#yes his number is wrong that just adds to the charm | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

yukidragon · 1 year ago

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So... what do you think of a concept of Jack's Sunshine who is a Magical Girl?

This ask instantly gave me the image of Alice as a magical girl and OMG the potential of that is delicious. Thank you for sharing this plot bunny with me so I can totally run away with it!

The timing is also fitting since I recently watched the Miraculous Ladybug’s latest season ending and special and, uh… I’ve had… thoughts. (Yes, Miraculous Ladybug counts as a magical girl show.)

Before I begin, I want to plug the SnaccPop Studios patreon since it’s almost certain that I’m going to wind up using the magical girl Jack picture Sauce drew at some point in this ramble, and possibly other SDJ art. Please support the team if you can, and remember don't share anything privately posted on the patreon!

I also want to toss out potential content warnings just in case. This post will contain mention of PTSD, child soldiers, body image issues, cheating, toxic relationships, and the general erotic/horror elements that are part of the Something’s Wrong with Sunny Day Jack package. I’m not sure where I’m going to take this, but chances are there’s going to be some spice involving my OTP and some mention of Jack’s yandere obsession and the extremes he’ll go to keep his sunshine.

Remember, this is an 18+ Adults Only fandom! Minors do not interact!

The “Magic” of Childhood

The magical girl genre is iconic, and it’s also been deconstructed in different ways with certain anime like Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Given Something’s Wrong with Sunny Day Jack is, in a way, deconstructing lost media and clown mascots into an eroge horror game, it feels fitting to go with that sort of spirit with this sort of crossover as well.

In this case, sunshine would have probably been someone who was a magical “girl” in their childhood/teen years, as that is usually the age range of magical girls doing their magical shenanigans while they learn life lessons and mature. Whether or not MC was actually a girl during this time period is, of course, up to the individual to decide for their backstory. After all, who cares if the magical girls in the story are actually girls? There are an increasing number of stories about magical boys in this genre, for example, and we all know non-binary folks can go anywhere they darn well please.

Given the tone of the game and MC’s state, I think it would be perfectly fitting if they are still a disillusioned adult who wants to abandon all things nostalgic. In this case, their past magical shenanigans would be included in the childish things that they want to forget. Heck, it’s more reason to want to forget if they felt like their childhood was taken from them because they had to fight monsters in secret all the time in flashy clothes and transformation sequences, even having to go as far as to save the world from utter destruction.

Then of course add in the complication that Ian and his cheating presents on MC’s mental state. Magical girl shows very often have romance as one of the key aspects of the story, the star-crossed lovers of the lead magical girl hopelessly pining over the prince charming of her dreams~ Only, in this case, “Prince Charming” betrayed their “destined romance” by getting horny and sleeping with someone else. Bonus points if these two were reincarnated destined lovers or the like, ala Usagi and Mamoru from Sailor Moon. I mean, wouldn’t that be a kick in the teeth!

In this sort of AU, the romance with Ian and the magical “girl” adventures MC experienced would be heavily tied to their childhood and teenage years. In a sense, they both represent the MC’s youth, for good and for ill. In the present day, MC is dealing with the aftermath of the love of their life cheating on them, being isolated and alone, and carrying the baggage of their fight to save the world, which robbed them of their childhood. They’re probably extra exhausted if they still have to occasionally transform and fight monsters even in the present day. They have to juggle adult responsibilities on top of the fate of a world, working a thankless job that doesn’t pay enough with a duty that pays nothing at all. They’d probably be even more of a penny pincher in this AU.

Jack entering into the picture would be a very interesting wrinkle to their life. Given MC has faced a lot of supernatural and magical shenanigans, I imagine they’d be more inclined to believe that, yes, this clown that suddenly appeared one day and insists on being their best friend is real. Now they have another magical mascot in their life, only this one isn’t some cute little talking animal. I mean, heck, they might even be more inclined to just roll with it after having to live with a magical mascot bossing them around for years.

Not that I imagine MC would necessarily let Jack in on their secret identity, especially if they’re trying to leave the magical girl business in the past.

I can imagine Jack would be stunned to learn of MC’s secret double life, especially if he saw them during their flashy magical transformation sequence. Magical girl anime wasn’t really a thing in the US in the early 80’s, so Jack isn’t going to be familiar with the tropes, even if there were some in-universe TV shows about it. (I mean, in Sailor Moon, the Sailor V show was a thing, so even in the magical girl universe there were magical girl shows, so…)

Of course, I have a feeling that most MCs wouldn’t be interested in watching any TV shows based on the fictional or real life exploits of magical girls after growing up living that life. It’d probably be a bit too real for them.

Man, wouldn’t it be awkward if during MC’s teen years, when in the thick of living the life as secret protector of the world, they had a best friend who was absolutely obsessed with the magical girl genre? They have to deal with all the drama of being a magical “girl” and listen to people ramble about it even when off the clock. I can see Ian totally being all over magical girl anime, especially when there are real life examples around.

This gives me the image of MC, sitting in their childhood bedroom with Ian, having to play dumb and smile innocently while Ian gushes about being saved from a monster by a magical “girl” without ever knowing that the person he’s talking about is sitting right next to him. Talk about awkward!

Though it would also be a potential moment for romance. Ian talks up his savior and gushes over how cool they were, and MC gets to feel butterflies at hearing themselves praised so much… even if Ian thinks he’s talking about a different person.

A pity Ian had to taint those sweet memories by cheating, huh?

Back to the present with Jack. Once he finds out his sunshine is going out there battling monsters, saving the world… well, there’s definitely going to be mixed feelings. On the one hand, that’s amazing! It does go to show just how special his sunshine really is. On the other hand, MC is risking their life and possibly getting injured on a regular basis because of this duty of theirs. That’s not even adding in the more unsettling magical girl deconstructions and how that power might come at a cost…

Jack, in general, wants to try and make things easier for MC, and make sure that he is needed by them. Any sort of occupation or secret life they have makes no difference on this fact. However, I think he would want to make sure to reveal that he knows their secret only when the time is right, when he’s sure it’s not going to chase them away from him

So chances are Jack would nudge MC in the direction of wanting to tell him. He’ll show them that they can trust him with any secret, help them with any problem, especially if it’s important to them. He’ll take care of them, no matter what they want to do. He’s there for them… forever.

Until MC lets Jack in on their secret, he could secretly help them. Maybe he can hunt down evil doers and scare those nasty monsters away, maybe even convince the villains to stop creating monsters that put his sunshine at risk. It’s not exactly in character for Sunny Day Jack to want to hurt anyone, but he’s stopping the bad guys! For his sunshine! So they don’t get hurt! The bad guys too dangerous to be allowed to run around hurting people and trying to take away his sunshine by killing or capturing them…

Any sort of magical mascot MC has might wind up interfering with Jack and his plans, or maybe they too will be suckered in by his silver tongue and sweet words. It all depends, really. I imagine with their power, they would be able to see and hear him like MC has, which adds a whole extra dynamic to the relationship.

Hell, Jack could potentially convince the mascot to give him magical powers too, ala this gorgeous piece of art drawn by Sauce.

Look at Jack, all sparkly and magical, with such beautiful colors and design. He’s going to fight for love and his sunshine and triumph over anyone who would dare try to take his sunshine away.

If Jack becomes a magical “girl” too, well, then his sunshine can for sure share their secret with him without worry! It’ll be just the two of them protecting each other and the world. He’ll keep MC safe for sure with his new powers.

And make sure no one takes his sunshine away, even if that means making his magical clothes a little less colorful and a lot more bloody.

Gotta love how Sauce can create such delicious tonal whiplash with their lovely art. Jack makes for a chilling yandere magical girl, don't you think?

Like any good protagonist with magical girl powers, Jack would make sure to protect his sunshine, and even without powers he would want to keep them safe. It doesn’t matter if they have a secret double life. They can share all their burdens with him. No one has to know about their secret identity except for him. It just means their bond is even more special than it already was.

Of course… if MC is keeping Jack at a distance, or interested in someone else, that would create extra conflict. MC would likely be more aware that Jack is an unknown entity and be more wary of him even as they accept his existence and presence in their life as something real. If they choose someone else to pursue romantically, well… that’s a problem for Jack regardless of the universe.

If Jack does manage to get himself some magical girl powers, he might have a whole new arsenal of tools to get rid of his rivals in a magical and flashy way. Heck, if he learns how the bad guys transform people into monsters, he might have a way to get rid of them in a way that is seen as virtuous. There’s all sorts of twisted paths that could be taken with this sort of AU, especially when giving a yandere even more power.

Really, a lot of this depends on the details about the MC’s powers, the mascot they have, what they’re fighting, and if they’re still fighting even as an adult. With that thought in mind, let’s get a little more specific in the way I would personally tackle the idea of Alice being a magical girl.

Magical Girl Alice

The idea of Alice as a magical girl tickles me greatly, especially given the fact that magical girls are always super skinny. I mean, there’s a running joke about the Sailor Moon art style and how long and skinny their legs are. Magical girls don’t tend to appear in plus size unless it’s as the punchline of a joke. It adds a lot of possibilities, and the potential to tackle public perception to the cute stereotypical magical girl archetype.

Needless to say, someone like Alice would have a difficult time as a magical girl for many reasons. She already had a hard enough time being responsible as the oldest child of the King family and taking care of Ian without adding in her duties as a magical warrior for justice.

I can imagine it happening suddenly one day in the typical way these stories usually start, when an entity appeared in the form of a cute rabbit - Honey Bunny.

Yes, I had to use Honey Bunny for the role of magical girl mascot. I mean, who else would fit that role as Alice’s adorable non-human sidekick? In this case, it was a magical entity that took over her puppet and has a similar personality to her SunnyTime Town counterpart. In a way, Alice's issues with speaking were a blessing, as no one looked twice at Alice conversing with her “puppet.” In fact, people were amazed that she had developed some really impressive ventriloquist skills!

Alice has always gone out of her way to help people, just this took that desire to an extreme. As a kid, she was excited to become a hero for justice, and with magical powers to boot. It was so cool to transform into an identity that no one recognized, beating down the wicked monsters and saving innocent people.

Well… in theory. Naturally, the first time Alice actually had to face down a monster born from someone’s negative emotions, it was a lot harder than she thought. The whole magical girl gig was harder than advertised, but Honey Bunny helped her get through it. Besides, she needed to do it. No one else could, and if no one stepped up, the world would be lost.

Alice would have shared her secret with her family, but Honey Bunny always stressed the importance of keeping things a secret. No one must know - not her family and not her best friend Ian, even if he’s crushing on the mysterious magical girl who saved him from the wicked monster his mother had been transformed into one day. If they knew, then the bad guys could find out the truth from exploiting their loved ones’ negative emotions. If that happened then she and everyone she knew was in danger, and the world could be doomed.

Quite a lot of pressure on a kid, don’t you think?

Alice had to learn how to be independent, a lone warrior of justice, taking down bad guys. Sometimes she managed to get help, but it didn’t last forever. Perhaps she did eventually get a superhero team in her teens, which would’ve been a breath of fresh air. She had someone to lean on who understood this destiny that they were burdened with.

It did create this sort of divide between Alice and anyone not part of this magical girl group. This secret and weight on all of them was so big, too heavy. Others couldn’t understand… for the sake of the world.

I was going to say this caused a divide between Alice and Ian, but then I thought of Ian in his bunny costume and, well… Ian would make a cute magical girl, don’t you think?

If Ian was in on this secret double life, it would add more reason for them to cling to each other, especially if it was only the two of them without anyone else to depend on. It’d be like Ladybug and Chat Noir against the world, a whirlwind romance for the ages…

Well… until Ian let it go to his head so that he could get some head.

In typical magical girl story fashion, it took a while before Alice and Ian managed to get in a relationship. There were plenty of near-misses and misunderstandings due to the double life Alice led until Ian joined it. So many outings together had to be canceled at the last minute or interrupted because Alice had to sneak away to save people.

It was the end of high school when Ian got his powers too in a dramatic incident where the world and Alice’s life were hanging in the balance. This is one of those season finale climax moments where everything is on the line and they came a hair’s breadth from everything going horribly, horribly wrong.

Naturally, this made Ian and Alice’s bond, which had been waning due to her double-life, suddenly a whole lot stronger. Trauma bonding is pretty high for young people who need to cling to each other to survive after all…

Alice used her experience to help Ian get used to his role, though he had a much harder time juggling his double life. His mom was a big problem, constantly wanting to know where he was and what he was doing. In the end, he had to give back the powers Honey Bunny gave him because he didn’t see himself as worthy of them anymore. He also just couldn’t handle the pressure, not like Alice could.

Still, the two of them were close because Ian knew Alice’s secret and could help her make excuses to sneak off to save people.

The college era changed everything. The big bad Alice had been fighting for years was finally defeated at long last. She had thematically graduated from being a magical girl. She could finally live a normal life and figure out a dream of her own beyond saving the world.

But… Alice didn’t know what to do. Sure she thought about her future beyond being a magical girl off and on, but fighting to save the world and juggling her personal life with these secrets and lies took up so much of her mental energy. She was exhausted and wound up bouncing around in college.

In typical magical girl story fashion, the protagonist got together with her love interest in the end. Alice and Ian were a couple, so close and in love. With Alice not knowing what to do with this future that was open to infinite possibilities, she let Ian take the lead in guiding their futures, trying to get into acting alongside him.

Of course, much like in the normal universe, Alice got pushback. Though she’s a magical warrior for justice, she’s still chubby. Her physical abilities are better than the average person even in civilian mode, but bodies have a tendency to want to be a particular shape, and for her, that’s bigger than society wants her to be.

Much like in Miraculous Ladybug, Alice has some influence on how she appears when transformed. Will and subconscious desire strongly affect it, as well as creating that special aura that makes people unable to identify the magical girl with the pigtails as the same person as the girl with the same pigtails and hair color who was standing there only a couple minutes before. When Alice first started out, she was more or less herself, but fluffier, more colorful, covered in frills and glitter. She had the young magical girl flare and charm, just plus sized.

Unfortunately, as Alice’s body image issues manifested, getting mocked both by her peers and even enemies, she started subconsciously wanting to be smaller. She saw her ideal self as those skinny magical girls on TV, and it reflected in her transformed mode. It wasn’t an instant change, more like a gradual transition as though the creators behind the series got worried about having a plus sized magical girl and made her gradually slimmer until she looked more “on model” for the genre.

