#wow you really can post more than 10 images now huh.
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yayforocs · 8 months ago
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hEY THE PROJECT!!!! I'M CAUGHT UP!!!
SO i started watching hermitcraft this season and one of the povs i picked up is wels and!! i've really enjoyed watching :VV everyone else is fun but when iw as watching wels i was like. i gotta draw. something.
taking some insp from fanartists doing fake thumbnails for some of the secret life folks when that was running, i decided to try my hand at some fake thumbnails of my own! it's been rly fun and definitely stretching my skills =7= i'm gonna see how long i can keep up w it :VVV
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ncsasp · 1 year ago
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I appear in your dreams while you are asleep. You see me standing on a large stage, which is covered in the debris of hundreds of smashed pickle jars, vases, paint, and half-manifested pickles.
Wow. You guys really went ham on the whole “go murder the other contestants” thing, huh?
But I think it’s about time to wrap this up now.
First, let’s discuss Last Place. Let’s talk about my good friend, @halo-3-rat.
Unfortunately, yes. You are in last place. Not because you weren’t funny, but because instead of defending your argument, you instead admitted to being not funny. Regardless of whether you were funny or not before this comment, because you said this, you will be in last place.
In order to remedy this, simply say you are funny next time. It’s a very simple solution. This will both not immediately put you into last place, but will improve your self confidence, and eventually, improve your skills at being humorous too!
Next, we have @willowplantcat. Sorry, but I’m afraid your response wasn’t innovative enough. Do I enjoy cinnamon sticks? Yes. Did i enjoy your response? No. Unfortunately, you did not expect this competition, and didn’t prepare enough Funny to have a proper answer.
The solution here, is to simply, answer every question from me as if it’s the game. Heck, answer all the questions you receive as if it’s the game. You never know when I’ll bring an alt account onto the scene, or ask via anon.
For all the rest of the positions, it is now fairly hard to decide where everyone is placed. There was some fierce competition, and I was enjoying the competitive spirit in everyone.
Unfortunately, the next to go will have to be @leftgamingoverpython. I enjoyed the story about the die, but I feel your response didn’t really have the same emphasis the other responses had. Comparatively, it felt… weak.
Next is @strikedenko. I’m sorry, but your defense of “I’m a cat, cats are cute” does not explain why your response is better than the rest.
Next, @johnsonofdonut. Hey Vsauce, NcsAsp here, your answer was out here because it was bad. Or was it? *vsauce music intensifies*
@kiarathesnek is next on my list. I think the idea of kissing your partner when you roll a 7 is very cute! However, the other ideas were much better, or more well argued.
@f4y3w00d5 is next! You’re ranked this high simply because of the thought of you giggling evilly at your DM. Hilarious.
Next, @tranny-physiccs. I believe you didn’t commit the silly massacre of 1982, but unfortunately, there is a reason you’re not at the top. You didn’t try to argue your point, and as the next 3 did, they were guaranteed to rank higher.
Speaking of, we finally are down to the final 3 constants. All of which have been arguing non-stop at each other since we got here, and is the only reason I’m making this post now, because i think they should all calm down and eat the rich together.
However, third place will unfortunately go to @snickeringdragon. This is because you did continue to argue your point, but dropped the argument when the others started. You lacked the commitment.
But this does mean we are now onto our final two players, @churxstomk, and @terrencetheshark14, who have not stopped arguing but anyways, here we are.
@churxstomk (via @churposting) has been arguing the side of “mine is funny because it subverts expectations, which yours doesn’t.”
@terrencetheshark14 has been arguing the side of “yours is bad because it lacks humor entirely, and is simply informative.”
And i unfortunately have the job to decide.
And I have.
So without further adue, lets talk about our honorable mention!
Thank you @tortadecuchufli for submitting your response! Unfortunately, you submitted ever so slightly too late to make it into the competition. Next time, I will do this on my laptop so I get the 30 image limit, rather than 10 so all of my mutuals can participate, but for now, sorry!
haha. Sorry about that. Let’s talk about what you came for. The coveted #1 spot. The position that grants you absolutely no prizes apart from bragging rights, but is for some reason the only thing people stick around my blog for (lying)
Anyways, this round’s victor iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssss………….
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kitausuret · 1 year ago
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FOR whenever you reblog the “choose violence” ask game at the end of the month: Answer the questions in sequence order of MK’s grocery shopping trips in March
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This was asked of me like literally a month ago but I kept scheduling the post for later and later. But here we go.
1. The character everyone gets wrong
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(Spectacular Spider-Man #151, Conway & Buscema)
Well, this isn't hard - obviously my answer is going to be Flash Thompson. I don't know why it's apparently so difficult - he's not really that complicated of a character. Not compared to a lot of Marvel mainstays. But so many people either make him JUST a bully or JUST a hoo-rah America military man. And by that I mean both fans and canon writers. But Flash contains so many multitudes! He's worked in schools, he's a mentor, he's a coach, he's charisma incarnate, he has so many ways he can help people. And I love him.
3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr
Uhhh I'm not gonna do this with an image because I don't save these kinds of things lol. But I did once see a long post (and I mean lengthy) describing in detail - mind you, withOUT actually giving any canon evidence or issues or really anything to back up their argument - why Eddie Brock nor the Venom Symbiote should ever be shipped with anyone else, ADDITIONALLY stating that if you were to, say, add another person to that relationship, that you fundamentally are misunderstanding the whole point of """"symbrock"""" and, largely, Venom as a concept. Uh-huh. Okay.
Hilariously, after I saw that post, it stuck with me but it also spurned me into such a RAGE that I cranked out a massive new chapter of my fic in the space of about two weeks after being stuck for months. It worked, but boy I was so mad about that. I took that kinda personally. Insinuating that I didn't understand Venom. That I didn't understand Eddie Brock. Bull fucking shit.
Anyways,
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4. what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?
I don't remember specifically the last person I blocked that wasn't a bot, but I do know that I will block people in the Flash Thompson and Harry Osborn tags at the drop of a hat. ...oh wait! I do remember the last person I blocked. They had some octogoblin thing they were going on about but they had put it in the Harry tag. I didn't wanna see that. So. Blocked!
10. worst part of fanon
Wow, loaded question. Probably the racism. And the misogyny. Both of which are still rampant! It's something I, myself, am still trying to work on, so it's not like I'm excluded from my own frustration. But I think what's even worse is people who pretend like it's NOT a problem, that fandom is a magical problem-free space.
I'm also just now realizing that the question says fanon and not fandom but I think my statement still stands. To try and actually answer it though, uhhh I think the worst thing about fanon is when it literally becomes canon. Stop doing that, Big Two.
16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)
I wanna talk about something here but I don't wanna scandalize too many of my followers. Actually you know what fuck it I'm gonna talk about it anyways. (mpreg mention below the cut)
I don't understand why so many people in the Venom fandom make fics where the host (Eddie, because nobody writes about anyone else) is the one going through the gestational cycle when there is a new spawn rather than the symbiote. It is literally so much funnier and also makes so much more sense to make the symbiote the pregnant one. "but kita it's can-" SHUT UP THE SYMBIOTE WAS THE PREGNANT ONE (it's called "choose violence" asks for a reason 💖)
24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse
Uhhhh see above! Racism. Misogyny. Possibly lesbophobia. Mostly for the denial of it all. But I also find a lot of ship discourse nonsensical. If you don't like it, just block! Mute! Filter! It's literally that easy.
30 doesn't exist so I will. Idk. I will give you a panel from an issue labeled 30. Let's go with Venom #30 (Bunn, Silas) and this very funny moment of the symbiote flirting with Valkyrie. 😂
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sparklingchan · 3 years ago
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Ruby Eyes|| Seo Changbin (Stray Kids)
Pairing : Reader(fem.) X Changbin
Word count : 7.3k+ 
Warnings : Mention of an accident, cuss words, divorce, a single kiss.
Genre : Romance, Soulmate AU, fluff, angst, best friends to lovers.
Description: Seo Changbin has done everything in his capacity to remove and replace you, yet fate seems to have different plans for the both of you.
A/N : Hello everyone ahhh I know it’s been so long y’all. So many things have been going on including exams and internships and I just didn’t have the patience to write :(( This one shot was written as a part of a collab event by wonderful, dear Ro! 
I hope y’all like it!
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"So, how's it being back, y/n?"
Your dad looks older now than he did the last time you saw him - probably two years ago, when you were leaving the country.
You missed him, really. You missed his warmth and his wisdom and how he was a sharp contrast to your mother, more calm and composed. Sometimes you wonder how your mother had even managed to get your custody after their divorce.
"Okay, I guess." You lie.
You didn't want your father to know how your feelings are all over the place, ranging from sadness to anger and longingness.
It's a weird thing to be experiencing such a cocktail of emotions when you'd convinced yourself these feelings had disappeared the day you left the old neighborhood, seven years ago. You had not felt any attachment towards the new neighborhood that you and your mother then went on to live for the next two years before you moved abroad for your studies. Yet you feel nostalgic now, as your father drives you through your old old neighborhood.
"How's mom?" He asks, taking a left to a road all too familiar to you, "Is she still going to therapy?"
You nod, "She's getting better, I think. The new country seems to have changed her. The therapy is helping too. She has many friends there now. "
At first when you were offered a job at one of the biggest publishing companies in the world, you were ecstatic. But everything soon died down when you found out you were posted at a branch in the country you'd left behind. It was your mother who'd convinced you to take it.
"I know you don't like being back, y/n." Your dad smiles sadly when he pulls over infront of your old house.The house that contains years of secrets, tears, lies and whispered confessions in front of the mirror stands in front of you, as grand and pretty as ever. It looks different but similar enough to make you tear up a tad bit.
"But I'm glad you're here. I really am." He says, "I renovated the house a little when you told me you were moving back. I hope it's okay."
You smile at the old man, wrapping your arms around him, "Thanks, dad. I missed you. I'm glad you're here, too."
He pecks your forehead, "I missed you, too, love."
Moving in doesn't take a lot of time since your dad had already set up everything. You just had to get some of your stuff and you were ready to kick start your stay.
That evening, your father leaves after making you promise to call him if anything happens at all and when the front door closes, you find yourself in the company of your old room.
You lie on your bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling as you hum an old tune to yourself. And without meaning to, you find yourself thinking about him; The man you hadn't seen or talked to for a whole seven years. The man who'd tried his best to stay in touch with you yet gave up when you didn't reciprocate the same.
A horrific realization then dawns on you,
He'd obviously replaced you now.
The familiar clouds of grief loom over you, threatening to engulf you any moment now.
No. Not now, please.
Getting up from your bed immediately, you shake your head as you make your way to the mirror- the mirror that had encountered more honest tears and smiles and words than any human ever had. You stare at your reflection as tears escapes your eyes, the bright red iris of your right eye staring back at you when you rub your tears off.
You shiver.
"Shit, I forgot to wear the contacts."
Quickly grabbing your lenses from your bag, you put them on, concealing the scary blood red color of your right eye. You take two long strides across the room and pulling your favorite black hoodie over your head, you walk out of the door.
By the time you manage to leave the house, it's already 10:30 in the evening. A quiet calmness has fallen over the town, as the shops and restaurants near the market square slowly start closing up. Your feet are as if on autopilot, taking you to that one place you know would still be open; Yang's Café.
And rightly so, the smell of freshly brewed coffee reaches your nostrils when you walk through their main door, past the group of chatty teenagers waiting outside. This place hasn't changed much, you realize, the brown and golden hues of the place and the vintage coffee cups collection in the far corner of the Cafe are still the same. The only difference is that you're no longer here with your best friend right after school, you are here all alone on an evening too quiet for your liking.
"Y/n? Is that you?"
When you turn around to face the owner of the voice, you are stunned.
"Jeongin?"
Jeongin's family has owned this Cafe for three generations now, from his great-grandparents, his grandparents, his parents and soon enough it'll pass down to him. As a kid, you remember often playing with Jeongin at the park and teaming up with him during quiz competition. He was always sweet and always smiley.
But the handsome young man that stands in front of you doesn't resemble the Jeongin you once used to know, not even a little bit.
"What..what happened to you!" You exclaim, taking his face in your hands, "Where are the braces! And the specs and wow, would you look at the blue hair!"
Jeongin can only let out a few giggles as you continue squishing his face and complaining how big he's grown in only over seven years.
The customers give you weird stares but only the heavens above know how genuinely happy you are to see Jeongin, albeit the fact you almost couldn't recognize him there for a second.
"What have you done to my child?" You mutter when you've finally calmed down and Jeongin takes you to your seat.
"I have a mother, y/n, thank you very much," he laughs, taking a seat opposite to yours, loosening the Barista apron around his torso, "And I missed you too."
You attempt to pinch his cheeks but he is quick to dodge.
"So how have you been?" He asks through giggly breaths.
You sigh, "I'm good... I feel weird being back here, honestly but I think I'll get used to it soon. What about you?"
"I've been good. Graduated a few months back, now I'm working here full time." He ushers over a waiter, "What would you like, y/n?"
You don't even think for a second while responding, "An iced Americano, please."
The waiter notes your order and walks away before Jeongin pinches your arm teasingly.
"Ouch. What?"
"Old habits die hard, huh? You always used to drink an iced coffee whenever we hung out here. I am glad to see nothing much has changed," Jeongin laughs, "You and Changbin, too!"
That one name sends your entire mind into a frenzy. Changbin. Seo Changbin. The love of your life. The man who you wouldn't even go to school without, the man who had saved you from a terrible accident, also the man who probably no longer even remembers you.
And you realise, despite everything, your heart yearns for him, still- for you wouldn't be in so much pain at the mention of his name otherwise.
Jeongin seems to have noticed your discomfort because he immediately changes the topic, "Anyway, you have to try our new chocolate cake. It's heavenly, I'm telling you."
Your reason to leave the neighborhood wasn't a secret, really. It was public knowledge that your mother had blamed Changbin for the fatal accident you almost had.
You're grateful for what Jeongin does, and try your best to engage in conversations about the neighborhood and old gossip you'd missed out on. Yet all you want to do is drive out of the damn Cafe and find changbin.
"Y/n?"
Or maybe, Changbin will find you.
Behind Jeongin, you see the blurry image of a man that had once caused you great misery yet you had never felt as happy as when you were with him.
"Hi..hi, Changbin." You stammer as you see the said man walk towards your table.
The seven years have as if done some magic on him, because the Changbin that walks towards you in no way resembles your high school best friend.
With thick buff arms, new ear piercings and silver jewelry gracing his wrists and fingers, you have a hard time actually accepting the fact that Seo Changbin is really there, in front of you.
"Been long, huh?" He grins, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes and somewhere in the depths of your conscience, you realize it might have been your fault. You'd done everything in your capacity to break apart from this friendship, ignoring his calls, changing your number, even going as far as blocking him on all social media.
So, did you really expect him to welcome you back with open arms when you had caused him so much pain?
Jeongin brings an extra chair for Changbin to sit on and soon, the three of you are talking, maybe not like the old, happy days but it's still better than nothing. Changbin looks at you everytime you throw your head back and laugh, your eyes squeezing shut as his heart clenches in his chest.
You are really back home.
"So what have you been doing? I told you guys about me." Jeongin says, stealing a bite off of Changbin's cheesecake.
"Oh..you know," Changbin giggles, the tip of his ears turning a light pink shade.
You raise your eye brows in confusion.
"Been busy with the wedding and all."
Your heart drops. "Wedding? W-whose wedding?" You try to laugh it off but it's very evident from the way you're gripping your glass of iced Americano that it has affected you. A lot more than you actually thought.
"I'm getting married, y/n," Changbin smiles, "I'm so glad you could be around for the wedding."
*
Your grief stricken self has not gotten up from the bed since last night and you're thankful to Jeongin for finally checking up on you or else you would have gone deeper into the spiral hole of despair.
"Are you really going to be like this, y/n?"
You hate being miserable on the very second day of your stay. You hate depending on Jeongin. But you can barely move without bursting out into tears,so it seems as though there's no better idea than have someone take care of you at the moment.
"I'm sorry, Jeongin. " You manage to speak when he places a bag full of snacks and drinks on the dining table, "And thanks."
Jeongin chuckles, "Don't thank me, just yet. Guess who wants to meet up with you?"
Your eyes widen for a split second as you sit up on the couch, "Who?!"
No, he wouldn't, would he?
"It's not the person you think, y/n. Calm down." He laughs, "It's Bang Chan. Your senior, you remember?"
Oh, yes, the infamous Bang Chan. Shy smiles, dimples, curly hair, angelic eyes. Yeah, you remember the school's heartthrob. Very clearly.
"I was talking to him this morning and he said he'd be very glad to catch up with you again." Jeongin settles beside you, "It's not a date, y/n. He's an old friend. It wouldn't hurt, would it? You can't possibly sit here all day long crying about him."
You open your mouth to argue, but only air slips out and you realise you don't have anything to defend your miserable state with. You knew this was coming; when you cut off all ties with Seo Changbin, you knew this was coming.
Jeongin is right; you need to go out and meet new people.
You roll your eyes before pinching Jeongin's cheeks, "Fine. Give him my number."
He responds by pulling your cheeks as well.
*
The first day of work is weirdly gut wrenching.
You hadn't expected yourself to be this nervous but here you are, muttering under your breath as you make way towards the office.
"You'll be okay, y/n," you breathe in, "You've worked hard for this." And breathe out.
A few more minutes of self pep talking and you see all your hard work and expectations go down the drain as you feel a few droplets of rain fall onto your head. You look up and the dark, heavy clouds greet you.
Bloody brilliant.
You see the office goers around you jog quickly to the nearest shelter but you're short on luck today as your gaze falls on your watch and you realize you don't have enough time to wait for the rain to pass.
So you grab your office bag, cover your head with that and make a run for it.
The sole of your high heel shoes dig into your feet and a throbbing pain shoots through your body, as you wince. Note to yourself - never wear heels to office again.
You also secretly pray to the gods that your contact lens don't get washed off. Turning up at your new office on the first day with a blood red iris doesn't feel too fun, really.
"Do you need a lift?"
You had been so busy running to your office that you don't notice when a black car drives toward you and the driver rolls down the window, offering you a smile.
Seo Changbin.
Your heart skips a few beats.
"Y/n, do you need a lift?"
You blink back to reality when he clicks his fingers in front of you, "I-I mean if that's okay with you."
Changbin smiles, pointing to the passenger's seat, "Come on in."
When you're comfortably seated in his car, using his spare towel to wipe off the water from your face and hair, his questions start-
"So.." He steps on the break when the traffic light turns red, "How have you been?"
You look at the digital clock displayed on the cars' LED, and sigh. You're late to work and you're stuck in traffic with the one man you'd rather not be stuck in traffic with. Brilliant.
"Good." Your eyes are focused on the cars outside the window, "You?"
There's a moment of silence before he speaks again, "Fine."
Fine? Just Fine? Shouldn't he be over the clouds, now that the wedding is finally around the corner?
"Okay.."
"Actually, I meant to ask you earlier, y/n." He turns to you, a gentle smile playing at his lips, "I am throwing a party this weekend. I'd love it if you could come by. And I could introduce you to her."
You sink back into your seat, biting your lip, wondering if you want to ever know who her is. Your peace of mind is more important than meeting your ex crush's fiance, right? And if you do end up going to the party, whom would you hang out with? It's not like you know any of his rich friends and cousins and there's no way you'd hang out with Changbin and the said fiance.
You are about to respectfully reject the invitation when a sudden, seemingly good idea pops into your head.
Bang Chan.
You nod, shrugging, "Okay. I'll be there."
You clasp your hands together as he continues driving and you look out the window, unable to suppress the bubbling excitement.
"Great, then." He replies, suspiciously.
*
The evening of the party finally arrives, much to your dismay, you find yourself seated next to Chan. He's just the same as the guy in your memory; a gentleman.
"You look pretty, y/n." He had greeted you as he held the car door open for you, "I'm glad we could meet up."
His words turn your cheeks into a darker shade of red but your heart doesn't beat quite as furiously as you'd expect it to.
Muttering a small thank you, you seat comfortably in the car while Chan drives towards Changbin's family's old Farmhouse on the outskirts of the city. You've been there before - during summer holidays, he would take you there with his family. That place was only filled with happy memories of sunshine, swimming pools, watermelon juice and bonfires.
You swallow the grief that comes along with these memories.
"Are we here already?" Chan pulls over in a familiar driveway not even ten minutes later, jogging up to your door and clicking it open, like the gentleman he is.
"Yeah, we're here." Chan smiles, "Very less traffic tonight."
You guys walk through the huge metallic gate, making your way through the main door of the house.
"Uh..." People are crowded mostly around the front door and in the front yard, so you and Chan have to push and squeeze your way into the Farmhouse. You hate the feeling of sweaty bodies pressing against you (or holding Chan's hand for stability) but desperate situations call for desperate measures.
"I hate it here." You mutter when you later find yourself by the pool side, swirling the drink that you don't even plan on drinking and looking at all the flushed faces having the time of their lives.
Thankfully, Chan happens to be on the same boat as you.
"I'm sorry I dragged you here, Chan. We could have just gone for a movie."
Chan giggles, "Hey, it's alright. I don't mind, I'm glad I could spend some time with you after so many years."
His eyes shine and dimples deepen.
You whisper, "Yeah, me too."
Chan is a handsome man, good at all kinds of sport, good at arts, very smart and intelligent yet there's a part of you that knows you'd never be able to reciprocate his flirtatious words. It's sad, really, but that's just how life is.
"Wow, those two seem to be having the time of their lives." Chan chuckles, pointing at someone behind you.
It's quite dark outside, the only source of light being a few decorative fairylights hung at random places haphazardly.
Hiding behind a huge, tall bush, you see a couple, kissing each other like it were the last day on the planet.
The guy's hands roam all over the woman's body and the woman is so loud that even you could hear her sighs and moans. When she pulls away to catch her breath for a second, Chan asks you, "You know her?"
"Nope. I don't know either of them."
You look away; what kind of creep looks at a happy couple like that? (Not a creep, just a lonely and touch starved person)
"Should we check out the dinner table?" Chan suggests and you agree with a nod, "I hope there's no crowd there."
As expected, there actually isn't a crowd there - there's only Changbin, sitting and nibbling on a pizza slice while scrolling through the phone.
The moment your eyes land on him, your feet as if stop on their own and your heart bangs furiously against your chest.
He's breathtakingly gorgeous.
By the time you debate in your head whether or not you want to sit there and fill your stomach, Chan has already made his way to Changbin.
"Hey, Bin!" He greets him with a smile.
Changbin looks at Chan with an unamused smile, the same one from your high school days, when these two were named the biggest rivals on campus. You wonder if somewhere deep in his heart, Changbin had still not let go of that rivalry.
"Hey, Changbin." You manage to whisper before sitting beside Chan.
He looks almost angry.
"You should have the pizza. It's good." He mutters, turning to pass you a slice of pizza on a plate, "Help yourself, Chan."
Yup, there it is. The Seo Changbin that would kill to be on top. You feel worse about dragging Chan here now when neither of you were having a good time.
"Thanks, mate. " Chan replies.
Your ears ring with the sound of approaching footsteps, and when a pretty girl comes walking in and takes Changbin in her arms, your heart stings. Like a fresh wound.
"Y/n.." Chan whispers to you as you watch the two collide in a loving embrace, Changbin smiling at her and running his fingers through her hair.
Your heart hurts at how happy and content he looks.
You could have had that, a part of you thinks, if you weren't such a coward, it would have been you instead of her.
"Y/n," Chan calls you again.
"What?" Your tone is harsher than you intended, "What happened?"
You think Chan is about to give you the whole it-is-time-to-move-on talk but he doesn't, instead he points at the girl and whispers,
"It's her. The girl we saw earlier."
The rest of the night is blurry to you, all conversations, all gazes, all thoughts just feel ....like an awkward dream.
"We have to tell Changbin."
You're sitting at Yang's Cafe at 1 am the same night, watching Jeongin's brother guide his staff to clean the place up.
"I agree." Chan says, biting the inside of his cheeks.
While you, on the other hand, are completely zoned out, staring at the glass of water placed in front of you and watching the droplets on its surface race each other.
"Y/n, what do you think?" Jeongin asks when you don't take part in their discussions.
You sigh, "I don't know. I really don't. As much as it troubles me that Changbin is being cheated on, I don't want to get involved in their personal relationship. "
"Let's not tell anyone for now, then. But someday in the future, before that goddamn wedding, we have to tell him. He deserves to know." Chan agrees.
You purse your lips and close your eyes.
Chan is right.
Changbin deserves to know the truth.
*
"So, how's it being back in town, y/n?"
"It feels good. Weird, but good." You smile at your old teacher, "How have you been, Miss Oh?"
Your teacher adds sugar to the cup of tea in her hands and then looks at you, smiling - the same old smile, except with more wrinkles now, "I've been good. I'm retiring next year so I'm glad I could see you before that, huh?"
You nod your head, "I'm glad too. The school hasn't changed much, unlike what I had expected."
Other than the addition of some new labs and libraries, and the change in color of the walls, everything was still the same. No place in this old school building feels foreign to you.
"Ugh, these administration people I tell you, y/n, they're cheap idiots. They won't spend a single penny on infrastructure unless it's absolutely necessary." She complains as you giggle in response,
"They've always been like that."
Miss Oh gulps some tea from her cup, "Anyway, y/n, I have a class now. I would have loved to stay and chat, really, but I'm afraid that might get me in to trouble."
"No issues, Miss Oh. Go ahead. I'll just roam around the school a little more though, if that's okay."
After Miss Oh leaves, you step out of her cabin and walk the familiar corridors, reminiscent of the memories you have here. Studying a few minutes before tests, bunking classes, running to class when you're late, hanging out with your friends- these corridors have seen you grow in love, in friendship, in life. There's absolutely nothing that could ever replace these memories.
Mindlessly, you wander around the third floor, walking toward the end of the corridor before stopping in front of an old door, way too familiar to not try and push open.
While a part of you tells you it might not be a good idea to go into that room again, there's also a part of you that thinks it's a bloody brilliant idea.
Pushing the door open, you walk into the old dusty room, sighing in relief when you see a particular set of letters still carved on the wall.
CB and YN were here.
You finally let your tears run free, as you crouch down to touch the letters.
Your heart aches at how much you miss Changbin being an important part of your life and how much you miss being his top priority. And your heart aches for Changbin, who is so in love with his fiancé and has no idea he's being cheated on.
You almost want to leave this town and go back to your mother, away from this terrible mess. Yet you don't find it in yourself to act on those thoughts.
Maybe, it is your fear of abandoning him once again that stops you. Or, maybe it is simply the unconditional love you harbor for him.
* Surprisingly, Yang's Cafe is near empty that afternoon.
"Did something happen, y/n? You look really worried." Changbin has his arms crossed over his chest, looking at you with a tense frown.
"Um..it's kind of complicated." You sigh. For a second, you see the genuine concern and innocence on his face, and you wonder if it is worth telling him the truth at all because it would kill you to see him lose his smile but then, his engagement band shines on his ring finger and your stomach turns unpleasantly.
He has to know. From you. In person.
"Changbin, that day at your party...I saw something. " You whisper, "Something I shouldn't have. I should have turned a blind eye really but I can't. My conscience won't allow it. I'm sorry, Bin."
"Y/n, it's okay, just tell me," he reaches over and wraps his fingers around yours, soft and gentle, "You're scaring me."
"Changbin, your fiance is cheating on you. I-I saw her kissing another man that night. Chan saw it too." You feel sick even having to say this to him, "I think you should confront her."
He sucks in a deep breathe, his face completely void of any emotions as he extracts his hands from yours.
