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#( like i know there's loads of different arcs )
evelyntano · 10 hours
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Continuation of ''When & How the Bad Batch realize that they're in love''
### Eve's Headcanons -- When & How the Bad Batch confess their love & share their first kiss ###
warnings: uh. feelings and emotions. that's it. i think?
english is not my native language
''Oh, Eve, why are you blessing us with th-'' shut up, I am going feral over a Hunter piece I wrote but I can't share it because a) it's x OC, b) I am fucking terrified of sharing full-on drabbles with the world lol. also I wrote this pre this weeks episode.
Anyways, I figured those first headcanons deserve a sequel.
once again, bone app the teeth.
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Hunter || CT-9901
Confessing His Love
Hunter strikes me as both someone who will confess his love before the first kiss, but also someone who'd kiss you in a loaded/intense/emotional moment and only confess his love afterward, when you've both calmed down a little.
I think he'd be thinking about it quite often - well, he'd be overthinking it to a degree, too.
Should he just tell you now, without making a big thing out of it? Or should he wait for a more peaceful moment, when the situation with the Empire is over? Should he tell you at all? Those questions probably haunt him at night.
It'll get to the point where he's so distracted by those thoughts whenever you're around that people notice it; they don't know why he's acting differently, but they can tell that something's up.
One day, during a calmer moment, he'll pull you aside to talk about it.
He'll be nervous and unsure how to word it, but he'd eventually confess his feelings vaguely - I don't see him uttering the words ''I love you'' in a moment like this, to be honest. Something along the lines of ''I care about you deeply'' seems more fitting for Hunter in a calm, soft moment.
Alternatively, you were in a more heated moment (either intense sparring, or after a battle) and after his emotions took over, he just confessed.
First Kiss
His first kiss depends on the scenario you'd rather go with, to be honest.
If his confession was during a calm, soft moment, then he didn't kiss you right then - unless you kiss him first, but we're talking about his first kiss.
It will probably take him a while to get to the point where he's comfortable enough to kiss you; there's just too much going on, and it will take him one of those properly peaceful moments (like on Pabu) to calm down enough to pull you aside for a private moment and eventually share your first kiss together.
If he hasn't confessed yet, and we go the ''heated moment'' route, the situation will pan out differently.
I'll go from a ''sparring'' perspective, 'cause I've written those often enough: Hunter strikes me like someone that would rather distract himself then confront certain feelings/situations.
So, how does he do it? He asks you to spar with him - something that might not be the smartest decision, but he can't really stay away from you forever, and he's trying to show you ''Hey! I don't hate you or anything. I apologize for acting so weird lately.'' (spoiler: continues acting odd)
Yet, as you get a little too into it while sparring, having pinned him to the ground, you notice how differently he looks at you; and before you realize it, the situation changes.
This is the moment where I can see him go ''Fuck it.'' and just kiss you without thinking; a confession follows afterward...eventually.
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Echo || CT-1409
Confessing His Love
*bangs head against wall* I'm so bad at analyzing Echo, I hate it here. Why does he make things so hard for me. *points accusing finger at him* Why do you hate me?!
Anyway, he's more prepared for it? How do I explain this...Echo is quite aware of his feelings, even if he's grumpy upon realizing. I think he'll reprimand himself for a long time for it, especially if you previously knew each other (back when he was an ARC Trooper & you his superior, perhaps).
When he gets past that point (can you call it denial?), he's quite certain about how he'll proceed, but I do think he'd wait until the major battles are over - well, as far as they can be.
I believe that Echo would put protecting the galaxy and helping his brothers over confessing his love for a while; or, after confessing his love, he'd openly state that his focus is somewhere else currently.
Regardless of when he confesses his love, I believe that it'll still play out roughly the same way; he'll wait for a moment alone with you, maybe catch you while you're working on something and strike up a conversation.
He'll might end up a little nervous and stutter at the beginning, but he'll be more straight-to-the-point than Hunter, for example. He'll still be...almost cautious about the way he says it, (''I think I love you'' kinda cautiousness, yk) but you'll ultimately get a proper confession.
First Kiss
welp, regardless of when he confesses, I want to think that his first kiss (emphasis on his; when he initiates it) would be after everything is over.
I just can't see him put his duty aside to find a moment in which he could have that intimate moment with you amidst the galaxy being in shambles, lol.
Maybe after one of the bigger battles is thought and they return to a safe haven, away from the Empire, you two will find each other alone and away from everyone; you'll be talking about the next steps, sharing possible plans and ideas on where to go now.
Eventually, one of you will mention your future together; I can see Echo be the one, since I think his partner would respect his priority to focus on helping the Republic, so they won't ''push'' such conversations on him.
He'll open that topic saying that he was thinking about where your future will lead you two, explaining how he wants you by his side through it all (this is basically a marriage proposal, jfc).
And after you reassure him that you feel the same and won't leave him, he'll eventually muster up the courage and kiss you; a little like a promise of sorts? A pact. I'm not sure how to say it, but I hope you get the gist of it.
That might be your first and last kiss for a while, though; as I've mentioned, Echo puts his duty first in most cases and while he does have you by his side through it all, he's not one to consider many moments ''right'' for a kiss.
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Wrecker || CT-9903
Confessing His Love
I'm drowning in specific tropes when it comes to this guy, really. He's just so loving and not afraid of showing it, and that goes for the person he falls in love with, too.
But, oh boy, will he be nervous! We've seen Wrecker, so I can't see him be confident and suave about it - well, at least after the realization that he's in love settles in. Before that? He's unbothered. He thinks you're just like family to him so there's nothing to overthink! Right? ...Right?
When he eventually realizes that, oh shit, he doesn't just think you're incredible, amazing, talented, spectacular, and more, but he's actually in love with you, he'll...well, ''panic'' is too strong of a word, I think.
While he spent a lot of time with you before that, you notice how something...changed; he'll still ask you out to spend time with him (and Omega), but you'll notice how he's suddenly more nervous when you ask specific questions.
I think you'll have to be the one to pull him aside for this one; he'll be too nervous and overthink it, unsure how to say it, so he'll just be rambling, trying to get his point across, which is both endearing and confusing (depending on you, really).
But, ultimately, he'll just blurt the ''I love you'' out, I think; maybe not those exact words, but the love confession, I mean. And the he'll either continue to ramble in an attempt to make the situation less awkward, or he'll look away, too embarrassed to say anything more.
I'm holding Wrecker gently as I'm typing this, if you even care.
First Kiss
I think my brain blanked, help.
I feel like he's the only person to actually ask for a kiss right after his confession; when he initially gets past either the continuous rambling or the embarrassed silence.
He'll eventually start blushing a lot, not really able to hold your gaze, but at one point he'll look up and sheepishly ask you if he can kiss you.
Though, I can see him do it at a later time, too. Like, after you had the conversation, you confess your own feelings to him and you leave the conversation at a light-hearted note; and then, maybe only minutes later, but maybe also hours later, he'll approach you timidly and ask if he could kiss you.
Ultimately, what I'm trying to say is: He's rather quick to ask for that kiss directly, unlike most of the others (except for those ''heated moments'' as scene with Hunter).
I've mentioned this before, but he is so full of love and affection. I just can't see him be someone that abandons affection and kisses, regardless of the situation he's in. Where the other's are cautious due to...well, obvious concerns and dangers...he doesn't let those dangers stop him from showing you affection.
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Tech || CT-9902
Confessing His Love
I'm not sure how to properly explain this, but he's...more of a Thinker than a Feeler? Is that how you describe it? Uh, he's in control over his emotions - they do not affect him in the way they affect others; specifically thinking about that scene between him & Omega, when they were talking about Echo ''leaving'' them.
I'm not sure how to properly articulate it with my mediocre english skills and my limited vocabulary, but he's...he's just really chill about it all, lol. He doesn't overthink and get nervous or panic in the way that his brother's do.
I think he delays his confession because he struggles to articulate how he feels; he knows how to explain it, but he doesn't want to give you a scientific explanation or a description of his feelings for you; he wants to properly confess his love.
I'd still say it just...happens; in my preceding post, I mentioned how he falls in love with the way you talk about things that excite you, and I'm guessing his confession happens during one of those late night talks between you two.
He'll just slip it in, not even realizing how serious and heavy of a topic that is to some people; yes, he focused on making it a confession, but you know, he didn't realize that it wasn't just a thing you could confess in passing, lol.
Tech casually drops that confession in your late night talk, admitting how he noticed that he loves your voice, and that leads to him revealing his feelings to you.
There's obviously emotion in the way he says it, even if it's ''in passing'', and when he turns to meet your surprised gaze, his expression is incredibly tender.
Save to say, you were at a loss for words. And I can only repeat it over and over again: This man can unintentionally be so bloody smooth.
First Kiss
I've mentioned this in a previous post, but I don't see him be someone that kisses his partner on the lips lol. Anyway, we need a ''proper first kiss'', I suppose.
...I am torn again, lol. One possibility (imo) is that he'll be just as casual with the first kiss as he was with the confession; it'll happen just randomly, in passing.
You'll be having another one of your casual talks, now more intimate and special than they were before, and as he stands up to leave (or for you two to move to bed), he'll help you up and plant a brief kiss on your lips without even thinking about it.
On one hand, I can see him not even realize that he did it because it just felt so ''natural'' to him; on the other hand, I can see him having stared at you the entire time and when he noticed that the conversation was about to end, something within him just felt the need to kiss you.
Another thing I can see happen is that he'll put proper ''effort'' into your first kiss; I'm thinking of a Pabu sunset, you know? He'll ask you for a walk, or another one of your late night talks and go somewhere more private with you.
There, you'll not really have your typical random conversations, but he'll actually kick it off with a (probably practiced) speech on how much he cares about you, which is basically him asking for permission to kiss you.
And then you'll get your first kiss in the light of the setting sun. He'll probably ramble more after this kiss, eventually even getting somewhat nervous this time - well, not nervous, but sheepish, I'd say.
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Crosshair || CT-9904
Confessing His Love
*user left the server* I think my brain gave up, lol; I can't believe that he's the one I write for the most, yet I'm actually a little stumped here.
We've seen how soft Crosshair can be, but we also know he's the youngest sibling a little shit (affectionately) sometimes, so I'm trying to find a middle ground for this.
In my preceding headcanons, I mentioned how he'd be avoidant and annoyed (@ himself, but he'll make it everyone's problem) by the realization that he loves you, so I'm certain that his confession might take among the longest.
Obviously, he'll need to continue his healing journey first, and I can also see him be more open around Omega about the whole situation, indirectly asking for her help when it comes to the whole ''being in love'' ordeal.
His confession can go different ways, I think; what I have in mind is him finding you when you're alone - no, he won't actively pull you aside, but he'll wait for a moment to approach you when there's no one around to interrupt.
He'll start it off with some snarky remark, or some sassy comment on whatever you're doing - it's his way of getting a conversation started; you'll engage, obviously, and now it can go either way, really.
I'm torn, since I think if you gave him your undivided attention, he'd be too nervous and uncertain to confess properly; he'd eventually just dismiss his feelings in that moment and deflect to a different topic.
When you don't give him your full attention right away, he'll be able to gather more courage as he leads the conversation in the right direction; eventually, he'll say something to make you turn around and look at him - by then, he might just be standing right in front of you.
That's when soft!Crosshair comes through; he'll be hesitant, unsure how to put it, but he'll ultimately voice his thoughts and feelings rather rationally. There won't be a big ''I love you'', nor anything that direct, but it'll be a pure confession of love.
First Kiss
So, soft!Crosshair is how I headcanon him, and his first kiss will also be fitting that version of him; sure, I totally understand the people that write him differently (and I adore those fics, etc.), but I'll be sticking with this version of him.
Once again, I am torn between different possibilities; now, as I'm writing this, I feel like that first kiss would happen at the same time as his confession.
After he confesses, it's basically just the two of you standing there and staring at each other, having admitted your feelings. And I can see him take that moment to just go ''Screw it,'' drop his defense walls and kiss you.
I feel like you won't even register that he's going for a kiss until it's happening, because you just didn't expect him to, but after that confession, Crosshair felt like he'd risk everything for you, and then that urge to kiss you took over.
Another way I can see his first kiss play out is when it comes to one of those ''life or death'' situations; yes, that kinda clashes with the soft!Crosshair talk, but have you seen how protective he is of Omega?
Imagine something happening to you, you nearly dying or getting taken by the Empire; Crosshair will be losing his mind, especially after you've confessed your love to each other sometime before that.
I can see him just drop his walls in front of everyone when he gets you back, kissing you in that moment without even registering the people around him. That's obviously a moment in which everyone would kiss their lover, but in Crosshair's case, I feel like this is also big enough to be his proper first kiss, yk?
welp, if y'all want these (and the preceding) headcanons for some of our other clones...let me know!
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outofthemouthsof · 1 day
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15-Day BL Challenge in 1 Night!
I'm more of a lurker than a poster but Tumblr's my fave place to wallow in BLness. My 2nd favorite place is the spreadsheet where I track the shows I've watched (172 completed in just over a year), so @negrowhat 's challenge was irresistible. I'm gonna cram my answers in one post. Here goes!
Fave OG Actor Pairing: Some of the ones I think of as OG are only like 4 years old, so this was tough. And the 18 shows that have gotten my top score aren't very old. But I went through those 18 and picked the oldest, and it was the 2018 Korean microfilm Some More. Because it's so short it's super rewatchable, but even if I wasn't able to watch the whole thing a half dozen times (which I have), I'd still have gone back & watched the sweet moments and sex scene about 25 times (which I have). So I guess my fave OG actor pairing is Park Chan Ung and Kim Joon Bum! How they got me so deeply invested in their love in mere minutes is beyond me, but they did!
Fave Rookie Actor Pairing: Does Japan do the CP thing that Thailand does? I don't think so, but one couple I wish had about a dozen more BL series together lined up are Kouhei Higuchi and Atsuki Mashiko of My Personal Weatherman! Their chemistry was visceral and they're too pretty to be believed.
Side Dish That Should've Been the Main Course: While I enjoyed the main pairing a lot, they were nothing compared to the crazy rollercoaster side plot (how'd it go from so funny to SO dark to so sexy to so sweet and wholesome like that??) of Vegas/Pete from KinnPorsche!
Fave Ship Dynamic: Obvs from answers 2 & 3 I am not against D/s ships at ALL. Also a sucker for tough-but-submissive-bodyguard with mafia-brat-prince. Honestly I like tons of different dynamics from innocent to toxic, but one that gives me major butterflies is a guy who thinks he's straight but when confronted with the idea of liking another guy, doesn't have a macho freakout or run away, just kind of straightforwardly & sincerely searches his feelings until he figures it out. And then takes care of his baby. Why's that so HOT and sweet? Some of my fave examples: Pete/Ae in Love By Chance, Le Jian/Amber from DNA Says Love You, and Ida/Aoki from My Love Mix-Up!
