblivious!Harry, more dancing, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Christmas, Holiday Season, Canon Divergence Summary: At the fourth year Yule Ball, Draco Malfoy asked Harry Potter to dance. Six years later, Harry Potter just might ask him why. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 When It's All Over by Erebeus Rated: Mature Words: 9292 Tags: Rape/Non-con, Unhealthy Relationships, Self-Hatred, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con (not between main pairing), suicidal/death idolization, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Non-Graphic Violence, Spy Draco Malfoy, Loneliness, H/D Hurt!Fest 2020, Betrayal, Attempted Murder, Brief flashbacks and moments of panic mentioned, non graphic torture, Azkaban (brief), Off screen therapy Summary: If killing you makes Harry happy, you really don't mind. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Catch 22 by jad Rated: Explicit Words: 49895 Tags: Romance, Fluff, Humor, Complete, Letter!fic, Sexual Content Summary: As if NEWTS weren't enough, Dumbledore's gone and had another one of his 'bright ideas.' If all ends well, the Houses will be getting along in no time. Or according to Harry's correspondent, an Apocalypse will be in order. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 (I don't know) what's right and what's real anymore by Ladderofyears Rated: Mature Words: 2101 Tags: Harry Potter and the half blood prince, canon divergence, no septumsempra, guilty Draco, pov Draco, ghostly Myrtle, attracted Draco, pre-slash, pre-relationship, Harry is a hero Summary: An alternative sectumsempra scene from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Kiss by xErised Rated: Teen and Up Words: 10764 Tags: Hogwarts Era, Light Angst, Mutual Pining, Secret Relationship, Getting Together, Kissing in the Rain Summary: For the second task of the Triwizard Tournament, it's not Ron that Harry rescues from the Great Lake, but Draco Malfoy. Hogwarts-era. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 It’s Not Christmas (without you) by LittleBozSheep Rated: Explicit Words: 79213 Tags: Fluff, Family Feels, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Getting Together, Christmas, Slow Burn, Serious Slow Burn, Everyone ships Drarry, Apart from Drarry, Divorced Draco Malfoy, Divorced Harry Potter, Kid Albus, kid scorpius, Everyone makes a camo, side wolfstar, Besides the last chapter it's rated G, Christmas Fluff, 25 Days of Harry and Draco, Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Minor Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Minor Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Drunkenness, Drunken Shenanigans Summary: Maybe agreeing to host everyone for Christmas wasn’t Harry’s best idea. Luckily Albus’s best friend’s dad is an events planner who agreed to help, only issue, turns out the dad is Draco Malfoy. Sarcastic and grumpy to everyone but his son. Will Harry managed to catch him and keep Christmas from being a complete disaster? ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Leaves by TheLostLibran Rated: Teen and Up Words: 1190 Tags: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff without Plot, Healing, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Post-War, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence Summary: A lot of work goes on underground, invisible to the naked eye. Though it doesn't mean that no development is occuring, the hopes of a huge, fully grown tree standing strong in the near or distant future only start sprouting when the leaves do. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Okay But That’s Hot by Fuschaslime Rated: Explicit Words: 3640 Tags: Anal Sex, Riding, Dirty Talk, Frottage, Lapdance, Slut Shaming, Established Relationship, Friends With Benefits, Enemies to Lovers, Teasing, Begging, Safe Sane and Consensual, Bets & Wagers, Poker, theyre both over 18, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Banter, Perverted Harry, Slight fluff, Shameless Smut, AU where Lily Potter defeated Voldemort for good, and now everyone at hogwarts is kinda cool with eachother, apart from house tensions, Verbal Humiliation, Kinda Summary: Draco immediately regrets agreeing to a certain bet made at poker night when he realises he’ll actually have to hold up his end of the deal. Harry is ecstatic. OR Draco Malfoy bets Harry Potter a lapdance. He loses. ❤️ Read on AO3

#canon divergent au #canon divergence #drarry #drarry recs #game of drarry #wizards hearts #wh masterlist

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the-glitter-acetylcholine · 5 years ago

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Harry Potter characters that were criminally underused (in no particular order)

(MAJOR SPOILERS)

Luna Lovegood - literally only introduced like halfway through the fifth book, yet probably the most influential ravenclaw character. Her odd mannerisms and odder outlook would have made her a fabulous addition to the golden trio’s shenanigans, yet she only serves this purpose in one case

Mad-eye Moody - he’s “well-developed” in the fourth book, and we get a lot of content of him... only to discover it wasn’t him at all. Then, he briefly appears with the order and then dies. Great. What a wonderful use of a skilled fighter and mentor.

Remus Lupin - okay, so he does get the whole third book but then... he just fucks off? Ofc then he, too, returns to fight with the order, fall in love with a woman half his age, have a baby with her, and then die immediately thereafter. He’s just such a cool guy with so much to offer to Harry and to readers (when it comes to insight on discrimination in the wizarding community) and he just doesn’t get a chance to do nearly enough. What a wasted opportunity.

Pravati and Padma Patil - yeah, these are two different characters, but we know so little about them that I can’t even discuss them individually. They’re twins in different houses! How cool! There’s so much to be explored there, especially considering the competitive atmosphere among houses that Harry perceives. Not to mention the fact that they inexplicably agreed to go to the Yule Ball with Harry and Ron respectively despite a) apparently not knowing them very well and b) not even being all that desperate to hang out with them at the ball (I think Padma asks Ron to dance a few times and then gives up) (side note: this made me extremely mad when I was little, because I had I major crush on Padma). What compelled them to do that? What are they like? What are the differences between them that caused them to be sorted into different houses? Gah, they could have been so interesting!

Cho Chang - this is one that makes me genuinely a little mad (same goes for #6). She’s just so two dimensional, and that’s really not fair. She’s a decoration on Harry’s arm for what? A year or two? And she then cries, dates Diggory, and then she cries again (I think she dates Diggory first but you get the point). HER PURPOSE IS NOT JUST TO CRY OVER GUYS. She’s a ravenclaw. Let’s hear about that. Where do her interests lie? Is she an academic? Is she an artist? What kind of intelligence does she have, what kind of knowledge does she seek? What made her like Harry to begin with? Did Harry ever like her for more than her “sleek black hair” (not a direct quote, but I’m sure it’s described as something to that effect)? I want to knowwwww

Lavender Brown - aka... Ron’s brief, annoying girlfriend? The precursor to Romione? I mean, was this girl even in the D.A.? Maybe she was, but I don’t remember, and that’s the problem. She’s a Gryffindor. She’s brave, she’s headstrong, she’s proud! But she’s only ever portrayed as overbearing and clingy which SURE, may be some of her traits, because she’s allowed to have flaws, but that’s not all she is. I want to see her relationship with Pravati and Hermione, who she roomed with for six years (beyond her annoying Hermione when she dated Ron). But nope! I guess she’s just another accessory!

Nymphadora Tonks - i.e. Tonks. She’s funny and brave and powerful, but we barely get to see her in action (yes, before you ask, i had a crush on her, too). She’s interesting, so interesting, because her emotions are often expressed through her appearance, and she undergoes like two full personality shifts throughout the books (it’s worth noting that she’s also introduced pretty late in the series, book five, i think). She’s depressed for a while, then she falls in love, gets married, and has a son (and then dies), and, while it seems like this is a lot of usage (which it is), I can’t help but wish we had seen a little more of it all, specifically of her falling in love and of her married life, of her motherhood, before she died.

Xenophilius Lovegood - literallly (i would argue) one of the most interesting characters in the series, despite the fact that (I think) he is only featured heavily in one scene. I would definitely call him a more complex character than Snape. In his one scene, Xenophilius offers the golden trio one of their most important lessons through the Tale of the Three Brothers, the story which ultimately wins them the war against Voldemort. And yet, it’s a trap. He’s stalling, keeping them around so that Voldy’s goons can come pick them up and presumably kill them, or at least imprison them until Voldy comes ‘round again. But, and here’s the important part, he does it to save his beloved daughter. His daughter, who is the only family he has left, after his incredible scientist-witch of a wife died doing what she loved. The Lovegood’s are a family of inherently good people, yet Xenophilius sides with the very people who took his daughter in a weak effort to get her safely back. His plan won’t work, they won’t return Luna. They DON’T return her, but Xenophilius is fundamentally weak, made weak out of his love, and his fear of losing the last person in the world he has to care about, to protect, to love. He’s just SO DAMN INTERESTING ughhhhh give me more Xenophilius pleaseeeee

Kingsley Shacklebolt - he’s??? so cool??? Literally he’s just awesome, but we barely see him. He acts as a spy, essentially, when the ministry gets taken over by the death eaters, and helps the order actually get shit done, but he’s just so underused. Idk, I don’t have much to say except that he’s awesome and I want more Shacklebolt content

Cedric Diggory - he’s actually talked about a fair amount, so I don’t think I need to say much, except that he is literally the nicest guy ever, and, despite Harry actively hating him for like a whole year, he helps him in the Triwizard Tournament and represents Hufflepuff beautifully as being more than just the “miscellaneous house”. But then of course he’s killed before he and Harry can become friends, and before readers get a chance to understand anything about his social status (is he the asshole popular guy or sweet quite guy???) or motivations. Of course.

Percy Weasley - aka MY FAVORITE WEASLEY KID. R*wling did my boy so dirty. He’s cool because he’s kind of a stuck up academic asshole stereotype, or at least Harry perceives him as such, and then he changes slightly over the years as he and Harry both grow and mature and then it all culminates in his great moment of emotion and humanity! Fred’s death is, without much contest I think, the most devastating death in the whole series (Dobby could admittedly give him a run for his money, though), in part because he’s just so damn sweet and funny and innocent, and in part because right before it we FINALLY get to see Percy smile. He smiles at a dumb joke Fred makes, and then Fred DIES (a well placed death, I’ll admit begrudgingly), and just the juxtaposition of the moment... *chef’s kiss*. And then we never really check back in on Percy, and we don’t really get enough closure on that moment. :/

Colin and Dennis Creevy - again, two characters stuffed together, this time because we actually know a fair amount about them and... they’re kind of the same character. Colin is obsessed with Harry, and so is Dennis. That’s about it. I just WISH we got a little more on these kids, on why they felt so drawn to him as this apparently untouchable hero among them. Were they abused? Orphaned? Abandoned? Did they have some sort of trauma in their lives that made them so attached to the idea of a savoir? Or did they simply regard Harry as most little boys might, as a cool sort of action figure character? The world may never know :(((

Susan Bones - God, I wish I had more to say about her. She’s sweet, she a hufflepuff, I think she helps Ron at one point in Herbology. Her aunt dies I think. Is she the one who had the rabbit at one point? Idk, she’s just one of those characters who’s so far in the background that she almost stands out, and I kinda just wanna know more.