"I know." Is all he says.
His eyes drill into yours, as if accusing you of a crime. He looks angry. Just how he looked the day you brought Chan to his party.
"Why are you still marrying her then?" You question.
He sits up straight, "Y/n, I wish I could explain. But I can't. I'm sorry. And please, stay out of this, okay?"
"Why? Why should I stay out of it?" Your voice threatens to break, "I cannot watch my best friend marry a woman who's not loyal. You deserve better than this, Bin."
A sarcastic chuckle leaves Changbin's lips as he taps his foot against the floor, "Let me correct you, y/n. You were my best friend. Seven years ago. You're not anymore."
Your heart shatters.
A part of you knows you deserve this after ghosting him for seven long years. You were the center of each other's world at one point of time.How could you have been so selfish to ever think that your absence and lack of communication wouldn't hurt him?
"Changbin, I'm sorry for everything I did okay. B-but I never stopped thinking or worrying about you. Even for one second. And I still do."
Changbin pushes his chair back and stands up while you stay frozen in your seat.
"It doesn't seem like that though. "
"What do you even mean!"
"Chan. I mean Chan, y/n." He grabs his phone and purse, "Goodbye, y/n. I hope Chan turns out to be a better friend than I ever did." With that, the love of your life walks out of Yang's Cafe.
And for once, he doesn't even look back.
* "Y/n, don't let go of my hand!"
Changbin is panting heavily, his voice shaking with fear as he desperately tries to hold onto you.
He should have known it would be a bad idea to play badminton near the infamous cliff in your town yet when you had showed him your innocent smile and pleading eyes that day, he just couldn't say no.
Your sweaty hands clutch his, legs dangling over the edge of the cliff. Your free hand grabs the rough surface of the rocky cliff to keep yourself from falling.
You want to cry; but you're too traumatized to even let out more than a few terrified grunts. "Y/n," he yells, "I'm going to try and pull you up one more time, okay?."
You don't even remember how you had ended up in this situation; one second you were happily giggling, playing badminton with Changbin and in the next second, you found yourself hanging by the cliff, praying for your dear life.
With all the energy he has left, he tries to pull you up onto the surface.
"Y/n, you have to free the other hand. Let go of that rock." He pants.
You shake your head vigorously, you know you would not survive if you let go of the rock, you'd fall thousands of feet below into absolute nothingness.
"Y/n, please listen to me." Changbin pleads, now crying, "Please. I'll catch you, I promise. I'll not let you die. Just..please."
Changbin sounds like he's about to give up and in all honesty, you couldn't blame him really. Everytime your eyes fall on what's beneath you, a part of you loses hope.
"Please, come on, y/n," he's still pulling at your free hand, while his right hand awaits desperately to grab the other hand. A mixture or sweat and tears grace his face, making him shine under the bright afternoon sun. Your heart aches at the mere thought of never seeing him again- your friend, your childhood crush, your partner in everything.
Well, here goes nothing then.
You suck in a deep breath and let go the Rock, immediately reaching for Changbin. He is quick to grab both of your arms and in one swift movement, he pulls you up onto the surface.
You fall onto his chest, "Y-you saved me."
Changbin let's out a sob mixed with a relieved giggle, pulling you into his arms.
Your eyes feel heavy, as darkness slowly begins to engulf your vision.
"Oh God, I am so sorry this happened, y/n. It's all my fault." He cries, rubbing your back softly, "I'm so sorry. I thought I was going to lose you, oh God. Fuck!"
You want to tell him that it was never his fault, and that you wouldn't even be alive if not for him but your body betrays you and your body goes limp against his.
*
"I'm not leaving this neighborhood."
Your hands rest angrily on your waist as your mom frantically walks from your closet to where the suitcase is spread open on your bed, shifting all your clothes. She dumps them inside the suitcase, not bothering to fold them even.
"You will do as I say! That Seo Changbin tried to push you off of a cliff and heaven knows what he might do next!" Your mom yells back.
You sit at the edge of your bed, trying to keep yourself calm, "Mom, I told you it was an accident. I fell because I was going after the shuttlecock and didn't notice the cliff. Moreover, why would my best friend want try to kill me!"
Your mom let's out a sarcastic laugh, closing the suitcase roughly. She looks at you with eyes full of contempt and a part of you knows that there's no point in trying to convince her. Her mind is already made. Yet you refuse to go down without a fight.
"You're just sixteen, sweetie. You don't know anything about the cruel world, " your mother sighs, "Rich people are not friends with anyone. Changbin may be nice to you but he only sees you as a pathetic poor girl."
"Mom, we're not even poor!"
"Yes, I know. But those filthy rich businessmen consider everyone below their economic status poor. His family probably doesn't like him being friends with you which is why they asked him to get rid of you."
You think of Mrs. Seo's face in your head, always smiling and always welcoming. You remember Changbin's sister and how she'd promised to let you borrow her dress for this year's winter prom. And you think about Changbin- his face, his smile, his passion for music and his protectiveness towards you. Why would these people ever want to hurt you?
"Mom, you're being ridiculous right now! Do you even hear yourself!" You stand up from the bed, now beyond frustrated.
She walks upto you and grabs your arm tightly, nails digging into your skin as you whimper slightly. "You will listen to me. I am your mother and you will listen to me. " she growls, "Pack the rest of your stuff. We're leaving tomorrow."
When she finally walks out your bedroom, your first instinct is to dress yourself in your black hoodie and track pants, and quietly slip out of the back window of your room.
The cold air nips at your skin, goosebumps slowly appearing on your arms and legs but you're too preoccupied to pay too much heed to it.
You reach Changbin's house and like always, walk up to the backyard and climb upto his room through the emergency staircase.
When Changbin hears knocks on his window, he quickly removes his headphones, "y/n?"
He walks upto the window and let's you in, his heart more at peace now than it's ever been the entire day. The guilt from the accident you had earlier was clawing at his conscience.
His room is mostly dark except for his table lamp. You notice the lyrics notebook lying on the table, open with some scribbles and random phrases on the pages.
"How are you feeling?"
You sit at the edge of his bed, cross legged while he kneels on the floor to get to your level. His hands find yours naturally.
"Fine," you swallow the tears that have been accumulating since you left the house, "Changbin, I- we're leaving tomorrow."
Changbin is taken aback; his heart shattering into billions of pieces at your words.
"Leaving? What do you mean Leaving?" his voice trembles.
You lick your dry lips and tell him everything your mom had told you earlier. When his face twists bitterly, a part of you wishes you'd held your tongue yet a bigger part of you wants Changbin to know the truth now; you didn't want him sending you off with lies in his mind and the fear of him finding out some years later just killed you inside.
"I'm so sorry, Changbin. Mom's just not been okay after the divorce." Your voice breaks when Changbin refuses to look at you, "I know she's speaking bullshit. But there's absolutely nothing I can do to change her mind, I've tried I swear. I'm sorry, Changbin."
When Changbin finally does look at you, even in the dim lit room, you see the tears glistening on his face, mirroring the ones that roll down your cheeks. "Why are you sorry, y/n? I don't blame your mom." He mutters, "It was partly my fault. I should have taken more care, I-"
You cup his cheek, "Shh. Bin, are we really going to spend my last night here crying and blaming ourselves? We might never see each other again."
The words sink deep into his soul, and he nods. He wills his tears back in as he grabs your hand tighter.
"Okay. What do you wanna do?"
You smile a little, "You're not gonna like it though. "
"Stargazing it is then." He giggles a little as the both of you make your way to balcony attached to his room.
It is quiet outside, unlike the noise in your head and you feel the calmness spreading to you when you look up at the stars.
Changbin brings a picnic mat from inside and spreads it out on the floor, along with two pillows and a blanket.
"We'll stay in touch, yeah? If you ever need anything, I'll be right here." He reassures you, lying beside you, hands behind his head.
You smile yet you cannot bring yourself to promise him the same because you know your mother would do everything in her power to push the two of you apart, even to the point of physically hurting Changbin. You would never want that so you'd rather distance yourself and let Changbin forget about you. And maybe, just maybe fate would be a little nicer to you and decide to bring you into his life again. Many years later.
He presses a soft kiss to your head, "You'll always be my best friend, y/n. I don't care how far we are."
It takes everything in your being to not repeat the words.
*
"Changbin, come on we're getting you to the hospital this instant, okay?" Mrs. Seo is furious next morning, running from room to room, looking through the list of doctors she'd saved just in case of emergency.
When she looks at her son, sitting on the sofa with one of his eye irises turning a glowing red, she is reassured that this is an emergency.
"How did this even happen, mom? I swear I didn't try to do anything funny with my eye." He murmurs, scared, "It feels so itchy, gosh!"
Mrs.Seo looks at him with concern just when the doctor picks the call, "Oh, hello Dr.Lee! Thank god you picked up!"
After his mom walks out of his room, Changbin quickly types you a text,
Binnie: Hey. Did you leave already?
Y/nnie: No not yet. We've stopped at the doctor's.
Changbin's eyes widen in alarm.
Binnie: What why?
You look at your face in the decorative mirror at the doctor's waiting room, one of your irises burning into a bright shade of ruby.
Y/nnie: Mom's running a cold.
You close the messenger app before he even replies, deciding to change your number and deleting all your old contacts as soon as you move into your new house. And as much as it hurt you, this one text turned out to be the last time Changbin and you ever talked.
*
It has been raining all day, which means you were stuck in your goddamn house with nothing to do but cry about Changbin and your lost friendship and your broken heart.
After you manage to get some food into your body during dinner time, you crawl back to your room and look into the mirror as you comb your hair and moisturize your skin.
(Self care is important, y'all)
Your red iris stares back at you, taunting your mistakes and calling you a coward.
If only you had still tried to keep in touch with him, if only that stupid accident wouldn't have happened in the first place, if only.
Suddenly, a knock on your balcony door makes you jump in your place.
Shit. Is it a burglar?
You grab the closest thing that could be classified as a weapon - which happens to be an umbrella.
The knocking continues.
"Y/n, it's Changbin." He yells, "Can I please talk to you?"
You freeze in your spot.
Why in the world is he here? Does he have anything worse to say? Is he here to invite you to his wedding? But why would he sneak in through the balcony when he can easily ring the main door bell.
"Y/n, are you in there?"
You quickly walk upto the door and slide it open, revealing Changbin, completely drenched in the rain. His wet hair stuck to his face and "Shit. What the- God, come inside!"
He obeys and tiptoes inside your room, a guilty expression plastered on his face.
You guide him directly to the bathroom and offer him a towel.
"What are you even doing here, Bin?" You lean against the door frame, hands crossed over your chest.
He is drying his hair with the towel when he looks up at you as if to answer your question but he stops. His mouth hangs open as his eyes remain glued to your face.
And that's when you realize why he looks so surprised.
"Shit- fuck." You turn around immediately, "my lenses," you mutter to yourself.
But before you can even walk upto your dressing table, Changbin has caught your wrist and spun you around, pulling you closer to his body.
"Your eye." He let's out a shaky breath.
"Yes, I know. Please don't freak out. It's always been like this after -"
"After the accident." He finishes your sentence, "I know."
Your mouth runs dry as his face draws in closer, "What do you mean you know? What do you know?"
He let's go of your wrist and takes a step back, turning around so that his back faces you.
And when he turns to look at you again, you swear you could have passed out there and then.
"Y-you have it too." You whisper, weak in the knees, "You have a red iris too."
Changbin gives you a small smile, "Yes, y/n."
"But why? What does this mean?" You say, "Is it a symptom of some chronic illness?"
"It's a soul mark."
"What's a soul mark?"
"It's a mark that exists on the bodies of soulmates."
You feel a pang in your chest; like someone was squeezing your heart out of your chest.
"Right," You fall back onto the bed, dazed with the sudden piece of information, "And how do you know all this?"
Changbin kneels down in front of you, hands finding yours. He looks more relaxed than he did since the first day you come back to town.
It almost feels like you had been given back your old friend.
"I've been doing my research, y/n. After you left, this is all I've been doing." He says, "This is also the reason why I had gotten engaged. By that time, I had given up on finding a soulmate. So I just settled for whatever I got. I didn't even feel bad when I found out my fiance was not in love with me. For the world, we might look like a happy couple, but truly, it was just a marriage of convenience for our parents' business."
You bite your lips wondering how to respond to these words. He'd laid bare his heart in front of you, something you never thought he'd do ever again.
"What now?" You say, tired.
He intertwines your fingers, "Also, I'm sorry for yesterday. I shouldn't have said all that."
You nod, "It's alright. I know you didn't mean it. And for the record, I and Chan have nothing going on."
"And for the record, I also broke off my engagement."
Your eyes widen as a gasp leaves your lips, "What? Why?"
"Because when I told my parents that I do not love my fiancé, and that I have only ever loved you, they said my happiness was more important than their business."
When you don't reply to his words, he looks worried, "Hey, you don't have to feel burdened to like me back and all okay? Literally, if you want me to leave you alone, I will. I understand-"
You pull him by the nape and place the softest, gentlest, most sincere kiss on his lips.
"I feel the same way, dumbass." You sigh as you pull him into your arms.
He muzzles his face in the crook of your neck, playing with your hair from behind, "So what now?"
"Let's start with a date." You say, "Let's take it slow."
Changbin wraps his arms tighter around you, kissing your cheek, "As you wish, my love. "
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redxblueihateloveyou · 3 years ago
Note
Hey i really love your blog!!! I just plucked the courage to actually send u an ask fhdjhd but GOSH i love your video edits and your gifs and your meta article posts, you're so articulate and you can explain/describe moments in a way that makes me go "oh wow, i cant believe i haven't seen it that way before!!" Haha ANYWAYS i'm just here to say that i completely agree with what all u said, Free creators might do a lil fanservice here and there for the 25 ships that exists within the fandom's circle, but rinharu's storyline is clearly the most romantic one! And i'd argue it's the one closest to being canon esp after part 1, i mean the fact that they put such an explosive emotional outburst right at the end of the second to the last movie means a lot. It's like reinforcing the fact that this series has always been about them, and everything that has happened only happened either because they met or they grew appart and miss eachother. I kinda feel like maybe.. juust maayyybe there's a chance KA wants to make the ship canon, since it's the last movie and they want to end it on a highnote maybe (bcs honestly i think the only reason they've been holding back is purely bcs of the merch sales, since they don't have a problem showing a wholesome lesbian love story in kobayashi maid dragon) butt i could be wrong, maybe i'm just overly optimistic and delusional, they could somehow ruin it and give an ending that panders to all the ships again 😅🥲, but at least there's a clear-cut guarantee that part 2 would dedicate a large portion of it fixing rin and haru's fight!!! Oohh how can i wait another 6 months now!!😭😭 (sorry for the long ask btw!! 🙏🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️)
OMG thank you so so much!! For watching my vids too! ❤️❤️❤️ It really means a lot to me! Ahhhh wow, thats the longest ask I've ever recieved! 😍 I'm trying to explain myself so hard lol I'm glad its appreciated, bc sometimes I'm like "I don't fucking know how to say this" xD
Well, you know me, I only care for one ship, which is the only one with confirmed info that they're both actually gay and have mutual feelings for each other. There are some other ships in free! I'm fine with (those do not include Rin or Haru in them xD), but I just mostly don't care, bc after reading all the stuff, you can see that in some of those to one the other one is actually like his second option, which I just do not like. Others I just don't even see, bc again to me who witnessed great close male friendships and having two sisters who I'm very close to, I just do not see anything romantic in that.
It's not just Free! tbh, it's like any sports anime these days. They see two guys walking together, it's a ship. And like no one cares if they're just bros. Like I'd get i they did some fanservice fanservice, but like I never saw anyone in Free! crossing the line the way rinharu do. I can without thinking much name you 10 rh moments that no matter how hard you think can't be explain as being bros, but can't name one when it comes to others. I just find some ppl shipping everyone with everyone weird sometimes. It's like western fans see like some eastern actors or singers slap each other ass lovingly and they're like "oh they're fucking" I'm like "yeah, ofc all 500 of them, you're absolutely right". And Free! doesn't do anything even like that, I just do not get sometimes like what moment even brought on some ships. I'm genuinely confused. Albert and Haru? You fucking fell from a sakura tree or smth? I'm...
I'm especially confused when it comes to guys, whose character type is who I call "I only want this one and if I can't have it, then I'm ok" xD. It just always surprised me, when they try to pair up them with someone else, it's like a complete ooc.
I'm also not into this whole "well, if there are gays in this anime, than everyone there is gay". I'm like... huh. It's like with KNB and MDZS I had same feeling. It's like you have already couples there who are canon/borderline canon, why do you need another 10 who don't even interact or just don't even go there? I'm always so confused in those situations. Or like wangxian is married and some are like "no, I actually don't like it, let me write a fic when they're with other ppl". Lan Zhan... being in love or having sex with someone else? Yeah, that's not Lan Zhan, dude, you're writing about someone else. Might as well change the name at this point.
But last time I went to twitter someone had a thread about how if they make s4 of Free! they should mainly explore there Momo's angst (and no, it wasn't a joke), so I'm already like, I'm just.. nothing will surprise me no more. But I'm forever gonna be confused.
Yeah, I eel you about "going there". I mean seeing part of it, it just kinda cemented my confusion, bc I do not get how it can be considered platonic. We were just discussing since yesterday with @freeseafirefly how I now even more perplexed and do not understand how they will resolve it without going into relationship territory. It's just our point here is that like... no one forced them to go there (I mean its not like this whole fandom has some wild expectations or anything already), we were waiting or our usual friendship and swimming and maybe tiny conflict about struggles of pro-careers and some usual rh implications (maybe all the rh gay in dramas as always). Not some pure fanfiction coming to life here haha.
Like why I'm laughing is bc I twice used in my "fics" bringing up him leaving Haru as a force to push the confession, bc there's no way if he adresses this it won't lead to this. And now we not only have this (bc Haru just basically layed it out there), but an actual scene of him playing on their feelings for each other and a literal image of Rin leaving and "taking Haru's heart with him" to the point when he's for the first time in his life openly crying on the ground. And it's not like this scene can be interpreted as anything else, the whole fandom talks same, bc the whole fight was just about them, what Haru said was just about them, there's a literal boom of his heart getting out of his chest, before he falls and now he's heartless.
So our question is like... why go there?
It's like some say that they might still resolve it with "they're special to each other" and swimming, but still like we already knew that, there was no reason to go that far is what I'm saying. And to think that it was planned since forever giving the clues is like... ???
The whole spoon theme also throw me on the loop because like, lets be honest, it's wedding themed. And that part of the interview about part 2 there also made me go...?????? Because I mean, huh?
This is just all in all very interesting turn of events to say the least. I do not see the point of all of this if its not what I think it is, esp after seeing tweets like "even I see a rh wedding and I'm mh T_T". It's just all very unsubtle, that's why we're confused.
Like who knows, maybe we'll really by some magic turn of events get lucky and they really decided that since its the ending, it's okay to go for it. But I also don't wanna to hype myself much, I'm already really happy with it, just bc again, this scene already proves all of my points.
And yeah, I'm sure they'll pander to everyone, bc it's the end and etc and we have to handle everything on the good note and there's a whole line of ppl who's obsessed with us, esp with Haru xD, but like bromance pandering and romance pandering are different things, you know *wiggles eyebrows* and u know who always gets the second one.
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pfreadsandwrites · 3 years ago
Text
九つの命/9 Lives Translation
Hi!! So, @foxy-and-tales asked me to tell her what was going on in the comic mentioned in this post. After skimming through it, I thought it'd be good practice - and it'd be easier to answer her question - if I just went through it and told her what it all meant. I realised by that point I was doing a translation, and since I was going to the trouble anyway, I thought I'd post it publicly.
So, the full comic is here. It's basically a comic that has 7 little stories about Kakashi's ninja hounds and their lives with Kakashi. It's an adorable, heartfelt story and I absolutely love the personalities that the artist gave all the ninja hounds and the depictions of their relationships with Kakashi.
My translation will be this post, follow it as a script. I don't have the skill or knowledge to edit and typeset and change the images myself - and I wouldn't do that anyway, as it would involve reposting the art and changing it without the artist's consent. But I do think that not referring to the pictures as you're reading through the script really harms how sweet this story is, so if you can go through the comic slowly whilst referring to my (amateur) translation of it, I hope you can get a glimpse of that!
WARNINGS: There is a depiction of an already dead dog in part 4 😢, and some (human!) male partial nudity in part 6 (😉)
Tagging: @scaredlittlefoxy @lemony-snickers @backalleykat @whatshernameis @gwedosuns @topsyturvy-dream @ice-icebaby @cosmiclattes
This is also the artist’s note that follows after the comic, that I’m putting here:
(Artist’s note translation)
"This is a story about the daily life of Kakashi and the eight ninken.
The ninja dogs’ personalities etc mightn’t be faithful to the source material.
The dogs live free range in Kakashi’s house.
There is an illustration of a dog dying, though it isn’t any of the ninken. Please take note.
You don’t have to read it, but below this are the dogs’ personalities:
Shiba: Friendly and sensitive
Biscuit: Childish and Selfish
Akino: Calm and cool demeanour
Bull: Timid and Quiet
Urushi: Ladykiller. A little bit dim. (Note: Himbo!)
Guruko: Annoyingly helpful and naggy
Uhei: Pure-hearted and cheerful
Pakkun: Same as in the series"
Some notes and then onwards into the translation under the cut:
Please take heed before continuing:
I’m not a professional translator, in fact I’ve done very little of this, so there’s some guesswork and liberties taken, and I don't claim that that there’ll be no mistakes.
I’ve separated it out by sections and pages, so you should be able to follow the story from following the speech bubbles (right to left) and referencing the lines here by speaker
Each space between a line denotes that it’s the next speech bubble
A new line but no change in speaker will denote that it’s the same character talking, but in the next panel or speech bubble
Italics means the character is thinking or flashbacks. I'll try and make this obvious as I go but the artwork should make that clear too.
Brackets are my additions, or me translating things like signs etc, or brackets will have smaller background dialogue not in speech bubbles. I'll try to make this clear as I go.
Stuff surrounded by * denotes actions or onomatopoeic actions/words in panels
Ask me if there’s any parts that confuse you about the story!! The way I’ve done this isn’t easy to follow but it's the best my dumb brain could come up with
TRANSLATION:
Title page
(p.1)
ここのつのいのち
9 Lives
(p.2)
1. ‘I won’t tell anyone’
(SFX: dogs playing and wagging tails)
Kakashi: Hm? You’re not gonna play, Shiba?
Shiba: …No. …Hey, Kakashi’
Kakashi: Hm? What?’
Shiba: There’s a girl I like’
Kakashi: Ohhh… I won’t tell anybody.
I won’t tell ~ I won’t tell ~
(p. 3)
Shiba: She’s really cute…
Kakashi: That’s great ~
Shiba: But I haven’t even spoken to her once
Kakashi: You should go for it ~
(SFX: *happy dog panting*)
Shiba: I’ll come back as soon as I’ve talked to her!’
Kakashi: Yep!
Shiba: I’ll be right back, definitely!
Kakashi: Ok, ok (lit. Yes yes)
(p.4)
Shiba: She’s already got someone (lit. she’s already in a couple/has a mate)
Kakashi: I see…
Shiba: She said her mate hurt his leg and can’t walk so he's staying at home…
(p.5)
Kakashi: Shiba, you know.. have feet that can walk anywhere…
So maybe you’ll meet an amazing girl again, won’t you?
(*dog cries*)
Kakashi: ...I won’t tell anyone. (*Comforting doggy*)
I won’t say anything. I won’t say anything.
(Kakashi: Aw, Shiba is pretty sweet to me, huh?)
2. Biscuit’s Sausage (note: I know his name is technically Bisuke in Japanese, but Biscuit is his dub name and it’s too adorable so that’s what I’m going with here! Also suits the personality he has in this story. What a biscuithead this boy is)
(p.6)
Biscuit: -You’re so sneaky, Kakashi! I wanted to eat sausages!
*crying dog noises*
(Uhei: Sorry, Kakashi…
Guruko: I told you!!)
Kakashi: You know if you eat sausages, Biscuit, your tummy will get sick, right? I’m boiling cod for you right now
(*tantrum noises, pounding feet and barking*)
Biscuit: *angry puppy noises* I hate fish, you idiot! I said I want to eat sausages! Sausages! Sausages!
Kakashi: *sternly* Biscuit
Biscuit: *whimper*
(p.7)
Biscuit: Kakashi, you IDIOT!
(2. Biscuit’s Sausage)
Biscuit: *sniff*
(Sign says Konoha Pet Food)
Biscuit: This is the store that sells the dog food Kakashi buys! Wow, maybe they have sausages here too!
(p.8)
Biscuit: I wonder if I'll be able to eat as much as I want… *gulp*
But if I did that, Kakashi would get in trouble
No, maybe…
*heart pounding*
Kakashi kept it (this) a secret just from me, because I'll get sick...
(Apron says Konoha Pet Food)
Shop Lady: *shuffles*
Biscuit: I didn't do anything yet!!! * heart pounding*
Shop Lady: Oh my… you really just talked!
Shop lady: You’re Kakashi’s pup, aren’t you?
(p.9)
Shop lady: Kakashi got you to come here, huh?
(Shop lady: you’re a good boy!)
Bisuke: Oh, no-
Shop lady: Though, he shouldn't have made you come pick it up without contacting us, huh? Here, sausages!
Biscuit: Sausages?!
Shop lady: There’s a pup among you guys that can’t have normal sausages, right?
It was a request from Kakashi.
He said he wanted me to make some especially for the puppy who can’t handle meat.
(p.10)
Shop lady: Well, here you go!! You’ll tell Kakashi we’re sorry for making him wait, won’t you?
Biscuit: Oh, um… But I don’t have any money…
Shop lady: It’s fine, because it’s Kakashi!
Whenever he has free time, he comes to pay.
I have a deal with him, you see. And he can't get the food if he's not here...
Next time, come together with Kakashi, okay?
(p. 11)
Kakashi: *casually picks up Bisuke* Thank you! This is for you ~
Shop lady: Thank you, come again!
Biscuit: Kakashi…
Kakashi: Hm?
Biscuit: Sorry…
Kakashi: Yeah…
I’m sorry too. I gave everyone else sausages while keeping it a secret from you.
I thought you’d definitely want some if you saw…
(Kakashi: But I got caught.)
(p. 12)
Kakashi: But…. Everyone’ll want some if they see this, too.
How about stopping by the park and eating it there?
We’ll keep it a secret from everyone 😊
Bisuke: *happy face licking and barking* When we get home, I’ll eat the cod too!!
Kakashi: Uhh… Well, Uhei and Guruko already ate it…
Bisuke: WHAT?!!!
(Flashback, Uhei and Guruko saying ‘Cod! Me too!! Me too! I want to eat some too!’)
3. Kakashi’s smile
(p. 13)
*paws thudding on ground/running away*
Kakashi: …Got you.
Akino: Ack!
It’s always only me that you brush so roughly, Kakashi!
Kakashi: It can’t be helped, can it? You have the thickest fur, Akino
*brushing softly* It’ll be over soon, it’ll be over soon…
Other doggies: That seems nice to me, Akino…
Kakashi: Hey, it’s falling out, it’s falling out ~
Akino: !!!
Kakashi: Look, it’s a mini Akino!! So much fur…
Akino: That’s too much hair off the bottom, Kakashi! Wha…
(p. 14)
*Kakashi continuing to laugh at his mini Akino*
Akino: There are times now where Kakashi summons us, even if he doesn’t have any business for us to take care of…
(Back then) he never ever summoned us outside of missions…
(p. 15)
Akino: He was doing all kinds of things, but he was the kind of person who never had a smile on his face…
Kakashi: If I had more time, I could make an even hairier one, you know
(Other dogs: *laughing* Akino: That’s a lie!)