By the time Alice was a teenager, her transformed mode was the typical skimpy, but curvy, magical girl archetype. She didn’t look anything like herself, and there was no chance of mistaking the two of them for the same person. She wanted to look this way in reality, so when she had free time she worked out more and ate less. It was very unhealthy, and Honey Bunny had to work hard to keep her from developing an eating disorder. If Alice wouldn’t take care of herself for her own sake, then she had to do it to have the power to save the world.

The relationship between Honey Bunny and Alice is a deep friendship, but it’s a bit complicated. After all, it was Honey Bunny who guided a child to take on the responsibility of protecting the world. Regardless if there was no other option, it’s still not a burden that should be placed on any one person, let alone a child.

Needless to say, Alice has a lot of baggage from her time as a magical girl and some trauma bonding with Honey Bunny as well. When she finally had a normal life, she had come to accept that she could be loved as she was, not as [insert magical girl superhero name here]. I’m not sure what name I’m going to go with for Alice, but it might be a parody of Sailor Moon’s naming convention or some other magical girl anime’s naming style. I mean, I could call her Sailor Sunshine, but that’s a bit too on the nose. ;3 I’ll have to give it some thought…

What didn’t help Alice’s self-confidence and body image issues was Ian having a crush on her transformed self and gushing about her all the time. Although Ian did have a crush on Alice as well, he couldn’t help but geek out over a real life magical girl, and more than once Alice was made to feel jealous of the persona she crafted that always seemed so much better than herself.

When Ian eventually found out her identity, he was stunned, especially due to how different they looked, but at the same time it made sense to him. He insisted that she was the same person, with or without the flashy costume, and she was just as beautiful either way.

So in the “final season” of this magical girl show, Alice’s transformed self looked a bit chubbier than before - not as full figured as her normal self, but no longer a skinny twig. She better accepted herself a bit more, and she felt loved by Ian both in her transformed state and out. By that point she had grown and become happier with herself.

Which made Ian cheating on her later on with a sexy woman with big boobs and a small waist feel like a huge kick in the crotch.

Alice entered college with Ian full of hope, even if she felt lost for a future outside of being a magical girl. She had a partner who loved her and understood her, and she had the rest of her life to choose whatever she wanted in the world she saved.

It’s just unfortunate that all of the constant battles and running off to fight tanked her grades during high school, which made it harder for her to get into college in the first place. At least Alice could get into community college, even if that meant there was no hope of a scholarship. At least she had Ian by her side.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Though Alice had become a strong warrior for justice, she now suffered from PTSD and had traumatic flashbacks of moments that scarred her deeply, especially when it came to people she couldn’t save. She couldn’t exactly talk about it with anyone, and Ian couldn’t handle the burden. After all, he gave up being a magical girl because it was too much for him, and hearing how hard it was on Alice made him feel guilty, which in turn didn’t help her. Fortunately Alice had years worth of experience in holding it in. When you have to keep secrets in order to prevent the end of the world, you learn how to bottle up a lot of things.

Alice is a much better actor in this universe because of this, and it did help her get further in acting classes despite pushback and at least one teacher warning her about how she would be type casted in unflattering roles due to her body size. Still, at some point she wondered if it really was what she wanted to do. She spent years having all these eyes on her, having to be a commanding presence and play a part…

Despite Ian’s encouragement to keep acting with him, Alice dropped out. Though disappointed, he encouraged her to try and find her own dream. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, but in so many ways she was very, very tired.

Alice’s relationship with Ian wasn’t the happily ever after she thought it would be. Much like in the regular universe, things deteriorated between them, with his cheating being the final straw. Those issues were sharper in this world, unfortunately. Ian felt even more insecure having a partner who was this famous magical girl superhero who saved the world many times over. He felt insignificant compared to Alice at times, like he wasn’t worthy of her, and she could do so much better than someone like him who constantly needed saving… At the same time though… he couldn’t let her go.

The person Ian cheated on Alice with was someone more “on his level,” just a normal person living a normal life who made him feel happy and attractive during a time when he was alone. Long distance relationships are so hard, especially when you’re convincing yourself that you’re always letting your partner down.

Alice didn’t take the confession that Ian cheated well, but she didn’t nearly drink herself to death in this universe. The issue in this world is that the enemy can use your crushing negative emotions against you, so Alice had to learn how to combat those feelings. Often it was by transforming and destroying a few dozen trees in a forest miles away from civilization. When she got all of her energy out, she fled the scene of her destruction and collapsed to the floor of their apartment in tears.

Shaun came by in the midst of her grief, as Ian had called him in a panic to check up on Alice when she wouldn’t pick up the phone for a long time. He was a good shoulder to cry on, and kept her company the entire night until she finally cried herself to sleep.

Of course… the breakup isn’t going to be easy when it comes to superhero identities. Ian proved he can’t be trusted after all by betraying Alice, and she can’t be with someone she can’t trust… but at the same time he knows her secret. It created a lot of tangled up feelings and drama. Ian keeps trying to regain her trust and get back together with her, but she can’t, not with how hurt she is and how much responsibility is on her shoulders.

A new threat could appear at any time. Sometimes unrelated big threats appear, small one-off things. Alice technically can never retire from being a magical girl. It’s part of what made figuring out her future at college difficult.

Honey Bunny, being a magical mascot in charge of keeping up secrecy, used magical means to make Ian forget about Alice’s secret identity and the part he played in the magical girl life. After all, if magical girls have a magical field that makes it so no one can identify them and their civilian persona, even when there’s photographs, then it makes sense there could be different magics to ensure people don’t uncover the secret. I mean, we are talking about the fate of the world after all. That’s pretty serious stuff.

Disillusioned by love, exhausted by her duties, and now only with Honey Bunny to confide in again, Alice feels more alone than ever. She struggles to figure out what she wants in life, knowing that she can’t ever truly stop being a magical girl, not when supernatural forces sometimes crop up to cause trouble… to say nothing of the threat of a potential new villain appearing like the one that forced her to become a magical girl in the first place.

It makes it hard for Alice to feel motivated. Her dreams are murky. She coasts through college, graduating with a general engineering degree just to have something to show for the cost of the classes. She gets a job at Yogurtopia because it at least has flexible hours and Barry at least accepted her excuse that sometimes she’ll have emergencies unexpectedly. He has her work extra hours to make up for those times when she has to cancel at the last minute. Even with a job like this, it feels like she’s hanging by a thread, barely holding on because her boss has decided to offer her leniency. Chances are she won’t get that elsewhere.

Supernatural Ghost(?) Jack

Of course, it’s during this period where Alice is feeling more lost and alone than ever that Jack appears. She sensed something strange about the video tape, but not dangerous. It was compelling, touched by magic, and left her feeling like she had to play it. Honey Bunny had a weird feeling about it and cautioned her when messing with it.

I’ve mentioned in previous posts that the connection between Jack and Alice was willingly made, at least for the Sunshine in Hell continuity. It’s no different in this AU. Alice, ever the hero, heard the pitiful cry of a soul trapped in hell, and saved him. Thanks to her years of being a magical girl, having her soul put to the test against many magical effects, Alice didn’t pass out after the pact was made, and she fully remembers the terms of their agreement.

In a way, this starts Jack and Alice off on the right foot. Alice feels a sense of purpose in trying to figure out what happened to Jack and how to help him, and she finds he’s actually a really nice friend. It’s also nice to be around someone who makes her feel understood. Honey Bunny is good company, but their complicated relationship isn’t the same as what develops between her and Jack.

Alice doesn’t let Jack know that she’s a magical girl, though he does know about Honey Bunny, if only because Honey Bunny asserted herself to make sure the terms of the magical pact between the two were fair and that there were no loopholes an unsavory character could take advantage of. Honey Bunny, being the guide for magical girls, has experience in setting up contracts, you see, and she does care deeply for Alice even though she also used the poor girl as a child soldier. Even if she didn’t have a lot of options at the time, it was still not a good thing to do to a kid.

Honey Bunny has a lot of guilt for everything she put Alice through, and is extra protective of Alice as a result. The two are very close, and Jack often feels jealous of their bond. He wants to be closer to Alice, his sunshine, his savior… closer than anyone. Their bond is special. He never felt this way about anyone before…

And Jack certainly doesn’t want anything to risk breaking the bond he has with his sunshine and being damned back to hell.

While Jack can sense Alice’s emotions and vice-versa through their connection, the wording of their pact is a bit tighter in this AU, and they can’t read each other’s minds. Still, that connection of empathy goes a long way in the two of them growing closer.

Jack helps Alice get some direction in life, feel more motivated in herself again in a way that Honey Bunny can’t quite manage to help her with due to their complicated history. He becomes an important part of her life, making it shine brighter and she feels happy in a way that she hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

Alice struggles with burdening Jack with anything, especially since she’s supposed to be the one trying to help him, being the superhero and all, but Jack wants to help her, and it feels so nice to be taken care of for a change.

Alice has carried the weight of the world on her own for so long.

Things get easier with Jack around. Though Alice still works towards helping Jack be human again so he can interact with others, the idea of him one day going off to live his own life is just so sad. But can she really believe him when he says that he wants to be her best friend forever?

Jack understands what Alice is trying to do for him, and he does appreciate it, but he’s not leaving her even if she thinks that’s what’s best for him. He doesn’t want to leave her. Besides, he can see that wouldn’t be best for her. She needs him, and the more time they spend together, the more he’ll do to show her that. It feels so good to have her need him, to feel useful and wanted. She’s such a remarkable person, so strong and brave, but he wants to take care of her. She deserves to be loved and cared for, especially after all she’s done.

Jack, with his supernatural abilities, finds out early on that Alice is a magical girl when she has to run off because of a sudden monster attack. He doesn’t reveal that he knows right away, but subtly encourages Alice to tell him herself. It hurts a little whenever she avoids the opportunities he gives her to open up to him and lies to hide her secret, but he understands that a big secret as this can’t be easy to share, especially after he’s seen what some of these monsters can do to people.

One of the ways Jack tries to encourage Alice to tell him involves talking up the magical girl that appears on the news sometimes, how amazing and courageous she is. Unfortunately, that backfires a bit. Alice is reminded of the way Ian gushed over her alter-ego in the past, and the memory hurts like hell. Jack notices right away that this line of conversation upsets her, even though she tries to hide it. She covers it up by pretending that she can’t see what’s so great about the magical girl except her looks, and Jack, very gently, redirects the conversation in a more positive direction.

After that Jack focuses on not idolizing the magical girl persona, but humanizing her. He says there’s more to “her” and everyone beyond their looks. Everyone is beautiful in their own ways, but Alice doesn’t need the ribbons and sparkles to shine. She doesn’t need to fight monsters to prove how brave she is. She’s the most beautiful, most courageous person he’s ever known.

Alice, flustered by his praise, protests that Jack is just saying that. After all, so many other people are so much more beautiful than she is, including the magical girl who totally isn’t her!

Jack focuses on Alice and her actions, all the things he’s noticed her do day by day that make her shine, the acts of kindness, her bravery and determination. At times his words cross over into things that he does as a magical girl, deliberately so, but vague enough that she wouldn’t immediately realize that he knows. It’s just enough to force her to look at that magical persona in a new light and see that it’s just a sparkling dress on top of the amazing person who invested so much of herself into doing the right thing and sacrificed so much of herself to make the world a better place.

Alice can’t help but feel moved. Jack has a way with words, and she can feel he cares about her. Falling in love with him is a slow burn, but comes as naturally as falling into his arms, and eventually the line is crossed. Although she believed that she would never find true love after everything that happened with Ian, Jack gives her the courage to finally try again.

Naturally this is a love story with a happy ending because I’m a sucker for my OTP. When Alice is forced to reveal her identity through a suitably dramatic moment to save people, Jack gently tells her in the aftermath that he already knew, and he was waiting for her to be ready to tell him. He also tells her it doesn’t change anything - she’s always been the most amazing person in the world in his eyes, with or without the magical wand and frills.

Jack and Alice get together before the reveal, which is a source of anxiety for Alice until everything is out in the open. Fortunately, Jack is so patient with her and helps her deal with her anxious feelings and worries. When the truth is revealed, he helps her avoid people in order to transform safely, gives her ideas for excuses to tell people in order to hide her magical girl persona.

Really, Jack would make for a good magical girl guide. He’s certainly clever and manipulative enough to handle the job. Plus if no one can see him, he can figure out the best hiding spots.

Alice helps Jack become human again, or as close as he can be. When he’s able to be seen by others, a part of her fears that he’ll find someone else, someone he wants more than her. Still, unlike with Ian, she finds herself able to be more open with Jack than she can with anyone else. She eventually learns to unburden herself with him, to show parts of herself that she feels are ugly and would let everyone else down if they saw them. She learns to release worries she held back from even Honey Bunny because of the weight of obligation she had to not let anyone down.

Jack accepts it all. He’s patient and listens to everything. It troubles him when Alice finally tells him all the horrors she faced as a magical girl, all the trauma and awful things that she had to experience for the sake of the world. It feels so unfair to him that such a kind soul has to suffer alone like this. He’s even more determined to be her shelter and give her a place she can feel at home.

Alice feels freer with Jack than she ever felt in her life. Even though Ian knew her secret, he couldn’t handle all the horrors. He couldn’t stand by her side, placing her above him on a pedestal. Even though Honey Bunny was there the whole time, Alice didn’t want to let her down and was looking to her for guidance. Jack, however, isn’t someone with expectations that she has to live up to or a victim to shield from the ugliness of the world. He feels like someone who is there for her, standing right next to her on her level. The weight on her heart feels just a little lighter after she finally accepts that sharing her burdens with Jack didn’t crush him under that weight.

Of course Ian has tried to get back together with Alice in this AU, but he’s had far less luck. His phone got blocked right after the breakup, as did all his social media pages. Their breakup wasn’t “for now” but “for good,” in this AU, much to his dismay. With all the responsibilities Alice has to carry, she has to think of the world before herself. She can’t be with someone who she can’t trust, and he proved that she can’t trust him. It’s lucky that he didn’t blab her secret identity in a moment of weakness before Honey Bunny made him forget!

Ian still reaches out in any way he can though, mostly to Alice’s family and any mutual friends. He stalks her socials through secret alt accounts and tries desperately in his regular life to become the man worthy of her. He constantly tries to figure out ways to make up what he did to her even while constantly putting himself down.