Fawkes - yeah, I know he’s a bird or whatever, but he’s fucking cool, and we get a Fawkes-ex-machina in the second book and then he’s essentially inconsequential for like... forever. I want to know how he and dumbledore bonded, why his feathers in those two specific wands were so attracted to Harry and Tommy boi specifically, other than symbolism uwu. Does Fawkes have a moral compass, or does he simply follow Dumbledore’s orders? Could his loyalty potentially be changed?

Narcissa Malfoy - please, for the love of god, give the Malfoy’s a chance. At least Draco and Narcissa. Narcissa is essentially the flip side of Xenophilius’s coin. Her side of the family is shrouded in dark magic, but her priority is keeping her dear son safe. I just want to know her and her inner struggle more intimately, because she’s such a contradiction, she’s a death eater who loves and protects, a dark magic user who wants to create something warm and beautiful for her family. She’s scared for a husband, a top death eater, one of Voldemort’s personal faves, and scared for her son, who she knows is good at heart but who struggles through the first steps of death eater initiation out of a sense of duty, a duty to her and his father. She’s the intimate mother figure, yet she’s an antagonist, fundamentally speaking. Fascinating.

These are just some I thought of off the top of my head, I’m sure there are literally hundreds more, from the two guys from the Knightbus to Bathilda Bagshot to Nagini the legend (also wtf happened to her in the Cursed Child?? Nvm, I can’t even get into that shithole right now), and I have to admit that I still love Harry Potter, for its characters and it’s incredible world building, though R*wling is a massive piece of terf-y shit.

It’s important to note that I understand the purpose of flat characters, I understand the purpose of background characters, of undeveloped characters. What I’m pointing out here is that there was a lot of potential in these characters that was largely squandered because R*wling focused her energy on attempting to redeem Snape without a redemption arch, attempting to redeem Dumbledore with an inadequate one, and refusing to properly redeem Draco despite his well-developed arch, for some fucking reason. If you can’t tell, I’m salty, but I’m only salty because I care. Ily, have a good day!!

#harry potter #harry potter discourse #sorry i went off a little #but this is all i can think about rn #it’s 1 am #improving harry potter #percussion strings winds words #glitter goes off

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flirtingwitharson · 6 years ago

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drunk remus plz

contrary to popular belief, I haven’t died, just am trying to find time and motivation you mega nerds

Remus Lupin wasn’t exactly one to get drunk. It was honestly difficult to get him even bordering on inebriated, considering his metabolism was extraordinarily quick, what with his lycanthropy and everything. It took some rather strong whiskey and arseloads of convincing to make it happen, really. Luckily enough, in all matters concerning whiskey and Remus Lupin, Sirius Black was very, very gifted.

“Remus John Lupin, you are not bailing on your own fucking birthday party,” Sirius scoffed, strolling dramatically into the common room and simultaneously scaring off children in younger years with the stomping of his heavy boots. “A little birdie called James let loose that you said to him that you ‘weren’t really feeling it this year’, or whatever bullshit excuse you gave. Not feeling it, my arse.”

Giving a world weary sigh–having only picked up just a hint of Sirius’ dramatic tendencies over the years–Remus uncrossed his legs and gently placed his bookmark inside his novel, preparing himself for the skirmish Sirius was surely about to stage. “You’re causing a scene,” were the words that came out of his mouth first, taking the form of a half-assed attempt to stop Sirius’ idiosyncrasies before they even got started.

“As if,” Sirius replied, his drama increasing as his irritation increased as well. “Moony, you are turning eighteen, the big one-eight, Mr. Adult, you can’t just not have a party. I won’t hear anything of it.”

“It just gets boring, having all these parties all the time, you know that’s not my kind of fun, Sirius,” reasoned Remus tiredly. It was true; Remus was always the odd one out of their tight little group. He liked to go out, sure, but all of these grandiose parties with drinks, and people he’d hardly ever even talked to, it just wasn’t his scene. However, James and Sirius were quite the opposite: they loved to entertain, and host, and simply just have loads of fun, so organizing huge ragers in the Gryffindor common room and getting drunk off their arses was right up their alley.

“Moony, Moony, Moony,” Sirius crooned. “I’ll make it fun, I promise. Since when have I ever let you down?”

“Well–”

“Don’t answer that.”

The conversation seemed settled, and Remus was one hundred and one percent positive that he would resent his inability to say no to Sirius for the rest of eternity.

Sirius and James made it their goal for the evening to finally, for what might be the first time, to get Remus Lupin properly and totally pissed. Being the rich, unknowingly privileged people they were, they went out and bought the nicest, strongest alcohol they could, fully determined to make the one to remember–or get so drunk that they couldn’t. They snuck the crate they had gathered into their dormitory under the invisibility cloak, knocking it off their to-do list as they headed out to spread the word of “Mr. Moony’s Birthday Banger” (not their most creative title, but it would have to do last minute.

“How do you figure you’ll even be able to convince him to drink?” James asked curiously as he walked besides Sirius, handing out flyers to all sixth and seventh years they came across.

“Oh, some jealousy, a lap dance, and whispering dirty things into his ear should do the trick,” Sirius smirked devilishly, the unsurprised sigh that James emitted satisfying him.

“Why of all people he chose to fall for your sorry arse, I’ll never understand.”

“I’m irresistible, Jamesy, how could I blame him?”

The party was a roaring success, as was any event organized by the daunting duo of Padfoot and Prongs. The gift table was sneakily placed next to the drink table, encouraging everyone to not only spoil the birthday boy, but to get spoiled on the plethora of alcohol they had provided. Remus sulked nearby in an armchair, wearily smiling and conversing with all who were courteous enough to wish him a happy birthday, even if most were just there for the booze. Sirius tutted at the sight, and set off to begin step one of Mission Get Moony Hammered. He took a swig of the beer he was starting out with, and sauntered over to Kingsley Shacklebolt, one of the only other students besides Remus and himself that was out as a queer man, barring Marlene and Dorcas proudly announcing themselves as lesbian (far, far too publicly). He made eye contact with Remus from across the room, grinning mischievously before laying his hand on Kingsley’s shoulder. “Hey, Shacklebolt,” he said in a low tone, shooting him a well-practiced smile, “care for a dance?”

“What will the boyfriend say, Black?” Kingsley laughed back, knowing full well what Sirius’ end goal was, because they’d been down this road before.

“This time I’m not trying to get him to shag me–well, yet,” Sirius insisted. “I just fancy seeing him drunk off his arse on his eighteenth birthday, surely you understand what amusement that long-concealed knowledge could provide.”

“Very well,” came the reply as Kingsley allowed Sirius to drag him off to the makeshift dance floor and place his hands on his lower back. Sirius was confident that this would at least get Remus started, and surely enough, when Sirius looked back over ta his lover, their was a beer in his white-knuckled fist as he conversed with Frank Longbottom. Sirius knew that it was a bit sick to make his boyfriend jealous just for a drink, but Remus always pulled the same tactics when he wanted something out of Sirius, and the whole population of Europe could deduce that Remus and Sirius were madly in love and that their teasing and shenanigans meant nothing in the slightest.

“Thank you, Shacksy my dear,” Sirius smiled as he slipped a cheeky grab of his arse in before departing. “He better be good in bed!” Kingsley called after him halfheartedly, Sirius hardly having heard him as he made a beeline for Remus. He sat right on his lap, completely ignoring the conversation that he was interrupting while he tilted Remus’ chin up to make him focus on him alone. If he was honest, Sirius was already a bit tipsy, for he and James had ‘sampled’ everything before people arrived.

Frank got the message and went off to go join James in a heated argument about the Quidditch World Cup, leaving Sirius and Remus alone in a rather small chair. “Enjoying yourself, Moon man?” asked Sirius, smiling down at his boyfriend happily, if not a little sneakily.

“Why do you always have to tease,” pouted Remus, furrowing his brow as he stared at Sirius right back.

“You and I both know it’s the only way to get you to have a little fun,” replied Sirius quite simply, ducking to peck the pout off of Remus’ lips.

“Don’t think I didn’t realize you bought particularly strong beverages this time around, mangy mutt.”

“…Okay, guilty, but I resent the mangy bit,” Black insisted. “Aw, c’mon, Moons, lighten up. It’s one night, and we leave here in three months for the last time, and everyone will forget all about us and no one will give two shites about that one birthday party they were at in March of their seventh year.”

Remus looked across the room, back at Sirius, and sighed. “Fine, then. Pour me a drink, you bastard.” Sirius could have sworn his grin reached his ears.

Two beers, one whiskey, and a multitude of birthday shots later, and James and Sirius were sure they reached their goal. In fact, they knew they finally had, but were quite honestly a bit frightened about what drunk Remus might entail. After all, he wasn’t used to it–he was almost never, ever drunk.

Currently, Remus was dancing with an equally drunken Lily…shirtless, the both of them, on top of some table on the other side of the room. “Er, Prongs?” Sirius asked hesitantly. “Is it just me, or is that-is that Lily and Moons on that table?”

James’ eyes widened as they flicked from Sirius to the table and back to Sirius again. “I fucking believe it is,” he replied in awe. “Hell, Moony’s hammered! He’s got to be, he never even takes his shirt off in front of me, much less in front of loads of randos.” After the shock settled down a bit, James and Sirius raced over to go convince their significant others to put their clothes back on and drink some water, as Sirius and James had been doing for the last half hour in order to be good hosts.

“Pads! Oh, you’ve got to dance with me up here, I’m a much better dancer than Kingsley,” Remus whined gleefully–and rather bluntly at that–his voice surprisingly slurred.

Unlike Remus might have done if the situation were switched, Sirius gave in. He let Remus pull him up to the table, and was happily shocked when Remus hands immediately slipped down the back of his pants. It was quite the spectacle, but Sirius was always one for causing scenes. James had already persuaded Lily off the table and to the staircase to sit her down and give her water–for fear of another embarrassing situation (she was a wild drunk).

“Moony!” Sirius yelped, jaw falling open when Remus slipped his hand down further and squeezed his arse. “There are prying eyes!” Remus shrugged and simply pressed his body closer to Sirius’. Sirius made eye contact with James and grinned, mouthing ‘holy fuck’ as Remus continued to borderline grind on him, acting much unlike himself.

“Mm, I’ve the hottest boyfriend in the school,” Remus mumbled lowly in his ear, ignoring Sirius’ half hearted attempts at prying him off. All of their friends were catcalling them and cheering them on by now, but Remus was completely and utterly oblivious.

