#which is odd cause I adore their relationship in canon.

[mud-castle]

She's cementing Leafpool as no longer a clan cat by doing it, and she damn well knows it.

Imagining a scene right now where Squilf struts into camp with the kits in tow. And everyone swarms around asking her question after question when there's finally the inevitable "where did you get them?"

The Squilf gets the smuggest, shit-eating grin on her face and says, "Oh, just some rogue."

Does Hawkfrost know the three aren't his Or Squirrelflight's? Does he know she's infertile? How's he feel about that? Or the rest of Thunderclan to be honest, given that Squirrelflight is basically the only child "worthy" of becoming deputy, so her having kits is important to widen the potential future deputyship pool past any apprentices she gets

Everyone knows those kits are stolen. Squilf is 100% making a statement. That statement being "Fuck you, I'm worthy of the same respect you give the rest of my family" and an extra "Fuck you" to Leafpool while she's at it. She's cementing Leafpool as no longer a clan cat by doing it, and she damn well knows it. Girlboss moment honestly. We stan.

Stealing kits isn't rare, but it's not done by your average warrior as things can go wrong fast. To be tasked with kit theft is a high honor, and it's almost always done in groups just in case (Brokenera was an outlier, ignore them. Which actually somehow makes them worse than in canon according to dark mirror's social rules). Squilf wasn't tasked.

Reactions are mixed, but ruled more positively in Squilf's favor. Hawkfrost loves a woman who can solo a kidnapping. Squilf's actions are in direct opposition to Fire's, but not publically so he can't do anything about it without raising trouble, so he hates it. Sandstorm is somewhere in between, but at the end of the day Squilf stole them fair and square so it's her right to keep them. Mistystar is highly amused.

You are forgetting that Sandstorm needed to have an apprentice to become deputy and mentored Sorreltail. So there are at least two other eligible cats.

Kits are not legally required in a union, but are very much socially required. But even though Squilf is barren, someone likely would've been asked to be a surrogate. The kits would have the same claims and social standings as they would if they were biologically both.

[sim0nril3y]

i love your works!!

now that soap knows sort of about civilian reader, how would they both react to meeting one another? Perhaps after a mission, Simon has to take him to their house since it’s close by and there they meet. I can imagine Johnny jokingly flirting with reader jus to rile Simon up

Note: Thank you so much for your request! I love, love, love it! Love these boys together and all the trouble they get into and love how Johnny just seems to be able to push his buttons. Pairing: Simon 'Ghost' Riley x Civilian!Reader Warnings: No mask Simon (It's my personal headcanon in his regular life he probably wouldn't wear it), established relationship, taunting and teasing, tiny illusion to smut, canon typical swearing.

It was probably a mixture of exhaustion and anxiousness to see you that had Simon not thinking straight when he climbed off the plane with Johnny. Circumstances had it that the barracks were completely full to the brim, the last train home for Johnny was an hour ago and a certain sense of guilt had Simon suggesting “We got a spare room…” The moment Simon said it, he regretted it.

It had been a gruelling four months away from you and all he had come to adore at the home you shared together, whilst he had wanted to spend time alone with you now he was basically bringing home a drooling labrador in the form of his Sergeant. Johnny’s eyes brightened up like it was Christmas and he mentioned. “That means I get t’meet your missus, LT.” Simon was completely stumped for any response, simply his shoulders sagged.

“You breathe a word about this or her to anyone else, I’ll make sure you don’t make it back from our next mission.” It was a threat, but an empty one and Johnny knew that for certain.

It was way past midnight by the time that Johnny and Simon arrived at his home. They quietly clambered from the car and up the path towards the house. Simon had warned you not to wait up for him, but from here he could see that the living room light was on which meant you hadn’t listened to him. Using the key to open the door before he even put his bags down on the floor, he heard your footsteps approach hastily, excited to see him, having practically no contact for almost four months was difficult.

“Si…” You rushed to wrap your arms around him, Simon wrapped his body tight around your own, burying his face into your throat and inhaling sharply, burying his nose into your scent to try and wash away all the horror that he’d witnessed whilst away. “Missed you so much.” You whimpered into his skin and then jumping. “Oh, uh…” It was clear you’d seen Johnny lingering over his shoulder then. “Hi.”

Tugging away from Simon, he took a step aside allowing you to see Johnny fully. “Hello ma’am.” He nodded his head at you then, Simon wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Johnny act so respectful before. Odd, he thought. “Jus’ got back from a mission. Y’fella ‘ere said I could borrow a room f’the night. Hope it won’t be too much trouble.”

A little of startled surprise crossed your face. “You work with Simon?” You asked then and Johnny nodded in confirmation. “You can stay as long as you want if you tell me everything about Si whilst he’s away from home.” You announced causing Simon to gift you a tested look but it only caused Johnny to chortle lowly and reply. “I tell y’everything I know ‘bout Si.” The use of his nickname that was reserved for you fell from Johnny’s lips and those narrowed daggers looked to him aggressively.

“Time for bed.” Simon commanded lowly then, hands placed on your shoulders to spin you in the direction of the stairs and ushering you up then, even as you argued that you needed to find some sheets for the spare room Simon still urged you up the stairs and as far away from Johnny as he could manage. This night couldn’t be over quick enough.

It was like some bad dream as Simon awoke that next morning to your side of the bed long cold beside him and the sound of your distant laughter floating through the house. Bloody hell. Originally, he had planned on waking up, rolling you gently onto your side and slipping into your wonting cunt, but instead you were entertaining another one downstairs, leaving him longing and lonely in the bed you shared.

Simon was dreading whatever stories that Johnny had decided to fill your pretty head with. There was reasons Simon kept you separate from you his work life, mostly for your safety but also because he was a different person there than he was in the comfort of your shared home. He felt safe and secure in these walls and around your presence, with work he built up walls which you had seemingly knocked down in mere weeks of knowing him.

Clambering from bed Simon tugged on some shorts and lumbered downstairs to join the chatter. It was much too lively for an early Saturday morning. “My, my… Lt never mentioned jus’ how talented you are, lass.” That thick Scottish accent announced making his eyes narrow, rounding the counter to see Johnny observing the artwork that adorned the kitchen walls. “Matter fact, don’t think he’s uttered a single word ‘bout you.”

“Likewise.” You responded with ease then before beaming a smile at the presence of Simon in the doorway. “Morning, Lt.” Johnny began. “Morning babe, want a cuppa?” Your voice was pleasant and sweet, even at this time. “Mm.” He moved then to take a seat at the table as you got to work making him a morning brew just the way he liked. “I hope MacTavish ain’t been giving you too much grief…” He commented, flicking a hard look in Johnny’s direction.

A delicate laugh came from you then. “Don’t be silly.” Approaching him with the tea and placing it on the kitchen table for him. “Not at all, Lt.” Johnny continued. “Y’lass and I’ve been gettin’ on like a house on fire.” Then grinning as he sat opposite him. “Bonnie was just tellin’ me ‘bout the train strikes…” Simon glared at him. “Kindly offered me the room until things clear up again.”

After taking a long sip of his tea Simon said coldly. “I’ll pay for a taxi, or a plane… whatever gets you out of my house faster.” Then earning a hard look from you across the room. “Don’t be rude.” You scolded him with a stern look, completely unphased by Simon’s attitude Johnny did grin at the way that you spoke to his Lieutenant, practically only Price could speak to Simon like that. “John, you are more than welcome to stay with us as long as you need to.” Then throwing a tested look in Simon’s direction. “Isn’t that right, babe.”

“Is it, Lt?” Johnny uttered feigning some innocence Simon knew was fake. Instead of biting back Simon simply nodded and mustered a small. “Mm.” In response, simply plotting his revenge sometime in the future. “Mighty kind of you.” The Scotsman grinned and looked towards you. “Oh and lass, call me Johnny, please.” Followed by a playful wink. This was going to be a rough few days.

Masterlist | Ask | 27-01-2024

[londondungeon2]

went to the doctor and came back with the test results on jade leech. (headcanons/exploration from canon)

1. doesn’t like strong scents and stays away from most colognes/perfumes. if he is going out to a certain high-quality function, he might wear body mists or perfume oils to give off a certain air of maturity. finds anything heavier than those two alternatives gives him a migraine. a book that would interest yet disgust him is perfume: the story of a murder by patrick süskind.

1.2. despite the constant ‘i must cut off my nose if i smell anything stronger than a candle’ feeling he carries with him, he really does enjoy the plain smell of his loved ones. just a whiff of floyd or azul’s sweat and his own tension melts away. would bury his nose in their neck throughout the day for a quick refresher if he wasn’t so guarded around the public’s eye.

2. picked up his potionology expertise from azul. when they were kids, they often brewed potions together to give certain ‘poor unfortunate souls’ their end of the bargain when azul’s UM was still underdeveloped. azul was always a little bitter his potions never turned out as flawless as jade’s and jade is aware of this sentiment.

3. is known to take strolls around campus after hours and often finds himself caught in conversation with the ghosts in the portraits. during the daytime, jade will exchange a few pleasantries with them — which does not make sense to azul or floyd because he’s never interacted with them before?? how are they on such good terms?? jade likes to keep them both in the dark for how the relationship between him and the portrait ghosts was fostered.

3.2. speaking on his strolls, jade often spies malleus doing the same thing yet has yet to make conversation with the young prince. it is not out of fear but rather respect for knowing when one is enjoying their peace. jade often regards malleus with the sentiment of most teenage girls have for their favorite characters: i need to put him under a microscope.

4. his first meal with mushrooms added (lets place him around first year, after winter break) made him violently sick. it was one that he had picked on his own during a night walk, and he added it into a soup because he has seen (yet not tried) those served in the cafeteria like so. due to them being so poorly undercooked, it caused major gastric problems for him. since then, he’s been enthralled and smitten with fungi <3

4.2. speaking on the note of him being sick, i imagine he really enjoys the sensation. now! he doesn’t purposely get sick, that would ruin the ‘authenticity’ of it. but he enjoys the feeling of his body under the weather, something different from the normal 98.0 Fahrenheit, somehow a virus has slipped through his clean and disinfected body and that’s exhilarating.

5. his hair bounces up and has cowlicks in it exactly like floyd’s does. he takes to gently combing and gelling down those in the morning, but when he takes off his octavinelle hat, some will resurface over time. every time floyd goes to ruffle his hair, his wrist is swiftly caught and squeezed by a gloved hand.

6. is known to like quiet, dark, and cold places. it is hard to find such places in a college like night raven but mostro lounge’s walk-in freezer has all THREE of these attributes. has on more than one occasion scared an employee because he sits in the corner, doing homework in the pitch-black dark, and all they can see is the light from his left eye. his reputation keeps anyone from seeing this as odd rather than sinister.

7. is most certainly lying about his UM. always the wolf in sheep’s clothing, he likes to be seen as helpless and he adores being underestimated. sniffle sniffle poor me, my UM only works on one person at a time sniffle sniffle and it is not even a guaranteed thing.

8. has a vigorous appetite and enjoys a wide variety of foods, but has found his favorite fruit to be oranges. he enjoys the sensation of opening them and peeling slice by slice. additionally, vitamin C promotes healthy blood vessel function which works well for a jade with POTS, a headcanon siphoned off this ao3 work.

9. since he does not have the perfect memory like his twin brother, he takes to writing down information about the student body in multiple folders. is always on the lookout for new information and slipping secrets that people whisper in the hallways.

9.2. sometimes gets distracted listening in on other people’s conversation if a topic piques his interest. if he is in a conversation with another person while this happens, he turns it on them, maybe you weren’t paying attention to him … how rude of you.

10. homestretch … last headcanon … [pukes blood and dies before i can say it]

[fanfic-gremlin-ft-trauma]

Hi! I'm literally obsessed with Zukka and every time I see your art, I die and resurrect about seven times, cause it's SO GOOD!! 😭

I wanted to ask, what are your most 'unconventional' or odd Zukka headcanons? If you have any 😅

If not, maybe just your favorite ones? Or some original ones? 👀

shuhudhideaiun you’re so sweet thank you and of COURSE I do but like. I also would like to list my favourites and originals bc some of them are so so adorable n fun.

Unconventional

-sokka fidgets. like a lot. but the way he does is by biting his nails so zuko bought him beads and necklaces and just jewellery in general so he could play with that instead of destroying his fingers.

-zuko has like no spacial awareness at all (he’s literally blind in one eye) so sokka always has a hand on his back or arm to make sure he doesn’t crash into anything 😭

-zuko has trouble staying on top of his work and is constantly complaining about needing a clearer schedule so sokka just, invents highlighters and comes to zuko one day like: here you go babe now you can colour code your schedule 😊 and zuko’s like: what the fuck

Favourite

-one by my wonderful friend @motheryves: sokka can sing but pretends to sing badly in front of his friends to annoy them

-another one by my friend @kiki-strike: a long post which you can find if you scroll through my ask tag about zuko’s relationship with his scar and how sokka finds a way to be tender and gentle with him (like, touching it) without freaking him out. (seriously this is such a tender sweet head canon and I still think about it to this day.

-not sure where it came from but the hc that sokka and zuko can’t take showers together because one setting is in the pits of hades and the other is the literal icy tundras.