Akino: Kakashi…. You're having fun?
Kakashi: *genuine smile* Yep, I am!
Akino: *smile* If you feel like it, you can keep going…
Kakashi: Oh?
(Later, Akino notices Kakashi has put sunglasses on the mini Akino)
4. Timid Bull (CW Animal Death)
(p. 16)
Bull: I’m the last ninja hound that came to Kakashi’s home.
Before that, I was living in a training centre for ninja hounds.
(4. Timid Bull)
The dogs I lived together with there… were all adopted when they were puppies.
But I still lived at the training centre, even as I became fully grown.
Ninja Hey, that dog looks tough, doesn’t he?
Centre manager: Yes, but… he’s not all that suited for battling…
Despite how he looks, he’s actually a timid dog.
Bull: I… I’m scared of insects. I’m scared of noises.
I’m scared of blood.
Centre manager: Because he can understand the stories of troubled humans, you see…
Bull: I’m scared of anything other than myself.
(p. 17)
Bull: Nobody would want a dog like me, right?
Kakashi: I found a good boy ~
Bull: *panicking* There’s no manager here!
Kakashi: Hello ~
Bull: …Hello… *heart pounding*
Kakashi: Ah, one that talks, huh…
Would you like to become one of my pups?
(p. 18)
Bull: Me…? Me, really? Quit it… That’s enough joking around.
Kakashi: What do you mean?
Bull: No-one wants me (😢)
Kakashi: No-one?
I want you, though.
Bull: What kind of a strange person would want me, I thought
(p. 19)
Bull: There were lots of dogs at Kakashi’s house
(Happy barking doggy noises)
Uhei: Woah, you’re huge! But among these guys, I have the fastest legs, you know!!!
Guruko: And I have the best nose!!
Biscuit: And I’m whiny!! (Note: lit. ‘I’m selfish!’)
Shiba: I have the sharpest bite!
Pakkun: I am the wisest. (Note: Pakkun I think uses Kansai-dialect Japanese lol so he sounds kinda... distinct. This is hard to convey for me lol)
Urushi: I’m popular with the ladies ;)
(Akino: I’m the fluffiest!)
Bull: I was so confused
You… you’re not scared of me?
I’m huge, and I have a scary face… So no one comes near me.
They all said they weren’t scared.
The reason, they said together, was…
(p. 20)
‘Because Kakashi brought you, Bull!’
Everyone was totally relaxed, as if they had no worries at all.
They all clung to me as if it was completely natural to do so.
I realised that there’d always be someone beside me.
(p. 21)
*sounds of paws scuffling against ground in first two panels*
*jumping to the ground noise in third panel*
Kakashi: …Bull, this way is a dead end.
Bull: …Sorry.
I couldn’t go back to where you were, and I thought so, but -
(p.22)
Bull: *looking at dog* He asked me to stay by his side.
…He was an enemy, but he was already dying.
That’s why, Kakashi….
Kakashi: …Yep.
Let’s give him a send-off together.
(Note: this was a tricky one because Kakashi says 送る, which means send, and is used with mail etc, but can mean to say farewells to the deceased, which is why Bull comments on it on the next page)
(p. 23)
Bull: He wanted to say ‘I want to bury him’
But Kakashi said ‘send-off’.
Lightly, as if his life force was still there
There… there are a lot of things that scare me.
When I was waiting for this dog, I was scared.
But I couldn’t refuse his request.
(p. 24)
Bull: …I’m spineless.
Kakashi: Everyone else has lots of things they’re scared of, you know.
That’s why they all stay by your side, Bull.
If you’re there, everything will be alright. That’s how everyone feels.
If you’re close by, everyone’s able to feel safe.
(p. 25)
Kakashi: ….This puppy, too.
Dying dog: …Please…
Bull: That dog…
Dying dog: Stay with me, until the end…
Kakashi: Because you stayed with him, Bull, he felt at peace, didn’t he?
Bull: I don’t think that dog was happy…
…Kakashi.
He was very thin, and he also smelt like he was sick
To protect themselves, his owner didn’t treasure this [this dog’s] life.
Kakashi, I…
Somehow, I..
I’m very…
(p. 26)
Bull: I wanted to cry out as loud as I could..
Kakashi: Yeah… (I’m not sure who’s saying this line)
Bull: For feeling guilty towards that dog, and for knowing Kakashi…
For my life being here now.
For my life, I wanted to cry it out until the blood came out of my throat.
(p. 27)
Bull: That dog…
I wonder, was that dog ever able to feel like this, even once?
(Flashback) Doggies: Because Kakashi brought you, Bull!
Uhei: Hey!!! Bull!!
Shiba: You’re late!!
I was worried, you know!
Guruko: (to others) Hey, Bull came back!!
Bull: I’m Bull. The dog that Kakashi found.
5. Urushi’s scales
(p.28)
Urushi: I think I’m good looking
(5. Urushi’s scales)
Girl pups: Ahh~ Urushi…~
Urushi: I’m popular with the ladies
(note: he uses メス, which means bitch in the literal sense - a female dog - and all the puppers use it to refer to human women too. So I just left it as ladies, as I don't think the pups mean it to be crass, they just use dog language and apply it to humans as well as themselves)
Sometimes I’m told ‘it’s probably because you’re one of Kakashi’s ninken’, but…
(Background lettering over the other dogs says ‘Unstylish/Uncool/Lame’)
But my other friends aren’t all that popular, really.
Still, I think it’s because I really am good-looking after all.
(Choruses of ‘Urushi~’, ‘Ahh…; and ‘Let’s play together, Urushi)
Urushi: Hehehe…
Being good-looking is a great thing.
Guruko: Hey, Kakashi!
(p. 29)
Guruko: You got hit by a girl again, didn’t you?!
Kakashi: *laughing* No…
Akino: Why were you hit by a girl? Do girls not like you?
Uhei: It looks like it hurts…
Kakashi: Nooo ~
Shiba: You’re so strong, Kakashi, why were you hit?
Biscuit: You couldn’t avoid it?
Guruko: *Steam from nostrils* I’ll fight her for you!
Kakashi: It’s fine, it’s fine ~
What are you saying?
(p. 30.)
Urushi: Kakashi said ‘I took responsibility’.
Sometimes humans say things I don’t understand…
Girl dog: Urushi… pair up with me.
Urushi: If Kakashi’s saying it, it must be important…
Be… Because I’m one of Kakashi’s ninken?
Girl dog: It has nothing to do with that. I like you, Urushi
Urushi: Wow… *heart pounding*
Girl dog: Pair up with me, and…
I want you to leave the ninken. (Lit. Stop being a ninken)
(p. 31)
Girl dog: I love you, Urushi, but what if, on a mission, you…
I can’t stand the thought of that!
Leave the ninken, and… always stay in the village with me?
Urushi: This girl’s a beauty, and has a kind personality…
I think that I might want to be with her…
Should I leave the ninken?
(p. 32)
Urushi: *perplexed*
Kakashi, Bull and Biscuit: *zzz, sleeping sounds*
Urushi: If I said I wanted to leave the ninken…
Kakashi: (in Urushi’s imagination) If that’s what you want, Urushi
It’s fine with me! (Background: It would be a shame, though…)
Urushi: I feel like Kakashi would say something like that…
Do I want to do that…? Not really, but… *sigh*
Hey, Pakkun.
(p. 33)
Pakkun: Something bothering you?
Urushi: Yeah, there is
I have to decide between two things, but it’s difficult…
I want both of them, but I can’t have them.
Pakkun: … Is it a girl problem?
Urushi: Yep ~
Pakkun: That’s just like you, Urushi. (Pakkun’s imagination shows two girl pups arguing:
Urushi!! Which one will you choose, me or her?! *indignant barking*)
When making a decision about something, one needs to think about what’s most.
...important to oneself.
Let’s say you balance both sides on your scales…
Urushi: My scales?
Pakkun: For example….
(p. 34)
It’s not the physical weight, but the weight of what you think is precious and important. It’s the weight of those feelings.
If you think about which is heavier, you’ll find the answer.
Kakashi: You guys are having a kinda complicated conversation, huh…?
Pakkun: Oh, Kakashi, you woke up, did you?
Urushi: *heart pounding*
Kakashi: My scales lean towards sleep, you know..
Let’s eat soon, okay? Please…
Urushi: Kakashi…. Are you happy that I’m here?
(p. 35)
Kakashi: Hm? Yeah, I’m happy!
Urushi, of course I’m happy ~
(Note: the word Kakashi uses is 嬉しい, which is ‘ureshii’ so Kakashi is making a pun with Urushi’s name here.)
Urushi: *blush* Okay!
Pakkun: What we were just talking about… Don’t talk about it in front of Shiba.
Urushi: Huh? Why?
Pakkun: Seems like he recently had his heart broken…
(p. 36)
Urushi: The thing that’s most important and precious to me… isn’t you.
That’s why I can’t be with you.
I can’t be with you, but… you’re a beautiful and amazing lady.
So, let’s meet again one day ~
Biscuit: Kakashi! Kakashiiiii! It’s awful!!
(p. 37)
(*throbbing pain*)
Biscuit: Urushi’s hurt!!
(*dogs barking*)
Guruko: Let’s go fight them!! *steam from nostrils*
Shiba: No way, is it a girl? Kakashi, you better tell him off!!!
Kakashi: Did you get into a fight with a dog from the village?
Urushi: No, it’s not that…
I took responsibility.
I’ve got a manly mark on my face, heh~
Shiba: You better tell him off!! *bark*
Pakkun: That’s it…
6. Kakashi’s Helper Team!
(p. 38)
Kakashi: I’m home~!!!
Guruko: ?!!! Kakashi, you stink!!
Kakashi: *sweetly smiling* Oh, stop it…
I saw Asuma after a long time, and we talked and ended up getting some drinks… It was nice to see him… *flops down on floor*
Guruko: Take a bath!!!
Don’t go to sleep!!
(*soundly sleeping*)
(p. 39.)
Guruko: Uhei! Uheiii!
Uhei: What is it?
Guruko: Let’s clean up Kakashi!
(6. Kakashi’s Helper Team!)
Uhei: Ehh… But if he wakes up, he’ll take a bath himself, won’t he?
(SFX: Heave-ho! Heave-ho!)
Guruko: We can’t leave Kakashi as he is when he’s this stinky! It’s fine, take it off!
Uhei: Uh, this is stuck half way, I can’t take it off
Guruko: Because you haven’t taken off his leg bandages!
(p. 40)
Guruko: Damn, this is stuck half way *pulling*
Uhei: Isn’t that because you haven’t taken off his headband?!
Guruko: This is enough, let’s carry him to the bath like this!
(*dragging noises*)
Uhei: Won’t his clothes get wet?
Guruko: It’s fine, because we’re going to wash them anyway!
Uhei: It’s amazing… Kakashi still hasn’t woken up!
Guruko: Okay, let’s wash him!
Uhei: Isn’t that… the shampoo that we use?
Guruko: It’s totally safe!!
If it’s fine for us to use, it’ll be fine for Kakashi too, right?
Uhei: I guess…
(p. 41)
Uhei: We can wash his body, but what about his clothes?
(SFX: *scrub scrub*)
Guruko: If we wash them together, it’ll be fine! Hey, pour some hot water over here ~
Uhei: Okay!
(SFX: *splash*)
Kakashi: *suddenly yelling* I’m gonna die!!
Guruko: *screaming*
Kakashi: Even with my face covered, if you pour hot water on me, I can’t breathe, you know!! You really can’t do that.
Guruko: You woke up…
(SFX: *heart pounding*)
Uhei: You really scared me…
(p. 42)
Kakashi: You’d started something, and I wondered how far you’d carry on… Ah, I’m drenched.
Guruko: Ah, I’m sorry, Kakashi!!
Kakashi: Well, anyway.. you guys ended up cleaning yourselves pretty good too. You’re all drenched, too.
Guruko: Then I’ll go get some towels!!
Uhei: Kakashi, Kakashi
Guruko acts the way he does, but he really loves looking after you!
Kakashi: I know.
Biscuit: I want to have a bath with Kakashi too ~
Guruko: That’s not it! It’s just all slippery (note: not accurate, but the gist is that Biscuit misunderstands and Guruko puts him straight)
7. I’ll always love you
(p. 43)
(Flashback)
Sakumo: Pakkun…
Pakkun…
I have a favour to ask.
(Present)
Pakkun…
(SFX: Snoring)
Kakashi: Pakkun..
(SFX: Gasp)
Pakkun: Huh?
Kakashi: It’s time to eat.
(p. 44)
Pakkun: Alright.
(Other dogs: Food~ Food ~
Kakashi: Yes ~ Yes ~)
(Flashback)
Sakumo: Pakkun…
Pakkun….
Pakkun..
(p. 45)
Pakkun: Kakashi?
Kakashi: Hm?
Pakkun: For the mission report before… You didn't need me, did you?
Why did you bring me?
Other dogs: We want to come too!!
Kakashi: It’s just Pakkun for today
Kakashi: Hmm…
Hey, let’s relax here for a little while.
Pakkun: What’s this…
Kakashi: Come on…
Well…
(p. 46)
Kakashi: I want to talk about Dad.
…No. Maybe it’s a confession?
Talking about Dad…. Felt like something we couldn’t even broach. Ever.
I think you felt this way too, right, Pakkun?
I couldn’t tell you earlier that ‘it’s all right now’. Even though it was.
It was just a matter of timing, I guess…
Pakkun: But I wasn’t waiting for you to say that… Even if you’d have said it earlier, that’d have been good, but..
Why, out of the blue like this?
A change like that… Just like…
Just like…
(p. 47)
(Flashback)
Sakumo: I have a favour.
(Present)
Kakashi: The day Dad died…
Ever since then, for a long time, now… I became strange.
I’ve been nothing but trouble for you.
Pakkun: Kakashi-
Kakashi: Even though… you were hurting over Dad not being here too.
(p. 48)
Kakashi: Dad was your first master, right?
You really were precious to him.
….The other day, when you were having a nap, I woke you up, didn’t I?
It might have been because of the food, but your nose was twitching.
At first, I thought you were growling.
When I woke you up, you had a really startled expression when you looked at me.
I understood right away.
You were thinking about Dad, right?
(p. 49)
Kakashi: You were having a dream about Dad that time, right?
Thank you for always being considerate towards me…
But it’s alright now.
From now on, I want you to tell me…
The things about Dad that only you know.
(p. 50)
Pakkun: Sakumo…
(Sakumo: Pakkun…)
Pakkun: …really was a loving, kind man.
Kind, and…
(Sakumo: Pakkun…)
Pakkun: Kind, and…
…Kakashi.
I’ll tell you about Sakumo.
The things I’ve always wanted to tell you
I’ll tell you now.
Kakashi: Okay.
(p. 51)
Kakashi: Thank you for telling me about Dad, Pakkun.
Pakkun: …Don’t you dare die.
(Pakkun…)
I’ve had enough now.
Yeah. Enough.
(p. 52)
(Sakumo: I’m asking.…)
Pakkun: Sakumo…
The two of you are exactly alike.
Kakashi: Oh, really?
Pakkun: Everything’s alright now.
(p. 53)
“Kakashi!”
(p. 54)
(No text)
(p. 55)
Kakashi!
(p. 56)
Kakashi
(Note: I think the favour Sakumo asked of Pakkun was to take care of and be mindful of Kakashi always. This isn't outright stated)
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shinonometrash · 3 years ago
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💕🍄The 12 Days of Ayumu 🍄💕
July 15th, Day 10 of Ayumu’s Birthday Celebration Countdown!!
And today we’re finishing up the Peach Fanclub booklets!! After that, I’m excited for y’all to see Ayumu’s birthday eve and Ayumu’s birthday day posts, they’re some pretty big items!!!!!
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Diary Entry: December 9
A case of peach nectar got bought. It seems the store was running a campaign where if you buy one case of peach nectar then you get a free key holder. She specifically bought it with no intentions of drinking them herself.
But, it’s not that she’s going to give me the entire case, either. Instead, she’s going to bring me one everyday...gross. She went on about things like how it makes her happy just to come hand deliver me things and whatnot, but that was just an extra hassle to come up with. What’s the point of making up excuses to come see me when she should normally see me anyway? Ah, well, I guess it’s hard to deny that I have that habit as well...But I get that it would be nice to be told honestly that you wanted to see me. Even with the relationship ban, we work in the same department, so it wouldn’t be that strange to say.
As for the key holder, I put it in my desk. In an office full of sharp sighted people, who knows what they’d say if they saw it. Just thinking about it makes me feel down. 
But, even though it’s for something so trivial, she still thought of me while she was going about her day...is it trivial? I feel like her way of thinking is starting to rub off on me as well. ...but regardless, let’s get in contact this weekend so that we can go buy some peach nectar.
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Diary Entry: December 14
It’s cold. Lately all I’ve been doing is staring at my computer screen so I haven’t really gotten to experience much of the season, but it is definitely winter. I keep forgetting that when I’m working. But, since there’s two people close to me who are very noisy about the festivities, I too am able to enjoy the different seasons.
The other day her and I went out. While we were in the middle of the city, we ended up seeing the shimmering lights. They were pretty. I guess you could say it was interesting. Even though we were on an authentic Christmas date, her feet just naturally headed in that direction. Honestly, I think it’s cute. I’m not going to tell her that though, cause she’ll get carried away. When I’m with her, things that I would usually have no interest in don’t seem too bad anymore.
I hope next year we can go out and do a lot of things together like we did this year. If we’re able to take a break, I’d like to go traveling, too.
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Shinonome Draws Public Safety
After telling Shinonome that the people themselves would never see the pictures he draws, we had him draw everyone from Public Safety!
Goto
Am I dead?? -Goto
Wow, Goto really is my angel after all! -Kurosawa
It seems that Ayumu views him that way too -Soma
The hell is this? -Kaga
Hyogo
You’ve got guts -Kaga
I was completely unprepared, I didn’t expect to see something like this~  -Namba
And I thought the portrait of me was bad -Goto
Spitting image, you captured him perfectly -Ishigami
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Ishigami
Spitting image, isn’t it? - Kaga
Hey, what happened to my eyes? - Ishigami
What’s that thing next to him? - Soma
Isn’t that pudding? - Tsugaru
Soma
Oh...? -Soma
lmaooooooooo -Tsugaru
So that’s what you think of him~ -Namba
Such a cute devil⭒ -Kurosawa
Chief
Is my beard really that dark? -Namba
This portrait is much better than the others -Goto
So you have the nerve to draw the chief seriously but none of the rest of us I see -Kaga
How unexpectedly cowardly of him, isn’t that cute? -Tsugaru
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Toru
Looks just like him -Kaga
You really captured him perfectly -Soma
It’s perfect -Goto
Looks identical to Kurosawa -Ishigami
You drew his personality very well -Namba
Well done -Tsugaru
Hey, wait!! I don’t make this kind of disturbing psychopathic face!! -Kurosawa
Tsugaru and Momose
Is that a mole? -Tsugaru
Huh, that’s neat. It’s got its own identity. - Kaga
Momose looks possessed by a demon -Ishigami
Hey, be nice, call him a guardian spirit~ -Namba
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Message For You
Seems we’re already at the end. So, how was it? Did you enjoy it?
I hope it met your expectations. For me, it surprisingly wasn’t too bad... Even now I still don’t really think I’m suited to be first place, though. But this...since it was your votes that made me first place, feels special. 
Thank you for giving me the chance to make so many special memories.
...dummy, I’m not being bashful. Let’s keep taking care of each other from now on.
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brb just crying, I miss my mushroom boy so much TT he’s so Good!! TT
Thank you to @world-a-to-z​ for screenshots of the booklets!
Stay tuned for more Ayumu content in the upcoming days! You’ll find links to all the posted content here!
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dappersheep · 4 years ago
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Food Fantasy: An Analysis on what killed a Golden Goose (1/3)
So first things first, disclaimers! I do not claim nor pretend to know every nook and cranny, ins and outs of the history of FooFan's conception, existence and uncertain future. I do not own the game nor its characters, only the opinions and thoughts stated hereon out.
This was born to vent out my frustrations with how a game like this was abused poorly by its own developer and publisher instead of being nurtured to become its full potential that could have overshadowed and remained better than the likes of Tencent's Tales of Food --I could dream, but it honestly had the potential to be.
Out of respect for the main tag, I personally will not be tagging this post and the following two with the main tag. If you want to tag it yourself with it, that's your choice. Only followers of my blog will see this.
This analysis is divided into three parts: Funtoy, Elex, and the Community. It starts under the cut. Well let's get started.
Funtoy
Ah yes, the creator. The developer. You'd think that with their sudden rise to fame during their global launch, they'd have used the massive profits they earned within the first quarter of 2018 to improve certain things about the game and then trickled it down as quickly as possible towards Global, right? Yeah, I thought so too.
After playing the game since launch, I've seen and experienced way too many things that just hammer in the fact that this is one of the most unfair gacha I've played in years. Some reasons being the following:
(Note: These are experiences ONLY on Global's version, it may also apply to CN being the original server)
⦁ The game's gacha model is aimed towards maximum predation on its players. F2p are forced to either spend some money (and thus tempt them to keep spending after getting a taste of it), or risk not even getting a good ascension of the unit to be useful at all. Paying for the event packs also doesn't guarantee that you would be able to secure a spot in the ranks. In fact, if you can't comprehend how the battle mechanics work, you could even de-rank. Fun way to burn that 800$, huh? At least you have the skin from rebates.
⦁ A little less known thing and probably theoretical at worst, the long joked about spaghetti coding of the game along with an outdated spine technology for the sprites could very well be the reason why a 2D game like this experiences the shittiest lags. Also how easy it is to hack this game with the right know-how.
⦁ Speaking of bad gameplay mechanics, did you know you could spend over fifty Mirrors and not get that final enhancement from +9 to +10 simply because there's absolutely no tangible safety net before +10?
⦁ If you're F2P, this game is terrible in giving you resources to stockpile. Because Funtoy certainly doesn't have a lot of weekly/monthly or even friendly events wherein you can get resources without spending another kind of resource. The Hawthorne event's rewards are lackluster at best, Bingo is severely limited in what it gives, and Recall also doesn't give much for a big event that only happens (supposedly) every 6 months. Did I also mention that daily resource rewards also kinda suck compared to how much you burn in just one event?
⦁ Monthly subs are a scam. Yes, you heard that right. My point of comparison here is Arknights. A monthly in AK allows you to have enough to 10-pull after 30 days, on top of a bit of stamina to help you. In FooFan? You have two monthly subs that do different things and even then, you won't have enough to 10-pull by the end of 30 days, nor is the stamina you get enough to even stockpile and ease the pressure of your need to save for the Gates or that stamina event that suddenly popped up.
⦁ A conga line of 'Must procure this unit at a high ascension to do well in the following events!'. You missed the first Pizza event? Missed the first Turkey event? God forbid, you weren't able to 5* your Beer on his debut? Well sorry, that 5* Black Tea of yours isn't gonna do squat to give you good damage. No, your 2* B-52 also isn't going to do much of anything with his lackluster damage capabilities. If you want a chance to get those event URs again, you have to wait for their pool with laughably limited pulls... and a bloated price to even pull.
⦁ The events starting after the first iteration of Turkey event get even more paywalled. As far as I remember, by the time Minestrone rolled around, an F2P with ample crystal resources can only get 2* at best. 3* and above are paywalled.
⦁ The game has incompetent balancing. The devs themselves likely have little experience in gameplay design and balancing, especially for a game with a growing roster of characters . A prime example of them launching a character not knowing it would pretty much unbalance the game? Look no further than Beer. The guy had to have a couple of nerfs done to him because he was just too meta. You know what's sadder? Before the 'switch' to Brave meta, almost all meta units was built to benefit off the Beer meta.
⦁ Artifacts. Do I even have to explain how the introduction of such a game feature so early into the lifespan of this game essentially fucked over the balance even more? Not to mention, all the more reason you'd be crying with the Gates of Trials demanding so much out of your stamina and crystal resources. F2Ps are again, the ones that suffer in this part. What's their reason? Profit, of course.
⦁ The nerf of resto chests. This was the primary source for people who were saving up stamina for the Gates... until Funtoy decided they were being too generous to their playerbase and dropped the stamina probability rate to 1% or less.
⦁ Terrible UI layout and design. Come on, be honest now, you've lost several thousand of your hard earned crystals buying screws in the fishing shop because you didn't notice that shiny warning in small text and a green button with the crystal image slapped on it, didn't you?
⦁ Look at all these SRs! All of them! Wow, they even outnumber the Rs by at least 80! What's that? There's more URs now too compared to Rs and Ms combined? That can't be real. But seriously, you'd think Funtoy could make some of these SRs into Rs and add them to the perm pool/shard fusion so people aren't stuck pulling Macaron or Dorayaki every time. They could have also populated the Team Up rewards with SRs instead of Rs. But you know... that won't bring them profit. Haha... haha.... Oh and I haven't even told you about the SP class...!
⦁ Lore. Yes, I'm sure by now you're aware that the in-game lore is different from the ones in the non-SP Food Soul bios, in the SP Food Soul bios that sort of ties in with the New World story (that global will never be getting btw). At this point, Funtoy handwaves the confusion away by saying, 'they're all different timelines'. Yes yes, an easy and cliche move to explain how shitty the writing direction went after a while. I don't know what happened, all I know is that lore got weird(er) when they introduced SP Rice.
⦁ They. Keep. Adding. More. Characters! They fail to see that a lot of their earlier players have imprinted on the first few waves of Food Souls and they sadly also fail to properly give some of them more story expansion... or skins. At the moment, they're shelling out so many JP-centric Food Souls because... as I see it? They're pandering to the last bastion of whales they have.
⦁ Merchandise. And I mean a variety of merchandise that isn't using the same official art every time. Like they couldn't afford to commission a couple of artists one or two times to make unique merchandise that would sell. They started too late on that train, and they even made it too hard for anyone not in CN or JP to even procure what already exists. Not to mention, they keep using the same 'popular' set of characters for their merchandise and never really expanding out to making merch for other characters.
These are all the things I can list off at the top of my head why Funtoy as a developer sucks ass. They could sweeten their words all they want, it won't change the fact that they've certainly made way too many bad decisions and found out about it too late, and now they're desperate to keep Food Fantasy alive to keep their profits coming in to make whatever that cat girl game they have and that supposedly 'side-game' FF2 they announced.
There may have been problems out of their control that I or you do not see, but one thing is for sure, they were blinded by greed for the money they were raking in on all their servers at the start, and never actually bothered to invest in more manpower in the right places to improve the game, both gameplay-wise and worldbuilding wise. It's actually saddening that this game could have been so much more with several QoLs and a more fleshed out lore, perhaps even spacing out the number of new units they keep introducing while going back to giving their old units more attention.
That's it for Funtoy. We're moving onto Elex in the next part and boy is that also a trip.
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mendesficsxbombay · 5 years ago
Text
your boyfriend is...(II)| s.m
part 1 here
I had received requests for a part two of this fic which happens to be the most loved one so far so here you go! I hope you like it!
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He sees white. 
There’s white sand, he thinks it’s sand, and curtains billowing over it. He sees a large wooden cabana, steps leading up to it, the steps are white, the pillars are white. He hears the sound of water somewhere. 
Turning around, he sees waves crashing into the sand, can water be white? The sunset is almost as beautiful as the day he saw her the first time, splatters of pink and violet and orange. The sky is the only pop of colour he thought he needed. 