“Moony, as much as I love what you’re doing, you can’t do…whatever it is you’re trying to do in front of half the school,” Sirius reprimanded, taking a deep breath and internally believing that he should earn some type of award for the amount of strength it took to not give in to Remus right then and there.

“You…are an awfully boring boyfriend, s’not fair,” Remus pouted, trying to tug Sirius’ shirt off now too. When Sirius didn’t give in, Remus huffed and stepped back, subsequently falling off the table. “Fuck,” he groaned, trying to stand up, yet falling right back down. Sirius covered his mouth with his hand and laughed in surprise at Remus’ expense, but stepped off the table when he realized he should probably be a gentleman and help him up.

“C’mon, pup, let’s get some water in you,” he suggested, crouching as he sat Remus up and stroked his hair. Remus looked like he was about to protest, but was interrupted as he leaned over and vomited all over Sirius, then passed out.

Maybe this would be a night to remember after all.

#this kinda sucks #but hey its long #wolfstar #wolfstar fic #harry potter #remus lupin #sirius black #james potter #peter pettigrew #lily evans #kingsley shacklebolt #moony #wormtail #padfoot #prongs #marauders #marauders era #mwpp

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maraudersinparadise · 6 years ago

Text

Squid-Potter

Lily's POV on the pivotal post DADA O.W.L. and James's attempt to apologise and make her laugh

FF.net /\ AO3

It was just so stupid. All of it.

Severus Snape and how he had most definitively gone to the wrong side.

James Potter and that ridiculous hair of his.

The rest of the Gryffindor’s fifth year boys – Peter Pettigrew for laughing, Sirius Black for encouraging Potter, and Remus Lupin for doing nothing to stop the other three.

All of the Hogwarts students who had laughed at Potter’s idiotic antics.

But the most stupid of all, Lily thought, was herself for feeling so rotten about it.

It was not exactly news that Severus leaned towards the Dark Arts. She had desperately watched as her childhood friend listened more and more to the rubbish that the likes of Mulciber and Avery babbled all day, and less and less to her warnings.

He spent more and more time with those Slytherins, plotting against people like her, and then saying to her, ‘it’s just for a laugh, Lily, I’d never do that to you’.

Until he did.

She had been quite happy just a few hours earlier. Enjoying the end of another O.W.L., when summer was nearly there. Mary MacDonald told her to stop fretting a bit about the exam and relax, proceeding to take off her shoes and socks, and cooling her feet on the lake’s water. Lily saw the other girls doing the same, so she shrugged and imitated her friends.

Lily really was content. They were laughing about nonsense, anxious to get home and free from that terrible year. She worried a bit about going home and rowing with Petunia, but the thought of seeing her parents was overwhelming.

And the fact that she would not have to deal with James Potter and his shenanigans was also a silver lining.

She had noticed him and his friends on the edge of the lake; he was showing off with a snitch (how and why had he gotten it anyways? Wasn’t he a chaser?) to Pettigrew while Black acted like he was God’s gift to humanity, and Remus read a book.

She was, however, quick to return her attention to her friends, ignoring the immature group.

And then they made her notice them.

Well, he made her notice them. The second the nickname ‘Snivellus’ loudly came out of his mouth, Lily looked at the commotion and cursed.

“You’re going there, aren’t you?” Mary asked, resigned.

“Of course I am. Honestly, couldn’t the prat leave Sev alone for just a couple of days? Then I’d be free of them,” Lily replied, huffing impatiently as she put her shoes back on. Mary sighed and followed her.

It was not that she hated her fellow Gryffindors. Remus was a perfectly nice bloke. Peter usually kept to himself. Sirius had that arrogant air on him, but was funny to talk to. Potter… well, he was funny – when he was not humiliating other people, that is. Unfortunately, it happened quite a lot, which made Lily furious.

Sev was choking on soap (‘Really, Potter?’) when Lily got near the boys. There was already a group around them, watching excitedly another session of humiliation by James Bloody Potter.

“Leave him ALONE!” Lily exclaimed angrily. Potter and Black turned immediately, the former automatically running a hand through his hair.

“All right, Evans?” Potter asked her. Had she not been so incredibly annoyed at the situation, she might have noticed that something had changed in Potter’s voice when he addressed her.

“Leave him alone,” Lily asked again, glaring fiercely at Potter. Why, oh why, was he such a prat? “What’s he done to you?” She asked instead.

“Well…” Potter said, making a scene of deliberating the subject, “it’s more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean…”

Many of the students surrounding the group laughed, like it was actually funny. It was so not funny. The joke Potter had told four days ago on the Common Room about the troll on a bar, when she came back from round with Remus – that had been funny. This was just plain cruel.

“You think you’re funny, but you’re just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone,” she said again, which was not completely wrong, but was very close to the truth.

“I will if you go out with me, Evans,” Potter said quickly, like he had not even thought about it. “Go on… go out with me and I’ll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again.”

Shock was the first of the emotions that hit Lily by then. Was that boy even real? She could have sworn he liked him as much he she liked him – which was almost nothing at all. Why all of a sudden was he asking her out? And like this? Was he so caught up on his own little world to think that she would be blackmailed to go out with him? While he humiliated her best friend, no less?

“I wouldn’t go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid,” Lily spit back. And she meant it. How delusional could that boy be?

“Bad luck, Prongs,” Black replied instead. Potter still looked directly at her glare, and they did not notice Sev regaining his controls until Black screamed, “OI!”

But it was a bit too late – the seconds of distraction facing Lily resulted in Sev managing to hit a spell on Potter, and a bloody gash appeared on his cheek. The next second Sev was upside down, robes hanging over his head and his underpants showing for the whole school to see.

To be honest, the whole situation would be slightly funny (which the rest of the students agreed, seeing as they were all joining the Marauders in their laughter), and even Lily had to hold back her smile – because it would be slightly funny if done to a friend, not with the sole intention of demeaning the other person.

And intentions counted so much to Lily.

“Let him down!” She ordered them, angrier by the minute.

“Certainly,” James complied, and Sev fell to the ground in an awkward fashion. He had barely put his wand up when Black pointed his wand at Sev again, paralysing him.

“LEAVE HIM ALONE!” She shouted, drawing her own wand and pointing to Potter and Black. She was losing her patience, and the wary glance the boys gave to her wand showed they remembered how she had hexed Potter the previous week for a similar stunt.

“Ah, Evans, don’t make me hex you,” Potter pleaded. She knew he was good too; he had a lot of practice, and would probably be capable of getting one hex past her. But she knew he also had been raised by older parents, who taught them not to hex girls.

“Take the curse off him, then,” she replied. Potter sighed deeply (he had to be so dramatic at everything he did?) and freed Sev.

“There you go,” Potter said, watching Sev fumbling to get up, “you’re lucky Evans was here, Snivellus-”

The rest of the threat was clear – Lily knew Potter and Black could be downright cruel. It made her crazy. It made the professors crazy. It made anyone on the end of their wands crazy. As Sev was constantly on that position, his hatred for Potter and Black (and Remus and Pettigrew, come to think of it) was well founded, and Lily knew that. She fought for Sev against the bullying.

And that’s why it hurt so much when he did it:

“I don’t need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!” He said what he promised to never say about her.

Lily blinked. Had he just…? It could not be. Not when she was… defending him! She could not believe it!

But he had.

And instead of being transferred, her anger simply doubled – directed at both Potter and Snape now. She registered quickly the shocked look that Potter sported, but quickly shoved it aside.

Mudblood.

“Fine,” she said with the coldest tone she could muster. She could not – would not – cry in front of him, “I won’t bother in the future. And I’d wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus.”

Mudblood. Years of friendship, and he still thought this of her. The blood was pounding in her ears, anger stopping her from losing it right then, right there.

“Apologise to Evans!” Potter shouted angrily, pointing his wand at Snape.

Lily snapped.

“I don’t want you to make him apologise,” she screamed. No one should have to make him apologise, much less Potter, “you’re as bad as he is.”

“WHAT?” Potter had the audacity to sound outraged, as if he had not been the one to push Snape to the edge, to make him call her- “I’d NEVER call you a – you-know-what!”

She ignored that he was right – Potter could be a lot of bad things, but blood prejudice was not something he possessed. She just wanted to hurt the people who had hurt her.

“Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can – I’m surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK!”

She screamed everything she always had wanted to and even more. Maybe it was uncalled for, since Potter had tried to defend her on the final bit. But she felt her anger diminish, and what came after was hurt and pain and tears.

So she simply ignored Potter calling her name and headed to her dorm, slightly conscious of Mary following her. She was so stupid to care, but she just could not stop caring.

Mary said soothing words and even offered to bring her food from lunch. She thanked, but she had lost her appetite. She arrived at last minute on the practical DADA exam, successfully ignoring the entire student body.

She pretended not to see Remus’s worried glance and Potter’s weird face (was that guilt? Pity? Worry? She did not care at the moment) – she was not fine, and her red eyes showed it. At least she did not see Snape, and she left as quickly as she could.

“So how was it?” Mary asked when she arrived at the dorm, a plate of food on her hands. Lily smiled her thanks – she was a bit hungry, but not enough to go down and eat supper with the rest of the Hogwarts population (which, as aforementioned, she judged to be stupid).

“How was what?” Lily asked, eating some bread.

“The exam!”

“Oh,” she replied with a shrug, “it was fine, I suppose. Guess I’ll get an O.”

Mary shook her head in disbelief.

“Only you could get an O after what happened earlier.”

Lily raised her eyebrows and cleared her throat, while Mary grimaced.

“Sorry, that was rude,” Mary apologised, “wanna talk about it?” She asked, and Lily shrugged in reply. It meant a lot about how great of a friend she was, considering what she thought of Snape.

“It’s just… we argued just the other day, not about this, exactly, but… he was complaining about us not being as friends anymore, and I said that it was because of the company he kept…” Mary nodded. She did not need to be remembered who Snape was friends with, “and he wasn’t actually listening to me, y’know? He was more worried about trashing Potter and the others…”

“Well, there’s history there, Lily. It’s not the first time he complains about James and the rest.”

“I know that. It didn’t surprise me either, and I always overlooked some of the stuff Sev did…” Lily sighed. “Not now, tho. Now he’s crossed the line. I won’t tolerate it anymore. I’m done with him.”

She watched in confusion as Mary grimaced again.

“He’s down there. At the portrait. He wants to talk to you.”

Lily blinked and gaped.

“That’s not gonna happen.”

