#well let me tell you it was weirdly fun posing to this

[smimon]

Tried something different this time, something more, let's say, genuine. Extrapolated from the cover art for Siitä Viis, then I made it somewhat personal and poof, angry screamy Käärijä is here

[sapphorror]

The relevance of chronology in IZ is dubious at best (in the show—it is flat-out non-existent in the comics), but I do kind of love to think about it regardless because there are so many weirdly specific points of internal continuity, practically and sometimes even emotionally, that we can't pretend there's absolutely nothing to examine there, even if the degree to which it matters is next to null. And anyway, I love a fool's errand.

So with that disclaimer I'd just like to talk about everyone's favorite organ harvesting episode and how much it kills me when examined in the context of an on-going continuity, because it's not just one of the most horrifying things Zim ever does across canon, it's really the first horrifying thing that Dib is present to bear witness to, at least on that scale. For all that NanoZim must've been scary and violating on a personal level, it was ultimately still a contained, targeted attack, and not even an unjustified one—not that Dib would consciously think of it this way, but Zim was acting in reasonable self-defense, he just chose to be really brutal and vindictive as he did so. Plus, Dib did come out on top of that encounter, so there were no real lasting consequences besides losing his evidence, which only put him back to square one. Basically, it was a great basis for forming a personal grudge, but it didn't really say anything about how generally malicious or threatening Zim actually was outside the context of their quickly-coalescing rivalry. Zim's only a monster at this point insofar as it's fun for Dib to have a dragon to defeat. The danger he poses does not yet hang over Dib's head like a guillotine.

Dark Harvest, though. In Dark Harvest, Zim shows just how capable he is of committing brutality on total bystanders at a mass scale under much less urgent circumstances without so much as a trace of hesitation or remorse—and by the end of it, Dib learns firsthand how severe the consequences for losing to Zim can actually be. Healed through the miracle of the status quo reset button or not... well.

And this adds a lot of context to why Dib spends the rest of the series so totally convinced of the danger Zim poses, even if most of the time that POV is extreme overkill. If he ever starts to doubt the necessity of his mission, just think about the time Zim stole a bunch of kids' organs, and that's irrefutable proof that Zim CAN accomplish terrible things if left unchecked. If he ever starts to doubt the morality of his intentions, just think about the time Zim stole a bunch of kids' organs (and would do so again!), and he can rest easy knowing Zim deserves every terrible consequence coming for him. If he ever forgets why he absolutely cannot afford to let his guard slip for even a second, just think about the time Zim stole a bunch of kids' organs, including Dib's, and now he remembers exactly why it's so important Zim's never allowed to gain the upper-hand. Even when he finally ditches Zim in Mopiness of Doom, it's not because he stops seeing Zim as a threat, it's that he's gotten too burnt out on single-handedly saving the world all the time to care.

(Gaz, of course, was there too and still thinks Zim is harmless, but Gaz also thinks expressing pain after having your entire lower body melted into off-brand bug spray makes you a whiner, so let's not put too much stock in her judgement here)

Even during Dark Harvest, Dib's immediate response upon finding Zim is to tell him this is totally beyond the pale, as if Zim might actually care—and while Dib trying to convince Zim he's acting totally unhinged isn't exactly unusual throughout the show, past this point he usually does so by appealing to Zim's self-interest ("stop trying to blow up the planet, you're still ON the planet") rather than any hypothetical better nature or good sense, can you even imagine. But that's exactly what he does here, reflexively or not, and that to me is a perfect demonstration of how this episode marks a radical shift in what Dib thinks he's up against.

And for some bonus meta? This also stretches into The Wettening in a really fun way, which is the second episode after Dark Harvest and the first with Dib. The sheer glee Dib takes in exploiting the new-found weakness for all it's worth, just because he can, makes a lot of sense in the wake of Dark Harvest and his new understanding of Zim as an out-of-control inhuman lunatic he has no idea how to stop. Seeing Zim vulnerable to something, openly afraid, and in obviously agonizing pain—well, humanizes would be the wrong word under the circumstances, but it cuts him back down to mortal size. He might be tough, and he might be terrifying, but he's not invincible. Even after Zim very unambiguously wins that fight and finds a way to protect himself from Earth's water, the important take-away is that there are things that can hurt him—Dib just has to figure out what they are. If Dark Harvest is the episode that shows Dib Zim is truly a monster, The Wettening is the episode to teach him even real monsters can be defeated.

[invertebrates]

bug toys!

alright, here’s my mini-guide to getting into the world of Weirdly Articulated, almost entirely Japanese bug toys.

some caveats:

1) most of these toys aren’t great for kids. they have a lot of small lose-able, breakable, poke-able parts and can fall apart pretty easily. 2) i’m in the US, so i’m not quite sure how to acquire these things if ebay and Buyee don’t work for you 3) ‘bugs’ for the purpose of this guide (and entire blog tbh) is any invertebrate why would i want fake bugs when i can get real bugs? 1) fake bugs don’t die and can be neglected forever. they will never bite, sting, poop on you, or be stinky (unless you make them stinky) 2) fake bugs can be handled constantly, they will not get stressed out or pick up any germs from you 3) fake bugs can be much larger than real bugs, or be species that would be impossible or unethical to own or breed. they can even be fun made up creatures 4) fake bugs don’t require any kind of tank, substrate or food, and they will not breed uncontrollably (or at all) 5) they cannot escape and become an invasive species 6) buying them doesn’t support shady or unethical ‘breeders’ who just take bugs from the wild (not saying all bug breeders do this, but it’s definitely a problem with certain kinds of bugs)

this is not to discourage any responsible bug-culturing you might want to get into, but for me, as a pretty depressed person without a lot of space, these are all big plusses!

onto the fake bugs

ikimono encyclopedia

unfortunately these photos will be some dark toys against dark backgrounds because i am a goth bastard and everything i own is black. sorry.

so, these being Japanese toys, I’m not entirely sure of the correct terms for them. these are pretty much just the search terms I’ve discovered over time that work to find them. as far as I can tell, Japan LOVES bugs and has a very enviable appreciation for them, they don’t seem to be considered nearly as gross or weird or bad as they are in the west.

these are a series gachapon or capsule toys. you can get all kinds of awesome little toys, which are often strangely detailed and often high quality, from vending machines in Japan.

here are some current listings from ebay to give you an idea of the variety and prices:

they also have a lot of cool fish and reptiles in this series. prices can be a bit steep, but you’re usually buying the whole set of toys pictured, not just a one-off. they’re usually a few inches, pretty well painted and articulated, and come as individually wrapped kits you have to put together. i will say, sometimes it is hard to snap the legs into place, so if you have hand/joint issues you might need some help putting them together. usually, a lot of these toys might be the same model but repainted, and sometimes there’s duplicates. the two mantises in my photo are from a set of 6, and there were 3 sets of 2 identical boys, so I could display one with the wings out and another one folded. they’ll also sometimes come with a little piece of clear plastic and a stand you can pose them on top of.

just from the sheer variety they offer, and relative affordability, this would probably be my first recommendation for getting into bug toys. they have beetles, mantids, caterpillars, wasps, ispods, crabs... i’d love some myriapod sets but we’ll see!

i usually grab these guys off ebay. they’re also available on Buyee and there may be more, cheaper options over there, but I’ve noticed with the import/holding fees, buyee and ebay come out to be about the same most of the time. (for anyone confused, Buyee is an English import service that lets you buy stuff off Japanese sites and auctions, since a lot of Japanese sites only want to ship inside Japan)

these are also just the gachapon bug toys from one specific company. there’s OTHER companies making other sets of really good bugs but I’ve had so much luck with just this one term I haven’t branched out much yet.

Fujimi Living Thing Arc

these are slightly bigger models made out of slightly harder plastic (well, the mantis is bigger; beetles are about the same as the ikimono guys) that are a bit more intricate to put together. they come with assembly instructions, but of course they’re in Japanese. you can pretty much follow along with the pictures though. the painting details aren’t quite as nice, but they have a bit more articulation. not as many choices with this set, though they do have a crawfish I wanna snag. they also have some goofy JP style monster dinos.

i bought these guys off hlj.com but it looks like they’re on ebay(and buyee as well I’m sure)

Revoltech RevoGeo

you’ll probably recognize this name if you’re into transformers or other toy collecting. these guys are gonna be by far the most expensive ($90-$120+) but they are extremely large and high quality. this one is super articulated, the individual leg joints and mandibles move, wings move, about the only thing that isn’t articulated are the individual little tarsomeres/feet segments or the abdomen segments. not as much choice here either, I think they have a beetle, ants, crab and a scorpion plus this wasp. these also come mostly assembled, you can usually just snap the wings on or maybe swap out a few parts (iirc this gal’s stinger can be removed)

i got her off bigbadtoystore.com, though they may be available cheaper elsewhere. BBTS is infamously a bit pricier than other toy stores but they’ve always been very reliable and quick for me.

this BIG isopod

this one won’t be as helpful. these may be part of the same series as the ikimono (they were just labeled bandai gachapon) but they are much larger, this guy’s like 5″, came fully assembled and is pretty articulated. they can even roll into a ball! all their little legs move! i’m pretty sure they’re meant to be one of the large deep sea isopods and man, a 1:1 revoltech model of one of those would be a dream.

completely fake bugs!

had to share my little starship trooper warrior bug collection :^) the big one and the one directly under it are 90s kenner toys I believe, the bottom-right one is a funko, the red one is from a tabletop set, and the guy on the left is a figma model that is unfortunately ridiculously expensive nowadays.

one nice thing about fake real bugs: there is not a crazy collectors market for this so this stuff should stay pretty affordable. unless real normal bugs somehow become a huge pop sensation i think it’s just us weird nerds that are into them.

other search terms to try: bandai insect insect gachapon (or gashapon) nature gachapon

that way you may be able to track down listings for individual toys that should be a bit cheaper! here’s a sample what bandai insect got me on ebay:

happy fake bug collecting!

you may noticed I haven’t mentioned one form of bug that has a lot of the same advantages as plastic bugs: dead pinned insects in shadowboxes. i do have some of these, but i am reluctant to support places selling them nowadays because few are ethically or responsibly sourced, and the same sellers often kill and sell endangered bats and other vertebrates for display. plus mites got into half the ones i had and turned them into dead bug dust. if mites ever develop a taste for plastic i will be sad about my collection but the world will be saved from a lot of nasty garbage so it would ultimately be a Plus.

so unless you personally know the person that pinned the insect, i would be very cautious about buying dead things from random online stores or dealers at ‘curiosity’ or ‘oddity’ shows and things like that, since it’s all sourced from alibaba and whatnot anyway. i swear i saw like 5 different people selling the same dead octopuses in orbs at the last curiosity show i went to. they are cool, but i have no idea where those octopuses came from and i doubt the people selling them did either.

[uniformbravo]

since i've spent the past few days essentially staring at nothing but natsuyuu volume covers i thought it'd be so fun and silly to try and redraw them all from memory tee hee. all 30 (thirty) (三十) of them!!! wheee!!!!

i haven't actually looked at them next to the originals yet so guess what time it is!!!! LET'S COMPARE

starting with volume 1. iconic. show stopping. masterpiece. the mona lisa of natsuyuu SURELY i reproduced every single detail perfectly such that it kickstarts my career as a forgery artist RIGHT

well feast ur eyes

(im using the english volumes for comparison btw they have a good clear view of the art)

CAN U TELL WHICH IS WHICH OOO THEYRE SO ALIKE BET U CANT!!! SPOT THE DIFFERENCE LEVEL 1000 WHICH ONE DO U SHOOT

all i remembered for this one was GREEN and it's not even the right shade of green ajgosugdjfkdgj i even made the fuckin. what do u call it. i'll just say yukata??? I MADE IT GREEN AND ITS SUPPOSED TO BE RED i stg if u held a gun to my head & asked if there was any red on vol 1 i'd be DEAD

but i remembered the book of friends is like. weirdly purple? ok well in this pic it looks p gray BUT ON OTHER COPIES...... IF U UP THE SATURATION GKSJKDNFKDG

why is nyanko sensei smack dab in the middle HUH i couldve sworn he was bottom left this is so fucked up and scary. haunted manga volume??????? i bought it from a grarage sale idk you guys-

at least natsume's pose is like kind of right but also that's most definitely a complete accident i can ASSURE u (im rereading this the next day and the pose isnt even CLOSE what are u TALKING ABOUT)

anyway can i just fucking point out the kanji on the book of friends bc that is from MEMORY YEEHAW here's what it's Supposed to look like: 友人帳

LIKE even tho i got the last one wrong ITS LIKE STILL PRETTY CLOSE??? i think i deserve 100 points for this objectively

MOVING ON THO....