Biggest Flop: This is expectations vs. execution, right? There's loads of shows I've abandoned, some I've stuck with for no good reason, etc., that are way worse than what I consider my personal biggest let-down. I was so enamored of Perth from LBC that I assumed he could do no wrong, and the bully-to-lover, rich/poor pairings often do it for me. So I guess I just assumed Dangerous Romance would be amazing, and it was REALLY good for a couple episodes. It wasn't the worst thing I ever saw, but so much of it just ... felt ... flat. Very surprising.
Fave Line From Your Fave Series: Well I know my fave series--Cherry Magic Thailand was the most perfect, entrancing, heartwarming series EVER, OMG, it was staggeringly good and stuck the landing in a way few shows have managed. I can't really think of one standout line--the script was so on point & there were HUNDREDS of sweet tingly moments. There were some epic ones in ep11 tho: When Achi says "The voice inside your head is so loud" and Karan (the boldest he's ever been) replies "Don't worry; soon you won't be able to read my mind anymore." (But then clearly uses that power one more time to gain the sweetest nonverbal consent EVER.) Then, Karan: "Do you regret losing your power?" Achi: "I'd regret not loving you." (OMG how I squealed.)
Fave Villain: This was so tough. An over-the-top villain I loved to hate (and an actor I loved from his sweetie-pie green-flag role in SCOY) was obvs Heng Asavarid as Chalothon in The Sign. But an actor who was so excellent at being loathsome and malicious toward the main couple, with just enough of a redemption arc that I didn't totally despise the character by the end (but did hate most of the way through): Park Hae In as Eun Ji (Jae Won's ex) in The Eighth Sense. It was a typical "faen fatale" role but so well done. So a tie between 2 totally different takes on the destructive ex.
The Trope You Hate Except When It's "This Series": OK, "hate" is a strong word for how I feel about the drop-of-rain-makes-you-ill so love-interest-takes-care-of-you trope. It's OK. But holy SHIT is it overused. Holy shit. I sigh resignedly when I realize we're going there. EXCEPT. When P'Phayu goes to visit Rain in Love in the Air when he's sick, and his version of caregiving? Forcibly applying medicine in the form of a rectal suppository. It is so funny, weirdly sexy, very in line with their dynamic (doesn't get in the way of their romance moments later at all), & it shoves a big middle finger up the overoveroverused sick-bed trope.
Most Visually Pleasing Love Scene: Okay, THE scene in The Sign is the clear winner in my & many people's books. But there are so many runners-up: the post-race one in Love in the Air. Just about every one in Pit Babe (both couples) & My Personal Weatherman. (A lot of other faves don't quite qualify as visually or emotionally pleasing--lustfully pleasing should be a 3rd category in this challenge!)
Most Emotionally Pleasing Love Scene: Again, I have a clear winner: Cherry Magic Thailand. So full of emotion, so well deserved, so everything. Sigh. But lots of runners-up: same scene in The Sign, both kissing scenes in DNA Says Love You (tame but soo emotionally satisfying), Ray & Sand's camper reunion in Only Friends, the post-prison love scenes for both couples in Kiseki: Dear to Me, the 1st time in I Feel You Linger in the Air ...
Breakup That Should've Stayed Broken Up: Maybe it's because I try to be choosy in what I watch all the way thru or maybe I'm a big softy who tends to root for every couple no matter how lame. In all my completed shows, I could only think of 2 breakups where I wasn't at all invested in them getting back together (and maybe against it): Tian/Poon, What Zabb Man and Top/Mew, Only Friends.
Wedding You Wish You Had an Invite To: If we're talking weddings that actually appeared in the show, Achi and Karan's in Cherry Magic Thailand, obvs! If it's hypothetical weddings, I'd be desperate to go to one of ANY of the characters in Playboyy! I'd wear a bulletproof vest & bring my own flask of booze, but it would be the trashy chaos-filled social event of a lifetime.
Give 5 Good Boys a Gold Star: Just 5? OK, some I haven't mentioned yet. 1. Shin Woo, Light on Me, 2. Palm, Never Let Me Go, 3. Mohk, Last Twilight, 4. Thun, He's Coming to Me, 5. Neua, Secret Crush on You. Best boys!
The Top 5 Most Sad Boys: I'll limit it to ones where the suffering was kinda pretty, not just painful. 1. Way, Pit Babe, 2. Akk, The Eclipse, 3. Kaipa/Gaipa, Moonlight Chicken, 4. Hae Bom, Cherry Blossoms After Winter, 5. Kiyoi, My Beautiful Man
Bestest Besties: Just one? Gah! Fine, Pearl & Gavreel in Gameboys. She got those boys together in quarantine!
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thymewayster · 1 year
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Really good Twitter thread originally about Elon Musk and Twitter, but also applies to Netflix and a lot of other corporations.
Full thread. Text transcription under cut.
John Bull @garius
One of the things I occasionally get paid to do by companies/execs is to tell them why everything seemed to SUDDENLY go wrong, and subs/readers dropped like a stone. So, with everything going on at Twitter rn, time for a thread about the Trust Thermocline /1
So: what's a thermocline?
Well large bodies of water are made of layers of differing temperatures. Like a layer cake. The top bit is where all the the waves happen and has a gradually decreasing temperature. Then SUDDENLY there's a point where it gets super-cold.
That suddenly is important. There's reasons for it (Science!) but it's just a good metaphor. Indeed you may also be interested in the "Thermocline of Truth" which a project management term for how things on a RAG board all suddenly go from amber to red.
But I digress. The Trust Thermocline is something that, over (many) years of digital, I have seen both digital and regular content publishers hit time and time again. Despite warnings (at least when I've worked there). And it has a similar effect. You have lots of users then suddenly... nope. And this does effect print publications as much as trendy digital media companies. They'll be flying along making loads of money, with lots of users/readers, rolling out new products that get bought. Or events. Or Sub-brands.
And then SUDDENLY those people just abandon them. Often it's not even to "new" competitor products, but stuff they thought were already not a threat. Nor is there lots of obvious dissatisfaction reported from sales and marketing (other than general grumbling). Nor is it a general drift away, it's just a sudden big slide. So why does this happen? As I explain to these people and places, it's because they breached the Trust Thermocline.
I ask them if they'd been increasing prices. Changed service offerings. Modified the product.
The answer is normally: "yes, but not much. And everyone still paid" Then I ask if they did that the year before. Did they increase prices last year? Change the offering? Modify the product?
Again: "yes, but not much."
The answer is normally: "yes, but not much. And everyone still paid." "And the year before?"
"Yes but not much. And everyone still paid."
Well, you get the idea. And here is where the Trust Thermocline kicks in. Because too many people see service use as always following an arc. They think that as long as usage is ticking up, they can do what they like to cost and product.
And (critically) that they can just react when the curve flattens But with a lot of CONTENT products (inc social media) that's not actually how it works. Because it doesn't account for sunk-cost lock-in.
Users and readers will stick to what they know, and use, well beyond the point where they START to lose trust in it. And you won't see that. But they'll only MOVE when they hit the Trust Thermocline. The point where their lack of trust in the product to meet their needs, and the emotional investment they'd made in it, have finally been outweighed by the physical and emotional effort required to abandon it. At this point, I normally get asked something like:
"So if we undo the last few changes and drop the price, we get them back?"
And then I have to break the news that nope: that's not how it works.
Because you're past the Thermocline now. You can't make them trust you again.
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radiocrypt-id · 2 months
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The bad kids haven't really looked too closely at the Rat Grinders (meta wise I know it's a commentary on different play styles and how shitty xp farming is and how op players/parties can become by doing the bare minimum if they put in the time while everyone else plays the damn game) but I find the split perspective problems absolutely fascinating. I can't wait for the Bad Kids to look at the Rat Grinders with envy and anger that the Rat Grinders got to live a normal highschool life without all this insane danger and experience being a teenager without it being the end of the world for them. Right now they just hate the Rat Grinders energy and are matching it back (which is a very high school thing to do. To have beef with a whole other group of kids and not even know why but you'll die on this hill because they started shit first)
Because to the Rat Grinders, from a purely outside perspective, the Bad Kids are fucking monarchs of the school, right? They skipped classes, ran around town, fought people, got arrested, hung out with a big devil? Every new staff member came at their recommendation? One of them has both her dads working at the school?? The destroyed school property, got teachers killed, straight murdered the coach? These fucking kids run around and are apparently scott-free? because the principal liked their chaos enough to let it go and help them avoid the police? To the Rat Grinders, the Bad Kids are untouchable. They're exempt from the law. They're liars, cheats and need to be humbled. It's unfair. From everyone elses perspective, it really does look like the Bad Kids have been given crazy favourtism.
Meanwhile, all of the Bad Kids have died at least once. They've been irreparably changed and are in a constant state of fight or flight. They assume everything is dangerous and anyone might be an enemy because for two goddamn years that was the exact case! They couldn't trust any adult first year! Literally anyone could have been infected with Kalina second year! who knows what happened with the Night Yord but I fucking bet they had issues with Yorbies pretending to be helpful just to kill them! Everyone, for two years, has been out to get them! They can't even sleep! And now they have to grind so hard or they fail. Adaine has a seemingly full time job after school basically every day because she literally can't afford to live? Fabian has taken on the most physically strenuous classes and sport one dude could and has dreams of also being a social legend because he's fucking lonely in that big house and he just wants to fill it. If anyone in the party fails or dies Riz is shit out of luck and wont ever get into a university? He so desperately wants his friends with him so he's working over time and ignoring his limits to make up for his party members not caring about the future. Fig is going through the strangest arc I've ever seen in my life? she's hard avoidant and taking three classes, so a 250% work load, because she's desperate to fill her time so she can't think about all the other work she has to do that if she ignores too long could crush her under the debt of her band from her label, or how alone she feels without her girlfriend around. Gorgug is so desperate to prove himself that he's doing four years of school work in one, trying to play catch up and also prove himself at the same time, he's taking it all so seriously but also is so fucking tired. And Kristen. Mother fucking Kristen "hey girlie" applebees. Expected to dedicate her life to a god with no direction, with the weight of failure being her gods death, while also being in school and also at your friends insistence needing to run for student body president and getting your priorities so mixed up and being completely left behind by her peers who didn't have to rework their entire world view and understanding of life in the span of a few months every few months.
The Bad Kids are in a terrible place. They're suffering. I want them to just say it out loud, to stop pretending they have it handled and are fine. I want Riz and Adaine to yell at the party to get their shit together. I want Fabian to tell someone how alone and abandoned her feels. I want Kristen to scream at Cassandra that she agrees, that it's not fair, she's just a kid, how could she be enough all on her own with no help? It sucks a god can only rely on a child, for both the god and child! They're both suffering from this arrangement! Neither is happy! I want Gorgug to beat the shit out of Porter with his inventions and rage at the same time, to make the best shit and use it in the most stunning way anyone has ever seen. I want Fig to finally get some freaking help, to have her teachers and parents reach out in a meaningful way and stop telling her to figure it out alone because clearly the pressure is too much for her to handle and she's drowning. I want someone, anyone, to look at the Bad Kids and tell them to stop. To help them. But I know it wont be that easy. I know it'll be the Rat Grinders yelling at how unfair it is the Bad kids get everything while they're on the sidelines that'll get under the Bad Kids skin and they'll yell about how awesome they are and that they didn't ask for any of this shit to happen to them and to fuck off. I know it's gonna get so much worse before it gets better. I know they'll figure it out and that it'll be a painful road there.
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vendetta-if · 5 months
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Chapter 6 Part 3 + Major System Public Update! 🎉
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Hello everyone! 👋 It's finally time for the public update! 😁 This update brings in 24K of new words, bringing Chapter 6 wordcount in total to 89.4K words and the total demo wordcount to 325.3K words! This update brings Chapter 6 to a neat close, which is important because to me, Chapter 6 is like the end of the first arc of the book. 
Not only that, but I have also added a few major coding functions with this update, namely, a skip chapter function, and an autosave and reload function. I'm aware that my demo is getting longer, so I assume a skip chapter function might  be a welcome addition. 
It took me a long time to plan and figure out how to implement these systems, but in the end, after a lot of personal testing, I have finally managed to make them work.
WARNING: It's highly advised that you either play from the beginning with clean saves (or try out the new skip chapter function). I messed with some of the old variables as well, including Santana's and Skylar's default relationship values. Do not reload the saves to avoid potential future errors.
What's to expect from the new update:
Dropping Rin off to their apartment (and maybe, if you've been a good boy/girl, you can get a little smooch 😘)
Have an angsty talk with Uncle Luka 😥
But don't worry, there are potential wholesome moments too (if you choose them, of course 😉)
Another POV of the killer 😈 To see more on how they think and what they know so far.
Brand new skip chapter function! (Currently only for Chapter 6)
An autosave and reload function! (Currently only for Chapter 6)
Plus some new little stuff added in previous chapters.
New stuff added to previous chapters:
Chapter 2: Add proper introduction scene with Ivan and Boris, the twin bodyguards, highlighting their different personalities and their relationship with MC and Ash. They have changed quite a lot and become more fleshed out compared to the first time I wrote them.
Chapter 4: For MCs who said yes to Yvette when she asked them whether they are interested in becoming a Superhero, you now have the option to accept her guidance and reconnect with her or reject her guidance but still have a choice whether to reconnect with her or not. This is in contrast to how those who said yes was forced to reconnect with her.
Chapter 6: Meddle, fix, and add some background variables. Another reason to play from the beginning and to not load old saves.
Also, I have a side story just released on both Patreon and Ko-Fi and a spicy one coming really soon! I'm also still opening ideas/suggestions for this month's side stories until November 11th and then after that, we'll have our polls! So if you're also interested in supporting me while also getting these exclusive contents, please do consider becoming a member! 💖🥰
[DEMO] | [PATREON] | [KO-FI] | [COG FORUM] | [DISCORD]
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barbwritesstuff · 3 months
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Thicker Than December Update
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The update link:
Thicker Than Free Demo
Update info:
As of the 26th of December 2023
Finished Chapter Six
Started work on Chapter Seven (currently incomplete)
Added explicit scene with Freya in Chapter Four
Several bug and spelling fixes
Additional Words: 27,104 (excluding commands)
Total Word Count: 175,440 (excluding commands )
Other links:
Supporting me on KoFi helps ensures my ongoing survival, which I really do appreciate.
You can email me at barbara truelove writes at g mail dot com.
I have a website that I spent actual money on. I'm not sure why, but it's pretty.
If you like the way I write vampires maybe consider checking on the first story in this series, Blood Moon, which is about werewolves and is polished and pretty in a way this very much isn't.
Other free games can be found on my itch.io page.
My ramblings:
Merry Christmas and happy full moon. I really hope, wherever you are in the world, you’re having a great day. I won’t be able to see the moon tonight thanks to a circling storm cloud, but I’m hoping it’ll clear up tomorrow and I can do some stargazing.
I’ve managed to get quite a few words down this month, so I’m really happy about that. Chapter Six is finished, and I’ve started work on Chapter Seven. Chapter Seven is still in the early stages. Depending on your previous choices, it may not even exist yet on certain playthroughs. I’m sorry about that. It’s going to take some time to fill in all the different routes and bring them all together again.
