#which is why she has so many cute magical girl costumes!!

[tex-now]

GASP

Cardcaptor Sakura - Animation Artwork

[lynnie-ee]

Day 10; Fight.

╰┈➤"Your boyfriend's goals were very clear; Make you happy, spend time with you and defend you from anyone who dared to insult you in any possible way."

╰►Gender neutral reader, one-shot, 1.9k words. Kinda based on that one tweet that was like "My girl can wear whatever she want cause I can fight."

╰► Characters: Deuce, Jade, Floyd, Epel.

╰►Note: The prompts are based on words I found interesting and then I put them on a roulette to decide when I would write about them, lol. English is not my first language, so please let me know if there are any grammatical mistakes <3. Not proof read, I haven't written in a long time, so I apologise if anything is out of character.

╰►Masterlist / Inktober Masterlist.

⤿

⤿

﹙❥﹚Deuce Spade ❜ ˖ ࣪⊹ ִֶָ

He tries his best, most of the time.

Every time he gets jealous or mad at someone else, he has to remind himself that he’s no longer a delinquent. 'Top students don’t engage in fights', he’d say to himself, even though he was well aware he had been in a few arguments with other students ever since he joined Night Raven College, each time promising himself it wouldn’t happen again.

Until it came to something related to you.

It was Halloween, it was supposed to be fun. You wanted to try a different costume this time, and decided to wear a more eccentric outfit, trying to match the extravagance of the other dorms.

You looked really cute, and Deuce was quick to compliment you, taking your hand with an excited demeanour, walking with you towards the Heartslabyul stand to show the rest of your friends your outfit.

He was really happy, as he walked along you, entertained as he listened to you talking about how you went into town and tried in many costumes before choosing that one, when he was able to hear a comment made by another Hearstlabyul student as they walked by.

"Well, they got no magic and no style, huh? Where did they even get that costume, at the kid's section?"

"Repeat what you just said." Deuce was quick to stop his walk, turning towards the student with a frown on his face.

"I said they look terrible." He answered with a defiant demeanour.

"They look perfect, are you out of your mind?" He got closer to the student with a menacing aura, ready to punch him if it was necessary.

"Not really, I've seen better-dressed scarecrows, why are you even letting them go outside like that?"

That was it.

Before you could even stop him, Deuce threw a punch directly at the guy's face, who wasn't even brave enough to defend himself, instead he just stood there holding his now bleeding nose, seemingly out of words now.

"And just so you know, they can dress however they want! And they got their costume at the adult section, don't say such stupid things!" He screamed as you dragged him out of the place, trying to avoid the small crowd that was starting to form due to the sudden commotion.

"Riddle's gonna kill you if he knows about this, you know?" You commented as you both walked to Ramshackle now, deciding to wait a bit before going to Heartslabyul.

"And It'll be worth it! He had no reason to say that kind of thing about you."

"I don't care, really."

"But I do! No one will insult you in front of me without getting what they deserve."

You giggled softly at his attitude, stopping briefly to plant a kiss on his cheek.

"Well, thank you, my Prince Charming." You watched as he blushed, timidly holding your hand.

"Whe-whenever you need it, my love!"

⤿

⤿

﹙𖧵ֹֺֽ໋໋݊﹚Jade Leech ❜ ˖ ࣪⊹ ִֶָ

He can definitely fight, but it won't be his first option, unless the other person is the one who starts it, which never happens, because, well, he's Jade Leech.

He prefers to use more efficient techniques to make sure people never bother you again, which is why is widely known around school that no one should mess with Ramshackle's Prefect.

So imagine his surprise when, in the middle of one of his shifts, as you were sitting on one of the stools of the bar while waiting for him to be done, he heard a most unfortunate comment.

"Doesn't Azul always bother everyone about how this is a very distinguished place? I wonder who let them in while looking like that, they look like they came here straight out of bed."

As Jade was walking to a different table, he heard two students from Scarabia, making him promptly direct his gaze towards you, sitting by the bar with your headphones, without being aware of the words directed at you. It was Saturday, and you had stayed at his dorm last night, so you had decided to wear something comfy as you waited for your boyfriend. The outfit of the day was one of Jade's hoodies, which had a small embroidery of a mushroom on the front, along with a loose pair of jeans, as you supposed nobody would look at you in the secluded corner you chose to be.

You looked absolutely adorable in his eyes, and he wouldn't stand for malicious comments about you.

"Is everything alright? Are you enjoying your meal?" He asked politely towards the group of Scarabia students, who froze up immediately when Jade appeared out of nowhere, his smile more frightening than usual.

"Ye-yeah, everything is fine."

"I'm glad to hear that, but..." His smile widened as he got closer to the student who made the comment earlier, whispering so only he could hear. "I wonder if you'd be still fine if Professor Crewel knew about how you cheated on his last exam?" An innocent tone could be heard in his voice.

"How-how did you-?"

"This is a very distinguished place, as you know. It'd be inappropriate to allow patrons with such immoral attitudes to be seen in here."

"Let me talk to Azul, you can't-"

"Uh? What was that? I can't do it, you say?" He raised an eyebrow, a curious expression on his face, as he expected an answer from the nervous student, who knew better than to make Jade Leech angry.

"We-were finished either way, right? Thanks for the service, we'll be going!" The other student interrupted, quickly getting up to get ready to leave.

"Ah, I hope you enjoyed your time here." The vicehousewarden bowed politely. "But I hope you're aware that, if you make such inconvenient comments about my partner, I won't let you go as easily." He added with a close-eyed smile that didn't match his words in the slightest, as the students went away as fast as they could.

"Uhm, Jade? Your shift is about to finish, isn't it?" You asked taking your headphones out of your head to speak to your boyfriend more properly, as he placed one of your favourite drinks in front of you, his smile remaining on his face, but this time being softer.

"Yes, my love, just wait a bit more."

⤿

⤿

﹙𖧵ֹֺֽ໋໋݊﹚Floyd Leech ❜ ˖ ࣪⊹ ִֶָ

Some days he fights, someday he doesn't care at all, some days he'll let you defend yourself if you want.

Either way, same as Jade, you weren't bothered often. No one would risk enraging the unpredictable Leech twin, and at first, when you started dating, some people wouldn't even look at you at risk of being misunderstood by the Octavinelle second-year.

It was less extreme now, as you've dated him for a while, but there were still some people who preferred to be more cautious around you.

But of course, there'll be always stupid people who'd make rude comments even when Floyd was near.

"Wish me luck, shrimpy!" Your boyfriend looked at you expectant, an excited smile on his face.

"Good luck, Floyd, score some points, okay?" You kissed his cheek softly, giggling when he accommodated the hoodie you were wearing, before going back to the basketball court.

You were in the stands, waiting for the start of a match between Night Raven College and another school which you didn't much about, you just knew that you were supposed to be there to support your boyfriend, and your friends too.

Floyd played better when you were around, and he liked to find you right away in the middle of the crowd, which is why he gave you his hoodie before the match. A hoodie that he likes to wear loose, and considering his height, you wondered if it'd fit you right when he offered it. You were wrong, and now you were sitting while completely drowning in the piece of clothing, making you look a bit out of place. But you didn't care, as long as he was happy.

The match started and everything went smoothly, as Floyd seemed to be on top of his game, scoring points left and right as he watched you cheer on him.

Until a student from the other school spotted you in the middle of the crowd, laughing to himself and then commenting on it with one of his classmates.

"Did you see that one student over there? I wonder if all the students here dress like such a mess, that hoodie is at least four sizes bigger than them."

"Perhaps they didn't even look themselves in the mirror before coming here, how embarrassing."

Floyd frowned as he heard such a comment about you, quickly deciding his strategy. He wouldn't allow words like that to be directed at his little Shrimpy.

"Hey, Floyd, pass it to me- what are you doing?!"

BAM.

The whole gymnasium fell into silence as Floyd threw the ball in the air. The thing was, that instead of being aimed to score a point, it landed on a different place...On the head of the student from the other school.

You could only watch in surprise, as Floyd turned around to show you a thumbs-up, as if he had solved a problem you had no idea about.

"Floyd! What was that?!"

It was a very effective strategy, at least.

⤿

⤿

﹙𑁍﹚Epel Felmier ❜ ˖ ࣪⊹ ִֶָ

He'll fight at any opportunity that he gets.

After all, that's what a good boyfriend does, right? Defending you from stupid people it's his number one priority, and he wants to show you that you can depend on him.

It reaches a point in which Vil has to intervene, as it has been a regular thing lately, something the housewarden can't allow. 'Brutes don't belong in Pomefiore', is what he tells Epel one day as he scolds him, reminding him there are more ethical ways to solve things. Now he's on observation; one more fight and he'll be punished by cleaning all the windows of the dorm.

Ever since, he has been doing good, and you help him calm down when some stupid student from another dorm says something mean, telling him they don't know anything about the two of you.

But one day, as you both hang out in the Pomefiore lounge, he hears some second-years speak to each other across the room, as if you two weren't literally a few meters away from them.

"Did you see that atrocious sweater? No matter how you look a it, it doesn't match their jeans at all. Vil should stop letting people with such bad taste enter Pomefiore, don't you think?"

"What did ya say about (Y/n)?!" Epel startled you as he suddenly got up from the sofa you both were, quickly walking towards the other Pomefiore students, who observed him with a superior demeanour.

"We were talking about how badly your partner dresses. You're a Pomefiore student, Epel, you should know better than to let them walk outside with such ugly clothing."

"I gifted them that sweater! Take back your words, you idiot!"

"Even worse, you're absolutely tarnishing Pomefiore's reputation by-"

"And the next I'm gonna tarnish is gonna be your face if ya don't apologise to them, so hurry up, would ya?" Epel interrupted, promptly getting ready for fighting.

"Epel, let's just go to my dorm, okay? If you get into another fight you'll get punished." You tried to talk some common sense into him, considering that Vil would immediately know if there was an argument in his dorm.

"They're insulting you, ain't no way I'll letting 'em get away from that."

"But Vil-"

"I don't give a damn 'bout Vil-"

"What's the meaning of this scandal?!"

Well...You'll help him clean those windows, would you?

⤿

⤿

[bipolar-sad-and-ready-to-cry]

Ok so Halloween! It’s quite close! My hometown has never really made a huge deal about the trick or treating thing or other Halloween traditions, they sell a lot of Halloween stuff and candy (many I am allergic too, CURSE YOU STRAWBERRY ALLERGY) but it’s not a huge tradition even though both my sister and brother are obsessed with Halloween

But I am trying to figure out little Halloween doodles maybe full drawings to do of my Bloodmoons (and maybe friends/guardians of them), any ideas would be greatly appreciated because I’m not really good at costume ideas haha. Anyways heres what I have and reason for the decision/idea

Eldritch Bloodmoon- nothing yet BUT a bit of doodling might help with figuring it out

Bloody and Harvest- I’m thinking a matching set including their mama but again a bit of doodling might get me an idea

Artic Bloodmoon- a little lobster because he’s a lil fish

Teen Disguise Bloodmoon- devil because we all know she would

Spectre Bloodmoon- a stereotypical bed sheet ghost because tbh I think it’d be cute~

Hello Kitty Bloodmoon- a Sanrio onesie, which one? We will see

Magical girl Bloodmoon- a witch because big hat goooood

Flower and the two other BMs- vampires mainly because of a mention of a plush blood bag

The lord Bloodmoon that will appear in same AU as Flower?- probably also vampire why? Why not

[acaplaya-musings]

VoicePlay Visuals - Classical Chaos (part 1/2)

(The video itself obviously isn't a two-parter, but this post is! You can go to part 2 here, and there'll also be a link at the bottom of this post.)

VoicePlay's "Classical Chaos" video publically released on the 29th of June, 2024 (well, the 28th of June for Americans I suppose, but I've been going off of my own timezone for all my other posts - no point changing now), and it features the one and only Rachel Potter, back with VoicePlay for the first time in two and a half years!

The arrangement, creative direction, and editing of this video was all Layne (with a bit of additional creative direction from Tony), and some have said this is an accurate look into what the inside of Layne's brain is like😂 Layne took snippets of a dozen different classical music pieces (ranging from "somewhat known" to "definitely well-known"), and turned them into a super original, super amazing acapella medley, and created a very entertaining and amusing video to go with it! And the video is what I'm here to talk about!

Also, if you somehow haven't figured it out yet, the Classical Chaos video is somewhat of a sequel to VoicePlay's In The Hall Of The Mountain King video they did back in September of 2022. You can find my VoicePlay Visuals post for that video here!

Anyway, enough introduction, let's get into this!

First of all, had to get a shot of that bat flying past - it's a cute touch - and second of all my goodness let's talk about set design because WOW. This is inside Pattycake Studios, believe it or not! Seriously, Mountain King I think maybe just had a handful of real trees that were dragged into the studio and then they used a hanging backdrop with a forest on it in addition? But this is heaps! (Someone in the VP Discord said apparently there were 39 trees used, damn)

This forest also did double duty, as Pattycake Productions also used it for their new Villains Lair episode, Ancient Relics (hey, might as well make the absolute most of it!), and unlike VP's video, that actually does have credits for set design! The trees themselves are credited to Orlando Art Squad, Djon Pearson, Layne, Tony, and also Big Oaks Ranch!

(Also I'm fairly certain that moon in the background is the same moon lamp/spotlight that Geoff used for his Jack's Lament video)

Eli's here! He uses the spellbook to re-summon all the others (I think), but how/why did he reappear I wonder? (Grundel magic perhaps 😝 (yeah they're playing creatures called "Grundels", I think maybe Layne came up with the name?))

"Advanced Conjuring And Other Spells (Beginners Do Not Attempt)"

Dang, I guess music really is magic after all! 😉😁

I can't read sheet music to save my life, but this appears to be the sheet music for Toccata & Fugue In D Minor (it's the first piece in this medley, and I googled what the sheet music looked like and it seems to line up).

Geoff giving a little smile and wave at Eli is very cute, and reminds me of the way Kathy waved to Geoff at the end of Golden Hour, which in turn reminded some people of Rachel's little wave in the Kiss The Girl segment of the Little Mermaid Medley, another video where Geoff got painted blue, so I guess it's a full-circle moment really!

Also yes, their appearances have been tweaked slightly since Mountain King (both Geoff and Layne have different horns, Eli and Geoff have different 'shirt' things, and Geoff's skin is more blue than it was last time), but I have many other things to talk about, so I shan't spend too much time on this.

The queen has arrived! Or rather, should I say, the White Witch!

Pfft I love Cesar's face here 😆

Man I really love Rachel's makeup and costuming here, she always looks amazing in VoicePlay videos! Also definitely Elvira: Mistress Of The Dark vibes

(And of course shoutout to Rick Underwood and Renette Feren for makeup and prosthetics for everyone in the video!)

Geoff is Planning Something(tm) 😝

The fire in this video works similarly to how the cauldron did in Mountain King in regards to colour coding, but while the cauldron only appeared to change colour whenever someone added something to it, this fire changes colour whenever a different person starts singing lead vocals! E.g., white for Rachel, as shown here. (I'm not sure how tough this was to pull off in editing/post-production, but it turned out amazing!)

The queen White Witch is busy casting spells and doing witch stuff! Do not disturb and definitely do not touch the spellbook!

(Also Cesar manages to be as adorable as ever in this video 😄)

🎶I could put a spell on you and you're done for!🎶

No wait wrong fandom 😝

Eli: "Ooh maybe while she's distracted I could-"

Rachel: "NOPE don't even think about it!"

Layne: "Lol rip tough luck"

(But seriously *pfft* @ this screenshot 😂)

Wait for it...

"WHERE IS THE BOOK?"

Even Layne is like "oh dang" 😂

Geoff got a hold of it! (good for him) Using what I can only assume is the power of Looney Tunes Logic! 😝

Geoff: Hey look I got this cool book! Isn't it neat? The other three guys: GIMME! Rachel: *Big Mad*

Okay I do kinda love the huge grin on Geoff's face here - it's very him, and he's having fun!

(Also notice how the fire has turned blue now that he's singing!)

Geoff holds up the book...

...And suddenly he no longer has the book!

Unfortunately for Geoff (and Rachel), he's not the only one with the power of Looney Tunes Cartoon Nonsense Logic! 😝😂

(Also the fire has changed again!)

Okay I have to talk a teeny bit about the music here because 1, I love how Geoff's "wait where did it go" head turns are perfectly timed to the "doo-doo," backing parts here, and 2, as I said in my Thoughts And Commentary post, I find it very amusing that Layne's section here is The Blue Danube, considering he just yoinked the spellbook from Geoff, who is Very Blue 😂

*pfft*

"Don't be suspicious, don't be suspicious, don't be suspicious-"

Aww look at that mischievious-but-lovable grin!

And look at what's happened to the fire! It's still mostly orange, but with a bit of green on top! Kinda like... a carrot! Layne The Carrot Lord strikes again! 😆

Rachel: "Yeah I'll have that back thanks"

And I've officially hit image limit, so that's part 1! Now you understand why I made this into two posts, not one? You can go find part 2 here! See you there!