“I told him that already, I swear I did!” Mary replied. “Well, after giving Potter and Black a good shove so they wouldn’t try anything with Snape… he says he’s gonna sleep outside the portrait hole to wait for you to come out tomorrow.”

Lily sighed. Maybe she should get it over with?

The Common Room was already deserted at the time she put on her robe and decided to end it. She expected not to feel anything, but anger quickly came back when she saw Severus. Her former best friend, now gone to the Dark Arts – excited to join the Death Eaters.

It killed her to know that, but – as she told him – she was tired, so tired of making up excuses for him.

And even when she went back to the Common Room, swearing she would not care about it anymore, the tears could not be stopped. She climbed on a couch and hugged a cushion, keeping her sobs quiet.

She did not know how long she spent there until she heard a noise from the boys’ dorm. Quickly she tried to erase all traces of tears from her face and prepared her glare – if it was Potter…

However, the shadow that accompanied the steps told her it was not Potter – not because she knew Potter’s shadow, but because it did not resemble a human’s shadow in any form. It was a bit pointy on top, and it had… projections on the bottom? What the actual…?

“You said you’d pick the squid over me, so I had to turn into it to leave you with no choice…”

Then the thing came to her vision and could not believe her eyes.

James Bloody Potter had fashioned himself a squid costume, tentacles included! She could see his face where the squid’s eyes should be, and he wore a smirk.

The ridiculousness of the occasion was too much for Lily – she laughed, and hard. For a few minutes she could only laugh, allowing Potter to come closer and stand near her (she figured he was not able to sit, which only made her laugh more).

“You’re so stupid!” She said (also an aforementioned fact). James grinned.

“Well, I think you made that very clear, thank you.”

“Well, you deserved it, so welcome.” Lily shrugged. She did not regret what she said earlier. “What are you doing here, Potter?” Lily asked, with a tired edge on her voice.

“Heard the git had threatened to sleep outside and had to make sure he wouldn’t – well, at least not unscathed, that is…” He replied smirking. Lily sighed.

“Why do you have to be such a toerag?” Lily asked.

“Because some people deserve it.” He replied simply. “Not you, tho. I’m just really stupid around you.”

“You didn’t even know him when you started with him,” Lily remembered him. James raised his eyebrows.

“He insulted Gryffindor. Really, Evans, what else did I need to know?”

Lily decided she would have laughed any other day, but not tonight.

“So you were planning on scaring him on this?” She asked instead, gesturing to his ridiculous outfit. Looking at his face, she noted a distinct blush. What in the world…?

“Well, no. I noticed you were down here and I came to… y’know…” he trailed off. Lily raised her eyebrows.

“Ask me out?” She asked.

“No! Well, yes, a bit. If you say yes, that is.”

“Really, Potter. I’d rather the squid.”

Potter glared.

“I’m a squid. That’s the whole point. Or you only take the giant ones?” He asked, wiggling his eyebrows and smirking. Lily blushed at the innuendo and shook her head.

“And you wonder why I keep away from you…” She mumbled. Potter sat beside her (so he could sit!) and sighed.

“Look, actually I wanted to say I’m sorry.” He said. Lily narrowed her eyes. “I mean it. Not for what I did – that git deserves it and more – but because you lost a friend, even a lousy one like Snivellus. He’s rotten company, Evans, and I’d say, ‘I told you so’, but I won’t, because losing a mate’s bad enough.”

Lily was a bit confused and surprised. She considered to pinch herself to make sure she was not dreaming. Potter saying he was sorry for her and Snape’s falling out?

“And you needed to wear… that?” Lily asked in a whisper. Potter smirked.

“Oh, no. This was to make you laugh, which I did.”

Lily could not hold her smile. Had Potter come down to check on her?

“I think I’ll save this, tho. Maybe next term, when you’re free from his greasy and toxic presence you’ll see reason and go out with me…” Potter said, a silly grin on his face.

“Yeah, well, the head’s still too fat for my liking…” she replied with a shrug. Potter laughed and backed away.

“We’ll see, Evans. We’ll see.”

Only years later she would admit to stupid James Potter how much him dressing as that squid had meant to her, which caused him to do it again on the Hallowe’en of 1980, just for her laugh, which lead to some kisses and some moans, and in July of 1981, lead to a new Potter.

But that is a whole different story.

#Jily #Lily Evans #James Potter #jily fanfiction #jily fandom

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lupin-the-3rd-case-files · 3 years ago

Photo

Lupin the 3rd Pilot

Might as well start with the very beginning, the pilot film for Lupin the 3rd. Oddly enough there are two versions of the pilot: one for tv and a cinematic one. They’re basically the same pilot acting as an introduction to the main cast. The tv version has brighter colors, and there’s script differences between the two but they’re largely the same.

There’s no case file to put here because the plot is basically just the characters introducing themselves and then escaping from Zenigata. It’s an interesting watch especially to see where it all started, or where it was expected to start.

One of the more interesting things is the inclusion of Kogoro Akechi (Makes you wonder if Goro Akechi in Persona 5 was intended as a reference) who appears in the manga for Lupin the 3rd but as far as I’m aware never makes an appearance in any other animated material.

There’s also the role of Ishikawa Goemon. Normally he is depicted as one of Lupin’s allies, usually playing the straight man to all of Lupin’s shenanigans. In the pilot, however, he is depicted as Lupin’s enemy and is trying to kill him. I believe this lines up with the Part 1 tv series in that they start as enemies and eventually join up, but I haven’t seen that much personally so I can’t say for sure.

If I had a critique about this pilot it would be about Fujiko. Someone much more educated than I can go on about Fujiko and the male gaze but I want to talk about her lack of character in the pilot. Whereas we see a demonstration of Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon’s abilities and personalities, Fujiko is just reduced to “woman.” Granted she’s always been the femme fatale but I feel like later incarnations almost write Fujiko better than the rest of the cast (particularly in Fujiko’s Lie from Takeshi Koike). In this she shoots a gun and dances over sexually charged images (seizure warning btw). It also shows a rather dark scene implying a sexual assault by an unknown assailant as an excuse to show her boobs. It feels like it implies her existence is to be captured and treated as a sex object, instead of her using her sexuality to deceive men. One treats her as an object, but the other gives her authority over her sexuality which makes a world of a difference. I know I’m getting worked up over a pilot episode but it’s a shame that Fujiko is horribly misrepresented in it.

Another interesting point is Lupin has his iconic red jacket in the pilot but the Part 1 tv series would change it to green. I’d love to know the reasoning for that decision one day.

On the technical side the animation is pretty good except Fujiko’s face seems to be stuck in the same spot throughout most of the runtime. She has this dead barbie-doll stare that looks both off-model and really creepy. Lupin however is animated beautifully. He’s a combination of a more grounded and weighty animation with a mix of cartoony movements when it matters.

Anyway, the pilot was an interesting watch. From what I understand neither cast returns from the pilot for Part 1, but I could be wrong about that. There’s no case file here, just an interesting look at what’s to come.

#lupin the 3rd #lupin iii #anime #pilot #movie

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gaarfielf · 7 years ago

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my list of lupin movies ive watched for the sake of keeping track and making sure i dont rewatch some

Castle of Cagliostro (10)

favourite Lupin movie of all time. Fantastic art, cast, plot, everything.

Blood Seal: Eternal Mermaid (8.5)

Really good animation and really interesting plot. Another ‘Lupin has to babysit’ movie but it was treated in such a way that set it apart from other ones. He gives her a lot of good advice and overall I really enjoyed this one even if it’s kind of underrated.

Burning Memory - Tokyo Crisis (8.5)

Surprisingly good like I wasn’t expecting a 90′s Lupin movie to come for me like this but the animation is really solid and the movie itself was really funny. I also liked that Maria and Zenigata weren’t a thing like that cleared my pores.

The Bloodspray of Ishikawa Goemon (8)

The animation is fucking stellar but there were odd gaps in the movie that were really inactive. I liked the two subplots going on though like they were both interesting.

Bye Bye Lady Liberty (8)

The classic convoluted subplots worked well here tbh and the Goemon romance stuff was gunshot noise gunshot noise cash register noise. The animation had this weird glow to it but it was (almost) the 90s lol

Hemingway Papers (8)

They really got me with Goemon and Jigen going against each other and Lupin being in a relationship with someone aside from Fujiko (a relationship that was genuinely romantic) was actually pretty well done. That whole bit at the end with the karaoke machine? Amazing

Return the Treasure (7)

Another one that was really close to being perfect. The only loose ends was that the “treasure” wasn’t really explained very well (but i mean, the lead up to it was very good) and i could’ve done with more scenes with the whole gang (it seemed like there was a lot of times where it was lupin jigen and fujiko or lupin goemon and fujiko, but not enough of all of them together)

From Siberia With Love (7)

The usual amount of humour and action from a Lupin III film and the art is pretty standard. Goemon got a few nice quotes in and Fujiko talked to a woman. Could’ve done without Rasputin but thats just me.

Elusiveness of the Fog (7)

Lupin offering Goemon to the princess was kinda funny and I actually really liked OG Mamo (not the short freak) being revitilized bc his episode in the original series was really entertaining. The history of where they were was a little wonky but I’ll give it to them this time.

Pilot Film (7)

That shit was wild i liked how jigen was introduced as the gunman and then beat the shit out of 3 police officers with his bare hands. also goemon i guess dedicates his life to killing lupin so thats fun, like he’s on zenigata’s side i guess. could’ve done with fujiko making an expression at any given time but yknow what? it was funny and it was only 12 minutes long

Another Page (7)

Surprisingly not that bad. To summarize the film as a whole I’d say: it could have been worse. The plot made sense which is more than i can say about most lupin movies and they stuck to two subplots that were both interesting and meshed pretty good by the end. And the two lady characters that got introduced didn’t betray anybody AND didn’t die.

Farewell to Nostradamus (6.5)

The animation was pretty good and I liked the whole ‘we gotta protect this kid’ thing but I always mix up this one and Bye Bye Liberty Crisis like this movie is it’s less interesting twin. Both of them have kids they need to protect but Bye Bye Liberty Crisis was just better. I feel like this one had a really good ending but aside from that the movie wasn’t that memorable for me.

Fuma Conspiracy (6.5)

i liked Goemon being in a relationship bc it was really sweet, i just wish there wouldve been a better balance of romance to plot. Also terrible voice actors but that just affected my enjoyment not really the plot or anything relevant.