Because Ian forgot about Alice’s secret identity, he forgot that she’s also the mysterious magical girl that sometimes appears in the news for saving people. He can’t help but crush so hard on this mystery girl, and it fills him with so much guilt. He already cheated on Alice once without this silly crush making his heart flutter! He can’t let his heart be shaken up again! He needs to be loyal this time.

At the same time though, it’s over… Ian should move on. Yet, he can’t move on. He needs Alice. He knows he does. He can’t handle life without her. They’ve meant so much to each other for so long. His life feels empty without her.

Also a part of Ian subconsciously remembers the things they experienced when he knew her secret, and it deepens his longing to make things right. He betrayed Alice so deeply when she had such a burden to carry. The guilt is eating him alive and won’t abade until they’re together again.

Alice avoids Ian and is distant when talking with him. She’s able to mask her hurt with a frosty mask, but it’s so very, very painful. She can’t handle being near him or thinking about him for long.

Fortunately, the closer Alice gets with Jack, the less painful it gets to think about Ian. Her heart starts to heal thanks to Jack.

Unfortunately, Jack does not take too kindly to Ian’s attempts at getting back together with Alice Fortunately, he’s not the only one with this sentiment, as Honey Bunny doesn’t want Alice to get back together with Ian either.

Really, Honey Bunny was leery about the idea of Jack being with Alice the second she picked up on something developing between them. She was worried about Alice getting her heart broken again, but Jack is constantly proving her fears wrong. He makes Alice so happy. Maybe this strange and suspicious clown was what Alice needed all along…

Jack takes advantage of Honey Bunny not wanting Ian around to team up and thwart any attempts Ian might make to get back together with Alice. Honey Bunny is a bit of a mischief maker when left to her own devices, and Jack is very good at talking her into playing a few harmless magical pranks on Ian. Naturally, they do this without letting Alice know. No need to upset her by forcing her to think about Ian after all.

So, yes, Honey Bunny, in a way, is assisting Jack’s relationship with Alice in this world too, even if she’s more than a little hesitant about trusting him with Alice’s heart. She would be even more hesitant if she knew just how thirsty Jack is for Alice. His constant attempts to seduce Alice once the two are in a relationship is a point of annoyance for Honey Bunny, and she serves as a cock block more than once.

Still, it’s not going to stop Jack from showing his sunshine lots and lots of love, or experimenting with magical girl powers in a kinky way. Just the skimpy outfit alone is begging to be used for sexy times, maybe in a bit of roleplay as well. Sometimes pretending to be in a position of vulnerability can help someone take back power they lost, and Alice can discover that being tied up isn’t so bad when the person doing it loves her dearly and will undo the bindings the moment that she feels overwhelmed.

Jack might be playing the role of wholesome kids show host, but he’s still an actor at heart. He can have a lot of fun pretending to be a villainous evildoer who has captured the virtuous magical girl and has her at his mercy. He’s also open for it to be reversed, to be the dastardly villain finally captured by the champion of justice. After all, Alice has a lot of experience teaching the bad guys how to place nice, and maybe she can have a lot more fun with it when Jack is the one she’s teaching a “lesson” with the power of love~

I can imagine Jack would also try to encourage Honey Bunny to give him magical girl powers like she did temporarily to Ian. It’d lessen Alice’s burden and help them both out. He already has supernatural abilities of his own and is bonded to Alice. He can handle the burden fighting evil for the sake of his sunshine and the world. He won’t crumble under the weight of this heavy responsibility like Ian did.

Naturally, it would take a lot of convincing after how far south things went with Ian, but Jack is patient and clever. He’s patient enough to encourage Alice to come to him despite her many fears and scars. He’s patient to encourage them both to trust him, and we all know he has a way with words. Eventually, magical girl Jack will enter the stage and fight for the sake of his sunshine. He’ll use the power of his love to help her shine even brighter than the sun.

Besides the bonus of magical girl powers, Jack would naturally take advantage of the magic that prevents people from connecting a magical girl’s identity with their civilian form. I mean, if no one knows who you are, you can have anonymous sex in public with no one the wiser. Of course, the biggest obstacle is convincing Alice to give it a try, but they’ll no doubt come up with a compromise that satisfies them both.

I think I’m going to wrap up things up there for now. This ramble has gone on way longer than I intended it to - close to 8000 words! And that’s without going into detail with the smut or inserting a snippet of writing this time. I hope you all enjoyed this blend of magical girl shenanigans and Sunny Day Jack. Maybe I’ll get more ideas and touch on this AU again sometime in the future.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur

#Sunny Day Jack #Something's Wrong With Sunny Day Jack #SunnyDayJack #sdj #swwsdj #Headcanon Ramblings #Ask #Sauce-y Art

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emerald-notes · 1 year ago

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Noona! Please! Help! - Part 4

Fandom: BTS Characters: Younger Brothers BTS and Elder Sister Narrator Genre: A Little Dramatic and A Little Comedic Word Count: 900+ Words Warning: Academic stress, despair etc. Note: It’s a siblings AU story of BTS with the narrator as their elder sister. I tried to write something different from what I usually write about. I had fun making this. Hope it makes you feel good too. Happy Reading Everyone :)

Summary: Her little brothers can’t attend to a single task without her help. Be it a dance competition or asking out a girl for a date, they always seem to be finding everything too hard to go through without her by their side. ‘Our lucky charm’; that’s what they like to call her. But what if she turns out to be a misfortune in different situations in one single day?

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - More to come

Goodbye, SNU...:

11:17 a.m. 1st September, 2015

Almost all the students seem to have gotten out of the exam hall already but there is no sign of Jimin. What can that mean?

"I don't think his exam went well, noona!" Yoongi quietly puts my thoughts into words.

I shake my head, "He must be talking to a friend. Jimin’s exam must go well. He prepared for it for months."

"Accidents happen, you know!" Yoongi shrugs.

Finally I see Jimin, slouching, coming out of that building all alone. My heart feels heavy. Jimin will not recover from this any time soon if something goes wrong.

Yoongi calls out, "Jiminah! Here!"

There is a moment of confusion in his face at first. Then it fades to recognition. He slowly walks towards us and gives a weak smile.

"Was it that bad?" I ask.

Jimin nods. His smile turns upside down. And the next thing we know is his eyes are wet. Jimin is crying.

I am sitting at a cafe table waiting for my two brothers to come from the washroom, wondering what life lesson the older one is teaching the younger one in his hour of despair. It does not take long. Finally, they make their way towards me.

“Everything okay, now?” I ask.

“Tolerable!” Yoongi sighs. There is a hint of annoyance in his voice.

As soon as they sit down, Jimin begins ranting about all the silly mistakes he had made. His brain was a mess during the exam time so he couldn’t concentrate properly and he had marked the number of bills and coins in South Korea to be five and four respectively whereas the answer is quite the opposite.

“C’mon, Jiminah, everyone knows that” Yoongi grunts mockingly and I glare at him to stop teasing.

I turn to Jimin and, noticing the dark circles and the sharp jawline, ask him, “Have you been properly eating and sleeping, Jiminie?”

“What?” His look was wearied. That answers my question.

I say, “Listen! What you really need is a proper meal and some sleep.” I check the watch on my wrist and calculate the amount of time still remaining before I meet up with Namjoon. “Alright! Let’s go to granma’s place and I’ll cook both of you some hearty meals.”

Driving all the way to granma’s place is tiring to some extent. It is all the more exhausting when you have a passenger talking non-stop about how terrible he’s feeling and how his life is all dark ahead of him as if not getting into SNU means that your life’s over. I understand that all the unnecessary amount of caffeine Jimin had consumed within the last few months had done little to no good to him. What surprises me more is the level of patience Yoongi has for Jimin. Because I am slowly losing my mind right now.

At last, here I am, trying to make some quick healthy lunch for me and my two little ones.

“You're home already?” The youngest enters the kitchen.

Alright. Three little ones now.

I hastily add more water and some spicy ingredients to the soup before turning to speak to Jungkook. “Yes! Just to prepare lunch. Go say hi to Yoongi and Jimin.”

“They're here?” He excitedly leaves without waiting for my answer.

The familiar sound of the boys’ laughter fills the living room. It is carried to my ears which in turns brings a smile to my lips. I prepare the dishes, pour the soup, take the kimchi out of the fridge and finally call Yoongi to help me carry them to the table.

I am surprised to not find Jimin in the dining room.

“Hyung fell asleep so I carried him to my room. He looked so tired. Didn't want to wake him up.” Jungkook informs.

“But the food will go cold when he wakes up.” I say.

Yoongi pulls the sleeve of my shirt and motions me to sit down, “it's alright. I'll just warm them up for him.”

I say, “You start eating. I’m gonna go check on him.”

Yoongi shrugs, “he’ll be alright, noona. We all do.”

I nod a little but my heart does not agree. Jimin is a perfectionist. I know how much it hurts him when he fails to meet his ambitions. And it pains me to even think how this is going to affect him. He is going to be so hard on himself from now on.

I step inside Jungkook’s almost-bare-except-for-a-bed bedroom and find Jimin snoring softly. He looks peaceful in his sleep. Almost angelic other than the fact that he has lost so much weight over the past few months so he looks kinda ill. His eyes have sunken into perfect brown circles and his jawlines look as if it can cut.

I slowly run my hand over his hair as my eyes start to prick. I wish he would stop worrying about being perfect. I wish he knew he was more than his mistakes. I wish he knew how much he is loved.

I quietly go back to eat. Luckily Yoongi and Jungkook are already immersed in a conversation about some comic books that I barely know about. After a few minutes of munching on my food in silence, my phone rings from the kitchen so I have to excuse myself. It is Namjoon.

“Noona! It's already 1:50. Are you sure you can make it in time?” I hear Namjoon's worried voice from the other side of the speaker.

“I'm leaving home right away. You wait for me a little longer. Can you do that?”

There is a moment of silence. Then Namjoon speaks, “of course, I'll wait. I ain't doing this without my lucky charm.”

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grimalkinmessor · 7 months ago

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I finally sat down to take a look at the flowers in the season 3 intro, and I found some,,,,INTERESTING things.

So first off, here's Reigen's card for reference:

(And let me just reiterate that I'm not a botanist or anything so there might be some misidentification on some of these, but correct me if I'm wrong on the flower types!)

The biggest ones on Reigen's eyes seem to be cranesbills, or wild geraniums. Specifically the ground cover variant as it has more stamens and blooms more in pinks than blues or purples. (Yes I did also consider cherry blossoms here, but the petals seem to be too small and too far apart for cherry blossoms. It could also be peach blossoms but the petals shape isn't right. Still, just in case; the most common meanings for cherry blossoms are love and "life is fleeting"). Cranesbills tend to symbolize loyalty and fidelity, as well as reliability and the ability to endure and adapt. In Victorian flower language though they sometimes represent folly and foolishness. RIP Reigen lmao. But pink geraniums themselves symbolize gentle affection and a growing love that has yet to be announced :)

With that in mind, I'm pretty sure the small cluster of pink flowers behind his ear are also geraniums instead of hydrangeas likes I originally thought—just of the more popular garden variety. Like he puts up a pretty front on the outside but inside is more gentle and less flashy :3

Now I THOUGHT I recognized the blue flowers as anemones, but their petal structure is different to the ones shown here so I'm much more unsure on this one. I'll add it in anyway though because I think it fits :)

"...blue anemone flowers are often associated with expectations and anticipation. They symbolize the promise of a brighter tomorrow and the hope for a better future. The blue anemone flower is believed to hold a special energy that can help lift your spirits and bring about feelings of joy and contentment.

...blue anemone flowers are thought to bring a sense of calm to those who are feeling anxious or overwhelmed. They are believed to offer protection and guidance during times of change and uncertainty.

...[they] are often used in meditation practices to enhance spiritual awareness and intuition. They are believed to help individuals connect with their inner selves and tap into their subconscious mind. The blue anemone flower is also associated with the throat chakra, which is believed to govern communication and self-expression." (source)

Now who does that sound like? 👀 There are a few other meanings there as well that fit, but another popular one is longing for your beloved and mourning. Another fun meaning in Reigen's picture specifically is that anemones close their petals when rainstorms approach; meaning that while the petals don't match exactly, it might very well be because they're closing. Like in anticipation for a storm :)

The little purple flowers ALSO seem to be half closed, which makes them that much harder to identify (⁠•⁠ ⁠▽⁠ ⁠•⁠;⁠) I think they might be matsumoto asters given the color of them and the number of petals, but the size on the card is throwing me off a little. Still, in hanakotoba asters usually mean "I will not forget you", as well as being used frequently in memorials for the dead. In more European flower language asters represent the attraction of love, patience and wisdom, fidelity, charm, hope, valor, and farewell.

Then of course, the last two—the daisy and the rose. White roses symbolize innocence, silence, and devotion in hanakotoba. Sometimes they also symbolize death as they're also used in funerals and for mourning. The daisy however is also used in Mob's card, so I'll plonk that in here too and do that one first in between them :D

White daisies symbolize innocence, rebirth, and new beginnings. They've also been known to symbolize true love and loyalty. They're also part of the sunflower family!

As you can see above, Mob's card has quite a few more daisies than Reigen's, but I think that's because in season 3 the whole idea is centered around Mob's "rebirth", as it were. That, and in Victorian times it was popular for lovers to use daisies to send messages back and forth, and while an intact daisy means innocence, a daisy with a certain number of petals plucked is used to say either "love me" or "love me not". They're the origin of that ritual, apparently :3 Which is appropriate here because Mob's confession is essentially wondering whether or not Tsubomi will like him back—and the last flower in his bouquet that makes it out is a sunflower :) Which daisies are apart of :)

The flowers on Mob's eyes look like red chrysanthemums, but again considering the placement of the shadows in the middle I can't be completely sure. But while hanakotoba doesn't have a specific meaning for red chrysanthemums, white chrysanthemums and chrysanthemums in general mean honesty, royalty, and truth. In other flower languages, red chrysanthemums represent love at first sight, fidelity, and deep passion and emotions. It was also apparently a symbol for the Japanese emperor and imperial family, so do with that what you will.

On the left are a couple of hot pink roses, which symbolize gratitude and appreciation, as well as a sense of strength and conviction. And, something our boy Mob desperately needs: "Some believe that pink roses can facilitate emotional healing, encouraging forgiveness, self-love, and gratitude." 🙏

The ones on the bottom right are harder to see but I'm pretty sure they're daffodils, which have a lot of similar symbolism to daisies in that they're spring flowers that represent cheer, rebirth, and new beginnings. Daffodils also represent self-love/self-care in some cases though, because of the story of Narcissus. Something else our dear Mob desperately needs :') Though in hanakotoba, daffodils mainly represent deep respect, particularly for those older than you. Their japanese name also literally means "hermit by the water", which is,,,,,interesting.