I’ve also gone back to Chapter Four and added some more content in for Freya because several people told me they weren’t really vibing with her romance arc. I’m really glad I did that because I think speeding up her romance route makes a lot of sense and it flows better overall.
I’ve also done a lot of little edits scattered throughout. Nothing super major, but I hope it improves the flow of certain scenes.
On a more technical note: I’ve been having a weird issue with the automatic Choicescript tests in CSIDE. The random_test has been slowing to a crawl and/or freezing. It doesn’t spit out any errors, and the quick_test has been working fine, so I’m really not sure why this has started to happen. It may mean there is an infinite loop error somewhere in Chapter 6 or 7. If so, I haven’t been able to find it. If anyone encounters a page that loads forever but doesn’t show any text, please let me know. The game won’t be able to be submitted to Hosted Games if it can’t pass a random_test, so I really want to sort this out sooner rather than later.
If you spot any other errors, large or small, I’d be really grateful if you could let me know. Thicker Than is big enough now that it’s a little unwieldy to navigate, and hard to edit. I’m really grateful to the people who’ve taken the time to send me things which don’t look quite right. It’s so insanely helpful and really encouraging knowing you’re rooting for Thicker Than to succeed.
💙
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erros429 · 1 year
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there’s something so crazy about the way they’ve been building up ruby and blake parallels from the very start of their friendship. one of their first interactions arises because they’re both fans of books and fairytales, but they have wildly different perspectives of them. blake, who thinks that happily ever afters are naive, meets ruby, who thinks happily ever afters are the goal to strive for.
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after this, though, we don’t get a lot of moments between them. however, the little moments we do get are packed with loads of meaning. whenever they’re in a difficult situation, blake looks to ruby to have a plan. she both supports ruby and looks to her for support (something that she didn’t have a lot of experience with with the last leader [cough, adam, cough] she followed).
“we’ll follow your lead, ruby.”
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the biggest interactions that we see between them by far, however, is in volume 8. blake reflects about who she was before adam, and how she’d also been positive and hopeful like ruby (who now looks back on her own optimism with disgust). she even goes so far as to say that she’s admired that someone can hold onto that trait as long and as hard as ruby has.
“i know you don’t always know what to do, but that’s never stopped you from doing something. i was like that as a girl, but time — and a lot of other things — took their toll on me. then i wasn’t sure if that kind of girl could survive in the world. until i met you… i’ve always looked up to you ruby, and i still do.”
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and now we've reached volume 9, where ruby's influence on blake has helped her find her old true self once again. at this point, it's established that blake and ruby are following the same sort of character arc, both determined to make the world a better place but both continuously beaten down and defeated until they no longer believes in themself. and now that blake managed to pull herself from the trenches of self-loathing, we'll be following ruby's own journey of doing so as well.
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but that's why ruby's "shut up, don't do that." line to blake hits so fucking hard. because she hates facing the same thing that she'd said once upon a time. she hates facing her own naivety and her own attempts to salvage a situation.
she hates facing herself.
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mochiimac · 1 year
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About Love 1
My head gets messy when I try to hide
The things I love about you in mind
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Pairing: Hybrid!BTS x Fem!Reader
Summary: Becoming a best selling thriller author? Part of the plan. Living in the city and isolating yourself from everyone? Part of the plan. Inheriting your late uncles home in the woods, his sassy assistant and fortune after he died mysteriously? Not part of the plan. Oh, and he failed to mention the 7 'surprises' he left you as well.  And come to think of it... was his death an accident? Or is your imagination going wild again?
Genre: Hybrid!AU
Warnings (if bolded then this chapter contains these elements) : Fluff, Hurt, Comfort, Angst, Death, Abuse, Smut, Suggestive Themes, Violence, Dom/Sub, Non-Con Elements, Slow Burn, Trauma
Rating: M 18+
WC: ~7k
Tag List: OPEN- DM ONLY <3
Notes: Here is chapter 1! I’m so excited that people enjoyed the prologue, makes my heart happy(: I wonder who’s waiting for you in the house... Hmmm...
Prologue | Next>>
。❅*⋆⍋*。*⍋⋆*❅。
“It’s so early... not even the sun is awake... why do I hate myself...” A sob threatened to spill past your lips as you numbly walked outside. The cold air was bullying you into tears as it stung your face and hands. 
6 am. 6 am. Who was even up this early, especially on a cold day like this-
Oh yes. That would be you.
The city streets were painted in gold from the streetlights and the remaining leaves that were still clinging on for dear life, ignoring the snow that sprinkled the ground with all their might. It was as though the city had been tucked under a large white blanket overnight, a blanket made of glistening diamonds that reflected the warm lights from all around. Truth be told it was beautiful to look at… just not when you have to be awake and freezing. While some would find this scene breathtakingly beautiful you, on the other hand, craved a flamethrower to tear it all down and seek vengeance for your poor skin.
Just goes to show how important proper sleep and caffeine are to begin the day. It could make the difference between waking up with a smile or beginning your villain arc. 
Your whole apartment was packed and loaded into the new large SUV, a surprise that came last week with Jackson. You knew you had obtained Takoda’s vehicle but it was surprising that it was brand new and could hold up to 8 individuals. Takoda lived alone with no marriages nor children… So why the large vehicle? Why purchase this large car along with the house? You didn’t miss the confusion on Jackson’s face when he handed you the keys, a hushed comment of ‘When did he even buy this?’ didn’t go past you. It only added to the suspicion of your uncle’s death. 
What was Takoda planning? 
Unfortunately the city left you with dead ends: the Spades family was a family full of successful lawyers, all ranging from medical to even real estate. They were the Eevees of lawyers, your family: one Spades for every type. The family slogan? ‘ Always have an ace of Spades up your sleeve!’ Every time you heard it your teeth would grind together, because for them it wasn’t about the person they were representing. No, never about their clients. It was about the money. And so trying to worm your way around and see what truly happened and what the other morticians wrote was impossible. Their loyalty (and mainly wallets) would be with your father. Rowan Spades. You were going to keep pushing however a small and short voicemail had you stopping dead in your tracks.
“Hi sweetie! Just checking in, Officer Lee mentioned you’ve been asking about your uncle’s case, and… oh hon, I know this mourning process is hard. Reach out if you need to talk! Be careful out there… snow and all!”
Lei Spades, the one person who, despite being shunned, still tried to help you. Perhaps it was because she was your mother. Or maybe she simply didn’t want Rowan to get upset.  She had met Rowan when she was young and naive, hell, she was still naive at times. At least you hoped she was. It would be worse for her to know how corrupt your father was and simply turn a blind eye because the money was just too good. But she had saved you a few times in the past from your fathers wrath. This being one of them. She would never call unless she had to. And the number was unknown, not her personal phone. A quick warning for her daughter to back away. And if Lei was the one giving the warning then you knew it was best to keep low… for now. But you did have one more place to look into…
The large home that you had yet to step into. The mysterious building that your new ‘assistant’ was hushed about. Any questions asked were either ignored or cut off with him changing the subject. The one that Jackson was supposed to drive you to later that day. You didn’t miss the urgency in his voice the previous week, the way his eyes were looking deep into your own. The moment was implanted in your mind, the goosebumps could still be felt...
“We will leave Friday at noon. Agreed?” He stood at your door, hands in his pocket as his eyes bore into you. The deep brown that was usually cool seemed to be ignited with a fire of sorts at the topic of the house. You noticed this each time you tried to ask questions or pry; the man was a vault and seemed uneasy. 
Unfortunately that only ignited your own flame.  
You managed to laugh a little, eyebrow raised. A small test to see how he would react... “Uh, sure? I mean if I’m already up I can always head on out early and meet you-” Your words were cut off as you jumped back when Jackson stepped closer. He crowded your space, face inches from your own as his hand grasped your shoulders. You tried to step back but your heel collided with a wall. His fingers gripped your shirt, however it wasn’t painful. The fire that was in his eyes had increased tenfold and you actually felt a small shiver of fear slide down your spine.
“Together. At. Noon.” His words were cool and flat, but you could hear the underlying tone. He was stressed about something. And while every alarm was going off in your head you managed to school your face, putting on a mask of frozen shock instead. 
“N-noon… o-okay.” You managed to sound meek, the act working as Jackson gave you a small smile, hands squeezing your shoulders as he stepped back. 
“Not a minute early nor late.” His eyes seemed to have cooled down at your words. His flickered up and down your body, something you noticed he did before leaving each visit. “Stay safe, Heiress.”
As soon as the door closed you leaned against the wall, sliding down while taking deep breaths. He failed the test, he was hiding something and you were going to figure it out. If he can keep secrets then so could you. 
After that little show you had whipped out your phone and were quick to contact the Sanity Squad, the video call was between you and your three best friends. And they were in agreement: Jackson was hiding something and whatever it was, it was in the house. Of course the first topic was if you should all go together since the whole situation was bizarre.
 Theories of him killing you were out the window seeing that he had nothing to gain and too many opportunities to do so. Oh, and Jessi proclaimed he was ‘too hot’ to be a serial killer. The next theory seemed more plausible: he knew some information on Takoda’s death and wanted to make sure you didn’t find any clues. But Jackson had a key to the house so again, that was a dead end. He could easily hide the evidence or destroy it. 
Hours later, and a warning from your phone that the battery was going to die, you announced you would simply beat him there and see for yourself. It was your stance and no one could change your mind.
So here you are on this fine Friday morning, beating the sassy assistant by several hours, and hopping into a brand new vehicle. It was sleek and black, the interior dark with faux leather seats. A large touchpad illuminated the space and you were thankful it was able to self-drive. Although these types of cars are common many prefer the old fashioned way of driving and just doing it themselves. But with this tank? You preferred to let it do the work while you kicked back and watched.
You keyed in your first stop in the car’s GPS, feeling it slowly ease away from the building you had lived in for years. It was odd, knowing that you would never be back but at the same time it was a relief to be going to a place that had room to breathe. And no noisy neighbors to keep you up till the wee hours of the morning. Now that you would not miss, not one bit. But you would miss the cozy feel of the small space. It was bittersweet to see it fade behind you. 
Ten minutes later and you were parked outside the small coffee shop, I Need Brew, a place you would frequent with your friends. It was hybrid friendly and a great place for many hybrids to begin working, gaining skills for later careers. Or some chose to stay and continue working for the beloved company. It was run by Bang Chan with his fox hybrid Felix being a manager; you knew the two well after frequenting the quaint shop. The fox adored your visits and would often slip you free goodies when Chan wasn’t looking. 
Slipping inside you were greeted with warmth and the smell of fresh coffee and baked goods. The interior was designed to make everyone feel at ease and cozy, soft music playing in the background to help the customers gradually wake up without giving them a headache.
“Y/n? At this hour?” 
You looked around, knowing the voice but not knowing where it came from, but then Felix peaked his head around the corner from the back. bright orange hair held specks of flour with his orange ears shooting up. His voice was light and somewhat shocked, but still held the adoration he had for you. In return you smiled and stepped further inside. 
“I knew I smelt something sweet walking in,” His face broke into a wide smile. 
You smiled back, walking towards the counter. “Yeah it’s a bit early for me… I’ve actually come to meet up with the group.”
“Again, at this hour? Do you know what time it is-?” A buzzing noise had the fox looking over his shoulder. “Go sit, I’ll grab you your favorites and be out in a minute.” He disappeared around back as you moved further into the shop, eyes already set on your usual table.
The past few years your group and yourself had always sat at the table located on the furthest wall, right by the counter and where the employees would mingle when waiting for customers. It was how you befriended so many of the employees, all of whom knew your favorite beverages and treats by heart. As you sat you heard the front door’s bell jingle as a blonde walked in, heading straight for your table. 
“I’m surprised you actually woke up,” You grinned as Jessi sat in the chair across from you, snow flurries clinging to her winter coat. “You usually sleep through all your alarms.”
“And miss my best friend leaving to head to the woods alone? Not a chance,” Jessi gave you a grin but you could see the worry in it, leaning closer she asked, “Are you sure we can’t come along? What if something bad happens-?”
“Nothing bad is going to happen.” You waved her off, actually believing yourself. Despite the odd circumstances your instincts were letting you know that this wasn’t dangerous at all. It was more… interesting. “Besides we have that locator app, right? One click and you all know something is wrong and the police will be rushing to save me.” You could still see the doubt in her eyes as she listened.
“I think it’d be best to take one of us with you today… just for safety reasons.” Her arms crossed over her chest, leaning back and watching you. “Especially with all that is going on.”
You opened your mouth to protest once more however the familiar jingle of the bell alerted everyone of more customers. You could hear them before you could see them; quick footsteps headed towards you before arms encased your shoulders, a face buried in your neck as a soft vibration pressed against your back. Something soft and warm wrapped around your waist, tightening a fraction as a giggle reached your ears. 
“Wooyoung, how do you have so much energy this morning?” 
You glanced up to see Hongjoong taking a seat next to Jessi, the man looking exhausted with his iconic split black and white hair disheveled in a disastrous way.  His eyes were dead set on his hybrid Wooyoung who had wrapped himself around you, acting more snake than black panther. You could feel the cat’s purring increase, knowing those vibrant green eyes were focused on Hongjoong.
“Simple,” He nuzzled closer to you, feeling a grin on his face. “I have my Y/n here.” 
You remember when Hongjoong first adopted Wooyoung, how the black panther quite literally tackled you and complimented on how nice you smelt and was overjoyed to know that you were best friends with his owner. In his eyes that meant you were part of the ‘extended pack’, along with Jessi, and got to be scented just as much as Hongjoong was. Which he ensured you both were drenched in his scent, looking quite proud of himself each time. 
Reaching up you gently rubbed his head, scratching behind his ear just as he liked. You could feel how anxious he was, knowing you would be leaving, heading further away. It was an hour drive to get to the new home and his instincts weren’t liking having part of his pack be so far away. 
“You can still sell it and live with us,” Wooyoung mumbled into your neck, his breath tickling a bit. “Hyung wouldn’t mind.” 
“Aw, Woo, I won’t be so far away. Plus you can call whenever you want.” You received a pitiful whine from the male as he slowly let go of you, heading over to Jessi to scent her. It was hard to miss the droop of his ears, his last attempt at keeping you in the city gone. Although it tugged your heartstrings and almost made you want to change your mind, one look at Hongjoong and you knew he would be okay; the other male was smiling and shaking his head at the cat. 
“I know I said a minute but everyone else showed up. And these just came out fresh from the oven!” Felix was quick to hand out four mugs and a plate of mini muffins with different flavors. Stepping back his eyes landed on you with a raised eyebrow. “So, you’re going to your new home alone in the woods? I’m sure Chan can go with you if you need someone…” His voice trailed off, his tail flicking along with Wooyoung’s. Seemed like he didn’t like the idea either, his animal instincts wary of your decisions. You were thankful you weren’t part of their intimate packs- you wouldn’t even get your foot out the door. Let alone be able to grab the doorknob.