Original, but less odd

-sokka is a sleep wrestler and at first zuko thinks it’s because he’s just. like that. but after sokka starts talking in his sleep about ‘I need to save them.’ ‘I’m strong enough.’ then zuko’s like: oh. oh his failure complex is on even in his sleep. so next time it happens he wordlessly just pulls sokka close and strokes his hair until he’s still. (it takes Sokka a few weeks to figure out why he’s suddenly sleeping so well.)

-the first time sokka says I love you is when they’re lounging in zuko’s chambers and it’s late there’s dim candlelight and zuko is laughing at something stupid sokka said. so sokka tries to say I love you but gets whacked in the face with a bottle (zuko flails) so when he gets to the sick bay and zuko is tending to his bruise saying shit like ‘I’m so dumb I’m so sorry’ sokka just, blurts it out. (a true display of zuko being authentic zuko, not hiding behind a cold unfeeling mask, but always looking out for others and caring for them. that’s the zuko who sokka loves, so he told him then.)

-the first time zuko says I love you is when sokka is painting, and he comes over to bring him tea and sokka gets startled and just, spills his tea all over himself and his painting and he stands up too quickly to get a towel so he slips on the spilled tea on the floor and now he’s ass first on the ground just laughing, wide and unapologetic and that’s when zuko says it. (a true display of sokka being authentic sokka, not trying to prove his worth or be more of a man or be anything other than himself. that’s the sokka that zuko loves, so he told him then.)

[nikkichama]

Naruto Fic Rec

Fic that I read more than once,twice, thrice or more.

HashiMada:

Sugar on your lips (I'm addicted) by chidoried E Canon divergent/Founder's era/Fix-it/Hashirama is whipped Bottom Madara/One Shot Madara placed the sweet dango between his lips, not biting into it, just holding it between his lips and teeth, looking at Hashirama expectantly. The Senju swallowed thickly, leaning in and taking a bite, their lips brushing momentarily and causing a spark to run through his body. In which Madara has a sweet tooth and loves eating dangos and Hashirama might be a little too in love.

Alkahest by misbehavingvigilante M Canon Divergence/Angst with Happy Ending/Sibling Love/Izuna Lives/ TobiIzu/One Shot In which, Madara doesn't refuse Hashirama's offer after all and Izuna lives because of it.

Lost & Found series by Makkoska E and M Modern Setting/Past Drug Use/Past Alcohol Abuse/Self-harm tendencies/Social Anxiety/Smoking/Coming Out/Divorced Parents/Past Hashirama x Mito Madara starts a new life in a quiet little village with the help of an old flame

Breathless by PaddyChan E ♥♥♥♥♥ Founders Era/Canon Divergence/Slow Burn/Protective Hashirama/Izuna Lives/ 63 chapters Forced to abandon their friendship due to the endless war raging between Senju and Uchiha, Hashirama and Madara are now facing each other on the battlefield as leaders of their clans. In one reality Madara has to mourn his last remaining brother, before being ultimately defeated by the Senju leader and losing the trust of his people. In another one, the odds are even worse. However, when Madara faints on the battlefield, Hashirama finds himself unable to kill the man he once considered his best friend. With Madara on the verge of dying, Hashirama decides to take matters into his own hands. And maybe, a single change is enough to steer fate into a different direction.

Adore by midnightfeast T Modern Setting/Pre-Relationship/One Shot “I don’t even know about your first kiss. How have I never asked you this before? Was she pretty?” Oh, he had asked countless of times, but Madara had been skilled enough to deceive his efforts.  For some reason, tonight was different. Tonight, Hashirama would not let him get away with deception. Maybe it was the alcohol, probably the raw emotions of a hurting and bleeding breakup that had Hashirama turn onto all-fours and crawl towards Madara with piercing eyes and under that intense gaze, Madara heart started to race. “Or was it a man? You know I don’t care.” Or: Closing in on thirty, Madara is convinced that he'll live the rest of his life as an unkissed virgin, because there is only one person he wants. After another break-up, Hashirama finds himself on Madara's carpet, drunk and curious.

Out of Time by Mari_Kel M ♥♥♥ (WIP) 57 Chapters Time Travel/Genin Era/Team Yamato-Freeform/Fluff and Angst/Friends to Lovers/Uchiha Madara-centric/Senju Hashirama-centric/Canon Divergence/PTSD/Team as Family/Found Family/Not Canon Compliant/Mental Health Issues Sarutobi Hiruzen was a smart man. He was the third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf, star pupil of Senju Tobirama, hailed as the second God of Shinobi, and master of ten thousand jutsu. But, as he stares down at the result of the latest botched space-time jutsu, one taken from the Nidaime’s Forbidden Archive and modified by Hiruzen himself, he wonders how smart he really is to have something backfire this badly. Because there is a tiny, angry, twelve-year-old Uchiha Madara with only one-tomoe sharingan, yelling and brandishing a kunai at him. And clinging to Madara’s arm is an equally tiny Senju Hashirama, shaking and alarmingly pale. Hiruzen closes his eyes and sighs. Truly a smart man. OR: The one where Yamato gets his own rather unique genin team comprised of a ghost, a god, and an assassin, and the timeline will never be the same.

TobiIzu:

Keep You by midnightfeast E ♥♥♥ Modern Setting/Friends with Benefits To Lovers/Smut/One Shot Unfortunate really, that Tobirama just had to go and be sweet and kind to Izuna’s cat, because then Izuna had to develop feelings for the man that was meant to be nothing more than his booty call. (I saw a reddit post or tumblr post similar to this ages ago and couldn't stop thinking about it, so I had to write a story for it. Unfortunately, I can't link the source of inspiration, because I can't find it. If you see it, please tell me.)

Don't leave me hanging by AlismaeGullran G There was only one bed/Getting Together/Pining/Canon Divergence There was only one bed, which makes room for confessions.

My rival, My friend by AlismaeGullran T/G Series 7 Work ♥♥♥ Founders Era/Fluff/Sick Fic/Past Child Abuse/Mention of Child Abuse/Hurt-Comfort/Angst with Happy Ending This is my collection of TobiIzu stories. These are all set in the same AU.

Seducing Tobirama by Phlebas T/M/E Series 6 Work Pre-Slash/Warring States Period/Mutual Pining/Uchiha Izuna Lives/Discussion of Canonical Child Death/Smut/Bottom Izuna Seducing Tobirama is harder than Izuna thought it would be. Loosely linked short fics in the same AU, all of which are inspired by the art of Junsui

A Soft Green Glow by Sharkseye M 47 ♥♥♥ Altered Mental States-due to blood loss/Pre-Slash/Canon Divergence/Pre-canon Returning from an ambush that killed his entire team and near fatally wounded him, Izuna finds himself followed by an enemy far more dangerous than the ones he left behind. Even if he makes it back to Uchiha lands, he'll be killed long before help can arrive. That is, if the blood loss doesn't get him first. ~*~ The title of my notes on this is 'Tobirama Escorts Izuna Home'. That's it, that's the story. Due to popular demand, there is now a second chapter!

My Nemesis my only Friend by Eisengrave, Maelikki, selwyn E 47 chapters ♥♥♥

Warring States Period/Fix-it/Somebodylives-somebody not/Slow Build/Pining/Uchiha Izuna lives/TobiIzu centric Hashirama saved Izuna and Madara agreed to peace. Konoha is standing on its new foundation, resting on the shoulders of two giants. But where does that leave their loyal shadows? The little brothers that swore themselves to the way of war? What good are their sharp edges when the world wants to learn to be soft? Who would understand that it's not so easy to let go of living your life in ever-present readiness to fight, to kill? [despite this vague summary this is actually very much a fix-it for the Founder's era. Izuna lives. The Shinobi Wars sort of don't happen. Sort of. Everyone lives. Hashimada is canon. Couple of OCs kicking around to fill the background.]

Curious affections by taedislumina T ♥♥♥ Modern setting/Slight NSFW/One-shot "what made you fall in love with me?" in which Izuna begs a daunting question at 2AM, Tobirama opts to humour him, and both are entirely captivated with eachother.

Mission accomplished by obitoforpresident E Friends to Lovers/Alcohol/Smut/Fluff and Smut/Dubious pinching of cheeks/One-shot But seriously- how many nights was he laying wide awake on his tatami mat because he was dreaming of the white-haired Senju? He dreamt of holding his strong hands in his, of being in his arms, cuddling and most importantly - kissing. It were too many years of suppressed feelings, but Izuna didn't have the guts to say something to the other man.

Masks I wear by Kamaleen E 3 chapters Alternative Universe- Werewolf/Alpha Beta Omega/Sexual Content/Mpreg “Good afternoon,” Tobirama replied. The white-haired alpha then turned halfway, gesturing toward the manor. “It’s a pleasure to have you here.” Izuna tried to smile back at the sentence that sounded like it was forced. He knew he shouldn’t take this to heart, but he did, and it hurt.

ObiKaka

Cause we mermaid for each other by obitoforpresident E ♥♥ One-shot/Modern setting/Getting Together/Fluff and Smut/Porn with feelings/Bikers “Hi,” a deep voice rumbled directly into his ear and Kakashi leaned sideways. “Wanna get a drink back at my place?” Kakashi raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of his beer before answering. “Why should I? We’re already at a bar.” The man beside him sputtered and curiosity go the best of Kakashi. He turned his head, his gaze roaming over the broad form beside him. Messy black hair, broad shoulders clad in an Akatsuki leather jacket, and full lips were pulled into an adorable pout.

A night to remember by Anonymous E One-shot/Alpha Beta Omega/Alpa Uchiha Obito/Omega Hatake Kakashi/Dirty Talk/Camboys In which Kakashi had a one night stand and realized a week later why the guy seemed familiar.

Steal me with a kiss by strangelights E Modern Setting/Morning After/One-shot/Identity Reveal/Childhood Friends/Friends to Lovers/Idiots to Lovers KakaObi Week Day 6: Indigo | Reunited | Enemies to Lovers

Falling Stars by MareNubium E 25 chapters ♥♥♥♥♥ I read this like five times minimum and I still crying while reading it. Beautiful,masterpiece. If I read it again in the near future you would catch me still crying over it. It's chef kiss.

Modern Setting/Angst/Self-Harm/Minor Violence/Recreational Drug Use/Friends To Lovers Obito only has one goal, to graduate and then leave the god forsaken town for good. All those faces, the judgmental eyes, the laughter, the ridicule, years of pretending they don’t affect him, he’s absolutely sick of it all. He wants nothing more than to leave that miserable place controlling his every will. That is until he meets Kakashi, a boy whose world is more than meets the eye.

Turn The Page by ASchwartz33 T 3 chapters ♥♥ Canon divergence/Hatake Kakashi needs a hug/Kid Hatake Kakashi/Adoption/Found Family/Jiraiya adopts Kakashi/ Uchiha Obito Lives A gift for @AdolescentLycan for The Flying Thunder God's secret Santa exchange on discord! Jiraiya finds out that Kakashi has been left alone, and intervenes to change the course of Kakashi's life forever.

Your Scent by Primerose_Wool M One-shot/Romance/Fluff/Minor character death/Getting Together/Fluff and Angst/Canon divergence In which Kakashi loves Obito’s scent and will not stop sniffing him throughout the years.

The world, through your eyes by kyasuu 5 chapters (WIP)♥♥ Hurt-Comfort/Dimensional Travel/Unhealthy Coping Mechanism/Unhealthy Relationships/PTSD/Implied-Referenced Suicide/Suicidal Ideation In one world, Uchiha Obito died saving Hatake Kakashi during the Kannabi Bridge mission, and came back as a vengeful specter decades later. In another, he was a second too slow. In both worlds, Team Minato came home one crucial member short. Kakashi finds himself in another world where his team is alive, Konoha remains undestroyed, and the shinobi world approaches tentative peace with Minato spearheading the effort as the Yondaime Hokage. It's in that moment that he knows for certain: it should've been him under that boulder. But no world is perfect. Kakashi might think this is as close as it gets, but, assuming this is reality and not the Infinite Tsukuyomi, there's always a catch. And he's right. (Or: Kakashi loses to Obito during their fight in the Kamui dimension. He wakes up in a world that's too perfect to be his own.)

The red means i love you by khalas E ♥♥ All work of Khalas is a masterpiece! Angels&Demons AU/One-shot/Fallen!Angel Kakashi/Serial Killer!Obito/The lines between worship and obsession are blurred/Dark/Obito victim's are implied to be human sacrifices “Tobi,” the man’s voice breaks as he struggles to speak through a mouthful of blood and loose teeth. “You’re Tobi.” Tobi. His daughter’s imaginary friend. Not quite imaginary, no, not with those leather-clad fingers forcing the man’s jaws apart to see blood spill from the gashes in his cheeks. 

I sent her back to her boyfriend with my handprint on her cheeks by khalas E ♥♥♥♥♥♥ (WIP) I fucking love this!Like I already reread this a dozen times. College/University AU/Slow Burn/Mentions of harrasment/Friends to Lovers/Size Difference/Possesive!Obito Years ago, if anyone had asked Obito to describe a typical Friday night, he'd have spent hours talking about the time he'd gotten into a fistfight with the school's mascot over the last gas station sushi roll. Now, stuck at home because he'd promised to babysit Kakashi's pet fish, he realizes — He's fucking whipped.