[lesbicosmos]

bbc merlin liveblog - s1 ep2: valiant

i forgot abt how many dramatic slowmo shots of knights riding horses this show has

i say id love a sword but if i actually had to use one id probably be like merlin, just flailing around and tripping over my own feet (when i say probably i mean definitely, im like that without a sword)

any scenes of merlin without his neckerchief feel wrong, like merlin why are you naked put that scarf back on pls

morganas so pretty what the actual fuck

*dramatic sword fighting music begins*

morgwen being adorable in the stands while the men brutally attack each other <3

merlin: *makes a joke* arthur: *chuckles* merlin: :D

once again, the costume department for this show is insane i love every outfit (particularly morganas!! all her dresses are absolutely gorgeous)

the random sped up parts of some montage shots is hilarious to me and i cant explain why

"he's using magic" "are you sure?" - summary of the entire show

morgana holding onto and stroking gwen's cloak is so cute i love them so much

gotta love the creativity of the episodes so far, there's been magic death singing and magic death snake shield

"i wouldn't like to you" "i want you to swear to me that what you're telling me is true" WHY ARE THEY STOOD SO CLOSE TOGETHER THEYRE SO GAY

arthur talking to uther in the council room and merlin just stood a few paces behind him like🧍🏻‍♂️

this whole thing makes no sense, could they not have just...shown uther ewan's body which has a snake bite???

im loving the random cuts to morgana just looking ethereal as usual. director rly said give the lesbians what they want

merlin having not even been arthurs servant for an episode and being fired already- if only it was that easy for arthur to get rid of him 😭😭

god the set's so beautiful, i wanna go to pierrefonds so bad

"just give me a straight answer!" HA 'straight' sorry merlin ur destiny is anything but that

the compilation of merlin trying to get the spell right to bring the statue to life is FUCKING HILARIOUS that one shot where he's stood on something pointing down at the statue dramatically and yelling the incantation 😭

*morgana enters the room* *music changes to something actually ethereal and godly* as it should she's perfect

"i did it! :D" merlins so adorable

AND MORGANA SAVES THE DAY LIKE THE BADASS BITCH SHE IS I LOVE HER

"you're too proud to admit you were saved by a girl" "because i wasn't!" "you know what? i wish valiant was escorting me." "fine." "fine!" why did they think anyone would believe the almost-romance plotline theyre so incredibly siblings

[shiningdesignersreflections]

Chapter 4: Perfect Ending

Narrated by Yexiao.

Narrator: Days fly by as I devote myself to the preparations. The day of the performance soon arrives.

Narrator: I peek into the auditorium from backstage and see many familiar faces.

Narrator: The curtain opens and the lights come on. It's time for me to shine.

Narrator: Dressed in the Candy Witch costume, with the help of props, I slowly descend onto the stage, just like a real witch.

Narrator: The audience in the auditorium gasps unanimously.

Audience A: Wow! She's adorable!

Audience B: It's really the Candy Witch herself!

Narrator: The Candy Witch lives alone on the border between two countries, surrounded by lofty crags, thorny vines, and not a trace of civilization.

Narrator: The Candy Witch likes this secluded place very much. She used colorful candies to build a small house in the forest.

Narrator: She may like peace and quiet, yet her sweet candy house is nothing if not loud. Perhaps this reflects the true personality of the Candy Witch.

Choose either "Solitude and candy aren't conflicting things" or "Perhaps she doesn't like being alone that much."

If "conflicting," ...

You: Liking solitude and liking candy aren't exactly conflicting things, are they?

Narrator: After all, one never feels lonely when eating candy.

If "not alone," ...

You: Perhaps the witch is waiting for someone to walk into her candy house... and also into her heart.

Narrator: Surely that will happen... one day.

--

Narrator: I quietly arrive at the edge of the forest, where a wounded girl is sitting on the ground.

Jenny: Hello, my name is Jenny. I'm lost. May I ask how I could get out of the forest?

Witch: Why would you wander around aimlessly without knowing the way?

Narrator: I say, coldly, in a witch's tone, then turn and walk in the direction of the exit. After taking a few steps, I stop and look back at the bewildered girl.

Witch: Follow me.

Jenny: Thanks!

Narrator: Jenny is a gentle and kindhearted girl. She doesn't mind the witch's indifference, and instead happily follows her, all the while rambling about her adventures.

Narrator: She has a winged pet lamb, white and soft. It looks extra cute curled up in Jenny's arms.

Narrator: The forest is vast, but the witch somehow finds herself wishing that the path to the exit were longer. They soon arrive.

Narrator: The witch slows her pace and sneakily casts a magic spell, turning Jenny's lamb into a lifeless doll in her arms.

Jenny: Noooo!

Witch: If you want your lamb back, you will have to obey me.

Narrator: The witch gives Jenny some harsh demands. She must go deep into the forest to find three hidden treasures: magical spring water, honey, and a rose.

Narrator: Jenny agrees. To save her lamb, she searches desperately for the three treasures requested by the witch.

Narrator: The witch hops on her broom and follows Jenny in secret.

Narrator: Jenny is looking around in the east of the forest, yet she's unable to find the requested spring water.

Witch: She really has no sense of direction.

Narrator: The witch lightly taps her magic wand, so that the clear babbling of spring water becomes more audible. Jenny shouts triumphantly and follows the sound to find the spring hidden behind some bushes.

Narrator: Jenny then heads to the west of the forest and pushes through the dense thorn bushes to find the honey.

Narrator: The witch casts a spell to dull the thorns so they would not scratch Jenny's skin.

Narrator: Finally, Jenny goes to the north of the forest, looking for the rose in a garden shrouded by dark clouds.

Narrator: The witch gazes in her direction silently, until Jenny reappears from the darkness, a black rose in her hand.

Jenny: I found it! I found the treasures you wanted!

Narrator: The witch does not speak. Instead, she turns the treasures that Jenny found into candy.

Witch: Look at these two candies. If you can tell which is the one I created just now, I promise...

Jenny: I know, I know! Both candies are the correct answer!

Jenny: Because I can tell you never wanted to hurt me... Instead, you have been helping me this entire time. You will definitely bring back my lamb, right? After all, we are friends!

Witch: That's not it at all.

Narrator: The witch retorts, but still she removes the curse from the lamb.

Narrator: The lamb flutters its wings and flies to the witch's side, rubbing her cheek affectionately.

Narrator: Instantly, the witch's dress also turns into a brilliant golden color, just like the sun.

Narrator: The audience bursts into laughter.

Audience: So that's what really happened. The witch was messing with Jenny in hopes that she would stay.

Narrator: The performance ends without a hitch. I return home wearing my Candy Witch outfit.

You: The response to the show is very good. Everyone is talking about Candy Witch, saying she's as cute as a naughty little princess.

Narrator: Nodding to myself, I tear down a candy from the witch's costume and put it in my mouth. And then I sit down again in front of the canvas to start a new creation.

Narrator: The sweetness of the candy spreads in my mouth, as sweet as the end of this story.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

[megashadowdragon]

I disagree with thr part that claims felix is transcoded (

the only reason he starts dressing like he does is an act for the sake of crusch an act of subservience ( I also disagree with the claim that crusch is trans when its simple crusch was just a tomboy

( and the way she acts when her memory is lossed showcases the difference )

in contrast to someone else I do not think either crusch , felix or subaru are trans

crusch is a tomboy , crossdressing doesnt equal trans

and felix only dresses that way due to crusch and he is angry at his bio father due to feeling he took away his chance to be masculine

Brilliant analysis. If I may add my own thoughts on Ferris: I think a huge part of Ferris’ identity is the concept of subservience — specifically, subservience to Crusch, the person who “made him human” by rescuing him from his awful parents. You can see this in so many aspects of his personality, his duties, and especially with his gender presentation. Often it feels like Ferris’ entire purpose in life is to be Crusch’s right-hand man (or right-hand lady, as the role may be) and he has tailor-made everything about himself to fulfill exactly that. He learned to use healing magic so that he could be useful as her knight. He doted on her constantly, acting as her personal servant at a very young age. And then there’s their pact in which they lend each other their masculinity and femininity, and that pact has defined everything about him. "Ferris is not naturally feminine, has little desire to be feminine, and in fact would quite like to be more masculine if it were just up to him alone — but his duty to Crusch is to uphold this role, and so he throws himself into it with everything he’s got. He wakes up every morning and does his routine like an actor getting into a role. “I am a girl. A cute, cute girl.” In front of the mirror, as an “incantation”. He sees his lack of facial hair and other masculine pubescent traits as a blessing specifically because their absence allows him to perform his role better as Crusch’s feminine persona. His everyday actions are flirty, catty, feminine almost to the point of camp, because at the end of the day he is putting on a performance. Even his clothes are…like a costume. It’s easy to miss because it’s an anime, but nobody dresses like Ferris does, with all those ribbons and bows and frilly laces — he even wears a collar with a bell. Ferris has taken on this role and intends to fulfill it with his body, his personality, his presentation, everything. His gender presentation is not the end-all-be-all of that resolution, but it is the part that shouts it the loudest.

And I’d say that it’s largely because his identity is entirely based around his position as Crusch’s servant. He doesn’t seem to understand how to live without belonging to her. It’s a big reason why he breaks down so badly in the IF Routes where she’s erased — she is EVERYTHING to him, and without her he basically loses all sense of identity. He learned how to heal for her, he became a knight for her, he dresses this way for her, he acts this way for her, he molds his physical body for her — it is ALL for Crusch. It’s to the point where he considers Crusch “the thing that makes him human” and without her he’s just — not even a person. He is subservient to her, and that is everything to him. (.)

The Mischaracterization of Ferris: A thread analyzing Re: Zero's most misinterpreted and overlooked character.

Note: This is a re-edit of a thread I wrote on Twitter. I recently decided to start using Tumblr a bit more. Since I've also been wanting to back up most of my threads, I figured I might as well move everything here. This is the first re-edit I'll be posting on this site. It was one of my favorites to write, so I hope it's enjoyable!

Side story spoilers for the entire thread. Arc 8 spoilers in the speculation section (will be marked since so many people aren't caught up).

For novel readers of Re: Zero, Ferris stands as one of the most divisive characters in the fandom. Considering his poor utilization in the anime and his role in the story within Arc 3, it's easy to see why.

On one hand, Ferris is one of the most outwardly aggressive characters toward Subaru in Arc 3. He makes no secret of his disdain from the start and consistently throws jabs at him every opportunity he gets. This behavior can certainly leave a negative first impression.

On the other hand, Ferris is quite a fascinating character who serves an important role within the narrative of Arc 3. He doesn't let Subaru off as easy as everyone else, which is exactly what makes seeing him grow respect for Subaru satisfying.

Whichever opinion you hold, that’s mostly irrelevant today. Instead, I will be simply discussing his character and his role in the story, as well as arguing in favor of many of his merits that people overlook.

Ferris's primary role is similar to all the Royals Candidates' knights: serving as a foil for Subaru. I've explained the similarities between Subaru and the other knights before, but to sum it up as quickly as possible all 3 of them represent a version of what Subaru could be.

Reinhard is a version of what Subaru could've been if he were the typical isekai protagonist, Julius is a lot more complicated but he’s essentially what Subaru could've been if he were granted enough power to face his enemies on even ground, and Al is Subaru if he had been just a bit unlucky in where he had been sent; becoming someone who struggles to care and abuses his powers to the fullest.

Ferris is much the same, though it can be argued he parallels Subaru the hardest, except for maybe Al. The resemblance on paper between the two is uncanny. They are both physically weak men who often don't fit traditional gender roles and have the sole desire of helping a woman they love to achieve her dreams of becoming a Royal Candidate, no matter the personal costs to themselves.

To do this, they use an extraordinary power unique to them (in Subaru's case RB, and in Ferris' case his magic that is relative in power to an authority). Their need to rely on others for victory is a source of immense mental turmoil and often leaves them full of self-loathing.

They place immense value in the lives of others, even those who have or will harm them, to the point that they are willing to be harmed to help them. Seeing others casually disregard the lives of others serves as one of the things that anger them the most.

They are both prone to obsessively possessive behavior and have sometimes even directed it towards the one they love. This often leads to them getting in trouble due to their jealousy.

There are more similarities I could point out, but you get the point.

Where am I going with this though? Ferris is clearly a parallel to Subaru, but what does he represent regarding him? Put simply, I believe Ferris is meant to represent what Subaru could've been if his parents were just a bit different.

Parent and Child is one of the most crucial chapters for informing us about just the kind of person Subaru is. Perhaps the most important piece is how it helps us understand just how much of his current personality is a result of his father. Subaru not only looked up to him but actively mimicked him to achieve his goals. The pressure of the surrounding world caused him to default to trying to be his father instead of who he truly was. Subaru's parents weren't perfect. In fact, they were very flawed people. Regardless of this fact though, they are responsible for many of Subaru's positive traits.

The same is true for Ferris and his shitbag of a father. If you were to ask any novel reader what Ferris' defining trait as a character is, they would probably say anger or bitterness.

This isn't surprising, as that's how he typically acts towards everyone except Crusch and Fourier, even when it comes to friends such as Julius.

I would argue, however, that this is merely an act he defaults to when he is stressed or angry, similar to Subaru's mimicry of his own father.

During his bitter moments, such as his cold statement to Subaru as he leaves Crusch's mansion in Arc 4, Ferris is merely defaulting to what he has learned to be the best method of dealing with his stress...a method that is eerily similar to how Biehn sometimes acts in EX 1.

Whether Ferris acknowledges it or not, his attitude at his worst moments makes him come off like his father. He can be cruel, sometimes even callous. He shows intense rage when he doesn't get his way and attacks the part of his opponent that is most vulnerable.

This attitude can blind him to the point that he can even hypocritically act racist towards Emilia. Ferris' entire life has been defined by discrimination. In the face of someone he should know has faced many of the same issues, he once again acts almost exactly like his own father.

It was in the middle of a mental breakdown, but that does not excuse him just like it does not excuse Subaru.

Speaking of his parents, it's also notable how their inability to connect with Ferris parallels Naoko and Kenichi's struggles with Subaru.

Ferris' dad is a bombastic, loud man who was (once) well-respected and causes many of Ferris's issues through his actions and Ferris' emulation of him. His fatal flaw in the end was that he could not understand Ferris, similar to how Kenichi could not fully understand Subaru.

Ferris' mom, on the other hand, fully understood the distress he was under but did not have the confidence to interfere or make a change as Ferris wasted away, similar to Naoko's inability to help Subaru when he most needed it.

That's not to say Kenichi or Naoko are even a thousandth as bad as either of those two, but their struggles with their child deeply parallel each other.

Back on track though, I want to highlight a bit more of Ferris' parallels with his father using perhaps the most damning example.

This specific scene is from "The Saga of the Great Crusch-sama Begins." When faced with his mother, whom he hates so much, he attempts to stab her in the chest. Crusch gets caught in the crossfire causing Felix to freak out and unlock his water magic to save her.

What can at first be written off as just a unique origin for Ferris' water magic gets recontextualized hard in EX 1, where it's revealed his father killed his mother in the exact same method.

It's such an eerie similarity and something that I feel gets overlooked too often when discussing Ferris.

As shown in scenes like the one above, Ferris often projects this image of hatred, bitterness, and malice. It's easy to write that off as just the kind of person he is as so many often do...

...but there's obviously more to it than this. There is far more to Ferris than his mimicry of his father.

Ferris doesn't allow himself to be vulnerable very often in the story. Only when he is with Fourier and Crusch, as well as when he is in the most intense moments of crisis, does he show who he actually is. Stress is the best test of character after all.

The best example to me? His confrontation with the father he so often emulates.

If Ferris was actually as vindictive as he so often outwardly acts, how would you expect him to react to the death of a man he hated so much?

Wouldn't he taunt him? Wouldn't he make his last moments a living hell? Wouldn't he crow in pleasure at his agony? Would you be able to even blame Ferris if he made Biehn's last moments hell?

You would expect that...but that's not how he reacts. At that moment, watching as the man who tortured him so much dies an awful death, he just shows sadness. He thinks about the possibility that they could've just worked things out. He just wishes that things could be different.

Despite everything his father had done to him, despite all the rage at the world Ferris projects, the moment he is put into a scenario he likely dreamed of he can't help but feel pity that this was the only route he could take. He never wanted to hurt even Biehn of all people.

And this, I believe, is Ferris's actual defining trait underneath his persona of cynicism and bitterness: kindness and a greater love for life than perhaps anyone else in the series.

Ferris's power, as Fourier once said, is the kindest in the world. At his core, Ferris is just as kind as his power.

Think about it. Despite Ferris's words, what is the thing that upsets him most?

People who waste their lives. Whether it be Subaru, Fourier, a random Vollachian guard, or even Witch Cultists...Ferris can't bring himself to watch life be thrown away. It just hurts him, regardless of how horrible the person is.

Just like Subaru, Ferris wants to help everyone, even if it costs him so much. The pain that he feels when he is unable to do so is immeasurable, as Subaru himself states in Volume 8. He is struggling with the same realization as Subaru: saving some people is impossible.

So where will this lead? What does this have to do with the themes of the story? Well, to answer that, I’ll have to take a little diversion to talk about one of the more…difficult topics involving Ferris.

Ferris and his relationship with gender is something that I feel a lot of the fanbase is really fucking weird about. Even ignoring the pretty deep-rooted transphobia in a lot of discussions involving him (he isn't trans, but he is heavily trans-coded and there really shouldn't be so much of an issue in letting people read into that), there's a feverish desire to deny that his status as a person not conforming to gender norms matters at all. All too often, people reduce it to just a fetish or something to make jokes about.