Reigen seems to have more kinds of flowers than Mob, but Mob's flowers match his color scheme moreso than Reigen's do. I've said it before but it bears repeating; Reigen's flowers actually seem to follow Tsubomi's color scheme more than his own. The pink, the blue, the purple, the white... I don't know, I think it's interesting :3

If you've got any additions or corrections let me know!

#mobreimob #<- sacred wards #reigen arataka #kageyama shigeo #mob #flower language #mob psycho 100 #flower symbolism

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iantimony · 1 year ago

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a day late because yesterday i was tooooo busy! some spoilers in here for dungeon meshi and saltburn!

listening: mostly background stuff. i still haven't played more nier: automata but the boyf got me listening to the soundtrack and it whips.

reading: more tgcf at night to soothe my frenzied brain to sleep. i finished dungeon meshi yesterday!! i did cry!!! it was so, so good, i loved it. i really liked that there was no set antagonist, per se, at least not until the very end with the fight against the winged lion, it was all just a bunch of characters with different but justifiable goals that had their aims all butting up against each other. very cool. i love kabru what a little shit

a collection of some good screenshots:

watching: many things this week. my partner is visiting for the week and we like to have videos on while we're cooking n eating so we watched...essentially the entirety of weird history food channel, started with the trader joes one and spiraled from there.

youtube

we also watched the currently-released episodes of dungeon meshi. very charming. i cannot wait to see how they animate certain scenes.

on sunday night we did a friend dinner, so me and my boyfriend, roommate and hers, and one other friend; after dinner we movie night-ed it and watched saltburn and blazing saddles:

saltburn was insane! apparently there is shock and alarm at the sex scenes, which i am not very online about it so i have no idea what people are actually saying but imo it was not that crazy. there is a solo, uh, let's call it Moment towards the end of the film that is pretty out there, but besides that the sex scenes are the least of anyone's worries in this movie. it took me WAY too long to realize that the main character was the antagonist, i'm normally pretty savvy to those kinds of twists so that took me off guard. my roommate had seen it once (or even twice?? i think?? i have no wish to watch that movie again, good for her though) and i didn't start clocking it until immediately before felix tricked oliver into going home. as they were in the car i was like "there's no fucking way that he lied about his family to felix. right. right??" oops. some good cool symbolism in there, i had a bit of an xkcd "of course everyone knows this myth" moment when my roommate was like "huh i wonder if there's a symbolic reason for the bull-man statue in the maze at the end, or felix's angel wing costume" and i was like surprise pikachu. the minotaur, the labyrinth, icarus, hello? wdym you don't know the story of the minotaur??? much to think about with this movie. i searched it on tumblr and feel like a lot of people missed the point in favor of blorbo romance but like, fair, it is the blorbo romance website. 8.5/10.

blazing saddles was our palette cleanser after that doozy of a film. my friend said at the end "anyone who thinks this movie is racist needs better media literacy" and i'm inclined to agree. yes the n word is in there - but the people saying it are so unambiguously depicted as insanely stupid and wrong, and the leading man is a charismatic handsome black man, and tbh the smartest person in the movie? arguably more homophobic (the end scenes) than racist but even then the way 'f*ggot' is deployed hit me like modern tumblr humor.

youtube

idk. even though it's a comedy it is Very clear to me that a message from this movie is "Racism Bad". i thought it was fun, didn't find the blonde lady's musical number very good or funny, got a few chuckles out of it overall. classic mel brooks. 7/10.

playing: wizord101.

making: started experimenting with english paper piecing! i forgot to take a picture yesterday so ill try to remember and add that later today. or maybe for next week's post. also started a pair of fingerless gloves for my mom

eating: my boy made us all a budae-jjigae type object on sunday and it was so so so yummy - photo from before simmering for like 30 minutes, with pork belly, spam, tofu, and a bunch of mushrooms, grunions, and kimchi:

before my roommate came back from a conference we did this cabbage and thin-sliced hotpot beef thing that was. so fucking good. we had it two separate nights in a row. just layering meat and napa cabbage and then cutting into ~2in strips, laying them in a pot, filling the center with mushrooms; make a broth of soy sauce/dashi/misc soup stock powder from leftover ramen, pour it over, simmer til cooked baby. delicious. this image is a little steamy bc i tried to take it right after opening the pot, lol

misc: wough. struggling to get back into the routine a little. i need to make more spreadsheets for my agonies (apartment hunting and determining what internships/programs to apply to for this summer). and i need to start using my planner again because i keep forgetting to do shit.

#tuesdayposting #Youtube

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abronzeagegod · 1 year ago

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ETS WIP Chapter 2: Small Gods

[Start][More]

Their luck did not hold out.

It is the nature of tech support to be superstitious, and Aeth was particularly superstitious. It had served them well a number of times in the past and it made them feel better.

Everyone in tech support has their little rituals. Aeth had many. Different things they did when they're working in the office versus when they are out on house calls.

Hair up and dressed in greens when they do things directly related to server maintenance. Hair down, three rings on their left hand, one on their right, six total earrings, and dressed in neutral colors when their tasked with debugging long strings of code if the deadline is less than 24 hours.

The last stop and job for the day had Aeth going to a house and taking a look at their decades old computer, and trying to fix something so old that a replacement is probably going to have to be done.

That means that Aeth was once again changing in the back of the van to dress in grays and blues, with a sensible working class watch, with at least three different screw drivers in their tool kit, along with a fresh roll of duct tape, and exactly two pieces of gum.

The house that they were sent to was a simple thing, no more than one story with an attached garage. It was quaint. Nice even. A bit of a surprise to find a small, charming little house with a yard in the sprawl of the city that Aeth called home, but they long ago tried to stop being surprised by this city.

There's a couple of small toys that they have to carefully step over to reach the front door.

They knock on the door and are very quickly greeted by a man that looks very much like a dad. There's something about his look and the way he stands that feels very dad-like.

"I'm here with Tech Support," they say, holding out their ID to confirm their identity. "You need some help?"

He smiles kindly at you. "Yes, we do. I'm afraid I'm relatively hopeless with technology, so I can use any help I can get."

The door is held open for Aeth, and as part of their ritual, they take out one of the pieces of gum and put it in their mouth as they cross the threshold.

This house is nice, small but clearly loved and cared for.

It bares the marks and scars of family life and love in abundance. Just as the man next to Aeth looks and feels like a dad, this looks and feels like a home. It's deeply comforting and there's something there that puts Aeth slightly on edge. There's nothing outwardly wrong, nothing sinister, it's just that because there is no sign of anything negative, harsh, mean, or off-putting that everything becomes that marker.

"Follow me," the dad says as he leads them into the room where the computer rests.

The room is absolutely filled with books and bookshelves, so the desk with the ancient computer is almost comical in how out of place it looks.

The computer itself is ancient, by technological standards. It is at least 20 years old, if not more, and Aeth is surprised that it is even still functional, since it was likely made long before the advent of the modern internet much less the numerous technological advances that have happened since then.

Hells, this computer was probably older than Aeth's job as a public servant since tax funded, publicly available tech support was only mandated and put into effect thirteen years ago.

They must have let out some kind of involuntary noise because the dad chuckles. "Yeah. It's a bit old, but it's worked so far."

Again, that seems very odd because at the rate of technological advances this thing was obsolete 19 years ago.

"I'll take a look at it, run a few diagnostics and see where we're at," they say. "What do you primarily use it for?"

"I mostly use it to look up recipes and print them off for dinner. My daughter likes to play those learning adventure games, and browse some internet things. With supervision of course," he adds at the end like Aeth might judge him, or arrest him, for letting a child alone, unsupervised on the internet. "My partner uses the computer more than I do, some work related things I think, but he mostly uses his work laptop for that kind of thing."

Aeth nods. "I understand. I'll take a look and let you know what I find."

The dad nods and says he'll be around if they need anything. He then leaves Aeth to their work.

They move to sit in the squishy chair situated in front of the computer and is immediately poked in the back by something sharp.

The vague edginess that had been haunting Aeth suddenly ratcheted up to eleven as they jumped out of the chair and whipped around to face whatever was lurking there, only to find a toy dinosaur wedged in the seat. The sharp plastic tail was the vicious thing that attacked them.

"Sorry! I forgot where I left Misses Boney," said a sudden voice right next to Aeth.

Once again, they all but leap out of their skin as they turn to face the new thing.

A small child, possibly seven years old, somehow materialized next to them, holding another plastic dino in one hand. The dinosaur appears to be going through it considering the long blonde wig tapped to their head; which, if how Aeth reacted to their last breakup was any indication, this stegosaurus and their haircut were crying out for help.

The child pulls out the once green and bright dinosaur that had been painted over with various different colors of gray.

"Thanks," they say.

"Are you here to fix Sir Lance Corporal?" the child asks.

"Is that the computer?"

"Yeah."

"Then I am." Aeth can't help but wonder if the computer's name is first name Lance last name Corporal, titled Sir; or if the name is two titles with a first and last name to be determined.

"Good, the Corporal has been being slow and kind of sick," the child informs Aeth. "I want him to feel better."

"I'll certainly do my best," they tell the kid.

They don't move and just watch Aeth expectantly, waiting for them to get started with their work.

"Uh, you can watch if you want, but it's going to be really boring."

"Oh," the child says and visibly deflates as they start to press some keys to start looking up technical specs on the computer and running various commands in the command prompt.

It takes a few minutes for them to find the internal records on the computer that list exactly what the specs are for the equipment in there. The whole process takes longer than Aeth would have liked because so much of the tech is so old that they don't know what it is or does, so they have to look up so much stuff. Eventually they manage to confirm that something very weird is going on.

They look up and confirm that some of the equipment pieces are totally incompatible and there's no way the computer should even be turning on much less functional. The motherboard is incompatible with the graphics card, there is no wireless receiver to connect to the wifi and yet the computer is telling them that it is connected to the internet.

This whole thing was getting weirder and weirder.

They play around on the computer for a bit, putting some of the software through it's paces, running some tests, checking out things, they even boot up one of the games that the kid apparently likes to play and Aeth is immediately hit with a wave of nostalgia for some of the similar games they used to play as a kid.

Everything worked perfectly fine. A little slow, a little clunky, but it was all in perfect working order, when it shouldn't have worked even a little bit.

They carefully shut down the computer and wait for a moment. Aeth had no good ideas as to what was happening with the computer or why, and those bad ideas that they did have don't fill them with any hope.

Carefully, they put on some gloves and go unplug the computer so that they can start taking it apart.

Immediately, Aeth knows something was up. There was something deeply strange about this computer. And that is beyond the capabilities and lifespan of a computer simply being old and well preserved.

Not good. Not bad.

Just deeply, deeply strange.

Which is territory that comes with the job.

They open the computer tower and discover many more wires and components and complexity than they've seen in entire server farms.

This was the best possible time for that second piece of gum.

The hot cinnamon flavor explodes in Aeth's mouth before quickly starting to fade.

It takes them almost two hours to disassemble the computer.

It takes them almost two hours to find it.

The cause of all the trouble, all the weird concerning things that have made this job so odd, was a small chip installed in the motherboard. The whole thing didn't match a single manufacturer or model or piece of equipment that Aeth had ever seen before.

They touch it and They fall into something strange dust lakes a ruined temple tan and gray walls crumbling upon themselves a labyrinth of cracks and spiderwebs coat this church empty abandoned almost a forgotten ruin save for the chalk drawings of a child.

They feel slightly nauseous but the rapidly fading cinnamon flavor keeps them grounded, as does the repetitive muscle movement of chewing.

They know that, objectively, they were experiencing the projection and construction of a supernatural entity that is almost 100% not real but some kind of construct to impart some kind of feelings, but they can't help but feel a certain sense of awe and despair at the beauty and the decay all around them.

if you like this maybe leave me a tip, you can read these posts early too!

#eldritch tech support #this is when we get to the repurposed stories #this is story number 7 repurposed for aeth #we will be repurposing another story soon but that one is going to change much more drastically #and don't worry all of this is in fact relevant for the Larger Plot

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shiningwonderland · 1 year ago

Text

Ren Jinguji (Repeat)

Translator: Mimi (Twitter: _mimisaurora)

QA: Rei (Twitter: wolfe_raine)

September — Countdown to the Moon's Surface

It seems Jinguji-san likes the song I wrote, and has been putting in serious effort to practice it lately.

Haruka Nanami: The way you sang it this time was seriously the coolest.

Ren Jinguji: …I see. You like the way I did it this time…? Alright… then, let’s go at it again. I don’t want to forget this feeling…

Haruka Nanami: Got it!

Ren Jinguji: You are really…

Haruka Nanami: ???

Ren Jinguji: …Oh, it’s nothing. Anything else you’d like to share?

Haruka Nanami: Ah… Well…

Select the Phrase!

息の使い方を... About your breathing technique… (+20 Love, +5 Music)

Haruka Nanami: I think… that if you could find a way to better control your breath, it would help to add the subtle nuances to your singing that would improve how cool you sound…

Haruka Nanami: Let’s see, it should be good if you try to be mindful of your midsection.

Ren Jinguji: My midsection…? Like here?

Jinguji-san pokes my belly.

Haruka Nanami: Ah.

I let out a noise in surprise.

Ren Jinguji: Hm? What’s wrong? Why did you make that noise?

Haruka Nanami: I-I’m ticklish.

Ren Jinguji: Hmm. You’re quite sensitive. Then, what about over here…?

Jinguji-san runs his finger along the nape of my neck.

It sends a chill down my spine.

Haruka Nanami: Ah!!

T-That tickles.

Ren Jinguji: This is fun. Let’s go in for a little more…

Jinguji-san’s eyes narrowed.

Haruka Nanami: P-Please stop! It tickles way too much!

Ren Jinguji: When you put it that way, it only makes me want to do it more, you know?

He lets out a gleeful laugh.

Haruka Nanami: Ugh.

Ren Jinguji: I’m joking. I only teased because you were so responsive. Are you really that ticklish?

Haruka Nanami: Yes… It’s pretty bad. I was so ticklish when I was little that the hairdresser would complain that she couldn't trim my hair…

When I said that, Jinguji-san laughed at me again.

Ren Jinguji: You are fascinating, lady. I never get tired of being with you. Truly charming.

Then one day.