House of cards by khalas E ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 11 chapters The first fic I read from khalas and I was sold. Like when I finished I needed to reread again. Fuck it's dark and amazing,and of course made me cry, but like OMG. Screaming and kicking my legs :D Modern Setting/Detective!Obito/Detective!Kakashi/Gang!Akatsuki/Violence/Possessive!Obito/Rough Sex/Each chapter comes with it's own tw Dark like dark dark. The house always wins.

pacifist by khalas E (WIP) ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ This is part 2 of House of Cards sadly it's only 1 chapter and work in progress. Looks like nobody know what happened/how are khalas so I just hope they're okay.

pork soda by khalas E ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 10 chapters I'm not saying anything new, it's khalas it's amazing. I love it, reread it like a hundred times. Chef kiss! Modern Setting/Doctor!Kakashi/Street fighter!Obito/Self destructive behavior/Lots of violence Obito’s memories are fading, day by day. Yet, the one person he wants to forget seems to be the only thing he can remember anymore.

hot sugar by khalas E ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 6 chapters Am I going to put in all of khalas fic? Maybe, cause all of them are awesome. College/University AU/Modern setting/TA!Kakashi/Athlete!Obito/Possessive!Obito Five times Obito embarrasses himself in front of his TA, and the one time he doesn’t.

ShikaNeji:

Shadows Dancing in the Moonlight by -catalyst (xo_thefirst) G/T series 3 work Canon Divergence/Post-war/Slice of Life/Fluff/Getting Together this is where i'll be collecting all my shikaneji works :)

Liquid Copper by saturnsmoontitan T 2 chapters Emotional Hurt,Comfort/Implied-Referenced Sexual Harassment/Set during the time skip Shikamaru wasn't entirely sure how the five of them got onto the topic of Neji's missions, but it sure sobered him up quick. or Shikamaru coming to terms with how he feels about Neji after the freshly promoted Jounin comes home and talks about some... incidents during his mission.

Ripple Series by KamiKo T/M series 3 work Slow Burn/ Protective Uchiha Sasuke/ Hurt-Comfort/Friends to Lovers/Falling in Love/Anbu Hyuuga Neji/Implied-referenced Rape-noncon/Homophobic Languages/Explicit Sexual Content/Canon Adjacent The progression between Shikamaru and Neji was persistent, but leisurely and yet still somehow they had missed the turning point. //A three-part ShikaNeji series//

The Way Thing Are by Aini M 32 chapters Written in 2008 Neji's forced to take Hinata's spot in an arranged marriage after his cousin runs away. How does the Hyuuga deal with the problem?

The Box by LaughingFreak G One-shot/Family/Father-Son Relationship/Loss Its spring cleaning and while Shikadai is forced to help he finds out more about his dad than he thought he would.

A Downward Spiral by daniwritesattimes E 85 chapters Friends with Benefits/Implied-referenced child abuse/Depression/Oral Sex/Sex/Smut “You feel like kissing yet?” Neji froze at the question. He felt a burn in his face as he looked to Shikamaru questioningly. “You know? Because of the lovey get-up?” The Nara was poking fun at the slow ride of the deemed cave of love. Neji sank a bit further in his seat. The boy had too much control over him. The fun part was that Shikamaru had no idea.

A Preference by daniwritesattimes M 21 chapters So, say Shikamaru and Temari’s marriage was failing and Shikamaru met a very nice man at the market. Yeah...

SasuSaku

Pretty Little Things by LilAnnieSunshine T Romance/Love/One-shot/Canon divergence "Let her go.” Sasuke said, fighting off the pain of his broken wrist as he stood up shakily. Sakura couldn’t be more than twenty feet away from him, but he knew Itachi could end her before he even took a step. She might as well be thousands of miles away for the good he could do her. “She doesn’t have anything to do with this.” What if Sakura had come across Sasuke's fight with Itachi the day Itachi returned to the village?

of flirting and domesticity by chidoririi G One-shot/Married Life/Newly Weds/Snippet/Fluff/Headcanon Sakura's hair has gotten long and Sasuke finds out that he doesn’t like it.

The Exit Wound by LilAnnieSunshine T Domestic Fluff/Fluff and Angst/Canon Backstory/Protective Uchiha Sasuke "His girlfriend’s skin is practically flawless compared to most ninja. He knows it’s not a reflection on how challenging her battles are. She’s a medical ninja, so she’s usually treating others, not fighting. She’s also an expert at healing her own wounds, so scars aren’t usually an issue. Furthermore, when she does see combat, she can beat just about any enemy without lifting a finger. Whoever did this was not only a skilled ninja, but had a medical background as well. " Sasuke sees Sakura's scar from her battle with Sasori for the first time. He also learns that she was the one who killed the Akatsuki member, not Naruto or Kakashi. He's in awe of his wife. Written for Day 13 of SasuSaku Month. Prompt: "Battle Scars." Written late because time means nothing.

TobiMada:

War In Times of Peace by raendown E 42 chapters Arranged Marriage/Slow Burn/Bottom Madara/Uchiha Izuna Lives Not all wars are fought on the battlefield. Some are fought at the conference table, with whispers in the shadows, or even in the bedroom. In a world where the Senju and Uchiha traditional lands were too far apart to have ever made them enemies, Butsuma and Tajima are the ones who come together and sign a treaty of peace. Madara isn't happy to have his life signed away for him in a political marriage to strengthen the bond between their clans. He is even less happy to have Tobirama make assumptions of him from their very first night together. What follows from there is a journey of healing, of learning, and finding the places to belong in the places least expected.

To plead with Time by midnightfeast T/E series 2 works Family/Grief-mourning/Fluff/Modern Setting/Bottom Madara “Oh, you can also relay my admiration. His insults certainly are creative, some may call it a touch of genius.” He turned a page in his still open file and pulled out a lined paper with finely written phrases that he slid to Madara. “I collected his… most accomplished concoctions.” Or: Madara is called to a teacher-parent talk about Izuna's open aggression towards his new chemistry teacher Tobirama Senju

Amaranthine by Blackberreh M (WIP) 9 chapters Time travel/Fix-it/Panic Attacks Everything about Madara just felt... different. Something had happened, and Tobirama was going to find out what. Madara was being kind to him. That just wouldn't stand. But then again, Tobirama's always been able to adapt well to change.

Gave you my heart by aurora_nuova M Modern Setting/One-shot/Fluff At last, the door opened after his fourth, very annoyed attempt. “Hashirama! Who lets their supposed best friend wait this long outside in those freezing temp—“ He startled and threw the sleepily scrunched up, very pale face which greeted him a thoroughly confused look. “You’re not Hashirama.” “Clearly,” the albino yawned out in amusement as he leaned against the half open door, only to squint at the lights outside on the porch with a scowl. If Madara weren’t in such distress, he might’ve found it cute even.

This is all I can think of now ♥

[deadtiredghost]

oh sorry I meant your opinion on the character.

I love all the turtles but have differing opinions of them across itterations.

Raphael is such a great character with so much potential and I think that this potential isnt explored enough in any of the series really - though I think the same about all the characters really. I know there is only so much you can include in a kids series etc. which is why we have fanfiction!

Obviously everyone associates Raph with anger issues, but I really dont; I think the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Raph is protectiveness and sensitivity. Raphael definately has issues with regulating his emotions but not much more than any of the other turtles tbh. The main issue with his 'anger' is that he resorts to violence first while others like Leo or 2012 Donnie resort to shouting first. ya know? Siblings argue and are competitive, especially when you live in the sewers with no one but your father and brothers for company. They're teenagers who only really have each other, so of course they're gonna act kinda odd and sometimes innapropriate to us - humans who have grown up in normal society.

When it comes to the canon relationships, I can't see Raph with a human. full stop, I personally dont see him attracted romantically to humans. I enjoyed 12!RaphMona, I like the fact that Raph crushes on a woman who can beat him up, its cute and their relationship is cute puppylove which is refreshing, but I enjoyed it more as an idea than the actual episodes that were shown, sorry I cant get over the betrayal (he deserves to be happy tho). Would have loved more episodes about Mona adjusting to earth - or Raph trying to learn her language and adorably mispronouncing her actual name. On the other hand 03!Raph aromantic anyone? anyone? just me? okay.

favourite itteration of Raph: I love them all equally!(lie) I would love to say I love them all equally but my favourite always will be: 'Don vs. Raph' by Jhonen Vasquez from SDCC (check it out)

In a brief few words I'll include my thoughts across the cartoon series:

(in retrospect: this is not brief. I wrote much more than I intended rip.)

(tldr: I like the Raphs and want more content about them.)

1987 - uses sarcasm and insults as a defense mechanism because they have lived in a world that continuously rejects them despite saving it over and over. When they meet the other itterations in crossovers they are delegated to 'comedic relief' and no one takes them seriously. So of course they're annoyed about everything half the time. Despite this they are probably the only 'passive' Raphael and can take an insult but doesnt enjoy fighting physically - though this doesnt mean they are incapable of it, they're still a ninja. the 1987 slander is large and unjustified, it's great. There is also not a day goes by that I remember that Raph chose to spend their 'last moments' playing superhero for humans who will never accept them - i think this reflects all the Raph's really. they dont want to be monsters they want to be accepted by humans deep down, even if part of them resents humans for all that they have put them through

2003 - his accent and whole demenour is 'cause he enjoyed movies with characters similar to how he presents himself growing up - obvi. I think he would be that judgemental and protective wine aunt over Casey and April's kids. We know he has a soft spot for kids across all the itterations and he would be every kid's favourite babysitter. He is a wine drinker not a beer drinker and no one can convince me otherwise. Casey thought he was an adult for like at least a year because of the way he sounds and talks, and Casey only realised he was a teenager because Raph rejected a beer etc. Raph was a stickler for 'health' as a teenager - like paranoid about junk food, smoking and drinking fucking up his health and ability to fight etc. As an adult he might drink recreationally but I still see him and Leo as the paranoid ones about 'drinking too much' and getting caught unawares by their enemies. or something.

Honestly though on the first watchthrough of 2003 I was happy that they made Raph progressively get more mellow and all that, becuase 2012 Raph's 'anger issues' were handled so badly. But now as an adult I was like... he deserves to be more angry if anything. Like with everything they go through all the turtles realistically should get more and more emotional as they react to the trauma of everything going on in their lives. So I would like to see more fanfic of Raph in 2003 dealing with his emotions which are too strong to control after the series is over, and how he deals with controlling his emotions. He is impulsive and nearly gets himself or everyone else killed quite a few times - I think this is key. We know his greatest fear is himself becoming the person who hurts his family, so I think this self-loathing is a part of how he deals with his anger issues. His main driving force for everything he does is how he wants to protect his family. But is self-loathing a stable and sustainable way to deal with your emotional issues? You decide!

2007 - following on from that, I see 07!Raph as very similar, especially if 07 follows on from the 1990 movies. Raph is depressed and in denail and becoming a vigilante is just as much out of some obligation he feels to justify his existence (to prove he isn't a monster,) and a way to vent his frustrated emotions at everyone and everything. He is angry with Splinter for sending Leo away but Splinter is his father who (is a bit of a shit dad in the movie lets be honest) demands perfection and respect, he is angry with Leo for leaving and never taking their emotions into account (all four of them have been together their entire life, they have never spent a significant amount of time away from each other and something bad could happen to Leo without Raph knowing or being there to protect them), he is angry at Donnie for being gifted the 'leader role' when Raph barely just adjusted to listening to everything Leo said and hates being told what to do by anyone; his dad, his older brother let alone his younger brother/twin (however you want to see their relationship). He is resentful of his brothers for 'making' him be a vigilante alone and he is angry with himself the most for being unable to adjust to this change and for feeling like if Nightwatcher is taken away from him he might have a breakdown -(he will have no outlet for his emotions). Raph = Angry Angsty Emo Boi. But he is still Raph and he is still soft on the inside, he is just a little traumatised from everything and needs therapy. Unfortunately therapy doesn't work if you dont actively want to change.

2012 - the audhd is strong with this one. Unfortunately when I see 12!Raph I just see myself *sob*. This entire family is so traumatised and have no adults in their life that they can rely on. I said his 'anger issues' were handled the worst: I stedfast believe that his 'anger issues' were simply undiagnosed neurodivergence and that the majority of his emotional outbursts were ENTIRELY JUSTIFIED. His entire family call him the 'angry one' and tread on egg shells around him a lot of the time waiting for him to blow up or just expecting him to and having really irritating (to me) reactions to his emotions. for example, when Mikey ruins his stuff on purpose and Leo just tells Raph that 'posessions are fleeting' or whatever. Like sometimes Mikey is just teasing and riling Raph up to get a reaction, normal sibling behaviour, but sometimes they just go overboard - case en point, Leo's comics being used as toilet paper which he then proceeds to beat Mikey up for. All his brothers piss him off sometimes (on purpose I might add) but there is a big difference between a snide comment and ruining someone's possession methinks. I wouldn't do that to my bro and he wouldn't do that to me - but I understand that the turtles grew up with no one but each other and that Mikey tries to joke around for a laugh and/or attention sometimes. But Splinter singles out Raph in training and nothing that anyone says or does actually helps Raph in his attempts to control his emotions. Not out of maliciousness or anything, just that they dont understand him or incorrectly assume where the anger is coming from (in Splinter's case I think he sees himself and all his own flaws in Raph, clouding his judgement). But ya, Raph's emotional crutch was venting to Spike who was his only friend and his beloved pet... and we all know how that turned out. But also he probably doesn't do the same with Chompy because of how Slash turned out. I think he consciously realises that he only talked shit about his family to Spike and thats why Spike incorrectly assumed he hated his family and was better without them, so now, he consciously choses not to do that. I like to think that after everything the entire family get better coping mechanisms becuase April's dad is a therapist, please by god let him be useful for once. 12!Raph is incredibly protective and incredibly paranoid and rightly so with how their lives have gone, but it isnt a sustainable mindset and he will run himself dry with that if he continutes - much like his brothers.