OK NOT AS BAD AS I THOUGHT SURPRISINGLY im actually like. i thought i bombed this one completely but liKE THE COMPOSITION??? KIND OF ON POINT. KIND OF GENIUS TBH

i remembered Blue and Madara and like what else do u need rly. butterflies are optional in all scenarios imo

also i NEVER have any idea what natsume's wearing in any of these so i always just like default throw him into his school uniform LMAO u will see a pattern

why is the book of friends burgundy in this one btw. it was GRAY i mean purple definitely purple aha

ok volume 3 im actually scared for i know i fucked up SOMETHING

HGLKFKGLKFKGFN OK!!!!! OK NOT SUPER AWFUL!!!! just noticed i forgor to color the book of friends fukg

main thing i remembered abt this one was the color of natsume's... attire.... and which characters were present. whats sensei doing all the way up in the top corner tho 0/10

return of the school uniform lmaooooo hm. irrelevant who cares plus didnt ask. all things considered this wasn't as bad as i thought. THE NEXT ONE HOWEVER,

hsngjfgnfjn okayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

sensei's way cuter in this one than i realized wait wtf this cover's cute af how did i never notice. underrated cover -10 @ me. look at his lil BLEP >:O!!!!!!!

i knew there was some fuckshit going on w the yukata in this one ourhg i was just like hehe greeennnn also sensei's there. my work here is done

what is natsume's pose even hgnkg i was straight up making shit up at this point LIKE the first 6 or so covers are SO hard for me to distinguish in my head i should get a free pass for the poses in all of them like i can do whatever i want IM the artist now

oh god whats next vol 5

OK!!!! like a straight 5/10 TBH i literally forgot i was planning on rating these LMAO

i remembered the like white v-neck shirt thing and his pose kind of??? i had NO idea what to do for the yukata tho i just made it orange and u know what?? close enough. my rule of thumb is just like pick a color and then throw flowers all over it u cant go wrong

taki looks so much more mysterious on the original and also wearing a skirt. i gave her a big stick bc i thought i remembered her having one in general but i think i made that up tbh wouldn't put it past me. got her hat right tho hee haw

cant believe i didn't get natsume's beautiful artwork tho look at that little shit sensei up there god hes so ROUMD literally moma material

PROBABLY my best one yet uhhhh but i maybe cheated JUST a little for this one ITS LIKE BARELY CHEATING STOP BOOING ME

as i was toying w the idea of doing this redraw thing i was still working on collecting my Images and Pictures so i kinda started taking note of a few small things here & there and one of them was just. the general gist of this cover SO LIKE that's why it's so good LOL

forgor the flowers tho. i literally forget everything that isn't a character like immediately BUT OK CUT ME SOME SLACK like after a point the covers start being whole ass scenes which are SO much easier to remember shit abt than the fuckin Green Void (p sure this is the last green void cover tho)

8/10 composition is gr8 but details like the shirt & the yellow flowers are wrong, also the stick is backwards. i literally looked up what that thing is called and forgot already tee hee

OK WE'RE NOT DONE W THE GREEN VOID I REPEAT-

fuck dude. fuck. i rly thought vol 6 was the last one LOL not to spoil but as i was grabbing these images i saw a Preview of what's to come and the green void lasts until fuckign volume TEN LOL collapses onto the ground and dies

so erhermrm this is vol 7 lolllll i remembered the bg flowers this time can u believe hahaha distracts u from the fact that LITERALLY everything else is wrong auhghg

u know what the green void turned into bushes and i think that's beautiful.... like points for creativity on my part tbh. like to be completely honest. 3/10 i got the characters right

YO????? GATE CONFIRMED LET'S GO?????? it's definitely the school gate but i choose to believe natsume & tanuma r in jail for crimes and u should too

actually this is shockingly accurate for how much i goddamn struggled w this one gkjsldkg the CHARACTERS are right the OUTFITS are right SENSEI'S THERE urgh i knew one of these covers had tanuma holding sensei like that but i couldn't remember Which

i can't believe i actually got tanuma's pose that close i rly thought i was bullshitting w that one wtf. +5 points instantly

do u like how i just scribbled sensei wherever lmaoooo i drew natsume & tanuma & went like. i think sensei's in this one. PLOP

6/10 honestly closer than i thought

OK........ I SEE........ literally dies

this one i was getting MASSIVELY confused w vol 4 bc i could remember nothing distinct abt either of them except Green and natsume w Big Doggie

i remembered the BARE essentials of the composition but not much else... since i thought the green void was gone i put the green i remembered into natsume's yukata (and then put him in the school uniform again LOL) and went WELP. GUESS I'LL DIE NOW

2/10 honestly one of the worst fucking ones lskdjflsdkg

OK THIS ONE.... i almost died irl trying to remember this shit, even before i started and i was still viewing the covers i was like there is no way in HELL im remembering this shit for vol 10. and i was right

like. Purple. White Mask. Antlers. WILD layered clothing. at first i drew the mask as an actual deer skull but later had a straight up epiphany and redrew it like that which... still not correct but I MEAN.... IT'S PRETTY GOOD

i cant believe most of the purple is the bg oughgh his clothes are WHITE..... this is fucked up. i DID remember the stick tho, bells and everything!! actually bells and nothing else!!!

7/10 ok it might seem high but CONSIDERING this design..... i think i did shockingly well TBH

NOT...... the worst...... one....... i could've sworn he was sitting on a pile of books this is so sad that woulda been so cute 😭

for a second when i saw the real cover again i thought he was sitting ON the bookshelf and i was about to RIOT but its okay it's a step stool. still physically possible

my version of natsume here is so much more like Proper gksld he looks like a school boy... studying in the academy's library... hardworking student.... but no the real one is just sitting there like a wet puppy orz he's not even READING i rly thought he was reading. this is such a huge L

cannot fucking believe i was right abt the window tho. like wrong shape but the fact that it's even there.... giving myself a whole ass point for that one

5/10 i rly thought i nailed this one gksgndfkj

also RIP TO THE GREEN VOID U WILL NOT BE MISSED o7

ah shit ok. well one of them was in the school uniform at least fjgugjdkf

why is my natsume lying there like hes abt to start a therapy session, boy would NEVER-

also the plushie hmnmhnmhngnf i dont KNOW i knew there was some kind of prop there but like gun to my head i woulda died again. main colors that stood out to me for this were green and that bluish purple so i got those into mine but i mean. well u can see

once again a random window in the bg i got correct let's gooooo 5/10

LMAO SPITS OUT MY DRINK WHOOPSIE!!!!!!

this is so fucking bad im choking im gurgling LOLLLL i was SO sure natsume's paper had an eye on it i was POSITIVE this is so fucked up. i mean obvs i picked that up from sensei but like i didn't even KNOW sensei was there. or that there were bg characters at all uuuuuououohghh (matoba ignored +5)

i was like. black yukata red flowers CHECK piece of paper w eye CHECK horns CHECK i even went back and edited the horns to be more accurate i was so proud of myself sobs

ok but i knew it was shit trasjh when those were the ONLY details i could remember bc obviously there was gonna be more going on I JUST DIDN'T REALIZE HOW MUCH MORE.....

straight up dookie/10 no jk fr like 3/10 @ me u need to use ur EYES

OK..... I WAS VERY CONFIDENT ABT THIS ONE..... except for his outfit i knew i was bullshitting that BUT I THOUGHT I NAILED THIS ONE....... the one fucking time i didn't just default to his uniform LMFAO

even remembered the pink flower ball smh and for WHAT. i knew he was sitting in a pile of plushies & blankets or smth but no way in HELL was i even gonna attempt to draw them with a speck of detail. but HEY the plushie i drew for vol 12!!! i knew he existed Somewhere. he doesn't even have a horn tho thats so fucked up i thought he did

obviously the most striking thing abt this cover is the bg w that deep burgundy & the circular window so that was the main thing i nailed down right away (my palette was more muted tho). also natsume sitting there w paper in his mouth but i thought he was mid return when rly hes playing like keep-the-balloon-off-the-floor or whatever the fuck he's doing. i love u natsume

(if i thought he was in the middle of returning a name WHY didn't i include the actual book of friends flksglkd automatic fake fan/10)

8/10 this was like my ace in the hole i was like if i got nothing else i got U volume 14!!! and then

NOT THE FAMILY PHOTO......... FUCKING DIES

man idk shit just end me. whats even going on in this cover im gonna deck u natori. dont ask why this makes me want to commit violence hes just so. URHGHGHnH

i dont know whats happening to me rn looking at this im losing my fucking grip dude who let this happen im gonna hurl this volume into the sun??? i think???

why did i add the other two youkai i just thought they should be included but i played myself i had to draw them from memory and for WHAT. pls tell me i got them at least a little bit right i stg

it's the crossed legts dude if he was just sitting there like a board the way i drew him id be like ah shit it was just natori sitting not natsume too but he just HAS to cross his legs and the fucing elbow propped up holding the glasses im S MAD IM SO MADdestroy him

it's 1am i gotta go. i have to go. right now my mom is calling me i have to fukcng. 4/10 i got the couch colorr right. bye

---

tumglr...... only allows 30 pictures per post..... bc im not on desktop? or is that a site-wide thing now. in any case this is getting long so i think im gonna split it right down the middle into 2 posts so there u go, first 15 volumes. so far my score is ermmm

well i didn't rate the first few volumes.

vol 1: 6/10 decent

vol 2: 6/10 also decent

vol 3: 5/10 composition is Scramboled

vol 4: 2/10 it's SO BAD

so now my overall score is 74/150 fjggudjofjdkgjk doing gr8!!!!!!!!!

ok bye for real ✌️

[boyfrillish]

curry confessions

Fandom: Pokémon Sword & Shield

Pairing: Hop x Victor (and a smidge of onesided Bede → Victor)

Word count: 1580

Summary: Victor spends Valentine's day with Hop. Shenanigans ensue and confessions happen.

Notes: First fanfic I wrote for the ship! And I also first wrote it before I even finished playing the epilogue, so I had fun taking liberties and doing a vague fast-forward. This was one of the many brainbugs I had when playing the main story back in January/February, and by now Valentine’s day is very off-season, but it is what it is. Enjoy the silly fluff!

~

Victor patiently answers every question the reporter asks of him. At least, outwardly, he seems patient and approachable; after all, being the Champion came with certain expectations. He’s still getting used to having so much spotlight on him but tries his best to be a good public face.

Though, being faced with a question about having a special someone on Valentine’s Day — while his crush is right by his side, and they’re spending the day together — is kind of cutting it. The reporter meanwhile, doesn’t seem so happy with his roundabout answer that having a rival is special, isn’t it? But, well, right now he isn’t quite ready to answer directly.

In the corner of his vision, he sees Hop cross his arms and step forward. “Alright, that’s enough. Victor needs to rest up after his match,” he says firmly. “And you should really learn how to be less rude if you want to keep interviewing him.”

Victor smiles, thinking back to a very similar scene at the Rose of the Rondelands hotel after the Semifinals of the Champion Cup. Truthfully, the questions then were as weirdly timed as the question just now, but Hop stepping in to shoo her off gave him Butterfree in his belly back then.

It does just the same now.

The TV crew reluctantly walks off, mumbling words of apology, and Victor turns toward his best friend and true rival. “Thanks, Hop.”

Hop huffs, likely still miffed at the reporter, and resumes his typical pose — hands in pockets, relaxed forward slouch. “Someone has to make sure you don’t burn yourself out, Vic. I can tell when you're overwhelmed, and I haven’t forgotten how rude they’ve been before.”

Victor laughs softly. He can’t help it — not when Hop looks so cute, not when the Butterfree flutter in his belly. Hop’s bright smile returns at his laughter, which doesn’t help the situation.

But before either of them gets another word out, a voice sounds from a pace away. “I didn’t know you’re the Champion’s bodyguard nowadays, Hop. Becoming a Professor isn’t turning out well?”

And just like that, Hop’s frown returns. “And what do you want now?”

“I was going to speak to Victor,” Bede says, joining them with his partner Hatterene close behind. “Surely that’s allowed?”

It’s Victor’s turn now to step in, putting a hand on Hop’s shoulder and shooting him a calming smile before turning for Bede. “What’s the matter, Bede?”

“I want to thank you for joining me today. A special occasion called for a special exhibition match,” Bede says. “Though obviously, I let you win because it simply wouldn’t do to sully the Champion’s winning streak.”

“You’ve been saying that line since way back in the Galar Mines,” Victor says dryly. “It gets old, you know. And I already have more than enough of your league cards.”

“I wasn’t going to hand you one.” Bede huffs and waves a signal toward Hatterene. “Rather, have this.”

Victor looks at the item offered to him — a suspiciously pink and frilly box, with what looks like handmade chocolates inside, and is lost for words. “Uh…”

Hop leans forward to inspect the box, quick to react as ever. “Hold on, those aren’t Valentine’s chocolates, are they?” There’s an edge in his voice that Victor tries not to read too much into.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Bede says, glaring at Hop. “The girls and I made these for the festivities and we had far too many leftovers to let them go to waste. Share them with your Pokémon or use them for your curries, for all I care.”

Victor takes the box, offering a hesitant smile. “Well, thanks, Bede. I’m sure my Pokémon will like them.”

Something flashes in Bede’s eyes, but he turns around before Victor can be sure it’s not just a trick of the light. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a Gym to look after. I’ll see you next time.”

Once Bede disappeared through the back door, Victor turns toward Hop again. He really tries not to read too much into Hop’s frown. His fingers tingle with nerves over his plans to confess his feelings later.

“He’s got a crush on you, mate,” Hop says.

“You think so?” Victor frowns, putting the chocolates in his bag. “How are you so sure about that?”

“Just look at how flustered he got. And when you said thanks and smiled, you could practically see him sparkle. He only turned around to cover that up.”

“I don’t think that argument counts, you beam at me whenever I compliment you, Hop,” Victor argues. He doesn’t know what he’s doing, but he keeps talking anyway. “And besides, I like someone… but it sure isn’t Bede, so tough luck for him.”

Hop’s mouth gapes open in surprise. “Wait, what? Who is it?”

But instead of answering the question, Victor turns for the changing room. “Anyway, I’m gonna get changed out of my uniform, and then let’s get going. We made a promise to go camping in the Wild Area together, remember?”

Thankfully, Hop agrees, the topic dropped for now. Whether he’ll still have the nerves to say something later, Victor will have to see.

~

They set up camp on top of Hammerlocke Hills. Sure, it was a bit of a trip to get there from Ballonlea, but the view with the Wild Area spread out before them, Motostoke in the distance, is rewarding. It’s calming, and a lot less nerve-wracking than the moody lighting in Glimwood Tangle would be for a camp location. Though Victor is more or less calm now, Hop seems awfully distracted. Not a good thing in the middle of cooking curry, especially when Victor hoped to impress his best friend slash crush with the most delicious curry ever.

“Slow down, Hop,” he says when the pot threatens to spill over.

“Ugh, I know, mate.” Hop groans in frustration. “I just can't stop thinking about earlier.”

“Oh.”

Hop’s face now is highly focused, gaze firmly on the pot while stirring to avoid looking at him, which is both adorable and a little concerning. “I’m miffed that Bede gave you chocolates, and I’m miffed that you said it doesn’t count as an argument because my face lights up when you compliment me. And I’m dying to know who it is you’ve got a crush on.”

Victor’s heart beats faster. Could it be…?

“You’re not jealous, are you?”

“Of Bede? Yeah. I sure am.”

“Oh.”

“I wanted to impress you with everything I’ve learned in my studies and had all these obscure love-related Pokémon facts at the ready, but now that jerk of all people beat me to giving you a gift and threw me off my game, and I almost ruined our curry too.”

“Well, that’s funny because I really wanted to impress you with my cooking skills. So you almost threw me off my game here.”

“Ugh, sorry,” Hop says, then gasps and finally meets his gaze again, eyes wide, mouth agape. “Wait, what?”

“I wanted to impress you with the most delicious Spicy Apple Curry ever,” Victor repeats. “And about what I said earlier, about your argument not counting…”

“It so counts.”

“But you get happy at compliments from others, too!” he argues. “Piers teases you about it every time we run into him, which is pretty often considering he’s dating your brother.”

“Yeah, but compliments from others don’t give me a swarm of Butterfree in my belly!” Hop stops stirring to gesture with his arms. “That’s only with you, mate! And it’s Gigantamax Butterfree, too!”

To give himself time to process and react, Victor taste-tests the curry. “Ready to serve,” he observes quietly, then meets Hop’s eyes again. “Really?”

“I thought that’s obvious. I've been flirting with you for ages,” Hop says. They set the table together, serving the food for their Pokémon before filling their own plates. “But what’s more important… Do you feel that way too?”