Hyuga-sensei instructed the entire class to draw lots during homeroom.

Ryuya Hyuga: Alright. Everyone’s drawn one.

Syo Kurusu: Yeah, we drew, but what for? What is this lottery deciding?

Ryuya Hyuga: Right, well…

Hyuga-sensei is about to explain when a loud bang was heard.

The school principal bursts through the floorboards into the classroom.

Shining Saotome: I will answer! It’s been decided! S Class Only! Overcome the Saotome Academy Principal! A championship where the one who defeats him will debut immediately!

Shining Saotome: This is what the lottery is for! Dodonpa!

Silence.

Everybody in class fell quiet, clueless as to what he was talking about.

The silence was broken by—

Tokiya Ichinose: …What a joke.

Ichinose-san mutters under his breath, rips up his ticket, and throws it away.

Shining Saotome: Woah! What are you doing all of a sudden!!

Tokiya Ichinose: Nothing, I don’t agree on making my debut like this.

Tokiya Ichinose: I want to follow the proper order and achieve my debut by winning the graduation audition. I just wanted to make that clear.

The principal sulks a bit and lets out a groan at that.

Shining Saotome: You’re very stubborn, Mr. Ichinose! Then you can sit on your hands and watch as your classmate debuts first!

Tokiya Ichinose: Please, be my guest.

Shining Saotome: Grr… In any case, I am pleased to announce the results. Congratulations to the winners... Lottery number 5... Ren Jinguji.

Ren Jinguji: That’s odd. I didn’t say anything. How did you know I had lottery ticket number 5?

Shining Saotome: Hahaha. I am all knowing! Now, let us be off!

Ren Jinguji: The fact you knew everything leads me to believe this was set up from the very beginning... But, well, it would be silly to complain about every single thing you do…

Jinguji-san shrugs his shoulders, smiling softly.

Shining Saotome: And YOU will be coming too~.

Select the Phrase!

はい, お供します。 Alright, I’ll come with. (+20 Love, +0 Music)

Ren Jinguji: This is a mission straight from the boss. To be honest, I don't know what he's got up his sleeve. You're still willing to stick with me?

Haruka Nanami: Of course, we’re partners.

Ren Jinguji: Well, then, I won't stop you anymore. The only thing I ask is that you leave as soon as you see it's dangerous. Okay?

Jinguji-san places his hand on my cheek and stares straight at me.

He must be worried about me. Ahhh. He's so kind! I'll do my best to not be a burden!

Haruka Nanami: Okay!

When we head for the back garden, we find Hijirikawa-sama already there for some reason.

This is kind of similar to what happened in June...

I have a bad feeling about this. I hope it's for nothing...

Masato Hijirikawa: Tsukimiya-sensei instructed me to come here… but… for what?

Shining Saotome: Hahaha. For this!

The principal suddenly grabs both Jinguji-san's and Hijirikawa-sama's arm before shackling their hand to a chain.

The length of the chains were about a meter, which means they didn't have to stick so closely to each other, but it’s still a little cramped.

Ren Jinguji: What!! Boss, what is the meaning of this…

Masato Hijirikawa: What is this prank?

The principal ignores their questions. He then approaches me and picks me up.

Haruka Nanami: Huh? A-Ah! W-What are you…!

Ren Jinguji: Wait, Boss, what are you doing with her!

Jinguji-san panics, rushing to reach out for me, but just short of making it, the chain pulls him back and away from me.

Then, the principal proceeds to strap me to a rocket marked with the phrase, "to the moon".

Haruka Nanami: Uh…

W-what should I do?

Select the Phrase!

レンに助けを求める。 Ask Ren for help (+20 Love, +0 Music)

Haruka Nanami: A-Ah, Jinguji-san. What… What’s going to happen to me…?

I'm not sure I could survive on the moon.

Ren Jinguji: Nothing. I promise I will save you. I don't want to lose my partner over something like this. This is such a terrible thing for the Boss to do.

Haruka Nanami: T-Thank you. I’m so sorry… for being so clumsy. I must give you a lot of trouble…

Ren Jinguji: Forget about all that. This is not your fault. Besides, I’m also stuck. I’m in no position to talk about others.

Shining Saotome: World peace is possible if you two work together. Love is the key to saving planet earth. Friendship leads to the eradication of war!

Ren Jinguji: Hah…? What are you going on about? Y-You… You don't expect me to be friends with this guy, do you?

The principal's abrupt and mysterious remarks cause Jinguji-san's eyes to widen.

Masato Hijirikawa: It is fair to say that if the Hijirikawa and Jinguji conglomerates were to partner together, the general idea is possible.

Haruka Nanami: But that it could achieve world peace… Of course he’d say something like that. The ask is too big.

Shining Saotome: By the way, the rocket will launch in 3 hours.

Shining Saotome: If you don’t want to lose your dearest and most precious partner, you have to do your very best! Since she’s so important to you!

Haruka Nanami: What!!

T-Three hours until launch… If this continues, I will undoubtedly be assured a one-way ticket to heaven.

Oh, God! I still have things I need to do.

I want to live a little longer... At the very least, let me survive until the graduation audition.

Hijirikawa-sama's face grows tense, and Jinguji-san glances at me.

Ren Jinguji: So you're saying that at this rate, in three hours, we'll have to say goodbye to the lady for good.

He clenches his fists tightly and murmurs to himself with an expression uncharacteristically serious.

Shining Saotome: The only ways to stop this rocket is to defeat me or to press those switches here and there at the same time.

Shining Saotome: The system operates on a fingerprint authentication system, so it will not respond if someone else presses the button. Be sure you both do it!

Ren Jinguji: Both of those switches… We can't just do it normally, regardless of how hard we try. Well, I’m at a loss.

The two switches the principal pointed out were each further than 2 meters away from the rocket I was strapped to.

It would be impossible for the two of them to press the switches at the same time while handcuffed together.

Haruka Nanami: U-Um…

Select the Phrase!

わたしなら大丈夫です。 I’ll be okay. (+10 Love, +0 Music)

Ren Jinguji: Okay…? Do you plan to go to the moon without any equipment and come back in one piece?

Masato Hijirikawa: In your condition, you'll be dead before you even leave the stratosphere, let alone before you reach the moon.

Haruka Nanami: But I can't let something like this be a problem for the both of you... I’m sure that I… that I can manage on my own…

I know I can’t manage it on my own. I really want to be rescued.

But I couldn’t bring myself to say the words out loud.

I didn't have the confidence in myself to be able to ask for "help" in such a near-impossible situation.

Ren Jinguji: If that’s true… then why are you trembling like that? You can act tough all you want, but your shaking and blue face give away how clearly frightened you are.

Ren Jinguji: Hey, lady. You know there's no need to put up a front in a crisis like this.

Jinguji-san smiles faintly, a troubled look on his face. He then looks me in the eye, grins fearlessly, and points at me.

Ren Jinguji: You are now like Andromeda, awaiting Perseus' aid. A hero never abandons the princess. Engrave this gallant figure into your memory.

J-Jinguji-san…. T-Thank you…

It was then that—

Jii: Young Master~~~!!! I’m finally here to save you~~!

The ground trembled.

And with a cloud of dust in the air, Hijirikawa-sama’s butler, Jii-san, rushes to the scene looking frantic.

George: It looks like you’re in trouble.

Then, a little later, George-san arrives with graceful strides.

Masato Hijirikawa: Jii…? Actually…

Hijirikawa-sama explains the situation in detail to the two of them.

Jii: I see, leaving the young girl aside, I cannot allow for the Jinguji child and you to remain bound together!

George: I could say the same thing. It’s a terrible pity that my young master has to be stuck to the Hijirikawa boy like this.

Jii: What was that!?

George: Shall I kill him?

Jii-san and George-san almost had their foreheads pressed against each other, glaring intently.

Jii: Mmm. Behold the power of the Hijirikawa conglomerate!

George: Hmph. The Jinguji way is 100 times better. Allow me to show you…

Masato Hijirikawa: Jii…

Ren Jinguji: Hey, George… Ha… There he goes…

They both manage to sigh at the same time.

Jii-san and George-san return a few minutes later.

Between the two of them, they carry shears, a drill and a saw.

George: When it comes to a good cut, this Jinguji-made tree pruner is the only way to go. There is nothing a high-performance diamond cutting blade can't handle.

Jii: Not so fast there! That’s for young boys! Men use drills!!

Jii: This Hijirikawa model super-electromagnetic drill is capable of shattering even rocks!

George: Absurd, these clippers are superior!

Jii: No, no, this drill is truly remarkable!

George: Clippers!

Jii: I said it's the drill!

George: Grrr.

Jii: Grrr.

George: Clippers!

Jii: Drill!

George: Clippers!

Jii: Drill!

They both continue to glare at each other.

Ren Jinguji: I don't care which one you prefer, but can you make it quick?

George: Alright then…

George takes the tree pruner to clip off the chains… but…

George: What! Dear goodness… this is… Was it able to put a chip in it?

The chains did not chip the slightest bit, but it was rather the blade of the tree pruner that did!

Jii: Hehehe. Fool! I knew we should have used the drill all along…

Jii: The destructive power of this product is 3 times stronger than our previous model, and that's not just for show! Now, let this baby whirl!

Jii-san turns the drill on and applies it to the chains.

However…

Jii: What is this! Is this drill really doing nothing! I can't believe the drill lost!

Both George-san and Jii-san fall to the ground on their knees in disappointment.

George: There is… There is still a way.

Jii: That’s right… This still isn’t over.

The two continue to try various tools, like a universal saw, a chainsaw, a light saber, a legendary demon sword, and many others…

They use all kinds of blades, but nothing worked.

George: …! This can’t be. The Jinguji family's scientific technology shouldn't have been defeated…

Jii: Curses! There are no other options… I’ve failed!

Ren Jinguji: I guess this means we're gonna have to… take down the boss.

Jinguji-san sees the condition Jii-san and George-san are in and murmurs to himself, "Oh dear..."

Haruka Nanami: Fight the principal? You can’t do that.

Ren Jinguji: It's the only way, right? We don't have time to pick and choose.

He licks his lips.

Masato Hijirikawa: Are you out of your mind? Do you even have any ideas?

Ren Jinguji: No, not at all. Then again, there are times when things just have to be done.

Saying this, Jinguji-san chuckles.

Masato Hijirikawa: You… truly haven't changed a bit since you were a child. Even back then, you would charge ahead with no plan and get yourself into terrible trouble.

Haruka Nanami: Back then…?

Masato Hijirikawa: I remember once when we were kids, we both snuck out of a party hall and headed to a nearby beach.

The two of them? At a party hall…

Ah, that’s right, they were childhood friends. If I’m remembering correctly…

Ren Jinguji: Yeah, you’re talking about the one where we were swept out to sea in a boat. So what about it, I mean, we got out of it in the end.

They were swept out to sea in a boat!? T-That must have been scary…

Masato Hijirikawa: It wasn’t fine! I thought we were going to die.

Ren Jinguji: But it was you who wanted to go see the ocean. Considering how close it was.

Masato Hijirikawa: While that may be true… it was your idea to get on the boat.

It looks like things are taking a turn for the worse. The quarrel between the two of them starts to heat up a little bit.

Ren Jinguji: We were already out of an otherwise dull venue. It would have been a waste if we didn’t at the very least enjoy our night. Was I so wrong to think that?

Masato Hijirikawa: What I’m saying is that you should keep others out of your asinine plans.

Hijirikawa-sama raised his voice.

Ren Jinguji: It’s not like I meant to drag you along. I asked if you were coming, and you followed.

Jinguji-san smiles coldly.

Ren Jinguji: Well, it was a miracle that we made it out of such a hopeless situation alive with no food, no water, and our boat washed away.

Masato Hijirikawa: All it took was a fishing boat that happened to pass by. One wrong move and we really would have been dead.

Ren Jinguji: And yet, we're still here. It's our destiny, don't you think? We are meant to be alive.

Ren Jinguji: That continues to be true even now. We can't lose in a game like this. Don't you agree?

His smile turns into a grin.

Masato Hijirikawa: Surely, we could just be done with this if we were to give up now. But if we don’t… I see.

Ren Jinguji: Good, so, now this is where we go after the boss. And in order to do that, we’ll have to partner up. Think you can handle it?

Masato Hijirikawa: Who do you think you’re talking to? I know all of your quirks. Don't worry.

They had been fighting just a moment ago, but now Hijirikawa-sama wears a smile brimming with confidence.

Could it be that the two of them share a mutual understanding somewhere in their hearts?

I had a feeling this was the case.

It would make sense. They may not be close now, but they were childhood friends.

I'm sure their hearts are still connected. It's a nice thought, isn't it?

Ren Jinguji: OK! I still can’t stand you, but let’s set that aside for now! My only enemy right now is the boss.

Jinguji-san goes to strike the principle. However…

Woosh.

The president easily dodges his fist with a light step.

Ren Jinguji: I see… If power alone won’t win us the fight… then…

Jinguji-san uses his link to Hijirikawa-sama to his advantage, making clever use of the chains on the handcuffs to drive the principal into a corner.

Masato Hijirikawa: Oho, so that’s how it is. Well then…

Without Jinguji-san needing to say anything, Hijirikawa-sama reads his next moves, and relocates himself into the best position.

Likewise, Jinguji-san observes Hijirikawa-sama's actions and steps accordingly.

The two of them were in perfect sync, approaching the principal with such quick footwork that it’s hard to believe they were bound together by handcuffs.

At times, Jinguji-san and Hijirikawa-sama both simultaneously threw their fists.

A coordinated double kick has the principal at their mercy.

Shining Saotome: Heh. Not bad, not bad. However… it won’t work!

They made good use of the rigid parts of the handcuffs and chains, and had their opponent been a normal person, they surely would have had an overwhelming victory.

It was easy to think so, their teamwork is brilliant.

But none of them managed to deliver a fatal blow to the principal.

Shining Saotome: Hahaha. We’re not done yet!

The principal remains almost completely unharmed.

In comparison, Jinguji-san and Hijirikawa-sama were both breathing hard, and at times received blows from the president himself.

Shining Saotome: Take thisss. Shining Kick!

A kick…

Shining Saotome: Come on!! Saotome Punch!

Ren Jinguji: Agh…

They were already wrecked after taking the principal's fist.

Masato Hijirikawa: Guh… He’s on a completely different level. He is beyond the capabilities of mankind. No human could stand against him…

Ren Jinguji: No kidding. I don’t need you… to tell me that. But…

A glance. I feel as… Jinguji-san looks at my face for a second.