Sweet Lost Night (6)

I like time shenanigans and my only two critiques are the inconsistent art quality and they seemed really hesitant to embrace time skipping. Like “he’s limited to twice before he becomes brain dead” was a little bit of a small window. If anything they missed out on a good opportunity for a classic lupin montage of him time skipping way too often. Maybe if they changed it to “you skip time every 12 hours, to every 6 hours, to every 3 hours, etc” until he stops existing?? like that seems more in line with a lupin plot not to mention a little more suspenseful.

Dead or Alive (6)

The new art style is kind of neat and didn’t really affect the personality of the characters like I thought it would. The plot itself was complicated and hard to follow but I mean, it wasn’t awful. Nothing I really hated and nothing I loved.

Jigen Daisuke’s Gravestone (6)

Handsome Jigen was cool but tcm i’m begging you to drink your Respect Women Juice. Also Goemon wasn’t in this one what the fuck was up with that. Lupin looked like a crispy toenail in the new art style but again the animation is gucci so I can’t really complain on that front.

Napoleon's Dictionary (6)

Reminded me a lot of Mamo except with more respect in women. Just kidding Fujiko was kind of a crapshoot in the end and the ending was more or less just. cut off?? like they crashed into the ocean after lupin ruined zenigatas marriage and the credits started rolling. it was weird bc it had a lot going but i guess they ran out of time for a proper ending?

Mystery of Mamo (6)

Respect Women Juice needed and also why was Goemon purple. The pros to this movie was the overall aesthetic being really attractive BUT the plot was sketchy and didn’t make a lot of sense. The only remarkable scene I remember is Jigen shooting the can by Lupin’s feet like I wish that emotion would’ve carried through the film and not ended there.

Red vs Green (5)

Really good animation, no fucking idea what happened in this film.

Walther P-38: Island of Assassins (5)

They missed an opportunity to be a little more psychological and the lady of the week dying was meh but I will say the plot stayed on course like they didnt try to do too much at once like they tend to do. I wish they would’ve delved more into lupin’s past with the doctor because that seemed kind of random but the more lethal, edgy plot was handled decently. I’ll probably forget this one in a week tbh.

Dragon of Doom (5)

I like learning more about Goemon but his girlfriend was really distracting and uneccessary. Like, if you want to introduce Goemon’s childhood friend sure its whatever but she only showed up to either threaten lupin or flirt with Goemon. And it was very obvious she was going to betray him so all her build up was pointless. I will say though, the plot was pretty cool which was surprising.

Voyage to Danger (4)

tcm I’m begging you to let Jigen talk to a woman and not have it be like ‘this is Jigens girlfriend now’. Sometimes women be talking and they aren’t thirsting for a man triple their age. It just be like that sometimes. Thats literally all I remember about this film.

First Contact (4)

I remember being excited for this like ‘oh wow their first ever meeting’ and i s2g this film was boring. And also a giant plothole. With no real redeeming qualities. I don’t even remember the animation being that good.

Columbus Files (4)

This film was at least funny bad but my hand to god I’d never watch it again. This is the first time I’ve ever watched a movie and had to watch the dub bc the sub was boring me to death. It was just... so bad... Especially when you’ve seen Wings of Death like this ain’t the Fujiko I know please leave.

Seven Days Rhapsody (3)

The comedy in this one was so weirdly incorporated and featured another really good ‘here’s Jigen’s dead girlfriend’ that i just could not care less about and then finished off with this what like 13 year old girl asking to be Lupin’s girlfriend? fuck outta here. The ONLY good part was Goemon slapping Lupin across the face.

Alcatraz Connection (2.5)

Really, really boring. The content wasn’t necessarily bad but they had 4 subplots going on that were equally uninteresting and some scenes went on for so so so long. It deadass took me 5 hours to watch this movie bc i kept pausing to do literally anything else. The art was unpleasant and by the time they got the treasure i didn’t really care anymore. Not to mention the plot was way too complicated and tin-foil hat for my liking.

Missed by a Dollar (2.5)

Made very little sense and in general was really annoying. Between Goemon being a born again Christian and the plot briefly derailing so Lupin could establish an oil company it was like can we pick something to focus on? By the end of the movie I was like wait when did they get the broach? What does the broach do again? And then he gives it to someone random and its like??

Gold of Babylon (2)

This one if the definition of being cursed and Pink Jacket deserved so much better than this nonsense. Like Lupin III isn’t known for its coherence, sure, but this movie had absolutely no structure. Upon finishing the film I was trying to remember anything that just happened and my brain refused. It kept the good cartoonish animation but god at what cost.

Angel Tactics (2)

TCM PLEASE DRINK YOUR RESPECT WOMEN JUICE. The art was just. Stunningly bad. Bad to the degree where about a minute thirty in I already regretted starting it. Not to mention the classic “we don’t actually wanna draw this part so we’re gonna jam cgi in here”. Also the most awkward use of “hey heres 3 women hey heres 3 men lets shove them together”.

Harimao’s Treasure (2)

nazis and transphobia which was extremely unfortunate considering the opening was actually one of the stronger ones I’ve seen from Lupin but immediately after the villain was introduced the quality of the film dropped about 90% and i wanted to die for the entire last half of the film. if they had changed the villain it would’ve solved 90 of their problems.

Twilight Gemini (2)

this was one of the only films in the entire lupin series where i was rooting for lupin to fucking perish. not only was goemon only in this film for 26 seconds, jigen was there for about 30 seconds and im not entirely sure if fujiko was there at all. not to be that guy but when they make lupin to be the most intolerable piece of shit in the world for this movie, don’t give him all the screen time. having to stare at this asshole for an hour and a half was exhausting.

Princess of the Breeze (2)

How a movie where Jigen has to carry a baby around in one of those funny baby-carriers turned out this fucking goddawful I have no explanation for. This movie was like an AU where all these other characters no one cares about happen to exist in the same universe as lupin. and when lupin does show up, i want him dead. Just horrifically boring and lazy art mixed with bad cgi. The only upside is that it isn’t Return of the Magician.

Return of the Magician (1)

I’m giving it a 1 on the principle that this wasn’t even a movie. It was a little less than an hour long and my god i’ve never seen a film so full of pad-time that if i can be so bold, there was more pad time than plot. What little plot they had made absolutely no sense and the art used cgi in the most bizarre and ugly ways. i’m pretty sure the credits played twice at the end. if there was a world record for lowest budget in a film, Return of the Magician would win hands down.

#i feel like im missing a lot

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smutmylifeup · 7 years ago

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Out of the office drama: What if Ota Kisaki is right?

@whatdoyouexpectthistime @smile-smile-ichthys @hifftn

Why Rose had agreed to meet Ryosuke here was beyond her.

Although, she couldn’t deny that it was closer to their planned date at the art exhibit than her apartment, the Ice Dragon headquarters and MJS AND it made sense for Rose to meet him here since he had to come back before he could leave for their date and his sense of direction was too terrible to just meet her at the art exhibit.

But still.

Rose never wanted to step foot in Tres Spades ever again in her life, yet here she was.

If it wasn’t for her puppy of a boyfriend she’d have got Miho to burn down the whole hotel by now – hopefully with Kisaki and Ichinomiya in it.

But her boss still knew nothing about the fact Ryosuke and Mr. Oh were part of the mafia syndicate ‘The Ice Dragons’ and whatever connection he had to the richest CEO in Japan, the ‘Angelic Artist’ and the test-driver that she only knew as ‘Baba’.

Sighing heavily.

Rose fished out the penthouse key card Mr. Oh gave to Ryosuke to give to her.

She wasn’t entirely sure why she needed it. She wanted nothing to do with the creeps that lived in a pointlessly huge penthouse in a hotel with a bunch of guys – from what Rose could tell anyway. Didn’t look like it had a ladies touch… she wasn’t sure what woman would want to touch any of them.

They were slimy.

But none-the-less, she was kind of grateful – she hated standing around loitering anywhere but somehow in the lobby of Tres Spades it amped up the anxiety to fifty thousand percent. Even just walking to the elevator she got snubbed by every fancily dressed person she passed by.

She was used to it, but that didn’t mean it didn’t put her on edge.

When she stepped into the elevator she hoped to god that Ryosuke was waiting for her or just there in general.

She may end up leaving as a murderess if he wasn’t there to drag her away.

It was strange, normally Rose was a calm person. Nothing really unnerved her or made her uncomfortable. But this place or more so the people who lived in the penthouse gave off a dark aura, there was something shady about the place despite its appealing and modern aesthetic.

When she got to the pointlessly huge penthouse, she turned the door knob and realised she hadn’t knocked before entering – the last time she was here Baba was with her and obviously he didn’t need to knock, he lived there after all.

Rose shrugged, it’d be weird to knock once she’d already turned the doorknob.

So she entered.

Mr. Ichinomiya was sat in the same chair as last time, Mr. Oh was as well, there was another man puffing away on a cigarette by the large bay window that she hadn’t met before – and from a distance she was sure she didn’t want to.

But no Ryosuke.

Rose cursed him under her breath. He said he’d be here when she arrived and would let her know if he was going to be late, now she had to talk to these idiots.

“Why do you have a key to my penthouse?”

A voice said distracting her.

She looked towards said voice and Mr Ichinomiya was glaring what could only be called a ‘death stare’ at Rose so she assumed it was him that asked – or better yet demanded.

Not that it phased her, she took a step forward, not shutting the door behind her as if it was some sort of childish stand against Mr. Ichinomiya.

She took his challenge head on, she could see from his stare and her previous encounter with him that he didn’t take kindly to anyone, especially a woman challenging his dominance.

She would love see him interact with Miho, she’d put him in his place.

Rose was ready to make a snide remark but she was interrupted before her lips even parted to speak.

“I gave her one,” Rose’s head snapped towards the man who was quick to defend her. “She might be useful to have around.”

Mr. Oh smirked but didn’t look at Rose.

She wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, these men were so cryptic. Although, they had to be if they wanted to be successful in their underground shenanigans. But she had to admit, it was kinda like his fatherly approval and she appreciated that.

Or so she thought.

Then she felt a hand on her shoulder – due to the tense atmosphere she may have over-reacted by grabbing onto the hand and forearm and proceeding to flip whoever dared touch her over her shoulder like he weighed nothing more than a feather despite the assailant probably being twice Rose’s weight.

A thud and a yelp followed by a:

“Ow! It’s me, pretty lady!”

Made Rose finally look at the face of the groaning man under her, Rose immediately released the arm she still had twisted in her grasp that belonged to Baba.

Mr. Oh didn’t need to say anything. He’d obviously proved whatever point he was trying to make.

“Damn, you had that comin’ t’ya though ya perv. Don’t be touchin’ kids so freely.”

Said a voice she didn’t recognise, so she assumed it belonged to the smoking chimney in the corner.