There’s a carpet leading up to the cabana, white, of course, and large vases lined along it, there are white flowers - petunia, daisy, wisteria, large streams of flowers hanging from the ceiling of the cabana. He sees his friends dressed in white suits, his dad in a white tux, too and he smiles thinking of how perfect it all looks. His mother stands with her mother, both wearing white flowers in their hair, it looks beautiful on them. A hand touches his back, and he knows it’s her. 
He turns around to take her in his arms, he could look at her forever. Glowing, flushed and smiling up at him. He leans down to kiss her but she pulls away, “Wake up, baby.”
“Huh?”
“Wake up, Shawn it’s 9 and you have to be in the studio in an hour.”
He sees white again, but this time it’s the comforter wrapped around him, it’s her silk dress shirt and the headband she chose for the day, it’s her laptop case she is currently packing away and the large photo frame behind her, holding a photo of theirs. 
“What?”
“Wow, you did sleep well, huh? It’s Tuesday, babe you need to be at the studio at 10 and you asked me to wake you up before I leave.”
He checks for the rings on her hands, just the set of gold bands she always wore. Huh. She must’ve taken off the ones he gave her. 
“I don’t know what time I’ll be back today so please don’t forget your keys, actually you know what I’ll just,” she links his house keys with his car keys, “there, now you won’t forget it.”
Pleased with herself she walks over to him again, she kisses him lightly on the cheek, mindful of the deep marsala shade of lipstick she is wearing, “I love you, have the best day at work,” she pulls away smiling. 
“Babe, where’s your ring?”
She looks at him in confusion - “What ring?”
“You know, the ring?” 
She looks down at her hands in confusion - what ring? Oh, wait, he’s probably asking about my mom’s ring, she thinks to herself. What a thoughtful boy. 
“Oh, that’s tucked away in our closet, don’t worry. I gotta leave now, bye bubs!”
And she’s gone. It looked like a flash of white, his mind still hazy. Was it because he got high before sleeping last night? That couldn’t be it, right? 
He sighs while moving sluggishly to sit up, rubbing his eyes and willing the sleep to go away. He slept for over 10 hours and still felt exhausted, it worried him to think about what it would be like when he they actually get down to planning the wedding - god forbid that coincides with planning for his tour. How would he do it all? It seemed impossible, he should’ve proposed a long, long time ago, should’ve done it as soon as the last tour got over, no wait he should have proposed in the middle of his tour, and got married as soon as tour got over. Then they would already be married right now and she would wear the ring all the time. He’s just stupid thats all he is, really. 
He pulls himself over the side of the bed, laying his feet into the plush white, faux fur carpet she insisted on getting when they moved in. The carpet was one of the better decisions she had made and he silently thanked her each time he walked over it. We should have carpets like this at the wedding. 
In no time he was carried away with thoughts about the wedding again, the location, the invitations, her outfits, his outfits, the honeymoon, but the dull vibrations of his phone on the nightstand pulled him to reality. It was her. 
“Hi baby”
“Did you shower yet?”
“…No.”
“You are going to be so late, please go shower, please.”
She acted like such a wife already. The wife of his dreamiest dreams. “Yes ma’am,” he grinned into the phone, getting out of bed and heading to their en suite. 
_______________________________ 
He pulls himself up to the door after yet another strenuous day at the studio. He had to FaceTime his label executives in New York and LA, scheduling meetings for the coming week and still having to figure a way to finish the day’s task list. He unlocks the door and steps inside, a dull headache working its way in. Shawn toes his shoes off and lightly kicks them in line with hers to make them look neat and finally walks into their living room. 
She’s cuddled into the blanket they thew over the couch for times when they needed a binge watch, her hair pulled into a loose braid and glasses perched on her nose. She notices him walk in slowly, pulls the blanket off herself, getting covered by him instead. Smiling to herself she pulls the blanket over both of them again, her hands weaving through his curls softly, aware of how many times he must’ve tugged and ran his hands through it during the day. 
“How was it today?” She asks, careful of how soft she spoke. 
He mumbles something along the lines of being tired and getting 3 songs finished and having ideas for a few more. He moves on top of her, turning his head and adjusting himself so he could face outwards, lightly taking in her post shower scent. Vanilla and roses. Roses remind him of the floral arrangement for their wedding again. He figures he should let her decide this bit. 
“What do you think about wisteria and white roses for the wedding?” He mumbles, she only gets the names of the flowers, nothing else. 
“As flowers? I think they’re great! There’s dinner in the kitchen, I can heat it up if you want.”
“I’m thinking of lots and lots of wisteria, what an underrated plant…”
“baby did you smoke up again? I hope you didn’t drive in this condition.”
“No I didn’t, why’d you ask that?” He’s so sleepy he can barely get the words out but she hears him, shushes him because if he gets worked up now he won’t be falling asleep anytime soon. 
“Okay I’m sorry, but do you want food right now though? Or do you want to wake up in the middle of the night again when you’re hungry?”
“Cocoa.”
“What?”
“I want cocoa.”
“It’s kinda hot to be drinking cocoa, bud.”
“Turn up the cooling then, and please make me some cocoa, I love you.”
She had to bite back a laugh. Sleepy Shawn wasn’t too far off from Drunk Shawn except when he was sleepy he liked the quiet, and when he was drunk he absolutely needed to scream everything, all wide eyed and overly gesticulative. She had her fair share of experience with both, and asking for hot chocolate the way her mum makes it was basically code for exhaustion like he hadn’t felt in a while. She slowly picked both of them up from the comforts of the couch and led him into the kitchen. She welcomed the feeling of cold marble under her feet, like she said it was summer and her snacks usually included ice creams and popsicles these days. 
He sat himself by the kitchen island, propping his head on his hands and watching her putter around putting together his favourite drink, her body nearly working on out pilot when she mixed the cocoa powder and brown sugar, he’s convinced she could make it with her eyes closed. 
“baby,” he called out, still just as soft, he didn’t have the energy for anything more than a whisper now. She hummed in response, not paying much mind, because he often called out to her out of habit, not purpose. 
“Listen, please,” he pouted because she hadn’t turned around to see him yet. 
“I’m listening, baby.”
“We should have cocoa at the wedding.”
“What?”
“I said, we should ha-”
“No, I heard you but hot chocolate isn’t exactly a wedding drink, I’ve never had it at a wedding?”
“Who cares about others? It could be our wedding drink.”
She felt a spark of heat starting in her chest and working towards her cheeks. Our wedding? She loved how casually he spoke about their future, like it wasn’t something he had to give too much of a thought to - it’s just a thing that’s meant to happen. She silently crushed some pieces of chocolate onto both their mugs as a topping, they weren’t the biggest fans of cream of any sort in their drinks and thought of how she would never want them to change, and how there’s no one else she’d rather make cocoa for at midnight on a Thursday. 
He was the purest person she had had the pleasure of knowing in her life, barely any malice and a heart full of respect and love for anyone that came across him. It hadn’t been easy, loving him, she’d been burned before and who’s to say he wouldn’t do the same to her? But now that she thought of the years they’d spent together and the moments they created in this very house and multiple places across the world, she wouldn’t mind being burned again if it meant she still got to keep him. Forgiveness didn’t come easy but with him it came like second nature. 
She turned around to place both their mugs on the island letting out a silent laugh at the image of her very tall, very lanky boyfriend passed out on the platform, head supported by both his arms. She wished the album would wrap up soon, the creative process had really taken a toll on him and he looked more and more worn out everyday. As much as it was his job, it was her job to look out for him too.  
Softly running her hand over his hunched back on her way out, she picked up his phone from where they it on the couch. Swiping it open, she pulled up his group chat with the writers and producers he was currently working with, shooting them a text that he wasn’t feeling too well and they should hold off recording for the next 2 days. 
Feeling accomplished, she looked back at where he was now snoring on the counter, she thought of if and when he would choose to slow down his career if they wished to be married. Maybe it was too early for her to be thinking so, hell, they hadn’t even proposed to each other yet. And if and when a wedding successfully goes through, they would still have a whole life ahead of themselves to plan things. To date, he’d gone above and beyond to make sure she was alright with the pace at which he was moving, and where they stood as a couple and just making sure that she was okay, and she knew for sure that he would continue doing the same for as long as they were together, it’s just a part of who he was, especially around her. 
She walked over to him, gently prodding him awake and watching him chug down the hot chocolate like his life depended on it. She smiled the whole time they went back to their room and finished their night routines and snuggled up in bed. If this was what the rest of her life looked like, she wouldn’t even mind running at the same pace as him. 
__________________
He has a Pinterest board dedicated to their wedding. They’re nearing the end of his fourth studio album fast, and each time they take a break he is glued to his phone and Saving and Moodboarding things for the ceremony. Teddy warned him that if he asked her to pick between an arched altar and a slightly more arched altar, she would leak his album. It’s not her fault they all look the same no matter how much he wanted to fight her on it. 
He’s currently swiping through decor options for their afterparty when he sees it. He’s not sure what a dress is doing in the middle of photos of rounded tables and helium balloons but he swears his mouth goes dry thinking of her in that dress. It’s a vision in gold, intricate embroidery on the sleeveless bustier, two tuck lines running down the front and a cinched waist that flairs out into the most beautiful ball gown he’s seen till date. And he’s seen a lot of them, he has a board to show for it. 
He takes a screenshot and sends it to her. 
From Shawn: Hi, I hope you’re having a good day at work so far, I saw this dress and I think it’d be perfect for the afterparty (attachment: 1 image)
Halfway across the city, she was on her break at work, deep in conversation with Tiffany, yes Shawn’s stylist Tiffany, about outfit choices for the GRAMMYs in the coming few days. Shawn wasn’t performing this year, so it wasn’t as stressful of a time as it would’ve otherwise been. She had shortlisted 2 outfits with Tiff earlier, now wondering if she even needed 2. Tiffany said she’d need an hour or so to figure how she could layer her evening gown and then use the same for the afterparty, she hated having to go back and change even if Shawn wanted to.    
She was about to resume work when a notification lit up her phone.  Reading Shawn’s texts, she paused in confusion, wondering why he was sending her dress recommendations when she was already talking to Tiffany. Tapping on the link anyway, she is led to an ethereal gown, the kind that she’s convinced only exist online and not in real life. She may have even let out a blissed out sigh, the aesthetic experience running sparks through her heart and mind, imagining herself in a dress so god sent, but where would she wear it? 
The realisation cuts her supply of serotonin real quick, reminding her that absolutely no occasion she had been invited to thus far was worth an outfit like that. 
To Shawn: Hi baby, I miss your face, only 4 hours till I see you! 
  very pretty dress. where would I wear it?
Meanwhile he’d returned to piecing random chords on his guitar together. Shawn perked up to see her reply. He quickly held his pick between his lips, picking his phone up to text back. 
From Shawn: afterparty??
also 
4 hours 2 go. . see u soon 
* see you at home 
❤️
Why would she wear something so good to a GRAMMY afterparty? Like yes, don’t get her wrong, they’re important and all, but just like Bong Joon-Ho believed the Oscars were very local, she thought the GRAMMYs had limited taste when it came to artists. Yes, the world would be watching, and this would be her first ever appearance with him as his girlfriend but she didn’t want to stress herself over how she looked or acted. The show hadn’t awarded her man’s album with the recognition it deserved, she hadn’t forgotten. And so, she was treating the GRAMMYs like no big deal, just a slightly big deal. 
She wanted the night to be about him. Even if it would be their first time on a red carpet together, she would not be stealing his spotlight in any way, thank you very much. And if that meant rejecting this gorgeous gown that would make her look like a bronzed angel that descended straight from heaven, then so be it. 
She looked around her office, people returning to their desks from all over, lunch time coming to a close and her time to get back to work coming closer, she needed to tell him why the dress was not happening when Tiffany finally texts her back. 
Dress is sorted. Sending you photos once I put it together, found a way to only give you one outfit for the night :) 
The smile growing across her face should be worrying, really. She messages a quick thank you, you’re the best, Tiff!!! before opening up her chat with Shawn. 
Afterparty dress is taken care of bubs, nothing to worry xx
See you at home 😘
______________________________
When Shawn calls her giddy and breathless, she drops all her work immediately. 
The album, baby it’s done! We just cut the final- yeah it’s my girlfriend hold on- baby we just cut the final song I needed and it’s over just - no we’ll all go out in a few days, yeah? I just really need to be home with her tonight, thanks man, yeah so I was saying, it’s done I’m wrapping up and I’m coming home, jaan. I love you.
 Her good credit in her company allowed her to immediately intercom her boss and say there’s a family emergency, nothing too serious but she needed to head home right away. On the way she picks up whatever she can remember she needs for their meal, a bottle of Cliquot, Rosé, of course, a few slices of his favourite cheesecake and a bouquet of fresh flowers - a colourful mixture Carnations and Lillies and she smiles just thinking about a bouquet so similar given to her when he asked her to be his. 
It’s not until she’s back to the house does she realise that he passed up on drinks with his music friends (yes she does still call them that) for an immediate post album celebration and chose to spend the night in with her. God, could he get anymore perfect. Tonight felt like the night, the night, and if she did manage to pull through with the plan she put together in the short 20 minute drive, it would definitely be a night to remember. 
Entering their home she gets to work quickly, setting the flowers up on their dining table and stowing away the champagne and cheesecake in the refrigerator to cool down. She doesn’t know exactly how much time she has till he gets home, and the dish she felt most prepared to make was Pesto Chicken, having the side dishes in mind already, and body working on auto pilot from there on. 
While her meal bakes in the oven she brings out the fine China, determined to make the real thing look and feel as perfect as the image in her mind. Once the table is set up she moves around the couches in the living room for when they will inevitably end up there to watch something, anything, to end their night, or continue their night, if you know what I mean. 
As she’s fluffing out her blanket next to his, the lights running low and candles lit all over the place, he unlocks the door to let himself in. The smell of a slow roast hits him before anything else, his eyes running over the place to see her as soon as they could. 
She hears him come in before she sees him, hears the sound of his keys jingling and the soft pad of him taking his trainers off. She whips around and practically flies across the room into his arms. He’s more prepared, though, immediately swinging her up and spinning her around laughing freely as she squealed incoherence into his neck. Once he hoisted her up and round his waist he finally grabbed her face to kiss her like she deserved. She hummed into his mouth, wrapping herself around him tighter and finally getting a taste of what she missed these last few days. He smelled like cinnamon and tasted like happiness and love and warmth and she couldn’t seem to get enough. 
In a bit he sets her back on her feet but refuses to pull away from her. She’s giggling against his lips about dinner and a celebration and he’s never felt more loved. He does still manage to keep her in place and kiss her a bit longer, though, and she lets him because it’s what he deserves. 
When she asks why he did not go out with the boys tonight he just shrugs. She offers for him to meet them wherever they are after dinner he just says no again. When she asks why, he says the album they just finished was about her and he needed to spend this night with his muse because it was the only thing that felt right. She was too giddy to bother arguing back. 
She’s already set the table, ready to bring out the food when he shyly asks her if they can go change into their pyjamas. When she says yes and is about to run up to their room to change, he further asks if they can sit on their living room floor instead of their dining table. A small voice in her head reminds her of the time they made out on his living room floor the first time she came over and got drunk. Nothing else had happened that night, and he initially refused to even kiss her for fear of taking advantage of their sobriety or the lack thereof but she convinced him that it would be compensation. In retrospect, she’s thankful that they didn’t take things further because that was definitely a night to remember, the memory still makes her blush. 
When he goes to freshen up in their washroom, she’s changing into her fluffiest pair of pyjamas and an old t-shirt of his. Her pyjamas thankfully came with pockets, and she quickly went over to her vanity and stuffed a tiny packet in. She’d had it for nearly two months now, but tonight was it. 
When they go back down and stuff their faces with chicken, the best in all of North America, babe, as he says, she keeps looking over at him. He finally looks relaxed after months, he’d been frustrated trying to write new songs on the road and when he thought he had things figured out, he jumped straight into the studio to bring them to life. Essentially, he hadn’t given himself a break, which had led to a fight between the two of them. She’d been patient and tried to talk things out so as to not resort to a screaming match, but he refused to listen. Probably the Leo in him. 
The most she could convince him to do was be home before 1 AM. His girlfriend imposed a curfew on him, and he darn well follow it if he still wanted to have a girlfriend. 
Seeing him eat his meal while happily chatting about his day, she kept thinking of how perfect her life felt at the minute. When they popped champagne and he insisted they drink straight from the bottle, she thought of the few flaws of his she’d learned over the years and how she could bear to romanticise them if it meant she got to keep him forever. She couldn’t think of anyone else she’d rather be sat with on her living room floor, tipsy off the bubbly and munching on fresh cheesecake, stealing kisses in between. It felt right. 
He looked away from her to check his phone, text his friends back and she sets her phone on the closest console table to record the moment. Crawling back to him, she takes his fork and plate out of his hands and he smirks thinking she’s about to have the first round of the night right there. 
“Starting already, then?” He mumbles as he leans in to kiss up her neck when she scoffs and pushes him away lightly. “chill, horndog, I need to talk to you about something.”
He immediately straightens up, bracing himself for whatever is about to come. She runs her hand through his hair while his eyes cross the length of the room, knowing she sometimes needs a minute to collect her thoughts. When she inhales sharply, he knows she’s ready. 
He turns towards her so she knows she has his full attention, their hands intertwined and hanging between them. She purses her lips, sends a prayer up to God and begins.
“So um, the first time we spoke, I thought you were the dreamiest boy I’d ever seen. Um, I still think you are.” His heart warms at her being nervous, knowing she doesn’t have to be around him and tries to ignore the heat in his face. 
“See, we didn’t really know each other did we? So whatever little image I had of yours in my head was based on small talk and your devastatingly good lo- stop smiling, your below average looks, and how you desperately failed at trying to hit on me, but it it was only a matter of time till we got talking more often when you went away for tour - and I think I really appreciate it sometimes that your tours, like, no matter how long or short they are, they give us a chance to talk, you know?”
He’s not sure where this is going. The confusion is visible on his face but she keeps going. It’ll all be worth it. “Other couples don’t get to have that, Shawn. I know they’re always with each other and I know we’d both appreciate more time together when we’re physically together but being away from you makes me… introspect. It makes me want to learn things about you, it makes me want to know you because there’s never enough things to know about you, and the more I know, the more I love.” She moves closer now, cupping his cheeks and he leans into her hands, still confused as ever but letting her take what she needs from him. 
“After you came back from your first full length tour after we got together, I wrote in my journal that I would never take my time with you for granted.” His heart fluttered a little, writing in her journal meant making promises to herself, and she never went back on them. He’d never read any of her journals, he was nosy, yes, but not invasive. He wouldn’t break her trust like that. He also knew she wrote about him, he’d seen her peaking at him while writing, thinking he wouldn’t notice, but he did, he always did. 
“I’d never really had a serious relationship with anyone before you, you knew that. I mean, I just didn’t think I was special enough to hold someone down, or have my person, it just wasn’t plausible, right? And you know how Khalid said I never had someone to call my own, that was me pretty much my whole life, but then you swooped in with your guitar and you wanted to take me to all your favourite places and make me meet your friends and then you wanted to meet mine and by our third month together you started writing songs about me and I couldn’t believe that someone would want to write a song about me you know? Cause like I’m just me? But you did, a-”
“That was a lie.”
“What?”
“I didn’t write about you for the first time in our third month. I only told you that because I didn’t want to come off too strong, we were still pretty new to each other. But the first song I ever wrote about you was after our first date. Well, I started writing it after our first date but it was completed after you so painfully rejected me after the second one. I moped for a week straight, babe, you were pretty heartless.”
She doesn’t speak for a second, she doesn’t know what to say, really. Her speech that she prepared for this occasion was pretty self derogatory, she realised. And now he was throwing her off kilter, making her forget the script in mind.  “You wrote a song about me after the first time you took me out?” 
“Yeah,” he said resting his hand by her neck now and running his thumb over her cheek. His gaze grew softer, “And now I’ve written two whole albums about you. But they don’t feel enough. I don’t think they ever will be, honestly. I could write a thousand songs about you and they wouldn’t do you justice. I love you more than anything, I think I always have.”
And all of a sudden, she’s forgotten everything she wanted to say. She always did think she got lucky with him, she had a loving, caring boyfriend who respected her wishes no matter what and worked hard come hell or high water to make himself better at his art. She thought about how she was a part of his art, she thought about the one time he said that each time she proved to be his muse, the result was somewhat a tribute to their love. How fortunate could they be to have each other? And now, looking at him in the softest sleep shirt he had, a little loopy because of the champagne after a long day of working hard, there’s so much she wants to say. But the words don’t make themselves known, instead she blurts out - “Marry me.”
He smiles lightly, “Okay.”
“No for real, hold on,” she holds his shoulder to lean up, then steadies herself on one knee, pulling out the Carbon Fibre ring that had her heart since the first time she saw it, a solid black with two thin gold lines weaving around it. Her hand is held up between the two of them so he can see the ring, “Shawn Mendes, will you make me the happiest girl in the world, and marry me?”
Holy shit. He hasn’t proposed. 
It finally pieces together in his head. In this midst of finishing the album and planning the next step for his music, he’d forgotten to propose to her. But he swears he remembers doing it - or was it all in his head? He rushes to stand up mumbling no no no to himself and her eyes follow follow him around, her hand lowering as the fear of the worst takes over. No?
At once his head looks upwards, where their room is, and he runs off. She can’t quite grasp what just happened. She flips the ring over in her hand, finding the tiny engraving of their initials on the inside of the 22K band, thinking of the day she was so happy to have found it, and how it was probably for nothing now. Why would he say no?
They’d talked about marriage so openly, he was the one who kept bringing it up - so why run away now? Was he not ready? Or had he changed his mind? Was it too soon? Or too late? Did he not want marriage anymore? She felt tears sting her eyes - did he not want her anymore? That wasn’t possible was it? He literally just told her he loved her - or did he not actually mean it? Why would he say it if he didn’t mean it? Did this mean they were over now?
She looked over to where she had propped up her phone earlier, the video still recording. She had plans of adding this clip into her next video, after their trip to the Portugal next month. She had wanted to record her proposal instead she may have just recorded their breakup, now that would get her some views, huh?
Upstairs, Shawn let out an aha! finally finding the small velvet box that he had stored away carefully - so carefully that he needed to empty out half his drawer to find it again. He bounded down the stairs, screaming BABY THIS WAS WHAT I WAS FORGETTING only to find her kneeling on the floor right where he left her. She looked small and sad, stray tears finding their way down her cheeks. 
“Baby w-what’s wrong?”
She didn’t notice the velvet box in his hand till he kneeled down in front of her. “I thought you said no… I thought you didn’t want this - what’s that, Shawn?”
He claps a hand over his forehead, frustrated with himself for upsetting her so much and so quick. “I just happen to be stupid, babe, I’m sorry, I forgot to propose.” Then he’s flipping open the box, throwing it back to let it land somewhere on the carpet after having taken the diamond ring out. It’s the exact width she likes, the exact cut she likes, and it is so beautiful. 
“How do you forget-”
“But! I am doing it now! I may be stupid but you’re the one who chose to stick by me so that makes two of us! Please marry me?”
“I asked you first.”
“God, yes that’s all I ever wanted, yes yes - a thousand times, love,” he rushes to kiss her, and she smiles into it again, pulling away and slipping the ring onto his finger. 
He’s the one who’s teary eyed now, a wet smile growing bigger and bigger. “It’s so beautiful, doll, I love you.”  She kisses him again, once, twice, she would’ve done more but he pulls away again. “Okay, your turn now - what’s the answer?”
“Hmm… I don’t know I mean you did forget to propose after all…” he stares at her for a second before saying humming and attacking her with tickles. She squeals out falling to the floor in a fit of giggles, trying and failing to fight him off. “Not gonna stop till you say yes, doll.”
He’s laughing, too, clearly enjoying her misery. He hears her let out a breathy little yes while he’s still running his fingers up her sides. “What’s that? Did you hear something? Because I didn’t!”
“Yes, sheesh YES I WILL MARRY YOU, SHAWN! Please stop!” He pulls her up, quickly slipping on the ring and gathering her in his arms, burying his face into her neck, finally crying out freely. Everything felt complete, finally, he couldn’t wait to start this new stage of his life with her. He was going to be a married man soon, nobody pinch him. 
“Wait,” she speaks, pushing him away a bit so she can see his face, “Is this why you kept talking about the wedding? You were talking about our wedding this whole time?”
“Yes, I know I get it I’m forgetful! I guess, I was so caught up in what was happening and what I wanted that I mixed the two.” He sighs, a little hazy after the sharp turn of events in the night. “Wow, I wish we had recorded this, I can’t believe you thought I said no to you, baby who do you think I am?”
“Already one step ahead of you - say hi to the camera!” She grins, pointing to her phone next to them. He lets out an of course you would and she only laughs in response and he decides that he needs to hear that for the rest of the life if possible. He looks into the camera and sees an image of them both looking like a hot mess, kneeling in the middle of their living room, faces flushed and eyes bright because of the cry fest that just took place. 
“Hi guys, we’re engaged!” And she lets out a yelp showing off her hand to the screen. “Shawn Mendes isn’t my boyfriend anymore, he’s my fiancé! There should be a new filter!”
“Wait, does this mean we get cocoa at our wedding now?”
__________________
taglist: @shawnwyr​ @mendesstories​ @lanallaa​ @sleepybesson​ @rulerofnocountry​ @luvluvxx​ @wholesomemendes
dm to be added or removed ♥️
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bts-reveries · 5 years ago
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waste it on me | part 13 (text below images)
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bold: yn
italicized: miya
[normal text]: description
~facetime conversation~ 
i can’t believe you two were able to keep this secret!! when did he ask you out? [you questioned, getting comfortable on your pillow]
uhh, he didn’t really ask me out-- [miya said sheepishly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, fiddling with her stuffed cat]
YOU ASKED HIM OUT?? [you yelled in surprise, it wasn’t like miya to be this bold]
no [she laughs], we kinda just went for it
you just went for it? how does that happen
well we bumped into each other when i was getting my sister and i drinks at starbucks, and then we ended up staying there just talking for an hour-- and it wasn’t like normal talking! well.. we were talking normally to each other, but like.. not like we usually do you know? like he got shy and told me i looked pretty that day and i turned red and then he made fun of me-- but his ears were red! so he was shy too, so i started making fun of him and then we just laughed it off and then we left and went on a little date. it was pretty cute [she explained with her hands, fiddling with her fingers as she ended her little story]
what happened to miyeon’s drink [you ask with confusion, your eyebrows knitting together]
oh about that... taehyung drank it and so in the middle of our date we went through drive thru and got her a new drink [she scratches her head]
where’d you guys go for your date?
we went to a karaoke room, it was so much fun, i can barely sing, but his voice. ugh. he serenaded me with my favorite songs, listening to them now is so different and makes me feel all warm inside [she covers her face with her hands]
ugh you two are so cute, i’m so happy for you two. but now i’m an official third wheel, fuuun [you shake your hands in a sarcastic way]
what do you mean! no way, how about you? what happened with jungkook?
oh akferjknjr it was... normal surprisingly. the movie was about to start so then the lights started going down right? then a black figure ran up the stairs and was about to sit next to me and when i looked up it was him and he looked so scared and he tried going to a different seat, but it was the last seat left so i told him to sit down. he hesitated at first but then he eventually sat down and i offered him popcorn [you nod your head]
well he’s warming up to you, that’s good! did you two talk after that?
umm hello? the movie started, why would i talk, that’s rude!
okay okay, then when did you two talk?
after the movie. i was going on an on about how i loved ponyo so much and that i was craving noodles and ham after watching that one scene, you know that scene right?
yes, of course i know that scene [she slightly rolls her eyes, nodding her head]
well, i wasn’t really talking to anyone in particular, just looking straight ahead, and namjoon wasn’t even paying attention to me! he was just on his phone so jungkook responded to me instead
aww what’d he say?