Ren Jinguji: Every man has to face whatever challenge he's presented with head-on, regardless of how difficult it may be. Don't you agree? For me, that time is now.

Shining Saotome: Five minutes left until launch!

Haruka Nanami: F-Five minutes left…

Where did the time go? The moon…

I looked up at the sky and gulped.

The rocket will ignite and fly rapidly through the air. I'm sure when that happens, the force of gravity will knock me out...

But if I remain conscious... The air will gradually become thinner and thinner. When subjected to the piercing cold of the sky above, a vacuum will eventually form, and my blood will boil...

Just imagining it is terrifying!

Ren Jinguji: Lady…

Jinguji-san bit his lip and let out a deep breath.

Ren Jinguji: …Is this… the end? Hijirikawa! Cut off my arm!

Masato Hijirikawa: What!?

Haruka Nanami: Huh!?

Shining Saotome: Ha!? You’re own arm…?

Jinguji-san, why would you take it this far?

Ren Jinguji: If I cut off my arm, the handcuffs are useless. We’ll be able to flip the switches at the same time. Am I wrong?

Masato Hijirikawa: And you will be one arm short as a result… Don’t be so ridiculous.

Ren Jinguji: You’re right. But if this is the only way to do it, then so be it.

He talks about it like it’s the easiest thing in the world.

Haruka Nanami: Y-You absolutely mustn't!

Ren Jinguji: This is something I want to do. Let me go through with it. Besides, isn’t it a price worth paying if I can save your life with just one arm?

Masato Hijirikawa: But you'll be cutting off your arm because you have no other choice…

Ren Jinguji: If you can't cut it for me, then I'll do it myself…

Masato Hijirikawa: No, why don't you just cut off my arm instead of yours? Aren't you the one who's always concerned about the way you look?

Ren Jinguji: Wouldn't it be a problem if you couldn't play the piano anymore? And isn't it the job of the upperclassmen to play it cool at a time like this?

Jinguji-san picks up a fallen machete off the ground and swings it down on his arm.

Haruka Nanami: D-DON’T!!!!

Shining Saotome: Stop!

The principal stops the machete with a single finger.

Haruka Nanami: Huh? Principal?

The principal tosses the machete away with his fingers and stands in front of Jinguji-san and Hijirikawa-sama, his eyes going wide.

Shining Saotome: That is love!

Ren Jinguji: Huh?

Masato Hijirikawa: It’s… love?

Both of their eyes go wide too.

Shining Saotome: I found world peace at the sight of you both. Thank you… I have lost.

Shining Saotome: Through this crisis, the three of you have finally developed bonds with each other! A truly precious treasure!

Shining Saotome: Happy friends, happy life! AND fighting is a no-no!

Shining Saotome: I could feel your love, therefore, I will stop the timer.

With that, the principal removes the handcuffs, turns off the rocket's launch switch, and walks away.

Ren Jinguji: Hey, now. How could you make this such a big deal to begin with, and then end it like that? That was awfully simple…

Ren Jinguji: … Geez. It makes no sense whatsoever. He's still an indecipherable gentleman, but I suspect this was his own way to put an end to our fight. Well, who knows?

Masato Hijirikawa: Perhaps he was trying to mediate our quarrel. Hm, I am not sure how true that is though.

Ren Jinguji: I guess he may have seen through our convoluted rivalry and wanted to mess with us. Or, he could have just been trying to be funny.

Ren Jinguji: Whatever the case, one thing is clear. We are God's favorites.

Haruka Nanami: God…?

Ren Jinguji: Yeah. The winds of miracles will blow before those who never give up.

Staring straight ahead, Jinguji-san asserts in a bold tone.

Ren Jinguji: Even if you don't qualify to get through the door, you can always pry it open.

Masato Hijirikawa: Door? That reminds me, you once said something like that before... I believe it was during a conference between the two conglomerates.

Conference? I do recall Jinguji-san talking about that a while ago…

He hadn’t been allowed inside, but Hijirikawa-sama was present.

I remember how Jinguji-san was so upset by this that he began to make an enemy out of Hijirikawa-sama.

Masato Hijirikawa: Indeed, only heirs were allowed to enter that room, but… it's not a place you should be envious of.

Ren Jinguji: Whatever the case may be. It doesn't matter to me now. It's just like you told me back then.

Masato Hijirikawa: I agree. Now there is no disparity in our standings. We should put our best foot forward for the graduation audition despite our differences in musicality.

Ren Jinguji: Heh. I’m sure I'll be one of the victors.

Jinguji-san flashes Hijirikawa-sama a grin, who looks a bit annoyed.

Masato Hijirikawa: I'm not one to enjoy conflict, but... this is different. I swear, my music will prevail over yours.

Ren Jinguji: What a joke. Of course I will win. There wouldn’t have been any meaning in me putting my body on the line otherwise. Right, Lady?

Haruka Nanami: Huh?

He suddenly looks at me, and for a moment I had no idea what he was talking about.

Ren Jinguji: Are you playing around? You're writing my song, aren't you?

Haruka Nanami: I-I am!

C-Could it be that he'll put in more effort from now on? I’d be overjoyed if that is the case.

Even if it’s to beat out Hijirikawa-sama, if it gets him to face the music, then…

I will give my all to write him a song! One that is suitable and attractive.

Ren Jinguji: I risked my life to save you. Of course, you’ll make me the best music.

Select the Phrase!

絶対いい曲にします. I will definitely make this the best song. (+10 Love, +10 Music)

Ren Jinguji: Great. Then… let's get you started on writing it right now. A song worthy of even a God.

Haruka Nanami: Of course! I’ll do my best!

Ren Jinguji: Ok, Lady. That’s what I like to hear.

Jinguji-san reaches out his arms to untie me from the rope holding me to the rocket, lowering me down.

Haruka Nanami: I-I’m free…

The moment my feet hit the ground… That’s when it hits me that I have been rescued.

Haruka Nanami: Ah…

I was strapped on for so long that I couldn’t stand very well, and I stumble.

Ren Jinguji: I see your legs are still shaking. That must have been scary. You did a great job.

I couldn't keep myself upright, so Jinguji-san held me tight and patted me on the back.

Haruka Nanami: Ah… I’m sorry. Um… I… was scared…

Ren Jinguji: It’s alright. I'll hold you like this until you are comfortable. There's no need to try to stand up right away.

Haruka Nanami: Thank you.

I cling to Jinguji-san as I cry.

He continues to embrace me tenderly in his arms until I stop crying.

He risked his life to save me.

So, I too will do my best at the risk of my own life. For his sake, I will…

No matter what the cost, I will do it.

Mini Game

Ryuya Hyuga: All right, let's get started. How is it, getting used to your private lessons?

Ryuya Hyuga: Well, this is the final one for this assignment. It sounds like you're getting a better understanding of the song as you play it.

Ryuya Hyuga: Your arrangements are also improving. Keep up the good work when you write your own compositions!

Ryuya Hyuga: This will be a comprehensive test using the assigned song. I want you to use all the instincts you've developed up to this point, and play it nice and calm.

Ryuya Hyuga: Heh. Are you ready? 3, 2, 1, start!

S RANK

Ren Jinguji: It sounds like you're getting used to it. There is a sense of stability. I suppose it's the result of hard work. I hope you keep it up.

Haruka Nanami: Of course. I will.

I want to debut together with you, so let's strive to do even better.

Chapter End

#ren jinguji #ren repeat #utapri

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jokerislandgirl32 · 2 years ago

Note

favorite wild kratts episode/s?

and, as a bonus, favorite episode/s that don’t feature zach?

Haha, you know me, I would have only listed Zach episodes had you not specified. I am so sorry it took this long to get to this ask, but I’ve been thinking about it, and I enjoyed writing this up!

You can read the rest below the cut, fair warning, it is long, lol!

Favorite Episodes Featuring Zach

Quillner’s Birthday Present

Quillber’s Birthday Present is such a fun episode. We get some decent Zach art, learn he’s got a wart problem (no judgement!), and he’s forgetful! He forgot to charge the Zachbots and this leads to nearly a whole episode of him doing things by himself. Yes, he’s stealing animals, but he’s taking the initiative to do things himself, without complaining! And his mood is super chipper the majority of the episode, which is very enjoyable for a change. It makes me wonder if he enjoys being self-sufficient (but that’s another post for another day).

Shadow: The Black Jaguar

Shadow: The Black Jaguar was the first Wild Kratts episode I ever saw. Way back in March of 2021 I was watching this episode with some students in a class I was subbing for. I just clicked on it for them, and…the rest is history! One of the kids kept talking about Zach, “why does his plane have a V on it? Zach starts with a Z” (good job, 1st grader, you know your letters, lol).

And of course the fangirl in me focused in on the whiny man to try and figure out why the plane had a V on it, but then I saw his interactions with Shadow….and his good looks, whiny and charming antics, and affinity for cats (sorry, he’s a cat guy, even if he won’t admit it) won me over. This episode also has a lot of fun scenes with Aviva and the bros. I love the scene where Martin is trying to activate the power suit to become a Black Jaguar, and the little slide of hand to replace Shadow with the bunny toy: excellent.

Mystery of the Weird Looking Walrus

Mystery of the Weird Looking Walrus is another favorite of mine, if not my all time favorite, and yes, this is partially for the trench coat, but not entirely, haha! In this episode we get so much information about Zach: his favorite color, his extra toe, his favorite person, his favorite number, his preferred foods per day….so much canon content for the fangirl! We learn that Zach’s an overeater, and the villains know him for becoming ill from overeating. So, it’s a canon moment where his reputation is tarnished even among his closest peers, and maybe it’s wrong, but I love it, it sort of gives another level of humanity to Zach for me.

Zach also uses his Instafreeze device in this episode. Any episode where Zach uses non animal powered inventions are awesome in my opinion. They show Zach’s true potential as an inventor: he can craft inventions from his own mind, he does not need animals to create wonderful inventions. And finally, I love all his interactions with Donita. The man spends an entire episode trying to please her…this shows how much he values her as a person and adds yet another level of humanity to Zach that is usually overshadowed by all his “me me me” nonsense.

Favorite Episodes Not Including Zach

The Great Froggyback Ride

As for favorite episodes that do not involve Zach, my first go to is The Great Froggyback Ride. I’ll be honest, the reason why: ROYGBIV. For personal reasons I connect to this episode: I love all the colors of the rainbow and rainbows are very important to me as a symbol of hope and rebirth. So, the amount of color used in this episode just caught my attention, that scene where Chris is dancing and his suit is changing colors makes me feel awe, lol. Also my grandpa’s name was Roy, so, anything with Roy in it is excellent in my book.

Voyage of the Butterflier XT

Another episode I like, for the message in it, is Voyage of the Butterflier XT. Butterflies are one of my favorite creatures, hands down, and they also stand as another symbol of hope and rebirth for me, and that’s kind of the message in this episode. The caterpillars hatched out of their eggs, munched on oodles of food, made their chrysalises, and transformed into butterflies that made made the long trek to another country just for the sake of laying their eggs and restarting the life cycle. This show that while life may be short for some animals, all animals have a purpose to fulfill within their lives. Maybe it is morbid, but it’s a positive way to view life and death, and I appreciate the way the Kratt Brothers addressed this difficult topic, especially so early on in the series.

Sooo this was super long, but I truly enjoyed it, kudos to all who read until the end, lol!

#wild kratts #wild kratts fandom #wild kratts episodes #favorite episodes #zach varmitech #wild kratts zach #wild kratts martin #wild kratts chris #aviva corcovado #donita donata #love zach varmitech #ask box #nice asks #thanks for the ask!

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katatonicimpression · 1 year ago

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Hmm OK I'm about to just direct bitch about something I read in a tag and I'm aware that that's unkind but it's such a weird take to me, I feel like I need to express my thoughts

So, this is what they said:

This feels so strange to me. Broadly:

This isn't boring neutral coworker stuff, it's direct antagonism and also they kind of aren't friends?

They're relationship is antagonistic right now specifically because of whats happened in other series - so, not a lack of continuity but the opposite

The fandom point is bizarre in a number of ways

So Number 1, what we've been seeing between Sam and T'Challa in this series so far (since issue 1 let's be clear) is T'Challa being a dick to Sam unprompted. He's condescending to him and generally being prickly, and Sam clearly bothered by it. This is actually kind of fun to read, in particular T'Challa's insistence on calling him "Sam" only - it's interesting, T'Challa is intensely bothered by this one guy in a way that is kind of more intimate than their early encounters.

And, yeah, I don't think they've ever been friends necessarily. They've worked together a lot of times. They seem to like each other. Sam seems to really look up to and respect T'Challa, and T'Challa seems charmed by and impressed by Sam. But they weren't close by any means - they don't hang out outside of work etc. What we're seeing here is that same dynamic turned a little dark, purely because T'Challa is being a dick.

Also, unless something goes horribly wrong here on the writing side of things, it's clear that this antagonism is a plot thread that's been set up, currently expanded upon and will be resolved in the series. It's there on purpose and hopefully will end with them closer than before... and if not that, it will at least end with them putting this shit behind them (again, so long as the writing doesn't completely collapse behind the scenes which does happen in comics a lot lol)

Number 2, I agree that they seem to have forgotten that T'Challa made Sam's original wings, and actually also made his current get up, or at least the shield. I'd love for them to talk about that.

That said, I think you could bring it up in a way that compliments the current drama. Sam is indebted to tchalla, it's part of why he respects him so much, but also might make him pull his punches when the guy is being a dick... or does he? Maybe t'challa thinks he ought to, but maybe Sam doesn't care.

So, currently in canon, Wakanda is experimenting with a more democratic system, and T'Challa is having a personal crisis. He's still being the Black Panther, but in a more secretive, quasi-exiled way, and he's having difficulties reconciling his identity as his nations hero with not being their leader - he feels untethered. His current series (by eve ewing) is about this and it's good, I recommend. But, in short, he's more grumpy than usual because he's having the least relatable personal crisis of all time.

In symbol of truth, tchalla picks a fight with Sam (instead of just talking about how Sam mostly accidentally broke some wakandan laws). Sam is there in jeans and a t-shirt ((no suit, no wings, no shield) and wins.

This is, presumably, humiliating for t'challa, and he is canonically very pissy about it. You could imagine that the fact that he made Sam's gear could add to this dynamic. Sam wasn't reverent to him, didn't perform gratitude and then had the audacity to prove that he didn't really need his help anyway.