Handing a whining Baba his hat that had fallen off in the commotion as he stood up, she whispered an almost unapologetic ‘sorry’. That was suddenly drowned out by an almighty cackle, one that sounded so sadistically evil it made her hackles go up.

“That was the best thing I have ever seen hahahaha.”

Her head turned to the voice she unfortunately remembered.

The strawberry blonde haired artist was hunched over, his arms wrapped around his middle as if he had just had the air knocked out of him.

Which Rose really wished he had. And she’d be more than happy to be the one to do it.

“Personally, I think it was funnier when she knocked you on your ass.”

Mr. Oh added, not looking up from what looked like his phone. And his comment immediately silenced Kisaki’s laughing fit.

“I was caught off guard.” Kisaki tried to casually to shrug off the comment.

Rose cracked her knuckles drawing all of the attention towards her.

“I’m ready for round two if you are?”

She said, her voice as serious as she looked – much like Mr. Ichinomiya prior to this little scene.

Boy, she would give anything to knock Ota Kisaki around a bit, although she was a little worried he’d end up enjoying it.

The artist didn’t respond but there was a slight sense of fear that spread across his face like wildfire. And Rose enjoyed it far more than she probably should have.

“While that would be entertaining, it does not explain why you are here, again.”

Mr. Ichinomiya stated and not asked.

“Inui.”

Mr. Oh, Baba and Kisaki all said in unison.

“What they said.” She confirmed whilst walking towards an empty seat far enough away from them, so she could see them all and have no more surprise attacks.

“Kids got bigger balls than the Kisaki brat.” Said the chimney.

“Kisaki has balls? I didn’t think he’d gone through puberty yet.”

Rose shrugged as she fell into the chair behind her.

Everyone else in the room let out a little chuckle except for the brooding young Artist and probably Ichinomiya but Rose didn’t care enough to look at him.

“Damn, I like this kid. What’s ya name?”

Rose eyed the man, there was something oddly sexy about him. His scruffy appearance and his accent to the way his cigarette bobbed in his mouth as he spoke. Although, the mere fact he was hanging with these assholes meant he probably had a shit personality which immediately made his appearance less attractive.

“Rose.”

She replied simply, crossing one leg over the other and resting her bag next to the chair. She held his gaze, he didn’t seem as threatening as the other men in the room – he looked too lazy for that. But Rose wouldn’t take a chance to let her guard down.

“This pretty flower has a boyfriend Mamo.”

Baba chimed from his seat next to Ota already completely recovered from the damage Rose inflicted on him. He sent a wink over at Rose and then beamed an all-knowing smile at this ‘Mamo’.

“I was just bein’ polite. She’s a damn kid, I ain’t no perv like you Lupin.”

Lupin?

Rose had only heard of the ‘Modern Day Lupin’ because of all the stuff on the news. Surely the Chimney calling him that was just an inside joke that hopefully Rose won’t stick around long enough to become a part of.

Or she’ll find out that Mr. Ichinomiya was involved in some black market auctions hosted by the mad hatter.

Yeah right, this isn’t an Otome game.

“He’d make a better puppy than a boyfriend.”

Kisaki said bitterly from his seat next to Baba.

“Jealousy isn’t cute, Ota.”

Baba patted the younger man on the shoulder but that did little to appease Kisaki’s pout.

“He isn’t cute in general.” Rose said.

It was odd. Despite the fact her hackles were up, this was almost comfortable the back and forth she had with these men. Like she’d been here before in a past life.

A shiver went up her spine, now that was a harrowing thought.

“If this woman is going to disrupt us every time she comes around, she and your lap dog aren’t allowed to step foot in my hotel again.” Mr. Ichinomiya said to Mr. Oh, swiping left on the tablet in his lap without looking at the man he was addressing.

“Fine by me.”

Rose replied for Mr. Oh, of course she’d be happy to avoid King Asshole and his entourage and she’d be even happier if Ryosuke had nothing to do with them as well.

“That goes for your parents too.” He added.

“I’m sure they give a shit.”

Rose rolled her eyes.

After the event that was held here for their debut into the fashion industry, they never came back – she remembered her Mother saying that Ichinomiya’s lilac shirt went out of style two years ago and he needed to invest in a hair brush.

Rose smirked as she lost herself to that memory. At least she knew where she got her smart mouth from.

“Better watch ya mouth, kid. Do you know who ya talkin’ to?” ‘Mamo’ asked.

“Eisuke Ichinomiya, the head of one of Japan’s top corporations – The Ichinomiya group. Owner of Tres Spades. A King amongst men.” Rose exaggerated yet her tone was completely flat and dry.

“At least she knows a King when she sees one.” Said the smug hotel owner clearly ignoring Rose’s sarcasm or not being able to differentiate between her normal tone and her sarcastic tone because he was a robot.

“Thank you for allowing me to be in your presence, King Asshole.”

Rose half bowed in her seat as she heard a few little sniggers around the room. Ever Mr. Oh had a little grin on his face for half a second before he was back to that stone-face he was famous amongst his peers for.

“Can we keep her around all the time? This might be the most fun I’ve had in this place.” Chuckled out Mamo.

“You’re usually asleep, you miss out on all our fun little escapades!”

Well, at least Rose now knew that Baba was eccentric and dramatic with everyone he knew, not just women. Although women seemed to enjoy his theatrics a lot more. Rose remembered how Miho and Jazz had said that he was very popular amongst the female clients at MJS.

“I gotta conserve energy.” ‘Mamo’ shrugged.

“You don’t do anything to need to conserve energy, slacker.”

Mr. Oh said a little bitterly, his eyes still on the device in his hand.

“Ain’t none of ya business what I do with my energy, evil eyes.”

Rose looked between the men, there was some sort of tension. She wasn’t sure if it was sexual or not but the tension was slightly on the sinister side.

His appearance agreed with Mr. Oh’s statement about him ‘not doing anything’. It made her wonder what his connection was with these men, he didn’t look like he had heaps of money or an illegal job or a wealthy family.

But then again, neither did Rose.

“Now, now, Mamo, Sor. There is lady present!” Baba tried to sooth the tension.

“Where’s Ryo?” Rose interrupted, completely ignoring Baba’s comment.

“Running late.” Mr. Oh said.

Rose sighed, of course he was.

While she adored her boyfriend, he wasn’t good at time management as well as his bad sense of direction. She twisted the watch on her wrist and looked down at the face. The art exhibit closed in two hours.

It’d take fifteen minutes to walk there, at least an hour to look around, then an exclusive Q&A with the artist before the gallery shut.

She couldn’t miss this. The artist was one of her references for her current project. And she’d already avoided doing it for far too long.

She got out her phone and wrote out a simple text:

‘I’ve gone to the art exhibit. Let me know when you’re done with work and we’ll meet up for dinner or something. Be safe.’

She stared at the text for a moment before deleting it and putting the device back in her bag. While it would be the courteous thing to do, she knew her boyfriend would feel guilty and be distracted and end up putting himself in danger.

She was still trying to work out how to be a good girlfriend in general. But it seemed even more difficult trying to figure out how to be the girlfriend of a mobster.

But she thought she was doing okay so far.

Rose began collecting her things without so much as a word. Not that she had much to collect and she was grateful for that. It meant a quicker escape from this hell hole.

“Where are you going, Princess?” Baba asked as he watched Rose.

“Away from here.” She replied.

“Are you not going to wait for your knight in shining armour?” He pried.

“Aya Takano’s exhibit won’t stay open forever.” She shrugged.

A scoff sounded and everyone turned to the pouting little off-ginger rat sat next to Baba.

“Aya Takano? Her exhibit is garbage.” Ota huffed.

“Funny, I thought the same thing when I was walking around your exhibit.” Rose shrugged.

‘Mamo’ let out a hearty laugh followed by a coughing fit. And Rose rolled her eyes, serves him right, in the time Rose had been there he’d had two cigarettes– one after the other.

“You don’t need to announce your departure. Just leave.” Mr. Ichinomiya growled.

Rose had several snarky comebacks on her tongue, but she thought ignoring him would piss him off more. So she went with that, even going as far to pretend she hadn’t heard him speak in the first place as she continued to collect herself in order to leave.

She then turned to the stone-faced mobster who hadn’t looked up from his phone the entire time Rose had been there, as if this were his hotel rather than Ichinomiya’s.

“Mr. Oh, I know you’re not a messenger and I hate to ask, but can you tell Ryo to call me when he’s finished with work. I fear if I text him, he’ll take even longer.”

He looked up at her, her posture slightly bowed in front of him. He seemed to contemplate what she said before nodding his head in agreement.

“Thank you.” Rose bowed. “Goodbye Mr. Oh.”

“Bye Baba, Bye Chimney.”

Rose said throwing a wave over her shoulder as she left.

“Chimney? Was she referring t’me?” Mamo asked, stubbing out his cigarette and immediately searching his jacket pocket for another one.

“That girl is irritating, other than her kicking the Auction Sponsors asses, why did you give her a key card to my penthouse?” Mr. Ichinomiya questioned Mr. Oh.

Who luckily didn’t have to answer as his phone went off and he travelled to another room to speak to whomever was on the other end.

“She’s easy on the eye though and she’s not a weak or shy little flower. She’s got thorns.” Baba said, fondly thinking back to the lap dance battle and the underwear she was wearing under her shirt.

It was funny really. Baba seemed to remember that moment better than Rose. Well who could blame him? Two young, attractive girls he’d just met giving him a lapdance. It was like a perverts dream.

Rose remembered what happened after the lap dance.

Kyobashi.

The narrator promises to get round to writing a chapter about that instead of writing ‘But that’s another chapter’ in each chapter.

“I question if she is the daughter of Hiroka-Haute Couture in those rags.” Mr. Ichinomiya stated.

Thankfully Rose wasn’t there anymore, she may have put him on his ass.

“Even in a bin bag I think she’d still make my heart skip a beat.” Baba smirked still thinking about the flashes of skin between the intricately strappy bra.

“You’re old enough to be her Grandpa.” Ota joked.

“That didn’t seem to bother her when she was grinding half naked in my lap.” Baba muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing~”

Baba was not a man to kiss and tell, well most of the time and especially when Miho and Jazz were involved. He’d end up a castrated man.

“I am surprised you’re so calm about it though, Boss. What if Alice discovers wonderland?”

He looked to Mr. Ichinomiya quickly changing the subject before his scowling artist friend went to enquire about his muttered comment further.

“Soryu will have to deal with the repercussions of that.” He said blankly still staring at the device in his lap as if Rose’s entire existence had no meaning to him – which it didn’t, she was beneath him like everyone else in the world.