“I thought that’s obvious,” Victor mirrors his words. “I’ve liked you since forever, and the feeling’s only got stronger. Through the adventures we shared during the Gym Challenge, with Zacian and Zamazenta, and beyond that…” He trails off, looking at the legendary Pokémon, who always stood close together whenever he and Hop spent time together with their teams, clearly showing their bond as partners.

Hop smiles, softer than his radiant sunbeam smile, but bright and affectionate all the same. “Yeah, I get it, mate. The feeling’s always been there. But when our adventure started, there were a ton of other things happening on my mind and I wasn’t sure you’d like me the same way, you know?”

“That assumption was so wrong, but I get it. I thought I’d just imagined your flirting.”

“We should’ve taken a page from the book of our Pokémon, huh?” Hop’s smile widens into a grin. “So, Vic, from now on I get to hold your hand and kiss you whenever we’re together, right?”

“And I get to tell people how amazing my boyfriend Hop is, right?”

“It’s a deal!”

They share laughter, hands entwining between them as they start eating. And before taking seconds, Hop cups his cheek and leans in for a quick kiss — their first kiss — impulsive as he is, sweet as he is, grinning from ear to ear when pulling away. Victor smiles wide, leaning into Hop’s shoulder to savour the warmth — and maybe hide his giant blush.

“Love you, Victor,” Hop says against his hair.

“Love you too, Hop.”

ao3

[shytastemakerthing]

HALLO HALOO I'm here to request a romantic twst matchup since ur open and all teehee, it's the first time I saw your block so I backreadee and all and I love how descriptive your matchups could get and that you have two matchups so I was wondering if I can get two romantic matchups as well, it's okay if not considering you still have to answer some unfished ones just good luck writing them by the way❣️

I'm a 5'4 Intp-A , noticebly reclused and quiet that I'm most often seen by myself but once the walls start to crack due to the penetrating fists of friendship my skin loosens and what reveals underneath is an unhinged freaking wine aunt with a flair of sass and a tad bit too much wine to drink that doesn't hesitate to say sus stuff to get people flustered, not what you expected at all from such a quiet girl

also the fact I tend to act jokingly dramatic like exhagurated facial expressions and tone of speech, like rook but I'm doing it ironically, tend to be a tad bit too carefree at times that I don't really pay attention to my surroundings and don't comprehend it until it's clear I forgot to do my homework and i start writing it last minute before I have to pass it kinda scenerio. but if I realize I have to be serious about something I end up weirdly giving out good advices or telling people what they wanted to hear the most from what my besties told me whenever they vent? I dunno how I don't think I'm that good with words I just make sure to always be there when they want someone to lend an ear or to criticize honestly, but One thing's for sure I'm a ride or die kinda friend

My hobbies are Playing (Mostly grinding) Videgomes I'm interested in and drawing~

My likes are MONEY,fashion lore and Sweet foods

Dislikes:Wasting money on something not worth it,spicy Food and People who don't respect boundaries

Hello! Thank you so much for your request! I hope that you like this match-up!

Tw: None

I match you with..........

Rook Hunt

I find it funny that you mentioned Rook, because reading through the info, he was really the one that was screaming at my soul for this. Wine aunt meets over-dramatic french man in love with love itself, what could honestly go wrong here?

On a serious note, he really does love your carefree nature. Some people can be a little too uptight, you know? What is life without a little fun? And when you get as carefree as you do, unaware of your surroundings, it makes for the perfect time to keep an eye (stalk) on you. You are his favorite prey, after all (in a non creepy way... just a Rook way)

If you are ever looking for a muse when it comes to your drawings, he would absolutely love to model for you! What would you like him to wear? Where should he be? What pose? Just tell him and he bends to anything that you want to do. Let your creativity run wild!

Honestly, you are possibly the only person that could get under his skin and cause him to get flustered. There are just some things that he was not expecting you to actually say to him and when you do? Oh, you have a clingy but flustered hunter. Honestly, the surprised look on his face makes it all worth it in the end.

This man is in Pomefiore, where one of the biggest fashion gurus in the world is his Housewarden. Believe me when I say that this man knows a thing or two about fashion. He would love to bring you over to the dorm and you both can go all day just talking about anything and everything on the subject. If you're lucky enough, maybe even Vil will join in and even bring in some new clothing for all of you to model.

Overall, the renowned hunter of love itself has found himself in the position of the hunted. There are times where you just catch him off guard and he absolutely loves it. What's life without the thrill of the hunt, after all?

[bearsanpancakes]

Mitsuki Izumi RabbiTube Rabbit TV - Part 2: Ordinary days that can become special when filled with sincerity

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

ㅤ

Riku: Iori, is this placement alright?

Iori: Yes, just place it there.

Tamaki: Let’s do it guys…

Nagi: Ok! I’m done as well.

Tamaki, Nagi and Riku: …it’s done~!

Iori: You all were just placing strawberries, there’s no need to be so dramatic…

Riku: We’re not being dramatic! This is a handmade cake that we’ll be gifting to Mitsuki, you know…!

Tamaki: Mikki is always the one who makes the cakes for us, so we have to make this as best as we can.

Nagi: That’s right, Iori. The outer appearance is just as important as the taste.

Iori: Alright, I guess you all are right.

Yamato: Well, I’ll just be watching you guys from now on, beer still tastes the best after all.

Sogo: Let me pour you some beer, Yamato-kun.

Yamato: Oh, thanks.

Tamaki: Honestly So-chan, don’t let him drink too much!

Sogo: I know, Tamaki-kun.

Nagi: Iori, how much longer do we have to wait until Mitsuki returns?

Iori: Let’s see… he had a job nearby, so it will take about 15 minutes or so…

Mitsuki: I’m home~!

Riku: Uwah, he’s back!

Iori: Quick, hide the cake in the fridge…!

*Click*

Mitsuki: Argh, it’s always so cold at night… Hm, what’s up with this? Why’s everyone posing weirdly in the kitchen?

Riku: W-we’re playing red light, green light!

Iori: T-that’s right. Nikaido-san is the ghost. [1]

Mitsuki: In the kitchen!? Sogo’s standing beside Yamato, so what’s his role then?

Sogo: I-i’m the ghost’s crony…

Mitsuki: Crony…?

Nagi: The crony has to keep a close eye on everyone to make sure that they don’t actually move.

Tamaki: We’ll get targeted by the crony if this continues, let’s just hurry up and continue the game!

Mitsuki: O-okay. I’ll just go get changed then.

*Thud*

Tamaki: T-that was close…!

Iori: What was “we’re playing red light, green light” supposed to mean!?

Riku: I couldn’t think of anything else on the spot!

Yamato: The ghost and his crony doesn’t sound all that bad, don’t you think?

Sogo: I couldn’t think of any other terms, so that’s what I went with…

Tamaki: Yama-san is actually kinda like a kid.

Nagi: He looks like a middle-aged man, but he has the mentality of a little kid.

Yamato: Hey, I heard that.

Iori: Since the cake hasn’t been discovered yet, let’s make preparations to watch Rabbitube then.

*Click*

Mitsuki: I’m so hungry, let’s see what meal I can make…

Iori, Tamaki, Nagi, and Riku: Ah—!

Mitsuki: Ah!? What’s the matter!? I feel like you all are acting strange…

Nagi: Mitsuki! Look at the time! Rabbitube will be updated in a short while!

Mitsuki: Oh, you’re right. I can’t believe it’s already this late!

Iori: Let’s watch it first before we have our meal. Everyone, please gather here.

Yamato: Come here Mitsu, join the ghost’s side.

Mitsuki: Eh, I’m a crony of yours as well?

Sogo: I’m so sorry, it’s all because I said some strange things…!

Tamaki: I’m so excited about Mikki’s video!

ㅤ

Everyone: …

Nagi: As expected of Mitsuki, you’re outstanding as always! You made everyone laugh throughout so many points of the video!

Iori: It’s nii-san’s field of expertise, after all.

Riku: There was only Mitsuki in that video, but it really feels like we joined in on the filming as well! I wonder why that is!

Sogo: On the other side of the screen… the hearts of the audience are aligned through you as well, that’s Mitsuki-kun’s strength.

Yamato: I wanted to see you drink senburi tea [2], but you answered it correctly so fast…

Mitsuki: Ahaha! Thank you everyone!

Mitsuki: Yamato-san’s part will suffice if you want to watch someone drinking senburi tea.

Yamato: Don’t tease me on the program as well.

Tamaki: Mikki cooking without using English was really fun!

Tamaki: It’d be nice if I got that challenge [3] as well. I’m not good at English like Iorin and Nagicchi, they’re definitely experts at it.

Sogo: You immediately used a loan word…

Tamaki: Really?

Riku: Mitsuki, aren’t you afraid of snakes!?

Mitsuki: I was surprisingly fine with it! I could tell that it was a toy when I felt it.

Riku: I see! You looked super composed, it shocked me a bit!

Nagi: Mitsuki is a good host, as for what kind of video Tamaki will make, I’m unable to imagine.

Mitsuki: I could say the same for you, Nagi!

Nagi: Oh! I have a feeling mine will turn into a video promoting Kokona.

Yamato: I can tell.

Iori: …it’s time to bring that thing out now, everyone.

Riku: Ah, that thing! Hang on, I’ll go take it!

Iori: Nanase-san, please wait here! We’ll be doomed if some accident happens.

Riku: What do you mean by “accident”!?

Mitsuki: What do you mean by “that thing”? Did something happen?

Iori: It’s the cake all of us made together.

Tamaki: Ta-da! Mikki, thank you for always making cakes for us!

Yamato: The flavor might not be ideal, but this is our gratitude towards you.

Sogo: Wishing that you have a wonderful year ahead.

Mitsuki: …you guys… I thought you said you were playing red light, green light…

Riku: And for Rabbitube as well, thank you for always making such tasty food for us!

Nagi: Mitsuki’s smile lights up the entire dorm and warms our hearts.

Iori: …nii-san.

Iori, Yamato, Tamaki, Sogo, Nagi, and Riku: Happy birthday!

Mitsuki: Thank you! I love you all!

ㅤ

End of part 2

ㅤ

[1] - The ghost here refers to “it”, as in the person who has to turn around and catch the other players. I decided to go with Yamato being the ghost instead of “it” because of the running joke they make later on.

[2] - A type of tea that’s known for being very bitter, it’s usually used as punishment for losing challenges on game shows. It’s shown in Mitsuki’s (and everyone else’s) Rabbitubes, so give it a watch here if you don’t know about it yet!

[3] - It’s a bit hard to explain when translated to English, but in the original JP rabbit tv Tamaki mentions that he’s bad at English, yet he says the word “challenge” in English.

[phoenixyfriend]

Widows on Kamino (MCU Crossover)

I watched the Black Widow movie last night. I have. Thoughts.

There's this fairly short scene, maybe two thirds of the way through, that just made me want Natasha and Yelena landing in Kamino like... goddamn.

It's a moment where there's a room full of Widows (like a dozen) training gun stances and going through what's probably meant to be a gun kata? They move completely in sync through some fairly complicated moves, and it's eerie as fuck because they are almost entirely silent, the lighting is creepy, they have no emotions on their faces, etc. Nobody's got it up on YouTube yet but it fucking gripped me.

(I am, in fact, an entire lesbian who likes creepy shit, so I loved that scene, but that's because I thrive on the idea of dangerous women being spooky.)

I just can't stop comparing Red Room bullshit to Clones bullshit. They are VERY DIFFERENT bullshit and the sisters would have Many Opinions on things, both the training style and the decommissioning and also what family means because ahahahaha their family is. Uh.

[gestures at the entire movie about their sense of family being fucked up]

Natasha knows what's going on, Yelena never really got around to watching Star Wars (she saw the original trilogy during indoctrination so she could more easily pass as a local when undercover, but knows basically nothing about the prequels).

There is a language barrier, as is right and proper.

Natasha has just enough cards to tell Yelena to stand the fuck down because most of their training is useless here (anything involving hacking, impersonation, piloting, etc.) and what isn't useless is still going to be largely ineffective (two women versus Jango Fett, 75 Mandalorians, and however many clones are trained enough to put up a fight, not going to end well), so they need to play nice.

(Yelena doesn't recognize that they're in Star Wars, but Natasha puts together Jango's face with the Mando armor and familiar aliens and goes Ah Shit.)

So uh. They definitely end up in cells.

Like they're not putting up a fight and seem more confused and defensive than anything, which, okay, they showed up out of nowhere in a flash of light and landed in the middle of a bunch of Mandalorians, the easy interpretation there is "they don't know how they got here, AND they don't speak Basic, but they have a healthy and sensible fear of Mandalorians."

But they can't just. Get rid of these ladies. Not until they figure out where they came from/how they got here. If there's a leak or a new piece of tech that lets people just get into Kamino, and these two were a test run...

By the time they know enough Basic to actually discuss things, I feel like they're just kind of... there?

Like. "Oh yeah. Those two. We don't know what they're doing here, but tbh neither do they, and we don't really want to kill them at this point because one of them took Jango down in a spar last week--only once, don't get me wrong, Jango still won two out of three, but that's still better than most people--and now everyone's trying to get pointers on how the hell they fight because it's really different from most people here, y'know?"

They get folded in as trainers and then after like a year they go up to Jango like "Hey, we're going to tell you our shared Tragic Backstory, and also your future, and then we're going to bully you into Not Being The Worst"

I want to say that at some point Jango got like. Weirdly invested in Natasha and doesn't recognize that he has a crush.

ALSO Yelena low-key teaches the boys to do the Widow Pose to mock Natasha. She already makes fun of Natasha's tendency to pose in the movie, of course she's going to teach a bunch of clones how to do it purely to mess with her older sister.

This post has the scene with the mocking, and gifs from multiple movies that have Natasha doing The Pose.

This post has a more extended section of the mocking scene, and the later incident where Natasha does The Pose on a catwalk in the snow, and Yelena calls her a poser from the helicopter.