But yes, this is why T'Challa feels this way, its why he's acting like this. This is absolutely continuous with current canon. It's not an inconsistency. It just makes sense in universe.

Now, if you'd rather they just didn't write this drama because you'd rather they dropped this thread and just portrayed them as friends, then say that. Like, that's a completely valid opinion idk why you wouldn't just say it instead of acting like it's inconsistent writing when it isn't.

Number 3 is where I am confused. So, no one cares what anyone says on tumblr, that's a freebie. For twitter, yes sometimes writers do listen to fans in ways that end up not working out but is this person seriously suggesting that some writer would deliberately make a series worse to appease fans of other series? Think about that for a second. No one is sitting at a desk going "aha! I'll make the series bad, that'll show em!".

Not that I actually think the series is bad but you get my point.

So, the Fantastic Four are literally family. X-teams tend to be a mixture of family, found family and coworkers. This is true for avengers teams to, although they often have a greater percentage of coworkers who don't really know each other. This is because the x-men more often live together, and are often formed out of necessity because the humans are trying to kill them. The avengers are more often literally co-workers; a bunch of individual heroes, with separate lives, often living planets away from each other, individually recruited to a constructed team. Like, that's fine. That's not anti-avenger propaganda from fantastic four fans, it's just the literal canon situation a lot of the time.

This particular team has two people who used to be married to each other, then a bunch of people with varying degrees of familiarity and friendship. Two of them are currently having drama, and it's arguably the most emotional they've ever been about each other. This sounds like a good thing to me! This kind of storyline is what takes two characters from coworkers to something more meaningful, you know?

It's a particularly weird complaint to bring up with Sam. In the MCU, Sam is very much an avenger, was in the team for years and a pivotal part of it. In the comics, he comes and goes, joined to replace hawkeye then quit, led them for a bit in the 2010s (but that was mostly a different team) then quit again.. etc.. He seems to have a difficult relationship with the concept, and is only occasionally actually friends with these people (Steve, Jane). Honestly, it feels ooc when he's portrayed as friendly with some of them. But I mention it because he's a weird character to focus on to make this point.

Anyway, the series has gone out of its way to portray closeness between tony and carol, who do actually have a deeper friendship than many of the others here. But for most of these dynamics, the groundwork is there, but if you want them to be portrayed as close friends or a found family or whatever, then that actually needs to be developed in, you know, storylines. You can't just dump them on a team and say "they're besties now".

You might, in fact, want to write something where the current situations that the characters are in, and their recent interactions, affect the way they treat each other. Idk. Maybe even with some cattiness and antagonistic banter? And then maybe let that play out? Idk it's just a thought

#it's not even that I disagree that the series could have more warmth #but i wrote an essay anyway #because i'm like this i guess

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thekatea · 2 years ago

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Three Body (2023)

Watched: 14.02.2023

Right or wrong is only a matter of perspective.

I love a show that makes me engaged. That makes me think and question presented topics. That makes me want to think how I would react if I was presented with the same ideas, what would be my questions and doubts, and who would I side with. That makes me analyze the statements of the characters trying to figure out what flaws they might have, and in what aspects they are correct. Three-Body is all that.

I saw quite a number of people say that you need to be patient with this show to enjoy it. I would honestly disagree. Being patient means you need to tolerate something negative, and I see no such a thing in the show. Slow pace? For me it added to the charm of it. The even pacing, how each time they dropped a new hint, they added a few more questions, the mystery of it all, the lack of answers - for me, these are exactly the things I loved about it. So if someone finds these annoying, I don’t think any level of patience will make them like Three-Body in the end.

My favorite aspect of the drama was how it exposed the limits of human’s perception and cognition. How limited we are by our beliefs, hopes, motives, experiences and even biological aspects. We are painfully biased towards our own species. But it also shows how normal that is and that it can be, at least to some extent, overcome.

Not to mention the diversity of the characters in terms of their personalities, motivations, moralities. It’s truly an art how they slowly showed all the layers of the characters, their perspectives and plans. It was a perfectly crafted journey. They knew exactly when to disclose different information to keep the interest of the viewers.

How hard is it to understand the show? I’m not gonna lie, it’s not an easy watch, but that comes from someone who knows exactly nothing about physics. I had to rewatch a few scenes to understand the theories, some google searches also helped. All that is not needed to get the big picture, but it adds to the viewing experience.

Were there any things that bothered me or could potentially bother others? Yes. Since the drama invites you to analyze everything and pay attention to all the details, it’s also easier to pick up some inconsistencies. That said, a lot of them can be excused by the unreliable narrator at any given moment and their own goals in sharing some, but not all information, and at times even distorting it.

What’s more - we don’t get clear cut answers for a lot of questions asked. Some of it might be the result of the drama being based on just the first book in the trilogy, but some seem to be left vague with no hope for solid answers even in next installments. I can clearly see how this could piss off many people, me being weird, I actually enjoyed it. The fact that I had to form my own theories on why some things happened based on the hints and bits of information was an additional entertainment for me.

There were two moments in the drama that made me go: okay, that’s dumb. That said, two scenes in 30 episodes is a ration of dumbness I can easily ignore.

Last criticism I have is the whole existence of Mu Xing - she did not bring anything new or important to the table. She did not offer an interesting perspective nor a unique take on the events happening. She was there as a plot device and I find it a bit disappointing.

For the performances - some were better than others, but all were great. Chen Jin and Wang Zi Wen did an amazing job portraying the same characters in different moments of her life. You can see the changes in her, but she still seems like the same person. I loved Yu He Wei as Shi Qiang and he easily became my favorite character. I loved his bond with Wang Miao, and even though they could not exist in more different worlds, they formed a perfect partnership.

One performance that seemed a bit flat was Li Xiao Ran as Shen Yu Fei - she was supposed to be this driven woman with a mission, but she overall just seemed numb and detached.

The production value was perfection. I truly have zero complaints. I loved the small animation bits explaining the Farmer and Shooter theories, I loved the game graphics, I loved the set designs. I especially loved everything about how the past story was presented. So many aesthetically beautiful moments.

Talking about Three-Body, I need to mention the soundtrack. I was in awe from the first seconds of any of the songs and even just the ambient sounds used for many scenes. It added so much to the storytelling and perfectly built the atmosphere.

Overall, I could not recommend it more if you like complex stories that require full attention and some additional brainpower for theory making, since they don’t really spoon feed you all the answers. How much you can enjoy the show depends on how much you are motivated to figure out the mystery and story behind the characters.

Ps. Can it be viewed as stand alone? Kind of. Depends on how much of a closure you are expecting. Ps 2. I need 2nd season yesterday.

#three body #chinese drama review #chinese drama

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jianghuchild · 1 year ago

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WIP Wednesday

Funny story: if any of you have watched Guo Ba Yin (i.e. if you were in China in the 90s probably), you know it ends with the male lead being implied to have died. Here's the thing: I'm pretty sure he got diagnosed in canon with ALS? But the medication he gets is neostigmine, which is used for myasthenia gravis. Which, while a serious disorder, isn't quite a fatal.

Basically this inspired a fix-it where they discover he was misdiagnosed and he has to deal with living for longer than he thought he was going to.

The reason I'm now posting this is that 1) I don't think I'm ever gonna finish it, 2) it's quite non-existent fandomwise, so there's not much point posting on ao3, and 3) I realized that his on-screen symptoms actually do match MG, the doctors never say the words ALS, and this was an age where MG could have been terminal. So I'm not sure how much of a fix-it this would be in canon anyway.

(Btw, this is the show I made my first and only ever video edit for.)

Title: And die...? | 就死，吗？

Jia Ling bites her lip, feet tucked under herself. She’s moved back to the dorm after breaking up with Charlie, and honestly it isn’t too bad. Both Du Mei and Fang Yan have been more than supportive, and…

Right. Fang Yan. Jia Ling twists the empty vial in her manicured fingers. Her nail traces the edge of the label. After a moment, she comes to a decision. Jia Ling pushes herself off her bed and picks up the phone down the hall. She dials the number and waits for it to ring.

“Yes?”

“Du Mei. Is Fang Yan there?”

A pause. Du Mei insists she’s forgiven her, but the betrayal probably still stings. No, Jia Ling knows it does. “He’s gone to bed. Did you need something?”

“Listen, can I come over tomorrow? I need to speak. To both of you,” she adds. She’d prefer to only speak to Fang Yan—she knows how Du Mei can get worked up over these things—but the thought of seeing him alone makes Jia Ling’s skin crawl with self-loathing.

Another pause, this one less wary. “Alright. Come over at five. I’ll make dinner.”

[...]

Fang Yan dislikes himself. Not hate, he’s not so dramatic as that. (Or maybe he is, considering the charade he pulled with Jia Ling. Maybe Du Mei just brings out the drama in him.)

Anyway the point is that he used to like himself. He’s not a fool, he knows he’s good-looking, that he’s charming and can get girls to like him. But he also dislikes that about himself. That he’s caused Du Mei so much grief.

“So,” Du Mei starts, in that way she does when she doesn’t want him to know something’s bothering her, which is often these days, “Jia Ling is coming over for dinner tonight.”

Fang Yan presses his lips together and quashes a jolt of anxiety. For a second he thinks, What’s she playing at now? But immediately he feels guilty for it, and only says, “Ah.” He won’t spend his last few years fighting with the woman he loves.

[...]

Jia Ling twists her fingers while Du Mei busies herself with a platter of fruit. Fang Yan fiddles with a cigarette but doesn’t light it, elbows on his knees. Du Mei sets down the fruit with a clatter and seats herself in the cavity of Fang Yan’s side.

“What did you want to talk about?” she asks Jia Ling.

Jia Ling bites her lip. “When…” Her eyes dart up to meet Fang Yan’s, then down again. “When Fang Yan was at my place,” and here she shifts in her seat, and Fang Yan closes his arm around Du Mei’s waist, “he had an episode.” She falls silent.

“Yes,” he prompts her, “I remember. You gave me a shot.”

Jia Ling twists this way and that, opens her mouth again and again.

“Oh, bother,” she blurts. “Du Mei, see here.” She presses something into his wife’s hand. “This is what I gave him.”

Du Mei opens her palm. It’s a tiny vial, the contents empty. On the label Fang Yan barely makes out the words Xin Si Di Ming.

“I don’t know why, or what I was thinking,” Jia Ling rambles, “And I thought long and hard whether I should tell you, because I don’t want to get your hopes up, and I could be wrong, but I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t—”

“Jia Ling.”

Fang Yan’s heart stutters. His wife—his darling wife, who cries and never holds back—sounds close to tears. She takes two shuddering breaths against his side, and Fang Yan hates himself because he can do nothing but run his hand along her arm.

“You gave him this? You’re sure?”

“It came out of that vial exactly.”

“Why?”

Jia Ling shrugs helplessly. “It came from the hospital. By all accounts, it was misprescribed. But it worked.”

Fang Yan’s head is all mist. “What’s going on?”

“Please, Du Mei.” Jia Ling presses their hands together. “I really, really don’t want to get your hopes up.”

“I understand.” Du Mei offers a watery smile. “Thank you.”

Jia Ling nods a little uncertainly and gets up. She gives Fang Yan a complicated look—one he can’t quite decipher—and leaves, shutting the door quietly behind her.

Du Mei bursts into tears. Fang Yan scrambles, repositions them on the couch so he’s holding her fully.

“Hey, whoa, alright, hush now.” He strokes her back as she wraps herself around his waist and burrows, shaking like a leaf in his arms. “Hey now.” He softens his voice, lowers his chin to get a look at her. “What’s wrong?”

Du Mei pulls away. She sniffs violently and swipes at her face with the back of her hand, then turns to grab her jacket.

“Where are you going?” Fang Yan makes to get up, but his leg buckles beneath him. Du Mei is at his side immediately, helping him into his coat.

“We’re going to the hospital.” Fang Yan grabs her fumbling fingers. Du Mei fixes dark, watery eyes on him. “Neostigmine doesn’t work for ALS. You’ve been misdiagnosed.”

And she says it with such conviction, and suddenly Fang Yan is thinking of the day they first got married, walking into an empty classroom and the way she said, You love me and that’s enough, with the exact same certainty.

“I went to three different hospitals,” he tells her, softly, because he doesn’t want her to break. “They all said the same thing.”

“Then why did they give you neostigmine?” Her curls swing about with the force of her shaking head. “We’ll go to the hospital. If they don’t get it right, we’ll go to another one.”

“Alright.” Fang Yan stoops down and stills the hands tugging shoes onto his feet. “But let’s go tomorrow, hm? I’ll hardly die overnight.”

Du Mei glares. “Don’t you dare say that.”

[...]

The doctor rubs his face. “Curious,” he murmurs. “Yes, very curious.”

“Well, doc? Spit it out.”

“Fang Yan.”

“Come on, am I dying or not?”

“Well,” he begins, “You’re right that neostigmine isn’t usually given for ALS. Whoever wrote it for you made a mistake.” He squints at the report. “You know, medical intuition is a funny thing. The way your symptoms present themselves are almost textbook ALS. But there must have been something to make them give you neostigmine.”

Fang Yan clicks his tongue. “Come on, now. Give it to me straight.”

The doctor waffles a little more. “We’ll need to do more tests.”

[...]

A week later, the verdict comes. “Myasthenia gravis. Considering the aggressive onset of your symptoms, I’m not surprised you got misdiagnosed, even by three different hospitals.” The doctor offers Fang Yan a small smile. “It also has no cure, but unlike ALS, it’s not a death sentence.”

“A war of attrition,” Du Mei says. Her arms circle his shoulders tightly.

“Precisely.”

“So, what?” Fang Yan asks. “Ten years, eight years? Three, five?”

“No, no.” The doctor removes his tiny glasses, wipes them on the edge of his sleeve, and perches them back on his nose. “The prognosis is quite good. I would keep an eye on symptom progression”–this he addresses to Du Mei–“given the unusual onset, but otherwise you can expect to lead a more or less normal life, given proper and timely treatment.”

“A normal life…”

#m's writing shenanigans #wip wednesday #guo ba yin #过把瘾

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chalkscene · 2 years ago

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fruits basket ⇢ THIRD TIME’S A CHARM ft. hatori sohma

a three-step guide to hatori sohma’s heart.

wc: 3k

warnings: smoking. talks of soulmates but not really a soulmate au. f2l but you’re more like hatori’s annoyance (affectionate). he’s a simp in denial. fluff with one grain of angst. self-indulgent because i miss my seahorse bae

one: try to get into hatori sohma’s interests.