“It’s quite alright, it’s a new home I inherited.” You once again waved off the help. “Nothing wrong with it.” The fox nodded at your words, tail flicking once again to show his displeasure.
“But if anything happens you have people here, okay? Don’t be afraid to ask us for help.” With a boop to your nose he went back to baking while the four of you settled with small talk for a brief moment. Ignoring the world outside while you had the time and just living in the moment.
 Truth be told you had no idea how long it would before you got to see them once more. Pushing those thoughts aside you sipped your cup, smiling as Wooyoung took a seat next to you while Hongjoong and Jessi argued over a movie that just came out. As they argued Wooyoung shoved a gift bag in your lap, grinning over at you. 
“Woo got you a gift, well, he helped make it.” Hongjoong dropped the argument quickly when he heard the the bag being opened. You opened the gift and pulled out a beautiful red scarf. “The python hybrid next door, San? He taught Wooyoung how to knit.” Hongjoong beamed at Wooyoung with pride while the panther watched you, waiting to see your reaction.
There was a tremble in your lips as you pulled the incredibly soft scarf out. “Woo…” Tears threatened to fall as you turned to the panther. you felt his tail wrap back around you, pulling you into his chest as his purrs started once again.
“It’s made with love from us!” He smiled. “That way we’re never too far away… don’t cry, Y/n!” 
It was too late as a few tears fell, feeling Wooyoung pull you back into a hug that soon the others joined in with. “I have the best friends in the whole world.”
“Damn straight you do.” Jessi reached over, grabbing your hand with a grin.
“We love you too, Y/n.” Hongjoong placed his hand on top of Jessi’s, a soft smile on his face.
“You can still live with us- ” Wooyoung’s quick words were cut off with a whine when Hongjoong lightly wacked his arm. Pulling you closer to him, the panther let out the weakest growl you had ever heard. “In case she forgot, hyung not the ears!” You laughed as the growls turned into whines. 
Little moments like this made it even harder to say goodbye.
。❅*⋆⍋*。*⍋⋆*❅。
It felt as though you were now living in a snow globe. Tall pines loomed all around, the roads were covered with inches of snow, all while snow flurries floated all around. The sun may have been hidden behind the clouds but the snow offered enough light to make up for it: everywhere you looked you had to squint from the jarring white canvas. You could feel the SUV cruise cautiously through the piles of snow and up the hills that were hidden from your eyes. 
“GPS you better be taking me to the right place…” You mumbled, eyes straying warily to the trees that surrounded you. It felt as though you were encased in a sea of deep green and white; it never seemed to end no matter how far ahead you tried to look.
The estimated time of arrival said five minutes but you wanted to call bullshit on that. The tree’s were so dense, so dark, surely a home couldn’t be located here? Who even built this place? Crossing your arms you watched as the car slowly cruised forward, itching to get out and investigate the home in person. As well as text Jackson that you had left about seven that morning… though you were more happy to wait to send that message. More alone time for you to sneak around the place and it kept Jackson from scolding you a little longer.
“You have arrived!” 
Your mouth opened, ready to yell ‘Liar!’ but it quickly closed when the car slowly took a turn and hidden was a house. Truth be told anyone could drive right by and miss it, the driveway being extremely narrow.
The home was snuggled amongst the tall pines, large and yet seemed to almost blend in with it’s surroundings and standout all at the same time. The house held a warmth and coziness to it and reminded you of the feeling of going back home after spending a long time away. It sat in a large clearing of the trees, and in the distance you could make out mountains that peaked to the sky. The early morning rays were just coming up, casting an ethereal glow all around. It was beautiful and you were frozen in your seat, watching the sun’s rays gently light up the clearing. A calling urged you to go inside, your heart was fluttering at the sight of it-
“You have arrived!” 
The moment was ruined with the car clearly wanting you to get out now. Grumbling, you stepped out of the vehicle and snuggled further into the scarf Wooyoung gifted you. It was much colder out in the wilderness than in the city, the wind whipping around and nipping at your cheeks in a cruel way. Colder and quieter. You could hear your own deep breaths across the baron land of snow. You knew there was a peace to the quiet however being alone in a foreign place it was hard to find it anything short of eerie. The hairs on your arms were rising as you took a deep breath, quietly closing the car door to not disrupt the stillness around you. 
The house lured you in with every step, your heartbeat quickening as the key was gripped between your fingers. Any normal person would be afraid, hell even terrified, if they were in your shoes. A family member was found dead with zero investigation done, trying to gain some answers only had your mother warning you to back off, and lastly a house no one knew of was left to you. An hour away from the city your family basically owned. 
However you felt anything but fear. There was curiosity for sure and a yearning for discovering what could be hidden within the walls of this building. What could have Takoda been up to with purchasing this place? It looked new too, no physical wear and tear on the outside from the weather. You wondered what he was hiding… And there was something else too, something deep in you that wanted to run in the building. A call from somewhere inside that had anticipation swimming in your veins. 
The key slid in with a soft click! The door slowly opening while your eyes were wide and surveying your new home. You were awaiting darkness to greet you; a home that has been sat for too long and was full of cobwebs and dust from the lack of visitors. A cold and dark home was what you were mentally prepared for especially since Jackson was only dropping your boxes off and then quickly returning to his job. However you were shocked at what awaited you.
The foyer was large and spacious, the walls were painted a neutral color and the floors were solid wood. To your left and right were spacious rooms that were rather empty, save for a large sectional couch in one of them with an insanely large flat screen mounted to the wall. There were tall and large windows throughout, letting in the natural sunlight and giving an airy and soft feel to the overall place. Not far from the door was a large staircase with quite a few steps, and you spotted some of your boxes placed randomly along each step.
Your eyebrows knit together as you stepped closer, noticing the boxes were opened. Some even appeared to be missing items, spotting a box that was full of blankets now only containing a single blanket. A frown tugged on your lips, wondering what Jackson had been up to… he wasn’t stealing from you… was he?
You crept up the stairs, spotting more and more of your boxes placed randomly along the steps. Books had been looked through, some missing; blankets were taken out of the box, one box even being completely empty. Finally making it to the top you felt your stomach knot as you found some of your clothes scattered around the large landing. Thankfully it was just shirts and hoodies, nothing too personal, but it still made your blood freeze.  
Jackson was the only one who had the other key… right? No one else should have been there… What if your father found out and sent someone to spy? No, no professional would make it look this terrible. What if this was a warning for you? To leave? Fear shot down your spine as you followed the scattered clothes towards a pair of French doors at the very end of the landing. 
Almost like a trail. 
Your legs felt like lead as you moved closer, steps silent as you crept along, throat dry as a million thoughts and scenarios ran through your mind. What if someone broke in and was needing a place to stay? What if they were dangerous, a criminal on the run? Or a dangerous hybrid? If the intruder were human you stood a small chance. But if they were a hybrid, a being designed to outperform humans in many ways... and if they were a predator... the very thought had your limbs locking up.
Despite the fear that shook you to your core, there was the feeling again: you needed to be there. Something important was waiting for you in that house. An instinct that pushed you to keep moving, a need that fought against the fear that dwelled in you. As if you found this certain thing, you’d be safe. You’d be fine. 
Perhaps you have lost your mind.
Standing before the doors you took a moment to gather yourself, gain some courage, and then you had the doors flying open. Body tense as your eyes scanned the entire area, prepared to face the intruder head on-
No one was inside. But what you saw had you shaking.
Your lips turned downwards at the sight before you, hand gripping the door to try to keep grounded. The room was large, a master bedroom that was fit for a family really. Like the rest of the home it was rather empty with the exception of the large bed, an Alaskan king, and your brain was fried trying to process why a bed that large was there and why all your belongings were all over the bed. You felt a chill roll down your spine as you stepped into the room carefully, mentally waiting for someone to jump out and attack you. 
But again that other feeling, the part of you that you called insane, felt secure as well. Something about being in that room had you feeling at ease as well as afraid all at the same time. You felt nauseated with the mixed feelings swirling in your head. 
All the blankets, clothes, and books that went missing were right there. A part of you wanted to grab your things and go through it all and see what was done to each item. But a larger part of you wanted to curl up in the warm blankets and hide away, ignore all the craziness that you were facing, and seize to exist. If only... 
‘Come on, Y/n. Put on a brave face.’  You mentally scolded yourself for being weak; this was your home after all. Taking a deep breath you strolled into the bedroom with more confidence and was going to begin your investigation when the sound of a door closing echoed across the empty house. 
 ‘Fuck the brave face.’ Your blood turned to ice, instincts taking over you flung yourself under the bed. You pressed your hand against your mouth, trying to calm your breathing as you waited and listened as well as you could. You closed your eyes, willing your ears to straining and hear anything. The silence was torture, not even footsteps could be heard. You wished you could at least hear where they were-
A low growl echoed against the walls of the staircase. An actual growl... an animal? You don’t recall leaving the door open, but perhaps you did when you noticed your belongings scattered about... 
Did you accidentally let in a wild animal? 
As you tried to decipher how the creature got in you heard heavy paws hitting the stairs, the growl low as it came closer and closer. Every step had your heart pounding in your chest and for a moment you wondered if you would die from a heart attack before being mauled by a beast. The thought died as soon as you realized that the paws had stopped somewhere near the landing. 
Then, ever so slowly, you heard the paws approach the bedroom. The growl was coming closer and closer, your body nearly shaking as you squeezed your eyes shut tighter. The paws stopped at the bedroom entrance, the growl lower, more of a rumble now as it continued forward. It got closer and closer, the air feeling heavier with each passing second. The rumbling was now right in front of you.
 Swallowing the lump in your throat you slowly opened your eyes.
A cloud of browns, blacks, blondes, and silvers invaded your vision at first. Fur that was so thick and long you felt an urge to reach out touch it, knowing it must have been so warm and soft. But you remained frozen as a pair of eyes, lilac- no... gold? You could have sworn they were lilac for a moment but now they were a brilliant gold, stared you down. Eternity could have passed and you wouldn’t have known, not while the canine was intensely watching your every breath. A moment of silence, a moment of stillness-
It lunged and you screamed, your throat immediately burning from the raw strength behind it. Faster than you thought possible you managed to leave your hiding spot just as the large beast arrived. Your feet were moving too fast for you to keep up, heart leaping up your throat as grunts and whines followed you. When you heard those heavy paws hitting the floor you cried out again, the staircase right there. 
You believed you could easily dash down the stairs and into the car. You’d be safe there and maybe you could easily call for help. For a brief moment you wished you had waited for Jackson. At least you could trip the man and give yourself some extra time to escape... unless he did it first, which you knew he would.
However fate was a cruel mistress to you today; wet shoes slid against the wooden floor, propelling you face first down the steps. Your voice was stuck in your throat as you sharply inhaled and braced yourself for impact. You felt something solid, but it wasn’t wood. It was... warm and inviting... 
Two arms snaked around you, pulling you closer and easily catching you from the fall. Your feet were dangling off the floor with your cheek pressed against something solid that held a low vibration. Whoever this was was strong enough to hold you carefully around the waist with ease and you stiffened as your realized you weren’t alone with just that canine anymore.
“Relax Beautiful,” The voice was right in your ear, a murmur to help ease you. The voice was soothing to hear and you obeyed immediately as if it were natural to trust a stranger like this. The logical part of your brain was screaming at you to break free and run. But there was another part of your brain, something instinctual, that wanted nothing more than to obey. That there was safety and comfort within these arms that would shield you from the whole world...
The voice let out a soft hum, pleased as you listened without a fuss. The arms were still tight as something soft traced your neck, the vibrations increasing before stopping all at once. “My, my, Beautiful. it’s no wonder he was upset, smelling the way you do.” Their tone became deeper, displeasure stirring just underneath the words. Something in you nearly whined- as if you couldn’t stand the thought of displeasing the stranger. Thankfully the logical side of your brain kicked into action.
You snapped out of the trance you were in and physically flailed yourself away. You could tell the stranger was surprised by your sudden outburst and used it to stumble back, feeling your heel collide with a step, causing you to fall and land on it with your butt. Your nearly fall had thrusted you forward, passing the first flight of stairs and nearly onto the midlevel landing. Which was where a new figure was now peering down at you.
A handsome man with beautiful features stood before you, bright blue eyes watching your every move with plump lips forming a soft smile. His hair was jet black and on top was a set of fuzzy black ears. Something swayed out of the corner of your eye and you saw a fluffy tail that had black fur with white underneath, the tip of the tail was also white. He wore dark denim jeans and a white tee, the letter’s DRF embroidered on the top left corner in crimson. A hybrid was in your new home-
A low growl was behind you and for a brief moment thought it was surely going to attack you now. But you were shocked to feel something cool against your head as another high pitch whine was right by your ear. It’s muzzle was nudging you, whining, trying to get you to move but you were too shocked to move a single muscle.
“Wh-who are you?” You wanted to sound demanding. You wanted to sound strong. But your voice cracked and hands slightly shook as your eyes remained focused on the hybrid in front of you. 
He gave you another soft smile, lowering himself on the landing to meet your gaze properly. “My name is Seokjin, but please call me Jin. The wolfdog behind you is Jungkook. You, Beautiful, must be Y/n Spades.” His smile widened as you slowly nodded your head, your own eyes staring at him with mixed emotions. “Your uncle, Takoda Spades, left us a letter detailing that you were to inherit us if anything were to happen... this is correct, yes?” 
“I... the will never mentioned hybrids...” 
“For all of our protection, yes.” 
A new voice. This one deeper than the last, all eyes snapping to the foot of the stairs. He was taller than Jin and seemed to hold more muscle as his white shirt (the same exact one Jin was wearing) had a tighter fit, muscles threatening to breakthrough. His hair was a light ash blonde, smoky and seeming more white/gray, with fluffy dark gray ears on top, pointed and standing alert. Your eyes met his and for a fraction of a second you could have sworn they were glowing lilac but it must have been the lighting, instead they were a warm amber that held a fire inside. A fire that invited you to get closer, to feel his warmth and embrace him. You were lost in that warmth, body leaning slightly forward without your knowledge. 
Jin’s tail softly wagged at the sight of the male, bright eyes looking between the two of you. Your actions didn’t go unnoticed by anyone. “Y/n, this is Namjoon, our pack alpha-”
Swoosh!
A blur of movement ran passed the three of you in the matter of a second. The air hit your bare neck, your eyes wide as you realized the wolfdog, Jungkook, swiped your scarf and took off down the steps. There was shock for a brief moment before panic ensued- what if it was destroyed? The worry you emitted had Jin whining, stepping to you while Namjoon growled after the shifted hyrbid.
“Hey-!”
“Jungkook!”
You jumped up and ran past the two, much to their surprise, and ran down the stairs. You were ready to hunt the wolfdog down, get the scarf back and maybe even exile him to the woods for the night. He could freeze out there for the night, and then maybe he would appreciate the scarf a bit more-
“Oof-!”
You felt something solid and warm once again, this time face first. A hand locked on the back of your head, firmly and carefully, while another wrapped around your waist. Warm breath hit the top of your head, blowing a few strands gently, while you felt pressure rubbing your head.