The reason this is such a bafflingly stupid take though is because of how blatant the importance is to anyone who has read EX 1. Even Tappei himself has stated that many of the things he wants to do with Ferris could not be done without this aspect of his character.

Ferris's non-conformance is part of a promise made with Crusch. Ferris took on her femininity while Crusch took on his masculinity. It's a promise between the two that proves their devotion to one another. It's the ultimate symbol of their affection for one another.

In Aganau IF Ferris dresses and acts more masculine, precisely because his connection to Crusch no longer exists.

I'd also argue it's why he continues to dress as he does even when Crusch no longer has her memories, desperately holding onto the literal symbol of the bond between them.

However, unlike Crusch who seems to love who she is both when taking on more masculine and feminine traits, finding a balance between them; Ferris can't do the same. He sees it merely as a means to show his devotion rather than something he does for himself.

He constantly expresses that it is all for Crusch and Crusch alone. If anything he seems to resent his inability to fulfill any kind of masculine role, as shown once again in his conversation with Biehn in EX 1.

When pushed to finally unleash all his true feelings to Biehn, what does he bring up as the main reason for his resentment? His abuse? His coldness? His murder of his mother? Any of the innumerable unforgivable things Biehn has done to him?

No. Ferris points at his body. He anguishes over his skinny arms, his inability to wield a sword, his lack of muscle, and his lack of fighting prowess. He hates his lack of masculine features and how he's unable to live up to his idea of what Crusch's knight should be.

He literally sees his masculinity as something stolen from him by his father; leaving him so empty that he needed something else to fill that void.

Crusch gave him something to fill that void. Crusch gave him a way to live. Crusch filled his soul...but he still resents what he "has" to be.

Now does that mean he resents Crusch? No, of course not. But he does resent that this is the only thing he can do for her; the only person he can be. Deep down, he doesn't seem to want to be the way he is, and instead of trying to change that he gives in to despair.

He's stuck in that hatred, in that desire to meet Crusch's expectations, and in that moment where a starving child begged to be released and was finally brought into the light. In many ways, he acts like a child.

This is quite literally represented in him preventing himself from going through puberty; a symbol in many stories of transitioning from childhood to adulthood. He sees his current form as a shackle whether he realizes it or not.

Now does that mean that Ferris should disregard his femininity entirely? Throwing away the representation of his love for Crusch and something that has defined him for so long seems as self-destructive as staying stuck. What's the solution? Where is his arc going?

Well, before that, I want to cover one last thing before I have to delve into Arc 8 spoilers. There's a bit of a side tangent I want to go on.

With everything I've been able to point out up to here, it's clear that Ferris is a remarkably complex character. There's so much to read into and talk about.

So why is he so hated?

He's so similar to Subaru, possibly the most popular character in the novel fandom. Despite all the claims of him being the worst and me highlighting his character's flaws, he hasn't done anything more morally dubious than the vast majority of characters in this series, even when he was pushed to the edge. This is especially true when compared to some of the most popular characters like Subaru or Roswaal. Hell, characters even more directly belligerent than Ferris like Priscilla don't get half the hate (though Priscilla's perception has...its own issues).

Why does he get disregarded so often? Why is he often treated as shallow fetish fuel? Why is he just reduced to being an asshole in every discussion that involves him?

Well, I have a few I can point out.

The first is, most obviously, misinformation. A large portion of the novel reader base has not read Arcs 1-4 in the LN and has very warped views of some of the characters in that section of the story. Ferris is just the most blatant example.

I can't count the number of times I've heard people just blatantly lie about or exaggerate what Ferris did in Arc 3. From the "mana bomb" that has LITERALLY no basis in the text to the "brainwashing" scene treated as a comedy bit that is exaggerated to hell, people go out of their way to interpret him in the worst light possible.

Many of the people who haven't read those sections then see Ferris's ribbing of Subaru in Arc 5 and then run with those pieces of misinformation; spreading it to the point that many believe some blatant lies to be fact.

The second is simply that a lot of people in the fandom don't read the side stories. I don't particularly blame a lot of these people, as there is a lot to get through, but there are a lot of people who take advantage of this for...certain reasons.

This leads to the third point...shipping. Ferris suffers from "Die for our ship" syndrome (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DieForOurShip…). A lot of people like Crusch x Subaru and Crusch loves Ferris so that ends up being more than enough for some people to hate him.

That's not representative of even close to every Crusch x Subaru shipper, of course, it's just a notable trend that it's hard to pretend doesn't exist with some of them.

All of these factors often go hand-in-hand with the final factor: the fandom's immense double standards when it comes to certain characters.

I'm not going to go into deep detail with this as it would distract from the main point of the thread...but you know what I mean if you've interacted with the community for a significant period of time. It also doesn't help that many of the same people in this category tend to be incredibly bigoted.

Ferris isn't the only character subjected to these double standards, as characters like Emilia and Ram often face similar purposeful misinterpretations, but his frequently unfair critiques have affected his reputation negatively perhaps more than any other.

This isn't to say that this is all true for everyone who hates Ferris. There are numerous reasons you may just not be interested in his character.

However, I feel it's dishonest to pretend Ferris isn't often targeted far more than other characters for often lacking reasons.

With that out of the way, I can move on to the last thing I wanted to cover in this thread. I have established a lot here, so I want to speculate about the future.

From this point forward there are unmarked Arc 8 spoilers, so...you can't argue I wasn't careful. I don't blame you at all for leaving now and I thank you for reading my ramblings.

*

*

*

Are you still here? Ok, let's start.

With all of the above established, I want to return to the question of where Ferris' arc will go in the future. My belief? I think it will be something similar to what Pre-Amnesia Crusch has already realized, with Felix’s closest parallel in Subaru being close to doing the same.

Crusch, as I mentioned before, has found balance in the two aspects of her life. Throughout the story, she switches seamlessly between the two without a second thought. She is comfortable and happy with both parts of herself.

Subaru is also on a similar path. He feels most comfortable in embracing his feminine side, idealizing it through Natsumi. All his confidence is channeled into that persona, while the other two aspects of his personality (his main self who has all the self-worth of an abandoned puppy and his child self who is representative of his more masculine traits) are imbalanced.

Arc 8 seems to be going in a direction where he realizes how important all of these aspects of him are. All 3 have flaws. None of them are "complete," just pieces of the coherent whole that is Natsuki Subaru.

I believe a similar thing will happen with Ferris.

He will need to find a balance between Ferris, his feminine side that has defined him for so long, and Felix the masculine identity he craves. He needs to find a role that makes him as happy as Crusch was, accepting who he is while striving to become who he wants to be.

I don't expect that to be easy though. In fact, I think the path to get there will be immensely messy and self-destructive.

The idea of Ferris having a breakdown or lashing out has been well-foreshadowed throughout the story. He has had numerous smaller outbursts and has displayed similar problems to Arc 3 Subaru when pushed to an extreme. There's a large amount of toxicity in him that will rush out, sooner or later. It will likely take similar levels of suffering to force him to get a grip, possibly hurting Crusch in the process.

Who do I believe to be the trigger for this? My best guess is Capella.

It is quite possible Capella freed Sphinx and recreated her arms initially. Why would she do this? Why not? We're seeing firsthand how much of a monster Sphinx can be with the Sacrament of the Immortal King. Why wouldn't someone like Capella want something like that under her control?

Of course, Sphinx is almost certainly dying soon. Capella will need a replacement, and who's the only other potential user of the Sacrament? Ferris.

There's also the idea that Capella may have poisoned the Royal Family and, most importantly, Fourier. If Capella does become the main antagonist for Ferris, that could serve as motivation for him to want her dead regardless of his own reservations about killing.

Adding onto this is the fact that shapeshifting is a power with a long history of being associated with identity issues. Tappei likes making his antagonists strong narrative foils to his protagonists, so it would be interesting to contrast Ferris' identity issues with the potentially strong identity issues of Capella.

Finally, there's a lot of potential for her tragic past to parallel Ferris' past, with many implications that the Royal Family may not exactly have treated Emerada the best. The idea that the Royal Family may have locked her away is not implausible and it could make their connections even stronger.

Whatever that breakdown leads to, I expect Crusch and/or Subaru to be the one who snaps him out of it. This will likely be the catalyst that forces Ferris to find a balance. He'll need to let go of things like his self-blame over being unable to help Fourier, his internalized hatred of his current identity, his idealization of Crusch, and his need to save everyone. Ferris's love will finally allow him to grow and change into a person who is the middle ground between his desires and his true self.

After all, that's what Re: Zero is truly about: love and growth. Almost every character reflects this and, if my interpretation of Ferris is right, he could embody that theme just as much as Subaru himself does.

He could be a shining bastion of what this story is all about.

Of course, this is all just my interpretation and speculation. If you disagree with it, feel free to. I just hope I was able to make you appreciate Ferris a bit more/changed your mind on how much potential his character has.

I wish whoever is reading this a nice day!

[simply-zhouye]

Zhou Ye: The Wonderful Ideas of Lotte Girls // Esquire Fine photoshoot & interview ~ a really wonderful interview with Yezi!

Read rough translation of interview below: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/lY3oBM51ytlua7S8ZRdmlw

The lively character is like jumping candy, and the crisp voice is like summer honeydew. It can be a cute angel or a rebellious girl. Who wouldn't like a beautiful and free girl? We met Zhou Ye at a claw machine shop, and she caught the one she wanted five times!

Zhou Ye didn't laugh when shooting the magazine blockbuster, but she liked to laugh privately.

In the eyes of the people around, she is a simple and lively little girl, born optimistic, loves to joke, and loves to share all the fun and delicious. After catching up with the good-looking drama, she will also be ambitious to everyone, even if she encounters any troubles, she It will be resolved soon. She denied the title of "Girl's Heart"-when she was not working, she liked to lie at home and chase dramas, and science fiction and fantasy were her dishes. She enthusiastically gave an example. There is an American drama called "Stranger Things". It is about a little boy who disappeared in a small town in the United States. Everyone went to find him and found that there was an entrance to another world, exactly the same as this world. , But there is no one in that world. Such a story attracts her even more.

A few days ago, she took a four-day holiday, "very satisfied!" During the holiday, she made appointments with a few good friends for dinner, went to the playground, and watched dramas. If the vacation is longer, she would prefer to go home and stay with her family. Playing with mom and dad, playing with grandpa and grandmother, the family finds a beautiful place to go camping, and if you don’t go out, you can play mahjong with the whole family. She can stay away from looking at her mobile phone for a day.

Asked this girl who is not so girly what she wants, she said, "Now I want to accomplish everything in the moment, and every day will be better than the day before!"

Therefore, Zhou Ye, who hopes to be more progressive, raised his face and chatted with us about serious matters.

Before, people often said to me, "I like your performance of "Youth", but now everyone talks more about "Shanhe Ling". Let’s start the conversation with "The Order of Mountains and Rivers".

Gu Xiang in the play is a girl who is cold on the outside and warm on the inside. She helped Cao Weining, Zhang Chengling, and the singing sisters, but it didn't mean that she trusted them. She just felt that these people were very pitiful. Because Gu Xiang was picked up by her master when she was a child, she felt sorry for them and wanted to protect them.

She is defensive to everyone, and she will not trust anyone easily. In terms of character, Gu Xiang and I are a bit like. Both are more lively. What we don't quite resemble is our life experience and living environment.

When I first finished reading the script of "The Order of Mountains and Rivers", I loved Gu Xiang from the bottom of my heart. Gu Xiang grew up in Guigu where she was killed and beaten everywhere. Although she was lucky enough to meet Wen Kexing, the master who protected her, the rivers and lakes were sinister and Gu Xiang never really relaxed. Therefore, she can only protect herself by fierce methods. She looks acrimonious, slurs and curses, and she has to fight or kill at every turn. She looks very fierce and cruel, but her heart is really innocent and special. Kindness. When encountering people like Cao Weining, Zhang Chengling, and the singing sister Hua, Gu Xiang will rescue them and help them beat the gangsters. 

Many audience friends felt that the ending of Gu Xiang and Cao Weining was too miserable when they watched "The Order of Mountains and Rivers". Gu Xiang originally didn't know what the outside world was like. After she came to the world, she met Big Brother Cao, and the two people who loved each other were about to be happy. Unexpectedly, on the day of the wedding, Gu Xiang lost her lover so much that she would fight herself Life. I am also uncomfortable with this ending. It is not easy for them to get to this day. Why can't they live well? If I were to write an ending, it would definitely be two people living together happily forever.

For me, playing Gu Xiang should be more difficult than playing. This is my first time shooting a costume drama, and also my first time shooting a martial arts drama. "Shanhe Ling" really has a lot of martial arts, because it tells the story of the rivers and lakes, so I joined the group some time before I started, and learned some moves from the martial arts masters. 

In retrospect, the scene of the wedding was the most memorable. I had been shooting for three days in a row. I had been beating, killing, and hanging off Wia, and I would beat off some hair accessories from my hair. I didn't dare to hang on Wia at first, and the costume was so thick that I could easily trip on my feet. But I can’t take care of this when I shoot. This is Gu Xiang’s most emotional scene. I feel the same for Gu Xiang and can’t help crying. Until the end of my cry, I can’t tell whether my face is tears or saliva. , I hope that through this scene, everyone can feel Gu Xiang’s pain.

For me at this stage, whether it is a role that is more similar to myself or a completely different role, I am willing to give it a try. If the character of a character is very pleasing, I will have a sense of substitution when I read the script, I will like it, and I will really want to play it. 

In fact, my interest in acting began after I was in college. When I was a child, I learned piano, and I was not very sensible at that time. I thought it would be fine to play the piano every day after growing up and collect tickets. After being admitted to the Beijing Film Academy, we often watch movies. When the directors see their favorite movies, they will think "I can make such a great movie in the future". I am in the acting department, so I hope I can do it in the future. Acting in a particularly powerful movie may be the influence of the school atmosphere. I still remember that I watched some old movies when I was in school. I really liked "Scent of a Woman" and Marlon Brando. He played "The Godfather" very well.

In the film school, we had a lot of opportunities to meet the director and the crew. We tried again and again, and slowly met scenes that were willing to use our young actors, and started the road to filming. I will definitely read the script several times before filming. In addition to my own role, I have to read the whole story, write a short biography of the character, and talk to everyone at the script reading meeting. For example, when shooting "Ah Cradle", I often consulted sister Haiqing and the director. In the filming of "Youth in Youth", I would also ask the director: The girl I played has such a good family, why does she bully her classmates? The director told me that because her parents had very strict education for her, she was required to be particularly good since she was a child. She was under tremendous pressure and kept suppressing it, so she vented the pressure by bullying her classmates.

When taking the play, I don't worry about people comparing my previous works or achievements, as long as my requirements for myself will not change. My request is to do my best to shape each role. Every time I finish filming a film, I will have a certain evaluation of myself, and I will also look at other people's evaluations of me, as well as the opinions given to me by my predecessors, to integrate these. Every time, I hope I can do better next time. 

Up to now, I have been shooting for a few years, and I feel that I am not a talented actor, and I have to be a model worker. However, the sisters who brought me to the management team said that my biggest change and improvement is that I am more independent than before. When I first started filming, I would hide in the room and cry by myself every time I joined the group, especially wanting to go home.

Now I am more comfortable with the life of the crew than before. When I first joined the group, I still felt a little homesick. I hope to finish the filming soon, and become familiar with everyone. After work, I will play with the actors in the same group. When I was resting, I was playing with werewolf killing or something, so happy, I didn't want to kill it. I didn't want to be successful when I was filming "Shanhe Ling", and the same was true when filming "Ah Cradle". As actors, it seems that we can go to different places every time we film. In fact, there is not much time to spend in the local area, but we can eat a lot of local delicacies.

As I said just now, I want to do everything right now, and the current week is the best week.

 Do you often dream? Please share a dream that is more imaginative.

Zhou Ye:

I sometimes dream. Once, I dreamed that I received an acceptance letter from an owl, took the Hogwarts Express train to the magic school to learn magical magic, visited Hogsmeade Village, and met so many new friends. .

What is your dream day like? How to spend it?

Zhou Ye:

At this stage, my dream day is to sleep in late, and after waking up, I will lie in bed and watch a drama or hang out with my friends or watch a drama.

How to arrange the dream holiday? Stay at home or go out to play?

Zhou Ye:

Of course, it is best to have two days, so you can stay at home one day and go out to play one day!

What about the journey of your dreams? With whom, where to go, and how to play?

Zhou Ye:

With your family, you can go to the beach or play paragliding.

What is your dream job announcement?

Zhou Ye:

Go to Universal Studios to shoot hahahaha, I really want to go!

What kind of "dream skills" do you want to have?

Zhou Ye:

Teleport!

Which era is the dream era? why?

Zhou Ye:

Now, now is the best time. Grasp the moment.

[mjsparkour]

Okay, I asked you a while back for some fic recs and I am in need of more. Have you read any Gina x Ricky lately? Would love for you to share the ones you've loved

Hey!