[Image desc: a gif of Black Widow as seen in Iron Man II, doing her classic 'about to fight' pose in a white hallway. End desc]

[Image desc: a gif of Black Widow, as seen in Black Widow (2021), in a white catsuit, coming down a rope from a helicopter and landing on a narrow grated walkway in a similar pose. There is visible snow and several individuals in black uniforms, carrying guns. End desc]

[Image desc: Immediately following the prior gif, Black Widow in the pose and dramatically lifting her head. End desc.] (above also by mcufam, same gifset, just not showing up in the gifsearch)

[Image desc: a gif from Black Widow (2021), where Natasha, casually dressed, turns to question someone off screen. The subtitles are as follows: Yelena (offscreen): Why do you always do that thing? Natasha: Do what? Yelena (offscreen): That thing you do when you're fighting. End desc]

[Image desc: a gif immediately following the last one, showing Yelena Belova, casually dressed and in a gas station store, dropping into a pose that mirrors Natasha's from Iron Man II. The subtitles have her saying "This thing that you do when you whip your hair..." End desc]

[Image desc: a gif from one of the final scenes of Black Widow (2021), where Natasha is performing a variant of the pose while sliding backwards on what appears to be a large solar panel. She (and the solar panel) are falling dramatically from a great height, and there are clouds and other debris in the background. She’s staring in determination at someone off-screen.]

[dangerousstrawberryshark]

Random Thoughts: A Dark Past

This came into mind; the Male reader is a prisoner of war and is taken back to the mainland. As usual, me and @softboy5393 fanboying over this.

I went overboard with this.

You were taken by a Titan with a long face, like a horse into its mouth. You fell unconscious during the whole time.

When you woke, you were in some room. You looked around to see where you were, you noticed you had a red armband on your left arm. 'What the... where am I?'

Then the door opened. "Ah, I see you're awake." the unknown person said along with others. He had blonde hair and an undercut style which was pushed back. [This] He also had an armband on, but his was more of a lighter red.

You took the people that walked and noticed that Reiner was there. "YOU DAMN TRAITOR!" you attacked him. You didn't do that much damage before getting pulled off of him.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS! DON'T TOUCH ME!" you yelled trying to get away from them.

"So, you're the guy that Pieck took? You island devils are sure are something." The one with blonde hair said, sitting down. Reiner was dusting himself off.

"I guess we should introduce ourselves? I'm Pieck. You already know Reiner. The one with glasses is Zeke and the one next to you is Porco." The girl- Pieck said. She had long, disheveled shoulder-length black hair, a Greek nose, and relaxed dark brown eyes.

"You probably have questions as to where you are?" you calmed down a bit to respond.

"Yes. And why am I here? Why did you take me from my home?" you said, backing away from them.

"You're in the nation of Marley. And it was Reiner's idea to take you."

⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓

It had been 4 years since you were captured. You've kind of gotten used to the new environment. 'So, humanity didn't die after all?'

You were shocked by the outside world. There were these flying ships in the skies, a cart that was driving without horses leading it. The food you have never seen before. A picture that was too detailed for any person to draw.

"That's a blimp, that's a car, and that's a photograph," Zeke said, showing you everything.

You also got to meet others. "That's Gabi, Falco, Sophia, and Udo. They are the next in line to inherit the Titans."

Gabi looked at you with mistrust. She had hatred in her eyes. "Don't mind her, she hates anyone from the 'Island of Devils.'" Zeke whispered into your ear.

It has taken a while for Gabi to get used to you but in due time.

⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓

You were walking with Pieck, Reiner, and Porco in the Liberio Internment Zone. There were stands everywhere and colorful decorations everywhere. You were amazed.

"Today's the festival, M/n. Ambassadors and famous families from all over the world are going to be here for Willy's speech. Of course, since you're with us, you'll be joining too." Pieck said she was your favorite out of all of them.

"Let's go try some things. Try this." she gave you some kind of dessert with a cone?

You gave it one lick... "WHY IS IT SO COLD?!?!" you said, others were looking at you weirdly.

"What's this?" You picked some triangle-shaped food with toppings and cheese? "Mmm, this is good! I never had anything like it!"

⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓⁓

You had a fun time at the festival but now it was time for Willy Tybur's speech. You sat with the others but Porco, Pieck, and Zeke were requested.

Then the sounds of instruments began to play and Willy came on stage. He bowed before starting. "Allow me to tell you a story."

(This is the entirety of Willy's speech)

"Approximately one hundred years ago, the Eldian race ruled the world with the power of the Titans."

"Between the appearance of the Founder, Ymir, and the present day, Titans have stolen the lives of so many people that the present population of the world..." showed Titans eating people. "Could die thrice over and still not compare."

Then the lights turned red, people appeared covered in blood and screaming. "Because of Titans, and an extraordinary number of races, and the cultures ad histories thereof, have been stolen from the world."

"That slaughter has defined human history and the history of the Eldian Empire. And when the Eldian Empire ran out of enemies, it turned to the killings of its own kind."

You were shocked. Was this the history of your ancestors? Were they like this?

"Thus began the Great Titan War."

"Houses holding eight Titans shed blood in combat among themselves. In these desperate times, one Marleyan saw a path to victory. He was our hero, Helos."

"By artfully waging an information war, he led the Eldian Empire's biggest threats to turn against and kill one another. By joining hands with the Tybur family, they forced the unbeatable King Fritz to flee and retreat to Paradis island." the crowd began to clap. You were awestruck.

"But even exiled to the island, the king still held power. Tens of millions of Titans are capable of crushing the world flat still slumber on that island." the crowd gasps at the revelation and fear.

"The fact that our world still exists undisturbed to this day is pure luck. That is the only explanation our Titan experts could muster up. My fatherland, Marley, decided to take the initiative against the island and sent four Titans to neutralize the threat, but that plan failed and only the Armored Titan returned."

'That's why Reiner broke down the walls.'

"In other words, the Eldian Empire, the scrounge of human history, is alive and well."

"Now, the story up to this point consists of facts known to everyone. The truth, however, differs slightly. From here on, I'll discuss the memories passed down in my family alongside the Warhammer Titan."

"The complete truth will be revealed here and now for the first time. Approximately one hundred years ago, the one who ended the Great Titan War was neither Helos nor the Tybur family." Two people standing side by side to him.

One was represented Helos and the other, the Tybur family.

"The man who brought an end to that war and saved the world was King Fritz. He came to regret the Eldian Empire's savage history and the infighting among his own people."

"Above all, he grieved for the Marleyans and the oppression they lived under. When he inherited the Founding Titan, he and the Tybur family devised a plan." The lights turned blue with King Fritz and the Tybur family shaking hands in agreement.

"To establish a single Marleyan as a hero in the war. His name: Helos. After that, King Fritz moved as many Eldians to Paradis as he could. Erecting the great walls around them."

"He left a warning if anyone threatens his peace, countless Titans would be unleashed in retaliation. However, he never intended make good on this threat." Things began to add up to you. That's why the world hates Eldians. 'I'm not what they say we are!'

He continued. "King Fritz made a vow of renouncing war and bound his successors to uphold it, just as he had. Thus his ideology was passed down to each new King of the walls and the Titans with the power to crush the world remain dormant."

"Marley didn't stop Eldia and pure luck hasn't kept the world from being crushed, it was the king of the walls, Karl Fritz, a man who yearned for peace. That's it. That's all he wanted. He said if Marley grew strong someday and came in force to shatter his peace and seize the Founding Titan, he would accept it."

"He believed the sins his people committed were so horrific that they could never be atoned for."

"When the day of retribution finally comes, I will accept it until then let me enjoy this walled paradise, free from strife and conflict. I ask for nothing but a brief span of peace."

"Those were the final words the king left us with." King Fritz stood next to Willy bowing.

The crowd erupted into chatter. "What does this mean?" Gabi was shocked to along with her friends. You were twice as shocked as they were.

"If what he saying is true..."

"So, Marley and the Tybur family didn't save the world?"

"Willy wouldn't lie..."

"That means Paradis doesn't actually pose a threat, right?"

Willy spoked, the crowd went silent. "It's true, to secure our own safety, my family joined hands with King Fritz and became heroes to the world. While our fellow Eldians became devils but plainly, we Tyburs are petty thieves, growing fat on honor we did not earn."

"I stand before you willingly parting with my false glory because I have come to understand that the world we share is in grave danger" the crowd began to chat again. The drums began to ring.

"With the Founder's might, King Fritz erected three walls, using a great host of colossal Titans..." the background changed to colossal titans conjoining arms. "Counted together, the walls surely contains tens of millions of colossal Titans."

"They guard the King's peace as his shield and his spear or they did, but now, that peace is being threatened from within. An uprising has taken place on Paradis, the king has been deposed, the Founding Titan stolen."

The background changed to a devil. "The thief is an enemy to every man, woman, and child outside his island. An enemy of peace, his name... IS EREN JAEGER." Your eyes widen...

"If the colossal of Paradis are ordered to walk, the rumbling will be felt across the Earth and death will follow. Until now, only royalty has had the power to wield the Founding Titan and King Fritz's vow has kept his descendants from using it, but this Eren Jaeger has found a way to use the founder without having royal blood."

"Which means he could begin the rumbling at any moment. Once the walls of Paradis begin to walk, there will be nothing we can do. Except flee in vain from the sound of Earth-shaking steps that will herald our doom." your face turned into a worried one. Was this going to happen?

"These monsters will crush every city, trample every tree and flower, they will literally flatten our world. I have always hated my blood and more than anyone. I have wished that my race would disappear."

Willy sounded like he gonna burst into tears. " However, I confess that I want to live. That despite everything, I believed this world is my birthright just as it is yours."

"The people gathered here may belong to different races, different nations but if we're to survive this crisis then for the first time in history, we must join as one. SO PLEASE, if you wish to live and lend me your strength, help me protect our world's future!" The cameras began to flash. The crowd erupted into cheering.

"If we work together, we can overcome any obstacle, any threat! I ask each of you to join me as I go to fight the devils who would plunge our world into hell! HELP ME DEFEAT THEM!"

The crowd continued to clap and cheer. "Here and now, as a representative of Marley's government, I send this message to the devils of Paradis!"

"CONSIDER THIS, A DECLARATION OF WAR!" As Willy said that, a Titan erupted from the building behind the stage. A Titan you knew very well.

"Eren..."

[elysianslove]

hi! may i request hcs of the haikyuu boys watching/helping their significant other workout? maybe yoga or just a regular workout? would be sweet if it was all of them but i know there are so many, so mainly kuroo, kageyama, bokuto, oikawa and nishinoya <3 thank you!!

hi anon!! i’m sorry i didn’t do all the boys, but i wrote for the specific boys you requested. if you, or anybody else, wants these hc’s for other boys i’d love to do them hehe. hope you enjoy!

kuroo tetsurō

he’s so excited as soon as you’re like “hey wanna work out together”

like his whole body freezes up and then he just

screams

if you’re already like pretty athletic, he makes everything a competition

but doesn’t actually compete

he just wants to watch you 😏

no fr he’ll be like “i bet i can do more squats than you”

and then just doesnt squat and only watches you squat

this mf 😭

he gets way too excited and puts an alarm at 4;30 am to text you/wake you up to go on a run with him

you: see that’s what we’re not gonna do

if you’re not very athletic or you’re just starting to get accustomed to working out

he is so. encouraging

like sickeningly so

tries his best not to overwhelm you and does really basic workouts with you

but also if ur laying face down on the ground crying “i dont wanna do this anymore” he will NOT have any of it

good luck unsubscribing to his services

he just wants to see you succeed 🥺 👉🏼👈🏼

cooks you the best healthy meals you dont even feel like youre missing out on anything

now

yoga

listen he’s so cheeky

he’s so mf TOUCHY

couples yoga with kuroo >>>>

it’s so funny bc this man is so strong he can do pretty much any move that requires any type of strength but pull out the flexibility card and he will pass away on the spot

he also just likes to watch you do yoga

not just bc he’s a pervert

but also bc it’s just interesting to see you in your zone

buys you yoga pants just bc <3333

“u just wanna stare at my ass”

“how dare you i would never objectify my gf”

stares at your ass <3

kageyama tobio

remember when i said kuroo would make everything a competition but wouldn’t really care

kageyama cares

he’s so annoying youre just trynna have fun working out w ur bf but here he is trynna kill u bc he’s so much better at everything

okay but if YOURE better 🤑

it pisses him off at first but then he realizes he’s pissed off bc ur so hot and make his spine tingle

work outs with him are intense as fuck

like he goes all out

but then he helps you stretch and 😏 it’s worth it

if he’s helping you workout, he’s kinda harsher than he intends to be

and when he realizes that yk maybe he’s being a lil extra

he apologizes and just asks how you wanna do it

spends the night researching hehe 

is encouraging in a demeaning way like “do you WANT to regret not working harder” ur like tobio i swear on my life i will start crying

when y’all are done he does like give u a small kiss and the sweetest smile “good work” and it makes it all the more worth it

about yoga though

when he first watched u he was horny hwbwjwks

he was like oop what is this feeling

but then it clicked lmao

avoids watching you unless you’re doing it privately so he can embarrass himself less

if you invite him to join you it’s just rigorous head shaking but he loves you sm he’ll do anything for you

he just follows your lead and is listening so attentively and is trying to mimic your movements exactly and is so awe oh my god he’s so CUTE

once ur done and ur both just laying on the ground you roll over and kind lean over him and give him a kiss “thank u for doing this with me”

“we should do it more often”

not horny just in love with you <3

bokuto kōtarō

so hyperactive good luck keeping up with him

he’s also like

built

LIKE HAVE YOU SEEN. HIM???? no way he doesnt go crazy w the work outs

if you suggest to work out together he’s so excited and he just does everything normally the way he does at 2.5x speed and you’re just like bruh 🧍🏻‍♀️ slow down

you do eventually find your own rhythm that kinda matches his own

and it’s nice to have him with you because like if you’re at a gym and ur using a device across the room from him he’ll just yell and wave at you and blow you a kiss god i love this dork

after you’re both spent you just sit on the ground across from each other stretching just talking just vibing

gives you a big smooch in between everything if he can

it becomes a really positive addition to your life ngl

if he’s helping you work out

he is actually the fkn BEST

despite him being a work out freak, he doesn’t force that on you in any way

if anything i think he’d be super gentle

so cheerful when encouraging you

and rewards you a lot

too much probably

“20 PUSHUPS BABE !!!! LETS GO MAKE OUT FOR 20 MINUTES”

he doesn’t just say it he really does mean it when he tells you he’s proud of you

loves it when you do yoga

immediately tries to join in

“oouu teach me this move” proceeds to fall on his ass <3

 t’s okay he has a lotta cushioning 😏

he always wants to try the couples yoga moves

he saves them on his phone to show you later and you cant say no bc ur already in gear and the yoga mat is on the ground hehe

(if you watch cody ko and kelsey kreppel’s couples yoga video that’s basically how it goes with you two)

^^^ in one of the moves he has to like lift you up by your arms as youre sitting down and he’s standing and he accidentally just shoves your face into his crotch

you both couldn’t stop laughing until you nearly peed and thats the beauty of love

oikawa tōru

he has to repeatedly ask you if you’re s u r e you wanna work out with him 

if you’re s u r e you can keep up

please hand his cocky ass to him <3 

if you’re athletic, prepare to have him try to one up you every time you do something 

it’s so sweet though cause he’s so determined and he’s sticking his tongue out between his lips and you’re just like baby please what is this 

tells you to lay beneath him while he does push ups so he can kiss you 

you complain about how sweaty he is but really you just want him to take his shirt off <3 

okay two important things i want to go over

one. oikawa does not know when to stop. so, honestly, you probably suggested to work out with him to keep him in check and make sure he doesn’t overwork himself 

please make him drink water and take breaks when necessary :( 

two. his knee :( he would probably need to be very careful and he’ll teach you the correct way to massage it and prep it before he does any critical work 

if you approach him one day about helping you work out cause you’re clueless — yes it will get to his head

but like ??? he’s your boyfriend??? your very athletic boyfriend??? 

who else would u ask tf 😹

anyways he makes a whole like list and shit

organizes it so well with color coding and different handwriting 

keeps you up to date with your progress and always says things like “look how well you’re doing babe!” and gives you a hugeeee hug 

now, oikawa is either weirdly flexible, or not flexible at all

we’re gonna go for the first one for this yoga hc 

joins you randomly and starts doing the poses correctly right away ur like ??? sir ??? 

distracts you. so much. 