“Please don’t be mad.” The voice was new one and you could hear the pout in it as well as the worry. It was heartbreakingly sad, could even make the world’s smallest violin sound mediocre in comparison. “It’s safe, it’s just in the wash. I couldn’t take it. Just his scent all over you and clinging to you like that-”
“Jungkook.”
Namjoon was right behind you, voice low with a displeased growl. In response Jungkook whined and clung to you, body locking to yours. His tone reminded you of a kid who got caught doing something bad. “Hyung, his scent is all over her! The scarf in the sink, I’ll wash it and have it dried by tomorrow!” 
Scent? Wooyoung. It took a second but you realized he was on edge about Wooyoung’s scent, on your and the scarf. It was what Jin was talking about earlier, you smelling with another hybrids scent was making them uncomfortable. You tried to step back but Jungkook refused the space. Instead he held tighter, face buried in your hair, cheek rubbing against you in a rushed manner.
“Jungkook, I’m not mad.”  Those magic words had the hybrid loosening his grip on you. It gave you an escape, putting some distance though his arm was still wrapped around your waist with his hand still in on the back of your head. Finger were softly twirling the strands. 
He was just as handsome as Jin and Namjoon; hair was a chocoate brown that was kept longer than the others, his ears were triangular like the others and matched the beautiful shades of his fur when he was shifted, as well as his long and fluffy tail. His eyes were doe-like and gold, trained on you with emotions you didn’t understand. A smile broke out on his face, his teeth looking more bunny-like than wolf. The smile and eyes settled your earlier thoughts and put out the angry fire that he had stirred. The idea of putting him outside nearly made your heartbreak.
“You’re not mad? You don’t want me to leave?” 
At his question your lips curved up slightly. “I’m not putting you in the doghouse Jungkook. I kind of understand why you did what you did.” His tail wagged, eyes brightening, and toned and bare chest rumbling-
Your cheeks turned red as you realized that Jungkook was lacking clothes. You were still being held close, so close you could feel the toned muscles flush against you, as well as something hard pressed right against your stomach-
“Jungkook. Clothes. Now.”
Namjoon was your saving grace, face so red you didn’t want to face them. But they didn’t need to see you to know how you were feeling. To put it lightly, Jungkook was more than pleased to be the one to have your scent become mouther watering and nearly impossible to ignore. You kept your gaze on his collar, refusing to look elsewhere. 
“Yes sir,” You could hear his amusement as his warmth almost disappeared. Almost. “Wait for me in the living room, Honey.” His voice was right in your ear and something sharp nipped at your earlobe. You jumped and squeaked as you hybrid walked out of your view, chuckling at you. 
You could feel the burn in your face, still refusing to move incase you got a whole view of the male. Not that a large part of you didn’t want to look, but damnit you were going to at least have some of your dignity. 
“He’s gone now, Beautiful. You can turn around.” The tease in Jin’s voice brought a pout to your face as you looked at the other two hybrids. Seeing your flushed cheeks and lips stuttering out had them almost cooing. Jin smiled softly at you. “Jungkook’s very playful, though he doesn’t mean harm.” You wanted to snort because the man was obviously trying to give you a heart attack. 
Namjoon stepped forward, a smile trying to form though he held it back. Trying to save you some face at least. In his hands were a few files with DRF stamped in large letters across each one and one envelope with Namjoon written across it. “Mr. Spades left a letter for us and lightly explained a few things.” 
Your heart picked up as you wondered what was written to them. Perhaps there was something hidden inside that letter that you needed. What if they knew what happened to him? What if everything written inside the envelope and solved what happened to your late uncle? 
“Let’s head to the living room, we’ll wait for Jungkook and then talk.” Jin offered, already taking your hand and leading you towards one of the large room. His thumb rubbed soft circles on the back of your hand as those bright blue eyes seemed worried. You could almost feel Namjoon’s own worry radiate from behind the two of you, and you couldn’t help but wonder...
What was in that letter?
While you were pondering what could have been written you failed to realize you had left your device in the car. The screen lit up once more, 7 missed calls from Sassy ASSistant and followed by one text:
Sassy ASSistant: Y/n Spades you are in serious trouble when I get there.
。❅*⋆⍋*。*⍋⋆*❅。    
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mukumukunomi · 5 months
Text
Not Alone. Never Alone (part 2)
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Luffy x Fem!Reader
cw: fluff, no smut, first love, implied semi-relationship, no manga spoilers, takes place just after East Blue's arc in live action, idiots in love, kisses
wc: 1,964
a/n: This is part two! I may open a few requests in the future, but we'll see if I'm able to with work loads. :D.
Part One (You)
❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦
He tosses and turns but sleep evades him. 
Something isn’t right, he thinks. 
Insomnia is a foreign feeling. He almost never has trouble with it. Sleep is normally a welcome respite from their adventure, because even in his dreams the adventure continues in some way. It usually consists of more meat than real life, but he’ll never complain about that.
But the feeling in his chest is different from the pains of hunger or lack of sleep. It drills into his being with every beat of his heart. It feels like something is missing. Like there’s an absence that-
That’s it!
The covers are thrown off himself as he approaches the small emergency exit inside the men’s quarters. It connects directly to your and Nami’s room, but is almost never used unless under attack. Otherwise, the girl’s space is completely forbidden. But for him, these escapades aren’t an unusual occurrence. He’s not exactly welcome, but Nami has never told him to leave if it’s in search of you.
He’s not quite sure when it started. Was it when Sanji began using a lock on the fridge? Or perhaps when he awoke you to see the first meteor shower on the Grand Line? He can’t exactly remember. Your presence is like the taste of a good steak. He craves it. Finds himself in search of it in odd hours of the night. 
He creaks open the little door and slips inside. Nami sleeps on the pullout cot next to the entrance, while your makeshift bed is the hammock that hangs from the ceiling. It’s mainly a collection of cushions and blankets, having been originally used for storage until you came along. Luffy likes to think of it like a bird's nest with the way you sleep in it.
Nami’s soft breathing fills the space as he pads across. Even though it’s totally dark, he knows the room well enough to avoid the small table in the center and catch himself from tripping on the rug. He can barely see the outline of the hammock as he approaches. Grasping the side of the net, he leans forward.
“Oi. Y/N.” 
Silence is his answer. He frowns, shaking the hammock roughly. “Y/N. Wake uuuuup.”
No reply.
“Are you mad at me?” He pouts, “I’ll share my snack if you help me open the fridge.”
His hand pulls back the covers. He expects your fist to come flying at him from the confines of the blanket as you always do when he exposes you to the chilly ocean air. Your form is probably curled around the pillow like a koala trying desperately to keep warm. The same pillow you often try to use to smother him when he’s being too loud. 
But the hammock is empty.
Items go flying as he pulls everything out and drops the bedding to the floor. Checking under and around proves fruitless as he’s left standing in the mess. He blinks and scratches his head.
“Luffy?” Nami’s sleepy voice asks, “What’s wrong?”
He’s already climbing the stairs that lead to the storage room and bathroom above them. Not bothering to knock, he peers into both spaces to find them also unoccupied. He rushes to the deck, peering out into the overcast night. The moon is hidden behind the clouds.
“Y/N!” He yells loudly. Loud enough that you should be able to hear it no matter where you are on the ship. 
The wind is his only reply. 
His confusion turns to concern as his gaze draws upwards towards the crow’s nest. Rearing back his arm, he stretches it to reach the railing and uses the leverage to slingshot himself into the sky. He lands on the nest’s railing with a thud, ignoring the cold whip of air on his cheeks. A palm holds the top of his hat to his head since the wind threatens to blow it away. Dark orbs scan what can be seen of the island. 
“Y/N!!” 
The timbre of his voice reverberates in the air. A few birds startle from their slumbering place perched on the ropes of the Going Merry’s main mast. 
“Why are you being so noisy!?” Usopp’s voice carries to him. 
He chances a glance downwards, noting the ship’s sniper shiver even with a blanket draped over his shoulders. There’s a noticeable tiredness and irritability in Usopp’s eyes. “Y/N is missin’!”
The crew member nods slowly and begins to look around as he returns his sights to the island in front of him. There’s a line of smoke that trails towards the sky coming from the fortress beyond the hill. It indicates to him that the place has an active fire even in the dead of night.
“Luffy!” Usopp calls again, “Look! The ladder’s down!”
Jumping off, he lands back onto the deck next to Usopp. Poking his head over the side, he can see the rope ladder swing in the breeze. The blocks of wooden footholds lightly bang against the hull. It suddenly clicks for him. 
You had gone by yourself.
The frown deepens on his face. Why had you gone alone? He said he’d go with you! 
His sandals hit landfall before he can even process that he’s moving. Usopp’s voice calls out to him as he quickly leaves the inlet and moves swiftly through the underbrush of the forest. He doesn’t even register the thin branches that slice his skin.
The hill looms ahead. He charges straight for it, mind set on climbing the imposing land mass. It’s the quickest path to the fortress on the other side. Either that or he can skirt around and enter that way. Perhaps he could even stretch his way to the top of the hill.
But all options are circumvented as the ground beneath his feet suddenly disappears.
He barely registers the secret metal trap door that’s swung wide open at the foot of the hill. Luckily, the fall into the passageway is relatively shallow. The tumble nearly has him face-planting into the stone. However, he twists at just the last second, bracing his hands for the impact before rolling off his shoulder into a crouched position. The movement successfully breaks his fall, but the sound reverberates through the long hallway. It’s not a quiet entrance, but he doesn’t hesitate. He’s bolting down the corridor the moment his feet make contact back with the ground. 
“Y/N!!” He doesn’t really care who hears him. As long as you hear him. “Where are you?!”
At some point he registers that he’s no longer underground but now in some lower portion of the fortress on the other side of the hill. The sounds of shocked voices and loud footsteps are everywhere. Movements are manic as he opens doors only to close them the moment he observes you’re not behind any. In turn, the enraged inhabitants begin to give him chase. It doesn’t matter who else may be inside. They aren’t you. And he wasn’t stopping until he found you.
A flying arrow whizzes by him. He veers, inhaling to let out another yell when a hand suddenly slaps across his mouth and pulls him sharply around the corner and into a wall. His fist clenches to deliver a punch but is stopped by a pair of familiar glaring orbs.
“Luffy!” You whisper through clenched teeth, “Why are you here? No, scratch that, what are you doing?”
He breathes a sigh of relief. Something about your presence has that kind of effect. “Imf waf woomfing fr yo!”
You roll your eyes at him, releasing your hand from over his mouth. “What?”
“I said I was looking-” His speech falters as his gaze travels across your face. 
There’s a shallow slice that cuts vertically across the expanse of your left cheek. Tracks of blood are dried to the side. You startle when his fingers brush against the bruise at your temple. “Did ya’ get hurt?”
You scoff and avoid his gaze. “A-a little, but it’s nothing. I got the thing we were looking for.”
He can tell in the way your voice shakes and your fingers absentmindedly wring themselves together. “It’s not nothing.”
Your lower lip juts out. “Just got into a scuffle. Ran into a familiar face and I…you should see how he looks now after I beat the snot outta him…”
But he sees through the excuse. “You’re scared of this place.”
Your sentence trails off to an almost childish-whisper. “Am not.”
It had been a steady but noticeable shift in your demeanor leading up to the arrival to this island. The mention of this locale made you act differently. Every time it was brought up you’d shy into him like the words burned. Your reply would be to simply smile as though everything was okay. And that was not okay. Not to him.
He can respect the privacy of your past. But your present and future is his priority. It's his responsibility. There’s nothing you can ever do to change his perspective of you.
There’s a waver in his voice as he feels anger well up. “Are too. Why didn’t you listen when I said we’d come together?”
“I…” You take a step back. “I just thought I could prove to you and the crew that I was strong enough to do it alone. That I was useful.”
“But you’re not alone,” His brows furrowed as he interrupts, “And ya’ never have to be alone. We are your crew. There’s nothing for you to prove.”
You take several long blinks, as though you’re seeing him for the first time. Stepping back into your bubble, he presses his forehead against yours. The voices and chaos around them seems to dissipate when it's just the two of you together. He finds you strangely gravitating in moments like this where you’re both a bit scuffed up and frazzled. He can’t help but lean forward and kiss you.
You’ve got a split lip, and his are chapped from the cold, but they mesh into something warm and soft that satisfies something aching in his soul. You both erupt into a fit of giggles. 
You taste like adventure.
“You still are terrible at being stealthy.”
“Are not.”
“Are too.”
The next retort is cut off as an unfamiliar face rounds the bend. An axe threatens to slice your head in two, but is cut off the moment his punch connects. The axe’s trajectory misses you by just an inch. 
“Let’s get out of here, yeah?”
You two are blurs of laughter and joy as you both weave your way back out the fortress and towards the Going Merry. The entire crew is already screaming at you both as the sounds of cannon fire fill the air. The ship has long left the harbor by the time you both finally tumble into your room from exhaustion. You're a mess of limbs squished into the small hammock against him. 
You both wrestle for a comfortable position, once again almost smothering him with that pillow before finally settling. Your head now rests comfortably on his chest. For several long moments, it's just the two of you in the room.
“Luffy?”
“Hm?” He hums with eyes closed, both hands behind his back and the straw hat over his face. Your finger draws lazy circles on his arm and he feels more at peace than ever.
He notes the head gear being lifted from his face. “Thank you for coming after me.”
He smiles and peeks an eye at you, moving said hat to sit on your head instead. He roves over the bandage on your cheek and adds, “Of course! We’re better when we’re together!”
With you, he knows he’ll be a better King of the Pirates. Simply because you’re there beside him.
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spiralingemptyness · 6 months
Text
I want more… clone hc pt. 2
why not more hc, I’m bored and wanna ramble… sorry if I repeated any.
99 is the best vode, he knows everything. If a brother is said, he’ll hug them, give words of encouragement and stuff and a mysteriously some illegal contraband that whatever the clone likes will randomly show up.
Shaak ti is buff and can hold her own if not demolish the Alphas on the training mats (The Rancor battalion found that out the hard way)
Jek, Rys and Thire became close after the mission with Yoda, Thire is still close with the commanders on Coruscant, but he’s even closer with the other two
While Hound may be a sergeant, he’s still an honorary commander member, he became the little brother of the group
…Thorn didn’t die on Scipio, nope, no way. Amidala saved him, always carrying a blaster or smth.
Dogma became really good at braiding hair because of all the time he braided Tups hair, so after Umbara when he definitely goes to Coruscant, Amidala finds out and sometimes ask him to do her hair.
Colt may essentially be Buir of Kamino, but all the alphas (especially 17) out Buir him, and it can be very comedic how a big burly alpha is hauling a ARC commander just to force them to sleep.
Fox absolutely denies or threaten to black mail shebse squad if they bring up the fact Fox was the first to fold and call Alpha-17 buir.
Colt and Wolffe have regular holo-calls just to shit talk Ventress.