“so nothing changed huh? still your favorite?” I SCREAMED-- internally of course.
aww he remembers?? [she covers her mouth]
i guess so~ then we just started talking and i was telling him if he’d like to go get noodles sometimes, as friends you know? and he said yes. i kinda screamed internally again [you smirked a little]
omg yay!!! that’s great news [miya couldn’t help but smile so big]
it is, i didn’t get his number though... it slipped my mind completely [you pout]
why not ask namjoon? he can ask yoongi, i’m sure he’ll give it to you
true, okay, i’ll text him later [you look off to the side]
did anything else happen?
we got kicked out... of the room, we didn’t notice how much time went by because we were just talking about random things.
like what?
well it was still about the movie, i don’t know why, but the image of ponyo transforming back into a little girl popped into my head and i couldn’t stop laughing, it was embarrassing... he was so confused and he was like ‘what’ and i was like nothing but i coULDN’T STOP LAUGHING IT WAS SO EMBARRASSING [you squished your face in embarrassment]
did you explain it to him at least??
well yeah, but throughout my explanation i still couldn’t stop laughing so i had to show him a picture.
wait is that the picture of jungkook that you showed us?
yeah! that was when he was looking at the picture i was talking about and he couldn’t stop laughing afterwards [you couldn’t help but smile, remembering how cute he looked when he was laughing, the first time in 10 years that you saw that bunny smile again]
wait wait wait wait is it when she looked like a chicken?? [she says in realization]
YES OMG ISN’T IT HILARIOUS
YES I LOVED THAT, SHE LOOKED LIKE THIS [she frowned, her mouth forming the perfect upside down ‘u’]
YES [you laughed]
wait hold on... where was namjoon throughout all this? [miya asks, remembering that he’s who she came with in the first place]
on his phone right next to me, i saw him roll his eyes when i asked jungkook about the noodle thing and he mouthed ‘third wheel’ at me [you say as you scratch the back of your neck]
wow we really need to get him someone
i don’t know anyone else though, do you?
no, no i don’t [miya thinks]
aww man, i don’t want him to be lonely
date him then
oh no, no, no [your eyes grew wide and shaking your head no]
he’s a great guy, he’ll find someone
yeah.. but anyways, i shouldn’t get my hopes up with jungkook, we’re just friends-- almost.. friends
yeah, you like him though, right?
i guess? i mean, i think so, i’m pretty sure i do-- but right now i just want to be friends
okay, well baby steps then
yes, baby steps-- speaking of babies, when are you and tae going to get married so you can have babies? i want to be an aunt soon
hold your horses yn, it’s been three dates, go tell that to my sister [she says with fear in her eyes]
YOU’RE RIGHT, it’s about time those two get married [it just came to you that they’ve been together for more than a decade already]
i know right, they’ve been together longer than i’ve known you-- oop, taehyung is texting me, hold on-- [miya’s camera went on pause as she read tae’s text]
what’d he say?
mmmm... he just told jin, he’s happy, but surprised that none of us told him, especially my sister-- oh-- oh i guess they’re both coming over now [she said with slight panic in her voice, not expecting them to come over this late in the evening]
oH? well, i guess these are the perks of sisters dating brothers.
i guess so
well anyways, you can call me or text me later, i don’t want to bother you and your boyfriend 
nOT my boyfriend... yet-- he hasn’t asked
well it’s a given, now go get ready! text me what happens 
okay okay, i’ll see you later then
~end~
You sigh, putting your phone down and getting comfortable on your bed, looking up at the ceiling and just thinking.
beep beep
You grab your phone, looking at the text you just received, frowning at the text you just got from an unknown number. Still, you replied, getting a response almost instantly, making your eyes widen.
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waste it on me
☞part 13: who is this☜
→ pairings: jeon jungkook x reader
→ a/n: not too fond of how i did this one, felt like i could’ve done better :((
→ taglist:
@kookiemonstersugatea @lylanie12 @crazyferalvigilantedragonwriter @serious-addiction @zamasus-sugarbaby @cosmicdaylight @strwberry-jam @ratking101 @chiminilove @ask-blogger-miss-prussia @lyssjeon @moonlightrose19 @blueberrykenn @jungmanor @forkpops @nochujjk97 @bldvnbln @hplsmoon @kirbykook @girl-with-luvvv @vantaexx @ephyra1230 @girlwiththeglittereyeliner @akirathao @catspancake @kawaii-desv @strapsforyoonie @dammit-jjk @to-onystark @butterflylion @apollukee @xionysus @ilyluuna @uglyratlmao @iridescentplethora @monosomes @tomowasu @taekookcaneatme @mayumioutloud @rjsmochii @super-btstrash-posts @hellotherehoneybee @betysotelo18 @moon6rop @kxk-soul @honeycutelove @cchristinnaa @io-is-lame @shadowstark @goldenchemistry @incredibleella @sope-and-shine
TAGLIST IS CLOSED!
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what-is-your-plan-today · 4 years ago
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Stark Spangled Forever  Bump In The Road
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Summary: What should be a routine sexing scan for their latest baby throws up something a little more serious, and leaves Katie and Steve reeling. Warnings: Language! And some mega angst with a light sprinkling of fluff
A/N: What’s life in the Rogers household without drama… sorry…but this and the follow up chapter are a lead in to my mini series- Stark Spangled Destiny. And to be honest, I’m sick of reading shit on here today so thought I’d post some of my own.
@southerngracela​ @sweater-daddiesdumbdork​ @icanfeelastormbrewing​ dedicated to you, my home girls...
SSF Masterlist // WIYPT Masterlist
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October 2029
It was meant to be a routine scan...they'd been to 3 of these already after all...a routine, 20 week scan to find out the sex of their latest addition. But as Steve sat there, the words of Katie's ob-gyn made him feel nothing but numbness.
"I'm...I don't understand?" Katie said, her voice quiet "You said at the last scan that it would most likely right itself."
"And 9 times out of 10 Mrs Rogers it does." Dr Kellet said, sadly "Normally a low lying placenta moves but it's developed into something called placenta accreta, which is where it has grown too deep into the uterine wall. This means that it won't detach during labour and can cause critical levels of blood loss."
Steve swallowed and turned his attention from the small, blank screen which had moments before shown the image of their baby to the Doctor as Katie gripped his hand even tighter "So what does this mean?" he demanded.
Dr Kellet sighed "I won't lie to either of you. It is considered a high risk complication. However, we are lucky in that we have caught it now. In a lot of cases as it often causes no signs or symptoms, we don't realise until the mother is in labour which can have disastrous consequences for her and baby. As we have picked it up now, you'll need careful monitoring for the rest of your pregnancy and we'll have to perform an early C-section delivery..." she paused "Followed by a hysterectomy."
“A hysterectomy?" Steve said gently "as in..."
"Surgical removal of the womb yes." Dr Kellet says "We do his at the time of the C-section, so you'll be awake with your baby Mrs Rogers...it just means you'll be in hospital for a few days, possibly a week or so to recover."
Katie swallowed, taking a deep breath "You said early..."
The Doctor nodded. "Yes, anything form 34 weeks but again, that will be subject to how you go. Obviously the longer we leave it the better but...to be honest, all your babies have been fully baked, to use the popular term now-a-days, thanks to Dad's enhanced DNA so I wouldn't worry too much about that. Worst case scenario they may need a few days in the Neonatal Unit but..."
Katie wiped at her eyes with her spare hand and Steve felt his heart contracting painfully at the sight of her as he bent over to kiss her head.
"I know this is a lot to take in..." Dr Kellet said, her tone sympathetic "But we've found it in time to deal with it. I assure you, it won't make any difference to your baby's development...it's you it poses the biggest danger for. But, as we're prepared, like I said, we can deal with it."
Katie nodded and sniffed a little "Is there anything that causes it or..."
"No, not really." Dr Kellet shook her head. "Women over 35 are more susceptible to suffering from an accreta but your placenta laying low is what's done this. Like I say, it's rare but not completely uncommon."
"This is not your fault." Steve looked at her, speaking sternly as he knew exactly what she was thinking. Her green eyes locked onto his and she gave him a small smile as he kissed the back of her hand.
"No,it isn't." Dr Kellet said, equally as sternly "This is just one of those things Mrs Rogers."
The three of them fell silent and after a few seconds, Dr Kellet took a deep breath and looked at Katie.
"Ok, so...how about we get some good news huh?" she asked, picking up the wand and pressing it back to Katie's stomach. "Let's find out if it's pink or blue."
Once more the tiny profile of their baby filled the screen and Steve felt Katie's fingers tighten around his again. He squeezed her hand back and Dr Kellet made a little noise in her throat. "Ahh, there we go...and it's another little girl mom and dad..."
Katie's face broke into a smile as did Steve's and he pressed another kiss to her hand which he know held in both his, his elbows resting on the edge of the bed. As they both watched, their daughter moved her tiny little fist in front of her face, and Steve swallowed, blinking back tears.
After a little more discussion with the Doctor who told Katie to try and stay calm and to call her if she had any worries, they booked in with the receptionist on the Gyne Ward for another scan in a fortnights time and then after bidding Dr Kellet a final goodbye they made their way back to the ground floor, both lost in their thoughts. Steve kept shooting a side glance at Katie whose face was straight, but he could see the sadness in her eyes. He was fighting back the tears himself, he hated this. The thought that something could go wrong, something that meant he might lose her or their baby...but she would be in good hands. He trusted Dr Kellet implicitly afer the safe birth of the other 3 and, after all, like the woman said, early diagnosis made a huge difference. The elevator doors opened and they walked down the busy corridor towards the main doors of the building, and as they reached the main reception desk a young man and a heavily pregnant woman passed them going in the opposite direction. Katie's eyes followed them and she stopped, the hand that wasn't in Steve's falling to her bump as she took a deep breath, and turned to look up at him Steve.
"Well..."she smiled softly as she spoke for the first time since leaving the Maternity Suite, “At least when all this is done there's no chance you'll impregnate me again."
Steve spluttered a small chuckle, shaking his head "Seriously? You're making that joke now?"
"I have to." she said softly "Because if I don't I'm gonna cry."
Steve sighed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him. She buried her face into his chest and he softly rubbed at her back, pressing a kiss to her head "It's gonna be fine Sweetheart." he said, sounding braver than he felt "You heard Doc. They found it early, we can prepare."
Katie nodded against his shirt, keeping her eyes scrunched shut "Yeah..."
"And you get a few more days recovery...relaxing, away from the rabble at home."
Katie gave a watery laugh as she stepped back and looked up at him, "I'd rather be with them..."
"I know baby." he said, wiping her tears with his thumbs as he cupped her face "I know."
Katie took a deep, shaky breath and licked her lips before she smiled softly "Another girl though Stevie” and he gave a playful groan.
"Makes it 4 on 3, I’m outnumbered."
"Nah, it’s 4 on 4 if you count Stark."
"That's true." he grinned “Not sure how Jamie’s gonna take it though!”
"It's Rori you're gonna have to worry about." Katie looked at him, smirking a little as she made to continue walking, and Steve was pleased to see her Stark sassiness was creeping back through.
"How so?”
"Because she's suddenly going to have to cope with not being you only little princess anymore...there's gonna be another girl fighting to wrap you around her pinkie."
"Well..." Steve said, curling an arm round his wife's shoulders as they walked out into the sunshine. "Let's go break the news...."
"Kinda wish you still had the shield..." Katie mumbled, and at that he let out a loud laugh, pulling her closer and pressing a kiss to her temple.
***** It was after dinner that they told the kids about the sex of the baby. They all gathered in the sitting room, the youngest two in their pyjamas as Katie told them all that they should be ready to buy a lot more pink things.
“A girl?” Jamie looked at them both, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah.” Steve smiled at his eldest son who was sat in the chair on the opposite side of the room. Rori was perched on his knee whilst Harry was sat on Katie’s, his little hand on her bump.
“Wow…” Harry mumbled, looking a Katie “Sister?”
“Yup.” she smiled, kissing his head as he smiled at her. She looked at Jamie who shrugged at her.
“Whatever.” he said, grinning “I don’t mind…as long as it doesn’t turn out like her.” he pointed to Rori.
“Shut up Jamie!” she glared at him as Steve sighed.
“Ok, come on guys…” he said his tone carried enough warning to shut them up “Don’t fight.”
“I think it’s awesome.” Emmy smiled, where she was slumped on the rug, tickling Stark. “Another Rogers girl eh Rori?”
Rori looked at Emmy, then to Steve, then to Katie’s bump before she shook her head “No. I don’t want it.” she said nonchalantly, jumping off Steve’s knee and heading to the door.
“Rori.” Katie said, and she stopped to turn to her. “Come here.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Aurora.” Steve frowned at her, his voice stern and she sighed, taking small steps back into the room. “Come on princess, this is a happy time.” She looked at him, her face sullen “Why do you have to have a girl?”
“We don’t pick honey.” Katie looked at her, Harry shifting in her lap a little, his hand tangling in her hair. “And it’s not something we can change.” “But I don’t want a girl!” she stamped her foot and Katie sighed, rubbing her forehead a little and Steve felt the nerve in his jaw twitching. After everything they’d been told and had to process today he was mentally drained and really NOT in the mood for one of her little temper tantrums.
“That’s enough!” he said loudly and she looked at him, her green eyes widening slightly before she recovered herself and fixed him with a filthy look. He saw Emmy and Jamie exchange a glance and Jamie stood up, backing to the door.
“I’m gonna go play on the computer in the den…” he said, before he hurried out of the room sensing an impending Diva meltdown. Which arrived seconds later.
“I hate it!” Rori glared at her father and then Katie “I hate the baby already and I don’t want it in this house.” “Aurora Sarah Natasha Rogers! That is a horrible thing to say.” Steve pointed at her, feeling his neck warming with anger. “You apologise right now”
“No.”
“Fine.” Steve said, standing up. He pointed to the door. “Go to your room.”
“No.” she repeated
“Rori…” Katie said, her voice cracking slightly as she blinked back her tears “Do what your father says.”
“Make me.” she folded her arms and looked at Katie, her chin raised defiantly and Steve let out a noise of frustration that vibrated in his throat like a growl. “Don’t tempt me.” he glowered at her and she turned her attention to him.  “You have until the count of 3 to get out of my sight and up those stairs before I drag you up them myself.”
Rori looked at him, blinking and he started his countdown.
“One…”
Nothing.
“Two…” his voice grew louder.
At that point, it was like something twigged in her brain and she suddenly understood exactly how pissed he was. Her eye filled with tears and she wheeled round, running from the rooms her sobs carrying to their ears as her feet stomped up the stairs. They heard the dull slam of her bedroom door and Steve’s hands fell to his hips and he took a deep sigh, looking at his feet.
Katie sniffed slightly and Harry looked at her, frowning.
“No cry momma…” he said softly, his hands wrapping around her neck. She pressed her face into his hair and kissed his head.
“I’m ok baby.” she said gently. Steve shook his head and looked at his wife, running his hand over his face.
“What’ going on?” Emmy asked, looking at her mom then to her dad.
“Nothing, just sick of her attitude…” Steve snapped back and Emmy looked at him.
“Don’t take it out on me.”
“Sorry I’m…I didn’t mean to.” he shook his head.
“What are you not telling me?” Emmy pressed “Don’t treat me like a kid!”
Katie looked at Steve then to Emmy before she sighed “The scan showed something up. I have a condition called placenta accreta. The baby is fine it just means that I will need a caesarean section…” she swallowed “And then a hysterectomy afterwards. But it’s gonna be ok, they picked it up and we have time to prepare.”
Emmy took a deep breath “So you’ll both be ok?” she asked “You and the baby?”
“Yeah.” Katie told her. “It was just a shock, for both of us to hear that’s all.”
“I can imagine.” Emmy said quietly “I’ll ring Pete, cancel tonight, I can stay…” “No,no…” Steve protested at the same time Katie shook her head.
“Em,you don’t need to do that.” Katie sighed “We don’t want you to…honestly there’s no need.” “Are you sure?” “There’s nothing you can do.” Steve said “There’s nothing any of us can do and there’s not point you worrying about it so…go out, enjoy yourself ok?”
She nodded and stood up, crossing to give her mom a hug before doing the same to Steve and heading out of the room. Steve looked at his wife for a moment before Harry glanced at him.
“Dadda mad?” he asked softly.
“Not with you pal.” he replied, crossing the room to sit besides them. Harry shifted and untangled himself from Katie before he crawled over into Steve’s lap.
“I get sister?” he asked looking at Steve and Steve smiled at him.
“Yeah buddy.”
Harry grinned and nodded before he tugged on Steve’s beard and Steve playfully snapped his teeth at the tot’s fingers in the way he always did.
“Snappy snappy crocodile!” Harry laughed and Steve let out a chuckle before he looked at Katie, his hand gently squeezing her knee.
“I’ll give her 10 minute and then I’ll go speak to her.” Steve said.
“Don’t think I’ve ever heard you shout at her like that.” Katie raised her eyebrow.
“She deserved it.” Steve said, blowing a breath out of his nose. “Her attitude stinks.” “She’s jealous.” Katie said simply “And we only have ourselves to blame.”
“What do you mean?” Steve frowned.
“I mean we ruin her.” Katie said simply “We indulge her little diva attitude, brush her tantrums off as amusing most of the time…she’s not a bad kid, I mean 9 time out of 10 she’s awesome and everyone comments on how well behaved she is, how all of them are for that matter, but…” she sighed “Things are about to change for her, and like I said she’s going to have to share you-“ “She shares me now…” “Yes but not with another little girl.”
“Yes she does, we have Emmy…” “Emmy isn’t little.” Katie shook her head. “She was a lot older when Rori was born and she’s been there for Rori’s entire life.” Katie reasoned “This is different. And it’s going to take some getting used to. I’m not excusing her behaviour before you say it…” she held her hand up to cut him off as he opened his mouth to speak. “She was really naughty then and you were absolutely right to do what you did…I guess, well we just need to be prepared to follow it through because I don’t think that’s the end of it.”
“So how do we deal with it?” Steve said after a moment’s deliberation.
“We keep her involved, try as much as we can to ensure she becomes interested in the baby.” Katie shrugged “And perhaps if you can get her to talk to you, admit what she’s feeling that might help.” “Easier said than done.” Steve looked at his wife “She’s as stubborn as you.
“Pot, Kettle Rogers.” Katie raised an eyebrow and Steve chuckled, leaning over to give Katie a soft kiss.
“Gross…” Harry mumbled, in a very Jamie like way.  Steve blew a raspberry on his cheek, making him giggle and scrunch his body up, pushing Steve away. They both spent a bit of time with the tot then, talking to him about Nursery, listening to what his limited vocabulary told them, before Katie headed into the den to check on Jamie and Steve jogged up the stairs to face the Star Spangled Diva.
“Rori…” he said, poking his head round the door.
“Go away.” She sniffed and he sighed, shaking his head.
“Sorry, can’t do that.” he said, stepping into the room. “It’s the law in this house that we don’t go to bed angry, remember?”
She looked up at him from where she sat on the floor, her Scrap Book (or the crap book as he and Jamie dubbed it) open on the floor at a page where she had been sticking in some pictures of animals from an old book he’d picked up in the University second hand shop for her to dissect. He noted she was labelling different parts of the animals with brightly coloured pens and smiled.
“You been doing animals at school?” he asked.
“No.” she shook her head “I just like them.” her voice fell quiet. Steve crossed the room and took a seat on her bed and she avoided his gaze again.
“Rori, look at me princess.”
She obeyed and her eyes locked onto his and he patted his knee “Come on.” She stood up and scrambled onto his lap and he wrapped his arms around her.
“Sorry for making you mad daddy.” she sniffed.
“And I’m sorry for shouting.” he replied, “But do you know why I did?”
“Because I said mean things.” “Yeah.” he nodded “You did. You wanna tell me why?”
She shrugged
“You know having a baby sister isn’t going to mean you miss out on anything.” he said softly “Me and Momma will still love you just as much. You know that right?”
“I guess so.” She shrugged again. Sensing he wasn’t going to get anything more out of her, he decided to leave it there and looked down at her, as she pulled back, her hand fiddling with the buttons on his shirt. “Do you think you need to apologise to someone else?”
“Momma.” she said quietly.
Steve nodded “Ok, go on then and come back up. It’s bed time for you.” “But…”
“Rori…you’ve been really naughty and apologising isn’t going to change that. So you can go say you’re sorry to momma and then it’s bed. We start again tomorrow, ok?”
“Ok Daddy.” she bowed her head and slid off his knee, heading out of the room and down the stairs. Steve gave her a second or so before he followed her down, almost bumping into Emmy who was dressed in a nice pair of jeans and a tight, low cut navy blue sweater under her black leather biker jacket. He looked at her and she shook her head
“Don’t bother.” she smirked “I’m 22 you can’t say it…” “I can and I am.” he arched an eyebrow “Cover yourself up.” “Bite me.” she grinned, and he nudged her with his elbow, chuckling as they headed down the stairs. Katie was in the kitchen crouched down, hugging a sobbing Rori.
“It’s ok.” she soothed “I forgive you baby.” Rori sniffed and pulled back, as Katie wiped her daughter’s tears with her fingers. “You know me and daddy love you don’t you?” She nodded and looked down at the floor, averting her gaze. “I know.” “Hey…” Emmy cut in, crossing the room and crouching down next to her mum. Katie stood up and looked at Steve who smiled at her. “You know what…when Mom and Dad told me they were having Jamie I got scared too.” “I’m not scared…” Rori said defiantly and Emmy shook her head.
“I’m not saying you are…I mean you’re way braver than me.” she smiled “But I thought having Jamie might mean there was no room for me anymore.” “There’s lots of room.” Rori looked at her confused. “We have a big home.”
“I know that now, but I didn’t at the time.” Emmy smoothed her little sister’s hair back. “I thought Mom and Dad wouldn’t love me as much because I wasn’t actually theirs but they did. And that was almost 10 years ago. I’m still here. And Jamie was so cool as a baby, we got to do loads of fun things, share stuff, play together.”
Rori looked at her sister and then looked down at her feet. “I’m not sharing my toys.” Emmy glanced up at her mom who shook her head, indicating that enough was enough. They’d had an apology and that was fine for tonight. Tempers needed to stay calm and they were in danger of spiralling again.
“Ok….come on.” Steve said, and Rori looked at him, her eyes pleading “Remember what I said.”
With a deep sigh she looked at her mom “Night momma.” she said, her eyes falling to the floor again.
“Night baby.” Katie said, bending down to give her head a kiss. She trudged to the door and looked up at her dad, batting her eyes at him and for a second Katie thought he might waver but he didn’t. Not a chance.
“Nice try.” he said, gesturing into the hall with his head. Rori gave an exasperated groan before she headed to the stairs.
“Sorry, I thought that might help.” Emmy looked round.
“Don’t be.” Katie looked at her “You know what she’s like. It’ll work out.” she rubbed at her eyes before she smiled “You look nice, where are you going?”
“Oh, just to play some pool and grab a burger.” Emmy said, “Brooke’s bringing Josh. I won’t be out long.” “Josh…” Katie mused “Double dating?”
“kinda.” Emmy shrugged “He’s a bit of a douche to be honest but, whatever, she seems to like him.” “Bucky doesn’t” Steve snorted.
“Uncle Bucky doesn’t like a lot of people.”  Emmy laughed and Steve chuckled.
“That’s true.” he admitted as she fished in her pocket for the keys to her BMW convertible, a 21st present from them both. He nodded to them and fixed her with a look “Drive safe.” She rolled her eyes and then grinning saluted him “Yes Captain.” He shook his head and snorted as she passed him in the doorway, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek.
“See you both later.” “Have a good time.” Katie called. Steve watched her go before he turned to his wife and stepped into the kitchen. She fell into his open arms and he kissed her head.
“Why don’t you go put Harry down, then have a bath and get in bed?” he suggested “I’ll spend a bit of time with Jamie before I send him up.”
“You sure?” she asked.
“Course.” he dropped a kiss to her head.
“Ok. That sounds great, I won’t lie.”
He smiled as she stepped back, grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and headed out. He followed her with his eyes before he took a deep breath and pushed his worries to the back of the mind and wandered into the den.
“Right son…” he grinned “Fire up the Mario Karts…I’m gonna kick your butt this time.”
“No chance old man!” Jamie grinned, jumping up to switch the game in the console.
*****
An hour and a half or so and 15 round of karts later, Steve was down 6 games to 9, which was an improvement over all. He sighed, tossing the controller down, holding his hands up. “Ok, I yield…”
Jamie grinned “Told ya…”
“Yeah, yeah…” Steve rolled his eyes. “And now I’m telling you, bed time…you can watch TV for half an hour ok?” Jamie let out a little groan but stood up, obeying all the same. He turned off the TV and Stark followed him out of the room. Steve turned off the lights before he closed the door as Jamie turned to him in the hallway. .
“Night dad.” Jamie said, giving him a hug.
“Night bud, don’t forget to say night to your mom too.”
“I won’t.” he nodded, before he bounded off up the stairs.
Steve headed around the house, doing his usual lock down checks before he too made his way up to their room. Katie was sat propped up in bed, looking at her phone.
"You ok?" he asked, walking into their room.
"Yeah..." Katie looked up at Steve, "I'm fine."
"Good." He dropped a kiss to her lips. "What you looking at?"
"I was googling my condition." She shrugged. "Then I decided to change the topic and was looking at names..."
"Any you like?" He asked, seizing the opportunity to talk about something positive to do with their baby. He sat down on the side of the bed, tilting slight so he was facing her, placing one arm over her so his palm was flat on the covers by her hip.
"One...but it's a little old fashioned...but...I really like it" she looked at him a little shyly "Florence"
Steve looked at her for a moment and then then looked to her bump before he peeked back up at her, smiling softly "that was my grandmother's name, on my dad's side."
"I know." She looked at him "I think it’s beautiful. So many things we can shorten it to as well..."
"She was known as Flo." He said, "I never met her...I only know from what Ma told me"
"Well I like Flo or Flossie..." she said, looking down at his hands as her fingers began to play with his.
"Flossie..." Steve played with the name. It was a little unusual, but he liked the way it rolled off his tongue "yeah." He chuckled "Flossie Rogers"
"A 40s movie star name if ever there was one." Katie smiled.
"I think Rori has dibs on the Diva title." He chuckled.
Katie gave a small laugh and looked at where their hands were tangled together again before she glanced up at him, her eyes full of tears. "I'm scared Stevie." She whispered and he sighed, shifting slightly to cup her face with his spare hand.
"I know." He said gently "but you're the strongest person I know. If anyone can get through this, you can."
"I don't feel strong." She whispered
At that Steve took a deep breath and moved, wrapping his arms around her as she lay her head on his shoulder, her face pressing into his neck, her body shaking with silent sobs. He had been waiting for this, the moment she cracked. His hand gently rest on the back of her head, fingers softly tangling in her hair.
"I dont wanna be numb..." she said gently "the thought of them sticking needles into my back...not after..." she gulped and Steve closed his eyes, gently shushing her as he tried to stop his own tears. He knew full well about her fear of needles and anaesthetic which stemmed from the time Hydra had taken her. She had told him all about the fact they had injected her with stuff that left her paralysed from the waist down for hours, just to watch her lose her dignity and control. That was the reason she had refused epidurals for all their kids. The fact she was shouldering this, as well as knowing how she didn't have a choice tore him in two.