I’m so glad you liked my rec the last time, there have been alot of fics that have been written since you last asked so this list was super hard to limit. There are alot in this list alone (17 overall I think). I could always recommend more, Rina writers are just so talented. So here's a list of some of my favorites <3

The Story of Us by peculiarblue

‘gina learns that sometimes things have to fall apart so that they can fall back together, right where they were always meant to be’ This is a complete 2 part chapter fic

Thee Rina bible. It’s everything we could ever want and need. Everything we want s2 to be and more. It’s an absolute masterpiece in every way. So many parts where I nearly died, the angst in the fight scene, the tension before they made up (the dress scene that reminded me so much of that amylaurie scene I lost my mind a little more), them being absolutely gone for each other!!! it’s just perfect in every way.

When Your With Me and Were Alone by orphan account

‘Ricky Bowen remembers everything.’ This is a one-shot three-part completed series.

My favorite series, it’s gotta be. It’s the first of its kind for rina fics. Lore does an incredible job of realistically writing rina’s characterization and reactions to Gina moving and what would happen after. A wonderfully talented writer, utilizing the power of her words while minimalist carries an effect. 

You Know Me Better by This_is_Riri

‘Gina was moving. This would be her sixth move in seven years. She was used to it by now...only this time, it felt different. Post episode 7.’ This is an incomplete multichapter fic.

This one really gets you at your gut. Heart-wrenching for both characters but mainly gina. The vents that happen to both characters, it just makes sense that so much more than their vunerabilities bonds them together. Perfect execution of the mutual understanding trope. 

and I know I’ve kissed you before by ptrprkrs

‘but I didn’t do it right / can i try again, try again, try again? or: 5 times ricky kisses gina + 1 time she kisses back’ This is a complete one-shot.

I love a good five times plus one fic. This one is heartwarming, cheeky and cute. It gives a healthy balance of the inevitable anguish that comes with pining (and not just for the character but for frustrated readers that just wanna put these kids together already) but also the sweet innocence and fluff from first love (or first love adjacent). 

what love might have done by rradioh

‘Ricky follows his gut. Everything changes. Some things stay the same.’ This is a completed one shot.

A good look into what could've been for season one. Reflecting moments that felt like they could’ve easily been placed in the show and showed the subtly of the growth of rinas relationship. It wasn’t something that was thrown into our faces but came gradually and this fic facilitates that growth with key moments that add to that. A Great one-shot.

And the 7th Thing I Hate The Most That You Do (You Make Me Love You) by iknowpIaces

‘It doesn’t help that he really does look good in his costume. God, she hates him. She hates him. She hates him. Then, he has the nerve to smile at her. And Gina hates how that smile alone sends her over the moon.’ This is a completed one shot.

SOOOO GOOD. No one understands, I love the trope where one person has a crush on the other and it's unrequited (or it seems that way) but eventually it's apparent that they're also just as gone for that person as soon as they start moving on, or feeling fine with having their feelings not reciprocated. Then they're both just mutual pining messes, ugh I love it. This fic handles the trope with care and rina just comes together organically. 

lesson in love by finelineholland

“Give me 4 weeks. I’ll help you out. Like… a crash course, if you will. 'How to be the perfect boyfriend for Nini Salazar-Roberts': A class taught by yours truly.” This is an incomplete multichapter fic.

A rom-com in the form of a fic. It’s so true to Ricky and Gina as characters and their dynamic. The writing is really good and gives so much in terms of plot. I really hope it updates soon because I love a good makeover/transformation fic, it gives she’s all that and geek charming in the best ways.  

take me to the feeling by peculiarblue

‘gina meets a stranger at a party she doesn't want to be at, and let's herself fall in love for the night, wherever it takes them’ This is a completed one shot.

Katie does it again. Another classic that makes us fall for rina while they fall for each other under the stars. You can’t help but feel something for them right off the bat because theirs something about the cheekiness of the dynamic and so real. You can’t help but fall for them, a must read.

The Last Time by mytearsricochet

‘this is the one where gina meets ricky and nothing is against them. except for a few misunderstandings, forgotten birthdays, wrong people, and missed opportunities. because as much as love doesn’t care about time, this is the one where time cares about love. and with time, everything falls into place.’ This is a completed one shot.

SO UNBELIAVBLEY UNDERRATED. This fic is too excellent, it's everything rinas could want. it’s an incredibly well done long slowburn that makes you strap in for the ride. With all those teasing moments where they're mutually pining and they're just on the precipice of finding out their feelings for one another only to hold back and stay friends (until the end of course). The end makes you work for it, but so worth it when you get to it. 

10 Days in “Love” by kindredspiritsxo 

‘It was almost the end of high school and nobody had it figured out. Especially Ricky Bowen. His parents had recently divorced, he had no idea what he's doing for college, his longtime girlfriend dumped him the month before and now he's been replaced by one of the most popular guys in school.

To make matters worse, he leaves for Europe in two days for his senior trip. The same senior trip that said ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend were going on. So, Ricky did what any desperate teenage boy would do to try and get his girlfriend back: he devised a plan. A plan that included the help of Gina Porter and playing pretend for 10 days.’ This is an incomplete multichapter fic.

I love a good traveling fic. Sometimes all it takes to get a character to wake up about things going on in their lives or feelings for character b is a good change of scenery. This fic does a great job of utilizing the enviornment to facilitate rinas love story through one of my favorite tropes, the fake dating trope. There's some angst along the way because nothing can ever come easy but it's not without its reward. It gives me major spiderman far from home vibes just solely because of petermjs adorableness and how that energy kinda translates to rina in this fic more so in the beginning before they have this repertoire. 

on the line by peculiarblue

‘with everything in her life finally at a stand still for once the last thing gina needs is one curly haired skater to come in and give her a reason to change again

(or, gina lets ricky back into her life the only way she knows how, at a distance, through daily voicemails, until her heart remembers why she can't love him anymore.)’ This is a completed one shot.

It hurts in the best way possible! that is the best way to describe this fic. Were taken on a journey where I personally wanted rina to just talk to each other in person but the magic was all in the voicemails and the power of their connection. There was a satisfying ending, I couldn't ask for more. If you haven’t read literally everything written by Katie go read it, it won't disappoint.

but everywhere just brings me back to you by ptrprkrs

‘or, ricky is just a little in love with the voice of the girl at the starbucks drive-thru’ This is a completed one shot.

An amazing fic that hits every spot effortlessly, even the ones you didn’t know you had. Like Ricky being a lovesick puppy going to a drive-thru just to hear Gina’s voice for coffee, he doesn’t drink or like. All the while they’d been connected all along. I’m a sucker for any kind of soulmate implications or stories where people are unknowingly connected like that so this ones a real favorite for me. It’s sweet, lighthearted and funny and a great read.

About Love by goldenthread

‘a series of Interconnected one shots and canonical aus for Ricky and Gina <3.’ This is an incomplete multichapter fic.

Here's where I enter some shameless self-promo...I wrote this recently. It’s just some loosely connected one-shots I have of rina based on canon. I write about an alternate first meeting, what would've happened if Gina had to understudy Nini in a rehearsal and (for a future chapter) a babysitting au (for what happened when Gina actually told Ricky the truth, she was babysitting her neighbor's kid when she talked to him at the skatepark). Check it out if it sounds like your thing!

in your eyes by finelineholland

‘you always try to hide the pain, you always know just what to say. i always look the other way. i'm blind, i'm blind. in you eyes, you lie, but i don't let it define you.’ This is an incomplete multichapter fic.

There is something about Rina being written about from an outside perspective that is just so excellent. The story starting with Nini noting the obvious chemistry and their connection and being threatened by it, I don’t know it's just so pleasing to me. Another fic like that one of my favorites (one that I’m pretty sure I’ve suggested in my other rec list), pretend i don’t see it in your eyes by spobylol. Another absolutely excellent read that does not miss once. This story in contrast also writes from rina’s perspective as well which I also thought was well done. 

right from the start I knew by anonymous

‘“Uh.” Ricky really didn’t think this far ahead. To be fair, it’s not like he’s ever thought ahead about anything ever in his life, so this is really to be expected. “We - forget about it? Maybe. Or like - I don’t know. I think I have to figure out how to be like - a person right now. By myself.”

“Same.” Gina says absently. “I’ve spent what feels like my whole life thinking about what other people think of me. It’d be nice to - to be able to try looking beyond that for a change.”

Post-Season 1. Ricky and Nini break up, but that doesn't mean things work out right away.’ This is a completed one shot.

The most iconic love confession I’ve read in a rina fic to date. it’s just so good, a certified rush every single time. The mutual pining hits spectacularly especially when you see just how soon it starts to hit Ricky that he’d made a mistake getting with Nini and him paying for that mistake. The writing only amplifies it. Also Ricky telling Gina he’s obsessed with her? yeah, I automatically added this fic to my list of faves.

If they only knew by goldenthread

‘Ricky Bowen never really bought into the whole soulmate thing (except he did) but life got in the way and now he's sort of pretending to date new (totally not intimidating) girl Gina Porter to win back the one and only Nini Salazar Roberts. Not a single thing could go wrong.

or

The one where Ricky and Gina aren't so good at the whole soulmate thing and they fake date.’ This is an incomplete multichapter fic.

More shameless self promo, sorry y’all but I’m super proud of this one. It’s a soulmate and fake dating au, combining two of my fave tropes into one to make this (surprisingly) long fic. It’s a whirlwind of emotions and a lot of moving parts in the story. I plan on updating within two months then after that there's three more chapters until its finished :) hope y’all enjoy it if you decide to give it a read!

you are the best thing & the worst thing (that’s happened to me this whole year) by tophsgf

‘Gina's roommate Nini is unbearable. What's more unbearable, however? Her very charismatic and totally off-limits sort-of boyfriend.’ This is a completed one shot. 

An amazing fic, I need more people to know about it! I really like fics where the development between Ricky and Gina is gradual, which seems to be the case for a lot of fics but for this one in particular I like its execution. Obviously, at first, he’s with Nini so it’s like the dynamic is at a point of comparison from the start but we quickly learn that thanks to good ole mutual understanding and overall compatibility Ricky and Gina are just right for each other. A fun read that hits all the bases.

[adorethedistance]

Something to Lose - Luke Patterson X Covington!Reader

JATP masterlist

Requested: luke imagine idea so Luke’s old gf is dead and she’s calebs daughter and is trying to get him to stay with her instead of cross over and then he doenst show up in stand tall . I just had this idea and near had a fit trying to get it down love ur writing also 💖

Warnings: angst, a lot of crying, I don’t even think there’s swearing in this one.

Words: 2293

A/n: I hope I did the request justice. This was kinda stressful the entire time writing it just bc of all the ideas that came. Like I’d be writing and then my brain would be like ‘hey what if this happened’ and then I’m like ‘oh that’s evil. put it in the fic.’ you know?

I begin nervously playing with the tulle skirt of my above-the-knee length party dress. I wanted a mini but dad refused to let me be visible to ghosts and lifers in anything ‘revealing’, so we compromised on above the knee. It’s a pretty dress, the black long sleeves are sheer and the back is completely open, and that’s as scandalous as dad would allow. Ironic considering his dancers’ costumes are cut out fringe leotards and nude tights.

And speaking of dancers,

“Who was that?” I ask Francesca as she comes to stand next to me by the black music stands, branded with the infamous Hollywood Ghost Club logo.

“Who was who?”She takes a tiny sip of water and readjusts her massive blue and purple feather headdress. Dad always chooses the most extravagant costumes. Sometimes I wonder how they’re able to dance without falling over from being so… top heavy I guess?

“That guy you were dancing in front of in the denim coat?”

“What are you talking about? I was dancing in front of Willie.”

“Nice try, I know that was Angie. Maybe next time.” On the first day the girls set foot in the place they were such amazing dancers, dad invited them to perform front and center if they wanted to join the club. The downside was he could never tell them apart. I don’t know how though, they’re not indiscernibly identical. I made it my goal to always be able to tell them apart, and they made it their goal to get me to mix them up just once.

“We’re gonna get you one of these days.”

“Yeah, sure. But, uh, do you know who he is?”

“I don’t but maybe you will?”

“What?” Glancing up to Fran’s face she gives me a look and directs me with her eyes before smiling smugly and walking away. I follow her gaze to see my dad standing on the far side of their table, talking with the attractive stranger. His excitement makes his every movement animated and he can’t even seem to string a coherent sentence. Inviting them to sit down, dad starts saying something about Willie and magic? The conversation doesn’t last long and once he leaves, I debate whether or not to approach the handsome stranger.

“Who are we looking at?” I’m startled when I hear Angie’s voice in my right ear.

“Oh. The one at the front table in the denim overcoat.”

“You mean the one Franny was dancing in front of?”

“She already tried that.”

“Dammit!” I laugh at yet another failed attempt.

“I don’t even know why you guys bother anymore.”

“Whatever. Why are we staring at him?”

“I’m debating whether or not I should talk to him.” Angie sends me a look that says ‘have more faith in yourself’ which I gleefully ignore.

“Shoot your shot. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“My dad could interrupt and say something totally embarrassing. He wasn’t done talking to them, he just had to do rounds.”

“Girl, have you seen how many people are here tonight? He’s not gonna be done any time soon, so go while you still have some time!” Angie punctuates her sentence by gently pushing me forward, and I stumble in the direction of the cute stranger. The sudden jerky movement seems to catch his attention and his eyes soften once they meet mine. He smiles softly as a greeting and when I return the look, he takes that as an invitation to walk my way. I’m standing in the middle of the dance floor, frozen partially out of fear and partly out of curiosity.

“Hey, I’m Luke,” denim extends his hand politely and… extremely flusteredly? He sounds breathless and a touch fearful. I’m used to the energy as the club intimidates first-timers. I take his hand,

“Y/n.” Omitting my last name tends to do me a lot of good.

“Wow. That’s really pretty,”

“It’s nothing special.”

“You’re really pretty.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

“So, uh-“ he trails off in search of a conversation starter, “What brings you to the Hollywood Ghost Club?”

“Oh, you know... just uhm- just a night out.”

“Do you come to the Club a lot?”

“You could say that. It’s pretty much a second home.”

“Y/n, darling. There you are!” Luke watches my face drop from its pleasant ‘chatting with guests’ expression, to a relaxed almost-frown.

“Here I am.”

“And I see you’ve met Luke.”

“Yes sir.”

“I trust my daughter is keeping you in good company?”

“Your daughter?” Luke nearly chokes on the mystical air of the Hollywood Ghost Club.

“I did not choke!”

“You choked.” Luke and I argue over the details of how we met, in the backstage/dressing room area of the Club. It feels like lifetimes ago, but it wasn’t. And yet in such a short time, we had become completely infatuated and comfortable with one another. So much so that me wearing a floor-length evening gown and jewels doesn’t make me feel out of place with his jeans and flannel shirt.

Despite my light laughter, Luke’s face is fairly flat. He’s beginning to stare off into space, inattentive from our lull in the conversation.

“Hey, you okay?” He snaps back into reality.

“Uh, yeah.”

“You don’t sound so sure.” After a long moment of hesitation, he begins to speak, not looking up from the scuff on the linoleum flooring.

“Y/n, I have something to tell you.”

“What’s up?”

“The boys and I… We… we have unfinished business…”

“Of course you do. That’s why you’re here- why all of us are here.”

“We’re gonna play the Orpheum tonight. At seven.”

“That’s so cool! Tha-” I feel my words trapped in my throat. “That’s your unfinished business... Play the show you never got to before you died.” I feel a well of tears flooding my bottom lash line. They’re not tears of sadness. “That’s your unfinished business. And you’re playing there tonight. Why didn’t you tell me as soon as you found out?!” I cry out in anguish. Luke’s face falls from a somber reluctance to break the news, to utter heartbreak.

“Y/n, I-”

“I thought we had something.”

“We do!”

“Then why would you wait to tell me until,” I check the analog clock on the wall behind him, “An hour before you go?!”

“I wanted to enjoy our last day together without having to think about it. I didn’t think it’d make you this angry.”

“Well, I am angry, Luke!” My sentence is punctuated by Luke getting zapped by a jolt of electricity. He groans as he tries to remain standing upright. The tears streaming down my face slow from a mix of anger to extreme worry.

“What the fuck was that?”

“Your dad gave us a ‘club stamp’ that first night we left.” My face falls slack as I register what he’s just said. Without another word, I furiously push out of my chair and out of the dressing room. Each stride is larger than the last as I let my legs carry me into the wings of the Club’s circular stage. When I have the familiar silver tinsel entrance in sight, I stop cold in my tracks. In front of me stands Alex, in a dazzling pink coat and diamond-covered oxfords, and Reggie, in a luxurious red vest and coat covered in black floral detailing. In front of them stands my father in his extravagant purple number that’s reminiscent of his outfits he wore when performing.

My frustrated steps carried me into his sight and the volume of my strides drew the two boys’ attention behind them. Luke. Luke stupidly followed me out here, and father merely looks at me and blinks authoritatively before redirecting his gaze onto my boyfriend.

“There you are. I knew I was missing a third musketeer.” With a snap of his fingers, dad has poofed Luke out from behind me and poofs him back in between his bandmates. When he reappears he’s wearing a deep blue suit with a black, tiered chiffon collar and bowtie.