“can i have a kiss— another one?— one more— one more babe— okay an—“ 

make out sessions ensued :)

nishinoya yū

actually i think noya would like to be in own zone kinda thing when he’s working out

probably blasting some katy perry in his ears ngl 

but when you tell him you wanna go work out with him?? 

now you’re both blasting katy perry in your ears 

stares. stares so much. provocatively. 

he’s your bf so you get it

but women have come up to you in the gym asking if you’re okay hbwjwkwe

makes you try out his routine while he tries out yours 

“wow babe this is sooo easy” he’s dying dont believe him

you guys probably have a handshake that’s so motivating to do before and after eeekkkk he probably makes you feel SO good about yourself after

takes you to eat the unhealthiest shit he can find after a workout because why not right ? chivalry? undead 😻

if you ask him for help he’ll accept right away

competes with you to help you improve 

“one day babe you’ll be beating me at these with such ease” 

he’s the loud kind of encouraging 

yells a lot

like so much 

body worship all the time <3333

“god u look SO good right now i love you so much” 

this simp i love him sm

anyways. onto yoga 

did i mention he stares 👁👁

because he does 

he already knows you do yoga and he will find out your schedule 

just. likes to watch you tbh 

if you offer to do couples yoga with him he refuses bc he likes the view where he is lmfao 

there are so many tiktoks of him just doing the dances while you calmly do yoga 

it becomes a trend lmfaowjwnsj

anyways yes best supportive bf award goes to noya (actually all of them who am i kidding)

end note; MY BEST FRIEND PAINTED AKAASHI FOR MY BDAY GIFT I STOPPED BREATHING ,,, anyways i hope y’all enjoyed this!! feel free to request some more mwah

[the-bau-quinjet]

Surprises

Natasha Romanoff x daughter!reader

Summary: Typically you spend every birthday alone with your mom, so a big party with all the avengers is definitely a surprise.

Warnings: mostly fluff, some happy tears, adoption

Word count: 1389

a/n: Another really cute request!! Thanks for sending it in! @maximeevansblog

Masterlist

"Happy birthday peanut!" Your mom woke you up with breakfast in bed, a birthday tradition for the two of you. No matter what was going on in the realm of the avengers, she always made sure to eat breakfast with you on your birthday.

"Thanks mom." You smile through a yawn, rubbing your face to wake yourself up more.

"What do you want to do today?" You weren't surprised by the question. You always get to choose what the two of you do on your birthday, but your hoping to add someone knew to the mix.

"I just want to stick to the usual stuff, hair salon, manicures! Maybe Bucky could come with us for lunch though..."

Natasha couldn't help but smile, truly happy at the idea of you wanting Bucky in your life.

Even before Nat and Bucky started dating, he took on a fatherly role in your life. For some reason, you clicked with him better than any of the other male avengers.

"Oh, I'm sure he would love to, but he's got some paperwork he has to get done today." She hated lying to you, but she wasn't going to blow the surprise now.

"Ugh, he always leaves it to the last minute! You need to talk to that man about time management." You huffed, stuffing more food into your mouth. "We can still eat dinner with him though, right?"

"Of course. He wouldn't miss your birthday dinner! Now hurry up and get dressed, we've got tons to do!"

You laughed at her antics, quickly getting up to change out of your pajamas. You would never tell anyone this, but you're convinced your mom likes your birthday more than you. It's the only day a year she truly lets herself get pampered, slipping away from her cunning assassin persona to celebrate with you.

After changing, you met your mom in the kitchen. Weirdly enough, you didn't run into anyone else in the compound before you left.

The first stop was the hair salon. You were finally going to dye your hair red. You settled on a reddish purple, drawing inspiration from your mom's red hair, but adding a twist just for you.

You sat and joked with your mom for the entire two hours it took for the hair dying process.

That was another of your favorite things about your birthday. Barring any world saving missions, the two of you would goof off like a normal family.

After your hair was done, you got lunch and went for manicures. You didn't want the color to clash with your hair, so you went with a classic matte black look.

You were so lost in the fun and laughter, you didn't notice Nat constantly checking her phone.

"Why don't we go shopping? You can pick out a fancy dress, 16 is a big birthday after all!"

"Are you sure? Where would I even wear a dress like that?" Your mom hated dress shopping at the mall. Usually she would have dresses brought to the compound, or well- Tony would for her.

"Definitely! We can just get dressed up for fun, have a fancy dinner with Bucky?" She posed the question as if the idea just popped into her head, relying on her spy training to convince you.

"That sounds so fun! Let's go!" You were too excited to be suspicious of her motives, so off you went.

After a few hours trying on dresses, you found the perfect one. It was dark gray and super sparkly. It fit you just right, the color perfectly complimenting your freshly dyed hair. You stepped out of the dressing room, eager to see your mom's reaction.

"Oh, honey. You're beautiful. That's got to be the one."

"My thoughts exactly!" You smiled, twirling around in your fancy dress.

Unsurprisingly, your mom looked incredible in every dress she tried on. She settled on a dark green satin gown, drawing attention to her bright red hair.

Taking the glamourous day to the extreme, the two of you walked out of the store still clad in the gowns. It made for quite the runway experience on the way back to the car.

You fell asleep on the ride home, tired from a full day of shopping.

Nat woke you up when she parked the car, gently shaking your shoulder,

"C'mon peanut, Bucky's got dinner ready." Your stomach grumbled at the mention of food, jolting you from your slumber.

"Did you tell him to dress up? I don't want him to be left out." You yawned, leaning into your mom in the elevator.

"Yeah, he's dressed up." Her tone lead you to believe she knew something you didn't, but you didn't have much time to question it.

"Surprise!"

The elevator doors slid open, revealing a massive amount of party decorations. The avengers stood around the room, all dressed to the nines, huge smiles on their faces.

You eagerly ran around the room, hugging everyone you could see. "Thank you all so much!"

You celebrated your birthday in style, eating your favorite finger foods in extravagant evening gowns. Everyone played games, sang happy birthday, and ate cake.

"Time for presents!" Tony announced to the room, never one to shy away from giving gifts. The man had money, and boy did he like to spend it.

Everyone sat down, waiting for you to start opening presents.

Steve gave you art supplies and a promise to finally teach you how to paint, something you'd been begging him for since you were 7.

Clint gave you a new bow, something you'd been bugging him about since he broke yours.

Tony bought you a car, something that genuinely caused you to scream.

Wanda and Sam gave you bath bombs and candles, two of your favorite things.

You constantly thanked everyone for the presents, feeling truly loved by the group of crime fighters.

The last present you had to open was from Bucky. He handed you a card, a nervous expression on his face. You gratefully accepted the envelope, hugging and thanking him before you even opened it.

The room went quiet as you tore open the envelope, a weird mood encompassing the group.

Again, you felt like they knew something you didn't, but you brushed it off, not wanting to seem ungrateful for Bucky's gift.

You pulled an official looking paper from the envelope, confusion apparent on your face as you began to read the heading out loud.

"At a term of the Family Court of New York, held in and for the County of Hamilton, in the matter of the adoption of Y/N Romanoff..." You trailed off, eyes filling with tears as you read the rest of the paper.

"Bucky, you... you adopted me?" Your voice was barely audible.

"Surprise?" He stuttered out the word, unsure what your reaction meant. Everyone thought you would be ecstatic at the news, maybe even scream louder than you did for the car.

"You adopted me." You whispered again, a mixture of disbelief and finality in your words. Tears were freely falling from your eyes, blurring your view of the room.

"Don't cry! I- I didn't mean to make you cry!" He was frantically looking around the room, terrified that he made a huge mistake. He loves you like you're his own, but maybe you didn't see him like a dad.

"I'm sorry! I'll fix it! I'll figure out how to undo it. I didn't want-"

"No!" Your voice startled the whole room. You smiled at the familiarity of nervous Bucky. He was like that when we first wanted to ask your mom out, unsure of how you would feel about it. "No, no, no. They're happy tears. I promise!" You sniffled, reaching out for him.

He instantly pulled you into a massive bear hug, the relief pouring out of him in waves. Everyone but Natasha quietly left the room, giving your little family a moment of privacy.

"I love you so much, Y/N. I just wanted you to know that I'll always be there for you and Nat. The two of you are my family." Bucky's voice wavered, full of emotion after the days event. Even Nat had tears in her eyes when she joined the hug.

You smiled up at him, tears still blurring your vision.

"I love you too, dad."

[supercorpkid]

Game Night.

Supercorp, Kara Danvers x Daughter!Reader, Lena Luthor x Daughter!Reader, Alex Danvers x Niece!Reader, Kelly Olsen x Niece!Reader.

Word count: 1865.

Two weeks ago, your moms weren’t even talking to each other, now they can’t go five minutes without touching and kissing. You want to complain about it, but then you remember how bad it was those days without Lena in your house, so you just shut up and let them enjoy themselves.

“So, I was thinking…” Kara goes into the living room, popcorn in hand, settling in one couch with your mom. You’re on the opposite side, reaching out for the food. “We haven’t had a game night in a long time.”

“That’s true.” Lena agrees, taking the bowl from Kara’s hand and passing it to you.

“We should have one. You know, we can invite the Olsens, and you can invite your girlfriend.” Kara looks at you raising the eyebrows. You choke on one popcorn, and start coughing, turning red. “Kid are you alright?” Kara rushes to your side and you swallow hard.

“Rao, no.” You reach for your soda. They wait for you to recover yourself. “There’s no way I’m inviting Maya to a game night.”

“Why not?” Kara asks, a little pout coming up on her lips.

“Because you can’t play for fun.” You say and Lena gives Kara a little side smirk. “Don’t laugh, Mrs. Luthor. You’re even worse!”

“HA!” Kara says feeling victorious, but she soon stops and frowns. “Come on! Why can’t we have a nice time with her?”

You just raise one eyebrow.

“We’ll behave.” She promises. “Right, love? We can behave, right?”

You scoff.

“Even if you could, which we all know you can’t, there's no way of knowing the kind of embarrassment aunt Alex would put me through.” You say, making Kara roll her eyes in response.

“Look who’s a teenager now, feeling oh so embarrassed of her family.” She complains and you hold a laugh at her reaction. You look at Lena with pleading eyes, asking her to just drop this ridiculous idea, forgetting completely that Lena is now Maya’s number one fan.

“I think it’s an excellent idea!” Lena agrees with her head. “So, it’s settled.” What? No, it’s not. “We’ll have the Olsens and Maya for game’s night on Thursday.”

“Great.” You fake a smile and think of ways to get out from this.

But Thursday comes and you haven’t figured out yet. So, sooner than later, Maya is knocking on your door and you’re looking around to everyone’s face and their reaction. Rao, you hope they’ll behave.

“Hey babe!” Maya says when you open the door. “Thanks for inviting me.”

“Yeah, don’t thank me yet.” You smile and she gives you a kiss on the cheek, well aware of everyone’s eyes on both of you. “I’m sorry in advance.”

“Maya! Come in!” Kara smiles, throwing her arms up, looking way too excited to see someone she met once. It’s the beginning of the night and your cheeks are already burning red. “We’re about to divide the teams.”

“Oh, great.” Maya chimes, walking in, and you stand still. Should you pretend you’re not feeling well, and tell Maya to leave? “Hey! I got you, Mrs. Danvers!”

Well, shit.

“YES! PAN PALS!” Kara yells, high-fiving your girlfriend, and you drop your head low. This is going to be a really long night, won’t it?

“Come on, kiddo. It’s me and you.” Alex says and you smile a little. At least you have a chance to win, if everything else is going to be a bust.

“Well, I guess that leaves you with me, Jamie.” You hear Lena’s voice coming from the living room. “Come on, we’re all settled.”

Maya comes back to where you are, and holds your hand, pulling you towards the living room like she is trying to tell you that everything is ok, and you don’t have to be embarrassed. Not yet, anyways.

“Ok, should we start with Pictionary?” Kara asks, putting a few games on top of the table. You look at Lena and Jamie on the side of the living room, clearly coming up with codes for the game, and you turn to aunt Alex, sitting on the couch next to you.

“Where’s auntie?” You ask Alex, talking about Kelly.

“Oh, she’ll join later. She had one patient coming in late.” Alex looks at Maya in front of her, grabs her beer, and does her intimidation pose. You widen your eyes. “So, Maya-”

“Aunt! We should talk about our codes!” You scream, before she starts. And you hear Kara agreeing, pulling Maya to the side so they can talk. You look at Alex. “Please, don’t embarrass me. You know Kara is already going to do that way too much!”

“Then what else will I do? I thought everyone was supposed to embarrass you today.” She jokes and you roll your eyes. “Ok, fine. I’ll behave. So, what are our codes?”

The game starts with Lena and Jamie not being able to draw nor guess a skateboard. They absolutely suck. But weirdly Kara and Maya make a good duo, and they make you and Alex work very hard to try to win. In the end, it’s very close, but they win and Kara is just over the moon.

“The Pan Pals do it again!” Kara cheers excitedly.

“They do it for the first time, is what you mean.” Alex cuts her off, and you give Maya a smile.

“I just can’t believe I’ve beaten the two Luthors.” Maya says with a chuckle.

“Don’t get used to it.” Lena pretends to be annoyed, but then smiles. “Congratulation, pan pals.” She jokes.

Kelly arrives soon after, and you all have to think of a game with no teams, so she can join. You end up settling for Resistance.

“I don’t like Resistance.” Kara crosses her arms. She always loses this one.