2018 - this is such a fun take on what things might be like if Raph was the eldest! I like to think that biologically Leo and Donnie are older than Raph but Splinter just aged them based on how big they were and how their development went (Raph talked first or something). Raph is more responsible but still the headstrong idiot that we know and love. I think the protectiveness is inherent to all Raph's and all that, but that deffo stems from an accident in his childhood. I'm thinking he got angry or overstimulated and hurt one of his brothers because he is so much bigger and spikier, which leads Splinter to giving him a few books on anger issues or child psychology - this could also be a fun source of Mikey's interest in psychology. Donnie is canonically ASD and Mikey is canonically ADHD, I think Splinter got some parenting books on neurodivergent kids and helped Raph with his own emotional issues better than in the other itterations. Either that or Raph is repressing, repressing repressing - both ideas are fun to write! But then Raph's whole 'Savage' thing, which stems from getting lost in the tunnels as a kid - we have seen before that mutants can go feral when left alone over time like 12!Splinter. etc. ALSO! never forget that Draxum created them as super soldiers which might imply that they have some propensity for violence ingrained in their DNA and all that - possibly why he used animals instead of humans at first.

Raph also probably had no strict education along with the rest of his siblings, and they all definately grew up on more modern tv which I think separates them from their counterparts a bit - more chaotic than uniform. They get that from their father of course. 18 makes jokes that are self aware and this leads me to believe that Raph is very aware of his issues "tire, laceface - my emotional crutches" he has plushies and physical affection that he relies on to help his self-esteem issues (the clothing episode "i'm a disaster" as soon as he faces a tiny amount of criticism). It's all reading really nerodivergent to me - wouldn't supprise me is every single one of the 18!turtles had issues with rejection sensitive dysphoria.

Raph has eldest dughter syndrome of course but I firmly reject the idea that Splinter was neglectful as a father when they were kids and Raph was parentified, because it's canon that Splinter was involved in his kids lives and did a lot of things with them, including lemonade stands which would have to be playing protend as they were in the sewers, and the Lair Games. But Raph is shown to not really know how to deal with his bros (such as using a baby voice with Donnie and trying to baby Mikey etc). I do not think that my beloved Red raised these chaotic motherfuckers.That being said when they got into their teens they become more independent etc. sneaking around as to not worry their dad (same as 2003 where they go against their dad's orders to stay home multiple times) and there is clear evidence for emotional neglect, especially with the twins. (personal info here: I have an anxious attachment style, but both my parents were present and doting my entire life, they were just not exactly what I needed etc. and worked 24/7 throughout my childhood - I see Splinter to my dad, down to the depressed infront of the TV 24/7 as I got older.) Splinter clearly loves his sons, but with Leo being so similar to Splinter personality wise (similar to 12!Raph I think that Splinter has a hard time connecting because he sees everything he hates about himself but of course he loves it in his son and conflicting emotions etc.) and Donnie having a very independent and headstrong personality, I think Splinter misstepped and needs to fix it properly, but wasnt entire shit.

MM - mutant mayhem Raph looks fucking hillarious and I'm so excited to see him in the series. Easily knew I would love him from the trailer and after watching the movie he looks like he has a great relationship with his bros, even if he can be critical of Leo - which is just teenager behaviour. I loved that in MM the turtles acted like kids, because they are kids and thats how kids act. I also anticipate that Raph might be a bit insensitive while getting absorbed in his own things, which I was thinking would be a fun conflict to write of course. He just wants to beat people up and I love that.

Mikey: you have a violence problem

Raph: it's not a problem; its a solution!

[dontcryminecraft]

I saw people sharing thier favorite animatics related to November 16th/cwilbur, so I'd join in!

SO, in no particular order-

WOLFY WILL BE APPEARING AGAIN AND AGAIN! WOLFY NEVER MISSES WOOOO! The lyrics are wonderful and i love the blind in one eye look, it's so cool! watching cwilbur spiral in limbo as they reassess everything matches really well with song!!!!

I LOVEEEEE knp!!!'s art style and the moments they add line up PERFECTLY! Every chorus going "i miss you" at a different point in cwilbur's life as the song follows him through his story!

this circulates in my brain about three times a week MINIMUM i know i keep saying but i won't ever stop screaming about the LYRICS FITTING THIS SO WELLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!11!!!!!1 He didn't have it in himself to go with grace!! *points over and over again* And he can go anywhere he wants! ANYWHERE HE WANTS! Just Not Home! *curls up and sobs* and cphil!!!! "YOU HAD TO KILL ME BUT IT KILLED YOU JUST THE SAME ... YOU TURNED INTO YOUR WORST FEARS" MY LORD ROZU

i said Wolfy would be back and here it ISSSS!!! i ADORE explorations of cfundy's rocky relationship with cwilbur 'cause THAT'S HIS DAD *cries* and then switch to CPHIL and the CTOMMY, ommmmmgggg *holds gently* the family dynamics. yet it focuses on cfundy and i think we as a fandom neglect that part of the canon family or at least i can never get enoughhhhh

So this is ABOUT Revivedbur, and features a lot of flashbacks from the l'manberg eras as it changes alongside cwilbur. It's ctommy talking to cfoolish about cwilbur and i think about this conversation so often it's wonderful to see it in an animatic! it really highlights ctommy's philosophy and relationship with c!wilbur! ToKtopus

oh this one is so heavy but also so beautiful and i love it so much. This is where I adapted the headcanon into my brain that cwilbur had a l'manburg flag sewn on the inside of his jacket, over his heart, at all times. the silent monologue of ghostbur until the line at the end about everything around him being alive, except him.

sometimes i think wilbur and tommy listened to two bird right before starting the pogtopia arc and went "hey we should base our ENTIRE dynamic this arc on this" and then went live lol. I love this artsyle it's so cute and fits each character so well! I love the eyes in particular!

O to the Z to the Y to the MANDIUS wooo!!!! this changed MY brain chemistry and this changed the FANDOM's brain chemistry! if you are new here watch to change YOUR brain chemistry! and then go watch the rest of sad-ist they were one of the animators who popularized and showcased the lore of the dsmp arcs! Wilbur connects this poem to his character and it's so awesome seeing it read out and put to an animatic!

The mix of stream quotes with music is a SAD-ist staple and one of my favorite parts of their animations it just makes everything so hype! This just showcases the pogtopia arc up until right before the final battle so well! i love it every frame is a screenshot *chefs kiss*

And the odd-ball choice! Not cwilbur or ghostbur or l'manburg related, but instead it's that Oncelor song about the SCHLATT ADMINISTRATION! There is a eye strain warning in the title that gets cut off in the link, so I'm letting you know here! this is a really fun video and the colors are very saturated and fun! It has great humor and i laughed multiple times all while being very foreboding about what's going on in the Manberg era.

annnnndd there is a ten video limit so instead I'm going to link the last two:

knp!!!'s animatic "Not Your Fault" which is about cphil and his feelings after killing his son, going through the guilt and blame and all that good stuff. The chorus of "it was not your fault but mine, it was your heart on the line. i really fucked it up this time, didn't i, my dear?" just KILLS me every time!

The follow-up to SAD-ist's animatic above is "Dawn of 16th" and is amazing as always for balancing the music with the dialogue to create and wonderful narrative about that day!

[lostcauses-noregrets]

Hi, I am suuuuuper new to Eruri and AoT but I immediately started shipping Eruri since like Female Titan arc? I love their dynamic so much and I think that ship makes perfect sense and everything isayama says about them sound like he also ships them? lol but people keep telling me it's one-sided in canon because while Erwin respects and admires Levi's skills obviously, apparently "he doesn't show any commitment to Levi and sees him as humanity's best weapon and that's why he wouldn't respect Levi's wish and let him die if the roles were reserved" people keep telling me that!! :'( like I am new lemme ship in peace sadfgdsdf sorry lol anyway I wanted to ask you that, since I am so new to Eruri, what do you think, do you honestly think they can easily be canon or do you just think "I just ship them idc"? And did you see the AoT game before? It's always like "Erwin completely trusts Levi!!" and "Levi: I will kill those titans before Erwin arrives!!" how do people expect me to not to ship them sdfsadf :( Excuse my poor English and if this ask is annoying pls ignore :( thank you <3

Don’t worry Anon, your English is just fine and there’s no such thing as an annoying ask, as long as the question is asked in good faith.  The first thing I would say is don’t listen to people who are hellbent on “disproving” your ship, and that goes for any ship, regardless of whether it’s canon or not.  There will always be assholes out there who would rather spend their time shitting on ships they dislike rather than enjoying media that they do.  The best thing to do is to block, mute, and ignore.  Don’t waste your time trying to change their mind, and don’t let them discourage you.  

I’ve had so many asks over the years about whether Erwin and Levi’s relationship is one sided, in fact I answered a very similar one just a few of weeks ago which you can read here and you can find a summary and links to previous asks on this topic here.

In answer to your question, I do firmly believe that Erwin and Levi’s relationship is canon and and this answer sums up why.

The thing I adore most about Erwin and Levi’s relationship is that it’s not a romance. It’s a mature adult relationship between two war weary veterans who have spent their entire lives fighting. Who, against the odds, have grown to trust, respect and love one another. Erwin gives Levi a purpose, a cause to fight for, and Levi gives Erwin his strength and support. Of course some of the trappings of romance are there too in the supplementary materials; the private dinners, the quiet moments watching the rain fall, the contraband tea, the gifts of fancy clothes, but it’s not the romance that matters, it’s the Deep Bond of Mutual Trust. It’s the fact that Erwin depends on Levi and trusts him enough to reveal his deepest regrets and desires. At the same time, Levi cares so deeply for Erwin that he willingly shoulders his burden and damns humanity to let him rest in peace.

Quite aside from shipping, Erwin and Levi’s canon character arcs are entwined throughout the series and their relationship and Levi’s vow play a pivotal role in the plot. 

If you’re interested, I’ve written loads of other posts on this topic, which you can find in my eruri relationship tag.  Hope this answers your question Anon and helps to set your mind at rest.

[juliedrawz]

The long awaited appreciation post/character breakdown

Note : I mixed canon and headcanon facts from my book in here. (Some infos however are still missing because of spoiler reasons)

A/N - If someone would ask me to discribe Héctor, I would tell them that he's a walking ray of sunshine, spreading happiness wherever he goes. He's everything a perfect father and husband should be, and the bestest friend anyone could ever ask for.

Orgins

Héctor Rivera was born to his parents Arlo and Estella Gracía on january 10th in Santa Cartoria (the biggest part of the city El Torres) in Yucatan.

Through his mother's hispanic gipsy orgin, Héctor was brought into a world full of dancing and music. He was loved to pieces by all his family members and discribed as an unusual happy baby, always laughing and hardly ever crying.

The love for guitars especially was planted into Héctor by his father, who was a passionate guitar builder and player himself.

Both his parents, which he was very close with, meant the world to Héctor. Between the age of 3 and 4 Héctor lost his father first to a local civil war whereupon his mother, after seperated from her family, fled with him all the way to Oaxaca, Santa Cecilia by foot. Once in the new city, the exhausted and sick mother and her son were taken in by nuns of the local church. After Estella's death, Héctor was brought to the orphanage, where he subconsciously supressed his memories to cope with the loss.

Early childhood

Despite the great loss of his parents and family, Héctor never lost his optimistic and lively character. Always seeing the good rather than the bad. Though shy and quiet at the other hand.

It didn't take long for Héctor to understand, that he was different from other children his age. Mentally ahead of others, he found joy in reading books, writing poems and exploring the surrounding nature on his own. Since the other kids would call him weird, Héctor didn't even bother to try and fit in, he didn't want to and he didn't care.

If not on and about in the fields and forests of Santa Cecilia, Héctor would find himself at the center plaza to watch and listen to the mariachis. His adoration didn't stay unnoticed for too long. Eventually he was taught how to play the guitar by the leader José Vargas by the age six.

According to Josè, Héctor lived and breathed music, having it in his soul. He also called the guitar Héctors third arm.

Most important Relationships

Ernesto

A/N - I wish I could just tell you their whole story here, that's how eager I am! But, it has its time and place in my book and I certainly don't want to spoil anything. So, here come the basics! Also they're 12 and 8 above ☝️

When Héctor told people he and Ernesto go way back, he meant it. They grew up together, formed a deep brother bond and loved and considered each other family.

Having Ernesto as big brother, Héctor always looked up to him. He couldn't imagine a life without him and tried his best to balance his time after marriage and becoming a father to please everyone.

Noticing Ernesto's behaviour change was painful and confusing. Just as much as getting rejected over and over again in the land of the death. Héctor never understood what made his best friend snap like that but he yearns to understand. Also, in my book, Héctor at one point says this to Álvaro (the doctor)

"As odd as it is, despite everything, I don't hate Ernesto. And don't get me wrong, but I know that he could never hate me either."