“Isn’t it nice that you’re all here together?” Dad launches into his huge speech, seemingly convincing them to stay at the club. He mentions everything they want can be theirs here like Willie, the glory of performing, connection with an audience. As he speaks, he steps forward and reaches up. I go to yell and reach for Luke, but nothing comes out. There’s no sound coming from my mouth, and the undersurface of my black heels feel frozen solid to the ground. Dad notices my movement and shoots me a look to knock it off. Luke sees and as he moves to turn his head, dad reaches up to keep his focus forward before adjusting Luke’s collar for him. He continues with his big speech as another jolt graces all three boys at once.

“I suggest you accept my offer because the clock is ticking,” he downs one more sip of water, preparing to perform, “Ouch. You know where to find me.”

When he disappears onto the stage, I’m released from my spot and the momentum of my struggling launches me forward. Luke turns around just in time to catch me and once he does he doesn’t release me from his arms.

“Luke, I didn’t-”

“Shhh. It’s okay. You’re okay.” He holds me in his arms, one hand on my head to cradle me close to his chest and the other wrapped soothingly around my waist.

“He’s right,” I choke out my words through heavy sobs, “You don’t know that the Orpheum is really your unfinished business. What if it’s not? These jolts could kill you, Luke. For good. My dad may be powerful, but he doesn’t have the power to bring you back from this.”

When I look up, Luke has a heartbroken expression painted all over his face. Before I can speak again, Alex poofs out from beside us. Sharing a worried expression, Luke and I look out onto the stage where dad has him soloing front and center.

“I-I-I, I made a-a promise-”

“To Julie, I know. But if she’s really as wonderful, and as kind, and understanding, and loving as you describe her to be, won’t she understand?” Luke’s expression softens in realization.

“You’re actually considering staying with Caleb?” Reggie asks Luke incredulously. Before he can receive an answer, he, too, is poofed out onto the stage in Alex’s previous spot, to play a jazzy bass solo. Luke looks all around the backstage area, at the audience, between his band members, and at my dad. Finally, his eyes settle on mine. I can’t read his expression; I wish I knew what was going on inside his head.

“Stay.”

Luke and I run out of time when dad calls his name. He’s poofed us apart so I’m frozen against the downstage wall, out of sight from the audience, and Luke is struggling his way onto the stage.

Dad has him soloing for the audience, to create a musical dialogue between the two of them. Luke, conflicted, looks between me and my dad unsure of how to feel. The performer side of him must be loving the high that comes with performing in the club, but the loyal side of him, I can tell, is yearning for Julie.

When the song ends, the three boys share a single look of concern and remorse, no doubt for Julie. I can’t help but feel selfish asking him to stay. It’s not fair for me to ask him to choose between me and her... But that’s not what I’m asking. If all three of them stay here, they don’t risk dying for good. Surely Julie can understand choosing life, or the afterlife rather, over freedom is a rational trade.

Coming to his senses Luke runs off stage.

“Y/n-”

“It’s selfish of me to ask you to stay-”

“I’m staying.”

“What?”

“I don’t want to die, Y/n. If that means I have to play in your dad’s band, fine. But at least we can be together.” Luke runs the pad of his thumb across my cheek to wipe away the tear shed out of joy. Our moment is ended when Alex and Reggie have also returned backstage.

“Boys, if we stay here, we’ll get to live and make music for as long as we want.”

“You said it yourself, we made a promise. To Julie.” Reggie almost looks like he wants to cry.

“If this is what you want- to spend eternity playing jazz solos behind Caleb -I can’t stop you. But I’m not gonna let Julie down. Not again.” Alex searches Luke’s face for any hesitation. When he doesn’t find the change of heart he’s looking for, Alex nods and fidgets with his drumsticks in one hand. The sudden swell of emotion leads the two of them to hug each other tightly; I can’t imagine their pain of knowing they might never see each other again. When they let go, Luke and Reggie share in a hug and the heartache pulls Alex into their hug.

“Can you do me a favor?” Luke asks, sniffling away a few tears. Reggie and Alex nod,

“Anything.”

“Will you tell Julie she’s a star for me, one last time?” A sharp jolt hits the three of them in unison once more; a signal that it’s really time to say goodbye. With sorrowful smiles, Alex and Reggie poof out of the Hollywood Ghost Club for the last time.

When he turns around, Luke’s face is red and puffy from crying and the sight breaks my heart clean in half. I pull him into a hug and press a lingering kiss to his cheek.

“I love you, Luke.”

“I love you, Y/n.”

***

A/n: YOWZA this really made my heart hurt for Julie sm. I love her and if this were canon I’d have actually kermit.

Taglist: @caitsymichelle13 @kaitlyn2907 @itz-jas @crybabyddl @kcd15 @kinda-really-lost @calamitykaty @morganayennefertyrell @n0wornever @dream-a-little-bigger-x @mrstodorooki @vicesvsvirturesfanfic @curlybrownhairedboys @amazinggracy @kaitieskidmore1 @asdfghjkl-fanfics @ghostlygreenbean @juliefromaustralia @merceret @jemimah-b99 @ifilwtmfc @thesweetestsinner @imsydneywalker @lovesanimals @thebloodthirstyvampress @bumbleberry-pie @losers-club6 @tefilovesreading @dmcfarland1@joynerxmercer @kexrtiz @talk-on-the-street @phantompogues @konciousdreamer @sunsetcurvej

[cornus27florida]

First of all, maybe this incoming fact gonna be confusing but please wait as I try to explain everything properly + nicely

I haven't read the series before

Actually Syaoran (Xiaolang-Chinese version) Li and Sakura Kinomoto are characters that becomes together on various (ani-manga) works made by CLAMP. CLAMP is the group of mangaka that has similar artstyle to the point they could draw a particular series as a whole... The most popular work they're made is "Cardcaptor Sakura (CCS)" - which recently have sequel named "Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Arc"... In between the time of CCS & CCS: CCA, there's a work made by CLAMP which using aged up Syaoran and Sakura as the main couple for their shounen series "Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE (TRC)". So in short, 3 groups of depiction of SAME pairing ahahahah : Classic SyaoSaku, CCS: Clear Card, and then TRC. The age of each is different (I forgot the exact number but imho not matter much) and have different story to make depiction of the pairing varies greatly - mostly from how Syaoran as the ML (Male Lead, and also Deuteragonist = like Frederick's role in the story of CPC) acts. That's very subjective which group depiction to like, but it's general consensus to agree that classis syaosaku is the best as refreshing - while the other two groups kinda too emo

recommend reading the manga or watching the anime first?

Oh boy, this the hardest question to answer personally as it's very subjective... Most people loves anime because it's give color and moving visual... while some people loves manga more because it's classic and gives some insights that anime staff usually cut off which make the fandom dubbed manga as the canon (official) while the anime is mere adaptations

Personally? I have eyestrain to make me impossible to watch multiple anime episodes in one go (unlike most people can) SO I always prefer reading manga because I can binge it...

BUT Syaoran and Sakura is a sweet pairing that has very special place in my heart, to the point that I like 2 versions of them altogether. Anime ofc always in color, so the fashion designs of them always nicely shown with the color as very close related to anime development - CCS is classic colored, TRC has melancholic coloring that memorable for sadness, and CCS: CCA is the recent version which so soft + sad

For beginner of a fandom that has no problem with their eyes as unlike me, I recommend the anime version first to get amazed with the colors. Anime also often time introducing characters first especially in the case we forgor or not make sure, so for the beginner it's very nice experience!!!

Then (or if have eye problem like me) after watch the anime, you could compare everything with the manga as original source. There's many differences between anime and manga, like there's costume designs that only appear in the anime - or certain parts of the story depicted differently in anime vs manga. CLAMP's most powerful quirk in their works is how they designing an outfit - everything always in minute detail that makes one thinks... Does this the very nice outfit?

so in regard of the battle outfits of them.... errrrrrr???

All of the story of CLAMP where Syaoran and Sakura as the main couple depict them to need to have magical fights so they are in need for battle outfits. Although all of the battle outfits really nice, colorful and could be meaningful espc as relating to their story part, also very cute and powerful

Honestly I don't have favorite battle outfit of them yet, but like Frederick's - Syaoran's usual battle outfit is green. That's why I have no problem to imagine him in any of battle outfits

For Sakura as the protagonist, FL (Female Lead, like Gwen) - she had lots more of outfit designs than Syaoran's - but the reason varies and not because she loves sewing like Gwen... but because her cousin is a rich and multi-talented girl which adores her so much as she somehow could always prepare perfect outfit for the incoming magical battle [or in TRC, cuz she's a princess that going around with her Syaoran on many different worlds and universe]. Example! When in need to fight in the rainy situation, somehow her cousin already made a battle outfit that waterproof. Syaoran himself rarely change his battle outfit unlike Sakura, but he still has variations

Classic SyaoSaku (CCS)

From the original series of CCS! They're elementary school age pair ahahah, but that's what make their relationship journey to be much sweeter? No kisses (kiss is great and romantic, but why literal children should depicted kissing each other to shows their love to each other when another option is possible?) but lotta of hugs and many act of love that not related to skinships... Like giving each other a handmade teddy bear, protect each other on magical battle

If CPC is magical girl genre that allowing their love interest who gender is a male, so like GwenDerick - totally the similar outfit design could happen. All of GwenDerick outfits in the CPC are slay, even with Frederick mostly stuck in his casual Green Plaid Jacket ahaha while Gwen wardrope power +++

^ technically not a battle outfit but green matching dress? <3

CCS: clear card (the sequel!) - They are in middle school now

^ battle outfits that are all green ahahahhaha <3 it so much Important difference in CCS: CCA, to the original version which is CCS - Their coloring espc at hair is much softer than the classic which make the color of the battle outfit overall changing to be looks softer and fits recent anime update

TRC (magical world/multi-verse travelling, HS age!)

The most edgy and emo pairing depiction of them lmao, and the one that highly detailed with accesories and stuffs so imho not really good to be replicated - but nice to see!!!

BONUS : GREEN BATTLE OUTFITS OF THEM

Hello! Sorry for bothering you but I wonder if you ever read/watch Card Captor Sakura, where the main endgame couple - Syaoran (Xiaolang) Li and Sakura Kinomoto - ends together is for me like Gwen x Frederick romantic relationship in both of look and love story. Gwen with her hibby of sewing could get a nice outfit (including magical girl dress if she like) and Frederick - Syaoran's outfit espc the battle outfit is 🟢green like the all of the color theme of Frederick. In nutshell, if you ever wonder what's Gwen and Frederick looks if they wear Sakura and Syaoran battle outfit? Thank you!!! Sorry for trouble

Sorry, but I haven't read the series before. I took a look at their battle outfit designs and they're pretty cute I could totally see them wearing it. I don't know if I'll have time to read it since finals are coming up(I'm in high school btw). When I make time, would you recommend reading the manga or watching the anime first?

Note: I might say that I'm going to read/watch it but there is a 50% chance I'm actually going to

[theonlygamergost]

Nature’s effect - Fd!Au

This fanfiction is based on the Family Dynamic au made by @antarctic-bay ctic-bay if you would like to know more, go check them out!!!

Also please bear in mind that the things written in this might not be canon!

This fic was corrected by the lovely @im-default

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Techno started working at the local vivarium and finds out that nature can change and calm even the most hyperactive people, just like Tommy

I did a poll on the Fd!au server about who my next fic should be focused on and Techno/Tommy won, so here you have it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Warning! Swearing

Enjoy~

“I’m sure they’ll love the flowers! Thank you and have a nice day!” Camille waved the last customers off and started cleaning the counter of the rotten leaves and flowers that she had cut off the last order, Techno was kneeling in front of a shelf busy applying tags on products.

“Techno are you almost done with those?”

After saving some flowers from Wilbur’s room, Techno had taken a liking to tend plants and gardening in general, the local vivarium owner Camille had taught him many tips and tricks that made him a perfect employee for the job.

He was pretty hyped for his first day at work, well... it was more of a trial per se, it was a test to see how he would react to the human interactions and how fast he could get the hang of the profession, which went great in his opinion:

Camille was great at explaining how to take care of the plants and wrapping the pots for gifts, she was so elegant while she passed the ribbon around the wrapping paper Techno almost tripped by getting distracted while looking at her.

His job in the magic home of plants was pretty simple: water the plants that weren’t irrigated automatically, check for parasites, diseases, or rotten leaves, restock the expositive plants and help costumers for whatever they needed, and of course, if he didn’t know what to do, just call Camille or any other employee for help.

“You did great today Techno! The old couple you helped earlier seemed very satisfied!” Techno blushed at the compliment since he couldn’t handle them and ended up stuttering, “T-thank you…”

“There are still thirty minutes before we need to close… Are you free to stay a bit later? I can show you how the irrigators system works and where the shelves outside go when closing the shop” He froze as he took his phone out of his pocket.

There where multiple messages coming from none other than the gremlin, and the last three (out of probably twenty all saying “I am bored” and “Answer pig” ) where what caused the strong reaction:

Gremlin

YOu are working at the plant place, right?

Gremlin

Big P and Big W won’t be home till late

Gremlin

Im bored so im coming over

Oh no…

Oh no no no-

“Um... Camille? My brother is at home alone, can he wait for me here until I finish?” The kind girl did not hesitate for a moment, “Absolutely! Not many customers arrive this late so there will be no problem!” Techno released the breath he didn’t notice he was holding, texting angrily back at Tommy, cursing at him to wait until he answered before taking initiations.

Just after he learned how the irrigation system worked, a familiar red and white t-shirt popped into view, “If you want Techno, you can ask your brother to help you take care of the greenhouses, it’s an easy job and you said he was bored at home yes?” Techno nodded and thanked the owner of the vivarium, he walked up to Tommy, who as soon as he saw him, burst into a laugh.

“BWAHAHA!!! WHAT ARE YOU WEARING TECHNO?!” The pink-haired boy looked down at his outfit, which consisted of his school uniform, a pair of green rubber boots, and a cute green apron with a daisy onto it. “What are you laughing at Tommy?” his younger brother was holding his stomach, wiping a tear off of his eyes, “The apron! It’s so- Pffffff-!” Techno sighed, shaking his head, “You are an absolute child… Phil wears an apron when he cooks too and so does Tubbo when he is in art class! How is it funny to you?! It’s a simple piece of clothing!!!” He turned around hoping Tommy would follow, there was no way he was giving him a pair of scissors so a watering can should busy him enough to avoid boredness.

“Hey! I’m not a child! I’m a big man Technoblade you should know” he puffed his chest to look high and mighty, “And how do you not find aprons funny big T?! They are like a little skirt… ok fine ignore me then” noticing how Techno wasn’t turning around nor paying him attention, he followed him to the greenhouses in silence looking at the number of plants and flowers that were littered everywhere.

As soon as Techno stopped he handed Tommy a watering can full of water that he almost dropped, “WHOA- what the hell man?! This is heavy!” Ignoring his brother's complaints, he adjusted his glasses and grabbed a pair of scissors, “Water the third and fifth row, don’t get the leaves wet, pour it directly on the soil and-” Techno turned to face him, “Don’t make a lake in the pot, stop watering as soon as you made a slow circle around the plant” As soon as he finished talking, he kneeled in front of the first plant of the first row, leaving Tommy with a heavy watering can and overcomplicated instructions.

“Don’t make a lake and don’t do this a-and don’t do that gne gne gne… Ugh what a pain in the ass” Tommy started to do as Techno instructed, but as time went on, something in him changed, going from a grunting face and not caring if he poured too much water, to a more relaxed expression, softly moving the leaves aside so water wouldn’t get on them.

Techno didn’t notice this change at first since he was too focused on removing dead flowers and leaves, but when he looked up to check if the gremlin was doing ok, he stopped himself from talking when he noticed that Tommy was crouched down, holding a ladybug in his hands.

Techno smiled at the sight of his brother becoming calmer when in contact with nature, he was so cute…

Quickly snapping a picture and sliding his phone back in his pocket he walked up to him, kneeling as well. “What’cha looking at?”

Tommy didn’t bother looking at his brother, his eyes were fixated on the small bug, “A Ladybug… it has five spots… Does that mean it’s five years old?” Techno softly chuckled, “No, that’s a common misconception Tommy, the spots are to warn predators that they don’t taste good, a self-defense mechanism” Tommy looked up at Techno and back to the ladybug, “But why five?” the older brother spotted another one of the small creatures, he waited for it to walk on his finger and held it close to Tommy’s one, “It represents which species it is, look- they both have five spots, meaning they come from the same category” Tommy added nothing, too absorbed into admiring the small bug pacing around the palm of his hand, instead, Techno placed his one back on the plant, snipping away a molded leaf, “Farmers believe that if they find a ladybug with less than seven spots means that they’ll have a good harvest, the contrary if it has more than seven, it’s only a folk legend though” Tommy decided to follow suit and moved his hand closer to the plan, allowing the small red and black insect to go back on the plant it came from.

“C’mon, your watering can’s empty, let’s go fill it up” The blonde boy smiled and nodded, grabbing the empty plastic container and following his older brother, looking at the variety of flowers and plants the greenhouse sheltered.

The rest of the time spent tending to the plants was calm and relaxing, nature really changed Tommy since he didn’t say once that he was bored or he never tried to start an argument, he looked at peace watering the small plants, kneeling to smell the flowers and making sure they weren’t diseased.

“Do you want to cut off the brown leaves? You look like you want to look at the plants a bit closer, I can water the rest” Tommy was surprised when Techno held in front of him the pair of scissors, he hesitated for a second, making sure that his brother was confident in his decision, but all he got from Techno was a soft smile.