Rex got adopted into Shebse squad after he bit Cody (Wolffe was proud)
When Kix is on shift in medbay, most of the time Jesse is there with him, he doesn’t have to be their but he’s a good batch mate.
Each shebse squad member have a quirk in fighting droids: Cody punches and spin kicks them, Wolffe bits them, Rex throws his blasters at them if they run out of ammo, Fox for some reason carry’s a high voltage taser, Bly drop kicks them, and Ponds throws rocks at them to catch them off guard
On multiple occasions animals like Loth cats and Tookas have been snuck on board the venators and multiple times have had to been taken off board
Fives has a girly scream, Torrent found out after he was caught singing in the barracks
Comet (and Plo Buir) can convice Wolffe to take care of himself (little brother privileges), unlike Boost, Warthog, and Sinker who have to sedate him of physically haul him away from the bridge
MEDICS GIVE STICKERS, if a your a good patient, you get a sticker. So there is a lot of vode with stickers inside or outside there armor
Colt keeps himself loaded with weapons, many different types of blasters, check. Lots of vibroblades and vibroswords (that he stole from commando droids), check. It will take a solid 10 mins for him to de-weapon himself
after Khorm, Plo threatened Captain Ozzel…. It was terrifying, Kit Fisto was both shocked and absolutely scared of getting on Plo Koons bad side.
Monnk collects different shells and rocks from the ocean floor and give them to different vode
kit fisto taught his battalion how to fish, just randomly, out of the blue he said they were going fishing and they went fishing
Ashoka definitely stole the ‘I’m no Jedi’ line from Rex.
everyone form the 212th and some 501st members were more traumatized by a bold Kenobi than the fact he faked his death to be a bounty hunter for a time period
kix has trouble staying warm after the cyro-freeze, like he’ll be bundled up in layers on tatooine
quinlan snuck into fox’s office once and was hit with a data pad on the head when he scared him and got himself a concussion, safe to say he doesn’t sneak up on fox anymore
clones have a sweet tooth
Once Hound got hurt while chasing a suspect and Grizzer went absolutely feral on the person who hurt him, it took Thorn and Stone just to separate him from the suspect, (fox and thire were just watching in shock as they helped hound)
padawans always use vents for travel (ex. Echo: where’s the commander. Fives casually: oh she’s in the vents. Echo: oh.. WHY IS SHE IN THE VENTS)
(Might be in the other one) The corrie guard have a bet everytime a battalion is on leave, the bet is: which members of what battalion will have the most in the drunk tank.
medics have to have a smex-ed meeting with every new shiny that boards
Bly (respectfully, cause he is a gentleman) asked Aayla to wear armor, the next day she was wearing Bly’s spare armor. Bly couldn’t stop blushing the whole day and it made his tattoos orange
When one or more of the Shebse squad is on leave, they bully fox into going to 79’s with them or to take care of himself. Safe to say, that whenever that happens the corrie guard can relax a bit
the most annoying patients for medics is any CO or jedis, all medics curse like sailors
when Kix was a medic shiny he hadn’t yet mastered the disapproval stare or the ‘shut the kark up and do what I say’ stare, so the vode listened to him just because it was so cute and funny, they quickly learned to stop thinking like that.
once after a battle Obi-Wan found Cody lying star fished on his back, he kicked a droid and broke his foot and collapsed once his foot gave out. Obi-wan just sighed, forced healed his foot a bit and carried him to the medics (Cody was turned into a sputtering and flustered mess)
Rex was already being corrupted by Skywalker’s tendencies when he was just a lieutenant in the 212th, Cody was horrified and wanted to bash his head into the wall.
Boil and Waxer secretly adopted Numa after Ryloth, each just co-parenting her
Kids on coruscant would sometimes come up to a guard member and hand them a paper of a drawing, ask for a hug, or just give them goodies. The guard now has a wall full of drawings given to them by kids in the barracks
the guard have stupid names for operations, it’s just a serious op about observing and trying to take down a drug ring (with vos’s help) and it has a name like “operation: too high to fly”
the cadets will hang off from any limb they can reach of their clone trainers and shaak ti
medics will lay on a cot with an injured clone on it to help them sleep, they’ll either be sleeping with them or doing data work
so yah… I’ll make more. Might make some of cod, fnaf , Dc, etc. as well and try to do art as well
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thisisatesttai · 3 months
Text
IchiRuki is not "delusional," and saying that it is means you have no media literacy
IHs seem to think that all it takes to interpret Ichigo, Rukia, and Orihime's feelings is to read the epilogue. To a literary critic, that is absurd. Characters explain how they feel over and over again across a piece of media. An ending may give us context that alters the earlier scenes, but this is always in very specific ways. With Bleach, nothing about the epilogue indicates that Ichigo and Rukia are not supposed to be read as at least potentially romantic.
For posterity's sake, I should point out that I've only seen the first few arcs of the anime, so most of what I say below is based on the manga. That said, the anime is part of the story as much as the manga is, so just because something happened in the manga and not the anime, or vice versa, doesn't make it "truer" to the text, just true to different texts.
Let's start with the fact that the story repeatedly suggests that Ichigo and Rukia have a romantic vibe to them. The rumors at school make this explicit, but just from the setup of two classmates who clearly have a secret that are constantly sneaking off, especially when you add in that they go home together and sleep in the same room. I know a lot of people want IchiRuki to be the Platonic Boy/Girl Friends (TM) but honey, they just ain't them. You're thinking of Naruto and Sakura. Claims that they have a sibling vibe are utterly baseless, especially in Bleach, where sibling relationships are a very explicit theme. Not every non-romantic couple that's nominally the same age (don't get me started on the "she's 150" arguments; go prosecute ACTUAL 150-year-olds dating 15-year-olds and leave me alone) is automatically a sibling vibe. The most I could say is that they do bicker a lot, but we all know that's just as comparable to a married couple. Saying Rukia is a mentor to Ichigo admittedly has a little more basis, especially when Bleach doesn't have a designated mentor figure. I still think Rukia's role in teaching Ichigo about the Soul Society is more of a guide archetype, though; think less Genkai, more Botan.
But setting aside the setup, the Soul Society Arc, or Rescue Rukia arc, is loaded with romantic themes and imagery. Don't get me wrong; nothing says that Kubo couldn't have introduced these as a fake-out to the audience, with the intention of subverting their expectations. I don't personally think there's anything that really suggests that, at least not so far as the romantic reading of the Soul Society arc itself being entirely off-base. The whole arc kicks off because Rukia is asked by Orihime and her friends if she "like-likes" Ichigo. She says she only likes him as a friend, but all of the narrative cues suggest that she's being dishonest, from the narration to the fact that she was so bothered by the question that she chooses now to go to the Soul Society and face her punishment. The suggestion at this point seems to be that Rukia having any type of affection for Ichigo, be it friendship or romantic, is inappropriate or even impossible for a shinigami. Ichigo's feelings are treated similarly, as he never gives a straight answer when he's asked why he wants to save Rukia, but several characters suggest that it's because he's in love with her. This doesn't mean he is, but the narrative does not deny that that is a possible reasoning. We're not even really told what his answer is; the scene where he thinks, "That's why I fought so hard to save you" seems to be suggesting that he wanted her to be able to decide whether she would live in the World of the Living or the Soul Society -- or else it's saying he didn't want the last time he saw her to be her telling him she would never forgive him, or it's saying that he wanted to see her smile again. Like I said, we're not given an explicit answer to this question.
The rest of the manga is basically about Ichigo adjusting to life without Rukia. I think it's fair to say that even if you read Soul Society romantically, from the Arrancar Invasion Arc on, Rukia is no longer written as Ichigo's love interest. This doesn't invalidate anything suggested in the previous arcs, though. If anything, I would argue that Ichigo's feelings become pretty explicit by the time we get to Hueco Mundo. The dramatic reveal of Rukia coming to visit, and the fact that she's the only person capable of breaking him out of his funk, both have a romantic reading to them. When the team arrives in Hueco Mundo, Ichigo is shown to be overly concerned with Rukia's safety, explicitly singling her out aside from Renji, Uryu, and Chad. (I guess that could just be misogyny, though.) Even Ichigo's obsession with getting a rematch with Grimmjow could be traced to him nearly one-shotting Rukia during their fight in Karakura. I'm not saying any of these are exclusive interpretations, just showing how it's regularly reinforced that Ichigo feels differently about Rukia than any of his other companions, even to the point of letting it cloud his judgment.
I don't think I need to say anything about Ichigo and Rukia's goodbye before the timeskip. The way the scene is drawn, and written, and framed by the narrative, is very reminiscent of romance scenes, to the point that if it was meant to be read as exclusively platonic, it comes off as a very bad satire. And jumping to the anime real quick, I know episode 342 is anime-only, but by no means do I think that invalidates everything it says about Ichigo and Rukia's feelings for each other. That episode oozes with ship-bait, to the point of turning the subtext of their relationship into text. And if you think this is something that the anime studio injected into the narrative -- well, first of all, then we'd also have to parse out everything that the Shonen Jump editors injected into the manga -- but Kubo himself has said that he thought the episode was a welcome addition. So, if your'e someone who thinks the author's vision is the final say on the manga, there you have it; Kubo basically canonized ep. 342.
With all that in mind, I think that, at the very least, Bleach's narrative suggests that Ichigo and Rukia are coulda-beens. Maybe Ichigo was more invested than Rukia was, maybe Rukia deemed it inappropriate due to them being from different worlds, but in the language of manga and storytelling in general, the idea that they might have feelings for each other isn't some fan's "delusion"; it is actually part of the text. Whether or not they actually felt something for each other is for them and them alone to know, but the story tells us that these are two people who met, came to care very deeply for each other, and then drifted apart without ever taking the plunge.
The question that this leaves us with is, where does that leave Orihime?
If there's one character whose feelings are never up for debate, it's Orihime. We know from practically her first scene that she has a crush on Ichigo. Now, at first that's never taken seriously. It's mostly just a setup for the running gag of her bonkers imagination. Over time, though, we get a little bit more insight into Orihime's feelings, and she starts to get taken more seriously as a character. There's a version of Bleach where, as Orihime steps up to be by Ichigo's side in the latter arcs, he moves on from his feelings for Rukia and the two develop as a couple. If that were the case, even if IchiHime doesn't appeal to me, personally, I would still accept it. It would actually be a refreshingly mature take on teenage romance. Unfortunately, that version is not in the text.
For that reading of Bleach to work, we would need to see their love for each other build to a place where both characters bring out the best in each other, at least comparably to Ichigo and Rukia. Unfortunately, Ichigo and Orihime don't seem to bring out the best in each other. Ichigo brings out all of Orihime's insecurities. During the lead-up to the Arrancar arc, Orihime starts to compare herself to Rukia. (There's literally a panel sequence that says, without a single word "find you someone who looks at you the way Ichigo looks at Rukia", to anyone who's still unconvinced that there's a romantic reading to those two.) And as the entirety of the Hueco Mundo hammers home, Orihime is personally ill-equipped to be Rukia. Both Rangiku and Rukia herself have speeches where they tell Orihime that she needs to stop trying to live up to what she thinks Ichigo wants and just be herself, but she sticks to the mantra that she wants to "fight by Ichigo's side" -- you know, like Rukia does. Urahara even tells her outright that she needs to stop trying to put herself on the battlefield. It's not particularly nice of him to squash her dreams like that, but it's not as though she doesn't get an out; Hachi is already there, trying to teach Orihime to be a healer, something she has a natural talent for.
Instead of reframing her wishes with the advice of her friends, Orihime makes the worst decision of her life and goes to Hueco Mundo with Ulquiorra. Now, obviously this is coerced by the Espada and not her actual response to the situation, but that doesn't mean they're not framed as consequential to each other, narratively. Orihime is told she has a flaw that she needs to change, but before she's able to do so, she must go through hardships so she can let go of the façade that she's using to cover up her flaw. Well, she goes through hardships alright. She's imprisoned, assaulted, and threatened with death. Orihime is confronted both with her weaknesses, and with her strengths, as she is eventually able to appeal to Ulquiorra's humanity through her willingness to see the goodness in people, even those who are actively abusing her. You would think this would lead to a change in Orihime that goes back and answers the underlying question, but it doesn't. By the end of the manga, she is still fantasizing about being a Battle Couple alongside Ichigo, and she's still not good at it. I don't know how many times I've had to say this, but Orihime and Ichigo losing their fight to Yhwach is not a triumphant moment. The fact that it's the result of Orihime achieving her series-long dream is more of an indictment against their relationship than anything else I could say.
To adopt the narrative that Ichigo got over Rukia to be with Orihime, we would also need to see him come to appreciate Orihime in her own right, something that he is...hopelessly uninterested in. No, we can't just take for granted that he's a dopey shonen hero and "that's just his character"; if he's supposed to be . We also absolutely cannot take for granted that this happens offscreen; that can be a headcanon that you, as the audience, choose to adopt, but it's not suggested by anything other than the assumption that the ending is supposed to be, and can only be, saccharinely happy. There's nothing to suggest that Ichigo changes the way he thinks about Orihime in the text, and we only ever see him thinking about her is when reacting to her in scenes, and just generally not wanting her to die. The closest we get to him expressing a romantic interest in Orihime is the scene where he asks her to "wait for him" -- at Rukia's wedding, no less. I shouldn't have to spell out how having this happen on the very day, at the very moment, that Rukia is considered "off-limits" to conventional societal standards undercuts the idea that Ichigo is not taking Orihime as a consolation prize. Which, don't get me wrong, SUCKS. But it is implicit in the framing, and can't be ignored.
And that's without getting into Rukia's relationship with Renji. I think in this case, we can very obviously see that Kubo tried to write a romance between them, but he did so in such a half-assed way that I find it very hard to take seriously. Yes, Ichigo throwing Rukia to Renji is obviously meant to tell us that Renji is her love interest from that point in the story, but that doesn't mean it works. First of all, we can't pretend Renji wasn't awful to Rukia for a majority of the Soul Society arc. Sure, this is him pre-character development, but it's a huge leap to go from "I'm conflicted over whether I should tell off my boss for killing you" to a canon couple. But even with Renji beating up Rukia and telling her he wished she was dead, you can still get to the point where they repair their relationship -- it just takes a lot of work that Bleach simply doesn't do. We need more than Renji promising to turn things around, we need to see him do things that make up for that. To be fair, though, Kubo spends very little time showing us what they're like when one of them isn't on death row. At most, they seem to train together a lot. Like, you want platonic boy/girl besties? THESE are platonic boy/girl besties. Actually, they're the ones with the sibling dynamic, given that they literally grew up calling each other family.
So where does that leave us? Some people seem to assume that despite Kubo fumbling the ball, the canon couples were meant to be, and that they somehow found happiness despite all the evidence to the contrary. Again, you can hold that headcanon for yourself if it makes you happy. However, if we're going strictly based off the text, the answer seems to be that Bleach doesn't have a happy ending. The characters whose endings are not related to getting married off all end up doing the one thing they didn't want to do -- Chad ends up using his fists for personal gain as a boxer, Uryu ends up alone, etc. -- and the ones who DO get what they want are the ones whose dreams are framed as being misguided, in Orihime's case, or unearned, in Renji's case. I'm not saying you have to ship IchiRuki, of course. I can't tell you how to read the series. At the end of the day, Bleach is to you what it is to you. But saying that reading IchiRuki as romantic is "delusional" is more than just false, it diminishes media literacy for all of us.