Furthermore he says this -

"That man at the sunrise spectacle, that wasn’t Ernesto. That wasn’t my best friend; my brother. He'd totally snapped, gone savage. I … I didn’t recognize him anymore. There was so much anger and fear in his eyes. I can’t make sense of it. I wish I could! I wish I could understand what happened to him. Caused him to become that way."

A/N - writing about their relationship and past was and is still tasking but it's also wonderful and exciting. I cannot wait to share that part of the past!

Imelda

Héctor 15 y. Imelda 16. y 👇

Héctor's one true love, his twin flame and soulmate.

From the moment he first spotted her, he felt that special, unexplainable spark. That deep connection has always been there, and it took a while for Héctor to understand what it meant.

Héctor was well aware that many couldn't really understand how he could manage being with Imelda and handle her fiery temper. But to him, it was never a problem. If asked about it, he would always reply that he even loves her temper tantrums. To him, they are "sexy"

- In my book, I discribe their reunion, their road of recovery and how they get back on track. Also their whole past and future. I'm obsessed with them! 😍 I love love love writing them up and down! *sigh*

Coco

Like father like daughter. Héctor passed down a lot of his characteristics to Coco. He was/is very close to her and despite his young age (becoming a father at 18) he was a remarkable good parent. Surprising everyone around how good he was at handling his baby. Héctor also was what others would call a helicopter Dad. Overprotective and always worried something might hurt his precious daughter.

Next to Imelda, Coco is Héctor's everything. Back when he was still aiming to cross the bridge, he was ready to rather die a second time trying than giving up.

A/N ~ Guh! Did I mention that he's the best Dad? He needs a 'best Dad ever' award!

Character traits

Positive :

Optimistic, humorous, ambitius, caring, altruistic, empathic, spontaneous, honest, protective, creative, easygoing, enthusiastic, gentle, humble, idealistic, innocent, loyal, forgiving, passionate, persistent, bubbly, spunky, supportive, trusting, unselfish ...

Negative/neutral :

Stubborn, melodramatic, reckless, shy, clumsy ...

Man I wish tumblr would allow me to post more than just 10 images 😒 ....

Now, if I haven't already gushed and raved about Héctor enough ... I FREAKING LOVE THAT GUY! Like, man, he's the perfect package of everything! He's incredibly handsome (to me at least) He's got frecklessss, ans those eyelashes! Fluffy hair! He's tall! Full lips, perfect white, straight teeth. And that combined with his personality, Ay Mama!

I enjoy writing Héctor a lot! He's just awesome! Like a hot cup of tea and a cozy blanket after a long walk through a snow covered forest.

His goofyness just cracks me up over and over again. His pure heart just deserves the biggest Aawwwww. I mean, the INNOCENCE! With Imelda behind closed doors, he surely knows the whole rollercoaster menu and while other adults would consider Miguel old enough to know what boobs are (he regulary gets his face shoved into his grandmas chest when she hugs him!) And here comes Héctor cencoring the word!

Back to him being a heli-dad. I bet you, he covered baby Cocos eyes whenever Imelda would walk out of the shower stark naked, trying hard not to drool like a great dane. And Imelda poker faced would just argue why he was covering their daughters eyes.

Or as soon as Coco could walk, Imelda would one day find all pointy furnitures covered with pillows and Héctor would say that he doesn't want Coco to hurt herself.

He would freak out big time when they would be outside and there's the slightest possibility of Coco getting hurt. Bees, birds, cats, dogs, stones, puddles, dirt. Imelda would regulary need to calm Héctor down, convincing him, that a bug bite isn't deadly and no, neither is a little bit of sand that Coco shoved into her mouth. Or that flower she ate.

And I cannot repeat this enough! The 👏 flower 👏 bridge 👏

The freaking thing with El puente ok!

I am over and over again blown that Héctor would stop by nothing to cross the bridge. Get caught? Try again. New disguise blown, try again. Broken bones? Try again. Risking to die a second time? He still tries. He simply doesn't care! He wants, needs, has to get to his one true love and daughter. And even after Imelda has passed over, he keeps going because Coco is still there! If that man's devotion isn't the prime example that perfect father love and the one true love exsists, I don't know what else could be.

Also, again, let me underline his kindness, his altruism! He's too good for the world! He hardly EVER picks a fight, he avoids fights! And even IF there's a situation of conflict, it takes Héctor, what, 5 seconds to backpaddle and be like "ok, you know what, let's not argue!"

We saw that with the police officer. Then with Chich, Ceci, Miguel, Ernesto and Imelda. He constantly takes the blame or gives in for the sake of peace, for the sake of the other ones feelings. He would rather swallow being right, if that means his opposite doesn't get hurt too much.

You really REALLY have to push and force Héctor to the farest edge, to have him snap and really get mad.

Being such a person deserves the highest respect. Being such a person in a word like ours is dangerous. You are bound to get hurt. And if you are STILL standing and still having that pure, kind heart, 👏 applause!

Such souls are rare! Héctor is a full blown jackpot! We need more people like Héctor in the world!

[daniels-rwby-blog]

IT'S BEE O CLOCK BABY

Still a good intro, Bit of back story, some falling nice.

That clock is important

Ruby's moody and Jaune the voice of reason

Jaune is my reaction to meta cat

cat your annoying weiss and me

ascension is death called it,

AND THE TWIST BOIS

so lewis died

weiss is now the best character don't at me.

holy crap this is the metaverse, like it's a writer's out for the whole show.

okay so we have the bees together working out the little ship issue we have going on (man i hope monty had a list of canon ships) and the backstory, really a tale from remnant about the ever after, as i thought the twist is that morals are totally wack, i love the tape FX btw. and yeah the herbalist seems more important or at least a pawn of the cat, which seems to be jaunes point, the cat rules this world, its the cat's playground and alex bought it, alex dealt with the cat and escaped.

also those mirrors and summer and weiss seeing atlas, thats gonna need a breakdown.

Jaune still isn't saying the full story tho, he's holding something back.

and now thee bee elephant:

so this is about as blunt a way to do the bee's as i could think of, the compliments bridge yangs movments are perfrect here, emotion is so well carried and her spilling out about blake is adorable

THE BLUSHING THE FLAG THE COLOR NOOOOOOOOO ITS TOO CUTE its the GARDEN FROM THE SONG

HOW DID HE KNOWWWWWW

This is one of the best scene’s i've seen from rwby, not just cause it’s my ship but because it feels like the show as come, at least half circle upon itself, while it left the realm of cutiepie highschool drama years ago, the core of it, of 4 friends, it's never left. And now it's back, although friends isn't the right word.

and thus the S.S bee wins over. in not the best way or the way i wanted

But yeah i like how nonchalant it is The bees are free and the show is essentially now part over, 2 of the title characters are completed in "friendship" BY is indeed bi. All that's left is ruby; the story of motherhood and doing the right thing even when the odds are against you, and Weiss who's learnt her lesson so many times over it's hard to count. But we're done now, the bees have kissed the ship is a relationship and the GF jokes can start, its phase 2 of the SS bumblebee and I really hope it gets mentioned in the show (the ex-ship name). Kinda wonder if Monty had planned this (seems like he did not gonna lie) but there was time for black sun to have it, but ultimately CRWBY kicked in their teeth. Here's my message to Blacksun or anyone who’s not happy about BB. This is RWBY, a show that while at its core is a fight anime about 4 girls, in a wacky world of monsters and God’s, finding themselves and their friends in the midst of it all, it always had a second message… Be yourself. Wiess tries to become her own person rather than the rich heiress. Ruby tries to be a huntress and later a leader and later still whatever this is. Blake and faunus are an analog for minorities and fitting in. Yang is the “just being physically strong doesn't mean you're good mentally”. This show is about change, finding your place and I don't think that having a Gay ship means any less. In fact it seems fitting. And regardless of all the other gay media you may point to and tell me that RWBY shouldn't have to conform to it, i'd like to point out this show is a decade old (ish)! This ship was there from day 1, and now it's over, its cannon and that's it.

For my fellow Bee’s, it's done, we can have our few weeks (heck the whole rest of the volume) but we have won. The signs were always there, it is now our job to become the defenders, we must gather our memes, our evidence, our mighty clips; and we must, it is our destiny to use them to back up CRWBY, to defend, not our opinions in hate filled fury, but the Show we love with dignity and respect, we need to tone it down once our victory lap is done and keep a level head as we show the world all the hints and love filled moments that led up to, what i hope is one of many Bee Kisses.

Also all the fan art OMG its so cuuuuuteeeeeeeeeee!

Thanks, y'all for reading, and sticking with this show to see out the bees, I'll have a breakdown of Ruby's mental fuzz at CR and what that means coming up. Make sure to read my other theories and DFTBA!

[smallestapplin]

OH I'VE BEEN WAITING TO SUBMIT THIS ONE 🥺i just know you'd do this fluff real good.

I just had to move again, for like the 6th time in 3 years. I'm so exhausted of it and ready to be in a stable place where I can spend the rest of my life. So OFC I can't stop thinking about moving in with some of my fav boys!

So, can I get moving-in-with head canons for Ingo, Emmet, Blue, and Red? Is it crazy, is there only you 2 or a bunch of people, is there a giant pizza party after everything's moved in? How do your morning and evening routine change? I've been so soft thinking about all the cute lil domestic things about moving in with someone you love it's all that's kept me sane the past few weeks with moving again

I adore this, as someone who use to move a lot I’ve always dreamed of this.

I hope you like this!

-

-

🔲Ingo🔲

- he was overjoyed when you moved in, he was so happy to be taking the next step in your relationship. You moved right into his home, your main neighbor was just his brother, so you both had help packing and bringing your things in his home.

- For the unpacking part it was just you and Ingo. And no matter what happened, be moving or rearranging his things to make room for yours, he constantly had a soft content look on his face.

- The subway boss was just so happy.

- The first night was spent slow dancing in the kitchen.

- His morning routine quickly changes to waking up before you, and waking you up with kisses and a cup of coffee if you’d like!

- You’ll either wake up to that, or just him staring at you so lovingly.

- Ingo cries at finally having the domestic life he’s always wanted.

- Sharing a house with someone he loves. He wants to spend all his time with you.

- He stops working so late because his heart beats quickly at coming home to hearing your voice “welcome home dear!”

- You’ve seen the stoic and professional subway boss having to lean against the door, because your words mean everything to him and he loves it.

- Even more so when he can do things with you, like cook dinner with you, wash dishes with you, just exist with you.

- He couldn’t ask for anything better.

-

🔳Emmet🔳

- It’s odd watching him jump around gushing about how happy he is with his monotone.

- But the overjoyed sparkle in his bright silver eyes give away just how ecstatic he is. The night you moved into his home and got things partially into place he orders your favorite take out and rents a couple of movies to watch.

- The night is filled with laughter, and your playful arguing about the movie…might’ve had a popcorn fight.

- For the first few months you have to fight to get him up for work, solely because he doesn’t want to let go of you fearing this is a dream.

- Emmet gets so giddy at the end of his shift. he sprints home and almost takes the door off it’s hinges and calls out “honey I’m home!”

- And of course you just laugh “welcome home babe.”

- To which you’re smothered in kisses and hugs.

- Once you two get use to each other schedule’s, he works around it. He wants to spend every waking moment with you and since that’s not possible he will settle for as much as he can.

- No matter what you’re doing in the house, as long as you’re not in the bathroom, you’re going to have an extra set of legs, cause Emmet is going to be hugging you from behind.

- He just can’t believe you live with him!

-

❤️Red❤️

- you two picked a nice place a little further out from town but still close enough.

- He doesn’t have a lot of stuff furniture wise, so you two combined styles.

- Little tidbit! Red is a pain in the ass to shop with! You’ll ask if he likes a couch or a recliner and nods yes…to all of them. Luckily you have good taste and this man claims the large comfy recliner you two got.

- It’s big enough for you two to cuddle in, and that’s his favorite feature.

- The first night at the new house and you two have stopped unpacking for the night, he drags you out back and lays a blanket down so you two can star gaze.

- Red’s job is mostly just traveling, he gets paid big money to go to places with Blue. Since the two are world renowned legends.

- But he always makes sure you’re safe and secure before leaving if you can’t make it with him.

- Blue often comments how happy Red looks to be going home. “You’re never happy going anywhere! Look at you, you’re blushing! Awww Red wants to go back home to his wittle wover-OW OW OKAY IM SORRY-“

- Red can only hope Blue doesn’t tell you.

- Though he feels you already know. His heart leaps whenever you run up and hug him, just happy to have him back home.

- He melts.

- So this is what a home feels like?

-

💙Blue💙

- He happily asked you to move in with him and you two picked a nice quiet place.

- Does you both a favor and sets up the wifi first, then the bathrooms and master bedroom.

- That night you two invited your friends and ordered so much take out, you two will have leftover for a while.

- Even during packing Blue kept sneaking up on you and laughing when you jumped. He always apologizes with a kiss.

- Your home is a nice mixture of both of your tastes and styles, but he was determined to put up posters and shelves for knickknacks and figurines.

- You’ll wake up the next morning with him laying on top of you, passed out. It’s a chore just trying to get him up and off.

- Once he wakes up he just wants to cuddle you and whines when you shove him off.

- “You don’t love me anymoooore.”

- “Blue you big baby I just need to use the bathroom! I’ll be back.”