“We all know the mobster won’t kill a kid, especially a girl. Y’know his bro code n’all.” Mamo said.

“Mamo’s got a pont.” Baba pondered.

“I could keep her as my pet, she does look like my koro.” Ota grinned.

Everyone looked at the artist before letting out a snort. Bar Mr. Ichinomiya of course, who almost certainly could be a robot.

“Yeah right, brat. I think she’s more likely t’make you her pet.”

Baba nodded at Mamo’s statement.

“She will not be a problem.” Mr. Oh said as he re-entered the conversation, his phone still clutched in his grasp perhaps a little tighter than before.

“And if she is?” Mr. Ichinomiya questioned.

There was a long pause.

Mr. Oh was a man of his word. He would not harm the innocent, especially a woman. And especially a woman that his young right-hand man was infatuated with.

“She won’t.” Mr. Oh said again.

This time with more conviction. He would not allow her to come to any harm and that involved keeping her out of the penthouse antics. One of the reasons he told Inui to give Rose a penthouse key-card was purely so they could keep an eye on her when she was in Tres Spades for her own safety as well as everyone else’s.

While she was quite subdued and laid back, there was a fire in her that could erupt if someone so much as looked at her the wrong way. She wasn’t quite a haywire but she wasn’t entirely predictable. And that could draw negative attention towards the hotel and its secrets.

And if that happened, Mr Ichinomiya would hold her accountable and send her to a watery grave. And Mr. Oh wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop that from happening.

That conversation ended.

Mr. Ichinomiya clearly putting his trust in the mobster that Rose wouldn’t cause any problems.

“The shipment has arrived in the basement. I’ll go and check inventory.”

Mr. Oh said a while after.

After his departure, Mr Ichinomiya went to his office without saying a word.

Ota and Baba were talking casually on the sofa they were sat on. Well, I say talking casually - Baba was eccentrically talking about something and Ota was rolling his eyes and groaning at him and frequently telling him to ‘shut up’. And Mamo was slumped in the chair he was sat in with his eyes closed.

It wasn’t long until that quiet was disrupted.

The doors flew open and a panting Inui was stood slumped over in the doorway.

“A…hah…Akane? I’m…I’m sorry I’m late.”

His head was bowed in front of him as he was trying to catch his breath so he couldn’t see who was in the penthouse.

“Sorry puppy, but your master left.”

A bitter Kisaki said somewhat bitterly although trying his best not to be.

Inui’s head bolted up and he looked around the room as if to confirm what the artist had told him. He then looked to Baba – who gave him a little nod of his head.

His whole body visibly slumped.

“Ain’t got no-one t’blame but yaself puppy. The kid waited and put up with these shit-twits for ten minutes. Lasted longer than most.” Mamo said, searching his pockets for his cigarettes.

Inui’s eyes widened.

He felt guilty, incredibly guilty. He asked for her to meet him here and she had to endure these tyrants of teasing because he’d spent far too long arguing with Samejima about whether it was quicker to go through downtown back to Tres Spades.

“But I promised I’d take her.”

He said to himself, his body managing to succumb to the guilt and slump even further.

“Couldn’t ya still get there in time if ya ran?” Mamo asked, a stream of smoke following out past his lips.

“I don’t know where the exhibit is.” Inui sighed.

“Ota probably does, don’t you Ota?” Baba said reassuringly as he turned to the young man next to him.

He still look grumpy mind, until a little glint sparked in his eyes and he smiled his signature angelic smile towards Inui.

“I do,” He said, leaning forward in his seat a little. “But I’m not sure if I should tell you.”

“What? Why not?” Inui pried.

Naïve as always to the plots to tease the poor boy and his innocence, Inui was confused at best.

“Well,” Kisaki started, returning to his previous lounging position now he had Inui’s attention. “You know what the exhibit it about right?”

He asked, although he knew full well that Inui would have no idea.

“Um, no.” A dejected Inui replied.

Kisaki had to bite back his sadistic smile, but thankfully for him he had trained himself to do it and to do it well. He sent a side glance to Baba, who looked at him with as much interest as Inui.

Although, he was aware that the young artist was up to something mischievous and the childish side of him wanted in too.

“I’ll give you a little insight into Aya Takano. She’s became a single mother at the young age of 22. The father of her child left her when he found out she was pregnant. The exhibit is about her struggles as a single mother.”

“That’s awful, that poor woman.”

Inui stepped into the penthouse his face contorting from disgust at Aya Takano’s ex-lover to confusion to what that had to do with why he shouldn’t tell him where the exhibit is.

“Don’t worry too much about her, her exhibit is doing extremely well. She is earning good money and she is now married and her husband has legally adopted her child.”

Kisaki said, waving off Inui’s concerns.

“What you should be focused on, is why your little girlfriend chose to go to see her exhibit.”

Inui cocked his head and stared at Kisaki like a confused puppy. Which he was.

“What? Isn’t it because she likes her art?” he replied.

Kisaki sat there an almost smirk on his face, spelling out this little lie was going to be so much fun for the sadist.

“Perhaps she does, but you need to read between the lines,” He paused. “Oh wait, puppies can’t read. I guess I’ll have to explain.”

The room was silent, each man waiting with anticipation for Kisaki to elaborate.

Meanwhile, Rose had just managed to finish looking round the exhibit and slide in to the room where the Q&A was being held.

She loitered at the back of the room, the seats were all filled bar the odd couple but trying to get to them was more effort than Rose wanted to deal with at this current moment in time.

She’d glanced at her phone a couple of times while she was there, each time a little disheartened when she didn’t see a missed call or text from her boyfriend.

She’d managed to avoid going to the darkest corner of her mind and assuming something bad had happened to him – although it was hard to stay clear of given his choice in career.

Thankfully Aya Takano’s art exhibit was more interesting than Rose could have hoped for.

The way she portrayed the pain of losing the man she loved and gaining a child whom she had to be strong for was incredibly beautiful. Each intricately designed piece made a mixture of emotions creep up into Rose she didn’t know she could feel.

She leant against the wall as a man addressed the audience.

“Welcome everyone, thank you for attending. We would ask that you are respectful with your questions and refrain for asking anything that isn’t related to the pieces of art that are displayed in this exhibit, Thank you.”

A moment later Aya Takano took her place at the podium.

She introduced herself, a warm smile on her face. Happy to see that her art had touched many people. Whether it be through similar struggles or appreciation for the messages she was trying to convey in them.

After some standard questions a microphone was passed down the row of chairs to a man Rose recognised even from the back of his head.

“Does your daughter understand the meaning behind your work?”

Rose frowned as she waited for Aya Takano to answer.

“She does, she’s a very bright little girl.” She smiled fondly.

“And she knows that her Father abandoned her before she was born?”

There was silence.

Aya Takano looked physically uncomfortable and she wasn’t quite sure on how to respond. While she would have to address these kind of questions given the symbolism and titles of her work and the openness about being a single mother, that didn’t give anyone the right to put her on the spot like that.

She waved to the woman closest to her who had another microphone, who quickly tottered over to Rose while glancing at the woman in the spotlight with a concerned look.

“She didn’t abandon her. Aya played both roles herself.”

Rose said, aware of how powerful her voice sounded through the speakers.

The man who asked such a heartless questioned looked around the room searching for the voice he obviously recognised.

She stared right at him, her expression telling him exactly unpleased she was with such a disrespectful question even if it was for his job.

Minato’s eyes widened slightly before he turned back to the stage where Aya Takano continued on from what Rose had to say.

“The young lady is right. I struggled more than she did with the fact her Father did abandon her, for her it was normal to just have me. She didn’t need a male figure to represent her Father because I did both,” She regained composure. “And if there are any more questions about this matter I will end the Q&A here.”

She stood taller, her face no longer smiling.

And Rose, while being a complete stranger to her felt proud.

After that, the questions were about her upcoming ventures and the rumour of her painting a royal portrait for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – which she neither denied nor confirmed.

When it came to an end, Rose slipped out as the scuffle of feet and chairs drowned out behind her.

“Rose, wait!”

Came a voice from behind her as she pulled the door to leave the building.

She stopped although she wasn’t entirely sure why. Except for wanting to karate chop him in the throat for asking such a tasteless question.

Rose turned to look over her shoulder, glaring from the corner of her eye when he managed to manoeuvre through a small group of people towards her.

“Can I help you, asshole?”

Rose responded although she walked through the door she opened. If she was going to hit him it wasn’t going to be in a place that had cameras – a nice little tip Miho gave her.

“I know asking that question made me look like a complete asshole. But I don’t even write the art column. You think I have any idea about art? This is Yuasa’s article, he’s sick at the moment so I had to fill in for him before we send the copy to press tomorrow. Look,” Minato showed Rose a piece of paper that had a list of questions on it and sure enough that question was written there. “See?”

Rose sighed.

“Fine, but you could have skipped that one. It was unfair.”

Minato rubbed the back of his neck – a sign Rose had realised meant that he realised he was in the wrong but didn’t want to apologise because he was Minato.

Rose checked her phone, still no call or text.

This only made her even grumpier.

“Hey, I know you’re probably pissed at me but it says here I need to interview a patron of the exhibit and ask their opinion. Can I get yours?”

He points at the paper and shoved it under Rose’s nose as she stared angrily at her phone.

She glowered up at him.

“There’s a bar round the corner. I’ll take you there, buy you a drink while you answer a few questions, deal?”

While Rose wanted nothing more than to go home right now, she also knew Minato was in a bind. He didn’t have long to write up an article before they sent it to print.

“Make it two and you’ve got a deal.”

Minato gave her his signature wolfish grin, one that once made her body little in goosebumps but now it made her miss her puppies smile.

“It’s him!” Inui exclaimed only to have his mouth covered by two sets of hands.

“If you bark like that you’ll give our cover away!” Kisaki hissed into Inui’s ear.

“Who is he?” Baba asked, casually walking out from their cover position when he was sure Rose and the man accompanying her weren’t aware of their presence.

“I don’t know his name, I’ve just seen him leave Akane’s place before and at some party.”

Ota walked up to Baba.

“This is too easy.” He whispered with an inane grin on his face.

“You realise she will slaughter you. And me too for that matter.” He replied but also shared the same grin as his friend.

“You agreed to come along old man,” He turned to Inui who was still stood behind the side of the building in cover. “Don’t you want to follow them?”

Inui bit his lip as he slowly stood up from his crouched position.

He trusted Akane, whole heartedly but ‘What If’ Ota was right?

Carefully they kept a safe distance and followed along.

After opening the door for Rose, Minato lead the way towards a little booth in the corner.