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ofoceansandtombsanew · 11 months
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My Chapter 51 Thoughts and my thoughts around ShimaMitsu in general
So @mapoeggplant​ had a really cool discussion thread on twitter and I wanted to contribute to it. But I got very longwinded and now idk if the pics in my google doc even loaded... so I decided to share my thoughts here on tumblr as well!
Be warned, this post is littered with manga spoilers so if you are an anime-only or haven’t caught up to the most recent chapters, avoid this post so you don’t have the journey spoiled for yourself ^o^
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Mika realizing something is up with Mitsumiー Mika is definitely a character that surprised me in how much I ended up liking her! Everyone in S&L I think is a subversion of popular tropes in manga’s past where on the surface they look like a trope and then boom, sensei hits us with a reality check and explanation as to how they are. Mika is clearly the ‘mean girl in shoujo who hates the protagonist by virtue of crushing on the male lead’. *Worry not, I’m aware S&L is a seinen*
But her maturity and growth over the series? Astounding. From reconciling with her envy of Mitsumi, Nao helping her come to terms with the idea of Mitsumi and Sousuke dating hypothetically in the future and becoming such a good friend? Love it.
So I love how Mika is the first to really notice that something is off with Mitsumi in regards to Sousuke.
Pretty sure that back in chapter 47 it was established that all of the girls have noticed something was off with Mitsumi. But they decided to respect her privacy because if she wants to tell them what’s wrong, she’ll tell them and they want to give her the chance to come to them first. Though they did express they were worried she wasn’t truly seeming like herself.
And the reason Mika starting to connect the dots this most recent chapter is so ‘big’ for me, for lack of a better word, is because it really puts into perspective how Mitsumi has been handling the breakup.
Mitsumi breaking things off with Sousuke was definitely a mature move. I’ve even been in the same position of breaking things off with a relationship because of feeling like the way we loved each other was different and it would be best to go back to friends. Then spending 2 years chatting with my ex as if nothing happened before having an emotional breakdown about it and needing two weeks of space from her before I could function around her. And it feels like Mitsumi is doing the same thing with Sousuke. But by virtue of Mika spotting Mitsumi’s discomfort in sitting next to Sousuke and starting to question things, it really solidifies how Mitsumi is processing things.
Like, Mitsumi telling Sousuke she can work on her own and such when he proposed the idea when she mentioned wanting to work to get Maharu a new wallet. She wasn’t just brushing it off and being all chill, kumbaya. She was more than likely trying to avoid him because she isn’t really ready to just be alone with him yet.
So I’m hoping in this arc that Mika is going to bring up what she’s noticed to Mitsumi. Because since she’s already processed her feelings, if Mitsumi were to admit to her that she and Sousuke dated briefly before she ended things it wouldn’t make Mika spiteful or anything weird like that. If anything, I think it would bring them closer together because if there is anyone who would understand the Sousuke-failed-relationship/rejection love pains Mitsumi is going through, it would be Mika.
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Mitsumi & Sousuke (and Yasaka)ー
As for Mitsumi specifically, I think that her relationship with Sousuke as present is a ripple effect of Yasaka’s statement back during the chapter Mitsumi rightfully called Sousuke out for not standing up for her when she would definitely do it if the roles were reversed.
Immediately after that, we see Mitsumi beginning to contemplate what she said, her perspective of Sousuke and she doesn’t really know how Sousuke was raised, his relationships with his family etc. Like, she knows there is some drama there, based on the school festival arc with the play and running into Sousuke’s childhood friends and mother but she also acknowledges she doesn’t know the full story and how Sousuke came to be how he is today.
While Yasaka’s assessment did give Mitsumi the idea that she should keep in mind how she was raised and how others were raised paints how they become in the present, she is almost like… overly internalizing that and trying to be overly conscious of Sousuke’s feelings. And even the feelings of Maharu. I’m not sure I’d go as far as saying Mitsumi is blaming herself for what they are going through since so far I haven’t really seen anything that would indicate self-blame. The closest you can get to that is her scolding herself for expecting Sousuke to come to her defense just because they’re dating.
When, in reality, while Yasaka is right Mitsumi should keep in mind that Sousuke and her have different frames of reference and she should be considerate of that… Mitsumi was well within her right to be upset that her boyfriend was letting some mean girls shit talk in her face and made no effort to defend her.
Then the next time you see them interact in chapter 45, she essentially brushes that under the rug. She apologizes to Sousuke for getting upset, he says he is going to turn down their party invite and they go their separate ways… But Sousuke never actually apologizes for not standing up for her which, at least in Mitsumi’s eyes, would solidify the idea that she was in the wrong and was expecting too much of her at-the-time boyfriend.
This overly considerate behavior Mitsumi is now displaying even went as far as not wanting to tell her friends about the breakup and everything that led up to it because she was worried about how they would perceive Sousuke and possibly give him some sort of negative treatment in response to how things went. Not to mention, she’d rather just bottle up her feelings than cause a rift in their friend group they’ve had since first year.
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When she breaks up with Sousuke, she goes above and beyond in reassuring him they have and always will be friends. Which while that is cool because the hiccups aside, they have a pretty great friendship, Mitsumi isn’t really allowing herself to feel hurt by the breakup and thinks that, while even if a large portion of it is that she and Sousuke’s ‘love’ is different her actions thus far would imply she thinks it is on her for expecting so much. (So I guess there actually is a good portion of self-blame from her, even if subconsciously!) 
And with the most recent chapter, Sousuke gets to see how Mitsumi is hiding how hurt she is by Maharu’s rejection of her gift and her outburst that Mitsumi is only thinking about herself and to me his expression is almost like a parallel to his expression in chapter 46 when Mitsumi broke up with him.
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In chapter 46, Sousuke needed comfort. He’s worried about being abandoned or viewed as worthless because he wasn’t able to live up to the ‘use’ or ‘idea’ Mitsumi had of him.
This time, Mitsumi needs comfort and it’s like this moment has essentially confronted Sousuke with the fact that she isn’t as cheerful, mature and invulnerable as she has presented herself to him thus far. So while yes, Yasaka was right in how Mitsumi doesn’t know as much about Sousuke as she thought she did, the reverse is also very true in that Sousuke doesn’t really know Mitsumi as much as he thought he did.
Sprinkle all this into the fact that Sousuke is going through his own whirlwind of emotions regarding Mitsumi, their breakup and how he feels about her. He’s jealous of Ujiie and how close he is with Mitsumi, he feels left out that Mitsumi hasn’t really been including him in activities outside of school and he was pouty and perplexed in chapter 47 about her perspective of the breakup going far as to pout to Chris and Ririka:
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And Chris rightfully being confused because he doesn’t get Sousuke’s reaction since back in chapter 42 he didn’t even really know if Sousuke really even liked Mitsumi romantically (as proven by how, when Sousuke told him about the breakup, he automatically assumed Sousuke was dumper and not the dumpee). Now he wants to be closer to her while Mitsumi is essentially going ‘I want to keep everything chill and normal but at the same time I’m still upset and trying not to be next to him for extended periods of time just yet’.
Fast forward to chapter 51 and Sousuke’s in Mitsumi’s childhood home and feeling out of place/out of his element. So this is all the recipe for him to confront his own misconceptions of Mitsumi and, hopefully, apologize for his part in the breakup and how he should have stood up for her. Which we do see him do later in chapter 50 when she isn’t present, but Sousuke has the self-awareness to know and bitterly accept that if Mitsumi hadn’t called him out before he likely would have let them continue talking poorly about her.
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Maharu & Mitsumiー Now onto Maharu~ I’m fully looking forward to her part in this arc because it is very clear that she is dealing with insecurities regarding herself and her older sister. Mitsumi has been confirmed by multiple characters that she is essentially a prodigy in her hometown and her hometown is being hit with a very real-life problem the Japanese countryside faces. Like, it is to the point where schools in the countryside are shutting down because there aren’t enough students to justify keeping them open because the young people are leaving for the city, not returning and not raising their kids there (which most people aren’t doing anyway due to the decline in birthrates in recent years for Japan).
Mitsumi even went as far as telling Sousuke her thoughts that she might likely be the only one of her siblings to even leave their prefecture.
We don’t really know how much Mitsumi is discussed back in her hometown, but it must be enough to make Maharu feel the way she does. It is just unfortunately manifesting in taking things out on her sister rather than talking to her parents about how she feels or even trying to discuss it with Mitsumi. Hell, talking to Mitsumi about it first probably won’t even help things come to a positive conclusion. As it stands now, Maharu’s perception of her sister is that Mitsumi looks down on her for getting out of the prefecture and going to the holy grail that is the capital of their country for school.
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She needs an outside perspective that isn’t ‘tainted’ by Mitsumi.
Mitsumi’s friends from Tokyo are out because 1) they are Mitsumi’s friends and 2) Maharu already is feeling insecure and putting them on a pedestal because they are Tokyonites and fancy people.
Her family is out because Mitsumi is essentially their pride and joy.
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And the chapter end with Maharu running into Fumi and while I wanna say ‘Fumi, get in here and rescue this sibling relationship’-
Fumi would still fall under the category of ‘tainted by Mitsumi’ by virtue of being Mitsumi’s best friend, even if Fumi has been shown to be very close to the Iwakura family. So I honestly think it could go either way with Fumi trying to talk to Maharu and help her vent how she feels, but Maharu could easily do that and when Fumi tries to be reasonable Maharu could think that Fumi is trying to take Mitsumi’s side when she is just trying to help give Maharu some outside perspective.
So that would basically summarize all of スキロー thoughts with the most recent chapter sensei has delivered us. I’m loving it all so far and looking very forward to what happens next!
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rawliverandgoronspice · 10 months
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OH but actually, upon rewatching the Memories with their french dubbing (I was curious), I noticed the French translation is overall much more aware of the imperialistic themes overall, or at least draw a lot more attention to their presence (and it's just overall much better written than the English counterpart, there's a ton more stuff happening between the lines and it flows better, has more style, etc --which is weird since I tend to dislike the french version more usually)
(spoilers under the cut)
For example: in the Kneeling Scene, Ganondorf uses "vous" when adressing Rauru (and also "sire", where he doesn't in English I believe), which is the formal "you" that one might use to convey respect and/or deference. On the other hand, Rauru uses "tu", which is at once the casual "you" address, and also WOW, so very loaded --so "tu" would be used between friends, but also points to an incredible imbalance of power when one party uses it and the other doesn't. One case where it does happen in french society is between an adult teacher and a student or a child (and it even has Some History in a context that is racially-loaded and involves colonialist power dynamics --it's very very "boy" adjacent, if you can catch my drift). So whatever praise Rauru has for Ganondorf as a gerudo hero is *immediately* countered by the fact that he speaks to him like he would to somebody he inherently devalues.
This reinforces the subject of Ganondorf kneeling that was previously discussed and actually makes it into a point!!
Also, when Ganondorf does turn into a Demon King, what he says to Rauru isn't "You tried to control me and you will die knowing that you failed", but (roughly) "You tried to make me submit, and you will die knowing that you failed." The difference may seem small but it turns a pretty mild critique of "you knew I was evil and you thought you had it under control lol" into an actual, textual accusation of imperialism --especially next to the accusation that Rauru kept a divine power to himself. The story then becomes way more about Rauru's desire for a stable empire costing him said empire and his life! Character arc! I still do not care for him as a character, because... oof, but it gives the world more texture.
It also doesn't change the evil cackling and the rest of the storyline, but it injects a lot more subtext than the English version has imo, so I'm honestly really impressed by the translators' work --and it makes me very curious of what the original Japanese scenes actually say.
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petrichor-idyllic · 11 months
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Ok, I have a request based on your new prompt list. The names got me thinking, and I was wondering if you could do just the Gladers x Fem!Reader who joins them and is a total badass, and has a title, like in the books, and she’s “the warrior.” And she’s named Joan after Joan of Arc. Could be a fic or just headcanons, whichever is easiest for you. Thanks!
Ooo this is a really fun idea. I'm gonna do some headcanons simply because that is easier for me to do.
Also, not my normal headcanons with separate sections for each boy - this is about your life in the Glade and relationships with the Gladers.
Also, fem!reader, so no romance with Newt as specified on my masterlist, but y'all are buddies.
And I've decided to use another one of my ideas, so you're even more of a pain in WICKED's ass :).
THE WARRIOR
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MASTERLIST | MULTI-CHARACTER MASTERLIST
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SUMMARY: See above. Book based fic.
WICKED stole your name and called you Joan - and there's a good reason for that. You were a test Subject and WICKED prodigy that broke into the Maze to help your friends - and WICKED couldn't really do anything about it.
(If you're actually called Joan, congrats, this is for you, I guess.)
WARNINGS: Inappropriate language, actually follows the naming canon so no (Y/N), awkward Glader flirting. I fully don't how I'm gonna write this so prepare for me to butcher this prompt. This is a bit of a different layout so I decided to have some fun with it.
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LOADING SUBJECT INFORMATION
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SUBJECT NUMBER: A3 "The Warrior"
BIRTH NAME: (Y/N) (L/N).
SUBJECT GIVEN NAME: Joan.
NOTES: Subject A3 shows signs of rebellion and aggression. This is not surprising considering the means she went through to enter the Maze Trails. Though, her efforts may have been beneficial. Due to being the only female Group A Subject for the majority of the Maze Trails, she is volatile and untrusting. However, A3 does display close relationships with several other Subjects.
LOADING GLADER EXPERIENCE
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You had an eventful first week in the Glade.
As eventful as a first week can be, really.
Initially, you freaked the fuck out.
You woke up in a dark box with nothing but your name and the smell of burning oil.
And then the Box opened up and you weren't the only one freaking out.
Surrounded by a couple dozen boys - no one knew what to do.
Unbeknownst to you, not only were you the only girl the Gladers had ever seen - but you'd also shown up between Greenie days.
They weren't due another Greenie for another week and a half.
Confusion spread through the Glade like wildfire.
The first person you met was Newt.
He seemed to be one of the few boys that weren't going absolutely savage at your presence.
He offered you a hand, which you refused to take at first.
Until the Box jolted again, and started to move with you still inside it.
"Oi, come on! Jump!"
"What's happening?!"
"I don't shuckin' know! Jump!"
With the help of several other pairs of hands, you decide to jump, and Newt yanks you up.
And you see the the Glade for the first time.
And the opening in the Walls.
You don't even have to think about.
When Newt tries to talk to you, you clock him square in the face and book it towards the exit.
AKA. The Maze.
Which results in a kind of stampede as you rush to escape.
Which, is where you meet Minho.
It's late in the day and Minho has finished his route early so he's coming back to chill out for a bit.