“Yeah, ‘cause you can’t lie, momma.”

“I can lie!” Kara says and everyone, except Lena, gives her a little smile. “I can too! I said you were the cutest baby I’ve seen, but you looked like a potato with eyes!”

“Oh, yeah. You did.” Alex agrees next to you and you frown.

“You look like a potato now!” It’s your defense, but it doesn’t matter. Everyone is already laughing at you. Even Lena, which is hurtful. “Ok, whatever.”

“Oh, my baby.” Kara comes to hug you and you roll your eyes. “Sorry, you looked adorable.”

“You are aware I look EXACTLY like you, right?” You ask and she thinks about it for a second. “Yeah, well, you think about that next time.”

Despite Kara’s protest, the game is still fun. It doesn’t matter that Kelly wins, because she can tell when everyone is lying. It's still fun hanging out with all of them, and it’s nice to see Maya getting along well with everyone. Your heart feels like exploding in your chest from all the love you’re feeling.

You all play a bunch of quick games after that. And before you realize, you let your guard down. You should’ve known better than doing that. Your moms cannot behave.

“Lena!” Kara looks at Lena’s hand, and her UNO cards. “Please, don’t.”

“I’m sorry, honey.” Lena drops her voice low, sounding like a true movie villain.

“Please, Lena.” Kara begs and you roll your eyes. Maya looks amused with the interaction, and that makes you smile a little, that is until Kara finishes her sentence. “Lena, I swear no sex for a week, if you do this.”

“OH MY GOD!” You yell, turning red, while everyone else laughs hard. You reach for Lena’s hand and put her +4 card down. “That’s it! Draw four. Stop talking. Good God.”

Maya is also turning red next to you, but from laughter. Jamie looks equally amused, and the only other person who is rolling her eyes is Alex. Kara huffs in her seat, but draws four cards, and stops talking for a little while. Thanks to Rao, Jamie has the winning card and the game ends quickly.

“Well, this has been fun.” You lie standing up, looking at Jamie that stands up right after. “But the young ones are going outside to play video game.”

Maya stands up, looking confused. Kara stands up too.

“You’re NOT young, momma.” You stop her, making Lena giggle into her wine glass, and Alex wheeze out a laughter.

“I was going to get more wine.” Kara rolls her eyes. “But that was offensive.”

You leave a pouting Kara behind, and make your way to the backyard, followed closely by Jamie and Maya. The three of you end up not playing anything, just talking and laughing about the night.

“Sorry about my moms, they’re-”

“So fun!” Maya finishes your sentence, with a smile. “Seriously, they’re so cool! I wish my parents were this chill.” She pokes Jamie. “Your moms are pretty awesome too. I hope Kelly didn’t over analyze me.”

“Oh, she definitely did.” Jamie says, making you agree with your head. “But I’m sure she liked you.”

“They all did.” You know that for sure.

“Yeah, we all did.” Alex says, poking her head through the door with a smile. “Work emergency, so we've gotta go.” She points inside.

“Oh!” You and Jamie stand up immediately knowing what that means.

“Maya, Kelly can give you a ride back home, if you’d like.” Alex adds, and Maya stands up, agreeing with her head.

“Yeah! Sure, thanks!” She says, and the three of you make your way to the living room.

Everyone goes around saying goodbyes. Alex already rushed out the door, and Kelly is picking up her stuff to leave.

“Oh, where’s your momma? I wanna say goodbye to her.” Maya says and your eyes widen looking at Lena, well-aware Kara flew out of the house even before Alex went outside to call you guys.

“She-She is not feeling so well.” Lena answers. “She’s upstairs. But don’t worry, I’ll tell her you said goodbye. And I’m sure you two will be seeing each other again soon, because you’re more than welcomed here, dear.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Luthor.” Maya waves Lena goodbye, and you breathe out in relief.

“I’ll walk you out!” You say, grabbing Maya’s hand and guiding her to Kelly’s momvan parked on the driveway. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school.”

“Great.” She gives you a quick kiss, before Kelly shows up. “I had a great time. Your family is amazing, I get now why you’re so awesome.”

Jamie coughs behind you two.

“And Jamie. Yeah.” Maya adds with a smile. “I get why both of you are so great!”

“Nice save, babe.” You kiss her again, and smile. “I’m glad you came.”

“Me too.” Maya kisses one more time and gets in Kelly’s momvan. You watch them leaving then make your way inside the house.

“See.” Lena says as soon as you walk in. “We can behave.” You raise one eyebrow at her. “I mean, I can behave.”

“Yeah, you can.” You agree and Lena walks to you, giving you a kiss on the head.

“Are you happy?” She asks looking at your face, and your smile widens in response. “Good! That’s all I want for you, babygirl.”

And you are happy. Probably the happiest you’ve ever been. Finally.

[a-simple-imagine]

Study Date

Requested by anonymous: “Hermione Granger x reader where reader is best friends with Luna and has a crush on Hermione. She never acts on those feelings because Hermione called Luna Looney and seems to dislike her and in the end maybe Luna sets them up. “

Pairing: Hermione Granger x fem!reader

Words: 2.3k+

A/N - Today i offer you yet another story about hermione granger. Tomorrow? Who knows. 

Thank you to @kileyrose-2003​ for checking it over.

Hermione Granger was a complete enigma but that was probably due to the fact there was only so much you could learn through limited interactions. If there was one thing you knew about her, it was that she was a spectacular witch with a thirst for knowledge. She had been placed in Gryffindor all those years ago but she truly could have excelled as a Ravenclaw; if that had been the case perhaps the two of you would be closer. Things would have been entirely different but alas you were left to admire from afar since that very first year when you noticed her across the Great Hall. You didn't even have any classes together until you started taking electives. However, as hard as you tried Hermione Granger seemed to avoid you at all costs. You had invited her to hang out many times but she always declined. Maybe Ron and Harry were the limits of her social perimeters?

A hand sways before your eyes drawing you back to reality. "So easily distracted."

Luna Lovegood had such a melodic, soft voice that it was weirdly hard to ignore. Then again everything about the girl could be considered peculiar which was something you greatly admired. She didn't care what anyone thought of her and yet you cared so desperately what they thought of you. "Sorry," You hum, folding the paper in your hands. "I just... do you think there is something wrong with me?"

"No more than anyone else,"

"Maybe that's why she doesn't like me," You let out a defeated sigh before placing the origami tiger you had been working on down on the table.

"Who?"

From the corner of your eyes, you spot a familiar brunette wander into the Great Hall. A few books wedged under her arm. "Can you just give me a sec-"

Without giving Luna a chance to respond, you leap to your feet and scramble along the length of the entire table and then around to catch Hermione.

"Wait," You place your hand against her shoulder, startling her just a little. "Hermione,"

She spins on her heel; her frown morphing into that of a welcoming smile. At least she seemed happy to see you. "Yes?"

"I..." you trail off as a wave of heat washes over you. The Gryffindor always managed to make you feel anxious. It wasn't a bad thing; you knew it was because you liked her but with her already taking every opportunity to ignore you it didn't exactly help the situation. "I was wondering if you uh, wanted to play with us? Me and Luna, I mean."

It sounded rather childish slipping from your lips but Hermione's brow quirked up. "What are you playing?"

"We're having a race," Your expression brightens at her interest, signalling back to the Ravenclaw table where Luna now sat alone. "We both made something out of paper and we’re gonna enchant them so they run the racecourse we made." To the left of Luna was a makeshift racetrack made of books, cups and even your spare inks and quills. It was only small so it'd be a quick race before lunch began. "If I win Luna promised to make my bed every day for a week. If she wins she gets my last bag of Fizzing Whizzbees."

"Shouldn't you be studying during study hall?" Seems Miss Granger was all work and no play. You simply shrug, standing a little taller.

"I'm smart enough already," You declare proudly, a cocky smirk on full display. "And besides it’s nearly lunchtime so we were long overdue a break."

You watch her eyes drift from yours over to where Luna was sat and back. "You two are quite the pair."

"Me and Luna?" As if she could sense you talking about her, Luna waves at the two of you. "She's like my best friend."

"You don't find her a little... strange to be around?" Hermione muses. "A little... loony perhaps? Half the school thinks she's lost her mind."

She was right in saying that a lot of your fellow students judged Luna harshly for being a little more outside the box but you never expected Hermione to be one of them. "I think... she's awesome and I'm glad she's my friend. You shouldn't judge her so harshly when you don't even know her."

You may have invited her to join you but that offer was no longer on the table as you marched back to the Ravenclaw table without another word. Slumping down in your seat exasperated sigh. "Are you okay?"

Plastering on a smile, you give her a firm nod. "Shall we start?"

"What happened over there? You seemed rather excited before."

"Nothing," Focusing on the origami, you pick up your wand.

"You shouldn't bottle things up," Luna expresses softly, picking up her wand too. "Might make your head explode."

"Does it ever bother you that people call you crazy?" You wonder.

"Not really," her head shakes. "It's all in good fun."

You never understood if Luna's belief in people was misguided or just for show. If the roles were reversed you'd certainly not enjoy having people make fun of you. "But what if it's not?"

"Then it's out of my control," Luna flashes a smile. "Shall we start."

With a nod of your head and wands at the ready, Luna starts the countdown. "3... 2..." your grip tightens around your wand. "1.... Go"

With a flick of your wrist, the paper tiger springs to life but it takes a few nudges from the end of your wand to get it moving. When you saw Luna's monstrosity trailing behind, you knew you had this race in the bag.

"I don't think Hermione likes you very much," you don't know why you decided to tell her that, it seemed only cruel in the moment. "I don't think she likes me much either as hard as I try,"

"Maybe you should stop trying," Luna's focus was exclusively on the race as you watch her. Maybe you should stop trying... that was easier for her to say because she didn't find herself with butterflies every time she saw the girl. Searching the Gryffindor table, you find Hermione sitting alone; scribbling away on a piece of parchment. "Staring can be considered quite rude, y'know?" 

Glancing back at the race, you find both racers have crossed the finish line and were now laying completely still against the table. Students were beginning to pile into the hall for lunch so it was time to clean up a little. "Sometimes it's hard not to," Reaching over the table you grab your quill. "She's just interesting- who won by the way?"

"It was you," Did you win or was she just being nice? It didn't matter now anyway so you may as well take the win.

You haven't spoken to Hermione since that day she had the audacity to question your friendship with Luna. You didn't necessarily think she had meant what she said in a bad way but it just hadn't sat right with you. It also helped that the only class you shared was Defence Against the Dark Arts so she wasn't all that hard to avoid. The page of your textbook flips over with a gust of wind as you lounge against the stone archways in the quiet courtyard. When you spot Harry, Ron and Hermione, you bury your face behind your book in hopes of not drawing any attention. If you didn't acknowledge she was there maybe you wouldn't long to run over.

"Hey," Slowly lowering the book, you spy the girl in herself looking perkier than usual. Seemingly having abandoned her friends just to come and speak to you.

"Hello," you reply quietly, keeping your eyes on the page. It was explaining how to create the Forgetfulness Potion; a beginner level potion and not at all hard to make.

"Luna said you'd be out here," You glance up at the mention of your friend's name. Why had she been talking to Luna? "And that you may require a study partner,"

Strange. She had never wanted to study with you before. "You don't have somewhere else you'd rather be?"

Hermione shakes her head. "Luna can be quite convincing but if you'd rather study alone, I can go."

"No," the reply comes a little too quickly. "I mean, uh... you can stay. I'd really like the company."

"Great, Ron and Harry are rather distracting when it comes to studying," She plops herself down at the other end of the archway by the end of your feet. Your knees were now pulled a little closer to your chest, propping up your potions book. "I can quiz you if you want?"

"Can I ask you something?" You pose the question as you sit up a little straighter trying to give her more room; handing over the book in the process.

"Of course," Taking the boom, Hermione's hand brushes over the cover but she opens it and begins flickering through the pages. She had the same textbook so you're not exactly sure what she expects to find.

"Why are you here?" The rustling of pages comes to an abrupt stop as her eyes settle on yours but only for a moment.

"To study?"

"You've never been interested in me before," you reply bluntly. "I don't see what's changed now? What exactly did Luna say?"

"Just that you like me," Wide eyes of surprise, your stomach sinks. She was joking right? She had to be. "And that you think I don't like you which is perplexing. So she told me where you usually go to study and that you'd very much appreciate my company."

"I'm gonna kill her," you growl under your breath, sinking down against the stone. How you wished the ground would open up and swallow you whole right now.

"I also thought it was only right that I apologise for the other day," you can't even bring yourself to reply; too scared you'll somehow embarrass yourself further. "I shouldn't have spoken about Luna that way- I also apologised to her. Are you ready?"

Anything to help forget about what Luna had purposely done, you nod your head a little. Setting this whole thing up was a sweet enough idea but she didn't have to straight-up tell Hermione that you liked her. Hopefully, you could just play it off as friends. A silence settled between the two of you as Hermione searches through your book. "I'm gonna say a potion and you just have to list the ingredients, simple enough?" You can feel her eyes on you but can't bring yourself to look back. "You alright?"

"Mhmm,"

"Are you sure?" She questions. "I didn't mean to embarrass you or anything. I'm sure Luna had the best of intentions."

"Just say a potion," It's even more awkward when she brings it up the fact Luna told her. "Please,"

"Okay, how about... Draught of Living Death?"

"Uh..." for a second your mind seems completely blank. Taking a deep breath you settle your nerves a little. "Standard potioning water, Powdered Root of Asphodel..." your brow furrows in concentration. "Infusion of... Wormwood? Valerian root, A Sopophorous bean and-"

"Sloth brain," Hermione finishes. "Good job. Okay, let's try..." The pages flutter between her fingers for a moment. "Exstimulo Potion."

Exstimulo potion. You rake your brain for any memory of it; If you remember correctly it was a potion used to boost magical energy. It was a beginning level potion so it won't be too complicated to make. "Re'em blood... Granian hair, Snowdrop maybe, and like... uh... Bitter root?"

"For an extra point, what colour should it be?"

That you knew almost instantly. "sky blue."

With each passing question, your confidence grew around the same speed as Hermione's smile did. You liked to think that your extensive knowledge of potions was impressive but in all honesty, some wouldn't see it that way. "You are really good at this,"

"I enjoy potions. They value knowledge over skill more than some of the other classes- that's not to say potion-making doesn't require skill and vice-versa. " You explain, moving so your legs now dangle over the edge similar to how Hermione was sitting. "It's probably my best class but I like the study of ancient runes too. What about you? I imagine you're brilliant no matter the class."

"I wouldn't go that far," Her gentle laugh fills your ears, filling you with such an innocent sense of glee. "I like most of my classes though, I would take more if I could."