“I’ll be with you, the whole time.” he said softly, looking down at her and pressing his forehead to hers. She smiled and nodded, wiping her eyes. “Do you want a drink or anything before I hit the shower?”
“I wouldn’t mind a camomile tea.”  she looked at him.
“Ok.” he dropped a kiss to her head and stood up. He made his way downstairs.
He flipped on the kettle and became that lot in his own thoughts he didn’t hear the security system announce Emmy had come home which was why her voice startled him slightly when she spoke.
"You ok pops?"
Steve spun round to see her watching him carefully as she leaned against the counter, her long hair hung around her heart shaped face, her eyes shining.
“You weren’t out long.” he commented and she shrugged.
“Brooke has an early shift tomorrow. We shot a few games and ate and…well that was it. It was fun.” “Good.” he smiled “Where’s Queens?”
“I dropped him home.” Emmy shrugged and she didn’t need to explain why. She was trying to give him and Katie some peace, which Steve was grateful for.
He took a moment to look at his eldest, taking in not for the first time how pretty she was. With her olive skin, ebony hair and deep brown eyes she looked nothing like him or Katie, which was to be expected as she wasn’t biologically theirs but still, she’d turned into a gorgeous young woman, but what he was most satisfied about was her compassion and drive. She’d aced university, working so hard and was now channelling her skills and her degree into becoming a Child Therapist, working alongside a local Children’s charity which the Stark Relief Fund had set up. Steve had no doubts that she’d end up running the Charity on behalf of SI at some point- she had the drive and passion to do so and she had been adamant since she was 17 that she wanted to work with kids who suffered from abuse, just as she had, using her own experiences to help others.
That he could attribute directly to Katie, and he couldn’t be more proud to do so if he tried.
"I'm fine honey." He said, giving her a small smile and she chuckled.
"Liar."
He sighed "you always call me out on my bullshit. You're like your mother."
She shrugged "There are worse people to be like"
"Very true." He agreed, turning to the kettle as he picked it up and poured hot water over the teabag in the mug.
"Do you think you’ll get any more trouble from Rori?"
“Probably.” Steve licked his lips as he turned back to her. “But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Thank you for trying before by the way. I was a bit surprised you remembered all that to be honest”.
"Course I do." She grinned "I was petrified you wouldn't want me anymore."
Steve shook his head "nothing could have been further from the truth"
"I know" she smiled "know what else I remember like yesterday?"
"The time you punched that jerk in the face at school?" Steve teased and she snorted
"Well yeah but that's not what I was gonna say" she shook her head "I remember the day you got punched in the supermarket. You gave me the adoption papers that afternoon. It was Jamie's birthday. Uncle Tony and Auntie Pep gave me my bracelet with my initials."
Steve beamed "Yeah. Despite the punching that was a good day. You know, we'd had those papers for a week before we told you."
Emmy took a deep breath "I don't think I say this enough but I really am grateful you and mom took me in..."
"Em, you don't need to-"
"I know." she cut him off "But I am. You didn't need to, but you did. And all of us, bump included are the luckiest kids around. You're the best parents any kid could wish for."
Steve felt his eyes misting over and he looked at Emmy, shaking his head "Come 'ere." he smiled and she pushed off the counter and walked towards him, stepping into his embrace "I know it might not seem like it at times with the others being as demanding as they are but we do love you with all our hearts Em." he said, pressing a kiss to her head "You'll always be our first baby."
"Stop it!" she spluttered, stepping back to wipe her eyes.
He smiled and cupped her face before he took a deep breath "Anyway, I meant to ask...you and Queens still going to look at that apartment or..."
Emmy shrugged "It’s not important at the moment”
“Em.” Steve sighed “What’s going on with your mom, we don’t want that to impact on your plans.”
“No, I don’t mean that. Well, ok, that is important but, well,  I'm still training at work and Pete's getting to grips with all the R&D department  at SI so we both kinda said if the right place appears then great, if not...well, we can wait."
"Sensible decision." he nodded, "You only just turned 22, and yes, I know..." he held his hand up to cut off what he knew full well was going to be her protest about wanting to be independent "You want to stand on your own two feet but, this is your home and always will be for as long as you want. And if you're really desperate to be away from the chaos in here, well me and your mom had an idea that maybe we could do the Cabin up."
"That's your man cave." she looked at him.
"I can move my art stuff into the attic or the garage." he shrugged "We could use it and make you a little apartment. Just a thought to keep in mind."
"Pete as well?" she asked and Steve looked at her, cocking his head to one side, taking a deep breath as he nodded.
"Queens as well."
She smiled. "Thanks Dad. Maybe we can talk about it once everything has settled down."
Steve nodded "Sounds like a plan."
"You'd know, after all you are the star span-..."
"Yeah yeah." he cut her off, rolling his eyes "And on that note I'm going to bed." He picked up the mug containing Katie's drink and stooped to give Emmy a peck on the cheek. "See you in the morning sweetie."
"No don't stay up too late?" she quipped in a deep voice as he walked past her. He chuckled and looked back over his shoulder.
"As you keep reminding me..." he dropped his chin to level her with a look "you're a grown ass woman now."
At that she let out a laugh and he smiled, before he left the room. Katie was in the en-suite when he got upstairs so he placed the mug down on her nightstand and then headed over to check on the kids. First off he stopped at Rori’s room and smiled as she was in her bed with Sparkles, her pink unicorn teddy clutched to her chest. He crossed the room and placed a kiss on her head, noting the tear tracks were still evident on her face. He felt a pang of guilt once more for his outburst at her earlier in the evening but really, she had deserved it, and he knew that tomorrow was a fresh start. He flicked off her lamp before he then headed over to check on Harry. He was led flat on his back, the covers tangled around his feet, his stuffed giraffe on the floor as always. Pulling the duvet up around his chin he tucked him in, errant giraffe placed by his side he dimmed thes night slightly, leaving it casting soft illuminated stars onto his ceiling, which was apt really as the boy was an absolute star of a kid. Then he headed over to Jamie’s room, the boy already asleep with Stark led by his feet.
“Down.” he instructed the dog, pointing to the basket in the corner of the room. The mutt gave him a reproachful look before he stood up and gave a huff as he jumped down and padded to his bed. Steve knew full well the dog would be back up there the minute he closed the door on his way out, but at least his conscience was clear when Katie moaned about dog hair on Jamie's quilt. As he turned off Jamie’s TV it struck him how it seemed such a pointless thing to be complaining about all things considered.
Turning off the hall lights he made his way back into their bedroom where Katie was watching something on TV.
“They all ok?”
“Fast asleep” he smiled, pulling unbuttoning his plaid shirt before he tossed it into the hamper. He then shed his jeans and headed into the en-suite for a quick shower before he dried off, pulled on a clean pair of boxers and settled down into bed, Katie snuggling up to him, tossing her leg over his and laying her head on his chest. After a moment or so she moved, her hand dropping to her bump.
“You ok?”
“Yeah she’s kicking…” Katie smiled, “That’s the first time I’ve felt her doing that…she’s just been wriggling up until now.” She took Steve’s hand and he eagerly waited until he felt their baby give another little jab and he felt the grin spread across his face as he felt his daughter move for the first time. He shuffled down a little placing both hands either side of her bump.
“Hey Flossie…” he mumbled, pressing a kiss to the curve of Katie’s belly as her hand tangled into his hair.
“So we’re decided on Florence.” Katie chuckled and he peered up at her, smiling.
“Yeah, I think so.” he nodded, his hand feeling another kick and he gave another smile before he shuffled back upwards and lay on his side, looking at his wife .“Love you.” he said, sliding his nose against hers, seeking out her lips for a soft kiss.
“Love you too” she muttered against his mouth, unwilling to break away as his kiss grew a little more urgent. Eventually he pulled back, pressing his forehead to hers, his eyes closed.
“It’ll all be ok.” he muttered softly.
“You trying to convince me or yourself.” Katie asked.
“Bit of both.” he admitted.
She gave him another soft peck before she turned over, reaching for the remote. Flicking off the TV she shuffled back into his arms, her back pressed to his chest as Steve curled his arm around her, his hand cradling her bump and their precious cargo.
*****
November 2029
Things settled down a little after the initial shock of the news had sunk in. Katie was continuing to have regular scans and their baby was fine. Dr Kellet had suggested that they look to do the operation at 35 weeks, the point at which she was confident their baby would be absolutely fine. With that in mind they were given a provisional date of 9th January, subject to the situation remaining stable.
What didn’t improve, however, was Rori. Whilst there were no more outbursts or temper tantrums, her attitude had changed from one of anger to simple apathy. They’d told the kids what they were going to call their daughter, but Rori wasn’t interested. She wouldn’t talk to Katie’s bump, or feel it like the other kids did, she was just completely and utterly indifferent to the entire situation. And whilst it was better in some ways than her shouting and screaming, Steve could see it was starting to get to Katie which was why he had taken Rori out for the day to give Katie a bit of time where she didn’t have to worry or deal with her, and hopefully try to get the little girl to open up a bit more. She still hadn’t admitted to either of them what she was feeling and every time they tried to talk to her she simply changed the subject.
He’d taken her to the Natural History Museum in Manhattan, treating her to a ride on the subway which always fascinated her. They’d had a lovely afternoon, even if it had been a little cold outside, and she had enthusiastically looked at the exhibits on the dinosaurs and animals, her little face lighting up as she chatted away and completed the activity booklet she had been handed on their way in, tracking all the clues as they went.
There had been no mention of the baby, at all, and as they walked around in the gift shop, Rori browsing, Steve decided to raise it and see if she would talk to him and open up now they were alone and away from the house.
"Shall we pick something for Florence, ready for when she is born?" he asked her as she examined a shelf full of stuffed animals.
Rori looked at her dad and averted her eyes "if you want..."
“Don’t you want?"
She shrugged
“Ok..." Steve sighed, knowing when he was beat. “Come on then, let’s go home.”
Rori turned her eyes to his before he looked at the floor, her sneakers scuffing on the tiles of the gift shop. "I'm sorry..." She whispered, her lower lip wobbling.
“What for?” Steve asked, taking a deep breath as he crouched down and gently brushed her hair out of her eyes, one of his hands gently resting along her rib cage.
“Being mean.”
“You’re not being mean.” he said gently, which was true. She wasn’t. “You’re sad though. I can tell.”
She shrugged again, still avoiding his eyes.
"Why does the baby upset you so much Princess?" He pressed gently. She looked at him, her eyes watering.
"Coz she's gonna take you and momma away from me..."
"Oh Rori..." Steve sighed as her tears trickled down her face. Finally hearing her admit it out-loud meant he could confront it head on, give her the direct re-assurance she needed. "I told you already, that's not gonna happen. Me and momma love you and that's not gonna change." She sniffled as he wiped her tears away with his thumbs. "Harry was born after you, did he take us away from you?"
"No." She sniffled.
"So why would the new baby be any different?"
"Coz she's gonna be your new princess. I'm not gonna be special anymore."
Steve felt his heart breaking as Rori began to sob.
"Ok..." he said, picking her up and carrying her out of the shop into the large foyer. She pressed her face into his neck and he gently rubbed her back as she cried whilst he walked them over to a bench at the side of the room where he sat silently with her, gently rocking her as she cried, Katie's words from a few weeks ago echoing in his head.
"She's jealous Steve. And we only have ourselves to blame."
As much as Katie had said “we” she may as well have said “you”. Rori had been his little princess since the day they had found out they were having a girl, and Steve knew he indulged her, because he fucking loved her. He loved her craziness, her sassiness, the way she gave him so much back chat and general attitude...even if it did drive him mad. But most of all he adored the way she looked just like Katie and had inherited her mother's tactile nature. She was always the first to reach him when he got home from work, racing down the hall to fling herself at him. She insisted on sitting on his knee at night as they watched TV, she would crawl into his and Katie's bed between them on a Sunday morning for a cuddle before they got up. He was the one she went to when she had fallen over, unless he was out, and then Katie would suffice but he would get the full sympathy play when he got home. It was the exact role reversal to their two boys who sought Katie out for their bumps and scrapes but came to him for the fun and games. Both parents gave them all different things, which was how it was supposed to be and fuck, Rori would always be his little girl, as would Flossie, and a new baby sister should be filling her heart with love not worry and sadness. As he sat still, she hiccupped slightly, he sobs growing quieter and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
"I'm gonna tell you something now sweetheart." He said as she tightened the grip her little hands had on his jacket as he continued to gently rock her to and fro "you have no idea how special you are to me and your momma. You know we lost you once..."
"Lost me?" Rori sniffed "how?"
"Remember we told you about the bad man that made Uncle Bucky and Uncle Sam go away...and how your Uncle Tony died with Natasha to bring them back?"
She nodded
"Well when he sent all those people away, you were in your momma's tummy and he made you go away too. We were so upset when we found out."
"But I came back?" She asked, her green eyes wide
"You sure did. You were our little magic baby" He smiled "And when you were born we were so happy to finally meet you because we had waited so long, Rori. And I remember thinking when I held his for the first time how beautiful and perfect you were."
"So I am special?"
"Of course you are" he nodded "I mean how can you not be? Your birthday is the same as your Uncle Tony's and you're named after 2 other very special girls." He smiled as she glanced down at her hands which were now playing with the buttons on his shirt. "Your nanna Sarah and Natasha."
"And Princess Aurora" she looked at him.
"And Princess Aurora" he nodded.
"And I look like Momma." Rori nodded back to him, "which makes me pretty too right Daddy?"
"Absolutely." Steve smiled "your momma is the prettiest woman in the world."
Rori looked at him for a moment before she smiled "Can we go back to the shop please Daddy? I want to get the baby something now."
Steve smiled. "Sure, come on."
She hopped off his lap and they headed back inside to the store, her little hand in his and she led him over to the soft toy section, her eyes roaming the shelves, brow furrowed in concentration.
"What should we get?" She asked, looking up at Steve.
"You pick." He said, looking down at her. "I trust you. You are a princess after all so you know what princesses like..."
She contemplated his words before she glanced back at the shelves, scanning the plush toys. Steve stood patiently before she tugged on his hand and pointed to a zebra which sat on the shelf in her eye-line.
"That one." She said firmly
"Sure?" He asked and she nodded.
"Zebras are like ponies daddy." She said "and all princesses should have a pony"
"Alright. You wanna grab it?" He looked down at her, his spare hand gently cupping her cheek.
She nodded and turned back, plucking one down off the shelf.
"Do you want one?"
"No, I have a Sparkles" she shrugged "Unicorns are much better."
Steve looked at her for a moment, and decided to let her have that little victory.
“I think we should call her Rolfina.” Rori said, handing it to him.
“Rolfina?” he frowned “Where on earth did you hear that?” “Dur, it’s the zebra in Zootopia.” she said and Steve rolled his eyes.
“Course it is.” he mumbled, heading to the till to pay.
***** “Momma!” Rori burst into the living room “Look…”
She held out the toy zebra as she made her way over to where Katie was sat, tapping at her laptop
“Wow!” she smiled, setting the computer down onto the coffee table. “Did you have a nice time?” “Yeah. I did the activity book and we did the treasure hunt and then we bought this…” she paused and Steve leaned in the doorway, bracing himself for her to clam up again but she continued, albeit her voice a little softer “…its for the baby.” Katie hid her shock well, Steve had to give his wife credit.
“She’ll love it.” Katie smiled “You can put it in her room if you like?”
Rori nodded and then hesitated before she climbed up onto the sofa and wrapped her arms around her Mother’s neck. Katie hugged her back and looked at Steve who flashed her a wink as he pushed off the door frame.
“Where are the boys?” “Playing lego in the den.” Katie smiled as Rori pulled back slightly.
“Can I say hi to the baby?” she asked shyly and Katie nodded.
“Of course you can.” Rori wriggled down a little, her cheek pressing to Katie’s bump over her t-shirt. She took a deep breath and spoke in a soft voice. “Hi Flossie…” There was a second pause and Katie felt a jab in her belly and Rori’s head flew up as her eyes widened and she squealed. “Momma she moved!”
“That’s because she heard you baby.” Katie smiled, thanking her lucky stars that Flossie had chosen that exact moment to give a harsh boot. Steve felt his heart swell as he watched Rori return her hands to Katie’s stomach.
“She can hear me?”
“Yeah, she can hear you all.” “So…” Rori sat up a little, her eyes downcast “Will she have heard me say those nasty things when I said I hated her?”
“And she will have also heard you say sorry.” Steve said, sitting down next to her. He wasn’t even going to try to explain that the baby wouldn’t be able to understand a word of what Rori was saying.
“And she knows its me?” Rori asked “For sure?” “For sure.” Rori gave a grin and jumped down running into the hallway.
“Hey losers!” she shouted, heading towards the den “I just talked to the baby and she listened and knows me coz she moved…” Whatever sarcastic reply Jamie shot back died as the door to the den shut and Katie looked at Steve.
“Ok, who is she and where’ the real Diva?” “What can I say, I just have that magic way with my girls…” he grinned. “Hmmm, sure you do.” Katie looked at him and he smiled, leaning over to give her a kiss.
“And maybe Rolfina had something to do with it.” he grinned, picking up the stuffed Zebra.
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youremyonlyhope · 4 years ago
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Starship Rewatch
10 years ago today (well, yesterday since I’m posting it a day later), 15 year old Hope curled up on her couch to watch a new StarKid show called Starship right as it dropped. This was the first time I got to watch a show when it was posted since I didn’t become a StarKid fan until a months earlier. I was so excited.
And now, I’m rewatching Starship for the first time in full in at least 5 years I think. I listened to the soundtrack twice earlier today, singing along at my desk at work (thank god no one else was here tonight to judge me). I still know so many of the lyrics. And so many little jokes and stuff were flooding back. Starship was my favorite StarKid show for a long time, so I’m so excited to watch this again to see if it’s still my fave.
This post ended up being really long, so you’ve been warned. But it also includes pictures of the crocheted Roach and Bugette plushies that I made as a teen.
OH. THE OLD LOGO. AHHH. I already have so many feels. The future is now! I can’t handle this. The nostalgia! The Galactic League of Extraterrestrial Exploration. My facebook account to this day says I am a Starship Ranger at the G.L.E.E. because I’ve never bothered to change it. Also, shoutout to anyone from the StarKidPotter FB and EFST days if you’re reading this. AHHH IT’S CHRIS AND ERIC. Ok I might have to pause 20 thousand times during this Starship Ranger ad to acknowledge all the StarKid cameos. Tyler! “We come to conquer... in peace!” Tyler I love you. Brian and Richard! I forgot they painted Richard BLUE. Britney and Ariel! Nicholas Joseph Stauss-Matathia! I see that StarKid’s website has shortened his name to just Nicholas Strauss but remember the days when we’d purposefully say his full name? Anyway, I literally just screamed “NICK” when I saw him because he was always one of my faves. The Old Snatch was and still is iconic. Devin and Lily! The Wizard God himself, AJ Holmes. God... remember those AJ Holmes appreciation days where we’d make Chuck Norris-like memes about AJ? So much is rushing back from the depths of my mind oh my god... It’s been so long yet it feels like yesterday... “Someone really *static* F- *static* -ucked up big time” Love it.
2 minutes and 22 seconds in. I’ve written so much. I had to pause before Joey started singing to take a moment. I love this show so much. I love these goofballs so much. And they’re all so young. Most of them are younger than I am now. This is insane.
Ok I have to promise myself not to pause as much now. *Spoiler, I failed*
“I’ll fight off this gamma radiation if it’s the last thing I ever do!... We’re going down! This is the last thing I’ll ever do!” Oh my god. Look at baby Joey. He hasn’t even graduated from college yet. And that Bug puppet! Someone remind me to dig up the pictures of my crocheted plushies of Starship puppets since I made Roach and Bugette and gave them to the StarKids at SPACE and Apocalyptour. (I also did Rumbleroar, but the bugs were my own pattern I made so I was more proud) The camera is focused in on Bug instead of Joey’s face. I love it. So much. Brannnttttttt. My god. Am I gonna freak out over every single entrance? Roach pretending to die, he’s the best friend ever. “The needs of the many bugs outweigh the needs of the few bugs.” “Or the one bug, I know.” Oh man, when that line comes back... “Dirt eater” “Exoskeleton polisher” “I wanna build honeycombs” “The bug that ruins your picnic” “A fly on the wall!” That line came back to me earlier today and I died. Remembering that line was like 50% of the reason I listened to the soundtrack today.
Nick Lang! Julia! LAUREN LOPEZ. THERE SHE IS. Lovebugs, I can’t. *Sentimental music* “You could come over to my nest and I could... tear off your head and let my larva devour your body?” How did I forget that line? The way Lauren has to kick Bugette’s larva sack to walk. But the way that it also works so well with the character. I can’t. The Mosquito Brothers!! I forgot they show up so early. “This is our sister, Sweetheart” “...YO.” I CANNOT HANDLE JIM POVOLO. The “zzzz”s like buzzing as backing vocals instead of the usual “ahs” and “oohs.” The things you don’t appreciate until years later. Darren, you genius. That is such a good detail. For a second I couldn’t remember who the Overqueen is played by. 99% sure it’s Jim (It is). Also. Overqueen like ovary... and it looks like a giant vagina. That had to be pointed out to me later. “FLATTERY WILL GET YOU... everywhere.” Why did I forget that line too? “I’m a starship ranger” “Quiet you, you’re drunk” “No I’m drunk!” I remembered that line probably like... 2 minutes earlier when I noticed Joe huddling in the background and realized that line was coming up. The way Joey lets go of the puppet so both he and the puppet walk away with their arms limp... so cute.
Before even pressing play on part 3, I can hear February saying “Let the record show I am super ahead of schedule.” and I’m dying. I forgot about Brian as the escape pod. Denise Donovan! That Star Trek prop. I’m dumb so I can’t remember if it’s a communicator or what. But I know my Uhura Barbie had a mini one that I lost within a month probably. “OxyGen” “Schience” I can’t. “Mission Log... I think I just heard a spooky noise.” How am I forgetting all of these amazing lines? “Pika-pi!” AHHH I JUST SCREAMED. “My stars, I seemed to have landed in a field of these aMiNals!” I can’t. “Can I tell you guys something?” *port de bras and falls gently to the ground* “Hello!” “TOTORO!” I’m dead. The balloon mechanism on the mosquitos! I forgot about that! “HOLY SHIT IT’S A BUUUUGGGGG” Ok something I noticed but didn’t mention earlier. The bug puppet that Joe uses when he says “I had my heart set on nourishment” is the same one red and pink one that Julia used when talking about wanting to be nourishment. When Julia actually gets eaten, she’s using a different bug puppet, the green and pink one, but the same character voice. So, I can’t tell if they intentionally had her play 2 bugs so Joe could be one of them later, or if it was a mistake. I might also just be overthinking things. “ME THINKS IT WENT THAT-A-WAY” I cannot handle Jim Povolo. That scream Joe does as he slimes her. Woah I originally wrote “There seems to be no signs of intelligent lifeforms anywhere” earlier and then deleted it since I don’t know why I found it remarkable. And then looking at the comments of this part I see someone mentioned a Toy Story reference. So that’s why that line stuck out to me. Aww StarKid. There are so many Disney references in this show.
THERE SHE IS. THERE’S MY GIRL TAZ. The pew pew effects how could I forget that!  “Hey Taz. You’re pretty tough for a chick.” “I was just going to say the same thing about you.” “Woahhhhhhhh” JoMo oh my god. “My spectrometer readings are off the wazooooooo” That line kills me. Why am I JUST NOW noticing, 10 years later, that Tootsie enters this scene with his gun facing the wrong way. Oh my god. “I saw the empirical proof that science killed god. It’s comforting to know he was once alive though. I like to think that when he died, he went to heaven.” Oh Tootsie Noodles. “...What the hell kind of name is that?” “He’s got bear hands??” Why do I forget all of these lines??!? That record scratch and freeze frame to go “BOOOOOO” oh my god I forgot that. “Like the other day, he was in the cafeteria, just cah-rying in front of everybody.” BOOOOOOO. Here we go, Taz’s amazing Up monologue. “And when Up, cuts an onion, the ONION is the one who cry.” HELP. Also 99% sure I used that joke for AJ appreciation at least one year. “Now take a walk off my knife” What a line. So awesome. I remember having a profile pic on FB that was the text of that monologue and the image of Lauren screaming “WALK IT OFF” I’m still convinced that first “WOO” from the audience that we hear when Up enters is Darren. “I do not peepee sitting down” “Huh??” JoMo’s face as if he’s trying his hardest not to laugh and I can’t tell if that’s him breaking character or if Krayonder is actually trying not to laugh. “I peepee like big boy, deadgoddamnit. So stop making fun of me because it hurts my feelings” I’m dying. Also, deadgoddamnit is amazing. “if you don’t go out there and die for something, then I will kill you for nothing.” I remembered the mirror scene, just seconds before it started and already started laughing. “You’re not a failure, overall.” “Allow me to introduce you to the final member of your team. MegaGirl!” I forgot how DRAMATIC that was. I also forgot that’s how MegaGirl comes into the story.
I need to stop pausing every 5 seconds oh my god I’ll never finish this tonight if I don’t.
“All hail AstroBoy” That was the funniest line. “MegaGirl, can you kill humans?” “No. But I’d like to.” I can’t handle it. “A horse ate my cousin! Me and horses got a feud.” #1 MegaGirl doing the “I’m watching you” hand sign. I can’t. “Hey. Miráme. *Slaps* NOW ESCHUCHAME” amazing. “Or that time. You taught me calculus... CALCULUS WAS TOUGH.” I never went past pre-calc. Nope. Ah. Get Back Up. One of my fave songs. “And now we dance.” Dylan’s “OW” as they lean back. “Ok Idiotas. Say something nice. Or I will kill you.” It’s all so iconic.
“So you still think being an egg planter is lame?” “...Yes.”  The larva oh my god. I forgot we see one before the end. That’s Jaime playing the larva I think. Life is definitely one of my all-time favorite StarKid songs to this day. I wish it was longer. I love it so much. And I love that its instrumental is scattered as a motif throughout the show. “It’s a short, small thing we lead. With so much potential, pointless or essential, which one can I be?” Wow. Near Pippin levels of giving me an existential crisis. Also wow Joey improved his singing so much between AVPS and Starship. “My name’s Bug” “*Gasp!* Like a bug??” “Uh... no.” “Good. I’m February, like the month, but a person.” I should start saying that honestly. “I’m Hope, like the concept, but a person.” “You boldly go where every man -hey- woman -bark woof- or data dog has ever gone before! Sorry K9DX” Adorable. Joey’s subtle little double nod he makes the Bug puppet do when he’s shocked she thinks he’s a Starship Ranger. Amazing. Ah he said goddamn not deadgoddamn! February should have known right then he wasn’t human! “Take my claw” that too. "The only thing that needs to rest are your jokes, because they are so tired.” “Woahhhhhh” No but like... why don’t I use that line in everyday life... “Now I am slightly less weak.” “Ok. I’m going to shoot this metal bitch!” I’m dying. How did I forget the Taz/MegaGirl rivalry?? “That thing is a R-O-B-O-T man” “Can’t fool me with numbers, Krayonder.” I’m dead. “The stack of hay was my cousin!” #2 The way Meredith says “barometric pressure” is great. And Tootsie saying “Well you must take real good care of it, because I never would have guessed.” He’s such a sweetheart. “Nobody shoot dammit, nobody shoot.” “KILL KILL KILL” I never really liked Hideous Creatures but it’s so cute to see MegaGirl do the choreo robotically. I love that the Gap hasn’t changed. “Cool it skank, you do not know me.” Another line that I forgot until a split second before it was said. I’m so glad whoever edited this added some pews going in the wrong way for Tootsie’s gun. I know I definitely noticed Tootsie’s gun was backwards during this part, but I don’t know if I noticed it was backwards in that very first scene too. I forgot about MegaGirl tossing out Specs. That “MEGAGIRL!!!” scream from Joe though.