Tommy remained in this unusual state all the way back home, let’s say that this moment of… “peace” was ruined when Wilbur came home and showed Tommy the picture Techno took of him behind his back.

[jonahlovescoffee]

“good morning, sunshine” | J.M.

part one of the better together series

a/n: jonah’s latest instagram story with wes just hits different (*¯︶¯*) i mean have you heard his morning voice?! like damn i want it to be the first thing i hear when i wake up everyday :’( thanks to @chilling-seavey for sending the story into my dm early in the morning, it has been stuck in my head all day and i can’t focus on doing anything else >:(

summary: your daughter was far too enthusiastic in the morning.

word count: 1390

warnings: jonah being cute with kid, fluff overload, one occurrence of the f word, suggestive themes in the end.

“Daddy, mommy, wake up!” A cheerful 3-year-old child with shoulder-length brown hair and mesmerizing hazel eyes swung the door to your room open and rushed in, her teddy bear held tightly to her chest with an arm, her small feet thudding against the floor in an inconsistent rhythm as she ran towards the bed you shared with Jonah.

You immediately placed your phone aside on the nightstand upon the arrival of your enthusiastic daughter. You had already woken up moments ago but were reluctant to leave Jonah’s arms that were wrapped tightly around your body. No matter how many times you had woken up in this position with him, you’d never get tired of the way he protectively held you in his arms even as he slept, the sound of his soft snores and the comforting warmth that his body radiated.

“Morning, sweetie,” your lips broke into a smile when she stood on her tippy toes near the edge of the bed to kiss your cheek. She then proceeded to join both of you on the bed, squeezing her way between you two and making herself comfortable by purposely stretching her limbs out here and there so that you’d offer her more space. Her rough movements made Jonah stir from his peaceful slumber, rubbing his eyes as he grumbled under his breath about how much he needed more sleep.

As soon as he saw his daughter though, his initial moody expression brightened up instantly, his frown replaced by a broad grin and his eyes filled with nothing but all the love in the world. “Good morning, sunshine,” he said softly in his raspy morning voice, giving her a kiss on her head before asking, “what’s gotten you so excited this morning?”

“You have no idea what I dreamed about last night!” She exclaimed and clapped her hands excitedly.

“Oh? Lemme guess, did you dream about me?” You joked, booping her nose with your pointer finger, earning a small giggle from her.

“Yes, mommy, you were a princess in my dream! Can you believe that?” Her answer came as a shock to you since you weren’t expecting her dream to include anyone else besides Disney princesses and magical creatures. She continued to narrate the events of her dreams, her eyes sparkling with joy as she told you about herself being a fairy that could make pretty goens for anyone with just a swing of her wand. “You were so pretty in the dress that I made for you that a prince fell in love with you and you both lived happily ever after!” She stared dreamily into the air as she recalled the ending of her dream.

“Was I the knight in shining armor in your dream, little one?” Jonah asked but she shook her head which made his face fall in mock disappointment and his lips formed a little pout. She patted his arms as if to comfort him so when she opened her mouth to speak again, you both had expected her to say something comforting to cheer him up.

But she, apparently, had other plans in mind.

“The prince was too handsome to be you, daddy,” she said innocently, his eyes widening in shock as he fully processed the words that left his beloved daughter’s mouth. You put a hand over your mouth in attempt to smother your laughter but failing terribly once your daughter turned to you and asked you cluelessly if she had said anything wrong because Jonah had turned to the opposite side so that his back was facing her, not only offended by the fact that his own daughter technically called him ugly, but also the fact that his girlfriend married a stupid prince in her dream.

“Daddy, are you mad at me?” She asked, tugging on his shirt but receiving no answers from him in return.

“Daddy just needs some hugs and kisses,” you whispered into her ear once your laughter died down. “So why don’t we go give him some?” You asked, in which she responded with a nod before climbing to his side of the bed, throwing her arms over him and hugging him tight like a koala. Jonah tried his best to not give in to her clinginess or the adorable puppy dog-eyes that she was giving him, but he failed miserably the moment you joined in the hug from behind and both of you started to pepper his face with kisses simultaneously.

He finally caved in, bursting into a fit of laughter as the ticklish sensation on his face soon became too much for him to handle. “Stop,” he said breathlessly through his laughter, shifting his body so he was now laying flat on his back, pulling both of you close by his arms, one of you laying on each side. The happiness that he felt right then and there was so immense that it was impossible for him to put into words. Fooling around and having fun with two of his favorite girls in the entire universe were few of the many moments in his life he would cherish forever.

“So you’re not mad at me anymore?” Your daughter asked in fear of being unforgiven by her father whom she loved so dearly.

“Don’t be silly—you know it’s impossible for me to stay mad at you, my little ball of sunshine,” he patted her head gently and she heaved a sigh of relief at his words. “Since today is a weekend, why don’t we go get some ice cream and a fairy costume too in honor your amazing dream?” She perked up right away at his suggestion. “What do you think?”

“It depends if the fairy costume comes with a fairy wand. If it does, then yes it’s a great plan!”

“Even if it doesn’t, I’m going to buy you one anyways,” Jonah said matter-of-factly. You smiled to yourself as you watched the cute interaction between your boyfriend and your child.

“But you must buy mommy a pretty dress too!” Your little girl requested and of course, what she says always goes because Jonah never had the heart to say no to her. Plus, he would kill to see you in a new dress, although it’d probably end up on the bedroom floor right after you put it on.

“Yes, yes, sweetheart,” he kissed her once again before letting her hop down the bed. “So go brush your teeth now and we’ll have breakfast at home before we leave.”

“Thanks daddy, you’re the best!” With that, she ran out of the room before reappearing at the door again shortly. “Oh, and daddy?”

“Hmm?” Jonah looked at her with a raised brow.

“You are the most handsome person in the world, even more handsome than the prince in my dreams.”

She scurried away before Jonah could react. Let’s just say the smile didn’t leave his face for the rest of the day, even when his little ball of sunshine threw a huge temper tantrum and knocked over her entire platter of food on purpose during their dinner in a fancy restaurant.

Bonus:

“You spoil her too much, love,” you said to him after you put your little devil to sleep. You joined him on the living room couch to watch a movie before bed, snuggling into him.

He merely smiled. “I think I spoil you quite a lot too, dear,” he commented, lacing his fingers through yours, his gaze fixated onto the tv.

“Really? Because it doesn’t seem like it.” You watched him place the tv remote on the coffee table before turning his attention towards you.

“Hmmm....why don’t,” he leant in closer so his lips was near to your ear. His breath alone sent shivers up your spine and when he continued speaking, you swore you forgot how to breathe. “Why don’t you put on the pretty little dress that I bought you today if you wish see how much I can spoil you.”

Finally, here’s the exact sentence you were waiting for.

“Who says that I’m not wearing it now?” You took off the hoodie and kicked off the shorts that you were wearing, to reveal the golden silk nightgown underneath that was so short that it barely covered your butt yet it accentuated all your curves perfectly.

“Fucking hell, baby,” was the last thing he said before pinning you down onto the couch.

[consumeconstantly]

Small Buff Girl Sightings Ch. 1

Summary: The first thought that comes to mind as he looks at the scene in front of him is: wow, she’s cute. The second thought is: holy shit, did she just flip a six foot, two hundred fifty pound man into the ground without blinking an eye? 

Thank goodness there’s time for second… and third.. And fourth impressions? 

Seriously, how many creepy people and criminals does this girl deal with on a daily basis?

1(you are here) | 2 | 3 | ao3

________________________________________________________

Damian Wayne is sure that if his elder siblings were watching him right now, they would be screeching at him to go help the girl. But-- well. His siblings and his father aren’t watching, and he isn’t sure whether or not the girl needs his help. The weirdly hooded man who is rapidly closing in on her might just live in the same direction. Surely, this time, his instincts are wrong. He’s only following them for peace of mind. Nothing is going to happen.

Otherwise known as: Damian isn’t particularly feeling up to saving another girl outside of his Robin costume and then being come on to. Why girls always have to have a Thing for people who saved them, Damian will never understand. He can’t imagine attempting a relationship with somebody who saved him, though admittedly the pool of candidates of people who are superior to him in capability is small, and far too annoying or old for him to ever consider dating them. And even thinking about having a relationship with somebody who couldn’t take care of themselves gives him the chills.

This leads to a very contemplative two minutes of walking the same path that the girl and the hooded person were taking-- he is not following them--until the girl who is being stalked darts into an alleyway. Of course, the hooded person follows her. 

Is she trying to get herself killed? Damian can’t believe the sheer idiocy of the girl. At least the last girl he saved hadn’t done anything as stupid; her attacker cornered her near her home. Gotham girls know better than to duck into random alleyways. There is too much crime in Gotham for anybody with self respect to be so dumb.

With a sigh, and a wish that his brothers and father hadn’t beat a moral conscious into him, he lopes over to the alleyway, expecting to have to break up whatever futile struggle the girl put up with her stalker, or maybe even knock out the guy because by now, she must either be unconscious or on her way to other unpleasant circumstances.

Except.

By the time he gets over to the alleyway, the girl walks out unscathed, phone pressed to her cheek. 

“Yes, you should check 12th arrondissement, two streets down from the Opera Bastille. He’s 6 foot, blonde haired and brown eyed. Wearing a grey hoodie and adidas.” The girl brushes past him, blinked at his appearance, then continued on the phone. “No problem, officer.”

Damian looks into the alleyway and there the man is, head lolled to one side. Unconscious, probably. His hands are tied up with a pink plastic zip tie. He looks out of the alleyway, eyes trailing after the girl who just left. She barely reaches his shoulder. Maybe, Damian thinks drily, Parisian girls are different. 

At least Damian won’t get another adoring fangirl today.

#

Damian is sitting at a coffee shop across from the Louvre. It’s overpriced, and the coffee tastes awful, but it’s still coffee, and he’s tired. He’s here to check out the akuma that the Paris media keep reporting about, even though the Justice league of America shouldn’t have to deal with Europe’s problems, and also largely believed that it was a publicity stunt on Mayor Bourgeois' behalf. 

Now, the Justice League of America isn’t really sure what is happening, but surely it can’t be that bad if the city has no damage, right? 

What a joke. Damian has been here three days (count them-- three) and he is almost sure that he has been transported into some alternate dimension where some little kid’s imagination went wild and plopped the ever loving conundrum of Paris, France into Damian’s hands. 

On the first day he arrived, there was a pigeon akuma-- apparently, one of the more frequent ones that popped up. Ladybug-- one of two consistent Parisian Heroes-- made quick work of him once she arrived on the scene, but it took her a while to arrive. Almost a whole half hour. Which meant that the streets of Paris were filled with bird poop and flooded with more pigeons than Damian knew existed, and he lived in Gotham. The other hero, Chat Noir, arrived after Ladybug, but handled the situation more warily. He later found out that this was due to the superhero being allergic to feathers, as witnessed by a video on this site called the Ladyblog.

Due to some freak magic power called the Miraculous Cure that Ladybug called after her battles, the streets had been blessedly cleaned, and the pigeons flew back to their mostly hidden existence. The world was right, once more. Then, on the second day, he tried and failed to save that weird girl who knocked out a man who had a good hundred pounds on her. He’s not sure that tried and failed is applicable to the situation, as the girl seemed competent enough to take care of an issue like that on her own. 

Today, another akuma appeared. His name is Deliverer, a postman who had one too many customers complain about a package not being delivered in a timely manner.

Damian isn’t really sure how he felt about having people turning into villains over such trivial things. He is also no longer sure whether he is the best choice for this mission. His emotions tend to run hot, and there is the chance that he might become compromised. Because if there are people out there turning into villains over not being able to feed some pigeons, there is no way that Damian’s own annoyance with his family and the random people on the streets won’t be taken advantage of. However, out of his family, it’s not like there’s any better choice. Dick, maybe, but he’s busy with Kor’i and his daughter, and they won’t want to move to France. And he doubts that the superheroes of Paris want a metahuman trying to solve the case in Paris after seeing how much damage a normal citizen can do when akumatized.

It only takes ten minutes for Ladybug and Chat Noir to arrive on the scene this time. Whether it is because it is a new akuma, or whether it is because they were closer to the scene of the crime, Damian can only guess. He thinks it to be a combination of the two; Mr. Pigeon is a very common akuma and the people deal with his issues quite often, thus he is probably lower on the priority list. The heroes have their own lives to deal with, Damian is sure.

In any case, Damian rushes to the akuma when he gets an alert from the Ladyblog and is able to catch the tail end of a battle where Ladybug doesn’t even have to use her Lucky Charm. She just takes the clipboard after some bizarre yoyo moves and snaps the clipboard over her knee. When the butterfly flies out of the clipboard, she purifies it. Easy breezy, and no involvement from Chat Noir, yet again. The cat looks tired and Ladybug says something to him, her posture reminiscent of a mother scolding her child, after which he flees the scene.

Then, Damian gets caught up in a wave of exhaustion. Forgoing sleep for the past two days trying to catch himself up on the situation in Paris before making any major reports back to the league will do that. He needs coffee, badly, which is why he finds himself in this tourist trap coffee shop with some of the worst coffee-- wait. That girl seems familiar.

He spends a few seconds trying to place her. Short, pig-tails, part asian, blue hair and blue eyes. The girl he saw coming out of the alleyway yesterday. Of course. She is on her phone walking slowly and frowning, purse hanging at her side. Damian traces her movements. She is naturally graceful, but closes in on herself. He looks a little closer. Her eyes look red. Perhaps she is dealing with the aftermath of yesterday’s situation.

From the side, a guy darts out at her, reaching for her purse. The girl drops her phone to the floor in shock, clutches her purse, and then side-swipes the guy. A hand to his neck, a foot to his knees, and then her arms pulling his behind his back. She pulls a zip tie from her purse and ties his hands up, then picks up her phone almost exasperatedly and before calling someone. 

Vaguely curious, Damian picks up his coffee and approaches the girl and criminal. Several others have done the same, only to be waved off with a blindingly bright smile and a yes, she’s fine, thank you very much.

“Need help?” More of a courtesy than anything else. 

“No thanks, Monsieur.” The girl looks down at the time on her phone, then scrunches her face up. Freckles dot her pale skin. A text message alert from her phone causes her to scowl, and she looks down at her phone, then back up at Damian. 

“Actually, could you do me a favor? I’ve really got to get back with my class, and I don’t really want to leave this guy in the middle of the street like this. I just called the police, and they should be here any minute. Stay with him?”

It’s not like his research on Ladybug and Chat Noir can’t wait a few minutes. 

“Sure.”

Then, the girl runs off without another glance backwards. True to her word, the police do arrive a few minutes later. 

“Where’s the girl that called?” The policeman asked with a furrowed brow. 

“She had to leave.” Damian eyes the man, who has barely looked at him. The policeman is assessing the scene, taking in the handiwork of the pigtailed girl.

“Half-asian, blue eyes, freckles?” 

“Yes.” 

The policeman handcuffs the criminal. “That poor girl. She always seems to attract these street thugs. It’s really a blessing that she can take care of herself.”

This piques Damian’s interest. “This happens often?”

“She’s almost like an urban legend, at this point. Whenever we find a criminal tied up with a neon pink zip tie, we know it’s her. A real shame, too. She’s such a nice girl.”

He’s not sure if nice was the word to use. She looked slightly stressed and harried. Polite enough, but she certainly has no trouble putting guys twice her size down. 

“Well, thank you for your help.” The policeman tips his cap and makes his way to the patrol car. 

Damian goes back to drinking his coffee and scrolling through the Ladyblog on his phone.

#

“I’ve heard you do this quite often.” Damian appears at the girl’s side like a ghost, but she doesn’t jump. Doesn’t even flinch. Just takes a step back to reposition herself and gives him a side eye. Tactically, a good decision if he is another potential attacker. She created just enough distance that it would make it harder to attack her, but had moved in a smooth fashion that said she wasn’t going to run and was prepared to stand her ground. Her body half faces him, like she is ready to put up her guard at any moment.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” 

Her victim this time is unconscious. Damian isn’t exactly sure what happened, but the quivering girl only a few feet away from them made him think that the girl in front of him has a bit of vigilante in her, because it is clear that this time she hadn’t acted in self defense. 

In an act of goodwill, Damian takes his hands out of his pockets slowly, showing that he doesn’t have anything to hide. In response, the girl-- who Damian mentally decides to call Pigtails, since she’s had the same ridiculously childish hairstyle for their past three encounters-- relaxes, just a little, and turns her attention to the crying girl instead. 

“Do you want me to call the police?” 

Pigtails eyes flicker towards the man on the ground, who is what Damian approximates to be six foot three and two hundred and fifty pounds, and then towards the crying girl looks to be in her mid twenties.

Pigtails hasn’t tied this one up, yet, but she has flipped him onto his stomach. Judging by the lingering look that she gives the man’s unbound hands, and the ziptie that she pulls out of her small purse, she’s ready and willing to tie him up at the slightest movement, or at the other girl’s command. 

“I’m going to tie him up, okay?”

The other girl manages a yes, please. And so, Pigtails brandishes her ziptie, directs Damian to call the police; tell them they’re on Barbes Boulevard.