"Of course you would," You giggle to yourself. "I heard in the past you used a time-turner just to attend more classes."

"Guilty," She offers you a smile. You'd done research on time turners, they were interesting little devices but it took a lot of guts to use one. "It was worth it."

"It's a pretty smart way to use one," No surprise considering who you're talking to.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure. Anything." Hermione fiddles with the corner of the page she has settled on.

"When Luna said you like me, I'm guessing she meant..."

The fire in your cheeks spread hot and fast which had the butterflies in your stomach going crazy. She really had to bring it up again? She couldn't have just ignored it and moved on? "...yeah." You admit quietly. Handing your textbook back, Hermione slips down onto her feet

"So this was her way of setting us up... hmm," Spinning on her heel, she looks to the sky. The sun was beginning to set so it was illuminated by an orange glow. "For a girl so imaginative I would have expected something a little more than a study date."

"I like studying," She sharply turns back to you.

"As do I," She offers a gentle smile. "But I think we should do something a little more traditional for a first date, don't you?"

"First date?"

"Only if you want to,"

"I... yeah. I'd love to."

[charmspoint]

Dr Stone review

Finally done catching up with dr stone! I don't feel like I have much to say that I haven't said when I watched the anime or during the manga reading but I really enjoyed it! I don't have much of a science brain so most things just flew straight over my head but I can only imagine now fun this manga is for people who are interested in this stuff.

I heard before i started reading that the characters don't get much development and that we don't know most of their backstories and I thought that would grate on me eventually because i'm a very character oriented person. And that is true, there aren't really characters arcs I can point to and very few characters receive any tangible development that isnt enemy turned friends (Chrome and Suika are exceptions that first come to mind). But that didn't make the story dull at all! Dr Stone is very plot and progress focused and it's more of a story about the humanity than Senku's story. And i ended up really liking that! I really liked the growth of the community from one dude in the jungle to multiple cities working together, I really liked how much the power of humanity as a whole was emphasized. In dr stone its clear everyone has something to offer. Senku is the mover and shaker because he possesses the most how-to knowledge but without different people who have different talents he wouldn't be able to get anywhere no matter how smart he was. Idk it's just rare to find a manga so community focused instead of putting everything on a handful of protags so it's just !!! it's good I like it. It kinda lets you immerse yourself more like, I'm not as smart as Senku nor am I strong as Tsukasa but the more i read the more i've found myself in other characters and i could think of ways i too would be useful in a stone world. It's a lot different that the usual 'well im not a fighter so id be totally useless in this shonen setting'. It's fresh! I like it! And even tho the characters don't grow much they are all fun and memorable people so you'll hardly get bored of them in the first place and there is so many of them and they all work so hard it's doubtful you'll ever get stuck for long with one you don't like.

Boichi's art has been a topic for me and my brother for quite a bit now, since it's...like that when it comes to girls, but also i weirdly?? Didn't mind it?? Like yeah if you look at some shots for too long your eyes hurt but somehow despite the art being horny the writing is so unhorny it kind of balances out? Like i told this to my brother before but there's no 'seeing a girl naked when she doesn't want you to' scene or anything similar to that despite the art looking Like That. Like Kohaku is obviously the worst offender with her weird battle poses but they are just??? in midst battle??? in midst running or looking for something or otherwise being active and affecting the plot. Like the art is horny but it never feels like the purpose of the scene is to be horny, the purpose is never 'lets all ogle Kohaku now'. I said it to my brother and I'll stand by it: I think this is just how Boichi thinks girls are drawn.

But other than that I do enjoy the way Dr Stone handles romance when it does emerge it has such a good take on it. Like Senku isn't interested in romance At All and it's such a nice character trait to see for a protagonist, it's showing kids you can be a full and interesting person even when you don't want to get involved with anyone. And the romantic pairings we do have (Yuzuriha and Taiju, Chrome and Ruri) are so goddamn good and sweet and supportive and silly, i feel like the story is really telling the boys that usually read shonen manga 'girls like it when you're nice to them' which considering some of them might be attracted to dr stone cuz kohakus butt on cover is a very good thing.

Also Senku is just such a good protagonist I honestly love him. Usually in Shonen the protagonist is the character i care about the least but Senku is just!! so good!! Like at first glance he comes off as asshole but I honestly don't think he ever really brags and is always so open to learning and teaching others and despite being verbally unkind he shows so much with his actions. He is a perfect example of someone who shows his love and appreciation for others by making their lives nicer and easier. He is confident in himself and he never gives up and keeps trucking along but is also ready to be humble and admit when he can't do something or when someone can do it better than him. And he does it all while keeping the cool cocky persona so I think he's also a good remodel for young boys to emulate.

Anyway loved it 8/10, my favorite arcs are Senku's dads and Suikas i cried

[ladyc0312]

A Jikook Guide to RunBTS: 66-80

Things in this batch start out a little slow, KM-wise, but seriously pick up around the Toronto episodes. It features the episodes where both RM and Jin ask if JK and JM are a couple, so it includes the giggly hand-push game that helped make me a jikook believer! 

As usual, let me know if I’ve missed anything or should take another look at something. :)

Ep 66 "BTS in a Comic Book Cafe Part 1" (Ep: 2 / KM: 1)

The one that I can’t help but feel would be more fun if I was more familiar with the comics involved, but the guys make it cute anyway

3:08 - This is a little hard to see because they use weird angles and cuts, but JK sings a piece of a theme song and JM catches his eye and sings with him.

9:23 - JK leans in over JM's shoulder to see how many people are on the comic book page

10:18 - JM does the same when it's JK's turn

BEHIND 10:29 - JM jokes around with JK and does the playful chest tap thing

Ep 67 "BTS in a Comic Book Cafe Part 2" (Ep: 3 / KM: 1)

None

BEHIND 7:28 - JM asks JK if there's a comic book he wants and says he'll buy it for him if so

Ep 68 "Heart Pang" (Ep: 1 / KM: 0)

The one where I can't for the life of me understand the board game they are playing

None. 

Ep 69 "BTS in Toronto Part 1" (Ep: 4 / KM: 5)

The Toronto one where Jikook wear matching denim shirts while going to Niagara Falls, getting lunch, and playing games

2:36 - RM says there are certain people who will struggle with the wake up challenge. JK and JM readily seem to admit it's them. 

6:29 - JM hangs back (to walk with JK?) when the rest of the group starts heading for the Falls.

8:06 - There's a "teleporting" moment where Jin is in between JM and JK, then the camera cuts away, then it comes back and jikook are next to each other. They stay next to each other as they walk on.

9:52 - You can see jikook interacting in the background.

12:25 - JM takes a photo of JK and gets him to giggle, then they huddle to look at the pic.

13:56 - JM puts his arm around JK and takes a selca in the background, causing RM to ask "what, are you a couple or something? Both wearing denim shirts?" He says it fairly seriously for a line that seems like it's supposed to be a joke and they don't laugh or say anything in response - it looks like JM looks away and flips his hair while JK shifts and awkwardly rubs his forehead. You can also see a quiet exchange after between RM and JM where RM says no to something, then nods at JK. Unclear if it's related, but including it just in case. 

15:25 - JK doesnn't try to distract JM while he did the staring contest like he did with Hobi. When Jimin passes, JK is the only one to clap. 

18:04 - Quick moment where you can see JK start to rub the arm of JM's shirt before the camera cuts away.

18:50 - JM laughs and touches JK's chest after JK loses the rocks paper scissor game, too.

19:53 - When the other five walk away and JK is doing something with his mic, we don't see where JM is.

22:02 - JK appears to help JM with something with his camera in the foreground.

BEHIND 4:12 - After JHope scolds JK for letting Suga pour everyone's water, JK goes to pour JM some water, then puts the pitcher down. JM seemingly tries to help him out by saying it's a new trend for the oldest to pour water. 

Ep 70 "BTS in Toronto Part 2" (Ep: 3 / KM: 5)

The Toronto one where the guys go shopping, pick beds, and play games

1:15 - JK slows down to walk side by side with JM.

2:00 - When JK messes up the game he was confident he'd win, JK laughs and playfully shoves at his chest.

7:23 - When JK loses a game and has to buy the others hoodies, JM sneaks a hat into the pile while JK has his back turned. RM rats him out.

8:01 - JM quietly puts the hat back in the pile, then walks over and hugs JK.

8:40 - JK walks over to Jimin to show him something (sunglasses he wanted?).

20:30 - When they're all joking around about whether they can fit four people on a bed, JK moves JM into an L-shape and then lays down nested with him.

BEHIND 0:09 - JK calls out "Jimin-ssi!" and tosses JM that hat he bought him.

4:49 - When the guys are all stretching and JM is in an inconvenient place, JK calls him "Jimin-ssi" again, essentially feels up his calf, and then pushes his upper thigh, all purportedly to get him to move over.

5:28 - JK kneels down behind JM, who's on all fours, and holds his hips to correct his position (I am literally just describing what happens in the clip, but I kind of feel like I'm writing porn, here...). JK then picks Jimin up to move him over a bit. Both giggle as JK starts to stand up and then the camera cuts away.  I can't even begin to think what exercising looks like for these two when there aren't cameras on them...

6:55 - JK reads out the words on the Jimin shirt they're all wearing, which happen to be, "BTS Park Jimin, I love you! I root for you! I'm ARMY!" with a huge grin on his face. Jimin laughs - no one else does - and then jokes that they should wear the shirts back to Korea, prompting JK to tell him "bye!" and wave while giggling. 

7:37 - Jimin shows the parts of the shirt design he would change by poking JK's chest, and then JK and JM share a fairly steamy look until RM interrupts. 

7:52 - JK folds up the shirt so JM's face looks weird and Jimin points to him doing it and laughs. No one else does.  Man, these two were really in their own world this whole Toronto trip, weren't they?

8:02 - JM tries to give JK some advice on the game he's about to play. Before starting, JK starts what seems like it's going to be a silly pose, but ends up being him dragging his fingers down his face, neck, and chest. Sadly for JK, JM wasn't looking. Happily for us, we can look as much as we want. 

8:18 - When JM wins a game, JK claps for him. You can probably guess by now that he's the only one who does. 

10:09 - JM steals a piece of steak, then JK does some cross-cut teleporting to come over and sink down into a chair next to him. JM overdoes making his eyes look big and innocent (perhaps hoping to get caught and scolded?).

10:35 - JM makes Jin move when he takes JM's seat next to JK I feel like just the Behind for this episode needs it's own jikook rating! And most of it is watching JK lead the guys in a workout. If you're going to watch just one Run Behind, consider making it this one!

Ep 71 "BTS in Toronto Part 3" (Ep: 3 / KM: 3)

The Toronto one where the guys have dinner, have breakfast, and play games

14:28 - Maybe nothing, but just to note it - in this and the next shot, you can see JM heading towards where JK is lying back on the couch after losing a game, then there's an abrupt cut and everyone is in a totally different position. 

29:20 - JK tells JM the "super-pancake" he made is for him since he has to do the penalties. 

BEHIND 6:59 - JM says that he thinks JK will want to eat and calls out for him.

Ep 72 "BTS and Mafia" (Ep: 3 / KM: 2)

The one in which we learn that BTS is so terrible at the Mafia game that it almost comes back around to being impressive 

3:10 - When Jin says JK is suspicious because he isn't talking, JM defends him, saying "you know he doesn't talk much." 

8:34 - JM seems to direct his appeal to be spared to JK.

18:16 - JK compliments how well Jimin is doing at the game.

20:13 - After Jimin says he's ARMY, JK asks, "do you like me that much?" Then there's a quick cut and Jin is doing a Jim Halpert face at the camera.

28:03 - Confusing maybe-moment - let me know if it's clearer to anyone else! - but after JH is sending finger heart guns, JM points gun fingers directly at JK for no apparent reason. 

BEHIND 2:39 - Before they start playing, JK predicts that JM and Jin will be good at the game.

Eps 73-76 “Run BTS Drama Parts 1-4″ (n/a)

The ones where BTS spend four episodes making a “comedic” skit

01:09 - After JK explains that he had a wisdom tooth taken out, Jimin adds the info that they had to take out the whole root.  09:10 - Even though V is the "director" of Jimin's scene, JK speaks up and takes over the role, saying that directors use informal language and repeating twice in informal language "Jimin, let's go!" He continues speaking informally when Jimin messes up and JK scolds him.  11:40 - When it's JK's turn to deliver a line and he gets nervous about remembering it, JM reads it out loud for him. He also says as soon as JK delivers the line that he did the best job and adds to Hobi, "he doesn't get embarassed, I told you."  16:26 - It's a little hard to see for sure, but it looks like Jimin votes for JK when it's time to choose who should be the skit's director. I'm going to be totally honest with you guys - I didn't rewatch these episodes past this. I first saw it months ago and remember being disappointed and fairly bored through most of it past the first half of the first episode - I don't find the skit funny and the behind-the-scenes stuff isn't amusing enough to make a four-part episode about. I’m sure there are others who completely disagree with me and no judgment if you don't share my opinion! But I'm doing this guide for fun and I don't want to spend two hours rewatching them. 

I don't recall a ton of jikook beyond the above - I think there's a moment in part 3 where JK is getting tired and Jimin offers to take over slating for him. So, anyone who is a fan and knows / finds more jikook moments, please let me know and I will update this guide to reflect that. Otherwise, let's happily move along. :)

Ep 77 “Food Guest Part 1″ (Ep: 4 / KM: 5)

The weirdly-named ones that are prob better translated as "food connoisseurs" but the specifics of the foods theme don't really matter because JIKOOK  

07:41 - When Jin says JK and JM will be competing in a palm-push game, JM says he's already lost (because JK is strong).

07:55 - I'm fairly certain that, if you're a jikook-er, you've seen this moment. It's so unabashedly flirty a description can't really do it justice.   JK and JM are supposed to be playing a game where they put their palms together and shove to see who can make the other lose their balance. JM shoves lightly at JK's chest before they even start the game, then both start giggling. Still giggly, JM asks if JK's ready and JK says he is. JM pushes at JK's palms and JK just swings his arms back as they look at each other and smile. Jin interrupts to ask, "are you a dating couple?" (that's the most direct translation - V app translation is "are you two together?"). JK and JM both laugh, the latter so hard that he spins around, thus losing the game. 

17:08 - JK is staring so intently at Jimin on his knees with a blow-pen in his mouth that he completely misses RM trying to give him a high five. Jin has to call for JK to please respond to RM before JK looks away and returns the high five, laughing and apologizing. He looks back immediately after. 

BEHIND 0:58 - JK gives JM a shoulder massage while holding his chest as JM makes satisfied noises. I've seen this clip in compilations before, but hadn't realized it was also from  this episode. It's really the gift that keeps on giving! 