Except that doesn't happen because you come whizzing past him.
"Minho! Stop her!"
"What?"
"Stop the shuckin' girl!"
Admittedly, you are faster than he expected.
But not faster than him.
You manage to get around a corner before he tackles you, rugby style.
He manages to restrain you, and Alby and Newt come to help and wrestle you back to the Glade.
You're put in the Slammer.
Bummer.
The Gladers use the time you're locked up to figure out what to do.
Alby puts a very strong no touching rule in place and threatened to Banish anyone that dare break it.
After that, he goes out of his way to try and calm you down and explain what's happening here.
Eventually you oblige.
And Alby shows you the place.
He introduces you to people of note - Winston, Zart, Gally, Frypan and the other Keepers.
And he reintroduces you to Newt and Minho.
You learn things about yourself over the next following weeks.
You're feisty and forward.
You have a short fuse.
You're somewhat skilled at hand to hand combat and could probably put up a good fight against most of the Gladers.
You're sarcastic and quick witted.
Though, you remain level headed and fast thinking.
You try out all the jobs.
You settle on being a Builder for a while.
Which Gally is thrilled about.
You, surprisingly, actually get along with Gally quite well.
Sure, he's a bit of a dick and has far too many opinions.
But, he's a good boss.
He's strict and hard-working; pushing his men to the bets of their ability, and in your opinion, what they need.
This lands you in Gally's circle, which includes Frypan.
Gally isn't well liked.
Which is fine with you.
It means the boys leave you alone.
And, you get the opportunity to build your own little hut.
You like working as a Builder.
This also leads to the first of the boys developing a crush on you - Gally.
Frypan is quick to second that.
The third is Minho.
It's not like the pair of you are particularly close, but after Newt suggests you be a Runner - that changes.
You're fast and resilient; both of which Minho is looking for in his men.
You decide to try out, which makes Minho your boss.
Gally isn't very pleased, but you work where you're needed.
It's not that difficult, the worst part being not getting lost.
But Minho isn't going to leave you alone until you're ready.
Spending time with you, he learns you have a similar sense of humour.
And you've forgiven him for flooring you.
So, he starts crushing on you too.
As in my other headcanons, Alby really doesn't care about you.
Well, he does.
But just as another Glader.
Though he does appreciate the hard work you do, and the fact you keep the majority of his most problematic men distracted.
Newt is probably the person you're closest to.
Mainly because you never catch him staring at your ass or tits.
He's respectful.
And not attracted to you.
Because he's gay.
You're a fully fledged Runner by the time Thomas shows up.
You don't really think much of him at first.
Because absolutely no one did.
But he admired you.
He thought you were cool and skilled, very much the same way he looked up to Minho.
You were devastated when Thomas, Minho and Alby got stuck out in the Maze.
Gally tried his best to comfort you, but he didn't get very far.
"If anyone can survive the Maze; it's Minho."
"No one survives a night, Gally - we both know that."
Frypan's attempts weren't much better.
Newt was too busy figuring out how the heck he was going to run the Glade without Alby.
Yet, somehow, they both survived.
You don't think you've ever hugged someone as hard as you hugged Minho when you saw him.
Everyone's jealous of Minho for that.
Oh yeah, Teresa.
She showed up the day after Thomas.
You were thrilled to have another girl.
And then she wasn't conscious.
Bummer.
You kinda forgot about her after that.
Until she woke up, and everything went wrong in the Glade.
The sky disappearing, the Doors not closing, Grievers taking someone every night.
Including Alby.
And Gally disappeared.
A devastating blow.
You became one of the faces of the escape.
Cracking the code wasn't easy, but you all managed.
Thomas and Minho's theory about jumping into the void had you skeptical but you didn't have anything better to do than throw rocks off the Cliff for hours.
Thomas then gets stung.
And once awake, tells you how you were never meant to be in this Maze. You broke in, presumably to help your friends.
No wonder Newt and Minho wanted you to become a Runner.
Anyway, you escape.
Gally pops up again.
Kills Chuck.
RIP.
Thomas flips his lid.
And you escape.
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Definitely not my best work but I really didn't know how to do this.
I'm stressed and I tried my best lmao.
Hope you're cool with that. Kinda.
:))
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rataccatak · 7 months
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Analysis of how Natalia Zaidova draws Sergey Razumovsky
Or: trying to justify a thirstpost about the world's most terrible man
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Sergey's gone through a number of artists through the years, and I gotta say, Natalia Zaidova's rendition has captured my heart. In fact, it was a screenshot of Natalia's Sergey that first got me into Major Grom. While Phob's is the official art style that we associate with the comics, Natalia's style, I believe, better serves Sergey's character in the current PD run.
Genre-wise, PD returns to being a big-action, ensemble comic, which--compared to The Game's tight conflict and human drama focus--deliberately implements Natalia's more traditionally comic-book style to this effect. The first arc (nine volumes in total) of PD are all Natalia; though the current issues are being outsourced to a number of different artists now, Natalia's style--with its roots in distinctly American superhero comics, such as DC--was what they wanted to prime audience's expectations with. After Time of the Raven, there was a big push for Bubble to adhere their stories to big names like Marvel, and with that came the desire to usher in things like a multiverse, space and supernatural elements, and franchise crossovers. Plague Doctor was one of their latest installments of that new "culture," and they had to match their aesthetics appropriately.
Okay, but that brings me back to the brainrot part of this post, which is HOT DAMN NATALIA'S SERGEY LOOKS SICK???
The whole idea of Plague Doctor is that, for like seven years or something, Sergey has been declared dead or missing or otherwise MIA. Nobody, both in-universe and irl, knows where he is or what the fuck he's up to. You crack open issue 1, encounter a guy in sunglasses and a hat who is painfully obviously Sergey, but you get to the last page and
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(I will say this is probably the most unflattering frame of him. His chin makes him look like such a chad derogatory)
BAM. HOMEBOY IS ROCKING A NEW HAIRCUT, HE'S WEARING ANOTHER STUPID PURPLE SUIT, HE'S RIPPED, AND HE HAS BLUE EYES.
This isn't the soft, sort of angelically beautiful Sergey we're used to seeing from Phobs. It's radically different, an entirely different character almost, which was the intent.
His new look is more practical, both tactically and socially. His hair is cut, so people won't recognize him as easily. It won't get in his face or get grabbed during fights, and combined with his more muscled build, this is a Sergey who's taking things more seriously this time around. Gone is the flamboyant cape and swishing fiery locks; the plague doctor campaign is no longer a passion, but a duty. And he's ready to enter the thunderdome and get his hands dirty and god damn it, he will die trying.
Natalia does take care to preserve the core elements of Phob's Sergey, while making a hard left into traditional masc territory. He's still unrealistically attractive, in that distinctly soft and youthful way. He's more noticeably fit but still maintains a slim, smooth appearance.
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But on top of that, she adds this charm and charisma to him that is distinctly boyish (as in, young and mischievous, a pretty face that's up to no good). It makes his persona as a young, leftist radical more believable; he looks like a student revolutionaire, angry and passionate about all issues topical and trending.
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He does look more obviously aged. Guy is now in his mid(?) thirties, and the past five years probably amounted to like three lifetimes of stress, so it certainly makes sense. Compared to how Natalia drew The Game Sergey, his face is more defined with sharper lines, muscularity, and wrinkles. The short hair also ages him somewhat, making him look less angelic and more like... a regular dude.
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And of course, there's the overnight peach fuzz.
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The more mature, aged look helps him actually look like a person who's lived a life as loaded and fucked up as Sergey's. He's a guy whose parents died, grew up in foster care, became a CEO that rocketed to stardom in five years, committed the most elaborate fucked up terrorist campaign ever, and then immediately fell from fame to the deepest coldest cell in St Petersburg (and this is all just the OG Major Grom run). He's not Phob's Sergey (or Rag, whoever it was in The Game)--a blameless childish pretty boy who's detached from his crimes. Natalia does a good job in making Sergey have this subtle undertone of... unsettled, unhinged, what have you. I don't know how much of this is hindsight bias, but he looks like a guy with a fucked up secret. You wouldn't think twice if you were seeing him in a grocery store or something but I can imagine later recognizing his mugshot on the news and thinking wow now that i think about it, he really does look like a serial killer.
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And let's talk about his fashion. For all the features of Sergey's flamboyant costumes in Phob's renditions, Natalia dresses him quite casually, and it works, ironically, to make him look deceptively plain in the way all extremely rich people dress (think of the $10k white t-shirts and sunglasses get-up all rich men wear). He dresses like his current social stature: a new-money sod who has gotten used to his wealth enough that he doesn't have to show off with his clothes anymore. Of course, this could also be turned on its head and instead, be an indication of Sergey's original, cheap clothes that he habited from his childhood. Certainly, the ironic rightwing graphic tees Natalia puts him in edge towards that point of view, only now they're colored by Sergey's sense of political humor. I doubt a "god guns government" shirt is selling for $500 at some luxury tailor shop.
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This is what I love about Natalia's Sergey. In making him look more human, we get to orient him more organically into our own world. He looks like a thirty year old loser who studied CS in college and now commits cyber terrorism and doesn't know how to cook. He looks like a young adult leftist who is terminally online and has 500+ open tabs on Marxist theory. He looks like a guy who became too rich too young, who was the world's angle and then its devil in the span of like two years, and is now disillusioned with it all, who wears $5 graphic tees and stays up all night looking behind his back and tries desperately to find something that actually matters.
Once Sergey looks more believable, he becomes more understandable. And the more we understand him, the more the story has the potential to make him intrigue and surprise and reach us in multiple, unexpected ways.
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cairavende · 5 months
Text
Worm Arc 11 Interludes thoughts:
AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Ok. Just in order I think. Sorry for the chaos.
Started off with puppies. I was happy.
Then the puppies started getting a little more violent than needed. I was less happy.
Then Victoria got clowned on a little and I was little bit more happy.
Then the unkillable naked zebra lady showed up everything kinda went downhill. For everyone.
Bitch do not join the supervillain serial killer group, please and thank you.
Seriously though, The Siberian is a bit scary. Just, completely invincible as far as anyone can tell. And super strong.
Theo is having a bad day. And unless someone takes care of Jack Slash for him he's gonna have a bad few years.
Jack Slash is such a poser oh my god. Dude. Come one. You aren't all that.
Also. Jack. Do not toss a loaded baby! That baby had a full diaper. You toss that baby and you are liable to have a containment breach. Speaking from experience, you do not want a containment breach. (Also just don't throw babies of course.)
I hope Theo gets cool powers and is able to become a super amazing hero like he dreams of. On the plus side, probably gonna be lots of opportunities for trigger events coming up. On the minus side, he didn't trigger when Jack Slash was planning on killing him so I don't know if he's gonna be able to.
They were obviously going to go for Labyrinth. She has such amazing powers for mass terror. Though I guess Burnscar never tried to actually recruit her. I assume that was the plan though.
Also Burnscar needs to stop excusing her actions. Just be evil or don't be evil. You don't get to be evil and say it's not your fault (that sure will come up again in these interludes).
I fucking LOVED the description of how Labyrinths powers work. Just the details of everything. So good!
Fucking Colin. Of course they had to go for you. Why can't you just go away and leave my robot daughter alone?
Mannequin is fucking WILD. Like, god damn. Those are sure choices you made. Helps you be creepy as shit though. And get through air vents.
Mannequin writing out "U ME" to Pocketknife Man by laying keyboard keys down on the table one at a time has cursed meet-cute energy.
In the end, Colin survives cause my robot daughter saves him. And I guess she's gonna tell him the truth about being an AI. Fiiiiiiine. I will be polite to Colin if he comes over to dinner. He still needs to apologize to my other daughter though.
Also I'm sure glad the Slaughterhouse Nine won't have any use for the magic pocketknife that can cut through anything that Mannequin took. No worries at all I'm sure. It won't do jack shit for them. Might as well just slash the idea and toss the knife out.
Cool. Some Nazis died. That's great!
Not enough though. Disappointed in Shatterbird.
But if one good thing can come of this whole Slaughterhouse Nine thing, maybe Hookwolf can die. I'm not holding my breath though.
Shatterbird has a very interesting power set. Being specifically glass focused like that. Definitely can see how she would terrorize a city.
Dinah PoV. DINAH POV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok well first off, I obviously hated Coil for Dinah already. Enough that I don't really know if the Dinah PoV can technically make me hate him more. But that said, I hate him more. WTF.
The description of her power was so NEAT though! Had a minor moment of "oh hey this paragraph of this precog talking about her power works inside her head is an almost perfect description of how my brain works" which was wild. I don't actually get to see the future though, which is a major difference.
She can actually just full blow see a possible future holy shit! Wow. Like it hurts and she hates it but it's still crazy.
Also I guessed that Crawler was going to come for Traveler in a Vault (that is Noelle's cape name until I am told different) after the Bitch interlude. I was very happy I got that right since I really knew almost nothing about either.
So Crawler just basically can't die and gets stronger every time he gets hurt. I wonder how long it will take him to reach Endbringer level power?
And Traveler in a Vault is just a large monster that is always hungry and can be driven to the point of eating people. That sucks a lot for her.
Also Leviathan came after her too huh? Well that's probably fine and won't matter in the future.
Regent's sister is worse than he is. That's impressive! Like, not good impressive. But impressive.
Getting real close to the "can't exist" physic power set. I guess it's not quite it though.
She should keep a better eye on her phone battery.
AMY DALLON! I knew it would be you.
I knew you were destined to be a tragedy from the moment I met you. You were always going to become a villain. So once I knew the Nine were recruiting it was a guarantee that you'd be recruited.
Specifically, that you'd be recruited by Bonesaw. She is an artist and obviously she is obsessed over the art you could make together.
Holy shit though that chapter.
Lets see. FUCK CAROL. Victoria gets some excuses, she's a kid, she's following her mom's example, etc. But FUCK CAROL. You are partially responsible for what Amy is about to become.
Despite being terrified, Amy seemed to have a dark fascination with everything Bonesaw was doing and saying. Really listened as Bonesaw explained things.
The more detailed view of what Amy's power does is crazy. She really can do just about anything to someone.
“Why not fix your dad?” is where Bonesaw won. It's about 3/5 of the way through the chapter. And she won at that point. That was the killing blow. The rest of the chapter, the remaining 3.5k or so words, is watching Amy bleed out to drive the point home. It is Panacea's death monologue. It is beautiful and tragic and amazing.
All that said, since she is losing anyway, is it bad for me to want more of Bonesaw's notes? SHE HAS LORE! GIVE IT TO ME!
Dad at least seems pretty good. He made the perfect response after getting healed. Unfortunately she was already gone.
AND THERE IT IS. THERE IS THE THAT FINAL STEP. Fucking rewire your adopted sisters mind to have romantic feelings for you. No you don't get to say it was an accident! You chose to do it. Holy shit Amy. You are going to be an amazing (terrifying) villain.
Callback to Burnscar and blaming her power for her actions.
If Worm was a Disney movie Amy would end up with the best song, 100%. Hellfire or similar levels.
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