- His schedule instantly switches, while saying he tried to fit you in when he could, now he is a menace and you have your own time slots on his planner.

- At minimum he’s going to call you at least twice.

- Like Red, he is constantly traveling, so either you’re going with him, or prepare for the spam texts, calls, and video chats.

- He just misses you so much, and Red is so close to killing him for all his whining and complaining.

- Blue however brings you back so many gifts from the region he went to.

- He feels so happy and lucky coming home to you. Just being able to open the door to your shared house and feel so relaxed and comfortable.

- He doesn’t want it any other way.

[gorgojijijijito]

thoughts on daughter of discord?

oh boy do i have thoughts

i only watched the full thing once with a friend so i dont remember all of it, but of what i do remember, 1. rarity was done even dirtier than BOD; 2. they were so mean to rarity's daughter for literally no reason???? she literally didnt do anything and they always called her a spoiled brat or smth??? i feel so bad for her; 3. yes most of my problems have to do with rarity - i hate that shes encouraged to stay with fancypants bc it was changelings making him look like he was cheating on rarity. like yeah girl you should talk to him abt it like an adult but YOU CAN STILL LEAVE HIM FOR BEING A SHITTY DAD TO JEWEL 😭; 4. hey dick cordddd ur still manipulative af; 5. YOURE TELLING ME THERES ONE QUEER RELATIONSHIP IN THE ENTIRE SERIES AND THEY DIDNT EVEN GET TOGETHER??? FOR A SUPER SMALL REASON COMPARED TO WHY OTHERS SHOULDNT BE TOGETHER???????? come on now; 6. get all the baby filler away from me rn why the FUCK did literally ALL of them have to bang except for ONE; 7. fuck outta here applespike

i think thats mostly all of my qualms with it, but other than that i think it was a good watch. it doesnt stay with me as long as BOD did (prob bc i wasnt able to watch all of it as a child) but i think romance-wise, this love story was LEAGUES better than the last one. also i like how it kind of repeats the same moral of the last one, but in a different circumstance that poses new pros and cons.

with BOD, discord was only one person. he was an all-powerful, godly person, but he was still one mind. the changelings in DOD, on the other hand, are an entire nation. this isnt the same "misunderstood outsider" trope that we see with zecora or discord, this is an entire species; one that even themselves believe is physically incapable of loving.

mothball(which is literally the cutest name for a bug-themed character ever) is first in line to lead his species, so you can imagine the expectations and resentment that come with that; he has barely any real support on either side, queen chrysalis being the only adult he can really emotionally rely on. this is what makes his inner conflict so interesting, his empathy constantly at odds with his mother's ideology and his own biological needs.

screwball is also interesting, considering her dad is the lord of chaos and ex-tyrant, and her mom is an element of harmony, kindness incarnate. it's a classic nature/nuture debate kind of plot, but with a twist in that both sides are her nature AND nurture, the only turmulous factor in her life being her environment only percieving the chaotic side; some of it isn’t unfounded either, as she obviously tends to gravitate towards discord more (which is normal, considering most kids tend to have a favorite parent anyway). even if i really dont like the enabling nature of dick cord and how fluttershy is a punching bag again, i find screwball’s concept endearing.

also she and mothball are like, actually adorable. i find it ironic that the canon characters were altered to make an insufferable couple and the basically OCs were the outstanding romance. unlike fluttercord’s REALLY disturbing power dynamic and coercion, screw and moth managed to balance each other out, and (lemme yell it for the ponies in the back) WERE BOTH WILLING TO BE TOGETHER 💥💥💥💥

theres also smth strangely nostalgic about their dynamic. screwball has been the outcast her entire life, her lineage and connection to discord subjecting her to a lot of emotional turmoil. the only reason she has a group of friends is because of her mom’s rank and social circle as well, i dont think she’s had very much room for change or fantasy when her parents were trying to heal the damage the circumstance of their meeting caused for equestria. falling in love with the prince of an enemy nation is cliche and basically copied off of the lion king 2, but i love it in that sense because its probably one of her first instances of living through what seems to be a fairytale. it’s a kind of yearn for teenage rebellion and unpredictability that she’s had to keep trapped within a swamp in the everfree for most of her life, but even though it brings her so much happiness to be with mothball, it also leads her into great danger that her upbringing didn’t prepare her for. she’s scolded for standing up to her bullies and scrutinized for the nature of her character, so what can she do when faced with her very own romeo & juliet tale while entire nations seethe above them?

oh also i love how they incorporated the changelings’ presences in the story before the mane six are aware of their threat, even calling back to mentioned conflicts in BOD. they really use their shapeshifting powers to the most in this installment, and i think the instance that hit me in the gut most is the romantic isolation of twilight. especially with the context that this series was created specifically for shipping; what an insidious thing to keep her from finding love along with her friends to keep her alone as everyone else creates families. i, as an aromantic person, also feel a form of anxiety knowing most of the important people in my life may drift away in the event of marriage and forming roots while i probably wont. so yeah imagine that but with a newly-immortal princess who actually WANTS a romantic relationship, with people who are revealed to be actively keeping one from her - thats gut wrenching for me to think about.

when it comes to the music, i appreciate the effort they put into making original songs, but i also am just. unable to appreciate them bc the changelings voice filter just diesnt translate well to music at aaaaaaallllll. which is a shame bc it stood out so much that i cant remember anything ABOUT the original music. im prob gonna try to see if theres any normal renditions of the ost after i post this but yeah

[eri-cheri]

Now that we have reached the last chapter of the year. It is time to do a 2020 roll call of what I like to call, “State of the Shippers”:

1. IzuOcha. Status: Placated.

-IzuOcha’s could celebrate several cute tidbits throughout the year. Mini moments as they say.

Anime Highlights: The OVA’s came in clutch with moments for shippers all around and IzuOcha is no exception. We got a cute tidbit where Izuku and Ochako bumped into each other and were flustered.

Manga Highlights: Christmas kept on giving to this fandom as the AM doll Izuku gave Ochako made many appearances. A cute fist bump between the two was also exchanged and Mina was right there bouncing with y’all.

Heroes Rising: Izuku super man carried Ochako to safety. And was Angy she was injured. Fans could enjoy the small Lois Lane moment.

Troubling Signs?: Ochako said “I would like to be excluded from this narrative” when it comes to her feelings for Deku. She’s a hero damnit! So if they are in for something, probably won’t be while they are still in school.

II. DabiHawks. Status: Yikes.

- Dabi and Hawk’s very public breakup set this fandom in disarray but also kind of disayay?

Anime Highlights: None yet. This fandom was cruelly cock blocked by Bones. Sorry DabiHawks stans.

Manga Highlights: Where to begin, my goodness. With these fans, I guess the good and the bad is a plus in this homoerotic double agent relationship. We have the notion that Dabi may have known Hawks when they were kids, which may be a positive? Hori sure loves his childhood friends. Other than that. The GIRLS WERE FIGHTIN’. Hawks is now permanently scarred by Dabi and I don’t think it was kinky folks. Tokoyami inserted himself in the middle to White Knight Hawks, Dabi broke up with him via YT expose and overall, shippers could anguish in the absolute MESS that this ship endured this year. But I’m sure that’s part of the appeal. So...yay?

Heroes Rising: They were both in it.

Troubling Signs?: The entire relationship is a troubling sign which again, is part of the appeal. Maybe Hawks will cuddle up with Dabi’s father after the war. That’s troubling! Speaking of...

III. EndHawks. Status: Yearning and Burning.

-If there’s one thing Endeavor couldn’t stop worrying about, it was his hot (in more ways than one) new side piece who probably should have looked at the fine print when signing a contract to be a recurring guest star on “Keeping up with the Todoroki’s”.

Anime Highlights: A fateful meeting finally in high definition for all our eyes to see! Hawks’s unwavering support of his biggest hero was endearing to watch and their shenanigans together spurred the anime onlies to finally jump on the biggest May-December ship in the series.

Manga Highlights: Endeavor’s admiration and concern for Hawks seeped through the pages as we entered our most exciting arc in the manga yet. Fate split these two up yet entwined their downfall together. And that Fate’s name was Dabi...or should I say ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️ or should I just say Touya!

Heroes Rising: “Don’t bite my head off, Endeavor.” Geez, can you flirt a little less loud Hawks?

Troubling Signs?: They say never meet your heroes and Hawks is in for a rude awakening. We shall see just how deep his admiration runs or if Endeavor’s past will split our dynamic duo up for good.

IV: TodoDeku. Status: “Precious”

-Shoto’s “Midoriya is in Danger” radar was highlighted in both manga and anime. 4th User’s quirk, who?

Anime Highlights: “Midoriya hasn’t returned yet.” “Where’s Midoriya?” “Midoriya! Grab my hand!” “Have some of my Soba Midoriya.” Shoto gets it. His emotional support friend is a danger magnet. TodoDeku’s also enjoyed tiny tidbits in the OVA such as a hand grabbing scene. Gotta hold tight to those crumbs.

Manga Highlights: Two Words. “Precious Friend.” Deku comes in w/o arms or legs fighting for Shoto and Shoto’s honor. These two spent the entire year worried sick about each other, and going against all odds to save each other. Precious Friends indeed. TDDK fans ate.

Heroes Rising: Shoto kicks some dog ass and then faints thinking of Deku (and Bakugo but shh. Let the shippers rejoice.) On the bright side, we have a 3rd movie coming featuring “The Three Musketeers” so shippers of TdDk can HOLD TIGHT to what’s to come.

Troubling Signs?: Shoto still doesn’t know about OFA and he’s gonna have LOTS of questions after this arc. Will Deku finally tell him? If not, it could make or break the ship.

V. TodoBaku. Status: “Shining through the city with a little funk and soul.”

-Who knew the greatest comedy duo we needed was Shoto and his hot headed “friend” or not friend? It still remains unclear to Shoto. Regardless, these two had a fun year.

Anime Highlights: “I wanna see your cute face”, disco dancing, and more fun in the provisional license training. Plus the OVA added some cute moments between the two such as Bakugo staying behind to save Todoroki during a dangerous excercise and his adorable plan neatly animated for us. I’d say TodoBaku’s really were resurgent and energized this year!

Manga Highlights: Shoto, that is not how you properly Catch a Kacchan, I’m sorry. But at least you did it you mad lad. As with Deku, Shoto spent the year worried sick about Bakugo. While the anime let us have our fun, these two were suffering in the manga.

Heroes Rising: Again, Shoto put a dog down and then fainted with Bakugo on his mind (and Deku but we ignore that. Shush.) TodoBaku’s have the 3rd movie to look forward to which is bound to have some amazing content!

Troubling Signs?: They have a lot of trauma to deal with. And a lot of Deku to worry about. I also imagine Shoto will be hurt about being left out of the OFA secret. We shall see what 2021 has to offer.

VI. KiriMina. Status: Unbreakable.

-Changing your hairstyle to match the gal who inspired you in middle school? Sorry y’all but if Mina were a guy, I’d say that’s gay af.

Anime Highlights: We got that backstory Bois. Red Riot’s origin might as well make him be called Pink Riot. Again with Hori and the childhood friends though I wouldn’t exactly call them friends. They just went to the same middle school but Kirishima was highly influenced by Mina’s Chivalrous spirit! A ship is born!

Manga Highlights: The influence is mutual! Mina creates a move based on Kirishima’s unbreakable and we all let out a collective “awwww”. Also in the war arc, we got Kirishima making sure Mina’s chivalrous spirit shines through right into Gigantomachia’s mouth! KiriMina may just be the unsung MVP’s of this arc.

Heroes Rising: They were in it.

Troubling Signs?: I can’t think of a single one. KiriMina’s can enjoy a peaceful sailing.

VII: KiriBaku. Status: Crumb Collectors.

-2020 was an uneventful year for KiriBaku but Bones made sure there were crumbs aplenty! Thank God for OVA’s!

Anime Highlights: KiriBaku’s did thrive in one episode! Kirishima reflects on the sludge incident and evolves his quirk based on inspiring words from Bakugo! Hooray! KiriBaku’s can thrive in their blossoming friendship. The OVA also has Kirishima (and Kaminari but shh) once again following Bakugo’s lead when it comes to the training excercise. How can you not? He’s so manly!

Manga Highlights: Not gonna lie. There is nothing much here this year. I did find a teeny tiny flake in Aizawa’s flashback. Kirishima and Bakugo are sitting next to each other. Oh! And at the hot pot gathering, Bakugo sits next to Kirishima! Eat your crumbs KiriBaku’s! There’s always next year!

Heroes Rising: Kirishima hangs with a lazy Bakugo and delivers the most hilarious line in the whole movie. “Silly Bakugo, there won’t be villains here!” Hahah... Silly Bakugo. Oh you~ KiriBaku’s can inhale the fact that those two sure love to hover around each other!

Troubling Signs?: With great crumbs come little responsiblity. No trouble if there’s no content! 🤔

VIII: KamiJirou. Status: Singing their hearts out 🎶

-If there’s any ship that’s coming close to canonization, I think this is it, folks! “Think of the person most important to you!” Can’t argue with Midnight!

Anime Highlights: Kaminari does non stop encouraging of Jirou and her hobbies! He works super hard to learn guitar for her sake! We love a king who can encourage his queen!

Manga Highlights: Kaminari thinks of the most important person to him and surprise! It’s Jirou! All of the feels can commence.