Damian assesses the situation before the operator comes on. The would-be victim is somewhere around twenty four, is slender and full of what his brother, Dick, would call French girl charm before getting hit by Cass or Barbara. She has brown hair that’s a mess on the left side of her hair, probably from the man grabbing her on that side, and is lightly tanned. There are bruises on her wrist and on her cheek that are quite visible and continuing to darken. 

Now that Pigtails has tied him up, Damian nudges the man’s face with his foot to see what he looks like. Average looking at best, and he reeks of alcohol. Damian crinkles his nose. Midday drinking is not a good look on anyone. His clothes are also cheap. Fast fashion, but bad.

Then, there’s Pigtails herself. Evidently she trusted him enough to look after the brute, because after giving him a once over and nodding, she goes over to the other girl to comfort her. Damian is sure that Pigtails can’t be much older than himself, but he's not sure. She has a sort of timelessness about her, between the lightness in her step and the sharp, intelligent look in her eyes. Her sense of fashion is simple but chic, and whatever she is wearing looks pretty high end. Designer, even. 

After relaying the information that he has gathered to the operator, he is told to please wait there with the victim and the attacker, and if he could have the other party involved stay there as well, that would be fantastic.

Pigtails is surprisingly good at calming people down. The other girl seemed seconds away from a complete breakdown and was rocking back and forth, muttering to herself before Pigtails started talking to her. Already, the other girl’s crying turns to hiccups, and then stops. She is then embraced by Pigtails, circles rubbed soothingly on her back, and a gentle smile that makes Damian purse his lips. He doesn’t see that kind of smile often in Gotham. Everybody is harder there, less willing to help. If they see somebody in danger, most times citizens hurry on their way because they don’t want to get involved. When citizens do get involved, their aftercare is fairly rough, if there is any aftercare at all. Even as a vigilante, Robin didn’t often comfort victims afterwards. He helped them to police stations or the hospital occasionally, but never stopped to talk with them.

By the time the police get there, Pigtails has the girl standing with a watery smile on her face. What a feat. Damian wonders, briefly, if having Pigtails’ social capabilities would help victims back in Gotham. 

“Ah, Marinette,” the police officer smiles warmly. “We meet again.”

“Officer Raincomprix,” Pigtails inclines her head. 

The officer is of stocky build, red headed and green-eyed. He cuffs the man, lugs him to the back seat of his cruiser, locks the door, and then comes back out. “I’d like to take your statements, now.”

Damian learns that the attacker, Fraser Barbot, was in several of Nicolette Deanne’s master classes this year. Both were studying business with an emphasis on fashion, which resulted in a lot of time spent together. Fraser thought that a relationship was the inevitable next step. She refused, because besides their master’s emphasis, they didn’t really have much in common. She also just wasn’t interested in him. He became slightly more hostile to her after her rejection. Then, as the months went by, they started vying for a lot of the same job opportunities. Nicolette had gotten the most prestigious one, and had many other companies attempting to persuade her into joining their business instead. Fraser had gotten very few, and was convinced that Nicolette had stolen those job opportunities away from him, had seduced her potential employers, and asked her why she wouldn’t do him if she was so willing to put out. 

That was when Marinette had come in. She was walking to a fabric store when she heard the commotion and saw Fraser hitting Nicolette. By the time she got over to them, Nicolette had already acquired several bruises on her arms, shoulder, and face. After arriving, she promptly knocked him out. 

By the time the three of them finish their statements, nearly ten minutes have passed, and Officer Raincomprix bids them farewell. 

“If you ever feel like you’re in danger again, Miss Deanne, feel free to call. Since you want to press charges, we’ll be in contact with you soon. Call us if more than three days go by without hearing from us. A taxi has been called for you, so you can get wherever you were going in peace.” 

Officer Raincomprix turns to Marinette and Damian with a slightly sunnier disposition. “And thank you two for helping. Especially you, Miss Dupain-Cheng. If you ever change your mind about wanting to go into law enforcement, just give me a call. I should really have Sabrina do whatever training you’re doing, because it’s clearly effective!”

Marinette laughs. “The bakery is magic. Between lifting bags of flour, running around the city for deliveries, and Maman’s cooking, anybody could do what I do. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the studio down the street from our school, though, so you could have her look into that.”

This, Damian thinks, is such a bald-faced lie he almost chokes on his own spit. There is no sort of magic food that imbues a person with the ability to fight like Pigtails does and lifting flour bags in a bakery doesn’t suddenly allow people to take down people with ease. She has to have had some professional training, though if he is being honest, her movements feel like they have more of an origin in street fighting than they do in any martial arts. 

She’s remarkably good at lying, mixing jokes with statements that had the possibility of truth. Maybe Damian is just being paranoid. Maybe she trained at some studio that she didn’t want to mention and the studio taught amazing self defense. Maybe she is just an excellent study. Somehow, Damian doubts that was the truth of the matter, but there isn’t much of a reason for Damian to spend his precious time determining the reason why this girl lies to policemen. It’s her business. It doesn’t concern him.

Then, Officer Raincomprix heads back to the police cruiser and Nicolette gets into the taxi she ordered for herself, looking worlds better. Marinette turns to him with a smile. The smile is so blindingly bright and pure that he suspects it lets the girl get away with a lot of things. “Thanks for the save. It was a lot easier to calm Nicolette down since you handled the call. I’m Marinette, it’s nice to meet you.”

Damian nods in return to her wave and smile. “No problem. I guess this answers my earlier question. You do get caught up with criminals quite often.”

She flushes, and it makes the freckles on her pale skin show even more. “What do you mean by that?”

“You seemed to be on very good terms with that police officer.”

“Oh, that. He’s a classmate’s dad. I’ve seen him around plenty of times.” She waves him off.

A very good liar, indeed. Pigtails keeps to half truths and vague statements. Damian gets the feeling that she definitely saw him more often in the capacity of a police officer than he did as a friend’s father. Understandable to lie to him, though. He is just a stranger, and he certainly doesn’t go around telling every person on the street his life story. Maybe Pigtails values privacy, just like he does.

The movement of the police cruiser catches his eye. Fraser has woken up, and he is not happy about being handcuffed in a police cruiser; they can hear him screaming at Officer Raincomprix from the street. Marinette’s eyes jump to the cruiser as well, eyes narrowing as she sees a butterfly approach the cruiser.

“Oh, for--” Marinette glances at Damian, at the butterfly, and then at Fraser. She makes a split decision. “Come on, let’s get out of here. This is not going to be pretty.”

“What do you--” Pigtails is pulling his arm with more strength than he thought possible. If this is just her pulling him, it’s no small wonder that she fares so easily against all her opponents. She definitely has strength behind her small frame.

“Fraser is probably going to get akumatized and we have to get you to the nearest shelter. Then, you’re going to wait there until the all-clear alert is given, got it?” She pushes him into a building, says by way of explanation to the bewildered looking employees, “Akuma,” and  then rushes off, saying, “I’m going to go home, because clearly I’m not going to be able to go shopping for fabric today.”

Damian doesn’t stay in the shelter that Pigtails has so kindly guided him to, and there are a few people who look at him in confusion; people should be entering the building if there’s an akuma attack, not leaving. But Damian has a job to do and watching the battles up close is much better than watching the footage on the Ladyblog, which, in recent years, has turned into little more than poor speculations and attempts to stoke relationships between heroes that haven’t been used in years. When he looks at the information the website had up years ago, Damian finds a bunch of interviews that clearly haven’t been fact checked done with a girl named Lila, who is in the class he’s going to be transferring into, and despite the fact that they’ve been taken down since then, he doesn’t trust most of the Ladyblog’s information without video evidence. Not the most reliable news source about akuma, however, most other blogs he found didn’t have any videos taken up close. The older footage of past battles on the Ladyblog were pretty good quality, but they had gotten worse and worse, which meant that Damian and the Justice League didn’t have a clear picture about the heroes’ or villain’s capabilities. 

By the time Damian arrives, back on the scene, Ladybug is already there in her red and black spotted glory. She has pulled Officer Raincomprix to safety.

“I am Shackled! Burdened by unfair double standards that allow incompetent tramps to get jobs before other, clearly more superior candidates do and by the corrupt justice system that wants me to go to jail, I desire what I should have been given to begin with! The affections of ladies clearly below me, and jobs that were made for me.” Convenient. If every villain explains their modus operandi to the heroes, it is probably easier to take them down. “Give me your Miraculous, Ladybug!”

The hero scoffs, avoids the chains that Shackled controls, and crouches atop a car a fairly good distance away. 

Chat Noir lands, quick to make a pun. “If you feel so tied down by society, why don’t you just bug off? No woman wants to deal with somebody who has such a su-paw-riority complex.”

Ladybug rolls her eyes, but allows the pun. “Chat Noir’s right. You need to get taught a lesson on ethics and morality. If a woman got a job and you didn’t, that just means she’s better than you. Your interviewers probably saw that you had an awful attitude and work ethic. Nobody wants such a toxic person in their work environment.”

“Don’t you mean clawful, m’lady?”

“Chat,” Ladybug reprimands. She tosses her yoyo in the air. “Let’s get this over with. Dealing with misogynistic akumas is annoying. Just talking to them uses up all of my common sense.”

She throws her yoyo in the air, and calls, “Lucky Charm!”

A pack of zipties falls from the sky. Ladybug groans. “You have got to be kidding me. Zip ties? Really? You couldn’t have given me anything else? This is going to take forever. Chat, grab some of his chains and zip tie them together.”

“You’ve got to be yanking my chain, m’lady. We can just take him out without using the Lucky Charm.”

“No, the akuma is in the chain that’s between his handcuffs. And we can’t get there unless we immobilize all of these.” She gestures around wildly, then begins the process of grabbing chains and zip tying them together. As she continues to tie more and more together, it begins to get harder and harder for Shackled to move them as he wants, and a butterfly mask flashes over the akuma’s face. 

After almost thirty minutes of tying and avoiding the few free flying chains that there are left, Chat Noir and Ladybug finally get all of the chains in one messy bundle that is too heavy for Shackled to control. At one point in the battle, Ladybug darts towards Chat Noir, a concerned look on her face, but he brushes her off and they continue working. Chat Noir cataclysms the chain between Shackled’s hands, and sure enough, a butterfly flies out. Damian watches as Ladybug shoves the butterfly into her yoyo and feels his eye twitch as the black-purple butterfly comes out white. He hates magic. It makes things so much more complicated than they should be.

“Bien Joue,” the two superheroes say to each other before heading off in opposite directions. 

Damian sticks to his first thought. Whatever is going on in Paris is definitely the equivalent of some kid having a series of very weird dreams.

______________________________________________________________________

All the way up to ch 4 is already posted on ao3! I’ll be posting this fic daily up until i catch up :) also how do you decide where to put the keep reading for all you experienced tumblr users? idk where a good place to break is

Next

[silvermoon424]

Recommendation: Sleepless Domain

Read Sleepless Domain HERE

Sleepless Domain is an ongoing webcomic by Mary Cagle that began in 2015. I think TVTropes already wrote a perfect summary of it: 

By day, a nameless, isolated city is safe under the Great Barrier. Every night, however, monsters come in from the surrounding lands and terrorize the city. The first line of defense against these monsters are young magical girls, such as the five teenagers that make up Team Alchemical. Practically celebrities, these girls are regarded as champions, are honored and respected above all else, with all the support that implies, especially if they are registered.

It would be almost perfect... except for the part where they have to risk their lives every night.

One night, that risk becomes tragedy and one of the girls of Team Alchemical, Undine, also known as Alchemical Water, decides to find out why it happened. Even if that means she has to do it alone.

Sleepless Domain is a coming of age story about expectations, loss, friendship through healing and hardship, and the price of magic.

I decided to read this webcomic upon the recommendation of a follower. I thought the premise sounded intriguing (Puella Magi Madoka Magica is one of my all-time favorite anime, and I love dark magical girl shows in general) so I thought I’d give it a shot. I ended up devouring all currently available 15 chapters (as of July 2020) in a matter of hours, only to be struck by the realization that from now on I’ll have to wait for updates. It’s a double-edged sword; I’m addicted to binging media in one go so it sucks having to wait, but on the other hand I’m glad I have something to look forward to getting updated every week.

Anyway, as the summary implies, this is a darker and more mature take on the magical girl genre. Although the girls get to enjoy cute costumes, magical powers, a much elevated status, and the adoration of the public, they must also risk their lives every night against dangerous monsters that are more than capable of hurting or even killing them. They’re essentially child soldiers, albeit glorified ones. Their fame and idolization is also a mixed blessing; while magical girls get to enjoy their boosted status, they’re also put on a pedestal, to the point where people forget they’re still teenage girls who don’t solely exist to fight and die for the public.

Speaking of the public, I absolutely love the setting. I’m really fond of stories where magical girls/superheroes/etc are a known thing and we can see how the rest of the world reacts to them. In the city where Sleepless Domain takes place, magical girls are essentially celebrities. Their fights get followed by camera crews and broadcasted every morning, they have managers, they get interviewed, they have officially licensed merchandise, they’re featured on the front covers of magazines, etc. Many of the magical girls have outright monetized their popularity, doing ad deals and sponsorships. 

Another detail I really like is that almost all magical girls attend Future’s Promise, an exclusive private school where everything from the education to the facilities to the food is high-quality, as a reward for them for protecting the city. The classes even start at 11 AM to give magical girls enough time to sleep after their nightly patrols (the Great Barrier is inactive from 10 PM to 2 AM, which is when magical girls are active). It’s also cool to see a school that’s exclusively for magical girls and we get to see a lot of interaction between various magical girls.

I also really love the design and mechanics behind the magical girls themselves. They each have a unique costume and powers, although some magical girls may be “thematic,” meaning they have teams where the girls' powers, costumes, and symbols match (for example, Team Alchemical, the magical girls featured in the picture, have a team based on the classical Greek elements of water, air, earth, fire, and aether). Members of thematic teams usually know each other before they are granted their powers, although this is not always the case. There are also non-thematic teams, meaning that there is no common element among the girls' powers. In any case, each magical girl has her own unique costume, powers, and sigil/symbol. Their hair and eyes also often undergo a supernatural color change (for example, one character’s hair and eye colors went from brown to pink), which I am an absolute sucker for (PreCure is another series that utilizes that concept a lot, although in Sleepless Domain the eye/hair color change is present even when in civilian form).

Aside from the great and interesting setting, I also really appreciate the tone of Sleepless Domain. It’s mature and thought-provoking without becoming a grimdark edge-fest like a lot of dark magical girl media. Without going into spoilers, the main character, Undine, suffers a major loss towards the beginning of the comic and much of the story is about her trying to heal and connect with other people. Another main character, Tessa, having suffered the same loss, displays classic signs of PTSD and depression and she has a much harder time trying to move on. This is just one example of the realism of Sleepless Domain despite its fantastical setting, where people are actually emotionally and psychologically affected by death and loss and need help getting through it (another detail I really like is how therapy is made readily available for current and former magical girls, although not all of them take it). But despite the mature themes and tone, things never get too dark and there’s always plenty of fluffy interactions between the characters to give you hope.

Oh, and I should mention that the series is very LGBTQ friendly. One of the magical girls is a transgirl, and homosexual relationships seem to be quite accepted amongst magical girls. Again, I won’t go into spoilers but a very popular lesbian ship was just confirmed as well.

Overall, I can’t recommend Sleepless Domain enough. If you’re like me you’ll finish it in one sitting and be left desperate for more. If anything about this recommendation sounds appealing to you, I guarantee you’ll love the series.

[cobaltusami]

Tropical Vacation pt 8

Well, this isn't the fic I was planning to release next, but oh well-- I was feeling It.

Hey hi hello dolls! It's been a long ass time since I've updated this series, and unfortunately there aren't many tickles in this part, but there Is a ton of fluff! either the next part or the part after will be chock full of tickles! (Or both)

I hope It's alright!

Characters In this part: All of DR1 girls excluding Junko and Mukuro, All of the DR2 girls. Lee!Chihiro

Word count: 3429

All previous parts, as well as my other fics, can be found here!: Masterlist

Hina kicked at the sand absentmindedly as she gazed longingly out at the water. “Man, I really missed seeing the ocean but…” She crossed her arms and made a face. “What good Is it If I can’t swim in it!? I’m like a fish, If I don’t swim In water I’ll die!!”

Sakura smiled amusedly at her best friend. She can be so dramatic sometimes… “Hina, they said It was safe to swim In…”

“Yeah but Monokuma didn’t give me any of my swimsuits…” She mumbled dejectedly, kicking a rock into the water.

Yeah, they didn’t exactly get the chance to pack their stuff or even ask Monokuma for specific things from their rooms. Aside from the morning announcements he hasn’t even shown up-- not that anyone besides Byakuya was complaining.

“Ugh!! That’s It!” Hina ripped off her red jacket and tossed it to Sakura. “Hold my jacket, I’m going In!”

The Martial artist fumbled the piece of clothing, caught off guard by the swimmers sudden outburst. She quickly grabbed the brunette’s arm to stop her. “W-Wait! Instead of doing that… Why don’t we just go find the store and see If it carries swimsuits?” She suggested.

As usual Sakura was the voice of reason amongst the chaotic gays.

Hina paused, thinking it over. “Okay… That sounds good In theory, But what if they don’t carry them?”