“i didn’t know you smoke.”

hatori turns to the sound of your voice and upon seeing your approaching figure, he instinctively scoots over to make room for you on the bench by the river.

“occasionally.”

“can you do that thing?” you raise your index finger to draw invisible circles in the air. “you know… smoke rings?”

“yes.” when your eyes light up, he quickly adds: “but i won’t.”

“you are not fun at all,” you tease lightheartedly.

for the first time since you sat next to hatori, you take a look at your surroundings—maybe it was the zodiac curse but despite the already bright green landscape made technicolor by the variety of flowers peppered among the trees and the glitters of sunlight on the clear blue waters, you don’t remember the sohma estate being so alive and vibrant.

bit by bit, you soak it all in before sliding your gaze over to the man beside you as he takes another drag. even with his somber expression, he still looks beautiful from behind the cigarette.

tearing your eyes away from him, you notice a pack of squares peeking out of his lab coat.

“can i try?” you ask.

hatori follows your line of sight and immediately shoves the small carton deeper into his pocket. “no.”

“why not?”

“it’s not good for you.” you open your mouth to protest but he interjects. “stop asking.”

“do one smoke ring then i’ll stop.” at your request, hatori looks at you as if his patience is wearing thin but you don’t budge. “if you never wanted to do it, you should’ve just told me you couldn’t.”

he pinches the bridge of his nose as he internally curses in frustration because you’re not wrong.

“fine,” he concedes, visibly against his will.

genuinely captivated, you keep your eyes trained on hatori’s lips, completely oblivious to the fact that his composed demeanor is now mere pretense and right underneath is a man extremely self-conscious and hyperaware of your close inspection. suddenly, his throat feels dry and his hands clammy.

he’s thankful you’re too preoccupied to notice.

forcing his thoughts away, he puffs at his cigarette and with his mouth formed into an “o”, he blows out a smoke ring. he waits until it fully takes shape in front of you before fanning it away, deliberately ignoring the awestruck gleam in your eyes.

“you have to teach me that,” you enthuse.

“i thought you said you’d stop asking.”

as a doctor, hatori is aware not only of the dangers of tobacco, but also the greater risks of secondhand smoking. and it’s his job to make sure you don’t suffer from any complication—not you in particular, he tells himself—so in spite of his cigarette still having a few drags left, he drops it to the ground and crushes it beneath his heel.

he’s just doing his job.

two: ask hatori sohma if he believes in soulmates.

shortly after sundown, swirly hints of orange and pink have begun mixing with the incoming muted shades of blue across the sky, the temperature of the wind dropping with it—rather rapidly due to the ocean breeze—but that doesn’t stop anyone from going for a swim, save for those dotted about the sand, and giving life to the seafront which only grows brighter due to the lampposts along the perimeter.

however, the oddness of your question pushes the scenery to the background as hatori searches your face for any telltale sign that you’re messing with him. you’re not.

“what brought this on?” he asks.

“just making conversation.”

“have this conversation with ayame.”

unable to count the number of times you’ve rolled your eyes at his curt replies, you’re surprised they haven’t stuck. “can you, at least, humor me?”

“no.”

typical, you think.

walking side by side along the boardwalk, you fall into silence that hatori quickly finds unbearable—which is ironic, considering he’s naturally a reserved man—so he gives in. “fine.”

something jumps in his chest when you turn to him, beaming, but he immediately shoves the feeling down before he can give it any thought.

“i don’t believe in soulmates,” hatori claims. “i think you choose the person you want to be with—or meet them through happenstance, even. but not fate.”

“so…” you drawl, a soft smile involuntarily tugging at the corners of your lips. “you spending time with me tonight—was it by choice?”

you choose the person you want to be with. hatori mentally kicks himself for letting the words roll off his tongue without a care. now you have him right where you want him.

“a coincidence,” he asserts in an attempt to shut you down, already predicting where you’re going with your ribbing. “you were alone and i happened to have some free time.”

“which you chose to spend with me,” you counter triumphantly but even the melodious laughter from your lips fails to blunt the daggers he’s now throwing your way. “okay, sorry. sorry. but assuming soulmates exist, who do you think you’d be with right now?”

“i don’t know,” he answers in one breath.

“what would you be doing right now?”

“i don’t know.”

“you’re the worst.” you huff, finally dropping the subject.

and he’s grateful because he’s lying.

he does believe in kismet.

bound by the curse for most of his life, it was as if he’d been walking on a path that was already carved in stone and waiting at the end of it was his fate with no one to share, only his for the taking—so like some sort of paradox, he refuses to acknowledge destiny altogether, even after the spiritual ties had already been cut. it’s all he’s ever known.

besides, indulging in the idea that something written in the stars could ever be within his reach—even if it was right in front of him taking after your image—is like setting himself up for heartbreak and disappointment.

and hatori sohma’s smarter than that.

three: say “i love you” to someone else.

“you’re quiet today,” hatori says.

“has shigure not annoyed you enough that you actually want me to talk?”

you know shigure hasn’t because he’s been gone for a while now, along with ayame, and hatori’s choice to stay behind is enough for you to assume his friends are up to some shenanigans he couldn’t care less about.

“you’re only half as bad as him,” hatori jokes, a small grin playing on his lips and you can’t help but smile back.

truth be told, your playful exchange can only do so much to mask your feelings until they threaten to spill out of you as soon as you open your mouth. and though you’ve surprisingly managed to keep them under control this whole time, it’s as if you’re constantly being pulled towards opposite ends of the spectrum.

hatori has his way of being within your proximity and still seem so out of reach—you’re never sure if he’s suffocatingly close or you want to be smothered by him.

but you can’t tell him that.

“i’ll just go for a walk,” you say instead.

the sudden announcement causes a look of worry to form on hatori’s face but despite the warmth blooming in your chest over his concern for you, you convince yourself it’s just the doctor in him.

of course, he cares. he cares about everyone.

“are you alright?”

“yeah, i just need some air.”

you leisurely tread the pathways of the estate, mentally counting your steps to keep your mind occupied but eventually losing track anyway as your thoughts drift back to hatori.

before you know it, you’re sat by the lakeside which you instantly recognize from the first time the sohmas took you to their family cottage for an outing.

“care to share the woes of your heart?”

the familiar lilt of ayame’s voice—and his dramatic language—soon echoes in the wind and a smile makes its way to your face, finding his theatrics somewhat comforting at a time like this.

sitting next to you, he asks again. “something on your mind?”

“it’s nothing.”

“perhaps this will lift your spirits?” he plucks a wildflower from the ground, presenting it to you. “may i?” when you give your consent, ayame delicately tucks it behind your ear, leaning slightly further as if to admire his work. “so beautiful and ethereal. truly out of this world.”

“stop.” you say, giggling as you take the flower out of your hair and lean on his shoulder. “thank you, aya. love you.”

ayame rests his head on top of yours. “i love you, too, darling.”

unbeknownst to you, hatori followed you quite shortly, unconvinced by the way you brushed off his concern. but he doesn’t expect to find you with ayame, lax and cheery as opposed to you being closed-off earlier—with him, the voice in his head adds and he wishes he could strike it off.

“can i ask you something?” hatori hears you ask his friend but it’s the familiar question which follows that has his ears perking up. “do you believe in soulmates?”

hatori’s not one to listen in on other people’s conversations so without waiting for ayame’s response, he heads back to the cottage, suddenly feeling like an intruder.

“i know that’s just your face but… why the long face?” shigure asks.

hatori groans. “shut up.”

whatever shigure is about to say dies in his throat as ayame enters through the front door alone.

“where were you?” shigure asks him, acknowledging his arrival.

“i was at the lake with y/n.”

“oh?” the former dog incarnate shoots hatori a knowing look, though he continues to address yuki’s brother. “and what were you two doing?”

“i was wandering around and found her lonesome. like a poor damsel in distress in need of a comforting shoulder so i let her take advantage of me.”

hatori winces at ayame’s ill phrasing. “did you have to say it like that?”

leaning closer, shigure whispers low enough just for hatori to hear. “maybe she needs your comforting shoulder, too.”

“i told you to shut up.”

hatori gets up to leave before shigure can get another word out—he knows shigure will get another word out. with no set destination in mind, his feet move on their own accord. soon, he’s at his usual spot by the river.

you cross his mind again. recounting the events from today, he fails to pinpoint what caused the shift in your demeanor—if he caused it. it only leads to more questions because what did he even do?

he pushes his thoughts away, reaching into his pocket for a cigarette to clear his head but when he sees you walking in his direction, he decides against it.

“why do i always find you here?” you ask as soon as you join him where he’s stood at the riverside.

“it’s peaceful.”

“i’m guessing shigure finally pushed you to your limit.”

“i spoke too soon.” his dry humor coaxes a chuckle out of you and it’s only then hatori realizes how much he missed the sound of it. “i saw you with ayame today.”

“he just stayed with me for a bit. seeing me all by myself must have been too depressing even for him.”

“are you sure you’re okay?”

“mhm,” you hum in confirmation. when hatori doesn’t pry further, you change the subject. “remember when i asked you about soulmates and you told me to ask ayame instead?”

“i remember.” and you did, he doesn’t say out loud.

“well, i did. and he does,” you tell him. “believe, i mean. he said meeting his soulmate would be a beautiful surprise—something about braving the search for the uncertain making the discovery all the more blissful.” you smile as you recall ayame’s words. you can’t fault him for his flamboyant idealism because you know he has a big heart to show for it—it’s who he is. “i know it’s ayame we’re talking about but i think it’s nice to believe in something like that.”

“do you?”

how a question so concise can hold so much weight, you don’t know. but something in the way hatori asks you feels like the load has been dropped to your chest.

i don’t believe in soulmates. to this day, you still hear hatori’s words loud and clear and it’s like your heart is going to cave in. because you do—at least, you want to believe in it.

“i don’t know... maybe?” you suppose that’s the safe answer. “maybe soulmates exist but not everybody gets to meet theirs. sounds unfair, doesn’t it?”

“you can’t let that hold you back.”

a chuckle erupts from your lips though the sound is free of humor. “i’m scared i’ll meet my ‘soulmate’,”—you air quote the word—“and they don’t feel the same way.”

“if they are what you say they are, i don’t think you should worry about it.”

“and if they’re not? i don’t know if i can handle that.”

hatori takes him time mulling his words over before settling on a response. “you can avoid it altogether but there’s nothing worse than spending your whole life thinking what could’ve been…”

you glance at his direction and catch him smiling to himself wistfully as if he’s reminiscing a fond memory. you wonder if he’s thinking about kana.

you’ve never met his ex-fiancée but from what you’ve heard, they seemed to be the epitome of fated lovers had akito not meddled. and as if the knife hadn’t been twisted enough, hatori was forced to erase kana’s memories—being the only sohma to possess that ability—to free her from the torment of her entanglement with the binds of his curse which, in turn, had become hers as well. all because she loved him sincerely.

without any recollection of her relationship with hatori, kana is now married to someone else and hatori seems to have moved on.

you look away from him, staring straight ahead and feeling ashamed because it feels so wrong to use that in your favor but…

“you think i should just go for it?” you ask hatori.

“i do.”

“even if it’s you?”

your voice comes out a whisper but the immediate hush from hatori, amplifying the tension encompassing you both tells you it’s enough to bring everything at a standstill.

the longer his silence drags on, the deeper your heart sinks. you can only wish that in its descent, it crushes the butterflies in your gut, putting an end to your foolish feelings once and for all. but you know it won’t.

just like how you’ve fallen for him, no depth is deep enough—your heart will just have to plummet endlessly. maybe time will numb you but you’re certain that one way or another, you’re always going to have love for him.

“this is the part where you tell me off,” you say in jest but it falls painfully flat.

“if i told you i feel the same way, would you start believing then?”

if it was possible for your entire system to shut down in an instant, you’re almost convinced that it already has because with your breath catching in your throat comes the pounding in your head that matches the beat of your heart hammering wildly against your chest.

you muster enough courage to finally look at hatori, almost flinching when you find him already staring at you. and with that, everything begins to fade out of focus until it’s just him—laying himself bare for the first time and yet, you’re the one who feels disarmed.

even at the zenith of your emotions, his touch still grounds you as his thumb gently swipes over the apple of your cheek. “you’re crying.”

“i’m nervous,” you sheepishly mumble.

“i think i’m the one who should be nervous. i heard you say you love ayame.”

you can never tell with the monotony in hatori’s voice so for a moment, you think he’s crushed but when you only find the affection he holds for you in his eyes, you decide to poke fun at him in your usual good-natured fashion.

“jealous?” despite the shake of his head, a smile creeps across hatori’s face. “he’s my friend, too. i do love him. and shigure. a little.”

hatori laughs—an actual laugh, you note—and closes the distance between the two of you, pulling you into his embrace as he presses a chaste kiss on your temple.

as infuriating as shigure’s teasing may be, hatori realizes it’s the little push he needed to take another leap. ever since what happened with kana, the notion of falling in love again seemed too big a risk but now standing on the edge with you, he doesn’t mind the free fall at all.

but hatori swears to die before he tells shigure. otherwise, he’ll never hear the end of it.

“i can’t believe you actually like me,” you mumble against his chest. “is it by choice or you know… ‘happenstance’?”

releasing his hold on your torso, hatori gently cradles your face in his palms, his purple eyes staring into yours so lovingly that it’s in full contrast with the words that come out of his mouth.

“i almost forgot how vexing you are.”

your smirk morphs into a full-blown grin. “you’re not answering my question.”

“figure it out yourself.” his words are muttered against your lips before he captures them in a kiss that swiftly grows in fervor, setting your nerves ablaze—and like ice to a flame, you melt into his touch.

the whole world is soon forgotten—just the two of you in motion as time freezes, giving way and lending itself generously to prolong this moment for your lover to commit to memory. perhaps this is the universe remembering what it owed him and handing it over on a silver platter.

there’s no more binding promise to tie hatori down but careful not to push his luck with jinxes, he doesn’t say anything definite. maybe it’s fate, maybe it’s coincidence, maybe it’s neither or both but one thing is for certain: hatori believes in soulmates.

how else would you have found a way to get under his skin and on his nerves then straight to his heart?

#fruits basket #fruits basket imagine #fruits basket headcanons #fruits basket x reader #hatori sohma #hatori sohma x reader #hatori x reader

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