Heroes Rising: They were in it!

Troubling Signs?: Kaminari does love his women. And men. Kaminari overall is a huge flirt. But Jirou appears to have his heart strings. ❤️

IX: BakuDeku. Status: Rising. 👑

-Alternative Statuses include Winning, Thriving, Soaring. It’s just been non stop content this year. 2020 is truly the year for BakuDeku. The shippers can rejoice.

Anime Highlights: Three words. Be. My. Cane. The OVA’s helped fan the flames of the BkDk hearts with a surprise! Deku tops! Not only that, we got a lovely shoulder tap of encouragement in the canon material. While in season 4, Deku’s primary focus was Eri. Bakugo and Deku still had their moments to be hella gay.

Manga Highlights: Where do I even begin? I guess we’ll just cut to the chase with Bakugo Katsuki: Rising. We finally saw Bakugo’s true feelings manifest for Deku and if getting stabbed for him isn’t the ultimate showing of love, then idk what is. BakuDeku’s rounded out the year with the Volume 29 cover AND the volume 29 cover drafts to eat at our heart strings. Overall, their relationship got the spotlight in the manga this year. And we’re bound to start 2021 with a dramatic confrontation. Hand holding seems to be the key with these two and it didn’t stop with Heroes Rising...speaking of.

Heroes Rising: The entire movie. Like....yeah. That’s it. [OP, your bias is showing. You have to be SPECIFIC.] {But random criticizer in my head, if I lay out the entire plot of the movie, my post will be too long} [OP....] UGHHHH Okay okay. The POPSICLE MELTING. THE HAND HOLDING. THE CHARACTER DESIGNS OF WHAT MIGHT AS WELL BE THEIR LOVE CHILDREN. Did I mention? “It’s fine if it’s you?” CAUSE YEAH. Oh and All Might randomly officiating their wedding in their heads like idk. Isn’t it just simpler if I say the whole movie??!

Troubling Signs?: Well these two’s relationship is extremely delicate and while it has non stop soared this year, Deku might not take too kindly to Bakugo almost dying for him. Will they stop pushing each other away? Time will tell.

That’s all for this year folks! Happy Shipping and good luck to everyone next year!

[brotherslayer]

What are your thoughts on Lucas x Jeanette? Honestly though I see a potential for Enemies to lovers but idk cause he didn’t even seem to consider her to be human.

LucaJen is one of those ships that I'm not actively shipping but it makes me happy to see others create content for it.

It’s a flavour you come across often when reading shoujo mangas. The classic bad boy x good girl trope. I think we can agree that Lucas calling Jennette a chimera is rude and dehumanizing. But calling Athy an idiot isn’t nice either. People can change. We know Jennette has the skill to melt a frozen heart, proven by both the LP timeline with Claude and the wmmap timeline with Anastacius. She’s a forgiving person and always believes in the good in people. To be honest I think she’s a bit dense and might not even feel hurt by Lucas calling her a chimera (she didn’t notice that the maids where bullying her either) so she’d pretty much be immune to Lucas’s subtile insults. She might correct him in front of others since what he does is against etiquettes but he’d continue to call her like that in private. Chimera might even end up becoming a term of endearment when they start dating.

For that he’d need to have an arc where he realizes that Jennette is a human being and something he cares about. I think ideally LucasJen would start as childhood friends. Let’s say Lucas wakes up in the garden of the Alpheus mansion where Jennette finds him. Jennette would want to befriend him obv since she’s a lonely child and wow hey he’s a wizard just like in the stories her nanny had told her! She’d ask him to do magic tricks and look with stars in her eyes at him which would kinda stroke Lucas’ ego. Lucas would stick around for fun and entertainment and maybe even a little scientific interest. He’d definitely have a “you are not like other girls” “she’s interesting” moment. Not only because of her odd personality but also because her mana is acting abnormal. If we wanna make this ship less problematic Jennette could even be the person who turned back time after LP Athy’s execution and still in possession of the memories of her past lives. Depending on how badly the LP timeline ended reincarnated Jennette would be more mature, capable to set bounderies and wouldn’t hesitate to call out Lucas on his bullshit due to her experiences with her disfunctional families in her past life.

Frankly, I believe Lucas, just like Claude with Diana, only loved Athy because she was a thing that gave him happiness. Because she was the first person who was nice to only him without an underlying motive, he interpreted those feelings as romantic and pushed for a relationship because he didn't want to lose her. Marriage seemed to be a good idea since back then it used to be the strongest shackle to keep someone from leaving. I think that if he had met Jennette first he would have tricked himself into thinking he had fallen for Jennette and would have ended up being just as possessive of her as he is of Athy now. My problem with LucaJen is roughly the same as with Lucathy. For me to believe Lucas has truly fallen for someone he’d need to show me first that he’s capable of upholding a friendship with someone that does not move to the romantic stage after triggering each others abandonment issues.    

I’m more interested in novel LucaJen since novel Jennette seems to be more similar to Lucas than manhwa Jenette. And I’m more interested in an unapologic toxic exploration of their dynamic instead of a toxic dynamic that tries to pass itself off as healthy (how Lucathy is in canon and how I suspect manhwa LucaJen would play out if it ever were to happen).   

For example Lucas travelling through different dimensions to enact revenge on different Jennettes for causing Athy’s death and eventually falling for one of them. Or yandere Lucas being the one who caused Athy’s death in the Lovely Princess because he fell for Jennette first and thought becoming Empress and being adored by everyone is what she wanted. Or both of them being an evil power couple and enabling each others worst traits. Stuff like that is my jam.

I don’t have strong feelings for the ship but god if you throw the yandere trope into the mix you could get me to root for almost every ship. I’m a simple girl.

[gloster]

FAVORITE FANFICS OF 2021

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

2020 was a constant hell on earth last year. 2021 seriously tried to take me out, especially in terms of burnout. I went through the WORST slump ever. A massive creative slump. A massive mental slump.

Hoping that 2022 will be a much kinder year. That's the only resolution/wish I have for the new year. A kinder year & for my creative slump to finally crack.

While this story was crappy in many ways, I still had things to help carry me through from BTS (obviously), anime, kdramas, and of course fanfics. Every year fanfic writers that are favorites to me or new to me come through with the content. Just blow me away with their storytelling and I always do this tradition because GODDAMNIT fanfic writers deserve their flowers too.

If you’re interested in past lists, here is the 2020's list, 2019′s list and 2018′s. If y’all are interested in doing your own fanfic favs of the year, please do so and tag me. Always on the hunt for new favs.

Without further ado, here are my favorite fanfics of 2021:

1). the beauty of futility by wbtrashking (tododeku) aka @wtkdigest

Summary: Todoroki Shouto is exhausted.

He's miserable, really. He's ready to give up, to tell his older sister goodbye, to stop fighting and just close his eyes forever.

But life isn't through with him. Izuku and his adopted daughter stumble upon Shouto in his darkest moments and show him that there's something worthwhile in the world. They show him that he's more than his depression; that he can laugh and love and be happy.

At age thirty, despite all the odds, Shouto finally figures out how to live.

I read this story only once, but the way it stuck to me, the number of times I shared around my friends who got into the tododeku ship, the number of times I keep thinking about it....it was that GOOD. That great. That amazing.

Shouto's exhaustion with life, with himself, and living in general hit so hard-and almost mirrored my own mental stage. And in comes in Izuku, the sweet beam that he is, doesn't cure him- thankfully it's not that kind of story. But he shows him that are hidden gems in everyday, with the help of Izuku's adorable adorable daughter.

That's another thing I love about this story: single dad Izuku with daughter Eri, a trope I NEED MORE OF. I also love the tenderness of the slowburn. Just read please. So so so good

2). I'll be your biggest kept secret and your biggest mistake by sascake aka @sascake (tododeku)

Summary: Devastated by his lack of a Quirk and pushed to the limit, fourteen-year-old Midoriya Izuku takes Bakugou's advice and jumps from the roof of their school.

Ten years later, pro hero Todoroki Shouto can't stop running into a vigilante hell-bent on saving people, going after every villain he comes across, and causing a conflict in Shouto like he's never felt before.

I am warning you right now if you are a Bakugo stan.....please proceed with caution. Mind you, the author does an incredible of not outright bashing bashing him, but she also does incredible job of showing just how severe Bakugo's words and actions deeply impacted Izuku.

Every year I always seem to find that one author who sucks me in with just one story and next thing I know, I become OBSESSED. And I do mean OBSESSED with their work. @sascake became that author to me. @littlenightdragon & I just PLOWED through mostly everything under their ao3 profile, and honestly I was debating whether I should name this or (possibly, maybe) falling for you which I also adored but something about this one just STUCK TO ME.

First of all, the way this felt like....it could be canon if things were differently. If Izuku's self doubt outweighed his inner strength and self worth. If Bakugo was twice as nasty with his words. If there was no All Might to come through and help him. Like me and @littlenightdragon couldn't stop thinking or talking about how this seriously could've been canon.

The relationship between Izuku and Shouto is just so breathtaking and at some points heartbreaking, watching them go from uneasy allies to commrades and more. We also have an incredible friendship between Izuku and Shinso that just so amazing to read-made me crave more stories featuring that platonic relationship. Not to mention this has to be one of the best vigilante Izuku stories I've read so far.

Just every single aspect of this story from the relationships, the dynamics, the scars of trauma both Izuku and Shouto carry are handled so incredibly well. Also, this story-along with every story by @sascake is addicting as hell, so there's that.

Honorable mentions:

(possibly, maybe) falling for you

you are my sweetest downfall

hit me with your sweet love, steal it with a kiss

3). home is the shape of your heart by unreemarkable (tododeku)

Summary: If this is a dream, Shouto doesn’t want to wake up.

[in which shouto gets back what he lost, and he's both better and worse off for it.]

In this story we have vampire Shouto and ghost Izuku. Those were the two elements that immediately drew me in, especially vampire Shouto. I walked into this thinking it was gonna be a haunted mansion story, but it ended up being so much more.

Yes, there is a haunted house element but we have so much more. We have a ghost who doesn't remember anything about his own life, much less what led to his death. And a vampire, who knows everything and the weight of it kills him.

This romance, this love story, reminded me a lot of Kaz x Inej from Six of Crows, where there is very limited physical touch but the love and care linked between these two is so palpable like a live wire. This romance is so so so tender, you just melt reading it. The pining, the pining, the wanting and the PINING. It hurts so much. It was so good, it hurt.

Also please check out the prequel that shows how this story begins, and still i will live here

4). Like Moth to Flame by magisterpavus (sheith)

Summary: When Keith tries to save his dying father by making a deal with the vampire lord who has terrified his village for centuries, he's prepared for sacrifice.

He's not prepared for Lord Shirogane.

Mags is a GOD. A god I say when it comes to sheith. When it comes to just raising the bar for good content & hot smut. And this story was a knock out.

First off, vampire Shiro. I've read stories with vampire sheith but I don't think I've come across one quite as snarky and lovable as this Shiro right here because WOW. I loved him so much. I also loved Keith, our determined human who's willing to do anything to help his ailing father, even if it means being under the thumb to this creature who haunts his village like a nightmare.

This is a very slowburn romance, but every chapter, every moment we see the two come closer is just so delicious. So well done.

Honorable mentions:

only while the sun shines

Desperate Measures

5). The Water's Fine series by @goldentruth813 (sheith)

Summary: Keith's lifeguard tower offers a stunning beach view, but nothing steals his breath like the handsome stranger who runs by every morning. A chance encounter with hot running guy—Shiro, he soon finds out—reveals he's kind as well as gorgeous, but Keith's afraid to make a move. That is, until Shiro's in trouble, and Keith finds himself over his head.

Before we start, massive massive congrats to @goldentruth813. For making a spot on this list for the 4th year in a row.

you had me tell me that *spoiler alert* I would be so invested in a mermaid's relationship with a human...I would have some questions. Yes, I am a Disney girl. Yes, I grew up with the Little Mermaid. Yes, I am EXCITED AS HELL to see Halle Bailey play Ariel in the live action movie, but mermaids were never my favorite like that. Leave to Janel to drop a story like this and have me become completely obsessed with it.

There are 3 stories tied to this series. Each one, the relationship just gets better & better. It has heavy pining, it has sweet & epic romantic moments, it has mating, it has soulmates, it has sugar daddy Shiro, and of course massive fluff.

Honorable mentions:

The Naked Roommate

rush (into my heart)

Sticker Me in Praise

6). Love Letters & Coffee Grounds by @jlaw1105 (clexa)

Summary: Lexa wasn't sure what it was that drew her into the little coffee shop on the corner. Maybe it was because it was less than a block away from the front door of her new building. Maybe it was because it wasn't a Starbucks or some other large chain coffee front that cared more about profit than the flavor of their beans. Maybe it was the warm air filled with the soft scent of coffee, chocolate and cinnamon. But likely, definitely, it was the defiant little corner of the store that loudly rebelled against the norm.

It was early November and everything around Lexa was filled with red and greens or whites and blues. It screamed of Christmas and Hanukkah. Of buying gifts and consumer driven profit. But the back corner of the coffee shop was filled with oranges and reds and browns with a rather large sign written in an angry scrawl that said "It's not even Thanksgiving yet, assholes!" There was just something about it that, to Lexa, felt poetically beautiful.

A Clexa Coffee Shop AU.