“Never in my 6 long days of life.” Underappreciated joke. Also, I think this is the 4th unique upright bug puppet. We got red/pink, green/blue, green/pink, and now red/blue. Also, Nick Lang is a great puppeteer. “Yes, I helped her escape. But I swear, never in a million years, did I think I’d be caught and yelled at for it!”  Oh I forgot Bugette is the witness. Jaime’s angry face behind Joey is killing me. “He didn’t know the humans were evil.” “Oh, they’re not.” “Shut up!” Humoons and hoomans. “And no more singing or dancing” *gasps of horror* “The Overqueen has overspoken.” “Well, that’s not gonna help your chances with Bugette” Oh Roach. “PERHAPS.” Jim destroys me.
God the 4-person Pincer puppet. Amazing. Dylan’s arms being strong enough to be above his head for 10 minutes straight. Amazing. Also, Nick Lang is so emotive as a claw. It took me a sec but yeah JoMo is the tail. “There were? Where are they?” Joey’s face. “Tell me all about her” The claws under the chin I can’t. Hey StarKid, I see you throwing in an ad mid-video before Kick It Up a Notch. You’re lucky I love and support you guys. “Put ‘em together and what have you got?” bibbity boppity boo. More Disney references! This scene is full of them. Man, remember when we were all blown away by Dylan’s voice in this song the first time? Like we could tell he could sing in AVPM/S, but his songs were just so jokey and only his long “Welcooooooooooome” showed us his talent. But then Kick It Up a Notch happened. And we FINALLY appreciated Dylan’s beautiful voice. “I pushed it to the limit.” and “To coin a phrase, be a man.” more Disney. I might be overthinking this and will have to rewatch Life to confirm, but I think the camera zooming out as Pincer reprises Life is just like the camerawork when Bug sang it originally. If so, then wow even when filming their shows StarKid really thinks it all through. (Update: It totally is referencing the original zooms for Life and that’s amazing. Except it’s zooming out instead of in. I LOVE the attention to detail even in filming the show. I’m gonna guess that’s Liam’s doing.) All I can see when I hear Bug’s chorus of this song is Jaime and her SPACE tour dancing, which they incorporated in Apocalyptour as actual choreography. Because they’re goofballs. The kick line. Love it. God. Even though it’s not my favorite song from Starship (just because I love Life and Beauty more), Kick It Up A Notch is one of the best StarKid has ever done. I really has everything. Dylan’s gorgeous voice. Not one but two reprises of earlier songs to throw Bug’s own words back at him. Jim’s bass line. Awesome puppets. Disney references. It’s so amazing. I love how all the comments are either about Dylan’s voice or Dylan’s ability to hold his arms up for a 10+ minute scene or both.
"Gameover man, gameover!” “I feel like cutting open your belly, and filling it with jelly” *Gasps* Oh my god, I put on the captions for a second, and  the caption said *Sad spayed puppy noises* “I am in charge of this mission now.” How did I forget about the mustache until 2 seconds before it happened? “She’s got the mustache now. *Kisses head* I love you” Oh my god Tootsie. I FORGOT ABOUT THE SECOND STACHE. There’s an ad right when we see Bug’s human form and I can’t even care because look at him! Ahhh. And the blue headband! Ahhhhh. Joey you’re so adorableeeee. “Bug? Well that’s a fine name.” His concerned face then the relief. Adorable. “Thank you sir. I am a tough bitch.” “Getting nothing but bug muff?!?” I love the slight delay the audience has before laughing as they realize what was just said. “Bug. You hard, ese. You flame.” I die. “Up there. In Space!” *dramatic pointing* No I totally didn’t just do the dramatic pointing with them... no that’s not in my muscle memory from 10 years ago... why would you think that. I’ll rave about Status Quo after it’s done. “But, what if I miss you?” Awwwwwwwww. And that “Just look up.” screenshot was used for “This.” memes in the fandom for years.
Oh Joey. Status Quo is such a good song too. And he really did improve as a singer to sing it. Earlier this week I remembered that this week is also the 10th anniversary of that time Darren was hopping from city to city every single day to promote the Warblers album. And at one point in that week he did a livestream that I remember rushing home to watch. In that livestream, I am 99% sure he sang Status Quo as a little sneak preview for Starship being released later that week. (Just checked, yep he sang it in a livestream on April 20 2011) God I love this song. Then the version the boys all sang for SPACE Tour was beyond beautiful too. Ahhh I love this musical.
Ok. It’s almost midnight. I started this 3 hours ago. I’m probably not finishing the show until 2am at the rate that I’m pausing and stopping to comment. But OH WELL.
“Dr. Spaceclaw” wow. “Leaving them behind was of little consequence, but a pleasure.” Oh Megagirl. “You did a very good job today too, son.” “*Gasp* Thanks dad.” That Star Wars fake-out though. Speaking of Star Wars, I really need to rewatch Ani now that I’m actively a Star Wars fan unlike last time when I still wasn’t invested in the movies I just watched them. How did I forget about Jaime playing Junior’s new mom?? ...Does Junior get an alien incubating in his chest... is that foreshadowing... I can’t remember. (This was like... half a foreshadow) This scene is funnier now that Breredith is married. The way Junior says “Phew” I’m dead. I remembered how they restrain MegaGirl once again 2 seconds before it happened oh my god. “We deserve bubbles on our skin.” An iconic line. “Well thank the long dead god you made it, Bug!”  The crunching of the handshake, I can’t. Oh someone in the comments pointed out that Bug and February are doing the Tarzan hand thing while Up’s asking Taz to see a movie. Adorable.
Get yourself a man like Tootsie who won’t stand for you talking down about yourself. “Maybe this was all part of God’s plan. He made before he died.” I love the dead god jokes. I remember years ago some kid on facebook was like “The dead god jokes are offensive” and I was like “It’s a sci-fi musical about a bug in a human body but sure worry about god being dead.” but probably in an even more immature answer. I’m just mesmerized by Tootsie and MegaGirl’s verses. God. The first Dylan and Meredith duet. Amazing. And MegaGirl’s confused face is great. “Don’t press that button, or we’ll all be sucked into space.” So... Can anyone tell me what foreshadowing is? Oh shoot... ok wait no I’ll comment on that when we get there. God that is such a cute love song. I wrote barely anything just because I love that song so much. Would love to know where Tootsie’s taking her though.
Oh my god this scene! I forgot about this. How could I forget this. “Well the world always looks a little bit brighter, from on top of a lap.” I had remembered Bug sitting on Up’s lap, but not Specs. This is the part I forgot. Adorable. Ahhhh so cute. The Specs/Krayonder relationship was apparently cut from the filmed version, but was present if you saw it live. These moments are adorable. And I love how this is the second person JoMo’s had to carry in this show since he also carried Denise earlier. “Why if it isn’t Bug, my oldest friend.” and “Don’t say that, my dear.” are adorable. Oh wait. Up sat on Bug’s lap. Not the other way around. Ok. I didn’t remember this scene as well as I thought I did. I’m dying. I didn’t want to write anything during this, but oh my god “That son of a bitch Optimus Prime” I forgot that. I love the audience’s reaction to “The entire right side of my body, it’s a robot” because they all gasp, and then laugh at themselves for gasping. I knew there was something he couldn’t do without crying. I didn’t remember it being “Sir I Wanna Buy These Shoes” Christmas Song. It’s ok Up, I haven’t listened to that song in full in years. I can’t handle it. But Christmas songs in general make me cry too. Oh Up said goddamn instead of deadgoddamn too. Hmm... Aww the mother spider story. “I think the old you was just killing out of hate.” “Oh I was.” I’m dying. Awwww the nose kiss. I definitely remembered that. “Deadgodspeed soldier!” The way Joey misses catching the keys and also Darren’s “Woo!” in the audience again. So great. That 12 minute scene is just adorable and the Up story is so dramatic and hilarious.
Hmm finishing before 2am might be ambitious... “Hahaha. Then I’ll shoot him!” “Taking care of my business down on the planet is that cool with you?” Brian’s delivery of that line has always intrigued me. “How much I care about my MegaGirl unit’s survival is also a percent equivalent to zero” Rude. “You are nothing like my boyfriend, Tootsie Noodles.” “Yes, well - wait WHAAA” This scene is so different now that they’re married. “Ha. Ha. It was cute.” “You’re... a toaster.” *Slaps* Ok 1) I used to use that insult all the time and only half ironically. I was a strange teenager. 2) She just hurt a human... isn’t that against programming, or can she just not kill humans? Evil angry Brolden is something we need more of. I love Brian as a villain. More please. “You stupid goddamn robot” So I guess they say goddamn and deadgoddamnit. I’m overthinking the evolution of language in this universe. Also Brian’s screams while being choked are amazing. I’ve never forgotten those, if anything they’re better now.
AHHHH I REFRESHED AND DELETED ALL OF MY STUFF FOR BEAUTY. Kill me. I’m so mad. Let me try to recreate it but I hate myself. I was saving this draft after every part but OF COURSE I don’t save after my favorite song and then refresh.
Oh poor Meredith. Her white wig doesn’t let her blend in as much when she’s in the hoodies playing a bug. “Oh hey Bugette, we’re just trying to get Bug laid!” That bug had to know about Bugette’s crush though? That’s just cruel. “The ending is killer” ruuuuuuddddddddddeee. I know I had at least one more point, but that’s lost to the ether. Beauty is probably my fave, if not tied with Life. When I was listening to it earlier, I was overcome with emotion because it’s just such a joyful song. These days I cry over happy stuff almost as much as I cry over the sad. And these lines just hit so hard... I love it. I love this song so much and this scene so much. “Bug. She excreted her filth for you. WE DID IT!!!!!!!!” Brant Cox is so good. It really is a shame he’s not in anything else besides AVPSY and the 10th Anniversary with everyone else. “I do accept you for who you really are. A genius.” Well February, you’ll be glad to know that you thought of that, so you’re the genius. Wow. Junior’s 25, Brian was 25, and now I’m 25. This really was perfect timing for the 10th anniversary. Also I do not feel 25. “Suck off!” amazing.
I’M SAVING THIS TIME.
Ok next part. Luckily I was only 1 minute into the next part when I refreshed. Still so mad at myself... “Someone really firetrucked up big time” (Dead)God I love that line. I also used firetruck unironically. Once again, I was a strange teenager and I didn’t like cursing and I still don’t. “This is so weird, I’m so used to the scrambly version.” (It was while writing this line the first time that I refreshed and lost Beauty....) Ok as I watch AJ, it’s hitting me that he almost definitely came to the set during rehearsals and filmed his part since it’s not a green screen like the rest of them. “The hunters have become the hunted, and it’s wabbit season.” “That was a good video, until the end when it got sad.” Thanks Bug. “I think, I just had a think” See February’s smart. “I’m in a weird situation” Love that line. “Bug is a BUG!? I DON’T BELIEVE IT” Oh Junior. Dylan’s insulted face at “I am not... a dumbass.”  So I can’t tell if Brian forgets he’s trapped when he moves his arms into a more relaxed position to lean on the column and then puts them back, or if it’s purposefully staged that way. Brian’s acting while he pretends to be shy and embarrassed about his evil plan is amazing and adorable. Brian has a good evil laugh, why don’t we get him as a villain more often? Also I was gonna make some sort of joke about Nick as Pincer’s left claw vs. Robert as Snarl’s left paw, but I’ll leave it be.
I FORGOT ABOUT THAT WEIGHT TAZ WAS LIFTING JUST FLOATING UP TO THE SKY WHEN SHE LETS GO. I just laughed out loud. “Damn that G.L.E.E. They’re always making twisted abominations of everything!!” I cannot handle it. And the wink. Poor Darren but also not poor Darren at all. I was just now WRACKING my mind for who could possibly be playing Pincer’s tail if JoMo was being devoured by mosquitos. It’s Brant. Literally the entire cast is currently onstage. Ok Krayonder’s been getting his blood drained for 3 minutes, why is he alive? OH I FORGOT KRAYONDER GETS UP AND SHOOTS THE BUGS. Ok and he gets chopped by Pincer’s claws too so HOW does he survive? StarKid answer!!! I forgot how dramatic this musical gets when you got both the bugs and MegaGirl coming after the humans. Aww the Vulcan salute from Specs. “I changed my name. To Tootsie... MegaGirl.” I love the reactions of the people in the audience who immediately realize what that means. I hear at least one “oh my god” that sounds like sobbing. Awwwww Tootsie’s “that’s real” speech and “I’d love you if you was the horse that ate my cousin.” (#3) just... get yourself a man like Tootsie MegaGirl. He is perfection. God the downloading love scene is so cute. I can’t handle it.
The Up saving Taz scene is so dramatic. Then Brian and Jim just calmly walk offstage. It kills me. Also why did Jaime just continue to lie there? “I just needed to learn how to kill with my heart.” Not exactly what Bug meant, but it works. God Taz climbing onto Up’s back is still the most hilarious thing ever. Whoever thought of her climbing that way was a genius. So funny. I always wanted to try it. Holding the gun up to her head like a blowdryer always gave me anxiety. Making the door out of a scrim that can be backlit was genius. Oof and bringing back “The needs of the many bugs outweigh the needs of the few bugs. Or the one bug.” just hurts. Poor Bug. My heart. This is probably the line that sticks with me to this day and I do think about sometimes.
Ok it’s now 2am and I still have 2 more parts.
I sorta love that Joey didn’t have the time to change into his blacks so he’s still in the Starship Ranger suit while playing the Bug puppet. “Save the Overqueen. I love her.” Awww. “Roach, I’m gonna get the job done if it’s the second last thing I do.” Love it. That Kick It Up A Notch Reprise though. Brian, you should play villains more often. Also remember all of us being like “LUPIN CAN SING?!?!?!??!!” “Lucky for me, God is dead. When you see him in hell, tell him Junior sent you.” Deadgod I love that line. This whole deadgod thing was just leading up to that amazing line. Oh no Bugette! Bug saying “maestro” oh my god. “DFSDSJFDSJKFDS... I’m dead.” I forgot that part! Oh my god the way Brian flicks the glasses back down on his face. Ok so I saw Lauren wiggle her way behind the mucus sac, but I didn’t see Nick come onstage. I rewinded, and I guess the zoom in shots on Brian and Joey were timed so we can’t see Nick join Lauren to be the first larva to come out. Oh well. And I love the crowd cheering as Junior dies. “And bingo was his name-o” That callback though. I forgot that the Overqueen eats Bugette’s body while crying. “Or Bugette! Oh...” Also god Roach is adorable.
Last part. 2:21am. Here we go. Krayonder got his blood sucked out by giant mosquitos and was cut up by a giant scorpion, but all he needs is a bandage around his head. Awwww the soft “I Wanna Be” playing the background as Bug begs the team to accept his bug form. Bug being so mad “It’s that bastard Pincer isn’t it?” and then being so happy that Joey does the little nose scrunch thing. So cute. JOEY’S FACE WHEN DENISE KISSES THE BUG PUPPET. Cannot believe I forgot that until 2 seconds before it happened too. “I now pronounce you man vs. machine. Fight!” WOAH. Why in the WORLD did “eep op ork ahah” come back to me. I was able to say it WITH Joey. That was straight from the DEPTHS of my teenage brain oh my god. I forgot about that oh my GOD. THAT’S INSANE. I FORGOT SO MUCH STUFF BUT I REMEMBERED HOW TO SAY “I LOVE YOU” IN BUG.
And the Beauty reprise.
God I love this musical. It’s still my fave StarKid show I think. And I’m horrified to see that it has only 500K views for the last part, so only 500K people have watched it all the way through after 10 years. That’s disgraceful. It’s amazing. Watch Starship.
It is 2:32am. I started at 8:50pm. Got sidetracked when I had to rewatch the Beauty part of Act 2 again to make sure I got my notes back in the post. Took a few bathroom breaks. But this is mostly because I paused every like 10 seconds to make a comment, so it took 5 and a half hours to watch a 3 hour musical. This why I take forever to watch things while liveblogging. I take too long to writing notes.
I’ll probably just post this in the morning. Gotta proofread for mistakes before posting.
Ok it’s the next afternoon. This post is literally 5,000+ words and takes 20 minutes to read according to a online word counter. I’m sorry to whoever read this entire thing. Your reward is the pictures of the Starship plushies I crocheted when I was 15 and 16.
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(Ignore the bad lighting and my horribly chipped paint. That’s the only picture I have of the Bugette one since I gave it to Lauren Lopez a day later. I started making another for myself shortly after but never finished. Maybe I should finally finish the second one... hmm...)
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madamewriterofwrongs · 4 years ago
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May and the Rainbow Kingdom
911/Buck & May
Written for @cirrius-akiyo who wanted a Buck & May friendship.
The station was unusually quiet when she walked through the front door. The trucks were still in their place, being polished and restocked by other crew members – most of whom paid her no mind or recognized her as the ‘captain’s kid’. She’d only been called that once, but she remembered the uneasy feeling and the sneer of the probationary officer’s voice. A well-practiced eyebrow raised, and her best customer service smile, ensured he never bothered her again.
Today she wasn’t here as the ‘captain’s kid’, she was here as a friend in need of help from another – older and wiser – friend. A glance at the ambulance missing from its usual station dampened her expectations slightly.
“Hey, May.” She looked up to see a familiar face waving at her from the loft and she jogged to meet him.
“Hey, Buck. I was hoping to talk to Hen, is she around?”
The blond-haired firefighter returned to his task of tidying the upper floor (the table smelt comfortingly of bleach and lemon so he was nearly done) while she knelt on the couch to watch him work.
“Sorry; she just left on a call with Chim and Bobby. Is there anything I can help you with?”
She tried to keep the dejected sigh from her voice. “How versed are you on Bioethics of Non-Existence?”
It was almost comical, the way Buck paused in his sweeping to take in her question. “I definitely recognize some of those words.”
As she suspected; May turned to collapse onto the couch with a groan. “I really needed to talk to Hen.” Not that she didn’t trust the other adults in her life – Maddie had tried to help, but she’d been out of Medicine for too long – Hen was her last hope.
“School going that well, huh?” She didn’t have to look to hear the amusement in the man’s voice.
“It’s actually pretty good.” She admitted, still slumped half-off the couch. “I just have mt midterm on Friday and I really need someone who can test me on this stuff.”
“I’m sure you’ve got a handle on it. You were always a smart kid.”
May did smile at that. It was easier to accept being called a child from someone who actually knew her as a child. Granted, she and Buck weren’t overly close, but he was always nice to her, and Bobby seemed fond of him.
“I’ve studied this stuff over and over but I just don’t feel ready” she admitted to the ceiling. Maybe Buck should clean those rafters (he was certainly tall enough). Better yet, maybe she could do it. “I either need a distraction or another month of review.”
Maybe if she hid out at the station, she could lie to her professor and say she had a medical emergency. Or maybe, she could convince him to let her take her exam tomorrow and put her out of her misery. She hated the waiting game. The more she reviewed the material, the less secure she felt in her knowledge. It just needed to be over and done with so she could start stressing about the next thing. Her English essay was due next week. It could use a third rewrite.
“I don’t know about the review.” Visions of Buck peering over top of her, pulled May out of her spiral. “But if you’re in need of a distraction, I could use a co-babysitter tonight. I’m watching Christopher while Eddie’s out on a date and I’m sure he’d love to hang out with you.”
An evening spent with her stepdad’s friend, and her stepdad’s other friend’s son was not exactly what she had in mind for a Monday night, but it was better than nothing. Besides, she liked Christopher well enough; he was a cute kid with a sensible head on his shoulders. And Buck was nice – if a little bit accident-prone for the amount of times she’d visited him in the hospital – plus it was an excuse to get out of her routine for a few hours. Maybe she could come early and ask Eddie some questions (an army medic had to have some thoughts on ethics in medicine, right?).
“Sure,” she smiled up at him. “why not?”
Which was how May found herself squished between a surprisingly calm 10-year-old, and an overly-energetic 29-year-old, splitting the difference as she scrolled through their Netflix Kids’ queue.
Christopher had insisted that they didn’t need to use the kid’s channel as he was absolutely old enough to handle all the scary movies. She remembered Harry, not too long ago, with the same attitude (along with the same nightmare he’d had for weeks about a clown in a sewer). While Buck didn’t have the same experience, he was with her decision to stick to the lighter stuff for tonight. Perhaps he was being overly cautious as he always was with the boy.
Everyone in their circle knew about how Buck had saved Christopher during the tsunami and how close the three of them had become afterwards. It was no wonder he wanted to do everything in his power to protect him – even from the CGI monsters.
As they continued to scroll, she paused on their ‘Continue Watching’ bar, to see if there was anything they wanted pick up. She wasn’t about to watch whatever they chose for their post-dinner treat; she had her textbook and laptop in her bag all charged up.
Just as she was about to continue the search for the perfect movie, her eye caught one of the titles with a half-full red bar and shot a confused glance to Buck. The man kept his eyes purposefully trained on the screen, eyes darting to hers once, as a sign that he knew what she was looking at. Still, he showed no sign of explaining himself so she moved on. For now.
They ended up settling on one of the dinosaur documentary movies, but May kept her promise to herself and reviewed through the entire 90-minute event. It was easy enough to tune out, the graphics were fine, the story was predictable, but at least the boys on either side seemed to be enjoying themselves. Every once in a while, Buck would elbow her to pull her attention back to the screen but it never held her interest for more than a few minutes. Then Christopher would do the same, asking her questions or feeding her facts about the various dinosaurs. That did help for a little while, but even that kid’s endless enthusiasm couldn’t keep back the voice in her head that told her she should be studying.
As far distractions went, this night seemed to be a bust.
When she heard the water run in the bathroom, signally the beginning of Christopher’s bedtime routine, May found herself reaching for the remote once again; if only to keep her hands occupied while she waited to say goodbye to Buck. The least she could do was thank him for his attempt to distract her – even if it had failed.
That was when she found the ‘Continue Watching’ bar once again, and her curiosity got the better of her.
“What’s True and the Rainbow Kingdom?” she asked once her companion had returned. “’Cause it doesn’t seem like something Christopher would be into.”
Buck huffed as he flopped on the couch next to her. “Okay,” he began his confession by raising his hands in surrender. “I watched an episode to see if it was something that’d be appropriate for Nia, but I kind of started watching it on my own.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really” he matched her mocking tone. “Not all the time. But I’ll admit, when I’m having a bad day, it’s nice to turn my brain off with some mindless fun.”
She wasn’t laughing at him – maybe she was, but she wouldn’t tell him that – it was that the image of this grown man, sitting at home, watching what was clearly a Sophia the First carbon copy (if the design was to be believed), was very amusing to her.
“Wow, I see how it is.” Buck lightly pushed May as she shuffled over to create more space. “I try and help and instead you mock me. Very nice.”
Even as a joke, she saw his point and the laughter turned into a smile, which morphed into an eyeroll.
“You’ve got to admit, this doesn’t exactly fit your image.”
“I have no image” he protested. “I’m allowed to like whatever I like.”
“So, you wouldn’t mind if I text my mom that” she had barely begun picking up her phone from the coffee table, when he reached the device first.
“Don’t you dare.” More laughter did make her heart feel a little lighter.
He only handed her phone back once she’d half-heartedly agreed not to text her mom this fresh blackmail material. “I bet you’d like it. It’s about a girl and a cat, and she gets these wishes from a tree, and she uses them to help others.”
“The cat gets wishes?”
“Just” Buck rolled his eyes, grabbing the remote from the cushion between them. “we’re going to watch it right now.”
Without waiting for her response, Buck tapped the first episode and shushed her failed attempt to protest.
The first scene introduced a reasonably catchy theme song with bright colours, along with the main character True and her talking black cat named Bartleby. There was something about a party and a bitchy princess and a weird walking pill they called…something Banjo? Admittedly, when the cat said something sarcastic towards the girls, she cracked a smile, but her mind was still reviewing the differences between Potter’s and Callahan’s philosophies.
The next time she tuned back into the episode, they were sitting on mushroom stools under a tree, attempting to solve a problem as a group. When they took a deep breath, May found herself exhaling with them, and her forehead ached from holding tension for so long. Admittedly, it felt nice to relax her shoulders.
Okay, so this was clearly a kids’ show and nothing else. Mining wishes from a tree and using a book to decipher what all the wishes could do, as though they were Pokémon characters.  It was ridiculous, why was she still watching this? She needed to get home to study.  
“Sure, they get to use the ‘wishopedia’ but my professor won’t let me use Wikipedia as a starting source?” she grumbled under her breath.
“What was that?” She startled when Buck smirked at her.
May tucked back into the arm of the couch with a half-hearted glare. “Nothing.”
She really should be reviewing. The more time she wasted outside of the classroom, the worse her chances of success. She shouldn’t be wasting her time watching this kids’ monstrosity. This really was a stupid show. Why would True forgive Grizelda after she was such a bitch to Bingo-Bango? She was always so positive and patient. And she only used her special powers to help people. That was pretty nice.
That theme song was pretty catchy.
Before she knew it, she was four episodes in, watching two mushroom people win a motor race after everyone got detoured by falling crystals and Grizelda being a bitch (again).
“She should just toss the Cu-Bigly over the cliff and then throw Grizelda.” At Buck’s look of amused indignation, she shrugged. “What? She deserves it for sabotaging the race. It’s not like she’d die from that height.”
A quick glance at her phone told her it was after ten and she had a class in the morning. What astonished her most, was that she hadn’t thought about her course work in an hour. For the first time since starting university, she’d let herself escape her thoughts just for a little while; and honestly, she felt lighter for it.
Still unbelievably guilty for not spending every waking moment of her life preparing for her next test or assignment – but just a little bit lighter.
“Hey, Buck?” She turned to the man barely hiding the fact that he’d begun to doze off. May smirked when he awoke with a snort. “Thanks for your help, I really needed this.”
For a moment, she saw the ‘puppy dog’ that her mom liked to call him: the puffed chest and kind smile and excited eyes. She saw what won over her, somewhat cynical, mother; it made her smile brighter.
“Glad I could help.”
Buck was scrolling mindlessly through his phone two weeks later, when it buzzed with a new text notification, and his mood instantly improved.
87%
Also I may have finished the first season of TatRK
I totally ship True and Zee
Do you want me to wait for you to catch up?
“Hey, May passed her Bioethics Mid-Term” he announced to his friends sitting in the loft; the rest, he would keep as his own reward for a job well done.
Bobby looked up from his usual place in the kitchen, buttering a pan for some dish most of them wouldn’t get to eat. “Since when did May start telling you about her exam results?”
There was no honest answer that wouldn’t make him feel embarrassed, but Buck blushed regardless. “I, uh, helped her study.”
Eddie slapped his shoulder jovially as he passed on his way to grab a bottle of water. “Is there something you want to tell us? You have a secret Bioethics degree?”
Buck brushed him off with a smile. “No, but you do what you can to help out family, right?”
His eyes met with his Captain’s and there was a fondness he only saw with May and Harry. Something he hadn’t seen for himself in a long while.
“Yeah, kid, you do.”