“Then I’m sure they’ll carry donuts… we’ll get some to cheer you up then ask Usami if she knows where the swimsuits are.”

Aoi giggled as she took her jacket back from the tall girl and tied it around her waist. “I like the way you think!” She grinned. “Let’s go!”

“Alright, Let’s just ask Nekomaru where the store Is.”

They both looked to Neko, who had stuck around to keep an eye on Mondo.

“No need! I can show you where it is if you want.” Mahiru volunteered, suddenly behind the two.

Hina squeaked as they both quickly turned to face the Photographer.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you both.” The red head apologized with a sympathetic smile.

“Geez Mahiru!” Hina giggled, placing her hand over her still racing heart. “You got me good!”

“Are you sure? We don’t want to trouble you.”

Mahiru nodded with a smile. “I’m sure. Actually, I was coming to find you two. Apparently Usami has something to tell us girls...”

The two tensed. It’s not a motive, Is it?

“What do you think It is?” Hina asked as she started walking with Sakura and Mahiru.

“I’m honestly not sure. Normally she gathers all of us, not just the girls.” Mahiru responded.

As they crossed over the bridge to the second island, the girls of both classes came into view. Even Toko, surprisingly.

“Hey Toko!” Hina waved her hand at the writer. “Glad to see you out of your room!” she smiled as she turned to face her.

“W-Where Ha-Have you two b-b-been?!”

“We were checking out the beach.” Aoi answered. “Sorry, did we worry you?”

“D-Don’t b-be ridiculous! Why w-w-would I worry a-about you m-m-meatheads?!” she blushed.

Hina smiled and wrapped her arms around the awkward girl’s shoulders in a hug. “Aww, You WERE worried about us!”

“S-Shut up!” Toko blushed even more, batting the brunette away.

Soon enough, Usami appeared out of nowhere. Much like they were used to Monokuma doing. “Love love! Hello everyone!” She greeted the group cheerfully. “I hope you are all getting along okay!”

“We’re doing fine, Usami.” Chiaki smiled, patting Chihiro on the shoulder. She had brought them along and wanted to include them In on whatever Usami had planned.

“I’m glad to hear that.” Usami replied. “As some of you may know, I no longer have my magic stick…”

“Magic stick?” Sakura repeated quietly, confused.

“It’s a long story.” Mahiru whispered back.

“But It appears that Monokuma must have one of his own. Because there’s some new buildings on this island!” Usami explained, surprised. “One of such buildings, Is a women’s clothing boutique. Which is why I asked you all here.”

Sonia’s face brightened. “Really?? Wow! That Is wonderful!”

“I thought I should tell you all first before I told the boys.” Usami giggled. “I thought It might be a nice chance to bond with the other class’s girls.”

“And enby.” Chiaki and Mahiru both said at the same time. Chihiro smiled at the two girls In response.

“Right! I’m sorry, I’ll remember that for next time!” Usami apologized. “Anyway! There’s also a spa on the Island! So enjoy yourselves!”

She disappeared from sight, leaving the group to talk amongst themselves.

“This has to be a trick of some kind.” Kyoko said thoughtfully. “A motive, Maybe?”

“Yeah, I am not trusting It either.” Peko agreed.

“It’s gotta be a motive, It’s been too peaceful!” Hina chimed in.

“What If Monokuma put ‘Saw’ movie level traps in the clothing?” Ibuki theorized. “And the moment we put on the clothes-- SQUISH! BLEH! Off with our heads!”

Mahiru cringed at the gory sounds Ibuki tried to make, sighing softly. “I doubt he would have time to do that. But It’s definitely suspicious…”

“And why only things for girls?” Akane thought aloud. “It seems like a trap.”

“I think we should check It out regardless.” Celeste smiled. “I think a spa trip sounds lovely, perhaps even worth the risk.”

“I GOT IT!” Hina yelled in realization, all attention now on her. “WHAT IF MONOKUMA PUT SHARKS IN THE SPA?!”

“This again…? H-Hina I doubt there Is enough water for sharks in the spa.” Sakura sighed. She loved this girl, but sometimes she could be a bit… out there.

“She might actually be onto something.” Kyoko surprisingly agreed with her wild theory after a moment of thinking.

“H-H-How wo-would that e-even be possible?” Toko stammered in disbelief.

“Maybe not specifically sharks, but that would be the least suspecting place to put something dangerous.” The detective calmly theorized. “It may be too dangerous to check out without more muscle power.”

“Why do we need more muscle power? Sakura, Peko an’ I can handle it!” Akane grinned.

“No offense to you three, but there is strength in numbers.” Kyoko responded, to which Sakura and Peko nodded in agreement. “But there are less places to hide dangerous traps In a boutique, So I think we should be okay to check that out.”

“And then we get the boys to go with us to the spa?” Peko asked for clarification.

“Yes. I think that would be wise.”

So with the group in agreement (except for Toko, who immediately went back to her room), the girls and enby headed to the boutique to investigate.

After some time looking around for clues or traps, they were shocked to find it was literally just a normal clothing store… or so It seemed.

“That’s strange.” Kyoko said, surprised as she inspected a piece of clothing.

“What? Did you find something?” Chiaki asked, yawning as she approached the detective.

“It’s… just clothes.”

“You mean, These are actually safe?” Sayaka asked curiously, poking her head around the corner to look at the two girls.

“It appears so… I’d still check before you try anything on but--”

She was already back around the corner with Ibuki. “Oh my gosh, Ibuki! With some leggings this would look so cute on you!”

Sonia giggled. “I agree!”

Ibuki looked at the frilly mini dress held up against her body in pure disgust. “Eugh! Ibuki doesn’t do this style anymore, It makes Ibuki feel restricted.”

“Okay, maybe not this dress then…” Sayaka put it back and looked around for another one. “We should match for our concert though.”

While the three looked through the costume dresses, Chihiro was on the other side of the store looking at all the cute casual dresses. They felt a little self conscious looking at them.

“Hi, Chihiro.” Mahiru greeted, approaching the small programmer with her girlfriend in tow. “Are you alright?”

Chihiro jumped in surprise, immediately letting go of the dress they were looking at. “O-Oh! Hi Mahiru… Hiyoko.” They greeted the two girls shyly.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you!” Mahiru apologized with a small smile. “I was just coming over to look for a new sun dress.”

Chihiro nodded, absentmindedly going back to looking at the dress they found as Mahiru began shuffling the articles of clothing on the rack.

The red head stole a few glances over at Chihiro, noticing their hesitancy. “Are you okay?”

Hiyoko tilted her head curiously as she too looked up from the dresses.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine! S-Sorry… am I distracting you?”

The two ultimates exchanged glances before looking back at the small enby. “Of course not… I’m just concerned about you.”

“O-Oh… there’s no reason to be concerned, I’m okay… really.” Chihiro put on the best smile they could, but Mahiru, who constantly photographed smiling people, immediately knew it was forced.

Hiyoko’s eyes scanned the clothing rack in front of Chihiro until she noticed a disturbed article of clothing, she walked over and plucked it from the rack. “This Is a cute dress.” She commented, drawing both Mahiru and Chihiro’s attention.

Hiyoko looked at the Programmer and smiled. “You should try It on.”

Mahiru had to do a double take, had someone replaced her fiery imp of a girlfriend with someone sweet???

Chihiro blushed brightly. “Um… I-I could never pull that off…”

“Sure you could.” Mahiru smiled, following Hiyoko’s lead.

“I-I don’t know…”

“Chihiro!” Sonia bounced over brightly. “You would look adorable in that!”

“Maybe If we found a sweater to go with it you’d feel better.” Chiaki smiled.

“Ooh! And some accessories!” Sayaka joined in.

Chihiro had a bad feeling about this…

“R-Really girls, I-Its okay! I was heading over to look at skirts anyways!” They tried backing away, but the girls weren’t letting them off the hook that easily.

Meanwhile, Hina found the swimsuits much to her excitement. They were pretty cute too! Some of them were plain, others had skirts to them, pretty patterns, bikinis, one pieces… you name it, they had it.

Hina picked up a red tropical flower patterned bikini with a skirt. “Check this out Sakura, It’s so cute! And It’s my size!” she squealed happily.

The martial artist stopped what she was doing and looked over at her best friend with an amused smile. “It looks nice.”

After another moment of searching she produced a similar bikini and showed It to Sakura again.

“That kind of looks like the last one.”

“Mhm! Except It’s white with red and pink flowers! What do you think?”

“It’s… pretty?”

“Good, Because It’s your size.” Hina grinned impishly.

Sakura paused. “Hina… I don’t do bikinis.”

“Why not?”

Sakura immediately got flashbacks. She recalled when she had first started gaining muscle and went to the beach with her friends, she had gotten stared at and made fun of. She was made so uncomfortable that she just went home.

“...Reasons.”

Hina pouted. She knew that was code for something serious. “Fine, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable… I’ll keep looking.”

“Thank you for respecting my--”

They were interrupted by Chihiro shrieking, they looked at each other in alarm and bolted in the direction of the sound. Upon rounding the corner they found Chihiro wrapped up in Sayaka’s arms while Chiaki and Mahiru tickled them.

Sakura sighed in relief upon seeing it was just something harmless.

Hina grinned. “You good Chihiro?” She couldn’t help but tease them.

“Hehehehelp mehehe!” They squealed as Chiaki squeezed their sides.

“Why are you all ganging up on Chihiro?” Sakura asked, feeling some pity for the smol programming bean.

“Why not?” Hina retorted. “Chihiro’s too cute not to tickle!”

“Hinahaha you’re not hehehelping!” They blushed even more.

“Oh sorry~ I’ll help you now.” Hina smiled innocently, approaching the trapped enby. The swimmer fluttered her fingers against their belly, drawing even more squeals of laughter. “There, do you feel helped now?” she giggled.

“Hahahahahaha! That’s nohohohot whahahat I meheheheant!” They whined.

“Chihiro started crying because they did not feel they could pull off this dress.” Sonia explained gently, holding the dress up. “So the others are trying to cheer them up.”

Sakura frowned. She understood where Chihiro was coming from, but literally Chihiro would look so fucking cute in that dress. It was a white ruffle sundress with a light yellow ribbon sash.

It was bewildering that Chihiro didn’t think they could pull it off…

Sakura scanned around until her eyes fell on a light yellow sweater with short sleeves, she picked it up and walked back over to the giggling programmer.

The girls stopped tickling and looked at the piece of clothing in the tall girl's hands. Chihiro slid to the floor in a heap of lingering giggles and soft gasps.

The white haired girl sat down next to them. “Chihiro, I understand how you feel. You feel like everyone Is going to be staring at you and judging you.”

They nodded meekly, staring at the floor.

“And maybe people have done that to you before…” She paused as Chihiro nodded again. “But you’re among your friends here, and we aren’t judging you In the slightest.”

“Yeah, Sakura’s right.” Chiaki agreed, sitting down too. The other girls followed suit. “We would never judge you.”

“We all have things we are self conscious about, Chihiro.” Sonia smiled kindly at the enby. “I am self conscious about my skin.”

“R-Really…? But you’re so pretty…” Chihiro looked at her.

“Thank you, but so are you.” Sonia pinched Chihiro’s cheek gently. “I burn in the sunlight, The kids I went to school with used to call me ‘Princess lobster’. So I try to avoid exposing myself to the sun.”

Chihiro blushed at the compliment and looked back down.

“I’m super self conscious about my weight.” Hina spoke up next. “I’m always weighing myself. I used to get teased for how many sweets I eat, my friends told me I was going to end up alone because no one would be able to look at me.”

“Hina, You’re gorgeous. You don’t have to worry about your weight!” Chihiro frowned.

“I used to get made fun of because I had braces when I was younger.” Sayaka shared. “They said I’d never be a singer because the metal in my braces would mess with the recording equipment.”

“Do I even need to say what I’m self conscious about?” Hiyoko sulked, folding her arms across her chest. “I’m short.”

Mahiru put her hand on Hiyoko’s shoulder. “You’ll hit a growth spurt someday.” She teased. “People called me a boy growing up.”

“I-I-I’ve al-always been s-s-s-super c-c-clumsy. People h-h-have always ma-made fun o-of me for It.” Mikan said softly.

“Of course they have, You’re a walking pile of pig barf!” Hiyoko snapped.

“Aah! I’m sorry!” Mikan cried.

Mahiru shoved her hand over Hiyoko’s mouth and pulled her into her lap to keep her contained. She sighed. Welp, so much for her being kind…

“People I went to school with used to accuse me of stuffing my bra, and constantly harassed me because of my home life.” Akane said quietly.

“I was feared, I was told I had monster eyes. Most kids avoided me.” Peko chimed In.

Kyoko looked down at her gloved hands then back up at Chihiro. “I think my insecurity should be obvious…”

“I got made fun of for loving video games. And I’ve got some pudge.” Chiaki poked her stomach.

After a moment of silence the girls looked at Sakura, who gave a hesitant sigh. “Do I need to say It?”

“Yes.” All except for Chihiro said in unison.

Sakura sighed again. “I get called ogre. People call me a freak or abomination. When I started bulking up, people told me that I looked better before and I lost a lot of friends because they were embarrassed to be seen with me.”

“Remind me to smack Hiro and Hifumi when I see them next.” Hina said quietly.

“Hiro doesn’t mean any harm by It.” she waved her off.

Hearing their friends being open about their insecurities made them feel a little better about opening up.

“Um…” Chihiro kept staring at the floor. “Kids I went to school with knew me when I Identified as a boy… and the first day I went to school in a dress, I got beat up and made fun of. Since then, I’ve been afraid to wear dresses… N-Not that skirts are much different… I’m just kind of traumatized by them.”

“Chihiro, You are adorable and beautiful.” Hina smiled warmly.

“Trust me, If anyone comes near you to beat you up or make fun of you… they’ll have a lot of people to get through first.” Chiaki added.

“You are one of a kind, don’t let people like that ruin something for you.” Sakura said gently.

Hina side eyed her, receiving a quiet; ‘shut up’ In response.

Chihiro sniffled, wiping their eyes. “Th-Thanks guys…”

“If you don’t want to try on the dress, We respect your comfort zone. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Mahiru put a hand on their shoulder reassuringly.

They looked at the dress In Sonia’s lap, then back up at the girls. “No… I… I want to try It on.”

“Are you sure?” Sonia asked.

They nodded, more sure this time. “You’re right. I need to learn not to take things to heart so much. Everyone has something they don’t like about themselves, even the people who picked on you.”

“That’s exactly right.” Kyoko nodded with a faint smile.

Chihiro took the dress from Sonia and stood up, they were about to head to the dressing room but they were stopped by Sakura, who handed them the matching sweater she found for the dress.

The enby gave her a smile before taking the article of clothing and retreating to the closed room with a new pep in their step.

A few minutes passed by, and something had occurred to Mahiru. “Wait a minute, Ibuki? You never said what you were made fun of for.”

Ibuki looked up at the red head, previously she had been drawing shapes on the floor with her finger waiting for Chihiro to come out. “Oh, Ibuki didn’t?”

“No, You didn’t.” Chiaki confirmed, eyeing the musician.

“Welllll…” Ibuki looked away sheepishly.

“Were you not bullied?” Sonia asked.

“N-No. Ibuki was bullied.” She sighed. “Ibuki was made fun of for the way she talks In the third person. Also the way she dressed.”

“I think It’s… endearing.” Sayaka smiled.

“Ibuki didn’t mention It because Ibuki didn’t want to be reassured or complimented.” She smiled shyly, tapping her index fingers together. “Ibuki doesn’t know how to take compliments…”

“I understand that.” Sakura responded.

Hina, again, side eyed her best friend. “I will hype you up and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

“Nothing huh?” She didn’t even bother looking at Hina, she blindly squeezed at the swimmer’s side, making her squeak and giggle as she twitched away.

“Come to think of it…” Kyoko hummed, glancing over at Celeste. “You didn’t say anything either.”

“That Is because there Is nothing I was made fun of for.” Celeste smiled, closing her eyes as she did.

Hmm… doubtful.

Chiaki looked at the wall clock. “Chihiro’s been In there a while… I think someone should go check on them.”

Before anyone else could volunteer, surprisingly, Hiyoko was on her feet. “I’ll do it.” with that she disappeared into the back room as well.

Mahiru blinked in surprise. “Should I go with her?”

No one got the chance to answer before Hiyoko came back out, Chihiro In tow.

The Traditional dancer stepped aside so the girls could see Chihiro, they were absolutely radiating happiness. “S-Sorry, I kind of froze up… How do I look?”

“Ohmigosh, Chi you look so cute!!” Hina squealed.

“That dress looks like It was made for you, You look so pretty!” Sonia beamed, stars practically in her eyes.

The Programmer giggled and twirled around in the dress happily.

The other girls quickly got over their surprise and flooded Chihiro with compliments. (even Kyoko and Celeste complimented them, shockingly.)

The rest of the boutique visit hit different for the group, they felt a lot lighter and closer than before.

Sayaka and Ibuki had decided to just coordinate colors, that way they could both wear something they wanted to wear.

Hina and Sakura found a few swimsuits they liked.

Chihiro got a bunch of different dresses and had a mini fashion show with Hiyoko, Mahiru, and Chiaki.

Right then.

Time to go find the boys and check out the spa...