First off, place bets right now on who you think wrote that sign at the coffee shop. Secondly, yes, I deeply deeply fell in love with this coffee shop AU.

Obviously, at this point, almost every pairing to every fandom has gone through the cafe/ coffee shop AU. It may be a simple trope to come, a cliche to many, but there is a reason why that trope continues to thrive in fandom- and in storytelling in general. It's such a popular trope that I consider it to be your first steps into fanfics.

And the way @jlaw1105 did this and more is pure CHEF'S KISS. We have Lexa, a bestselling author to this popular sci-fi series, is suffering massive writer's block with the latest book. We have Clark, part-time barista, part-time artist, and part-time crush that quickly becomes muse & more to Lexa.

This was just so so so so fucking good. READ IT.

7). There's Something about Potter by slytherin_nette (drarry w/ fem-Harry)

Summary: There’s just something particularly strange about Aria Potter this year. Unfortunately, the new 8th year Slytherins are determined to find out exactly what everybody's favorite golden girl is hiding. Post-DH semi-AU Hogwarts. DMxfemHP.

There are so many tropes and things that can pull me into a good drarry story: veela and fem-Harry. Veela is my favorite creature trope to read with drarry. Anytime I see the word drarry, I JUMP. Also I love me some genderbenting, so if there's one that offers the Girl Who Lived, I am on board.

So imagine my great surprise & delight that I stumble onto a story that delivers both. Done none other than the great queen of fem-Harry, slytherin_nette. Like when I say queen, I mean QUEEN. Every fem-Harry x Draco story she does is just amazing. Just incredible. Always slaps, and this is one is no expectation.

In this story, taking place after 8th year, we have Aria Potter returning to Hogwarts after not just surviving the war but also coming into a secret inherrtiance. We have Draco trying to keep his head down and survive the year, while also reminsicing about the dream girl he meets during the summer. Thanks to a Housing switch up, the two collide and all that they got through together is so much fun to read.

Story is available both at ao3 and ff.net.

Also, while you're at it, please also check out more of slytherin_nette's fem-Harry stories. She has more on ffnet than ao3, but all of them are worth a read.

8). Werk It, Girl by stardropdream (sheith)

Summary: Keith is a contestant on Coran's Drag Race, competing to be the next Drag Superstar. Towards the end of the competition, the girls are given their weekly challenge: adopt a drag daughter into your drag house.

And in walks Shiro.

Working together in a competition is one thing, but Keith could never be prepared for everything that comes next.

CALLING ALL RUPAUL DRAG RACE FANS IN THE SHIETH COMMUNITY! THIS ONE'S FOR YOU

And even if you're not familiar with the show or a fan of it, I still think you'll have a good time with this show, I know I certainly did 😊😉

But then again anytime you read a story by stardropdream, you're always guaranteed a fun time. Okay, well actually some of her stories may include angst, but always a fun time at the end of it. And this was a fun, fun time.

I didn't realize how much I needed drag queen Keith x drag queen in training until now, so thank you Robin for that.

Honorable mentions:

In My Veins

We are Perfectly Okay

Body Without Sound

9). right besides me series by @storybookprincess (tododeku)

Summary: "For as long as Todoroki could remember, touch was something to be avoided. Dodging blows in his father’s relentless training or curling in on himself and covering his face to try to hide from the merciless punishment for whatever transgression he had committed this time, touch was always pain, plain and simple. After his mother left, he was never held or kissed. No one hugged him or stroked his hair. People touched him to hurt him."

Or, Todoroki gets a hug and his whole world shifts on its axis.

Oh. MY. DEAR. GOSH. Oh. My. Dear. Heart. Oh. My. Dear. Dear. Shouto. Oh. My Sweet. Sweet. Izuku. And my dear gosh....go to hell Endeavor & kick rocks.

As you can guess by the previous sentence, this story made me feel many things.

As you can guess by the summary of the first part of the story, ever so gently, the feels come on so hard, so rapid, and you have no choice but to let the feelings consume you. Then the sequel, quid pro quo, comes in and finishes you in the best way. It certainly did with me.

This beautiful relationship starts with a hug. This story has severely touch-straved Shouto just in awe by Izuku, who was the first person to touch him gently in such a long time. Which starts this achingly beautiful, heartfelt pining.

This story has to be one of the best Todoroki Shouto's POV stories I've read. This also featured one of the softest, softest tododeku relationships ever. I do recommend this as a starter fanfic if you're new to the tododeku ship like I was. It was one of the first tododeku stories I've read and I still think about it.

10). Sourdough by @academicdisaster24 (drarry)

Summary: Draco writes romance novels and doesn't leave his apartment much. Harry bakes bread and sells it to Draco. Draco is quite weird. Harry might like that.

Fair warning: you will CRAVE soughdough bread like crazy. I know I did. At some points while I was reading, I was seriously tempted to get some bread.

And you will CRAVE to have that sweetness that Draco finds with Harry in this story.

We have Draco as a reclusive historical romance writer trying to write & baker Harry downstairs distracting him with the delicious scent of fresh-baked bread.

I don't think enough words can praise this story. Can show enough it was. Other than speculator, achingly-sweet, and just everything.

Honorable mentions that I seriously wanted to add to the list but this post is already lengthy. All amazing, all greats reads by various writers y’all should check out:

on sight by @phaltu (sheith w/established relationship, happily married, and everyone thinking Keith is the horn dog when his sweet-faced husband is the real culprit

Ready Set Hut by Neyasochi (sheith, friends to lovers following them meeting at high school & bonding over FOOTBALL)

With Great Yawns and Stretching by sugar_screw (drarry, with Harry finding Malfoy isn't only redeemed but is the proud owner of a coffee shop. With cats)

Thirst and Devour by SashaDistan (izuku x shouto x bakugo x Kirishima poly fanfic; all 3 obsessed with Izuku & his sweet ass. SO SO SO SO HOT)

This Hungry Work (Give Me Some More) by @rayshippouuchiha (tododeku w/female Izuku; possessive & protective Todoroki, just goodness all around)

Almost, Not Quite, Us by xxjinchuurikixx (narusasu; ABO verse w/ doting alpha Naruto & feisty omega Sasuke deep in his heat & in need of assistance. SO GOOD).

And there you have, ladies, gents, & nonbinary babes. Thus concludes this year's list of my favorite fanfics of the year, including honorable mentions I had to shout out to. Mind you, there's so many more but this list is already long enough as it is.

To the writers who created these incredible stories. I applaud you. I thank you for creating and sharing these wonderful stories. Anyone interested in doing the tag, please do.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, GUYS

[shy-peacock]

a pov by benja and virana about how they found out their daughters are gay

In canon? HERE YOU GO-

(also I didn't proofread so if you see some edited part...look away >_<) Rated G

Being turned to stone by the Druuns was like a deep hibernation. One moment Benja was watching his twelve year old escape into the waters below, the next he was waking up to a new world where his child had grown into a young woman. Eighteen-...well..twenty now. Two years going by in a flash. So much to do, so much to catch up on. Benja still thought of Raya as his little girl, though he supposed he’d never stop thinking that even when she was fifty or more.

But it was odd all the same.

The freedoms that she had, the say in things that had prior been Benja’s choice alone. Bedtimes, groundings, and even simpler things like when she needed to sit down and eat. All so different now, his child was no longer so. She was an adult, capable of making her own decisions and choices. Yes, many things stayed the same. Yes, Benja still guided his daughter through her trainings and the someday in the future when she would be Chief of Heart. But things were more different than not.

Including Raya's love life.

Before she had none.

She was a child, who grimaced at couples who kissed and stuck her tongue out whenever someone claimed that someday she would be married. Grossed out on the thought of it all, wanting to be free from such things. A warrior woman who traveled wherever she wished to, the only responsibility being to Heart and herself.

But years pass.

Seasons change.

Benja didn’t know what had changed in her line of thinking, only knowing that it had. Even more so that she tried to hide it from everyone, including Benja.

It was so obvious, Benja nearly couldn’t stand to not tell his child that he knew she fancied someone. But, to save herself from the embarrassment, he didn’t dare mention it. He just watched, waited, seeing the signs of her affections grow for this mysterious person of interest. Lost in thought, sighing, asking questions that led to questions that led to OTHER questions that had to do with Heart’s proposals and marriage traditions and how they differed from other lands. Sneaking out, sneaking back in. Getting caught arriving home late, the way her face flushed and she spat out some random excuse.

It was adorable.

It reminded Benja of the ways he thought he and Raya’s Mother had been so cool and collected with their relationship. Raya doing the same to him as he did to his Mother and Father. Only his parents knew his late wife well enough, whild Benja was still in the dark about this mystery person. Choosing to wait until Raya was ready to approach him about it, letting her choose.

However, her choice or not, he found out one late afternoon whether either of them was ready or not.

Namaari was visiting, which was nothing new to the land of Heart. With Fang and Heart now bonded, their lands laying down their swords to create a lasting trust with their people, Namaari as well as Virana visited quite often. Raya always eager to see her, rushing through her duties and other obligations just to keep her schedule open for her. Their friendship blossoming, even greater now after everything that had transpired. Sisudatu working wonders on the nations as a whole, including these smaller bonds.

Namaari and Virana was visiting, Raya snagging Namaari no sooner had she arrived. The two running off to cause mischief like they did as children, while Virana retired to her room. Exhausted she claimed, until dinner where they would all gather to eat. Benja spent his day as per usual, until the sun began to set and he rose from his table and plenty of paperwork that needed to be reviewed to meet the others for the meal.

Walking slowly, no rush at all, eager to hear the stories of Fang’s people and what his daughter and Namaari had been up to all day. Nearly at the room when someone reached out and tugged him roughly to the side.

He squeaked, embarrassingly loud, thinking he was being attacked only to find the person who had pulled him to the side was none other than the Chief of Fang herself. Virana, looking around the corner of the hall she had just ripped Benja away from. Focused further down.

“Ch-..Chief Virana-?” he spoke, apparently loud because she shushed him, “what?” he added in a quieter tone.

“You almost interrupted!” she hissed, motioning for him to come closer.

Benja hesitated, noting the way Virana looked all too pleased with herself. Smirking, chuckling under her breath as she knelt low and peaked around the corner. Never seeing this…silly side of her before. Always prim and proper, wondering what she could possibly be looking at that caused her to be so secretive in the moment. Curious now as he too looked around the corner only to find it was Raya and Namaari.

“What…are you hiding for?”

“Oh, come now-..Benja you haven’t figured it out?” Virana whispered.

“Figured what out?”

“Our girls!”

“What about them?”

“Shh!”

Benja ducked, seeing the two of them had now stopped in the hall. Namaari’s back turned from them while Raya faced their direction, her eyes zeroed in on Namaari alone. Looking up just a smidge to see into her eyes. Their hands held, lightly, Namaari’s thumb brushing Raya’s delicately. Soothingly. The two were speaking about something neither of their parents could hear, only seeing Raya’s face as it lit up every time Namaari spoke.

Waiting still.

Benja finding the whole thing a bit silly until Namaari’s head bent.

Raya’s features softened, her eyes fluttering closed as Namaari pressed a tiny kiss to her lips. Lingering for no more than a few seconds before moving back. Close, the two looking into one another’s eyes before Raya pressed her lips together as if she were trying to conceal her smile. Namaari-...or Raya? Somebody chuckled and then Raya moved into her arms to hug her, absolute joy on her face as they stayed close for some time.

Virana taking that moment to whisper, “finally!”

Benja took in the scene, Virana’s words, and then it all made sense.

Raya and Namaari…

Namaari and Raya…

Oh….

Oh!

“Virana!” he hissed, “we shouldn’t be watching this, that was their first kiss!”

“Ha!” Virana laughed, “well- I did…God, my child moves as slow as a snail, I had to make sure my pep talk worked!”

“Y-your pep talk!?” Benja hissed again, “you told her to kiss Raya!?”

“They’re in love, Benja!” she scoffed, “and no…I just told her to get on with it-..Namaari has just been distracted and pestering my General Atitaya about the dating rituals in Heart and asking for advice-...and she’s my general for a reason Benja!-..I need her to fulfill her duties, not give dating advice to my hopeless daughter and-”

“So-..you pressured your daughter to hurry up and confess her feelings…so you could have your General back…?” Benja said, causing Virana to pause. Thinking it over, before she gave him a flat look.

“Well..when you put it like that-...I suppose it doesn’t seem very nice…” she huffed, “however, she needed a little push, it’s fine-...look at how happy they are!”

Well-...Benja couldn’t deny that. His daughter had been a lot like Namaari lately. Fidgety, lost in thought, thinking about Namaari he supposed. Now it all making sense. The eagerness to see her, the sneaking around. If he hadn’t seen this scene play out now or heard the words Virana said, Benja would have assumed they had been dating all along. I mean-..maybe they had? But this was their first shared kiss?

A kiss neither of them should be watching at that!

“Alright,” Benja sighed, “let them have their privacy.”

Virana stood, sighing as well.

“Should we take a walk around the castle grounds to give them more time?” she offered, smiling as Benja nodded in agreement. The pair walking side by side, leaving their children to enjoy this moment alone. “Things have certainly changed around here..” Virana mentioned, “I would have never guessed this is how things would have turned out…not back then.”

Back when the girls first met.

Benja chuckled, agreeing.

Some things had definitely changed.

However, from time to time, change could be a wonderful thing.