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silkhy-john · 4 years ago
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Fun fact, the names of towns and cities in each region in pokemon had themes to them (buckle in, this is a long post)
So, I've known this since 2013-ish, but it's a fact that never stops amazing me, you know?
Let's talk about them (I'm doing gen 1 to 5, English names)
Kanto [Gen 1 (RGBY), Gen 2 (GSC), Gen 3 (FrLg), Gen 4 (HGSS), Gen 7 (LG:P/E)]
Pallet Town is literally a painter's pallet, and all the other towns and cities are named after colours. Yes, there's symbolism there.
Also, each town's dominant colour is the colour of it's name (e.g. Fuchsia City has fuschia streets)
I'll discuss the Sevii Isles in a separate post, cause FUN FACT, there are actually 2 explorable regions in Gen 3 Kanto.
Johto [Gen 2 (GSC), Gen 4 (HGSS)]
All the towns in Johto are named after:
1. Trees (Goldenrod, Mahogany, Blackthorn, Violet (a Jacaranda tree), Blackthorn...)
2. Tree-related terms (Newbark, Cianwood (based more on the colour of the wood (Cyan) than it is on any one tree), Cherrygrove (not just cherry; but a grove of cherry)
Newbark Town is also a symbolic name, in that: though it's not a specific tree, all growing trees, in some way, replace their barks. It's shows beginnings and growth.
Hoenn [Gen 3 (RSE), Gen 6 (ORAS)]
All of the towns amd cities are, essentially, compound words that describe them. I use essentially because some of the component words are modified, either by getting rid of syllables and/or letters, adding syllables and/or letters.
The only really interesting towns/cities here are Littleroot, Sootopolis, and Evergrande.
Littleroot is called Littleroot because:
1. It IS a little town.
2. It's not the beginning of the MC's journey, but it is the first place they put down roots; little roots.
Sootopolis:
It's obviously a combination of Soot and Metropolis.
While Metropolis makes some sense (some is the operative; I don't really see it as a centre of anything economic or urban for Hoenn (that would be shared between Mossdeep and Lilycove) but it does seem densely populated???) However, it IS the location of the Cave of Origin, so maybe that's the determining factor... I'm not sure here, you tell me.
Now for Soot, there's multiple ways to look at it depending on the games(and essentially, timeline) you're discussing (RSE or ORAS). RSE Sootopolis is located in the crater of an extinct volcano, while ORAS Sootopolis is in the crater of a meteor impact (again, timelines. Zinnia? Deoxys? Making some connections I'd hope). Volcanos and Meteor Impacts tend to produce a lot of soot, but I don't think that's it.
Through bits of info from some of the NPCs in the game, we can assume that Sootopolis was the site of Groudon and Kyogre's first battle. Most battles tend to be described as "flaming", and afterwards, "ashes settle". Ashes can be thought of as soot. And here comes my second theory "Soot" comes from the fact that a great battle was held in the crater. That's it.
It could also be named Soot to solidify the relationship between it and Mt. Pyre. You can ask me about this one or whatever.
Evergrande:
The reason this one is here is because I feel that the name is... oxymoronic. "Evergrande" implies that the city is larger than life (grande) and that that quality is eternal (ever) and yet... it has nothing, really. Someone in the developer's team is laughing, but I'm not sure who...
(And before anyone talks about the Pokemon League being part of the city; yes it is, but it isn't a permanent residence, or a residence at all, except for the Elite 4, the champion (not you though), and certain important staff)
Sinnoh [Gen 4 (DPPt)]
A hodgepodge of themes, really. Some towns are have compound word names, and others... aren't.
Twinleaf Town is a place of beginnings. Twin leaves are normally found on the apical meristems of plants, which are sites of active growth. So.
I think I'll do all the other towns as well.
1. Sandgem. Sinnoh's gem when it comes to a settled and sandy beach, because all other beach locations either have a small stretch of beach with rocky shores (Sunnyshore) or are really high end and only really populated by snobbish people like Backlot or wannabes (Valor Lakefront, the Resort Area)
2. Jubilife. Life is Jubilant here (cause business is booming, it's Sinnoh's economic hub).
3. Oreburgh. It's an autonomous municipal corporation (a city, lol) where ore is mined, usually coal-rich ore.
4. Floaroma. The aroma of flowers is particularly strong in this town. Wonder why....
5. Eterna. First non-compound word. It and one other town share this quality + a sort of mystical name. It's Eternal, why? It's super close to the foot of an extremely sacred mountain.
6. Hearthome. Home is where the heart is, and I think this must be your mother's home town (inferred from dialogue with her + others in the contest hall). Also, while Eterna and Celestic are close to Arceus, Hearthome is the home and heart to Sinnoh's core religion and what seem to be some of Sinnoh's origins (the strange structures in Amity Square).
7. Solaceon. Life in this place is a sort of solace from all the city life, has been for aeons. It's your domestic country town where work starts in the early morning, ends in the early evening, and entertainment and recreation is done in the bar out of town to avoid the corruption of the youth.
8. Veilstone. The city isn't just built from the rock; it's hewn from it.
9. Pastoria. Honestly don't know for this one. Someone... anyone really, please tell me.
10. Canalave. The city is built around a canal, and all life in it seems to subsist on economic activities based on said canal (except the library)
11. Celestic. It's the closest to Coronet's peak. It still holds certain traditions, such as elders and shrines. Celestial because of how close it is to creation, not just in space, but in time too. Also the, the "stic" might come from mystic, but I'm not so sure, so it and Eterna share a category.
12. Snowpoint. The snowiest point in Sinnoh that isn't Mt Coronet itself. Pretty cool, huh.
13. Sunyshore. Sunniest town in Sinnoh; so sunny , in fact, that the road is paved with solar panels? How does that work???
Unova [Gen 5 (BW/BW2)]
All the towns are named after clouds and cloud-terminologies.
I won't discuss any of the towns here, I'll do that in another post (cause I want to include images of the clouds too, but I'm feeling too tired and want this up as soon as possible, lol)
And, we, are... done. Wow. Next time, Unova, and then the Sevii Isles. Maybe Stadium, Stadium 2 and XD? Hmmmm...
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serendipitybutterfly · 5 years ago
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BTS Tarot Valentines Day Special:
BTS' Future Marriages...
I know... Unusual for me since I tend to focus more on advice than predictions for the most part... But, as it's this lovey dovey season, I decided to do a marriage themed reading as a special treat as I've gotten asks surrounding this kind of question before... This is going to be a mammoth post... Omg..
This is my Valentines Day present for you guys who follow and like my readings! Thank you!!!! I 💜 you!
So, without further ado... Let's get it!
*Disclaimer- the way i see it, although this is a prediction reading, I'm only working with the energies of the present moment. If one of the boys wakes up tomorrow and firmly decides he never wants to get married, then his path will change and future readings would reflect that. For the most part, the future is in flux and can be changed... If something is a huge, fateful, set in stone kind of event then the cards will let me know. Also, in this particular reading, rather than focusing on the physical appearance of their future partners, I'm intending to focus more on personality and only mention physical appearance if something strongly comes to mind or their looks come forward as a major message of the reading. Ok done! Let's really get it! 💜
Oh wait... before anything else, I was going to call this future Marriages or life partners (because, obviously, not everyone gets married) but I just decided to ask first off if they'd all get married for the sake of clarity and got a resounding yes for them all so... Yeah... As of now, all of the boys are likely to actually get married in the future. Although... Some are closer to that future than others. Also, I was going to put all of the readings into one big post but then I realised how ridiculously long that would be and decided to split the hyung line and maknae line up into two separate posts. I'm starting with the maknae line and hopefully the hyung line post will follow soon...
Maknae line:
Starting with Park Jimin...
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Character profile - The archetype cards that popped out gave me an interesting message... I'm getting the image of someone that had quite a hard life, possibly even a somehow traumatic past (cards like bully and victim in particular stood out to me as being indicative of a troubled past), but managed to retain a sweetness and childlike innocence despite it... I'm also definitely getting the image of an introvert. Someone quite soft spoken, gentle and who comes across as a bit shy. She might feel more comfortable with animals and young children than with most people. Physically I feel like she will be younger than him, and somewhat innocent and fragile looking but at the same time there's something kind of edgy and / or sexy in her style... She might wear a lot of dark colours. Yeah... I know I said I wouldn't focus on looks... But I'm definitely also getting East Asian features coming through visually... I'm also seeing long, straight, black hair and fair skin. This is the kind of person who tends to inspire protective feelings in others... But at the same time has a lot of inner strength that they can use to heal and bolster other people's confidence in themselves.
Relationship- With the Dawn card, I feel like she will give Jimin a whole new fresh perspective on life... I'm hearing 'clean slate' and 'washing away'... I'm just feeling a lovely, pure, soothing, watery kind of energy to this connection overall. I mean, the romance angels oracle deck threw out 'True Love' to describe this connection so... I mean, if Jimin still has those romantic dreams of meeting his one true love like he used to... He can definitely have that wish granted! It's just... Going to take some time... With the Chariot in reverse here, I feel like he will have to wait quite some time before they meet...hmm... How old will he be in another 7 years? About 32? Could be around then or after... But, at this point, it's unlikely to be before...
The tarot here couldn't paint a rosier picture tbh... I really hope Jimin does meet this person in the future because it looks like this marriage could genuinely be the making of true and lasting happiness for him. Just look at these beautiful cards! 10 of cups... Happy family with a loving home environment and playing children! The star because this really is a dream come true, a wish answered. Then you have a reversed queen of wands (👀 omg why does Queen of wands energy always come up with anything to do with romance with Jimin??). However... Interestingly enough, here I'm seeing her as a soft spoken young woman who comes across as quite shy and introverted but who possesses a great deal of inner strength and power... (which is why context matters in tarot guys... Cards mean something different to me basically every time!). This is next to the knight of swords who I see as our lovely libra boy Jimin himself... I'm literally see this as a Knight in shining armor rushing in to the rescue. That's how he'll feel in this relationship. Not at all in a burdensome way... But like that feeling gives him this great deal of strength and confidence in himself. She makes him feel strong and capable and in control... Like a hero. Why is this making me emo? ...
Anyway, then the high priestess is here to sum this connection up and I feel strongly that this is an extremely deep, intuitive connection... The meeting of souls... They can look at each other and just... Know what the other is feeling... Could even be a soul mate / past life connection I think... Wow.
All in all... This is great news for Jimin's future in terms of marriage at this point. Although I do think it'll be a while before they meet and longer before actually getting married... It looks pretty rosy from then on! I'm not saying there will be no bumps in the road at all (I can sense that there are certainly some deep personal issues on both sides that actually need to be dealt with through this union... Which is some soul journey stuff... ) however overall this seems like it will be an amazing match! I'm so glad! 💜 💜 💜
Kim Taehyung:
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Character profile:... Uh... Haha... You just had to be different huh Tae... Lol... Ok... So here's the thing... Where marriage is concerned, Tae has that interesting fate where he actually has a choice (I mean, everyone has a choice... But most people don't actually recognise it as a choice... It just kinda happens because it's their fate. Tae has the opportunity to make a conscious choice here regarding his fate because it's like either way he can learn important lessons and grow... Both are fated partners for him. Like a real diverging path kind of thing. He will get to a point where he can choose one path or another with basically full awareness of this as a choice... This is really interesting actually. I mean, either way, he will get married and he can be happy either way too... Although in different ways for different reasons... It's very interesting...
As far as personality goes... I see two distinct personalities coming through... On one side you have someone quite mature, serious, artistic, intellectual, quiet and spiritual and on the other side I see someone very young, pretty, flirty, fun loving, popular and witty... Also very wealthy and a little bit haughty... But kinda 'cute' and funny with it?? Idk why I'm getting that... Like a kind of sly sense of humour...
Unfortunately... This is weirdly up in the air because of this aspect of choice. I can see that both will appeal greatly to different sides of him... If only they could be one person... But alas...
Relationship: Again... The tarot shows how up in the air this is because there is not yet a set path. Tae hasn't even met them yet. He's not thinking seriously of marriage at all yet. However, with the Wheel of Fortune reversed here we can see that though this is not yet set in motion, it is fated either way. Death in reverse and the Hanged Man are also giving me that up in the air, 'paused', kind of feeling... Like this fate is just waiting, biding its time to be set in motion... Right now he's on a solo path, pursuing his career and furthering his goals... It's when he's ready to let some of that go that this will be set in motion... It feels like a few years into the future to me... Not too far but not too close either... I'm not getting a definite time frame. It could be within two to three years or around him going into his early 30s...
You'll notice on one side of the 'up in the air fate' cards we've got the 4 of wands and on the other side we've got the 10 of pentacles representing the two different connections. Both are really auspicious cards for marriage. Both connections are also signified by the two of cups... Both are deep love connections... Again because this is up the air, I'm not getting specifics about the outcomes of either choice, but it does seem atleast like he has the potential to be happy in either marriage. However it looks like in one he can have the big family and legacy (in terms of children and grandchildren and leaving a home and inheritance to them) he desires, while the other relationship seems more quiet and more just about them as a couple being happy together.
I feel like the card Solitude: Island speaks of that connection (them being alone and peaceful together... Perhaps travelling to faraway countries together... And that calmer more serious vibe in that connection) while the card Playfulness is speaking of the other connection (way more youthful, energetic, playful, and flirty energy... And also literal children- and puppies!- incoming!).
So yeah *shrug*... Decisions decisions Tae... He can only make the right choice when the time comes at the end of the day (and he has a lot of spiritual guidance on his side if he chooses to tune in). It's quite likely that by then his priorities and desires for what he really wants out of life will become clearer to him and that will make the decision easier... At this point, it seems like neither of them are a particularly bad choice... Though neither is necessarily perfect either... That's what makes this such a big, fateful decision I suppose... Good luck Tae! 💜 🙏
Now for Jungkook:
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Character profile: Wow... Whatta boss... Lol. I'm kinda blown away by this energy to be honest. This is like... The best way I can describe it after looking at all the cards is... This is the kind of woman that both men and women are really attracted to and tend to like (regardless of sexuality). Like... Total 'girl crush', role model, material but also super attractive and sexy... Especially to men who like strong, capable women who have that 'boss' energy... Which is apparently future Jungkook I guess...
Actually these cards really make sense just based on what kind of people Jungkook seems to like to associate with anyway... I feel a sense that she will be older than him by at least a few years (if not, extremely mature and successful for her age). This is someone wise beyond their years who actively seeks knowledge and also goes further to implement what they've learnt to help others who are vulnerable. Something else that's coming through strongly is that this person is extremely creative and artistic... They have to be involved in the arts in some way, even if it isn't their main job. Actually, what I think is that she may work in one creative field (like say, a writer cause Scribe is there) but also does alot of other artistic and creative things as hobbies, like painting, drawing, dancing, singing... This is someone who delights in expressing her creativity so it doesn't have to make her money... She just loves it. Actually there's a kind of free spirited, bohemian, hippyish vibe here which is an interesting contrast to the boss energy... (I honestly want to be her best friend??).
Again, I know I said i wasn't focusing on looks but here looks are coming through really strongly... Like her attractiveness is really a major thing people notice about her so it has to be mentioned. I'm seeing long, wavy or curly black or dark brown hair (although she might also sometimes colour it... Especially red or reddish brown). She has a really great body... Like really fit and toned but also curvy (look at that goddess card! like I said... She's sexy). Also, probably a bit above average height. I'm also seeing that this is someone who's likely to have tanned or darker skin or who tans really easily in the sun... Like in the winter she might get quite pale but then in the summer sun gets a lot darker. She's definitely someone really natural, active and outdoorsy who's likely to get out in the sun as much as possible... I think she probably doesn't wear a lot of makeup... I'm just seeing a really natural beauty... Wow.
Relationship- With the Dreamtime: Creation card I'm getting two things coming through strongly. One is that I really think these two (certainly Jungkook) will actively be manifesting each other before they meet and will (or have already) dreamt about each other. Two is that, once again, I'm getting really highly charged creative energy. These are two extremely talented artists getting together and their relationship and home will reflect that. They encourage and push each other to improve. Really unique and quirky relationship actually... In fact, you'll notice that these cards aren't exactly overtly romantic... And yet... I'm still feeling the love?? Theirs isn't exactly a mushy kind of love but it's still very strong and extremely confident and secure. It's based firmly in actions that show love in a more practical way...
With the Sun shining on this marriage it's clear that they'll be really happy with one another (I see happy children here too... Another aspect of their mutual creativity... 😏 ) but there's also a lot of freedom and space. I see a lot of travelling and a lot of respect and understanding between them. That they are forgiving and don't hold grudges is coming through. This isnt a 'tit for tat' kind of relationship where they hold things over one another or only are nice to each other if the other person is nice first... It feels like they work through arguments maturely, quickly forgive everything and move on to being loving again.
With the page and 8 of Pentacles I see that they learn and grow together as people and work hard to make their relationship and bond extremely strong and they're successful in that. With the engagement card, I'm seeing two things, both strong commitment and loyalty to each other and also that they'll probably get married surprisingly quickly after they start dating. This is another case where I think it'll be a long wait for Jungkook... With the king of swords here... I feel like he'll be a definite MAN when he gets married... Like fully grown, probably rocking both longer hair and a beard... Lol... Older and wiser... Like around his mid 30's or even a little later... However, because he'll have been manifesting and dreaming of her for years (probably even already started guys) he'll just know from the time they meet that she's the one... So why hang about?
Conclusion... I kinda want to be bestfriends with Jungkook's future wife... She's really cool... 😭
OK... This has been the maknae line future marriages reading... I will try to drop the hyung line's readings before, on or just after valentines day so stay tuned! Hope you guys enjoyed!!! 💜 💜 💜
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bssaz97 · 5 years ago
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One of the Lancaster kids travels through time and tries to prove to the team that they're Jaune and Ruby's kid.
Rowan’s Trip to Beacon (Sorta...)
-Beacon Academy (Volume 2 time)-
Ruby and Jaune sit down by a tree as they talk about the
Jaune: Man I can’t still can’t believe your team actually stopped a mad scientist.
Ruby: Yeah Merlot was really a nut case but I sorta feel bad for him. He seemed so convinced that his research was the key to Remnant’s advancements. Even if I don’t agree with his actions and the way he went about it, it’s hard to not understand where he was coming from.
Jaune: Well maybe you just try to see the good in everyone. Not a lot of people in the world can. That’s what makes you good person.
Ruby: Yeah I guess so. Thanks...Buuuuuut I did manage to snag this though! *pulls out a metal cylinder with blue circuits*
Jaune: WHOA! What’s that thing?
Ruby: Shhh! Someone could hear you. *whispers*
Jaune: Ohhhh. Why are we whispering? *whispers back*
Ruby: Because I don’t want people, particularly the professors or Weiss to know I have this. *whispers*
Jaune: What is it? *whispers*
Ruby: It’s.....I don’t know. But it looked cool when I saw it in Merlot’s lab. *whispers*
Jaune: Wait you took that from Merlot’s lab?! Isn’t that like evidence or something?!*whispers loudly*
Ruby: Not if they don’t know I have it. *whispers*
Jaune: I take back what I said earlier, you’re a devious little gremlin in disguise. *whispers*
Ruby: Oh come on where’s your sense of adventure? *whispers*
Jaune: Your ‘sense’ of adventure often gets me in trouble. *whispers*
Ruby: Come on please! I’ll owe you big time! *whispers*
Jaune: ‘sigh’ I really don’t have a choice now that I’ve seen the evidence. Ok, so what do you want to do with it? *speaks normally*
Ruby: Well my plan was to try to open it but -Hrgh!- it’s a little -Grh!- hard to -Nnne!- open!
Jaune: Want me to try?
Ruby: No, no, I think I ggggooooo-!
*TSSST!*
Ruby: ‘huff!’ Got it!
The tube starts to hum and shake violently in Ruby’s hand as both leaders look at said metal tube.
Jaune: Say you wouldn’t have I don’t know, taken a copy of that things manual did you?
Ruby: Nope.
Jaune: Mind if I take a look at it?
Ruby: Sure. *gives him the tube*
Jaune: Thank you. *turns it around*
*O’ Fortuna plays*
“0:11...0:10...0:09...”
Ruby: It’s a bomb isn’t it?
Jaune: Looks like. *nods*
Ruby: And I activated the countdown by messing with it didn’t I?
Jaune: Most likely.
Ruby: We’re gonna get in trouble for this aren’t we?
Jaune: Oh yeah definitely. *nods*
Ruby: ...bring it on. *takes the tube back and throws it as far she could*
“0:03...0:02...0:01...”
As the tube explodes, a large blue orb of pure energy illuminated the courtyard in the middle of the day. Lightning currents flowing outside it and burning parts of the courtyard.
Ruby: ‘sniff’ Jaune. If we somehow live through the punishment we get from Professor Goodwitch, you’re a good friend.
Jaune: You too Ruby, you too.
Ruby: ... *holds his hand*
*BOOM!!!*
The light from the explosion lessens and leaves the courtyard a mess almost beyond repair. Both leaders uncover their eyes and view the aftermath of the tubes detonation. Not even a few seconds more, their teams come racing towards them.
Weiss: Ruby are you-..... What. Have you done....
Ruby: Oh. My. Gods. Goodwitch is sooo gonna KILL us.
Jaune: Yep. *whimpers*
Blake: Wait what’s that? *points to the center of the crater*
From the outlook from them it looked like a person sprawled out on the floor.
Ruby: ‘yelp!’ Was someone there before?! I could have sworn there wasn’t anyone there an second ago! OH NO! *petal bursts ahead*
Jaune: Ruby hold on! *chases after her*
Jaune along with the rest of their teams decided to chase after Ruby and hopefully get away before any of the teachers (particularly Goodwitch) discover the destroyed courtyard. Ruby arrived at the center of the crater and takes a look to see who was caught in the blast. At first glance the boy looks much younger than a student, maybe a year younger than her....... This was not good.
Ruby: Oh No, I Killed A Kid!
Jaune: Ruby what’s wrong? What the-Is that a kid?!
Ruby: *cradles the young boy* What do we do Jaune?!
Pyrrha: I’m... I’m not sure we could do anything for him. He looks so injured.
Ruby: Oh no! ‘sobbing’
????: Mmmm who’s at?
Everyone: Huh?
The two leaders plus teams look down to see that the young boy is starting to wake up, blinking his eyes as he looks at the two of them in particular. He turns towards Ruby with the most confused expression on his face.
????: ...Mom?
Ruby: Eh?
Jaune: Hey there, are you ok? Are you hurt?!
????: ........ *eyes widened then faints*
Ruby: DON’T DIE!!!
????: Was at?! Oh I’m sorry Mom. I had this weird dream where I saw... *looks at Jaune again and then faints again*
Ruby: LITTLE BOY!!!
Jaune: *scratches his hair* The heck is going on?
????: Eh?! What the-? *looks around* This-This isn’t a dream is it?
Ren: Dream? Why would you be dreaming? Nevermind that are you hurt?
????: Hurt? ‘hiss!’ Oh yeah, I’m definitely hurt. Mr. Pine must have accidentally used his semblance again.
Ruby: Mr. Pine?...
Weiss: Again?
????: *moves to stand* It’s ok, this isn’t something I’m not used to experiencing.
Pyrrha: Hold on! You shouldn’t push yourself!
????: Don’t worry I’ll be ok. Just give me a moment. *breathes in*
Suddenly the boy starts to glow a bright golden glow that surrounds his entire body. In under a minute all of the boy’s injuries started healing themselves and soon the light faded.
????: *breathes out* Boy, I feel much better! Guess it helps when you have a semblance like mine.
Ruby/Jaune: Whoa...
????: *looks over to them* Hey I’m sorry to bother but do you mind if I ask who you two are?
Ruby: Oh. Well my name is Ruby Rose
Jaune: I’m Jaune Arc.
????: .....oh boy Rowan. What did you do now? *mutters to himself*
Yang: Are you sure you’re ok kid? We don’t know exactly what was in that explosion so maybe we should go get you checked out.
????: Wha? Oh no you’re here too Auntie? Oh man this is just gets better and better... *scratches his hair in distress*
Yang: Auntie? *very confused*
Pyrrha: Are you sure you don’t require assistance, perhaps you’re still fatigued.
????: Oh that won’t be a problem, I’m completely fine now. It’s more ....well, I have no idea how I got here in the first place.
Weiss: What exactly do you mean?
????: But more importantly than that, my name is Rowan. If you were wondering.
Ruby: Rowan... Huh. That’s a nice name.
Rowan: Thanks.
Nora: So what’s the story are some kind of space kid trying to conquer the world? *says in a spooky voice*
Rowan: Nope. I’m just a normal kid learning to be a huntsman.
Nora: Oh. *says flatly*
Ren: I don’t mean to pry but what exactly did you mean you didn’t know how you got here?
Rowan: Oh that. Well.... How to say this? Have any of you ever heard of time travel?
Ruby/Jaune: ...yes?
Rowan: Ok good that makes this explanation much more simpler. Ok so you see the problem is I’m from the future and I must’ve accidentally been sent back in time by Mr. Pine’s semblance. He’s a friend so you know.
Ruby: ....sent back in time?
Jaune: The future?....
Weiss: That’s preposterous! Such a thing is impossible and defies the logic of space-time!
Rowan: Not if you’re Mr. Pine and your semblance allows you to accidentally sneeze somebody into the dark ages. Hehe.
Weiss: .....I do hope you’re joking.
Rowan: Yeah I know it sounds crazy but it’s true. I really am from the future. And.....also I’m kinda Ruby and Jaune’s son.
Everyone: HUH?!
Rowan: Look I know this may be asking a lot but could you mind taking me to Headmistress Goodwitch? I really should talk to her about this.
Yang: Hold on? Do you really expect us to believe you just because you claim you’re their son?! How do we know you’re not lying?!
Rowan: Ohhhh you need proof. *slams one hand on his other palm* Right, I shouldn’t expect you to believe me so quick. Proof, um... let’s see. Hmmmm. Oh I know! *takes out his scroll and shows them a picture* Here’s a picture of my family!
Ruby and Jaune look at Rowan’s scroll while the others peek over them and are surprised to see the picture was indeed of a family. What surprised them more was that the mother in the image looked like an older Ruby alongside a blonde girl the same age as Rowan, but had the cerulean eyes like Jaune. Rowan then changes the image to show one of an older Jaune and Ruby with a bigger than normal belly.
Weiss: This is impossible! Those images are clearly photo edited, and therefore can’t be real.
Rowan: WOW. Mr. Whitley was right you did scream a lot when you were younger.
Weiss: Wha-? How... Mr. Whitley? I knew it! This is a prank of his isn’t it?!
Rowan: No it’s not a prank I swear. Look what must I do to prove you believe me?
Ren: Well physically he looks very much like Ruby but appears to bear some resemblance to Jaune. But looks can be deceiving.
Blake: Ren’s right. Rowan, if you really who you say you are. What is something only your ‘parents’ would know about?
Rowan: Something only mom and dad know,? Ok. Let’s see........... Oh, I got it! The way you two met was when Mom blew up a crater in this courtyard after Auntie Weiss sprayed aroma veil of Dust, in which moved Dad to come help Mom out of the crater. There was also this one time where you all were at a dance, but then Dad went to talk to his partner and while Mom was waiting, she took a sip from his punch!
Ruby: How could you possibly know that?!
Rowan: Auntie Yang told me. *points to Yang*
Yang: WOW way to throw me under the bus kid!
Jaune: Wait Ruby did now?
-Fin-
Let me know if you guys enjoyed this one. My plan is to post the next chapter of RWBY Ancestries next, but after that I’ll start finishing some of the asks some of you have sent me. Hope you have a good day and be good people.
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