4:29 - Just prior to the above palm-push game, JM reaches out to do something to JK's sleeve (I think?). The camera cuts before we see clearly.  

4:31 - Slightly different angle of JM and JK giggling at the start of the palm-push game.

7:11 - Reveals that RM actually tried to high five JK and was ignored TWICE before Jin called JK's attention away from JM on his knees with a blow-pen in his mouth. 

Ep 78 “Food Guest Part 2″ (Ep: 3 / KM: 3)

15:00 - JK jokingly asks what the answer is and Jimin giggles at him as the on-screen text says, "how adorable." Unsurprisingly, the others are less enamored. (JK's biggest fans = 1. Jimin  2. Run BTS on-screen text writers)

BEHIND 9:56 - JK watches JM dance playfully, then wiggles his own hips, seeming to want JM's attention. Jimin smiles and starts to say something that gets cut off. 

10:03 - JK films JM as JM dances and smiles while looking into the camera. Jimin is doing silly dance, but JK zooms in on his joyful face. He quickly licks his lips as he watches. 

[thatgamefromthatad]

Seen these ads? (Obey Me! Review)

This is a visual novel/otome/gacha card RPG game with the same characters and themes as featured in the ads.

As stated in many of the ads this game centers around seven demon brother love interests (as well as some other potential love interests) although the game has a lot of plot elements other than just romance. Most of the ads that I’ve seen feature real art that appears in the game one way or another, and the ads tend to be focused more on the characters and theme in general rather than specific gameplay. Of the ads that do appear to show gameplay, most of the time it’s not really what you’ll see in the game but still follows fairly close to the actual game (for example, the “kiss, free, whip” ad on the top left doesn’t show real gameplay, but you can kiss or whip that character. But that specific art comes from a gacha card I believe and isn’t what you see when you do the kissing and whipping).

A few notes before I get into the full review:

I’m a lesbian, so I’m definitely not the target audience for this game, but I always try to be objective and open-minded when playing any game I’m not the target audience for (other examples I’ve reviewed in the past are Moments, which was also primarily targeted toward women who are attracted to men, Immortal Taoists, which involved a genre I had never heard of before and really had no interest in, Time Princess, which also wasn’t my favorite genre but was still a great game, and various Genius Inc. visual novels, which are targeted more toward high-school age boys as far as I can tell).

Speaking of lesbians, this game weirdly censors the word “lesbians” but not any other LGBTQ+ terms (that don’t include the word “sexual”) as far as I can tell; I decided it was enough of a one-off thing that it wouldn’t factor a huge amount in my overall review of the game, but I think it’s still something to take note of and not let off the hook since it definitely shows bias and can be offensive to players.

This game is rated 12+ on the Apple App Store, and I was pretty harsh on Crush Crush for being rated that way because I thought it crossed the line with some of its sexually suggestive content. I kept that in mind while playing this one, and personally I don’t think it crossed the line in the same way, at least not from what I’ve played so far; although it does have sexually suggestive content (most often when interacting with the character Asmodeus, who is literally known in the game as the “Avatar of Lust”), it’s much more occasional through tidbits of dialog as opposed to in Crush Crush where it involved a whole section of the game and was more interactive in nature. I would definitely still cringe at the thought of a 12-year-old reading some of this dialog, but I think it fits fairly within the App Store descriptors of “Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content and Nudity” and “Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes.”

Last note - there is a character in this game (Luke) who has the appearance and demeanor of a small child who you can interact with in a similar way to the other love interest characters, which concerned me for obvious reasons. I looked more into this, specifically reading into all of the different dialog options involving this character, and his responses never seem to be more than platonic, which is good. He still blushes when you give him gifts and stuff, which is kind of awkward, and it seems weird to throw a kid character into an otome game, but all considered I wouldn’t say the game is promoting anything inappropriate (unlike one of the Genius VNs that clearly involved relationships between an adult and minors).

Sorry I know that’s a lot of notes and disclaimers but I just wanted to that all out of the way as general concerns anyone might have trying this game or reading this review!

Without further ado, read my full review below:

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(I’m trying a new color-coding system to help highlight some of the main points of my review if you don’t want to read my entire essay word-for-word lol. Pink is a positive aspect of the game, red is a negative aspect/criticism and purple is not necessarily positive or negative but just something I wanted to highlight.)

😈 Is the game actually fun? Yes! Just in terms of production value, this game is top notch: the art and character designs are very appealing, the transitions between characters’ poses and facial expressions during VN scenes are actually animated (which looks much smoother and more natural than switching between still images), the voice acting is great (although the VN scenes aren’t fully voice acted, some parts like phone calls are and the characters say different phrases during scenes and battles as well)(Note: all the voice acting is Japanese), and the music is FANTASTIC and perfectly sets the vibe throughout the game.

The best parts of this game in my opinion are the different personalities of the characters and the overall plot; although some of the characters’ personalities can be a bit one-note at times (for example, one character’s entire personality that I’ve seen so far is that he likes to eat and is always hungry), the characters each have their own charm and play off each other well. I found myself getting invested in each of the characters’ desires and goals throughout the story, even the characters I didn’t particularly like. The story is also chock full of humor which is always fun, and the whole world and backstory built around this game (the “Devildom” setting and the idea of an exchange student program with angels, humans and demons) are also unique and impressive.

I really enjoyed the multiple modes of storytelling i.e. how the VN chapters are supplemented with text messages and phone calls from characters and an Instagram spoof with additional side stories to unlock. I know this isn’t a new thing in mobile games (even Gardenscapes and Homescapes do it to an extent lol) but add the compelling characters and overall production value on top and it’s a really enjoyable experience. Since the home screen of the game is set up like it’s your phone, with the different parts of the game represented as “apps,” the game kind of creates a feeling like you’re really living in this world with these characters where you can freely scroll through their Instagram feeds and check the messages you get from them on your own time. The shop where you can buy items and premium currency is called Akuzon (an Amazon spoof) and the place where all your gacha cards are is called “contacts,” which further adds to the immersive effect.

The “dating” part of the game is pretty cute although I haven’t gotten super far so I’m not sure of the full scope of the romantic interactions. From what I can tell, in addition to the dialog, blushy faces and bedroom eyes you get from characters when you give them gifts and touch different parts of their body (above the belt lol), when you raise your intimacy level with them you get additional phone calls and messages from them (I haven’t played a lot of otome games but I think that’s how a lot of them go). I wasn’t that invested in this part of the game but I think there’s some strategy that goes with using the right combination of gifts and touches to maximize intimacy boosts and get certain dialog, which adds a whole other aspect of gameplay in addition to the main game. I also noticed that occasionally your choices throughout the VN chapters will give you a small intimacy boost with a certain character; I kind of wish this was even more integrated since most of the time I felt like no matter what I chose it didn’t make any difference in my relationship with characters. Also, I don’t think there’s a way to “officially” date a specific character, it’s more about raising the intimacy level to earn more interactions but it doesn’t actually affect the main plot.

As far as the main mode of progressing through the game, which is winning “dance battles” with teams from your gacha collection, this part of the game has its own positive qualities such as the cute chibi forms of the characters that appear on screen and the fact that some of the special attacks show a little anime clip of the character (of course it’s less exciting when you see the same clip every battle but I still thought it was a nice touch). I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t a rhythm aspect as the “dance battle” name would imply, and your main interaction during the battle itself is basically just tapping hearts that pop up and tapping the characters when their attacks are ready, but you also have the option to skip that whole interactive sequence and just get a result based on your team’s stats, so there’s not much to complain about there (especially since the battles are sort of a side note compared to the storytelling aspect of the game despite being the main element of RPG-based gameplay that allows you to progress). If you are interested in the RPG aspects, there’s plenty of that to work with (building teams, balancing attributes, managing resources/rewards to level up cards and progress through skill trees of sorts, all that good stuff) although you’re limited to an extent by how difficult it is to get a lot of gacha draws without paying real money. It’s even harder to be able to focus on both strategy and character relationships while playing for free when the same scarce currency is used for both gacha draws and gifts.

👿 Is this a free game or a “free game”? Despite what I just said, I would still consider it a free game - you can gradually save up some of premium currency the game gives out through tasks in order to pay for more gacha draws and other items, and as far as I can tell you can access the main story and the other parts of the game without hitting a paywall. I only got to the fourth chapter so far though so don’t take this assessment as gospel. Like with a lot of other freemium games you might feel pressured to pay (especially when you run out of gifts to give your lover boys, which was the biggest downer for me, or if you’re obsessed with wanting to collect a lot of cards or get a specific card) but since you don’t actually need to pay to progress I still consider it free.

There’s also an energy system where you hit a wall and have to wait if you run out, but I never ran out because of the huge amount of energy the game dumps on you when you first start, and it seems like there are a bunch of other ways to get extra energy as well. There also aren’t pop-up or watch-to-earn ads in this game that I saw.

💀 Features

Main visual novel scenes and storyline (the visual novel scenes come between dance battle stages and there are a few short side routes that branch off but still one main route as far as I can tell, I don’t think your dialog choices really make a different except for in how the characters react to you immediately afterward. Still the main storyline in itself is fun to follow and it’s fun to get different reactions out of the characters based on what you say)

Dance battles (I’m not fully knowledgeable about the minutia of the RPG system at play here but in general the outcome of the battle will depend on the level, rank and attributes of your cards compared against the difficulty and attributes of the stage you’re playing. There also “memory cards” that can be assigned to support your team and expendable temporary boosters called “glow sticks” that boost your stats for one battle. During the battle itself you tap hearts that appear to earn extra points and you can tap your characters when their power is charged up to “attack” your opponent and use special skills. There are guides online that go deeper into stats and strategies and such if you’re interested. Different stages have different rewards for completion and you can quick complete levels you’ve already beaten to mine resources you need)

Gacha mechanic and cards (the gacha area of this game is called “Nightmare” and there are a few different pools along with event pools each with their own odds and sets of cards you can get. For the default pools you get free draws periodically and I believe you get one free draw for each event pool IIRC. You also get a bunch of vouchers for draws when you first start the game which got me handful of SSRs and a couple URs to build a couple of solid teams right off the bat. In addition to drawing directly from gacha pools you can get some cards by collecting card pieces as rewards from stages and events until you have enough to get the actual card. Each card has its own set of stats/attributes, can be leveled up and has a skill tree of sorts that can be progressed through with resources mined through beating stages, although it’s more of an attribute tree than a skill tree since most of the branches just add points onto one of your card’s attributes. Some cards, the rarer ones, have special skills that can be used in battle)

One-on-one characters interactions and intimacy i.e. the “dating” part (there are two ways this occurs: 1) you can set a specific character to your home screen that allows you to enter into an interaction with them, with a refresh period in between interactions 2) the main way, which is through “surprise guests” after dance battles. These surprise guests show up frequently but not always, and they’re always one of the three team members you used in battle, selected randomly. For each one-on-one interaction you can do three actions - either give a gift, touch the character or ignore the character. Sometimes the character will also offer you a high five which counts as an action if you oblige. Different characters have different favorite gifts and touching different parts of the body can get a different reaction depending on the character and your level of intimacy I believe. Your intimacy level with a character increases depending on the combination of actions you perform, and sometimes the character also gives you gifts back like more energy or resources. There are guides for this online as well)

Text messages and phone calls (text messages are the main mode of storytelling outside of the main VN scenes - you get messages from characters or multiple characters in group chats that you respond to with preset messages or stickers similar to how you make choices during the VN parts. Some of the text messages correspond with the main plot as you progress, ex. A character texts you to be in a certain place at a certain time and next VN scene is of you two meeting at that place. I think other text messages also come up when you reach certain intimacy levels with characters. There are certain group messages that you don’t respond to where you’re basically spying on a group chat among characters and just get to see what everyone’s saying. In addition to written messages and emoji stickers characters will also sometimes send pictures. Phone calls are fully voice-acted dialog you have with another character and they seem to pop up when you reach certain intimacy levels - I’ve only gotten ones so far with the two characters I have the highest intimacy with)

Instagram spoof/“Devilgram” (Devilgram is an in-game photo sharing social media app similar to Instagram and the photos on there correspond to gacha cards. When you acquire the gacha card that corresponds to a Devilgram post you unlock a side story, but you also need keys to unlock further scenes from that story, which can be gradually earned through completing tasks and such)

To Do tasks (completing tasks on your To Do is the main way to earn premium currency in the game along with other rewards and resources. There are daily tasks, overall tasks and tasks specific to each character. Examples of tasks are completing a certain stage or number of stages, beating a stage using a team that includes a certain character or reaching a certain intimacy level with a character. There are also beginner missions when you start the game that I think stay available until you complete all of them)

Events (there are sometimes side story events called “pop quizzes” and gacha events that are available for a limited time, or sometimes an event has both a corresponding pop quiz and gacha pool. The pop quizzes are separate chapters with their own dance battles and VN scenes, and the battles will come with reward points that you can spend on different prizes. Sometimes there are unique cards you can only get from an event. Other minor types of events include log-in bonus events and events where you can get special types of gifts for your love interests. There’s also a feature where you can “time-travel” back to old events at some cost but I haven’t explored this much)

Jobs (you can assign characters to passively complete jobs that earn you a small amount of non-premium currency over time and also increases your intimacy with the assigned characters by a small amount)

Customization (you can unlock avatars of different characters to use for your profile and set the name you want characters to refer to you by throughout the game. You can also change the outfit of your homescreen character, change the homescreen wallpaper and change the homescreen background music by making purchases in the Akuzon shop or acquiring certain gacha cards)

⚖️ Ad Honesty Rating: 4/5 (just from the ads I’ve seen, especially the ones that appear to be running currently, there don’t seem to be blatantly fake ads and the ads show real art and do well conveying the theme and characters in the game. However some of the ads are misleading about the actual mechanics of gameplay and may also lead you to believe there are actual romance routes with the characters which is not really the case)

⭐️ Overall Rating: 5/5 (I definitely didn’t want to give this game a great rating just because it’s super popular on Tumblr but I can definitely see why it’s so popular. There are lots of things to do, the characters are very lovable, it’s funny, the art is great, the music is great and the lore and overall vibe are compelling and unique. It’s a high-quality game with a good story and I’ll probably keep playing it)

▶️ Ad Example:

▶️ Gameplay Examples:

Dance Battles

Surprise Guest

If you got through this review bless your heart ❤️ Special thanks to @human-watching-ads-from-devildom which is where I was able to view some of the ads since I was having trouble finding them elsewhere online and viewing some of them on the Facebook ad library.

Follow me for more reviews of those free mobile games you’re always getting ads for! Thanks for reading! 🥳