“I’ll get the drinks, you sit here. Whiskey right?”

“Na, just a lemonade please.”

While she had agreed only to answer his questions over a couple of drinks she wasn’t really feeling alcohol right now. She was still worried about Ryosuke. He’d still not contacted her and that made her hesitant to contact him. She needed her wits about her if she needed to rush off and save him.

Without any questions, Minato went to get their drinks.

And a few moments he was back.

He sat opposite Rose and got out his phone and opened the recorder app and set it on the table between them.

“I think this is the first time I’ve seen you work.”

Rose said.

“Prepare to be amazed.” He said smugly.

And Rose couldn’t help but chuckle. He was still an arrogant ass, although she never expected him to change. It was almost like he couldn’t help it.

He asked her some basic questions – nothing to be wowed by but then again he didn’t write them. Rose gave short answers, after all the questions didn’t really require anything lengthy.

“Is that it?” She asked when he pressed the record button again to stop the recording.

“Yep, told you it was only a few.” He said taking a sip from his beer.

“So you could have done this outside the exhibit?”

She arched an eyebrow.

“I guess.” He shrugged. “Also wanted to know how you were doing. Haven’t seen you since the Seasonelle party.”

So that was the real reason he asked her to come here.

“I’m fine,” she replied. “what about you?”

There was almost a coy smile before he spoke.

“I’m good, I met someone. Well, she kind of moved into my place as my step-sister and annoyed the shit out of me, then she started working at seasonelle and I couldn’t get rid of her we were basically dating anyway, so we just made it official.” He chuckled.

Rose smiled.

The look on his face as he traced the rim of his beer glass was adorable even if his words weren’t complimentary of his new partner, there was a fondness in his voice. It was a side to him she hadn’t seen before.

“And she actually wants to date an asshole like you? That girl needs her head examined.”

Rose smirked as he looked up at her.

“Probably,” He smirked back. “She gives me a run for my money. Actually, I think you’d really like her. She’s a smartmouth pommy just like you.”

He grinned and Rose gripped her lemonade tighter at the mere mention of the petname he used to call her.

It wasn’t that it upset her, it was more that it was kind of inappropriate since he had a new ‘pommy’. And Rose had a puppy of her own. But at the same time, the way he said it was completely different so she didn’t address it.

“What? You wanna double date or something?”

Rose asked as she sipped her lemonade.

“No way! The thought of you and Mieke joining forces is some scary shit.”

Minato joked.

“Then we are definitely are having a double date. I want to meet this Mieke, she sounds like fun.” Rose smirked over the rim of her glass.

“Not happening.” Minato argued.

“If I have to come to your office and make Shusei convince you, I will.”

Rose said deadpan, spinning the cup in her fingers while staring directly at him.

“Okay, Jeez. Don’t do that, no one at the office knows about us, not yet anyway.”

That sounded about right. There were a lot of rules and regulations about work romances these days. It was never a simple case of lovers meeting at work anymore – no that was too distracting or some bollocks.

“Good, I’ll bring my puppy and you bring yours.”

After that, Rose told Minato to check plans with Mieke and then to send her a day and a time. For someone who once hated social interaction on a major scale, Rose was actually excited.

Hiding in a corner booth over the other side of the restaurant, Inui, Baba and Ota watched Minato and Rose with an interested eye.

“They get along quite well, don’t they?” Baba asked, before a pretty little brunette walked past him and caught his eye distracting him for a moment. “Isn’t he the one that wrote the article about MJS? Is that how they met?”

Inui looked to Baba before he looked back to Rose.

“I guess so, Akane did say they met through work.”

His heart was aching, he wanted to rush over there and drag her away and demand she never see him again.

But, something stopped him.

If Ota was right, he knew that he couldn’t do that. He had no right.

“She looks miserable though, don’t you think?” Ota chirped from his seat next to Inui. “Perhaps he’s listing off reasons that he can’t be around anymore sipping on his beer without a care in the world while she has to stick to soft drinks.”

Inui’s brow creased.

“But how could he do that? He’s not allowed to do that!” He yelled, only to have his mouth covered once more and his head pushed down as patrons of the bar looked towards them.

“Keep your damn voice down, if I have to I will muzzle you.” Ota growled.

“At least the puppy wants to defend his mistress’s honour. Very heroic.” Baba commended.

They kept quiet as they saw Minato and Rose rise from their seats and head towards the exit and carefully watched from the window as Minato lead Rose to a car down the street and drove her away.

A second later Inui’s phone beeped.

‘It’s getting late, so I’m heading home. I was hoping we could get dinner but I guess you’re still working. Feel free to swing by when you’re done. Hope you haven’t lost the FOB for my building. Be safe.’

Inui’s heart hurt and his head was split in two.

But he knew what he had to do.

Rose fiddled with her phone as she lay on her futon.

As soon as she got to her place, Minato practically pushed her out the car after checking his own phone - saying Mieke had ordered Pizza and put on the soccer and waffling on about ‘she was the woman of his dreams’.

She was happy for him somewhere inside herself.

But right now she couldn’t be happy for anyone. The thoughts of all the possible reasons as to why Ryosuke hadn’t responded to her were swimming around her brain to the point she’d forgotten she hadn’t eaten since the evening before.

Her stomach looked bloated from the lack of fibre and she pulled up her vest top and prodded and poked at her protruding tummy as if to deflate it.

“Are you sure you should be doing that so aggressively?!”

Came a shrill voice making Rose’s heart leap out of her chest and bolt up into defensive mode.

“Shit a brick and fuck me with it. Ryo! Oh my god.”

The adrenaline of the surprise he gave her and the relief of seeing him in front of her were at war with each other as she stood unsure on whether to hug him or slap him.

“What?”

He cocked his head, tentatively taking a step towards her.

“You scared me.”

His eyes widened and he rushed over to her.

“I’m so sorry, that won’t be good for either of you. Please sit down.”

‘Either of us?’

Rose thought watching as Ryosuke carefully escorted her back down onto the futon as if she were made of glass. Then he retreated to Rose’s kitchen to fetch a glass of water.

“What are you doing?”

She asked when he tried to make her take a sip of water and she refused.

“Taking care of you,” He placed his hand on her stomach. “Both of you. If he’s not going to, I plan to.”

Rose slapped his hand off her stomach and sat up better so she could look him in the face.

“Explain.” She demanded.

“I, I know. About you and that editor guy.”

Rose stared at him, completely confused.

“I know why you were so interested in that art exhibit. You wanted courage to raise yours and his baby on your own. But I want you to know, you won’t be on your own! I’ll be here every step of the way.”

He pressed a palm to her cheek and ran his thumb along her cheekbone.

“Um…What?”

“Shhh.” He pulled her into a hug. “It’s okay, Akane. Whatever happens I’ll be right here with you. We’ll have our own little family, even if the baby isn’t mine, I’ll raise it as if it is my own.”

She pushed him away.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. What baby?”

He looked at her a little hurt, but placed a hand on her stomach pushing through his own pain knowing she must be hurting more.

“This baby.”

Rose raised an eyebrow.

“Are you calling me fat?”

“What?! No!” He responded.

“Well it sounds like it because I’m not pregnant.”

There was silence for a moment.

“Y-You-You’re not?”

Inui despite being taller and bulkier than Rose seemed to shrink.

“No.”

Ryosuke was a mixture of feelings and Rose watched on in confusion. How on earth could someone so innocent come up with something so complicated?

“What on earth made you think I was pregnant?”

She asked when he remained quiet.

“I um, Well. Mr. Kisaki told me what the art exhibit was about and he said I needed to read between the lines of why someone so young would be interested in something like that and why you didn’t wait for me to see the exhibit. And he, I and Mr. Baba went to the exhibit and saw you arguing with the Editor guy and then you went to a bar but you were only drinking soft drinks and he was all smiley and happy and you were pouty and grumpy.”

Rose’s fist clenched as soon as Kisaki was mentioned and then her teeth began to gnaw together when Baba made an appearance.

“I was so angry. I wanted to go and give him a piece of my mind, but he was the father of the baby and I didn’t think I had any right to intervene.”

Rose sighed.

She wanted to be mad, I mean he listened to those fuck-wits before talking to her but she knew how easily he could be manipulated. Especially by the likes of Kisaki and Baba and especially when all those little ‘signs’ lined up and could make legitimate reasoning.

“I was ‘pouty and grumpy’ because you hadn’t let me know you were okay. I’m guessing Mr. Oh wasn’t in the penthouse when you got there or none of this would have happened.”

Ryosuke looked at Rose and cocked his head before he shook his head no.

Boy, he makes it really hard to be mad at him. But Rose managed to bite back a smile.

“What about the chimney?”

She asked.

“Chimney?” Ryosuke furrowed his brow before he realised who Rose was talking about. “Oh, you mean Mr. Kishi. Yeah he was there.”

“And he didn’t tell you that I left a message with Mr. Oh for you?”

Rose was growing increasingly irritated by the men that resided in the penthouse of Tres Spades, if that was even possible.

“No, all he said was ‘The kid is gonna kill ya’. But I assumed that was because they told your secret.” Inui shook his head, clearly baffled by how they managed to fool him.

“He’s included on my hit list.”

Rose had begun plotting each of their demise in her head. The anger bubbling inside her was only dulled by the cuteness on how Ryosuke responded to the situation.

She looked to Ryosuke when he went silent again.

“Hey, if it makes you feel better, I’m really happy that you were willing to be here for me despite this hypothetical baby not being yours.”

He gave her a shy smile as he glanced up at her.

“Really. When we start our own family, you’re going to make the greatest dad.”

He looked up at her, almost gawking.

“Our family?”

He asked, a whole movie playing behind his eyes.

“Mm,” Rose smiled fondly at him as he stared past her and into the future. “they’ll have my sass with your innocent face. The world won’t stand a chance with our little one.”

Rose chuckled imagining the cute little demon they’d create.

Ryosuke joined Rose’s chuckle before he wrapped himself around her and pushed her down onto the futon with a bit of force. Their first practise of many baby making sessions with protection of course. While they both very much wanted a family one day now was definitely not the time.

“Hey, sorry to call you so late, Jazz” Rose paused to check Ryosuke was still in the shower before continuing. “Yeah, I’m good but I have a question. I need some help in plotting dishes of revenge.”

“Ohhh, sounds interesting. Who are we castrating?”

Rose grinned, even if Jazz didn’t want to get involved physically she could provide Rose with some good ideas, after all Jazz’s bestfriend was Miho – she would definitely learnt some things from her over the years.

“Ota Kisaki, Baba and Mamoru Kishi.”

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